My Life

Vitamin D Council News Letter

2009-12-04T09:32:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Andrea at Vitagarten for this info - I'm going to sign up for their newsletter now - CYA

The Vitamin D Newsletter
More Vitamin D Studies of Interest

December 3, 2009.

This is a periodic newsletter from the Vitamin D Council, a non-profit trying to end the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. If you want to unsubscribe, go to the end of this newsletter. If you are not subscribed, you can do so on the Vitamin D Council's website.

This newsletter may be reproduced as long as you properly and prominently attribute it source. Please reproduce it, post it on Internet sites, and forward it to your friends.

Five million dollar randomized controlled trial sponsored by Thrasher Research Fund and NIH
Scientists around the world presented their work at the recent Vitamin D conference in Brugge, Belgium. Many, but not all, of the scientists opined that we have to wait for randomized controlled trials (RCT) before recommending Vitamin D. In a future newsletter, I will review many of these presentations.

However, one was extraordinary. Professor Bruce Hollis presented findings from his and Carol Wagner's five million dollar Thrasher Research Fund and NIH sponsored randomized controlled trials of about 500 pregnant women. Bruce and Carol's discoveries are vital for every pregnant woman. Their studies had three arms: 400, 2,000, and 4,000 IU/day.

1. 4,000 IU/day during pregnancy was safe (not a single adverse event) but only resulted in a mean Vitamin D blood level of 27 ng/ml in the newborn infants, indicating to me that 4,000 IU per day during pregnancy is not enough.

2. During pregnancy, 25(OH)D (Vitamin D) levels had a direct influence on activated Vitamin D levels in the mother’s blood, with a minimum Vitamin D level of 40 ng/ml needed for mothers to obtain maximum activated vitamin D levels. (As most pregnant women have Vitamin D levels less than 40 ng/ml, this implies most pregnant women suffer from chronic substrate starvation and cannot make as much activated Vitamin D as their placenta wants to make.)

3. Complications of pregnancy, such as preterm labor, preterm birth, and infection were lowest in women taking 4,000 IU/day, Women taking 2,000 IU per day had more infections than women taking 4,000 IU/day. Women taking 400 IU/day, as exists in prenatal vitamins, had double the pregnancy complications of the women taking 4,000 IU/day.

What does this huge randomized controlled trial mean?

We have long known that blood levels of activated Vitamin D usually rise during very early pregnancy, and some of it crosses the placenta to bathe the fetus, especially the developing fetal brain, in activated vitamin D, before the fetus can make its own. However, we have never known why some pregnant women have much higher activated Vitamin D levels than other women. Now we know; many, in fact most, pregnant women just don’t have enough substrate, the 25(OH)D building block, to make all the activated Vitamin D that their placenta wants to make.
Of course fetal tissues, at some time in their development, acquire the ability to make and regulate their own activated Vitamin D. However, mom’s activated Vitamin D goes up very quickly after conception and supplies it to baby, during that critical window when fetal development is occurring but the baby has yet to acquire the metabolic machinery needed to make its own activated Vitamin D.

The other possibility, that this is too much activated Vitamin D for pregnancy, cannot stand careful scrutiny. First, the amount of activated vitamin D made during pregnancy does not rise after the mother's 25(OH)D reaches a mean of 40 ng/ml, so the metabolism is controlled. Second, levels above 40 ng/ml are natural, routinely obtained by mothers only a few short decades ago, such as President Barack Obama's mom probably did, before the sun scare. (President Obama was born in Hawaii in late August before the sun-scare to a mother with little melanin in her skin) Third, higher blood levels of Vitamin D during pregnancy reduce risk of infection and other pregnancy complications, the opposite may be expected if 25(OH)D levels above 40 ng/ml constituted harm.

It is heartening to see the Thrasher Research Fund and NIH support such a large randomized controlled trial. In fact the Thrasher Research Fund has already funded a three year follow up and the NIH request for a follow up grant is pending. Nevertheless, a large number of medical scientists keep saying, "We need even more science before recommending Vitamin D." What are they really saying?

First they said we need randomized controlled trials (RCT) before we do anything. Well here is a big one. Then they say, as they did in Brugge, "We don't believe this RCT, we need more money for more RCTs." If you think about it, they are saying pregnant women should remain Vitamin D deficient until scientists get all the money for all the RCTs they want, which may take another ten years. How many children will be forever damaged in that ten years?

