Wiggle Worm wasn’t too interested in posing, but I did capture a couple of sweet shots:

Texas Bluebonnet Boy

Usually bluebonnet season reaches its peak in April, but there are plenty of blooms out there already.

Texas bluebonnet season

A field of Texas Bluebonnets

Many people I give prayer shawls to don’t know what they are before they receive one, so I include a note with each shawl to explain a little bit about the prayer shawl ministry. I write each card by hand, and every time the message is a little different, but the purpose is to both explain what the prayer shawl is and also that I made the shawl especially for them.

One of the latest prayer shawl cards I wrote out had this message handwritten inside:

Dear (name),

This is a prayer shawl I made especially for you. Prayer shawls are very special because the maker prays continually over the recipient while making the shawl.

While I don’t believe that physical objects hold power over us, I do believe that each prayer I asked will bless you and bring you strength, comfort, and guidance.

I hope the journal and the angel will also be friendly reminders that God is right there with you through all your struggles – and that you also have friends and family caring for you and praying for you.

May you be reminded of all the little blessings in life every time you see or wear your shawl.

With love,

Elaine

I was waiting to send it out because my new stamp says “Handmade with love especially for you” – just another reminder that each person is special in God’s eyes and that it is not a coincidence I chose them to receive the shawl. I’ll post the pictures of the card here soon!

Ripple: an easy prayer shawl pattern

I’ve been making prayer shawls for years, and I’m always experimenting with new yarns and new patterns. My latest prayer shawl is for a lady who absolutely loves green. After searching through 3 different stores, I finally stumbled across a lovely bulky green yarn. The yarn is called “First Love” from Hobby Lobby – the color name (Poison Apple) kind of turned me off, but the recipient doesn’t need to know what the silly color namers say.

I liked this yarn as soon as I picked up the skein because it’s silky soft, and also because it’s much smoother than Homespun. Homespun is so fuzzy that its own pattern kind of overpowers your knitting or crocheting, so my last prayer shawl was a simple long rectangle of double crochet. With this smoother, silkier yarn, I decided I wanted a more visible crochet pattern.

I dug out an old ripple afghan pattern I wanted to try. After much experimenting, I found it didn’t really work with this yarn (it’s meant for worsted), so I used the basic concept and adapted it for a simple prayer shawl.

I tried to get it to work the short way, with just 2 or 3 ripples that would repeat over and over, but in the end I decided the shawl would look best if I crocheted it the long way. Here is the super easy pattern – it looks more complicated than it is, I promise; after a few ripples you’ll know it by heart!

It took me something like 20 or 30 minutes to complete each row, so I would say the total time I spent making this easy prayer shawl was about 7 hours. It’s so easy that once you pick up the pattern, you can take it anywhere and pick up right where you left off – no crazy counting or worries if you have to stop in the middle of a row.

I’ve taken to including little extras with each prayer shawl as well. This recipient will receive an angel pin that doubles as a closure in case she wants the shawl to stay snug, and I’m also going to tuck in a Blessings journal I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby that has scriptures and passages to guide your journaling. If it arrives in time, I’ll also use my new personalized stamp to create a special handmade card explaining what a prayer shawl is, but we shall see when the postman brings that long-awaited package. She might have to make do with a handwritten card!

Closeup of the crocheted ripples

Front of the shawl, with an angel pin

Prayer shawl package

Ripple prayer shawl - back detail

Look for more prayer shawl posts to come! I’ll write about the meaning of prayer shawls, show more about how I package the shawls for recipients, and offer more free patterns – as time allows.

A couple of months ago, I was almost at my wits’ end. I could not stop thinking about all the problems my family and I were facing.

On one of the days when I was the most heartsick, I went for a walk. (You can read about it here: Guardian of the Spring.) When I came back, a burden had been lifted, and I started to think about what I could do to stop being miserable.

It’s not as hard as you think. All you have to do is slowly change your way of thinking. Most people train themselves to think negatively. We focus on what we don’t like about the world and we complain about it. When something bad happens, we say things like, “This kind of stuff always happens to me.”

I thought about all the people I admire most in life. The women who unfailingly give me a smile and ask how I am doing — and demand to know how I am really doing. The people who make a difference in other people’s lives and just radiate joy.

And you know what? I saw a pattern. The people I admire are all positive.

