I am not a science person, although I love the science of cooking and understand that you do certain things and use certain ingredients to get a specific outcome. I don’t know a lot about science. I don’t even claim to KNOW about the science of cooking, I just like it. I think some science is interesting. When I say I don’t know a lot about science I am admitting to not knowing what some might think of as basics. So this video that my friend posted on her Facebook page not only entertained me, but educated me. I thought it was really cool. I thought it was a great way to explain it to kids and people. I really loved the liquid in the jar. I also laughed because, if what he said is true, now it makes sense why my mom was always so “stuffy” in the front seat and I was always so cold and felt like I was being wind blown in the back seat.
With the way Facebook is working lately the a picture of the video is on her wall, but there was a link to another person’s blog post. Below is the video of Destin showing his kids some “Fluid Mechanics”. I put that in quotes because that is what he calls it, and again, that is not something I know. Listen to the end so you can hear his speel about a free audio book.
Also click over to his site Smarter Every Day where you can read stuff to help make you smarter every day.
In the blog post Prepare to Have Your Mind Blown by a Balloon and a Minivan Robert T. Gonzalez explains in detail what is going on in the van. I didn’t read his entire post because I was satisfied with Destin’s explanation. This link is actually what my friend had posted on Facebook.
So the funny thing about this is as I mentioned I learned a lot and I learned why my mom was always stuffy while I was freezing whenever we went somewhere in the car with my parents. As I was watching the video I thought, “Dang! I can’t tell her. But this makes sense”. When my hubby and I would go places with my mom and dad we usually would all pile into their vehicle with my hubby and I in the back seat. My mom would always claim to be “stuffy”. Ya know a little more than hot as if there is not enough air around you . . . it seems a little difficult to breathe? We call that “stuffy”. We say, “I feel stuffy. Or, “the air is stuffy.” Well, now I know why. When the car is moving the air goes to the back.
Whether you know this stuff or not I hope you watch the video because it is entertaining. I think I have seen Destin’s stuff before, but I forget about it. I could watch it and read it and I am sure I would get a little smarter every day. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks, Destin!
Well, what did you think? Did you know this? Don’t you think this is a great teaching tool (the experiment)?
I posted some information on Facebook, but there are Nia students that are not on Facebook, but who read my blog. There are also yoga students who I am not friends with on FB who read my blog . . . and there are many of you who have sent love and support while my mom was dying. I am very grateful for all of the love, support, stories . . . and just everything that has been sent to my family and me. It has helped me more than you know. I will probably go back and tell the story of my mom’s last two years (or so) just because I really feel like sharing the story of the brave woman that she was. Also, it will serve as therapy for me and as a log. I will probably share more about my feelings on this whole “process of dying” that so many people just accept as the way it has to be. I do not agree nor do I feel it is an acceptable way for someone to spend their last days on this earth. The purpose of this post, though is to share with you that my mom died around 11:00 pm on Friday, April 11, 2014.
The hospital called me at a few minutes before 1:00 am on Saturday, April 12, 2014. So I keep thinking date of death is today, but I was told it was about 11:00 pm on Friday. I don’t know the exact time, but that is not all that important. What is important is that she is done with the twelve days of the “process”.
She went to the hospital on Saturday, March 22, 2014 because she could not breathe. They placed a tube in her throat to open the airway because they thought that they would be able to do more for her on the Monday. But her team of doctors decided that there really was nothing more they could do. One of her doctors was willing to perform a very risky surgery if my mom elected to go that route, but she did not. So she was told that she needed to pick a day to die . . . the conclusion reached by her medical team was that once the tube was removed her damaged trachea would collapse shortly there after and death would be relatively quick.
It was a common occurrence though, for my mother to not do anything according to what the doctors have previously experienced or think would happen. That is just how it has always been. She reacted badly to drugs that no one EVER had reactions to. She was always surprising her doctors and teaching them things by way of her body responding to treatments/procedures/etc differently than they had ever seen. This always served as a reminder to them, over and over, that each body is different.
