Lightning Charger Cable Savers

Buy your own Lightning Charger Cable Savers to protect abd identify your chargers.

I wasn't entirely sure what the point of these was from looking at the listing, they info on the Amazon listing is vague and doesn't really clearly indicate the usage of the product. When I got them the packaging confirmed what I thought, they are cord "protectors" for charging cables. They're soft, flexible plastic (maybe rubber?) springs that you wrap around the end of a phone charger cord right where it meets the plug. The point of the product is that, in theory, it prevents the coating of the cord and wires within from cracking thereby avoiding dangerous exposed wires. I don't know how well they would do that, because they are just a soft, pliable spring which doesn't seem like a avery sturdy protection to me. I think their real strength is as a quick, easy way to identify which cord you're grabbing. I actually oredered the gray pack but they send me the color pack instead, which is one blue, one pink, one green (yellow, maybe?), and one gray. For me they are a nice addition to each cord because they allow me to quickly spot the cord I need without having to look at the ends of all of them. So they're a great item for helping to quickly identify the cord you need. I don't know how well they really protect a cord, but they are cheap enough that they would be worth the investment if you're one of those people who often breaks cords.

Terrafreeze Pain Relief Cream

I received this Terrafreeze Pain Relief Cream free to review.

I got this product after my husband hurt his shoulder in an accident at work. He's pretty badly injured, been off work over a month now, but he really hates taking pain meds so I thought this would be a great alternative for him. He hasn't used it much because he prefers to just suffer through the pain. But when he does use it he said it doesn't help much. I haven't used it yet myself, though I do have knee pain and I know from the ingredients in this that it would help because I have used similar products in the past. The problem is that it contains menthol so it smells horrible. I hate menthol, it is the worst smelling product on earth. It works great, I know, but the smell is horrible so I avoid it like the plague. If my pain gets bad enough I will use it myself, but until that I'll just suffer the pain to avoid the smell.

#terrafreeze #painreliefcream #jointpain #arthritispain

Innx Waterproof cargo liner

I got this Innx Waterproof cargo liner to review.

I have a new car and an often muddy dog that sometimes needs to ride in said new car. Well, I obviously don't want my nice, new car getting all muddy or getting scratched up by those pooch paws so this product seemed like a great investment. I know that I could just wash my car after transporting the dog anywhere but I hate washing my car. I could also just wash the dog before transporting him, which I usually do, but he yelps and fights whenever I try to wash him even though he has no qualms with rolling in mud or jumping in the creek, apparently shower water is evil and terrible stuff. He sounds almost like a human baby when he yelps, it's a little unnerving honestly. But anyway, this product seemed like a boon for me. I could transsport the pooch in a hurry without needing to scrub him, great in the event of an emergency-and given his propensity to harrass large animals emergency trips are sometimes required. Well, it was a little tough to install this because the instructions suck, but I just layed it all out and looked at it to figure out what goes where. It has some velcro to attach it to the side of the vehicle but I opted not to use that since I will likely be moving this between vehicle from time to time. Instead I used the suction cup attachments which are a little wonky to operate but once you get them on they stay pretty solidly. The product is also really sturdy, it's very thick and I don't think my dog could damage it even if he tried, and that's saying something. zthe only problem I have with this product is the smell. It smells really strong and really bad, kind of like tires. I'm sure the smell will fade with time, but for now my car smells like the inside of Les Schwab.

Getting reviews for Amazon FBA Ebook

I received a free copy of Getting reviews for Amazon FBA Ebook to review.

This book is great for anyone who is new to selling products on Amazon or anyone who is interested in getting into selling on Amazon. The primary focus of the book is getting reviews for your products but it also has information in it about getting set up as an Amazon seller, the different "levels" of Amazon sellers, and the tools made available to Amazon sellers. The author does a pretty good job of breaking down the pros and cons of each level of seller on Amazon to help you decide which one is for you. He also provides a lot of resources and ideas for how to get more sales and by extension more reviews, which helps with getting even more sales. It's a very useful book for anyone interested in selling on Amazon. It does, however, have quite a few grammatical errors, but that shouldn't be a deal breaker considering the amount of valuable information in these pages.

Marigold Thermal Laminator, Rotary Paper Cutter, & Ring Binding Machine

This is a review of three items in one post, because those three items kind of go together. The first is a Marigold Thermal Laminator, the second a Rotary Paper Cutter, and the third a Ring Binding Machine. You can checkout out Marigold's website for more info on these product here, here, and here, respectively. I'm going to break this post down into three sections, one for each product. I will review them in the order they're listed above. So, without further adieu...

First we'll talk about the laminator. I like laminating important papers and my kids' artwork to keep it from getting destroyed quite so easily. Currently I'm working on laminating Zach's art because Scotty hasn't yet produced any art being that he's a baby. You're supposed to flatten out any papers before laminating to get the best seal, but I didn't do that for my video because I wanted to see how well it worked in real world conditions, and who in the real world is going to press paper before laminating it? I know I'm not. So, anyway, I laminated some of Zach's art that was curled up at the corners and it sealed just fine. The laminator isn't fast by any means, but what laminator is? It operates at a reasonable speed and does a great job. It's also priced reasonably, which is always a boon. It can accept 3mm or 5mm pouches but does not use rolls, and it is 9 inches wide so you can laminate anything smaller than nine inches wide. I would recommend this product to anyone who needs or wants to laminate for personal or business uses. I'm planning to buy another one for my dad to use at his shop.

Now, on with the show! I mean, on to the rotary paper cutter. I use paper cutters a LOT at work, but not as much at home. I'm currently off work, still on maternity leave, but when/if I return I plan to take this paper cutter with me because it is a way better product. You see, the model I use at work is a guillotine style paper cutter and I hate the guillotine style so much. The papers don't get cut evenly or in a straight line, especaially if you're cutting more than one paper at a time and with most guillotine cutters the cut edge of the paper gets rough and has little paper shards on it. Rotary cutter are much better in my opinion because they provide a cleaner, smoother cut. I really like this particular paper cutter because it has a nice, sharp blade that is, for the most part, safely tucked away where it won't cut you. Now, small hands could get to where the edges of the blade are and get nicked, but that's why this product is for uuse by adults or older children who have adult supervision. Of all the paper cutters I have used, this one is by far the highest quality. I strongly recommend it.

Alright, now for the pièce de résistance, my favorite part of this whole trio, an item I love with all my heart for the nostaligia it carries: the Ring Binding Machine! As a kid in school we used these a lot to make little books, but the teachers rarely allowed we the students to actually operatae the machines so when we got to what a treat it was! Anyway, as for this product, well it workds great. It's easy to use and doesn't require any instructions though it did come with them. The punch portion of the machine is limitted to only 10 sheets of paper at a time, so if you have a lot to punch through it may take a while to finish. The binding part is limited only by the size of bindings you use. The machine did come with a lot of small binding but no larger ones, which is kind of unfortunate. I think it would have been wiser for them to include bindings in a variety of sizes so people could more easily use it straight out of the box. A sort of plug and play functionality, if you will. Anyway, that said, it is a good machine at a reasonable price and I would recommend it. Especially if you're a parent, kids love making their own books and this machine helps to facilitate that.