Amazing study just presented at American Heart Association meeting

Dr. Tami Bair and Dr. Heidi May, of the Intermountain Medical Center in Utah, report yet another study showing that your risk of heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure and death are dramatically increased by Vitamin D deficiency. In a presentation at the American heart Association meeting, they found that people with low levels (<> 30 ng/ml. All that disease and death occurred in only 13 months of follow up for the 27,000 people in the study.

New York Times: Vitamin D Shows Heart Benefits in Study

So how many Americans died this last year from Vitamin D deficiency? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? More? How many will die next year? Someone is responsible. Medical scientists who want more money before recommending that Vitamin D deficiency be treated have to assume responsibility. I am all for more studies but we have to act now, like we did with cigarettes. Remember, no human randomized controlled trials exist showing cigarettes are dangerous, so we have much more and better science than we did when we warned about smoking. If we fail to act on the dangers of Vitamin D deficiency, someone will end up with blood on their hands.

The Great Disappearing Act

We are currently witnessing one of the great mysteries of the natural world. The H1N1 outbreak is rapidly disappearing, despite a wealth of potential victims without antibodies to the virus, and yes, in spite of plummeting Vitamin D levels. In several weeks, the CDC will announce that perhaps one-third of Americans were infected in the last nine months and now have Swine flu antibodies, leaving the majority of the population still susceptible.

But this H1N1 virus is rapidly refusing the invitation to infect the two-third of Americans who are mostly immunological virgins and will soon recede until the next widespread outbreak, which may come this spring or next fall and winter. When H1N1 returns again, I predict it will cause more illness and death than it did this fall despite the fact it will attack a population with more H1N1 specific antibodies. Measles, another virus thought to transmit via respiratory secretions, would never forego the opportunity to infect so many virgins.

Influenzologists have no idea why this Disappearing Act happens. Dr. Edgar Hope-Simpson believed the reason lay in the mode of transmission; the current outbreak is ending despite a wealth of potential victims because the people transmitting the flu are suddenly no longer contagious. I recommend Hope-Simpson's book:

The Transmission of Epidemic Influenza (The Language of Science).

I also believe that only a small population was transmitting, not all those infected. If these good transmitters "and not all the sick" usually spread the virus, and their transmission period is limited, the epidemic would end shortly after the good transmitters lose their infectivity. Why they lose their infectivity is yet another mystery, but a mystery that fits the epidemiology of influenza.

Cannell JJ, Zasloff M, Garland CF, Scragg R, Giovannucci E. On the epidemiology of influenza. Virol J. 2008 Feb 25;5:29. Review.

Another incredible Disappearing Act, one that usually follows the introduction of a pandemic virus, is the rapid and usually complete replacement of seasonal flu with the pandemic one. It is as if the pandemic virus murders the seasonal flu. We will have to wait to see if that happens worldwide with this pandemic, but in the USA it has already happened. Last week the CDC reported that more than 99% of all influenza viruses identified in the USA were Swine flu. Only 1 of 1,874 influenza A viruses identified last week was seasonal flu. Where did the seasonal flu virus go?

Thanks to those who volunteered!

If your email address begins with A through E, you may have gotten my email asking for volunteers to help give feedback on our new website. We were overwhelmed with the response, ten times more than we needed. Thank you.

The reason for the request is that the Vitamin D Council has contracted with Minervation Ltd for $40,000 to build a new website over the next several years. We can only afford $1,000 per month so it take three and a half years to pay them, however; the first version of the new site is scheduled to go up in the late fall of 2010.

We decided to make our site more accessible, so if you only want to know about Vitamin D and pregnancy, you will be able to pull up the information quickly. Our new website will also update Vitamin D articles in the press and scientific studies from the National Library of Medicine automatically every day.

We also want to clearly separate fact from opinion, so readers can easily see what the science is and what our opinion is. Finally, as you know, the Vitamin D Council unfortunately has to market products, like the in-home Vitamin D blood test, to stay in business. The new website will prominently display all of our potential conflicts so readers will know them up front.
If you want our new website up and running sooner than 12 months, consider making a dedicated donation, either by using the snail mail address below or via PayPal on our website. We are now going on our seventh year of operation and plan on 20 more years, in spite of the fact that all 15 of our requests for grants were recently turned down.

