To Whom It May Concern..Part II.

Well, the last post sorta sums up the whole thing. BLOGGER IS HAVING A MELTDOWN.

My text disappears; I can't edit; I can't drag and drop photos for rearrangement; my page won't load completely; some of YOUR pages won't load completely. Some of these are known problems as of last week but there is still no status update as to a FIX. Hello? Blogger? Is this thing on? Posting is kind of THE thing, isn't it? Without the ability to post, well, uh, what's the point?

Debbie, at Jadehollow said last week she was having similar problems. I'll try posting this again and we'll see what happens. I just wanted you all to know I'm still alive!

Book Winners!!

Congratulations to the winners of the Jordan Rubin books:

1. Reginia at Tetertots
2. Libby, at Neas Nuttiness
3. Jillybean, at The Post It Place

And Reginia, you won the signed copy! Email me your shipping info ladies and they are on their way Monday. Thank you everyone for entering and posting. I promise the next contest will be international!

O Great Medicine Woman!

Had I been born in an ancient place or time, when you didn't have to go through all these bothersome years of medical school and voluminous dry tomes, I would have been a great doctor. Through my own research I could have analyzed you way before Freud (and I would have known the true things you envied and those you did NOT), developed a method of treatment for PMS by gender - you know, Pre-Menstrual Syndrome or Petulant Male Sickness - let's face it, crabbiness is not limited to only those possessing uteri - and then whipped you up a dandy herb concoction as treatment.

Nowadays, you are required to know where the amygdala is as well as what a pre-frontal cortex does. If you actually want to buy a stethoscope you have to define occipital lobe and limbic system. It is no longer good enough to point to someone's cranium and say, "That's where yur BRAIN is, Jethro. If you don't believe me, well, let's just crack that thing open 'n have us a look see!"

Personally, I believe I would have fit right in with the likes of these guys:

I love color and big bangly jewelry so I could see myself workin' the whole outfit thing. But then my obligation as a purveyor of health would have kicked in and I'd be advising that guy on the right to lose the cigarette. At that point, of course, they would have held out their grateful arms for a big group hug, snapped my neck, and boiled me in the over sized communal stew pot.

However, I was born in this place and time and so must practice medicine on my family and friends in my own version of a village healer. This works out even better because they are not nearly as free to uh, liquidate me, as it were, with impunity.

Learning is my thing and I'm happy to share and help whether I am needed or not.

I enjoy knowing what makes people tick; why we do what we do; how what we eat affects our whole sense of well being; and how our second brain, the digestive system (which actually has nearly as much serotonin as our brains) impacts our mood through its complex systems. This is the type of late night reading I enjoy:

I even like to know what made Jane Austen do what she did, as in, entertain me MIGHTILY. (Okay. I don't think this has anything to do with the subject. And I may or may not have a shrine erected in my home to honor her.)

One thing every good healer knows is she practices medicine on herself first. If she does not die or have body parts fall off, then she is free to help others. I am the one people call for advice and come to for over-the-counter medicine when we're at functions together. I always carry Advil and Sudafed for Grizzly's sinus headaches, Excedrin for migraine, and Tylenol for those who can't take anything that might upset their stomach. I get a good ribbing about this occasionally but everyone keeps coming for relief. I have even been known to leave in the middle of church to hunt down Benadryl for a friend having an allergic reaction. I liken it to getting the donkey out of the ditch on the Sabbath. Some things simply must be done.

But I have made mistakes.

There was the time I put ear drops in my son's eyes. The bottles looked nearly identical. When he told me they felt "burny" I told him he was overreacting. But when he looks at you intently now and says, "I hear you," believe him.

Or the time I told him to take a big sniff of Zi-cam when he squirted it (because Grizzly said that's what the direction were). Note to all medicine women: Never trust anyone not highly skilled in the healing arts, i.e., men, because they never read the directions to anything. This was the exact opposite of what was prescribed on the package and had the resultant "MAJOR burny" effect. Lesson learned the wrong way: on someone else. That's bad medicine.

But probably my biggest error occurred on myself - the way it should be. It is the reason I am suspect to any and all when they get injured and I advise ice. I'm really not good with ice. It's probably because I'm a throw back to before they had ice, unless you lived in the glacial regions. Personally, I like the stuff and think it's good for just about anything, except migraine - which requires 3000 degree hot packs to the pre-frontal cortex.

My problem seems to arise in the theory that if a little is good, cryogenics is better. I have burned my back numerous times with ice packs applied to bare skin for well over an hour. But oh, what blissful, pain-free hours they were. Until later.

And then there was the time I froze my finger. Solid.

I had been washing our SUV and needed the ladder to get to the top. When I popped it up, I trapped my baby finger in the latch that forces the ladder open and it was caught there. I frantically tried to pound up on the mechanism to free my finger while simultaneously wailing and jumping up and down. The kids ran around frenzied not knowing what to do. I managed to extricate my digit as I called for ice and dashed into the house. My daughter moved rapidly to comply but came back with ice-cubes.