SD Card Reader

I received this SD card reader at a discount in exchange for a review.

I thought this product would be really helpful since I use multiple cameras as well as my phone for taking photos and videos. Well, it turns out I was wrong. This SD card reader doesn't work, or at least the one I got doesn't. It also isn't compatible with the memory card from my Sony camera, which is my current preferred camera because it has the best image quality, but I could deal with that if it would at least work with regular SD and micro SD cards. I tried using a regular SD card and couldn't get it to work. I didn't try it with a micro SD because I don't have one. I tried plugging it into my PC which runs Windows 10, which the reader is supposed to be compatible with, and on my Galaxy S8 but it wouldn't work on either of them. I don't have any Apple products to try it with, so I don't know if it works with Apple products. I would not buy this product. I recommend staying away from this product.

Growth Hacking EBook

I received a free copy of this Growth Hacking EBook to review.

This book is a great resource for anyone looking to grow their business or brand. It is filled with a lot of information divided into easily digestible bites for maximum usability. It has quite a lot of information in it and it also lists some useful-and mostly free-resources to help you grow your own brand. It is geared more at selling a product, but you could easily tweak the advice to apply to other growth tasks, like growing your social media following. The book isn't very long, but it doesn't need to be. The author does a pretty good job of getting the point across in short and concise sound bites. There are a few typos in the book, but nothing major. It seems like a pretty well researched and edited book, only one typo really jumped out at me and that's because it was in one of the headers. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to grow their business, brand, product, or following.

I tried not to drone on in my review, because I wanted to keep it short, concise, and to the point just like the book is.

#growthhacking

12-Week Food Journal and Fitness Tracker

I got a free 12-Week Food Journal and Fitness Tracker from the publisher to review.

I love journals, journals of any kind. I love them. I love writing down my thoughts, keeping my schedule, and tracking my dailies. I love blank journals that leave me free to write whatever comes to mind. I love journals/workbooks that give me blanks to fill in and questions to answer. I love writing things down. It's one of my favorite things to do. So, of course, I jumped at the opportunity to try this fitness and food journal because it combines my love of writing, filling in the blanks, and tracking dailies with my desire to get back in shape. It is perfect for me! I've been trying to lose the extra weight I've put on but it's difficult for me because I like to eat and I don't like to sweat. Well, having a journal to keep track of everything helps to make me more accountable, I can't lie to myself if it's written down for the whole world to see, now can I? I haven't written anything in it yet, but I have looked through it and planned my attack. I've decided on April 30th as my official journal starting date. Why April 30th, you ask? Well, quite simply because I believe that weekly planners should be started at the beginning of the week. As I haven't used the journal yet it is still pristine and unwritten, with nary a crease on it. I love the freshness of a new journal and making the first markings in it.

The pages are nice, sturdy paper of a clean, crisp white. The colors and ink quality are nice and rich, the lines clean and well defined. This is a quality print job and as a book lover, I really appreciate that. It has a nice guide to using the journal at the front as well as check-ins at the end of each four week period (roughly one month). At the beginning of the journal is an area to write your goals and current stats (weight and measurements) as well as your plan of attack. At each check-in, you can write notes about your progress, update your stats, rate how you're doing at achieving your goal (10%-100%), and write a renewed plan of attack. At the beginning of each week, you write down your meal plan and notes. Each day includes areas for recording three meals and three snacks with time, item consumed, calories and macronutrients. There are also boxes to tick for water and produce consumption as well as hours of sleep as well as writing down your exercise and rating how you're doing toward your goal. I look forward to using this journal during my fitness journey.

Compressor Filter

Buy your own compressor filter on Amazon.

I honestly wasn't sure what the point of a filter for an air compressor was when I first saw this. My dad used air tools all the time doing bodywork when I was a kid and he never mentioned an air compressor filter so I didn't even know such a thing existed. When I saw this I had to ask my husband if such an item would be of any use to him, it anyone for that matter, and he said it would. So I went ahead and ordered it for him. I honestly thought this thing was going to be way bigger than it is, so I was really surprised to open the package and see this little thing. I don't know why but I thought it would be really big and bulky and it isn't, it is small and compact. I thought this would only be useful because my husband paints, but it turns out compressor filters are actually useful for anyone who uses any air tools because they keep contaminants out of the line which extends the life of tools. I would definately say this product is a good investment for anyone who uses air tools, because extending the life of your tools is always a good thing.

Soccer Offense EBook

You can buy a copy of the ebook Soccer Offense on Amazon.

I used to love playing soccer as a kid but full disclaimer, I never knew how to play. I never learned the rules because nobody in my home town knew how to play. So as kids, we just kicked a ball around on a field and followed the rudimentary rule we knew: no hands on the ball unless you're the goalie. This book would have been of great use to me as a child and as an adult, it was an enjoyable and informative read. As evident from the title, this book focuses on the offensive side of the game, which means it's not a complete guide to playing soccer properly but it's a great start. The book is short, concise and laid out in an easy to read format. This book is a good choice for people who have an interest in soccer or parents of children who have an interest in soccer. The ebook is reasonable priced, though the physical book is more expensive. I think that this book is a good investment to improve ones soccer skills.

#soccer

Terry Treetop Collection ebook

I received this Terry Treetop Collection ebook for free in exchange for my review.

These stories are pretty cute, they seem like good stories for the kindergarten age set. They don't have a clear "moral" or learning lesson like some kids books do, but that's okay. Sometimes books should just be entertaining. The art isn't my taste, but it's cute and suitable to the subject matter. One major issue I have with the art is that some of the character art is clearly derivative. The cow in the first book is Cow from Cow and Chicken. The little kitten is Marie from The Aristocats. The fawn is Bambi. The chipmunks are Chip and Dale. There are probably more that I've missed, but it did bug me a bit to see such clearly derivative art. I worry that the author may face potential lawsuits over this art, because Disney seems to have a bit of a hair trigger about use of its intellectual properties. That said, it is a cute book series that's a good choice for young kids. I would recommend buying physical books rather than the ebooks, but that's just because I prefer physical books.

Interactive Panda Toy

You can buy your own Interactive Panda Toy on amazon.

When I saw this cute little toy panda my first thought was how much my 91 year old grandmother loves pandas. They're her favorite animal and the last item she needs to check off her bucket list is seeing a live panda in person. While I can't help her with that, I can buy her a cute toy panda. So that's what I did. When it arrived I checked it out and played with it for a few days first to see if it actually works, and it really doesn't to be honest. It's supposed to respond to blowing kisses but it didn't. It's supposed to make a different noise when cradled, but it didn't. It's supposed to make a silly sound when turned upside down, but it only made the silly sound when shaken aggressively. Mostly it just makes a munching noise all the time. Seriously, if it's on it's munching. So, no, it doesn't do what it's supposed to do. But it is kind of cute and, more importantly, gramma likes it so it's not a total loss. That said, I wouldn't recommend buying it as a toy. As a decorative item for a panda fan, sure, but not as a toy.

UProtective Adjustable Knee Support

I got this UProtective Knee Support at a discount in exchange for my review.

