Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category

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Easy Gifts To Give And Receive

Posted by terrepruitt on December 10, 2018

As we get older it seems like we end up with a lot of stuff. And we come to a point where we want to limit the amount of stuff we get as we try to thin out some of the stuff we have. I have found that many of the people on my gift list don’t want any more stuff. The super cute affordable stuff that really doesn’t have a use or a purpose. There are always things people need and want, but I am talking about the stuff that is fun to buy, fun to give, and even fun to receive, but doesn’t really have a use. I still give those types of gifts when I see something and it just SCREAMS a person’s name. Ya know, sometimes things just belong with a person, but I try not to go out and seek that stuff. For many people I try to give them consumable stuff. Things that are great because they are a tangible gift, but also great because they go away soon and don’t end up taking up room for too long. And somethings are so easy to give because everyone uses them and some are easy to give because almost everyone likes them.

Here are a few things that can be considered nice gifts but don’t hang around for a long time:

-Fancy olive oils and vinegars

We just recently bought some very yummy olive oil and vinegars. I even posted about it because it was so good. And I loved it so much I did buy a bottle for our neighbors! There are so many flavors of flavored olive oil I bet you could find a perfect one for everyone on your list. And that is not even considering the vinegar. We bought some that is so tasty I want to drink it.

-Soap

You may know from past posts that I think fancy soap is a great idea as a gift. And I think that started after I received a nice bar as a gift or it could have started when I had discovered some delicious soap I used to buy, either way, if you like some fancy soap that is not something made commercially I bet someone on your list would enjoy it too.

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Do I really even need to say anything about candles? No, but I will. There are so many types of candles and most of them can be burned and they disappear. I did recently post about the electronic kind. While they are an awesome gift they don’t belong in the consumable category.

-Homemade cookies, toffee, fudge and things of that nature

One year I made cookies for people and I was so surprised at their reaction. They were so grateful to have received homemade goodies. Each recipient commented on the time spend to make them and they were so very grateful. And, unfortunately, I don’t think I have done it since because – yeah, it does take a lot of time. I have made nuts and toffee before. I posted the recipe for the nuts here and here. I got the original nut recipe from my same friend that gave me soap one year. I have also posted about the easy to make toffee.

-Note cards

Ok, this one is for a specific person obviously. Not everyone writes notes, most people don’t even send cards any more so a box of note cards will not be a good gift for most people, but you might have at least one person on your list that writes and sends mail.

-Lotions

Most lotion users can always need more lotion. And often times, even though they have their favorite they are excited to try something new and different. So help them get a new favorite by buying them some lotion!

-Coffees and Teas

Coffee is expensive so who, among coffee drinkers, wouldn’t love to receive a pound of something yummy. And tea . . . again, just like the lotion users, they probably have their favorite, but there are so many out there you can help them experience something new. Just try really, really, really hard to NOT buy a mug to go with the coffee or tea. You know mugs, there are so many great ones out there and they are so easy to buy . . . we probably all have more than can fit in our cupboards!

-Wine and spirits

If you have a person on your list that drinks either or both, then it is always nice to give them a bottle of their favorite something. Or, again, just like the lotion users and the tea drinkers, they probably have their favorites but they might be excited to try one of YOUR favorites.

None of these things are new, but if you are like me, sometimes you need reminding that there are some easy gifts to give that are pretty much always well received AND you will be helping people NOT clutter up their space.

So, do you have any people are your list that would enjoy any of these consumables?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments »

These Candles Are A Great Gift

Posted by terrepruitt on November 28, 2018

I love burning candles. I love the flicker of the flame. I actually like to SEE the flame. I have not been impressed with the electronic candles. The “flames” “flicker” was not very good. I had purchased tea lights but I don’t think I have used them but once because they don’t really give me the atmosphere of a real candle. Then there are the ones, I’ve seen them mostly as pillars, where you don’t even see any type of fake flame. It is just a glow within the “wax”/candle. Those are even less of what I want when I light a candle. For my birthday I received a large set of electronic candles. I looked at them and thought, “Hmmm. I don’t really like electronic candles.” But I took them out of the box to give them a try. Usually I keep the box for everything, but this one I put in the recycle right away and I am wishing I would have kept it. At least I have the instruction booklet. I like these ones.

