Stop diabetes, prevent heart attacks and erectile dysfunction while defeating depression: ahh Exercise

Oh the many things exercise is capable of. There's an article today in the Times that highlights the many health benefits, both physical and emotional, of exercise. Whether it's lowering the risk of heart attack, stroke, depression, hypertension, diabetes (notice the top stories link diabetes to increased risks for heart attacks and depression), obesity, dementia, osteoporosis, gallstones, diverticulitis, falls, erectile dysfunction, peripheral vascular disease and 12 kinds of cancer, physical activity can seemingly do it all!

Exercise may just be the elixir of life as it is even known to help with ailments like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, congestive heart failure and osteoarthritis.

If you know someone who is battling illness or struggling with weight I think the article will help encourage them to take exercise seriously, it sure motivates me.

I tried yesterday's "look hot in jeans" workout and it was mildly awesome, short (about 17 minutes), and just the right amount of difficulty. I recommend playing some Bon Jovi in the background. I plan to add some cardio later, perhaps with the dog again. If you tried the jeans workout, let me know what you thought of it.

The Tamagotchi: Can that possibly be the most memorable gift?

A while back my friend Pamela was on a hunt for the Mariposa Barbie, it had just come out, an Easter release. Presents are the new Easter basket. Anyways, everywhere she went the thing was sold out, so Kevin and I got in on the fun.

Kevin was so adorable as he made me stop store after store proclaiming "I didn't even know what a Mariposa was before today but I simply must have it." He will be a good/spoiling dad someday.

After two days of searching we found the Barbie. I drove to a mall in a mostly African American area and bought the sparkliest one. Perhaps African American little girls don't care for Barbie in the same way, there were many black and many white versions of the doll still available.

I saw the doll last weekend, in pieces at Pamela's house. As appealing as the sparkly doll is, apparently her large wings were not as fun and seem to fall off easily, proving more of a bother to Emma than a thrill.

It all makes me wonder what lengths my parents went to in order to buy me the perfect gift and whether I appreciated the toy as much as their efforts (mostly mom's efforts) would have deserved. There are a few that I still appreciate to this day, some of them Barbie related.

The Barbie Ice Cream Shoppe, which made real ice cream (maybe twice), and Peaches and Cream Barbie are two specific Barbie ones. I loved that peach dress and her soft curls, and after watching that terrible commercial, I wish she was here to play with right now. There are many other great things I was given through the years, but the Tamagotchi is possibly the strangest of all.

The Tamagotchi - I wanted this stupid digital pet so bad. It was shaped like an egg and had a couple of buttons that could be used to "feed" and "play" with the pet. I remember sitting in the kitchen on Nelson, talking about this toy and then out of nowhere she bought it for me simply for wanting it. It really was a stupid toy and I was a little old to be wanting it, but I still remember how awesome it was at the time and how surprised and happy I was to get it. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Images from www.wikipedia.com and www.ebay.com

Opening Day

It's Opening Day, and the closest I got to Detroit was my picture with the light bulbs.

Today is a personal Holiday. I take it off every year to watch the Detroit Tigers start the season. This year, Kevin took the day off too and we made plans to head downtown and camp out on a bar stool in front of a large TV. Much fun!

Unfortunately, Kevin was sick and he watched most of opening day with his eyes closed and slippers on as he lay in bed.

Dana came by to watch the first couple of innings, but I spent most of opening day watching our TV and ironing. Ella kept me company though, she was more interested in digging in the freshly clean sheets than whether Cabrera was worth the money.

The game lasted forever with suspenseful overtime that lead to heartache, sigh. Baseball season is here and even though today did not go as I planned I am so happy to have the only *sport I truly enjoy talking about back on the tube!

* I also enjoy talking about curling and how I would like to be on the USA Olympic team. "Whoa whoa whooaaaa!" See, I have the yelling part down and I am pretty good with a broom too.

Quick Updates

Quick updates: More to come tomorrow for WLW.

1. I am still just like my father. This time we can thank Aunt Dorothy for reminding me. I also think I am just like her. Freaky concepts I know. But I think they, and I are all intelligent somewhat stubborn individuals with strong opinions and valid arguments. We are well-intentioned and good hearted, there may even be some scruples involved...

2. Sometimes when you're depressed, which I am not ashamed to admit I have been battling, you just need to talk about your feelings. Find a good friend that can listen and be patient. Sometimes you just need to be the one to do the talking.

3. I am honored to be standing up in the wedding of Ericia Thrash and Dave Caras. I know how stressful planning all of that jazz can get, but she is handling it so well and is going to be a beautiful bride. I don't have a link to her dress but if you want to see the Maids, check us out here and here. I am pretty sure those are the ones.

Must not owe for the rest of my life

Saving money and catching up are a big deal. Big deal. Like most people my age, or any age, we:

Carry too much debt.
Don't save enough.
Don't contribute enough toward retirement.
Buy stuff we don't need.

So it's time to fix it. A few months back I started saving 20% of my check, and wouldn't you know it, all I can think about is spending it on a vacation! But alone it sits for now. I know I should be putting it all towards debt, it's just difficult. I like that there is a little stock pile, and I mean little!

