News for today's 2018: 08/24/11

The Ambien Diet

8:34 PM Tukiyooo 0

Best thing that happened to me today - I made a ponytail with one hand! With a special ponytail thing I found in a drawer and with the help of gravity. I have a ponytail! It's like a little piece of heaven. Yes, I do lead an exciting life. <br /><br />I should be working on my closet mess, which has now spilled over into the rest of the house. It's like my closet is a bottomless pit of junk. I can't believe the stuff I'm finding. Like 12 pairs of size 12 pants (jeans and dress slacks), so far. I still have piles of clothes to sort through.<br /><br />I haven't comfortably worn size 12 for about a year. Why are they still hanging there if they don't fit? We all know the answer...because I was going to lose the extra weight...soon. I also have lots of size 14 and 16 clothes. In boxes in the garage are the size 8's and 10's from two years ago. I never dreamed I'd outgrow my size 12's, for about the 20th time in my life.<br /><br />I actually don't even know what size I wear right now. I have a "one-hand" rule for pants these days. I have to be able to pull then on with my right hand. No buttons. Which means I'm living in my elastic waist workout pants.  <br /><br />So about this Ambien diet. For the last five or six years, since menopause, I feel like I haven't slept. I can fall asleep easily, I just can't stay asleep. I've practically begged my doctor for Ambien several times, but the most she would ever give me was ten tablets at a time, no refill. She acted like she was prescribing heroin. While I appreciated her conservatism, I just wanted to sleep for an entire night.<br /><br />Hello cast! My doctor accepted it as a logical reason for my sleepless nights and gave me a refillable prescription for Ambien. The difference in my sleep is incredible, although I do feel a little like I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing. Just a little. Ive been warned about Ambien's addictive properties (and I read about it on the internet), but these days, I'll accept a little help in the sleep department.<br /><br />The added benefit is that if I'm sleeping, I'm not eating! A pleasant side effect of sleeping through the night.<br /><br />Although, this morning I remembered a dream where I was eating plums. Then I found a lonely pluot on the counter this morning and a pluot sticker in the sink, I checked the trash. There were two pluot pits right on the top. It wasn't a dream. The really odd thing is that I'd forgotten we even had any pluots. They must have been hidden somewhere in the fridge.<br /><br />Check out these old posts from last year:<br /><br /><b><i>Posted 4-20-2010</i></b><br /><i>The Ambien experience</i><br /><i><br />I've stopped taking Ambien, the prescription sleeping aid. It's dangerous! This morning I woke up and had red stuff all over my hands. It looked liked I'd murdered someone in my sleep.<br /><br />My fingers were literally "beet red". OMG! I ate the roasted beet dip! I headed into the kitchen and found the container in the refrigerator, with only a couple tablespoons of dip remaining. There was about 3/4 cup in the container when I went to bed. This meant I'd eaten almost the entire 3/4 cup of dip. Considering three tablespoons was 4.5 Points, this isn't a good thing.</i><br /><br /><b><i>Posted 4-20-10</i></b><br /><i>My Ambien blackout I had last night where I ate 1/4 of a loaf of Dave's Killer bread but didn't remember a thing (about 500 calories). This morning I wanted to make breakfast and found the empty bread bag. I asked my husband if he ate bread in the middle of the night and why couldn't he have left me just one slice. He said of course he didn't eat bread in the middle of the night (like I was insane). Plus there was a full glass of milk, untouched, on the counter next to the empty bread bag. I don't remember what happened. Scary!</i><br /><i><br /><b>Then this posted after I quit taking Ambien, 5-27-2010</b></i><br /><i>I continue to sleep the sleep of the damned, waking up several times during the night. I've tried all kinds of things, Ambien, Simply Sleep, meditation, quiet time before bed with Sleepytime tea, Melatonin, and sleep techniques I used when I worked a graveyard shift thirty years ago that always worked like a charm. NOTHING is working. Now it's to the point where the more I worry about it, the worse it's getting. I really don't want to go back to the doctor for a sleeping aid, but I'm not sure what else to do at this point. I just know it's kind of killing me. Everything is in shades of gray when I'm exhausted.</i><br /><br /><b><i>Funny thing, this was in the same post, so about a year ago I was size 10:</i></b><br /><br /><i>One bright spot is I have to retire my size 12 slacks. I have several pairs that I bought last fall because I gained twenty pounds when I was doing all that traveling for work. I've almost lost all of it (19), and now my size 10's all fit. This is the first time in many decades that I'll start summer at the weight I was last summer, which is a weight after losing 75 pounds. Usually by now I would have regained all 75 pounds plus an extra 10-20 for good measure. Of course, I still want to lost another 20+ pounds. Will I ever be happy with my weight? Probably not.</i><br /><br />We'll see how this goes, but I don't like the sound of it. How quickly I forgot about the negative aspects of Ambien.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

