CrazyBusy Mama! (Dot Calm)

When I first got it in my mind to start blogging about my journey out of breast cancer (“out of” sounds better to me than “through”), I knew I was going to have to be transparent for the sake of helping and encouraging someone else. The good, the bad, the ugly…you’d see it all. Well, almost all. There are just some things a lady doesn’t share, right? Right.

This should have been a great week. The best of weeks. Monday was a really big day, after all — I finished five months of chemo! Woo hoo? Yes, woo hoo…and aside from being drugged up on Benedryl, I was very happy to be done. It began to hit me that night and especially the next day that finishing chemo was a VERY big deal.

But Tuesday was the beginning of my downfall. I was a little sad that it wasn’t being made a bigger deal of. I wondered where the balloons were and even contemplated buying one for myself and writing “Yay ME” on the back of it with a wide-tipped Sharpie.

For a (somewhat frugal) treat, I did take myself out for a little bit of treasure hunting at Goodwill. After finding a few too many cute things for my house, I then picked up my daughter from her driver’s ed class. She’d had a really rough day, too, so I took her to Starbucks where we could vent over a couple of decaf grande something-or-others.

To be fair, my husband did surprise me with a cheesecake and Martinelli’s that evening (along with a very nice card and a Starbucks card tucked inside it), but I was already feeling too low to enjoy it. It didn’t help that the only thing I could taste — thanks to the chemo — was the cheesecake’s cherry topping.

I was on a slippery slope and sliding fast. I fell into a monster depression that, honestly, I’m still not out of — in fact, am still in the thick of. This thing hit me out of the blue. Or, who knows — maybe it was just waiting in the wings. As I told a friend today, I think I’ve just been on a plateau with my eyes on the goal of finishing chemo. Well…been there, done that, got the t-shirt to prove it. Now what?

Like a little plane that was puttering along, I ran out of gas and nose-dived.

And now…the next thing I face is major surgery, recovery, more maintenance medication through November (Herceptin every three weeks), and six weeks of radiation sometime this spring. Knowing that I still have so much ahead is really making me miss my dad, who would have been here for me through all of it.

So there you have it…the bad and the ugly all wrapped up together. From what I’ve been reading, depression is a very much-expected part of breast cancer treatment. Maybe in a way it’s also an emotional release, and I’m learning that’s okay. If I’ve done anything since my diagnosis, it’s that I’ve learned to give myself a break. If I need to rest, I rest. If I need to let something go that doesn’t need to be in my schedule, I let it go. If someone in my life is causing me unneeded stress, I let them go, too. If I need to cry, I cry. If I need to wallow in self pity, I wallow…but not for too long. If I have some down days, there’s probably a reason for it and I’m not going to stuff it.

I gave you the bad and the ugly today, so I should end with some good. I did see my oncologist on Monday, just before my last chemo treatment. He reiterated that my tumor had shrunk somewhere around 99%. Yes — that IS awesome. That’s practically GONE. He then told me, “I love starting my day with patients like you.” Let me tell you something — if you’ve got a doctor who can give you hope and lift your spirits like that, you’ve got the best out there. Period.

Finally, I leave you with this display by artist Tim Etchells. Sometimes we lose hope, but mostly it rises. I’m holding on to it. Have a great weekend!

Courtesy http://timetchells.com

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sallydinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here. And don’t forget to check out the new CrazyBusy Mama Quick Guides available for your Kindle or Kindle app!

I’ll be heading into Seattle later today for my next-to-last chemotherapy infusion. Before I do, however, I thought this would be a good time to fill you in on my “timeline.” In other words, what’s still ahead for me — and when — regarding kicking this cancer in the arse. (That’s Olde English for…oh, never mind.)

First of all, in case you’re wondering, the type of cancer I was diagnosed with is Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. I had one tumor in my left breast and at least one affected lymph node (it looks like a few more were affected, as well, but they weren’t as concerned with those…they’ll all be coming out, anyway). The cancer is estrogen and progesterone negative (not affected by those hormones) and Her2/neu positive. No, I do not know what that means. Could I ask? Could I Google it? Yes. I don’t want to. Right now, I just want to focus on getting well and not get discouraged by all the definitions. I realize that sounds a little childish.

Originally, I’d thought I was told my cancer was “triple negative,” but I found out sometime back that isn’t the case…which is, apparently, a good thing. Her2/neu positive cancers can be treated with Herceptin — more on that in a moment.

