Fresh Starts

Well, I have begun a new journey - deep into the world of the vegan... yes, i have decided to give up meat, dairy, sugar, white flour and all oils... I figured I might as well go for the gusto.
I have to say, it has been a week and i feel great!  I am amazed at how full I feel all the time.  Fiber can sure make you feel satisfied - beans and sweet potatoes, yum :)

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What a year this has been

This year has been a great year and a hard year all in one..... and my weight has reflected that as well.

Sometimes when you have so much going on in your life it is hard to concentrate on yourself and especially your weight.  During the tough times, food can be a great solace and during the fun times it is such a reward. Eating has been both for me.
The outcome, naturally is not what I would like.  And of course now the holidays are coming just around the corner.  I have been slowing down a little on the food intake and plan to be reasonable during the holidays.  Wish me luck :)

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The trip to the Hospital

Don't you get tired of giving your medical history every time you go to the doctor of the hospital.  I take my mother almost weekly and every time we have to give the prescriptions, insurance cards, etc even though it is the exact same information we gave them last week and the week before.  You would think they would organize their Electronic Health Records in such a way that the patient would not have to go through the hassle each and every time they go to the hospital.

There are companies that deal with this issue for companies and doctors and hospitals.  Looking online I found one of them, OptimusEMR .  They seem to be the leader in Electronic medical Records Software. They organize and store the data for hospitals to make sure no information gets lots and it is available when needed.  This technology is a great time saver.

What a great idea to use Medical Records Software.  Sure would save patients a lot of headaches

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Insurance shopping

I have been dealing with the insurance company alot the last couple of weeks. Our homeowners insurance went up dramatically and we have been comparison shopping to see if we could get a better price.  So far I haven't been having a whole lot of luck, but we are still waiting for a few bids to come through.        

We also had storms here in St. Louis and Tom had hail damage to his car.  He was lucky that his windshield wasn't broken like so many of the other cars in his work parking lot.

 Looking into insurance I ran across short term insurance at ShortTermHealthInsurance.net. I didn't know this type of coverage existed.   It is health care coverage for a short period of time.  I think there are a lot of times when a person might need this kind of coverage.  It is sure nice to know there are options out there.

I also saw insurance sites just for Kids Health too.  It has tons of useful information, games and quizzes - looks like a website that kids would enjoy.

Who knew.

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I just finished my first free motion machine quilted client quilt - and I think it turned out great.  My very first client, Shirley, was so thrilled she gave me several more to do.   She was happy with the quilting design and ecstatic about the super low quilting fee.  She was happy to benefit from my "practice" pricing.

I have been quilting for 25 years and machine quilting for just about as long, but this has been my first time machine quilting on a frame.  There is a definite learning curve.  But I love it!

I did the sewing on a domestic Singer sewing machine, but I have ordered off Ebay a Pfaff Expression 2.0 with a 10" throat space.  Right now the Singer only has a 7" throat space from the right of the needle.  I think this will help a lot.




The quilt pattern is Dresden Plate and was pieced nicely, so it layed nice and flat.  That made it nice to quilt.

I stippled around the applique dresden plates and on all the borders I did a free style free motion heart pattern.

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My Estate Sale Journey with Security

I went to an estate sale today and was really impressed with the house.  I also got a great workout in - the house was literally straight up about a quarter mile.  The lady walking up the winding driveway and I were huffing an puffing.  I bought two larger things and had to make the long trek twice!!

The house itself was great, but what really impressed me was the level of security.  People that know me know I love security cameras and security doors and this house had it all.  The Alarm Systems White House Station was the security system and it was impressive.

I am not paranoid, by any means, but I like to be proactive and I also love all kinds of electronic gadgets.  I took a few minutes to catch my breath, but also to look at the cameras and monitors and the security equipment  in general.  It was not in your face, but the message did come across. 

This was not a house you wanted to attempt to rob :)

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Drinking and Your Health

There is great debate about what effects drinking has on your health.  One of the warning about alcohol is that it is  metabolized extremely quickly by the body.  Unlike foods, which require time for digestion, alcohol needs no digestion and is quickly absorbed.   
Recently researchers found that women who had as little as one drink a day boosted their risk of cancer of the breast, liver, rectum, throat, mouth, and esophagus.   While other studies show that a drink or two a day can have a possitive affect on heart health.


While the experts disagree on some answers, they do agree that no one who has or had a problem with alcohol dependency should drink.  A friend of mine, who lives in Atlanta, was talking about  Atlanta alcohol rehab and the treatments available with someone who is experiencing difficulties in this area.


Treatment centers for drug and alcohol abuse have made great strides in the last few decades.  Atlanta drug abuse rehab centers in Georgia offers great programs and much needed follow up.  


The subject of addiction has long been of interest to me.  While I have never had any inclination to turn to drugs or alcohol, I do have an addiction that is just as strong.  It is my addiction to food.

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Springtime and the outdoors

Springtime is here and it has come early this year.  I have really been enjoying the flowers outdoors.  My iris plants are in bloom now and I have been enjoying seeing all the flowers.  However, this year I need to decide on some seating for outdoors.  I love the adirondack chairs and have been looking online at Terrabound Solutions.  I like the recycled plastic ones, because they are recycled, they don't have splinters and they are maintenance free.

I have one park bench that Tom had bought, but am debating getting another one.  Ours is wood with wrought iron but I was looking at the adirondack plastic glider online and that sure looks comfortable.

Terrabound has such a good selection of park benches and picnic tables, it is really hard to chose.  They come in a wide range of sizes, shapes, colors, and materials including Thermoplastic coated steel, powder coated steel, aluminum, wood, and recycled plastic.   

