A new chair

I was watching an old episode of "The Office" last week in which some of the office-mates were lobbying Michael (their boss) for new chairs. I can relate! I am currently sitting in a nice big fake leather chair, however, its seat is held together with black electrical tape, and its cushioning has been somewhat diminished by years of kids jumping in it to spin around and have all sorts of fun. Time to check out the office furniture store! I know it's a good time to find deals, but I'll be needing to find a super good one. If not, electrical tape chair and I will remain friends here..... (It was easier on the t.v. show - they had a budget surplus!!) :)

Parent visits

We have been doing foster care for just about a year now, as far as actively having a munchkin living with us, and I have to say that one of my least favorite things is still parent visit days. The wondering if parents will show each time... It's like pulling off a scab that's just starting to heal. It's painful to watch, and to be part of. I know it's part of the process, and necessary to a certain extent, but it's so stinking hard....

Ready for another holiday?

The holidays are done, and most are back to work and school, but my mind is already wandering to the next holiday, the next vacation.

I love traveling. I think it's in my blood. When I was a child my family was constantly heading somewhere for the weekend or even longer. We never went overseas or anything like that, but did lots of fun things that were driving destinations. One spot that we spent a lot of time in was Wildwood, New Jersey. A Jersey Shore beach vacation offered us lots of fun stuff, from camping to great Wildwood attractions and roller coasters, and it really was very reasonable. It doesn't appear that that has changed. I found some information about Morey's Piers, a staple among New Jersey attractions, and it looks like they are having their anual holiday sale right now. The sale runs December 1 through January 9, and customers can saved nearly 40% on a Season Pass to both of their waterparks. Right now, when I'm shivering in the snow in upstate New York, this sounds fabulous!

Hmmm... I need to finish working on balancing that Christmas checkbook and then we'll see if another holiday is a possibility anytime soon. Let me know if it works out for you!

Reading the Bible

I got this from my previous pastor's blog, and, well, he makes a great point much more eloquently than I would, so I wanted to share... :)

How long does it take to read the Bible? The answer is 77 hours and 22 minutes. That is the length of the NIV Bible being read out loud by Max McLean. You can purchase it for your I-Pod.

So if Max reads the Bible in 77 hours and 22 minutes - that is a total of 4642 minutes. If you read at Max's pace (which is not fast since it is dramatic and out loud) - it would take 12 minutes and 43 seconds per day for you to read the Bible through this year.

So often I've made this a goal, and then dropped the ball, but this makes it sound much more manageable, doesn't it? Bite size pieces.... I'm going to try again!

Undone

Ooohh, I found another quote that I like:

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone."
-- Lin Yutang

This really speaks to me. It tells me that it is actually noble for me to not dust my furniture, to leave that undone. I am doing a noble thing today :).

New Year Window Updates?

I am so domestically challenged!!
We got a new comforter for our bed for Christmas and I am "with it" enough to know that our curtains really don't match it, but not domestically smart enough to figure out what would. Should we just do another valance, or some of those swag kind of drapey things, or maybe something like bamboo blinds? I am clueless... Fortunately I have a ten year old daughter who is the self proclaimed expert in, well, just about everything... Time to call in the professionals! :)

Cholesterol and heart attack notes

I just received this email from TriVita. It does have some advertising links in it, but it also has some good information about things we can do to help with the problems associated with high cholesterol and heart attacks. Having a hubbie with high cholesterol, I especially appreciate all the good input I can get!

High Cholesterol and Heart Attacks

"Cholesterol screening is currently the gold standard for predicting heart attack risk, but nearly half of all heart attacks occur among men and women with normal cholesterol levels," notes Paul Ridker, a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Does this surprise you? Most people are shocked to learn how little correlation there is between elevated cholesterol and heart attacks. Let’s look at the benefits of cholesterol, why some may experience elevated cholesterol, and heart attack markers that are more accurate in predicting heart attacks than cholesterol levels.

“Good” cholesterol?
We typically talk about blood lipids in terms of total cholesterol: LDL (bad) cholesterol and HDL (good) cholesterol. We use the relative values of each of these fats in our blood to determine where we stand in terms of disease risk. Unfortunately, these numbers are misleading in half of the cases, leading to a false sense of alarm or security.

Cholesterol serves as the raw material from which your body makes many hormones. Vitamin D is made from cholesterol and many life-ending diseases are associated with a deficiency of Vitamin D.

In truth, all cholesterol is good in the proper balance – even LDL! Cholesterol-rich tissues such as brain cells rely on the fats delivered by LDL in order to function at their best. LDL brings the cholesterol from the liver to the place where it is needed; HDL carries unused cholesterol back to the liver for storage, recycling or excretion.