Did you know that when you Google "Vitamin D," you will get more than 12 million hits? Our current website is usually ranked either number 1 or 2 of those 12 million, beating out the NIH, Mayo Clinic and Wikipedia on most days? This is almost entirely due to our webmaster Dana Clark. However, we believe we can dramatically improve our website, with your help.

John Cannell, MD
This newsletter may be reproduced as long as you properly and prominently attribute it source. Please reproduce it, post it on Internet sites, and forward it to your friends.
Remember, we are a non-profit and rely on your donations to publish our newsletter, maintain our website, and pursue our objectives. Send your tax-deductible contributions to:
The Vitamin D Council
585 Leff Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93422

Sunday is Cooking day!

2009-11-15T14:28:00.002-05:00

I've found that if I cook breakfast and lunches for the week on Sunday and then fridge or freeze them (depending on the item) I have a lot more time during the weeknight evenings. I just finished making EggFace's Pizza Bites - Delish. Cooked up some Quaker Steel Cut Oats with dried fruit and walnuts for Hubby and make Hungry Girls - Sweet 'n Chunky Chicken Salad.

So breakfast for Hubby and I this week is done, two days of lunch are done and I'm trying another Kraft One Bag Five Dinners menu this week - so easy and convenient! Time to go pick up the cherub from work - maybe I'll find time to get in a shower today!!

Would you like some cheese with that WHINE?

2009-11-15T14:06:00.003-05:00

So Kohls is running quite a sale right now. $10 bonus bucks for every $50 you spend plus, if you have a charge card you would have received a 30% off coupon (I also got a $10 gift card in the mail, go figure). I'm a fan of Kohls on Facebook so their reminder post came up-to tell the truth cash is tight this week and I did not head to the store to spend money I didn't have. I did how ever read through the Facebook posts about the sale and guess what??? I am so tired of the whiners - I can't handle (or get) a charge, its not fair they get extra coupons, wa wa wa wa.

Get a life. I handle my credit responsibly. Unless there is a "Spend XX get no interest for XX months" I only spend what I have the disposable cash to cover for the month. No, I do not pay interest on credit cards, I treat them like cash with a delayed due date. So if Kohls wants to provide extra benefits to those that have credit accounts and could possibly make Kohls more money by carrying a balance who the hell are you to whine that its not fair??

Be a responsible adult, get a card, spend what you can afford, pay it off and reap the benefits. Coupons and a better credit score (in case you want to buy a car or house in the future). If you cant handle it and run out and max out your card, don't pay your bills and dig yourself into a hole who's fault is that??? Waaaaaaa Kohl's wouldn't give me a coupon unless I opened a charge so its their fault. Waaaaaaa I'm broke now because they gave me $1000 free money and now I find out I have to pay it back. Waaaaaaaa Give me a coupon.

Sorry, I'm very crabby today....forget it, I'm not really sorry.

Giveaway - Check out this blog

2009-11-03T22:41:00.001-05:00

Free stuff and a new blog to follow!! Priceless, go check it out!

http://produceprincess.blogspot.com/2009/11/giving-back-giveaway.html

Dr. Visit - Year 4

2009-11-02T11:50:00.002-05:00

So I survived my four year surgeons visit. Yup I'm up about 25lbs from last year, yup I'm eating to much. So Dr. Jones did a .5cc fill which when you consider that my band holds 4cc and I've been working with 2cc for the past two years, its kinda a big jump. I've now become one of those people that have a hard time with anything thicker than liquids before 5pm and then I can chow on anything at night. Seeing as night snacking has always been my issue this may not be a great thing.

Right now I'm going to work with it. Going back to basics, measuring, logging and visiting OH for support. I'm tight enough now that if I make the mistake of eating to close to bed time I end up with some night time reflux, so I've been watching that (reflux free the past couple nights now that I've made the connection).

My PTH came up high this year about 20 pts above "normal". I'm increasing my vitamin D to 5000 IU per day and my calcium to 1500 mg. Other than that my labs are all good. BP is 109/77, I was border hypertensive preop so its nice to see my BP in the normal range without doing the salt Nazi thing. Well, I guess I should strap on my Sketchers Shape Ups and head out for a walk. Talk later!