The tube that was in her throat was thought to be keeping her throat open. As I said, the medical professionals thought once it was removed her throat would collapse. While the tube was hooked up to a ventilator it was rarely breathing for her. She was breathing on her own. Only once in a while — when she was tired — did the machine take over. And most often it was only for a few breaths. So she was able to breathe on her own, it was just an airway issue. Because trachea’s can’t be fixed or transplanted she was told she would die and that she needed to decide when that would be.
She sat in bed for 10 days contemplating death. All the while she worried about us — did we eat, we should go sleep, etc. She joked with us and allowed us to talk while she listened. The day for the scheduled extubation was stressful and nothing went as planned. In fact it was twelve days after the tube was removed that she died.
I want to emphasize that the hospital staff and my mom’s medical team was very kind and caring and they did all they could to make the dying process “comfortable”. My issue with the process is not with them nor the hospital. As I said, that is another post altogether, but I wanted to explain that she received good care.
We are now able to enter into the grieving stages of “after a loved one dies” . . . because up until now it was a horrific place of limbo. So, if you are able, please keep up all the wonderful stuff you have been doing. Please keep sending positive thoughts and prayers. Throw over that glitter, sparkle, and shine. I have really been lapping it up and I appreciate it so, so, so, so, so, so much.
Make a toast, take a bite, relish the breath . . . . .
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. So today in the San Jose Nia Class we danced to a playlist of songs with Love in them. Our focus was Love. Self-love. Love with respect and non-judgment. We just moved and had fun. Also, since it is Valentine’s Day tomorrow I thought I would honor my valentine by sharing with you a story of his gallantry and bravery. This happened a very long time ago. Before Twitter and Facebook. It is kind of nice to have stories to be able to tell, huh? Now-a-days things are shared pretty-much instantly so it cuts down on the story telling. This is one of my favorites. If we have ever met in person, you probably have already heard this. And I really thought that I had posted it, but I cannot find it. If this happened now there would be pictures because it really could have gone in the The Guinness Book of World Records. My hubby is my hero, even before he was my hubby. He saved me from the biggest spider I have never seen!
When my husband and I were dating I lived in a small apartment. The kitchen was tiny. It was a galley style kitchen, ya know, like a narrow hallway, but it was not a hallway, there was only one in and one out. If someone was at the stove cooking, someone else could not be at the counter preparing unless both persons stood off center. The fridge was super small. The stove was a four burner, but all four burners practically touched each other. Here is where I practiced deep squats because you could not bend over and look in the lower cupboards. There was not enough room to fold OVER, you HAD to squat.
One day . . . I don’t even know what I was looking for, I reached into one of the under the counter cupboards and I felt something odd. Something hairy. I drew my hand out with it in my hand. Now here is where it gets kind of fuzzy. I am not sure what I did with it. But I do know, I stood up, I shut the cupboard and I thought that it was the biggest spider leg I had ever seen. I decided to leave it for my boyfriend to take care of for me. Now . . . as I mentioned . . . it was a very small kitchen. From that cupboard in the corner to the end of the counter was probably two steps. I can say that by the time I took the third step out of the kitchen I had forgotten about the fist sized spider in my cupboard.
Did I see it? No. How did I know it was fist sized? Well, from the size of its leg . . . it was AT LEAST the size of my fist. How did I live in my apartment knowing it was there? Well, like I said, on my third step, I forgot about it. I chalk that up to my survival skills because seriously, if I’d have thought of the fact that there was a HUGE spider in my cupboard, I would have not been able to live there. My boyfriend was not coming over for a couple of days. I HAD to forget about it and move on!
Now at the time I didn’t know my boyfriend was afraid of spiders. I mean, really though, unless you LIKE spiders, there is going to be some wanting-to-avoid-them . . . especially if the leg is 3 inches long. I believe it was a long time after (probably a hundred spiders later) when my husband admitted to being “icked out” by spiders.
I don’t remember if I asked him on the phone if he would help me or if he was there. I kinda think I completely forgot until he was actually THERE. I think we were talking and it dawned on me that there was a spider in my cupboard. I do remember he put on a brave face. Now remember, my kitchen was SMALL. There was no way and no WHERE to run or move. To get the spider he had to get down on all fours — or at least a squat — and put his head practically IN the cupboard.
