Mother’s Got A Dot Com

I’ve been tagged by Cindi (Moomette) to help spread the awareness on the ‘Breast Cancer Awareness’ month of June. Please help convey the importance of regular examination and early detection of breast cancer, maximizing the chance of survival and recovery.

Here are several facts on breast cancer that everyone should know about:

•The first sign of breast cancer usually shows up on a woman’s mammogram before it can be felt or any other symptoms are present.

•Risks for breast cancer include a family history, atypical hyperplasia, delaying pregnancy until after age 30 or never becoming pregnant, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), current use or use in the last ten years of oral contraceptives, and daily consumption of alcohol.

•Early detection of breast cancer, through monthly breast self-exam and particularly yearly mammography after age 40, offers the best chance for survival.

•Ninety-six percent of women who find and treat breast cancer early will be cancer-free after five years.

•Over eighty percent of breast lumps are not cancerous, but benign such as fibrocystic breast disease.

•You are never too young to develop breast cancer! Breast Self-Exam should begin by the age of twenty.

Resources: American Cancer Society National Cancer Institute Komen Foundation

You can help the lives of many women by spreading the word about The Breast Cancer Site pink button as many times as you can. If The Breast Cancer Site receives 8 million clicks on the pink button in June, their premier sponsor -Bare Necessities- will donate $10,000 for more free mammograms. CLICK the pink button today!

I tag everyone with breasts past or present - guys and girls alike.
Additional fact: Yes, boys, you can get it too.
Please join in to make yourself and others aware of how to detect this sneaking disease. I’m sure we all know someone who survived, and many knew someone who didn’t.
Click the button and spread the word…

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2.9

OK, so my motivation for dieting isn’t there. Maybe exercise is the way to go about building up a healthier lifestyle?

The thing is - it seems to be such a complex science… What in blazes is elliptical training, for example? Ergogenic, step, aerobics, fartlek training, ballistic stretching - they just don’t mean a thing to me, and to be honest, it sounds terminally boring…

My form of exercise? Digging the garden, fixing fences, carrying toddlers and boulders, mowing lawns… We should be shearing a few sheep pretty soon, which is great exercise, especially if you’re a rookie. Stacking firewood is a good one, and so is moving piles of dirt from one place to another - in a wheelbarrow.
Most of this sounds pretty boring as well, and a lot of it is. To me, the fact that it has a practical purpose (other than burning fat or growing your biceps) still makes it so much more interesting than doing whatever it’s called in a gym, while looking into a sea of other people on machines.
With most of this I get a free tan too, this time of year.

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2.9

I don’t think I’ll ever understand how the need to win to some people justifies cheating. We’ve seen it with skiers, bikers, runners, any type of sports - they fill their bodies with all sorts of performance-enhancing substances (including blood).
Is it the money? The glory? I don’t know. One thing is that it’s illegal. It also ruins the credibility of sports altogether, it casts a shadow of suspicion on all athletes - and it’s dangerous.
As for legal steroids for body builders - well, in this country there’s no such thing. I think I’d stay clear of them, regardless. I would have thought the risk of shrinking your testicles down to pea size would be enough of a deterrant, but it clearly isn’t.

Goes to show that the strongest instinct in humans isn’t the sex drive, but the desire to be stronger, better, bigger (and/or have a newer car) than your neighbour.

This is not beautiful, it’s very unlikely to be what God meant by “your body is a temple”, and there’s no way it’s been achieved by natural means. (It’s also very likely to have a padded G-string).

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2.9

Summer’s coming (yes, even here!), time flies, and with the two grey hairs I spotted recently, there is very likely a need for some skin care as well.

Actually, any beautitian would probably tell me that it’s long overdue. I’ve bought a lot of skin care products in my day, but I’ve been very bad at using them. Although I’ve always believed in Natural Skin Care, what that has meant in practice to my skin has been virtually no care at all…

Astara Skin Care may well be able to change all that. I can feel that both me and my skin are in need of some serious pampering, and their products sound so wonderfully right for the job. The Aquatherapy Body Care Collection for example, is just what I’d enjoy during that precious time alone in the bath. It’s really an at-home Spa Ritual, including a Citrus Lavender Sea Salt Scrub, to be followed in the bath by a Spirulina & Sea Mineral Soak. Add to that a Aromatic Seaweed Body Wash, and finish off with the Antioxidant Body Lotion. Ahh, bliss! (Note to self: afterwards, go straight to sleep!)

Founded in Telluride, Colorado by Sunny Griffin, Astaraskincare.com specializes in the creation of professional organic skin care products to meet all your needs. Whether you have oily, mature, dry skin, or are in need of  serious skin care products, like me…

The highly bioactive, living ingredients in Astara products allow and expedite the skin’s natural ability for self-healing and repair. They increase vital oxygen, encourage cell regeneration and eliminate harmful toxins and waste products. They’re truly natural, tested for all types of climates (I guess if they’re good for Colorado winters, they’ll do for Norway too!), and if you’re concerned about eco-friendliness - they come in minimal packageing, all made of recycled glass, plastic or paper.

From the Ingredients Philosophy:
“Astara skin care and body care products are formulated to provide the highest efficacy possible to nourish, protect, and revitalize the skin while soothing and rebalancing the psyche.
The exclusive Astara formulas utilize the best natural ingredients to offer optimal compatibility with and penetration into the skin. We select natural, raw botanicals, potent anti-oxidant plant extracts, nourishing vitamins, energizing flower essences and uplifting essential aromatic oils to harmonize in a special way to create more beautiful, radiant skin that is healthier at the cellular level.”