I injured both of my knees when I was in the army, one worse than the other, so being presented the opportunity to get a new knee support option to try at a discount was something I couldn't pass up. When I received the item in the mail and opened it up I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't have any weird odors and was soft to the touch. I wore it a few times for short periods and it was okay but when I wore it yesterday to go to town I had terrible knee pain. I can't say for sure if the brace made the pain worse or not, but while wearing it I had worse knee pain than usual. I do know that the pain was eased considerably when I took the brace off. I tried wearing it a little again today and it was too uncomfortable. I find that any knee brace/sleeve U try that has a patella support hole does more harm than good for me, though it is the kind the doctor says I should use.

I do really like that it is adjustable, because most knee braces aren't so it may not fit properly in one area even if it does fit in another. This one is fully adjustable with three separate Velcro straps for each area. I doubt I'll be using this product ever again, though I may give it to my dad to use as he also has knee troubles. I think for people who prefer the patella support style knee braces this one would be a great choice.

Dual USB Port Wall Charger

I got this Dual USB Port Wall Charger in exchange for my review.

This charger comes with a lightning cord for iPhones, but since I don't have an iPhone I used the cords that I have for my other devices. It's a nice, compact little charger with a plastic cover for holding cords. It's a good charger for travel because you can stuff a cord in the box that attaaches to the front and you don't have to worry about losing the cord or damaging it. I also like that I can plug two smart phones in to it and it will still fast charge-something all the other multi port USB chargers I've tried can't do. It's not too wide, but it is long which makes it impossible to fit in some plug in locations. I like that it's only two prong instead of three, because many of the outlets in my home are only two prong. I do wish it had a couple more USB ports, because I have a lot more than two devices that are USB charge, but it is a nice quality item. I would recommend it to anyone who needs a multi port USB charger.

Urban Organic Gardener April Box

Just got my april box from UOG and every thing in this one is for the garden.

This month I got borlotti bush beans (appx 10 seeds), brandywine pink tomato (appx 5 seeds), jalapeno pepper (appx 5 seeds), blackbeauty eggplant (appx 20 seeds), and black beauty squash (appx 5 seeds). This will be my first year growing eggplant or squash, I can't wait to get them started and watch them grow. There such beautiful plants.

My tomato and cucumber sprouts from the feb box did good untill we got a freezing spell and I didn't have them covered properly in my make shift greenhouse but one cucumber and 3 tomatos survived. The peas and beans from last month are doing amazing.

Marble Run fun!

I got this MagicJourney Marble Run in the mail the other day and it is awesome! I got my first marble run for my ninth birthday. I can't remember the brand, but I do remember it was so much fun to play with and I've always wanted to get another one for my kids (and myself. Okay, mostly myself), so I finally did. This marble run form MagicJourney though is way more fun. It's got a lot of cool little parts to try and there are just a lot of pieces in general so you can build some huge towers if you want too. We have played with this every single day since it arrived. The first thing I built was the "very hard" run shown in the accompanying booklet. It was easy enough, once you get into the habit of making sure you align the pieces the right way so the marbles don't get stuck. Nothing ruins the fun like having to disassemble and reassemble your marble run because you did something wrong and a marble got stuck. I also decided to build a tower as tall as I could just to see how tall of a tower I could make with the parts in the box (answer: about 8 feet, though it lacked a solid foundation for structural support and also I'm too short to m=put marbles in it at that height so I had to shorten it a bit). Zach really enjoyed building different tower set ups, but he wasn't as interested in watching the marbles go through it. He really likes building. Scotty is still to young to play with the marble run, but he did enjoy watching the marbles run through the maze from the safety of his baby octagon.

This thing is fun for all ages, and you can even use it as a game if you divide the pieces among a few groups and let them build their own towers and then have a race. Marble run races are good fun. I plan on buying more of these to create an epic awesome mega marble run.

#marblerun #toys #toyz #stem #marblemaze #magicjourneytoys

Healthy Finds $10 gift card giveaway!

Guess what, lucky readers!? We have a special surprise for you all! Today we're hosting a giveaway of $10 Healthy Finds gift cards which can be used at a variety of websites.

From there website: "Healthy Finds connects you with innovative health brands that are carefully reviewed by their Wellness Team. The gift cards are good at dozens of these cutting edge bra." You can check out the brands at http://healthy-finds.com/wgcn10. To get your free $10 gift card follow me on Instagram and subscribe to my Youtube channel at http://youtube.com/c/spartanpilot01flappyhands

HSI PROFESSIONAL Argan Oil Heat Protector

I received this HSI PROFESSIONAL Argan Oil Heat Protector free in exchange for my review.

I thought this product would be nice to try out and see if it would help smooth the frizz and flyaways in my hair. Usually I don't care about my hair frizz, but sometimes I do like to have it smoothed out and looking good. For example, when attending events and/or being photographed it is sometimes nice to have nice, smooth hair. This product, especially when used with a straightening iron, works pretty good at smoothing out the frizz and flyaways. It is reasonably priced when compared to similar items available online.

The product doesn't leave any kind of sticky or oily feeling or residue behind on hair, which is great-nobody wants oily or sticky hair! It does, however, have a pretty bad smell to it, at least in my opinion. It smells a lot like Bounce dryer sheets. Or that cheap air freshener that I have at work. Either way, I do not like the smell at all. And of course, the smell lingers so when you use this product you'll be stuck smelling it all day. Which is fin if you like the smell or dryer sheets.

HSI Professional GliderPlus Pink Hair Straightener

I received this HSI Professional GliderPlus Pink Hair Straightener free in exchange for my review.

I already have straight hair so one might assume that a hair straightener would be useless to me, but that's not quite correct. A straightener can help smooth flyaways and other weird hair anomalies, like those moments when some part of my hair decided it wants to be wavy or curly. But for this review I had my sister use the straightener because she has curly hair and that is much better for assessing the abilities of the straightener.

So my sister has very stubbornly curly hair, so I thought using this straightener on her hair would be a good test of its ability to effectively straighten hair. So we plugged it in and warmed it up and then my sister worked on straightening her hair, starting with the most stubborn curly cue at the front. She kept the heat fairly low, so it took a long time to successfully straighten her hair, but it was a success. It lasted for the rest of the day before her hair sprung back in to full curl. It's a pretty easy straightener to use, the button are on the inside of the straightener which is a bit annoying but they are still fairly easy to access. It's isn't the most user friendly device around, but it is easy to operate though it may require a little practice to get it right.

Crazy straws!

I received these Crazy Straws for free in exchange for an honest review.

I remember as a kid getting crazy straws at parties at school and they were always so awesome. I mean, it was so great to have your drink doing loops on the way to your mouth. As an adult, they aren't quite as much fun as they used to be though. They're still great to buy for kids or for fun retro or nostalgia parties for the grown ups. We've used a few of the straws at home, but I plan to use most of them as party favors at the kids' birthdays because that seems like the best use for them. All kids love crazy straws, right?

The straws are definitely of a nice, high quality. They withstand biting and bending quite well and they appear to be dishwasher safe, at least when placed on the top rack. They have nice vibrant colors that don't seem to fade with exposure to light or dishwashers. I may buy more of them for the kids' parties or events in the future. The color varieties are okay, but it would be nice if there was more variation in the shapes of the straws.

Sleeve Stars elbow sleeve

I received this Sleeve Stars Premium Elbow Sleeve free in exchange for an honest review.

