Pain in the Butt

Here's something I've never heard of before... Piriformis Syndrome... and I think I've got it!  It's a pain in the glute muscle.  HERE's an article about it.  One of the causes is sitting too long.  Oh, oh!  Too much time at the computer!?  One of the recommended treatments is stretching exercises.  One doctor suggests using a High Density Foam Roller which I've ordered from Amazon.com.  I am not a fan of taking medicine so I will always try alternative methods or treatments first.  I have several YouTube links for exercises if anyone else has a pain in the butt!  Jeff can use this roller for his back, too.  At first I thought maybe I banged my hip area but there aren't any bruises and then I thought it might be from going up and down on a stool to take down Christmas decorations but that should be gone by now.  The oddest thing is when I go up the stairs, my toe next to the big toe tingles.  I happen to have my yearly doctor appointment this Thursday so will discuss it with my doctor.  I'm sure he'll be annoyed that I've self-diagnosed by researching on the Internet.  They hate when you tell them that or when you say you heard it on Dr. Oz!  But guess what... Dr. Oz says your doctor probably googles your symptoms, too.  He gave a list of reputable medical online sites the other day and you can find them HERE.  

I have something new to add to my "Seriously?" category.  It's the HAPIfork!  The HAPIfork is an electronic fork that monitors your eating habits. The HAPIfork gives you precise information about your eating schedule. The HAPIfork alerts you with the help of indicator lights when you are eating too fast. Every time you bring food from your plate to your mouth with your fork, this action is called:  a "fork serving".

The HAPIfork also measures:
     • How long it took to eat your meal.
     • The amount of “fork servings" taken per minute.
     • Intervals between "fork servings".

This information is then uploaded via USB or Bluetooth to your Online Dashboard to track your progress.

The HAPIfork also comes with the HAPILABS app plus a coaching program to help you eat better and change your eating behavior.  And it's expected to cost @ $99.00.  For a fork....

Seriously??? 

Happy New Year!

We will be spending New Year's Eve at home...as always!  When Jeff and I were dating and also first married, we would go out on New Year's Eve but were usually disappointed with how places would have special (expensive) menus or cover charges.  There was also something phony about the forced merriment that bothered me.  Maybe I'm just a Scrooge about New Year's Eve but I'm happiest staying home and off the road that's filled with drunk drivers.

We've been busy setting up all our electronic gadgets which always present issues to overcome.  Jeff is busy downloading apps on his new Kindle Fire HD and since we have Amazon Prime we decided to get a new Blu-Ray player so we could get free movies from Amazon Prime Instant Videos.  It also allows us to use things on our TV like Pandora and we were also able to watch all our Vimeo movies on our big screen TV.  It was so much fun to see things like Cooper as a puppy and the boys when they were so much younger.  We have so many TVs that we just take the old bluray player and move it into our bedroom and then take that DVD player and move it into the boy's room and then we usually offer that DVD player to Jessica and Pat.

Justin gave us a new wireless router for Christmas because our old one was having trouble reaching areas of our house.  We have a trilevel house so you need a special router that reaches multi-levels.  Jeff usually takes care of all the hardware installations like modems, routers, blurays, etc,,, and I handle the software.  We make a pretty good team.

Hope 2013 is a great year for all my blog friends, hope we don't fall off the fiscal cliff and I really hope we can get some meaningful reform to ban automatic weapons that our forefathers could have never imagined when they wrote the second amendment.  As for the idea of arming teachers.... seriously?!?  Teacher's don't get paid enough as it is and now you want them packing heat?  Pay me a teacher's salary PLUS a cop's salary and maybe I'll think about it!

Be Afraid...

...be very afraid!  That's what Jeff thinks when he sees me watching Dr. Oz with pen and paper in hand.  He knows it's going to end up costing him money!  For example, recently there was a show about how you can look like you've had a facelift (well, look younger not weird like some facelifts) with just a few products.  They had dermatologists and plastic surgeons on and they said they'd lose business if people followed their suggestions.  HERE'S the link to what you need to use.  The first thing is topical Vitamin C.  I ordered some Kiehl's from Nordstrom's.  The 2nd is a supplement that you take orally:  Phytoceramides.  I cannot find this anywhere!  It's all sold out or backordered.  The 3rd is a power facial cleanser.  It's like an electric toothbrush for your face.  I found one at Costco by Oil of Olay.  HERE's a short video from the program "How to Fake a Facelift."

All of that was a week or two ago but the latest "Be very afraid" moment for Jeff was when I printed out Dr, Oz's "3 Day Detox Cleanse."  Check out that link because it even comes with a shopping list you can print out.  Here's what they said:  "Eliminate harmful toxins, restore your system, and reset your body with this detox cleanse from Dr. Oz. All you need is 3 days, a blender and $16 a day!"  Look Jeff, only $16- such a deal!  So off I go to Sprouts and Costco with my printed copy of Dr. Oz's 3 Day Cleanse.  I knew I was in trouble when I saw that the lavender drops for the Ultra Detox Bath were on sale for $8.99.  Seriously?!?  Okay, now I get it.  They are figuring what a few drops of lavender oil would cost and ignoring the fact that YOU HAVE TO BUY THE WHOLE BOTTLE!  So you can see where this is going... by the time I bought ground flaxseed, coconut oil, coconut water, almond milk, almond butter, a bottle of probiotics (no they won't just sell me 3 pills) and all the fruits and vegetables, I had a bill of over $70.00 at Sprouts with more to buy at Costco!  Yes, I'll have plenty of the staples left over but we got a big laugh over my $16.00 a day 3 Day Cleanse.  By the way, I'm still picking out kale from between my teeth.  Looking forward to that relaxing bath tonight though.  Maybe Jeff should have one, too!

Kodachrome, You give us those nice bright colors...

Remember that Simon and Garfunkle song?  They were so great!  Anyway, after finding that roll of 35mm Kodachrome and having it developed, we found it was from Jeff's graduation from the LAFD back in 1977!  I've been really busy and haven't had time to take the film back to Costco to get it on a CD so I scanned one of the photos that shows the whole family.  Jessica wasn't even born yet and she just turned 32 so you can see how old this photo is!

  

From left to right:  

Jeff's grandfather, my mother, Jeff's grandmother, Jeff's dad, me holding Justin, Jeff and Jeff's mom.

I had to add a new label category called, "Seriously?!?"  Here are the first two entries:

1.  My Scooba is acting up... not putting down solution or sucking it up.  I have a lifetime warranty through Hammacher Schlemmer but rather than packing it up and sending it in for a new one, I tried iRobot support. Can you believe one of the suggestions is to drop it on the ground 3 times?  Seriously?!?  What's funny is I tried it and it seemed to help.  We'll see the next time I use it.

2.  Jeff and I are at Home Depot shopping for bathroom things and I see him put a half dozen or more shiny brass door hinges in the cart.  What are they for, I ask?  He replies that they have painted over the hinges at the house where Jessica and family live so he wants to replace them.  You mean the doors where we have just put all "oil rubbed bronze" door knobs on?  Seriously?!?  Sometimes I don't know what men would do without us when it comes to details!