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These electronic candles have a fake “flame” on the top of each pillar. It is just plastic in the “shape” of a flame. But there is a little bobble in the candle that moves and it makes the light flicker. To me it is much more like a real flame. Plus, the little bobble make a noise and while it is not exactly like the noise from a flame it reminds me of it.

Also these are controlled by a remote control. So instead of me having to pick up each candle and flip a switch on the bottom to turn them on and off, I just press a button. They don’t always ALL go on at once, but that is ok, I just keep pressing the button until the go on. The same with off. They also have a programmable timer which I didn’t pay attention to the first time I used them and my husband said, “Your candles are broken. I came in and they were on in the middle of the night.” They can be programmed to turn on every day at the same time. That happened the first couple of times actually, because I had activated the timer using the button on the bottom of the candle.

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The one issue I have with them is the fact that each candle takes four double A batteries. That just seems like a lot to me, but . . . . the batteries came in the box with the candles, so that is nice. And we have been using them pretty consistently for about two and half months and they are still working.

I realize these might not be new to some since they have probably been around for some time . . . but I like to share things that I think are cool even if I am “late to the party”.

I was thinking the these might be a great Christmas gift. As I consider them a great birthday gift that I received.

I love burning candles, but when it is hot I don’t like to have the flame add to the heat in the house. And I had not liked any of the electronic candles I had seen before. So I am really enjoying these candles. Since it is winter we turn them on PLUS light a real candle so we have a lot of hygge. But with these candles we can have a sense of hygge in the summer, too!

Do you like electronic candles? Do you have any?

 

 

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Listening To Books

Posted by terrepruitt on November 19, 2018

Have you ever listened to an audio book? Ha, as I was typing that I realized they used to be called “Books on Tape.” Anyway, have you ever listened to one? What do you think about “reading” like that? I like it. My husband recently decided to download an app and join the club . . . or whatever, however it works. He has been listening to audio books. He is running and walking a lot so he enjoys listening to books as he gets his run/walk in. We used to listen to books on tape. It is cool now that the book is just in the phone and there is not lugging a bunch of tapes or even CDs around. AND that we can both listen to the book at the same time.  I enjoy listening to audio books, but I do need to rewind sometimes when my mind wanders. I was just remembering two stories about when we used to listen to books on tape a long time ago.

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The other story I think is related to the same series. We used to listen to a book series. I was listening to it first. We would check it out from the library and then one of us would listen to it and then the other. This was before we were married – as was the Fresno incident – and I listened to the book on the way to my husband’s (well, boyfriend, at the time) house. When I arrived at his house I was at a point in the book where something important was about to be revealed so I sat in my car to finish listen to that part. Well, it was a sad part. One of the main characters we loved had been killed and the story revealed it by having his lover – the main character – find his face – not his head, just his face! – discovered in a refrigerator or cabinet (I don’t remember which). But I was so sad. I sat in my car trying to collect myself. But I couldn’t sit there all day. So when my husband (boyfriend) opened the door after I knocked he took one look at me and said, “He died, huh?” I was teary-eyed so he knew right away. That wouldn’t have happened if I would have been actually reading a book because I couldn’t have read it on the way over.  And with the audio books available on phones, we don’t have to wait for the other one to be finished with the cassette tape or CD.  Now-a-days we can listen to a book at the same time in different locations, we don’t even have to be together.

These to stories always make me laugh.  And I always share them with people when the subject of audio books comes up.

So, have you ever listened to an audio book? Do you like to listen to books? If you do listen to books, do you ever have to rewind it because you missed a portion of it?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Selective Eater

Posted by terrepruitt on October 31, 2018

A Facebook Friend posted this list recently on Facebook. She received a lot of replies. I was pretty surprised at them. For so many years I was called a picky eater so I was happily surprised to see I was not among the pickiest out of the people who replied to her query. There was one woman who answered 17. SEVENTEEN! The response to her response was, “What do you eat?” I mean, seriously. There are so many things on this list that I DO eat, and they are pretty much staples in my diet I was wondering the same thing about this woman.