I actually got this for my sister because she broke her elbow 13 years ago. She doesn't believe that it's been thirteen years since it happened, but I know that it has. The story behind how she broke her elbow is actually pretty funny. She had just gotten a new puppy and she was walking around carrying him at my dad's old body shop when she tripped forward and almost fell on the puppy. So, to avoid injuring her new puppy she put her elbow out to break her fall and instead she broke her elbow. I wasn't there when it happened, but I did get to hear about it many time afterwards. It was actually a few days before anyone believed it was broken so she didn't get it set right away and it ended up healing wrong. So now her elbow is pretty messed up and she sometimes uses elbow compression to help with it.

So anyway, on to the review! Okay, so I ordered the smallest sized elbow sleeve they had and it was actually still a bit too big for her to wear but she's really small so that's not surprising. As for comfort level, she said it was pretty comfortable and easy to forget that it's on. It didn't have the weird smell some similar items have either. Though the sleeve was a little to loose on her upper arm it didn't seem to slide down or move around on its own even when being very active.

Handmade Chocolate Ebook review

I received a free copy of the ebook Handmade Chocolate in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVE chocolate. It's my favorite food. If I could I would eat chocolate everyday. So of course I jumped at the opportunity for a free ebook full of chocolate recipes. The book isn't all that good, though. It needs to be edited by a professional. All books should be professionally edited prior to publishing, even ebooks. One recipe in the book uses the measurement "spoons" multiple times. Not teaspoons, not tablespoons, just spoons. That is not a valid measurement at all. I have a lot of spoons and they are all different sizes. That's a pretty big error to overlook, in my opinion. Another editing error is mixing units. Some measurements are in metric units and some in imperial units. That doesn't make any sense, choose either metric or imperial and stick with it.

Now, on to the recipes themselves. There aren't very many in this book, which is fine if you're buying it at the ebook price but if you're paying the full prices for the print edition it is definitely overpriced. Recipes similar to the ones in this book are widely available online, and they stick to one unit of measurements which makes it much easier to follow them.

But what about the most important part? How do the chocolates actually taste when made? Well, the answer is they're okay. Of course, the quality of the chocolates will depend on the quality of ingredients you use. So using quality ingredients is a must. Compared to other similar recipes available online the chocolates from this book are no better or worse.

B-Complex with B-12 Tablets

I received this B-Complex with B-12 Tablets for free in exchange for an honest review.

Vitamin supplements are a great product for people who don't eat a properly balanced diet, and I've been doing very poorly at healthy eating of late so I figured I might as well add some more vitamin boost to my day. I'm still breastfeeding my baby, so I'm still taking my prenatals which meant I had to verify that the combination would not result in over dosing on any one vitamin. After verifying that the combo was safe I also checked to make sure there were no ingredients in the b complex that were contraindicated for breastfeeding and got an all clear on the safety front. As for efficacy, I can't be completely certain of that because I haven't had them long enough to know but they seem to help a bit. The last two weeks or so have been very stressful and difficult for me and the rest of my family. I haven't had any more energy than usual since I started taking the b complex but I haven't had any less energy either, which is saying something considering that I haven't been able to get much sleep recently. So I will go ahead and say that I believe the vitamins are helping at least a little.

The issue I take with this product is that they use such a large bottle for such a small quantity of pills. I realize that is sort of an industry standard practice, but it's really deceptive. Yes, if a consumer reads the bottle they know how many pills/doses are in it, but we also know that not everyone reads the bottle that thoroughly before making a purchase and having the bottle be so unreasonably large simply seems like a tactic to dupe rushed customers.

As for the actual vitamins. Well, they smell terrible, but that's not too uncommon with vitamins. And they leave a bad taste in my mouth but that's pretty much standard for vitamins, in my experience. The pills are small which makes them easy to swallow, always a nice bonus when it comes to pills.

So, would I buy these pills myself? I'm not sure. On the one hand, the pills are small and easy to swallow, which is a boon for anyone who hates taking pills (like me). On the other hand, I'm am greatly annoyed by the deceptive size of the pill bottle and a part of me believes that companies that try to swindle customers like this should be avoided. But is that annoyance enough to completely steer me away from this brand? I'm going to have to say that no, it is not enough to dissuade me from using this brand. It is annoying but not harmful, and the price is still reasonable for the amount of doses you receive. So, yes, I would buy this product. And if you, dear readers, are in need of a vitamin B supplement I would recommend it to you as well.

Raising Boy by Design review

I received a free copy of the book Raising Boys By Design in exchange for an honest review. You can buy the book at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. As of the writing of this review Amazon has the lowest price for the book.

Well, let's start off with a little disclaimer here: This is a religious book and I am not a religious person. Now, that doesn't mean I can't provide an honest review. So, now on to the review!

The first thing about this book that really struck me was chapter 2 because of the horrendously ignorant and terrible advice the authors give in chapter 2. You see, at the end of chapter 2 the authors discuss "brain disorders" which they specify means autism, ADD/ADHD, sensory processing disorder, developmental delays, and male-oriented depression. That's all fine and well, but then they go on to state that except in "extreme" cases these conditions should never be diagnosed in children under 7 years of age. WTF!? As the mother of an autistic son this pisses me off more than words can explain. Early diagnosis gives you and your child more time to find services they may need to succeed in life. Early diagnosis also gives you more time to learn how to effectively advocate for your child and teach them to advocate for themselves. The world is a very ableist place and it can take some time to learn how to navigate the ups and downs of disability advocacy and to put together a team of educators and medical professionals who actually want to help your child succeed rather than marginalize and silence them. If you love your child do not put off getting them an evaluation or diagnosis just because some ignorant authors think you should. The authors of this book should feel extremely ashamed of themselves for providing such truly horrendous advice to parents.

On the topic of disability in this book, another thing the authors do terribly wrong in this book is associate autism with violence. Now, it is true that autistic kids can be aggressive if their needs are not being met and/or they are being mistreated by their caregivers (which is very common, unfortunately). The reality is that autistic people are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. Trying to associate autistic children with aggressive and violent behavior directly contributes to the murder and abuse of autistic children at the hands of caregivers. The authors of this book are contributing to the murder of children by making this false association. And the idea of not diagnosing depression when it first becomes apparent is part of the reason teen and pre-teen suicide rates are going up. The disgusting and ignorant ideas the authors have regarding disability in boys made it very difficult for me to read the rest of this book.

I did my best to read the rest of the book, even though the ableism in chapter 2 made me angry and showed clearly that the authors are ignorant about raising children. All I really got from the rest of the book is a bunch of gender stereotypes. It seems these authors really think that gender stereotypes should be enforced because of "god." There is one chapter supposedly about sexuality, but it's really just about puberty.

All in all, this is not a good book. If you're looking for a book that reinforces gender stereotypes and intermixes bible quotes this book is what you're after. If, however, you are looking a book with advice on how to successfully raise a well adjusted and healthy boy who won't become an inmate, look elsewhere because this book isn't it.

Neutralyze Moderate To Severe Acne Treatment Kit review

I received the Neutralyze Moderate To Severe Acne Treatment Kit (30 Day) for free in exchange for an honest review. You can receive 25% off this or any other product in the Neutralyze store with code 25REVIVE.