"No, no, honey. Mommy needs the soft ice pack!" I advised through gritted teeth, flinging meat pies and orange juice from the freezer in my desperate pursuit. I spotted my frozen deliverer and hurriedly wrapped it around my finger. The pain was still intense so, with the instinct that makes you stand on a badly stubbed toe and stop the throb, I put a couch pillow over the ice pack and then laid down on top of the whole thing. Slowly, the pain began to wane and I started breathing. Ahhhhhhh. Ice.

I savored my semi-pain free interval until I felt a shift of some sort and decided to investigate. I extricated my finger from its packaging and discovered it was frozen solid. Just like a T-Bone from the deep freeze. I was awed. I had no idea such a thing could occur. Every good healer should know these deep secrets hidden in the magic of ice. I called the kids.

"Look!" I said with wonder. "My finger is frozen! Feel it! Tap on it! Isn't that amazing? It's just like meat!" We all enjoyed the fascination of the moment. Then I had a second thought. "Uh, I think I have to thaw this out right away," I announced. I was pretty sure this qualified as frostbite. My first-aid training came back to me and I figured cool water was better than hot. I shoved my hand under the bathroom faucet and began the process. I found myself longing for the pain of the ladder.

I discovered that thawing out frozen body parts is painful to an exquisite degree. And I've given birth. I fell to my knees with my arm still draped over the sink and there I supplicated, minus the humility part. I wailed and moaned and carried on to epic degrees. When I finally dared to analyze my former barbecue candidate, it had thawed but had no feeling on the outside. I wondered, would it fall off? I eventually learned the answer was no. It simply turned hard as the layers of skin died. A few weeks later my finger lost its exoskeleton and revealed new and baby pink skin, with nerves intact and no other damage. I was happy and still fascinated by the whole process.

Unfortunately, the incident lost me my icing privileges and I couldn't practice them in any other state, either. Now, when I head for the ice-packs to halt bruising or swelling, everyone runs from me. Okay! I was wrong about this one thing. I've learned. They should trust me even MORE because I am now fully aware of the pitfalls!

And I learned them on myself. That is loaded with credibility. What doctor do YOU know who's willing to subject himself to his own medicine? Sounds like a true healer to me.

Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved

Debbie's Big Giveaway - Now THIS is SUMthin!

Debbie at Jadehollow is the dearest, kindest person and THIS, my friends, is a GREAT giveaway: a gift basket worth over $125.00! If you don't know her or follow her you will definitely want to head over and see what you're missing. She happens to celebrate her wedding anniversary, birthday, and her daughter's 16th birthday all in the same week - THIS week! But she's doing the giving. Take the time to visit. I'm confident you will fall in love with her writing, genuine heart, and sweet spirit. She plays the best music, too. :-)

Time for a Giveaway!

I am overdue.

For a giveaway, not for a baby, although by the looks of my stomach some might be planning a shower. If you are, please cancel and just send the money you would have invested. I'll put it to good use. Maybe I'll buy more aprons to dress my stomach in. OR maybe I'll pay for gas to haul it over to the gym and sweat and work it into submission. That's what I did last night. I'm going again today. Is two times to the gym enough or am I gonna have to keep this up?

I am allergic to working out. I have an anaphylactic reaction. Every time I think about 30 minutes on the StairMaster I can't breathe. Then 20 minutes in the sauna to sweat out the impurities. Do you know how impure I AM? I think you'd need to leave me in there for a couple of months.

The only good part is the jacuzzi. I don't get all the way in because I'm not putting on a bathing suit in front of ANYone but my family and God, and I apologize to God. My family - well, we all have to put up with each other and torture builds character. We're a bunch of characters so I figure we've tortured each other a lot. But, as I was saying, I don't get in the jacuzzi all the way. I just put my feet and legs in to try and help with the nerve damage. There is a sign, though, and it says, "No Shaving Your Legs." If this sign is necessary because people actually do this, then there are GREAT and COMPELLING reasons to not immerse your body in there and they far supersede bathing suit reluctance.

I'm also writing down everything I eat now. It's the only thing that works for me - writer's cramp. When my hands freeze into gnarled claws then I can't feed myself. I think it's effective.

So is this book. (I took the picture in my garden because I really need to get outside more or I might be nominated for a Vampire award next.)




And I'm giving away three (3) brand new copies, one of which is autographed (I'll draw among the three for that one)*. It's by the same author who wrote "The Maker's Diet" which some of you might be familiar with. I had a chance to meet Jordan Rubin when I was working for a raw milk company. He came through last year on the kick-off of his campaign, "Perfect Weight America" and started out with a seminar at the dairy. He gave us some extra books if we promised to give them to people who would really use them. I gave out a couple but the other friends had already purchased them at Costco. So, here they are and they should go to anyone interested in eating for optimum health and the right weight for your body. Like ANYthing, they only work if you put the principles into practice. That's where my breakdown is.

