How Eating Vegan Has Affected My Chronic Pain

I've been wanting to write this for several weeks, but I kept feeling like I needed to write some big, profound post. There actually isn't much to write about! The point of this post isn't to try to convert anyone to eating a vegan diet; I still believe that people should eat the way that is best for *them* and their needs. This is just to describe how it has affected my chronic pain. 

First, a recap of my chronic pain issues (I'll keep this as short as I can)...

I've always had a back problem (I remember it as far back as eight years old) but it's in a very specific spot on my back (the T10-T11 vertebrae). When writing this post, I'm not going to be referring to that pain. That's "normal" for me and because I know it's in that one spot, it's easier to grasp mentally. It's the pain I'll write about below that was almost unbearable.

In 2018-ish, I started feeling sore ALL THE TIME. It felt like I had run a marathon with little training--whole body sore. I was remodeling the house in 2017-2018, so I was used to feeling sore and I just assumed my body was aching because of that. I didn't really start to worry until 2020, after I drywalled the garage. I knew I'd be sore from that, but even months after the garage was done, I felt as sore as I had on Day 1.

I took breaks from all activity, but the pain didn't ease up. It was mostly my joints; my shoulders, neck, hips, back, and hands were the worst. Getting out of bed was really challenging. I would get so sore and stiff during the night that when I woke up, my hands were swollen and I would walk hunched over like a little old lady (I was only 36ish at the time, so it was definitely not normal). I still thought it was due to the heavy work I was doing on the house.

In 2020, I started working on drywalling the garage, which took all summer. It was right around that time that I realized I couldn't really move for about an hour and a half to two hours in the mornings. I spent many, many mornings sobbing because I was in so much pain and nothing was helping. I had no flexibility whatsoever. My body would get so stiff when I wasn't moving, but moving made it hurt and I wanted to sit. A catch-22.

This is a photo that I had Jerry take of my wrists one day. I was pulling my hands back as far as I could and they would barely move--especially my right hand.

At the suggestion of several readers, I made an appointment with a rheumatologist after seeing several doctors (primary care, neurologist, sports medicine, orthopedist) and trying some treatments (physical therapy, medication, TENS unit, chiropractor). The rheumatologist was extremely thorough--after she learned of my symptoms, she ordered a TON of tests. The lab took 13 vials of blood! I had x-rays of several areas of my body. My symptoms most closely pointed to rheumatoid arthritis. I tried several medications to no avail.

Some of my tests indicated a possible autoimmune problem, but the numbers weren't off enough to diagnose anything. After all of the appointments, tests, and medications, I was just tired of it all. My insurance rejected my MRI order and that was it for me. The rheumatologist gave me a diagnosis of fibromyalgia and said that the best things I can do for it are to get lots of sleep (I have insomnia, so that was disheartening) and a plant-based diet.

I wasn't happy with the diagnosis because a lot of doctors don't take fibromyalgia seriously--it's kind of an umbrella term to explain chronic pain with no real answer. I felt like the doctors thought the pain was just in my head or that I was exaggerating how bad it was. Because the pain was so bad, I felt like there HAD to be an answer--in my blood, in my x-rays--but I looked healthy, for the most part, on paper.

I'm not saying that fibromyalgia isn't real--I'm saying the opposite! It just sucks when you are in *real* pain but you can't prove it. And doctors want to see proof.

I prematurely assumed that I could never eat a vegan diet. I would be able to go without meat, but I couldn't imagine giving up cheese. Most of the things I cooked had some sort of dairy. Also, trying to eat vegan with a family who eats animal products seemed impossible. So, I didn't even try.

A couple of months later, in January 2022, I was just bored and looking at YouTube videos one night and you know how that rabbit hole goes... I somehow stumbled upon a documentary called 'Dominion'. It's a film that exposes how animals are treated before being slaughtered for food. I won't get into the details because I know people don't want to read that here--if you're interested, you could always look it up on your own--but I was only able to make it through half of the film. I haven't eaten a single animal product ever since.

I was very curious if this would help my chronic pain. I was extremely skeptical, but I started watching more documentaries about plant-based eating and it started to make more sense to me.

