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Posts Tagged ‘Health’

I’m so pleased to introduce MENTAL HEALTH MONDAY to my readers.  I hope this becomes a regular feature and you will avail yourself of this opportunity to post a question or concern or contact our contributor, Barry Lubetkin, Phd, ABPP.

Barry Lubetkin is the Director of the Institute for Behavior Therapy and past president of the American Board of Behavior Therapy.  He has been a guest on Oprah Winfrey‘s show, a quoted source for numerous articles and a published author.  His latest book is Why Do I Need You To Love Me In Order To Like Myself.

Available through Amazon

Available through Amazon

Mental health tip for January 27, 2014

Nearly all anger feelings and outbursts are preceded by the cognitive belief represented by the words “should” or “must”….“He should never act that way”“She must act more fairly toward me”“He must stop drinking, I can’t stand it anymore”.  “The teacher should do more to discipline that child”….etc.  When we make unreasonable and inflexible demands on others or on the world to act in a certain way.  We set ourselves up for rage and upset when our irrational expectations are not met.  It is far better to wish or desire others to change rather than demanding and requiring them to do so…Or as famous Psychologist Albert Ellis once said: “Stop SHOULDING on yourself!!!”

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English: Two New Year's Resolutions postcards

Two New Year’s Resolutions postcards (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Does everyone make New Year’s Resolutions? Do you announce them to the world? Do you write them down or post them to Facebook or your blog?  Do you keep them to yourself and hope you will be able to follow through?

WCTV ran a report on the Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions.  I’ll bet you can guess at least 7 of them.  If that’s the case and they are so obvious, doesn’t that mean that these resolutions are the ones most often broken and not kept?  Otherwise the list wouldn’t be so common and universal.  

Here they are and if your’s are among them you are probably just about the average American, whether that’s good or bad is for you to decide!

1. Lose Weight

2. Get Organized

3. Spend less, Save more

4. Enjoy life to the fullest

5. Stay fit and healthy

6. Learn something new

7. Quit smoking

8. Help others realize their dreams

9. Fall in love

10. Spend more time with my family

Please take a few moments and share one or more of your resolutions;  If you are not making them public, then just sign in as Anonymous.  Perhaps you’ll inspire someone else.

Happy New Year to all!!

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I’m going to start with the back story….

Living near the ocean does have a few drawbacks, really very, very few;  in fact the only one I’m talking about is the dampness.  Not the kind that seeps in through the screen door and windows and makes the furniture feel damp and cool  – no, not that kind.  But living near the ocean, things like snails and slugs tend to appear unwelcome on my porch or sidewalk now and again.  I have abhorrent fear and anxiety about slugs in particular.

I mean they are so slimy and icky looking – like some kind of spineless blob from outer space that seems to traverse without legs.  I literally can’t stand the sight of them.  We’ve come home a couple of evenings over the years and found a long slug on the sidewalk and I got the willies whatever they are!!  I make Peter pick up the slug on a piece of cardboard or newspaper and insist that he toss it over the fence into our neighbor’s yard.  They (slugs) are SO GROSS.

Two days ago, my contact lens was bothering me and those of you who know me, know that I have a history of problems with the lens in my eye because I have some scarring on my cornea, but that’s another story.  I’ve been giving the eye a vacation from the lens and trying to use glasses.  However, my glasses are not prescription, just readers and since they are really only good for close up reading or work, I didn’t have them on when I went upstairs to change my clothes.  It was dark and the door to the porch was open and our neighbors across the backyard were home – thank God their doors were shut, they must have had their air conditioners on.  I took off my clothes and put on pajamas and hung up my pants and I was barefoot.   I moved the door to a more open position now that I was dressed and stepped away.  When I looked back and down, this is what I saw…..

OMG!!!!

OMG!!!!

 Needless to say I screamed, “Peter, Peter, PETER!”  Still no answer;  The TV was on upstairs and downstairs and he was in the kitchen.  I grabbed the remote, hit mute, went to the top of the stairs and screamed again, Peter! You better come up here NOW”!  He came flying up the stairs, out of breath and said, “What is it? What? Is there a bat”?  I pointed to the floor and said, “LOOK! You better get it out of here, OMG how did it get in the house? OMG I could have stepped on it” 

With wife on the verge of hysteria, my husband runs downstairs and grabs paper towels while noting OUT LOUD that there were no more paper towels!!  He returned and got on his hands and knees while I fretted and fumed and worried sitting on the bed.  He stood up quickly with paper towel crumpled in his fist and I said, “What did you do with it?” He showed me……

A Hair Clip ! REALLY??

A Hair Clip ! REALLY??

I laughed so hard I thought I would either cry or pee in my pants!  I mean, “Really, really?”  All in the life and times of living with Lori.

