November 2007

Experts recommend that kids get no more than two hours per day of “screen time” (tv, computer, and/or video games).  Most kids, however, average more than 4 hours a day.

Below are tips from the American Heart Association to get your kid(s) up and moving.  Couch tots grow up to be couch potatoes, and neither are particularly healthy as a result.

1. Suggest and Offer alternative activities.  Have a “Family Game Night,” shoot some hoops, go for walks, or visit a nearby park.
2. Become active with your kids.  Play with them rather than just watch them!
3. Don’t position your furniture so that the TV is the main focus of the room.
4. Remove TVs from bedrooms.
5. Plan TV watching in advance. Go through the TV guide ahead of time and pick the shows you’ll watch. When the show’s off, turn the TV off.

I love the one about playing with your kids.  I’ve had some of my best times in trees, on swings, and inside blanket tents.   One thing I would suggest is this:  If your child already has a certain number of shows that he/she watches faithfully - it may not be what the experts suggest, but I’d suggest not rocking the boat. Instead, how about buying a stationary bike or treadmill and tell them that (in an effort to make the family healthier) you want everyone to exercise at least 30 minutes everyday. Place it right in front of the television!  Then you can suggest that they do it during a favorite show.  Before you know it, they’ll be hopping on and working out throughout the day - and getting more and more all important exercise.  If you try to take a show away from someone who watches it and enjoys it, I think you’d just be asking for a battle.  For one thing, you’ll look like a meanie!  For another, it’ll give them a negative opinion at what you’re trying to accomplish, which is more activity.  You want the activity to be fun and positive, you don’t want it (or yourself!) to be the enemy.  Just think how you’d feel if someone told you, even if it were for your own good, that you couldn’t watch Ace Of Cakes, Sportscenter, or Survivor ever again. 

If a treadmill or stationary bike is out of reach (I understand the whole out of reach thing as much as anyone.) - an exercise mat, a few dumbbells, and/or an exercise ball can also do wonders. 

Zoos are another fun way to get your kids, and yourself, out and about.  If you’re lucky enough to live near one, you should become a familiar face to the monkeys, tigers, lions, bears, and even the reptiles. 

Let me just say, right up front, that I’m not a linguistics snob.  I don’t get caught up with tiny little grammar rules - I mean, some of them can be as uptight as Clara of Mayberry fame.  And almost as much fun at parties.  Almost.

When I’m posting, I don’t hesitate to throw a - in the middle of the road or trail off with a family of …..s,  whether they’re called for or not.  I’ll absolutely begin a sentence with “And” - never thinking twice about it.  I’m usually a stickler for spelling but I do half agree with Andrew Jackson, who said, “It is a damn poor mind indeed which can’t
think of at least two ways to spell any word.”

My text messages don’t even resemble the mother tongue half the time. My daughters, my husband and I kind of have our own language and we’re pretty confident no one would ever be able to decipher any of our messages to one another.  When it comes to blog posts, casual e-mails, and text messaging, the casual way is the only way.

However, when it comes to actually communicating, as in face to face, I’m frankly alarmed at what I see and not hear. It’s becomming a lost art.  It really, really is. People, as a rule, are forgetting everything they were ever taught about manners, and half of what they ever knew about communication skills.

My daughter, Brittany, works at a retail store in the mall.  I picked her up from work the other day - and, being the sweetheart that I am, I had a Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks waiting on her.  I asked her how her day went, and after the straw released her mouth, she said, “Okay, but I can’t believe how many people Google me.”  Most of the time, the things out of my girls’ mouths make perfect sense to me, but I needed a little clarification for this one.  She explained that people will just walk up and say what they’re looking for, like “ladies pants” or “mixers” - like they’re entering what they want in a search field.  Then they wait for their “results,” and when she tells them exactly how to get to their item, they head off on their way. It’s kind of like they’re Search Engine Spiders or Shopping pods….you know, something not totally human.

Whatever happened to, “Excuse me, could you please tell me where I can find the dvd players?“ and “Thank you!”  Of course, some might say whatever happened to getting a little extra exercise and walking until you found what you’re looking for - but doing things for yourself is a sore spot with some people and another lost art, so we won’t go there.

