Hahahaha!

We just got back from Avery's 5 year well check and getting ready for Kindergarten. There were the usual arguments and eye rolling and "you are such a bad mom" moments. I got home, settled in and checked my Facebook. Oh my gosh! What a perfect sentiment to how I feel!!! Any questions? If you just have to have this necklace, and have the cohones to wear it, you can get it at Woman Uncensored.

Have you met my new passion?

Some morning, very early, if you drive through my neighborhood you might get a glimpse of me.

A friend suggested that one of my least favorite forms of exercise might be just the thing for me. How do I lose weight? How do I build tone but not bulk up, especially when bulking up is my body's natural response? Running! Wait..whaa...what?! So I have started running. Do you know how hard it is to drag yourself out of bed a full hour earlier than necessary...to RUN?! It's hard, but I did it. Now, two months later I am enjoying the routine of getting up extra early and starting my day out right!

I started out just a bit too eager though. Running too fast, too far, too soon = shin splints. Those don't just go away easily. So now I am on "active rest" and walking every morning instead. I am also finishing up the second half of the p90x workout. I am so excited to get back into running! See, that right there...is a complete 180 of my stand on running at any other point in my life. My kids are so in awe that I wake up super early (and if it's super early to them, then wow is it early!) to exercise and take care of my body. This is at least half the reason why I am doing this. My kids will fight the genetic battle of the bulge, and I want to help them start out healthy and with healthy habits. I want them to see me making that effort and enjoying it. If I end up losing 30 pounds and looking fabulous in my jeans, that is just a consequence I will have to endure. ;o)

People, take care of your eyes.

Do you wear contacts? Do you dispose of them within the given time frame? Am I the only one out there that doesn't? I try to make them stretch. I admit it. I also don't always wear them every day and often lose track of how old the contacts are. What do you think will happen if you keep wearing them? I had a vague idea that it was bad for me, but didn't have a clue. Guess what. Apparently you can go blind? And I'm halfway there. Because of drastically changing vision and a family history of diabetes I went to see the eye doctor. I have managed to damage my eyes so badly that I might never be able to wear contacts again. The damage is permanent and I am darn lucky that I didn't put that office visit off for another couple of months. I am so surprised and chagrined at my experience that I wanted to share with anyone who is listening. Take care of your eyes and toss the lenses after two weeks.

The healing power of onions!

I haven't been posting much lately because our family has been down and out with the sickies. Croup type nastiness all around. It has caused a usual problem for me and I decided that I would share a solution with this first foray back to the blog. I have teeny tiny ears. That means I also have teeny tiny eustachian tubes. When I get a cold or react to seasonal allergies, my tubes fill up with fluid. That fluid causes the them to swell up and get inflamed and they don't get better on their own. Besides feeling like my head is full of water, sloshing around, another side effect is I lose hearing. Right now you could probably speak at normal volume against my left ear and I wouldn't hear it. That rather unpleasant side effect has me craving an onion.


You take an onion and slice it in half. Place each ends of the onion, cut side down on a cookie sheet. Bake it in the oven...this part I'm a bit fuzzy on, at about 350 for just a few minutes. You want the onion as hot as you can stand it without burning. Grab the onion with a potholder and hold it against your ear. This will relieve the pressure of the fluid build up and will begin to drain the fluid. Plus, you are gonna smell great! :o) This is a tried and true temporary cure. I am ready for my onion perfume today. By the way...I have mentioned this to my ENT doctor. Someday I will need tubes, but for now this is my quick relief. He laughed it off and said to use a hot pack against my ear and that "it will do the exact same thing." It doesn't. It feels good and relieves a bit of pressure, but nothing like the onion.

Onions having healing properties. You have probably heard about the awesome goodness of garlic. If you haven't, don't worry, there will be a future post. ;o) Not as many people have heard about the healing power of an onion. Would you like to know more? Find out how onions can lower blood pressure at Foods That Heal: Onion. Find some more healing properties at The Healing Power of Onion.

Bits of Health

It seems that the stomach flu was not finished with us yet. I am finally dragging myself out of bed today. I thought I would share a few things with you in hopes that it will help any of you from going through this nasty bug.

Olive Leaf. Have you heard of this? This really does work! I use the suspension liquid as it can be mixed in juice for the little ones. If you are fighting something, think you might be exposed to something, or are already feeling lousy, then try this out. I pick mine up at my local Sprouts.

Ginger. This is great for a sick stomach. I have sipped plenty of mugs of ginger tea in my time. Tea can be soothing, but if you prefer, you can always get tablets.

These are the two supplements that pop into my mind right now. Do you have any suggestions? Leave a comment!