Not all the time. Life gets them down sometimes. But they just have a different way of looking at things.

So I thought about it some more. I started reading The Road Less Traveled; I downloaded an audiobook of Your Best Life Now. I listened more to K-LOVE (whose motto, I realized, is “Positive, Encouraging”). The changes happened slowly at first; I had to take the time to realize I was dwelling on negative thoughts and steer my thoughts away.

But as the weeks went by, I found myself greeting each day with a welcoming prayer. I focused more and more on the good things that were happening, and the good things that could happen. And suddenly some really good things did happen. I got a job — and had an interview for an even better one. I had an interview for a teaching job too — one that I could do at night and still keep a full-time job in the field.

If being positive is a real struggle for you, I would highly recommend finding a copy of the video You can heal your life. It’s amazing what a difference your thoughts make — more often than not, you literally attract what you think about and get what you expect. Watch the video or at least read the book, and it can help you start to consciously shape your thoughts so that more positive things will begin to happen in your life.

My grandfather was a pharmacist, and most of my family (including me) have experienced severe allergy and sinus problems over the years. So I learned from an early age what types of medicine were available and when to use each kind. The last time I helped a friend figure out what kind of medicine she needed, it really struck me how much of a pain it must be for most people who just have an occasional cold and don’t know which medicine will work best or why. Here’s how to choose which bottle to grab off the medicine shelf.

My top allergy sinus medicine recommendations

For sinus problems, pseudoephedrine is the best medicine you can take. It’s a decongestant, which means it helps relieve the pressure. Unfortunately, it can be used to make illegal drugs, so even though you don’t need a prescription, you have to go to the pharmacy counter to ask for any medicine that contains pseudoephedrine.

I usually keep a box of plain Sudafed-D at the house. It only contains pseudoephedrine, so it only decongests. If I’ve got a sinus infection or a cold that is not due to allergies, it’s nice to be able to take only the medicine I need.

If you’re also having allergy problems, plain old diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is good. You can buy the pink Benadryl which only contains an antihistamine — which helps your body stop reacting to the allergens — and take it at the same time as Sudafed-D, or you can buy blue Benadryl which contains both medicines together.

If you have postnasal drip (mucus draining down your throat) or you’re coughing up mucus, guaifenesin is a lifesaver. It is the main ingredient in Mucinex. I usually buy the Mucinex-D, which also contains pseudoephedrine, because most times if I’m coughing up mucus I also need sinus medicine.

For bedtime, NyQuil is no longer my medicine of choice. They took pseudoephedrine out of the formula, and it just doesn’t work for me. Instead, I buy Walgreens’ store brand “Nighttime-D” which is the same formula NyQuil used to use.

Nighttime-D contains a fever and pain reducer, an antihistamine (a different one than what Benadryl contains, but it does the same thing), medicine to help you stop coughing, and best of all, pseudoephedrine to clear your sinuses. It also has alcohol, which helps you sleep. I try to take this medicine the first night I am sick and either take a smaller dose the second night or alternate days. If you use the same allergy sinus medicine more than a couple of days in a row, it starts being less effective.

When you’re sick longer than a couple of days, I also recommend taking TheraFlu. You can do Mucinex-D one day (it lasts 12 hours), Sudafed or Benadryl the next day, and TheraFlu the next day — then rotate all over again.

Now that you have my main recommendations, here is a more detailed look at the different categories of allergy sinus medicine:

Allergy sinus medicine #1: Antihistamines

An antihistamine is an allergy medicine that helps stop your body from reacting to an allergy. Antihistamines try to stop your body from creating symptoms like runny nose and hives.

Benadryl is one of the best-known antihistamines. Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra, and Dimetapp also contain antihistamines for allergies.

You should take an antihistamine if you know your sinus problems are being caused by allergies. If you only take a decongestant like Sudafed-D, you’re treating the sinus symptoms without relieving your body’s other allergic reactions.

If you’re itchy, have hives, or get a runny nose after being outside, those are good clues that allergies are troubling you and an antihistamine may help.

Allergy sinus medicine #2: Decongestants

If you have lots of pressure in your head, especially around your eyebrows or nose, you probably have a sinus headache. This is where decongestants come in. Antihistamines help your body stop reacting to allergies — so you make less mucus and inflammation goes down — but decongestants work to help the mucus that’s already there get out of your body.

