Someone else's Trash is my Treasure..

It was 11pm, the day after Thanksgiving on BLACK FRIDAY. I was quickly driving over to my older daugther's apartment to pick up some medication (my 16 yr old daughter had forgotten on a previous nights sleepover).  We always use the back alley because there is never any parking out front.  I was minding my own business, and Low and behold, under the phosphorescent street lights and a small leafed tree, there it was.. lying on it's back, all 6'7 in by 3 1/2 foot wide an oak, white & glass entertainment/bookshelf.  Someone had broken one of the glass cupboards & thrown it away.  It was gorgeous! All I saw was POTENTIAL, lots of 12x12 cubbie holes (a total of 16 in all!) and how wonderful my black, white and teal baskets full of goodies would nicely fit in them!! :)  But, how to get it home?? Hmmmm... I fought the good fight, and despite my 16 yr old daughters commentary of: "You have NO ROOM in your scrapbook room for that! Where are you going to put it? There is NO ROOM in our car! Don't bother!" So, with a hug and a smile I asked my son-in-law to lift it on top of my car, and "Xmas Tree Style" we tied it to my car!  What a find! So happy that I brought it home! I couldn't WAIT to clean it, find a place for it in my "scrapbook room - in process", and semi-organize it (stuff it) with my baskets!!

Here is what it looks like.. still working on it, but definitely a PIECE of TREASURE WORTH the trouble!!

7 New Ways to Find Happiness
By Deepak Chopra


If you're struggling with how to define your life beyond material goods, Deepak Chopra has seven ways for you to make the shift, once and for all, to a purpose-driven life and authentic happiness.
One of the most positive ways to live is to look on every obstacle as a hidden opportunity. This holiday season poses huge challenges for those among us who have lost their jobs or feel financially insecure. Even if you don't fall into that category, the evening news brings worries on many fronts, from the deficit to terrorism. I'd like to propose that there is a common problem in all these things that you can turn into an opportunity.

The problem is how to be happy.

Right now, the American way of life defines happiness along lines that are quickly being outmoded:

You will be happy if you consume as much as possible.

You will be happy if you have money, the more the better.

You will be happy if you can distract yourself with video games, television, the Internet and movies .

You will be happy if you fall in love with "the right one" and raise a family in a house you own paid for by a secure job.

The current economic downturn has affected all these factors, and even before it happened, high divorce rates were undermining the traditional model of the American family, moving from job to job was becoming increasingly common and rates of depression, anxiety and drug use continued to soar. As a background to all these things, stress is rising in everyone's life.

Instead of ignoring these trends, why not go to the root of the problem, which is that we need a new way of being happy. What do divorce, terrorism, unemployment and buying big-screen TVs have in common? They all show that happiness can be taken away, because when you depend on anything outside yourself to make you happy, your happiness is vulnerable.

A new way to be happy would be based on the following new principles:

1. Life has a purpose. When you live up to that purpose, inner happiness develops.

2. Inner happiness can't be taken away .

3. In place of consumerism, you can base everyday happiness on relationships .

4. In place of distractions, you can fill your time with activities that make your heart grow .

5. You can find a place beyond fear that crises and anxiety cannot touch .

6. You can find a place of peace that stress cannot wear out .

7. Wellness will make your body happy .

If people took at a look at their lives and made real attempts to follow these seven principles, a new kind of happiness would be born that no one can take away. Let me go through each point briefly.

Apply each of the principles today
1. Life has a purpose. Because of a recent best-seller, the word "purpose" has acquired Christian overtones. That is by no means necessary. Every life needs a meaning, and the more inspiring that meaning, the better. What erodes happiness more than anything else is the loneliness and emptiness that results when you feel that your life has no meaning. Millions of people live by the slogan, "Family is everything," but it's not. Meaning and purpose are everything.

What kind of meaning should you seek? Here are the standard choices. Consider them as they apply to you.

Work

Family

Love

Service

Giving

Personal growth

Hobbies, recreation

Education, study

Creativity

Friendship

Most people select a few of these, primarily family, friends, hobbies and work, which they hope will be enough. But what about the higher values, which will bring far more lasting, secure happiness? Among these I'd select love, giving, service and personal growth. If you leave these out, your happiness can be snatched away by losing your job or your friends. You run the risk of becoming an empty nester as your family grows up and moves away. Establish a higher purpose early in your life—preferably starting today—and your future won't be so vulnerable to change.

2. Inner happiness. We hear this phrase a lot, to the point that it becomes meaningless. All those models on TV look as if they gained inner happiness from a slim waist, the right makeup, good hair and being young. Real inner happiness is easy to measure, however. If you can sit by yourself, doing nothing to distract yourself, needing no one, and still feel happy, then you have achieved inner happiness. It is marked by feeling safe, knowing that you are enough, finding a core of peace and calm. I sometimes put all these factors into a single phrase: You are truly happy if being here is enough.