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Cocktail Glass (Martini): The traditional cock...

Last Night’s Martini Glass

Walking into the living room, she was assaulted with the visual cacophony of his clothes, his mail, his magazines, his shoes, jacket and tie and last night’s martini glass!  How many times had she asked him to put his stuff away? A hundred, a thousand? Nagging and yelling didn’t work.  Threatening to toss the stuff out fell on deaf ears. 

She began to pick up various articles of clothing, grimacing at this relentless never-ending chore.  If only he would just clean up after himself, if only I didn’t give a shit the way he obviously doesn’t! Ridiculous! It’s enough already!

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THURSDAY’S TOP TEN

Perhaps not the most scintillating topic in my blog posts but somehow this morning, the day before the big night (some say biggest night of the year), this seemed appropriate.  After all, even me, with my short and uneven nails will be wearing nail polish.   In fact as soon as I bang out this post, I’m off to treat myself to a New Year‘s mani-pedi.  Wish my little granddaughter Finley was in town, I’d take her with me.  She loves getting a mani-pedi and she’s only 3.  However, let me get on record here, I may be an indulgent over-giving grandmother, but it was not I who introduced her to the world of nail salons.  She actually has her favorite – I tried to take her once to one across the street from me and she wailed on about “her” salon down the street; OMG

Well anyway, if you have been reading up on the latest nail color trends then you know that dark is still quite in! Ever since Channel introduced their black nail polish, the industry has developed some pretty wild colors and the names to go with them.

See if you can picture these colors from their names and descriptions.  Hint- they’re all dark to varying degrees.

  1. Pretty Edgy – Palmetto green
  2. Power Clutch – Deep gray green
  3. Bobbing for Baubles-Deep rich sapphire
  4. Cocktail Bling-Pale pearly gray
  5. School of Hard Rocks-Midnight malachite
  6. Chin Chilly-Granite gray
  7. Smokin’ Hot-Stone cold fox gray
  8. Velvet Voyage-Chocolate Amethyst
  9. Little Brown Dress-Black coffee
  10. Dive Bar- Mysterious blackest blue with a shimmer

These colors are all from the Essie collection

Essie nail polish                               Essie nail polish, mani pedi

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This is CDC Clinic Chief Nurse Lee Ann Jean-Lo...

Flu Shot

I just looked at my last post and realized it was a week ago! Where have the past 7 days gone or for that matter the last two weeks?

I went to the doctor’s the first week of October and got a flu shot; the next day I got a sore throat, and the next day the sore throat got worse and by the third day I could hardly talk and spent the day sucking on green tea drops and Hall’s honey lozenges.   What made that third day worse was the fact that we did an antique show.  The night before we spent 3 hours setting up and were there all day Saturday and it was pretty much a bust as far as I’m concerned.  The sales were SO SLOW and SO SMALL, it wasn’t worth while at all.  NOW, we should have known better; first of all it was Yom Kippur – granted Ocean Grove is pretty much a Christian community but really now!  Then it was an absolutely beautiful day and the town held its Fall Harvest Festival which I understood was just MOBBED!  But did anyone on the street know there was an antique show going on near the Great Auditorium?  Apparently NOT.  Lesson learned, will not do that again.

The next day I worked and the income for that day was certainly less than the effort – overall not a very lucrative weekend and I used up a box of tissues blowing my nose while my  sinuses drained and then drained some more.  Mmmmm I think I’m probably entering into the TMI zone – Sorry!

When I started this blog over a year and a half ago, I made a decision to write about life, love, friends, family, events, movies, news, politics, recipes…well just about anything whether it be Smooth or Crunchy just like my favorite PB & J sandwich.  I even stated that I knew it would be essentially what every other blog is and that is: an egomaniacal stream of consciousness.  I did however also decide that I would not use the blog as my personal online diary, documenting every thought that crossed my mind or every problem, every family event, everything going on in my life, my husband’s or my kid’s.

And the reason I’m bringing this up is my way of telling you all that the reason  a week has gone by since I wrote a blog is that there is a LOT going on in my life at this time that has kept me distracted.  And of course as life would have it, many incidents have clustered together to make this a very stressful time.  I know in the past sometimes I have litanized a series of crazy events and done so in a satirical tongue in chic  but not this time.   Life has become too serious at the moment but I’m still here and am not giving up on my blog or my readers so hang in guys, there’s more to come.

So now it’s been 10 days; I’m still blowing my nose and got a cold sore from all that action and although the sore throat is gone, I am coughing and then coughing again!

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Embassy of Babies

Babyolatry

I’m back to finding those crazy wild and obscure words that I never heard of and bet you never did either.  Working my way through the alphabet, today’s ten words begin with the letter B.

