Works every time!!

Common trash gets turned into great fire starters at our house! It is spring, which means it's time to start our season of backyard bonfires! We have a fire pit that we gather around to roast hot dogs, marshmallows, or cook tin foil dinners and Dutch oven creations. Most importantly, it is a gathering place to talk, between family members, friends and neighbors. All are welcome around the fire!
Starting the fire, however, can be a little frustrating at times. There have been times where it takes 4 or more tries to get a good flame going. Now we get it going in the 1st try every time. I learned this in girl scouts when I was young and was so excited to be able use it now.
We all have toilet paper tubes that we constantly just throw away, but now we can say we reuse them at our house. We also used to throw away the lint from the dryer too, but not any more. Just stuff the lint into the paper tube and voila! You have a great fire starter! Simply set in with your kindling and light the tube and soon the kindling catches and grows into your bigger logs. It is great! We keep a bag next to the back door so we can grab them as we head outside. I usually will use two, just for quicker, bigger flames. Grab and go for camping too!

1 Month Update!

Today marks 4 weeks since the removal of my parotid tumor!  4 weeks and I am feeling pretty close to normal again!  To briefly recap, the 1st 2 weeks out were frustrating, mostly due to fatigue, not pain.  In the past 2 weeks, I've been feeling pretty good and have only had to have an occasional nap.  I want to point out a few things I am still dealing with as the days go by....

My head/ear- I still do not have feeling in my ear and around it on my head.  This is due to the Dr. cutting the main nerve to my ear. My scalp is pretty sensitive and there are areas that hurt just to barely touch with my finger tips. My ear is also sensitive to windy, cold weather.....can you say, "ouch"?  I haven't had an earache this bad since I was a kid!  I guess this sensitivity and pain are good signs of nerves repairing themselves!

My face- I had some noticeable paralysis right after my surgery and it has gradually gotten a little better.  I can actually raise my eyebrow a little now....slightly anyway, and that's a huge accomplishment for me!  It looks like I have a questioning look on my face most of the time, lol.  My smile is also lopsided, but it really isn't that noticeable unless I am laughing hard....a casual smile doesn't look that bad!  My cheek is still numb as well....it is in the "pins and needles" stage, so I hate touching it because it sends chills down my spine!  Very annoying!

My incision- I have to say I'm very happy with the results!  It has healed nicely, without any infections.  The upper part of it, near my ear, is hardly noticeable!  The lower part of my incision, on my neck, is still a little raised, but is going down every day.  The scar is very minimal and I am using a Doterra product to help minimize it even more.

The ONLY part that I've struggled with is the "dent" that was left in my face.  My tumor  was the size of a ping pong ball and because of that, it left a bigger empty space!  Had my 1st doctor removed it when I first discovered it 8 years ago, It would not have left such a big "hole".  The picture does not show how deep it actually is.  Luckily, when people look at my face straight on, it isn't noticeable.  It is only visible if I turn my head and move my hair.  The doctor said that it should fill in somewhat over the next year or so, so i will wait and see.  I just got my hair cut and colored, so I'm feeling pretty good right now, haha!

All in all, I'd say the surgery was a success!