I'm not sure when it happened (maybe a month after switching to vegan), but I noticed one day that I wasn't in pain when I woke up. And when I thought about it, I couldn't remember feeling pain for a while. I started paying attention to my pain levels and they haven't been more than a 2 on the pain scale of 1-10. Getting out of bed is no longer a problem; I don't walk hunched over and I can't even remember the last time I cried due to the pain.

The pain I still deal with is in my shoulders, mostly, and I'm sure it's due to anxiety. I get big knots in my upper back near my shoulder blades and they get better or worse depending on my anxiety level. Jerry massages them for me to loosen up the muscles (which is not a "feel good" massage but an oh-my-god-that's-going-to-kill-me massage).

As far as the fibromyalgia pain that was near-crippling at times, it's all-but gone.

I have mild osteoarthritis in some joints, but that is from wear and tear due to age. It showed up on my x-rays. It sucks, but compared to the pain I was feeling before, I can certainly handle it.

I can't think of any other reason that the fibromyalgia pain would just up and leave like it did other than switching to a vegan diet. I didn't change anything else. I was extremely skeptical in the beginning, and if it wasn't for the Dominion film, I never would have tried to eat a vegan diet.

This is an old picture from a local dairy farm. I had no idea what pics to include on this post!

While the main reason for the switch was an ethical one, I feel really good about my choice for health and environmental reasons as well. I had no clue about how the meat and dairy industry affects our way of life until I started watching some documentaries about it.

I highly recommend the film 'The Game Changers' on Netflix. It is NOT a slaughterhouse video or a "scare tactics" video to try and convert people to a plant-based diet. It focuses on how a plant-based diet affects our health and performance. There are interviews with elite and even olympic athletes--from body builders to football players to runners to cyclists--who thrive on a vegan diet. It was this film that really made me believe that eating vegan could help with my pain. The film is very motivating if you're looking to eat healthier (even if you don't want to switch to a plant-based diet).

It also shows people, including a house of firefighters, who switch to eating vegan for a short period of time. They have blood drawn before and after, and the difference in some of their numbers, particularly cholesterol, was jaw-dropping. There is even a fun experiment with men to see how eating meat for just one meal can affect the number (and size!) of erections they get while sleeping (more/larger erections indicate better blood flow and cardiovascular health).

Remember how much I despised cooking? Well, now I'm starting to like it again. It's been super fun to try new recipes using methods or ingredients I'd never tried before. I've learned just how easy it can be to eat vegan once I started cooking vegan meals; there are vegan recipes out there to satisfy just about every craving one could possibly have.

While my family still eats meat and dairy, they taste the food I cook and they are very surprised by how good (most) of it is. My kids have been shocked at some of the ingredients they've eaten without realizing it--like mushrooms, which they both hate. I'm happy that they are open-minded about trying new foods. 

But anyways, back to the point of this post...

I am very happy with how a vegan diet has affected my mind and body--and it's only been a little over four months. While I still have the typical aches and pains that we get as we age, the type of chronic pain that I thought I was going to have to deal with for the rest of my life is all-but gone. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't experience this myself. I can't say it would work for anyone with chronic pain, but it's certainly helped me!

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Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 53

It's thunderstorming as I write this and I'm probably much more excited than warranted. I love a good thunderstorm! We rarely get them anymore, and if we do, it's during the night. I feel like I'm always opening my posts with weather-talk, but the weather has just been kind of crazy this year. Yesterday evening, it was 96 degrees outside! Eli had a baseball game and it was the first time this year that I didn't wear two long-sleeved shirts to his game. That's how dramatic the temperature change has been.