The Ambien Diet

Sweeps are Sweet, but All You Need Are Series

7:24 PM Tukiyooo 0

I spend a lot of time nowadays paying attention to the Tigers and Brewers. It's become a fun obsession - "The Cardinals lost <i>again</i>?!" "They <i>both </i>swept this weekend?!" "They made the cover of <i>Sports Illustrated</i>!" Even the guy at work who spends every moment dogging me about my sports teams has been complimentary!<br /><br />I  am thrilled when it comes to a sweep, but as the great Jim Leyland  stated at the beginning of the season, (to paraphrase) "You can't win  every game in a season." And that's still the case. So when the Tigers  can take a few games and then drop a couple, I tend not to fret.<br /><br />Sweeps are wonderful, but you can't bet on a team to win them all. All I ask is for them to take 2 out of 3. Or 3 out of 4. Or both of a 2-gamer.<br /><br />I checked. If the Tigers win all the series for the rest of the season, that will be 20 games. They currently are at 70 wins. In a division that looked as lost as the AL Central for the first half of the season, they probably only need to win 90 games to win the division. And bam! They are there!<br /><br />I'm not saying that sweeping a series is unnecessary. If we can clinch the playoffs sooner, it will make me feel better sooner. Plus we can rest a bunch of starters without worrying about a Game 163 or something like that.<br /><br />You may pine for the sweeps. But when they take 2 out of 3 from the White Sox, you are allowed to smile and pump your fist. If Porcello or Scherzer drop a game, (OR, not AND) don't push the panic button. Root to win the series. Because when the playoffs roll around, the same scenario goes: all you have to do is win the Series.

Sweeps are Sweet, but All You Need Are Series

I spend a lot of time nowadays paying attention to the Tigers and Brewers. It's become a fun obsession - "The Cardinals lost again?!" "They both swept this weekend?!" "They made the cover of Sports Illustrated!" Even the guy at work who spends every …

So Why Should I Be Afraid?

1:33 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?" - Psalm 27:1</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Friends, I'm not over what happened yesterday.  I have to be honest here.  While this natural disaster was mild in comparison to what others have experienced over the years - Katrina, tsunamis, tornadoes - I have to imagine that the same thoughts and fears that people experienced through those events are  similar to what was running through my head yesterday while my office building was shaking.   For most, it seems, it is back to business as usual today.  For me, I don't easily forget things like this.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is how yesterday's earthquake affected my weight loss journey:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1. Joel and I stopped at McDonald's to get something to eat and drink while we were sitting in traffic.  This might be the first time I've ever entered a McDonald's and the only thing I ordered was a bottle of water.  For those who are following the Beck book, this is me giving myself credit!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">2. I pretty much sat in a trance all night long, trying to digest the events from earlier that day.  Hunger finally started rearing it's head around 7 PM.  I didn't want to make anything.  I didn't even want to eat, but I couldn't get past the growling in my stomach.  I made myself a remake of a Chipotle burrito bowl.  It did nothing for me other than take away the hunger.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">3. I had a gym visit planned for yesterday and I could not muster the energy to go.  See #2 - I was busy sitting in a trance people - no time for gym visits!  Not only was I busy staring off into space, but I had a splitting headache that began about the time I stepped foot in our front door and continued all the way until bed time.  </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">4. I didn't read the second round of the Advantages Response Cards, and I didn't read Week 2 Day 2 of Beck either.  </div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm not at all upset with myself for not doing what I should be doing or planned to be doing in the least.  Sometimes there are just more important things that worrying about weight loss.</div>

"The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?" - Psalm 27:1Friends, I'm not over what happened yesterday. I have to be honest here. While this natur…