The best decongestant for sinus pain is pseudoephedrine, the drug that’s found in the original Sudafed and in almost anything that ends in D. These are drugs you can buy without a prescription, but you have to go to the pharmacy counter and provide your ID. It’s well worth the effort; other common decongestants such as phenylephrine (found in Sudafed PE and many others) are nowhere near as effective.

Allergy sinus medicine #3: Expectorants

If you’ve also got mucus running down your throat or are coughing up mucus, an expectorant can help break it up so it can leave your body. Mucinex has a very powerful expectorant called guaifenisin. This ingredient is also in a lot of other remedies.

Other tips for allergy sinus problems

It’s often possible to take more than one medicine at a time. For example, pink Benadryl plus Sudafed-D work fine together. But always check to make sure you’re not doubling up. You would not want to take Mucinex-D plus Sudafed-D, since they both contain pseudoephedrine. You also wouldn’t need to take Benadryl with Claritin. Even though they contain different ingredients, they are both antihistamines.

Allergy sinus medicines are required to say the purpose of each ingredient, so just check to make sure the two medicines you’re considering taking together do not have any medicine from the same category (antihistamine, decongestant, expectorant, cough suppressant, etc.)

Make sure you drink a lot of liquid, especially water and juice. This will help your body make thinner mucus that will leave faster, and this in turn flushes out the germs. If you’re dehydrated, the mucus gets thicker and sits in your body. It’s a great breeding ground for germs, and even if you’re only having allergy problems, it keeps the allergens trapped in your body. Also, when you take decongestants, they tend to dehydrate you and you’ll need to drink more than usual to make up for that.

Traditional Medicinals makes a special herbal tea called Cold Care P.M. It is not as strong of a remedy as medicine, but when I’m suffering from allergy sinus problems, it helps relieve some of the sinus pressure.

If you’re suffering from the flu or a bad cold, zinc lozenges can help you get better faster. And whether you are suffering from allergies or germs, vitamin C can help boost your immune system. I like to buy Emergen-C packets and drink one a day. I also love gummy Vitamin C that you can find in the vitamin section at almost any grocery store — it’s less acidic than chewable tablets.

This may sound gross to you, but if you have ongoing allergy sinus problems, buying a nasal rinse may be the best thing you ever do. NeilMed brand makes a sinus rinse kit that you can buy at most groceries and pharmacies — it’s a little squeeze bottle with packets of salt. You mix the salt into warm water and squeeze it up your nose to flush out the mucus.

It’s not all that uncomfortable, and it really does wonders, because the salt not only flushes out the mucus, it also kills the germs that are there. It’s definitely worth a try if you have chronic allergy or sinus problems like I used to. (Now that we’re no longer in the mold capital of the U.S., it’s not a big issue anymore.)

If you have any other allergy sinus medicines or remedies, I’d love to hear your comments. I am always interested in herbal or nutritional remedies because they often have less side effects than medicines.

Okay, instead of saying favorite fantasy books, I’m going to have to say my favorite fantasy book series — because all of these contain at least 3 books!