As an adult who still experiences breakouts I thought this would be a good product for me to sample. I do have very dry and sensitive skin so I'm pretty cautious about what products I put on my skin, especially my face. The Neutralyze products were to harsh for my skin causing me to break out worse than usual so I couldn't continue using them. I tried letting Zach use it, since he's just now starting to have acne issues and his skin isn't dry or sensitive like mine. He needs to be reminded to wash his face and I have to assist with the other two steps but it does seem to be cutting down on his breakouts even though he isn't using it as regularly as is recommended on the box.So it does work pretty good, and I would imagine it works even better when used 2x daily as recommended.

I like that the products don't have weird or bad odors, although the serum does have a pretty noticeable alcohol smell but it's not as bad as some of the products I have tried in the past. It also feels nice on your skin, though as I mentioned it did dry out my skin afterwards causing me to need more moisturizer than usual. The company is pretty quick to get back to customers if you need to contact them for any reason, which as a customer I always appreciate.

I would definitely recommend this brand's products to friends and family, as well as any other acne sufferers looking for relief. It obviously isn't as strong as prescription acne treatments, but it is effective for moderate acne. I think this product is perfect for acne sufferers with oily skin.

Sleeve Stars Premium Knee Sleeve Support review

I received this Sleeve Stars Premium Knee Sleeve Support for free in exchange for an honest review.



As everyone who knows me (or who has read the blog) knows, I was in the army when I was younger and I received a medical discharge because of an injury. My knee was injured requiring me to undergo physical therapy and wear a brace on my knee-which I still need to this day. So when I saw an opportunity to sample a knee support I jumped at the chance. Most of the knee braces or supports I have bought in the past have been ineffective and/or uncomfortable so I can honestly say I didn't have high hopes. I was pleasantly surprised when I tried the product on though. It is actually comfortable to wear and it does provide the support my knee needs. My knee pain was dramatically reduced when wearing the knee sleeve and I didn't have any instances of my knee buckling while wearing the sleeve either. It was also really nice to find that the sleeve doesn't have a strong odor. Some knee support products I've used in the past have a weird smell to them. Price wise, this sleeve is priced about average compared to similar products and I would say in my experience that it works better than most similarly priced products. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who needs a knee support sleeve.

#sleevestars

ComfiLife cushion review

I received the ComfiLife Premium Comfort Seat Cushion at a discount in exchange for an honest review.

I got this cushion for my husband. He is a truck driver and has back pain sometimes from the seat in the truck he drives. We have tried other similar cushions to no avail, but this one has been great at providing my husband with comfort when he's driving. The cushion is nice quality and very comfortable to sit on, it helps ease back and hip pain. It stays on the seat easily. I strongly recommend this cushion for anyone with back or hip pain as well as anyone who has a job that involves sitting for long periods of time. I will have to get another one of these cushions because the one we had has been lost

I'm supposed to add more pictures, such as of the item in use, but as I said the item was lost due to a bad car accident. I do plan to get another of these cushions for my husband if or when he is permitted to return to work. When that happens I will be able to update this post with more photos. #comfilife #comfilifecushion #seatcushion #coccyxcushion #coccyxpillow #coccyx #coccyxpain #office #officechaircushion #carseatcushion #driver #drivercushion #wheelchair #wheelchaircushion #backpain #backpainrelief #sciatica #sciaticarelief #pregnancy #pregnancypillow #hippain

KSM-66 Ashwagandha Root Extract

I received this Ashwaghanda supplement for free in exchange for my honest review.

So I got this product for my husband because it was being marketed as a stress relief product when I requested to sample it, but on the manufacturers site it is marketed as a weight loss drug. There is no safety information on the product such as side effects (manufacturer claim there are none) or contraindicated medications and conditions. Here are a few contraindications to ashwaghanda: pregnancy, breast feeding, diabetes, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, stomach ulcers, autoimmune disorders, and thyroid disorders. It is also not safe to use prior to surgery. It does have some potential uses including decreasing anxiety, lowering cholesterol, improving of impulse control for children with ADHD, improving sperm quality in infertile men,improving arthritis symptoms, and improving Parkinson's symptoms. However, there is not anywhere near enough scientific data to back up any of the supposed benefits the manufacturer claims this product has. I would strongly recommend against this product because it is unproven and because the manufacturer utilizes predatory practices in trying to peddle this product. Buyer beware!

Tools4Wisdom Yearly Planner review

I recieved the Tools4Wisdom 2018 Planner at a discount in exchange for my honest review.

I really love journals and planners. I like having a dedicated place to write down my thoughts, goals, and plans. I like the layout of this planner, it has areas for goals and notes at the beginning but also has adequate space for writing goals in each monthly section. The paper is nice, high quality paper and the cover is sturdy and very well created, it has a nice feel to it. The geometric design on the cover is nice, though the calligraphy is a bit wonky in my opinion. They have a variety of cover designs, all very nice. I'll probably buy one for next year.
I will definitely use this book, it will be very helpful keeping my thoughts and goals organized. It's nice to keep everything in one place, it makes it much easier to keep track of everything. I think I will get another one for next year, too.

This is a good planner for people who like to keep everything in one place. It's well constructed and looks nice, the price is a little higher than some similar products but it is made of high quality materials.

Low Carb cookbook review

I received a free copy of the ebook The Low Carb Cookbook & Weight Loss Plan: 21 Days to Cut Carbs and Burn Fat with a Ketogenic Diet for free in exchange for an honest review.

I was interested in this book because I'm trying to lose some stubborn weight and I've had success using low carb diets in the past. The book did not live up to my expectations, however. It has some definite flaws, among them recommending unhealthy foods such as butter and coconut oil, which the author incorrectly refers to as healthy fats. IT also fails to mention any of the many, many dangers associated with sticking to a ketogenic diet long term. The book does have some nice recipes, but most of them could be found easily online for free. I would not recommend this book to anyone because it has to many flaws and not enough to redeem it. If the price point were lower it might be worth investing in for the recipes and meal plan, but at the list price it is not worth it.

I really want to mention that there are some very real dangers to the ketogenic diet. My son has epilepsy and the keto diet is one method of treating epilepsy, but it is the LAST choice after trying all possible drug combos and brain surgery. That's right, the keto diet is so dangerous that brain surgery is considered a safer option. Let that sink in: Brain surgery is safer than a ketogenic diet.

Urban organic gardener March box

I got my second box from UOG. I actually got it on the 8th but I have been working and didn't have the time to show what I got.

This month I got bush beans, sweet peas, nasturtium mix, chives, and a hummingbird and butterfly wildflower mix, plus soil pods and epsom salt.

I started some tomatos, cucumbers, and peppers from last months box and there doing good. The tomatos and cucumbers need repotted, only one pod with peppers has sprouted but I'll give the other two a bit more time and see if they come up.

Wild Alaskan Salmon oil review

I received Terramax Pro Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil for free in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this product would be interesting to try since it is supposed to help with joint health as well as skin/coat health. The product also claims to aid in relieving some allergies.