The Great Chai Tea Experiment

2009-10-18T15:29:00.004-04:00

I recently purchased a Keurig coffee maker. Wonderful machine, I'm addicted. I also found Chai Latte K-cups, delicious tea, milk and spice combo. The down side - a box of 16 cups is $9.99. Its cheaper than the local chain donut shop and at 70 calories its a lot better for you. There must be a way to copy cat this drink and make it even healthier right? Success, after a couple of attempts my daughter has given this final recipe her side by side taste test approval. I am using the "My K-cup" attachment for my Keurig to make this but you can also just throw all the ingredients in a cup and add hot water - you will have some spice residue in the bottom of you cup if you make it this way so you may want to avoid that last sip.

Chai Tea Latte copy cat

2 tsp unsweetened instant tea powder
2 packets sweetener (I use the blue stuff)
dash each ground Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, and Cardamom. (to taste)
Splash of Milk

I have a dash spoon (at the very front of the picture) that I use for the spices two for the cardamom and one for each of the others but you can adjust to your taste - a little goes a long way. Put all of the dry ingredients into your "My K-Cup" and brew on the mug setting (7.25 oz or close to). Add milk (your favorite kind, I used Moo cups) to taste, it will be a very light color. Enjoy!! The only calories in this drink come from the milk so its really a great alternative to instant sugar laden options. The powdered portion can also be mixed with your favorite vanilla protein shake!

Me and My Band - A Love/Hate Story

2009-10-12T17:35:00.002-04:00

So I've been banded for 4 years now and love my band, I hate it just as much though. Year one was great - lost 80lbs, had a couple of fills bringing me to about 1.5 cc. Year two slowed down but I got rid of another almost 20 lbs, sitting just short of 100lbs lost. I had a fill that year bringing me to a solid 2cc (my band holds 4cc). Year three brought a loss of 3lbs and a total of 100lbs down but also a new panic in me - late onset complications.

Late onset complications seems to be a big topic of conversation lately. Bands do well the first couple of years but the longer you have one you are statistically more likely to have a problem. The major ones being erosion and slippage. I was scared so at year three I asked my surgeon for a slight unfill. He stated that going backwards could cause a fill/un-fill yoyo effect that he didn't want to start. He didn't feel that I was to tight and told me to take 6 months and think about it. His stance on late complication is "They're going to happen to some people, don't worry until you have to".

So here I set at year 4, no I did not go in to get an unfill. I still have 2ccs and I also gained up to 29lbs back??? WTF?? A the end of year three I was at my all time low of 197lbs - these days I hover between 220-225. I have my four year check up coming up and I almost panicked and canceled the appointment. Why, because I'm ashamed that I've gained back so much weight. No matter how much I try to "diet" it off (for the last 6 months) it wont go. I feel like I've failed me and my surgeon.

Stop, think, light dawns! I've been so worried about keeping my fill level as low as possible to avoid problems that I think that I have under used my tool. I've been stupidly sitting here with a half full band, trying to diet (gee, that didn't work for the first 20 years of my life) and wondering why I'm gaining. I realized, I'm hungry. Yes, I'm snacking more then I did the first two years and making some bad choices but damn it - I'm Hungry. I've made some positive changes, I quit smoking, my gym attendance is way up and I have a solid group of support peeps (you know who you are!). So now its time to look at the only thing that hasn't changed, my band.

Next week I am going to keep my surgeons appointment, I am going to tell him "Yes, I eat to much, but I'm hungry" and hopefully he will agree that a fill and a 6 month check up (instead of a year) is just what the doctor ordered. Now that I've decided that this is what is going to be best I'm kinda excited. I would really like to see this journey come to the point that I want it to be at - near normal BMI and Happy!!.

I Love Free Stuff

2009-09-29T19:38:00.002-04:00

And some of our WLS guru's are very generous (not to mention some of our WLS specific companies trying to get their name out there). Our celeb from Hollywood East is giving away a months supply of BB Vitamins. Multi, calcium and iron - I've had the iron and calcium and they are both great so visit Beth's site and give her some love. Maybe she'll give you some vitamins in return!!

Join the contest

Bridgewater residents watch explosion set off for movie - The Boston Globe

2009-09-27T17:48:00.002-04:00

Bridgewater residents watch explosion set off for movie - The Boston Globe

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Whichita Filming - Stars snub residents of Bridgewater

2009-09-26T15:23:00.006-04:00

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are filming in my home town. It would be great if 20th Century Fox and the actors were a little more friendly towards the people who ultimately pay their salaries but I guess Hollywood is just to important to not ignore the little people. A 200+ strong crew and 20+ tractor trailers drove down my small, quiet dead end street to park in the corn field that was previously a cow farm. I grew up here, played in these fields as a child and was very excited to hear that we'd be hosting the Hollywood stars, that is until I found out that they weren't even willing to wave to residents.

