Busy With School, Coats today aren't heavy

      During  the hectic "Black Friday" day my son got me up at 4:30 A M! It was insane to get to Burlington Coat Factory that early, but everyone else was doing it so we thought why shouldn't we? We missed our exit and had to turn around  and got to the store at 5:30 A. M. There were maybe 4 people in the store! What was the rush?
      It took me awhile to find a decent coat. It seems that nowadays, coats are so much thinner and have less of a lining than when I was a lot younger. Do the manufacturers think there will be 'global warming' and it is therefore healthy to wear thin coats in winter? Can you survive in a thin coat in the northeastern states?
     Even in Virginia it  can get cold. I tried on a goose down (I assumed it was goose) filled coat, but it had no real lining and  it seemed paper thin. I bought it and wore it outside. My son said, well, you have a month to decide to bring it back, but I didn't want to "come" back. So we shopped next door in Big Lots and then I brought it back. And bought a different coat, that was very furry on one side. It "seemed" warm anyway, and had a better style but the down filled one. But it was a little big -- guess I could line it with extra sweaters if I need to. Is it healthy to make winter coats so thin nowadays?
      School has kept me busy and soon the grading and classes will be over for the semester. Then I have to work on "another" new course, and finish my satire. My mystery novel is seemingly going nowhere just now.

Great Head Cold, Ordered Juicer, Weather from climate change

    Is it just me or is this crazy weather a  little bit, well,  crazy? The other day tornadoes hit in Virginia and elsewhere and it is November, for pete's sake! When is the weather going to settle down, and I don't mean get down in the twenties, like they are predicting for tonight? Man, when is the weather going to be at least a little predictable? In the last 4 days we have had 70 degree weather during the day, then cooling rain, then it spitting snow flakes and freezing temperatures!
This isn't good for the planet OR the average person.
    It is no wonder that I have a head cold. I exercised, (Sat. it was early) and now I have a full blown head cold. I was out in the cold temperatures. I did have a hat  ( a French beret) on but I guess it wasn't heavy enough. And I just spoke with one of my students, who's thrown up and been sick for over a week. She came to the door in a pullover sweatshirt, no hat or gloves or real coat, it's 40 degrees out and  she wonders why she's sick! I gave her extra time to work on her paper (nice me :).
    I wish I were thinner as it would help keep cancer at bay. But I am taking Vit. D3 and I need to get some more iodine tablets. My body I know is deficient-- my hair is still thinning out, even after going off Femara, the anti-estrogen drug. Well, when I get that Jack LaLanne juicer I ordered in the mail I will do some serious juicing a few times a month. I need the extra nutrients a juicer would provide!

Still No Juicer, Fall is in the Air, Festival Time, Our trees cut down needlessly

    It is funny, my last post about needing a juicer. I still don't have one, as my damn, stupid old car (the one I inherited 'back' from my son after he got a job and needed better, more reliable transportation) took $460 of our hard earned dollars -- the back tires were in bad shape and the exhaust system was totally rusted out and barely attached. WEll, son Zeb had been without a job for a while so he spent as little on the car as possible, I can see. Cars are a real money pit!
   So, I don't have a juicer but am trying to exercise more and get out in nature. This  is the time of year for outdoor festivals, when the air is not too hot or too cold, though today it is colder and windier than normal. Yes, the clean, crisp air of autumn, the different colors swirling around your head as you venture out across the lawn or across town-- if they stay up there.
    Yes, our maintenance crew by the house we are presently renting (man, do I want to move out and into a house of my own!) "said" that the town told them our walnut trees were close to the power line. Baloney. They weren't within 15 feet. They just wanted them cut down because the black walnut fruits put dings in a few of their trucks! They're maintenance people so why don't they build a canopy for the stupid trucks! No, they had to tell the landlord about the trees. But what does "he" care if we have squirrels in our yard scurrying up these wonderful, healthy trees, or if my husband has a place to hang a bird feeder and drive our cat crazy with watching them? Why should he care? Well, he didn't!
    I ran to the realty office as they were cutting (not trimming, which they could have done) these 60 foot trees, the three sisters down. They refused to give me the landlord's whole name and address  or phone number, so I could talk him out of destroying these healthy, beautiful trees. Well, he's part of the one percent and we are part of the 99 percent. We just don't count. We don't have any money to fight city hall, as it were.
So the three sisters, who provided us privacy, who soaked up nasty fumes and carbon dioxide from passing cars, who provided a home for squirrels, who beautified the neighbor, were cut down to three foot stumps. It was unnecessary and spiteful.
   And a week later, nature retaliated. A week later an old silver maple let the wind break off its limps, landing in our front yard and almost on our little house. A coincidence? Maybe  Mother Nature was just plain fed up!

