A Side of Autism: Occupational Therapy

Remember how I wrote recently that I had a really inspiring and wonderful meeting with V-Man's occupational therapist?
We'll call her Mrs. OT!

Anyways, at the end of that wonderful one-on-one meeting, she suggested I come to one of V-Man's therapy sessions to have a firsthand look at what they do together and hopefully, he'll be in a good mood.

Sounds good and it's not something we did (or considered doing) the first year because it took that long to get him used to Mrs. OT and getting a rhythm down and so on.

Now, thanks to the PECS (picture exchange communication system), V-Man was advised that he would have his therapy session with Mrs. OT and I joined in at breakfast time and we went there together.

Some things you should know:

1. I don't drop off or pick-up V-Man from day-care.  So for me to show up went completely against everything he knows.  Sorry V-Man...
1. Remember, he takes a taxi due to our schedules and location!
2. We were in a small room - which is ideal because there's less distraction and the other children couldn't get to it either.  
3. Turns out he was ill and had a fever later on this evening - so he wasn't in his most co-operative behaviour.
4. I didn't say a word and kept my facial expressions neutral because I wanted to give Mrs. OT and V-Man 100% each other's attention.  I tried not to move much either.
1. Not that I wasn't excited or proud of him for several things - just trying to be the fly on the wall!

If you ever get the chance to watch your child's therapy sessions - I truly recommend it!

It's one thing to have those chit chat type of meetings (or communicate via e-mail or phone) and go over things, usually without the child there - but it's a whole other level to actually join in on a therapy session and actually see for yourself what happens. :)

A fairly new toy - the wheels spin and it plays animal sounds if you fit them in the back!
*I found this second hand tonight and am super excited.

Here's what I observed:

• Routine - clearly there were some favourite activities!
• Excitement - He knows their little room and loves the huge bags of toys she brings with her.
• Experimenting - He managed to get his Smurf sock on his big toe!  BY HIMSELF!  Then he experimented with removing it every time we put them back on.
• He also tried a toy where you press shapes into the console and it played music.
• PECS exchanges - he cried/begged/tossed cards for crackers.  Then the routine kicked in and he got to have crackers after doing an activity.
• Constantly changing - V-Man went from one activity to another and back to the first activity from five minutes prior in a blink of an eye.
• Love - he adores her in his own way and she is just as loving/caring and kind to him as any parent would be to their own child.
• Patience - one thing needed when working with special needs children! :)
• Hard work - both therapist and child were really pushing their limits with each other and realizing a few hours later that he was super sick with a nasty fever - I really admire my V-Man so much for continuing!
• Exhaustion - Again because he was sick...
• Happiness -  when he got a cracker or when he tried to do something new or if he did something successfully - lots of happiness was going around! :)
• Contact - this being one of the most important when it comes to autistic children.  There was a lot of eye contact, physical contact (tickling, games, toys, assistance) and communicating.

Some activities they did:

• PECS
• Blowing a balloon up and releasing the air
• Opening and closing containers
• Playing harmonica (she played, he held it) and then putting them back in boxes
• Opening and closing jars of body butter and smelling them
• Playing tickle games and songs
• Playing with stackable cube/boxes
• Playing with musical toys
• Playing with a drum
• Sitting in bean bag chairs
• Cuddling

I made a collage of some of their photos but either Blogger or my phone is being dumb and I can't upload it currently.

Well, I leave you with this one photo instead.

BIMU :D

Let's Be Honest: Facebook Admins

Not a typical post I write but here we go!

I think the internet is a fantastic tool.  It's full of information (both false and true) and a great way to keep in touch with each other near and far!
I am a tad lost without the internet to be honest and I primarily have Facebook for the sole purpose of keeping in touch with my friends and family all at the same time.  So much easier than writing out individual e-mails and not having to worry about how many photos I can send per e-mail because the file might be too large to send.
And you never find out until you click "Send"....

And something that I do - I probably spend far too much time doing to be honest - is supervising a couple Facebook groups.
One is an expat group page for the area I live in and the other goes hand-in-hand with it, as an English-speaking online flea market available for those in the same city.

