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Dear Fabgrandma

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Welcome to my new weekly column, Dear Fabgrandma. Today’s question comes from an anonymous reader:

Should a grandchild be treated differently because they are not blood?

That is a really great question, and one that can apply to a lot of families today. I know it is very relevant to my own family. Of course we all know that step-children and adopted children should all be treated the same as blood related, (born of the son or daughter of the grandparent) children. But because this question has to even be asked, we all know that they are not always treated the same by the step grandparent or adopted grandparent.

In one family that I know of, there was a very obvious disparity in the way blood grandchildren and step grandchildren were treated by the grandmother. It was especially apparent at Christmas, when it was time to open gifts, and certain ones received a whole lot more gifts than others. It was very hard to stand by and watch the hurt on the faces of innocent children when that happened. There was one Christmas in particular when one member of that family left half of her children’s gifts on the kitchen table when they left, and told the grandmother that if she could not treat all the children the same, then she did not want her children to be part of it. That simple act and statement led to that person realizing what she was doing, and it never happened again.

There are several things that you can do to help the step-children in a situation like this:

1. One is to just not go to visit that grandparent, which probably won’t happen, but it is a solution to the problem. You as an adult owe it to your children, all of them, to protect them from being treated as second class in that situation. Even the children that are being treated best can learn the wrong lessons from it.

2. Second, if you want things to change so that your children will have happy visits with their grandparents, you need to open a dialogue with the person who is showing a difference, and tell them what you have witnessed and that you would like for them to stop doing it. This conversation should take place somewhere where the children will not hear any of it.

3. If you have had the talk, and the disparity continues, tell the grandparent that you will not be coming back until they can treat all of the children the same. Then keep your word.

Do any of you, my readers, have advice or a different answer to this question? How does your family handle a similar situation?

How Leather Furniture Can Enhance Your Home

Karen · Leave a Comment

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Why Choose Leather Furniture?

If you are looking to buy new furniture for your home, why not consider buying leather furniture. At one time leather furniture was considered to be a luxury item for the home, but now they are a lot more affordable, but still bring a sense of luxury to your home. We have brown leather chairs and I couldn’t imagine going back to fabric furniture again. Buying any furniture is a major investment, so why not get a product that will really enhance your home.

There really is something about sitting in a leather armchair that has a bit of an almost decadent feel about it. All the world’s finest houses are furnished in leather and now you can experience this in your own home. I can remember when we got our last set of furniture, we wasn’t planning on buying leather, but they looked so good and were a lot cheaper than we had imagined. I even decided to get a matching leather office chair for my study at home and that is probably the most comfortable office chair i have ever owned, even better than the one at the office.

Furniture That Lasts

Another advantage of leather furniture is that it will last for years and being a natural product it has it’s own aging process. You will find that the leather covering will naturally stretch and crease over time but still retain their elegance. Your armchair’s cushions will soften with use and actually become even more comfortable.

We found our leather furniture really easy to care for, just a quick wipe down with a dry cloth once a week was all that it needed to keep it looking good. And it is definitely true, the leather chairs and sofas actually get more comfortable as they get older. Your normal fabric furniture may start to lose it shape and style but our leather sofa has almost molded to our shapes the longer we have owned it.

A Choice Of Styles

When we brought our furniture we were surprised at the amount of different styles there were available in leather and a choice of finishes as well. We decided to go for a more natural look leather as we both liked the look and feel of the chairs. The best thing about the natural look is that each sofa is slightly different, so what you are buying is something unique.

There was plenty of different styles to choose from, with big classic style sofas and chairs, to more sleek looking modern designs with a more modern feel and look to the finish of the leather. In the end we went with a nice classical sofa and chairs.

A Good Investment

You certainly will not be disappointed if you do choose to buy leather furniture, it definitely adds a real touch of class to a room and you may find yourself inviting friends around more often, just so you can show your new leather furniture off.

