Jobs for People with Chronic Pain

I'm back at work! I really can't believe it. I feel like it is one of those pinch me I'm dreaming moments.

Years ago when I made the switch from graphic design to teaching, I knew I made a wonderful life decision. While a lot of parts of teaching are stressful, I found that there are just as many wonderful, heartwarming moments. I love the fact that some of my old students still contact me and keep in touch.

I'm one of those teachers that always viewed my students as my own kids.

So when I had to give up my teaching career because of my adhesive arachnoiditis, it was life-altering, and not in a good way.

I have spent the last 3 years rehabilitating my body and while I've had setbacks, I've also gotten stronger and learned to deal with my condition.

Jobs for People with Chronic Pain
If you haven't heard, I have a podcast now with my PIC #awkwardyethealthy Rebekah Svensson, Chronic Warrior Women. She has been such a positive influence in my life. In fact, she is the reason I have my current job!

Rebekah started teaching with VIPKid back in June. When we were chatting one day after recording our podcast she told me how much she earned with them in July and I was shocked.

I immediately asked, what was the name of that company? Can I teach there?

The answer is yes.

If you have a 4-year degree in any subject and 1 year of experience with kids (church, babysitting, teaching, etc.) you can teach with VIPKid!

I'm so happy I kept my teaching certificate current! I passed the initial assessment and got an interview scheduled, which was a 5 minute demonstration of a short lesson. After passing the demo, the next step is passing a mock class for one of the teaching levels.

With my experience in education, I had no problem passing the Level 2-5 mock classes, with practice, neither will most people!

I'm in my 4th week of teaching and loving it.

I've taught with high pain, with my tens unit on and ice packs with zero problems. If you meet these qualifications I recommend giving VIPKid a shot!

Just let me know and I will send you an invitation link to fill out an application!

3 Reasons to Try Third Love

A couple of months ago I posted my unbiased review of the Stickee Bra. I bought and paid for it with my own money and tried several versions to zero effect. Definitely check it out.

Now, I've got to say that in my research for better health, part of that is breast health. The girls are important ladies.

As I've said before, my soon to be podcast buddy Rebekah tried Third Love and posted her review on her Facebook group. She and I are kindred spirits, so of course, I had to give Third Love a try. Yes, I'm totally going to tout Third Love as the best bra company, and everything I've bought from them has been out of my own pocket.

They have paid me nothing to write this.

I was having shoulder problems, my boobs were weirdly hurting, and nothing in the stores fit. Nothing.

3 Reasons to Try Third Love

1. You're Probably Not Wearing the Correct Size

Did you know that when you get a new bra you should wear it on the farthest hook out? You should tighten your bra over time as the elastic changes and wears out. The closest hook is for when your bra is almost worn out.

Yep, I didn't know that.

My 34 bras were on the closest hook and still riding up my back.

After taking the fit finder quiz, they determined I was a 32 D. I tried one on, shipped to my house, and I had spillage. Returns were so easy. Log in to your account, work with the fit finder program to get a new size. They email a pre-paid label to you. I dropped the box off at my local "print and ship" place because Post Office lines are so not my thing. My new sized bra shipped within the week and I went to a 32 E. It was perfect in that style.

Since then, different styles do require different sizes. Some I'm a 32 E, others I'm a 32 F.

2. They have Amazing Customer Service.

Let's talk about me effing up my shoulder for a quick second. I messed it up in yoga. I couldn't wear any bra that touched the area between my shoulder and shoulder blade. It was super painful. I got some strapless bras and some racerback bras from Third Love.

I had a serious problem with the racerback bras. They were just not for my girls. Every woman is a different shape and these were not for my shape. I tried on a 32 E and then got put in a 32 F in one style and a 34 D in another. They still weren't quite right. While they were no longer digging into my armpits...every time I bent over the girls would just fall out.

Super awkward in public. The dance I would use to shimmy back into my bra without someone guessing what was going on had to be priceless.

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Months went by y'all. Months.

I stopped wearing them. I hated opening my lingerie drawer and seeing the expensive bras going to waste. Guilt. Anguish. Anger. You name any negative emotion and I felt it about these bras.

Well, 2019 came and I've seriously decided to change negativity, even on a small scale like bras that just are not a good fit.

I called customer service fully expecting for them to tell me it's too late to exchange them. Except that it wasn't!

