Green Tip Tuesday: Green Ways to Get Rid of the Clutter

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I'm buried here in Massachusetts and not just because of the blizzard.  I'm buried in STUFF.  Christmas is over and now all of those cheerful decorations are reading as *Clutter* to me now.  With the new gifts we received some stuff has to go.

So how to get rid of the clutter and decorations without filling up a landfill or just slinging it all into a box and stuffing it into that subterranean landfill I call "storage"?

It's easy: Donate.

Here's my plan:
First I'm going to take down the Christmas decorations.  There are a lot of items that I put up this year not because I liked them but because I'd always put them up and didn't have a good reason not to do so again.  Well, my good reason has arrived!  After searching a lot of decorating blogs AND reading my new Feng Shui book, I have decided that having anything, even something seasonal, that isn't useful, beautiful, or both is a BAD IDEA.  As I take the items down I am going to give each bobble a good scrutinizing to see if it goes into the 'Storage' box or the 'Donate' box.  No need to give away family heirlooms, but really?  The shiny gold bows I bought at Big Lots 20 years ago?  No, their time has come...and gone. 

My decor wasn't quite this cluttered, but this is how it feels now!

Luckily I also took my own advice and used a lot of natural decorating so the nuts, seeds, cranberries, pinecones, and clove oranges can all be tossed into the woods to become treasures for the woodland creatures.

Now let's talk about gifts.  Anything you received this year that you know, deep in your heart of hearts, just isn't for you and yours?  Don't store it, don't *intend* to do something with it, don't let it sit somewhere until it becomes part of the landscape.  Give it away.  Do it now.  Don't feel guilty.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with moving things that are not useful and/or beautiful to you on to someone who will love them.  What if the gift was given to you by someone who will a) notice it gone; b) be hurt that you don't love it; or c) spent a lot of time/money in the purchase or creation of the gift?  Thank them.  Thank them genuinely, lovingly, and earnestly.  Then load it in your car and take it to the donation station quickly, before you lose your nerve.

As for the rest of my stuff, these last few days of the year are an excellent opportunity to donate those sweaters that I still haven't worn even though the weather has been cold for 2 months.  To get rid of those platters that I still didn't use, even though I hosted a large party on Christmas Eve.  To help my daughter rid herself of unused Wii games, and my husband and I both need to do a good book purge (though I'll confess that of all the items I donate, books are the hardest with which to part). 

And the benefits of my hard work?  HUGE!  Cleaner house, less clutter, items that really reflect my decorating taste NOW not 10 years ago, tax deductions, good example for my daughter, lightening up is good for the mind, body, and soul, less to store, more room to invite into my life those items I would like now (I have a bedroom chair in mind, more on that later), and according to Feng Shui, my Chi'i should be off the charts with all the positive energy flow.

Sorry about the blur, but you get the idea.  Breathing room!

Simplify, simplify, simplify.  I feel lighter already.

How about you?

The Luckiest Man in the World

A picture to warm you during our New England blizzard!

Happy Holidays Everyone!  I hope Santa was good to you.  I hope you recycled all your wrapping paper.  And I hope you stopped eating Christmas cookies, fudge, and eggnog just short of a diabetic coma.  I did.  Stopped, I mean.  Just short of a coma (sigh).

We went to Mass on Christmas Eve and as the choir sang and the lights were dim, and I was all snug between my husband and daughter I took a moment to look around.  I noticed that sitting just two rows in front of me was the Luckiest Man in the World.  I wondered if he knew how lucky he was.  I hope he does.

Why is he the Luckiest Man in the World?  A man I have never even met.  A man who may be dealing with all manner of crisis, financial problems, job worries, tooth decay, and aging parents?  Well, as I watched this Lucky Man, his wife put her arm on the back of the pew and encountered the back of his sweater.  So she took a moment and rubbed his back.  Then his youngest son climbed into his lap a few minutes later and began touching his face and giggling, the way babies do.  After awhile (I know it sounds weird that I've been staring at him this long, but he is right in front of me AND between me and the altar where I'm supposed to be looking and paying attention, not composing blog entries in my head...) we all stood up and his oldest son grabbed his hand and just held it for awhile.

If you have someone, anyone, any living thing at all that wants to sit with you, hold your hand, rub your back, or touch your face, you, my friend are Lucky.  Because also sitting in that church was a man, sitting alone.  No one rubbed his back. No one held his hand.  I hope his house is just filled with people crawling all over him and that church is his one chance for some "alone time" because the alternative is unbearably sad.

Do you know how Lucky you are?

Happy Holidays!
Beth

The cure for the Hectic Holiday

I need some good-for-me-stuff that is free and won't prevent me from buttoning my jeans.  You too?  I have just what the doctor ordered:  The at-home pampering package.   Each of these ideas will take less than 1 minute to create and you already have everything you need in your pantry or linen closet.

Pampering idea #1 The Feet

Find some lotion.  Slather it on, especially on your heels and the cuticles of your toenails.  Really slather it on!  Put on cotton socks.  Let the lotion soften your feet and moisturize your nail beds.  Keep on overnight.  Don't have any lotion?  Use olive oil or almond oil.  Don't have either of those?  Use lip balm - though you probably want to think carefully before you use it on your lips after you've rubbed it on your feet...I'm just sayin'...

Pampering idea #2 The Back, Neck, and Shoulders

Fill a sock with rice, dried beans, oatmeal, buckwheat, or sand.  The sock should be about 3/4 full so there is enough room for the rice to move freely.  Add a few drops of lavendar essential oil, vanilla, grated orange or lemon peel, or peppermint extract.  Tie the end of the sock shut.  Put in your microwave for 30-60 seconds until warmed through.  Now mold your fragrant heating pad into the small of your back, over your shoulders, around your neck, or across your forehead.  Feel the relaxation that comes from applying heat directly to where your muscles/constricted blood vessels need it.  Heat again as necessary.  Don't have a sock to use?  What about the sleeve of an old shirt?  In a pinch you can use a plastic bag but be sure to put a cloth barrier between your skin and the plastic once it's been heated.