So…timeline. Already checked off, aside from the diagnosis and a battery of tests that included a biopsy, a few different MRIs, an abdominal CT scan, two MUGA (heart function) scans, etc., was my first round of chemo which consisted of Adriamycin/Cytoxin, otherwise affectionately referred to as “AC.” It is also known as “red Kool-Aid” and “the red stuff from hell.” (I apologize if that offends you — I’m just reporting it as I hear it. It does, by the way, live up to that last reference very well.)

Next up was Taxol/Herceptin, which I am almost through with. Taxol is the chemo, Herceptin goes along with it to bind with the Her2 receptors in the cancer cells. I’m almost done with the Taxol, but not the Herceptin. I have two more Taxol/Herceptin combo infusions left.

After the Taxol is finished, I’ll continue going in for Herceptin infusions every three weeks through November.

The next “big thing” I’m looking at is surgery. I’ll explain that a little better in another post. I’ll be meeting with my surgeon before the end of the month to discuss what will be happening and to schedule it. I also need to meet with the plastic surgeon again to let him which route I decided to take.

After surgery will be six weeks of radiation therapy. It will be three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Oh…yay. I’m not sure when these treatments will be done — most likely late spring.

So…I’ll be off in Benedryl dreamland later today. Getting there and back might be interesting as Seattle is in the midst of some much hoped-for (by some) wintry weather. Let’s hope I-5 doesn’t become a parking lot.

Have a great Monday, my friends.

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sallydinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here. And don’t forget to check out the new CrazyBusy Mama Quick Guides available for your Kindle or Kindle app!

It’s weird to think about now, but after I was diagnosed with breast cancer five months ago, one way I chose to pass the time was by browsing a website called Headcovers.com.

I looked at scarves, hats, wigs, and the other things I thought I might need once I began chemo: eyebrow stencils, fake eyelashes, wig hairspray….

Don’t get me wrong — I wasn’t excited to start chemo one bit. I was devastated. Horrified. But I couldn’t stop looking at all those things I was going to need. Partly it was because I knew I was going to need them, so I thought I might as well toughen up and get used to the idea. And partly it was morbid curiosity. Like news footage of an awful event that you can’t stop watching even though it’s turning your stomach into knots.

In an attempt to look at it positively, I figured that at the very least my time getting ready each morning would be cut in half. I wouldn’t have to do my hair. No more washing, conditioning, brushing, curling, straightening because the curls don’t look right and then giving up and putting it all up in a clip. I’d only have to pop on a wig or a scarf.

But I was anxious about it, and that anxiety was only made worse by not knowing if I’d be able to afford anything but scarves. Just in time, however, some wonderful friends took me to a wig store nearby and bought one for me. (And I found out that another friend chipped in toward it later.) It was beautiful. And rather uncanny, because it was very similar to my “pre-chemo” color and style.

Here I am wearing it on the way to see my dad at the hospital. It’s not the best picture — I originally took it just to show my sister. I LOVED this wig:

The saying God works in mysterious ways comes to mind here, but even more than that, it was so obvious to me how He also singles us out — even in ways we think would be small to Him — to let us know He sees us. To let us know He cares about the things that matter to us; the things that let us keep our dignity.

That wig was perfect timing. Within a week or two of getting it, my hair started to come out in serious handfuls. The owner of the wig store had offered to shave it for me when the time came, and I politely said I’d consider having her do that. On the inside, I recoiled at the thought. I think I knew from the get-go that I’d be shaving my own head, which is just what I ended up doing in the privacy of my own bathroom. I’m proud to say that I didn’t cry, even though I honestly didn’t know how I was going to react when I saw myself with such closely shorn hair. (It hadn’t all fallen out yet, so I just couldn’t make myself shave it closer than about a half inch long. Eventually most of that fell out on its own.) I could totally picture myself melting into a sobbing puddle on the bathroom floor, but I also knew that wouldn’t be happening. I “set my face like a flint” and bucked up. And that was that. No melting.

I wore that wig every time I went somewhere. Let me tell you — when you’ve lost your hair to chemotherapy, it doesn’t matter how girlie you were to begin with or not — having hair that you can see around your face means something. It makes such a difference in how you feel. I guess I’m speaking for myself, because there are women who go out in public bald and even more who do so wearing scarves. Those are some secure women and I seriously admire their spunk.

I did try to wear a scarf out in public…once. I went to Fred Meyer with my husband and daughters. If you have short hair, I dare you to try this as a social experiment. Seriously — put on a scarf and go to the store. People do treat you differently if they think you’re sick, whether you feel like you are or not. It’s a little difficult to pick up on at first, but after a while you realize they’re going out of their way to act normal around you. Their overly-niceness bothered me so much that I never did it again. I think it bothered me because I saw myself in them. I’ve done that, too. It’s not that it’s bad…I just want to be treated like everyone else. I like blending in.