I try my hardest to be very neutral about the stuff posted on both.  Unless it's incredibly illegal (i.e. selling cigarettes, drugs or weapons) or incredibly rude - I tend to just skim through silently and contribute when I can.
**It should be noted I'm not the only admin...these are purely my experiences!  This isn't me complaining about being an admin - but more of a sharing the admin-side of the fence!

But first (while I have it fresh in my mind) I have to share with you the cons of being a FB admin - there are a lot of nasty people out there!
Things like politics, religion and war are just 5 billion cans of worms that you don't want opening up in public groups or FB pages and it can be hard to tame it down.
And because it's a group full of expats in both - it can get pretty darn intense!
And of course because the internet being as awesome as it is - you can just say whatever the f you want and feel empowered!
Or you truly didn't "mean it that way" and it was just read wrong because this is written text - not face to face or "Voicebook".

Here's some examples of things I've come across in the past (almost) 3 years:

• Dude X sells Dudette Z an electronic thing and because it doesn't work - Dudette Z smears Dude X's business FB profile publicly (ensuring she tags him) - without admitting she's already sold off the electronic thing.
• "Where can I find ___?"
  "Have you heard of Google?/Let me Google that for you..."  
• How incredibly rude.  I imagine the person asked where they can find X items is because they want the most reliable answer.  From people with experience or knowledge of the best prices/locations to get X items from.
  They're asking for you help - not for you to advise them to go Google something.

• "I don't like what I bought/changed my mind - can I get my money back?"
• It's a used items website - of course not!
• Try before you buy
• "The advertisement says it's free but when I contacted them - they wanted 30€!"
• "I want to buy that - but for a decent price."
• "You can get that cheaper from eBay/Amazon etc."
• "They called me a racist, fascist and started bashing me and my mother."
• "If you need the money - get a student loan!" 
• Dude selling a "pocket sex toy"...used by the way...
• "Person didn't meet me/pay me.."
• "I rented my apartment out to Family Y for a couple days, as they had visitors from abroad, and when I got back into my flat - it was a complete mess.  Also they short-changed me by over 20€.  I noticed some of my coat hangers and other little things are missing too."
• Holy awkward - please call the police.
• "This guy has been a real jerk and making rude and racist comments etc."
• After a few warnings - he was removed from the group and came back asking to come back to the group a few months later.  But this was after he called me a nazi (privately), arrogant, rude and some other words...
• Various scams/spam accounts and some people actually believing they can get a loan/iPad/expensive branded coat etc. just by e-mailing someone in a different country.
• Multiple LGBT, religious, political bashings, bashing of other countries, bashing of the country we live in currently...both publicly and privately....

I don't expect everyone to get along - of course not!  It's a huge group with various opinions/cultures and experiences and I guess I'm writing this so people realize that there's a lot of crap the admins of whatever FB group you might be part of - put up with.

Don't like the price?  Suggest one and if it's rejected - then hope the seller drops it down.

Don't like the item?  You don't need to comment nasty things - and you certainly don't need to buy it.

Bought it and you don't like it?  Unfortunately it's second hand.  You wouldn't be able to return it to a flea market, shop (at least in Finland - if it works and it's not malfunctioning - you have to keep it or sell it off!) so what makes you think you can do it online?

Anyways, there are loads of positive things too.

• People helping each other out.
• People organizing events to help meet others and integrate new people.
• People discovering new places to eat or visit - thanks to recommendations or questions being asked.
• People getting rid of their junk/not needed items and someone else buying it.  Yay recycling! :)
• "I saw the Northern Lights for the first time in my life - thanks to this group!"
• "I got my wallet back - thanks for the support! It was at the police station!"
• "I lost my..../I found a...."
• "How do I say _____ in Finnish?"
• "I have a problem and don't know how to go about solving it...anyone have experience with...?"
• "Are there other expecting foreign parents that had experience with ____?"
• "I need to dispose of some batteries and old phones that don't work...where can I do that?"
• "There's a memorial/charity service..."
• "Anyone able to watch my dog/cat/other pet while we travel?"
• Usually someone is able to! :)
• Notices of public events or amazing sales (as many people in our group are students and are cautious about their spending).

Other things we do?

