Wednesday, April 29, 2009

It must be summer because I'm drinking more water

I drink water based on my thirst. I live in Texas where it's hot and dry in the summer and cool and dry in the winter. In winter I drink 2 to 3 to 4 liters of water daily. In the summer I drink upwards of 6 liters daily. The only times I ever get swollen feet or get a headache or get constipated is when I haven't drank enough water to cleanse my system of all the daily toxins that my body creates. My daily minimum is 2 liters, any less than that and the above symptoms can appear.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026129.html
Hydration is Vital for Optimum Health Sunday, April 26, 2009 by: Sheryl Walters, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) The human body is made up primarily of water. In fact, approximately 75 percent of your body is water and 25 percent is solid matter. Water is essential for absorbing nutrients, eliminating waste, cellular activity and all of the actions necessary for life. Drinking enough water is vital for preventing disease and enjoying a sense of wellbeing.
Without water, our bodies are unable to remove environmental toxins that most of us are exposed to daily. Generally speaking, people who suffer from chronic diseases are seriously dehydrated since the skin, stomach, liver, kidney, heart and brain rely on proper water intake. Heart disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic pain, headaches, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, cancer, Alzheimer`s, and many other diseases are often preceded by many years of not enough water. Many illnesses could be significantly improved by simply giving the body sufficient amounts of water so that toxins and waste can be removed.
When dehydrated, the body is seriously stressed, just as it would be if you were in a drought. This creates a fight or flight situation, meaning that stress chemicals are released to deal with the situation. When these chemicals are continually released over long periods of time, chronic disease is inevitable.
Unfortunately in modern society, most people reach for black tea, coffee, soda and alcohol instead of pure water when thirsty. While these beverages contain water, they are actually dehydrating. When these are consumed, the body requires even more water. Over consumption of caffeine, alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners, e-numbers and other chemicals are stressful for the body, leading to suboptimal health. It is ironic that in our society where we have access to so much, most people`s bodies are functioning as if there is a famine due to lack of water as well as lack of nutrients from healthy food.
Dehydrating drinks create a strong diuretic effect, which means that the kidneys are overworked. They create imbalances in blood sugar levels, which can lead to tiredness and even diabetes, although they seem to boost energy levels in the short term. Chemicals and sugar can even lead to Attention Deficit Disorder, foggy brain and unclear thinking. Large quantities of water are needed to process these drinks.
Instead of addressing the underlying problem of dehydration, most people turn to pharmaceutical drugs to deal with their ill health. Pain killers and medications compound the problem since they also contain chemicals that the body has to deal with, leading to even more dehydration and potentially health compromising side effects. By simply giving your body the important nutrient of water, you are preventing disease with very little effort.
Just because you don`t feel thirsty, does not mean that you are not in severe need of water. This is because when the body believes that there is not enough water, it will turn off its thirst reaction. But don`t be fooled, when there is not enough water and the thirst signal is turned off, the body is in emergency mode. You may begin to hold on to water in your legs, feet, arms and face. There may be a decrease in urination, keeping the body from excreting potentially harmful waste. You may notice that if you drink plenty of water for several weeks, your thirst signal returns and communicates your need for this vital nutrient once again.
A common excuse for not drinking more water is fear of having to go to the toilet too often. When the body is severely dehydrated for a long period of time, it loses its ability to use the water efficiently. Therefore, it will simply get rid of the water because it does not know what to do with it. After some time, it will become balanced and the constant need to urinate will disappear.
Approximately 2 liters of water per day is needed to be fully hydrated. Pure, filtered water is best, but teas such as mint or chamomile can also be counted as long as some pure water is consumed daily. When alcohol, caffeine, fizzy drinks are consumed, as well as exposure to unnatural food, drugs, cigarettes, environmental toxins and emotional stress, even more water is required for balance.
Substituting coffee with green tea or fizzy drinks with pure, fresh fruit and vegetable juices is a great place to begin. If you enjoy drinking alcohol, remember to drink one pint of pure water for every glass of wine or pint of beer. You will drink less, reduce your risk of a hangover and your body will thank you.
Tap water often contains chemicals, so buying a water filter is a good way to filter out toxins.
Remember that your body depends on pure water. Without it, you are at risk for less than optimum health, so give your body the most fundamental nutrient of pure water that it deserves.
http://www.home-water-purifiers-and...
Your Body`s Many Cries for Water by Dr. F. Batmanghelidj
http://www.watercure.com/

check YOUR hearing loss

http://audiocheck.net/audiotests_frequencycheckhigh.php
http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/
These two sites are super cool for checking how much hearing you've lost from all of those loud concerts and 'cranking up the volume' on the headphones and jamming out in your car. It's added up and you're deafer than you thought! Check both ears - one may hear better than the other. BTW, this is the same test that they give kids in school each year to check their hearing - adults can usually only hear up to 15 kHz but kids can usually hear up to 20 kHz or higher.

