I Love You!

Just saw this video and have to post it. Really brought a smile to my face throughout the entire clip! Watch it!

Allergies?

Just when I thought I had heard all the excuses possible for putting off brushing teeth, Jazlyn has come up with a new one . . . . she is allergic to brushing her teeth. This announcement came this morning as we were going through the morning routine and as usual, the last thing to get done was the teeth brushing. As I put the toothpaste onto the toothbrush, she stated that she was allergic to this action and announced that she could no longer brush her teeth.

After I got over the creativity of this 4 year old's stall tactic (Poppie, her grandfather, is an allergist--so this seemed like an appropriate path for her to go down) the teeth were brushed without an anaphylactic reaction.

I think I have been using this same excuse with some activities myself, come to think of it. I am allergic to paying bills, organizing my office, throwing out (actually--recycling) clothes that I no longer wear or want, and the biggest allergy of all--exercise. Yes, I admit it. I am allergic to exercise. But as Poppie would tell his patients, the best treatment for most allergies is to desensitize yourself to the allergies by exposure to the very thing that you are allergic to, little by little, so that you eventually are no longer allergic to that thing. Well, that is a simple explanation for it--it's a little more scientific than that, actually!
So, I am now going to desensitize myself to this allergy to exercise. Maybe the first step in this desensitization is to actually put on the exercise clothes today--maybe tomorrow, I might actually do a little exercise! Don't want to rush this thing--I could have an anaphylactic reaction!!

Eat That Frog!

I just watched a great little movie about a great idea. Eat that Frog!
I thought I would share it with everyone, since I think human nature has some natural procrastination power. Here is a great idea to help us with that.

I am now off to eat my frog--I have put it off long enough!

Yum Yum. Pass the ketchup?

Fish Oil, Anyone?

I recently went to a cardiologist for a little heart palpitation issue (don't worry, I'm fine!). While I was there, the cardiologist, Dr. Claire Boccia Liang whose office is in Morristown, NJ (by the way, a WONDERFUL cardiologist)recommended a fish oil supplement daily. Well, I don't know about you, but the fish oil supplements that I have taken in the past have been, well, too fishy for me! I hate the aftereffects and let's just leave it at that. Dr. Boccia had recently been to a conference and found out about a supplement that is pleasant tasting, has no fishy aftertaste and is of a pharmaceutical grade---therefore, you don't have to be concerned about mercury or PCB contamination. YEAH! I ran right out to Whole Foods and bought a bottle of Barlean's Lemon Swirl fish oil supplement and started it right away. I am in love! Seriously, it tastes great. There is no fishy burping and no fish taste on the breath. This is good stuff! They also make a kids' version and a pet supplement,so the whole family is covered.

I just thought I couldn't keep a good thing to myself, so I am passing it along. After all, what are friends for, anyway? Enjoy!!

Random Act of Kindness

One of the things I like to practice daily is random acts of kindness--put a quarter in the parking meter for someone whose parking meter has expired, let another motorist ahead of me in a merge, hold the door open for someone and allow them to go through first, or just smiling at someone is an act of kindness.

We were recently on vacation in Cabos San Lucas, Mexico with our granddaughter, Jazlyn, when she was the recipient of someone's random act of kindness! We were heading home after a relaxing week, sitting in the Wings restaurant at the airport having a bite to eat. My husband likes to get to the airport VERY early so we don't miss the flight back home. One flight per day out of Cabos is a direct flight to our local airport and we don't want to chance the possibility of multiple connections when we come back from Cabos. Our plane was delayed and we were doing our best to entertain our 4 year old traveling companion, but anyone who travels with small children know that airport delays are when gremlins attack small children's behavior control! We were finishing our lunch when a beautiful woman wandered over to our table with a beautiful straw hat in her hand. She held out the hat to Jazlyn and said that she had bought the hat on the beach while in Cabos but that it was too small for her and asked Jazlyn if she would like to have it since she thought it would be just the right size for someone her size. Jazlyn's eyes got huge and she readily accepted and thanked the kind lady for the hat. I managed to find out that the lady was from New Mexico but then she was gone! I didn't find out her name.

This picture on this blog is the look of a little girl who is the recipient of a random act of kindness. This is the look that someone else might experience when you perform a random act of kindness. Doesn't that make you feel good?