Pampering idea #3 The Face

Take 2 washcloths and get them wet.  Place one in the freezer and the second in the microwave for 20 seconds.  You can heat the washcloth for an additional 20 seconds if it's not warm enough but be careful not to make it hot.  Set a timer for 10 minutes.  Sit down.  Place the warm cloth over your face and breathe.  When the timer goes off get the other washcloth out of the freezer.  Set the timer for 10 minutes.  Sit down.  Place the cool cloth over your face and breathe.  Alternating warm and cold temperatures on the skin stimulates the immune system, rejuvenates the skin, increases blood flow, and encourages neural healing.  Always end with a cool cloth to close the pores and "rest" the skin.  This also is great for clogged sinuses.

Pampering idea #4 The Eyes

You've probably heard of using steeped, cooled tea bags over your eyes to rest them, chilled cucumber slices to reduce puffiness, and all manner of creams and unguents to reduce the appearance of fine lines...BUT... I have something even simpler.  Blinking.  Long, slow breaths coordinated with long, slow blinks.  Do it with me:  inhale for 5 seconds while opening your eyes as wide as you can.  Now exhale for 5 seconds while closing your eyes gently.  Inhale and open wide.  Exhale and close.  Are you starting to feel the moisture return to your eyes?  If not, repeat again.  And again.  Until your eyes feel moist when you close them.  A total eye rejuvenation in 15-20 seconds.  It doesn't get much cheaper than blinking.

Are you listening to music?  Drinking water?  Breathing?  Are you (occasionally) shaving your legs, wearing pretty underwear, and putting on lipstick?   If not, why not?  What could possibly be more important than your sanity and before you answer that: what can you possibly hope to get done if you are frantic, frazzled, and itching like crazy from dry skin and cracked heels?

I'm teetering on the sugar edge but not yet over, remembering to enjoy the Christmas lights we have lit both inside and out, wearing a lot of no-waist yoga pants, and cranking up the uplifting Christmas music.  I'm not stress free, but I'm not stressed out.

How about you?

What do you need this holiday season?

A lot of people may ask you what you want, but I'm asking you: What do you need?  Is it more time?  Better health?  A new haircut?  More money?  A wardrobe makeover?  A professional chef?

A new attitude?

That's what I've been needing.  Lately I've been having a pretty bad case of the Gimmes.  Oooh, gimme that new sweater!  Yes, I really need that book, gimme two.  Chocolate chip cookies?  Gimme 3 of those.  Okay, 4.

It struck me last night as I was perusing online all of the neat decorating sites, the clothing sites, the furniture sites, and the cooking sites that I hadn't stopped by one single natural health site.  Not one.  Usually my fingers can't type fast enough to google new ways to make products at home or inventive uses for baking soda.  This month's issue of Natural Health magazine has sat, unread, by my bedside covered with Pottery Barn, West Elm, Crate&Barrel, and The Sharper Image catalogs.  I had to excavate it just to see what this month's issue is about.  Must be time for a reality check.  I already have all I need to create a beautiful, healthy, balanced life for myself and my family.  I merely need to remember what is really important.  Now y'all know I'm not about to preach that perhaps this Christmas should be the year when your family donates all their gifts to a shelter and experiences the true joy of giving, perhaps that is you, but that is not me.  My daughter will happily unwrap many a gift on Christmas morn, I am however suggesting a certain detachment is needed. 

This is me now.  This is not how I want to look at Christmas.

Can balance be found during the holidays?  Can the Natural Living magazine get at least equal read-time to the Pottery Barn Catalog Holiday 2010?  I believe so and here's my plan:

When I start to feel like I need some material thing that means I need to take a break from shopping or browsing.  Time for a glass of water and some Christmas music.

If things start to feel hectic my mantra is simplify, simplify, simplify.  One or two kinds of cookies, instead of 5 or 6.  Gift cards instead of shipping presents.  Limiting holiday commitments to ensure plenty of time for sitting in front of the fire and watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas specials.

Drink water.  Drink more water.  Having to pee a lot ensures that I sit down and take a break for a moment, right?

Start out every day with a smoothie.  No matter what else happens I can load up my smoothie with lots of fruits, Omega 3s and fiber.  All that fiber will ensure more "sitting down breaks"  (I know, I know, too much information....)

Keep inspirational and/or healthy lifestyle focused reading materials in my purse and car.  That way when I have a few moments before picking up my daughter or during basketball practice I have something to read that isn't an ad circular.  Same with podcasts, I'm keeping them inspirational like The Moth Podcast, or healthy like The Nutrition Diva Podcast.  Or fun like Under Cover with Deb and Beth, one of the finest book review podcasts I've yet come across.  Not that I'm biased.

That's my plan and with three weeks left until Christmas I'm glad to have one.  What about you, what are you doing to keep yourself balanced during the holiday season?

These are a few of my favorite things

I've been recently inspired by a post from Deb to think about a few of my own favorite things of the season.  I've not been in a terribly "grateful" space lately as our exterior paint project (The Monster Paint Project) turned into the The Monster Contractor Search, which, when a contractor was finally secured, morphed into its current state: The Monster Rebuild Project.  The back of our house was discovered to be severely water damaged and the wood was, well, mostly gone.  Rotted away.  Underneath the wood siding was just a mess of rotted wood, wet insulation, and shredded paper.  It can be fixed.  But it ain't cheap.

