Wonderling

For a dear friend and a good cause

ALL is a cancer of the white blood cells, the cells in the body that normally fight infections. ALL causes damage and death by crowding out normal cells in the bone marrow, and by spreading to other organs. ALL is most common in childhood with a peak incidence at 4-5 years of age, and another peak in old age. 

Please take a moment to visit Cat's Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training page and help support those fighting blood cancer. She is raising money in honor of Eric Van Naerssen who, just last night, lost his battle with ALL. 

Moonbooting

Someone up there does not want me to ride my bike. Wednesday morning my foot was kind of sore, but not even really noticable...just like, "oh...my foot is a little sore" and then I didn't think about it again. So I rode to work and back. That night, after sitting on the couch knitting for about an hour, I got up to feed the kitties and it was like, "oh man, what's up with my foot??" but I figured it was some stupid I'm-getting-older-cramp kind of thing and it would be gone in the morning. Nope. It was even worse. I was certainly not going to ride my bike to work, but I also didn't want to take the bus and have to walk a long distance on the side of my foot (the only way I could walk without intense pain). 

I decided to call the advice RN because what would they do for a foot? I figured she would tell me to wait it out and put some ice on it, but she said I should err on the side of caution and come in since walking was really painful. The Dr. was perplexed. My foot was obviously swollen and something was wrong, but I didn't DO anything to it (that I can think of). He ordered xrays just to be sure it wasn't some tiny little fracture, but in the mean time he wanted me to stay home and do the whole RICE thing (rest ice compression elevation). He also wanted me to wear "a boot". 

So here I am with my "boot" on. No fracture, just a supposed ligament/tendon issue. It's been suggested that I get another boot for my right foot so I can just tell people it's a fashion statement.

Here's the oh-so-fashionable boot....and a freshly laid egg is in there too!

Back to Biking

At work I get a yearly bus pass for the small price of 30-something dollars a month that's automatically taken out of my paycheck. I decided today that I'm not going to renew my annual pass so that I have no choice but to bike to work.

Here's what influenced my decision:

1.This morning my brother sent me a link to the 2008 Bike Commute Challenge where businesses all around the Portland Metro area compete to see who can bike the most days to work in September. You can even form teams within a business to compete as well as challenging individuals to a "commute-off".

2. I ate half a pint of ice cream last night in bed.

3. I spent a decent chunk of money on a perfectly wonderful bike that I rarely use

4. everyone else I know bikes to work (peer pressure!)

I'm happy with my decision. A bit scared that I will have no other option in getting to work, but I think this is the only way that I will buckle down and do it.

Someone also pointed out to me that with the 300+ dollars a year I'll be saving I can spend 200.00 on fun bike attire and still save 100.00! haha, I wont spend that much on "attire", but I am going to get my bike some fenders and myself a nice breathable set of rain gear.

Baking Soda Love

I've always known that baking soda was magical. When I was little my mom treated bee stings with a baking soda/water paste. A few years ago I started to brush my teeth with a baking soda/hydrogen peroxide mix (which actually whitened my teeth!). Now I've been seeing all sorts of baking soda products that can be easily made at home. So when I decided that it was time to remove the moldy, old grip strips from the shower floor (they were there when I moved in) I knew I would end up scouring the entire shower. I decided to see what baking soda and vinegar would do. But why stop there? After cleaning the shower I made some lavender/baking soda deodorant, baking soda shampoo and vinegar rinse.

cleaning the shower was still a pain. I still had to really scrub to get it clean (but this may be because I don't clean the shower until there is a visible layer of soap scum to remind me to clean it!). The deodorant seems to be working well. I put some on this morning and after a day at work I am smell free! I have used all kinds of natural deodorants and none of them worked the entire day. The crystal worked the best, but I still had a hind of BO at the end of the day. I have not yet tried the shampoo and rinse, but I plan on doing that tonight.

Here are the recipes:

Deodorant
equal parts baking soda and corn starch
add whatever scent you want..I chose ground up lavender, but you could use any kind of essential oil as well

Shampoo
1-2 tablespoons of baking soda for every cup of water
use warm water and shake to mix when done

Rinse
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar for every cup of water

so easy!Now I just have to get used to being aroma free. It's a bit strange to not smell like anything.