I couldn't believe it after all these months went by and me wearing them but they exchanged them for completely different bras. Two brand new ones.

Who does that?

No one. No company I've ever dealt with.

I was so happy and excited to no longer feel guilty over my purchases and to get bras I could actually wear. It was money well spent.

3. Their CEO is amazeballs.

I don't know if you heard the buzz, but after Victoria's Secret show, CEO Ed Razek slammed plus size women in a Vogue interview. He was quoted in saying "[The] televised fashion show is "a fantasy" and "no one" has "an interest" in watching plus-size models.

Let's be honest, the Victoia's Secret fashion show isn't about women. It's about the millions of men who feel the need to add to their spank bank.

Third Love's Heidi Zak took out a full-page ad in The New York Times to respond to Ed Razek.

Here is her letter.

2019 Budgeting and How to Track your Spending

I spent 2018 trying to figure out what I actually spend on myself that is not medically related expenses. It was hard and I failed miserably. I just plain gave up in June. I was still spending way more than I should. Shopping is an addiction and it's one I've had for a long, long, time.

I do want to say up front that I fully recognize that I am a child of privilege and I have distinct advantages that some readers do not have or have had or ever will have.

So let's dig into my first world problems...

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Is a massage a selfish frivolous perk? Paying for a pedicure because scrunching up or bending over to do my toes with arachnoiditis is not pleasant, is that extra? Well, yes and no.

I went almost a year without "getting my toes did" and the resulting ingrown toenails on my big toes were not pleasant either.

What is necessary? What is medical? What is a perk? What are additional expenses?

Back to the massage, I will say I like get a massage once a month because it helps my chiropractic adjustments last longer, but I definitely don't go enough because I usually spent my money elsewhere, like on pajamas, bras, makeup or haircare.

However, I cut my own hair every other time and dye it myself. So what gives?

I also get Botox.

It helps with my headaches, or lack thereof, due to my arachnoiditis, which my insurance refuses to pay for. Insert obscene gesture here...but I get it. It's also helping the aging and the wrinkles so it's an elective expense. Honestly, though, I'd pay anything to not get headaches all the time like I used to back in 2016. Botox is a huge expense and if something happened, it would be the first thing I would cut. That said, I am tracking it for budgeting this year.

2019 Budgeting and How to Track your Spending

Honestly, I had to make a decision to what categories I wanted to allot my monthly spending, and I wanted to go back to the cash system that helped me do things like pay off my car early, pay for grad school, and put money in savings.

January 2019 is my flagship month with me keeping spending to a bare minimum to reset my mind, spirit, and body for what I really needed. I am tracking exactly what I spend regardless of staying within my allotment. This way I'm hoping to see a pattern.

Here are my categories of spending, and a few I don't use thrown in for examples:

Personal Upkeep:
Makeup, hair styling (products, cut and color), skin products or treatments, waxing, pedicures, manicures (I don't get these but other people do).

I don't wear makeup everyday so what I have lasts. However, I do go through quite a bit of skin care products so I can't wait to track that this year.

Self Care:
Massages, acupuncture, botox (or other medical procedure), yoga class, gym membership, box subscription etc.

Let's talk about massages again. This year I want to see if I can get a chiropractic adjustment and then, in two weeks, get a massage. I want to flip them back and forth to see if I can cut down on both of those expenses this year.

Clothes:
I think this category is pretty self-explanatory but everything clothing related from your blouse to your shoes and your socks to your handbag.

I think I mentioned back at the beginning of 2018 when I was cleaning out my closet that I shopped my way to happiness through the tragedy of getting adhesive arachnoiditis? Well, when I cleaned out and moved to a capsule wardrobe, I resolved to not buy anything else unless it was replacing something that was worn out or broken. I did this for the most part. I can list the clothing I bought for the entire year of 2018. Can you?

3 sweatshirts at Costco to replace worn out, stinky ones.
3 t-shirts at Target, no replacement, just needed something in between super casual and business casual.
3 Dresses - 1 Anne Taylor and 1 Michael Kors from Goodwill and 1 designer dress from Stitch Fix for my 20th reunion
2 Skirts - 1 Banana Republic pencil skirt and 1 Anne Klein circle skirt from Goodwill
1 pair of Kut from the Kloth jeans from Goodwill
2 pairs of Lunya Restore pj's
6 Third Love Bras (2 of which are a black and nude strapless) (my biggest category expense)

That's it, folks.

