Living in a Microwave World

We homeschool park day moms had some interesting discussion on microwaves as we sat around the picnic tables today. (I've also had some debate on occasion about plastics and aluminum foil, but we'll save those topics for another day since they too are lengthy.)

Let me first say that there is no reason to panic about any of this information. So many people in the media use scare tactics and it either throws people into a guilt-ridden despair or else creates a frenzy of suspicious thinking about everything.

My advice on any alternative health choice (unless you are very ill and need to take drastic measures) is to research and make gradual changes to improve each area of health. Don't try to swallow the elephant whole-you will choke.

That being said, I am a health-conscious person who has had long term health conditions reversed with the help of diet and natural medicine BUT I do not take on every whim or idea that I come across without first doing my own research. Carefulness and discernment are my friends. I do keep an open mind but remain cautious.


I've heard both sides of the story on microwaves but mostly they were opinions and being a skeptic myself, I had to do a little research. The jury is still out for me but here's what I found so far:


1. Pro-microwave sentiment including a study from Cornell University.

http://http//www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/health/17real.html?_r=1

http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=ENV&recid=3827223&q=&uid=788050938&setcookie=yes

2.Anti-microwave sentiment by popular Alternative Health Guru, Dr. Mercola. http://http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm


There are so many unknowns about health as well as many researchable facts. Each person must be fully convinced in his or her own mind on what is right for his or her family. It certainly doesn't hurt to look at all the facts and opinions.

I will you know in a few days what conclusion I come to after more research. Why does it matter on this kind of blog? Because this is Leaders in Learning, a blog about learning as much about life as we can and sharing it together.

If you have opinions or research on the topic, please feel free to leave comments or email me. Thanks.

Tomorrow is our weekly Bread and Jam post. I plan to post some uplifting Worship and a Word or two from the Word. See ya then.

What's on Your MP3 Player?

Once upon a time, there was a woman who never went anywhere without wearing her MP3 player. She went to the mall, the grocery store, Walmart, the doctors and finally, the hair dresser. Her hair was growing long and shaggy and she really needed a trim but day after day, in she came with the headphones on, pacing like a jogger. She signed in, sat down and waited for the beautician to motion to her that it was her turn. The hairdresser asked her what kind of cut she wanted but the woman could not hear her, so she got up and ran out. This continued for weeks and until one day, the hairdresser decided that she had about all she could take.

She led the woman to the cutting station, sat her in the chair, cut most of her hair and then took the headphones off and reached for the MP3 player so she could finish the haircut. The lady argued and pulled on it struggling to gain control of it but the beautician with her skillful hands, stuffed the item in her apron and completed cutting the woman's hair in about three more minutes.

The woman got up, paid her cash and ran outside. She began to turn around and ask for her MP3 player but no sooner had she passed the threshold when she fell, dead in a heap on the sidewalk. The shop owner immediately dialed 911 but it was too late. The woman could not be revived.

"Who was the last person to speak to her?" Interrogated the police.

Everyone pointed to her hair dresser.

The hairdresser began to tell the story and suddenly realized she had the woman's MP3 player in her apron pocket. She pulled it out and handed it to the police who collected it as evidence.

The officer noticed that sound was coming from the headphones. He slipped them on his own head to listen for any possible clues.

He heard, "Breath in. Breathe Out. Breathe In. Breathe out...." He had discovered the cause of death.

While this public domain joke has been circulating for a long time, it has some relevance to the next story I am about to relate to you.

Jan Charles was a first time runner in a cross country race. She was competing against the pros but didn't mind because she was running for a cause. Unlike the others, she had signed up sponsors who would donate a sum of money to help pay for a cancer treatment for her friend's daughter. She needed inspiration, so she asked her friends to each make a thirty second recording on their computers to encourage her along the way. She downloaded them into a play list on her MP3 player and prepared herself for the race.

For most of the journey, she trailed behind but didn't seem to notice. She ran with vigor and stamina, building her endurance at a steady pace. As she listened to the recorded words, streaming into her headphones, she began to build speed until suddenly she broke into a steady but speedy run. The runners ahead, had long since abandoned their attention to her as they had surpassed her by several hundred feet. Jan simply listened to the recording:

"You can do it. Keep it going. Don't stop now. Faster! Faster! You're almost there. Come on, there you go, there you go..."

All of a sudden, it was as if a wind, a strong gust, pushed her forward until she was on the heels of the last runners. Surprised by this, the runners slowed and stared with gaping mouths, giving her a lead on them. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, she ran through the midst of them all and finally sprinted across the finish line-in first place.

While this story is somewhat corny and make believe, I hope it makes you think. Whether or not you are wearing an I-pod or an MP3 player, you are listening to thoughts, directions, and vital life-threatening or strengthening ideas. You have a choice to listen, ignore or change the play list.

What's on your MP3 player and what effect is it having on you?

Genesis Moments

This last week I have been very busy catching up with old friends from my childhood. Prior to this, I had many holes in my life that I thought would always be empty hurt places.

On this blog, I have talked about how important our roots are in life and how we need to be connected. In the past year or two, I have been reconnecting to my family and now I finally have found some positive connections to people in my past that I thought I would never see or talk to again. It is therapeutic in ways that I cannot even explain.