Communicating is a skill that has to be practiced to stay sharp.  If it’s left on the shelf, it’ll get rusty and we all know rusty tools are good for only one thing.

Nothing.

Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten but they may start a winning game. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The following were taken from an e-mail I recieved recently.  Just reading them made me smile - and since that’s a good thing, I wanted to put them in front of your lovely eyes in the hopes that it’d bring a big ole smile to your face to.

I know, I know, Life is serious business. You can’t go through it laughing, goofing off, and singing all the time. Even though I give it as good a try as can be given.  Life is a serious ride.  But who’s to say we can’t have a little fun along the way?! The following are suggestions that will bring a little fun to your ride and to those you who are riding along with you.  If they don’t commit you.

With that very much in mind…

• At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.
•  Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don’t Disguise Your Voice.
•  Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.
• Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.
•  In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks , Write ‘ For Smuggling Diamonds’.
• Finish All Your sentences with ‘In Accordance With The Prophecy’.
• As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.
• Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
• Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is ‘To Go’.
• Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can’t Attend Their Party Because You’re Not In the Mood.
• Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.
• When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream ‘I Won! I Won!’
• When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling ‘Run For Your Lives! They’re Loose!’
• Tell Your Children Over Dinner, ‘Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.’

Finally, the surest way to add a little more fun to your life is to add it to someone else’s.  Send this link (or do the copy/paste dance with the suggestions above) to all the people you’d like to see smile.  As my e-mail said, smiles are more than just fun…..they’re therapy.

P.S. You really do have lovely eyes, in accordance with the prophecy.

There’s an ancient Chinese proverb that says, ”The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness.”  Like all Chinese proverbs,this one offers a a great life lesson to those who’ll spend a little time with its words and a little more time with the meaning behind them.Naturally, given the fact that I run on coffee the way my Dodge runs on gas, my analogy will begin in the kitchen near ….oh, I dunno…. my coffee maker? When I’m about to pour one of my many cups of coffee during the day, it all begins with a coffee mug.  I have several gazillion to choose from, so I find the one that “suits” me at that moment.  I certainly don’t want anything to be in the cup - no water, fuzzles, or dust bunnies allowed.  I also don’t want any aroma left from the dishwasher or dishwashing liquid.  Even hospital coffee’s better than coffee flavored with Joy.The usefulness of the cup hinges on it’s emptiness.

I was eavesdropping on three ladies in the produce section a couple of days ago - not for gossip, mind you.  For something waaaay more important than that: secret family recipes!  Mmmmmm.  Two of the ladies proved to be sisters and were somewhere between Queen Latifah and Nell Carter, closer to Nell than the Queen.  They were telling their “Sweet Potato” secrets to the third lady who was about an eigth of their size.  I didn’t bother listening to her.  At one point, one of the sisters said, “Mama always said to salt the water first, I don’t know why.  But that’s just always how we’ve done it.”  After  figured that I’d gotten the information I needed, I left the avocados (you can only pretend to be scouring over avocados for so long).  When I was leaving I heard the other sister saying something about calories then she said, “But in our family, we don’t worry about calories - we never have.” Their laughter filled the section as my cart and I made our way to the next stop.

Two things struck me that day - for one, I’d have crawled over glass to eat a meal their mother had made.  From the sounds of it, this lady makes food that God would allow at His table.

The other thing that struck me went even deeper than my stomach.  I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit, too.  Family.

I’m all about family, of course.  And even on their worst of worst days, I wouldn’t take a billion dollars for any member of mine.  In fact, I’d lay my life down for any of them.  However, this isn’t a post about the beauty of family or about how we should treasure our family….we know family’s a beautiful thing and we know we should treasure them.  While this would be a perfect time of year to put the word Family up on the pedestal, I’d prefer to keep the word down at eye level so we can take a really, really good look at it.

Think for a minute about things you do that are solely the result of a ”We’ve always done it that way” philosophy.  Some things that fall under this heading are more than just acceptable…they’re beautiful.  A lot of family traditions should be kept alive and thriving.  They’re a tribute to those who’ve come and gone before us, a perfect way to keep their memories alive.  Around the holidays, that’s especially important! 