After having lost weight for four weeks in a row, I was hoping to continue on that streak, even if it it was just a few ounces. My June weigh-in for DietBet happened to be today, too. Unfortunately, my weight was up today from last week:

I was at 146.4, which is a gain of one pound. I'm not worried about it, though. On Monday, I ate a heavy dinner--a huge vegan burger, twice baked potato, and corn on the cob. The vegan burger was delicious! I followed this recipe by Minimalist Baker. There was a lot of prep work for it, but in the end, I think it was definitely worth it. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture of the whole burger with all the toppings, but this is what the patty looked like--when you see the ingredients, it seems so odd that they come together to make this:

The main components are brown rice, mushrooms, cashews, and oat flour. When I was making them, I realized something that kind of freaked me out for a second. With vegan burgers, you can taste the mixture before forming it into patties--something you would never do with meat. It seemed so odd being able to taste and adjust seasonings before forming the patties. Eating vegan has opened up a whole new world of foods to try that I wouldn't have otherwise--it's fun!

I was able to hit my DietBet weigh-in goal, thankfully. I had to be 147.1 or less. The final weigh-in for this six-month bet is July 1st (where I have to maintain 147.1 or continue to lose weight). I will be SO glad when the DietBet is over! I don't think it was helpful this time to keep me on track; it just stressed me out as the weight came off slower and slower.

Jerry and I decided that after this DietBet is when we'll get our yearly physicals. I'd like to work as hard as I can for the next month to get my weight under 144. The physical forms (for health insurance) ask for BMI because they charge a premium for people who have a BMI over 30, which is considered "obese". Mine is very close to 25; I'm still considered "overweight" until my BMI is under 25.

For insurance purposes it won't make a difference, and I know how outdated and inaccurate the BMI scale is, but I'd love for my BMI to be considered "normal" for the first time in a few years. I think the last time it was normal for my physical was in 2017. It's hard to believe it's been that long since I gained the extra weight!

This week, I'd like to focus on drinking more water. With it being so hot outside and the fact that I started running again this week, I want to make sure I stay hydrated. I always feel so much better when I drink a lot of water.

Here's to hoping for a good week! I remembered to take a picture of the random fact today:

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Transformation Tuesday #73

Happy Transformation Tuesday! Every Tuesday, when I put this post together, I'm reminded of all of the chores I want to complete this spring and that I'd better get a move on it. Summer will be here in a few weeks! It feels like summer today, that's for sure. It got up to 90 degrees yesterday! I think today is going to be just as hot. I went for a run this morning and the humidity was... well, not pleasant.

Anyway, I have some really great readers' transformations to share today! Enjoy...

Today I took a break from work, and did a little transformation project for myself. I really have started liking shoes more than I used to, and they were becoming a bit of a mess and piled up on my closet floor. With the addition of a new shoe rack from Target and getting rid of about 5 pairs I don’t wear anymore, here is the result!

- Cathy

Cathy, all I can say is WOW. The before pictures actually look neater than my shoes in my closet, haha. What a space saver to have the new shoe rack--I'm sure you love it each time you step into your closet. It looks great! -Katie

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This is a follow up to our main bathroom remodel. In our original bathroom, we had a giant soaker tub with a tile surround. I’d always wanted a claw foot tub and I found one--for free! It needed some serious elbow grease (and a power sander) to clean it up, but I love the way it all turned out.

- Jenn

Jenn, my jaw literally dropped when I saw this. Not only the tub, but the wallpaper--it's gorgeous! I'm super impressed with the tub restoration; how awesome that you got the tub for free! I hope you're enjoying it :)  -Katie

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This is a very small transformation…. A friend is going to be a grandmother for the first time, and she asked me to weave a blanket for her.  She chose the yarn, 100% cotton, and I wove it up for her.  The dimensions of the blanket are 45x60.

-Katie

Katie, small transformation or not, I love that blanket! Seeing this makes me want to learn how to weave, haha. I have never known anyone to do it and it never even crossed my mind. What an awesome gift for your friend!  -Katie

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Thank you for sharing your transformations (and for the inspiration)! Please keep sending them so I can keep posting them. To submit a transformation, just send a before photo and an after photo, along with your name and a description of your transformation, to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

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Memorial Day

When I stop and think about Memorial Day, I get kind of emotional. Nobody very close to me has died in combat (for which I am so thankful--I worried about my brother every single day that he was in Iraq). But as a mom, Memorial Day makes me feel sad for all the moms out there who have lost a child in the military.