So in order not to dwell on what cannot be changed I decided to turn my thoughts to all of the great stuff going on around me this season.  I no longer have a pumpkin-patch-aged-child but I went anyway.  I love pumpkin patches, nurseries, and garden centers at this particular time of year because there is just something about a fall arrangement of mums, pumpkins, gourds, maybe a scarecrow or two, that is so appealing to me.

This image from front-porch-ideas-and-more.com is stunning

I love the abundance and simplicity of this arrangement

And while I love candles all year long, the shorter days of fall seem to invite candlelight and candlescapes.  Of course I want all things to be as natural and recyclable as possible, so check out these ideas:

Mother Nature will provide you with plenty of acorns, just look down

What could be simpler or more beautiful?

I think this will be on my Thanksgiving table this year.

I am completely inspired for the front of my house, excited and confident for my tablescape.  There is only one place left to have warmth, softness, and seasonal comfort: the bedroom.  Think down and flannel and you can't go wrong.  Fluffy down, soft flannel, perhaps a chenille throw in case you want to nap on a Sunday afternoon?  Pure seasonal decadence.

It's the layering that makes this bed appear so cozy



Perhaps a few tea lights placed in hollowed-out mini pumpkins on the bedside table?  Imagine the mild, comforting smell of roasting pumpkin you will get when the candles are lit.  This is affordable luxury.  This is you connecting with the season and the passage of time.  Honoring the rhythms of the Earth.

These are a few of my favorite things.

You can't die laughing

Laughter is essential for life

Oh I'm sure there are a whole host of emergency room doctors who right now are saying "Well, actually...." but you know what I mean.  Are you laughing enough?  Have you laughed today?  I don't mean a sardonic grimace or a sarcastic chuckle, I mean true laughter.

If not, why not?

You may have to deliberately seek out sources of humor.  Unfortunately life doesn't always mimic the sitcom where fashionably messy homes are inhabited by quick-witted and adorable members.  Sometimes life has dirty laundry, grumpy spouses, overtired children, and hormonal teenagers.

That's okay.  You can still laugh.

Books, movies, people, whatever makes you laugh is good

Yesterday, on a whim I picked up a copy of Jill Conner Browne's Sweet Potato Queen's Guide to Raising Children for Fun and Profit.   Now Jill has a whole bunch of these books and each one is funnier than the last.  I like to read them in small doses because I find that I become a bit immune to comedy if I binge on it.  It turned out to be the best thing I've done for myself in 2 weeks.  I am finding myself laughing out loud and to my surprise laughter is exactly what I needed.  The past 2 weeks have been crazy: school started, I went back to work, field hockey started and who knew field hockey would be every afternoon all afternoon ending only right smack dab in the middle of dinner time?  Certainly not me.  The laundry has been piling up, I wake at 5:30 to work out but am too keyed up with stress to go to bed before 11.  Lack of sleep and too many meals-on-the-go had me feeling off balance, short tempered, and wondering how I was going to balance it all. 

Then I picked up a book, on a whim, and started to laugh.  I forgot that I need to laugh!

Suddenly everything is okay again in my world.  I have perspective.  I feel more relaxed after laughing for a few minutes than I have after the past 2 weeks of yoga. I need to laugh.  Every day.  And I'm willing to bet, so do you.

Seek out sources of laughter everyday.  A book, a show on TV, a website, a blog, maybe even a friend who never fails to entertain.  Whatever the source, guard it well and visit it often.  If you're laughing, you're alive.

The All American Past Time

Picture courtesy of Steve's iPhone

Well, I did it.  It took me 40 years to watch the Red Sox play live at Fenway Park, but yesterday I did it.  I'm not sure I would have put this particular item on my Bucket List had I not moved to Massachusetts, but move I did, and everyone and I mean everyone here knows that you can't really call yourself a New Englander if you haven't been to Fenway.

I didn't grow up attending baseball games.  I wasn't a fan.  When we lived in Cincinnati Steve introduced me to baseball by getting us tickets a few times each year to watch  the Reds.  I didn't fall in love with baseball per se, but I fell in love with attending games.  A TV, no matter how large, cannot convey the energy, the excitement, the sheer camaraderie of being there, with the crowd, singing the silly songs, doing the 7th inning stretch, and cheering and jeering the calls of the umpire.  It's quite magical.

So after a few years of attending Reds' games we moved to Toledo, Ohio.  There I learned what it was like to attend minor league games when we went to watch the Toledo Mud Hens play.  The Mud Hens' stadium is small, the price per ticket is pretty cheap, and the there's not a bad seat in the house.  I liked it.  There wasn't quite the same energy as there had been in Cincinnati, but it was still fun.

Nothing I had experienced before quite prepared me for Fenway.  At Fenway the excitement starts about 3 blocks away from the stadium where the crowds start to gather in pubs and restaurants.  They spill out the doors onto the streets wearing Boston Red Sox caps, shirts, jackets, pants, even carrying purses and backpacks with the Red Sox logo.  As you get closer to the stadium the street vendors increase along with the crowds.  It's impossible to walk without bumping into someone, dodging a ticket scalper, or being blasted by the cries of "Game Programs!  $2 outside the park, $5 inside!  Get your programs!"  The bagpipes begin to play, security works overtime to search bags and get everybody inside, and the smell of hot dogs permeates the air.

