This summer was a tough one!  It was SO hot.  It usually is here in the Valley of the Sun but what do you do with a child EVERY day when they can’t go outside and play?  Well, I spent all of my time and energy making sure my son had a great summer.  Me, not so much.

Ahhhhhh

Now it is time for ME again.  At the end of the school year last year I had gotten a schedule that included my work, time for me and time for my son.  Everything seemed balanced.  I felt great!  Then summer came and left me feeling so drained and in much need for me time again.

I have made an informal agreement with myself to make sure I make time for me these days.  It is a bit easier with my son in school.  I have been to a local wellness spa in Mesa called The Center for True Harmony Wellness and Medicine.  I heard they had a Wellness Membership.  You pay $39 a month and you can receive one treatment of massage, reiki, facials, reflexology, personal training and a host of other services!  This is exactly what I needed to ensure I made time for myself.  It fit into my budget and I can try a new treatment each time I go!  You sign up for 6 months at a time.  I liked no long term commitment.  Plus, I decided I would pay it all upfront as it was a tiny bit cheaper. 

Zen Moments

I will post all the treatments I get as I think most people probably don’t know what reiki or cranial sacral treatments are.  I have had reiki and it has been different from each practitioner but overall I have always left feeling better and the last session I had completely cleared up a pain in my side that no one else could get rid of!

I went in late July and received a facial. OH, that was so nice.  My skin has never looked so good!  I saved up August’s visit to use in September as my birthday is in September and I thought I would treat myself to TWO treatments this month!  I am going for reflexology and cranial sacral treatments.  I will let you know how those go.

I am also making time each day to read a book or just have quiet time.  My husband and son can make SO much noise even when they are doing nothing!  I enjoy the peace when they are gone.  I am interested to know what ways you relax and make time for yourself.  I am still looking for more ways to make time for me!

With the spring weather treating us so well this year, most of us have not had to rely on our A/C systems yet. What most do not realize is that 60% of utility bills usually consist of the cost of your A/C running and that if your bill jumps up over 25% in cost, there is a good chance that something isn’t working correctly.

Here is what to look for at the beginning of this summer season to see if you may need a repair on your A/C unit to prevent you and your family from being out of cool air during the hot months.

1.    If the lights in your home dim or change when you turn the A/C on.

2.    If there are whistling noises (common with A/C units that are outside).

3.    If you haven’t had a tune up in over a year.

4.    If it’s humid or feels different inside your home.

5.    If it takes a while for the A/C to kick in.

Here are some tips on saving money when the A/C bills begin to rise due to the summer heat:

•     If the A/C is making noises, the air filter may need to be changed due to air restriction.

•     Make sure not to turn your A/C on and off when leaving your home. This requires the system to use more energy to try to cool down not only the air, but all of your items that have also heated up while the A/C was off. Items can reach over 100 degrees when sitting in a home with the AC turned off. Ideally, you should keep you’re A/C at 74 degrees while you are home and 84 when you leave.

•     An A/C filter should be changed every 30 days (standard) or 90 days (pleated).

•     Having proper insulation and ventilation in your attic is also a great way to save on energy.

o     Heat flows naturally from a warm place to a cooler space. In the winter, heated air will try to flow to an unheated garage, basement or attic. Conversely, in warm months, heat will try to flow from the outdoors into the cool interior of the home. The majority of this heat transfer in homes takes place in the attic.

o     It’s the role of insulation to prevent this unwanted circulation throughout your home. Combined with proper ventilation and a radiant barrier, proper insulation helps your home maintain a comfortable, uniform temperature throughout the year with significantly less use of heating and cooling systems. As a bonus, insulation can also act as a sound absorber, to help make your home quieter.

“It’s important that people regularly have a professional come and check their A/C units to make sure that everything is working properly,” said David Dami, Goettl  general sales manager.  “A problem that could be easy to fix initially but is put off for too long can become a very expensive and time consuming problem.”

My conversation was with a representative from Goettl Air Conditioning. If you want to learn more about Goettl Air Conditioning please check out their website at http://www.goettl.com.

 I hope you find this information helpful and if you have any tips you can offer our moms and families on keeping cool this summer – please leave a comment!

Not My Son - But Soon

I am not sure who was more stunned at the news of loose teeth, me or my son.  So of course, that is ALL he can think about.  I checked the teeth she said were loose and by my definition they were not loose.  I mean, when I think loose I think you can wiggle with it your tongue loose.  At any rate, I then ended up having a conversation my mom about his tooth at which point she says, “So, have you or (my husband) decided who will be pulling the teeth?”  Horror struck me as I had never thought of that either. 

Then my in-laws asked, “Well, have you decided how MUCH the Tooth Fairy will leave for his teeth yet?”   (sigh) NO, I had not thought of that either.  It seems to me that we just had a nice period of time where I was no longer worried about getting those suckers IN.  My baby’s first 3 years it seems all he did was teeth.  Now I have to go through a whole new process of getting them out.  I really don’t know if I can handle it if it goes ANYTHING like when the teeth came in.

I think when children have it as rough as my child did getting teeth in, it should be mandatory for the child AND the mom to get drugs to help with the pain; the child’s pain from the teething and the mom’s pain from hearing about how bad it is.  I truly think terrorists could not hold any secrets if only exposed to a child who is constantly teething and angry, sad, weeping, irritable,wants to be held but then seems to be too touchy to be held, hungry yet can’t eat and the loose poops.

I say all this with much love for my child and I know a lot of women who don’t know what I am talking about.  I am sure a lot of people reading will say, “Why didn’t she give her child Tylenol or Ibuprofen for the pain.”  Well, you see it seemed almost daily for close to three years my child had a varying degree of discomfort from teething.  I went to doctors, asked friends, asked seasoned moms, read books and when all else failed even asked my therapist.  I tried it all and it all helps, if only for brief heavenly moments at a time.  I would feel badly for giving my child so much medicine and I would try natural and holistic remedies only to try something different when that stopped working for whatever reason.

So my point to all of this is – I have to lose these precious teeth now!!  I REALLY hope losing teeth is a much better adventure than getting them to come in is.  There were no films dedicated to teething when I was experiencing that fun.  There is a new movie coming out called the Tooth Fairy with (as I will continue to call him) The Rock.  I am not sure yet if it is appropriate for my son to see it but it sure has come at a good time if he does.  Now I find a video online where someone has a new take on the whole pulling the tooth idea.  I am not sure that we will be trying it but it sure is a good idea.  (NOTE: I watched it with the sound off) The little girl in the video seems ok with the result so at least if I am desperate I know what I can try.

If any of you have any advice for this time in mine and my son’s life I will gladly receive it.  If you have a list of things I should NOT do, I will gladly listen.  If you can send good thoughts and prayers my way – I will appreciate it.  I am now going to go see if the teeth will wiggle any more and ask my husband when he plans to pull the tooth.  ;)