Collaborate with a country new to your experience

9:11 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_ysz30q="131" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div closure_uid_3st3u4="108"><div closure_uid_92neax="108"><span closure_uid_vrqrfh="106" closure_uid_ysz30q="130" style="line-height: 115%;"><span closure_uid_3st3u4="106" closure_uid_vrqrfh="125"><span closure_uid_92neax="106" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Are you planning a collaborative project this year or next year? Have you considered linking with a school in Israel? I must confess I have done projects with schools in many countries but have never had a school from Israel among them. Via Twitter (@Langwitches) I came across this link today. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems that <span class="apple-style-span"><span closure_uid_ysz30q="129" style="background: white; color: #444444;">RT</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #444444;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span closure_uid_3st3u4="131" style="background: white; color: #444444;">the Israel Ministry of Education looking<span closure_uid_3st3u4="130" style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>for twin schools around the world </span></span></span></span></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_ysz30q="132" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"><a closure_uid_3st3u4="132" href="http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/MadaTech/hatamat_marechet_21/lemida_shtufit.htm">http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/MadaTech/hatamat_marechet_21/lemida_shtufit.htm</a></span></div><div class="separator" closure_uid_ysz30q="179" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" closure_uid_6kj614="147" closure_uid_ysz30q="264" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMPqdsvg5O3Mz0iF5oM3UatxpVCTUrjNruS_MK99otW9CqooQYvonoE4ZMBTnd6Pwr_oTva8lAGRxsYjIa2ckJ38dE4WJr0bYENtwHNnTub7X30b6wIUBcYgEwx89_qzxOCJZ_Kzf8kg/s1600/israel2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMPqdsvg5O3Mz0iF5oM3UatxpVCTUrjNruS_MK99otW9CqooQYvonoE4ZMBTnd6Pwr_oTva8lAGRxsYjIa2ckJ38dE4WJr0bYENtwHNnTub7X30b6wIUBcYgEwx89_qzxOCJZ_Kzf8kg/s400/israel2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_ysz30q="132" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_ysz30q="132" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><div closure_uid_vrqrfh="127"><div closure_uid_3st3u4="141"><strong><span closure_uid_3st3u4="140" closure_uid_vrqrfh="126" style="color: black; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The website says that “collaboration and communication is one of the main outputs of the National ICT Program. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students are expected to perform learning tasks while using a variety of collaborative tools available on-line. Our goal is to promote intercultural communication between schools from different sectors, cities or countries. Herewith is a list of 20 Israeli exemplary schools which demonstrate broader integration of ICT along with the use of advanced pedagogical processes.One may find a diversity of population and form of habitat in this list: Jewish, Arab, Druse, observant (religious) or secular in central urban cities, development towns, rural settlement areas with cooperatives like Moshav or Kibbutz and so on.” </span></strong></div></div></div><div closure_uid_ysz30q="266"><div closure_uid_92neax="130"><strong><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span closure_uid_3st3u4="157" closure_uid_92neax="128" closure_uid_vrqrfh="130" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It goes on to provide a list of schools with contact details</span>.</span></span></strong></div></div><div closure_uid_92neax="129" closure_uid_ysz30q="266"><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div closure_uid_vrqrfh="132"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><span closure_uid_3st3u4="158" closure_uid_ysz30q="265" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mmm, this could be a way of linking with a country new to one’s experience</span>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong><strong><span closure_uid_vrqrfh="134" style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I wonder if language would be a problem? Why not consider writing to one of these schools? </span></strong></span></span></div><div closure_uid_3st3u4="159" closure_uid_vrqrfh="131"></span></div></div>

Are you planning a collaborative project this year or next year? Have you considered linking with a school in Israel? I must confess I have done projects with schools in many countries but have never had a school from Israel among them. Via Twitter (…