Inside Fenway is a tribute to the old meeting the new.  Fenway Park, America's oldest ballpark, is 98 years old.  Old photos and pennants share space with new ads for Comcast Xfinity and Microsoft.  Fenway Franks, Fenway Park's official hot dogs, are sold everywhere and in mass quantities.  Dunkin' Donuts brews gallons of coffee and the beer vendors just keep 'em coming.  The seats are small and the aisles are narrow.  The stadium vendors walk up and down, up and down calling "Hot dogs, get your hot dogs!" and "Peanuts!  Salted Peanuts!"  The cotton candy, popcorn, pizza, and ice cream vendors all add their cries creating a cacophony of sounds, a heady aroma, and a dazzling display of balance and strength as they navigate the steep, crowded stairs.

If you haven't ever attended a major league sporting event, I highly recommend that you do, just once, for the experience.  40,000 people all cheering at the same time, working together to do the 'the wave', singing 'Take me out to the ballpark' during the 7th inning stretch, and clapping whenever a kid catches a foul ball is an invigorating experience. 

It's a great way to spend a day.

What would you do if you weren't afraid to do it?

What would you do if you weren't afraid to do it?  Would you publish a book?  Open a restaurant?  Produce a movie?  Cure a disease?  Invent something?  Did you ever set a goal that seemed like maybe you were reaching a little too high but you couldn't help yourself, you decided to reach anyway?

I did.  I do.  And I did it.  I reached.

I'd like to invite you to come along with me as I embark on my next adventure that combines 2 of my passions: reading books and talking with friends.  I'd like to invite you to listen to my podcast.

That's right, podcast.  Debbie and I have a podcast.  If you are a podcast virgin let me give you a little more information: podcasts are audio or video blogs.  Debbie and I decided to create an audio podcast where we will review books, blogs, authors, basically anything written down.  Our inaugral podcast is now live and can be found on our blog http://www.undercoverwithdebandbeth.blogspot.com/ or downloaded from iTunes.  Just type deb and beth in the search bar.

In our first podcast we review the Stephanie Plum series written by Janet Evanovich.  For our next podcast we're planning to discuss the combined works from author Stacey Ballis.  Our style is casual, the audio mix a bit amateur, the intro music probably a little dated, yet I am so proud of the overall product that I am just about bursting.  I'd love to have you listen along.  Download the podcast (it's free) and even better subscribe so you get our regular updates.

And while you're listening to us, think about your dream.  And then reach.

My Summer Top 10 List

This summer has been chock full of wonderful experiences.  I seem to be in a "gratitude place" lately because I am noticing that every little thing seems to bring me joy.  Perhaps I am finally feeling at home, at peace, and settled here in Massachusetts.

I've been thinking lately about a Top 10 list: what are my 10 favorite things to do/experience this summer.  Here's what I have come up with so far:

10.  The way my house smells first thing in the morning when the windows have been open all night long and the air is still cool.

9.  Sipping Simply Lemonade.  With plenty of ice.  (Fresh squeezed would only be better if someone else was willing to squeeze it for me...)

8.  Scrunching my toes in the sand.  Not being a native New Englander, I had no idea that there were so many types of sand on beaches.  York beach in York, Maine has a course, brown sandy beach.  Hampton Beach in Hampton, New Hampshire has a soft, yellow sand.  Ogunquit Beach in Ogunquit, Maine has a soft, light brown sand.  Marblehead Beach in Salem, Massachusetts has a very rocky beach with not much sand at all.  Whatever their type, I like all beaches and scrunching my toes in all kinds of sand.

7.  Seeing the bees really working the flowers in front my house.  The previous owner planted lavendar and the bees just go crazy over the stuff.  Every day, without fail they show up to work.  I don't know much about bees but I think these bees are honey bees.  They are big and fat and can barely squeeze their bee-bodies into each flower.  They don't seem bothered by me trying to weed the area around the lavendar and other flowers and to my amazement, even with hundreds of bees around me, I've never been stung.  Thanks, bees!

6.  Freshly painted hot-pink toenails.  I rarely paint my fingernails but in the summer I like to have my toes looking cute.  Hot pink is my choice this summer.  Probably it's weird but glancing down at my cute-hot-pink-toes set against my tanned foot makes me smile.

5.  The smell of Hawaiian Tropic suntain lotion.  Probably laden with chemicals and extra artificial ingredients to make that wonderful, trademark smell, Hawaiian Tropic has it right: it just smells like summer.

4.  Eating cherries on the back deck.  Having a pit-spitting contest with my daughter to see who can spit their pit the farthest into the woods.

3.  Grilled corn on the cob.  Purchased fresh that day from the farmer's market.  With butter and salt.

2.  The sound of the ocean.  Be it crashing waves, screaming gulls, the blowing wind, or the dull roar of the surf, I find the complex sounds of the ocean to be at times calming, at times stimulating and always awe-inspiring.

1.  The smell of my daughter's hair in the summer: a potpourri of chlorine, shampoo, and sun.  I could just breathe that child in forever.  She's 11 now, so time spent hugging mom whilst I smell her hair is both short and met with horror ("Mo-om!  Why are you so weird???").  No matter.  I know what's important.


So there it is.  My Top 10 Summer Pleasures.  Any of those pleasures resonate with you?  Any pleasures to add?

Need relaxation therapy? Try a Pottery Barn catalog

A few days ago I went out to check the mail.  Life had been unexpectedly busy and stressful and my house was reflecting it: dishes needing to be loaded in the dishwasher, throw blankets...well...thrown about, papers on the floor where the wind had blown them, shoes absolutely everywhere but in the shoe bin, beds unmade, laundry unfolded, a life in chaos.

I wasn't so much checking the mailbox as I was fleeing the scene.

When I opened the mailbox it was there.  Nestled in among the Redplum coupons, the grocery store ads, and the oil bill.  A Pottery Barn catalog.  Just for a moment I heard the angels sing.  I pulled out the mail, tossing most of it into the recycle bin as I walked into the house.  But not the Pottery Barn catalog.  Nope, no recycling bin for you yet, my pretty.  You, my little book of magic, are going to provide me some much needed therapy.

