Finished

I finished "The Piano Tuner." I enjoyed the book. The descriptions of the Burman landscape were wonderful. I was impressed with the author's work in researching Burman history, and the art of piano tuning. I'll have to see if he's written anything else. The book ends very sadly. It turns out to be a story of misunderstanding. The piano tuner and the man for whom he is hired to work are accused of being spies. With a lack of modern communication and the remoteness of the jungle, there are many questions as to what the doctor is doing in his assignment. Ultimately, the very worst conclusion is drawn. I apologize for ruining the book for you. It's really worth reading though.

And in the News...

Good stuff in the news this morning. Senator Craig is thinking about rescinding his resignation. Mattel has recalled 800,000 more toys. A terrorist plot in Germany has been foiled and Halle Berry is pregnant.

I have to admit, I feel sorry for Senator Craig. He may not have been behaving in a very senatorial way, but he denied himself the right to stand up for himself and that made no sense to me. I'm glad he's hiring an attorney to look into reversing his plea and I'm also glad he's considering staying on in the Senate. I know nothing of this man's politics but I do know that he should have been more brave and stood up for himself. We only know snippets of what occurred in that restroom in June. I for one would rather this man had his day in court before judging him wrong.

Mattel, however is wrong. They have issued recalls for 800,000 more toys. This time it's more Barbies, some Fisher Price train toys and some bongo drums. Mattel apologizes for the inconvenience. I still think Bob Eckert should have to take all the calls from all the little boys and girls whose Mommies and Daddies took away their toys. Mattel has been fined more than $2 million dollars in recent years for failing to issue recalls quickly enough. There needs to be a Congressional investigation. (Note to self, contact Congressman Cummings.)

Another terror plot has been foiled. This appeared to be quite the non-issue in the press today. I think Senator Craig's story led off the news on Good Morning America. Do we not care about terrorism anymore or is it that most Americans recognize that all these terrorists who are being arrested are amateurs who lack the technical skills and the funding to be as big a threat as the September 11th hijackers? I don't know. But I'm not losing sleep over terrorism anymore.

And Halle Berry is pregnant. Now that's just nice. Welcome to the fold of motherhood, Halle. Your baby may not be here yet, but as you find yourself eating better for your baby, not putting a knife in the toaster to dig out your stuck English muffin, and not jay-walking, you will understand that motherhood started the moment you saw the positive result on your EPT test. There may be a question as to when life begins, but there is no question about the beginning of motherhood. I wish you well.

That's all from me today, gentle readers. Enjoy your day.

Conflicting Information

I get a few magazines each month. One is Self. If you aren't familiar with Self, it's a health and fitness magazine for women. I enjoy the little tear out page of exercises. I carry a plastic sleeve in my workout bag and keep several of these pages in it so I can have a wide variety of exercises to try.

This month's copy was very striking to me because of the positioning of an ad next to a regular feature, and how the two carried widely conflicting information. The ad was for Vagisil and it offered some tips on tuning out the world and relaxing. One was to cut back on caffeine. Not bad advice. Too much caffeine can make anyone jittery and agitated. Turn the page in the magazine and you get an article on how to stop headaches and what do they advise; have something with caffeine. Huh??? Were the editors paying attention to the position of these two items? It made me wonder what the average person is supposed to do about all the conflicting information we receive each week in the media about our health.

Look at calcium. We know calcium is important for strong bones. We know Caucasian and Asian women, particularly with small bones, should make sure they have enough calcium in their diets to prevent osteoporosis. But how to take it is very fuzzy. Some say a supplement in the form of a pill is fine. Some say it's best to take it as it occurs naturally like in dairy products. Some say take it with vitamin D to aid absorption. I found an article on the NIH website (http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp) that contains a ton of information about calcium and boy has the information we've received from the media been over simplified! For example, calcium is present in many non-dairy foods, but did you know that the body doesn't absorb that calcium as well because there are other substances in some of those foods that prevent absorption? Did you also know that the amount of protein and fiber in a food can affect the absorption and excretion of calcium? Of course, the point that calcium is important for bone health is the main thing we should all understand, but as with a lot of health and wellness related news, there is a lot more to what we are told. We should all be sure to get complete information about these topics and not take everything at face value.

It's looking to be a pretty quiet day here in sunny Columbia. We have one birthday party and a trip to the store to stock up on fruits and vegetables. Possibly a trip to the gym will be included. I'm happy it's getting cooler out because fall and winter meals ideas are easier to come up with. So until we meet again, my friends, have a lovely day.

Panicked No More

I am back to my regular schedule at my part time bakery job. I am very fortunate to have this bakery in my universe.

The day I found out my job was being eliminated, I went into the bakery and got some soup for lunch. I had become acquainted with the owners through my PTA duties. When I was asked if I needed anything else before I left, I sarcastically said, "Yeah. A job." I was immediately offered a job at the bakery. After discussing this idea with my husband, we decided I should do it. Working part time would be a great thing for our family. It would get me out of the house, give me more time with the boys, more time for stuff around the house, more time for the gym. It was a win-win situation.

If I had no idea how lucky I would be. I have made some of the best friends of my life at the bakery. I go to work in a place where I am treated with love and respect. I am helping a business that gives a ton back to the community, thrive in my community. Leaving the bakery for summer was difficult. I was nervous about spending so much time with the kids and little time with adults. I was concerned about the loss of income, meager though it was. It paid a good number of bills in our house and helped keep my piggy boys fed.

And we made it. I am panicked no more. I see my friends. I am home for my kids at the end of the school day, which is important for me. I have my tiny income back. Life is good.

One word of advice to anyone who may come into our little bakery. Kindly say please and thank you to us. We may be lowly bakery wenches, not because we are incapable of doing anything grander, but because this is what we choose to do. Please be respectful of our choice.

Gentle readers, have you missed me? As you are no doubt aware, yesterday was the first day of school in Howard County, Maryland. Both my angels are in school so we are adjusting to a completely new routine in our home. So far all is well. Here are a few highlights.

Our 5 year old wasn't impressed with Kindergarten. We thought he would be over the top with excitement to finally get to attend school with his brother. He had serious jitters Sunday night and thought he was going to throw up. Monday morning, he barely ate any breakfast and we had to bribe him with a video game to get him to wear the shirt I wanted him to wear. He had the following to say about his first day.

• "That stupid false alarm [fire drill] scared the crud out of me."
• "Circle Time is boring."
• "Quiet time was the best. At least I got to color a picture."

Our ten year old was much better in 5th grade. He likes his teacher, his class. he's on the safety patrol so he thinks he's the big cheese. A vast improvement over the beginning of 4th grade when he was terrified of his teacher. All in all, we did pretty well. Both kids got up and went to school again today.

My friends were so amazing to me. I went to coffee with two friends in the morning and walked around Old Ellicott City looking at antiques. I was home for maybe 30 minutes, wandering the house, feeling down when the phone rang. It was another friend asking me to have lunch. I was gone from 12:45 until 3:00. I was so busy I didn't have any time to worry about anything. I have the greatest friends in the world.

Have a great evening.