I do try to eat organically and buy locally. And we are still raw milk drinkers. But I also love my sugar and sweets and loathe the exercising thing. BUTT (yes, I MEANT to use the extra "T" so I will remember yet more reasons I can't ignore certain facts), I need to quit pretending all is well and make myself do the right things.

If you need a similar kick in the pants or just good information on optimizing your health, then I believe you would enjoy this book.

Jordan Rubin is a guy who, as a young man in college, nearly died from health complications no one could address. His parents spent huge amounts of money trying to save his life. He addresses this in "The Maker's Diet" and also (to a limited degree) in "Perfect Weight." He is definitely inspiring.

So, here's what you do: Signing up to FOLLOW (see the little button over the follower pictures? Just click that) will automatically give you two entries. If you are already one of my wonderful followers I THANK YOU and, you can get two entries by leaving me a comment (FOR MY BODY'S SAKE) offering any tips you might have about your own journey in the weight wars. (If you never struggle and have a perfect body, please do not tell me this. Just recite poetry or quote a line from your favorite book about plumbing and drywall repair.) If you blog about this contest (with a link) simply leave a comment saying so and you get five extra entries.

*I apologize to my international friends but shipping is SO expensive on this OVERWEIGHT book, I will have to limit this to shipping in the U.S. only. I promise to give away an Amazon.com e-gift card next time so it can go anywhere!

DRAWING WILL BE HELD: Friday, May 22nd. Contest closes at midnight on that day, Pacific Standard Time.

Sisterhood And Renee Awards

I am SOOO late with awards and passing them along. This one came in to me from Living Life Outside the Box quite awhile ago and honestely, someone else as well, and just look at me not able to remember, which is horrible!!


Here are the rules:1. Put the logo on your blog or post.2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

And this award was created by Bella and Ces in honour of their friend Renee, an incredible lady who in the face of a frightening life battle is tackling each day with great spirit and courage. Here is what Bella says of this award:“this is a brand new award and I have the pleasure and honor of spreading the seed, watching it grow.I hope it finds it’s way to those who are like Renee: the acorn, becoming a tall and sturdy oak, giving acorns…”


I am so honored to have received these awards and I thank those of you who sent them to me. (I was so interested in the history behind this one I forgot to copy the link of who sent it to me. Will you please contact me and I will include it here? And then forgive your DOLT of a friend as I offer my sincere apology?!) I will try to be more timely in the future about posting them and passing them along and keeping track. I cannot choose among my dear friends who have been a true Sisterhood - so that is for all of you!!!

As far as the Renee Award goes, I know that many of you are battling incredibly hard things in your life: emotional struggles, physical battles, family disturbances, financial worries. Does that just about cover ALL of us in some fashion or other?! Guess that's one reason we enjoy hanging out together. We know that life IS struggle much of the time but it is also great JOY if someone walks with you. You bring ME great joy with your love and acceptance of me, and your ABUNDANCE of kind words. You move me to laughter, or tears, or growth through your writings and/or unbelievable photography which often takes me to spiritual places of beauty, or shows me something I would never see without your perspective. So this is for you, too. You know what you battle and I hope you feel free to pick this up and post it proudly on your blog.

THANK YOU for being my friends. You don't have to be. And I NEVER forget that.

Time For Word Wackiness!

Still collecting wacky words. Can't help myself. These all come from the "Word Verification" category where we have to type in what we see in order to leave a comment. You KNOW how verbose I am. Can you imagine how many of these I HAVE?! Here are a few more with my definitions or usage in a sentence. What have YOU got? Go ahead. Crack me up. You KNOW you always do.

• Eufulast: "You might live long enough to give EVERYone a piece of your mind eufulast."
• Weemi: What you get when your "Wii" character, called a "Mii," has a baby. You get a Weemi. I guess if it was born before its due date you might get a preeweemi. If it's a baby boy then it might be a hepreeweemi. Okay. I'll stop. Oh I can't. Just one more.....so.....if you planted a tree in honor of the baby's birth would that be the hepreeweemitree? Oh, OCD. The gift that keeps on giving. And giving. And giving. Okay, that's three givings.....one for me, one for Bo, one for the Wild Man....OH! I need one more "giving" for Grizzly so it makes four. And giving. There, now no one will die. Do you think I know too much about this subject?! You should have known me as a child!
• Hyrodis: “Oh she ALWAYS tries to act like she’s takin' the high road. I think she has Hyrodis.”
• Unmerse: The act of trying to get out of what you’ve gotten yourself into. Like this post.
• Decosour: What happens after the home improvement project drags on too long.
• Lishen: What every drunk starts his protest with. "Lishen buddy. I have NOT had too mush to drink because I can shtill shpeak clearly."
• Rediaped: What the baby is after you change him.

Enough goofing off! Back to the salt mines for me!

Copyright 2009