Being the supportive girlfriend I was, I left the room. (Don’t judge! It was the biggest spider leg EVER!!!!!!!!)
Now again, I am not sure exactly what happened next. If he reads this he might pipe in. All I know is that he got down on the kitchen floor and attempted to rescue his absent damsel in distress. I think he might have screamed. Then it was followed by laughter. Ok, I don’t remember except there eventually WAS laughter. He was so brave and kind and gallant. He rescued me from a petrified potato! We were both very relieved. And . . . he was the hero even though it was just a vegetable he saved me from.
He is still my hero.
(Happy Valentine’s Day, Love!)
What stories do you have to share? Any about your Valentine? Any that make you laugh?
One of my Blue Belt Sisters (a woman I attended the Nia Blue Belt Intensive with) posted a link on Facebook to an article about 5 reasons to do a full squat. I love when I see information like that . . . information about why it is good to do “something”, something we do in Nia. I love that. I love when people confirm and promote Nia movement. As you know, if you have read some of my Nia posts, Nia is not new. Nia has been around for 30 years. Nia incorporates moves and ideals from different modalities so most of it is not new. HOW they incorporate it is often unique, but we use a lot of movements used in other exercise and workout programs. Which is a great thing. Not that just because something is done commonly makes it good, but since Nia is based on how the body was designed to move it makes sense that we do movements done in other practices and vice versa. So I was excited to see an article talk about something we do in Nia. Nia knows the benefits of squats.
I posted about the Garland Pose and I posted about what Nia 5 Stages calls “standing“. Here I am going to touch upon some benefits of doing full squats. A few of mine are different than the 5 mentioned, so check that out too. First, the article reminds us that children squat to reach for things on the ground and will get into that position when playing on the ground. Many things that children do we understand to be beneficial yet we no longer do them as adults. In addition to the many physical benefits of a full squat, it can possibly help us remember that child-like position of play. A Nia workout includes “exercising” the BMES (Body, Mind, Emotion, and Spirit) and many people claim that the play we do in Nia is great for their spirit. Squat like a kid!
Small children have all that yummy flexibility. Their bodies have not yet sat in chairs for years or worn shoes that either keep their ankles from moving in a full range of motion or even keep their foot in one position, possibly even shortening their calf muscles. So they can easily squat with both feet fully on the ground, and their legs folded, and their chest to their thighs with their bum low to the ground. So a squat allows for all of that. Mobility and flexibility in the ankles. Flexibility in the knee. And balance. Being able to squat with flat feet and stay stable is proof of good balance. Think of all those muscles you use to stay tush down and upright . . . (if you need help “thinking”, do it now and just sense all of that).
If you are doing the “Garland” type squat with the wide knees you are really opening the hips and groin area. It is important to have flexibility and mobility in the hips because those things help make walking more comfortable. A body is able to stand more upright when the hip flexors aren’t tight. So squatting can help the body allow for good posture. The squat also helps with stretching the back of the legs. Squats target the hamstrings and the glutes.
And if you push up to standing you are using your glutes, so standing up from a squat is a good bum strengthener/toner. Sometimes we move into a deep squat position in Nia as part of a Nia routine. We do squats as part of the Nia 5 Stages and we push up into a walk. So as I said Nia knows the benefits of squatting. What about you?
Are you a squatter? Do you find yourself squatting during the day? Is the squat something your body needs practice doing?
Have you seen the meme that says “Don’t get confused between my personality and my attitude. My personality is who I am, my attitude depends on who you are.”? I see it on Facebook a lot. When I first saw it I agreed with it. I laughed and thought, “Oh yeah. I can see that.” I am going through my day and encounter someone who is being an ass and I give some grump right back at them. But I saw it again yesterday and I realized I don’t agree with it. While there might be confusion between personality and attitude, I still am in control of both of mine. I realized that my attitude is a reflection of my personality and I don’t want to be an ass. I especially don’t want to be grumpy just because the person I am dealing with is grumpy. I don’t know their story. I have no idea what is going on in their life. I am not saying that it is right for them to treat me poorly because they have “stuff” going on, but it does happen. People get distracted and caught up, but that does not mean I have to get caught up in that. I am in control of both my personality AND my attitude.
