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Kansas City MO 64131
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We experienced our first major storm of the season. We didn't get the tornado, but we got some nice sized hail. Sangwon's car windshield got busted up pretty bad. Our car has a few dents. Of course we did what all Oklahoma natives do when the storm sirens go off. We stood outside and watched.
Last weekend I dragged my mother-in-law with me to Tulsa for a plant festival. We were spending the day with my mom, sister and niece. I thought it would be a good outing for the two of us. We could pick out plants together and maybe do some shopping. You know, some bonding. I was mostly worried about my mom. She has always been a bit critical, but since J's death she's been horrible. She can say the cruelest things. I don't know if it was because the celestial beings were in perfect alignment or what, but my mom was on her best behavior. We had a great time at the plant festival. My mother-in-law was thrilled to find Thai pepper plants and we bought some tomato and basal plants. I bought more lavender plants to murder (can't get those things to live!). Things were going smooth until we ended up at the sales wracks in Dillards.
I don't really understand why my mother can't wrap it around her brain that I have lost weight. She's always randomly thrown in little snaps about my weight. One time a cousin I hadn't seen in a while remarked on how good I looked. I said something about wishing I was thinner and how I went to the gym all the time. My mom pipped up and said "Yeah, she goes to the gym all the time and she just can't manage to loose the weight". I was too shocked to do any thing but blink.
This apparently has not changed. She kept pulling out the XL sizes for me and saying "How about this? This is nice". Every time I would reply "Yeah, but it's too big. I wear L now". She did keep me from buying very much though, saving me some money. Sometimes I really want to know what's going on in her brain when she says these things. It only gets to me a teeny tiny bit. I know I'm doing great. I'm happy and healthy. So what if I'm not a cover model. I feel good about myself and that's all that matters.
I did bond with my mother-in-law. She earned a place in my heart when she stuck up for me, going on and on about all the good stuff I eat throughout the week because Chris and I are on a diet. She told my mother that I deserved that buffalo burger because I do so well during the week. Score one for the mother-in-law.
My brain is on overload from all the new information from this months yoga teacher training. This has been the first weekend where we've actually done lots of yoga instead of just talking about yoga. When I started this endeavor I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up physically. There were moments on Sunday when I thought if I had to do one more Sun Salutation, I was going to cry. But by the end of that evening, I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be. Of course, I felt differently when I had to get out of bed the next day. Chris has decided to start going back to the Y with me in the mornings (yeah!) and he got all of his things ready Sunday night. When the alarm went off Monday morning, my body screamed at me to stay in bed, but I just couldn't do it. I had to get up because I'm the one that gets us out the door in the mornings. But it wasn't pretty. I lost the car keys. Found them in the trunk. I nearly killed us parallel parking at our new favorite coffee place. There was something else, but I forget what it is.
That's another thing. My mind has not been present. I've lost my keys about a million times. The other night I went to make the egg for Hooper's dinner. I was sitting on the couch wondering what was taking his egg so long to cook. I went in the kitchen and realized that not only had I not plugged the egg poacher in, but I hadn't even set the tray inside the egg poacher. I'm losing it. But my yoga practice is really good.
The other day we received a flyer in the mail on recycling from our governor. We didn’t have access to the blue recycling bins at our old place because we weren’t considered Oklahoma City. As I read through the list of recyclables, I said that we needed to order a blue bin. Chris’s mom pipes up says “We have one!”. I didn’t believe her and kind of thought she didn’t understand what I was talking about. But she assured me that we did indeed have a blue bin and she took me outside to see it. We do have a blue recycle bin. She’s been using to store the garden hoses. Our recycling program begins…now! On a completely unrelated note, I may have a new pen pal from Russia. Some girl who collects tea tags (yeah, tea tags) saw one of my 365 day pictures of me holding a fortune cookie styled tea tag. She asked me if I’d send it to her. Now Chris, because he has a cold, black cynical heart, said she may be a crazy (I am a crazy magnet). But I emailed her any way and told her I could send her my tea tags. She was overjoyed and sent me her mailing address. Cool! She doesn’t have to know my mailing address and I think it’s kind of a neat idea. It’s like trading stamps, but with tea tags. I had no idea there were so many different types of tea tags.
Umm…I guess that’s about it. Things are pretty boring around here.