I guess if I had to put into one word why I choose to wear a wig instead of a scarf (though I often wear scarves and hats at home, especially in the morning and at the end of the day), it’s this: normalcy. I don’t want total strangers to know I have cancer. There’s just something to be said about being treated like a normal person when I run errands. I even wear my wig when I go in for chemo because I have the need to feel normal there, too. During the day and around the house, I wear it because I know my kids prefer to see their mom with hair. With all the upheaval and stress they’ve had to deal with, if it’s in my power to make things seem a little more normal for them, you bet I’m going to do it. (Humor helps, too, like comparing my peach fuzz-covered head to that of a Chia Pet in a lame attempt to get a snicker out of my kids.)

And I think it’s helped me, probably more than I realize, to see hair on my head when I look in the mirror. I don’t mean the peach fuzz that’s growing back right now, though it’s very cool to see; I mean an actual hairstyle. There are some days when I just need to look in the mirror and see someone with pretty hair looking back at me. Hey — if I can fool myself, I can fool anyone.

Currently, I’m on my second wig. I still have the first, but it’s looking a little battle-worn. Synthetic hair, if it rubs against your collar and shoulders on a daily basis, will gradually start displaying a very cranky attitude. The hair will begin to kink up, get tangled, and just look ratty. I Googled everything I could about how to save it and tried what I found, but the wig is just too tired.

So…I did something scary: I ordered my new wig from Headcovers.com without getting to try it on first. All I had to go by was the picture online. So far, I’m loving it as much as the first. It’s perfect. (And it’s short, which means no rubbing against my collar and an easier transition to my own short hair once it grows out.)

I went to the library today with two of my kids: the five-year-old, because I promised her, and my 17-year-old, because I needed him to drive and help carry my ton of books. (I’ve been feeling faint from the heart palpitations and didn’t think it would be a real smart idea to pass out while driving.) The library is automated (meaning you check out your own books), but for some reason, the computer I chose wasn’t working and I needed the librarian’s help.

When she was almost done scanning the books, she looked up at me and said, “I just LOVE your hair color. I usually shy away from highlights, but those look REALLY NICE.”

Whenever I get a compliment like this, I’m tempted to lean in and whisper, “You know it’s a wig, right? You’re just being nice, right?”

But I didn’t. I just said with a smile, “Thank you! I appreciate that.” She’d made my day. I wish I could have told her why.

*Disclaimer: Although I recommend Headcovers.com in this post, I am not an affiliate for them nor will I receive anything from them for the recommendation. They’re simply a wonderful company.

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sallydinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here. And don’t forget to check out the new CrazyBusy Mama Quick Guides available for your Kindle or Kindle app!

Bethany, our five-year-old, tagged along this week to my chemo appointment. They’re getting to know her a little bit at SCCA, and oddly enough, she likes going. I think it’s partly because she’s joined to me at the hip, but she also likes going to the snack room with her daddy when I’m zonked from the Benedryl.

Normally, she would have been in school, but we made the decision last week to bring her back home. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing — we’d actually been discussing it for a few weeks, mostly over Christmas break.

Kids are resilient — I’ve always believed that, but ongoing stress is another issue. That’ll wreck anyone. This has been a hard year for our family, and while it’s tempting (wishful?) to think that our young ones aren’t affected very deeply by loss and a sick parent, they really are. Bethany is a thinker…and a catcher-onner…she misses nothing, and we have, therefore, learned to be careful in what we say around her. She heard me mention the “s” word today (that would be “surgery,” which I’ve got coming up next month), and immediately began asking me about it. Oops.

She still talks about her Grampa everyday, who we lost back in September, and her own fear of dying. I have to tell her that I’m sure she’ll still be alive when Jesus comes back — that’s the only answer about her own mortality she’ll settle for.

What made us decide to bring her home…to homeschool her…were the obvious signs of stress and anxiety she was showing. It was odd, because she loves her teacher, Mrs. Baldwin, and her sweet little friends from her class. But she began to say she felt pain, that she felt sick, that she was having headaches, and even worked herself up so much that she threw up in class and at home just at the thought of going to school. She also said a couple of boys weren’t nice to her (mostly they were just saying they were going to marry her).

The conclusion I came up with, eventually, is that my baby is still very much a baby who needs her mama. She’s suffering from separation anxiety, made worse (or caused by?) the loss of her Grampa and worrying about me. Mostly, I think it’s just from losing Grampa, as I try to keep things very normal and light around here regarding my illness (I even made losing my hair a funny thing instead of a scary one — try pulling that one off). Anyway, I figure that as long as I’m alive (which I intend to be for many more years, God willing), and she wants to be with me, she will be.

