anointed

anoint
\ə-ˈnȯint\
transitive verb
1: to smear or rub with oil or an oily substance
2a: to apply oil to as a sacred rite especially for consecration; b: to choose by or as if by divine election


About 6 months ago I got some areas of dry skin under my eyes. This has happened every winter for several years now, and I always attributed it to the winter weather drying out the tender skin. I would put some extra moistruizer on it and eventually it would go away.

However, this year, instead of going away... it spread... to both upper and lower eyelids (racoon style) and even had a few patches on my lips!?! I remember my tears bothering it in years past, so much so that one time I thought I might be allergic to my own tears. But now, any time a tear would so much as think about falling it would BURN LIKE FIRE! Even the moisturizer made me come out of my skin. So I systematically tried every cream, lotion, and potion in my stash, including all the fancy little samples I have accumulated. AND... it seemed the fancier the cream, the more it burned.

So I finally stopped and decided I may have to go to the doctor. Until one day a sweet friend brought her boys over to play at our house. She said "Have you heard about the oil cleansing method?" I looked at her crazy as she described to me how she washed her face twice a day with nothing but a mixture of olive oil and castor oil. (WHAT?????) She said it kind of re-balances your skin since all the products we use strip away the natural oils in our skin.

She promised it would take off makeup and that it hadn't caused her any break-outs. (REALLY????) I've been using oil-free makeup, expensive astringents and glycolic washes (and lots of them) on purpose since I was a teenager because I have oily skin that is prone to breakouts... and now you want me to rub some cooking oil and a laxative all over my face????? No thank you very much, was my immidiate reaction... but... you have to see her skin! It is perfect. Perfect, perfect, flawless, perfect, beautiful skin. No better testimony than that.

Besides, this disgusting rash was really beginning to be painful, my eyelids were swelling and the tiniest beads of sweat or tears would just enrage it further. So I made the concoction, and began to "wash" my face with oil. 3 parts olive oil, 1 part castor oil. (Yes, I support Rachel Ray)

It was like aloe vera to a sunburn or baking soda to a bee sting! It took the burn right off my eyes. It was the only thing that soothed it. So I began to wash my face this way twice a day and, because it felt so good, I would oil up my eyelids several more times whenever possible. It took about 2 weeks of no make up and twice daily anointing to finally heal. Great!

So I kept on using my miracle potion for several months with no problem... until one day when I suddenly got a great big breakout on my cheek... and I immidiatly blamed my trusty oil cleanser. After all we'd been through... I still suspected the oil. I went back to my old routine to try and clear up the breakout... and guess what? The funk on my eyes retunred... and with a vengeance. Here is an early picture...

It got worse after this and was on both eyes in a few days. So I began the anointing process again. Then one day I walked into my moms house and she said "I had the exact same thing on my eyes when I was pregnant with you." Her doctor diagnosed it as seborrheic dermatitis and said it was likely hormone related. It went away as soon as she delivered me. Well, I'm not pregnant, but there are a zillion other causes and related factors. And Kevin would probably tell you that my hormones are often out of whack so that might be it after all.

It took about 3 weeks of no make-up and washing with oil, but it has finally healed. And I don't know if I'll ever go back to my old ways again.

My friend Jenna (who got me hooked on the oil cleansing method) told me the other day that she's had a hard time finding castor oil lately and had to go to several places before finding it. I guess I will stock up, in case there is a shortage or something. Thankfully the rash has healed though. Can you imagine what people might think if they saw me carting cases of castor oil through the store with my red, puffy, burning face. What sort of affliction causes yucky facial rashes AND severe constipation??

Com Post

My husband did the unthinkable! Something I thought he'd never do in a million years! He bought me my very own COMPOST MIXER for Christmas! I was so excited! And I think its awesome that he knew I would love it. :) Not all girls would be as excited about this.

I've been talking for a while about planting a vegetable garden in our backyard. We just got a new fence that will hopefully keep the ZILLIONS of rabbits in our neighborhood out of our yard. So now the digging and planting can begin! And hopefully the homemade fertilizer will be ready pretty soon!

Here she is! We put her together about 4 weeks ago.

Then I had to learn how to make compost! The brown/green ratio should be at least 2:1 and not more than 3:1.

Brown: All we had was leaves and twigs in the yard
Green: Kitchen scraps (guts of a spaghetti squash, carrot peel, old celery, egg shells etc...)

I want my first batch to be completely unadulterated, organic compost. So only organic scraps.

