The Active Family

Like so many other americans this year has been rather trying for us. I may get lots of angry comments for it, but our year was hard for different reasons. Financially, it was a pretty good year. You see, for the first time in 7 years, I went back to work full time. For the first time in 7 years we had two full time incomes. We have been able to get on a great track with paying down our debt, and even managed to sock a little money away. So what was so darn tough this year? For all of the good two jobs did us finacially, our family life took a massive hit. For the first time, I am not home when the kids go to school, not home when the day is done. I’ve missed Kindergarten graduations, and daytime christmas concerts.

Our oldest has become a teenager, and to say that it has been stressful is an understatement. He is dealing with school bullies, and the loss of a dear friend, and mentor. I should clarify that he is my stepson, so he also has to deal with two homes, both of which are polar opposites in every possible way. This year has been so tough on us that it has truly made me question my parenting.

Enough wallowing. The other day I was browsing online news when I stumbled across an article extolling the virtues of free online courses offered by universities. I was intrigued (free? I’m intrigued by anything free) and went to the site they specified in the article. Brigham Young University offers a few personal enrichment courses online, and they are indeed free! As I looked over the offerings, I noticed two courses on developing family life. One was developing a functional family, which we need despretly, and the other was parenting a teenager. These courses were MADE for us! I signed up immediately for the first course, and got to work. Just five minutes into the introduction, I knew I found something that could truly help my family. Someone on the other side of the country has written something that spoke to me directly. I’m not even halfway through and I have already encouraged my husband to sign up, and now I am encouraging you!

If you have a family, this course is for you. If your family is having a few difficulties, this course is for you.

A dear friend of mine has been struggling to quit smoking for quite some time now. He has gone through numerous programs, with support from friends, and still has not been able to kick the habit.

His latest idea, which I have concerns about, is trying this new electric cigarette to see if he can wean himself down. I’m not entirely convinced that it would work like that, but I need to do some research. At the very VERY least, it would reduce the offence to others around him, which is part of his reason to quit. I don’t think even his health is concerning him at this point, which really concerns me.

It has been a trying year for him, personally, which isn’t helping. Every time I think he has a handle on it, he goes through chain smoking spurts. It is so hard to watch your friend go through that, and be powerless to help.

Anyone have any recommendations? Have you helped a friend in the past quit smoking?

Yesterday I decided that my teeth were looking a tad buttery, and needed a touch up. I have custom molded trays, and some bleaching solution left over, so I did an intense overnight bleach.

Stupid me decided that this morning would be a good day to get a coffee. Duh.

Why is this such a dumb move? For those interested in a whiter smile, let me explain the basic do’s and don’ts of teeth whitening.

First off, the over the counter products are good. They will get you a few shades whiter, and should last you a few months. That is, IF you aren’t a huge smoker/coffee/soda/tea drinker. If you are, those strips and toothpastes aren’t going to give you the look you are going for. Whitening toothpastes are also good, they will help you maintain white teeth more than they will give you a whiter smile.

If you choose to shell out the dollars for professional teeth whitening, be wary of those fly by night places at the mall. Yes, they absolutely will make your teeth whiter, a lot whiter. You will also notice that the next day? They aren’t so white any more. The reason this happens is because those blue lights they use? They dehydrate your teeth. When teeth are dehydrated they appear far whiter than normal. You might notice the same thing when you go to the dentist for a long procedure. If your teeth are exposed to air for a long time, they dehydrate and are whiter. For this reason we take shades before any work done when we are trying to match existing teeth for crowns, bridges, and veneers.

Also important to note, no matter what type of bleaching you do, avoiding dark colored foods and drinks is imperative. I like to tell patients that whatever would stain a white t-shirt, will also stain your teeth. Just as the cotton fibers absorb that coffee, teeth that have been recently bleached have open “pores” known as dental tubules. When you introduce dark liquids to these tubules before they are covered, you are in essence pouring stain directly into your teeth.

I’ll continue this “lecture” in another post, until then, follow these tips and you will see brighter teeth in no time!

Ahhh January. The shopping is over, the presents opened and mostly forgotten or returned. We pay cash for Christmas so we don’t dread that opening of the credit statement.

What I do dread is receiving bill after bill for all those lovely once a year payouts. Excise tax, rental insurance, life insurance, registration fees for the cars. They all come in January, and they are all due in February. sigh.

Thankfully, we save most, if not all of the amounts needed throughout the year. We haven’t always done that. In years past January finds us pulling our hair out and digging in the couch cushions for change. This year is starting off rather smoothly for us. Our taxes were finished yesterday, and we have already begun logging our insane amounts of clothing to be donated as we may be able to itemize next year. Our cars are getting old fast so our excise taxes are low, and our rental insurance is inexpensive anyway.

We are also researching various life insurance rates to see if we can get my rate down a little more. My husband’s rate is staying put, since he has diabetes and it is remarkable that he was able to get the coverage he has now. Otherwise, the only thing we will be changing this year is we are going to start putting away money every month so we can pay our car insurance in one swoop each year. Hopefully we can get that done by the time our insurance renews in July.

I’ve nearly made it to the end of January and have been sticking tight to every  goal so far. I’ve been doing very well with my self propelled Weight Watchers, and have lost 5 pounds so far. I have been exercising more regularly, and I am pleased to announce my biggest problem is that my fat jeans are falling down.

