Alphabet Meme

A. Attached or Single? Attached to my main squeeze.

B. Best Friend? Same dude I’m attached to.  Or “to which I am attached” if I am to be grammatically correct.

C. Cake or pie? What is this, Sophie’s Choice?  I won’t choose.  I won’t.

D. Day of choice? Any day that I don’t have a headache.

E. Essential Item? My iPhone.

F. Favorite color? Periwinkle.  It’s my favorite crayon.

G. Gummy bears or worms? Um, no.

H. Hometown? Northern VA

I. Favorite Indulgence? That’s tough.  Sometimes just watching a movie with my man and some popcorn.  Or a good book.  Or a game with the kids.  I think it depends on what I think I need most at any given time.

J. January or July?  July.  I don’t like being cold.

K. Kids? 3 step sons, a son and a daughter.

L. Life isn’t complete without? Family and laughter

M. Marriage date? 9/14/02

N. Number of brothers/sisters? 1 little bro

O. Oranges or Apples. Pink Lady apples.  If you give me Red Delicious, I will throw them at you.  You’ve been warned.

P. Phobias? Heights.  I once signed up to be a student painter and I had a mini panic attack when they put me on the roof of a house.  Needless to say that was my last day on the job.

Q. Quotes? “Mother Puss Bucket” – Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters

R. Reasons to smile?  Too many to list.  If I stop thinking of reasons to smile, I am surely doomed.

S. Season of choice? Spring. Except that here in Maryland we don’t really have Spring anymore.

T. Tag 5 People.  If you haven’t done this, consider yourself tagged.

U. Unknown fact about me? Unknown?  As in, something even I don’t know?  Wow, that’s a tough one.  How about a little know fact instead?  I get migraines.  Just kidding, everyone knows that.  OK, let’s see.  In elementary school some friends and I started the Michael Jackson Video Fan Club which involved having one meeting where only a few members came to my house and we watched Michael Jackson videos that my Dad had recorded with our fancy VCR.  I told my oldest kids about this fact a couple years back as I came across a DVD of videos in the $5 bin at Walmart and squealed with delight.  They found it hilarious and reference it quite often.

V. Vegetable? I am actually an animal.  But I can see why some might be confused while I sit here with the laptop.

W. Worst habit? Procrastination.  Is that a habit?  Or just a way of life?

X. Xray or Ultrasound? I guess this is asking whether I’ve had these.  Yes.

Y. Your favorite food? Cheese, bread, chocolate, not necessarily in that order.

Z. Zodiac sign? Leo so don’t mess with me.

The post Old School Blogging June appeared first on According to Denise.

I figured I’d take a few moments to remind myself why I like spending time in my little corner of the internet since it is harder to find the time these days

• My only editor and filter is me.  I decide what I write about.
• It’s totally different than my work.  It’s a play space, a place I spend time because I want to, not because I have to.
• It connects me with a whole world full of people that I connect with for a variety of reasons.  That is just really cool.
• Most people who comment are kind and give me some faith in humanity.
• Friends and family can see what we are up to more frequently than we might be able to get together or chat.
• It’s fun to tell stories.
• It’s therapeutic to write about my feelings.
• I just dig it.

So even if my writing might be sporadic I still love writing and connecting.  I love my space and all it has opened up for me.  Here’s to many more blogging years!

The post Happy 3 Year Blog Anniversary To Me! appeared first on According to Denise.

So here is some random dumping.

The summer has officially started here.  We are hanging at home this week and doing things around town.  It’s tough to schedule around 7 people since some are working during the week.  But it is nice to spend time together.

Today is Father’s Day and Hubby wants desperately to finish up the deck for the pool.  It will make getting in and out easier as well as supervising if you don’t want to be in the water at the time.  So that is what he wants to do all day.

I’m spending most of my time trying to ease my headache pain.  I’m hoping I can actually play during our vacation week.  I already bowed out of fishing yesterday due to pain.

Here’s to summer!

——————————–

The post SOC Sunday: Summer Starts appeared first on According to Denise.

I did have some minor head pain but it wasn’t much.

So what does this mean?

I have no idea.  Just another data point in the quagmire of conflicting evidence I have built up over the years trying to isolate the thing that is responsible.

Lately I’ve been thinking that maybe the underlying issue is simply stress.  Even when I don’t particularly feel stressed, I bet my stress level is still higher than many years ago when my headaches weren’t so bad.

Maybe I had a good day this weekend because I was able to let go a little.  Not worry so much.  Just be.

On Monday I made a commitment to myself to do yoga everyday.

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

I’ve done yoga off and on in the past.  I enjoy it and it does have a way of silencing my mind for a short period of time.  As I try not to fall on my face or my ass holding a pose while also making sure I breathe, I tend to forget about everything else.

Will this be IT.

Will this help?

Who knows.  But it can’t hurt, right?

The post PYHO: Yoga, Take Me Away appeared first on According to Denise.

But so far I don’t see anything good. My headaches have actually been worse. Granted, the barometric pressure has been conspiring against me as well so who’s to say where the failure lies.

Not to mention I’ve also been trying supplements to help my headaches and stabilize nutrient deficiencies at the same time. In other words I’ve changed a flurry of variables and am left with no positive results and no clear villain to blame.

Unless of course I just blame myself which is a favorite pastime.

So where do I go from here?

I am miserable. The chronic pain is exhausting and frustrating and the dietary restrictions are annoying.

I’ve had in the back of my mind for a long while that I just might have to eliminate virtually everything to see if I can make a dent in this pain cycle.  Go full on raw vegan for at least some short period to see if helps. To see if I can begin to identify any food villains.

