I am sick and tired of being sick and tired! Just in the past few months I have come down with a Norovirus and at least 2 colds. This latest cold has knocked me out for 2 weeks...and I'm not even over it yet! I'm coughing up my spleen as I type this. I've had it!!! I'm tired of catching every virus that goes around.
So here goes...follow me on this blog as I research and implement suggestions to boost my immune system.
Watch as I learn to enjoy juicing.
Join me as I attempt to eat my weight in Kale.
See how many probiotics I can digest in a week.
Be amazed at how many hours of sleep I undertake.
Let me know of any suggestions you have in the comment section. Stay Tuned....my journey to a stronger immune system starts this week!
In case you are wondering...I'm still doing my Classical Stretch challenge! I've even been doing the workout MORE than 5 days a week. I feel like my posture has really improved and I have a lot more strength in my arms. I know for a fact that my arm strength has improved because I have no problem holding up my shotgun for long periods of time anymore. Speaking of my shotgun, here's a picture of my new Beretta shooting vest...
I am so proud to say that I shot 9 clays in a row last Saturday. N-I-N-E!!! I was so excited. Now my goal will be to shoot 10 in row!!! Hmmm...I doubt that will happen anytime in the near future. It will be fun to try. Scott has signed me up for a firearm safety course on Sunday afternoon. It will be my first time shooting a pistol.
The last 2 weeks have been crazy fun....Daniel's birthday, Dad's birthday, Rana's birthday & Sunday School party & also a pottery class, Mother's Day etc. We also had Laura's Mitey Riders Spring Festival. Here's our girl on her horse, Cosmo.
Day 2 - Full Body Strengthening: I feel like I am standing a little straighter already. My favorite benefit to the workouts is that it really strengthens my arms. Several years ago, Scott and I were selected by the National Health Institute to have a series of medical tests run on us for statistical research. My tests showed that my muscle strength is WEAKER than the average female American my age. Maybe it is time I work on that!
Day 3 - Stress Release: This episode is very helpful for tight hamstrings, neck & shoulders.
In other news....my hipster friend, Linda, has taught me to Snapchat. Now my snapchat friends get very necessary snaps throughout the day such as:
Or....
And, don't forget...
Isn't life great? Before I go, I'd like to say..."Hi Lorraine!"
Every morning for the past 15+ years, PBS has aired a sweet exercise show called "Classical Stretch". I have to admit that I have often flipped past the program and thought, "Isn't that so cute that they have an exercise program for older people." Boy, was I mistaken. At first glance, the exercises look super simple. Try them, I dare you.
Classical Stretch, and subsequently, Essentrics, were created by former professional ballerina, Miranda Esmonde-White. Today, Miranda is 66 years old and can out stretch people more than half her age.
As I work to strengthen my upper body muscles for skeet shooting (more to follow on that in future posts) and to decompress my neck and spine from sitting at a computer all day, I have given myself a Classical Stretch Challenge. I will do 30 minutes of Classical Stretch every week day for 3 weeks. I am going to try to post daily in order to keep myself accountable.
Day 1:
I did Miranda's Anti-Aging Workout I'm getting younger as we speak.
No, I'm not really in Seattle. Nor am I toothless, for that matter. My boss has always had the habit of putting "less in Seattle" behind different words, and when you spend 40 hours a week with someone for 15 years, they sort of rub off on you.
So you see, exactly two weeks ago tomorrow (Sunday), I had just gotten home from a Sunday evening church service and I was very, very hungry. I grabbed a bag of FIT popcorn and started munching. Apparently, I munched right down on a kernel and cracked my tooth. The moment I bit into that kernel, I heard and felt the crack. I just knew that I was headed to the dentist the next day and would most likely be getting a crown & if I was really lucky, a root canal. It had only been 24 hours since I was combing lice out of my hair and I couldn't help but roll on the floor laughing. I mean, why not laugh? There are real problems in the world...these were just annoyances.
The next day I made an appointment and saw my dentist, Dr. Phillips. The funny thing about my dentist is that I've been going to him ever since I was old enough to have a dentist. He's clearly in his mid-70's now and he's still my dentist. Several years ago, I broke my back molar chewing on a pen and had to get a root canal and a crown. He gave me instructions on what to do if he DIED during the month I had to wait to get my permanent crown! Anyway.....so I went to see Dr. Phillips and he insisted on pushing on my cracked tooth. I kicked that chair so hard he said he thought I was going to fly right out of it. Long story short, he said, "It's bad". I said, "Root Canal?" He said, "No. We can't save your tooth". Then he informed me that I would be referred to an oral surgeon where they would put me to sleep, take out my tooth, probably do a bone graft, and then drill an implant in my jaw. He said that I would have to go without a tooth for at least 3 months!!! I tried to hold back the tears but I was scared. I'd never been "knocked out" before.
The next day I visited the oral surgeon. The nurse took me back to the consultation room where I cried. The doctor came in and I cried some more. Then he pushed on my tooth and I nearly shot out of the chair again. That night I went to my eGroup Bible study where I cried some more. I cried because I was finally going to face one of the biggest phobias of my life....being (out of "control") put to sleep.
In the meantime, I read an article about how someone had discovered that trying to calm yourself down was useless. They ran studies and found that if you try to calm yourself down, your body interprets that as some sort of threat. However, if you tell yourself that you are excited, your body will believe it because anxiety basically feels the same as excitement.
Here's where it gets interesting. I tried it and it works!!!! I faced one of the greatest phobias of my life and I was just fine!!! I kept telling myself that I was excited. I downloaded TobyMac's new release called "Feel It" and I pumped myself up by playing it nonstop while I was in the waiting room. When the nurse called me back, I told her I was excited. When the doctor came in, I told him I was excited. The doctor even sang "I'm So Excited" by the Pointer Sisters to me. The next thing I knew...I was on my way home.
Unfortunately I wasn't thinking to clearly and I texted this picture to my boss...
Next..."My Temporary Tooth FAIL." Or, "Why I Look Like a Hillbilly."
And if you want to get "excited" and pumped up to face your next fear... (The video takes about 30 seconds before it gets FUNKY.)
I was able to cross something off of my bucket list last weekend....
Contract Head Lice...................Check
You see, I've complained to my hair colorist for the past 2 visits that my head has been itching a lot. I told her that I thought I was becoming allergic to my hair dye (Praise Jesus that was not the case!) She looked at my scalp (both visits) and said she couldn't see any reason why I would be itching. We had even changed my shampoo. Two days after my last visit, Laura & Daniel were sent home from school with head lice. All of a sudden, it made sense. I decided I better "Nix" my hair just in case, and I found quite a few inhabitants.
The next day, I heard myself saying to Scott, "I've had worms, fleas and now lice and I'd choose lice over the other two".
OK...so here's a picture of me with Olive Oil all over my hair. You know, just in case Nix didn't kill them all (it didn't).
And here's a picture of my beautiful and paranoid friend Megan. Megan texted this picture to me on Friday night after coating her hair with coconut oil and covering it with a ziploc bag. Megan also texted me on Saturday morning to let me know that she had shampooed her hair 4 times that morning and still had coconut oil in her hair. I'm pretty sure that Megan is going to hide from me for a while. I love that crazy girl.
Head lice wasn't the worst thing that happened to me last weekend. Please stay tuned to find out why I will NEVER eat popcorn again. It will be followed by, "Hey, watch me spit watermelon seeds out the side of my mouth!" and hopefully, "Check out my temporary tooth!"
Oh, but guess what did happen last weekend.... I got a 98 on my first French test!!!! Woohoo!!!!
