It just occurred to me that I've been well for a long time. No cold, flu, infections that start with allergies, etc. I used to get colds a lot, especially in the spring and fall here in the allergy capital, Austin, TX.
I attribute this to several lifestyle changes over the years. Some may seem common sense and some may surprise you. But I assure you they are worth the trouble (and expense) to my health.
Wanna know what I did differently?
1. Keep my purse off the kitchen counter where food prep happens. For me, this meant reserving a 2 ft part of my 6 ft long island for a catch-all area, including my germy purse bottom. And using only 4 ft for cutting raw or cooked meat, veggies, fruits. Who knows what bacteria I picked up from the grocery carts or bathroom floors? Keep your food prep area holy.
2. Investing in a reverse osmosis water system. By drinking less chlorine and other water cleaning chemicals, my immune system was boosted immediately. We got it hooked up to the ice and water dispenser on the fridge too. It's nice to have better, safer water easily accessible at home! Yes, it's pricey but my family and my health is worth it! And it tastes wonderful too!
3. Worked and volunteered several years around preschoolers which exposed me to things that my body now fights off easily. Followed by working at a hospital which exposes me to different things my immune cells recognize and attach quickly. If you get a chance to be around little ones who attend a preschool or Mother's day out, take it!
4. Scrubbing with bacterial killing soap a few times a week and using anti-bacterial gels at the hospital. Plus longer hand washing with no antibacterial soap at home with more friction-making moves. Preschools and hospitals are great places to find immune boosting surfaces! Go visit people you know in the hospital or volunteer to work with kids at church!
Your body has to learn how to fight and exposure to the enemy is part of this process! Our bodies are smart, don't be afraid to let them go to battle.
However, people with immune system deficiencies should not take this advice!
While 1 & 2 are about staying away from germs, 3 & 4 are about safe exposure to them. It's always a balancing act!
Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Gag Me with a Spoon
Lying in bed this morning, I took a normal breath and realized something was wrong! My tween was smelling up the entire upstairs with a Bath & BW spray that instantly gives me a headache. I quickly covered my face with the sheets to protect myself from a migraine reaction. But my anger raged beneath the covers.
She has been told not to spray that stuff near me or like a deodorizer in her room, next to ours. She is old enough to remember a warning like that!
It is an improvement that she cares about her personal hygiene. So while angry and breathing thru the bed linens, I think of things with which to be thankful about her. And my negative emotion subsides. I come up for air and realize the purple cloud has dissipated, so I get up.
Once I get into my morning routine, I soon forget how rudely it had started.
Later, with coffee in hand and iPad on my lap, I'm grateful I didn't have to take an Exedrin Migraine with breakfast!
And that purple bottle of stinky stuff is going into the trash before there is another incident. Plus I'm going to have to open her bedroom window and run the fan to send the rest of the poison outside, gag me with a spoon!
Note: Do you get headaches from ordinary smells that don't seem to bother others? You too may have a chemical sensitivity.
http://www.multiplechemicalsensitivity.org/
She has been told not to spray that stuff near me or like a deodorizer in her room, next to ours. She is old enough to remember a warning like that!
It is an improvement that she cares about her personal hygiene. So while angry and breathing thru the bed linens, I think of things with which to be thankful about her. And my negative emotion subsides. I come up for air and realize the purple cloud has dissipated, so I get up.
Once I get into my morning routine, I soon forget how rudely it had started.
Later, with coffee in hand and iPad on my lap, I'm grateful I didn't have to take an Exedrin Migraine with breakfast!
And that purple bottle of stinky stuff is going into the trash before there is another incident. Plus I'm going to have to open her bedroom window and run the fan to send the rest of the poison outside, gag me with a spoon!
Note: Do you get headaches from ordinary smells that don't seem to bother others? You too may have a chemical sensitivity.
http://www.multiplechemicalsensitivity.org/
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Follow Up to Eggs that Make History...
These are the finished 3 dozen egg creations from Easter. My daughter and I used pins and nasal aspirators to blow out the insides of one dozen eggs, but it was tedious; so we decorated the rest of the two dozen as hard-boiled eggs.
We used several techniques including using the PAAZ color tablets. But we added two tabs in each bowl of vinegar water to intensify the colors. Next year I want to try the Kool-Aid suggestion. We used oil to marbleize, glitter pens for dimension (but they dripped before drying), and sharpies. The hard boiled eggs were easier to color because they sank in the dying liquid, while the hollow eggs had to be filled to submerge in the dye.
I'm saving the hollowed ones, since I nuked them for 20 seconds and let them dry before coloring for 24 hours (per directions listed on previous post). They don't smell and haven't faded, so we'll compare next years to this years and see if we can improve on our designs and ideas.
Happy Mother's Day today!
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