I have to get over it, I have to focus on spending, or not spending or smart spending. Something. It can be frustrating. But now that I have been caffeine free for over a week, and yes, the withdrawals have pretty much gone away, I need to start saving more than that three dollars a day. The savings are helpful, but I am a believer in baby steps, and that means that I must take another towards being frugal. Ack, somewhere my dads heart is beating faster and a he has an unexplainable smile plastered across his face. He'll read this later and think, "ah, she gets it, no wonder I was so giddy last night."

I do get it, but the self control it takes is huge. I am a firm believer that we are only allowed so much self control in a day. I think I use a lot of my self discipline focusing on the needs/happiness of others, and I like this about myself. It makes me feel good. Perhaps I need to better divide that time by using some of my discipline to monitor both my spending and my eating. I would feel a lot better about myself. I could write a whole post on self control, so I will save it for another day.

Hey is that about me?

Do you ever read the paper and think when did I give that interview? When reading the paper I stumbled upon an article that defines so many situations in my life I really thought I must have wrote it, or at the very least, been the inspiration. I didn't and I wasn't, but, when it played out in my head...

For those that don't know, I am a vegetarian, and my husband is, well not. He actually detests most things green (edible, not eco-friendly). The article talked about the toll it takes on relationships, how some can make it through, and the challenges faced in daily life.

Over the years Kevin has learned the importance of separate spoons. For those of you out there thinking of cooking for a strict vegetarian, spoon to sauce contamination is a big thing to watch out for.

Note the two spoon rests in our kitchen

The same holds true for any spread you may use from a jar, once the knife has touched the meat infested sandwich it is not welcome back in the condiment, so take what you want the first time!

This rule holds true for a second element of the article, dealing with those gluten starved celiac patients in your life. Well, at least, dealing with the one in mine.

I am always emailing restaurants trying to find out what she can eat and what she can't, but mostly our system works like this.

Chipotle, Red Robin, Chipotle, Recipes, Chipotle, Red Robin, Chipotle Recipes...

If you haven't figured out what comes next, was there ever any hope?

The moral of the story,

Learning to live with a vegetarian is, well, a challenge I'm sure, but with patience and tolerance, possible.

Living without gluten is, I am guessing completely unacceptable, but necessary.

Letting a vegetarian and a celiac sufferer dine together...who on Earth would've let us find each other?

What to do when you're just like your parents? Deal.

"You're just like your father." It's true. I am also, at times, just like my mother. I am fairly happy (made peace with) about it. They raised me, and being like them is certainly not the worst thing. At times it may even be the best.

So why do people use it as an insult? When having a recent debate with my grandma and mom, things went crazy. My grandma made a statement and backed it up. I then made a statement, and backed it up. Apparently I had too much back up. (How dare I have multiple reasons to support what I say?)

My mother shoots off a "You're just like your father," and grandma quickly agrees. My father is a lot of things, some of them good and some of them bad, but he knows how to debate an issue. He follows the news religiously, cites facts and sources when he supports or negates a stance, and takes time to look at other sides. Admittedly, it can get intense. From years of trying to assert my "right-ness" or "left-ness" as the case may be, I too have learned to follow these things with diligence. Yes, it is true I enjoy debating topics from politics, environment, movies, and even food. I like opinions, I like the "why factor." And, when you've known me for a day, a year, or a lifetime, you know what to expect when offering your opinion.

Extra, extra, read all about it!

A few nights ago our dog, Bailey, was barking at 5 a.m. This greatly concerned my husband, Kevin, because she doesn’t bark without reason.

Kevin: The dog was barking and she doesn't bark just to bark. So I got up, and there was a car parked in our driveway, and the door was open! And it was in our DRIVEWAY!
Me: um, a car, at 5, in our driveway?
Kevin: YES!
Me: um, and is there now a paper on your front porch?
Kevin: um, oh, that makes sense. Well, at least she told me someone was there.

I love him!

Should I stay or should I go now...

My life has been pretty high stress of late, and not just because Inky, my in-laws' dog, has been staying with us. The job market here, in Michigan, scares me to death. All around me, businesses are closing their doors. I can see high-end stores hurting when the economy goes a bit south, but what gets me is the TJ Max by our house just closed and now a handful of Value City's are out the door.

When the Mecca of discount goods and the wanna be, Value City, see no value in staying open that can only mean bad, really bad, things are to come. Without the $8.00 an hour retail job, the underemployed of this state will have no place to turn for work. And without jobs, even bad ones, the economy will only get worse.

Which brings me to the stress. We are talking about an exit strategy. Do I want to leave my family and friends? NO! But, we may have to. I am very lucky to have a job, and even luckier that it is in a field I truly enjoy. I am thrilled we can squeak out our mortgage (and that we took the fixed rate) but one surprise and our resources will be tapped. Should I be thrilled to be getting by?

People always talk about not leaving your family, but that is what my family did to get here. My grandparents were born in other states; they all came here for jobs. Because there were jobs. But, today there are none. Have these wise people taught me nothing? I think it's only right that I go were the work is. I wanted to grow up and see my name in lights, but all that means; I want to be a success!

Confused by it all...

Yes Dad

On the phone with Dad yesterday:

Dad: Well hello baby.
Me: Hi Daddy.
Dad: What it is?
Me: Just driving home.
Dad: Did you check your oil?
Me: Yes Dad.
Dad: Lie?
Me: Yes Dad.
Dad: Check your oil.

Turns out I am going to have that exact conversation once a week until eternity.

The silver lining? My brother also has the same conversation at least once a week.

The funny part? He never checks his or mom's.