The first year we lived in our house, I was excited to get to pass out candy to Trick or Treaters. I thought it was going to be fun to see all the little kids dressed up. That year our church didn’t have it’s usual Reformation Celebration, so Halloween wasn’t too busy.

It was fun for awhile. We got a pretty good amount of kids, and most of them were with their parents. As it got darker, the time between knocks on the door increased. About nine o’clock, several boys in their early teens came to the door. Our front door had a glass panel, so it was easy to see who was there. I opened the door, and a young man pointed a gun at me and pulled the trigger.

It was a just a toy gun, but it was still unsettling. I’ll be very honest here. I own a handgun. What if I’d had it on my person? What if I’d been quick on the draw? What if I’d been a marine or special ops?

I sort of threw candy in the boys’ buckets, and as I shut and locked the door, the kid apologized. They hadn’t even made it to the end of our sidewalk before I’d turned off the porch light.

That is why I don’t pass out candy to trick or treaters. Sorry kids. Some teenager ruined it for the rest of you.

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It seems like most people are either one extreme or the other. Some people refer to medication as poison. Others say the benefits of acupuncture are only psychological.

In our experience, both medication and holistic care are helpful for David. David tries everything for his arthritis. (Of course, everything is under the supervision of a team of doctors.) There is no cure for Psoriatic Arthritis, but we want him to feel as good as possible. And that’s the point: whatever works.

We shouldn’t judge someone for taking prescribed medication or changing to an all natural, organic diet. We should just be thankful when people with chronic illness are able to get relief.

I know there are people out there who think we’re crazy for buying organic, grass fed beef raised without antibiotics or hormones, even though I drink Diet Coke, and David takes some of the strongest medications available. Don’t judge too harshly. We’re doing what works for us.

If you got to the Invisible Illness website, you can sign up to receive their daily updates and the incredible 83 page ebook, Chronic Illness Tips: 263 Ways to Do More Than Just Get By. Here’s a great quote from the book by Lisa Copen:

We are not here to compare our experiences with others in order to see who is in the most pain. We are all hurting. Our goal is to see where our hurts (and our hopes!) may overlap and be a support and encouragement to others.

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Still, I don’t want to tempt him, and I don’t want the house to smell like something baked if he can’t have it. Pillsbury Sweet Moments refrigerated desserts are an easy way for me to indulge while David’s at work. It’s so hot right now, I really don’t want to turn the oven on. Pillsbury Sweet Moments desserts are prebaked.

I tried the Bite Size Brownies in caramel. I actually ate them straight out of the bag, cold. Delicious. The Bite Size Brownies are only 60 calories a piece.

Pillsbury also offers Sweet Moments Bite Size Brownies in fudge and Molten Lava Brownies, which come in single-serve bowls and are also available in rich caramel and fudge varieties.

This is a really fun prize package, especially if you love chocolate! The chocolate bath products smell wonderful!

You can win a prize pack like mine!

Mandatory Entry: Just leave a comment on this post saying which of the new Pillsbury Sweet Moments desserts are you most excited to try.

For extra entries you can:

*Follow A Young Wife’s Tale on Twitter and Tweet the following: Pillsbury Sweet Moment’s Giveaway @youngwifestale #mbsspark http://wp.me/pvZfF-JW

*”Like” A Young Wife’s Tale on Facebook or post the following as your Facebook status: Check out the Pillsbury Sweet Moments Giveaway at A Young Wife’s Tale http://wp.me/pvZfF-JW

Leave a separate comment for each entry. Giveaway ends September 6. I’ll select a random winner, and email the winner. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before I select another winner.

Disclosure: The product, prize pack, information and additional prize pack to give away were all given to me from Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark.

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I have killed more plants than I care to remember. So when I won this bonsai tree from My Blessed Life, I told David now was his chance. His chance to be a farmer. If he could keep the bonsai alive, maybe he could grow some basil for me. From there, who knows? Farming fruit trees or raised vegetable beds? Maybe a real farm when we retire?

Also, I’ve come to recognize my crafting as an addiction. It’s hereditary. My mother can do some amazing crafts. She even sews a little, unlike me who is lucky to be able to put a button back on a pair of pants for David.

My mother can actually make curtains. She can even do sculpture and make those amazing Martha Stewart bows for packages. Recently, she made a prop for Brother #3′s senior pictures. I saw the picture and thought it was a prop the photographer had on hand. She’s that good.

I mentioned the prop to David, and said, “That’s where I get my crafting addiction from!”

“Did you think you got it from your father?” David asked.

“Well, not necessarily, but you know, he did tile the fireplace in the old house, and he makes those paratrooper bracelets. Oh, and he does all that fancy woodwork.”

“You were doomed from birth.”

Crafting is my doom.

Here’s a link to a delicious gluten free meatloaf that David loves. I use rice milk to keep it dairy free. Here’s a link to the star tree topper I plan to make for our Christmas tree this year.

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We’re still working on the anti-inflammation diet our acupuncturist recommended. David has been dairy free for two weeks now. We are avoiding tomatoes and peppers, but haven’t completely cut them out, yet. He’s drinking one soda a week and eating lots more vegetables. I’m so proud of the progress he’s making!

David’s New Jersey rheumatologist finally received the file from the Texas rheumatologist. We go back in a few weeks to see if he still thinks David was misdiagnosed, but I’ve got a feeling that once he’s seen the bone scan, original x-rays and his lab work from two and a half years ago, he’ll concur with the previous two rheumatologists’ diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis.

What’s up with the Post-It Notes? Click on Invisible Illness Week to find out. This year’s Invisible Illness Week theme is “Each One Can Reach One.” It’s September 13-19 and I will of course be blogging about life with chronic invisible illness. You can “Like” Invisible Illness Awareness on Facebook by clicking here.