This is a picture of Eli when he was on a school field trip at the River Raisin National Battlefield Park. Each of the 379 flags behind him represents a fallen soldier from The River Raisin Massacre during the War of 1812. I love this picture--the rain only seemed to compliment it somehow.

Since Jerry and the boys have the day off of work today, I'm going to take a break today, too :)  

Here is a week's worth of random facts; I wasn't planning to post all of them, but I found all of them interesting! I'm not going to comment on them and I didn't google anything about them, but here goes:

Enjoy the day! Hopefully your weather is as great as southeast Michigan's right now.

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Recent Reads (no spoilers)

It's been three months since I wrote a post about what I've been reading lately, and while the topic may not be interesting to anyone but me, I like to post a few thoughts about books I've read. It later helps me to remember what it was about. Why does it matter? Ha! No idea.

I tend to go through phases: I will spend a couple of months reading in all of my spare time, but then I'll spend months not reading anything. Usually, the reading phase is sparked by a good book. If I read a good book, I immediately want to download another. Eventually, I get to a book that just doesn't hold my interest and that triggers my not-reading phase.

Right now, I'm very much in my reading phase. So, here is what I've read since the last time I posted my books (late February). There are a lot of them, so I'm going to keep my thoughts short for each one.

'His & Hers' by Alice Feeney

I liked the format of this murder mystery, being from the points-of-view from "him" and "her" (and the killer) in a whodunit psychological thriller. Unfortunately, my first instinct happened to be correct--I didn't know the "why" but I strongly suspected the "who" from the beginning. I prefer books that keep me guessing until the end. However, the story is much more complicated than simply learning who the killer is, and I was second-guessing my instinct throughout the whole book.

In a nutshell: The two main characters are a reporter ("her"), and a detective ("him"); they have a past, and a recent murder brings them to the case for their own agendas. Both of them have ties with the woman who was murdered, and the more they dig into the case, the more suspicious they each look.

There were some really great quotes in this book! For example:

"The lives we lead need to be gold-plated nowadays, a series of varnished truths for the sake of how we appear on the outside. Strangers who view us through a screen—whether on TV or social media—think they know who we are. Nobody is interested in reality anymore; that’s something they don’t want to “like” or “share” or “follow.” I can understand that, but living a make-believe life can be dangerous. What we won’t see can hurt us. In the future, I expect people will long for fifteen minutes of privacy, rather than fifteen minutes of fame."

'Local Woman Missing' by Mary Kubica

Another murder mystery (yes, my favorite genre). I found this one to be very unbelievable. It's kind of like watching a B-horror movie, where the acting isn't great and the story is a bit "out there"--but they are still fun to watch. This book was a pretty fun read and I definitely didn't see the ending coming; but the ending was very unbelievable, so it would be hard to guess ahead of time. Also, there was zero motive behind a big twist, which was a let-down. I didn't love this one, but it doesn't feel like it was a waste of time, either.

In a nutshell: A woman goes missing, and shortly afterward, another woman and her six-year old daughter go missing as well. As readers, we try to figure out the connection (if there is one). There are multiple viewpoints and timelines (something I love in a psychological thriller) and you are waiting for the past and present to merge so you get the rest of the story. Very far-fetched in several parts of the plot, but I enjoyed it for the most part.

'False Witness' by Karin Slaughter

I really liked this one! It's slower-moving, but it held my interest enough to where I didn't want to stop reading. This one isn't a murder mystery (surprise surprise!); rather, you know what happened and are 99% sure who did it, but you don't want to see them get away with it. 

In a nutshell: The book starts off in the past (20 years ago) with two young teen sisters who babysit for a little boy. The boy's dad is a monster--a pedophile and rapist, and after he assaults the younger sister one night, they kill the him and vow never to tell a soul. Fast forward to the present, where the "little boy" comes back into the picture. He is accused of several counts of rape and as a defense attorney, the older sister agrees to represent him--not knowing who he actually is until she agrees to take the case--even though she is absolutely sure he is guilty.