I put this product in my dog's food as well as my cats' food. Well, the cats are technically "feral" cats not ours, but they're completely tame and let me hold them so I consider them to be mine. Anyway, I haven't noticed any difference in my dogs coat, maybe it's a little shinier but I can't tell honestly. The cats on the other hand are noticeably shinier at least when they're not busy rolling in the dirt, that is. I have also noticed that the older cat seems to have a little more spring in her step. I have already suggested this product for my sister's pets and would recommend it to anyone else who wants to improve their pets health and coat. I should warn though, that after opening the bottle you may end up with a little leaking that leaves the bottle pretty gross to touch.

Blusmart WiFi Mini Smart Plug review

I received the Blusmart 2 Pack WiFi Smart Plug at a discount in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Smart home devices are a lot of fun, right? Who doesn't love the idea of being able to operate your home remotely or program basic functions? So with that in mind I decided I would love to try this product out. I had a few ideas on what to do with the plugs, but none really panned out. I first tried the obvious-using the plugs to turn on lights. And they work just fine for that task, but I found the app to be very clunky and it just made turning on a light more work than it needs to be. Next, I tried using the plugs to turn on a heater in the back room when needed. And again, it works but the app is so clunky it makes it too much extra work to preform a simple task. The last idea I had was a really dumb one on my part- turning my wifi router on remotely. I know, that was a dumb idea. I have no excuses, it was just a stupid plan on my part. I always turn my wifi off when I leave the house so I thought I could use this to turn it back on before I get home, and then I realized that won't work for obvious reasons. Of course, the fact that I turn my wifi off when I'm not at home means the plugs are pretty useless for me in general. The plugs are also much more expensive than similar products. So, I can't recommend this product.

Mermaid tail blanket review

I received the Senmar Mermaid Tail Blanket at a discount in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own honest opinions.

I've been kind of interested in mermaid tail blankets since I first saw one. They look pretty cool, and I thought Zach would really love one because it would create a snug environment for him. Zach really loves snuggling up in confined spaces and burrowing under blankets. This is actually pretty common for sensory seeking autistic people.

So, with all that said, lets get to the review! The item is available on Amazon for a current price of $13.99 or two for $19.99. For such a low price I was expecting the quality would be pretty low, but I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the product. It uses high quality yarn and is very well crafted. It seems to stand up well to tugging and there are no loose strands on it anywhere. I can't say for sure how well it will stand up over a longer time period, but I will try to remember and update this review in a few months. I'm not fond of the color personally, but that's because I don't like the color blue. It's a soft blue with a little purple mixed in. The colors do go together well though. It is not one size fits all and was a bit tight on me, so it won't work for some people. Zach does seem to enjoy snuggling in it, so it works great for its intended purpose. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a novelty blanket.

You can view my video review on Youtube here.

Urban organic gardener subscription box

I joined the urban organic gardener subscription box this month and got my first box in the mail the other day.

Each month you get 5 packs of organic, non GMO seeds for your growing area, epsom salt, 5 plant stakes, 10 peat growing pellets, and planting instructions. Including shipping the monthly cost for a subscription is 13.94

The seeds I got this month are black seeded simpson lettuce (130 seeds), basil (120 seeds), anaheim pepper (10 seeds), white armenian cucumber (10 seeds), and cherry tomato (15 seeds) and I got a 20% off code for there store. I'll start the tomato and pepper seeds indoors in the next week and I'll be growing the basil in a contaner. I'll let everone know how the seed/seedlings are doing every month.

If you would like you can join UOG here.

#GlamVoxBox

Well, I've now tried all of the items in my #GlamVoxBox, so here are my reviews of the items. NYM Dry spray shampoo: Well, it smells HORRIBLE. And it didn't work. My hair was greasier after using it than before. And it was hard to wash the residue out afterwards. Do not buy this, it's crap. Gillette Venus razor and shave gel: I love this razor, it's cool looking and it works better than any razor I've used before. The shave gel is nice too. I don't like the smell, but it works well for getting legs soft and smooth. Cutex nail polish remover pads: They don't work great, it takes a long time to get the polish off. But one pad really is enough to do all ten nails. Q-tips beauty rounds: These are glorified cotton balls, but they're very convenient for storing in first aid kits and such. SheaMoisture anti-aging face wash/lotion/mask: I can't assess whether it's anti-aging claims are legit, since I haven't used it long. But it didn't cause any breakouts or irritation, which is good. It smelled weird though.

Cutex nail polish remover pads #GotItFree

I received a free sample of Cutex Nail Polish remover pads in my recent Glam VoxBox. They arrived right in time as my bad manicure was starting to chip and fade. So I used them to clean up my nails, and it worked pretty good. You have to press pretty hard to get them to work, and it takes a while to get all the polish off, but one pad will do all ten nails. I wouldn't likely buy them because I can get nail polish remover cheaper at the dollar store, but they are a great idea for road trips and vacations.

#ChooseToSmooth with Venus and Olay!

Disclaimer: I received these products free to test and review Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything here because I started a new job so I haven't had a lot of free time. But recently I received a new VoxBox (three, actually!) so I have a new product to review. This time it's a review of Gillette Venus Swirl Razor and Olay Violet Swirl Shave Gel. Well, I will say that the razor is awesome. It's got a ball joint that allows it to move at different angles that makes getting a close, clean shave quick and easy. The shave gel is pretty nice, too. It has a nice smell and it provides nice coverage. I normally hate shaving, but these products make it less of a pain.

Job's going well

Well, I just completed my first solo work day. It went well, I guess. I didn't burn the place down, so that's a plus! I was actually pretty worried during my on the job training that I wouldn't be able to do this job on my own, but it really is pretty damned easy. It's a lot more work than most people seem to realize, though. Everyone thinks because I have a management position at a government agency that I just sit on my butt all day and goof off, but I don't. Well, I do spend some time goofing off, but I do have to actually work, too. I actually have a lot to do during the day, mostly administrative and customer service type work. But I also have to make sure the place is kept neat and clean. I'll also be responsible for lawn maintenance when summer comes. I'm not yet officially the postmaster, I'm only a postmaster relief, but I will be postmaster officially soon. That doesn't change much, really. I'll get a small salary bump and be eligible for health benefits.

New job!

Well, I got a new job. I am now the postmaster at a small town post office. It means I won't have as much time to post. Not that I post regularly anyway... It was actually a bit of a fluke that I got the job. I was checking my mail and overheard the woman working the office that she was tired of covering that office and wished they would hire someone there, so I went home and looked up job listings. Sure enough, my local post office was hiring. So, I applied and waited. My interview was only five minutes, so I was sure I wouldn't be getting the job. But on the way home from the interview (it was an hour and a half from my home) I got a phone call letting me know I had the job. It's really exciting! This isn't just a job, it's an actual career. I have a two-day training next week, and then I'll start work as soon as I get home.

More shop stuff

I have a few more things up in the Etsy store and more to add. Lots of supplies, pendants and wire trees. I am also working on finishing some other peaces I have started. I will be adding some book marks, hair combs, and ribbon flowers.

More supplies and some other stuff

I have been adding more to the etsy shop, mostly supplies and a wire tree. I have more to list and I am expecting more in the mail and I am going to through together some assortments together and list though's. You can see the new items here.

New shop items

Including the necklace I posted about a few days ago I have also listed 2 different colors of unfinished swarovski jewelry chain. I have some more jewelry and supplies I am getting ready to list.
Items can be seen at our shop Here.

