I’ve joined NaBloPoMo! That stands for National Blog Posting Month. Basically what it means is I have to post every single day for the entire month of November! All of a sudden I’m feeling a bad case of writer’s block coming on. Wish me luck! And come back and read my stuff so I don’t get all bored and lonely here!

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Dr. Mike talked about our adventures throwing together some last minute costumes for this Halloween. We hadn’t intended on taking the kids out, but some plans fell through last minute so we decided to trick or treat instead. I was not into buying some overpriced, poorly made, and downright ugly costume from Wal*mart, so here’s what we came up with.

KT is an Antarctic researcher. And Nick is her penguin. KT’s costume was easy. Her winter coat, snow pants, and some goggles we had from her science labs. I had intended for her to wear her snow boots, but instead she threw on her Crocs. So she was a Croc wearing Antarctic researcher. Nick’s costume is made up of a grey thermal shirt (for warmth), a white shirt, a black zip up hoodie (zipped behind his back), and his snow pants. His beak…well, it’s as best as we could do with such short notice. It’s a Sponge Bob Squarepants birthday hat! We took it apart, painted the inside, and put it together inside out. In the process we made the circumference of it a bit smaller so it was more beak-like. Only one problem with it. When a child breathes into it for an hour or more, the paper gets soft and it looses it’s pointy beak shape. By the end, it was downright mushy, but he had snagged enough candy and was ready to head back to the house anyway.

And now, the goal is to keep myself away from their candy!

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Well, it worked! It really worked! Either I’m a very motivated individual or I’m so unmotivated I need to trick myself.

My post from last week explained how I was going to fool myself into exercising. I did great. Monday through Thursday I got myself moving every single day! And then Friday came along. I took the kids to a children’s science museum all day. I got home and within 20 minutes we were heading out for the evening. We got home late–about 9:00 p.m. And the last thing I wanted to do was exercise. But you know what? I said to myself, “Self, you must exercise. It’s Friday. And you can have Saturday and Sunday off.”

And I actually listened to myself! And I even pushed myself on the treadmill because I figured it’d have to last until Monday. I felt so good about myself that I said to myself, “Self, exercising isn’t so bad. You might even want to do it this weekend even though you don’t have to.” But I woke up Saturday and my knees hurt from pushing myself. So no organized exercise for me although I did clean a lot and walked with the kids to go trick or treating. So it was something.

Then on Monday I started back up again right where I left off.

I think I may have myself fooled. And as long as I don’t read my blog, I might be able to maintain the charade!

As for the other things….water intake was 60+ ounces every day except one. Meal planning–I’m still working on that one. Not eating after 7:30–not even with the temptation of Halloween candy have I caved!

The results? Today I am 160 pounds which is down 1.4 pounds from last week.

But the weight isn’t the important thing. I noticed something on Monday. My thighs don’t rub together quite as much when I walk. Sure, they still do, but not as bad as they did. And, I don’t have to lie down on the bed to zip up jeans that are just out of the dryer! Progress, slow and sure!

To follow the Tales from the Scales journeys of other bloggers, click on the button at the top of this post.

CONTEST UPDATE:
For information about the Lunapad contest, click here.
For information about the Card My Christmas contest, click here.

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Ok, I mentioned in my contest post that I’d be back soon talking about some of the care required for Lunapads. These were a couple of things that really stressed me out when I was trying to decide if this was a viable option for our family (or at least the girls in the family). So I’m writing this to answer the questions that may come up when you’re deciding if this is right for you.