'We All Fall Down' by Natalie D. Richards

Groan. I would never have read this if I'd known that it was supernatural. I don't believe in supernatural happenings, so I was super disappointed to get probably more than halfway through the book before I discovered that. If it had been a typical "whodunit" story, I would have really liked it. Once I learned it involved supernatural elements, I couldn't really get on board.

Anyway, to sum it up in a nutshell, it's about a bridge that the locals think is haunted. Two teens witness some weird stuff happening and they set out to figure out what's going on and who is playing mind tricks with them.

'Delirium' by Lauren Oliver

LOVED this book! It is the first in a series of three books (plus a couple of side stories). I flew through this one and immediately downloaded the second and the side story called Hana. The third book isn't available through my library, but I'm probably going to end up buying it because I really want to read it!

In a nutshell: This is a dystopian YA novel, taking place in the United States probably a century or so from now. Love was declared a horrific disease and scientists developed a "cure"--which kind of sounded like a lobotomy. A bit of brain surgery, and voila! You can no longer feel love, but you can perform daily tasks and live a (very boring) life. Everybody must get the surgery when they turn 18; at that point, they are paired with someone of the opposite sex to make a life with (marriage, children, etc.). 

The protagonist is a 17-year old girl named Lena who is very excited to get her procedure and move on with her life. She (along with most other people) is terrified of catching the "deliria" disease and she wants to feel safely cured. What is a dystopian YA series without a bit of romance, though? Lena meets a boy, which starts to change everything that she's been told from the time she was born.

'Pandemonium' by Lauren Oliver

This is the second book in the Delirium series. The big twist at the end was obvious from the very first page, but even knowing that, I couldn't want to see what happened. As soon as I was done with this, I read Hana.

'Hana: A Delirium Story' by Lauren Oliver

A side story of the Delirium series. Hana is Lena's best friend, and this short story is Hana's point of view that happened during the first book. This one wasn't very interesting, but it only took me a couple of hours to read it.

'The Upside of Falling' by Alex Light

This is the contemporary romance YA novel I mentioned Friday. This was such a fun and light read!

In a nutshell: Girl is a bookworm, kind of nerdy, not interested in relationships. Boy is captain of the football team, best looking boy in high school, uber popular but not interested in dating. She wants her friend to believe she has a boyfriend; he wants his parents to believe he has a girlfriend. They have a "fake" relationship to fool everyone. And naturally, just as you'd expect, the fake feelings start to turn real.

'Five Total Strangers' by Natalie D. Richards

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. On one hand, I was completely sucked into it; on the other, it was SO far-fetched with way too many coincidences. And how many crazy-bad things could happen to one group of college kids in the span of a day? I found a lot of the writing to be redundant (descriptions of how bad the storm was; how it felt like someone was watching all the time; how odd the other passengers are). I guessed the "who" from the beginning, but I was left wondering "why". In the end, I felt like it followed the college-kids-in-danger-and-who-is-trying-to-hurt-them? category perfectly. I liked it, though; if you like the predictable young adult thriller/horror movies (*raises hand*), you'll enjoy this book.

In a nutshell: Protagonist is flying home from college for Christmas when the flights are grounded because of a severe snow storm. Another college student, who she met on the plane, ends up renting a car to drive home. She offers a ride to the protagonist as well as three other people. The five of them begin a ridiculous "creepy" adventure on their way home--dealing with a snow storm, car accidents, scary people, missing items, and other things I won't write so as not to spoil it.

And that's about it. I need to start writing my thoughts after each book, even if I just jot down a few sentences on Goodreads, so I can remember more easily. My favorite on the list is, by far, 'Delirium'. 'False Witness' was very well-written and I enjoyed it a lot. And 'The Upside of Falling' was very fun and light-hearted--a nice break from the usual murder mysteries I like.

If you have suggestions for more that you think I might like, please share! There are lots of books I never would have discovered if not for readers telling me I would probably like them.

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VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Vegan White Chili

I don't know if it's been like this all over or just where I live, but the weather here has been crazy this year. It has felt like winter all spring long. We were going back and forth between the heat and the air conditioning for a couple of weeks. And we've had a ton of rain.