Isn't this a peaceful scene?

I walked into the kitchen and placed the catalog in the center of the island.  I quickly unloaded the dishwasher, put away the clean dishes, then loaded it again with the dirty.  I wiped off counters and tables (being careful not to get my prized catalog wet!) and took the catalog with me to the family room.  I placed the catalog on the coffee table and went to work: I picked up the wind-strewn papers, folded the throw blankets, put the pillows and cushions back where they belong and straightened the rug.

Then Pottery Barn and I went upstairs where I quickly made beds, put dirty laundry into hampers, threw in a load, and gazed longingly at the cover of the catalog while I folded laundry.  I put the laundry away, made a cup of Bigelow's Chai Green Tea (in my beloved Keurig, of course) and then sat down to relax.  Just me and Pottery Barn.

 I enjoyed it just as much as I thought I would.  Each page filled with beautifully photographed, beautifully layered, accessorized, and clean roooms.   Pottery Barn catalog inspires me.  Just knowing those beautiful images awaited me gave me the push I needed to set my own house to rights.  After perusing through Pottery Barn I find myself looking at collections of candles and glassware in new ways.  I will arrange pillows and blankets in different groupings, mixing patterns in a way I hadn't thought of before.  I have painted picture frames, printed out my photos in black and white, covered scraps of wood with chalkboard paint or fabric, all because of things I've seen in Pottery Barn magazine.  I don't actually own a lot of Pottery Barn "stuff."  I have a few accessories, my daughter has a lot of their bedding and a desk hutch, and many, many of my paint colors through the years have been taken directly from the Benjamin Moore Pottery Barn paint deck, but for most part it is the lifestyle they are selling that I am buying, not the actual product.  (Which is probably not music to Pottery Barn's ears but I'm just tellin' the truth here).

After 30 minutes spent in my now-clean-house, sipping chai green tea and flipping through the catalog I was completely relaxed.  I got up, actually set the table for dinner, as opposed to simply putting out plates.  I used napkin rings, brought in a centerpiece of a glass bowl filled with sand, white candles, sea glass, and shells (except for the candles all found objects from the ocean).  We had a pleasant dinner, enjoyed some dumb game shows as a family, and went to bed. 

The next day I was still inspired to move some throw pillows around from different rooms when making my bed.  The day after that I hung a shelf in my bathroom that I'd been meaning to hang.  Just this morning I grouped some picture frames differently.

I spent 30 minutes with a catalog and I didn't buy anything.  But I did get a new attitude.

What inspires yet relaxes you?

My house smells like fresh spring air...and last night's dinner...and the litter box...

...and the undone laundry...and my daughter's softball cleats...you get the picture.  Spring has definitely come to my little town in Massachusetts and it's beautiful here.  The air is fragrant with the scent of the lilac bushes growing wildly in my neighbor's yard.  The trees have all blossomed.  My lavender bushes are gorgeous.  And my windows are wide open to air out the smells of, well, of life I suppose.  Cooking, people, pets, laundry, and fresh paint (of course) have all combined to create the special potpourri that is our home's unique smell.   All of these thoughts about fresh air got me to thinking about my home's indoor air quality.  After all we burned wood fires in the fireplace all winter, I never use the vent when boiling water for pasta, I do have a cat, and for 6 long months the windows weren't open very often.  Perhaps most importantly I have a lot of furniture with stain, paint, veneers, particle board, stain protection, and glue.  All of those things are the real culprits of indoor air pollution.

Spider plants significantly reduce formaldehyde in the air

Luckily all we need to reduce/remove toxins from the air inside our homes is a few common household plants.  Formaldehyde is a toxin commonly found in homes because it is released by wood veneers, plywood, foam insulation, natural gas, wood, and gasoline.  Oh and it's also present in grocery bags, waxed paper, and most fabric protectors.  It's kind of hard to not have a formaldehyde problem if you have any furniture, carpet, or fabrics in your home.  In a study conducted by NASA it was discovered that placing a spider plant in an area likely to be high in formaldeyhde is an excellent way to clean the air and it has the added bonus of sucking up carbon monoxide as well.

These daisies look beautiful while they scrub the air of benzene

Benzene is a solvent used in plastics, paints, inks, and rubber that is an irritant to our mucous membranes when inhaled.  The NASA study also found that benzene can be easily mitigated by having a few chrysanthemums or gerbera daisies around the house.

Now I have what you may call a black thumb.  Keeping my kid alive just about taps me out, so keeping plants alive has never worked out that well.  I over-water, under-water, let them get root bound or shock them with too large of a pot.  I never seem to have the "right spot" for the sunlight required so I either burn them or let them wither in darkness.  If you have this problem as well then I am here to tell you that there is hope: it turns out that having a variety of flowering and/or evergreen plants outside of your home is helpful too because everytime you open a door or window you get the benefit of the clean air flowing in which is why regularly "airing" out the house is so important.

I think I can manage to occasionally buy a gerbera daisy or two.  I wouldn't mind having a few chysanthemums in a vase.  But I can defnitely get into having lavender bushes, pear trees, flowering dogwood trees, azaleas, hostas, and all other kinds of plants outside my home.  Beautiful curb appeal and cleaner air, what a deal!

Oh and scooping the litter box daily will help both me and the cat.  Another win win.

Can reading make you healthier?

Read to improve your health

Have I mentioned recently how much I love books?  I love bookstores, libraries, and the book table at the warehouse club.  So I started wondering: is there any correlation between loving books and health?  I researched online and found that YES, loving to read can make you healthier.

