Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on February 26, 2018
Wow. Have you or someone you know been hit by the flu? Or something? I mean it is cold and flu season. I am pretty confident that if you haven’t caught it you know someone who has. It is my belief that with the lives we lead and all the rush and pressure to go-go-go, we don’t stop and give our bodies the rest they need in order to get well. With all the going and not enough resting it takes a really long time to get over these illnesses that get us. I have heard of some people being sick for three weeks. I am not sure exactly the extent of that. I know that it can be that long or longer before you are back to feeling 100%. Without being able to completely STOP and rest it just takes so long to get better. So I wanted to remind you that once you feel better and you resume your regular workout SCHEDULE, do not resume your regular workout. Take it easy. Take is slow.
If you have been sick for two or three weeks and you have not been doing your normal activities, if you have had to cut out your workout because you just don’t have the energy because your body is busy fighting off some cold or flu, once you think you are back to your 100% you still need to take it easy when it comes to your workout. Right? Your body has 1) been fighting off an illness for three weeks (or longer) and 2) has not been working out. As you may have experienced even when you are healthy and you take a time off from your workout, it is usually as good idea, if not necessary, to kinda ease back into working out. So it makes sense that after being sick you should ease back into it. Even more so because your body has been doing a lot of work in trying to get well. When you are feeling 100% you don’t want to go whole hog. You want to give your body time to adjust.
So, be kind to yourself. Give yourself a break. Try not to have the mentality of, “Oh my! I have been off from working out for three weeks so I have to push myself that much harder. I have to make up for what I have missed.” And/or “Well, before I got sick I could do XXXX, so I SHOULD be able to do it now.” No. You shouldn’t be able to the same things you did before you were sick and you shouldn’t do the same things. Give yourself some time. Ease back into it. Your body needs to adjust. Give yourself a break.
I know it might be hard because you may feel like you need to make up the time you missed or you may feel like you worked so hard to get where you were you SHOULD be able to be right back there. But, no, your body still needs to adjust. So go slow. Be gentle with yourself. Be kind. Understand that it is ok to take a few workouts to get back to where you were.
If you go easy on yourself you minimize the risk of getting sick again. The idea of a relapse should be enough to encourage you to take it slow. None of us want to be sick AGAIN!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: cold, easing back into working out, flu, getting back to working out, sick for weeks, taking it easy | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 14, 2018
So today is Valentine’s Day. According to Wiki it is a religious day. It was a feast day to honor saints, martyrs named Valentine. Then, of course, like everything else, it was commercialized. Now it seems as if it is about flowers, diamonds, and candy. Some people like to go out to dinner on Valentine’s Day, those that are tenacious enough to brave the crowds and pay exorbitant fees for a prix fixe meal. Some people feel that Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate romantic love. Well, romantic love and love make you feel good. So it is a day about feeling good. If you have the tendency to get sad on Valentine’s Day because you don’t have a romantic love at this time or your love is not able to be with you, then do something that makes you feel good. Show yourself some love. It could be that you are good at doing that all year long so you would really like to have someone else do it for you today . . . but again, if that is not possible – don’t hold back. Do something for you.
You could buy yourself flowers. I remember one day I was buy some flowers (it was not Valentine’s Day) along with my groceries and the checkout girl asked me if they were for someone and I told her no they were for me. The first look on her face was a question, then it transformed into realization, then the final look was a good-for-you-we-should-all- do-that look. So . . . do that!
You could get a pedicure. Or just paint your own nails. I should ALWAYS have my nails gussied up since I teach Nia and yoga, both of which are done barefoot. But I don’t. So when I do get a pedicure or just paint my own nails it makes me feel good. (Pictured here are my RED toe nails I painted before Nia yesterday!)
Write yourself a love letter. Why not? Make note of all the things you love about yourself today.
Drink champagne. I am continually flabbergasted that so many people just save this glass of bubbly fun for “special occasions.” Perhaps I am the only one that thinks daily life is enough of a special occasion to pop open some bubbly any day of the week. Life is short so celebrate it. Have a glass and toast yourself.
Gather a group of friends and enjoy a meal or a movie. It doesn’t have to turn into an “unValentine’s Day” or a bashing of the day. Just focus on the good stuff and have a good time.
I mean, yes, it is great to have a special someone to give you are card or something on Valentine’s Day, but it is also great to treat yourself as your first and best love. It is great to show yourself that you are special. You really don’t NEED any one else to do that. Do something that makes you feel good!