You can Order Make Up Online, of course, and they ship all over the US and Canada. They’ll ship to me too - I just have to contact them first for information.

By the way - I found the site to be an interesting read as well. The company philosophy, their production methods and the descriptions of their various products all make me want to try to take better care of my skin!

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2.9

Grey hairs. At the moment, my hair sports its natural colour - it’s been a while… Also, it’s now quite a bit darker than it used to be, and I thought that was rather nice, but it turns out it was just getting prepared. Grey shows so much better against a dark background!
Life is starting to show on my face, too. I’ve never been a fanatic sun-worshipper, and I guess that’s one reason why I’m still quite smooth. (That, and the extra kilos!). Still, time is showing its hand…

It’s quite amazing to see what years of extensive tanning does to your skin. One thing is the risk for melanoma, but skin that has been excessively exposed to the sun also ages very, very quickly. It gets parched, and even the best wrinkle cream can’t do anything about the creases.
I’ve read somewhere that the trend among the stars now is for “naturally pale” skin, which is probably a good thing for young people all over the globe.
Whether or not we have global warming may be open for discussion, but the thinning of the ozone layer and the increasing dangers of exposure to sunlight are measurable facts. Any trend that may result in less cancer is a good one in my book…

Back to the grey hairs - I’ll keep them. I might still be a redhead from time to time, but I’m not bothered at all. I want to age gracefully if I can, and whenever I’m presented with a grandkid, I’d rather look like a grandmother than like a head-on-a-denim-and-lace stick with a face the colour and texture of the Grand Canyon…

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2.9

I don’t believe in dieting pills. I think eating less and exercising more is the only way, and that the only pills that can help during a diet are nutritional supplements, to make sure your body gets what it needs.

I must admit, though, when I read about Orovo, that they almost got me.
It would be so much nicer to just take a pill, than to go through the ordeal of hunger and aching muscles… I want to believe, I just can’t…

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2.9

I’m going to have a bath tonight. A long, long soak… It’s been a while.
How, pray, is that something to blog about??? No, I’m not a dirty old thing who never cleans up, and therefore has to broadcast it when it happens… I’ve had my daily shower, thank you. It’s just that I so enjoy a bath from time to time, but because of my back thing, I haven’t been able to. I’m sure I would have been stuck in there - moving about has been painful enough, and getting out of a bath would have been absolutely impossible. We’re not quite ready to install a bath lift just yet, so I’ve had to make do with the shower.

Now, however, I’m almost restored, and I feel confident that I’ll be able to contort and hoist myself out of the bathtub. So…. when all the brats have gone to bed tonight, I’ll fill the tub with lavender scented water, and bring a book. A large one.

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2.9

Hubby’s bought a new alarm clock.

It’s electric, battery operated, and it’s got all of one ringtone to choose from. I’ll give you a hint:

Remember these? If not, look at the little hammer and the little bells, and imagine this little beast jumping up and down as the hammer pounds back and forth… That’s the sound of our new alarm clock. It wakes you up. In fact, you’re likely to wake up as your head hits the ceiling… Efficient bugger, I can tell you!

Speaking of clocks - I haven’t worn a watch in years, neither has hubby. I’m usually here, which means I have a clock on the kitchen wall (Hmmm… that sounded rather pathetic. Correction: I do get out once in a while!), and hubby uses his cell to tell time.
If we were to buy wristwatches now, it would have to be some really nice ones. I know hubby would absolutely love a Rolex Submariner. That, however, is way above our budget, so we’ll just have to wait until the kids have left the nest and we’re too old and senile to operate the high-tech cell phones of days to come…
If not, we’ll always have the clock on the wall in the kitchen. If we can see it.

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2.9

Hubbys tummy is getting smaller. The main reason is that his new line of work takes more out of him, physically. So he wins on two accounts - less mental stress and a more active lifestyle.

I’m slowly shrinking too, without cheap diet pills (and without expensive ones, for that matter). I haven’t even started on a diet yet. It will stabilize itself, I’m sure, and then will be a good time to start on a sensible diet, for both of us. If we could cut out the extras (sodas, crisps, chocolate), I’m sure it would go a long way. Not to mention the finishing off of dinner leftovers late at night. Hm.
I know. There’s no time like the present. I can tell you though, just being able to finish a meal in peace in the evening is (almost) worth the extra pounds…

#3 Brat has had a checkup by a herbalist to see if natural medicine can help him with his acne, and she said his values indicated that he’s on a varied, wholesome diet… Which goes for all of us. Makes me (the chef) think I must be doing something right!

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2.9

I had an appointment with the monster today - the monster being an MRI machine.
Although I was prepared for it not being very pleasant, I was in no way prepared for full on claustrophobia… It hit me like a hurricane as soon as I got my head and chest in there, so they had to pull me out again.
Luckily, I had a very understanding radiographer, who assured me I wasn’t the first one, and who allowed me a few minutes to collect myself. He then suggested to turn everything around, and “put me in” feet first. He assured me that my head would be just inside the opening, and that he’d pull me out as soon as I pressed the button, if need be.
I managed. It wasn’t too bad, actually - I could see outside just by tilting my head slightly, and the angst didn’t come back. Well, it would have if I’d let it, but I was prepared this time, and was able to concentrate enough to keep it away for the duration.

I hope I never have to have the full on examination - I’ll have to be medicated. Heavily.

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2.9