Most people sweat about how they look when they attend a high school reunion. They try on a hundred different looks in an effort to look their best for those they have not seen in years. People compete to see who has the biggest income or the best family circumstances. None of these mattered to us. We were all long lost friends happy to see each other after extraordinary circumstances. There is a story to tell here but I cannot yet tell it. It is still being written.

For now, they are Genesis moments, bringing us back to our beginnings and creating new beginnings. It's beautiful. And all this from a web tool. Amazing.

P.S. I told you I would post circus pictures but sadly, my camera didn't have good enough batteries to take clear pictures. We did have a fabulous time, though. For now, that has been upstaged by the trip back down memory lane that is bringing harmony to my spirit. I will be absent from the blog for a few days as I process all that is happening in my heart during these re connections. I needed this after dealing with some intense losses in the past year. Though I will not be blogging for a few days, do not fear that I have totally given up blogging. I will be back and with a story to boot. Until then, may your life be filled with new beginnings in this New Year.

Catch Up and Ketchup

A friend of mine came to Golden Triangle Homeschooling last Friday with her husband. He was wearing a shirt that tickled me pink. I wanted duplicates for my two sons. The shirt said, "I put ketchup on my ketchup." Hysterical!

Well sometimes, I feel like the same thing applies to my attempts to catch up after holidays. I have piles of stuff to do, including taking down my Christmas decorations which I left up extra long due to wanting to share the beauty with guests that came after the holidays.

Now I have to catch up on a major catch up agenda! I hope to find time to post in between the tasks. If not, I will then have to play catch up in the blogworld as well.

I am hopeful my power naps will pay off!

Be a Do-Nothing So You Can Do Something

I know I've written about this before, but it never hurts to repeat a good idea. Society as a whole is too busy. Many of us have to make an appointment to see family. It's dangerous to be so over-active. (Yes, this is the work-aholic talking and I speak from experience.)

Too much activity can lead to a suppressed immune system, increased perception of pain, anxiety, depression, mental confusion, injuries due to clumsiness or improper spatial awareness-- to name a few results. Contrary to popular opinion, caffeine cannot overcome sleep deprivation. In fact, some studies show drinking a hot beverage such as cocoa, tea or coffee can make a sleep-deprived person drowsy in spite of the caffeine.

"But," you say, "I'm so busy I don't have time to scratch my elbow. How can I possibly find time for a nap?" If you are like most of the world, you might even think it is lazy or childish to take naps. You might think that because your schedule only allows 4-6 hours of sleep per night that

you would have to take a 3 hour nap to catch up on all your needed rest. The amazing fact about rest is that it doesn't have to take much time from your busy schedule. A 15-20 minute nap in the afternoon (around 2 or 3pm) has been shown to increase productivity, creativity and alertness as well as boost the immune system. Think about it! What was the most common treatment for illness prior to anti-biotics? You've got it! Rest! If rest is that helpful to people recovering from illness, think of how much more powerful it could be to the healthy person.

Now, what I am not saying is that you can skimp on your sleep for days and weeks on end and then make up for it by "power napping". The average adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep, though some need as little as 5 or as many as 10 hours rest. Infants should have a minimum of 16 hours while teens need at least 9 hours. Children younger need at least 12 hours. All sleep and naps need to be done on a consistent schedule in order for the body to benefit. Irregular sleep patterns can be almost as harmful as insufficient sleep.

Think of sleep as a bank from which you make withdrawals. When you don't get enough, it is comparative to an overdraft. Ineffective scheduling affects sleep patterns and quality just as not balancing your checkbook can lead to poor money management.

That being said, the world, in general, does not give enough credit to the Jewish tradition of Sabbath-keeping. Now, grace-based believers, I know it was originally created for a specific people for a specific time frame. However, the day of rest brought not only spiritual rejuvenation but also great physical benefits.

Even the Earth was given Sabbaths. Today's commercial farm land has been so overworked that the soil is depleted from many of it's nutrients. So many things in our present world have been affected by the lack of Sabbath resting that it would take another post or two to detail. I'm not one to say to you that you will die and go to hell for not keeping the Sabbath but I do think we need to re-examine the whole concept again as we live in this sleep-deprived world.

I heard it said once, "So what if you're tired. The world is RUN by tired people! Get used to it". Perhaps that is our problem! Perhaps that saying is too true!

Whatever the problem, we could all benefit from more times of rest and relaxation. I, for one, am trying to learn how to rest. One of my goals this year is to increase productivity by becoming a "do-nothing" once in a while. Won't you join me?

Ooh, and there is one more inescapable element--Faith.

St. Augustine said that the soul will find itself restless until it finds it's rest in God.

Happy Wishes!

I wanted to post a recent picture of me wishing happy things to my readers, but alas! I am always the one behind the camera so all I could find was an old picture one of the kids took of me last April. My hair is much longer now but the words come from the same heart!