Growing a nation of malnourished fat people

Just 3% of children's meals purchased at fast food restaurants meet current USDA dietary guidelines. Twenty-five percent of children 4-8 years old consume fast food on a daily basis.
Source: Sustainable Food News, December 26, 2009

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Great Big Giant Buffalo


Up close and personal with a 4 year-old North American Bison

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunday

This evening we got in touch with our inner Mormons.
In case Austin gets 'shut down' for the Swine Flu, Joe had me go shopping this evening and now it feels like we've got a year's worth of food put away. It doesn't seem merely coincidental that I've been getting the level of food down in the freezer over the past month and can now accommodate the extra food I purchased today.

summer

I can tell that summer is here - the coconut oil that I store in the kitchen cabinet has gone all liquid from solid like it is in the winter when the house is cooler.
French toast for breakfast this morning - hangover cure for the kids after the packed day we had yesterday.
Church in an hour.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Eeyore's Birthday Party

http://www.eeyores.com/
So much fun this year! Paul didn't remember going before, even though this was his 5th time attending.
We rushed home from The Farmers Market early, changed our clothes and headed downtown for the shuttle parking lot. Once we got to the actual party at 2, first off we had to get our faces painted, all 3 of us. Then Paul entered one of the sack races. Then we went to the Kids' Activity Section where we played games and made God's Eyes. Then we walked around, ate some snow cones, walked around some, drank some beer, walked around some, pet some horses, did some hula-hooping, did some nerf-sword fighting, did some May-Poleing, did some walking around, did some drumming in a giant-sized group of drummers, walked around some, pet a donkey named Eeyore, played on the playscape, danced to some bands, ate some ice cream, got some giant tissue-paper flowers, rode the shuttle back to our car at 5:45 and started looking forward to next year!
It was Awesome!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Oh Yeah!

Five
Try it, you'll love it.
There's only five simple ingredients in the new Haagen-Dazs ice creams: Milk, Cream, Sugar, Eggs, and flavor. Just like I make it at home!
The Mint was good.
The Ginger is spectacular!
Bought it but haven't tried the Coffee yet.

Coincidence?

Here's the quote of the day that Real Simple Magazine sent out this morning:
"The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art."
―Leonardo da Vinci

And guess what I had today for the very first time (scheduled without prior knowledge of what the quote of the day was going to be for today)
I had my first pedicure!

Thank you Cea and Charlie and Thomas and Daniel and Michael! It was great! I've even scheduled another one for 2 months from now.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

I'm liking this man more and more

Here's the entire speech from Governor Perry that I quoted from last week; which, by the way, was Texas Homeschool week.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Another one bites the dust

3 teeth in one month; that's how many Paul has lost since March 13. Can you believe that Giselle is upset that he's loosing his teeth earlier and quicker than she did? Doesn't matter that she's already lost the ones that he's loosing now. This one came out while he was eating a hot dog octopus at dinner - 10 seconds after he complained that his tooth hurt too badly to eat.

After brushing their teeth before bed tonight, they walked outside with their remaining Easter candy and put it all in the big trash can for the garbage men to pick up tomorrow morning. While Joe and I are glad that's the end of candy around here until Halloween, the kids were a bit sad. Until I reminded them that they can still have plenty of popsicles and fruit roll ups and other sweet things, just no more candy. Then they were OK again.

I've got laundry to do and Pirates to fight, gotta run!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter - happy to you!

