Monday, Monday (bah dah, bah dah dah dah)

Don't tell me you're not singing it yet.

Okay, I am not as cool as Mama Cass Elliot. I am just not. I am, however, an awesome (and overweight) woman. You can call me Mama Kath.

No?

Okay.

Enjoy the music anyway. For my friends on the Old Calendar, today is the first day of the Apostle's Fast. It is interesting to me how the calendar difference can just erase an entire fast period from the calendar for a big chunk of the Orthodox world. It makes me wonder about things. I think I am going to sit down later, perhaps, and do some research into WHY so many jurisdictions changed their calendar! Does anybody know?

Regardless of your calendar, it is Monday. Summer is in full swing. My sunflowers are HUGE, and my little garden is producing little green tomatoes and tiny carrots. And my much-beloved Lawn Dude is here working his magic on the overgrown jungle of my yard. This is the downside of summer. if I go two weeks without mowing, it turns into a perilous jungle out there. Seriously. Little Man plays tiger in the tall grass. There are dangers in the jungle!

Speaking of the wee one, he is currently out of town with his dad. They're going to the annual family reunion. He was totally excited. I was........not. I haven't been away from my only child for more than just a couple of days in a VERY long time. So eight days and seven nights is not really an appealing thing for me right now. It's been less than 36 hours, and I have already turned into a crazy woman.

At least I use my powers of neurosis for GOOD, right?

I am cleaning, reorganizing, sorting, washing, scrubbing, planting, baking, creating, fixing, rearranging - probably sulking a little bit too. I am trying to see this week as my opportunity to do some serious projects that I can't easily get done when the kiddo is home.

I tossed out all the junk food, so I don't get lonely and binge on junk. I went to the grocery store, and I loaded my cart with fresh, seasonal veggies to eat while he's gone. I am planning on not re-purchasing any of the junk when he gets home. I've been doing more and more research on things like the GAPS Diet, the Feingold Hypothesis, and whole foods as health care. I am sold on GAPS, since I personally know several people it's worked for. Some bits of Feingold have been common knowledge in the ADHD community for years and years (artificial stuff is bad for you! Also, it hinders our ability to exercise some control over our emotions and things. And let's face it, my family puts the H in ADHD.) So I am going to work on transitioning us into a GAPS style of eating, with special emphasis on whole foods and local stuff when possible.

I am currently re-arranging my "pantry thing."

You remember the pantry thing? Did I show you the pantry thing?

This:

It's a great pantry. I love it. When I moved in, I was using a half-broken old changing table as a pantry shelf thing. See, my kitchen has 13-foot ceilings, and the cabinets go ALL THE WAY UP, but the lowest cabinet is about six-and-a-half feet up there, and I am only 5'4". So most of the glorious cabinet space here is entirely wasted. I briefly entertained the idea of taking the doors off and putting pretty stuff in it, but then realized that I wouldn't be able to reach it to DUST!

It didn't take long for the half-broken changing table to become an entirely-broken-beyond-repair heap of useless MDFboard. When that happened, my mother picked this up at a garage sale for me. It's brilliant. I painted it when I built some really cheap cabinet doors to keep my dog out of the trash. Did I show you those either? (NOT useless MDF board here. This MDF board was very useful, and also free. I paid for the hasp. That was it!)

But I am rearranging the pantry. I have two purposes here.If we're going to eat REALLY HEALTHY STUFF, well, then I don't need a pantry full of cheap stuff, so I don't need to dedicate shelves to things we PROBABLY shouldn't be eating anyway. I do, however, need some space for my business supplies.

Yes. Business supplies!

I am now making and selling organic bath and body products.

It was an answer to prayer, and it happened SO suddenly. Have we discussed my health? I have lupus, eczema, and psoriasis (among other things. But these are the pertinent issues that lead to the business). I was sitting up one night, entirely unable to sleep, OUT of any products that would make me stop itching, burning, and hurting all over. In desperation, I went to my garden and grabbed what I could: lavender, mint, rosemary, and calendula. And I started to work distilling, pressing, and infusing my extra-virgin olive oil to try to get some relief. It helped!

Next, I made a moisturizing bath soak.

Then a heavy body balm for the worst spots.

Then a lotion for maintenance.

Then I started making a little money selling it. Now I am working on opening up an etsy shop! I'll let you know when that's up and running.

My skin is feeling better than it has since I was a CHILD, and some of the spots I have been fighting for months are FINALLY starting to clear up. 

So that's my Monday so far. What's your Monday looking like? Do you have big plans for the week?

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