One issue I have been struggling with is my goal to be taking my vitamins every day. As a vegetarian, I have found that there are some vitamins I just don’t get enough of, and lately I haven’t been eating as many legumes as I ought to. As a result, I hit an afternoon wall, and on the days where I didn’t take my vitamins, that wall is hard to get past. I often find myself reaching for the junk food, or hot chocolate, which just hurts me in the end.

To remind myself to take the vitamin, I have been setting an alarm on my phone to go off right as I get to work. They tend to upset my stomach if I take them right after I wake up, so an hour or two later works best. So far so good!

If you have any tips on remembering to take vitamins or medications, I’d love to hear them!

It used to be in our house that we spent our Saturdays out and about, having fun and just otherwise spending time together. Then Sundays were reserved for Church and either dinner at Nana’s or cleaning up the house.

This weekend we switched that around, stayed IN on Saturday (not that we did much cleaning) and yesterday we took the kids to the Museum of Science in Boston. The Harry Potter exhibit is there through February, and I’ve been dying to see it…umm..I mean the kids! Yeah. The kids have been dying to see it.

First off, the price for us was perfect. We have a membership, so we get into the museum for free, and we got a discounted admission for HP. $5 per person seemed a bit much at first but once we went through it was soooo worth it!

We also had free tickets for the Omni theater, so I sent Scott and the two older kids to that while I took the little guy out to the car. When we all got home we were so stoked from the exhibit we went home, made a quick dinner and watched the first HP movie! Well, half of the first one anyway, since it was a school night. We’ll finish it tonight.

I thought about giving up our membership for this year, but last night changed my mind. Sure, the exhibits don’t change much, but we only go 2-3 times a year, and they usually have at least one new thing each time. Plus the kids have their old favorites, and I figure, they MUST be absorbing something each time, so it’s worth it.

Or….teen feet. Blech.

My oldest is 14, and we are all suffering. Between the attitude and the BO and the attitude and the sudden fondness for Axe spray, I think I have found the source of early balding. Thankfully, the BO is relegated to just his feet, we solved that by keeping his sneakers in his room only and I found odor absorbers at the sports store. The attitude? I think I’m going to have to stick that one out.

The other problem is the Axe spray. I know he is wanting to smell nice for the “ladies”, though I don’t understand why since he isn’t going to be hanging with the “ladies” any time soon. At first he was going to town with that stuff, but we have finally convinced him that one quick spray will certainly last him plenty of time and the rest of us won’t need to wear masks around the house.

I’ll give him one thing, bad as his feet might be, he is a clean kid. I never have to tell him to shower, and he washes his own clothes. He uses a natural acne cleanser that I found him religiously, and so far hasn’t had the skin problems that plagued his poor dad.

So, all I have to do is grin and bear it through the attitude phase, since I don’t have to worry about washing his uniform socks anymore! Home Free!

I’ve had a few patients ask me recently why we need to know certain information on the medical history forms they fill out. Occasionally they question why we need to know about back pain and knee replacements, but the puzzler for them is the query on Ephedra and other weight loss products.

I can see why people would question that. Why on earth should your dentist care if you have taken diet pills with ephedra in the past? The truth is the supplement has been linked to liver conditions, as well as high blood pressure. The liver is an important agent in clotting, so if you have any type of liver damage or disease, you may well find yourself with bleeding issues as well. Many people who have taken, or are still taking ephedra find that they bleed easily and have bruising issues with their gums. This would be linked to the Vitamin K deficiency also thought to be caused by ephedra products.

As with anything, be sure to be completely honest with any doctor you see. Tell us what medications and supplements you take, even if you don’t think they are important. The body is an incredible machine, and all the parts are linked. Be sure you are honest with us! We don’t criticize or pass judgment.

Seriously. I am 30 years old, and I have been breaking out like a teenager. My skin can’t decide if it wants to be dry as a bone, or super nasty oily. Day to day it is different.

I am a daily user of moisturizer, with SPF of course, but even that doesn’t seem to be helping. I’ve also switched back to my apricot scrub, which has helped with the recent crop of blackheads that have been plaguing me. I guess the most irritating issue is the random dryness! I’ll have to do some webbing and see if I can’t find something inexpensive that will help, because what I am doing now just isn’t cutting it.

I haven’t given up completely on the EA Sports Active for Wii. Granted, I am still frustrated with the lag time, but I have been fussing around with different things to try to make it work, since it IS a really great tool for at home fitness.

First, I have found it is imperative that the thigh band is placed high on the thigh, tightly, and facing completely forward. I noticed that when I had it directing more to the side the lag was more prominent. The other problem I had was when the workout was focused on lower body, I could not for the life of me do the moves the way the trainer was instructing. I figured out that I was overcompensating for the lag, and therefore when the chock on the tv caught up to me, I was already strained and ready to give up.

The key to fixing that issue is to slow down, and not over do the movements. For instance, during the downhill in line skating exercise, I would crouch down far lower than needed, and the chickie wouldn’t move at all! When I fixed the thigh band and then “softened” my movements, the lag wasn’t as noticeable.

If you have been frustrated with the Active, try these tips, and see if they work out for you any better. If you find one particular exercise just keeps slowing your pace, pause the game and skip to the next segment. Hopefully you shouldn’t have to do that frequently!