My strange addiction

5:14 AM Tukiyooo 0

<i>I typed this yesterday, a paragraph here and there throughout the day, then forgot to hit "publish" before I went to bed. So this really was my day yesterday, Tuesday.</i><br /><br />My addiction isn't as interesting or dangerous as eating my couch (where do they find those people?), but I'm addicted to buying (not eating) magazines. I buy a magazine or two at a time, sometimes I read an article or two, sometimes not. After a couple months (or after watching a Hoarders episode) I throw them all away. Usually 20-30 magazines at a time, mostly health related. Really a waste of money.<br /><br />I guess I could take then to a senior center, but would they really want to read articles like "Sexy Abs, Butt & Thighs"? There's something similar on almost every magazine cover. <br /><br />Right now I'm looking at a stack of 25 from June, July, August, September. Everything from Oxygen (my fave), Women's Health, Fitness, Oprah Magazine, Shape, Weight Watchers, Natural Health, Prevention and many more. Some of them I haven't even cracked open.<br /><br />Normally this is about the time I toss all of them, but since I have all this free time, I'm trying to go through two magazines a day.<br /><br />So what did I learn today? Tons of stuff.<br /><br />New exercises that I can do with my right arm.<br /><br />Several fun, healthy recipes I want to try.<br /><br />Lots of weight loss tips, like did you know cayenne pepper can reduce cravings. Just 1/2 a teaspoon added to your food (which sounds like a lot to me!). I wonder if this is where that cayenne pepper, lemon and molasses in water fast came from that Beyonce did a few years ago.<br /><br />A book I'm going to order from the library, Joy Bauer's Food Cures. I read a review on it at the vet's office a few days ago (Woman's Day I think), and then in one of my magazines. Sounds interesting.<br /><br />Best organic protein powder according to Women's Health, Orgain. I checked out the nutritional information on it and I totally <u>disagree</u>. 255 calories a serving! 13 grams of sugar! 7 grams of fat!  And its only 16 grams of protein. Supposedly you get the equivalent of ten servings of fruits and veggies per serving and it's organic (and very expensive)..<br /><br />I love my<span style="font-size: small;"><span id="btAsinTitle" style="display: inline;"> MRM Egg White Protein French Vanilla. It's only 120 calories a serving, 0 grams sugar (uses Stevia), 0 grams fat and 23 grams of protein, and it tastes great in my green monster smoothies with a little banana (100 grams), berries (150 grams) and spinach. The only downside is I'm sure it's not from free-range chicken eggs, but you can't have everything.</span></span><br /><br />The truth is all this magazine reading feels a bit like information overload. It's just too much stuff to take in.<br /><br /><b>Workout bra frustration</b><br />I came home from the gym today after an hour of "moderate" cardio (bike, treadmill, crossramp), heart rate 124-134 for most of it so I don't sweat too much into my cast. I was still drenched in sweat. I fought with my workout bra for at least ten minutes and couldn't get it off. It was one of the t-strap kind that's a pull-over type. I can get it on okay but when it's sweaty I need help getting the thing off. Since I was home alone and totally mad and hot and sweaty, I took a pair of scissors and cut it off. That's right, an almost new $35 workout bra in the trash!<br /><br /><b>Look what I just ordered!</b><br />A <a href="http://castcooler.com/castcooler_works.html">CastCooler</a>! I'm so excited about this that I can hardly stand it. I want it right now but have to wait 3-5 days for shipping. Especially since my orthopedic surgeon faxed a letter to my work on Monday that I'll be in a cast a minimum of three months. I'm really hoping he's wrong.<br /><br /><b>Closet cleaning</b><br />What was I thinking when I got a wild hair this morning and pulled everything out of my closet (with my one good hand)? Major disaster. It looks like a bomb went off in here. I had good intentions, but forgot how much harder the simplest task is with only one hand. Try putting on fitted bed sheets with one hand (I could write an entire post about that dreadful experience). I did that this morning before I got the crazy closet cleaning bug.<br /><br />I saw something on the Today show last week that 70% of the junk in our closet shouldn't be there because we don't use it and will never use it. So true but this is a major non-fun chore that I kind of wish I hadn't started! Too late now.<br /><br />At least I have a lot of time.

My strange addiction

I typed this yesterday, a paragraph here and there throughout the day, then forgot to hit "publish" before I went to bed. So this really was my day yesterday, Tuesday.My addiction isn't as interesting or dangerous as eating my couch (where do they fi…

Have you see the provisional programme for Elkanah House's upcoming ITC Conference?

2:08 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I think it is wonderful when a school takes initiative and plans a really exciting ITC programme for the local teachers. Elkanah House in Tableview has worked really hard in this regard to provide a great interactive programme for teachers in all subjects who are interested in combining their curriculum with technology (Sept 30th and October 1st). They have called on the expertise of EdTechConf to aid them in this endeavour.<br /><br />Click on this picture to look at the provisional programme (if that doesn't work, click on the link below):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.edtechconf.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Prov_programme_web1.pdf"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXOYTEfTRiaCn1dDwIa4e7KsIqKm0ED_8XwsCjegX_-Bz9Y1peoobfSkZetkBMKbEEg54zq-OzcgGfD6uhxs9HuvVDsnIOmKG5KpvI0DnbLn0mJPiWRH5EAkSwNEyzwMClKpO-xeM1lSE/s400/programme+elkanah.JPG" width="350" /></a></div><a href="http://www.edtechconf.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Prov_programme_web1.pdf">http://www.edtechconf.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Prov_programme_web1.pdf</a><br /><br />Perhaps we will see some of our SchoolNet premium members there?</div>

conferences Have you see the provisional programme for Elkanah House's upcoming ITC Conference?

I think it is wonderful when a school takes initiative and plans a really exciting ITC programme for the local teachers. Elkanah House in Tableview has worked really hard in this regard to provide a great interactive programme for teachers in all sub…