We celebrate our holidays the way we do because that’s the way we’ve always done it.  If your family always ate their Thanksgiving Day meal in the afternoon, you probably do the same.  If they ate it in the evening, that’s probably when your own family can be found gathered around the table.  We keep these traditions alive without really even thinking about it.

But what about the other things that are often passed down within families? The fruits of the family tree that may not be as sweet as other fruits are.  Every now and then someone will be strong enough to break a long-standing bad habit, but for the most part, we just fall in line without giving it a second thought.  It’s just the way we’ve always done it. 

Of course, not all less than desirable things in our lives are the result of family or environment - sometimes we overachieve and come up with fresh stuff all on our own.  For example, I’m a lousy driver. Flat out lousy.  But no one else in my family was, they were all quite good at it.  They never backed over “Slow, Children are Playing” signs, never hit mailboxes, never ran up on curbs, never wrecked 3 different cars (Oddly enough, only one was my fault.  I swear.), never got speeding tickets, never hit the Sonic drive-up menu….  All excitement of my own making. However, if we thought about it, we’d be amazed at how many things we didn’t come up with solely on our own.

In varying degrees of “bad for you,” below are a few undesirable family fruits:

• Smoking.  One of the worst things you can do for and to yourself and those around you.  I’m not sure about where you live, but here in Kentucky smoking is rampant. And the reason is that it’s been that way for generations.  Young people see their entire families smoking, so they begin to smoke (at an alarmingly early age). Everyone in their little world does it, so it must be the thing to do, right?  If someone would ever stop in the middle of lighting up and ask themselves if they really want to keep poisoning themselves, maybe, just maybe, they’d decide to take the healthier road.
• Gossiping.  Some families seem to gossip more than others. When they gather around the kitchen table, their wheels start turning.  They look around the table to see who’s there and who isn’t - after all, you don’t want to shred someone to ribbons who’s in attendance!  “Did you see what she was wearing when she was wearing what she was wearing where she wore it?  Oh, gawwwdd.  I’d never…“  Sadly, I guess all some people have to talk about is other people, but they never wear it well. If one would ever stop mid “She’s just so stup—” and ask themselves if they really want to finish the thought or if they’re just doing what’s always been done, maybe, just maybe, they’d decide to take the higher road.
• Negativity.  We’ve all met them, the negative Nelly’s of the world! They don’t like this church, they don’t like that restaurant, they can’t stand this neighbor, they hate that co-worker…..you can’t go to that school, you can’t major in that subject, you can’t believe that…you can’t believe this.  What an annoying lot the negative Nelly’s are!  Frankly I’d take the gossips over them anyday.  At least the gossips are happy in their sport, right?  My dad had a theory about the Nelly’s - he said they’re actually happiest when they’re in the middle of their “Life and everything in it sucks…” rantings.  I always wondered if they’d ever tried any other approach.  It’s another trait that seems to often be passed down in families.  In the same way that you can see a mother and daughter in a store and recognize the similarities, you can recognize traits like negativity. It shows in the “Nothing’s right about any of this…” scowl.  If mid-scowl a Negative Nelly would lighten the heck up, she/he might find life on the Positive Parkway to be much happier.
• Racism. One of my most hated things in the world - I can’t even tell you how much I hate racism.  Far nastier than gossiping or negativity - even -isms can be something that’s passed down within generations.  A lot of people have vile, bigoted feelings toward others that, if they stopped long enough to think about it, have no basis whatsover. They feel the way they feel because those before them felt the way they felt.  If they’d realize that they have nothing to base their ugliness on, they’d find that an internal makeover will make their world a lot more beautiful.

Even things like when we go to bed, when we get up, where we work, our aspirations and goals, our diet, etc. can be attributed to family and to “That’s just how we’ve always done it.“  Think about it when you get a chance.  Are there things in your life that you know fall under this category?  If these things are getting in the way of you being who you want to be and living how you want to live - there’s no better time to turn the tables on them than right now.

Breaking with traditions that are less than desirable not only frees you from thier ill effects, it frees your children.  And theirs.  And theirs….  Consider it investing in cooler grandchildren.

After reading the last post,  I hope you’ve started to think of ways to protect yourself from diabetes. 