This week Today did a story on the dangers of plastic bottles. A government report soon to be released is raising concerns over Bisphenal A, a common chemical found in plastics. This chemical has been shown to affect hormones in animal studies, affecting fertility in both males and females. This chemical is not just found in water bottles, but in baby bottles and children’s sippy cups. It also thought that heating liquid in these containers cause the chemicals to leach out faster. The bottom of the bottle should have number on it. A 1 or 2 are OK, but numbers 3, 6, and 7 should be avoided. Actually 7 poses the most danger, including cancer risks since high levels of hormones can stimulate certain cancers (prostrate and breast cancers).
Normally, I hear this stuff and shake it off. But The Today Show’s health adviser Dr. Nancy Snyderman is a pretty level headed woman. So when she says “If I were to err on the side of caution, don’t use those, use others”, I’m going to take that advice. Of course, the water bottle I keep at work (one of my favorites) is a 7. I’m replacing it this weekend.
Chris and I took a trip out to see Tiffany and Tom in Clovis, NM this weekend. It was a trip we should have made earlier because it was only after seeing Tiffany and Tom that I realized just how much I miss having them around in my daily life. They are the same people we loved back in grad-school. Tom gives the world’s best hugs. It’s like he hugs with all his soul. I think every one should get a hug from Tom at least once in their lives. And Tiffany never fails to make me laugh. She’s just one of those people that feels good to be around, not to mention she has the biggest heart. They are anxiously awaiting an addition to their little family and Tom held a little party/baby shower for her. I think Tiffany opened three presents before she decided that that was enough baby shower stuff for the day. I know they are getting nervous about being parents. They have nothing to worry about. They’ll be great parents (I did mention that Tiffany’s heart is gynormous). I can’t wait to visit them in their new place after the baby comes!
Clovis is everything Tiffany ever ranted about and more. The stench is unbelievable. Chris said this town could even turn him into a vegetarian. When there’s little stench, the wind roars. Constantly. Non stop. Wind. But, when the stench and wind start to get you down, you can always drive over to the prairie dog field. They were a particular highlight of Clovis. The truth is, we could have been visiting Tiffany and Tom in worse places (Bovina) and we still would have had a good time. I have to admit to getting a little teary when we gave our final farewell hugs. Part of me wanted to bundle Tiffany home with us (just until they made the move). As God is my witness, I will never wait so long to visit Tiffany again!
This weekend was the third session in my yoga teacher training. The weekend didn’t get hard until I woke up this morning. Now I have muscles that are reminding me just how difficult it was. I don’t really have much to say about this session. I did find out that I have exceptionally mobile shoulders. It’s nice to be above average in some things. We also have lots of homework. One of our assignments is to wear this bracelet for 24hrs. During the 24hrs we can not complain, gossip, or criticize. If we do, we have to switch the bracelet over to the opposite wrist and start over (at time zero). Something like 98% of your thoughts are not your own. You can think it, but as a long as you don’t say it you’re good. Luckily, Chris voices all the things I’m thinking for me. So does that mean my thoughts are Chris’s or Chris’s thoughts are mine?
Update: I made it through my 24hrs. Whew! That was a challenge. The assignment was no complaining for 24hrs, but I chose to add in all three (complaining, gossip, and criticize). So basically I was a mute. I’ve decided to continue wearing the bracelet, but just for the no complaining part. Maybe I’ll add in no criticizing later (when I’ve tackled the no complaining).
Me: “See…there is an Indian Buffet in JR’s Truck Stop.” Chris: “That can’t be good. You kind of want to try it don’t you?”
Me: “Yeah. I mean, it can’t be good, but I still want to try it.”
Chris: “I’m so lucky to have a wife like you. You’re just…not lame.”
Me: “You’re quite the romantic.”
When I was a teenager, I spent many Saturday nights at a local indie/punk club. The best nights where when a local punk bad was playing live at the club. My friends and I would be right in the middle of the crowd, dancing like banshees. This was one of the few places where I could get my alternative music fix. There just wasn't enough exposure to that type of music in a small mid-west town. Actually, since the death of The Spy, there's still not a lot of exposure to indie/punk radio here. I would be lost with out the internet. It's really surprising when one of the bands that I like comes to do a concert in OKC. Last night I had the opportunity to see The Bravery. They played along with The Stock Market Crash, Your Vegas, and Phantom Planet at the Diamond Ballroom. The Diamond Ballroom is a classic venue. It looks like a total dump on the outside and it's tucked away in an area of south OKC that's a little sketchy. I felt sorry for the bands not just because the place was not that great, but also because not that many people showed up. I knew it was a bad sign when I could by my tickets two days before the concert at Tan and Tone America.