So? What are you gonna do?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: champange, pedicure, someone special, treat yourself special, unValentine's Day, Valentine's Day | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 12, 2018
Have you ever been in a car accident? Even a minor fender bender? You hit someone or your car got hit and the damage was minor, you didn’t feel injured at all. Well, your body knows it was in a collision. Your body still senses it even if you don’t. You might not have any aches or bruises. You might even FEEL fine, but your body knows. Your mind knows. Your emotions know. First of all I want to ask everyone to start paying attention more when they drive. Please, just don’t use your phone at all. A couple of weeks ago I saw a brand new Audi almost drive right off the edge of an over pass. I was approaching and watching and wondering if I was going to be the witness of a car just sailing over the edge because the car was headed STRAIGHT toward the curved railing, but at the last second the driver jerked the car back on the road, spewing up all the dirt and dust and garbage on the tiny shoulder. And do you know what? Not three seconds later, the driver did it again! I swear! I was so bloody flabbergasted I had to see who was driving and what the heck they were doing, so I pulled up next to the car. And the driver was looking over at the middle of the dash at the screen. I believe the driver was so entranced by what was on the screen that they almost drove off the overpass TWICE. It was a new car so they were probably enthralled. Why that in-dash-computer-that-distracts-people-from-driving is legal I will never know. But I do know that people are not paying attention to their driving 
because there are so many things to distract drivers. There are enough things to distract drivers without all the electronic gizmos. Well, if you have ever been even just tapped while in a vehicle your body knows. So in addition to asking drivers to pay attention I want to ask all of you that have been in any type of collision to take care of your body.
If you can, if you can afford it, and if it is something you would do . . . .go get a massage. A massage at a massage school would be less expensive than at a fancy spa and you could be helping out a student. Tell your masseuse/masseur that you were in a collision and they should be able to help your body process the trauma. If you are not one to go get a massage, then I would suggest a bath. Just soak in epsom salts. They are very affordable and can do wonders at healing the body.
If you are one to use essential oils, try a few drops of oil in the bath to help with the release of the trauma. Or use a diffuser. Some oils that can help are Basil, Bergamot, Lavender, Lemongrass, Majoram, Rose, Yarrow, and Ylang Ylang.
This is EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT SENSING ANYTHING “WRONG” IN YOUR BODY. Your body has gone through a trauma. So help it. Even if it feels fine just give it a little comfort in the form of a massage or a bath.
Of course, this is just an idea to help you process the incident!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: body trauma, car accident, collision, essential oils, massage, minor damage, New Audi, relaxing bath | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 7, 2018
There is a commercial on right now that I see often. In the commercial it is appears as if the driver is nowhere near his garage yet the car can shut the garage. So . . . it appears as if this man has driven away and left his garage open and didn’t even think about it until he was miles away. And I say miles away because the home looks like it is in a neighborhood full of houses and they show the car either on a bridge or in a very-city like looking setting. This commercial reminded me of a couple of things I used to do. I used to think that I didn’t have time to sit and watch my garage door close. When I got in my car I was already thinking about my destination and I would be pulling out of my driveway as the garage door was closing, then I would drive away as soon as it closed. Or did it? Yes, there were times I was so intent on driving or paying attention to the obstacle behind me – whether it be a pedestrian or another car – that I wouldn’t really be focused on my garage door so when I got down the street I would have to turn around to make sure it had stayed shut. I would often see it shut but not remember. I wasn’t saving myself any time.
Also I used to waste a good portion of my morning looking for my keys. I used to just set them down anywhere when I arrived home. At one point I got tired of looking for them so I made it a habit to put them in my purse. But that is the Bermuda Triangle and searching in my purse, and sometimes having to dump it out to get to the keys I-know-are-in-there-but-can’t-seem-to-get-my-hand-on – would end up taking even more time. So now I just hang them. I have saved myself so much time. So many times I had been ready to leave on time but then I spent 10/15/maybe even 20 minutes looking for my keys. Ugh. That had to stop. So now I hang them on a hook. I walk in the door and as I am reaching to turn off the alarm, I hang my keys on the hook.
And the garage? I sit and make sure it goes down. I don’t sit and watch it. I am usually doing something else. I pull out of the garage and hit the garage door button, then I put on my seat belt, put on my sunglasses, perhaps plug-in my phone if it needs it. I get settled. Then I look up and make sure it is closed. Then I drive away. I got tired of turning around to make sure it was closed. I got tired of wondering if it had closed and not popped back up. So, it might take a minute to wait, but it saves me a lot of time. And it is not really like I am sitting there doing nothing while it is closing, I am doing stuff. Instead of doing all that before I pull out of the garage, I do it while I am waiting for the door to close. I always make sure I have on my seat belt before I pull out of my driveway. And waiting for the garage door is a great time to put it on.