I went out to add some more scraps one day when we had all the snow and ice, and the mixer (plus all the compost inside) was frozen solid. I couldn't turn it or open it. Freezing temps are not good for the decomposition process. So my 4-6 week project will probably take double the time since we are just now getting a little sunshine and warmer temps. Just for cuteness sake... Leah calls it "Mommy's Compost" and she desperately tries to turn the handle on it, but it's too heavy. She will be helping me spread it on our "crops" this spring and summer though! I can't wait to get good and dirty!!!

I checked on it this week, and the contents are now nice and black like they should be, but everything is still recognizable. I'll take some more pictures of it soon. I know you can't wait!!!

I was slightly disheartened by the fact that the instructions that came with the mixer warned against putting dog, cat or human feces into your compost. Some things just don't need to be said, right?!? Though I guess it could be a little confusing since you CAN add the waste of vegetarian animals like chickens and cows. But I don't have much of that lying around.

I hope you enjoyed my compost post! Happy March!

(If you haven't voted for my sister's sheep yet, make sure you read the previous post and go vote! The voting ends today, March 1!)

My sister's sheep need your help!

They need your vote. If you don't vote, my sister's sheep may end up with someone else, and how could you live with yourself if that happened? Do you really want to have that on your conscience?

This is really not a joke, although I can hear some of you chuckling. My sister Leslie may be a bit of a black sheep herself, but I think it helps her identify with the animals. And it will make her a GREAT shepherd. She has entered a contest to win a small flock of sheep (or goats.) She has been reading and learning all about shepherding and has even secured some land and a barn where she can raise them. She is just about ready, now all she needs is her sheep... and she can get them with your help!

You can read more about the contest and giveaway if you click here.

Or you can just click here to go straight to her video.

Or if you are in a big hurry, you can just click here to go straight to the voting. (2 seconds!)


Vote for Leslie Cooper. I know she will really appreciate it if all you have time to do it vote... but you will enjoy the video if you have time. Its less than 4 minutes.

These are the pics of Leah taken back in the fall that I said I would post then forgot about. She can't wait for her Aunt Leslie to get her sheep!!

Project Puree - Corn Fed

So, this is not the most exciting stuff that's been going on in our house, but I happen to have the pictures organized better than anything else. (So keep tuning in!)

About a month ago I decided that, difficult as it was, I needed to stop making baby food and use up what I had. So, I abstained for several weeks, and THEN.... you guessed it... I had zillions of baby food jars to fill! SO I went on a filling spree!

• Carrots and zucchini... old faves...

• Asparagus/zucchini and...
• Several fruit mixtures. Pear/blueberry is the big favorite.
  
• Steamed rice and corn... mixed with peas and carrots. This one looks gross and it is SUPER sticky but SHE LOVES IT! Not sure if its the rice or the corn she loves so much, because I mixed them, but she dances in her seat when she eats this one. (She dances when she eats any fruits, cheerios, oatmeal or any food off of her mom or daddy's plate too.)

• Green beans (my first successful batch... the trick is chop them small - half inch or so - and steam them to death... I boiled them the first two times and they were a stringy mess
• Mango/Pear
• Mango/Blueberry
• Mango/Pear/Blueberry
• Mango/Nectarine (I eat this one.... so yummy)
• Pear/Nectarine/Blueberry
• Pineapple/Banana (First banana mixture I have been able to keep from turning brown, due to the pineapple's acidity) It's Leah's favorite behind pear/blueberry and applesauce straight up. She told me.
• Green Bean / Blueberry -- I actually don't recommend this one. I tried it and thought it was fine. The blueberry flavor takes over, but the texture is green-beanish. Weird. Leah eats it but seems to like it less and less each time. I know.... I got carried away.

She also does lots of big girl food these days. But due to teething (about 6 teeth at once) she has major appetite and mood inconsistencies. ;-) (That's the nice way to say it.) The grapes in the picture above are frozen, and if you don't know about the yummy-ness of frozen, red, seedless grapes, let me inform you... I have been freezing them and snacking on them all my life. They taste like candy... so good! Wash them and then put a bunch in a freezer bag. You'll thank me!

Leah loves them cut into little pieces. Good for cutting new teeth, too. The yellow lump seen above is a frozen, steamed apple. When I'm making apple or pear sauce I freeze a few of the quartered, steamed fruits for Leah's gnawing pleasure later. Cold hands... soothed gums... full tummy!

Not pictured here is spinach and a 5 lb butternut squash that filled tons of jars and big tubs. I made several interesting b-nut squash batches...