Since we made the decision to keep her home, ALL of her anxiety symptoms have faded away. It was the right decision to make, and a very comfortable one, as I also taught her older siblings at home for 10-12 years. (One has graduated and the other two are currently attending public high school.)

So, we’ll see where this next chapter leads us. I’ve always been a “relaxed homeschooler” — one who is more content to sit on the couch with the kids while we “do school.” What’s better than cuddling while reading with your little ones? Not much.

Whether or not she’ll come with us to SCCA next time remains to be seen. My “Benedryl nap” on Monday kept getting interrupted by the Disney Channel and bloops from her Leapster game. But it was still a joy to snuggle with her while getting my chemo. She’s comfort for my soul wrapped up in a little girl’s body.

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sallydinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here. And don’t forget to check out the new CrazyBusy Mama Quick Guides available for your Kindle or Kindle app!

Monday, 1/2/12: Today I thought I would blog my way through my day at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA), just using my phone. (But…being somewhat of a perfectionist, I had to “fix” it, which is why you’re just now getting to read it.)

We’re on our way there right now. I have to be at the lab at noon, and it’s 11:55. We’re still 20 minutes away. I really wanted to get a latte on the way, but alas…it won’t be happening today.

This is me.

Lonnie’s driving. Handsome guy.

I decided to be comfy today. I’ve brought my white fluffy blanket and am wearing my black Bear Paw slipper boots. The neuropathy has been so bad in my toes (causing a tingly, prickly, painful feeling) that the slippers are a nice change from regular shoes.

I always have to start at the lab as there are certain levels they look for in my blood to ensure that I’m a good candidate for chemo on that particular day. They check my creatinine (for kidney function) and my white and red blood cells, among other things.

The lab waiting room is absolutely empty when we get there. It’s NEVER like this. We’re told they saw around 100 people between 8:00 and 10:00 am…glad we missed that!

In the lab, my port is “accessed.” The lab tech gives me a shot of Lidocaine right next to my port (or maybe right on it — I never look!), inserts a “butterfly” needle with attached tubing, then cleans out my port and the catheter in my vein with saline and heparin (a blood thinner).

(Learn all about chemotherapy ports and how they work by clicking here.)

She then takes two vials of blood to send down the hall to the lab and leaves the port accessed, which means the butterfly needle is still attached along with the short amount of tubing. The port and needle are covered with a clear bandage and the tubing is taped up to it. Sorry, no picture — didn’t even think of it! For those of you who are squeamish, you’re welcome.

After the lab, we stop at the new coffee station set up in the lobby. Lonnie gets coffee, I get hot chocolate. Here’s a tip: If you’re making hot chocolate and only have hot water to mix with it, add in some half and half or creamer. So good! Well, better, anyway.

On the 5th floor, where the infusions are done (chemo, that is), it’s just as empty, with the exception of a few lost souls. With so few around, the recliners were available and we grab two. Here’s our view.

Apparently all the people who made such a rush on the lab are now having their infusions, so all the rooms are full. I don’t have to wait long, though, and actually get a room with a bed. It even has a memory foam mattress! We really need to get one of those for home. (The mattress, that is, not a hospital bed!)

As the nurse waits for my lab results, she gets me set up on the IV. When the results are in she orders the meds from the pharmacy. (Am I sounding like a PBS documentary yet?) When they’re on their way, I’m given a steroid (Dexamethisone, or something like that), an anti-nausea (Zofran), and an antihistamine (Benedryl).

Usually right after getting settled in the room, Lonnie goes to the little kitchen on the floor and makes me some organic mac n’ cheese (it’s a microwave dinner, but it has real cheese in it!), and gets me an organic chocolate milk and lemon bar from the fridge. Pretty sure the lemon bars are delivered fresh every day. They’re so good. And yes, I’ll admit, I do have them every week. I only have three more of these to go, so I figure I’m going to milk it.

Anyway, here I am getting ready for my “Benedryl nap” (it usually knocks me out, at least for a little while):

After the Benedryl I’m given Herceptin, followed by Taxol. There’s no real reason for the Taxol to follow the Herceptin — that’s just always the order in which the pharmacy sends them. When they’re done dripping, my port’s line is flushed once again with heparin and saline, and I’m booted out. (Well, they do put it a little nicer than that.)