I would like to say that I personally know the best Goodwill in the entire state of Texas and they always have amazing clothes that usually still have the price tags from the original store attached. No, I'm not telling you where it is.

So even when I do buy clothes, they're not crazy expensive. I save money for the big stuff, like my 20th reunion dress...which will probably be my 40th birthday dress when that rolls around in 2020.

What my 2019 financial tracking isn't going to cover are my other necessary medical alternative treatments like medicine, supplements, or dry needling.

I'm starting a separate medical expenses tracking collection in my bullet journal for those.

Wish me luck. Ok, I'm done complaining about my stupid lack of responsible spending in 2018, which is a problem of total privilege, and I resolve to do better in 2019.

What are the Best Organic Eggs to Buy?

I'm on day 9 of my January Whole30 and like most people on the Whole30, I'm super into eggs.

Eggs can be expensive y'all, but it's worth it when you are getting the best quality eggs right?

They have so many benefits that they are worth paying up for, packed full of vitamins, protein, and amino acids. The ease in which they translate from meal to meal is also perfect.

Hold onto your chair because I'm about to rock your world.

When you walk in the grocery store and you go to buy your eggs and the package says "Cage Free" and "Organic" you most likely are getting the same equalivent as the cheap, regular, non-special eggs!

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What are the Best Organic Eggs to Buy?

There's a company called Cornucopia Institute that gives a scorecard to all organic grocery store items to help consumers make the best choices.

I usually buy three different kinds of eggs depending on where I have to go during the week and what part of town I'm running those errands in.

HEB, a local Texas grocery store - where I usually buy their in house brand of organic cage free eggs
Kroger or WalMart - where I buy Egglands Best Eggs
Costco - where I usually buy their in house brand of organic cage free eggs

I like most people thought that organic was organic, and cage free meant cage free.

Cage free means they have a bigger cage y'all. Organic means they are fed organic corn. All the above eggs scored a 1 on the egg score card.

So damn misleading.

Anyway, Cornucopia Institute's scorecard for the best eggs, for the Texas Region, at a 5 egg rating is World's Best Eggs. Unfortunately, the closest store that sells that for me is a drive....I'm not willing to make, let's just put it that way. Houston traffic sucks so much that I'd rather not even bother with it.

So at a 4 egg rating, lower on the tier, is the nationwide retailer Vital Farms. They are actually stocked in my WalMart along with salted and unsalted butter. Boom!

They actually are free range, meaning they walk and scratch and eat worms. So if you are wondering which eggs to get, make sure the package says free range chickens. I actually like that Vital Farms calls it Alfresco Chickens. Makes me smile.

If I'm going to drop the money, I expect to get what I'm paying for, right?

For the best eggs in your state or region check out Cornucopia's Egg Scorecard

Honest Review Madison Reed Haircolor

Call it making my life easier, striving for simplicity, or sheer laziness, but I tried Madison Reed home delivery hair color. It was a rare treat yo self moment.

Actually, they are becoming not so rare these days. I will do and try anything if it means less pain and less drain on me. I'm really working on my severe adrenal fatigue in 2019 because I feel it is the next key to a better life with Adhesive Arachnoiditis.

Onward!

A. I’ve done salon color for years, starting one month before I turned 31 when my grays were just more apparent. I could afford it, I had a job and a killer budget that let me save, pay rent, pay for grad school, and let me do “personal upkeep.”

B. When we were starting to save for IVF #leohusband took over my hair dying job with box dye. It was ok but not really the same level of a color match that I would get in the salon. I also tended to develop toward the red end of the spectrum of brunette each time. Plus, I had some nasty allergic reactions to some of the “drug store” hair color.

C. I eventually turned to Sally Beauty Supply and after talking with a guy who had the coolest blue and teal hair I could only dream about...I felt he steered me in the right direction.

He did!

I had a great color, the right developer, an additive to keep the red/gold out of my brunette, and another additive to tame those stubborn grays. The only problem was the nearest Sally’s was either a 30 minute drive with a billion traffic lights (not in sync) in one direction or a (gasp) trip to the mall in the other.

If you’re like me, I’d rather walk across broken wine glasses filled with rusty razor blades than go to an actual mall. It's a chronic pain patient's nightmare.

