Pencil Thin

My mom called me this week in a rather upset state of mind. She is about to turn 65 years old at the beginning of the next year. She is trying to decide whether to retire now or wait another year. She met with someone about Medicare supplement insurance and now has many questions. She also needs to find out about various investments that she has made over the years and how to go about accessing these funds in the near future. The entire process is foreign to her and she would really like fore someone to just handle it for her. As much as I want to step in and take over I really feel it is important for her to continue handling her affairs herself. Too many times I have seen people in my line of work who have given up all control of their finances to their children and I don’t think it is a good thing. I think there is empowerment in controlling your finances and I don’t want to take this away from my mom despite what she thinks she wants.

I am thinking of starting the HCG diet and am wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with it?

THis is the diet eat only what is here, plain and simple…(first 26 days) google pounds and inches and read it.

The hCG Diet Overview
Breakfast:
Tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar. Only one tablespoonful of milk allowed in 24 hours. Saccharin or Stevia may be used.

Lunch:
1. 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab, or shrimp. All visible fat must be carefully removed before cooking, and the meat must be weighed raw. It must be boiled or grilled without additional fat. Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed. The chicken breast must be removed from the bird.

2. One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.

3. One breadstick (grissino) or one Melba toast.

4. An apple, orange, or a handful of strawberries or one-half grapefruit.

Dinner :
The same four choices as lunch (above.)

For as long as I can remember my skin has been broke out. It started driving me crazy a few years ago. It just didn’t seem right that a woman in her late 30’s would still be seeking the right acne treatment or even be worrying about acne. It occurred to me a couple of weeks ago that for some reason my skin has been especially clear. I can’t really pinpoint what the reason for this might be. The only thing that comes to mind is the fact that I haven’t been wearing makeup. For years I wore makeup every single day without fail. Now that my son is being homeschooled and I don’t have to go out in public each day I have stopped worrying about wearing makeup. Now I am wondering if somehow there is a connection between the makeup that I typically use and my skin breaking out. The other thing I have been doing is eating next to nothing in terms of processed foods. All of the foods we are eating are made from scratch. Do you think either of these things could be part of my newly clear skin?

Since cold season is upon us I thought it would be interesting to share some sore throat remedies. Do you have one that you swear by? You can gargle with warm salt water. Gargle with hydrogen peroxide. Straight or diluted, whatever you can handle. Mixture of cayenne, honey and apple cider vinegar. I also add a little bit of water to dilute the vinegar. This is how I make it- 8 oz cup 1/3 warm water, the rest-vinegar. Enough honey to sweeten it up and as much cayenne as I can tolerate.t works great with the honey or vinegar but another tasty way is to heat up some tomtato or v8 juice and add as much cayenne as comfortably tolerable. The warm juice feels good, it tastes great (add a little lemon juice if you want) and the cayenne just kills the pain. It’s my fav.

I do take ibuprofen for longer term pain relief but the above is instant. Take some ibuprofen and get some slippery elm tea (marketed as Throat Coat by Traditional Medicinals). Don’t do this if you’re pregnant, though, because slippery elm can induce labor.

About two weeks ago I came down with a really bad cold. I have since decided that I very likely had the H1N1 virus. Now that I am feeling better it is easy to see why people are becoming so ill with H1N1. It really does suck the energy right out of you. I almost feel like I need a Myrtle beach golf vacation just to get my energy back. Considering that I don’t play golf it would really be a regular old vacation. My husband would be far more likely to go for the idea if it included golf. It is going to be a really long winter at the rate we have already been going at. All of us have had 1 or 2 colds and the snow isn’t even here yet.

I don’t know why, but this time of year is so overwhelming for me. I’m having a real hard time getting excited about anything. There is so much pressure to buy the right things and make sure everyone you know gets a little Christmas goody. I miss the days when it was ok to just decorate cookies with the kids, and sit around drinking hot cocoa. The stress is killing me. I feel like the only grinch in a group of happy elves. Am I just going nuts? I am really considering eliminating everything that makes me stress out about the holidays so that I can actually just enjoy my family. I am even telling one relative that we aren’t going to Christmas Eve dinner, because I don’t want to deal with the drama and be bitter.

We are raising a very stubborn 3 year old. He is very independent and strong willed. Right now he is sitting on the time out bench because he just hit me for the first time. He has never done anything like this and I am not sure what brought it on. Basically I have asked him to say he is sorry and he is refusing. He really just doesn’t want to do anything unless it is on his terms which makes life difficult at times. I now realize the time has come to start using timeout more often and hold him to a higher standard of behavior. He is no longer a baby and can’t be allowed to pout his way out of things. I will say that he keeps me on my toes and I rarely have a minute to myself. Between chasing after him and trying to teach him how to be a good little man I am run constantly. I guess I should count myself lucky I don’t have time to worry about finding the best weight loss pills, getting a pedicure, or buying a new outfit because every minute of the day is filled the business of parenting. Even in the midst of wondering what is coming next I count myself as blessed to have little people in my life who need me.

I have the hardest time with yoga and pilates–I do them here and there and don’t feel like they are doing anything! My sister, who is in awesome shape, swears that anytime she hits a plateau this really jump starts her metabolism again. I am doing all kind of work out videos and loving them but wonder if I should incorporate yoga in here? I have pilates videos and they really hurt my neck no matter how I try to do them which has me wondering if yoga would be a better option. I want you to tell me your stories and opinions! I am trying to boost my metabolism and have a healthy heart. I do not need to exercise to burn lots of calories but just need my metabolism to START! I am always open to other workout ideas if you have any you want to share.