• Check people's accounts to see if they are real people and not just spam bots - before approving or declining them.
• Organize events (or try to - we all have other lives outside of Facebook! :) )
• Organize contests
• Clean and organize photo albums of items being sold
• Mediate arguments between people privately.
• Ask questions ourselves :)

For the sake of getting this post up and online - I apologize my lists are probably skewed and my memory is quite limited these days! ;)

And I wonder how far I can use this experience and put it down as volunteering on a future CV? :)

Anyways, thanks for reading!
BIMU

A Side of Autism: What is it worth?

*Post was started a few days ago and a few days later I'm trying to finish it - as usual.

I had a meeting today with V-Man's occupational therapist and I don't know about you but I love these meetings.
Trust me, I used to freaking hate them before because they weren't full of progress - compared to now.  It used to be a lot of: "V-Man freaked out and cried when I visited him today at day-care.  V-Man pushed me away...he pushed away the cards...we didn't really connect today...he pinched/bit me...he ran away...maybe next time he'll be happier."

Now, I really like them because I find them inspiring, motivating and also encouraging to keep going.
Whenever I tell people that V-Man is autistic, and that's why he's flapping his hands, not saying a word, humming or bouncing on his toes or trying to steal someone else's husband or wife away at the party (or the food in their grocery bags hanging on their stroller handles) - I always get a "Poor you!" face.  Sometimes that comment too.
I know and appreciate the sympathy but I'm learning and as he gets older (and bigger) - it's getting easier.
It's getting better.

Again - not something I would have even whispered when he was 2 years old or younger.
My motto at the end of every day, once he was asleep was, "One more day closer until he's 18" (18 being the age of majority in Canada at least and able to move out - this was obviously before the suspicion or diagnosis!).
Once we had 3 kids my motto turned into, "I just need to be tough and survive the day.  Tomorrow will be better."  And of course a glass of Pepsi would be inevitably be chugged down to smooth my nerves...

I know I've written (and said) in the past that V-Man is an awesome kid but I was probably typing rather late (and as quietly but quickly as possible!) and while super emotional/hormonal.

Now I can write (it's 3:51 pm and SUNNY!) that it's true.
He's 5-years old - still doesn't speak but is able to communicate what he wants his way.
Of course in an ideal world, he could speak, use the toilet and brush his teeth on his own etc. - but since we're not in that ideal world - I'm learning that this is HIS ideal world.

His meltdowns are less because he's able to communicate his basic needs.

1. Hunger (he seems to be a teenager in a 5-year old body.  He DOESN'T STOP EATING.) : he will climb and get food himself that he wants to eat or bring a plate, cup or bowl if he wants something at the moment that he cannot reach.
2. Movies:  We used to fight with him non-stop to try new ones or to not watch them at all or spend at least 10 minutes waiting for him to choose the movie.  He's getting faster at choosing new movies and is better at expressing "nope!" (pushes my hand back to the shelf to put it away) or "heck yes!" (grabs the dvd box and squeezes it and starts stimming).
3. Contact:  He's reaching out to us and cuddling more and providing a lot of eye contact as well!
4. Play-time:  He'll bring a toy or fiddle with something with his fingers if he wants us to use it with him.  He mostly "plays" with baby toys - and that's fine.  This is a huge leap for him, within the couple of months, to want to play with toys - so I'm restraining from digging out all the toys we stocked up when he was younger and also trying to refrain myself from shopping for too much.
5. Going out:  He'll occasionally bring his boots or his harness if he wants to go out or he'll dig out something to wear.
6. Bed time:  Yes, he's showing exhaustion by just plopping himself on the sofa and passing out.

There are snippets here and there when I can see V-Man for who he REALLY is without the autism and mentally challenged spices and he's really and truly - an awesome kid.
He's super happy, loves to cuddle and still loves to bounce around like a human bouncy-ball and is caring too.
When I see those spiced layers removed - even for a brief moment - whether it be a direct and very solid eye contact and a big smile - I hang onto that for as long as I can.

So now I'm learning that the things that used to be a huge deal to ME - are really not a big deal and to pick my battles wisely.
He doesn't want to wear a certain outfit? Ok.
He doesn't want to eat everything on his plate - not even half?  Alright - as long as he ate something.
He picked that movie and once the previews were over - he decided he didn't want to watch it after all?  Fine - pick another or we do something else.