Colon Cleanse Best with Juicer, Dog Problems, Talk to Students about Nature

     Well, I saw an ad online that said Rachel Ray lose 32 pounds, something about Acaci berries and a colon cleanse. I should do a colon cleanse, but I need to get a juicer. Did you know that a juicer actually 'breaks down' the walls of fruit and vegetables? I tried a "juicing" recipe from Natural Health magazine that used carrots, romaine lettuce and mustard greens or some such green and it just created a big goop! And then I drank that three mornings in a row and actually made me, with my messed up intestinal track, constipated! Yes, I got plugged up by something healthy! I am going to get
a juicer now this month.
     And the danged dog-- what an expense. Spent over $100 (!) on a haircut and some shots, but the vet said he had an enlarged testicle and yet, surgery would be risky and require certain tests (as he is 11 years old). Not my dog, our fifth stray dog and never wanted  this whiny mutt so it's the husband's call. The surgery alone would cost $200! Oh, will I ever have money?
      Well, my students are analyzing an excerpt from the book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Some of them want to argue about the issue instead of just analyze, one student just "described" what was in it without analyzing the logic of it. They seem to need to be led by the hand, most of them. It is frustrating, and they wonder why they haven't gotten all As! Next week I will have a guest speaker  talk about  the town's trees so maybe that will help them see the value of nature more. One can hope. 

Miserable cold Highlanders' Festival, Radford,VA, hair still thinning out

     My musings on life are not all that amusing, are they? Kurt Vonnegut had the line "and so it goes" and now has a biography with that title. What could my
literary title be? And so she went (and needed to lose weight and become somebody to have some satisfaction in life and make a difference). I think we all want to make a difference. I stay dissatisfied with myself all the time. But I am no great perfectionist either. Just looking for publication, I guess, some validation.
     I am going to try to write about the "Highlander Festival". It is an annual event in Radford for the Scottish clan in you, with Scottish competition like the  hammer toss, tossing hay bales (supposed to represent sheep and they wanted to be humane, I guess ) all kinds of arts and crafts, Irish bread, Amish Bread, Celtic symbols, bands that use fiddle, guitar and drums. I have been to this event several times and the band was good, despite it being cold and then starting to rain, and then not raining,and then being cold again. It was miserable, but they got us up and jumping several times and met a few English
club friends there too!
   I'm in here waiting for a student and look in the mirror -- man,I need to lose body fat, and need a wig almost, this low thyroid crap is bad. I need to increase my metabolism, and/or find a doctor who can. Wish I had some real money to go to the doctor.

Found Good Cancer Site, Semester Moving Along, need book deal

     The semester is well underway and I guess I am doing okay. You normally have no idea what the students think till the end of the semester, but I gave them an "interest survey" in the beginning and had an idea about what they knew, or supposedly, what they said they knew. And in one of my classes I heard a student say "this is my favorite class." Well, someone likes my class !
And that's a good thing.
      But it pays so awfully little, this adjunct faculty gig. I have a Master's degree and they pay me like I just graduated high school!
     Wish it paid better as I think I have low thyroid-- hair keeps thinning, brain is getting fuzzier in the memory dept. I ordered iodine online and it 'says' it's natural-- from a place in Las Vegas, no less. Vegas, where a stubborn mother, mentally deficient, juvenille sister and unhealthy brother live. Not a lot to cheer up your day. If my mother passes then what then I have to deal with? They don't have a lot of money to live on and the same here. Wish my mystery "The Butler Didn't Do It" would be considered by some agent/publisher. But who am I kidding, as I am not a great novelist. But it would be nice, and then I could afford healthcare.
      So I look online. I found 1uponcancer.com and I need to go back to it as it has some  good information. Well, I need to leave soon for class. Tah tah.

Internet Concerns, Health expenses, politics

    I actually had a hard time starting this as it seemed to have forgotten my password, so I had to get another one. There is a lot to this internet business and you could spend all day learning more about it if you so desired. But I have many things to do, many writing projects I am working on.
    It galls me that the place where I got a bone density scan last year is "hounding me" for money. It is in the third tier of my husband's insurance, so it paid next to nothing. The full price for use of their 'room,' and interpreting the results is $800! Imagine if I had this done in Canada! No, I don't want to go to cold Canada for healthcare; I just want affordable healthcare in the U. S. Are hospitals greedy or do they think poor college adjuncts (my income is close to minimum wage) can afford this sort of thing? Why can't they be more reasonable?
    When I see Pres. Obama on TV talking about jobs and a jobs bill, I cannot for the life of me understand how the conservative "crazies" in Congress can disagree with him? Just as the Great Depression took a full decade to straighten out, so too do we need to look at government job creation options. And during the 1930s they also came up with the 40 hour week and also somethings that are monumentally important now -- unemployment insurance and Social Security. And those wanting to get rid of Social Security don't have their heads on straight. Do they really want to see old people living on the street in this country? It is so expensive to live. Of course we need to give our seniors Social Security. Of course, if you are a millionaire then you certainly don't need it, but many senior citizens do. My husband wants to take advantage of it too. We need to support Obama and not let the conservative crazies run everything!