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Here is the list with the items I won’t eat circled. I don’t really like green olives with the pimentos, but without them they are fine. I will eat raisins especially golden ones, but I don’t care for the black ones, but sometimes I will eat them. If they are in a dessert item, I will generally not eat that item because . . . it is probably something I should be avoiding anyway. I don’t eat fish raw or otherwise. I like celery soup, but I don’t like celery and I prefer it NOT be in things (chicken salad, green salads, etc.). I don’t like avocados. I don’t even like to touch the mush of them — eww. And I don’t like mustard.

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What about you? How do you fair with this list? How many points did you get?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Working Out Or Working In

Posted by terrepruitt on October 22, 2018

Many types of certifications require continued education. Some jobs require it. In many cases even if it is the employer that requires it, the employee has to pay for it. In the fitness industry there are other expenses that the fitness professional must bear in addition to anything it cost to keep their certifications current. One is insurance and there maybe others, but another one that comes to mind is the cost of a business license. I am just bringing this up because I spent a few hours today taking classes for a required re-certification for one of my employers. Since I was busy doing that I didn’t have any time to let my “creative juices” flow in order to come up with a blog post, so I was going to share some of the things I reviewed today. One thing about fitness classes for re-certification it is often a repeat of information, but I usually pick up at least one new thing. Here I am going to just share the training entity’s general idea from one of the classes I took today.

The training was basically saying that it has now been proven and continues to be proven as science delves more into many aspects of the body – that the body needs rest. The body cannot operate efficiently without rest. The idea was “Working In” versus “Working Out”. So working out is what you may typically think of as working out; running, lifting weights, HIIT, a typical cardio dance class. To put it simply, something that gets your heart rate up, stresses the body, and is a big output of energy. The idea of working in is a more relaxed type of exercise, say, Tai Chi, walking, easy yoga, stuff that is more mellow, doesn’t actually stress the body out, and is more about energy moving in.

The thought process is that we have so much stress in our everyday life, there are times when a hard workout is NOT what the body needs. And not just the physical aspect of the body but our mind. Since the body does not know the difference between scary bad stress and exercising stress, it is good to give it a rest. And a rest could be doing nothing or doing their idea of a “work in”.

I think most people know that in order to build a muscle it needs to be stressed, but it also needs to rest. It actually grows during the rest NOT during the period of time when it is under stress. When the muscle does not get rest it will not grow and it cannot strengthen and that is when the risk of injury occurs. So . . . . it seems logical that sometimes the body needs to rest in order for it to be able to work at its best.

The body is so amazing.  It can heal itself and adapt.  But in order to do both it needs some time to rest.

It is so nice that studies/science are now starting to “prove” this idea because it is so very important.  And so many people, cultures even, have known this for so long . . . it is nice that science is finally agreeing so maybe more people will start listening and take advantage of “working in”.

What about you?  Do you take “rest days”?  Do you do “mellow” workouts – things that might be deemed as “working in”?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Photo Comparison

Posted by terrepruitt on October 15, 2018

I have just graduated from an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 10 XS. My phone was six years old. They no longer sell the 5. Perhaps that can be my guide as to when to buy new phones. My 5 still worked, it just didn’t work as fast as the newer phones. My camera was not as good. And that is what I am showing you in this post. I wanted to give you an idea about the difference between the photos.

The difference between the cameras is here. The only info on the 5 that I could find was from Wiki. The information on the 10 XS is taken from the Apple website.

Info from Wiki

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Rear camera Sony Exmor R IMX145[9][10]
—8 MP iSight back-side illuminated sensor
—HD video (1080p) at 30 frame/s
—IR filter
—Aperture f/2.4
—5 element lens
—Facial recognition (stills only)
—Image stabilization

Front camera
—1.2 MP, HD video (720p)

Info from Apple.com

New Phone
—Dual 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras
—Wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture
—Telephoto: ƒ/2.4 aperture
—2x optical zoom; digital zoom up to 10x
—Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control
—Portrait Lighting with five effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono)
—Dual optical image stabilization
—Six-element lens
—Quad-LED True Tone flash with Slow Sync
—Panorama (up to 63MP)
—Sapphire crystal lens cover
—Backside illumination sensor
—Hybrid IR filter
—Autofocus with Focus Pixels
—Tap to focus with Focus Pixels
—Smart HDR for photos
—Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
—Local tone mapping
Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes—Advanced red-eye correction
—Exposure control
—Auto image stabilization
—Burst mode
—Timer mode
—Photo geotagging
—Image formats captured: HEIF and JPE

The first picture of each cat is with the new phone.  The second is with the old phone.

