Author: spaleksic

Felt Dryer Balls

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I have been writing about some heavy topics lately and I thought that I would lighten it up a bit with felt dryer balls. I have been using a bounce dryer bar but they have become difficult to find, and after checking a number of stores I gave up and made some dryer balls. I was a little skeptical that they would work but after a couple of weeks of using them I am converted. When I made the switch from dryer sheets to the dryer bar I no longer needed to remember to put in a dryer sheet with every load, nor did I need to fish out a dryer sheet at the end of the load. There are a few added benefits of felt dryer balls the first being that there is no garbage and the second is that there isn’t any chemicals. They are also so easy to make, I made these three one night while I was watching TV.

Instructions

Step 1 – using 100% wool wrap into a ball (mine are about the size of an orange). I used yarn for the entire ball but you could also use an old wool sweater.

felt balls 3

Step 2 – once the balls are wrapped put them into an old nylon/pantyhose and knot after every ball as pictured. Wash in the washing machine in the hottest water possible. They can be washed with a load of laundry or alone. I sent mine through two loads. After they are felted cut them out of the nylons and dry them in the dryer.

felt balls 4

These are the finished dryer balls. I leave them in the dryer most of the time occasionally the kids steal them and play which is something that they couldn’t do with dryer sheets. I am going to experiment with adding oils into the balls to make the laundry smell nice.

Bumping Along…..It’s nearing the end of July and I still have a brain tumour

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Brain surgeryIt’s been a while since I wrote specifically about Timmy. He seems to make his way into almost every one of my posts recently and that’s because it’s pretty hard to separate myself from him. As it’s almost the end of July and he and I are still stuck together you might have been wondering what’s up. Or most likely you are having a great summer and not thinking at all about me or my brain tumour, and if that’s the case, fantastic, good for you, I am jealous.

Timmy and I were originally scheduled to be separated on July 31 the Friday before the August long weekend. The neurosurgeon, my husband, and my parents were all on board with the plan (Timmy doesn’t get a vote) but unfortunately the hospital wasn’t very keen. About a week ago I got a call to say that I was being bumped to Friday August 7th because there was an urgent case that needed my date. I find it a little hard to believe that someone more urgent than me was still going to wait 2+ weeks for surgery. I think it was code for it’s the Friday before the long weekend and there isn’t the staff for your elective surgery. If the latter is the case than I am happy to move to a date that can accommodate the operating room staff, I wouldn’t want anyone rushing to get out of MY surgery to get to the cabin on the lake with a two four.

Couple of notes here:

  • in BC cottages are called cabins
  • beer is not commonly sold in two fours in BC, so it would be more like 4 six packs

RubesEarwormAt first I was a little upset by the change in date but that lasted for about 10 minutes, and then I was relieved. My parents were able to switch their flights by a week and were assisted by a lovely customer service person at Westjest that waived the flight change fee after my mom explained why they needed to change flights. Props to Westjet for being human. My surgery was planned for the end of July so that I could write exams, and still be able to go back to school in September. I will now have 4 weeks of recovery time and hopefully that will be enough. The surgeon said that I should be back to my regular routine in 6 weeks, so I am hoping that I am an extra fast healer. All that I have to compare this surgery to is giving birth and the removal of wisdom teeth, both of which took me way too long to get over.

Things are moving forward though I am spending the morning today at the hospital meeting with a pharmacist (my new BFF), an anesthesiologist (makes me think of LL Cool J and the song “momma gonna knock you out”), and a nurse (who will also be in the running for the position of new BFF). I am also having bloodwork, an ECG, and a chest x-ray. Sounds like a super fun way to spend a Friday morning, but I am going to do it without the kids and with my husband so it’s sort of like a date.

As of right now Timmy will be evicted on August 7th but you better believe that I will keep you posted if something changes.

Exams with a Toddler and a Brain Tumour

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Study BuddyI have been busy studying for exams the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately because I had taken a 3 month hiatus from school after learning that I had a brain tumour I had to re-learn most of the content before I could write exams. I figured that it would be in my best interest to write the exams before surgery because who knows what state I might be in post surgery.