Society is in such a rush. We all have so much going on, so much on our minds. It seems like such a challenge to just slow down and take a moment. Make sure your garage door is shut.
I am also getting better at locking my car consciously. I used to have to go back almost every time I got out of my car. But now I am better at stopping for that 10 or 15 seconds (I mean how long does it take?) to make sure I locked it. Usually I am juggling my purse, my water bottle, my brief case, sometimes papers, and sometimes my phone so I don’t remember if I pressed the button. But, I am really making an effort. Even if my hands are full, I pause. Even if I am running late, I pause — because that is when I especially don’t have time to go back and check.
These things fall under the category of mindfulness, huh? Being mindful in these situations could help save us time. It makes me laugh because it seems like not paying attention is the faster way . . . but in the end it is not.
How about you? Do you spend a lot of time looking for your keys? Do you ever go back to make sure you shut the garage door? Do you ever take a few steps back towards your car to make sure it is locked?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: closing garage door, locking car, lost car keys, Mindfulness, saving time, searching for car keys, waste of time | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 24, 2018
As you may have read on my blog at one point, I get my dad’s mail and one of the things that comes in his mail is AARP stuff. I glance through it because sometimes I think it is informative. Sometimes it can help people of all ages. I took a copy/picture of this information because I thought it could be helpful to anyone that is a caregiver to someone in California.
The first one mentioned I am not even sure I understand because I can’t imagine a patient being discharged without the caregiver being giving instructions and training on how and what to do in order to continue the care. It could be that I am primarily familiar with Kaiser and I am pretty sure that in the cases that I am familiar with there had been instructions and training. But I guess that is not always the case. So it appears to me that the first law mentioned on this flyer AARP is calling the California Hospital & Family Caregiver Law makes it a law that written instructions and training must be given when a patient is released and needs further medical care. This was signed and filed in 2015, and AARP is saying it was effective in 2016. AARP is just highlighting it so caregivers know that there is a law that requires hospitals to give caregivers what they need to continue care.
The California Paid Family Leave (PFL) “California Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides up to 6 weeks of partial pay to employees who take time off from work to care for a seriously ill family member (child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner) or to bond with a new child entering the family through birth, adoption, or foster care placement.
Note: Beginning January 1, 2018, Assembly Bill 908 (Chapter 5, Statutes of 2016) increases the Disability Insurance and PFL wage replacement rate to approximately 60 to 70 percent (depending on income) and removes the 7-day waiting period for PFL. This applies to claims with a start date of January 1, 2018 or after.”
I just copied that directly from the State of California Employment Development Department site so that I didn’t inaccurately state something. So the change is the increase in the percentage of pay.
Another bill passed was the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights. Which makes it unlawful for any long-term facility to transfer a person based wholly or in part on their actual or perceived sexual orientation (amoung other things). This is one that is best read on the site because it is long and I don’t want to leave anything out or state it incorrectly. It was approved and filed in October of 2017.
See? This information might have to do with elderly people, but it really is for the caregivers of these people. It could be that the young people – the ones providing care and the ones NOT subscribed to AARP – never get this information because they are not reading the AARP magazine. So . . . I thought I would share it.
If you do need any of this information please look it up on the actual websites as you can see this information is not complete. It is just a quick summary to help you be aware of information you might need.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: AARP, and Transgender Long-Term Care Facility Residents' Bill of Rights, Assembly Bill 908, Bisexual, California Employment Development Department, California Hospital & Family Caregiver Law, California Paid Family Leave (PFL), Gay, Lesbian, SB 219, SB 675 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 17, 2018
This past Christmas I decided to make gifts for my family and some friends. I was painting (that will be another post or two) for the first three weeks of December. While I had my paints out I asked my hubby if he would mind if I painted our cat’s heart stone. As usual, just like when I am cooking, I didn’t think to take a picture of it until I was partly done. The first picture I had painted the green background and some of the blue flowers. That is when I thought to take pictures of it – AFTER I had already started – so that we could see the difference between the faded colors and the new colors.
The other picture shows the end result. It is nice to have the bright colors out in the yard. It also helped that my husband spent some time out in the yard gathering up all the leaves that were covering the stone. Our lemon tree drops a lot of leaves so in combination with all of the peanut shells we have in the yard, the stone was covered. It was covered AND faded so it was impossible to see.
Before bringing it it, my husband kindly washed it off, making sure to get all of the dirt off so the paint would stick.
I think I did ok. I am not an artist. I was just trying to brighten it up. And, that I did. I wasn’t going for shading or any depth. I do wish I would have taken a picture of it before I did any painting at all. But I just didn’t think about it until halfway through.
