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Bio Oil Skins Stories Campaign

*I did not receive any products in return for this article. As always all opinions are my own*
I have talked in the past about my scars.  There are a lot of them and up until a couple of years ago they were very red and extremely itchy 90% of the time.  Any time that I sweated, or it was cold, they would dry out and be very uncomfortable.  That was until I started using Bio Oil.  The scars haven't completely disappeared but the difference in the colour and comfort was amazing.  I was hesitant to spend so much money on a beauty product, not knowing how well it would work but I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Bio Oil have launched the Skin Stories Campaign in the hopes that through stories shared will help to rid the shame surrounding our differening skin conditions.  To help get the conversation started, Bio Oil is donating $5 for each story shared on the Bio Oil Facebook Page, to the organisation 'Look Good, Feel Better.  Look Good, Feel Better is an initiative started by the Cosmetic Industry Community that helps cancer patients.

I shared my story and I urge you to do the same.  Not only will sharing your story raise funds for Look Good, Feel Better but you can go into the draw to win a pack of Bio Oil products.  The process is super easy and can help start the conversation on how we feel about our skin.  You can share any kind of story and you don't have to have used Bio Oil to qualify.  Awareness starts with one conversation. Be part of it.

Bio Oil Facebook Page

Chicken and Vegetable Nuggets

I hate veggies. At least veggies on their own.  I can handle them in a bake or mixed in with other stuff so that I can't taste them.  Devil Spawn hates them just as much, so veggie smuggling is pretty important around here.  One food that Devil Spawn does love though is chicken nuggets.  He'd eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let him but sadly they aren't particularly nutrious.  That's when I got thinking about how I could combine veggie smuggling with Devil Spawns favourite foods and Chicken and Vegetable nuggests were born.  I try to have pureed veggies in the freezer all the time so that I can add them to spag bog and other easy foods.

Chicken and Vegetable Nuggets

 
These are better prepared a few hours before you are ready to cook them.  Of course if you are short for time, preparing and cooking straight away won't make too much difference.
 
Ingredients
500gm of chicken thighs, pureed (you can use chicken mince but I found the thighs easier to work with)
2 cups of vegetable puree. (You can use any mixture of pre pureed vegetables)
Tuscan Seasoning (I tried it with the all pourpose seasoned salt and they just weren't the same)
Breadcrumbs

Method
1.    Mix together the chicken and vegetables, adding the tuscan seasoning as you go.
2.    Roll the mixture into tablespoon size balls and coat in bread crumbs.  Place flattened
    balls into an air tight container, putting a layer of baking paper between each layer.
3.    Put the prepared nuggets into the fridge for at least an hour. A friend gave me this     tip and it's great for keeping the breadcrumbs intact when cooking.
4.    Shallow fry the the nuggets until both sides are brown. This helps keep the mixture     together.
5.    Bake for 25 minutes at 200C

This recipe makes about 32 nuggets.  I cook them all then separate into resealable bags for easy dinners in the future.     

Scrambled

I have notes and notes filled with blog post ideas. Ideas that are probably pretty great. Ideas that I will write at some stage, some point in the future but not right now.  I can't grasp them, it hurts my head to try.  The words, they are elusive.  Nothing is making sense and it all feels a little surreal.

Imagine your brain as a place filled with worker ants.  At the moment my worker ants have taken speed.  I tried to find a picture to represent it but I gave up after 5 minutes.  Nothing quite felt disorganised enough. Nothing represented the chaos that is my brain at the moment.  I have so much IN my head and no way to grab it and get it out.  I feelt like a spectator to my own inner workings.

No doubt this too shall pass but at the moment it's fucking insane.  I can't concentrate, I try and it's too hard.  Everything is scrambled and filled with static.  I want to share the ideas that I have but the path between my hands and my mind is filled with obstacles. 

This is a short one, to let you know where I am at...normal viewing will resume soon.  Until then I leave you with this 

Self Harm Doco

*The following post and video may be triggering to those who are experiencing self harm urges. Please stay safe and if you are at all feeling at risk please contact someone*

Lifelife Australia: 13 11 14

Alternatively contact your nearest emergency department.

