What To Do

Have you ever felt like there was just too much stuff to accomplish in one lifetime and that you’ve no idea how to do it all? Now, wait–I don’t mean that like, “Wah-wah…so much to do! Wah…”

No, I’m talking about all of the incredible things that I want to learn and make, or make up…even. I actually get all giddy and weird when I look at patterns and pictures and instructions for things like that.

I’ve even made lists of everything and it turns out to be pages and pages long and I can’t seem to stop myself, or take any of it away.

I want to sew baby clothes and make peppermint soap and raise buff orphington chickens and write hat patterns and make cheddar cheese and milk a real goat and crochet bolsters and booties and purses and blankets and learn to quilt and make yogurt that tastes good and read every book on my shelves and make every single Christmas present because I want to not because I have to and grow potatoes and make compost and bake whole wheat bread every week and bottle salsa and…

hmmmm…

Maybe you get the point. Sometimes there’s just so much that I’d like to accomplish that I’m not sure, exactly what to pray for–

a really, really REALLY long life…

or a second pair of hands.

I’m thinking both.

PS~AND I’d like to pour my own lip balm and sprout wheat grass and grow seedless sweet green grapes and crochet a canopy for my bed and make real tamales and dry fruit leather and dye Easter eggs with spices and berries and learn homeopathic remedies…

too.

:}

Questions–Are the Answer

When I saw this commercial on TV the other night–I admit, it made me laugh, but then I realized that it really did have a valuable message. In fact, it is the same thing that I tell the couples in my Childbirth Classes“It is your body and your baby so you have the right to ask all the questions you need to.”

Period.

Sadly, even in this assertive age, there are still people who are too intimidated or shy to ask questions about medications, tests, procedures or even their own symptoms.

When my third daughter, Jillian was a baby we came home from her immunization appointment and I noticed that she was acting…funny, nothing huge, but she just wasn’t herself and wasn’t responding normally for her. I called my Pediatrician, Dr. Phil Freestone and told the receptionist about it, expecting her to brush it off as nothing to worry about. But instead, she put Dr. Freestone on the phone and he told me to bring her back immediately.

Turns out that she was having a full blown allergic reaction to the DPT shot and needed medical help right now. It turned into a huge 2 week ordeal to get her back to her regular old self, but she survived. My point is that if I’d have been afraid to ask questions of my Pediatrician–even if they sound silly–we would have ignored a very serious situation, that could have had awful consequences.

I actually love the new AHRQ campaign to encourage better communication between patient and doctors. I hope you’ll check out the site and watch some of the videos. Perhaps they’ll help you be brave enough to ask all the questions you need to next time you’re at the doctor’s office.

Because having all the facts is the best way to take care of ourselves and the ones we love.

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Down In The Mouth

Today, my situation calls for gentle care—in the form of berry smoothies…

a bit of light reading (luckily, my copy of Rhythm of the Family came in the mail today!)…

anything lovely from the freezer—especially if it’s loaded with peaches…very cold peaches…

my recipe organizer–for future blog post planning…

heavy-duty ice packs… (are you seeing a pattern here?)

and a big old bottle of Lortab.

Had a dental adventure to facilitate future bridge work.

Ok, ok…I had three teeth pulled, and may I just say…dude. New experience for this old bird–and believe me, if I’d have had any top secret information that they wanted, I’d have given it…gladly.

But, truth be told, I’m incredibly grateful to live in the 21st Century where we have anesthesia, antibiotics, pain killers, and anti-bacterial hand soap.

But this very minute, I’m most grateful for the never ending supply of Otter Pops…

a special, life-saving gift from…

the Tooth Fairy.

I do believe in fairies.

:}                                                                                                                                                                          551

 

 

Pilgrim’s Remembrance

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As we gather to prepare our Thanksgiving feast for tomorrow, it’s fun for us to think about many of you–with your loved ones–perhaps doing the very same thing and likely for the very same reason…to show love and gratitude for our many, many blessings.

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During the hard winter of 1620-21 the food supplies of the Pilgrims fell so low that each person received a ration of only five grains of corn at a time. After many later years of plenty, it became a custom in early New England to place the five grains of corn at each person’s place as a reminder of the hard winter the Pilgrims had weathered in their first few seasons.

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Can you imagine?  Wouldn’t this be a wonderful way to help our families realize and appreciate the love, abundance and bounty we enjoy in our lives?

Savor these moments…

“We often take for grated those things for which we should be most grateful.”

Cynthia Ozick

Einstein’s Grandkids’ Riddle

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Einstein Laughing

Mr. Einstein is laughing because, as far as we can tell he didn’t have any children…so grandchildren would be “optimism to the point of foolishness.”

One lazy day a few summers ago, my daughter sent me a Brain Teaser called “Einstein’s Riddle” to mess around with. If I remember correctly—she hated it. Now, in her defense, I’ll tell you–she is one smart cookie, so it isn’t that she couldn’t do it. I think for some people this is an uncomfortable exercise–because it asks your brain to solve a problem in a way that many aren’t use to.

The story behind Einstein’s riddle is that Albert Einstein created it about a hundred years ago and claimed that 98% of the world population couldn’t solve it. I, personally have no idea if Albert Einstein had anything to do with this puzzle in real life, but I know this…more and more people are able to solve it these days.

Maybe our brains are evolving.

Maybe we play with numbers more than the average Joe did in 1909.

Maybe it’s the Wii.

Who knows?

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The bald kid read an article in Popular Science (I know, I know) that said, “There is a relatively untapped area of the brain that is activated by two known exercises— Sodoku and the Rubix Cube.” Sodoku actually keeps your brain young! Who’d of thought? I—in my infinite wisdom—believe that this riddle is along the same lines—though, luckily, not as complicated at a the cube.

Now the fun part.

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At the risk of being blasphemous to Mr. Einstein, we’ve taken the liberty of  “modernizing” his puzzle just a bit to keep it interesting. Fear not–the integrity of the original riddle is still intact. Take a minute and play with us—it’s the weekend…come on…

When you think you have the answer–post a comment saying, something like, “I’ve got it!”  Now listen carefully to this part…I mean it…

DO NOT POST THE ANSWER IN THE COMMENT SECTION.

That would spoil it for everyone–wouldn’t it?

Are you ready? Here goes—

Einstein Grandkids’ Riddle

– In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.

– In each house lives a man with a different name. (William, Steven, Daniel, Tyler and  Greg)

– These five homeowners each have a favorite beverage, eat a different treat and keep a different pet.

Einstein’s riddle is: Who owns the Clown Fish?

Necessary clues:

1.  William lives in a red house.
2.  Steven has a poodle.
3.  Daniel drinks Powerade.
4.  The Green house is on the left of the White house.
5.  The owner of the Green house drinks orange juice.
6.  The person who eats M&M’s has a parakeet.
7.  The owner of the Yellow house eats Skittles.
8.  The man living in the center house drinks chocolate milk.
9.  Tyler lives in the first house.
10. The man who eats Twix lives next to the one who has a tabby cat.
11. The man who keeps a Buckskin Horse lives next to the man who eats Skittles.
12. The man who eats Lemonheads drinks Kool-Aid.
13. Greg eats Gummi Bears.
14. Tyler lives next to the blue house.
15. The Twix eater lives next to the one who drinks Vitamin Water.

Good luck!