I am still the one that has a say. My attitude is still in my control. I don’t have to react to the other person’s bad/rude attitude. THEIR attitude is a reflection of themselves and what is going on in THEIR life . . . my attitude does not have to reflect their attitude. My attitude reflects myself, my personality. I don’t have to be involved in their attitude. Oh, it is not always easy. I am not saying it is. Especially when I have my own “stuff” going on. I can be thinking about what is happening in my life and the suffering of those I love and not be prepared for someone’s guff. At those time it is easy to have my guard down and just let myself get swooped up in that “chicken-head-attitude”, but that is not my personality. Not getting caught up and not letting someone “get the best of me” is a practice. I believe it is part of not taking things personally and listening with love. Not taking things personally is one of the Energy Allies we have in Nia, you might know it as one of the Four Agreements. Listening with love is something one of my students reminded me of.
Sometimes the attitude encountered could just be of indifference, not even necessarily rude or grumpy, but just the “I don’t care” and when that is coming from someone in customer service it is annoying, but no matter what their attitude is, I am the one that has control over me. My personality dictates MY attitude. So I can choose to NOT be a reflection of their poor attitude (and customer service).
So here is my meme. A reminder to myself that I am in control of me. I am in control of my personality. I am in control of my attitude. I am in control of the energy I put out into the world.
What about you? Are you in control of your attitude or are you going to let someone else dictate that for you?
Well, last Friday I posted what was going to be my last Goodie Jar check in, but since today is Tuesday and it is my regular posting day and it is ALSO New Year’s Eve, the day I get to read my good things, I thought I would post about my Goodie Jar one last time. I want to wait until my hubby is home so we can go through it together, but I think with a year of good things mostly relating to Nia he might get a little bored while I read them all. Plus, I want to post about some of them so . . . . I have decided to read a few and post about them and then do the rest while we are together. Because it is not as if by me reading them by myself they get used up and are no longer good things. I can still share them with him when he gets home. So it is all good — I think.
As you know, as I am sure you experience, there are a lot things that happen in life. We tend to assign “good” and “bad” labels to them. It is just a common thing for us to do. Some people can find “good” in “bad” situations and “bad” things and it seems as if some people can’t find the “good” in anything. But since life has its ups and downs and things that happen no matter what, sometimes it is nice to make note of the things that made you happy or made you smile or made you think less about the “bad” things and more about the “good” things.
I really enjoyed making my notes. As you can see I used all types of paper. I thought it would be fun to have not only a full jar, but a visually intriguing jar. I used colored envelopes and wrapping paper and a bunch of different types of paper. I think it made the jar look like a good thing itself.
So here are some of the good things I have in my jar:
Tuesday, Dec. 10: Dinner with cousin Tracy. House of Genji – Katy, Jim, Pattie, Pop, John, Tracy, Me
Teach at the Tannery! Awesome! Fri. 6.21.13
Dec. 10, 2013 Spot ~ Wonderful Girlie!
Ahhh. Nice to be reminded of the Good Things that happened and that the things I have are good. I am blessed. It is a good thing to live in a place that has beautiful weather. It is a good thing to be able to visit with family. It is a good thing to be able to fill in as a Nia Sub and to do it at a wonderful studio. And it is a really good thing to have such a great cat.
I hope you have a full jar. I hope that you had a lot of good things this year. I hope that you are able to enjoy what you have.
If you want please share some of the good things you put in your jar. You don’t even have to explain them. Just let us know what you put down on paper and put in your jar.
I see post on Facebook again about people doing this for 2014. I do hope they do. I have another project in mind for myself. A more personal one. I am sure I will post something about it as the year goes on. I will probably do a post or two about good things too. I think it is important to remember them and you know I use my blog as documentation for so many things. So I am sure I will document some good things here.