• The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. This series is set in modern-day America. For centuries, people with magic have been born with Stones in their hearts: stones that give them special powers, such as being wizards or warriors. The wizards rule the world and force the warriors to compete in battles to the death. This is a very well-written series, full of suspense and legends. It reminds me a bit of Harry Potter, but less on myth and more on history.
• The Magician: the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. Nicholas Flamel and his wife are immortals fighting dangerous dark forces called Elders, who want to enslave humans. They find twins who they believe will fulfill a prophecy: they will either save the world or destroy it. Flamel trains the twins in magic and the whole adventure is fast-paced. I highly recommend keeping the next book on hand, because each novel leaves you hanging! The series reminds me more of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” movie than Potter.
• The River of Dancing Gods by Jack Chalker. Another series about magic, but this one is set in a completely different world. Two humans are brought from our world into the fantasy world and undergo major changes and events. This series has a very quirky sense of humor, and although “strange” things often happen in fantasies, these ones are really out there. They’re pretty entertaining, and I enjoy the oddities because they really take you out of your everyday life and transport you to a different world.
• The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. The Shannara series has a very Renaissance atmosphere; Druids run about in cloaks, fairies and nymphs live in the rivers, and a demon is out to destroy the world. There are hints in the book that the world where all these creatures live is actually Earth, many centuries in the future, after it has been nearly destroyed by humanity (and in fact there are other series that connect our world to this new fantasy world). Be prepared to read many, many books, but these are comfortably set in trilogies or quartets, much like Anne McCaffrey’s books. It’s best to read them in the order they were written, because many events are interconnected. This was one of the first fantasy series I ever read, and to this day I still have my Sci-Fi Book Club trilogies.
• Acorna by Anne McCaffrey. This is a series set in space, on many different planets. A race of people called the Linyaari, who are a cross between unicorns and humans, has been nearly killed off by their nemesis. A Linyaari orphan grows up in the human world and learns of her horn’s healing powers by accident. This is a very fast-paced series, much more of a quick read than the others in the list, and I highly recommend them. There is a great deal of focus on being peaceful and doing good in the world, yet the way good overcomes evil is amazing — it doesn’t feel contrived or inevitable.
• Birth of the Firebringer by Meredith Ann Pierce. After reading the Acorna series, I wanted more unicorn fantasy, and this series is absolutely stunning. The author has created an amazing world, complete with many species who have their own culture and traditions. The unicorns have been exiled from their home for centuries, and one headstrong leader emerges to try to take back his ancestral lands. I can humbly say that I helped get this previously unattainable series reprinted! There were so many fans out there that a single petition to the Sci-Fi Book Club got the complete trilogy reprinted, and after that a mass-market paperback version was printed too. Now you can own the books for regular price, instead of the $300-plus I was astonished to find common for the original printing.

To my friends and family, I hope the recommendations are enough to encourage you to read some of these wonderful books. I feel like these descriptions are woefully inadequate, but I am having trouble capturing the main essence of them without giving away any important aspects of the plots. I hope some of you will enjoy these books as much as I have.

I wasn’t expecting to find much other than a few moments of peace when I stepped out of my car. But something about the spring called me to it. I needed to go there.

As soon as I left the car behind, the smell of the woods awakened something in me. I had to close my eyes for a moment and wrap myself up in its comfort. I was transported to another place and time.

Then the sound of the river washed over me. It took away all my thoughts except the peace and tranquility of nature.

I made my way slowly across a small wooden bridge and immediately felt the soothing power of the water rolling gently over stones. I stepped up to the paved sidewalk beside the river.

As you walk past the bridge, you see a river teeming with new life. Hundreds of minnows and plants flicker through the stream. As you continue down the path closer to the spring that spawns a mighty river, the plants grow thicker. Little kelp and algae stream in curtains through the rippling water.

I had my camera out already, snapping a few shots. They all seemed completely inadequate. Nothing but being here captures even half of its presence.

The River Path

I kept walking, all the way down the stone steps to a cut stone bench that faces the spring. I was so busy looking back at the beauty and seclusion of the place I’d just come from that I didn’t even notice him standing there.

“Qck-qck,” he scolded me quietly. I turned and saw a beautiful white duck looking at me.

The White Duck

I spent a few moments gazing at him, and for some reason, I felt more at ease than ever. I slowly lifted my camera, and he let me take several shots, as long as I moved slowly. It was here that I felt most at peace.

The Guardian of the Spring was there to remind me that everything in life has balance. Even when times are difficult, a higher power is at work to make things right.

Guardian of the Spring

As I walked back through the trees, the breeze brought a distinct reminder of a time long forgotten. First it brought back memories of cedar and pine and the clean mountain air of the Rocky Mountains.

Next I could smell and feel the trees in my childhood best friend’s yard, where we used to climb, explore, and imagine ourselves away from the worries of our lives.

I drove home renewed and ready to face the world again.

But when my cousin posted a picture of her chocolate banana bread, calling it “PMS in a Pan,” I actually went out and bought a bread pan and all the ingredients.

I wanted to post a picture to force you to make this bread. But it came down to a choice: I could either take the bread out of the pan, decorate it with some extra chocolate chips on top, stage a photo with a nice backdrop, and Photoshop everything…

Or I could eat the bread.

Eating the bread immediately won out.

The loaf was gone in a few short days — even Hubby enjoyed it. So stop thinking about it, go make yourself some chocolate banana bread from this recipe right now!

Next time I make a loaf, I promise I will try to take a good picture… but in the meantime, check out the video on the recipe page, and you’ll have to run to the store for ingredients too!