I don't often post twice in one day but this one couldn't wait until tomorrow.  This video was tweeted by someone I follow and it's a great insight into self harm.  There are stories from a person who self harms, as well as professionals who work with them.  I really enjoyed listening to the information presented by all parties.  

I hope that it will reach someone who doesn't already know these things.  If it teaches just one person about self harm, then that is great.  It's possible to change the world, one person at a time. 

http://www.harmlesspsychotherapy.com/webbuilder/pages/Hurting_to_heal

For more information about the film project click here

Techno Overload

This week's prompt of I must confess is 'How many devices do you have and what do you use them for?'  I must admit I kind of cringed  and wasn't sure if I was going to link up. I have a lot of devices. Not as many as my friend's hubby who is into all things computer but still more than your average joe.  I also use them all myself. I don't do sharing well. At all.  Enough rambling and on to the important stuff...the devices.

Kindle Ereader: I love books, but I live in a two bedroom house. My one bookshelf is already filled to the brim with books and dvds.  There's no room for another one. So of course the next logical step was to get a device that could hold up to 3,000 books.  I already have 1,000 books on it, which will probably take me the next 20 years to read but they are small enough to carry around with me.

Iphone: I love that my phone is more than just a phone.  I lost my Iphone and went back to a brick for a total of 3 days.  Longest. Three. Days. Of. My. Life. 

Ipad: Sometimes we just have to keep up with the cool kids.  I love that it does everything my phone does, but has a bigger screen.  I also use it to store books for Devil Spawn on it.  He loves the interactive books that talk back to him when he presses the screen.

Netbook: I got my netbook when my poor old dinosaur laptop was packing it in but I couldn't afford to replace it with a full sized laptop.  I'm not a massive fan of it, hence why it's now packed away in the cupboard.  The screen was too small to view photos and play games, which are my two main reasons for using a laptop in the first place.

Laptop: My laptop was kind of an impulse buy. I went in for a hard drive and came out with a laptop instead.  Yeh, yeh I am the queen of impulse buying.  Thankfully for my big ticket items I don't often experience buyers remorse.  My laptop is where I spend most nights glued to and is the birth place of all of you my blog posts.  I haven't quite got the hang of typing too much on a tablet. 

Ipod Nano: I really need to get rid of it really. It doesn't shuffle, you can't press next and I already have 3 other devices that play music.  I got it when I was walking to Daycare to pick Devil Spawn up, much less thinking goes on when you have music blaring in your ears.
 

Phew, confession time over! Head on over to My Home Truths and check out everyone's posts about their devices. 
 

Lastly, what devices do you have?

Stigma Within Stigma

Stigma.  It's everywhere and it affects everyone. Mental illness still in the 21st century is clouded by stigma. There are people suffering in silence because they believe asking for help is a sign of weakness. Imagine having your head filled to the brim with despair and disorder and having no where to go. The removal of stigma around mental illness has come such a long way in the last 20 years but we still have so much further to go.  

Amongst the mentally ill there is still stigma. I've lost count of how many times I have said to myself that I need to keep my mouth shut, need to buck up and deal with it. This is something that I have been dealing with personally for 11 years. Yet I still tell myself the same thing that I hate hearing from others.  Things that I would never say to anyone else. 

Self harm has a whole different level of stigma.  It's a stigma within a stigma.  Even those who suffer from a Mental Illness, who engage in activities that many think are outlandish, ideas that stray from the norm, see people who self harm as some kind of person to be revered.  There have been many conversations that I have been involved in, in an inpatient facility where other patients have struggled to see the need and desire behind the action of harming oneself. 

Society sees people drinking to excess, and almost turn a blind eye.  It's seen as people blowing off steam, almost a societal norm.  They are seen as coping mechanisms, nothing more.  People who drink to excess every weekend are 'ok'. However they are doing the same thing that people who self harm are doing.  Hiding the pain, replacing it with something else.  Yet people who physically harm their flesh are seen as monsters, attention seeking and sometimes just plain stupid. 

Self harming is a coping mechanism. It's a dysfunctional one, I will admit, but it is one nonetheless.  However with so much stigma around it, people are covering it up, pretending it doesn't exist.  Why NEED to talk about this.  We NEED to say it's ok to tell someone that you aren't coping.  We NEED to treat the symptom not the behaviour.  A person who self harms is not a monster, they are simply reaching for help when their words don't work.