I do hope that you can see the good that has happened this past year and reflect on that . . . and I hope that you are able to make 2014 a GREAT year for you and yours!
You might know I love decorating for Christmas. You might also know my cat is sick. She has a chronic disease. My husband and I work to keep her symptoms under control and make sure she is a happy cat. One thing about cats though, they don’t seem to mind vomiting as much as WE mind them doing it. They just hurl and move on. I was not looking forward to having to spend the additional time needed to clean with the Christmas Decorations added onto her frequent regurgitation. But so far so good. Every year though, her and I fight over “underneath the tree”. She thinks it is her spot. I think presents belong there. Last year the second the tree went up she cemented herself IN THE MIDDLE of the underneath and rarely moved! This year I made some kitty concessions to allow for a happier kitty.
Cats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease can live up to five years after diagnosis, but you never know, so this year she gets special treatment. For almost all of the 13 Christmases that we have had her we have put our tree up on a table. Some think it is odd to put a 6 foot tree on a table, but it saves a lot of time and headache. Our cat has never been one to climb the tree or even futz with the ornaments, but she does love “underneath” the tree. And all real/live trees shed so when she would walk underneath it she would brush it with her tail and cause needles to fall all over. While I love a real/live, I don’t care for the needles all over the place. They are not called needles for nothing. They hurt when they stab your foot. So, we started putting the tree up to keep from having needles all over.
That also allows for more room for presents . . . at least so I thought. Some years I have left room for her, but this year I hadn’t put any gifts under the tree, I was going to let her have the entire space, but after a few days of her having it all to herself she hasn’t been under there since. So I did put a few gifts under the tree, but still have a bed for her there.
Where she has chosen to lie is in my reindeer spot. As I was decorating I was struggling with how I was going to get her to agree to a move. We do not know why she has chosen this odd place near the curio, but it has been her spot for a few months now so I was not looking forward to the battle. Then I realized, I probably wouldn’t really “win” no matter what, so I moved my reindeer spot. They are now under the tree.
Also the last couple of years she has been chewing on the garland. Last year I finally was so tired of scolding her I took it down. This year, I decided not to put it up on the banister. That room needs light though, so, I moved it to an impossible-for-a-cat-to-reach spot. Yay! Now I have my garland and lights up, AND no chewing. Cat and decorations are safe!
Now, I mentioned this on Facebook earlier this month. In the past we have had exactly 30 days for the tree. At 31 days, the cat DOES swat an ornament. I took that to mean that she was done with the tree, it was time for it to go outside. This year since she doesn’t use her displaced tower as much now as she did then, she might let it stay longer, but really, in our house it doesn’t need to be up longer. And I am happy for the time she allows us to have it undisturbed.
Ahhh. I love Christmas decorations. I think this year we have some good compromises going on.
Do you have to decorate in concession with your pets? What do you do in order to keep your pet happy?
I don’t know about you but here it is another week with A LOT of good things to put in my Good Things Jar. Well, that is kind of the point, really. To always find something good to put it the Goodie Jar. Sometimes you might find it easy than others. But hopefully you are always able to find something. With this week being Thanksgiving week in the U.S. and Hanukkah I am thinking there are a lot of people with good things to put in the jar. I am seeing a lot of posts on Facebook. So, I hope you are filling that jar up!
I received a pumpkin in my organic produce box. I didn’t know what to do with it. I was looking at one of the blogs that I read on occasion and I saw a recipe for a stuffed pumpkin. I saved the recipe so that I could make it. I looked at the post a couple of times while I was thinking about it. There was a woman who commented with a link to her version of the stuffed pumpkin. When I posted the original (to me) posting on FB one of my friends commented, “I just made those.” Which, when she posted the picture to my wall, I vaguely remembered having seen it when she originally posted it. But it was before I had received a pumpkin so it didn’t really register. When I went to make my grocery list off of JJ Begonia’s recipe, I realized it was literally like a stuffed pumpkin as in BREAD stuffing. Like a turkey. I didn’t want to just use bread. Then I remembered my friend said she stuffed hers with sausage. The first two recipes have bacon in them, but I don’t like to buy a pound of bacon for only a couple of pieces. So I decided on sausage. I took ideas from all three people and came up with the below stuffed pumpkin recipe.