On one of those cold and rainy days, nothing sounded better than chili for dinner. This recipe by Choosing Chia for Vegan White Chili looked amazing (I'll link to it again at the end of the post).  I've loved experimenting with different vegan recipes over the past several months, and this one looked like something my whole family would like.

As a side note: I decided I am not going to make any recipes that start with "THE BEST ____" because probably 75% of the recipes I browsed on Pinterest claimed to be "the best" of whatever. Those words don't even mean anything anymore!

As for the ingredients: cooking oil, onions, garlic, celery, bell pepper, jalapeño, flour, cumin, salt, chili powder, cannellini beans, corn, veggie stock, green chiles, raw cashews, and salt. Not really a short list, but I happened to have everything except for the cannellini beans at home.

Not pictured: flour

I've never been a big fan of cannellini beans, but it had been a very long time since I tried them, so I hoped I'd like them. The reason I never liked them isn't because of the flavor, but rather because the skin on them is really thick. They are essentially white kidney beans, and I never really loved kidney beans for the same reason. The beans I used most are: black beans, red beans, garbanzo beans, and great northern beans.

As I always like to do, I made the recipe exactly as written; and then if I don't like it as written, I'll either change a few things next time or scrap the recipe altogether.

First, I had to sauté the veggies until tender. (The bell pepper I used was orange; those aren't carrots in there.)

Then I added the flour and spices. Without any liquid, it's like a thick paste of spices coating the veggies. I couldn't understand how such a small amount of stock (1 cup) plus the cashew cream could turn it into chili! 

I added the beans, stock, and chiles, and let it cook for 15 minutes. Again, this just didn't look like it was going to be a nice texture:

Meanwhile, I made the cashew cream. I'm so amazed by what raw cashews + water, blended into oblivion, can do! It turns into a very creamy liquid (the thickness depends on the ratio of cashews and water) and actually looks a lot like dairy cream. It's flavorless, but it adds a creamy texture to dishes just like heavy dairy cream would do.

While everything was cooking, I made the cashew cream. It was a much thinner consistency than it was when I made it for a previous recipe (I think it was the nacho "cheese"?). That one had the consistency of sour cream; this time it was like heavy cream.

Once that was done, I added it to the pot with everything else. The chili ended up being the perfect consistency. Per the suggestion on the recipe, I had planned on blending half of the chili to make it creamier/thicker, but it didn't end up needing that. I cooked it for a few minutes longer and then it was time to taste it. Thankfully, I didn't mess anything up this time! ;) 

I'd bought tortilla chips for Jerry and the kids to crush over the chili, but I just ate mine without.

The verdict? The flavor was a bit underwhelming--which is odd, because there are lots of flavorful ingredients. Like the recipe I made last week, it tasted like it needed *something* but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was definitely good enough to eat, but if I was to make it again (and I might) then I would have to add or change the spices.

Side note: On the last recipe, someone commented that the "something missing" may be because there weren't any acidic ingredients to balance it out. I thought that was super interesting! I am not a chef and I don't know anything about acidity in food; but after reading that comment, I found all sorts of info about it. And almost all of the articles I read stated that when you say the dish is "missing something", it's almost always an acid (aside from salt). I would love to test this--making and tasting a dish without the acid, then adding a splash of vinegar or citrus, and tasting it again.

The dominant flavor was actually the cumin, which was interesting because there is only 1/2 tsp in the recipe. I hoped to taste the jalapeño and chiles, but I didn't get any flavors from those.

The main reason I didn't love the chili, though, wasn't the fault of the recipe. It was the cannellini beans. I still don't like the thick skin on them--it feels almost like the beans aren't fully cooked. Jerry agreed with me; he prefers softer beans, too. The kids ate it, but they felt kind of neutral about it. Basically, we all thought it was okay but nothing special.

I'll probably try using this as a base recipe for White Chili and I'll adjust a few things--namely, the spices and the type of beans. I'd use great northern beans next time for sure.

You can find the full recipe here: Choosing Chia's Vegan White Chili.

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Friday Night Photos

Well, our "family night" was a bust yesterday. Eli ended up having a baseball game, but just before it started it was canceled due to rain. When we thought Eli was going to play baseball, Noah decided to go into work; so it didn't work out. It's so hard to get all four of us together these days!