This has been one of the longest weeks I have experienced in a very long time. It started last weekend when our older son became very ill and ended up in the emergency room. A few days after he came down with the flu the rest of the family became sick. I came down with the virus about midpoint in the week. I can’t remember being this sick in a very long time. I am so exhausted that I feel like I need a month long stay in one of those Outer Banks rentals. It feels like every bit of energy has been sucked out of my body. If I move too quickly the world seems to spin around me like I am on an amusement park ride. Aside from feeling just plain awful I have to say I am thankful that we are all getting through this horrible virus as well as we are. I know there are many families out there who have not done so well and we are fortunate to be getting better slowly but surely.

I did weight watchers several years back and did well with my weight loss (got my lifetime), but didn’t make good food choices, I simple ate junk less often and exercised every day. Now I’m trying to curb my carb addiction and dairy cravings, so I’ve been doing the core program at home. I haven’t lost anything yet, weight really sticks to me like glue. My plan is to lose between 10-20 pounds. My ultimate hope is twenty, but I’ll be perfectly happy with ten. I’ve already lost ten from eliminating all beverages except water and not eating after 6 or so. That took 4 1/2 months for me, and stalled. Now I’m in serious need of a boost to get an additional ten pounds off. I have a sloooowww metabolism and have done 1200 calorie diets before without losing weight.

Are any of you on core? Have you had much success? Any tips, recipes or advice to offer? I’m thinking my body will respond better to healthier choices, and with my family history of diabetes, I’m hoping a lifestyle change will keep it at bay.

We have been unable to find a couch that will fit in the front door of our house. This has left us using several chairs instead of a couch. For the most part this has worked out but I really would like to be able to snuggle up next to my husband on the sofa. I am almost ready to try to build a couch myself and use something like patio furniture cushions for the seats. I have seen some sofas that look like and benches. These look like they would be fairly easy to replicate. I would just hate to go to all the work to build something only to find out it wasn’t cozy and fun to curl up on. I am torn between investing in the stuff to build a couch and continuing to wait for a retail product that fits our needs and space.

I would appreciate any and all suggestions to help me convince my son to get his haircut. He is three and usually will let us cut his hair if there is a good bribe in the works. However he is absolutely refusing to give in and he desperately needs his hair trimmed. I was just curious what has worked for others who also have strong willed children. I personally do not see the problem with a little boy who does not have his hair groomed perfectly. I guess my real problem is that my in-laws just visited and all I heard was how their grandson was looking like a girl because his hair is betting a wave to it and starting to grow over his ears. Normally it would not be bothering me after they left but I need to get family pictures taken and don’t feel like hearing the comments from the rest of my husband’s family after I send out pictures.

I am beginning to appreciate the idea of keeping our computer in a main area of our house. My older son used to have to keep his school computer in his room. The school upgraded to laptops this year and he is able to use our wireless network. We have since moved his computer out of his room and into the main living area of our house. I am really glad to be able to see what he looking at on the computer. This week he innocently was looking at educational videos and started watching a movie with subject matter that was clearly too mature for him. Right now he so inquisitive he will click on anything to learn something new. It doesn’t matter if it is an advertisement saying click here to learn more about salicylic acid or something that states to tell you more about “easing the pain of your period” he would click on it just to learn something new. I would rather be able to watch him and know what he is looking at on the internet that have him squirreled away in his room learning who knows what about things he doesn’t need to know at his young age.

I was at my local grocery store and the night stocking manager mentioned there will be a major shortage of canned pumpkin this year. He spoke as if it was EVERY store in the West that would have a short supply.

I have only heard from the one source (so if you find this not to be the case, let us know), but he says that his normal yearly display order will not be delivered as he was told there was a major shortage of pumpkins period. He was limited to a few cases.

I wasn’t even buying pumpkin, I had asked him about another item that was out of stock and he brought up that on top of a few things being out of stock at his warehouse, there would not be extra pumpkin to order.

Anyway, long story short, if you plan on buying canned pumpkin for your holiday baking, you may consider buying it early.

According to the L.A. Times:

By Jerry Hirsch

October 10, 2009

“Pumpkin pie lovers be warned: You may not find your favorite can of pie filling at the supermarket.

There’s a national shortage of canned pumpkin and pie filling, a result of poor weather that reduced last year’s crop.

Shoppers report finding bare shelves, and the supermarkets say they have been put on an “allocation,” or quota, system by Libby’s, a division of food giant Nestle that controls more than 80% of the canned pumpkin market.

Libby’s typically uses surpluses from the previous year to stock store shelves during September and October, when the annual pumpkin harvest gets underway.

Wet conditions during last year’s growing season left canners without a surplus this year, said Roz O’Hearn, a Libby’s spokeswoman.

But this year’s crop is on its way. “We began shipping Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin [filling] in late September, so it should be on grocer’s shelves soon,” she said.

Shoppers could find the filling a bit more expensive this year.

Libby’s has a suggested retail price of $1.59 for its 15-ounce can and a suggested price of $2.59 for its 29-ounce cans of pure pumpkin and pumpkin pie mix.

O’Hearn said the prices represented a “small increase” over last year because of higher expenses for the steel that goes into the cans and higher grower costs. She did not provide a percentage increase. “