First, how does someone transport used pads if they aren’t at home when they need changed? Well, I will admit, disposables are nice in that you just throw them out and you never have to deal with them again. But it’s not like they disappear forever. An estimated 14 billion (that’s billion with a “b”) pads, tampons, and applicators are thrown out each year. Each year! If you think of the environmental aspect, then bringing home a used Lunapads is not such a bad thing. Lunapads sells a Moon Bag for just this reason. Thing is, the Moon Bag on their site is actually made by Happy Tushies. I went to Happy Tushies site and found something called a Momma Pad Bag (same thing) and was overwhelmed with the fabric choices! So I told KT to pick her favorite. Here’s what she chose:

Yup, lovin’ the monkeys! This bag has two separate zippered sides. One side is for clean pads and liners, the other is for used ones. Both sides are lined with a waterproof material so there is no leakage. Since one of the benefits of using Lunapads is there isn’t the “smell” we all associate with disposables, this bag will not become a nasty smelly thing in a purse. So this is one option for transporting used Lunapads. Plan ahead if you’re going to order directly from Happy Tushies. She is a mom who runs this business on the side, and each bag is made custom for you when you order it. It took about 6 weeks to get the bag. KT did have to use a ziploc bag one time to bring home a used liner, but this bag was so worth waiting for.

Ok, so now you’ve got your used liners and pads. How do you clean them? I’ve seen all sorts of cleaning methods posted on blogs and internet sites. This is what worked for us. We had an old container from cat litter in the basement. It was nice and sturdy and had a snap on lid. During KT’s period, I put the container in the bathroom and I filled it with a few inches of cold water. I put in about 1/2 a scoop of Oxyclean and swished it around. When KT had a used pad or liner, she dropped it in the bucket, closed the lid, and swished it around. Once a day, I drained the water, added fresh cold water, and a bit more Oxyclean. By the time a few days had passed (and I had to wash the liners so KT would have enough to finish out her period) there was virtually no sign of any stains. I put them in the mesh bag that came with our starter kit and threw them in the washer with the towels. They came out as clean as new! I had strung some cord up in our basement and I hung them to dry overnight. By morning they were completely dry and ready for round two!

Our soak container:

And my makeshift clothesline:

A few things to note that I’ve learned about Lunapads. You can dry them in the dryer if you’d like, but they will shrink a bit. You cannot use any sort of fabric softener on them (in the washer or dryer) or they will lose their absorbancy. Menstrual pads without absorbency=bad!

The only thing I’d do differently the next time…..I’d use a smaller litter container. The one I used was the “extra value sized tub” and we really don’t need anything that big. As soon as Mowana is done with his next container of litter, I’ll have a smaller one to use. Since I only needed a small amount of water, I don’t need the huge thing in the bathroom. I may even keep my eye out for something that doesn’t say “Tidy Cat” on it, but in some respects, this is good. If we have visitors, they’ll assume it’s cat litter and won’t peek in! In doing my research I’ve seen every sort of soaking pot from a sauce pan with a lid, to a mason jar, to people who don’t pre-soak at all and they don’t have stains. And like the Lunapad site says, just because it’s stained, doesn’t mean it’s not clean!

I hope this answers the questions you may have regarding Lunapads. I’d be more than happy to field any questions you come up with. Either leave a comment or use the contact link (above). If I don’t know the answer, I can put you in touch with someone who does!

More in the Lunapad series:
Lunapads…These are not your grandmother’s pads
Lunapads Contest and Coupons
Lunapads Care (this post)

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No huge tackle for me this week, but I’ve accomplished several important things that have been needing attention.

First, I went back through all of my old posts and unchecked “allow trackbacks.” I’ve been getting a ton of spam comments lately and it’s all because of that little box that was checked. It took about 45 minutes, but it will save me about 20 minutes every single day!

Next, I finished my post about Lunapads care. I had to take pictures of all of our supplies and make the post flow a little better than my rough draft did.

And last but not least, my house needed a good scrub down and it got that over the weekend.

Now that these three huge things are done, I can get through this crazy week and breathe a little easier. After all, I’ll spend at least 20 hours this week running the kids to their various activites. Oh yeah, and then there’s a little thing called “home school” during which I’m supposed to ….teach! So it’ll be nice to have these three things out of my mind for the week.

CONTESTS:
Be sure to check out the contests I currently have running. The Lunapad contest. The Christmas Card contest. And starting next Monday, the iHemstitch blanket contest!

To see what others are tackling this week, click the Tackle it Tuesday button at the top of this post.

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