Woke up at 6 am to close the windows since it was starting to rain and we prefer the rain to stay outside of the house.
Got up at 7:15 to make breakfast and monitor candy intake.
At church at 8:15 to prepare for choir at the 8:45 service.
Poured down rain during the church service (indoors) and caused us all to feel like school kids when Pastor Jim said to us all "Pay no attention to what's going on outside and pay attention to what's going on in here!"
Hung out at home while the rain dried up.
Went to an Easter egg hunt at the Wildflower Center, ate lunch there too - EXCELLENT food. I got the black bean soup and it was as good as mine, especially when I added the red onions from Paul's garden salad (which he loved). Giselle enjoyed her tuna salad on a croissant so much that she didn't offer us ANY of it; although she was too full to finish her pasta salad. Got a really cool new wind chime at the gift shop. Once Scott is done painting the house I'll hang it up.
Started cooking dinner while we watched Star Wars The Clone Wars the movie.
Thomas came over and we ate dinner - roast pork with carrots & onions, green beans, butter-sauteed mushrooms & onions with sour cream, and jumbleberry crunch pie for dessert.
After dinner we all went for an hour-long cruise in the 65 Caddy.
Put all the dishes in the dishwasher, cut up the veal liver I got at The Market (Claudia is big on liver lately so I'm going to give it a try with my crew), bagged up the frozen chicken for the dog, and started rendering the fat from the roast.
And here I am. Forgot to start the laundry and everyone has gone to bed so I can't get the dirty clothes out of the bedrooms. I'll have to do it first thing in the morning before the new online science class starts.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Lies, I tell you, all lies

Renovation, my ***! I lived in this house when it was the original built in 1954 house - all 800 sq ft, 2 bd, 1 bath, carport, no central air or HEAT, real hardwood paneling in the giant kitchen and 2nd bedroom and no back porch of it. THIS house was built in 2008. In the GoogleMaps picture in the ad you can see the original house!
http://www.trulia.com/property/1076517873-608-E-48th-St-Austin-TX

There's a virtual tour on this site
http://www.mlsfinder.com/tx_actris/avenueone/index.cfm?action=listing_detail&property_id=6573519

This is NOT a renovation, this is a 100% rebuild from the foundation on up!

You know what, there WAS central heat - it was one of those giant door-sized units that fit in the wall between the living room and the hallway. It was a giant hazard so we never used it for fear that the house would burn down. Oh, and it sucked all the remaining moisture out of air that was already at 20% humidity in the winter.

smoking update

Not only is the smoke from Mexico and Central America, but it's also from Pioneer Woman's ranch in Oklahoma and from wildfires in North Texas. TCEQ updated today's information to read:
Friday 4/10/09 Smoke from agricultural burning in Mexico and Central America should continue, and this may raise fine particulate to "Moderate" levels in south and southeast Texas. Residual smoke from wild fires in north central Texas could cause fine particulate to reach "Moderate" levels in parts of central and east Texas. Ozone may reach "Moderate" levels or higher in the Houston area today if a cold front slows down and doesn't move through the area this morning. Elsewhere, moderate winds and low background levels should help to keep air quality in the "Good" range over most of the state.

Way to go Governor Perry!

This is why homeschooling (and living) in Texas is so awesome!!

Gov. Rick Perry at a rally Tuesday in front of the Capitol organized by the Texas Home School Coalition.
"I really do understand public education may not be the best choice for every family," Perry told a crowd of more than 200. "I believe government regulation needs to stop at your front door."

'Mexico's burning' just doesn't have the same ring

The Clash - London's Calling

There's some prescribed burning going on south of Austin - some of it locally and the rest down in Mexico. My house smells like a chiminea and we like it!

From TCEQ : Friday 4/10/09 Moderate winds and low background levels should help to keep air quality in the "Good" range over most of the state. Light amounts of smoke from agricultural burning in Mexico and Central America should continue in far South Texas and could possibly raise fine particulate to "Moderate" levels.


The southern sky is all grey/green from smoke and the smell of burning leaves is very 'fall' smelling. I'm thinking that smoke levels are more like moderate rather than light.










and here's another 2 great Clash songs Train In Vain live and Lost In The Supermarket

Today's Daily Thought from Real Simple magazine

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
―Hodding Carter (Borrowed from the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher.)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Dinner Tonight

Knowing that we would be getting home late from HEB this evening I picked up dinner as we left the produce section and headed towards the checkout lanes. So tonight for dinner the kids and I had reverse-wrapped California Rolls w/ salmon roe, Prosciutto wrapped in basil and mozzarella, and large-sized salmon caviar. Joe had a bowl of Raisin Bran with milk.
Oh, I just now realized that I had hard-boiled eggs in the fridge that I should have served with the caviar. Oh well, next time I'll remember.

Now to hide it to prevent everyone from snacking on the Easter candy that I bought today.

Monday, April 06, 2009

not here

We've been doing a lot of knitting and playing outside in the sunshine and going to carnivals and riding bikes. Not too much time for blogging.