Gray water? What is it anyway and does it matter?

This is definitely a crunchy topic. See, it's not something I'd previously given a lot of thought to, but lately it's been crossing my mind more and more. Gray water....you know? The water that you flush away but not in contact with your sewage? The water from the kitchen, the bathroom sink, the bath tub, the washing machine....the water that's dirty but not....DIRTY. Added up, it becomes a LOT of water. Water that we here in the US take for granted.

But we shouldn't.

The recent draughting here in the U.S. should be a HUGE wake up sign to us that our water is not in infinite supply. We consume an excessive amount of freshwater and then spend a huge amount of energy (and money) in treating it to return it back into the water system. (though a lot of it never returns....)

I've recently watched a few documentaries on the water systems in the North American Continent and they definitely give you pause to think about just what our water is going to. (Frontline's: Poisoned Waters, Blue Gold: The Worlds Water Wars are a couple I recommend). In fact, did you know each American uses about 1 Olympic sized swimming pools worth of water...a YEAR? We use more than twice the worlds average.

So what is grey water got to do with any of this? Well, there's a lot of ways you can reuse your gray water, particularly if you are a gardener or landscaper. I've looked into this possibility before, but never gave it much further thought. Now that our garden is closing up, and we had more than enough rainfall here in PA to keep it producing without much extra watering, it's not something we'll be taking to immediately. But I will definitely be investigating it more for the future, and it's something I think that the drought plagued regions West of here should definitely be considering.

Many people say we are fast approaching a water crisis in this country. I'm inclined to think that may be very likely. If this is the case, do I really want to flush down gallons and gallons of water? Yes...I LOVE my baths, but I know I need to seriously reconsider this particular love of mine. Along with many other habits that  I know we all fall into.

Any thoughts?

Looking at the piles of dirty laundry

We all have them right? Troubles and woes, things in our life that are less than polished and less than perfect? But that is seldom what we put out there for the world to see. That's something I have to remember when I'm  reading other peoples blogs, thtey are not the perfect representation of themself that they post. They have piles of dirty laundry SOMEWHERE in that perfectly organized house with the cute home made ribbon curtain ties.

I try to be pretty honest here, and have come out with SOME of my own dirty laundry. The fact That I struggle with depression, for instance, often leaves me less than organized and drained from an internal battle you couldn't begin to fathom (unless you are a depressive yourself).

So what is some of my "dirty laundry" issues? Let's see....

 I am the MOST unorganized person. Call it being a creative. Call it ADD (very likely). Don't call it lazy. I think of myself as ANYTHING BUT lazy. I'm constantly in motion...in my head. I have a million things I want to do, but don't. Mostly because I'm overwhelmed with the ideas and then can't start (perfectionism?) This leads to a heap of unstarted projects, none of them sorted or put away into any manner that makes sense.

Trickle the organization down and as you can imagine, my finances are a mess. I do okay. I make good money, right? But it's the odds and ends that don't get tied up in a timely manner. They end up making me sink or swim in a paycheck to paycheck manner. Does anybody else struggle with this?

I'm passive agressive. Yes...I'll admit it. No, I don't WANT to be but it's the way it comes out. I'm to non-confrontational to be fully agressive, but I still want to try to enact a change in people I'm dealing with so it comes out passively. It's frustrating to me because often I don't realize I'm doing it until well later. I try to work on this, but it means I have to be aware of doing it at the time and stop it then.

I am not always a good friend. This is hard to admit, right? But it's true. Sometimes, part of being sick, or working so hard on your illness means that you dont' see what is going on with the people around you, you are to focused on yourself and what is going on inside. This is a horribly selfish thing to do, but it's something I'm willing to be that a LOT of us who are struggling with issues like trauma, depression and physical illness are guilty of. I'm extremely greatful for my friends, those who have been with me through all kinds of hardships, and to my family who also falls under this category of being put on the "back burner" to my own needs. Thank you for sticking by me and know...please know..that I love you!

So, that's some of my dirty laundry. Yes, I hung it out for the world to see, all in the name of catharcism and being REAL with you, so that you don't perceive me as one of those perfect bloggers without a single scratch. I'm not perfect. I'm just trying to get by and to do it in a way that is less harmful to myself, my family and others around me.

"Writers write"

I've taken some coaching classes recently from a friend of mine: http://www.myvoiceoftruthcoaching.com/index.html. We did five sessions and started a process I hope to continue later on down the line. Something she said to me though, stuck in my head and I wanted to muse on it some more.

We were talking about taking time for yourself, "me time" and pursuing dreams. Now, I've mentioned in this blog here before how I've always held fast to the dream of maybe one day being a "writer". I shared this with her and she pointed out that it didn't really matter what my degree was in "writers write", that the goal of being a writer was a simple as....writing. I had to really think about that some.