• b-nut + green peas + spinach (good way to hide those high vitamin veggies if your little squirt won't eat them)
• b-nut + pimentos
• b-nut + sour cream
• b-nut + prunes (old favorite... careful with prunes... a little goes a LONG way!)

Gotta get blogging! Happy Groundhog Day everyone!!

Project Puree - I'll show you mine...

I feel so weird about showing you the inside of my freezer.... it feels like its a very intimate thing! And so now I feel like you should show me yours... its only fair. What you can't see is the very top shelf where we keep some frozen milk and sugar free fudge bars. I'm not proud of how everything is stuffed in there, but I do like my stacks of brightly colored baby purees.

-

I actually get sad when all my jars are full, because I love making the stuff. (I feel like Diane Keaton in Baby Boom.) But Leah averages 4-5 jars a day so I never have to wait long before I can wash and refill!

-

The first food that our girl really didn't like much was asparagus. She always makes the "IT'S SO YUCKY" face during the first bite of something new. But she flat out refused bite #2 and SLAPPED my hand away... including the spoon full of asparagus that went EVERYWHERE! Then I mixed it with sweet potatoes to make a tasty treat. It also went well with butternut squash. Now she'll eat it alone. We just had to ease into it. Its quite fragrant you know.

Here are my most recent creations. (bluestrawpple, strawpple, bluepear, raspapple) The Raspberry-Apple is not only a lovely shade of hot pink, but it is YUMMY! Too tangy for Leah (unless I cut it with a little oatmeal), but just right for mama.For the 3 people who are actually interested in this, I steam or bake everything first except for the berries. I just threw them in with my applesauce and pear-sauce and tasted stuff til I liked it. I have yet to give her anything I haven't tried. I know its weird, but I'm kind of proud of myself for trying "new things."

For cuteness sake...

Project Puree - from A to Z

Our newest foods... it just gets more fun I tell ya!

Apples
Acorn squash
Barley
Bananas
Butternut squash
Nectarines
Pears
Prunes
Zucchini

I've been forgetting to take pictures of everything (I'll pretend you did NOT just sigh with relief) so here are just a few!

Bananas - this is my mom's famous recipe

• 1 ripe banana
• Mash with fork
• Serve
  

"mmm... bananas... gimme!""Hmmm, I think I like it." "Yep, I like it... AND I like holding all my bath toys while I eat it."
Next!

I love the green ones... nice bright colors"No more green ones!!" (She actually LOVEs the zucchini squash and the yellow squash more than anything. She just HATEs everything right at first.) Pears and nectarines. This time I used Bosc Pears... be-u-ti-ful!

That's enough fun for now. Later!

Project Puree - yellow and orange

I am sincerely sorry that this will bore so many folks. But sometimes I can't help myself. I love projects. So hopefully this is quick and painless and won't make you want to stop reading this blog altogether. And for those who only visit us to see pics of the girl... for you..

After sweet peas, we enjoyed carrots...

.

Sweet potatoes are the FAVORITE so far... stupid picture won't turn.

.

Then summer squash!

.

YUM! The squash has been my personal favorite so far.

.

We also had pears, but not homemade... no good ones to choose from this time of year. Check out the pink "spoon"... kind of intriguing and revolting at the same time huh?
.

So apparently you are supposed to start with yellow foods, then go to orange and then green. Oops. We have always been a little backward. (Although it seems that on the subject of baby's first foods, there are as many opinions as there are foods!) I just really wanted to post these pictures because I love the vibrant colors of the mush.

Project Puree

Is everyone as excited as I am that the new season of Project Runway finally started? There aren't many TV shows I love anymore, but I LOVE PROJECT RUNWAY! I can't explain it. Its on Lifetime now though...Lifetime? Really? What a lame channel. I hope they show re-run marathons like they did on Bravo. I love Project Runway Re-Run Marathons... I need a bumper sticker.

So, Project Puree is going on in the Curley household. There are people who think I'm an alright cook. But I am pretty sure my husband isn't one of those people. This is probably because although I will usually follow directions and go with old tried and true recipes when cooking for others, I tend to do all my experiments on my husband's meals. I'm an "estimator" and a "substituter" at heart and sometimes that really works! And sometimes it makes for a weird dish full of baked chicken breasts SOAKED in Tabasco sauce... This is so true that when I make him something that tastes good... he always seems genuinely surprised.

Nevertheless, I decided to make Leah's baby food myself. Lots of reasons...