I figure as long as nobody's seriously injured, dying or gushing blood - I'm doing an okay job and he's trying.

Now it's 3 days later and I'm getting 3 kids ready to go out to the playground (or somewhere) by myself...while SH helps a friend move.
Wish me luck eh?
BIMU

My Juicing Journal: Days 5-8

I can't say right off the bat that I've lost "a ton of weight" with this juicing business because the point of the 30-Days Juicing Challenge is to just try to make juice everyday and get used to it.  You still eat - there's no fasting and I'm SO freaking cheating when it comes to "eating healthy."
I'm a stress eater - totally.  I don't drink coffee, I don't smoke, I enjoy about a glass of wine a week with friends - that's about it.
Based on a super quick try on jeans with a friend at the shop - I'm having to go UP a size and of course can't find anything that fits or isn't ridonkulously expensive...and do NOT get me started on how much I hate skinny ankle hugging jeans....

What I do love is all the bad stuff!  Chips, greasy food, take out, Pepsi...oh I'm a Pepsi girl 100%.  Coke is acceptable in public when Pepsi is not available.  But never at home.

Anyway, I went on a bit of a rant there...

So I haven't made time to juice and that's totally my fault.  And been busy with school, kids and so on.  But tonight I had a mandarin - so I feel slightly happier!

I'm going to get back on the juicing wagon - as those days 5-8 (well all of them) - I became more aware of what I ate because I juiced and didn't dig into ginormous portions.  I ate reasonable portions, felt relaxed, energetic and not so overly sensitive to every little thing my kids did to make me go nuts.

I found on the days I don't juice - the biggest thing is that I feel exhausted - borderline lethargic!  Sure I'm waking up once or twice in the middle of the night because M-Girl is (done nursing but she still wakes up and needs to pinch my belly chub) and even if she isn't - my body is programmed to wake up at least once or twice in the night (specifically from 3-4am...)...damn you biological clock!

I'm currently on day 5 of not having juiced (yet) and I'm running on very little sleep.

Not sure about you - but I'm a freaking psycho when I don't have sleep.  I really am.  I'm Momster...I'm Wifester (and that doesn't mean "Mom/Wife + Hipster"  it means "Mom/Wife + MONSTER)...generally not pleasant to be around at home.

In public, I'm pretty sane and quiet.  But right now I'm pretty sure my blood is boiling because A-Man decided to throw a complete shit fit and set his sister off and back and forth for about an hour. Of course this happened downtown and while getting to the bus stop and while waiting for the bus and I'm just DONE for today.

Which is probably the only reason I'm going to write what I'm writing next:

I'm going to go down to 1 meal a day and juice the other two.
I'll drink loads of water, loads of juice I have made, the occasional Oatly Chocolate "milk"/drink and eat more fruits and veggies.
Not quite vegetarian - wouldn't say that no.  But breakfast and lunch will become my personal juice fests with some bits of fruit to replace the cravings of naughtier food.

Will I skip bread, rice, potatoes? No.
I'll still consume - a reasonable portion - once a day as part of my supper.

I figure I'm in school from 8am-2pm anyway - so not a lot of exercise happening then and there's not a lot of time for breakfast usually.  Lunch time is 30 minutes so I could bring my juice to class and do some knitting or colouring to de-stress... and then I can sit down to supper with the kids and SH.

I'm sure I'll probably cheat here and there (example: tomorrow - going for Nepalese for dinner with a knitting group to celebrate someone's birthday - well that can be my 1 big meal) - but I'm really kicking Pepsi and Coke away and starting my clean slate now.

I will continue to use the 30-days challenge site as a guideline and for ideas and recipes (still can't find my Jason Vale juicing recipes book...pretty sure the monster under the sofa bed ate it) - but we'll see how this all goes!

Credit: Google Search

May the odds be ever in my family's favour...they're probably going to need it.
BIMU

PS I bought some new awesome (on sale!) purple jogging sneakers...I need to get on that too.

A Side of Autism: Thinking Outside The Box

As you may or may not know - kids with autism can be hard to entertain!
What seems to work great for a day or two (or a minute or 5) can change in a blink of an eye!  And that's flipping frustrating for us because we have 2 other kids that need attention as well.  So does our dishes...and laundry...and the list goes on.