The ugliness that’s known as Type 2 diabetes is a condition defined by high blood sugar levels and abnormal insulin action.  Poor control of type 2 diabetes affects the heart, nerves, eyes, and kidneys. My mom, who had Type 2 diabetes died from heart problems.  I’m certain (to the point of willing to bet all future Starbucks trips on it) that she had diabetes long before she was actually diagnosed.  If she had been treated properly during prediabetes, she might be here, right now, calling me to get all the Thanksgiving menu details just right.

Prediabetes, as you might guess, is characterized by blood sugar levels that are above what’s considered normal but not as high as those that occur with diabetes. People with prediabetes also tend to have high blood pressure, high triglycerides (fats that circulate in the blood), low HDL, or good, cholesterol levels, and significant belly fat — a cluster of symptoms that raise their risk for heart disease.

Most people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within ten years unless they make certain lifestyle changes.  Get this:  these changes have been found to be more effective for reversing prediabetes than medications, according to the National Institutes of Health!  ”The most frustrating part about prediabetes and diabetes is that they are largely preventable, and in circumstances where diabetes can’t be prevented, the onset can usually be postponed,” says Dr. Arthur Agatston, preventive cardiologist and author of The South Beach Diet.

“These conditions are brought on by a Western lifestyle — eating refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats like trans fats and saturated fats, and inactivity,” he explains. But a straightforward South Beach Diet approach to eating (an emphasis on lean proteins and good fats and carbs) and exercise can reverse prediabetes and diabetes. “Many of my patients actually started the South Beach Diet because they were diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes, and I’ve witnessed their blood glucose levels revert back to the normal range,” adds Dr. Agatston.

The ADA recommends diabetes screenings every three years beginning at age 45. If you have symptoms of diabetes (excessive thirst and hunger, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss or fatigue, and irritability) see your doctor as soon as possible.

Also See:

 Revised South Beach Diet Good Fats/Good Carbs Guide

The South Beach Diet Parties And Holidays Cookbook  

South Beach Diet Dining Guide  

The South Beach Diet Healthy Heart Program  

You probably already know that November is National Diabete’s Month. Every November the American Diabetes Association encourages the public to learn more about this horrible disease. If you, yourself, are directly affected by the disease - either from being a diabetic, yourself, or from loving a diabetic - you know, firsthand, how blatantly unkind Diabetes is.  I really don’t think most people realize just how much suffering goes along with this disease. Through various family members, I’ve been up close and personal with many ailments, diseases, and medical problems.  I can say, without hesitation, that Diabetes is one of the ones that I try to hide from the most.  I pray that it never gets my number.

 The monster known as Type 2 diabetes can be prevented for many by making smart lifestyle decisions. You guessed it, doing the things we know we SHOULD do but never seem to master.

1. If we’re ovreweight, we need to lose the weight and keep it off. When diabetes is on the hunt for new victims, it seems to favor those with extra padding.
2. We should all eat a lot more fruits and vegetables. Number 2 would actually take care of Number 1 if we went about it the right way. With the right seasonings, herbs, and spices, vegetables can actually become the highlight of the meal. [Yellow squash and zucchini cut into chunks, boiled and spritzed lightly with butter, then sprinkled with chopped fresh rosemary is amazing. Another of my favorite ways to cook vegetables is to combine okra and tomatoes, with just a little salt to coax the flavors out. No herbs are even needed.] Experts recommend diets such as the South Beach Diet, which emphasize lean proteins and the right fats and carbs. 
3. I know. You know. We all know. We’ve got to get these bodies moving and keep them movint! My husband and I were pricing treadmills recently (Sam’s Club seems the most interested in making a sale. Check their website for Online Only deals.) Exercise machines are an ideal way to get moving. The one Michael liked even had a place to sit your iPod so you could listen to music as you marched along. Pretty sweet. I’m pretty sure I’d do my own walking while watching something on Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, or my regular Food TV lineup - Alton Brown and Ace of Cakes.  You know, something I’m going to be watching anyway. My body might as well benefit as much as my mind does!