Dumbell waterbottle, heavy on the dumb light on the work out

I don't often rant about products on here, but this is a good idea gone completely wrong. I have a feeling that lady didn't get a sculpted body from these waterbottle-dumbells, they're only 1lb. I mean, it would have been a great concept if it wasn't so sissy. Even if they were a decent weight (even 5lbs!) drinking out of them would kind of ruin a real workout...since you'd be lifting lighter and lighter weights instead of pushing yourself to do 10 more reps at a challenging weight. From a design aspect it just looks like someone squeezed the middle of a boring looking waterbottle. This could have gone to so many wonderful places, I weep for what it could have been....[via Gizmodo]

Fake Yoga Toes update!

I know I said I would update in two weeks and it's been.....oh geeze...I dunno how long, but way longer than two weeks. I didn't update because I didn't really wear them enough to feel like I could give an educated review.

The first thing you should know about any of the "yoga toes" type stretchers is that they hurt. Yes, the first time you smoosh your poor toes into the seemingly too small holes you are going to be in pain. You are also going to worry about the blood supply to those pinched piggies. But they will be fine. They will get their normal blood supply and after a few "sessions" you'll be able to wear them for 20-30 mins without any pain. I suggest wearing them for 5 mins the first time and work your way up from there. The first time you take them off you will feel like all of your toes are bruised and too sore to walk on. Fear not, they are fine.

So do they work? For me yes. Like I said in my original post, there's really nothing wrong with my toes. I'm paranoid that my slightly protruding big toe "knuckles" are the beginings of bunions. I fear bunions. I don't see any huge difference in the bunion area, but really, there was probably nothing wrong in the first place. What I DID find was that my two curved pinky toes have started to straighten out. I didn't have an issue with them, I just figured everyone's pinky toes are different, but they are definitely less curved.

I would say that if you have major foot problems/pain you should really see a dr., but if you're like me or you actually do have slight bunions or maybe even curled pinky toes I think these do the trick. You have to be diligent though. I wear mine every night for at least 25 mins which has been great because I like to read before bed anyway.

Fake Yoga Toes: A+

The Sole Truth - update

I got my fake yoga toes in the mail yesterday. I had a lot of cleaning to do and I thought it would be perfect to wear them while I cleaned, but eek! I could not walk or stand with them on, it was kind of painful. I honestly thought that my toes were going to turn blue due to lack of circulation, but they didn't! So, I waited until I had some down time and put them on again (I sat in bed knitting). Even then if I moved my feet or toes it was a bit unpleasant. I'm wondering if it's just because I'm using them for the first time. It's certainly a strange experience.

Here I am wearing them (I swear my legs aren't THAT stumpy!). I've decided that I'm going to use them for a minimum of 30mins every day for 2 weeks and see what happens. It's hard to tell if anything WILL happen because I don't have bunions, yet. My pinkie toes are a bit too curved for my liking, maybe this will straighten them out?

I will update again after my 2 week experiment.

The Sole Truth

Ever since I worked at Bumble and bumble I've had this paranoia that I will get the worst bunions known to man (seeing my grandmother's bunions probably didn't help). I swear that I'm getting them and I make a point to not wear shoes whenever possible. My co-worker said that her mom and sister both had bunions and actually got rid of them using Yoga Toes. I decided that I should get some Yoga Toes myself and stop worrying about my 'possible bunions'. Yoga toes, the brand name, are anywhere from 45.00 - 80.00 online (not including the 7.00 shipping). I'm not about to spend 50+ dollars on something that I probably don't even need at this point. So I did some digging and found some knock-off Yoga Toes for 12.00. I've decided to try them out and report the results (although the results in my case may be purely mental).

Is this going too far?

I'm usually the first one to applaud technological advances and I have no problem with research using animals (this may be because I work in a department that does animal testing and I see not only the results, but also the strict policies that must be followed). However, when I saw this my stomach started churning.

This is a blood powered tattoo. Yes, blood powered. I have to admit as gross as that particular aspect sounds, it's not what bothers me about this (in fact I think it's really amazing that our blood can power electronic things). The part that bothers me most is the whole 'touchpad on your arm'. I mean...just think about typing in someone's cellphone on your forearm. ew. via trendinsiders

Faster is better

I've always been aggravated by those people who just meander about. Strolling along on a busy street, stopping, looking, barely moving. I've often thought sidewalks should have a slow lane so us fast walkers can get on with our business while the slow walkers can enjoy their leisurely stroll.

I got to thinking as I was flying down one of the hallways at work today, is it better to be a fast walker or a slow walker? Does it even matter?

Here's what I found:

Fast walkers
- Live Longer
- Are more flexible
- Have stronger lower extremity muscles

I also found that the way you walk says a lot about your health. Certain "types" of walking (or gaits) are linked to a tendency for certain diseases. very interesting. All of the studies I read said that fast walkers were statistically healthier.