Some Suggestions About Ways To Quit Smoking

Karen · Leave a Comment

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For many people, beating a nicotine addiction is one of the toughest challenges that they will face. While it can be difficult to quit smoking, it is not impossible. With a little determination, you can quit.

Before you begin your road to recovery, you need to prepare for failure. However, do not let this deter you. Once you have the right mindset, gather a collection of smoking alternatives. Avoid using food as a smoking alternative as additional health problems could occur. For many people, sugarless gum is a great alternative to smoking. If you like the feeling of holding a cigarette, consider holding a pen or straw. Remove any items that remind you of smoking. This includes lighters and ashtrays. Make sure to remove items from your home and car both.

Now that all temptations have been removed, design an exercise program that fits your schedule. Ideally, you will want to exercise at the time of day when your cravings are the worst. The fitness program should match your fitness level. However, do not be afraid to push yourself. Keep a calendar to mark your progress. Not only can a calendar serve as a motivational tool, but it can also be rewarding to see how far you have come. If you find yourself struggling, you can read more on how to beat smoking at your local library.

Dear Fabgrandma:

Karen · 6 Comments

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I am so excited to begin my new weekly column, Dear Fabgrandma! Starting on Monday, January 6, I will be answering questions from my readers once a week. I already have a few questions lined up, but I’ll be taking questions all year long.

You can ask me anything at all, from questions about love, raising children, cooking gluten free, work camping, blogging,living in an RV full time, living with a colostomy, crafting, sewing, or itchy places. Ask me ANYTHING, about ANYTHING. If I don’t know the answer, I will get one of my many blogging friends to guest post to answer your question.

The best thing about this new column, is that you can remain anonymous if you choose to do so. You have to give ME your name, but I will not publish it is you do not want it published. You can use a pseudonym if you wish.

You can use this form to send in your questions.

But wait! That’s not all! You, my readers, will be able to get in on the action. You are all invited to give your own answers to the questions in the comments of the post. That way, we can all share the knowledge, and help someone with whatever problem or worry they may have.

Let’s make this new advice column the best on the internetz!

Buh Bye, 2013

Karen · 17 Comments

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This year, 2013, has been a long one for me. I have had to think about myself in a different way, and learn to live my life differently. I have re-invented myself many times over my sixty one years, but this one has been the hardest of changes to make, partly because I liked the old me, and I wasn’t ready to change things.

By January 2013, we had moved out of the RV we had lived in for the last 13 years, and into our little house that be bought the year before. We had not intended to make it our full time home for at least a couple more years. I guess we were just lucky that we had decided to buy it when we did. After moving in, we painted the sewing room and got it a little more organized, but I haven’t spent much time in there in the past year. My chronic pain is worsened by the side to side motions used while sewing. You just don’t ever realize how physical an activity is until it makes you hurt more to do it. I try not to think about it too much.

The best thing that happened all year was the birth of my grandson, Parker on January 31. He was a long awaited addition to my daughter’s family–her first born son Spencer is eleven years old. Then, ten days after Parker was born, Emily suffered a stroke that required brain surgery and kept her hospitalized for almost a month! It was hard on me physically to go and be with her, but I went as often as I could. She has almost fully recovered now and has gone back to work as a biology teacher at a public high school.

In March, we finally hung some pictures on the walls in the living room, and celeberated Fabgrandpa’s 64th birthday with a family gathering at Red Lobster. April brought me a VIP blogger opportunity with Glutino, a gluten free company whose products I love. I wrote my first post for them about pretzels. Oh, and I found a new way to package birthday money to make it more fun for the recipient to receive!

My birthday is in May, and I had my debilitating surgery on my birthday in 2012, so May 24, 2013 was the one year anniversary. We celebrate both my birthday and my survival by taking a trip to Tampa, Florida to visit a friend. We also officially listed our RV trailer for sale.