It all stems from the balance of those stress hormones I talked about in my last post.  People who love to read can reduce their stress at will simply by choosing their reading material wisely.  Unlike people who unwind by watching TV where you are bombarded with images, advertising, and carefully targeted social messages, people who read for pleasure have more control over the amount of stimulus they are receiving because they are better able to control their involvement in the story.  It doesn't appear to matter what you are reading either.  Fiction, fine literature, non-fiction, scientific journals, smut novels, whatever you like as long as you enjoy it.

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?   Images, once seen, can be very powerful and produce an instant and lasting stress response in the body: increased heart rate, increased adrenaline, and increased cortisol.  However images, once imagined, can be controlled, edited, and don't ellicit the same stress response in the body.  It's less stressful to read something scary than to see something scary.

Research is also showing that people who read for pleasure tend to read more in general: they read more food labels, they research questions online, they feel more comfortable questioning 'facts' and more confident in their ability to discern what is right for them as opposed to following a trend.

Lower blood pressure, higher IQ, better quality sleep, better concentration, more confidence, and better judgement.  All because I love to read!  If that isn't a healthy habit, I don't know what is.

Read any good books lately?  I love to hear what other people are reading.  I have just finished re-reading all of Jen Lancaster's autobiographies in anticipation of Pretty in Plaid coming out in paperback this week!

Green Tip Tuesday: The Mighty Lemon

Take advantage of the most acidic ingredient in your kitchen.

My cutting board smells like garlic, my laundry could use a good bleaching, my refrigerator has a weird smell, and my microwave has a greasy residue leftover from cooking bacon.  Good thing I have lemons!  The simple lemon will take care of all of those problems, leave a fresh smell, and if I don't use the whole thing I can cook with the leftovers - how often can you say that about your cleaning products?

I love lemons.  I love the way they look, the way they smell, the way they clean, and I've never met a lemon square I didn't like.  Or lemon poppyseed muffin.  Or lemonade.  But more than just being great for cooking, lemons are a super cheap, super effective way to get things clean.  Lemons are an acid and that acid kills bacteria which is what causes bad smells.  That means that lemon juice will also work quite effectively on a cut (squeeze it fresh and then take a deep breath because you're gonna feel it!), and it will sanitize any surface.  Usually I am waxing poetic about the virtues of vinegar for these same types of things and I still do love me my vinegar but let's face it, lemon juice smells better and sometimes it's nice to mix things up a bit.  To clean anything simply cut the lemon in half and rub the cut end directly on...whatever: the cutting board, the counter top, the pan, etc.  Rinse well to avoid a sticky residue.  To clean a microwave add 3 TBSP lemon juice to 1/2 c. water and microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Wipe out your now sanitized and fresh smelling microwave.  To use in a refrigerator in addition to, or in place of baking soda, saturate a cotton ball with lemon juice and leave in the refrigerator for a few hours.  Or just cut a lemon and leave the slices in the refrigerator.  Or near the litter box.  Or in the bathroom (Warning: your family may wonder at your sanity with this last one.  My family is used to weird stuff like this but you may need to warn yours..).

Lemon juice is also fantastic in the laundry as a natural bleach.  Squeeze a cup of lemon juice and pour it right in with your regular water and detergent.  It whitens clothes but won't harm them.  The bleaching action also works on hair, nails, and skin but because of the acidic nature of the lemon limit any time on your skin to no more than 15 minutes.  Your hair can handle a longer time but it's a good idea to dilute the lemon juice - about half and half - with water and use it as a rinse.  

I am all about using fresh lemons because the acid is nice and strong, the scent is fantastic, and the peel can be put right down your disposal to clean your drains.  Or thrown into your yard to feed the wildlife yet discourage ants from coming near your home.  Or used as a natural pumice on your heels.  And of course using a fresh lemon means not buying lemon juice in a plastic bottle and not buying plastic reduces your dependance on petroleum products!  (Oh yes, I'm still on that kick!) 

Having all those fresh lemons around inspires my cooking too.  I never would have made a lemon cake with lemon glaze had I not had a few extra lemons hanging around.  I know for a fact I wouldn't have attempted to learn how to make real lemonade, lemon sherbet, or lemon-mint water had I not been inspired by Martha Stewart and the sight of those gorgeous lemons.   There's just something about spring/summer and lemons that seem to go together.  Fall/winter feel like cinnamon to me (a future post?  You bet!), spring and summer belong to lemons.

Want to go green? Think yellow.

What goes in must come out

Yep, this post really is about pooping.  Yesterday I was running on the treadmill.  It was my first day back to running after a 4 day break because I had injured my calf muscle.  I don't know how I could possibly have forgotten in only 4 days that running always makes me have to go to the bathroom.  Always.  But I did.  Luckily I was running on my home treadmill and not at the gym, otherwise that hunched-over-abdominal-clenching-crab-walk I had to do would have been really embarrassing.  The fact is that moving your body makes your body move: you heart rate increases, more blood is circulated, lymph fluid is circulated, peristalsis, catastalsis, and colon motility (intestinal contractions) increase, and metabolism is kicked into high gear.

It's the colon motility that got me.

As with any muscle we want to keep our intestinal muscles in excellent shape.  The contractions known as peristalsis and catastalsis are what make digestion and waste removal possible.  If these contractions become sluggish and irregular we've got partially digested food just sitting around rotting inside of us.  We can tone those muscles and ensure proper elimination of our waste in a number of ways:

1.  Drink plenty of water.  Each intestinal contraction is designed to use waves of mucus and fluid to push food particles along the 23 feet of intestinal tract.  Staying properly hydrated ensures that the mucus isn't too thick and thus peristalsis sluggish.  I heard a rule of 1 ounce of water for every 10 pounds you weigh.  That seems a little low to me but it's an excellent place to start.  I like to fill up 2 water bottles each day (stainless steel, of course!) and leave one in the refrigerator or on the counter at home and one in the car.  I remember to drink water a lot better if I have it already filled and ready to go.