I write, this dinky little blog is writing. I write out stories with a good friend of mine OL in role playing situations. I write ideas. I write in journals. I make character sketches of just about everybody I meet as a potential story character. I have pages and pages of ideas. I write charts for work. I write letters. But...am I a "writer"?

I guess this goes into the same vein of thought as "am I an artist?" when I have no formal art training, and paint girls I learned to draw online from other untrained artsy folk, using craft paint and scrap book stencils. Does this make me an "artist"?

Some would say "HELL NO." I don't sell art, thereby making my living by my trade. I don't sell my writing, therefore professionally I am not a 'writer'. But...aren't I? In my heart I'd still say that is my dream, the ultimate "What I want to be when I grow up". So where does that leave me now? How do you define yourself  by dreams?

Just something to muse about.

What do you consider to be "Me time"?

"Me time": that proverbial quest of mothers everywhere. A few precious moments to carve out of a day to indulge in something for you and you ALONE. No caregiving to kids or other family members (including hyperactive puppy dogs), no tending to chores, no...expectations. But what do you consider to be "me time"?

For me, "Me time" is any time I have to myself that is unstructured. No working on blogging, no working on school..this all has some level of "obligation" attached to it, and therefore, it's not relaxing. "Me time" has to be free of obligation. "Me time" also can not included taking another person along with you. Yes, it's fun to go to the library over in the college town near us, but bringing along my sisters and son, this makes it an outing, not time to myself to be alone with my thoughts and therefore, not "Me time" (but definately still an outing I enjoy!)

"Me time" has to be totally selfish. It means locking the kids out of the bathroom so you're not interrupted twenty times during your bath, or putting a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on your bedroom door if you wish to indulge in a nap. "Me time" is the time to squander, to sneak and steal if you have to. It's not "borrowed time" because you should have no intention of giving it back.

"Me time" is more valuable than gold to mose mothers. What do you do for yours?

Me, in motion

Carsickness is all in your head. Really, it is. Carsickness results in your inner ear not being able to tell that you are stable when you are in motion in a vehicle. This happens on planes, boats and anywhere else that moves for about 33% of the population. I am one of those people. I suffer from carsickness/motion sickness routinely. I have to fight my siblings and son on family outings for seats in the van that are less likely to produce these symptoms. I have to plead sometimes for less scenic "curvy" routes home in favor of straight shots on a boring free way. I have to have people stop the car so I can get out and breath. I have to make people ride with the windows down in the middle of winter so I can have cold air blowing on my face. Reading in the car? FORGET IT! On long trips I try to sleep and or keep my eyes closed to try to keep my brain oriented. One time, when we were at Disney World, after riding on one of their rides I became so dizzy with motion sickness I had to sit for about 20 minutes on the bench right outside of the ride and beg people to just "LEAVE ME ALONE" until it settled down. I often times get a horrible headache right after the motion sickness, which will usually last the remainder of the day. Needless to say, I am not a pleasant passenger to have along.

So what can be done to help combat these episodes? Here are some things I find helpful:

Try to be the driver, if you can. I rarely get motion sick when I'm driving (but it does happen). This works but for one thing, I hate driving when there are others available to do it for me. My dad also hates to be the passenger. So this is not always an option.

Eat in the car. Yes, it seems counter intuitive but for me the act of nibbling on something seems to help. A lot. Usually dry starchy things like crackers or pretzels are extremely helpful.

Drink something warm. Coffee for me or some ginger tea help. Again, it's the act of taking something into my stomach that seems to settle down the nausea that helps.

Don't ride on an empty stomach. Skipping breakfast then riding out on a long car trip, for me, are the WORST things I can do. I'm nauseated quickly when my stomach is empty and my blood sugar is down. I try to eat something light before I go then nibble some more while riding.

Don't try to read or knit or play video games or anything like that...EVER. If you're like me it takes just moments of looking down at something to become nauseated and once that starts, it's hard to go back!

Make sure your driver understands that you will not be a good "co-pilot". My mom will ask for things as we are driving a long. Some of them I can do, like handing her a drink or changing the air setting. Others, I can not. I can't dig to the bottom of her purse for change for the toll unless we are stopped at the booth, otherwise, the act of looking down will be my undoing. Talk to the people you are going with ahead of time and make them aware of this. Let somebody else do the kind of stuff  that involves looking down or backwards. (Minding the children in the back seat?)

Bring along some ginger. Candied ginger is a bit hot on the palate but it really does help. There is ginger gum that you can find in the pharmacy for morning sickness and cancer patients. It works, but it is expensive. Also you could brew up a cup of ginger tea or try some ginger capsules before you go. I don't have a lot of luck with ginger capsules but others do.

Mint is also very helpful for once the nausea has begun. Mint gum, mint tea or hard candies can help. Suck them slowly and keep your eyes closed if you can't stop immediately.

Breathing. Focus on breathing deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Crack down the window or blow the A/C right on you to get fresh air. Cold air for me is most helpful. Keep your eyes closed until the waves pass.