Everybody is off on Monday, though, so we are hoping for good weather. Noah and Eli invited their girlfriends over and Jerry is going to cook burgers on the grill (I'm going to attempt a homemade vegan burger--if you know of a good tried-and-true recipe, please let me know!), and we'll probably play Cornhole or something like that.

Anyway, I don't have a lot of "fun" pictures this week, and several of my pictures are of the cats, but here is what I have from the camera roll...

I got tired of prepping my Almond Joy Cold Oats every morning (I weigh out each ingredient as I add it to the jar, which gets tedious when you have several ingredients), so I prepped a bunch of them and put them in the pantry. I don't know why I didn't do this before--it's so convenient! I just grab one in the morning, add almond milk, and put it in the fridge for lunchtime. (If you're wondering, the ingredients in the jar are oats, unsweetened cocoa powder, chia seeds, coconut, and mini chocolate chips.)

While I was trying to figure out a solution for my sewing stuff, I spontaneously made this little board in the garage for my thread. I drilled little holes (almost all the way through) and then put small pieces of a dowel into the holes with wood glue. It's perfect for my thread! I just need to buy another dowel--I just used a scrap one that I had lying around and it wasn't long enough to fill all of the holes (or hold all of my thread). I have no idea what I'm going to do with the board now, but hopefully I'll figure something out.

Yesterday, after our plans to grill out fell through, I decided to try out a recipe that had relatively few ingredients: Vegan Truffle Mac & Cheese. I had a feeling it wasn't going to turn out; I even warned the family that we mostly likely weren't going to like it! I'd never used truffle-infused olive oil before and when I opened it, the smell was a big turn-off.

I almost didn't even finish making it because the smell was gross. I was shocked, then, when I tasted it and it was VERY good. I hadn't even though I'd eat more than a bite or two, but I ended up eating a whole bowl. Jerry even liked it enough to take leftovers to work. Noah was working when I made it; Eli took a bite and said, "It's okay". He said it tastes good but the thought of "vegan ingredients" grosses him out. And I actually understand that; there are certain foods that I might like but if I think about them while eating them, I start to feel like I'm going to gag. (Salad, for example, is one of them.) Anyway, this pasta was good and I'll definitely make it again.

I was going through clothes to see what I could get rid of and I decided to experiment with a couple of pairs of jeans--by bleaching them. I wanted to see if I could lighten them (I'm so bummed I didn't take a picture of them before!). I read an article via Google search, and it said to use a 50/50 bleach/water mixture and let them soak for a few hours. HA! This is what happened...

They turned VERY light--basically white jeans. The 50/50 ratio was WAY too heavy on the bleach. I should have checked on them sooner, but I dropped them in the solution and went back about three hours later. It didn't occur to me to take the label off of the Express jeans before bleaching--that yellow spot will not come out. And the Silver brand jeans have what looks like dirt on the bottom, but I'm not sure what it's from. It wouldn't come out with the bleach. So, needless to say, this was a failed experiment ;)

I didn't give up, though! I was going to get rid of these jeans below; they get big in the waist very quickly (they feel comfy right when I put them on, but as they loosen up, the waist gets too big and I'm constantly tugging at it. Instead of getting rid of them, I tried again to lighten with bleach; and this time, I put them in the bathtub with enough water to cover and probably about four cups of bleach.

It took about six hours, and I wasn't even sure if it worked because jeans are so dark when wet, but they lightened up nicely! I love the color; I may alter the waist so that I can wear them comfortably. (And this time, I took off the label before bleaching; I may sew it back on, but probably not.)

The rest of these are pet-pictures. I saved them for last so that you can skip over them if the many pictures of the Friends clan at our house doesn't interest you ;)

This morning, I was reading my book and Duck came to lie on my lap. It was so cozy and he looked so sweet. Naturally, I stayed there until my bladder was about to burst. (This is a contemporary romance YA novel--so random!--but I was looking for a fun, quick read.)

