Unexpected Beauty

Yesterday I took the afternoon off. Gathered up the girls, their grandma, and headed out.

We meandered through the neighborhood and eventually crossed the bridge to head for South Buffalo. Instead of following the main streets, we cut through backstreets. Pretty neighborhoods -- each street is a single community.

There is a house with a yard I have always adored along the way. No grass, just flowers and other plants. Filled to the brim with nature-y goodness. On our way up, we could see the owner was out and watering the flowers. We stopped and commented on how beautiful her yard was.

You could see in her face how happy it made her that people appreciated her hard work. She asked if I would like some flowers to take home, but I had to decline because we were not headed home...she then said that she would cut some for us so that we could pick them up on our way home.

So nice of her!

On the way home we stopped to pick up our bouquet. The lady had filled a lovely blue and brown crackle glaze pot with flowers. It looked fresh from a florist. We visited for a time and she told us how much she loved gardening. In fact, when this woman had run out of yard space, she offered to plant flowers for her neighbors! Her own money and time, just for the pleasure of making her street more beautiful.

You know, those flowers were beautiful, but this woman's personality is gorgeous. I feel special just for being able to meet her.

Salonpas Pain Patch review and FREEBIE!

A few days ago I was asked to try out a pain patch and then share my thoughts with my friends. Hey- you guys are friends, right?

I ended up slapping it on my husband, because as most people know by now, I'm 6 months pregnant. The Salonpas Pain Patch is NOT for pregnant or nursing women- I can't stress that enough! The patch contains both menthol and oil of wintergreen, which are natural but not every natural ingredient is safe for pregnancy. In fact, menthol is known to block milk production --so stay away from any product that has those two ingedients if you're expecting.

My husband has had knee pain from torn ligaments for years. He wears a brace for walking and I've witnessed his joint swell to proportions I couldn't believe after a short time of manual labor. Thankfully the swelling doesn't happen as often these days- bike riding has helped increase the mobility. Still, the joint will become very sore after a long bike ride. He rides each day, I'm not sure of the mileage, several times a day.

Saturday gave me a chance to get him to try the Salonpas Pain Patch. The man hates any type of pain medication, he refuses to take any pills. If this man takes a pill, whatever is bothering him must be bad. A patch was different for him, though. Since the Salonpas patch goes on top of the painful site, his body isn't being as he puts it "filled with God knows what kind of junk." I tend to agree with him here, why would I want to let some drug go running through my entire bloodstream when I could attack the pain where it IS?

The first thing he noticed was a tingling, warming sensation from the menthol action. His reaction to this was that the sensation seemed to relax his knee, which if you know knee pain, that's very important. In about ten minutes he was flexing the joint with minimal stiffness. Pretty darn good for a guy who will typically be limping the rest of the day. He even went out later to grab a cup of coffee!

I'll admit, I'm jealous. My lower back is killing me and I have a problem with my right wrist. It isn't fair that he gets to use the patch and I don't! When you're pregnant you get all sorts of aches and pains, this could have come in so handy. I am hoping that there may be a pregnancy friendly version in the future.

Now that I (well, my husband) have had a chance to try out the Salonpas Pain Patch-- you can, too! Totally free, no strings attached. All you need to do is fill out the following Google Form with your name and address so you can receive your FREE sample and a $1 off coupon.

As an added benefit, everyone that tries the Salonpas Pain Patch has a chance to win some cool prizes. After trying your sample, check out the Salonpas Facebook community and let everyone know how Salonpas worked for you. Order your sample, then visit the community!

If you do not use Facebook or would prefer to enter the Salonpas contest an alternate way, try out their contest mini site, HERE.

Food for thought:

No other pain patch has been approved by the FDA.

Salonpas works on mild to moderate pain for up to 12 hours. Most patches work for 2, at the most.

Salonpas Arthritis Pain patch is also approved by the FDA for treatment of arthritis pain.

Want more information on pain patches? The Wall Street Journal has some interesting information: Wall Street Journal pain patch article.

Disclaimer #1: While I was compensated for my time and received a free sample of this product- my opinion and review are my thoughts entirely.

Disclaimer #2: Salonpas should not be used by pregnant or nursing women.

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