Now you know at least a little bit of what it’s like at SCCA. I sure hope you never have to see it for yourself, at least as a patient. Thanks for following me around!

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sallydinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here. And don’t forget to check out the new CrazyBusy Mama Quick Guides available for your Kindle or Kindle app!

My fingertips have been pretty tender lately. It’s not as easy as it used to be to pull open bags of cereal, pry up Play-Doh lids, or even scrub off globs of dried frosting that had dripped onto the table from the eaves of my daughter’s gingerbread house.

And my feet hurt. When I walk — just sometimes, not all the time — it feels like I’m walking on thousands of tiny little pins. Not exactly what I would call outright painful, just…weird.

Last but not least, there’s my tongue. I can’t taste much of anything. The food I eat has to be either super spicy (which hurts my throat), super salty, or chocolatey-sweet for me to be able to taste it. Otherwise, I might as well be eating lightly-flavored cardboard.

No, I don’t have some strange mystery disease. All of the above are side effects of a chemotherapy drug called Taxol.

I have breast cancer.

I’ll be completely honest — I’ve been feeling frozen when it comes to writing this blog. It started as a health and fitness blog geared toward my fellow “crazybusy mamas.” Then this crazybusy mama noticed a lump under my arm, which made the so-called “fibrocystic tissue” — as I’d been told it was — in my left breast seem suddenly not so innocent.

My diagnosis came in early August — all in the course of an afternoon. An exam turned into an ultrasound, which turned into a mammogram, which turned into a three-part core biopsy, which turned into a second mammogram (yes, right after the biopsy…ouch…so they could get a picture of little metal “markers” they’d left behind). The unofficial diagnosis came from the ultrasound tech who immediately left the room to get my husband.

We all have moments in our lives when we hear the worst news possible. In 2004, it was while lying on the ultrasound table at my OB/Gyn’s office and hearing the words, “I’m sorry, but there’s no cardiac activity” (in our 16-week unborn baby). In 2006, just three weeks after the birth of our youngest daughter, it was from my husband as he told me of his own cancer diagnosis: multiple myeloma. On the 3rd of August, 2011, it was what the ultrasound tech said to my husband in the hallway: “We’re pretty sure it’s cancer.”

Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer blog about it from the very beginning. I’d considered it. Even started a post but saved it as a draft. For me it was too fresh, too raw, too painful to share in any real depth. Instead, I journaled — something I found difficult to continue after losing my dad to a heart attack one day before his 70th birthday on September 26th. I did write a few entries after losing him, mostly about him, but stopped after his funeral.

But as with anything in life, any difficult thing, it does get easier. The pain doesn’t necessarily go away — I’ve come to terms with my cancer but still cry for my dad — but it gets easier, as time goes on, to get back into the oh-so-dailiness of life.

It gets easier to write again.

I’ve been stumbling for quite some time about the direction this blog should take now. I’m having heart palpitations because of my port (a device implanted under the skin on the right side of my chest — it’s where the chemotherapy drugs are administered). I may explain why it’s affecting my heart in a future post, but you’re welcome to Google it in the meantime. My doctor says my heart is in great condition (according to a heart function scan) and that exercising would be perfectly fine. But since I’m so weirded out by my heart’s galloping and ga-leaping, I think I’ll wait for a while before picking up Jillian’s 30 Day Shred again.

So, if you don’t mind reading along, I’ll be sharing my story and experiences as a breast cancer conqueror. It hasn’t stolen my joie de vivre – in fact, I have many moments when I all but forget that I have cancer — and it hasn’t stolen my identity…I’m still very much me. If my story can encourage even one person (though hopefully many more than one), I’ll tell it all.

If you’re on Facebook, you can get updates on my blog at my CrazyBusy Mama page. You can also subscribe to my blog on Networked Blogs and it will show up in your Facebook newsfeed. If you’re on Twitter, follow me at Sally Dinius. Or, simply click on the “Posts” link at the top right of the page to follow me that way.

Thank you for reading, my friends. Comments are always welcome.

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.

Ideally, Christmas should be a time of joy, peace, and good family times. For many, however, financial worries overshadow the holiday, causing unneeded stress. My family and I know this stress first-hand.

Because my husband and I are both going through treatment for cancer (yes, unfortunately…both of us), neither of us are currently able to work outside the home. A side note here is that it’s been a wonderful opportunity to focus once again on my home business, but that’s a topic for another post.

So how do you take a time of year that’s stressful because of tight (or almost non-existent) finances and make it one of joy?

One big answer lies in having a frugal Christmas. Don’t believe the lies that the holidays have to be a time of extravagance. It is entirely possible to save money on your holiday meals and gifts. Following are some ways to save big money…and maybe have enough left over to buy treats for Santa’s reindeer.

