My Unhappy Light = Simulated Sunshine

My SAD light (or as my hubby calls it: my Unhappy Light) arrived on Friday March 1st from Amazon. It came ready to use so it was early enough in the day that I was anxious to try it. I’ve used it every single morning without fail since then. I was told it takes AT LEAST 2 weeks before any benefits are seen. However I’m not known for my patience so I’ve been grumbling ever since. The unit itself is portable although it doesn’t run on batteries, only has a plug in cord. I don’t have a place to keep it plugged in so I put it on the shelf and plug it in behind my chair every morning for the half hour I use it. These days have been so dark and gloomy that it feels like a police interrogation light when I turn it on. If all else fails, maybe my next step to more energy and alertness is waterboarding? You don’t look directly into it, just have it to the side of you and the light goes into your eyes. I’ve been so sleepy lately that I’ve caught myself shutting my eyes while under it which totally defeats the purpose. When that happens, I extend the time a minute or 2 past the 30 minute timer to make up for what I’ve missed.

My SAD Light

The one I got is called Lightphoria by Sphere Gadget Technologies. It’s a 10,000 lux unit with 3 light intensities. The timer doesn’t make any noise but you can set it for 15, 30 or 45 minutes and it just quietly goes off when the time is up. It is easy enough to use but now I’m starting to think it’s like witchcraft. Don’t worry. That’s my new favorite saying about anything. I will update again when I start to feel some effects from it. I have been sleepier than  usual lately. I fall asleep playing Candy Crush, forwarding the remote control through commercials, etc. It makes me feel old and useless and like something might be really wrong with me.

My Unhappy Light

 

Simulated Sunshine in a Box

What else has been happening since I last posted? We finally got our income tax stuff into the accountant. I’d had everything together for about 6 weeks and was just waiting for hubby to crunch some numbers from our home business. I don’t nag him about it but it was getting out of hand how long he was putting it off. He also finally snaked out our bathtub drain. It had been draining ridiculously slow for about a month. I can handle slow like 10 minutes to drain, not 3 hours. He pulled out a long clump of hair equivalent to the Locks of Love donation I gave back in August! It was gross and disgusting so of course, I had to photograph it. 😀 I don’t think he’d snaked out that drain for about 10 years. I remember when he did it that time, he got a hairpiece the size of a medium sized cat.

 

Hubby with his bathtub find

The bathtub’s Locks of Love donation!

I finally used the homemade laundry detergent my friend Doreen sent me in the mail. I don’t know how or why that didn’t look like an envelope of anthrax to anybody but me! I tried it out on our sheets and it worked fabulous just like she said. It smells great but what’s weird is there’s no sudsing. Which is great since I usually have to double rinse everything to get all the suds out. When I use Tide, I use about half the recommended amount and it still suds like crazy. Now I’ve got about a year’s worth of Tide on hand before I’m out and can justify making my own detergent. I’ve had such bad luck with tackling projects lately, I don’t know if I even WANT to do it. Oy vey.

 

Tiki Man Vase

Last Thursday we went to an estate sale in our town. I’d never gone to one but hubby and my mom had back when we lived in WI. I had been sleeping (working nights) and they were awake like normal people and 2 or 3 houses away they had one. Hubby got a bunch of tools dirt cheap. About 10-14 years ago we were heavily into the auction scene. We went to several auctions a week and usually bought to resell online. We got pretty good at knowing what was a good deal or not where collectibles are concerned. Thursday’s estate sale wasn’t an auction. It started at 9 am and we got there a few minutes early. There was a long line outside the house. Some people had come early to get numbers and we got one at 9 am. We got #43 which meant we had at least a one hour wait outside. Luckily it was sunny, even if it was only 34 degrees out. At 9 pm they let the first 15 people in. Then as time passed, a few people came out. Some with empty hands, others carrying their purchases. They didn’t let anymore people into the house until about 10 of them left and then they let 15 more inside. Finally we got in and it was so different than I’d imagined. Almost everything had a price tag on it. Hubby got a 4′ long level for $5 and an old can for $2. I found a neat Tiki Man ceramic vase for $2 and 2 cake plates for $5 each. One is etched frosted glass, the other is pink glass. I’m going to use them to serve appetizers and desserts on. We both left thrilled with our purchases. We saw other things we liked but they were priced higher than we were willing to pay. Now we’ve got the collectible bug again. I’ll have to see if I can find some spaghetti poodles. 😉

 

Frosted glass cake plate

Pink glass cake plate