Thank you so much to the kind lady whose name I didn't get at the Cabos Airport on Saturday, February 13, 2010.

The Climb

“It is good to have an end to journey towards: but it is the journey that matters, in the end”
Ursula K. Le Guin, American author.

The other day, I was listening to the radio and heard a song that just grabbed me. The words were so inspiring and spoke volumes. I didn’t recognize the singer and waited for the DJ to come on and tell me who this artist was who had inspired me. No luck. Just commercials after the song! Bummer. I eventually heard the song again and learned that it was Miley Cyrus singing. Well, I am no Miley Cyrus fan, but I really love that song.

“There’s always gonna be another mountain,
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s The Climb”

As we are rushing through our crazy, busy days. . . . . . day in and day out. . . . . . . . . just trying to get through the day filled with. . . .
the meetings that bore you to tears. . . . . .
the dirty dishes and the laundry. . . . .. .
errands, picking up the dry cleaning and going to the bank. . . .
traveling to meetings far away from your family day after day after day. . . . .
commuting on the bus or the train or in the traffic that drives you to road rage. . .
picking up the kids’ toys for umpteenth time. . . . .

. . . . . . . . whatever it is that you have to get through in your day so you can go to sleep and then get up and do it all over again.
STOP

Think

This IS your life.

Enjoy this journey that you’re on. .

Snap, Crackle, Ahh

I have a dog, a small dog. A small dog with a small bladder. Small dogs with small bladders equals frequent trips outside.

I hate the cold. With a passion! Small dogs with small bladders, frequent trips outside in the winter = cold exposure and an unhappy dr mimi!! Brrrr!!!

I also have a beautiful wooded reservation right across the street from my house. I rarely go into the reservation unless it is below freezing (small WHITE dog, muddy trails = dirty dog indoors. YUCK). I also avoid the reservation due to the deer ticks which always seem to hop a ride home on Cody, my little white dog with the small bladder.

So, today, I walked in the reservation with Cody since it is snow and ice covered and I knew he wouldn’t come home dirty and the ticks were wherever ticks go in the bitter cold. Not likely to be hitch hiking in teen and low twenty degree temperatures!

Even though I don’t like cold weather, there is something very refreshing about walking in the woods in the cold all bundled up as long as the wind isn’t cutting through your clothes. I noticed that the fallen leaves that carpeted the trails were covered by a crust of snow and made a most pleasant crunching noise under my boots and Cody’s paws. It sounded like crunching bags of potato chips under our feet. The woods were quiet and the sun was shining and I must say, it was a very pleasant experience. I almost forgot that it was cold outside. You just have to look for the positive where you least expect it. I am going to remember that next time I am experiencing a negative moment!

Happy New Year

Hello? Is that the Universe talking?

Sometimes, it just seems like someone or something is trying to get a message to you.

I receive daily emails containing positive quotes, inspirational messages, and motivational subjects from different websites. Today, they all seemed to have a similar theme:

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face . . . You must do the thing you cannot do." ~Eleanor Roosevelt
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." -Theodore Roosevelt
"No matter how big and tough a problem may be, get rid of confusion by taking one little step toward solution. Do something."~George Nordenholt~
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

What a great message for the New Year! Take action, do something, and don’t worry if you fail—action is better than sitting on your butt! So what if you fail, you are actually choosing failure by choosing not to take action.

One of the most inspirational stories of the past decade has been the story of someone who took action when she saw a need. Maggie Doyne lives by these quotes. She did it by taking one step at a time. She has saved the lives of many children because she realized she “must do the thing you cannot do” and because of that, she won the “Do Something” 2009 award http://www.dosomething.org/programs/awards . Read about her inspiring mission at http://www.blinknow.org/ and follow her blog http://maggiedoyne.squarespace.com/.

Today marks a new day, a new year, a new decade. What are the things that you’ve always wanted to do . . . . but didn’t? What are some of your dreams that you thought you would never be able to do for whatever the reason (insert here—“I’m not smart enough, don’t have enough money, time, energy, or support”. You get the idea—we all have dreams but put them away for reasons that only WE know). Write down what you really want to do and then take action . . . . . “Do Something” to get it done!

Happy New Year!!

(Photo by Alan Zegas)