I went maybe once or twice a year to Sally's. It was definitely not enough to actually keep up the color on a consistent basis. Leaving me with several months where I just didn’t feel I was looking my best. #leohusband would totally argue this point but ya feel how ya feel, right ladies? gents? peeps?

So there I was, feeling upset from the giant scar on my forehead from my basal cell cancer removal, staring at my face, definitely noticing my gray hair...and in a moment of weakness I got bombarded with a Madison Reed commercial on Hulu.

I caved.

Honest Review Madison Reed Haircolor

I took their online color quiz and ended up with Modena Brown 5.5NNN.

It came and of course, the packaging was cool as hell.

They had a bottle, 2 sets of gloves, a cap, color and developer, shampoo and conditioner, a pre-skin prep, and an after coloring skin wipe.

I signed up for the 8-week delivery cycle, so I got a large sized color safe shampoo and conditioner 'as a gift.' Plus, you get a slight discount. Which means the hardest thing I have to do is check my mailbox to get it.

The application process:

Skin protectant cream applied great, nice to not use Aquafor like I normally do.

Doing the coloring:

Ok, so I would like to point out that I personally don't think doing your own color is all that hard. Then again I have multiple degrees in art, taught art for over 10 years, and have a slight OCD tendency to be a perfectionist when it comes to anything.

Therefore coloring my own hair (no #leohusband needed) is not an issue. I just take my time and make precise parts to apply the color. I also use my hands, encased in the nice gloves they supply and make sure my roots to ends get coated finger-paint style.

They include videos, a call line, which I did use, an app, and a website for help and reference. Strangely enough, my question was not answered on the videos, app, or website so I had to call.

What was my question?

Well, the instructions say to put the product on your hair length first, wait 20 mins, and then put it on your roots. Apply the cap and wait an additional 30 or so minutes.

Well folks, I've got a pixie cut.

I do not have "length."

So I had no idea what amount of time I was supposed to keep the product on and if I needed to be super anal retentive and truly get it on just my ends somehow and then do the roots.

Hence the phone call.

I will say I did pass the 5-minute hold mark (which is my internal 'I've been on hold too long' timer) on the phone. I grabbed my laptop and started typing a question into the live chat on their website when my call finally got picked up. Did I mention I'm also not the world's most patient person?

The CS rep was kind and courteous, answered my question, but definitely kept me on the phone longer than I would have liked. She kept repeating the same instructions/conversation three times. I don't know if this is corporate policy but I'm on the other end of the phone thinking, "Dude, I got it the first time."

She also kept using the phrase 'short-haired sisters' and 'long-haired sisters'...which I know is definitely a corporate decision on language but geez y'all, it's so hipster millennial.

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Anyway, I used the supplied bottle, parted, squeezed, and fingerpainted my way to better hair. Snapped the cap on my head, set a 55-minute timer (time CS rep and I agreed upon) and sat my happy butt down to watch some Stranger Things.

When the timer dinged I jumped in the shower to rinse and then used the supplied packets of shampoo and conditioner. I will say the shampoo and conditioner did feel awesome. It was how Herbal Essences should have felt. If you're thinking "I'll have what she's having..." Yes...it was just like that. You should honestly try this for the shampoo and conditioner alone.

So results...

It did look really good. It was not leaning toward golden or red but was a perfect brown. Glossy and definitely had highlights and lowlights that you just can't get from a box. I know, I've tried.

So am I sold...maybe. Sally's Beauty Supply is $7.00 cheaper but avoiding the hassle of getting across town and through traffic (not great during a pain flare), getting my shipment when I need it (it's not that I'm lazy...it's adrenal fatigue I swear!) is worth the extra $7.00. It totally beats paying $50 and up at the salon any day o the week. I'm calling this one a good buy.

I did not get paid to write this. It is an honest review based upon my experience. I used my own funds to purchase Madison Reed. However, if you are Madison Reed and want to contact me and become besties, just let me know.

Amazon Fire TV Stick

Treat Yo Self Thursday comin' at ya with a BIG treat yo self moment.

I mean big.

I've saved up my monthly fun money and with the help of an Amazon gift card from my parents, we got an Amazon Fire TV Stick for our bedroom TV.

Wow.

I mean wow!

We're "cord never's"--meaning that we've never had cable.  From the beginning, #leohusband and I hooked up an old desktop to our TV and watched Netflix (and Hulu when it used to be free).