3. Focus on relationships instead of consumerism . America is a consumer economy driven by insatiable appetites for whatever is bigger, better, newer and more expensive. You and I aren't going to change that fact, but we can see through the glossy promise that consumerism makes you happy. It doesn't. Nor do heaps of money. Studies show that after a person has achieved enough money to cover life's necessities, the returns begin to diminish. The very rich are not happier than the rest of us, nor are winners of lotteries. In both cases, a huge surplus of money tends to bring out psychological flaws such as anxiety, greed and a fear of not having enough.

If you define yourself by what you own, trouble lies ahead, because you have left a hole where a self needs to be. It is far more important to have a secure, loving relationship that mirrors your true self. I know that this sounds much harder than buying a new computer or a faster car, because it is. But relationships can bring inner fullness; expensive things simply wear out.

Understanding more of the principles of real happiness
4. Stop being distracted. Distractions are nice for whiling away the time, but the more hours you spend bent over a video game or the Internet, the less time you have for things that matter. All of us know that having a full heart is important, but it requires time and attention. As children, we counted on our parents to be warm-hearted. Secure in that knowledge, we could play and be carefree. But when you grow up, no one can replace your own heart and its needs. By "heart," I mean emotional fulfillment, compassion, kindness, bonding—the whole emotional core of life. Distractions will never bring these things to you, and they are among the most necessary aspects of a happy life.

5. The place beyond fear. Modern life is marked by instant communication and global outreach. These are good things, but they also make everyday life seem much more fearful. We live in a world where total strangers living far away can harm us. There is no place safe from fear—except inside. You can't do much to reduce the causes of external worry; bad people and bad things have always been with us. But you can take care of your own tendencies to be afraid, worried and anxious. There is a place of safety inside, and if you can find it, you will find the kind of happiness that bad people and bad things cannot shake.

6. Peace instead of stress . We all know that life is stressful, but many people think of stress as an outside element such as bad traffic, pressure at work, kids who won't pay attention, etc. Actually, stress is a response. How you react to the outside world is far more important than any outside stressor.

There is a stress-free zone inside you, a place of peace. When you find this inner core of the self and learn to know it, external stress will not make you its prey. I don't mean that you zone out and contemplate your navel, to use the old cliché about Buddhism (which was never navel-gazing to begin with). When you find your own peace, outside stressors will still exist, but you will have a far different response to them. You will know what to fix, what to put up with, what to walk away from. Those are very basic decisions if you want to maintain your own happiness.

7. A happy body based on wellness . As part of the American way of life, people wait until they are sick before turning to fix-its, meaning drugs or surgery. We ignore wellness and prevention after decades of being told how valuable they are. Their value hasn't diminished. In fact, your body wants you to be happy and is constantly sending signals of either contentment or distress. By turning our backs on our bodies, we are depriving ourselves of a major ally in the campaign to find happiness.

I don't mean that you should get a gym card and start jogging, although both are positive lifestyle changes. Your body doesn't need to be thin, fit and beautiful to make you happy. It needs to talk to you, and you need to listen. All the things you can do to find inner happiness require the body; the mind isn't living in a separate balloon. You will never stick with the best regime of diet, exercise, stress reduction and meditation until your body is comfortable with it.

Wellness is a mind-body alliance. What I'm proposing is that you form such an alliance. Distractions take us away from our minds; consumption takes us away from our bodies. We have taken up these things because mind and body aren't at peace with each other. Yet mutual peace is their natural state. Once you know that, you can go beyond superficial images about what makes for a good body. A good body is one that makes you happy because it supports you in wholeness.

In the end, wholeness is the keyword if you want the kind of happiness that can't be taken away. I've written much more about this in a new book, The Ultimate Happiness Prescription , but here in capsule form you've heard what it takes to be happy in a new way. Having spent so much time trying to be happy the old way—and not truly succeeding—we should realize that there is a new way. It could change your life right now.

Deepak Chopra is the author of more than 50 books on health, success, relationships and spirituality, including his current best-seller, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul , and The Ultimate Happiness Prescription , which are available now. You can listen to his show on Saturdays every week on SiriusXM Channels 102 and 155.

What brings you happiness? Can you apply these seven principles of happiness to your life? Share your thoughts.

Interval Training and getting on track with exercise

I am trying to get fit with my hubby these days.. and I found this great workout article:

http://www.thatsfit.com/2009/12/22/interval-training/

Interval training has really gotten a lot of buzz lately, and rightfully so. It is by far the more time efficient way to perform cardio and is definitely more effective than steady state cardio for getting lean. So, what exact- ly is interval training?

In a nutshell, it is alternating periods of high intensity work with periods of low in- tensity recovery.

For example, after warm- ing up for three to five minutes of moderate paced walking, you may run pretty hard for 60 seconds and then walk for two minutes. Repeat this cycle six to eight times and you’ve completed a pretty demanding in- terval workout.

The key to interval training is to continue to push the intensity of the work intervals over the course of several weeks. In other words, you should use the same intensity for three or four workouts before increas- ing it. This will ensure that you progress at a safe and sustainable pace.

Bear in mind, that when you really push the intensity (7 mph to 7.5 mph on the treadmill, for example), you’ll have to shorten the length of the work intervals (from 60 seconds to 50 seconds, let’s say) and possibly lengthen the time of the recov- ery intervals, but that will depend on how much you push the intensity of your work interval. The greater the increase in inten- sity, the higher the demand for recovery from that work interval.