I guess - and I say “I guess” because I’m generally looking for the answers just as much as anyone - that the trick is to make a healthy lifestyle a habit. When we routinely step on the treadmill, exercise mat, or stationary mat each time a certain show comes on, whether it’s One Life to Live or Sportscenter, it’ll become such a habit that sitting on the couch while Lindsay and Nora fight over Bo or while the Booya’s fly out of Stuart Scott’s mouth just won’t seem right.  By the same token, if we were to start filling up with vegetables and fruit, we wouldn’t even miss the foods that are essentially wasted calories.

We have to start using our heads and make intelligent, healthy changes in our lifestyle - choosing Subway’s healthy subs over McDonald’s Big Macs, grabbing an apple as we head out the door rather than a cookie, watching tv while exercising rather than becoming one with the sofa, etc.

Exercise and Eating Right are the best bodyguards we could ever have…if we’d just employ them.

* Speaking of eating right, click HERE to see how carrots can help your brain!

Our server was blindsided by a giant sucker punch Sunday. Giant sucker punches pretty much suck anyway, but on Sundays? Who expects something so nasty on a Sunday? Godless brutality.

As my husband and I drank our Starbucks drinks and rode out the storm, it made me think about life’s sucker punches - also known as mishaps, problems, adversity, etc. Halfway through my Green Tea Frap with Raspberry syrup on top, I decided that the size of a lot of our problems are actually determined by us.  More specifically, in the way we react to them.

We have a lot more power over our circumstances than we give ourselves credit for. Sometimes we get in the mindset that life just happens around us and that we’re as helpless as Dorothy and Toto were during the tornado.  But we really aren’t tossed to and fro, totally at the mercy of an unseen force, it just seems like it.

When our own personal tornadoes come along, we have two choices:

1. We can make things better.
2. We can make things worse. 

Am I oversimplifying?  You betcha, but sometimes there’s a lot of truth in oversimplifying.  It’s just condensed and brief. Condensed, brief truth.  Like Dilbert.

If you think about other people for a minute, you’ll be able to come up with perfect illustrations of those who make bad things better and those who make bad things worse.  Usually, the ones in the “make things better” camp have one clear, defining trait that separates them from the other camp:  They keep their wits about them.  When the meadow muffins hit the fan, they don’t start bouncing off the walls screaming and hitting every panic button they can find.  They realize that responding like a chimpanzee would respond would accomplish as much as a chimpanzee would accomplish.

They stay rational and as calm as the situation will allow. 

Those who magnify bad situations throw that approach right out the thrid floor window.  They scream, rant and/or cry. If you’re really lucky, they might even throw something. And they most definitely look for someone or something on which to cast blame. A sport which has never solved a single problem or righted a single wrong.

The next time a tornado blows through your own personal Kansas, ask yourself if your response is making the situation better or if it’s actually making it worse. 

Finally, always keep in mind that many, many times our response is the thing that actually turns a wind into a tornado in the first place. 

Mishaps are like knives, they either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. - James Russell Lowell

Okay, it’s beyond time for someone, somewhere, with a heck of a lot more know how and power than me to do something about manufacturers failing to do their jobs properly.  With all the recalls recently, I still get a little nervous when picking out cat food - to say nothing of foods ranging from spinach to beef.  Grocery Stores are beginning to feel more like land mines.

But this one outrages me to a whole new level - and I’m sure you’ll feel the same.  The latest recall is for toys made in China known as “Aqua Dots.”  So, what’s the problem with Aqua Dots? Oh, they’re contaminated with a powerful “date rape” drug, that’s all.  They’ve caused some children to vomit and lose consciousness upon ingesting the contents. Apparently, if a child swallows them, they metabolize into GHB…better known as a “date rape drug”. A couple of young kids have even fallen into comas after swallowing some of the Aqua Dots.

Needless to say (notice how that phrase always precedes the thing that was needless to say?), pass the word along to everyone you know who has children in their life.

I only wish I could say that I was totally shocked when I read the headline, “Toys tainted with ‘date rape’ drug recalled.”  Disgusted, angry, outraged, worried - yes x 4.  But, shocked?  Not even a little.  Unfortunatley, we’re probably all getting to the point where it’d take Heaven only knows what to actually shock us.

God-willing, we’ll never find out.