More and more services are going to online subscriptions and we were more than happy to sign up for each.  The total bills still being less than paying for both cable and internet. Plus, the Fire TV Stick is so inexpensive, once that cost is sunk you are definitely saving money by the next year.


We are happy cord never subscribers to HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Funamation, and Crunchyroll.

Yes, the last two are for me, I'm a total Otaku - super geeky and obsessed anime fangirl. However, #leohusband also likes anime, it's one of the things that told me he was the one.

One TV we have our XBox hooked up, all of the above apps can be downloaded on the XBox.

Our second TV is connected to a desktop computer.

Now our bedroom TV has an Amazon TV Fire Stick!  I can go watch TV and shut the bedroom door when #leohusband calls overseas at all hours of the night.

What's even better is I can unplug it and take it to my sewing room, plug it into my super small apartment TV and there is zero set up.  It just immediately works!  Amazing.

I'm so in love with it.

There have been days that I simply haven't been able to get out of bed, due to a migraine or pain.  I always just put on sunglasses, maybe a hat, and crawled to the living room couch to have the TV distract me.

Now I can stay in the bedroom if need be. Hell yes!

The Alexa remote also lets me say "Play Westworld" and it will play it.  That's super cool and good for when I don't want to scroll through multiple screens.

5 Ways to Bullet Journal on a Budget

I always loved back to school supplies. Something about the smell of fresh crayons. When I became an art teacher, art supplies held the same wonder and joy for me.

When starting a bullet journal, one of the best things for me was the chance to break out all of my old teaching supplies! However, I quickly found that my beloved Prismacolor Markers bled right through my freshly bought Leuchttrum 1917 bujo. Sad faces!

I quickly realized that I would need to get new supplies to work in my journal. However, most of our income goes to our medical expenses, so I needed to be frugal.  Financial organization holds vast importance in our house.

Well after some research, I came up with 5 Ways to Bullet Journal on a Budget.

Bullet journal supplies can be daunting simply by the sheer number of things you can by. Let’s keep it simple though, especially if this is new to you, see if you like it before you invest your money.  This is assuming you’ve already decided to invest your time.

1. Get a grid or dot grid journal.

I started with a lined journal that my mother in law gave me for Christmas. I persevered Jan - May creating my own gridded lines. It took forever to set up a monthly spread.

I’m actually surprised I didn’t quit but I was desperate to try to find some correlation between what I was doing, eating, sleeping, and my pain levels. I needed real data to take to a doctor.

These are some cheaper alternatives to a Leuchttrum 1917 if you want to dip your toes in just to see if you like it before you invest. I found this one on Amazon and it is half the cost but with the same amount of colors and several pages.


2. You don’t need micron pens.

Sharpie pens work just fine and have a good point. There is no need to invest in super expensive artist pens unless you want to down the line for archival purposes.


3. There are cheaper alternatives to Tombow Dual Brush Pens.

Yes, Tombow’s are fantastic and they don’t bleed through but again they’re expensive for the amount you get per marker.


If you want a good way to fill in boxes classic Highlighters work great and there is minimal bleeding or ghosting as the cool kids are calling it these days.

Old school Crayola markers work great too. I'm currently using Staedliner Thin Line markers because they are doing double duty with my Inspirations Coloring Book.


4. Get Stencils not Stamps

I invested heavily in stamps and inks and wish I hadn't.  It's a hassle to bust out the stamps and inks during set up and forget about using them daily.  You won't sustain keeping up with the basic requirements of the journal.

Not to mention that you have to buy the stamps, blocks, and inks...that gets expensive.

However, you want your bullet journal to look nice, so these are what I'm currently using.  They're lightweight and take up minimal room in my bujo supply box.  I can even slip one into the pages of my bujo to transport if I'm working on a spread.

They also double as straight edge rulers...you can't beat a multitasker!


5. Get white out before investing in Washi Tape


This 10 pack of white-out tape will last years. That's the kind of value I'm after with my buys. You will mess up and if you have even a tiny streak of OCD perfectionism in you, it will drive you nuts.  Die-hard bujo specialists use gorgeous washi tape to cover booboos.  I, however, love my white out.  Just start fresh.

That said, washi tape is still gorgeous and I don't blame you if you want to treat yo self. I mean just look at these colors and styles!

So get your supplies ready and go ahead and get ready for March! February is a short month. March will be here before we know it and why not get ready to be organized. More next Tuesday on setting up your current month for success.