In the first picture of Teagan I might have zoomed in a bit, but I didn’t touch either phone to make them focus better. So, I might have been able to get a bright picture with the iPhone 5, but I was taking it as a comparison of not having touched either phone.

With the new phone I might actually be able to get some better pictures of Teagan. Although, as I have mentioned she is not as camera shy as she once was.

I fought long and hard (for at least two years – that is when the seven was released and suggestions were made to get it) about getting a new phone. But I figure if I keep this one for six years it will be ok.

Even though don’t know most of what the description of the phone is saying, I can clearly SEE that the photos are much better!

These were just quick pictures I was taking to show my hubby the difference.  I should have thought about posting from the get go and done a better job!

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Dramatic difference, huh?  Means bad news for my blog because I am going to be posting a lot more cat pictures now.

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Automatic Blocked Calls

Posted by terrepruitt on October 10, 2018

Today my cell phone rang and when I looked at it, it showed “Telemarketer”. Well, that is cool. I didn’t label it that, the new (to me) application that my husband put on my phone did. He downloaded AT&T Call Protect. So, if you have AT&T you can use it too on Android and iOS. I decided to see what it is about since it is on my phone now. Normally I research before I put stuff on my phone, but my husband was pretty eager to put this on my phone. I don’t like that it logs ALL your calls, but I guess that is how it keeps track of the spam phone calls. And that seems to be how it is lately – all companies are keep track of everything we do.

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–Automatic Fraud Blocking – detects and blocks calls from likely fraudsters.

–Suspected Spam Warning – identifies telemarketers and other suspected spam calls.

–Manual Call Blocking – lets you block unwanted calls by number.

–Enhanced Caller ID† – identifies unknown caller details.

–Reverse Number Lookup† – provides details when you enter a U.S. number.

–Custom Call Controls† – lets you choose call categories to accept, block, or send to voicemail.

†Available with AT&T Mobile Security & Call Protect Plus.

I know you can block numbers on the phone itself, but if you do it from this application then the number itself could end up being added to the AUTOMATIC FRAUD BLOCKED calls. The more “blocks” the number receives the higher the “Threat” level.

It is so frustrating and annoying that we even need this type of thing. I understand people making calls to make sales, but getting a call everyday at the same time isn’t a person, it is a robot and there needs to be an end. If I didn’t answer the phone or want your product or service the first 50 times you called, chances are astronomically high that I don’t want it the 69th or 100th time you call.

We will see how well this works. I’ve only had it for about 24 hours. It was really nice to see the “Telemarketer” on my phone. But I really don’t ever answer my phone if I don’t recognize the number. That is a sad thing to have to do when you own a business, but because I own a business I get so many marketing calls. If an actually potential client calls they have to leave a message.  Here you can see even more information.

Do you get a lot of annoying sales calls? Do you uses AT&T Call Protect? Does your service provider have this type of service?  What do you think?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Weekend In Cayucos

Posted by terrepruitt on October 8, 2018

This past weekend I went away with my girlfriends I have known since Junior High. We rented a little house a block or two from the ocean in a tiny little town on the coast of California called Cayucos. We had a nice time. I put together a little slide show.

We visited the beach a couple of times and got a nice dose of negative ions.  They make you feel good.  It’s nice to get a dose of them when you can.

The little house was amazing. It had everything you would need to live in it permanently so staying there for a couple of days was nice.

The town is sweet – full of realty offices and antique stores. We pretty much visited all of the antique stores in a few hours. We had a nice time.

Now that I have iMovies you will probably be seeing a lot of slide shows and hopefully some videos.

