Healthy Eating

This came to me via email today and I thought it was very cool!

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All o f the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3 ) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9 ) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them )

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Weather Delay

J didn't make it home last night. After delaying his flight for several hours, it was finally canceled. We were text messaging back and forth and I was checking the internet and actually found out it was canceled before they announced it to the passengers. So I was able to book him a hotel room near DFW. Good thing I did. By the time the passengers were informed most of the rooms had been sold out and they were getting cots placed around the terminal! J got rebooked on a 1:30 pm flight for today and then checked into the hotel around 11:30 p.m. I'll pick him up around 2:30 pm,18 hours later than originally planned.

On a side note, the weather is improving but it's still cold and icy. I slipped and fell today on our icy back stairs. Not fun. I think I might have whiplash. If I continue to have pain, I'll be staying home tomorrow even though the office will be open. We'll see how I feel in the morning, but if right now is any indication. Not good.

Snow Day

The Tulsa area is being hit with a major ice storm. It started yesterday around Noon and was bad enough that we decided to close the office at 2:30 p.m. so our staff could get home safely. The roads were iced over and from Noon until Midnight there were 200 accidents reported! Thank goodness I just take a major street home, no highways. The city salts and sands the major streets so I had a pretty easy time getting home.

That said, my CRV was totally iced over and I don't have an ice scraper. Well, I didn't. On the way home I stopped to pick up some groceries (just in case we're stuck inside for a while) and a $2 ice scraper. So handy! I should have gotten some salt too because when I got home the stairs leading to our door were iced over. That was fun negotiating icy stairs with bags of groceries in my high heeled boots! I also stopped to get gas and the little door that covers my gas cap was completely frozen shut! I had to chip away the ice with my keys just to get it to open.

I got home and bundled up with my mom and the dogs who, thankfully, were mellow and not stir crazy. Lui wanted to go outside and I let him but it didn't last long. He was sliding all over the yard! Poor puppy. I made a big pot of three bean chili and some cornbread muffins. We basically just hung out on the couch under blankets for the rest of the night.

I awoke this morning to a winter wonderland outside. Everything is covered in snow and ice! It's quite pretty. And it as eerily still and silent. Schools are closed today as are a lot of businesses (including mine) so there's not many people out and about on the streets. It is supposed to warm above freezing tomorrow, but there will probably be ice for a day more or so until it all melts. J is supposed to come home from Las Vegas today (he's been visiting his folks there since Saturday evening) and right now we're somewhat unsure if he'll make it home tonight. We shall see.

Happy Historic Day

Inauguration Day 2009 is forever burned in our minds and emblazoned on our hearts. What an amazingly uplifting day. How powerful for millions of Americans and others abroad to all be resonating on the single chord of H-O-P-E. Hope for our families. Hope for our friends. And hope for our future.

There are snapshot moments that are already becoming iconic...the entrance of the new first family onto the platform. The queen of soul singing her heart to the masses. The "moment" President Obama made his oath (flubs and all). This will become the "where were you when...???" that is asked for generations to come.

In our household we took the day off from work to soak it all in from the bright images flashing on CNN. This day was especially poignant for J, who descends from African-American and Caucasian parents. In many ways, his story is parallel to Mr. Obama's. And he is proud that our future children will someday be able to dream big and know that it is actually possible that they, one day, could also aspire to the country's highest office. Who knows? One day, our future daughter could be the first African-American, female president! It can happen. And now we all KNOW it.

We also know that there is no magic wand that our new President can wave and save us from all of the turmoil around us. Each of us has to choose personal responsibility in digging out of this situation in whichever way we can. For us? It has meant a move away from materialism. Being artists for so long, money has never been abundant, but even we have been sucked into "keeping up with the Joneses" and living beyond our means from time to time. More recently, we have chosen to give that up. We're aggressively eliminating our debt and building our savings for the first time in our lives. It has meant making a shift in the way we live. We're working on a cash-only basis, which has been a major change for us (oh, me the Queen of the Debit Card). We "spend" all of our monthly income on paper first...designated some for the future, most for the day-to-day stuff, and a little for the whimsical things.

We are also being more mindful of our consumerism...trying to lessen our footprints upon this earth. There is always a way to reduce, reuse and recycle more. When we can, we do. This not only extends to recycling our daily refuse, but also lowering our thermostat (mom is having to adjust to this one!), limiting our purchase of new things (from furniture to vehicles and everything in between), and trying to give more than we take.

There is room for continued growth, for change. And what an awesome time we are in when virtually everyone is vibrating on the same frequency. If only for a moment. That is powerful beyond measure.

One step closer to Dr. King's dream...

What an amazing day...45 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech on the mall in Washington D.C. and here were are 47 years later on the verge of inaugurating our first African-American president! It gives me chills and brings me to tears.

J and I have taken tomorrow off of work to watch all of the festivities and historical moment on CNN. We're are so excited it is palpable. Akin to that feeling a kid has on Christmas Eve. We are filled with hope and pride. Tomorrow we will all witness history being made and a shift in the American political paradigm. Where will you be?

Sunny Sunday

Three days ago we had a dusting of snow on the ground, and today? It's sunny and clear and in the 50's! Isn't that fantastic? The weather here never ceases to amaze me. I wonder if, eventually, that will wear off? For now, us Cali transplants enjoy the never-ending guessing game that is OK weather.

