Don't Pee on the Bee

Claustrophobic Fingers

As they put on my cast on Monday, I do have to admit that for a moment when they started wrapping my fingers, I felt some anxiety rising rather quickly.  I am super claustrophobic but was able to quickly talk my way out of the (ridiculous!!!) panic.  Really?  Two fingers leads to a freak-out?  But I do attribute the clautrophobia to being in two body casts as a young girl . . . which reminded me that I wanted to post my scoliosis article that was published this month in North Parent Magazine.  Please be sure to note that nowhere in my article do I mention bodycasts.  Apparently the technology is so good now, they don't use them.  Well!  So much for my 9 months in a plaster cast and 8 months in a fiberglass one!  Although they did get me a nice straight back along with a gnarly case of claustrophobia!

Smarty Pants and Bikinis

So I'll explain my Friday comment about getting smarter now.  Although some of you who know me may have already figured it out by the photo of the car driving away!  I've said it before, and I guess I'll say it again, the farther I drive from my house, the smarter I feel--especially when I am in a cute rental car headed for a weekend away alone in Santa Cruz!  Yahoo!  (Thanks to my awesome husband who truly believes that Mother's Day means a break from being a mom!)

Although I have to say that I had two completely different reactions from people when they heard that I was going away.  One of the moms who I talk to when I pick up JJ from school said, "You're going away again?" when I told them that J.R. would be joining them for girl talk on Friday.  And I have to admit that her comment made me feel a little guilty about it.  Silly, I know.  But then the other reaction came from our neighbor who was driving me to pick up the rental car.  Now, mind you, he is (obviously!) a man and somewhere in his 70's.  As we were driving down the hill, he said, "Now tell me again where you are going?"  So I told him, and the next thing I know, he's got his hand up towards me, waiting for me to high-five him back!  Well, let me say, that his reaction made me feel a whole lot better about the whole thing!  Again, silly, I know.  But, thanks, Bob!

But what I love about driving down to Santa Cruz is that I get over 3 hours of uninterrupted listening to National Public Radio, and I usually end up feeling pretty dang smart with all the new stuff I learn about!  Gotta love Science Fridays for giving you lots of info about things that you ordinarily wouldn't know too much about.  Like fat. 

Now I know that most of us probably feel like we know too much about fat since we probably encounter it every day--whether it is on our bodies or in a bottle in our cupboard or a cube on our counters!  But let me share some good news for those of us who think that liposuction would solve our problems but unfortunately our pocketbooks (and the reality of our lives!) doesn't really allow for that.  It seems that women who get liposuction and lose fat regain it within in a year, but usually in a different place!  So if you take it out of your thighs, within a year, you will most likely have it back, but probably around your belly--which other studies are showing is the most dangerous place to have it.  It's like our body is trying to right itself again and get that fat back in there somewhere.

The interesting (or possibly sad) thing is that the women in the lipo study were divided in half, with half getting the surgery and the other half not.  When the study was done, the women who had not gotten the lipo were given the opportunity to have it anyway.  And even though the results showed that the fat came back, about half of the women still opted for the lipo.  Now as a woman who is sitting here writing this in her pj's and no makeup on, I am shocked.  Well, maybe shocked is the wrong word.  It makes me feel sad that women still feel that looking a certain way is going to change the way they--and the world--feel about themselves.  And I don't mean this in a judgmental way at all.  I just mean it more as a comment on our culture these days.  That's the one thing that I love when I come to Santa Cruz.  You see all kinds of people, wearing all kinds of things.  And I can tell you that there are a lot of women down here wearing bikinis who could care less about what the world thinks about them!  And I am always so happy when I see them!  It almost makes me want to bust out a bikini when I'm down here too!  Almost.

SafeMama

Thanks to my friend, Bronwyn, for sending me the link to this fabulous blog, SafeMama, a great blog about eco-conscious kid products and other green ideas/products.  There is a lot on this site, so move around and look for what interests you.  Scroll down through the first post or two for some recommendations on lunch boxes and other lunch items.  Also there is a cheat sheet that is helpful.  I know I have been looking for things like this, so I love seeing recommendations by someone who really appears to know what she is talking about!

And speaking of "safe mama,"  I was so notone of those yesterday!  Lately, my kids have wanted to ride underneath the shopping cart at the grocery store.  I usually say "No!" but lately I find myself caving more and more often.  Even while doing it, I know I shouldn't, and I know I always pay the price somehow.  Well, paying came rather quickly yesterday when Sarah turned and faced me under the cart and fell face first onto the floor at the grocery store.  You know that sickening thud that you hear when your child hits his or her head in just the right spot?  Well, even JJ heard it and knew that something bad had just happened.  She screamed and screamed and, of course, did not want an icepack on her head.  It took awhile, but I finally got her calmed down and got the bump on her forehead to go down.  After some lunch and some TV, she was feeling better.  I, however, still feel like shit and am vowing to stop the caving in. (However, I am already failing miserably as my kids are in my office at this very moment, pulling the pillows off the couch and jumping on them, something that is definitely a no-no.  Aaaaargh!)  Apparently it is time to reign in the monkeys and make them go clean up some messes!