The property being used backs up to my neighbors house and is surrounded by a six foot chain link fence. Thursday evening at 6pm that fence was lined with 50+ residents and guests that had come to cheer and wave to Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz as their helicopter landed. Parking had been set up between the landing site and the eager residents. As the copter landed police and firefighters moved in to block the view of the stars as they hopped into a waiting car and drove, not by their fans, but around the parking lot to reach their location. It wouldn't have been time consuming or difficult for them to have passed by the fence line to give a wave to the eagerly waiting children and adults but it was not to be.

Day two of filming is the much anticipated "explosion". As on the previous night fans lined the fence line to catch a glimpse of the stars but were thwarted again - not by a line of town personnel but instead a yellow smoke bomb. Lit after the helicopter touchdown, with the apparent sole purpose of obscuring the view of the celebrities. I can only assume that Tom is unwilling to rub elbows with the little people that make his success what it is? The lawn parties started at dark with small bone fires for warmth (we were braving the 35 degree night to see the pyrotechnic wonders) good food, friends and conversation. That is until Mr. Moon from 20th Century Fox came to tell us that we were being to loud and would need to tone it down.

Say what?? That's right folks, the movie location that was "so remote it wouldn't bother the residents" was picking up our voices and were were told to be quiet on the set - the set we couldn't even get a tour of. A short time later a crew member, Steve from Framingham, was sent down to signal us when it was OK to converse in the private back yard of my neighbor. Pretty freaking funny, huh?

Most of the parties broke up around 5am - hours after residents were told the pyrotechnics would be lit. Most people, disappointed that Hollywood couldn't have been a little friendlier, headed home. A handful of the party goers stuck it out thinking "it couldn't be long now" and were rewarded with a large explosion at 5:20am, hour after it was expected. The film crews are gone and I say good riddance. They will be cleaning up the field over the next month and life on Curve Street can return to its small town normalcy. I won't be seeing the movie in theaters - Tom could spare us a wave, I'll keep my $10. I'll probably buy it next year when its on the $5 rack at Wal-Mart so that I have record of Bridgewater's short lived fame.

There had been a meeting for resident held by the film company and town officials. Were given contact information and asked to call with any problems, questions or concerns. I did that when my 17 year old daughter was told by Bridgewater police that she would need to walk from the top of the street to our house because the friend who brings here home from school didn't have a resident pass. I spoke with an officer that said he would have Lt. Chris Delmonte call me back regarding the incident. Its three days later and filming is done, we had no further issue and I never got a call back from anyone at the Bridgewater Police Dept. I'm glad this was our towns way of putting resident "first".

The up side - my daughter did several print and video interviews. She received her first 15 minutes of fame - maybe its a start!

Channel 7 interview
Enterprise Interview
Bridgewater Observer - soon to come

The plane, the plane....

2009-09-21T14:42:00.001-04:00

To bad this is probably the most we are going to see - Maybe Tom and Cameron will stop in for drinks??

Arrgh I cand breve

2009-09-20T09:55:00.004-04:00

I hit the snooze button way to many times today. I'm not sure why I keep torturing myself instead of just setting the alarm for when I really want to get up instead of when I think I should. I'm a grown adult with grown children, no one is waiting for me to feed or change them. If I want to get up at 10am on Sunday I should! I'm up now with a sore snooze button finger and a nice hot cup of Gingerbread coffee.

I'm gonna go check on my Twitter Gals and then do the weekend cleaning whirlwind to put the house back in order. It will be destroyed again by Tuesday but hey that's life I guess. On a more exciting note constr .... that thought interrupted by "I dropped a damn rock on my finger"

Went to drop my daughter off at work and when I came back I noticed a couple of rocks had tumbled off the stone wall. While repositioning them I dropped one on my pointy finger....owwww

Java Java Java.....

2009-09-18T23:35:00.004-04:00

So after listening to the praises from a few ladies that I know that LOVE coffee I decided that I needed a Keurig to!! Picked up Model B70 from BJs Wholesale Club today, $139 including 70 assorted coffee pods. Took it home, cleaned it and started making coffee.