Why cholesterol levels rise

• Increased demand
  The most common reason why cholesterol levels rise is to supply an increased demand. For example, when your body needs to nourish brain cells or build hormones or Vitamin D, special messengers will be sent to request cholesterol release from the liver to meet the demand for this important raw material. Once your needs have been met, your body should reduce cholesterol production. However, with unrelenting stress and unyielding demands on our limited resources, the message to stop producing cholesterol may never get through.
  
  
• Stress
  Stress is one common reason why cholesterol levels rise.
  
  
• Low-fiber diet
  Another reason is that we eat a low-fiber diet. Cholesterol is recycled from the liver through the bile into the intestines and back to the liver. In a diet with minimum fiber levels (under age 50: 25 grams for women, 38 grams for men; over age 50: 21 grams for women, 30 grams for men) the excess levels of cholesterol will be absorbed and eliminated. In low-fiber diets the cholesterol is reabsorbed and recycled. The system becomes “closed” and levels rise.
  
  
• Hypercholesterolemia
  A third, less common reason for elevated cholesterol levels is fatal familial hypercholesterolemia – a rare genetic condition that causes cholesterol levels to rise uncontrollably. Statin medications were designed to combat this condition.

Reducing cholesterol and heart attacks
As mentioned at the outset, cholesterol levels alone do not serve us very well as determinants of heart attack risk. Homocysteine (HCY) levels are much more accurate in predicting who is at risk, and C-Reactive protein (CRP) is the best predictor for heart attack (as well as many other really bad conditions!).

Elevated cholesterol levels may be reduced with fiber such as TriVita’s Peaches and Cream; elevated homocysteine levels may be reduced with products such as TriVita’s HCY Guard. C-Reactive protein has been reduced quite consistently with essential fatty acid supplements such as OmegaPrime (1–6 grams daily). In medical literature, Omega-3 fats are consistently associated with reduced inflammation and reduced heart attack risk. Interestingly, some people respond well to fish oil while others respond better to flaxseed oil – a key reason why both ingredients are in OmegaPrime.

Learning to listen
High cholesterol levels on a blood test should be viewed as warning signals from our bodies. Elevated homocysteine sounds a louder alarm and high C-Reactive protein levels sound the loudest siren of all. We can translate these alarms into valid communication by learning what each lab value means and learn how to address them in terms of nutrients and nurturing.

Free Cell Phone!

I dropped my cell phone for what is probably the two hundredth time yesterday. I am constantly dropping that thing... I know that if I had to replace it with our service provider before our two year contract was up that I'd have to pay full price for a phone from them. I've been down that road before! Last year, just before I was eligible for a free phone, I, get this, dropped and flushed my phone down the toilet!! It went down!! I was only two weeks from getting a free one, and they wanted to charge me full price, which is about $100 for the cheapest basic phone!!! Anyway, I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to have a backup one, just in case I totally destroy the one I have before my free verizon phone opportunity again. I'm looking for the best cell phone deals out there, and I think I've come across a good site. It's called bestincellphones.com. They offer all sorts of different kinds of phones. They carry Sprint phones and Tmobile phones. They also carry at&t cell phones, which I know my husband would try to trade for, considering some of their new models. Lots of choices!! Anyway, once I have a few minutes with no little "helpers" here, I think I'll be checking this out a little more thoroughly. It will be nice to have a back up plan in place :).

Keep those new Christmas jeans blue

A quick one, but may prove helpful :)

A tip to keep those new jeans looking new. Turn jeans inside out before washing to help keep their color. Also, wash new ones with old jeans to help bring back some of the old ones' color. Very smart!! Love those tips!!!!

New Year Updates

I don't know about you, but I am already starting out the New Year trying to organize and streamline things in my life a little bit better. I've cleaned the pile(s) off of the kitchen counter, and actually tossed a few things out, gone through the bills pile, and checked my bank balances. I'm even contemplating folding a few baskets of laundry!! Am I getting good or what?!? :)

Something I want to do soon is really go through our ongoing expenses a little more carefully, seeing if there are places to cut costs a bit. I did find a new place for cheap web hosting that I want to put on my "check this one out" list. If I can cut my costs and still keep good service, I'm game! I found a web hosting review website that looks promising to help me make sure that my choice is a good one. They compare pricing, plan features, and review the top hosting companies. They also have articles to learn about web hosting. Sooo, I could save money and get a little bit smarter to boot :).

Any New Year's plans for you? (I know, they all can't be as exciting as mine :)).