June was a pretty good month. We learned what a locavore is, and decided to start visiting local farms for our veggies. Best decision ever! We found many local farms within a 2o mile drive of us, and went every week to a different one in July. There was also news of a sweet reunion!

Throughout August and September we continued going to local farms and farmer’s markets, until the wet weather affected the crops so that there was not much to sell, and the farmer’s markets had to close for the season early. My Mother was admitted to the hospital in August, and spent two weeks there, then another 4 weeks in a rehab facility. While it was a tough decision for us to make, it really made a huge difference in her recovery to have her in rehab. She is walking better now than she has in several years due to the physical therapy she received.

Mama's Famous Golumpke — Mama’s Famous Golumpke

I sent my granddaughter, Amelia, a princess dress in September. She loves anything pink and frilly. I also made my Mother’s famous golumpke recipe for the first time. I turned out so good. Then in October, I made Apple Butter for the first time. It was hard on me to do, but it tastes so good!

November and December were quite busy, blog wise for me. My grandsons came over once a month for a craft day. We called it Pinterest In Practice. It was fun to see how the Pinterest version looked compared to what really happened! It was also fun to get to know my older grandson better, since I had been a long distance grandmother for the majority of his life. I was also doing my Holiday Table Gift Guide, which turned out to be a huge success, with great products to review and give away. That gift guide was so successful that I decided to do a second one, for family gifts, because I was being offered so many good things to write about.

While all these things were happening in my life and on my blog, I gained a lot of new followers, and increased traffic by about 200%. That is an amazing leap. While I know a lot of that will go away when the giveaways are over, for those of you who stick around, I will be so glad to have you coming back to see what I have to say.

I am working on changing the look and feel of Fabgrandma, the blog, so if you come to visit me here, don’t be surprised to see it has changed. And it may change again. To my old friends and faithful readers, thank you for putting up with the commercials so often in the last two months. They help me stay online and gives me something to write about when I can’t possibly write another word about my personal situation. I am still trying to find a way to be myself, differently. I know I can do it, but it is taking me a long time. I still have pain every day, and still am going to the mental health center on a monthly basis. The things I am doing to help myself cope with myself are working. Your comments help me feel better about what I write, so keep them coming.

I hope we have a wonderful 2014. I have some new ideas to go along with the new look. The new year will bring in the theme of 14 Things, a series of posts each listing 14 things that fit the theme of the month. It is shaping up to be a fun thing so far. And, starting in January, I will be writing a once a week column, called Dear Fabgrandma. You, my readers, will have a huge part to play in the column.

First, I will take questions from readers about anything they need an answer for. Whether it is love advice, how to do something, or whatever else you may want to ask, I will publish your question and my answer to it. If I don’t personally know the answer, I will ask one of my blogging friends to write a guest post to help you out.

Then, after the column is published, you, the readers, will be able to give your own answers to the question of the week in the comments on the post. So, if you have a question, or would like to be considered as a guest poster for a week, use this contact form to send me the info. You can remain anonymous if you wish, so no one will know who is asking, except me.

Happy New Year!

When Someone Gives You Lemons…

Karen · 18 Comments

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When someone gives you lemons, do you scratch your head, put on your thinking cap, and try to figure out what the heck to do with ALL THOSE LEMONS! I had the chance to find out what I would do because Limoneira sent me a box of lemons.

The first thing I did was make a Lemon Cake, gluten free of course.

Next, I gave some to a friend, just because. (Because I had so many of them, that’s why!)

Look at all those lemons, and is with 12 of them gone before I took this picture.

I decided that I would grate all the rinds, and squeeze all the juice today, and freeze them, so that I would have it whenever I get ready to make lemon something else. So, after all that grating:

That’s a lot of lemon zest! and that means a lot of lemon chicken, lemon fish, and lemon whatever else I can think of to make with it.

Each one of the little things holds 2 ounces, and the jar holds 16 ounces, so how much lemon juice is that? Um, about 26 ounces of lemon juice. I’m freezing it all, and next time I want a lemon meringue pie, I can just get out what I need, and be half way done with it before I even begin!