We actually have a lot of other things in the yard I would like to paint to help brighten them up. I mean, the reason we put them in the yard is because they were cute and colorful. Well, they fade after time so they need refreshing. I need to set aside some time to do that. We have a couple of walking stone sets that could use painting and several little yard decorations. Yup. That will be something I will do.
I like painting. I need to set aside some time in order to paint.
Do you have a hobby you would like to make more time to do? What do you think of Spot’s Heart Stone?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: bright colors, Christmas gifts, Christmast 2017, Grave stone, Hobby, painting, Spot, Spot the cat, Spot's Heart Stone, yard decorations | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 15, 2018
In my last post I mentioned family, friends, and both Nia and yoga students giving me cat things or things related to yoga this past Christmas. I received a lot of cute things. And I received a lot of thoughtful gifts. I want to share another one. (I know I have already posted about a few.) One of my students gave me a Gumby. Do you member Gumby? He is very flexible and bendy. She said it was because she called me Gumby, although I don’t ever remember hearing her call me that.
He has a tie-dyed shirt on! So cute! She made a tie-dyed shirt for him. She actually “tie-dyed” it. At first I thought she just found some material that looked tie-dyed and then she used it to sew a shirt. But nooooo! She actually used pens and colored the shirt making it tie-dyed. For those of you who have never taken one of the classes you might not realize that I wear tie-dyed shirts. They are kind of like my “uniform”. So this was super cute. It made me laugh. We were going to lunch the day she gave it to me and I had to bring it into the restaurant to show everyone. I also wanted to share it with you because it was so cute.
I also have some Gumby facts because this particular Gumby is a 50th anniversary edition Gumby so the packaging came with interesting facts listed about Gumby. I can say that I really didn’t know that much about Gumby. So these were things I didn’t know about Gumby.
-Gumby’s TV debut was on the Howdy Doody Show in 1956.
-Gumby got his own show that year. The Gumby Show.
-The Gumby Show aired from 1956 to 1968.
-By 1966, Gumby sales break all records.
-It takes 1,440 still-frame pictures to make 1 minute of clay animation.
-In 1988 100 new Gumby episodes were produced.
-There are 214 Gumby episodes in existence.
-Gumby’s first feature film was release in 1995.
So there. Now you know some Gumby facts.
Do you remember Gumby? Did you watch him on TV? Do you remember his side kick?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 50th Anniversary Edition of Gumby, Christmas gifts, creative gift, flexible, Gumby, Howdy Doody Show, Nia student, The Gumby Show, tie-dye shirts, yoga student | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 10, 2018
Not too long ago I discovered a way to be mindful quite by accident. This way to be mindful is also ONLY during a specific task. A couple of years ago I wrote briefly about Mindfulness because I had come across a video on Facebook that represented an entirely different definition of mindfulness than I think of mindfulness as. In that post I mentioned walking around while brushing my teeth as not being very mindful. I am not concentrating on the task (brushing my teeth) at hand. I am trying to save time by doing other things while brushing my teeth. The result of that is usually me spending way more time brushing my teeth than I need to because I forget where I have brushed. While I am walking across the room to get my clothes I might have brushed the top front, but then by the time I get to my clothes I have moved onto the top sides. When I grab my clothes I forget if I did the front. So I think I end up brushing and rebrushing. So in effect NOT saving any time at all. Plus the fact that I am just not being mindful of the task at hand. Well, quite by accident I found a sure fire way to MAKE me focus ONLY on brushing my teeth.
I don’t like soft tooth brushes. I like medium. The last time I went to buy a tooth brush I could find soft or firm. No mediums. Every brand, every style I looked at was either soft or firm, but not medium. Who is the jerk responsible for that? Well, I decided to try the firm. WELL, NOW! That is what is making me concentrate solely on brushing my teeth. Them bristles are WAAAAYYYY firm. I am afraid that if I am not giving it my attention 100% I will brush a hole in my tooth. Not only do I have to concentrate as to where I have brushed because I don’t want to go over any area of my tooth more than is necessary, I have to concentrate on the pressure I am using,
So, for a bit now, I have been standing at my sink brushing my teeth – JUST brushing my teeth. For those of you that do that normally, I am sure this sounds ridiculous. But I know there are a lot of others out there like me who do other things while brushing their teeth and it sounds ridiculous, even unimaginable, for other reasons. Well, yup . . . there it is – FORCED mindfulness. I think it actually saves me time. As I mentioned, before there was unnecessary brushing. Now there is not and so it is much more efficient.
Now, if I could just let this cross over into some of the other things I do. There are moments with some tasks where I am very focused, but some tasks just don’t seem like they need my full attention. And then that is when I end up with spilled liquid, a broken nail, a misplaced item, or something else unwanted.