Economics can hurt health

     My husband and I were at an "Acres of Democrats" meeting and he handed out some info he'd found out about the new healthcare bill Obama. The average citizen knows nothing about this healthcare bill. He "did" drop the public option, but the new bill is supposed to allow those with a precondition to qualify for health insurance, and allow children up to 25 or so to stay on their parents' policy. My son Daniel who had cancer, though, got a job at a hospital in Pittsburgh-- his insurance is much better than ours!
    My husband complains I do research online and am doing "self diagnosis" when it comes to health, but his insurance sucks. There is no doctor who isn't over an hour away I could go to, and even then there would be a deductible. So, yes, I self diagnosed myself to have too little iodine (they say having enough would help prevent breast cancer). So I ordered a bottle online. If I went to a doctor it'd probably be $100 for the visit and then, after that, more for tests. My husband went to his doctor for tests,the second time in a year, and his insurance won't pay for the lab work. We are NEVER out of medical debt! It disgusts me. In Canada I could have a thyroid/iodine test for nothing. In this country we have corporate welfare and too much spent on bombs and such. What about healthcare?

Neat Nellie's Cave Park, Blacksburg, Jolly Rogers amusment park

    Neat Nellie's Cave Park, at Blacksburg, VA. There's probably a cave on the property somewhere. There's actually a little cave on an upper trail at Wildwood Park (Radford) and so why not this trail? 
    And walking on it was funny. The trail we walked on, some grass and sometimes dirt, was partly in the open, away from a tree canopy, and it reminded me of a visit I made to Takapausha Preserve in Seaford, on Long Island, whose trails I ventured on as part of my novel research back in 2000. And th e logs bordering our trail, don't know why, reminded me of a ride I went on at a Long Island amusement park off Hempstead Turnpike called "Jolly Rogers". The ride was for little kids and I think I was outgrowing it, but it consisted of sitting on a board and you had pedals in front of you and you "hand pedaled" the "RIDE" around a track. I actually found a'remember Jolly Rogers' amusment park on FAcebook! So I wasn't just imagining it.
    We actually went to Nellie's Cave Park for a meeting with a new group of Master Naturalists. Some were very friendly; some were reserved. I hope to get better acquainted with someone. I would also love to own a home and invite someone to my house.

Pittsburgh has walking areas, zoo, low iodine affects your health

    Last August we traveled to a nephew's wedding in New York, saw Niagara Falls at night -- pretty colors. Before that, we saw son Daniel in Pittsburgh.
   Pittsburgh has a neat public transportation system with its trolley. You can take it downtown, where the three rivers meet, the Monongahela, Ohio and Allegheny and go to "The Point," the park at the meeting of these three rivers. You can walk along the river and see the yellow painted bridges going across to their the Steelers' football stadium, and eat a juicy hamburgers downtown, or travel a bit farther to the zoo.
   Yes, Pittsburgh has a wonderful zoo, with a polar bear, elephants, Cape hunting dogs, giraffes, a huge aquarium and play area for kids, etc. Pittsburgh has some science and music museums you could walk to too.
    But the battle of the bulge continues for me -- back to now. I seem to have the symptoms of low thyroid/iodine, like hair loss, fuzzy memory, low temperature and other symptoms. Could these have caused my breast cancer? I NEED some iodine!

Learning about Edible Plants, Going off Diet is easy

    It's pretty easy to go off a diet. Even if you've had cancer and really "want" to change the way you do things, it's still quite easy to go off a diet. I went to an instructional day for myself, Ms. Master Naturalist member, to learn about edible AND medicinal plants you can find in a field or the woods. You can even find edible plants in your yard-- if you have a big enough yard, that is. And not a suburban  yard. Suburban yards are ridiculously manicured-- where do you find edible plants --- roses? Actually, you can get vitamin C from the  "fruit" of the rose, what is called rose hips. And you can boil the flowers or leaves to make tea. You can boil inner bark in the woods if you get hungry enough.
    Our instructor had foraged with Euell Gibbons, the fellow who stalked the wild asparagus and wrote about it. So we learned a lot. Jewelweed can be used on poison ivy and bug bites, yarrow, boneset and clover help your immune system, spicebush leaves are aromatic and many things can be made into teas. These things are not being passed down and our food is mass produced and not that healthy. We need to go forage in  the woods!