Mom has been here a week and her belonging arrived on Thursday evening. What a sight to arrive home and find a semi-truck container in my driveway! It was so intimidating to pull up and park behind it (thank goodness Mom insisted that the driver pull up into the drive a bit before leaving it there!). The container only was half-full with her things (the other half was parceled out to other folks with shipping needs, which reduced the cost for Mom). I worked 11 hours on Friday and yesterday, so J helped Mom start with the unloading. The majority of her things will be stored in our garage, which has gone from fairly empty to pretty jam-packed in a matter of days! Some of her furniture as well as personal belongings, clothes, etc. will come in to the house today. She did ship some houseplants and we're hoping they'll perk back up in the next few days.

Other than that, we're getting excited for the historic inauguration of Obama on Tuesday. J and I will be off work and glued to CNN for all of the coverage. I felt kinda ripped-off on election day since I was working at convention and missed all of the coverage. Even though I was in Hawaii, which went nuts when the results were announced, because I was insulated in the convention center and focused on our work, I was basically in a vacuum. So I promised I would be part of the inauguration day celebration! We are so ready for a new paradigm in Washington and a new face in the presidency. Not to mention someone who is actually well spoken and articulate.

S-N-O-W!

We awoke to a very light dusting of snow this morning! My car looked like it had powdered sugar sprinkled on it. It was sort-of neat to see the snow blowing up the street on my ride into work.

It snowed throughout the morning and it was neat seeing it swirl around the windows like I was inside a snow globe! So novel for a Cali girl! There's barely enough to coat the streets and mainly it has collected in the gutters and in patches on the ground. Pretty neat! The dogs don't think so. Brr!

Mom is still awaiting the arrival of her belongings, which have been delayed due to weather. Most likely it will arrive tomorrow. Hopefully we can unload the container quickly and avoid frostbite in this weather than is in the mid-teens.

Clogged sink...yuck!

Last night J had to work but since Mom is here now, I had someone to cook for...when it's just me, home alone, I am less motivated. Anyway, J hates sweet potatoes, but I like them and so does Mom so I peeled some sweet potatoes and made them into match sticks to make oven fries. I made some skillet chicken and steamed broccoli. All was well until I tried to put the potato peels down the garbage disposal.

The sink backed up and we have a double sink, so basically one side drains and then backs-up into the other side. For hours, we plunged, it'd drain and then, eventually, come back up the other side. We finally resorted to scooping the water out into a pot and emptying it in the bathroom.

Fast forward 24 hours, a visit to Home Depot, a big bucket, new plunger, and a bottle of Draino later. Mom and J disassembled the pipes, cleaned them out, cleared the drain outside, put it all back together and now it is at least moving water through it. Nevertheless, we'll be calling the property manager to get someone to work on it. It's annoying that we cannot use the garbage disposal without causing a major back-up. That's the nice thing about being a renter, it's someone else's problem. Luckily our property managers are great and get someone out here right away to fix things for us.

Happy First Birthday Luigi!

Today our little big guy is one year old! Luigi has added so much to our lives in the 10 months he's been with us!

This was the first day he came home with us, March 11, 2008...he was 2 months old and 8 lbs.

Luigi next to Regina. Regina is 4 years old and Luigi is 2 months old in this photo.

Here's little Luigi sleeping next to Regina.

Luigi loves his toys and loved getting into Regina's "big bed" with them.


Luigi at 6 months with Regina (4 years old) at our new home in Tulsa.


Regina and Luigi (10 months) napping together

Luigi is now well over 20 lbs. and still growing. He has learned a lot, he knows several commands such as "come", "sit", "shake". He's also totally potty trained (which is more than we could say of Regina at his age!) and walks well on a leash. He's a total lover and even though he is still a floppy puppy and sometimes gets rambunctious, he's really a great little dog. We love him so much and are so happy we found him on Craigslist.

Mom's here!

Mom arrived this afternoon with her two chihuahuas, Sport and Dot, in tow. They flew from Oakland to Denver and then to Tulsa. She's settling in, the dogs are getting used to our pugs and we're awaiting the arrival of her car and belongings later this week.

Never in a million years would we had imagined that she'd move here just 6 months after we did. We're happy to have her here and thrilled that she's decided to settle here.

Happy New Year!

The first few days of 2009 have been great! J made it home in time on NYE to pop the cork and celebrate! He had to work a double on Friday and today and the morning yesterday. I have been home taking down the holiday decorations and cleaning up. Mom will be here next week and we want the house to be ready for her arrival.

Last night we were feeling too lazy to cook and decided to get out and find some Mediterranean food. I guess I had been craving it since watching "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" on TV on Friday night. We looked in Tulsa People magazine and found Shish-Kabobs on 31st and Garnett.

The restaurant is super cute and family run. We were waited on by the owner's 16 year old daughter who was really sweet and personable. We ordered the mixed appetizer plate that came with tabouli, hummus, and stuffed grape leaves. Pita came with it. Then for our main course we each ordered the combo plates which came with our choice of two meats, rice with saffron and a side. I had the Persian salad and J had the baba ganoush. I ordered the chicken kabob and gyros and J got the chela (ground beef) kabob and beef kabob. My favorite was the chela and the gyros. For dessert we shared vanilla-saffron-rose water-pistachio ice cream, rosewater cake (family recipe) and a baklava (we LOVE dessert). We loved the rose cake and highly recommend it! The ice cream was exotically spicy and different, akin to green tea ice cream in that it's flavorful, but not extremely sweet. We loved Shish-Kabobs and will definitely be back! The prices are so reasonable and the service felt like we were eating with family friends.

And a post would not be complete without a weather report (always fascinating!)...it was GORGEOUS yesterday! 75 degrees! I had the windows open, fans on and heater off! The house was all aired out and fresh smelling. Today? 36 was the high. And tomorrow is supposed to be in the 30's again and a slight chance for frozen rain/snow flurries. WTH? So bizarre.