Three cups in fact, for me, between the hours of 8-11 PM! Could be the reason I'm writing this up tonight instead of tomorrow. Well what can I say other than "Thank the coffee gods!". I love this machine.

Its quiet, quick and kinda cute. I'm off to Bed, Bath and Beyond tomorrow to hunt down some elusive flavored K-Cups (pumpkin spice here I come). So if you want coffee quick, yummy and with no mess - Keurig is gonna make you smile, and jump up and down, and stay up all night apparently!

The Collection

2009-09-17T13:38:00.003-04:00

Collecting Blogs - does that sound kinda stalkerish?? I've met up with a lot of cool people since having WLS. We tend to congregate in little cyber pockets, complete with coffee, on Twitter and other social networking sites. We all have one thing in common but many things that make us unique that is why I'm stalking everyone for their Blogs/Vlogs.

I mean the great recipes, ideas, products - if that weren't enough there is the element of getting to know others who's lives parallel your own. My surgeon recommends strongly that WLS patients find a support group. I've tried the in person ones. Not enough consistency in some, to many people or to few in others but what I've found online is a group of people that works. We're similar but not the same, we're real.

Really if it weren't for MeltingMama I wouldn't have found an iron supplement I could tolerate. Eggface gave me back cake!! There is a lot of info out there so start updating those blogs - I'm gonna try keeping up with mine. There is a box to the right with all of the current blogs I have collected from Twitter and the WLS Twibe - I will update as new blogs make their way to me! Enjoy

Eggface Give Away - BB Vitamins

2009-09-14T11:36:00.005-04:00

In bariatric circles there are a handful of veterans that really know their stuff. Shelly aka Eggface is one of the best. A staple for post op bariatric patients looking for good food that is pouch friendly and yummy "The World According to Eggface" has no equal. Protein muffins, bites, and ice cream...yes ice cream with a healthy pro WLS spin. Its all been taste tested, I've made a bunch and can truly say...thanks.... 5 minute protein cake saved my sweet tooth!!

Eggface is kind enough to be giving away a 30 supply of BB Vitamins, multi, calcium and iron - a well known name and my personal favorite. So head on over to visit Eggface, get some great recipes and enter to win some killer vitamins!! Now, do it!

Apple Cobbler in a Glass

2009-08-14T18:40:00.004-04:00

I've been messing around with protein shakes as a pre-work out snack and stumbled upon this one. I bought BSN Dessert Protein Powder in Fresh Cinnamon Roll flavor and didn't really like it as a stand alone shake - add a few ingredients and you have a delicious and nutritious breakfast shake or guilt free dessert.

1 scoop BSN Desert Protein - Fresh Cinnamon Roll
8 oz Unsweetened Almond Breeze Vanilla (or your favorite "milk" product)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/3 cup Sugar Free Apple Pie Filling (Turning Leaf or I found a Walmart brand)
a cup or so of ice

Place all ingredients except for ice in the blender and pulse for a few seconds to blend up the apples. Add ice and blend until smooth. Enjoy

Calories 200 Fat 6g Carbs 17g (sugar 10g, fiber 3g) Protein 21g (based on almond milk)

So it appears I'm a sucky Blogger...LOL

2009-08-14T15:33:00.001-04:00

Its apparently been a while - I'm still crazy but I guess I've stopped writing about it here. I will have to correct that error this weekend. I'll sit my butt down and commune with the cyber world soon. Is anybody out there??

Jr. Prom 2009

2009-05-01T22:43:00.003-04:00

Put a leash on it!

2009-04-30T08:40:00.004-04:00

I went out for a run last night - about 10:30, its dark and quiet and cool and a perfect time to run when you're just learning how (long story). My neighborhood is a little over a mile loop so it works out well - until you run into to unleashed dogs in the dark. Ever seen the caught on video dog attacks?? Well that is all that was running through my head.

Apparently, because we live in a rather rural area, some people believe that its OK to inflict their pets on others. Don't get me wrong, I love animals. I have three cats and several koi. I keep all three of my cats indoors, where they are safe from cars and animals and the wild birds are safe from them (don't even get me started on poop). My neighbor has 2 cats that he feels Mother Nature should care for - so they drink out of my pond (occasionally injuring Koi worth good money), they sit under my bird feeders and kill the birds (so I no longer fill my feeders and can not enjoy the birds) and they shit in my gardens - thanks neighbor.