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Stuffed Sugar Pie Pumpkin
1 2 to 3 pound Sugar Pie Pumpkin
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt
Six mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 pound sausage
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 cup cheese (small chunks)
2 tbsp ricotta
1 tbsp sherry
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
handful of spinach
four slices bread – toasted and cubed
Cut the top off of the pumpkin making a little lid. Scoop out the pumpkin guts. Then put a little oil and salt in the pumpkin and place it on a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes (check it after 20 minutes to see that it is not getting too cooked – after the 45 minutes you want it to be almost cooked, but not cooked so much it can’t stand another HOUR in the oven).
Heat the olive oil in the pan with the 1/2 of the onions. Once the onions are translucent put the mushrooms in the pan and cook them. Sprinkle with salt. As they are cooking mix in one clove of garlic. Cook the sausage, either after the mushrooms are cooked or use a different pan. If the sausage has a lot of grease drain it off once the sausage is cooked before you add the sausage to the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the mushrooms and the sausage in a bowl. Add the rosemary and thyme. Mix in the remaining two cloves of garlic and the onions. Mix in the cheese. Mix in the sherry and most of the cream (save a splash for the inside bottom of pumpkin). Add the spinach and bread cubes last. Mix it all carefully.
Pour the remaining splash of cream in the pumpkin. Spoon the mixture into the pumpkin. I used the spoon to press it down into the pumpkin.
Put the pumpkin in the oven for 60 minutes. After about 20 minutes I put the “lid” on. The pumpkin is done when you can gently pierce its side with a sharp object. Check to verify the inside it cooked to your liking. Since the mushrooms and the sausage are already cooked it is just a matter of it heating up and melting the cheese.
Slice and serve.
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This was good, BUT . . . . . I have some adjustments I would make for next time. I was thinking it would be full of flavor so I hardly used any salt which left it almost flavorless except for the thyme. Next time I will use LESS thyme and more salt and some pepper. You will notice I didn’t put any pepper in this. I don’t use pepper. But I can when I think that a recipe needs it. I will salt the inside of the pumpkin more prior to baking and prior to filling.
This was ALL that we had for dinner with a small salad and it was PLENTY! We were full. We each had a half. We did not have a pumpkin each. 🙂
As you can see from just this post there are at least four recipes to make stuffed pumpkin. I purposefully didn’t say what type of sausage, cheese, or bread I used because I want you to find your own flavor and texture. So follow one of the recipes or do it your own way. You have the basics . . . go play! If you do not follow my recipe . . . . please, please, please, tell us what you did. I would love to hear of more ways to make a pumpkin dinner!
Happy Fall!
I had not stuffed a pumpkin before. Have you ever stuffed a pumpkin and baked it?
Only seven weeks left until we get to read all the good things in our Goodie Jar! Yay! Oh my! Only SEVEN WEEKS LEFT until 2014. Time flies! WOW!!!!!!!!!!
So how is your goodie jar going? Our cat almost made it seven days, but she didn’t so we started our “vomit-free” count down again. Such is the life of a kitty with IBD. At the time of this posting we are on 3 days and 21 hours. Maybe we can make it past seven days this time. It is really important for her not to throw up because she needs to gain some weight. What happens is she start to look less skinny, then when she throws up it is like she is back at skinny cat again. Ok, sorry, my goodie jar posts have turned into vomit reports, but hey, just proving that any good thing can go in that jar.
My jar is almost full. I could press the papers down and it will probably make it until December 31, 2013, but I don’t want to crush them. I will probably take some out. As you can see they are all different shapes and sizes.
I hope you are still adding to your Goodie Jar. It see some people are posting on Facebook everyday for the month of November about something they are grateful for. Our Good Things jar kinda has a jump on that . . . .
Well, report in . . . how is your jar coming along?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 