Dieting is so frustrating

    I think dieting is the most frustrating thing in the world. The idea that not being
able to eat what you want is a good idea is, really, not a good idea. You feel deprived,
then you go and overeat or eat too many snacks or just plain get neurotic about the
whole thing. I should have had a bag of celery and radishes handy to munch on or
something!
     Who else agrees with me that food restriction stinks? I know, I am just a spoiled
American eater. Many people go to bed hungry or only eat what is in season and 
don't have the variety (or exposure to pesticides) that I do. It's toss-up, isn't it?
Either there is too much food around of not enough. At least I exercised at "Curves"
today.

Are Hair Samples Accurate, Does Topsy Turvy Upside Down Planter Work

    As I mentioned earlier, I'd given a sample of my hair to a nutritionist/pharmacist to see what "elements" showed in my hair. Doctors at different websites have said different things about the accuracy of these results and maybe I should take them with a grain of salt,as they say (but maybe I shouldn't, as the test said that my sodium was way too high!).
    The test said my calcium, magnesium and sodium were off the chart. Is it possible one of these could be wrong? If I had too much blood calcium AND too much sodium wouldn't I be headed for a heart attack or stroke? The last few months, especially, I have been eating better and avoiding sugar. Though I had read somewhere (maybe it was Dr. Mercola) that table salt was okay and I was using it more. But then, maybe he meant that the "iodine" in it was good, though regular table salt could cause high blood pressure. And more than one site said that hair samples could be "askew" in their readings because of your shampoo or hair dye -- maybe that is what caused such a high sodium reading? Who can tell exactly? Are blood tests that much better, as they can degrade in the process of being handled too, I'm told. What is totally accurate, a salvia sample?
     Perhaps a blood test is good for certain things, like trigliseride (sp?) levels and cholesterol and insulin and thyroid readings. At least I hope they are. I need a thyroid/insulin test as well. The hair sample and information I gave Dottie H indicated I have a low functioning thyroid. And the diet (eat 70 grams of protein a day) is a bit much! I am aiming for half that as I don't eat much protein. But then I am eating a lot of nuts. Are they going to affect my cholesterol, I wonder?
    We'd bought one of those green topsy turvy upside down plant holders and planted tomatoes in it last summer. The plants never produced one fruit! Now, we have two cucumber plants in it and it looks like we "might" get two whole cucumbers. We didn't fertilize and the backyard gets too much shade from walnut trees, giving them only 5-6 hours of sunlight a day. So is it the lack of light or being in a glorified planter with side holes that is not working for us? 

Other website not cooperating, Advanced cancer not fun for friend

    My college friend Gale tried to talk to me the other night with my cell phone. I am neither cell phone savvy nor am I a fan of a device so stinking small it is difficult to hear out of. And it heats up as you use it, letting out all those wonderful electromagnetic waves. My friend Gale is getting her share of radiation treatments to the head for her advanced breast cancer. It may not hurt but the "Hannibal-like" mask they put on her head doesn't sound comfortable either. I feel for her and am going to send her some "alternate therapy" ideas from the book I have, Outsmart Your Cancer. The medical establishment in the U. S. is really not interested in anything other than what they want to do!
    I tried to post to another blog (wordpress) and it has too many bulbs and whistles. I put in a title, for instance, then copied and pasted my writing (maybe that was a no no) and it made the whole dang thing the title! Then it posted it again under it. I don't understand all this stuff and they don't have a contact email either. Yeah, nice.

Cremation is cheaper, Protein can help liver

    I'd actually read it elsewhere, in Dr. Sear's book about "The Zone" diet, that you should eat some protein with each meal as it somehow "activates" the liver to work, to help process other foods coming in. But my nutritionist/pharmacist told me my hair sample indicated I had a low functioning thyroid and low functioning adrenal system. The latter I could understand because for 4 and half years I was on the anti-estrogen pill Femara, as a post breast cancer treatment. But being in that seemed to give me intestinal problems and food allergies, along with thinning hair and wrinkled skin (nice). But the low thyroid thing I was hoping was not true. But it is hard for me to lose weight, or stop eating sometimes-- I blame sugar and avoiding it seems to help.
     So I am eating more nuts and meat. Just need to add beans not too. I worry, of course, about the dang hormones in meat. The nutritionist, Dottie, said to go for organic meat and vegetables, but that is very expensive to do. I am trying to remember to use my lemons to squeeze and drink -- in the body they are actually alkaline and cancer does not like an alkaline body -- do take that, cancer!
    Was thinking about what my mother said -- she said that cremation of my recently deceased dad was the cheapest. I looked online and I guess at www.veteransfuneralcare.com there are locations where you can take a vet and get a discount. I think my dad was in the Marines for four years and that was it. He may have completed college after that and then went on to become a teacher. After so many years, I am following in his footsteps as an adjunct at R. U., but the pay is lousy. Why can't I ever make a decent living?