1. Save moolah on your vittles. The grocery stores in your area probably send out weekly fliers (if you don’t get them in your mailbox, look in the Sunday paper). Don’t just recycle these — actually read them. I’ve saved a lot of money by utilizing these sales fliers. See which store has the best deals, and shop there. (I usually have two or three stores that I’ll bounce between — thankfully, they’re all pretty close together.) Clip coupons, too, and do so for at least three or four weeks before you plan to shop for the holiday meal. That way, you’ll have a good stash of coupons to choose from and a better chance of finding the ones you need. The week of your shopping trip, match up as many coupons as you can with the stores’ sales fliers. You could save twice on some items!

Some stores have their own coupons. My local Fred Meyer will give me a discount on something they have a coupon for even if I don’t have that particular coupon with me. All I have to do is ask.

Also, stock up on non-perishables as they go on sale in the weeks before Christmas. It’s another great way to save money, but you’ll also save yourself from the stress of “the big holiday shopping trip.”

Finally, go through your cupboards or pantry. Be creative and use what you have. Didn’t use all the cranberry sauce or pumpkin at Thanksgiving? Cranberry sauce looks just as much at home on a Christmas dinner table, and that can of pumpkin can be turned into bread, muffins, or cookies. Or pie.

2. Share the holiday meal duties. If you’re getting together with extended family, another way to save money on your holiday dinner is to make it a potluck. You can make the main dish and have others bring side dishes, drinks, and desserts. Most people love being able to contribute to the holiday meal. It will make them feel good to show off their best dish, so ask.

3. Put away the plastic! Do you max out the bank account and maybe even the credit cards when you buy Christmas gifts? Take advantage of layaway. Quite a few stores are bringing back this practice. You shop for your items, take them to the store’s layaway counter, and put down a percentage of the total. Over the following weeks you continue making payments until they’re paid off and you can take them home.

4. More creative gift buying. Purchase gifts when they’re on sale throughout the year. (Just don’t forget where you hide them!) An alternative to doing this is to set aside a certain amount of money each payday specifically for Christmas. Put the money in an envelope in a desk drawer, or better yet, in a designated savings account — where it might be a little less tempting to borrow from.

5. Homemade…and handmade…with love (or maybe just out of necessity). If you’re crafty, you can make gifts for some of the people in your life. You can put together cookie mixes in jars, coffee lovers’ baskets filled with mugs and their favorite coffee beans, scented eye pillows, etc. The sky is the limit, really. If you can make it, someone is sure to appreciate it. This is a great idea for gifts for teachers, neighbors, and others who’ve played an important part in your family’s lives throughout the year.

6. It really IS the thought that counts. Finally, if money is super tight this season, give fewer gifts to extended family and friends, or at least gifts that cost less. Do you really need to keep buying $20-30 gifts for nieces and nephews who are 18 or older? If you don’t want to stop buying for them, try giving them gift cards to a favorite store, coffee shop, or for iTunes for $5-15 instead. Look for other ways to cut costs in gift giving. Is there a friend you buy a gift for every year who never reciprocates? Perhaps this year’s gift can just be a card.

Hopefully, you’ve gotten some good ideas and have been inspired to save money this Christmas season. Make it merry!

I love your comments! What are some of your favorite ways to have a merry-yet-frugal holiday season?

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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.

For some of you, this may be old news, but if you haven’t heard (and you’re a big ExerciseTV fan), you may want to sit down.

As of December 31, ExerciseTV on Comcast OnDemand, and the accompanying ExerciseTV website, will cease operations. If you go to the website, all you will see is the following message:

I lost over 20 pounds a couple of years ago thanks to ExerciseTV (and my daughter’s constant pushing me to start exercising with her), and even blogged for them for a while. I’m very sorry to see them go. In fact, I’m still holding out hope that some millionaire will come along and rescue the brand before the lights at ExerciseTV are out for good.

Any takers?

If you, like me, have relied on the workouts on ExerciseTV to stay in shape, I’d like to leave you with just a little bit of encouragement. Don’t be discouraged: Keep working out! Every door that closes just means a new door is ready to be opened somewhere. This might be a good time to try something new, like joining a gym or exercise class. Go walking or running. Or if you’re more comfortable working out at home, find your favorite ExTV workouts on iTunes or Amazon.com. Many stores also sell exercise DVDs — try some out and find some new favorites.

If you’ve been relying on ExerciseTV to stay in shape, please leave a comment and tell us what new thing you’ll be doing to stay healthy and fit now.

