Such a Pretty Face

Health 101

It's easy, really.  A simple equation.  When I eat healthy, I feel better.  Period.  The End.  When I am not eating right, I am sluggish, bloated, swollen, tired and downright miserable. 

As to be expected, I fell off my Clean Eating wagon, mainly due to time and effort rather than any other reason.  It is so worth it to eat clean, but it takes planning and shopping and prepping and cooking.  Ordering pizza on a Thursday night is just so much easier. 

Back at it for me.  I use my lower legs as a body check point, to determine how I am doing.  This week, my lower legs have been so swollen and full of fluid that I was unable to flex and point my foot.  It was so uncomfortable last night that I started to panic.  I am taking a water pill and drinking a ton of fluid today.  Oh, and eating well.  No more crap for me. 

Honestly, it is a relief to know that I can take steps, simple steps really, to fix this.  More water, less salt, more clean eating.  Back to the basics to feel better and look better, less swollen and puffy. 

Here's an interesting article I read today about Fast Food.  I lifted the following piece from the article.  Something that I've never quite considered but now will.

Question the way you view cheap food - it is costing us more than you think. Have you ever wondered how in the world you can have a complete burger for just .99 cents? I mean, even just the beef - all the labor to raise the cattle, slaughter, fortify and process, pack, freeze, ship, receive, unpack, reship, store, advertise, reheat, and sell - who pays for that? The answer is, everyone along the line pays for it out of their livelihood so we can have it cheaper.

Industrial food production workers often pay for it with poor health and living conditions. Dock workers in this country pay for it when they face layoffs and cutbacks to save money so that our burgers can be as cheap as possible. As fuel prices skyrocket, truck drivers pay for it in their shrinking benefits and pensions (if any, these days) since food prices can’t defray that cost. The lady behind the counter at the restaurant pays for it by taking a barely livable wage with no benefits, often working two or more 30 hour a week jobs because corporations keep them just under the full time hours mark. You get the idea. Everyone else pays for it, so that we can “have it our way”. You know who doesn’t pay for it? That obscenely wealthy CEO. In the end everyone is paying him, and he is laughing all the way to the bank.

Eye opening, isn't it?

Me

Best Friends

We didn't get another bird. Instead, the bird got a new friend who follows him around the house with a mirror.

Blast Off!

Hi,remember me?  It's June, ya'll!  I gotta do better this month, need to write. 

For some reason, I'm really interested in the Space Shuttle launches. I make an effort every time the shuttles launch to go outside and have a look see.  I even got up at 2 in the am for one of the recent launches to go outside and see the horizon light up. 

We live about 75 miles from Cape Canaveral.  At best, we can see the trail of smoke reach into the sky.  It still find it amazing.  Discovery launched on 5/31 at 5:02 pm.  Perfect!  A Saturday!  No cloud cover!  We drove to the coast and had a great view from 8 miles away. 

Other than the actual lift off area, there's really not much of a difference between viewing from 8 miles or 75 miles.  I thought it would be much larger "in person". 

Oh, and the traffic back to Orlando (4 hours after the launch) took us over 2 hours. 

RIP HollyBird

One of my cockatiels died last week.  She was at least 10 years old.  We found her in a tree in New York State in 1998. 

I have one remaining bird who has lost his mind a bit since she died.  I'm not sure what to do.  Do I get another one?  He is 12 years old and I don't know how he would handle a young cage mate.

Any advice is welcome.

It was interesting having to explain death and burial to a 4.5 year old.  So many questions!