Happy Birthday, to my older brother! He is a slightly different reflection of my dad. If I believed in re-incarnation I would have been stumped while the two were standing side by side. Different looks, but some similar features. Similar personalities but different education levels. Strong, caring hearts, yup! Fits both. Well, I could go on, but I'll skip for now. Anyway, Happy Birthday P.A. Ray! This year, you drew closer to your family, made many brave ventures, battled tough family issues and came out older and wiser! I'm proud of you! Happy Happy Birthday, old man! (Chuckle, Chuckle.)


To the rest of you, I wish you a very Happy New Year. I will begin mine by visits from northern friends and family. Wheels Kid has an older sister coming for a week. My oldest son, Bass Boy ( as in bass guitar not the fish), will be flying in on the same flight for a week in January! January eleventh, we will take Culinary Kid to see his birth siblings a few hours away. Now, if I could just find a way to New England again, that would be awesome. But, wait, I think I'll delay until the snow disappears for good. Ha, ha. What a great way to start the new year!

May this new year bring you joy, fresh starts, success, healing, great ideas, strength in the midst of any trials and so much more than you can dream.

I have much healing to do. It's been a painful year with the loss of my dad, grandfather, foster daughter and loss of some dreams. I plan to make the beginning of next year a time to heal and then venture out on other dreams. I hope to take better care of myself, read the Bible more, reach outside of my family to help more people, work harder at my writing and educational goals and enjoy next year more than I did this one. I know the economy is bleak and there are many troubles in the world affecting us all. I know many people who are up against heartbreaking curcumstances in their lives. By the grace of God, we can carry on and be victorious in spite of it all. Our circumstances may not improve but our hearts and our faith can!

I wish you all a safe, happy and prosperous New Year! Blessings to you all!

Lifelines

My siblings are my lifelines. Whenever life gets crazy, I can count on them to be there for me. Friends come and go, but siblings are forever.

We have not always been close. Life's piles and trials used to allow the miles between us to separate us. (Sorry, too much Dr. Seuss I guess.) Somehow, we survived but there was a feeling of incompleteness.

In these past few years, each has grown a great deal. The brevity of life teaches us the greatness of our need for each other.

Though our perspectives extend from a variety of angles, our hearts are unified. It's not every day that I answer the phone to find the voice of my sisters or brother. But every time I hear their voices, it seems like it was just yesterday that I sat with them and laughed around Mom and Dad's kitchen table. Many things have changed over time but somehow it feels quite the same; the legacy of love and faith is passed down to our children-- just as it was created for us in our youth.

From the viewpoint of someone else, we may have appeared dysfunctional. That didn't dampen our spirits a bit. We came through, not without scars, but with strong bonds that cannot ever be broken.

In our youth, we used to scrap, leaving clumps of flying hair and screaming like a bunch of neighborhood cats. I still hear my mom's voice when I reprimand my own children, "Would you just QUIT YER BICKERING?"

Those were the days when my sister and I squeezed each other by the throat until our faces began to turn blue and Mom stuck her head into the room, "What, for Pete's sake, is going on in here?"

"Nothing, we're just wrestling," was the breathy chorus from the two fighting and the referee.

"For the love of Mike!" She would sigh and leave us back to our battle.

Then there was the time, when we took turns, in my brother's bedroom standing on his back like a cheer leading pyramid in order to see through the hole in the wall into the living room where our parents wrapped our Christmas presents. One of us fell thudding to the floor.

"You okay in there?" Mom's worried voice hollered.

"Ya, uh, I'm lifting weights." My brother gulped and we all "bust a gut" laughing into his mattress.

I had another hobby in those days. I imagined myself a photographer. I made my sisters, Heady included (a neighbor who we considered our extra sister) dress up in crazy outfits and stand in front of trees, flowers and Mill pond so I could have more "photo shoots" under my belt. I took my 120 film camera along with me everywhere I went, shooting scenes of my youngest sister, "Froo", (following in my tomboy footsteps) and working on her bike in the yard. I filmed my other sister, "R". the stand-up comic, making goofy faces and joking poses. One time, she got stuck with her feet behind her head and I shook so hard with laughter I couldn't get the picture.

My photography hobby was soon high jacked by a love of writing, music and art but I kept them in mind as I belted out homemade "opera" from my own music hall on the other side of the bedroom curtain (partly to bug the daylights out of them).

Even now, we still have wild and crazy times. You really can't understand unless you were up in the middle of the night with us this last August building a puppet stage out of our Mom's curtains. R, the sensible one now, came down to use the restroom and said, "Are you guys drunk or something?" We weren't. We were just us.

If you want a picture of what it was like living in our home, just watch or read L. M. Alcott's "Little Women". Then amplify the affect and cross it with the Brady Bunch. That should do it.

Of course, every family has its great moments just as we all have our worst. We've fought over clothes, politics, religion and many other things but it all came out in the wash and now we are stronger and better. To make the package even bigger and wilder, we added brothers and sisters in the mix through marriage. Although they may not be as wacky and wild, they add to the warmth like hot cocoa on a windy Maine Autumn evening.

I'm thankful for the birth family I have. I couldn't run Leaders in Learning or my daily life without them. Whatever family memories you may have. Don't focus on the negative.

Life is short. Forget the differences. Relish the love.