  1. babyolatry: baby worship (an affliction prevalent amongst middle-aged couples with newborns)
  2. baggywrinkle: a frayed-out rope used on ship rigging to prevent chafing
  3. ballhooter: a lumberjack who rolls logs down a hill.
  4. bangboard: an extra board attached to a wagon to keep the corn from rebounding after overenthusiastic tossing.
  5. barmecide: a false benefactor.
  6. barylalia: indistinct speech, due to imperfect articulation (can you even pronounce it?)
  7. bathetic: falsely sentimental
  8. bathybic: deep-bosomed
  9. bauchle:  an old shoe,  one with worn heels
  10. bedswerver: an unfaithful spouse (this is a good one)

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Acrophobia logo, roto-drop at Six Flags Over G...

Image via Wikipedia

We’re not talking about the mundane phobias here like fear of heights, these are for the really crazy people, you know, like you and me!

  1. Ablutomania – a mania for washing oneself
  2. Acarophobia – fear of itching or those insects that cause it
  3. Acousticophobia fear of noise
  4. Aicmophobia – fear of needles and other pointed objects
  5. Algophobia – fear of pain
  6. Amathophobia – fear of dust
  7. Amaxophobia – fear of riding in a car
  8. Ambulophobia – fear of walking
  9. Anuptophobia – fear of staying single
  10. Apanthropy – dislike of being with people, love of solitudeW

Just wait till we get to the B’s!!!  What are you afraid of?

 

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Overview of the thyroid system (See Wikipedia:...

T3 and T4

Not the usual Tasty Tidbits Tuesday or the Conspiracy Theory Wednesday, however I decided (well I was strongly persuaded) that the blog would be a good venue to disseminate  important information.

It all started one night a year ago when during the evening’s conversation six degrees of separation surfaced and blossomed into about three!  Intriguing right?  But that’s another blog for another day! So segue to the information exchanged between two of the degrees!

Quite a few people I know take Thyroid medication like Synthroid or another thyroid hormone.  If you are one of those people then read on because what follows is extremely pertinent to the effectiveness of the medication.

  • Take the pill at the same time every day, first thing in the morning or at bedtime.
  • Consider using a pillbox to keep track of your pills.
  • Always take your pills on an empty stomach.  Food can keep thyroid hormone from being absorbed fully by your body.  After taking your pills, wait at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before eating.
  • Also wait 4 hours after taking your pills before taking any supplements.  Iron and calcium can affect how thyroid hormone is absorbed by your body.  And ask your doctor if you should avoid soybean products or certain medications after taking your pills.
  • Stick to one brand of thyroid hormone.  Different brands are absorbed differently.  And some brands, especially generics, contain slightly different amounts of hormone.  If your brand is switched, ask your doctor if you need a TSH test.

We can all thank Sarajane who told this to Susan who pleaded/insisted that I post this! 🙂

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Thursday’s Top Ten

Colds and Fevers: Hot water with lemon or hot lemonade will help relieve cold symptoms.  The steam from the hot liquids will help unclog congested nasal passages.  Adding honey to your tea will soothe a sore throat.

Skin Care: Slather on petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to moisturize C skin cheaply and effectively.  A 1991 University of California study showed that petroleum jelly actually repairs skin cells.

Wrinkle Remover: Beat two egg whites to meringue consistency;  apply to your face and leave on for 20 to 30 minutes.  Rinse with cool water.  The protein in the egg whites temporarily tightens pores for a more youthful look.  You’ll be wrinkle-free for an hour and half before turning back into Cinderella.

Warts: Rub castor oil on flat warts with a cotton swab twice a day until they disappear.

Guard Against Infection: Use honey to help promote healing of skin wounds.  Clean wound thoroughly, apply honey, and bandage securely.  Unprocessed honey (straight from the hive) works best at killing bacteria.

Oral Care: Chew on a sprig of fresh parsley for fresh breath.

Canker Sores: Relieve the pain of a canker sore and help it heal faster by squeezing the excess water from a teabag that’s been immersed in a glass of tepid water and applying it to the sore for a few minutes.

Headaches: Rub a mentholatum  ointment on your forehead and cover with an ice pack on a cold wet washcloth to ease a sinus headache.  It’s soothing and it helps open up the nasal passages.

Hiccups: Swallow a spoonful of sugar in one gulp with no water.

Stomach Upsets: Sip strong chamomile tea (steeped 10-15 minutes) if you have an upset stomach.  Peppermint or spearmint tea also soothe tummies, or try adding a few drops of spirit of peppermint to water or food.

petroleum jelly, vaseline

Vaseline Petroleum Jelly

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