Although I'm not a "dog" person I am not normally afraid of dogs - I don't believe that certain breeds are dangerous just because of the breed they are - rather its how they are raised that affects a dogs temperment. That being said - being pursued by a pair of pittbulls in the dark is still disconcerting! Please people - keep your animals under control because I am going to feel really bad when I am forced to report you to animal control! Not half as bad as you are going to feel if your dogs hurt someone or get hurt while roaming the streets.

2009-04-28T17:56:00.001-04:00

Talk about total geekdom I am posting from my cell phone. Why? Because I just found out I can! :-O

LOL - Leaping Lizards

2009-04-28T10:14:00.003-04:00

Disney 2009

2009-04-26T16:09:00.000-04:00

Twilight

2009-03-21T01:00:00.005-04:00

OK, so I'll admit it. I'm one of those 30 something Moms who fell in love with Twilight. My daughter and I went to the midnight screening of the movie the first night it opened. I was planing on taking her with me to Wally World tonight to pick up the movie but the cherub was to sleepy... so my hubby tagged along instead. Now this is probably the first time I've dissed my Wally World but I am soooo fed up with that place. The employees are obnoxious, the store is always messy and more often than not lately I just can't find what I want. Come on guys, is a plain white shirt to much to ask.

So I arrive tonight expecting to run in, grab a couple of items and Twilight and be home in an hour. HA HA HA. They had the line for the movie running almost half way around the perimeter of the store while they rang out two customers at a time in a little back room. Its a Super Wal-Mart, its huge. Its not gold @$$holes - throw the displays out along the main isle (all of them) open up as many registers as you can and rake in the money. I left, I also left everything else I was going to buy. Target opens at 8 am tomorrow and they have an exclusive 3 disc set with an additional 45 minutes of bonus features for the same price. Even those some moronic Wal-Mart employee wanted to argue with me over this fact instead of stocking his damn cat litter. STFU if you're stocking cat litter at 12:30am nobody wants your expert opinion.

On the way out I listened to a manager or supervisor grill a group of employees, in front of everyone in the store, about how many times they go to the bathroom. She had just finished reaming "advice" guy and told him "Don't talk to the customers no matter who they are". Classy place. I'm done, Wal-Mart officially sucks in my book and I'll drive the extra 5 miles to Target, at least its clean! Rant over, going to bed now, thanks for listening.

Road Rage

2009-03-17T17:59:00.004-04:00

So my daughter tells me that I have road rage - she's in drivers ed so it must be true!

I guess I do boarder on rage, mostly I just really can't stand bad drivers. People who are ignorant or inconsiderate or just plain dumb (and yes driving while yakking away on your cell phone is dumb). Today I left work, pulled out onto the industrial park access road that brings me to the park and the exit - the only other access to this road between me and the park is the back parking lot of a hotel. The road is pin straight in that area and I'm coasting down at about 45mph.

As soon as I saw the car I knew it was going to piss me off and it did. Pulled out right in front of me, without even pausing at the turn onto the access road, going a whopping 5 mph - even the arithmetic challenged among us knows that isn't going to work. But me, being the kind soul that I am, didn't drive right through the ass end of her car. What I did do was wait until the very last minute before applying my brakes. I was never in danger of hitting her but she was so far out in LaLa land that she must not have seen me until I was almost in her back seat. So what do you do when you think someone is going to rear end you? PUT ON THE BRAKES. Ya, I was dealing with a moron of the highest level.

So I know I have her attention because the passenger in her car sits up turn around and looks right at me. What do I do - just shake my head, all the way out of the industrial park, I followed her shaking my head. I thought I was making her nervous because she was driving like a lunatic but I bet that is an all the time thing....where is your ray gun when you need it. I could have engraved "Beware, stupid driver" on the side of her car to keep the general public safe.

Now on the topic of the general public - what is wrong with teenagers? Especially when they're in a pack??? To the six 15 year old boys with no helmets on that thought it would be fun to play chicken with an already pissed off, dieting woman in a white car - "Be careful, next time I could be an 80 year old blind man or a drunk and you may not be so lucky" Time to de -stress, going for a 2 mile walk with Hubby. Catch you later!