Wiggle Worm’s day care does not provide lunch. I had been sending the Graduates meals because they were so easy to keep track of. But now I needed to send him Big Boy lunches.

I searched all over the internet for toddler plates, divided plates, preschool plates, toddler plates with lids. Hardly anything came up. Almost all the toddler plates on the market are made of that hard plastic (melamine) which is NOT microwave safe. Since I wanted to send pasta and vegetables and other warm foods, the containers had to be microwave safe.

I thought I had finally found a winner: Kinderville divided plates. They were expensive, but they were silicone, and we could afford good toddler plates if it meant Wiggle Worm wouldn’t have to eat off unsafe plastic.

The reviews said the plates were great for preschool, so I ordered two. I was disappointed as soon as they arrived: there were no lids! How can a plate be good for preschool or day care without a lid?

I was especially disappointed because I could see how great the plates were — the silicone never gets hot, the plates are just the right size for toddlers, and they’re nice and deep so the food doesn’t mix and the toddler doesn’t spill.

I had really wanted to avoid plastic altogether, but I can’t exactly give my rambunctious 2-year-old glass plates. I returned the Kinderville plates and had just about decided it was hopeless when I saw the Rubbermaid section at Target.

There they were at last: the perfect toddler plates.

Toddler plates (photo courtesy of Amazon.com)

These are the right size for Wiggle Worm, with a large section for the entree and two smaller sections for sides. The lids snap on super-tight with handles on each side. They haven’t gotten stained yet; they’re dishwasher safe, BPA free, and microwave safe.

And Wiggle Worm loves the new plates so much he requests them at every meal, instead of the old divided melamine plates we had been using at home just for fresh meals that weren’t terribly hot.

I looked it up right away. It’s called Room: a novel. When I read the synopsis, I was scared but knew I had to read it. “Written from a 5 year old’s perspective. He grew up in an 11X11 foot cell with his mother.”

Let me just say that I don’t read books like this. My grip on emotion is fragile, and when I get exposed to something horrible, it can affect me for a long time. The only other book like this I’ve read was They Cage the Animals at Night. But I remembered that although that book was heartbreaking, it also told an important story that changed me.

It’s important to be exposed to bad things, so you can see how important the good things are. But I was still on the fence about reading a scary book.

I turned to Amazon reviews. One said, “It makes a parent want to be more kind with their words, more respectful of what their child’s needs are, and more understanding when things seem confusing;” another said it was important to know that the awful parts were not narrated, only alluded to. So I clicked, and there was “Room” on my Kindle.

It’s hard to gauge how far you are through a book on an iPhone. The Kindle app tells you what page you’re on, but it takes many screens to equal a page. This is the second book I’ve read in its entirety on my phone, and the first I’ve read all in one day.

The first chunk (half? maybe less?) of the book is a mixture of fear about what’s going on and joy at how the mother is raising the son. She comes up with endless ways to entertain the boy, and she teaches him so much. It was sad realizing the gravity of the situation, but it was also refreshing to see just how strong the bond between mother and son is.

The next two chunks are about attempted escape and what happens after.

If you’re brave enough, please go read the book now. For those who aren’t sure, here is a spoiler that should give you the strength to do it. Just pick a day when you have 5 or 6 hours, so you can run straight through.

SPOILER ALERT

The escape eventually succeeds. Once Ma and Jack were safe, I had to put the book down long enough to do a bit of work, but I picked it up again as soon as my critical task list was finished.

The last chunk of the book (which felt longer than the first two; it’s probably half the book) talks about how Ma and Jack react to being in the world again.

I was still riveted and more determined than ever to finish the book today. I got to a stopping point where the mother and son were adjusting and improving, then absolutely had to go pick up my son early from day care. I couldn’t stand another minute without him.

I took him to the pool for a treat, went to a meeting with him in tow, gave him extra cheese, and let him play with balloons in his bath. I held him for longer than usual after he fell asleep and finished the book with him in my arms.

To some who, like me, can hardly bear to read this kind of book, it’s important to know that everything is okay in the end. It’s not fairy-tale, unbelievable okay, but you leave the book with a sense of closure.

I’m glad my friend posted her book rating so that I could experience this book. It pushed me to experience something difficult, but I came out on the other side more thankful than ever of the simple pleasures in life. Especially cuddling with my sweet Wiggle Worm.