Turquoise Necklace

I just finished this turquoise necklace and earring set the other day. I made this set with turquoise beads, silver beads, glass seed beads, stainless steal jump rings, and a pewter pendent. I will be adding this set to the Etsy shop in a day or 2.

Non-Drowsy Dramamine

Well, I finally got around to using my Non Drowsy Dramamine sample from Influenster. We took a trip to see family and my son gets carsick on long, windy roads, so I gave him some Dramamine before we left. Now, I'm going to be honest here, I didn't expect it to work AT ALL. I used to get carsick as a kid, and Dramamine never did me any good. But, for my son, it worked. He didn't get any nausea at all. So, thumbs up Dramamine.

Graze box

I love Graze box. I was a subscriber once before but had to pause my subscription. I've recently restarted my subscription and it's just as good as I remember. You get a box of snacks (4 or 8) every 1-4 weeks. And if you go on vacation, pausing your box is easy to do. They offer a few different box option, my favorite being the Flapjack box. They also have a Sweet Treats box, a Savory box, an all inclusive four or eight snack box, and a sharing box. As I said, my favorite is the flapjack box. It consists of four oat bars (that resemble soft granola bars) in a variety of flavors. And they are so good. These snacks aren't cheap, you can definitely get similar snacks for less elsewhere, but they are healthy and delicious. And if you use my link to sign up, you'll get your first box free! So what are you waiting for? Sign up for your free box now! I recommend setting  your delivery schedule to every four weeks when you first sign up, that way you will have received and sampled your first box before paying for the second, so you can cancel with no out of pocket cost if you aren't satisfied.
https://www.graze.com/us/p/TARAR2M3T

Influenster #NurtureVoxBox

I recently received my first Influenster Vox Box, the Nurture Vox Box. It contained such goodies as Blue Lizard suncscreen, Non drowsy naturals dramamine, Hada Labo face mask, Attitude shampoo, and Redvines licorice (which seems out of place). It also includes coupons for a free box of Uncle Ben's rice, a free bag of OreIda potatoes, $3 off Hada Labo product, and $10 off a $35 purchase from Blue Lizard. All in all, a pretty awesome spread. I gave the licorice to my sister, because gross. I've used to sunblock for both my son and myself, and it works great. No burns, no breakouts, and my skin doesn't feel like it's on fire when I use it. Also, the price isn't too high so I'll be buying more. The shampoo smells funky, but similar to most shampoos. I don't like it, but I'm sure most people will. I haven't tried the face mask yet because I'm afraid it will cause my skin to breakout. I'll try it before I take a shower, just in case. Now, the Dramamine, this stuff is a life saver. My son doesn't do well on car rides sometimes, especially if there are windy roads and there are a LOT of windy roads where we live, so Dramamine is a necessity for car rides. Unfortunately, I haven't found an easy way to get him to take it yet. I haven't used the coupons yet because I haven't gone in to town since receiving my box.

Folgers Iced Café™ samples from Crowdtap!

My second sampling opportunity from Crowdtap is Folgers new Iced Cafe concentrates. I received one of each flavor to try. I gave the original flavor to my sister, the vanilla to my dad, and I tried the caramel and hazelnut. Now, let me preface this by saying I'm not a big coffee drinker. I drink coffee on rare occasions, usually in the form of a latte. I also hate most latte/coffee/cappuccino drink mixes because they're too sweet. This new product from Folgers isn't overly sweet and you can actually taste the coffee. It truly creates a coffee shop level latte flavor, which I love. I'm going to be buying more of this stuff to keep around. I do hope they come out with more flavors soon.

AVEENO® samples from Crowdtap!

I am a member of Crowdtap's Aveeno Advocates program I received a free sample of Aveeno's Sheer Hydration Daily Moisturizing lotion and Protect+Hydrate SPF30.

The lotion works well, it softens even my toughest of scales (for those who aren't aware, I'm turning into an alligator). It has a weird smell, but the smell is very mild so it doesn't offend. my scaly patches truly are softer, even though I haven't been using the lotion daily. Of course, the lotion alone would not have softened my scales, I've been using an exfoliating scrub. But I've been exfoliating and moisturizing regularly for years and my scaly patches remained strong. The Aveeno lotion, along with the exfoliation, has softened my scales. I'll have to buy more if I want to stave of my transition to full alligator. I'm not sure yet if I want too, though. I kind of like the idea of becoming an alligator...

The sunblock I couldn't even use. The active ingredients include avobenzone, which burns my skin horrifically. I'm actually shocked that Aveeno would use chemical sunblocks instead of physical ones. I realize that many people prefer chemical sunblocks, but I've always viewed Aveeno as a brand for people with sensitive skin, and many sensitive skin types can't wear chemical sunblocks. So the sunblock doesn't fit with my image of Aveeno brand. As a disclaimer, I'm not one of those loons who believes that chemicals are evil. I just can't use chemical sunblocks.

Insert catchy title here

Hello. I'm Fawn I'll be doing some review's here on the things I use and voicing my opinion on stupid people. I will also review some get paid to website for people that want to make a bit of spare cash. I meant to post my introduction yesterday but my mother and her friend broke the pick-up five miles out of town and I had to assess the damage.

R is for Reviews

Starting next month I will begin posting reviews of products/services on my blog. And my sister will be joining me. We will be reviewing a lot of different products, and of course we will continue with our autistic advocacy. I've just decided that I need a platform to talk about the awesome products I love and I don't want to create a separate blog, because I slack off enough with just one to maintain. So soon their will be reviews. But they will make up less than a quarter of the blog content, I'm sure. My sister will be voicing her opinions on many things here as well, and she has a lot of opinions to voice. I'm sure she'll piss off many readers.

Q is for Quacks

Quacks aka the anti-science nutbars who call themselves medical professionals. They're a truly vile bunch of scumbags. They use fear mongering to prey on the ignorant for profit. They ignore scientific fact if it doesn't mesh well with their convoluted pseudo-science. They campaign against logic, reason, and common sense. They are enemies to humanity. And they do most of their damage to those who can't fight back, children. They convince uneducated and gullible parents not to vaccinate which leaves innocent children in danger.

P is for Pasta

I like pasta. It's probably my favorite food. It's so versatile. There are so many wonderful varieties of pasta to suit individual tastes. It really is the greatest food.

O is for OCD

I have OCD. I see and hear people all the time making OCD jokes. Usually along the lines of "I organized my closet, I'm so OCD!" People think OCD is a joke, they think it's funny. It's not. It's a disorder. It's not funny when I stand in the grocery store paralyzed because there aren't four of the item I need to buy. Mental illness isn't a joke. It's not.

N is for Non-verbal effect

Non-verbal effect is a term used to describe the treatment of those who don't speak. It refers to the fact that people who don't speak are treated as stupid, lesser, infantile. Those who don't speak are less likely to receive appropriate medical care. They are less likely to receive appropriate education. Doctors and educators often fall into the pitfall that A$ created: the idea that non-speaking means unable to comprehend. After having six seizures in one day my son was completely ignored by ER staff because he doesn't speak. The ER staff even saw two of the seizures, but they acted like it was nothing. One of the nurses actually said to me "That's just how those kind of people act." After his seizures finally stopped the doctors were ready to send him home the minute his eyes opened, asking me "So this is normal behavior for him, right?" It took months for me to get a referral for my son to see a neurologist, but only one EEG to find epileptic activity and receive a diagnosis.

