#4 of Top 7 Blog Posts of 2013

Our family has grown (September 2013)

We attended a wedding recently; our daughter married a great guy.  We now get to be grandparents to two granddaughters.  We traveled to Texas to be a part of this happy, festive occasion.  A true Texas wedding, the colors were silver and royal blue (sound familiar to any Dallas Cowboy fans?)  And yes, the bride wore cowboy boots under her long wedding gown.   I’m happy to report that it was a beautiful wedding and we all enjoyed our time together.  I have great pictures; unfortunately I won’t be posting for everyone’s privacy.  However, “a good time was had by all”. 

#3 of Top 7 Blog posts of 2013

Older workers have fewer senior moments (August 2013)

In the News—“Older Workers have fewer senior moments”

I must say I found this research good news.  German researchers compared 200 young workers (age 20-31) against older workers (65 -80 years old) for a period of 100 days.  The researchers compared these two groups on mental skills such as how much they could learn, how their thinking skills varied from day-to-day and whether their memory functioned well.

The older group of workers did well; they were more consistent in their work and on a day-to-day basis they were highly motivated, and more stable in their moods.  The older group used strategies they had learned earlier to solve new tasks.  Interesting research.  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/08/08/older-workers-have-fewer-senior-moments/

#2 of Top 7 Blog posts of 2013

Distractions can be dangerous to drivers

Do you see people talking on their cell phones while driving?  Of course you do.  As I mentioned last time, 69% of American drivers said they have talked on their phone in the last month.  31% of American drivers (especially younger drivers) have texted while driving in the last month.

 According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), three types of distractions cause problems for drivers:  visual, manual and cognitive.  Visual distractions mean we take out eyes off the road and traffic.  Manual distractions mean we take our hands off the steering wheel.  Cognitive distraction means our thoughts (mind) aren’t focused on driving.

Behaviors that distract drivers include talking on a cell phone and texting while driving.  What other behaviors does CDC staff warn against?  Both eating while driving and dealing with GPS navigation devices can also cause drivers to be distracted. 

Parents, please teach your children to drive safely.  Texting while driving involves all three types of distractions and can be very dangerous.  More information can be found at  

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/dsDistractedDriving/

#1 of Top 7 Blog posts of 2013

We begin 2014 with our Top 7 blog posts of 2013.  Visualizing healing (February 2013)

 

While I was recovering from the bleeding ulcer (in 2012), I spent time thinking about my anemia and imagined my bone marrow cells busy and happy making new red blood cells.  It didn’t matter that I did not know exactly what bone marrow cells look like; I could have looked it up on the internet but that wasn’t the point.  I was meditating positive thoughts and energy to my body.  A doctor friend asked me one day how my blood cells were doing.  My response was, “busy and happy making new cells.  They don’t like being few in number and lonely so I am making more.”  During this time I was taking iron supplement and eating foods high in iron to give my body the iron it needed to make new cells. I ate more fried chicken livers than I have eaten in years and years (it was actually a good excuse to eat chicken livers.)

This visualization and meditation practice is actually recommended by the Meditation Society of America.  To get more information for this practice which could be used to promote health in many situations, read Visualization of Cellular Healing, http://www.meditationsociety.com/week29.html

I am happy to report that 11 weeks after my bleeding ulcer experience, my stomach feels fine, and my blood count has returned to normal.  Treatment has been successful.  Major progress has been made. 

Christmas music memories--Enya

I know-- I said one more yesterday but I can't welcome 2014 without a song from Enya, White is in the Winter Night.  Maybe it's my Irish ancestry --or maybe it's because her music is really pretty, but here we go for the last music memory. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NEsfO3x1uo&list=PLF39398E722E544A5