Put a cold cloth on your neck or over your eyes. This helps to draw the blood away from your stomach, where it rushes to "help" you're distressed system. It can also be helpful if, like me, you get a raging headache from motion sickness.

These are just some of the things I have found to be helpful. They may also work for other incidences of nausea like morning sickness. I know that there have been entire days ruined (for me) by becoming carsick at the start of the day and not having it go away even after the car is in motion, so for me "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

10 uses for tea tree oil

I am a relative newbie to the world of essential oils, I'll admit. I know that there are dangers to using some of them (can't be used topically or internally) and I don't think I know enough to go monkeying about experimenting without knowing more. That being said, there are a few I have in my arsenal that I am definately wondering how I ever lived without.

One of those is tea tree oil.

For those of you who don't know, tea tree oil is also called melaluca oil. It is from a plant that is unique to Australia. It has a wonderfully clean fragrance and has been used in aroma therapy for bringing relief to cold/flu symptoms and persistant coughs. I have added it to my tooth powder/paste* and deodorant. But what else can I use it for? Here are ten neat ways to try this nifty oil.

*Tea tree can not be used internally so if you are using it for tooth powder/paste, don't swallow it!

1. Add a few drops to a vaporizer to help relieve congestion.

2. Use to treat danruff and dry scalp.

3. Add a few drops to your bath water. This helps with body odor and has a mild anti-bacterial effect.

4. Use a dab to treat acne

5. mix 15 drops into a quart of water to use as an insect repellant (spray on your body)

6. Put a few drops into a load of laundry to help clothes smell fresher

7. Use it to treat athletes foot: Keep foot clean and dry. Add Tea Tree Oil directly to the affected area as needed until fungus is completely healed. If the oil is makes the skin sensitive, dilute in a carrier oil like Almond, Olive or Grape seed oil.

8. Make a germ killing cleaner by adding several drops to a spray bottle filled with water.

9. For fleas on dogs dilute 8-10 drops of oil into a cup of water and spray onto the pet's coat. (Dogs only please, cats do to much licking to use essential oils on).

 10. For dry skin mix 6-7 drops of tea tree oil per oz. of almond oil or jojoba oil and apply the mixture to affected area.

The cost of going "no 'poo"

So, have any of you gone "no 'poo" yet? Given it a try? I am still at it, nearly 6 months in now! It takes some definite adjustment time but boy, is it working. I even managed to go on a mini-vacation and remain shampoo free in a hotel room! (I premeasured backing soda and vinegar into little containers, planning to wash my hair every other day like I do at home.) I still have a few "kinks" to figure out. Like my scalp tends to be a little itchy, which I think means I need to cut back a little more on the baking soda or add a little tea tree oil into the mix. Maybe in the final rinse? I don't know. But I'm pleased with it! My scalp feels clean, my hair is nice and soft on wash days and not gross and greasy on the days between. I've even been able to go (on days I don't exercised and sweat) for three days between washings without having a major grease ball head! I don't know if my hair has stopped thinning, but it seems to be thinning...less than before. It's hard to say though, it's so thin already and I still pull quite a bit of hair out of my brush. Still....I know I'm not putting a bunch of garbage into my hair, so that's good!

So, still need a little incentive to give it a try yourself? Well, let's look at it from a different angle, shall we? Yes, it's a natural way to keep your hair clean. Yes it reduces the amount of "grey water" in the environment and pulls a lot of detergents out of the system. But have you thought about the cost? I mean really broken it down? I have, just for you!

So, you go to the store and buy a box of baking soda. Let's say you're feeling REALLY cheap that day and you buy a box of Walmart Brand. (I don't know how you feel about Walmart, where I live, it's really hard to get away from shopping there since it has effectively driven out local business.) You pay between $1 and $.50 a box for it here. So let's assume you pay $1. For that you get 1 lb of baking soda. If you use that soda for nothing else, you will get over 100 hair washes out of it. More if you use less than 1 tbsp per wash (less if you use more..). So, are you doing this math with me? 100 hair washes for $1 comes out to under a penny per wash. So, now we need to condition, so we go and buy a big ol' jug of apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar (*I used the distilled because it helps significantly with my extra oily hair. Others use Cider vinegar with good results). For a 1 gallon jug of apple cider vinegar you pay around $3. If all you do is condition your hair with this, you'll get 256 hair washings. That also comes out to about one penny per wash.

Which means if you go the basic route, you are spending two cents a hair wash. Washing every other day, that box of baking soda will last you for over three months. Three months of hair washing for under just about a dollar. So you shouldn't feel guilty for adding to your routine a little honey (for moisture) or a little tea tree oil (for growth and soothing) or rosemary (for growth). You'll still be saving a TON of money over washing with shampoo. And you will be putting less gunk onto your body and into the environment.

Think again about giving it a try, huh?