Lemons are good cancer protection, Dad passed away

    We all have health issues and after seeing a nutritionist I can kind of see why I had gotten cancer. Years of eating "Little Debbies" and other sweets didn't help my system. That is because cancer loves an acidic and sugary environment. You would think well, lemons, they have acid, right? Well, in the body lemons and other citrus fruits create an alkaline environment which cancer does not like. Strange but true.
    My father just passed away but lived a long life, into his early nineties. How did he live so long? In his later years he was rather thin and that put less stress on his heart, and they say if you eat less calories when you are older you live longer. But he threw up this brown stuff that he breathed in and got a lung infection and other complications. I actually elevate my head and shoulders on three pillows  at night because I have acid reflux, maybe a good idea for anyone getting older.

Dismal Falls, VA and concerns about money

    Last week we tried something different, as in we went to a place we hadn't been before. At a yard sale I'd found an older Virginia Dept. of Inland Fisheries guide to various parks, falls and natural areas in the state you can visit. It's weird that Liberty University also has a natural area associated with it that looks like it's at least a half hour away from this Lynchburg college.
     But we didn't go there. We went to a tiny falls in tiny, out of the way area that is off of state route 100 and then off of route 42, in a rural, and as I said, out of the way area. You  can access the Falls at Dismal by hiking 2 miles on the always up and down Appalachian Trail, OR take the easy route, by car, that takes you within 2 tenths on a mile from this pretty little falls. On the way we passed narrow, windy road and big open area reminding us of the farmland of Castlewood in Russell County, Virginia. But, then, why  wouldn't it be like far southwest Virginia?
     It must have just rained as the little trail to the falls was rather smooth and wet near the bottom. The falls itself seemed to be composed of many layers of rectangular shaped rock, most a dark hue. Some looked like it had white paint splattered and dripping down it, but I assumed that was some kind of moss or probably a lichen. Since it was summer the falls coming off of the many angles and steps of rectangular slabs were thin and modest. It probably roars to life in the early spring!
    We met a young family there whose toddler daughter wore a swimsuit and might have gone in the pool below the falls. It has a kind of reservoir/pool below it that is maybe 3 feet deep and and 20 feet or so across. If you put your feet in the pebbly (ouch) water it really is pretty cold!
    A few wildflowers, some I can't find in "any" guidebook, were around the falls, including meadowrue, and sassafras plants 5 feet high (!) bordered where we parked our park off the road. We gathered kindling and husband Frank found some light cardboard under an overhang (was a bum there) and made a fire for hotdogs we had on branches from one of the trees, to go with our carrots and potato salad, the dressing a Maya Angelou recipe (dilly but good). I found reddish rock. Frank said there was a lot of iron in this spot.
    Except for gas this was a rather inexpensive trip. Concerns about money have me putting off going to a nearby university to advertise my writing services. It is very expensive to live and stressful in the summer when less money is coming in.

Family Can Create Stress, Hair Sample Results

    While it may be true that the family that prays together stays together, I think the family that bugs you or drives you nuts certainly doesn't help. We all have parents who don't really listen, but what about a sibling? You figure your sibling would be an ally, someone you can talk to, a friend. But when the sibling isn't, it's more like "the ties that bind," if you know what I mean. Ill siblings, mentally handicapped siblings, or a brother or sister who act irresponsibly or like bratty children are no fun to be around. And how about childish sisters who lecture, as though they have all the answers to what is going on in their lives? Doesn't anyone else have frustrating siblings out there? And don't get me started on know-it-all in-laws.
    My father is in a care facility and it is unfortunate. He threw up into a pillow and breathed it in and caused a lung infection. Now he is on a respirator. My childish sister thinks it is all "his fault" and says she is not sympathetic. When you are pushing 60 you should be a bit more sensitive. When he passes and then my mother I will have to deal with this immature person, probably in person. Maybe it is good she is 3,000 miles away. I stress easily. You would like your family to be supportive and not cause stress but sometimes they aren't much help. Sometimes you need to seek others for support.
    My doctor/oncologist certainly wasn't supportive, or supportive enough lately. So I went to a pharmacist/nutritionist and it is strange that the hair strand test results she got for me said I have "too much" calcium and magnesium, and that I need to eat more protein. That supposedly helps your liver and your metabolism and thyroid. I wish I were 20 pounds lighter now. Diets always take so long to produce any results. Should probably lift weights too.