Today, I’m featuring another important repost from days gone by; this one from about a year ago. It’s so important to make the extra effort in choosing the foods our kids eat. They develop a taste for what we feed them, be it good or bad, homemade or McDonald’s, whole foods or processed. All it takes is a scanning of the label and a refusal to buy garbage. Read on!

I have a confession to make: I got a little spoiled this summer. With three teens and a four-year-old, it was nice only having to make lunch for one of them. The older ones were on their own when it came to making their lunches, and didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Now that school has begun again (for two of them, anyway — one graduated last June), I’m back to my job as chief lunch maker. They do make their own lunches to take on occasion, but I’m still the one who decides which foods will be in the cupboards and fridge to pick from.

The hardest part, for me, is variety — making sure they don’t get tired of the same-old, same-old. The easiest part is making sure they’re not getting junk, and it’s easy for one reason: I read food packaging labels and I know what I’m looking for.

My “dream lunch” to send to school with my kids would be something like this:

Turkey sandwich on whole wheat
Fruit
Veggies with healthy ranch dip
Crackers with no added MSG, sugar, or high fructose corn syrup
Water or milk

But…that’s not always possible, nor what they want on a daily basis. Sometimes I’ll give in (Doritos, cookies), but only a little, and not too often. It’s easy to throw a lunch together with conveniently-packaged snack foods from the grocery store, but it really doesn’t take that much effort to make it healthier.

At the very least, keep an eye out at the grocery store (yes, read labels while you’re shopping) for the usual criminals: monosodium glutamate (a.k.a. MSG), high fructose corn syrup (HFSC), bad fats, and artificial sweeteners.

Why? MSG is a known neurotoxin that never leaves the human body and has been proven to cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. HFCS can wreak havoc on the body and is thought to make certain people more prone to developing diabetes, and artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose (Splenda), Nutra Sweet, and others are chemically derived, can cause symptoms like headaches and depression, and can contribute to obesity by actually causing you to actually crave real sugar…after all, you can’t really fool your own body — at least not for very long.

I’m always amazed at how many prepackaged foods contain food additives like the ones mentioned above. (MSG is also known by many other names. Read this post to learn more.)

We parents hold our children’s health in our hands…literally. It is vital to make sure we’re feeding them the healthiest foods possible and are teaching them good habits now. I realize it’s not always possible to keep this stuff out of our cupboards (especially if you aren’t the only grocery shopper in your family), but at least getting started — and making changes, no matter how small — is the important thing.

In the spirit of the highly popular book series, Eat This, Not That, I’d like to share with you some good substitutes for your kids’ school lunches. I’ve compiled a list of common not-so-healthy lunchbox items and their more nutritious counterparts (notice I didn’t say “perfect,” just “more nutritious”). You’ll notice that some of the items do contain sugar, but when it comes right down to it, I’d rather my kids have a small amount of sugar than HFCS or chemically-derived artificial sweeteners. Our bodies at least know what to do with regular sugar (eat it or store it as fat), but simply gets confused by the others.

Peanut butter. Here is a good example of choosing “the lesser of two evils.” I know what you’re thinking…how could peanut butter possibly be evil? I love peanut butter as much as the next kid (I’m a kid at heart), but there are two things to watch out for: calories and fats. Rather than do an all-out comparison, I’ll just recommend two brands that I’ve bought, eaten, and fed to my own family.

The first is Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter. The only ingredients are roasted peanuts, sugar (3 g. per 2 tbsp.), palm oil, and salt. There’s much debate about palm oil, but it’s healthier than regular Skippy Peanut Butter, which contains cottonseed, soybean, and rapeseed oils. (Oops, I guess I just did a comparison.) Skippy Natural has 190 calories per two tablespoons; 140 of those are from fat.

The second I’m going to recommend is Adam’s 100% Natural Creamy Peanut Butter. It has more calories at 210 per two tablespoons, 150 of those being from fat. Yikes. However, its only ingredients are roasted peanuts and salt. Adam’s Peanut Butter is an acquired taste, I’ll admit, especially if your kids are used to regular peanut butter, which is sweeter and more processed.

Jelly and/or Jam. Do NOT buy “low sugar” or “sugar free” unless it’s from the nutrition section of the store. I can pretty much guarantee it will contain artificial sweeteners. (Smucker’s Simply Fruit “Low Sugar” variety has the NutraSweet logo right on the label.) Also, avoid jams and jellies with HFCS. My favorite sweetened-with-sugar-only brand is Danish Orchards.