Estelle is a major drama queen by pretending that the other pets hurt her in some way. She'll be standing next to them and when I walk into view, she gives a dramatic meow that sounds like she was just kicked across the room; then she falls over on the floor, probably hoping that I'll scold whatever pet she's trying to get into trouble.

Yesterday, I snuck up on her rubbing her face against Joey (and even licking his face) while he looked at me like, "Do I really have to put up with this?"  Right after this picture, she saw me and did her dramatic fall-and-cry so I'd think Joey hurt her, haha.

Duck was sleeping like this right before I took the picture. He just looked so comfortable in such an uncomfortable position with his legs dangling--it was cute!

I walked into my bedroom to find Chick in this reusable bag. I thought he was playing (he loves playing in bags!) but after I saw he wasn't moving, I peeked inside to find him sleeping. He was sleeping with his upper half inside of the bag, hahaha.

And finally, here is a photo of the ducklings my parents took in! My mom sent me the picture today and I was cracking up--she and my dad set up a kiddie pool for the ducklings. They already look bigger; ducks grow SUPER fast.

And that's all I've got. Have a great weekend! xo

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Four Little Ducks Went Out to Play

...over the hills and far away. Mother Duck said, "Quack! Quack! Quack!" but only three little ducks came back..."

Does anyone remember that children's song? It randomly pops into my head sometimes, even though I have no idea where I first heard it when I was a kid. Anyway...

Yesterday, I was talking to my mom on the phone when suddenly I heard her yelling for my dad. There was a lot of shuffling with the phone and then she said, "Katie, there are little baby ducks in our garage! They just followed me in here. I'll call you back."

I had no idea what was going on, but she called me back later that afternoon and said that she was doing yard work and when she walked into the garage, four little ducklings came around the corner of the house and followed her into the garage! She told my dad to come see. Then he started looking for the mom and/or a nest for them.

They aren't super young--from what I saw online, I would guess maybe 4-5 weeks--but they can't fly yet, so not totally ready to be on their own. (They usually stay with mom until they are about 8 weeks old and confident flyers.)

They followed my mom everywhere she went...

My dad searched all over the place but couldn't find any sign of the mom or a nest. So, my parents made a little make-shift home for them in a large storage container: water from the lake, a nest (an old bird's nest), and rocks to climb from the water to the nest.

I volunteered to go to the animal feed store and get duck feed for them and when I brought the food over, my heart melted at the sight of them. They were SO CUTE. I'd left my phone in the car, so I don't have a picture of them in their little home, but this is the cutest video of them following my mom around in the yard:

My parents are taking care of them for now, but I'm not sure what the permanent solution will be. There is a house on the peninsula that I run by on my favorite route and they take care of ducks year-round. They even have a large coop that the ducks can wander into and stay warm in the winter.

When Phoebe was much younger and we used to let her outside, I found her playing with a duckling in the side yard--the poor thing was running away and she was chasing it, batting at it with her paws. Thankfully, she didn't hurt it, but we had no idea what to do with it. We looked for the mom, but Phoebe likely chased the duckling from the marsh across the street into our yard and we couldn't find the mom anywhere.

Phoebe's "present" for us in 2011

I had the idea to ask the people on the peninsula about what we should do and they said they would take care of it. They were so nice and they said other people have done the same when they've come across a stray duck. So, I mentioned this to my parents as an option. They said that my brother may take them (he has an enormous pond), but I'm not sure what they decided yet.

Anyway, they are SO CUTE. When I was over there to drop the food off, they were chirping at me like crazy. There was one in particular who kind of stood out from the others and did about 75% of the insistent chirping and it reminded me of Duck (who meows at me all day long like he's having a conversation). Duck even chirps as he watches birds out the window; I'm not sure what else to call the noise he makes! It literally sounds like chirping. I thought it was funny that the name Duck suits him quite well!

Well, I am keeping this short for once because we're *supposed* to do a family afternoon/evening. The plan was to cook out on the grill, but it's raining--so that's a bummer. Also, Eli was asked to play in the varsity baseball game today, so we may end up sitting in the rain for that. And Noah talked about possibly going into work. So who knows what we'll do--it's so hard to make plans when you have teenagers ;)

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