Put some "pump" in playground!

Still in the January/February issue of Spirituality & Health magazine . . . an idea that I think is fabulous!  Chris Rauchnot, a personal trainer, created a set of 50 cards called PlaygroundPump.  Take your kids to the park, choose 6 cards from the deck (2 Upper Body, 2 Lower Body and 2 Abs) and get in a 30-minute workout while your kids play in the sandbox and slide down the slide!  All the tools you need are right there on the playground--slides, swings, and monkey bars!   Instead of sitting there watching our kids get their exercise in, we can do it too! 

I am definitely not the exercise type as my friend Bronwyn can attest!  We joined the gym last summer, and I still do not go on any sort of regular basis.  (Well, I did when my kids had swim lessons, but that doesn't really count as exercise now for me, does it?)  Something about being at the park and exercising while my kids are playing does sound slightly more appealing!  We'll see! 

Speaking of hearts and health, though, please keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers as she will be undergoing heart surgery on Tuesday.

Kiwi cool stuff!

Have you heard about Kiwi magazine?  Growing families the natural and organic way.  It's really a great magazine.  I've made it up to page 42 and already have 7 pages turned down--which means 1) something to blog about, 2) an idea/activity to try, 3) something to possibly buy, 4) you get the idea!

Here are a few of things that have piqued my interest already:

Check out this website http://www.myhealthyschool.com for great information for parents and teachers.  MyHealthySchool.com provides teachers, administrators and parents with action plans for creating greener, healthier, more socially responsible schools and children. Then check out this page for creative gifts for teachers.  There is a lot of really good information on this site.  You might even want to share it with any teachers you know.

Another website I want to check out is www.DrGreene.com.  Dr. Greene is a father of four and a pediatrician at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto.  He is also a clinical professor at Stanford.  Sounds like impeccable credentials!  He also has a new book out, Feeding Baby Green, which is not relevant to me now  but which I would have loved to have read when my kids were babies.

There was a short article on aromatherapy.  Did you know that rose is an aphrodisiac?  Not me!  Might have to try that one out!  The article also listed some eco-friendly air fresheners.  I might actually buy one if it smelled nice and not so intense!

Lip Love listed seven really nice sounding lip balms.  I'm curious to check out Yes to Carrots C Me Smile Lip Butters!

There was a great article about two kids who started a campaign called Crayons4Kids which sends crayons and coloring books and other items to kids who are in the hospital.  Their dad is a doctor, and after visiting the hospital with him one day and seeing the "really sad" kids there, they decided to do something about it!  Way to go!

Another great website to check out Celebrate Green  which has fantastic ideas for keeping the holidays green.  (In line with Hundred Dollar Holiday!)  Check out the "Santa Sacks" for a great idea on keeping the wrapping paper issue a non-issue!

And last but not least, I found what I am going to buy for my nephews for Christmas!  Yahoo!

Let me know if you check any of these things out!

The Only Book You'll Ever Really Need...

. . . at least according to Maria Rodale in the Nov-Jan 2009/10 issue of Organic Gardening.   She's talking about John Seymour's The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-to-Basics Guide. 

   

These days, it's easy to believe that anything could happen . . . climate crisis, economic collapse, and flu pandemics have cast a gloomy pall over our lives.  Trying times have made us realize that what really matters is being able to provide the basics to ourselves and our families.  Today, we recognize it as sustainability.  In the 1970s, it was called self-sufficiency, and was identified with the loony fringe.  The recognized leader of the self-sufficiency movement was  a Welshman named John Seymour.

She goes on to tell about meeting Seymour early in her life after her father passed away, and then, years later,  signing up her 15 year old daughter and husband for a self-sufficiency course "vacation" at Seymour's home in Ireland, something that all of them still consider to be one of the best weeks in their lives.  Seymour died at the age of 90, but his book has been updated and recently re-released. 

 For more information, check out http://www.self-sufficicency.net.   I'm curious!  It reminds me of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House on the Prairie books!  I used to dream about shelling peas, milking the cows and making preserves!

Pints for Prostates

Since I was somewhat "man bashy" on Monday--could it have been PMS???--let me make up for it!  Saw an upside down ad in Parenting magazine (October 2009) and was blown away. 

Some of the ad text:

If you're smart enough to read this, you're smart enough to get tested.

Be a man.  Call your doctor and schedule an appointment today.  Then tell your friends.  The more men we reach, the more lives will be saved.  And we can all say "Cheers!" to that.

Pints for Prostates.  Reaching men through the universal language of beer.
For more information, visit www.ustoo.org/pints

DEFINITELY CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE! 
VERY COOL AND MUCH CLASSIER THAN THOSE PMS GUYS!