The kids at the concert all looked like the kids at the concerts when I was younger except they didn't have to make their retro-punk outfits like I used to have to do. The thing that was different was the attitude. Everyone just stood around like lumps. It's like they were there because it was the cool party place to be that night, not because they were into the music. Of course, I'm lucky enough to not give a crap what people think about me and danced like a crazy girl all night any way. I had a blast, but I couldn't help but feel a little sad. I think I'm getting too old to go to these concerts. Its not because I couldn't keep up, because I could. I think its because the attitude of the younger audience members was just too annoying. I wanted to scream at them "Get up there! Move around! Get excited about this totally cool music!". Stop being too cool for school.
My boss sent me this link for today’s Friday Science. Boston Dynamics has been working on a robot that can cover rough terrain. You need to watch the video if BigDog to truly appreciate the design of this robot. It’s kind of creepy and looks like something that just walked out of the mind of Stephen King or Dean Koontz, but it’s a fascinating piece of machinery. The video shows the robot climbing up hills and over an obstacle course, but the coolest part is watching it right itself and regain balance after slipping on ice. Seriously, watch the video!
Occasionally Chris and I would ride the shuttle to work together. One day I was riding by myself and the shuttle driver said to me that he didn’t realize Chris was my husband. I guess it started getting around here that we are married (we do have the same last name). The shuttle driver said that he thought that Chris and I were just good friends and he was floored when I said that we’ve been married almost ten years (ten years tomorrow). Actually, this is the most common reaction we get when people ask us how long we’ve been married. When Chris and I realized that this was our ten year anniversary, we just looked at each other and laughed. Has it really been ten years?!? I thought the shuttle driver’s comment about the two of us being good friends was a compliment. Ten years and we still don’t act like a married couple (what ever that is). I suppose we don’t have a traditional marriage compared to some, but for us it was never about tradition. It’s about spending the rest of your life with your best friend, the person who makes you laugh every day, that one person you can’t wait to talk to at the end of the day.
Chris and I are celebrating our ten year anniversary with dinner out tonight. I made him a photo for his home desk. I hope he likes it.
My dad turns 69 on Saturday and for his birthday this year I took him to see Riders In The Sky (the guys who sang the theme song to Woody’s Round-up in Toy Story). I called him weeks before the concert to tell him I had purchased tickets so he wouldn’t be off on a dealership drive that day and miss it. He was so excited about going. He was driving a car with XM radio on day and he called me because they were playing a Riders In The Sky song. In keeping with our cowboy theme, I took dad to dinner at Cattleman’s Steakhouse before the concert. Dad was so cute. He showed up in his cowboy hat and had even dug up his dress cowboy boots. He loved Cattleman’s (it’s the perfect old man place). Then we headed to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum for the concert, where I was one of the youngest people there. I’m not kidding. There were maybe four people there my age. The rest of the people there were senior citizens dressed to the hilt in their cowboy finery. After the concert Dad bought a CD and then had the inside signed by all the members in the group. He was so thrilled and I told him it was very rock star. I don’t think he got it.
Dad told me this was the best birthday present he’s ever had and even got a little choked up over the whole thing. I for one was relieved. I have finally given my dad a present he truly liked and appreciated. He is the hardest person to buy a gift for and he always ends up with useless things or shirts. Of course, I screwed myself over with this one, because I have no idea how I’ll ever top this present or even equal it.
I am stupid. A few months ago I bought some cotton panties on sale at VS. On a whim I bought a size smaller then I usually buy. I got home and held them up to me, shaking my head. "These are not going to fit". But they did. They fit perfectly which means my old underwear, the underwear size I've been wearing since forever, must have looked like huge baggy granny panties. It gets worse. Today I wet back to VS to buy some bras (I'm done to one that I haven't sown the wire in twenty times). I bought a size smaller bra, but didn't try it on until I got home. It fits perfectly. In fact, when I pulled my t-shirt down over it, I said "hey, my boobs aren't sagging". And then Chris turned around and said "Whoa, that's a visible difference".
Its a given that I would need smaller pants and shirts, but I never thought about smaller underwear. Why didn't any one tell me these things!
I do remember that I have a blog. I've just been incredibly busy lately. Chris and I are working hard to get our stuff organized in the new place and apparently this requires numerous trips to the Ikea store in Dallas. In fact, my mom and I went again today to get a sofa bed. Space is limited here. Our bed takes up a lot of space in the bedroom. A lot of space. I initially thought that I would be able to roll my cedar chest around and have room to do yoga in the bedroom. This would have worked if I didn't have arms. I asked Chris what he thought about replacing our bed with a sofa bed and he thought that it would be a great idea. Once the idea was in my head, I wanted that sofa bed yesterday. But we had to wait for payday and for a weekend where my mom could go with her van.