Crackers. Many store-bought cracker varieties contain MSG and HFCS. There’s no need for it! It’s one of my chief frustrations while shopping to see foods that are full of this garbage being marketed toward our children. Even Cheez-It crackers — the regular variety contains MSG. The same brand’s whole grain variety does not, so if your kids like Cheez-Its as much as mine do, get the whole grain ones. They don’t taste ANY different.

Update: You can also try making your own crackers that aren’t full of the preservatives and flavor enhancers like many of the store brands are. Do a Google search for “healthy cracker recipes” and you’ll find more than you can possibly use.

Capri Sun. Ah, memories. My mom put Capri Sun pouches in my lunch when I was in junior high school (back in the…ahem…early 80s). There are more varieties of Capri Sun now, so being a vigilant parent is very important if you buy them for your kids. Depending on the variety, you could be giving your kids HFCS or artificial sweeteners (sucralose, in this case, which caused serious depression in me last year…so I know first hand how bad it is). Stay away, for example, from the Roarin’ Waters variety. It’s clear in color, so it makes you think it’s healthier. NOT. Roarin’ Waters contains sucralose, identified as “Splenda brand sweetener” on the ingredients list. If a child can’t have sugar, I can understand why a parent might need to buy items with artificial sweeteners once in a while. HOWEVER, Roarin’ Waters also contains sugar along with the sucralose. If someone could explain the reasoning behind that, go ahead: I’m all ears!

Instead of Roarin’ Waters, buy instead the Original Capri Sun, which is sweetened only with sugar and real juice concentrates. Their Sunrise variety is also sweetened only with sugar, and their 100% Juice line is just as it says…100% juice. See my previous post on Capri Suns here.

Of course, my favorite (and usual) drink to send along with my kids in their lunches is bottled purified water.

I hope this article has given you some “food for thought.” If you remember none of what you read here, at least remember this: READ LABELS before you buy. Steer clear of MSG, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, trans fats (and saturated fats, when possible). If it doesn’t sound natural, it most likely isn’t. Also, when you can, avoid unnecessary sugar. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind when reading labels is this: A long list of ingredients gives you a long list of reasons to not buy that particular product.

©2010 Sally Dinius
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Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.

(Some things just need to be reposted. If fruit flies are driving you as crazy this time of year as they are us, read on for a great solution.)

Whether or not you drink red wine, it pays to have some in the house. It needn’t be expensive — just get the cheapest you can find. I’m not talking about pouring yourself a glass (I’ll leave that up to you): The wine is for fruit flies…if you live in an area plagued by them this time of year. Those flying, red-eyed bugs can really drive you nuts flying in front of your face, landing on your food, and multiplying like crazy, as if the survival of their species depended on it (it does). I promise that if you follow this tip, your fruit fly problems will be over…for now, anyway.

What? Red wine for fruit flies?

You bet! The little lushes can’t resist it, which makes it the perfect ingredient for a fruit fly trap. Depending on how many you have, it may take them an hour or two to find this little beacon of death you’ll be setting up, but trust me — find it they will.

And according to Hannah Holmes of Discovery Online, “Fruit flies prefer a diet of yeast, that marvelous microbe that eats fruit and spits out alcohol.” Which sort of explains why red wine — the product of red grape fermentation — works as well as it does in this trap.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• One empty 16.9 fl. oz. water bottle. You could also use another kind of bottle, just make sure it has a skinny neck and is clear — you need to be able to see if your trap is catching any flies.
• One 4″ – 6″ square of paper. Leave the ruler in the drawer — just eyeball it. Make sure the funnel hangs into the bottle by at least a couple of inches. This will make it more difficult for them to find their way out.
• Red wine.

Now, here’s what you do:

• Pour approximately 1″ – 1-1/2″ of wine in the bottom of the bottle. You really won’t need more than that.
• Starting at one corner of the piece of paper, roll it into a funnel, making sure one end is larger than the other. Don’t tape it. Put the smaller end into the bottle and gently let go — it will unroll just enough to fill any space between itself and the neck of the bottle. (*Note: You must use the funnel — if you don’t, the fruit flies will just take a sip and fly out. And the last thing you need is drunken fruit flies careening through the house, right?)
• Put the trap wherever the fruit flies seem to congregate. They’ll be gone within days.

I’ve been told vinegar also works to attract fruit flies. Try both and use the one that works best for you.

2011 update: If wine or vinegar doesn’t do the trick — though they should — you may also want to try grape juice, apple cider vinegar, or even cold coffee with flavored creamer (no lie — they LOVE the stuff).

©2009 Sally Dinius
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