Health Care Questions

October 5, 2011

I came across this link the other day, to an article aimed at the “sandwich generation” (people “sandwiched” between the needs of kids and the needs of aging parents).  It’s a list of questions you should ask your parents, regarding their health/medical care. I thought it was valuable; perhaps it will prompt some important conversations.

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How to Avoid Tainted Cantaloupe

October 4, 2011

I’m sure you’ve all been hearing about the huge Listeria outbreak that seems to have come from a crop of contaminated cantaloupe.  When we first saw the story on the news, there happened to be half a cantaloupe, cut up and ready to eat, in a Tupperware in our refrigerator.  Lee had already eaten the [...]

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Wardrobe Malfunction

October 3, 2011

So, Lee has this mild obsession with a clothing company called Scott E-Vest.  It’s an interesting concept:  the clothes are designed to enable the wearer to travel without luggage.  This fellow actually did an around-the-world trip (the No-Baggage Challenge) to promote their products. My darling husband does love a gimmick.  *sigh* So he has quite [...]

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Raleigh International Festival

September 30, 2011

I know I carry on about this every autumn, but this year I’m remembering to urge my (local) readers ahead of time: Go, go, go! The International Festival is one of my favorite events of the whole year–it’s even more fun if you have kids you can drag along.  Food, traditional costumes, dancing, food, cultural [...]

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Bread

September 29, 2011

  Organisms.  Molecules. Fermentation, gasses rising–living and breathing, Cells divide and multiply. They pick up speed, burning through fuel, growing–exploding. The symbiosis of protein and carbohydrate, ensnared by The profligate expansion of a microscopic miracle. Flour, water, salt. The staff of life–the daily bread. Sustenance and comfort; a living mystery, a stale, hard crust. Wars [...]

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Rewriting. Again.

September 28, 2011

Last week, a writer friend of mine, giving me feedback on the draft of my novel, announced–on page 123–that she was having trouble seeing the connection between plot line A and plot line B. For a split second, I considered throwing my computer out the window and getting a job removing wallpaper (not that I’m [...]

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The Stinking Rose

September 27, 2011

I can’t remember how I stumbled across this video earlier today, but it immediately piqued my interest.  It also made me laugh (I don’t know that it was supposed to, but I can’t help it–apparently garlic cracks me up), which made it doubly appealing. So of course I ran right out and bought some garlic. [...]

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Mark Bittman on the Myth of Cheap Food

September 26, 2011

Mark Bittman, a widely respected food writer, had an Op-Ed piece in yesterday’s New York Times that overturns a widely believed myth about food prices:  fast food is not any cheaper than cooking at home. It seems that as a country, we often throw up our hands in despair over the obesity problem, citing the inescapable [...]

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A Surfeit of Figs

September 23, 2011

The figs are coming in–all at once.  The rain is causing them to split on the tree, so I’m having to pick them a couple of times a day to stay ahead of the birds and squirrels (because I REFUSE to share fresh figs with vermin–REFUSE).  As a result, there are figs piled up in [...]

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Runner’s (Not)High

September 22, 2011

Confession:  some days I run just so I can get the post-run high.  When it happens (it doesn’t always), it’s fantastic.  Endorphinized happiness. Some days, though, the run is just an attempt to avoid complete stabbiness. Today was (is!) one of those days. Actually, today started last night, when a writer-friend ripped my novel a new [...]

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