Anyway, as of recently, the V-Man seems borderline OBSESSED with fitting things inside something else and removing it.
Some examples?

• Taking my bus card and putting it in and taking it out of my coat pocket as we wait for the bus. (I don't find this annoying at all as his wait-time for the bus has GREATLY increased from 5 minutes to nearly 15 if need be!)
• Ripping boxes.
• Climbing non-stop for food and emptying boxes - usually containing small messy dry goods like rice, flour, oatmeal or couscous.
• Emptying the grocery bags.
• Putting things in our shoes/boots (of course we discover this when we're in a rush to leave!)
• Emptying my wallet.
• Emptying my backpack (usually on the hunt for ibuprofen because the packets are interesting or my inhaler).

I've been thinking of looking for a toy where he can remove pieces and stuff them into something (i.e. Fisher Price piggy bank) but at the same time don't want a ton of extra pieces missing or going under the sofa.

I then had the idea (and this is where I'm slightly embarrassed but whatever - you do what you have to do!) to find one of those dog-training toys/puzzles.  Yeah - I said it.  A dog-training puzzle where the dog has to stuff back birds into a tree or something like that.  I know I've seen them before but based on my quick trip to the local pet supplies store - they don't have them anymore.

But what they did have was this. It's called "Trixie": Poker Box 1 and it contains four boxes with 4 different ways to open them.  The aim for a dog - is to figure out where the treat is (there's a little hole on each lid or top) and figure out how the heck to get it out.

"Oh my frig - she went and got her kid a dog toy.  Is he a dog or is he a human child?!"

Settle down - I'm still explaining why I did this.

So my reasons for buying dog toys are:

1. Durability:  Sure - V-Man can bite and chew, seek and destroy...pull and rip - but with the strength of a dog?  Not yet.  (Still rocking the baby teeth currently!)
1. And yes, V-Man has had dog toys for his teething days...
2. Educational:  Sure he won't be necessarily sniffing where the hidden cracker or small toy or wooden ring (or whatever he likes to play with at the time) is - but he'll certainly be using his marbles to figure out:
1. How to open the containers and eventually how to close them too.
2. How to "ask" using PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) to play with this puzzle or to open a box.
3. Cause and effect.
3. Interesting:  With a toy puzzle like this - we can make it different regularly (or however often) by simply adding new things in the boxes he can discover.
4. Excellent for therapy:  V-Man gets home an hour before the other two kids do.  So with that hour a day (usually with me) - I'm going to push him as hard as he's willing (and a bit beyond as he learns what this puzzle is for) - and hope to communicate a variety of things with this one puzzle box toy.  He's currently taking speech and occupational therapy and I truly think this toy can do wonders for his finer motor skills and concentration.

Things I've used before that do (or didn't) work for us, but were budget friendly:

1. Pop bottles - filled with water and a bit of food colouring.
1. Pop bottles filled with sand or rocks so he can rattle them about.
2. Listerine bottles filled with beads or rocks or clothes pins (ANYTHING)- shockingly, he can't open the child-safety cap.
3. Wooden ring (found in craft supply store) - still uses this and flips it around his fingers.
4. Tin jars with removable lids (think small scented candles).
5. Cereal boxes - to rip up.
6. Empty envelopes - the kind bills come in.  Also for ripping up.
7. DVD cases - but he has broken so many...

BIMU REVIEW: Excellent product!! Easy to move the boxes around, lock in place and wash.

So other parents - don't be ashamed!  Don't be bothered by others' opinions!  They're not the ones who have to live, love and handle your child's attitude/mood swings/conditions day and night!

YOU DO.

Do what works for YOU and your Autistic CHAMP!  

This is a lesson I'm still overcoming myself when in public and there are meltdowns! :)

And your child doesn't have to have autism to NEED or HAVE this kind of toy!  If it's fun and within your budget -why not?

Happy playing,

BIMU

PS: When it comes to the sturdiness of dog toys and depending on your child's strength: always supervise your child when they're playing with something they can throw or lift/drop.  Be sure to have excellent home insurance on your more valuable items just in case.