Cars are too expensive, Waiting to Hear about Results of Hair Test

   It is certainly easy to go off of a diet. I went to a meeting of the Beagle Ridge Master Naturalists, the first time in several months, and, of course, I had to try the desserts. Come on, I never make nice desserts at home with my gluten sensitivity. Sometimes it seems like I don't have a sensitivity and sometimes I do. I know bread is not good for me-- maybe I am allergic more to yeast than gluten. So I tried  the cake with the maple flavoring inside, and also the bars that looked like they were part brownie and also the really good fruit salad.
  And before the potluck I listened in on  presentations by new members, about going organic and how to use 'black flies' for your compost heap. I didn't know anything about these flies, so that was interesting and the newer members were friendlier than the older ones.
  And the car -- what a stupid, ridiculous expense! We get our son's old Chevy with 200,000 miles on it back on the road and have to take care of the shocks and the front end alignment and tires -- cost us $700. And then we spent $100 to see him and go to Virginia Beach, so it killed our savings. It's no fun being this poor.
  I should probably go to the pharmacist/nu-
tritionist's place and not wait for her to send me the report on my hair sample. I probably have a lot of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Easy to do with today's manufactured and packaged food.

About Those 6 weeks without a car, soy, soy everywhere, VA Beach

    I guess this time I will start "backwards" as far as the title goes. I am still looking fondly back on our trip to see our son in southeast Virginia -- even took a trip to Virginia Beach and saw where the colonists (!) first landed --  at First Landing State Park. It has an interesting beach area in that is at the confluence  (meeting) of several different bodies of water, but primarily Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. From the park's beach we could see where the beachfront curves around to the east and south to Virginia Beach proper, with all its hotels and souvenir shops and restaurants right on the beach. And in the distance to the west had to be the beginning of Norfolk.
    We missed out on what I saw online, a video showing a bike route just behind the hotels  and bordering a wide sidewalk that then bordered the sandy beach. That might be neat to try in the future, and economical too.
    I also discovered that the trees where we picnicked (there is a campground next to this park) had these wiry, almost shrubby "live oak" trees, which have small but leathery leaves, and long wavy limbs very much unlike your typical oak. But then, these are on the coast and rather different from what you find farther inland. We missed out on exploring its trails, which have swampy areas too. We need to go back sometime.
    Now I am back from any so-called vacation and trying to not overeat and also trying to avoid 'soy,' which is not the friend of a breast cancer survivor whose cancer was "estrogen receptor positive." I have read I should avoid the plant estrogen in soy, which is in everything! And I thought I was eating healthy with my chocolate bars, with their iron and dark chocolate that is considered good for your heart. So What!!!
    There is soy everywhere -- soy in salad dressing, soy in chocolate bars, soy in canned soups, soy in energy bars, soy in mayonnaise, soy in well, soy sauce and Oriental cooking products. Soy, soy, soy! How the heck do you avoid this thing? It's even in those low cal bouillon cubes! Can you believe it?! I guess I will have to make my own soup from scratch, forget the bouillon cubes, use mayonnaise sparingly, make my own salad dressing. Soy seems to be mixed in with a lot of food additives. Just as well I avoid all that crap and try to eat more fruit and vegetables. Too many things in the environment seem to work against you if you want to stay healthy.
    I guess being 6 weeks without a car can be good for your health. You have to decide when you are going to go to the store (walk-- the store was only a 15 minute walk away but part of it was uphill), and plan things out more. No hopping in the car, polluting the air and using oil that will never be replenished. At least, when you walk, you can replenish yourself with fluids and more food.
    Well, I will call the nutritionist/pharmacist tomorrow to see where I have vitamin deficiencies (she took a hair sample 3 weeks ago) and how to help my immune system. Too bad there is not a group around here of women with the gumption to not listen to every little thing their oncologist says and interested in healthy alternatives. If I have to do this alone then so be it.