And that’s not all! After I grated and squoze and froze the lemon juice and rind, I got a couple of the lemon rinds that were left over, and put them in a pot of water with some Chinese Five Spice Powder, and let it simmer all day to make my house smell soooo good! And I froze the rest of them, too, so I can use them all winter long.

So, what would YOU do if you had a truckload of lemons?

Family Gift Guide: Octonauts Octopod & Here Come The Octonauts DVD

Karen · 1 Comment

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If you have a child age 3 and up, then you probably already know about Octonauts and the Octopod. I know my granddaughter, Amelia, loves them. The Octonauts is an animated show that airs on Disney Junior. The people who produce Octonauts work closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and are advised by a team of marine biologists to keep the show grounded in scientific discovery and true-to-life exploration of the natural undersea world.

The Octonauts live in an undersea base called the Octopod, where they go on adventures with the help of a fleet of aquatic vehicles. They’re led by a valiant polar bear, Captain Barnacles, and a dare=devil kitten, Kwazii. They are always ready to start a new mission.The toy version of the Octopod comes with more than 10 play pieces, and is made by Fisher-Price. Suggested retail price is $34.99. You can find it at Target.com, for $24.99 right now.

The cute, entertaining, and educational DVD, Here Come The Octonauts, hit the shelves of Toys R Us on Novemeber 5. It is a six episode set that is the first DVD release from the series and has a suggested retail price of $12.99. I found it on Amazon.com for $7.99 and it is elegible for free shipping with Prime.

If your child wants an Octonauts Birthday Party, you will be able to get Octonauts themed party supplies and decorations , including indoor/outdoor vinyl banners. The banners start at #26.00 for the small one. Octonauts themed birthday goods can be found at BirthdayExpress.com

Hickory Farms Traditions #HickoryTradition

Karen · 1 Comment

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Long before there was internet, and long before I became a blogger, I was buying Hickory Farms products to share with my family during the holidays. It was a tradition to prepare plates of appetizers and finger foods, get dressed up in our best party clothes, and dance the night away on Christmas Eve, even when my children were barely toddlers. We did that every year until my son joined the Air Force when he was 23.

Hickory Farms offers a wide variety of products from which to choose. There are small packages for small families, and larger packages for office parties, larger families, or whoever else you would love to send them to. There are packages that fit any budget, and holiday packages for everyone on your list. Did you know that Hickory Farms has eight products that they offer free shipping to military APO and FPO addresses, including the “Home for the Holidays” gift basket and “Beef Hearty Hickory” basket, which is on sale right now for $16.07? That makes it so easy to send a party in a box to your military members for Christmas.

New this year Hickory Farms introduced some tasty new products: Hickory Farms Reserve. The collection will feature their premium Dry Aged Salami and eight (8) all-natural cheeses handcrafted by award-winning masters.

The Hickory Farms Reserve collection is available in select stores, from the catalogue and online at HickoryFarms.com. The Hickory Farms Reserve Cheddar Flight retails for $44.99, and includes :

-5 Oz Apple Smoked Cheddar With Paprika
-5 Oz Smoked Garlic Cheddar
-5 Oz Classic Cheddar
-5 Oz 3 Year Aged Cheddar
-7 Oz Dry Aged Salami

Hickory Farms partners with Share Our Strength (SOS) – a leading national nonprofit organization that works to stamp out childhood hunger. For each Party Planner gift box sold this holiday season, Hickory Farms will donate $5 to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign. To date Hickory Farms and its customers have donated $1.9 million!

Compensation and products for review were provided by Hickory Farms via MomTrends. I received a free sample of the product for the purpose of this review and to facilitate a giveaway. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Hickory Farms.

Why Choose Leather Furniture?

​Furniture That Lasts

A Choice Of Styles

A Good Investment

Furniture That Lasts