But I have been afraid of feeling deprived. Of having nothing to eat. Of feeling like utter crap.

I feel that way now. So how much worse could it get?

I know it could be bad. I have attempted detoxes with food before and I end up curled up in the fetal position in horrible pain and pukimg my guts out.

Guess that means I’m pretty toxic.

Maybe I need to be simpler. Focus on what to add instead of what to subtract. I used to be good about having green smoothies but I got out of the habit. Maybe if I focused on increasing my fruits and vegetables. Have green smoothies everyday and snack on fruits and veggies. Increase my water intake.

It seems that would be gentler to my system and allow for moderation instead of deprivation.

I don’t know what to do.

I’m miserable and I feel like my body is screaming at me that it needs something but I have no idea what it is.  And I have no idea how to figure it out.

I wish I had some sort of reset button.  Some way to start over without shocking my system into rebellion.

Why can’t I find something that helps?  There has to be something.  Because I’m breaking and I need something to mend me.

The post PYHO: Diet and Migraines – A Month of GF/DF appeared first on According to Denise.

I am so excited to be featured over at Shell’s place for Things They Can’t Say.  Shell is one of the nicest bloggers out there and she encourages bloggers every week to get in touch with their feelings and bare their souls.  On top of that she hosts bloggers every Friday which is where I am today.

Go on over and check it out!

If you are stopping by here for the first time then WELCOME!  I am so glad to meet you.  You can poke around for yourself or take a gander at my page of favorites.

I love to write about my daily joys and struggles and hope you enjoy your stay in my little corner of the internet.

The post Hanging Out Over At Things I Can’t Say appeared first on According to Denise.

We try to tell them that the game is meant to be difficult and that it isn’t very likely they will get a toy out of it.

But they still try anyway.

At the Red Robin we frequent, there is a claw game up front so when we went last week, they both brought some of their own money so they could play.  Once we ordered they ran up to try.  T got a toy almost all the way to the dropout on his first try, then wasn’t able to get it with the rest of his money.

A then tried with hers.  All heads in the restaurant turned when A yelled “Yes!” as she got the toy down the shoot.  They came back over hugging a stuffed toy and huge smiles on their faces.

They had decided to share the toy since they had each spent $1.50 toward getting it.

So meet Snooffles.

I’m linking up with Greta from Gfunkified and Sarah from The Sunday Spill for iPPP.

The post The Claw Game – #iPPP appeared first on According to Denise.

“But Mommy can eat there” was my response.

You see after going both gluten and dairy free, it has become difficult to eat out.  I know I will eventually get a groove and be able to branch out, but for right now, I have to stick to what I know is safe.

The kids have taken much pity on me for my dietary restrictions.  T says that even if being dairy free might help his migraines or hyperactivity, he would not give up his beloved milk.  That is an argument for another day as we have no reason at this point to believe that it could help him.

A told me “being dairy free is the worst thing that could happen to a person.”

Whoa, wait, hold on little girl, stop right there!  I took the opportunity to talk about how eating healthier for my particular body’s needs is not “the worst thing” and that there are far more serious issues that others face.  It may be difficult for me right now, but change always is difficult.

She agreed that she misspoke and clarified that she just thinks it is hard and wishes I didn’t have to do it.  I can understand as I agree.

But that also reminded me of something a friend told me the other day as we discussed dietary restrictions that may help like raw or vegan eating.  She said “Having headaches is hard.  Cutting out meat and cheese … Not hard.”

And she really is right.  All the energy I spend fighting head pain is really hard.  It may seem the easier path because it is what I have grown used to but it is not easier.  Being healthy and pain-free would be easier if I put forth the energy to get there.

So I have to remember as I grumble to myself about how much I really want to stuff my face with bread and cheese that I am on a journey to find the path that works best for me.  What will eventually be the “easier” path.

Because having headaches is hard.

Don’t forget to check out my Minted giveaway!

The post PYHO: Diet and Headaches appeared first on According to Denise.

When I was contacted by Minted about hosting a giveaway, I saw a golden opportunity to have fancy invitations for her dream dance party birthday.  We sat down together and I let her choose what she wanted and she was so very excited.  She chose the following design.

Source at minted little miss magic

Now this is not exactly a dance party theme but Minted designs are very customizable so I could change all the text to remove the princess wording and replace with more appropriate words like “rockin’ party”.  As you can see from the photo below, she loves the invitations.

Loves them so much that she even stuffed them into Minted’s awesome envelopes.  I even got complements from other moms about the cute invitations.

So now that I am hooked on Minted, it is only fair to share the love with you guys.  Enter my giveaway below for a chance to get a $50 credit from Minted.  You will love all the designs they have.  And not just for invitations.  You can get business cards, stationary, announcements, all kinds of things.  I am seriously considering some stationary so that I can send some handwritten (GASP!) notes every once in a while.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  I was given credit on Minted.com in exchange for hosting this giveaway.  All opinions are my own.

The post Minted Review And Giveaway appeared first on According to Denise.

When we sit down to explain to our 9 and almost 8 year old about events like these we are even more saddened about how many times we have had to have similar discussions.

The kids always ask why someone would hurt other people like that.

My answer is that I just don’t know.  There is no reason that can make sense of something so horrible.

My daughter said she doesn’t want to leave the house.  That the world is scary.

We tell her that bad things do happen in the world but you can’t stop living your life due to fear.  If you did, you would miss out on so many wonderful things.

Luckily she accepts this.

I repeat it to myself often.  Because I wish I could keep them here with me.  In my arms.  Safe.  Forever.

Because the world scares me too.

The post The World Is Scary appeared first on According to Denise.