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Schedule appointments with doctors

Call doctors to report problems and ask questions

Call insurance company to find out what they will cover/why they didn’t cover medical bills

Call pharmacy to refill prescriptions/transfer prescriptions

Walk the dog

Bathe the dog

Brush the dog

Take the dog to the vet

Laundry

Ironing

Clean house

Make laundry detergent and cleaning products (So easy. It takes no time at all and saves us a ton of money.)

Research the latest treatments for Psoriatic Arthritis

Research alternative, holistic treatments for Psoriatic Arthritis

Blog/Write (I’m still working on my novel.)

Pay bills

Take care of David when he’s flaring

Go with David to his doctors’ appointments

Grocery shop

Cook (I make everything from scratch. With David going gluten free and now dairy free, I have to. The only prepared foods we eat are tortilla chips, canned green beans, some cereal, peanut butter and sometimes candy. Oh, and I do buy a loaf of whole wheat bread for myself once in awhile. But I make my own broth, etc.)

Dishes (See above. Cooking everything from scratch creates A LOT of dishes.)

A Real Housewife

Research gluten free, dairy free meals. (I have no idea how we’ll survive when David stops eating tomatoes and peppers.)

Get the oil changed

Pick up stamps

Make bank deposits

Knit (My goal is to make everyone’s Christmas present this year. Since I’ve used the Knifty Knitter so much lately, I’ve given myself carpal tunnel in my right wrist. I don’t think all the gifts I make will be knit.)

I am a homemaker with no children. THAT is what I do all day. I’m doing it all while sharing a car with David. If I need to run errands, I’ve got to take David to work and pick him up at the end of the day.

And once a week I talk to Maegan on Skype for three hours.

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Maybe I’ve been watching too much TV, but I was extremely skeptical about Last Pass. It sounded like a huge government conspiracy to me.

Last Pass is a free program that stores all your log-ins and passwords securely. It will generate and save passwords that would take hackers years to crack. The information it sends and receives is encrypted.

The only reason I eventually gave in to my husband’s pleadings that I use Last Pass (besides the fact that he’s a computer programmer) is that he finally admitted that no program is infallible. He couldn’t think of a way for Last Pass to be hacked and our information stolen, but he acknowledged that it was a remote possibility.

Last Pass is great. It is very secure, and it helps you generate and use secure passwords. If you use the same password or two and a hacker gets that password, he now has access to all your information. Do you do online banking? Do you check on your 401k or health insurance claims online? I hope you’ve got really difficult passwords using special characters and numbers. Or you could just use Last Pass.

If you want to hear the technical jargon on Last Pass, listen to this podcast featuring Steve Gibson, the man who coined the term “spyware.” His endorsement alone should sell you on Last Pass.

Last Pass wasn’t too complicated to start using. It prompts you every time you fill out information to remind you to let Last Pass save the information for you.
I use Last Pass on our Mac, PC, and even my iPhone. Using it on the iPhone took a bit of getting used to, but it was extremely helpful while we were traveling. (Just remember Wi-Fi makes it easy for bad guys to steal your passwords.) It works for me!

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It’s an inflatable head board. I’d never heard of such a thing. They are amazing and so is the price. Where else can you buy an upholstered headboard for $59? This is what it looked like when I took everything out of the package. See? Not too many pieces.

I was able to put it together and install it by myself. I do need to get some extra adhesive. The little patches that it came with aren’t quite enough to secure it to the wall.

Before:

After:

Isn’t that the coolest thing? It’s so lightweight. When it’s time to move, I’ll just take it off the wall fold it back up in the bag and toss it on the moving truck. A little Goo Gone and the wall will look great. I won’t even have to putty the wall. I am very happy with my headboard!

Disclosure: CSN Stores provided me with a store credit in exchange for writing this review.

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This was taken in the middle of his worst flare. Can you tell how much pain he's in?

So many Psoriasis sufferers have extremely painful lesions. Not only are they physically painful, it’s extremely embarrassing. Here are some facts about Psoriasis from the National Psoriasis Foundation.

*Up to 30 percent of people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis, which causes pain, swelling and stiffness around the joints.

*Psoriasis is the most common autoimmune disease in the U.S., affecting as many as 7.5 million Americans.

*Psoriasis is not contagious.

Visit psoriasis.org to learn more and register for for the Psoriasis Awareness Month Challenge, which challenges people with 31 activities to raise awareness about psoriasis. You could be entered to win an iPad!

As a side note, lots of people are talking about Phil Mickelson. When I heard that he had been diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis and that Enbrel put him in remission, my immediate thought was, “I’ll bet he wasn’t given a year of older drugs to see if they would work first like David. I’ll bet because he’s rich and famous he was diagnosed quickly, and of course paying for TNF inhibitors was no problem.” Here’s an article with a more balanced perspective on Phil Mickelson’s Psoriatic Arthritis. The comments were really interesting, too.

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This was a fascinating look at Puritan and New England history. When the Puritans left England for the New World, they were very different from other groups of European immigrants. The Puritans were not criminals. They were well off and educated. The Puritans were not nearly as strict as many people think. They even drank beer! It was interesting to read about the Puritans religious beliefs and see where they differed from my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was quite enlightening to read about Anne’s father serving as governor and deputy governor multiple times, and learning about how the Massachusetts government was originally established. Anne was a relatable person to me because she suffered from poor health most of her life. I’d recommend this book to history buffs, fans of poetry and people with chronic illness.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers and Book Sneeze in exchange for writing a review.

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