What is your favorite weekend get away?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Some Buzz About Bees

Posted by terrepruitt on October 3, 2018

I recently received a gift of honey. Not honey honey, but honey spread. The box sported many bee facts and I didn’t want them to go to waste so I thought I would share. According to the Bumbleberry Farms Honey Cream Spread box:

Questions and answers:

—How fast does a bee fly?
——————————-About 15 miles per hour

—How many flowers does a honeybee visit during one collection trip?Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes
——————————-A worker bee visits about 50-100 flowers during each trip

—How far does a hive of bees fly to bring you one pound of honey?
——————————-More than 55,000 miles

—How much honey does the average worker honeybee make in her lifetime?
——————————-About 1/12 of a teaspoon

—How many wings does a honeybee have?
——————————-Each honeybee has 4 wings

—How much honey would it take to fuel a bee’s flight around the world?
——————————-About one ounce, or 2 tablespoons

—How many sides does each honeycomb cell have?
——————————-Each cell is a six-sided hexagon

—What is mead?
——————————-Mead is wine made from honey

—Which state is known as the Beehive State?
——————————-Utah

—How many honey-producing colonies of bees are there in the United States?
——————————-The USDA estimates that there are about 2.68 million honey-producing colonies in the United States.

—What does “super” mean to a beekeeper?
——————————-Supers are the hive boxes in which honey is stored, usually places above the deeper box called the “hive body”, where brood (developing bees) is reared.

—How do honeybees communicate with one another?
——————————-They communicate by dancing. Honeybees do a dance which alerts the other bees where nectar and pollen are located. The dance explains direction and distance. Bees also communicate with pheromones, a unique odor common to the particular beehive.

Just laying out the facts:

—The keeping of bees is known as Apiculture
—An apiary is where several bee colonies, or hives, are kept in one place
—There are over 200,000 beekeepers in the United States
—Honey is the only food that won’t spoil
—1 in 3 bites of food is pollinated by an insect.
—Honeybee mating takes place in flight, account for the drone’s need for better vision
—A male bee or drone has eyes twice the size of a worker or queen bee
—A healthy queen can lay up to 30,000 eggs a day
—A queen lays her own weight in eggs every couple of hours
—Contrary to what the name implies, a queen does not actually control a hive, and her sole job is to be an egg-laying machine

Wow! Did you know that? So interesting. Bees are pretty amazing. Do you know any bee facts you would like to share?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Polished Fluorite

Posted by terrepruitt on October 1, 2018

I order a lot of stuff from Amazon. Most of the time it goes pretty well, but sometimes it does not. But I try to pay attention and only order certain things (like clothes) that have free returns. Well, sometimes when they ship the wrong thing is really doesn’t matter if the return was stated as free because when they send you the wrong thing it is up to them/the seller to fix it. A couple of months ago I ordered a stone and they shipped the wrong one. At first when I opened the package I was very disappointed because it was not the color that I was hoping for. When you order things like natural stones they warn you that the color will not be what you see in the picture, but what I received was way off. It took me a moment to realize that this was not the stone I ordered.  I didn’t order another one right away.  But I finally did and now I have some fluorite.

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“Fluorite comes in a wide range of colors and has consequently been dubbed “the most colorful mineral in the world”. Every color of the rainbow in various shades are represented by fluorite samples, along with white, black, and clear crystals. The most common colors are purple, blue, green, yellow, or colorless. Less common are pink, red, white, brown, and black. Color zoning or banding is commonly present. The color of the fluorite is determined by factors including impurities, exposure to radiation, and the absence or voids of the color centers.”

I am used to the multi-colored polished stones. With light hues of pink-purple, green-blue, pinks, purples, greens, and blues in it. I have seen some dark ones, but I have not gotten one.  The ones I got were light.

Wiki also states that fluorite is a source of a common chemical used to make a number of things, that is has ornamental uses, and even optical uses.

If you believe in the healing properties of crystals and stones then fluorite can help clear your mind. It can help get rid of negativity. It helps clear the way to joy. It helps bring order to chaos. It helps you focus. It can be used when you need to concentrate or get rid of a mental block. For some, this clearing of the mind can help with relaxation. Help with relaxation might translate into help in sleeping. Fluorite is often used to promote the positive energy while removing the negative energies. It is thought to help relieve the electromagnetic stress we are under every day with the use of everything electronic.

Do you have a stone/crystal collection?  Do you have fluorite in you stone/crystal collection?  

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