My Juicing Journal: Days 3 + 4 "Friday 13th edition"

Oh Juicing Community:
Forgive me for I have sinned.  I didn't juice last night.
I (and SH) dealt with screams, fights and protests last night until about 9pm.  On top of running around to do several errands, study and so on.
I slept poorly thanks to M-Girl cutting about 4-6 teeth at once (honestly) and woke up running.  Not jogging running - you KNOW what I mean.
I excused myself from school today because of it and am thankful as it was a hell of a day.

No idea it was Friday the 13th until our friends mentioned it at dinner!

1)  My toilet was tired of seeing me after 7 visits...pretty sure I heard it crying.
2)  My dishwasher decided to not work.
3) My kitchen sink was clogged up as all get out- but I fixed that.  Took me a couple hours of un-screwing pipes and scraping crap out of them - but I did it! *flexing my muscles
2.5)  My dishwasher didn't care that the pipes are now quite healthy and clean looking and still refuses to work.
4)  I had boiled sausages last night for today's spaghetti sauce (which I was going the slow cooker route for saving time purposes and flavour!)...forgot to drain the grease.  My sauce ended up super thin and greasy (in my opinion).  But thankfully the sausages are awesome and they pack a lot of flavour  - so that helped.

So this morning I decided if I have 2 glasses of juice (prior to finding out my dishwasher was going on strike) - that'll cover yesterday and today.
I had strawberries, an orange and 2 apples in my juicer and felt energized, calm and not as nervous, compared to when I have celery or loads of carrots in my juice.
I don't feel bad for skipping last night either.  Our juicing machine is rather loud and if the V-Man wakes up - it's the end of the world.  I'd rather he and the whole building sleeps instead. :)

Tomorrow I have a yarn dyeing course but will try and have some juice in the evening afterward (just in case).

Time to go say some bloody Mary's....
BIMU

My Juicing Journal: Day 2

Hey you.
It gets better.

Or maybe it's because I used some Chinese medicine to counteract the diarrhea/detoxing...and maybe it's because I didn't use as much celery as the recipe called for.
Yesterday was oranges, apples and celery.  I also made sure to make a little less.  So I drank about 600-750ml of juice last night instead of nearly a liter and held my breath.  (It was a hideous shade of barf green - but went down smoothly.)
I didn't toot like a crazy lady (like the first night).

But I also didn't sleep in PURE FEAR of crapping myself in my sleep (when the aim should've been a toot...a blast at most...).

I did use the bathroom this morning in a rush before class and hoped and prayed to the detox gods to cut me some slack because I can't afford to miss ANY more school.  (I have a ton of meetings coming up and other stuff that is mandatory for me to go to - so really...I can't miss school!)
The detox gods were kind to me today.  I made sure to not even fluff in the empty aisles of the library...not at the empty bus stop...nope. 
I tested myself before going out the door with the kids.  I had a banana and perhaps that helped because so far so good.
I'm currently snacking on salted mixed nuts and doing alright.

Tonight's juicing menu says 2 apples, 2 oranges and you know...14 FREAKING CARROTS.
And of course it's the "Eye Opener" recipe.
Yeah no frigging kidding...

Not a typo - the site even said so.

I'm going to be swapping those 14 carrots for maybe strawberries instead.  14 strawberries (frozen - I'll take them out to thaw first) is a lot more manageable than 14 carrots.  Sure, I can shove 3-5 at a time into my juicer but I also could use those carrots for meals.

Although, considering the load of my homework - maybe it'd be worth to get ill again....

I found I'm still energetic and not as hungry - but made sure to eat small meals still - and healthier snacks - just so I don't mentally think I'm starving and end up eating something ridiculously un-healthy for me.

Your juicing warrior-in-training,
BIMU

My Juicing Journal: Day 1

So I just finished this other blog post and figured I'd keep on trucking since I'm not in class now.

Warning: My experiences may contain "too much info (tmi)" - however...I'll keep writing and you can keep reading if you wish!  
(PS Everyone poops...there's your hint.)
I had lent my juicing machine to a friend and just got it back recently and while I love the idea of losing weight easily and I know a lot of people do this the juicing route - it's not what I had in mind.