2.  Eat plenty of fiber.  Fiber rich foods act as a binder, just like adding bread crumbs to your meatloaf.  Fiber binds all those food particles sloshing around your intestines together.  It's rough cellular texture gives a little intestinal scrub as it moves through ensuring that it gets all the particles along with the gooey stuff like cholesterol, excess mucus, and the slimy chemical residue left by many processed foods.  I like to add psyllium husk to my morning smoothies to ensure that I am getting enough fiber each day.  I can't taste it in the smoothie at all and it doesn't seem to affect the texture.

3.  Move your body. Walk.  Run.  Jump on a trampoline, kick a ball, dance, swim - it makes no difference what you do, just that you do something.  Just like lymph fluid which has no pump and depends upon our bodies movement to flow, exercise stimulates peristalsis and gets that which we no longer need moving out of our bodies.  Doing housework or walking to the printer is not enough movement unless you are doing laps to the printer and have a really big house...

4.  Laugh!  Laughter tones the abdominal muscles.  The whole reason I try to pepper this blog with nonsense posts about torturing my brothers in the car  or showering at the gym is to (hopefully) make you laugh, giving you an abdominal workout.  (Okay maybe abdominal workout is a stretch, but smiling is an excellent way to tone your facial muscles and reduce wrinkles and you at least smiled while reading showering at the gym, right?)

5.  Breathe.  Breathe slowly, deeply, and evenly.  Deliberately slow, deep breaths tone our diaphragm and abdomen.  Consciously pulling more oxygen into our bodies is an excellent way to reduce stress and tension, both of which can halt natural digestive function.  Take a deep breath in through your nose right now.  Hold for a moment.  Now slowly as you count to 5 release that breath.  Did your shoulders come down?  Did your eyes relax?

Now that wasn't so bad, talking about poop, was it?  Aren't you glad this post didn't have an accompanying picture...?

...And that's why I need more toilet paper.

So late last week I had this great idea:  I will turn the remaining 3 months before my 40th birthday into a boot camp of sorts and sculpt my body so that when I turn 40 I will be ripped, cut, and amazing.  I couldn't help it, I was hyped-up by the return of Biggest Loser after the long Winter Olympics hiatus, I'd had a little too much enjoyment from my peanut butter cookie Larabar, and I had recently seen a picture of 42-year-old Halle Berry in her underwear.  Inspiring, to say the least.   Never to be one to do things by halves, I jumped into my new routine.  I made sure my breakfast smoothie was pristine: no cheating by using orange juice for extra flavor because it also adds calories.  My lunchtime veggie intake was a thing of beauty: no dip, a small handful of almonds or walnuts for protein, perhaps some fresh-squeezed lemon juice for some zip.  Snack time I had a Larabar.  Dinner was awash with whole grains, fresh veggies, and simple proteins.   I was working out with a new fervor: 30 minutes on the elliptical, an hour of weigh training, an hour-long cardio class.  Each day I had breakfast, take daughter to school, workout, home, shower, lunch, take a walk, yoga, pick up daughter,  snack, housework, cook dinner, read, bed.  Get up and do it again all over the next day.  Earlier this week I was so sore I was sure my chest pains were a heart attack.  By Wednesday I was sure I had a sinus infection (and still possibly a heart attack).   By Thursday I was so sick I was willing to consider going to Dr. Breast Exam to get antibiotics.  By Friday I was so sick I was only well enough to yell at Steve, but too sick to go to the doctor.

Perhaps working out about 5 hours a day and consuming barely a thousand calories while still not fully recovered from my cold wasn't my best plan. 

Still, congested as I was, I didn't rate breathing high enough to go to Dr. Breast Exam for a prescription so I decided to cure myself with probiotics and extra psyllium husk in my smoothie.  Look to the colon folks!  Whatever ails you, look to the colon.

I'm still congested.  I still have a headache. My nose is still raw from blowing it. 

But By God my colon is clean.

And that's why I need more toilet paper.

Things that are good for your heart (Diet Coke is not one of them)

Happy Valentine's Day!  On a day devoted to wearing red, exchanging heart shaped boxes of chocolates, and receiving glittery heart cards I thought I'd mention a few things that really are good for your heart.  (And just like Pepsi, Diet Coke will not escape my wrath for their latest marketing trick).

Take a deep breath.  Let all that oxygen fill your lungs and enrich your blood.  Cancer cannot live in an oxygenated environment, so get as much oxygen into your body as possible.  Take a walk outside.  Breathe deeply and turn your face toward the sun.  Soak in some vitamin D for about 20 minutes because a vitamin D deficiency raises your risk for heart disease.

Tell someone you love them.  Connect with friends or family.  Join a club.  Be active in your community.  Studies show that isolated people have a higher rate of heart attacks than those who are connected.

Eat a piece rf two of that dark chocolate from the heart-shaped box.  Dark chocolate contains antioxidants that can lower blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide.  Better yet, dip an organic strawberry into dark chocolate and your whole body will smile.

Drink plenty of water.  Being dehydrated causes the heart to have to pump harder due to decreased blood volume, which increases your risk of heart attack.

Read a good book (or blog!) the relaxed state you enter while reading lowers your blood pressure.  Watch a funny movie because laughing is a fantastic abdominal workout and causes you to breathe harder, thus taking in more oxygen.  Take a nap, just 20 minutes can lower your blood pressure and reduce stress.  Have great sex...do you really need a reason to have great sex???