Do you have any tips or tricks for staying focused and being mindful?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: brushing teeth, Mindfulness, tooth brush, ways to stay mindful, working on mindfulness | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 8, 2018
So how are you all doing? My hubby and I got hit with something. I don’t know that it is/was the flu. I can’t tell the difference. Except to me, I always think of the flu as affecting your stomach and digestion. We haven’t had that, that I know of. So to me it was – is – more of a cold. I woke up with it on Saturday and I was miserable. So Saturday night when I went to bed I decided to try the wet sock treatment. Heard of it? You can read about it by clicking here (Wet Sock Treatment). I woke up feeling much better. I felt pretty good throughout the day, but just like with anything, was a little tired and worn out by Sunday night – even though I didn’t do anything. So I decided to do the treatment again Sunday night.
Saturday night I didn’t last the entire night . . . well, the entire time I was in bed trying to sleep, with the socks on. They made me way to hot and I pulled them off in the early morning. I was so hot I was tossing and turning a bit. But that is what always happens to me when we have the heat on while I sleep. I just get way too hot.
Sunday night I turned the heat down a bit and I was able to sleep with the socks on the entire night. AND I slept with my feet under the covers. Saturday night I kept putting my feet out because I was so hot. The heat just closes up my sinuses and makes me too hot.
The first and last time I tried this was in 2011 and it wasn’t for a cold. It was for an injured toe. This time on Saturday night my feet were so cold I did warm them first, but not in warm water. I just used a space heater. The second night my feet weren’t cold so I just jumped to #3 and put the wet socks on and got in bed.
I do think this treatment IS a good cold remedy and really helped me feel better faster. I think I am going to try it again tonight!
I did think to look at my blog for the tea . . . . Sick People Tea . . . the one with lemon, ginger, and oregano . . . but I didn’t have any fresh ginger. I could have used powder, but I didn’t want to go outside to get a lemon. So I didn’t try the tea. But, I might still. I have to go outside tomorrow so I might pick a lemon on the way in.
How are you holding out? What do you do to help speed your recovery along after the flu or a cold?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: cold, cold remedy, flu, lemon ginger oregano tea, Sick People Tea, stomach issues, wet sock treatment | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 1, 2018
I hope everyone had a very nice first day of 2018. I know in my group of friends/acquaintances there are some that are facing some pretty heartbreaking challenges, but for the most part I am seeing a lot of “Happy New Year” posts on Facebook. A lot of people thinking that 2018 will be better than 2017 . . . not getting into what they might have thought 2017 (good/bad/great/horrific) . . . just that they think 2018 will be better. I have a few things I am looking forward to in 2018.
I am going to eek out the last day that I think I can get away with posting Christmas stuff. I received several lovely ornaments for Christmas and I want to share . . . although I am sure they will make it on to some form of my social media next year. I wanted to share this year, too. Some I have already posted on Facebook. But I am sharing here too!
I have two new ones from Pilgrim Imports. You may have read my post about Lenox ornaments. I used to get their annual snowflake ornament. I did it for years. But the quality started to decline and I was rethinking that whole thing. Then one year I received one that was poorly painted and the little gems were all crooked so I asked to exchange it. Well, they sent me another one that was almost as bad as the first. So I stopped receiving
their annual ornament. And asked them to stop marketing to me altogether. Their regular ornaments might be better quality, but if they can’t put out a good quality for their annual ornament I stopped being a customer. I discovered Pilgrim Import ornaments. They are metal ornaments with sparkles attached and bobbles hanging from some of them. I love them. If you’ve seen any of my post about Christmas ornaments before you have probably seen one or two of them. This year I received two new ones. A jelly fish with pink and blue “pearls” attached. And a giraffe adorned with glass beads!
And . . . as I said, Lenox’s regular ornaments might be fine because we receive a beautiful glass Angel that says HOPE from my sister-in-law. It is also not the regular porcelain (or whatever the snowflakes are made of) type of ornaments I used to collect.
I also was gifted a silver star and a beautiful blue butterfly. The angel I received on Christmas and our tree is a little too droopy for me to trust her on it. I don’t think the branches would hold her safely. But the star and butterfly are not as fragile so they went on right away.
I am looking forward to decorating with them next Christmas. I am not looking forward to taking down the tree and all the decorations. So much so that I haven’t even started yet.
Happy 2018. Is there anything you are looking forward to in 2018?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 2018 New Year, Christmas decorations, Christmas stuff, Christmas tree ornaments, Happy New Year, Lenox, Pilgrim Imports | 2 Comments »
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