M is for Martyr mommies

Martyr mommies is the phrase I use to refer to "parents" who call themselves warriors. These are the people who publicly bash their children on forums and blogs. These are the people who record and post to Youtube videos of their children in distress. These are the people who murder their disabled children and try to play the victim. These are the people who defend those who murder disabled children. These people consider themselves saints if they don't murder their children. These people are scum. They scream above the voices of disability advocates to insure their voices are the only ones that are heard. They suckle at the teat of groups like Autism $peaks because those groups perpetuate the martyr mommy ideology.

L is for Llamas

When I was a kid my siblings and I raised pigs. Since we lived in town we had to keep the pigs at a friends house. The house was about a mile from ours, so we walked there three times a day to take care of the pigs. Next door to where we kept our pigs lived a woman who raised llamas. They were mean SOB's. If we walked to near her fence, the llamas would charge the fence and spit. Before meeting those llamas I liked llamas, I always wanted one of my own. After meeting them, I hate llamas. They're assholes.

K is for Kittens

I've been searching for a kitten or two to add to our family. I considered getting an adult cat, but I worry that an adult might not adjust well to my son's activity and noise levels. So kitten it is. We had a cat up until October of last year, one that my son loved very much. Her name was Checkers. But when we were forced to flee our home we lost her. I posted ads online trying to find her, but nobody came forward. I found out earlier this year that one of our former neighbors found Checkers and kept her. It's nice to know she's alive and well, but it's sad that we lost her. I have spoken to the people who found her, and I believe it's in her best interest to stay with them. They're taking good care of her, and she has anxiety which makes moving difficult for her. We moved once when she was a kitten and the anxiety nearly killed her. So now we must find a new kitten for the family.

J is for Jazz

Jazz is one of my son's favorite types of music. When he was a baby I would play jazz music to help lull him to sleep. He still enjoys listening to jazz when he's upset. It soothes him when he's upset, stressed, or not feeling well.

I is for Injuries

I have a knee injury. It happened when I was 17 and continues to cause me pain regularly. Some days the pain is mild and I can just ignore it. Some days, like today, the pain is so bad I can't walk or stand on my own. I sustained my injury when I was in the army. The worst part is I can't get my medical records from the VA because I apparently do not have the security clearance necessary to view my own medical records. Cool, right? Or it would be if it wasn't interfering with my ability to get proper medical care for my knee problem. Most doctors just assume my knee pain is because of my weight. I am overweight, I know that, but my weight isn't the cause of my knee pain, my knee pain is the cause of my weight.

H is for Haiku(s)

Autism is not bad
We're not missing or broken
We've always been here.


Acceptance is love
Love is not conditional
Love us, don't kill us.

Don't hate your children
Show them acceptance and love
That is what they need.

G is for Goals

It's good to have goals. Goals give you a reason to get up in the morning when you're having a bad day. Goals help you make progress. Setting goals allows you to create a list of priorities in life. I have a lot of goals. Some of them are frivolous, some aren't. I think my most frivolous goal is to own the world's largest collection of Oddish paraphernalia. My least frivolous goal is to make the world a better place for my son and all other autistic children by spreading a message of acceptance. Shockingly, a lot of parents are offended and angered by the autistic acceptance movement. It seems that there are some parents, those who call themselves "warriors," who don't believe in loving children unconditionally. My goal is to show them how wrong they are.

F is for Friends

I don't have a lot of friends. There are only three people in the world I consider friends, and only one of them I talk to regularly. And by regularly, I mean we usually don't go more than six months without speaking. It's not that I avoid making friends, I just don't make much effort to keep in contact with people which makes them not want to be friends anymore. I don't mind though. I'm content with my friend situation.

E is for Epilepsy

My son was diagnosed with epilepsy last October. It took a lot of fighting and arguing with doctors and insurance reps to get him to a neurologist. The doc he saw in the ER and at the ER follow up wouldn't give us a referral to a neuro because she didn't believe he had a seizure. I had to find a new doctor to get a referral, and then after I finally got the referral my insurance wouldn't pay for the visit and I had to pay out of pocket.
Epilepsy is scary. Watching my son have a seizure I was completely powerless to help him and afterwards his skin was an ashy grey color. He looked dead. After having had 10 seizures in three months, he's been seizure free for almost a year now. I still worry, though. What if he has another bad seizure? Will the ER docs be less dismissive now that he's been diagnosed? I don't know, and I hope I never have to find out.

D is for Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes runs in my family. It's a really scary disease. My dad is diabetic, and I've seen him on death's doorstep because of it. When I was seven I watched the paramedics cart him out of our house on a stretcher. I thought he was dead. He was in the hospital for a long time, at one point he was so bad the doctors advised my grandparents to and my mother to have a priest give him his last rites. Instead they had him transferred to a different hospital where he recovered pretty quickly. I still have no idea what happened that he got so sick in the first place, but it was terrifying. Five years later his kidneys failed and he was put on dialysis. He refused to allow my siblings and me to be tested for a kidney match. Luckily my dad is one of eight kids, so he had no trouble finding a donor match quickly.

Now my dad's doctor is running a trial to assess the likelihood of developing diabetes in close relatives of type 1 diabetics. My son is in the trial. My dad is pushing hard to get my siblings, my nieces, and me in the trial as well. He worries too much that we'll all end up diabetic.

C is for Communication

Communication comes in many forms. Spoken words, written/typed words, gestures, facial expressions, hand signs, and behavior are all forms of communication. Communication can be hard sometimes, especially for disabled people. Communication becomes even harder when multimillion dollar profit engines work to silence disabled people. Autism $peaks works tirelessly to silence autistic people. They spend billions of dollars to insure that their narrative is the only one heard. If any autistic dares to share their experience, A$ is quick to shut them down. Because those of us who can communicate easily don't count.

B is for Bigotry

Bigotry is alive and well. Most of the bigotry in the autism community comes from parents. It's not really surprising, though, and it isn't completely their fault. The problem is that we as a society have allowed Autism $peaks to control the national discourse on autism. A$ spreads a message of hatred, painting pictures of doom and gloom. There's a reason autistic people hate A$. Because A$ treats us like we aren't human, like we don't matter. They refuse to listen to us. A$ believes that if we can communicate clearly we don't count, and if we can't communicate clearly we don't matter. Supporting Autism $peaks to help autistic people is like supporting the Nazi party to help Jewish people. Don't do it. Listen to autistics because when it comes to autism, that's who should doing the talking.

This year, support Autism Acceptance. Don't LIUB, instead #WalkInRed!

A is for Absence

I have been absent from my blog, and the internet in general, for the last six months. I'm not comfortable discussing the details of my reason for being absent beyond the fact that a threat was made against my son and we had to go "off grid" for a while to deal with it.

During my absence I made some changes in my life. I've decided to go back to college for another degree, though I haven't decide whether to go for nursing or software engineering at this point. I've applied for a local nursing program already and have been in contact with a university in SoCal about their software engineering program. I just have to decide which one I want to do more before the fall. Shouldn't be too hard.