To progress in my program (Masters of Business Administration) I need a B in each course to move into the September semester which is a tad daunting without Timmy (my tumour) inhabiting my brain space. I also have dreams of winning a scholarship/award to help pay my ridiculous tuition, so the grades are rather important. When I decided to go back to school full time last year I did a little number crunching and determined that I would rather spend the $24,000 over 2.5 years on grad school tuition, rather than daycare. YES the cost of day care and university tuition for a MBA are roughly equal. The return on investment of grad school versus daycare is a no brainer but it meant that I had a two year old home with me almost everyday while I attempted to learn subjects which were foreign to me.

I have very creative background with a Bachelor of Design, a diploma in furniture design and photography. Over the course of my career I became more interested in the business aspects of the furniture industry and that is how I ended up pursuing a MBA. Most of the students studying in the MBA program come from with a background in business, finance or engineering (at least some prior education requiring the use of a calculator). With Economics, Statistics, and two Accounting courses on the agenda I knew that the math was going to be a bit challenging for me, and then Timmy showed up. Whoa is me. Thankfully my husband (who is an Aerospace Engineer) tutored me through Economics (we got an A) but for the rest I was on my own. I am not sure how I did in Statistics yesterday but the exam was brutal, my fingers are crossed for a pass.

Regardless I feel pretty good about completing the first year of grad school with a two year old at home and a brain tumour. I learned a lot about business and even more about myself both were worth the price of tuition. On a super positive note right after I got back from writing my last exam I received an email stating that I had in fact been selected to receive a $3,500 MBA Entrance Award, now all I need to do is pass that Stats course.

Losing my mind

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IMG_20150710_211153Technically I am having a piece of my skull removed and a brain invader chopped out but emotionally I am losing my mind. Three weeks today and I will be happily drugged in ICU with a hole the size of a toonie in my head, and a metal plate keeping my brain in. I can feel the panic attack brewing just thinking about it.

I threw a tantrum today, just like a toddler. Not one of my proudest moments that’s for sure. I was attempting to study for exams which is an overly ambitious goal on the best of days with two little loud boys at home. It’s been months since the end of the semester and here I am in the middle of July trying to get my course work complete before Timmy is removed. I am having a bit of a hard time remembering the course content all of these months later. It’s really hot in my office (we are having an unseasonably warm summer and no air conditioning). I have chosen to keep the window in the office closed because my husband is smoking a cigar right below it. It’s a sauna in the office on the best of days but the end of the day is unbearable with full sun all afternoon. I have been packing up and moving to the coffee shop in the evenings but this course requires so much stuff I need a suitcase to get there. The kids are fighting, screaming and crying (all very normal behaviour for them) and surprise surprise I have a headache.

I yelled, stomped and packed up my crap. If I had a little more disposable income I would have checked into a hotel for the weekend because I don’t think that I have ever felt more like running away. But the coffee shop is going to have to cut it. When I got settled into my regular spot I noticed that someone had put some flowers in the corner which was a really nice surprise. Sometime’s it’s the little things that matter.

There have been so many people that have mentioned how well I am handling the Timmy situation, and most of the time I am handling the situation as well as I can. But today my anger got the best of me. Some days life can get messy, thankfully there is tomorrow because I need a do over for today.

BBQ Cupcakes Hot off the Grill

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BBQ Cupcake detail 2We headed to a potluck BBQ on the weekend and wait for it, we brought cupcakes. If you have been following my blog for a little while you might have noticed that every other post is about cupcakes. I have been altering the posts between brain tumours and cupcakes just to keep the content light and fluffy.

I started taking a cake decorating class and I was quite bummed when it got postponed because the instructor had to go in for surgery, the class will resume some time in August and I am hoping to be healed from my surgery in time to participate. During the last class the young girl beside me managed to get frosting in her hair. I will have to remember to keep my distance from her as frosting in my healing skull probably wouldn’t be “just what the doctor ordered”.

In keeping with the BBQ theme I stole this idea from my favourite site. In case you want to copy from me copying from Pinterest here are the instructions:

Instructions

BBQ Cupcakes steps

  1. Bake chocolate cupcakes (just follow the instructions on a boxed cake mix) or get really wild and bake them from scratch
  2. Frost the cupcakes once they are cooled with chocolate frosting, they don’t have to be perfect because you are going to cover them in sprinkles (aka fire)
  3. Dip, roll or sprinkle the cupcakes with any combination of red, orange or yellow sprinkles (I used red and clear sugar sprinkles because that’s what they sell at the dollarstore and I am cheap)
  4. Draw on a BBQ grill with black frosting
  5. Add on a few “Hot Tamales” or red Mike&Ike candies (aka Hot dogs)
  6. Draw grill marks on the candy

P.S. if you decide to send your husband to the store for hot tamales and he happens to have been born in another country where he wouldn’t have had access to these treats explain to him exactly what you want or you might end up with hot peppers.