I can't wait to get it set up and have floor space! Chris is excited because he thinks he'll get a flat screen TV to put on the wall. Eventually I'll have my own little refuge from the siege of Deal or No Deal.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have found a way to reactivate T-cell production in adults with HIV. T-cells are part of your immune system. They float around gobbling up bad guys that cause infections. People with HIV have a hard time building up their T-cell count after serious infections and this leads to a downhill spiral of constant infections. T-cells are produced by the thymus gland, but when we reach adulthood, the thymus doesn’t work so well any more. This is why people with embattled immune systems have a hard time rebuilding their T-cell count. The thymus is already slowly pumping out new T-cells (if any) and toss in a disease that actively attacks T-cells and you got real problems.
The researchers at UCSF have been involved in a two year study that shows that the thymus can be stimulated to produce more T-cells with the treatment of growth hormone (GH). HIV patients continued with their usual HIV therapy, but also received GH in the first year of the study. These people showed a marked increase in thymus size and doubled the number of newly made T-cells.
There is still much to be done, but the initial results are very promising. Researchers still don’t know the full effects of GH on the human immune system. GH can also have several side effects that haven’t been fully categorized yet. And the researchers don’t know if the new T-cells produced by GH are actually “good” T-cells. But still, a larger study conducted by the AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) has had similar results. It’s not a cure, but it does mean a longer, healthier life for those with HIV.
There’s a total lunar eclipse tonight (not that I’ll get to see it because of our craptacular weather). If the weather is clear in your area, you should check it out. It will be the last total lunar eclipse until December 2010. A lunar eclipse only happens with a full moon :) and the moon passes through some portion of the earth’s shadow. The earth’s shadow gives the moon a red color due to atmosphere, but if you catch the eclipse at the beginning, the moon can sometimes look turquoise.
Enjoy!
I’m always amazed when scientists uncover a new dinosaur, especially an elephant sized dino. A team in Chicago discovered two very large meatosaurs that roamed around the ancient African landscape. The first one is a member of the Eorarcharia dinops and was a fierce predator. Eorarcharia is a forerunner to Carcharodontosaurus who was just as bad-ass as T-rex. This new species had large blade-like teeth for tearing its prey to shreds (to shreds you say). The other new species is called Kryptop palaios and had fairly small teeth. This guy was probably a carrion eater. It’s even possible that Kryptop followed around Eorarcharia since they were found near each other at the dig.
These two new species give scientist an idea of how dinosaurs evolved as the African continent split from South America. It also shows the progression of smaller dinosaurs to humongo dinosaurs that suggest a steady evolutionary trend for larger predators.
I smell a new Jurassic Park movie.
I don’t think I realized what I was getting into when I started yoga teacher training. I thought I’d just learn proper pose alignment, how to say the sanskrit name of the pose and how to teach that to others. This is probably all I would have learned if I had taken the easy fast track route, but it is in my nature to make things more difficult for myself. Yeah, I know I learn more this way. This weekend of teacher training was filled with so many “Aha” moments. I’m learning a lot about anatomy and this weekend I learned a lot about our hips and pelvic bones. Human anatomy is not new to me. I had to take anatomy and physiology in under-grad. At the time, I was focused on just memorizing the structures. I never really thought about why our bones and muscles are shaped and placed in specific ways, which is stupid.
For example, raise your hand if you tuck your tail bone under while standing (or sitting). Yeah, we all do it. When we tuck our tail bones, we shrink the holes formed by our sacrum and pubic bones where the sciatic nerve passes. We put pressure on the nerve and surrounding blood vessels. No wonder 90% of Americans have lower back pain.
Plus, after sitting on the floor practically all weekend, sitting in a real chair hurts. I'm going to have to retrain my brain about a lot things.
Head lice are disgusting parasites that we have never been able to eradicate. We all remember the head lice checks in elementary school. They’ve been following us around for centuries. Now, mummified head lice are helping us to understand ancient migrations. Researches were able to extract DNA from lice found on two pre-Columbian Peruvian mummies (about 1,000 years old). The DNA allowed researchers to establish that the lice have been riding along on human hosts for as early as 15,000 years ago. The DNA matches that of the most common type of louse and is believed to have traveled all the way from Africa.
This lets Columbus of the hook. Typhus, carried by head lice, is one of the many diseases previously thought to have been introduced by the Europeans. Though we can still thank Columbus for the measles.
Today is Chris' Birthday! Everyone needs to go to his blog and bug him today. Happy Birthday Chris!!
