Mother’s Got A Dot Com

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!

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…

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…

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.

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.

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!

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.

I don’t know the first thing about weight loss products. I fact, I don’t even believe in them much. I’m sure there are products out there that deliver to a degree, but all the sharks who’ve marketed sugar pills as miracle cures for obesity have ruined the genuine market for me – and for many others, I’m sure.

There is a site that reviews these products though. Sybervision.com claims to be unbiased – I’m in no position to comment on that. If you look at some of their product reviews though, like this one on Hydroxycut (a supposed fatburner), I’m enclined to think that their opinion is at least informed, and possibly even honest.

Whenever I’m tempted to buy a miracle cure, I’ll be sure to see if they’ve got something to say about it. I may become a little bit wiser…

We’re a family of 8, and we interact with people, as people do, exposing ourselves to bacteria and virus on a daily basis. We catch colds and stomach bugs, but in the 4 years since we moved here, no one has had a proper influenza.

We don’t feel we’re either old or frail enough to justify having the flu shot every year, so that’s not it, either. It just hasn’t caught up with us – knock on wood!

Now – some might say that knocking on wood isn’t enough. There is a preventive drug on the market, that will also lessen the symptoms of influenza if you’ve got it. The vaccine is a gamble – the virus strain varies every year, and although the doctors and researchers usually manage to make a vaccine that hits the right one, there’s no guarantee. Tamiflu is effective regardless. If used correctly, it has a double effect: it both prevents and fights an influenza infection.

I first heard of Tamiflu a few years ago, during the Avian flu scare. My father, who is a medical doctor, came along with prescriptions for all of us. He said Tamiflu was the only effective drug against the Avian flu, and that there would be a tragic shortage of it in case of an epidemic/pandemic situation. There just wasn’t enough to go around. He wanted me to buy it for us all, so that we’d be prepared.
A lot of people did – I didn’t.

I don’t know what I’ll do when it happens again, which I’m sure it will. It depends on the gravity of the situation, I guess. What if affected people die because you and I hang on to the drug – just in case? Difficult, and tragically simple: you save your family first…

As for “normal” Influenza… If I were an elderly person, or suffering from any illness that weakens the autoimmune system, I wouldn’t hesitate to use Tamiflu preventively during every “flu season”.
Normal, healthy people have more of a choice. I tend to think that “whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”, and a bout of the flu won’t kill you. I’d more than likely ask our doctor for a prescription if anyone was affected, though. If it can help whoever is sick to feel better quickly, of course I’d use it.

Am I an emotional eater? I think maybe I am. According to Dr. Roger Gould, the main reason that people fail in their dieting is emotional eating. Stress, depression or boredom are the top three reasons for diet failure…
I know I eat when I’m tired. (If at all possible, chocolate will then be my “food” of choice…) I’m not easily bored, nor depressed, but if I think about it, I’m sure I use food as a stress relief…

The Shrink Yourself method, founded by Dr. Gould, focuses on the psychology of eating. Even though it’s about weight loss and helping people reclaim their power over food, the psychological approach uncovers larger issues and blockages, and helps resolve them.

The website – www.ShrinkYourself.com – features an Emotional Eating Center with free articles, interactive tools and tips. There’s a supportive, active community to join there as well. If you sign up for their mobile program, you can also get tips straight to your cell.

It makes sense, really. If your psychological issues are what make you overeat, resolving those might help you lose weight as well.
I know I eat because I like it, but if some of my less than healthy eating habits stem from unresolved issues, I might become a healthier person by tackling them – both physically and mentally.