Eating Beavers

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For our Canada day celebrations I made beaver cupcakes for the little cannucks, or at least that is what they are supposed to look like. For some reason when I made them they did actually resemble the animal, now looking at the pictures I wonder how much wine I consumed while baking. Either way the kiddies ate them up.

If you want to take a run at them this is what I did, perhaps you can improve on it.

  1. baked and iced cupcakes with chocolate frosting
  2. for the tails I used lady finger type cookies cut in half
  3. the flag is helping the tail stand up
  4. ears are M&M’s
  5. eyes are fondant with brown food colouring dots
  6. teeth are white fondant
  7. the nose is the last step and it a red M&M

Canada Day Cake

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canada day shirtI haven’t posted anything in a little while because I have been on a baking frenzy and I am supposed to be studying for exams. I write the first exam of three on Wednesday of next week. I just can’t let a holiday pass by without some sort of festive treat. We had a party on Canada Day to celebrate the birthday of our fantastic country and I made a cake, no real surprise there. I also made some festive cupcakes for the kiddies, I will reveal those tomorrow. We had a great time and the kids had a blast with water guns, and water balloons. Here is little L sporting his new Canada Day shirt for the occasion.

Historically I have made a sheet cake frosted with white icing, and decorated with strawberries in the shape of a Canadian flag. I thought that I would mix things up a bit this year. I have wanted to try making a cake with more than 2 layers. So I made a red, white, red layered cake to resemble the colours and pattern of the Canadian flag. It was more like pink than red but after a few drinks who could tell the difference. I did my best free hand maple leaf on the top. My free hand technique could use some work, but the taste is the same regardless of drawing ability.

DIY Teacher’s Gifts

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I can’t believe the school year is over, maybe it’s because we got a late start due to a strike, or maybe it’s because this was my oldest’s first year of school. Either way it’s over and summer is officially here. Along with the graduation cupcakes, and the vacationing bear cupcakes I also made some teacher’s gifts. Last year I made watermelon tea towels with some lovely ladies, but this year it was a last minute race to get the presents done on time.

The cost of this gift is in no way related to the thanks I have for S’s amazing teachers this year. I am hoping that the thought and effort outweighs the $1.25 that I spent. Honestly if I didn’t tell you that I spent $1.25 you would never know. Being that I have a overflowing closet of crafting supplies I didn’t need to buy paint, but even if I had needed to the total cost of this project would still be less than $5.00. If you happen to have a pile of kids, celery, and a dollar store near by this might be right up your alley.

Supplies

  • scarf – $1.25 at the dollar store
  • Craft paint – $1.00 per colour (dollar store or craft store)
  • textile medium – $2.50 at a craft store
  • paint brush
  • Celery – if you eat celery then you probably already have what you need
  • paper towels

Instructions

1. wash and iron the scarves

celery rose 1

2. Lay the scarf out on a flat surface, and place paper towels under it so that you don’t ruin the table or get the scarf stuck to it

celery rose 2

3. Chop the end off of a bunch of celery, and cut one stalk in half for the leaves

4. Mix the paint and textile medium as per the bottle instructions

5. Paint the end of the celery bunch and stamp it onto the scarf

celery rose 5

6. Repeat step 5 until you have a desired pattern

celery rose 6

7. Paint the end of the celery stalks to make the green leaves, and stamp onto the scarf

celery rose 7

8. Repeat step 7 until all of the roses have leaves

celery rose 8

10. Once the scarf it dry iron it to set the colours

Being that the project cost me so little I made one for me too. I don’t usually take selfies, so I could use a little practice. But you can see how the scarf looks when finished, and I really don’t think you could guess that it cost me $1.25 to make.

celery rose scarf

What’s up doc?

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I had no idea how often people asked “what are your plans for the summer”? Are you travelling anywhere? It’s getting to be like the new “How are you?” or at least it seems that way when I have been living in limbo.

'Given the complexity of the task and the size of the tumor, your best bet is Photoshop.'

