Common Ground Latex Allergy

I was searching for some options and found this:

Do you know who you are? You're the Dream Operator

I responded with this:

Some time ago, I needed new undies. I quickly grabbed some new ones. Not the first wears. no, I was about a month in. Yikes! I had burns all along the leg openings.

No problem, after going commando until it healed. I can put this off a bit I thought. (I hate shopping!) I hadn't tossed all my old undies, so I went back to wearing them. I got along for a bit, maybe two months. 

          I even didn't mind the rips and tears. Then last night, burns around one leg opening. 

Even though I have had various allergies since birth (some painful, some annoying, some life threatening). I still don't grasps all the intricacies. Like, there is elastic around the waist and both legs, why aren't there burn marks there? and last night, why are there only burn marks on my right leg? 

I know that I don't need to understand. I only need to get new underwear. I am debating sewing them or buying them. I wonder how your journey has been.

Your friend ("Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei")

Let Love and Gratitude Guide Us,

Jodi Ann

Now back to my search ... wish me luck. I'm wearing my 30 year old long john pants and they are thread bare!

P.S. I ended up buying mens briefs. I don't know what they're made of but the elastic is covered. Only time will tell if this works long term. In the short term, they work great. And they are a different cut so they don't rub where most of the burns are.

Top Reasons To Stain Shirt as Soon as Leaving Home

1. I Don't have to worry about how I look for the rest of the day.

2. I have interaction with more people as they point out the stain.

3. I have the perfect reason to tie-dye my shirt.

4. I can practice my bird in a birdbath imitation in the water fountain as I desperately try to rinse my shirt.

5. I have a good excuse to buy a new shirt.

I Don't Know How To Eat!!

How is it possible that I still have not perfected the art of eating? Here I am minding my own business, I take a bite out of a taco and BAMM! I have breathed in a little piece of taco, I'm choking and then luckily I start coughing. It takes several minutes for me to recover. Why don't I know the difference between breathing and eating after 50 years of daily practice? What am I missing?

I am reminded of my childhood. My elders did try to instill social graces into my life. I can remember some of them.

• Don't talk with your mouth full
• Elbows off the table (Mabel)
• Chew each bite 20 times
• Close your mouth as you chew (eat as quietly as possible)
• Sit up straight

Let's take a look. I don't think that I adhere to any of these.

Don't talk with your mouth full - I regularly talk with food in my mouth. Hopefully, my mouth is not full. I do try not to stuff my mouth full as I eat

Elbows off the table (Mabel) - I know that I have rested both of my elbows on the table while I negotiated a sandwich into my mouth

Chew each bite 20 times - Ha, funny, 20 times, ha ha, oh, they were serious. I'm probably lucky if I chew each bite 10 times

Close your mouth as you chew (eat as quietly as possible) - This one I do, except when I'm talking or singing while I eat

Sit up straight - Sit? I do sit sometimes. I enjoy the whole family eating together but it seems so difficult to get everyone eating at the same time. I'm guilty of eating while I do chores around the house, while I take the puppies out. Plus I do not have the good posture that I could. I most enjoy sitting with my hips tilted back, with my left knee up or at least my left foot tucked up under my bottom

At the time of this last choking incident, my mouth was not full, I was not talking, I was not at a table, I'm certain I had not chewed the food enough, my mouth was closed, I was undoubtedly slouching with my left knee up.

So maybe I'll try going back to these basics and see if my choking frequency reduces.

Too Ripe Bananas & Amazing Dog Treats

Yin and Yang napping. We didn't name them that but we sure could have.

I've never knew what to do with too ripe bananas. I've heard freeze them. I could use them later for banana bread-I cannot eat wheat and my daughter only likes bananas by themselves. Recently 3 ingredient dog treats was recommended on Pinterest. (Pinterest has a pretty good algorithm). The original post is Homemade Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats at http://munchkinsandmilitary.com/2015/02/homemade-peanut-butter-banana-dog-treats.html

Ingredients I have on hand in my kitchen: an almost empty oatmeal box,
 an almost empty peanut butter jar and three very ripe bananas.

Simple enough the recipe called for: 1 1/2 cups uncooked Oatmeal, 1 large Banana, and 1/2 cup Peanut Butter. That didn't match my ingredients. I had 1 cups uncooked Oatmeal, 3 medium Bananas and 3/4 cup Peanut Butter. Also probably because of the change of ingredients, my treats could probably been cooked even longer than the 20 minutes at 350°F. Either way the pups love them. So don't be afraid of changing the proportions.

I made two big ones with my dog bone
cookie cutter and the rest about 2 inch rounds. 

Update 08/26/2017: both of the dogs loved these!!

Cleaning My Chalky Dishes in the Dishwasher

Chalky Dishes, Dishwasher, Limescale

I readily admit that housework is a challenge for me and that I use any shortcut or cheat that I can without endangering the life or well being of my friends and family. With that being said I had been using a powdered dishwasher distributed by Aldi's. I was happy for a while. Then this summer I started to notice that my dishes were chalky after they had been "cleaned" in the dishwasher. I was able to scrape the chalk off with my fingernail, it really appears as limescale. Not particularly a pleasant task to undertake. I use the dishwasher to make my life easier, not to add tasks to my day. I decided to buy Cascade. I have used Cascade over the years and I had never had any issues with it before. My first response was that Cascade has a new box. That is not really a big problem for me though. I am a firm believer in FUNCTION over FORM. I thought probably some research firm had decided that this newly designed box would entice more sales. The problem though was that my dishes did NOT improve. In fact, my previously black Farberware began to appear GRAY. My glasses and clear plastic cups all had a layer of limescale. I can remember an article, an announcement that my community had switched from using Chlorine to using Chloramine. So I decided to do some searching online. I found that many people across the country were having similar if not exactly the same issues as I was having. I asked a few local friends and they too were having trouble. I decided to try some of the solutions that I found online. I tried this first one, it works so I haven't tried any others.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
* 1/2 cup borax
* 1/2 cup baking soda
* 1/2 cup salt
* 3 envelopes unsweetened lemon drink mix (I am using Aldi's Flavoraide lemon-lime)
Use one tbsp for pre-wash and one tbsp wash.

I gave this recipe some thought. Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) and Unsweetened Lemon Drink Mix (Citric Acid) make that lovely foam (http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com/baking-soda-and-vinegar.html) giving off water and carbon dioxide. If I put salt in my bath it softens the water. For that matter people pay to have Calcium and Manganese removed from their water with salt in "water softeners." Now, I am certain that the gray is in fact limescale! And limescale is often Calcium Bicarbonate and can be removed with citric acid.

I like the recipe because I can mix it up from items I actually already have on hand. I give it a try. Immediately, my dishes were clean AND less scaley. I tried adding vinegar during the rinse cycle in a load with all of my Farberware. Now my spatula and spoons look brand new again.

I am happy with this simple solution maybe you will be too!

Finally Chalky Dishes in the Dishwasher Come Clean