Social media

 I am starting to feel really done with social media. It was supposed to bring people together, meanwhile it created this crazy world full of keyboard warriors and trolls....what's on social media seems to be taken as the truth, even when it is complete nonsense...it's just crazy.

May be I am just getting old? 

I do miss hanging out with friends. These days I don't really feel like I have any real friends anyways. It has been lonely even before covid. A lot of people think that seeing each other twice a year is friendship....I don't know, may be I am high maintenance, but that's just not enough for me to call it real friendship. 

Yes, there are people I see once every few years and we re-start where-ever we left off, but those are people who live in another part of the world, thousands of kilometers away. People who live nearby...that's a whole different story. 

A lot of the people I know fell off the radar after I had kids...especially if they don't have kids. I get that...it's a VERY different lifestyle. It's still sad. 

I also find that a lot of my "friendships" became very one sided at some point - if I did not make the effort to reach out, the other person didn't reach out for ages. Nobody really checked on how I am doing in years. 

I am fortunate I have a great husband, but I know he is longing to have meaningful friendships as well. It feels like we are two awkward weirdos right now. We used to be good with people, but everyone we ever became friends with moved far away, and eventually we sorta gave up on meeting more people. And then we had kids and that made it even more difficult....

I'd love to find some meaningful friendships, but I am at a loss on how do you do that, when you are 40-something with fairly small kids??? Where your schedule doesn't really allow you to join say a book-club or a yoga class? 

#MakingFriendsAfter40IsDifficult #Lonely #SuggestionsWelcome

#Covid....

 I just can't understand how after 2 full years people still think masks are to protect them from others, as opposed to protecting others from them! 

Come on, if nobody around you wears a mask, except for you, unless you wear it with a shield or safety goggles, it will take one infected person coughing near you, and you'll get Covid too, cause eyes are soooo easily penetrable by viruses....

This is pretty basic...yet I still keep hearing "I will wear my mask to protect myself even when restrictions are lifted"...

Umm no....you won't really protect yourself all that much.....

#CovidMyths #MaskMyths 

Covid....

When will this #Covid madness end??????????

People are truly not doing well mental health wise. 

So many people now do things that would never do otherwise. 

So many people are battling depression. 

So many people are battling anxiety. 

So many people are battling addictions.

So many people are battling eating disorders. 

Domestic violence is on the rise, and happens in families where it would have not happened under "normal" circumstances. 

Cancers get diagnosed too late.

Treatments get postponed and people who would normally have a chance end up dying.

It's so disheartening to see. 

I am not OK either. I am managing, at least somewhat, but I am definitely not in the headspace where I would be without Covid. And I don't think "normal" life will resume anytime soon. 

How about you, how are you feeling?

#COVID #mentalhealth #cancer #depression #anxiety #addiction #eatingdisorder #domesticviolence 

Tea Tree Footsoak

 This foot soak smells so nice!

You just dissolve some in the water, just like you would dissolve epsam salts or a sitz bath, you dip in your feet and you relax. The tea tree is awesome with its antibacterial properties, it helps to keep feet healthy and fungus free.
Really lovely salt soak.

Get yours here :) 

#footsoak #healthyfeet #footbath #teatree #soak #footsalt

Aveeno Baby Eczema Care Wash with Colloidal Oatmeal for Extra Dry Skin, Tear Free and Unscented, 236 mL

 I love Aveeno products and since my younger kiddo is eczema prone, we've been using it a lot instead of other baby soaps and such. It's definitely paying off to use these products, they work well and don't aggravate the eczema.

This wash is tear free and has virtually no scent.
My kids don't scream when they need to wash themselves as this wash is super gentle.

You can get yours in any drugstore or here :) 

#aveeno #eczemacare #eczema #baby #colloidaloatmean #dryskin #dryskinrelief #noscent

Fitbit Versa 2

I am slowly but surely warming up to my new Fitbit Versa 2.

It comes with very little directions - so setting it up, unless you look up the full manual online, can be quite challenging. At first I thought I can manage it, but no matter what I did, I was not getting the notifications from my phone, so I looked up the online manual. Turned out I did everything right, yet I still was not getting the notifications. I tried the help forums and variety of steps included in those forums and it still did not work. Eventually I came across an article suggesting an external app and voila, I am all set. Thankfully the external app was free.

Tried to change the clock interface, which led me to a paid site - so I abandoned the transaction. That paid site then kept on sending me notifications every 15 minutes for the following 3 hrs to complete my purchase. Extremely annoying - and there wasn't any way to say "no longer interested" anywhere on the site or my Versa 2. There are some free options for the interface so I ended up picking one of these.

The screen itself is sharp and has bright colors, and it responds well to touch.

The battery lasts a few days which is quite awesome - let's see if that will last beyond a year! :)

I have not tried Alexa yet, have a hard time giving up my Amazon password to Fitibit.

All in all, this is a good smart watch without the pricetag of Apple or Samsung watch.

#fitbit #versa2 #fitbitversa2 #smartwatch

Claritin

Claritin is a classic in my household. Hubby is severely allergic to animals and some foods, I get the odd allergy to a specific cat/dog and cosmetics, and my brother is severely allergic to pollen, hay, grass, animals, you name it.

I am super happy that in Canada we can get allergy meds without a prescription - I lived in Europe for a number of years and where I lived, Claritin was only available with a prescription. Not having to go through all the hoops of the medical system makes managing allergy symptoms so much easier!

These pills are non drowsy and you can feel them working within half an hour to an hour depending how bad your symptoms are. They are pretty small and easy to swallow.

Will continue to buy for sure! :)

You can purchase it at any pharmacy or on Amazon :) 

#Claritin #allergies #allergyremedy #remedy #feelbetter #medication #allergymeds #allergymedication #health