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HIFU as a treatment for Prostate Cancer.

Hifu stands for High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound.  This treatment uses sonic energy to treat cancer.  The doctors can use the highly focused beams to better focus on certain areas making this a great choice for many people.


Many doctors are using Hifu to treat prostrate cancer.  Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in males and doctors are making great strides in the treatment of this condition.  Over a quarter of a million men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.


Hifu uses hyperthermia therapy.  Hyperthermia therapy is where heat is used to damage and kill the cancer cells in your body.  The heat in the cells can raise to 90 degrees Celsius in a matter of minutes.  It can also make the harmful cells more sensitive to other cancer treatments, like radiation and chemotherapy.  


This out patient procedure usually last a few hours and has been shown to have less side affects than other cancer treatments currently on the market.  Hifu is a non-invasive or minimally invasive therapy.  Another one of the advantages of using Hifu is it is very precise.  It can be targeted to treat very specific cancer cells.   A few of the limits of this treatment are the high cost and it is limited to cancer that has not spread outside of the prostate.


 There have been promising results in treating prostate cancer with Hifu treatments.

Diet can affect the chances of men getting this disease.  Doctors say you should avoid a high fat diet and eat less in general.  Increase the diversity of foods you eat and of course get plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet each day.  Some specific foods to add to your diet are green tea, garlic, tomatoes, red wine, olive oil, soy, vegetables, and fish.  Limit your red meat consumption.

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Staying Healthy Today

Staying healthy is more important today than ever.  One way I have tried to regain my health is with the Isagenix products.  It has helped me lose weight and the nutrition is great.

Other was are getting plenty of exercise each day.  My main way to get exercise is through walking or swimming.  I find both of those methods both enjoyable and relaxing.

Of course, if you smoke, stop smoking today.  We all know of detrimental smoking is to your health.  You also want to avoid excess drinking also.  One or two drinks a day can help your health, but more that that is bad for your health.

Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.  The fiber and roughage is great and the vitamins are tremendous.  Filling up on them also keeps your appetite down and it is easier to avoid reaching for those bad foods with sugar and empty calories.

Practice stress relievers like exercise, mediation, prayer or accupunture.    Relax and let the little things go.  It is not what you are going through, but how you react to it.

And last of all, have a great day!

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What can you do without the internet?

Guest post of the week by Brittany Booker

The other morning I was at a friend’s house and we were planning to look up some great places in the area to go eat brunch. The only problem was her internet was not working for whatever reason. Of course neither of us had charged our smart phones the night before so we were trying to conserve battery which meant that using our phones to look up places to go was out. We had to just go out on the street and start walking to find a place. It got me thinking about what it would be like to live in today’s times without having access to the internet. These days everyone just assumes that you have a computer and access to the World Wide Web. As it turns out not everyone does have a computer or access to the internet. I decided I was going to try to live a week without it and see how I felt at the end of that week. I own a small business and need small business internet to run my company. I only lasted two days without the internet before I caved.

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Maintaining Weight Loss - Keeping Busy

I have been trying to maintain my weight loss from last year - I lost 48 lbs. last year and then the holidays hit.  I ate and ate and then after they were over I continued to eat.

I have kept off about 35 lbs and have settled down with the overeating and am getting ready to get headed in the right direction again.

I have been keeping busy - working on a lot of sewing projects.

I have also been hosting a weekly craft club - but this has developed into an eating club too - everyone brings something to munch on - an naturally alot of this is sweets and high fat items.

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Lutheran Senior Services in St. Louis

Lutheran Senior Services in St. Louis was recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal as one of the "Best Places to work".   They strive to improve the quality of care for their residents.  One way they do this is by implementing a program called Electronic medical Records Software.

Using the Optimus EMR^® system for their electronic medical records saves time because the staff does not have to waste time searching for the patient information.  It is all there at their fingertips on the home page when they look at the computer.  They can access real time, up-dates on the residents, census, quality indicators, operational performance data and more.


Lutheran Senior Services utilizes the Optimus EMR system because it is the only automated system for long term care.  This system helps them achieve the goal of quality patient care.

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Unemployed

I appreciate the guest post, Jamie Guy After 8 long months without a job, it is finally over. Unfortunately, so is living in the town that both my wife and I grew up in. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers, right? Anyway, my new job has us moving 6 hours south of everything that we’re used to. There’s nothing like starting anew, right? Luckily the town that I got a job in looks likes something out a Norman Rockwell painting, so I really can’t complain. The kids’ school is only about five minutes down the road, there is a park 2 blocks away and there is even a white picket fence around the little house that we’re renting. The only downfall to our new rental is that utilities are not included. So after getting the electricity, water, gas and internet turned on, it was time to start looking for a cable provider. Personally, I would be fine without cable since I’m rarely at home to watch tv and I get most of my news from the radio and internet. However, since my wife stays home all day with the baby, there’s only so many times she can watch Cinderella in any given day before going out of her mind. Luckily, I found http://www.directstartv.com/ and was able to get a great deal on satellite tv. And wouldn’t you know it, I seem to watch more tv than I originally thought.

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Skin lightening - help for you age/sun spots

I have noticed lately quite a few blotchy spots on my skin.  Are these age spots or sun spots, or what?     Age spots are brown patches which commonly appear on the back of the hands the face and the back.   It seems that more and more of them appear everyday

There are natural treatments like  rubbing red onion or lemons on them to will make them fade.  One product that is good is  Luminaze - it is an all natural product.  I works in only 7 days.


Products, such as Luminaze, use enzymes to break down the pigment in the darkened area of you skin.  It doesn't cause white spots on your skin either.  This product works great.  It is highly recommended for people of all ages.

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