Walking

2009-03-15T19:11:00.003-04:00

I hate exercise. Always have, that is probably why I weighed over 300 lbs at my biggest. Walking is the least expensive, easiest exercise to do. You don't need anything other than some good shoes, you can walk anywhere. Your street, the mall, out door recreation areas, the park or woods or the field across the street. Your options are limitless. Once I'm up and moving I'm usually OK - maybe some stray gripes every once in a while if its a particularly "anti" exercise day.

My hubby asks and then stands there like a puppy dog until I relent. If I wont he normally storms off, making me feel guilty so I go. Today's walk was the two mile loop around the hood, it only takes about 35 minutes and I feel better afterward but boy do I hate exercise. I wish it weren't the secret to a healthy body weight! Grrrrr.

South Beach

2009-03-14T17:07:00.004-04:00

I know spring is barely here so don't get excited. Its not a real beach rather "The South Beach Diet". Hubby and I spent about six weeks on the beach this winter with great results....the only problem being the outrageous grocery bills and the fact that I spent almost every free moment chopping vegetables. So I packed up my sand chair and retired to the real world.

Spring is knocking on our door now and hubby (and me to kinda) is feeling FAT. "What about all that stuff we were eating before?" he asks. "Oh, you mean the chopped salads every day for lunch and the omelets for breakfast, the hours of prep work and chopping." "Yup" he says "that was good."

So off to the store to buy the South Beach Diet book I went today. Last time I did their web program and found that the $100 a year or what ever it costs wasn't worth it because I couldn't log my own food on their site. I still had to use The Daily Plate (which I highly recommend - the free one is great!!!). So tonight with book and note pad in hand I will set out to create a grocery list, very much like writing a short novel only I don't get paid. So if I never post again you know where I am - chopping veggies in the kitchen. This time I bought better cutting supplies.

Lapriscopic Adjustable Gastric Band

2009-03-14T00:12:00.004-04:00

Other wise know as The Lap-Band. Yes, I have one. I was banded in Sept 2005 and lost 100lbs. I still have some weight to get rid of - like most Americans. Sometimes I'm good - sometimes I'm really bad. My personal opinion is that Bariatric Surgery can be beneficial for the right people. I don't see asking for help as a sign of weakness - more like embracing my imperfectness. I am and always have been very open and vocal about WLS. The pros and cons, the good, bad, and ugly. You can view my OH profile here. If you have questions there are wonderful people all over OH that can answer them. Well its tomorrow now so off to bed I go - busy day today, I don't have work. I do have to bring my daughter to the SATs at 7:30 am, pick up my Mom, son, nephew and niece and take them to breakfast, take my son to the bank, bring him home, pick up my daughter from the SATs, bring her to work, go grocery shopping (bring home, lug in and put away said groceries) and pick my daughter up from work - all before 5pm. Then I get to make dinner!!

Imperfect Soup

2009-03-13T23:28:00.005-04:00

Extreme Diet Soup - sounds extreme but really its a chicken and vegetable soup recipe I found in one of those "ladies" magazines, you know "Drop 10 lbs and keep it off". Well of course I would love to drop ten pounds but I highly doubt this soup is going to help me...it just looked good. Chicken, black beans, jalapenos, and other fresh veggies. I figured I'd make a double batch and keep it in the fridge for lunches/snacks during the week. No I will not freeze any because I have freezer phobia and putting food that didn't come from the store frozen into my freezer is a death sentence.

So, with the awesome chopping assistance of my hubby and one really dull knife we made short work of three lbs of chicken, 16 cups of chicken broth, two jalapenos and a small fortune of other ingredients. I simmered, tasted, simmered, peppered and a couple of hours later - home made soup. Yum.

Now I couldn't put 8 quarts of hot soup in the fridge, first the pan wouldn't fit and that much heat in the fridge we all know is a recipe for disaster. OK, let it cool on the stove and then put it in. This is a great idea, if you don't get sleepy and forget, yes we both forgot, that you have soup on the stove. Imagine my surprise upon rising for work the next day when this thought popped into my head - "Who put away the soup??"

No one would be the answer. So my double batch of perfect homemade soup was dumped down the drain. All three pounds of chicken, 16 cups of broth even the two jalapenos. Now I won't lie, there was that split second where I though "So just how long has it really been out?" but I couldn't go through with it. So I lamented the loss of my soup while asking hubby what he would like for dinner instead - "Just make spaghetti" was his reply - would have been great if I had some sauce lying around somewhere. OH well there is always next week - maybe I'll stick with a single batch this time though.