For me, I love food - a lot.
But what I loved even more was not having to lug home 4 liters of juice (no car) at a time because my boys are juice slurping monsters and I found most of it too sweet sometimes.
I just love the idea of making my own juice when I want it and knowing what it's really made of and that's that.  Also, it's a lot cheaper for me to make it myself and not that time consuming and the kids love turning the knob or choosing the fruit or veggies to put in the juicer (with supervision of course).

So I lucked out at the second hand store and got a copy of Jason Vale's "The Juice Master" (Book Depository link - not sponsored) at my local second-hand shop and thought this could be handy, not because my first goal is to lose weight but then so I can have a guide or a recipe book handy, instead of having to scour the internet.

My first goal?  Well, I'm back to sitting in a classroom for about 5 hours a day plus lunch break and a coffee break and because my school is located downtown (awesome location for the bus routes and all that) - I'm in a danger zone.  I'm not working out as much as I should be and...
The yarn store is down the hill and with the ice quickly melting...it's becoming easier to access.
I've used most of my gift card to purchase yarn for a dyeing course I'm taking soon - but otherwise have gone 2 months without purchasing yarn!!  (Part of my New Year's Resolution...)
Also there are several restaurants nearby and already this week - I had a kebab roll twice for lunch.
Pretty much pizza dough wrapped hot and snug around a lot of kebab meat and some salad, mayo and some sauce.
Last night I was so sick and just felt like a bloated brick wall (I realize they can't bloat but pretend with me...because that's what I felt like!).  I couldn't move, I was stuffed up (bowel speaking here) and felt miserable.
I still have two kids to play with and entertain (Mr. V-Man is away for overnight care currently) and still had to cook supper somehow.
I remembered my juicing machine waiting to be used and couldn't find that book I JUST bought...so I scoured the internet quickly and came across this "30-days juicing challenge".
It's free and the grocery lists are included and guess what?  It turns out I had everything available for the first day!
(I tried uploading a photo via USB cable and my phone and it's not detecting anything.  Will try another time or just follow me on Instagram!) So last night I had nearly a liter of juice for supper (not sure of exact amount but almost a liter) and I had a child's sized portion of Singapore vermicelli (as opposed to nearly 2 adult-sized portions and water for my drink).

I'M SO F-ING GLAD I JUICED AT NIGHT.

Have you seen "Bridesmaids" and they all (except one) get food poisoning and are vomiting their guts up?!
Well, I wasn't vomiting but I went to bed alert and happy and very full (without the pain of having eaten too much or having had junk food like Mister Kebab Rolls above) around midnight.
Here's where the TMI part comes in.
Practically right away, I was tooting away and my toots were reeking.  Moreso than normally.
So I figure that, "Great - my juice is busting down Mister Kebab Roll and his twin brother and I'll finally be able to crap and sleep well."
No.  Didn't happen right off the bat.  But there was a lot of gas passing and that was surely a good sign - although my husband did nothing but complain.

I did manage to fall asleep only to wake up at night to realize I need the bathroom - like yesterday.
I ran to the bathroom just in time because:
 

Yeah that's what I meant by TMI.  (Don't ask me about that huge gap...technology isn't my friend today!)
So I decided I'm not going to school in the morning in case this happens again and low and behold - I've been counting tiles in my bathroom at least three times today.

I had planned to go buy myself some new jeans (second hand stores weren't so helpful the last few times I checked!) and look at a winter coat for next winter, hoping one would be on sale - but I'm staying at home...and blogging.

I checked with a friend who is a juicing fanatic and she said it sounded familiar for her too but to keep trucking and what my body is doing is "de-toxing".  I just had a case of Norovirus two weeks ago and am still exhausted from my trips to the bathroom...
I think I'll just keep juicing at night.  And perhaps not a full liter.
It was just so tasty - day 1 was celery, apples and carrots - and I drank it out of a huge plastic cup from the movie theater with a straw and next thing I knew - Breaking Bad was over and so was my beverage.
I felt pleasantly full and full of energy (and gas) and managed to do my homework and then y'know...I became a key player in the Game of Thrones (Juicing Edition).

Happy juicing if you dare.
BIMU

PS Sorry if my text is massive - it shrunk on "normal" size and I think Blogger hates me today.