Walking Over Riding, Highland Summer Conference, Nutritionist

   
    A little over a month ago we were without a car. It might have been a tragedy for some; we don't live in California where many live 90 minutes away from their jobs. We actually live close enough to our places of work  that we could  walk to our place of work. But how many people can say that?
   But there are a lot of advantages to walking over riding. First of all, look at the price of  gasoline. When I was a kid gas cost 25 cents a gallon and the last time I looked it was $3.40 a gallon for the lowest grade, regular! A jump of over 1000 percent! Of course, I can't "totally" blame those on Wall Street for speculation that jacks up the price. No, this started in the 1970s when the OPEC nations raised the price of oil every 6 months, and even now, oil is hurting our economy. But does that stop people from buying gas guzzling SUVs? Heck no! But what if your two SUVs no longer worked and you couldn't afford to fix them right away?
     Those living below the wages of those who can afford SUVs know what I am talking about. Sometimes expenses become so great that you have to eliminate something. So we eliminated the use of a car for a while. We walked to work, to the store, got a few rides to church, and did away with long trips to another town for entertainment. We even walked to the movies! How many of us can arrange that? But wouldn't a lot of you like to?
We burned calories and saved at least $50 a month on gas (we were already doing some walking, remember). It's possible to live a while without a car.
    And I attended an interesting writing workshop, the Highland Summer Conference at Radford University recently. The teachers, poets and published writers, were very patient with the six pupil class (though a few other teachers also sat in). It was unlike a writing group I'd been to where they seem to be merely critical of what you do, what I call the "slash and burn" approach to writing criticism. They pointed out strengths and improvement ideas and were encouraging. It was slanted toward Appalachian experiences, but not totally.
    But man, I snacked and ate way too many sweets. Before the conference began I went to an area nutritionist/pharmacist and spoke to her about my medical history, including the fact that I wanted to find out how to improve my hormone levels and immune system. My oncologist's only recommendation was only to stay on a medicine that has caused a number of side effects and which I know is just making me older inside and (therefore) giving me a weaker immune system, which already failed me once. I don't want it to fail me again. 
    So she took a hair sample and will see where I have deficiencies and what I need to do to help my immune system. Why don't doctors suggest this? Why do they always just throw a pill at you?

Can't seem to improve body

  It can be quite difficult to improve one's body when it won't cooperate. I tried to use a
"cleansing blended drink" with kale, lettuce, brocolli, a little gingeroot and carrots and
apple in it. But it became a rather "thick" drink and it seemed to "plug" things up! My
intestinal tract has not been nice to me since chemo and use of the drug "Femara." I can't
change my diet too extremely or I have irregularity problems and quite easily too! And passing
menopause doesn't seem to help either!

EPA, green cars, rainy weather

   I have to admit, I am not much for going out in the rain -- the cold and windy rain, that is --
in the winter months. I don't get the exercise I should, though going to "Curves" for exercise
helps.
   Last week we went to a Democrat sponsored event at a local restaurant and who should show up but none other than Terry McAuliffe! Terry has been a big fund-raiser for the Democratic Party for many years (I was going to mistakenly write a 'million' years -- no, it's just that he is so good at raising money that he has also begun several businesses and is now a multi-millionaire, apparently, and I wish I had his TYPE A personality). And he told us of his plan to help America; well, help Mississippi, anyway. He could have helped us here in Virginia but Virginia hasn't the smarts to bid on his project.
   What he did was go to China and buy up a car plant. He is now bringing that plant to a city in Mississippi and guess what he will produce -- electric cars! And not only that, but he is going to sell these cars back to China! Well, Americans can get in on it too, and he says they will be cheap -- $10,000, which is $30,000 cheaper than the projected cost of the Chevy Volt. The only drawback is that they don't go too far on a charge -- something like 40-50 miles on a charge. If you live relatively close to your job and don't take long trips this would be ideal, especially as a second, run around the neighborhood to the store kind of car. I would like a car that doesn't spew nasty, unhealthy fumes. I think cancer survivors should get a special discount with this kind of vehicle. Maybe I should write Terry about this. He says the website is www.greentech.com. I believe that's right.
    In the meantime, we need to email EPA to not knock down air quality standards. If this
is what the ignorant tea-partiers want to do, we need to let them know this is wrong. For the health of our lungs and the planet we need to reduce car fumes. I'm certain they don't help those with lung problems or a body made more vulnerable by cancer and cancer treatments. There is way too much cancer out there and we need to do something about that. Cleaning up the air would certainly help.

Got Some Real Exercise today

    I got some real exercise today. We have had some warmer than normal temps, but
we've also had some cold wind and I haven't been outside as much as maybe I'd like. But I needed to get some exercise. So today, at Curves, I was exposed to this new
dance/exercise craze called "Zumba". Ever heard of it? It is rather intense and reminds me a bit of some of the old Richard Simmons exercise routines on TV and some Jane Fonda exercise tapes. With Zumba you alternate between working on the Curves exercise machines and doing this rather fast dancerise type of movement. You quickly work up a sweat doing this. I think if you are not in shape it may be a bit exhausting and maybe a bit hard on the system. I guess it depends on how young you are and how overweight you are. If you don't try to go too fast I think you can handle this, for part of your Curves circuit, anyway.
   I did this in the morning and in the evening our church had a "big band" sound
group that played after we'd had our "Mardi Gras" dinner at the church, hosted by the Knights of Columbus as a fund-raising activity. And this "sound" made you want to get up and dance and dance we did, a lot of fast dancing, including the "twist," and also the Charleston, and the mashed potatoes, and just the regular, non touching fast dance. A few children, a brother and sister act, also joined in and copied the adults who did the fox trot. I must have burned calories for part of my dessert. Maybe I should get some dancing exercise as a regular thing! I've of people who joined a dance organization and lost weight that way. Makes sense to me.

