Natural remedy for GERD?: papaya enzyme

I have been reluctant to blog about this because I am not 100% convinced yet. You might recall that for years I have suffered from very severe GERD. A wonderful doctor has been working with me for the last 3 years or so, and it's been so great to be able to operate like a normal human being with the right medication. I believe I have blogged about how expensive the medication is, and the difficulty of getting my insurance to pay for it.

Occasionally, I go on these weird, crazy tangents where I think I need to try a non-medical approach. I mean, it would definitely be more cost effective. Recently, someone suggested to me that papaya enzyme might help treat GERD without prescription medication. I decided to give it a try.

The little pills are more like thin wafers. They taste a lot like papaya Flintstones vitamins. The bottle says to take 2-3 after each meal. I have been taking 3 after meals and then an extra every now and then.

So far, I can tentatively say that it is not too bad. In the past, when I have stopped taking the prescription meds, I have experienced what can only be called INSTANT TORTURE. I can't eat, I can't NOT eat, I can't lay down to sleep, I can sit up. It is just horrible. I would go into more detail but you just really don't want to know.

As far as that goes, none of that has really taken place. I can sleep and eat. The taste of the wafers are refreshing. I don't feel like my stomach is ruling my life. I will keep you posted.

UPDATE: As of 2013 and 2 pregnancies in 2 years, I have taken papaya at first sign of pretty much any stomach upset and haven't had to take prescription medication for my GERD since 2009. I can't say 100% that the papaya healed my GERD. Most likely it was a change in my body caused by the hormonal shifts that stuck around after the pregnancies were over. However, the papaya did seem to get me over the adjustment period to wean off the medications.  I would highly recommend giving papaya a try for persistent heartburn or mild GERD. This is NOT medical advice, just experience from a friend.

Making paper towels last longer: Twist Sponge Cloths

I have found that other web sites Have already reviewed this product. But, I wanted to tell those who might not have heard about a great little product that I think has really reduced the number of paper towels I am using in the last few months.

As you probably know, we have cats, and although they are "not allowed" on the kitchen counters, I am sure that they get up there when we aren't around. For years I have used a lot of paper towels to wipe down those counters before I prepare food. Considering that I prepare food at least 3 times a day on the counters, that is a lot of wiping and a lot of paper towels. I haven't been a big fan of sponges or washcloths for this task because they have the potential for a lot of bacteria, and I won't wipe the counter with the same object I use to wash dishes, either.

I had seen Twist Sponge Cloths at Whole Foods several times in the past, but finally decided to try them out. The cool thing about these cloths is that they dry out completely and turn stiff when dry, so that they can't harbor much bacteria. Also, when they are dirty, I just throw them into the dishwasher!

I think I've been using the same two cloths interchangeably for at least a month or more. When they finally do fall apart, they are completely biodegradeable!

I used to go through, say 1-2 rolls of paper towels per week. Now I am using more like 1 roll every 10 days. It might not be zero, but it's getting closer!
Twist Sponge Cloths: thumbs up!

A Real Bed

Today our first real bed was delivered! When I was single, I always had a bed on just a metal bed frame holding it off the ground - no headboard/footboard or anything. For the first 2 years of our marriage we kept using that same bed frame. When we moved to this house last year, the bed frame was so beaten that it wouldn't stand up any more so we bought a cheap platform bed from Target. But we have finally decided to grow up and get a real bed. There is an even longer story behind this....

First of all, our bedroom is very, very small. There is only room for the bed, and that's it. There is no room for a bureau or anything else. All 4 of the walls are interrupted by something - two of the walls have 2 doors each and the 3rd and 4th walls have windows. It's a weird layout, and was probably meant to be the guest room, but we like the windows a lot so we chose to stay in it instead of the other bedroom with the private bath.

Secondly, we need to empty out the closet in the guest room. This is part of a bigger project to relocate the office space to the front of the house. Where to put the things in the guest room closet? Well, I'd like to move them to the closets in our bedroom.

The Target bed gave us each a single drawer for storage. We keep all our other clothing in the closets and the shelves above the closet bar. Ergo, we decided to buy a real bed that has lots of storage underneath. Move the things that are in our closets now into the drawers under the bed, and use the freed-up space in the closets for some of the things that are in the guest room closet.

You see, this is all very integrated.

Nevertheless, check out this new bed! I am really excited about it.

Apparently it is also very green - made out of compressed farm-raised wood or something. Then explained it all to us at the store. It's not like particle board or anything - it is about as heavy as oak, actually.

So, I know what I'll be doing tonight - organizing my new drawers!

Fun with recipes: Yummy Soup

For a while now, I have been saying that I would put all my recipes into the computer somehow. I started out transferring a good deal of them into a Word document. Then I printed them out and put them in a binder.

But that Word document was getting a little cumbersome as I added to it, so Christian went looking for some good recipe software for our Mac.

The one we found that I really like is Yummy Soup. I have been trying it for a few days and I think I am going to shell out the $20 and buy it!