1. healthier (Or at least I know exactly what's in it...)
2. simpler (she eats what we eat and vice-versa... I'm convinced this is going to make me broaden my horizons too... like eating prunes and mushrooms... yuck!)
3. cheaper (my first project cost less than $1 for about 24 ounces of baby food!)
4. simulating-er (she develops an expansive palate because I can offer her a wider variety of foods, flavors and textures than are available in stores...blah...blah...blah...now that I have said that she will probably end up being the kid who will only eat American cheese and tater tots)
5. funner! (This is the main reason because really...what's more fun than puree-ing?) (Can you tell I'm having a little trouble with suffixes today...)

I can't tell you how elated I was to make my first batch of baby food for our little curley q. We started with sweet peas.... how appropriate. Kevin says "the only thing that would be better is if you grew your own peas in the backyard and THEN made the baby food out of it." Sounds sweet and encouraging doesn't he? Except that this is the way he (lovingly) makes fun of me. To this wicked attempt at ridicule, I only smile and say "OK." So you can look forward to a future post about the creation of the-curley-family-vegetable-garden. ;)

My first experience was so much fun I decided to share it with all who care to see!

Here we go!! Peas...

.

I just thought this one was a cool picture.
.

Doesn't this girl look excited about her mama's cooking?

.

And into the food processor...my new #1 favorite appliance. (My #1 used to be my stand mixer, but it is in need of repair. Plus, I just never had that many foods that needed processing before. It pretty much only got used at Thanksgiving and Christmas... not anymore!!)

.

Alrighty, looks pretty baby-foodish... lets give it a try! (look at that color!)

.

Hmmm... not your favorite you say? (I'm trying not to say "is it yucky?" too often... instead when she makes this face and I am dying laughing I say "is it not your favorite yet?")

.

And I know many of you think it may be borderline abusive to take pictures while your child gags so hard she throws up (not spits up but actually throws up!) but it was an accident. I was laughing so hysterically (tears actually running down my face) at her funny faces while Kevin fed her the first 2 bites that I didn't notice how SERIOUS the gags were. So sad...

(MotheR of the YeaR nomination please) .

Good thing we had that bib with the pocket on the front! Poor baby.
Turns out, it was just a little thick. A little dab of freshly expressed breast milk to thin it out did the trick. Yummy! (TMI?)

.

Not too shabby...

.

At first I wanted to get the fancy contraption from Williams-Sonoma that steams and purees your food with the push of a button. I asked around and found out from a-friend-of-a-friend that these basically steam everything right into mush. No opportunity for the customization I desire. (However, if any of my friends have this contraption, I still want to see it in action.) This same friend-of-a-friend, who was hailed as the "homemade baby food queen," turned me on to these nifty little containers that can go in fridge, freezer, microwave and dishwasher! Perfect!

.

Just fill them with 1 or 2 ounces of whatever you are making and freeze.

LOVIN IT! We'll keep you posted, I know you can't wait.

Go Green!

A multipurpose title for the day...

First...

Yay Mavs! We're headed to the second round. This always gets my blood pumping.... especially when its the SA Spurs that we beat! (Although nothing beats that TRIPLE overtime excitement when the Bulls tied up their series last night! Intense! I LOVE the NBA playoffs... so does this girl.)

Second...

Little LC is a bum genius! While I was pregnant I told Kevin I wanted to use cloth diapers. He laughed at me (rolled his eyes and called me a hippy) and said... "Let's not." At the time, there was just too much too learn already... too many new things... We were first-timers who felt like we knew NOTHING. Although, if there was ONE thing I was confident of, it was my ability to change a diaper... a disposable diaper. So, of course you should attack a new challenge with as many confidence builders in your back pocket as you can. So we stockpiled newborn pampers... (with the stripe... those who know about the stripe, love the stripe.)

When we brought our baby girl home, we both laughed and agreed that "doing the cloth diaper thing" would have been disastrous for us. For one thing... we had created this tiny little POOP MACHINE! Learning to use cloth diapers, however simple it may prove to be... would have caused someone in our house to have a breakdown... since we were changing 12 or more LARGE, FULL, POOPY diapers every day at first.

In the last two and a half months though, I have become comfortable and confident with many other baby care tasks... and I need a challenge. :) Not really, I want to save money and save the planet and they are WAY cuter than huggies or pampers. So even though Kevin thinks I'm a weird hippy, I'm doing it. My friend Brandie took me to this little shop and introduced me to the reality of today's cloth diapers... and convinced me to buy them. I'm so excited! Here is my little "bum genius." She may turn out bow-legged from all those layers between her legs, and she may have to sleep on her tummy to keep the blood from rushing to her head... but isn't her big booty precious?

Here's a pink one!!