Health Issues as you age, Health expenses, expense period

    It seems that as you grow older you encounter more aches and pains, whether you like it or not. I think, in the last few months, that these "cramping" pains just under my right rib may have something to do with my gall bladder. One could certainly "hope" that. I say hope, which seems odd, because I know of women who have had breast cancer and then felt chest/stomach area pain and it turned into cancer having spread to the liver. I sure hope it is not that. But being in my late fifties, it would not be unfeasible for it to be a gall bladder issue.
    When the oldest son visited he didn't help. I must have had peanut butter fudge about four times! Could that still be clogging up the gall bladder or creating stones? Having all that fat was probably not a good thing for me. Some suggest that a low fat diet is best to prevent breast cancer, but also seems like a sensible choice as you get older, as your organs are less able to  handle any overload as you age. Maybe I'll have to go low fat for good.
    But I dread the expense of it all. I still have not learned the results of a bone density scan. It was filed and was under
USA, third tier coverage, and now we owe a whopping $450! Why does healthcare in this country have to be so freaking expensive? Why do all the machines they use have to cost an arm and a leg? It's ridiculous, and now I may owe even more money. How does someone get ahead in that situation?

Customer Service in U.S. sucks, healthcare expenses

The United States has become a country where customer service has taken a back seat to
making money. Companies, especially big ones, (Ma Bell and other national biggies) have
customer service reps who must be underpaid, undertrained and/or of foreign origin. Yes,
we are a country of immigrants and while it is great you have come to America, if you
are in customer service, I can't quite understand you and you mess up my order, I will be a wee
bit upset -- especially if you mess up my order so much that my service is discontinued!

What am I talking about? I can talking about the fact that my son and I tried three times online and I tried two times over the phone to get our phone account straigthtened out.It shouldn't take rocket science to transfer a phone account into another person's name, and for it to "have" 2 names on the cellphone account. But if you try to change the name of the person the cellphone is billed to, you get in all kinds of trouble. The automated "program" doesn't go through; and finally, you have to call customer service.

What has happened to customer service in this country? Especially customer service on the phone? Do you know how difficult it is to get a "real" person to talk to you? And if that real person has an accent you don't understand, you may not get what you want either. AT&T has made it difficult for me to want to continue with them. Presently, even though I paid my bill, I have "no network coverage". Could it be that something is wrong with my sim card or other mechanical failure? Perhaps, but I think it is moreso because they sent me 2 separate bills, one  for me and one for my spouse, for over $116! And we hardly use the dang phone! I'm not made out of money but maybe AT&T thinks I am. Why couldn't they put both names on the one account, as I had asked (over the phone and also at an AT&T office with a customer service rep)? Why must customer service be such a lackluster, screwed up function of today's big businesses? 

Would a small business screw up like this? Would a small business care about individual problems? I would hope so, or they wouldn't be in business. But as for big business, forget about it.

And I just received a notice -- yet "another" medical facility that won't take my husband's insurance, so I owe $450 for a 30 second bone density scan! Healthcare sucks too.

Winter Wonders, Son Moving, Money

   Well, winter has made itself known again, with an inch of white before it almost all disappears. We have had, now, our sixth snow, even if it is not more than an inch. And people question global climate change? I don't see how they can doubt something is happening with our weather.
    Still, the Master Naturalist must push on. It was a "wonder" the other week I could do water monitoring. I foolishly thrust my hand into 38o degree water (!) to encapulate some rushing stream water-- how can water be so cold and still flow! (Okay, yeah, right, it's not 32 degrees.) I should have
brought something waterproof along, like a few layers of those yellow latex dishwashing gloves, over a pair winter gloves that aren't so bulky. My husband suggested this later--- after the experience.
   The oldest son, Zeb, helped with the water monitoring experience but it looks like he will be moving to a new place. He actually found himself a decent paying job! True, it is at a prison in a rural area several hours' drive away, but, hey, that's something in this economy. But helping him move will put a dent in our meager savings. Ah well, it's always easy come, easy go with savings. But in 2011, if I can find work as a  writer, then that will be great! There are writing possibilities out there and, hopefully, I can finish my novels (that's right, two of them) and get published FOR PAY, the two words all writers hope for. Maybe I should do a blog for money.