Here are things I like about Yummy Soup:

• It has a very cute icon. Seriously, I love this. It makes me fear the changes less.


• It lets me copy and paste the recipes to easily import, and it's recognition of the measurements is very precise so that I don't have to retype or correct much.


• It will also import recipes straight from Allrecipes.com or any other web site! Love it!!


• I can add pictures. But who takes pictures of their food?! Well, now I do!


• It does full-screen so that I can see the recipe in huge text from across the counter. This is awesome because I have had some issues with trying really hard not to spill food on my MacBook, having to keep it so close.


• Even better, it will read the recipe to you out loud if you want. NICE.

The only thing it doesn't have that I would like to see eventually is a corresponding iPhone app that would sync with the recipe library, making shopping easier. There was an app I found that did have that feature, but everything else about it completely sucked.

Yummy Soup wins!! Yay for Yummy Soup!

Decaffeinating tea

I was excited to get an early birthday present from my mother-in-law, today - more of the wonderful Tea of Life teas that I have become addicted to! I swear I can't find them anywhere around here, so I am super glad she bought me some more. She also bought me a huge box of some new teas I have not tried.

I really have been drinking more tea lately, partially to keep me warm and partially because it helps me drink more liquids. I tend to slack off on the amount of water I consume in the winter because water is cold and it makes me cold. So I'd been drinking tea.

Of course, I have already been having trouble sleeping, so I started to become concerned about the amount of caffeine I could be in taking with this tea. I remember I was on a discussion board online a while back and someone mentioned that there is a way to naturally decaffeinate any tea that you have. So I did the marvelous Google search, which I am sure any of you could do just as well, and found this video from the Food Network on decaffeinating your tea, which I share with you now.

Happy decaffeinating!

Oh, good

Well, it was good to hear from those of you who did respond to my last post about asking questions. It sounds like you agree with my original premise of not really asking and answering questions on this blog.

I have to say, it's a relief to me. Because I am just not good at that sort of thing. What I am good at is rambling. Yes, I can go on and on, and I hardly ever worry about whether someone is listening. Just ask my husband...

So I will just continue doing that, and I hope that I provide some amusement to everyone out there! :-)

Asking you some questions

We work from a queue at work, and when there is nothing in the queue, I often open up a browser window and read things from the ladies at BlogHer. You may have noticed the cute little button in the right column on my site.

I really appreciate the number of opinions and viewpoints on a huge variety of topics that these ladies offer. Most of which I had hardly thought of!

Yesterday I read this article, "Every Day Blogging Tips" by Melanie Nelson. I believe I have read blog-related articles from her before and enjoyed them. She mentioned in her article something that I have avoided so far in my blogging endeavors: asking the readers (you!) a question.

You may have noticed that I really never do this. And when I do, I hardly ever get any response. Now, I realize that 14 whole people read my blog. I know this, because I installed Google Analytic several weeks ago. Either that, or you are all reading this on your feed readers.

Anyway, not asking questions has kind of been a conscious choice for me. There are a few reasons for this, I think:

• I am not really interested in posting my personal opinions about controversial issues and then argue with people about things we might not agree on
• Most of the time when I blog, I am musing and I don't really want feedback
• Even when I have asked for feedback in the past, no one has answered...so I kind of gave up.

So here, I will do what they said, I will ask this one question: Would you like me to ask questions? And if you do, would you actually answer?

Overheard

I am working from Crooked Tree Coffee House this morning, and sat down next to what was obviously a job interview for an agency/creative position. A nearly-40, well-groomed business man in a black suit meeting with a young ("I'm 24, I'll be 25 in April!") dark haired woman in jeans and calf high boots with a bright scarf. This was the most stereotypical interview for an agency position EVER, it cracked me up.

"We work hard, but we play hard too!"
"I don't really have a problem working, say, late at night or on Sundays"
"I love it when, you know, we bring in some kegs"
"It's not a typical 40 hour week, but it's things like that, we do at work, that make it less like work"

This is my favorite line, from the young woman to the older man:
"Oh, you play in a band?! That is SO COOL!"

Maybe it is my background working for/with/around ad agencies that makes this so funny to me...

I am also lame

I would like to echo the thought posted by TRS on one of my favorite blogs, Single Solitary Things.

I, too, have been lame and have not posted in a while. I am sorry about this. I wish I could give you some kind of major reason, but I am actually healthy and doing well right now. I just haven't had much of interest to say.

If it works as an excuse, I went to Massage Envy a few weeks back and the masseuse there suggested that my habit of sleeping on my stomach/face with my arms above my head is contributing to my neck problems. Therefore, I have been trying to teach myself to sleep on my side or back (mostly side). I believe my friend Jes has addressed the difficulties of side sleeping in two different posts (Post 1 and Post 2) on her blog as well. It is not easy! I have been waking up every few hours for many nights. This makes me tired and lazy during the day. So there you go, my excuse. And I have given you two new blogs to read, so go do that while I try and think of something interesting to say...