I went for a follow-up appointment this past week to get the results from my MRI, which I already knew because I am as impatient as a toddler. But it’s a little different hearing them from a neurosurgeon than from my family doctor. The neurosurgeon still believes that I have a benign meningioma which is a tumour growing between my skull and the lining of my brain called the meninges. Whether or not it’s benign won’t be confirmed until the tumour is removed. Timmy is larger than initially suspected. My first scan had him at 2.3cm and the second more accurate one has him measuring 2.9cm. A six milimeter difference isn’t much unless you are talking about brain tumours. Meningioma’s typically grow at a rate of 1mm per year, so we are potentially talking about a difference of 6 years of growth. The surgeon doesn’t actually think that Timmy has grown 6mm between scans he just thinks that the image from the MRI is much better than the one from the CT scan. As I learned this week 3cm is the decision point for these types of tumours in this location. My options were presented such that:

1. I can wait until the tumour gets to be 3cm in 6 months to a year during which time I would need to have another MRI and more appointments, and then have surgery

2. have radiation to reduce the size of the tumour and then at some time in the future have surgery

3. get it removed sooner rather than later

Unfortunately using photoshop to remove the tumour wasn’t an option. Waiting a couple more months would be fine except having a brain tumour sort of sucks. If I was 70 years old my best course of treatment would be radiation. But I am not 70 so shrinking it and hoping for the best only to have to revisit the situation later isn’t very appealing. So looks like I am going to have surgery sooner rather than later.

He then went through the potential risks of this surgery based on the size and location of Timmy which include a small risk of facial paralysis on the left side of my face, reduced motor function in my left hand, bleeding requiring a blood transfusion, and somethings about difficulty swallowing, swelling, leaking spinal fluid; honestly I sort of lost track. I do remember that if he can’t untangle the tumour from important things he will just leave some tumour behind rather than risk permanent damage. If he does have to chop up Timmy what is left will be “fried” as he put it, and I believe there was a mention of potential radiation treatment later on. My husband made notes which I can’t bear to read. Having too many details scares the crap out of me.

What is sort of neat, creepy and scary all at the same time is that he will be injecting little sensors into my face once my head is clamped to the operating table. Yes that is correct my head will be clamped to the operating table. Sounds pleasant doesn’t it. He will try and get the clamp marks close to my hair line just in case there is any scaring, but he couldn’t be sure where they would end up until he had me on the table. Considering that I will have my skull drilled open, the clamp marks will probably be the least of my concerns. The sensors will be used to align the MRI imaging to my head sort of like a GPS of my brain. The sensors will also act like little alarms for the nerves in my face if there is any twitching.

I will be sedated for the operation which is actually nice to hear because there are types of brain surgery that require local anesthetic so you are pretty much awake for the surgery. That sounds like torture. I have a hard time being fully present for a dental filling I can’t even image the post traumatic stress disorder that might surface from being awake for brain surgery.

The good news (I am stretching it here, but there has to be something positive in the situation) is that I will in fact be part robot when this is all over with as I will be getting a titanium plate in my head. My kids think that the surgeon is going to cut off my head, insert bolts and I will turn into Frankenstein. Thankfully he is not going to cut off my head. He is only going to cut into my head and there will be bolts involved so they are only partially wrong. I will defiantly be green right after the surgery because nausea is high on the list of side effects.

icu1I will be in the ICU right after the surgery but I might not even be aware because this event calls for a bucketful of drugs. There is a risk of swelling and bleeding post surgery given the tumour location so the ICU is the place to be. If all goes according to plan I will be out of the hospital within 5 days.

My husband, the surgeon and I tossed around some potential surgery dates as if we were making dinner plans. I have a tentative craniotomy (I think that’s what it’s called) booked but I am waiting for the confirmation before I get too excited, or freaked right out. In the mean time I need to have a pre-op exam, blood work and chest X-ray.

So now when I am asked “do you have any big plans for the summer”, I can say I sure do I’m having brain surgery. Now doesn’t that sound like a fun way to spend the summer.

Canada Day Dessert

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In case you are looking for something super quick and easy for Canada Day this year.

spaleksic's avatarMaking A Life

We are celebrating Canada Day this weekend.  S and I made this quick no bake Canada day flag dessert.  It’s really just a pan of iced rice crispy treats.  The only alteration to the instructions on the rice crispy box, is that we substituted in coconut oil instead of butter, for our non-dairy eater.  If I was to do this again I would buy red icing (or red food colouring paste) instead of attempting to make it with those liquid drops.

IMG_20140629_144627

Happy CANADA Day!

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