Your heart will thank you.

Weekly Wellbeing: 10k a Day

The Weekly Wellbeings kind of fell to the wayside as posts but have still been going on in life (kind of). My newest discovery in wellbeing has come from a simple $14 purchase of a pedometer that counts how many steps I take each day when worn clipped to my waistband. I don't have any fancy features on my pedometer, just the basics: a step counter, timer, and distance walked.

Many times I have read in different magazines, books, blogs, and health articles that we should be taking 10,000 steps a day, every day. I figured that I took at least that many steps every day so I didn't really think too much about it. I also read that people who wear a pedometer take more steps, up to 2,000 more steps, each day. So after a prolonged period of inactivity brought on by a recent foot injury, I decided that I would wear a pedometer and see just how many steps I was taking each day.

Week 1: Wow, I am amazing! 19,000+ steps each day! Well, obviously I don't need this pedometer because I almost double the recommended daily amount.

Week 2: Hmm, without having a moving truck and cars to help load I'm only taking 14,000+ steps. Well, that's probably my usual amount, I'll still wear the pedometer a few more days just to make sure.

Week 3: Unpacking finished. Life returning to normal. Normal apparently means sitting around a lot more (especially at the computer) struggling to get to 10,000 steps each day.

It was a shock for me to realize that without taking a walk each day and/or making a concentrated effort to move myself around, I would have only been getting between 6-8000 steps each day. I'm a slacker and I didn't even know it! I find it hard to maintain a continuously active lifestyle because so many of my favorite activities can be done sitting: reading, blogging, surfing the net, watching Seinfeld, talking on the phone -- all sedentary activities! Since wearing the pedometer I have been more aware of doing chores or simply pacing while talking on the phone and I have rediscovered my love of books on CD and so am listening to books while walking. I still sit down to blog and surf but since I'm not also sitting everytime I want to read or chat I'm noticing a difference.

I think I'm going to continue to wear the pedometer for awhile. I like having a simple, non-invasive way to check how active I am. I like having a simple goal each day and a simple way to challenge myself on days I feel like a challenge: today I'll try to walk 12,000 steps, just because. A lifestyle goal, a fitness monitor, and a barometer of how much I am challenging myself all for $14... how can you go wrong?

Grace #12 Psyllium husk

At the risk of giving way too much information about my lower intestinal tract, I have to recognize psyllium husk as a perfect solution for those of us who need to keep things moving. I put a scoop in my smoothie every morning, try to remember to drink plenty of water, and everything in my body works like clockwork. Gentler than wheat germ, completely natural, and relatively inexpensive, psyllium husk has no noticeable flavor and doesn't bulk up the smoothie like other fiber supplements can do.

I had to wait months for a supply of psyllium husk because my regular grocery store does not carry it and a trip to Whole Foods is an hour-and-a-half-round-trip endeavor. I tried other fiber supplements but just didn't like them as much.

Crazy the things for which we become grateful, eh?

Weekly Wellbeing: Seeking out people with different problems

I just watched an episode of Jon&Kate Plus 8. I really enjoyed seeing a full 30 minutes of someone else's life that is clearly, on a daily basis, much more chaotic than mine. As I sat, folding laundry, in my quiet-child-in-school-and-no-one-melting-down home I realized how incredibly blessed I am. I get overwhelmed easily. I get freaked out by too much chaos. I am the absolute most perfect person in the world to have only one child. And, if the reality show is real, Kate is absolutely the perfect person to have 8 kids.


I think it's good to look at other people's lives. I have never found someone whose life I would rather have. We are not rich, I am not beautiful, I am not famous, and I will probably not win a Nobel Prize, but I have a good life that suits me well. Even lives that look really good on the outside seem to have problems on the inside that I would not want to have. My daughter is healthy. Steve is healthy. I am healthy. My parents are both still alive. I have fabulous friends. I have enough to eat, good books to read, a roof over my head, and comfy flannel sheets on my bed. I may not have my own reality show (which, let's face it, would be one boring show), but neither do I have to divide my attention between 8 children each afternoon.

I like hearing about other people's problems, not so I can judge how messed up they are, but so I can appreciate how perfectly suited my problems are to me.

Weekly Wellbeing: I have started drinking!

Water. I have started drinking more water. Perhaps it is intuitive to everyone else in the world that our bodies, which are made of 80% water, need water to live. For some reason, this has not been intuitive to me. I frequently forget to drink water. In fact, on the rare occasion that I don’t start my morning with a smoothie, I may not consume any liquid the entire day! I know all about the wonders of water: beautiful, glowing skin, strong, smooth finger/toenails, glossy hair, faster metabolism, healthier lymph system, healthier intestines…I am sure the list goes on and on. I know these things, but I haven’t internalized them.

I have a lot of excuses:

Bottled water is expensive and bad for the environment and the world’s water supply. Reusable water bottles may be leaching dangerous toxins from the plastic into the water. It takes forever to refill my Brita filtering container. I don’t feel thirsty (well, frequently I do but I mistake thirst for hunger and I eat instead). I eat a lot of foods high in water content. I intend to drink more, but I just keep forgetting.

Yes, they all sound lame, even to me.

The truth is that drinking water is a habit, like brushing my teeth and exercising. Once I’m in a good rhythm then I have no trouble remembering, but any little change to my schedule and the water habit flies out the window. But really, that’s just another excuse. I have had many changes to my schedule and I never forget to brush my teeth. I could have my schedule turned upside down and I wouldn’t forget to eat! Once drinking more water becomes a priority for me, I’ll remember no matter what happens in my schedule.

So, Cheers! Bottoms Up!