You can perform intervals on pretty much any piece of cardio equipment, but I recommend any one of the following: An indoor cycle, Concept 2 rowing machine, Versa-Climber or treadmill, although I pre- fer outdoor running over indoor running whenever possible.

Also, if you know how to use a heart rate monitor,

I highly recommend using one as it can be a great feedback device for showing you how hard you are working and if you are recovering enough between work intervals. As far as brands go, I would recommend a Polar Heart Rate Monitor, nothing fancy, just a very basic model.

25 Natural Tricks to Look Younger

1. Take the dynamic duo of supplements
They're what Bruce N. Ames, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, swears by: His daily 800 mg of alpha-lipoic acid and 2,000 mg of acetyl-L-carnitine. In these amounts, he says, the chemicals boost the energy output of mitochondria, which power our cells. "I think mitochondrial decay is a major factor in aging," Ames says -- it's been linked to diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes.
In his studies, elderly rats plied with the supplements had more energy and ran mazes better. "If you're an old rat, you can be enthusiastic," Ames says. "As people, we can't be sure until clinical trials are done." (They're under way.) But the compounds look very safe -- the worst side effect documented in humans is a rash, Ames says -- and "the data in animals looks really convincing," says S. Mitchell Harman, M.D., Ph.D., president of the Kronos Longevity Research Institute in Phoenix.

2. Stay the weight you were at 18
"Next to not smoking, this is probably the most important thing we can do to stay healthy and live longer," says Walter Willett, M.D., chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Leanness matters for looking younger, because fat cells produce hormones that raise the risk of type 2 diabetes. They also make substances called cytokines that cause inflammation -- stiffening the arteries, and the heart and other organs. Carrying excess fat also raises the risk of some cancers. Add it up, and studies show that lean people younger than age 75 halve their chances of premature death, compared with people who are obese.
The government deems a wide range of weights to be healthy (between 110 and 140 pounds for a 5-foot-4 woman), partly because body frames vary tremendously. So to maintain the weight that's right for you, Willett suggests you periodically try to slip into the dress you wore to your high school prom -- assuming, of course, that you were a healthy weight at that age. If not, aim for a body mass index of about 23.5.
Willett can't use the prom-dress test himself. Nevertheless, at 6-foot-2 and a lean 184 pounds, he dutifully hews to the BMI of his youth.

3. Skip a meal
This one move could have truly dramatic results for how to look younger. Rats fed 30 percent less than normal live 30 percent longer than usual -- and in a recent study at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the hearts of the leaner human calorie-cutters appeared 10 to 15 years younger than those of regular eaters.
In other research, calorie restrictors improved their blood insulin levels and had fewer signs of damage to their DNA. Eating less food, scientists believe, may reduce tissue wear and tear from excess blood sugar, inflammation, or rogue molecules known as free radicals.
Edward Calabrese, Ph.D., and Mark Mattson, Ph.D., have opted for "calorie restriction light." Calabrese, a professor of toxicology and environmental health sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, dumped the midday meal. Mattson, chief of the laboratory of neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging, has done without breakfast for 20 years.
Try it. Skip a meal a day. You don't need to try to cut calories; Mattson's research suggests you'll naturally consume less that day. Or try fasting one day a week. Just drink plenty of water.

4. Get a pet
Open up your home and heart to Rover or Boots. Owning a pet reduces the number of visits to the doctor, prolongs survival after a heart attack and wards off depression, says James Serpell, Ph.D., director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania. (His family has a cat, a dog, a large green iguana, a bearded dragon, and a dozen fish.)
Pet ownership also protects against a major problem of aging: high blood pressure. In one standout study at the State University of New York, Buffalo, stockbrokers with high blood pressure adopted a pet. When they were faced with mental stress, their BP increased less than half as much as in their counterparts without animal pals. But pick your pet with care. There is nothing stress-reducing about a dog that chews the baseboard to bits.

5. Get help for what hurts
Studies suggest that continuous pain may dampen the immune system -- and evidence is clear that it can cause deep depression and push levels of the noxious stress hormone cortisol higher.
So enough with the stoicism: Take chronic pain to your doctor and keep complaining until you have a treatment plan that works, says Nathaniel Katz, M.D., a neurologist and pain-management specialist at Tufts University School of Medicine. Your mood will improve -- and your immune system may perk up, too.

6. Take a hike
To make the walls of your arteries twice as flexible as those of a couch potato, just walk briskly for 30 minutes, five days a week. That's what Hirofumi Tanaka, Ph.D., an associate professor of kinesiology and health education at the University of Texas, advises after tracking the elasticity of people's blood vessels using ultrasound.
With age, blood vessel walls tend to stiffen up like old tires -- the main reason two-thirds of people older than age 60 have high blood pressure. Exercise keeps vessels pliable. Mild exercise also reduces the risk of diabetes, certain cancers, depression, aging of the skin, maybe even dementia. That excites exercise researcher Steven N. Blair, past president of the nonprofit Cooper Institute in Dallas. He's run nearly every day for almost 40 years to help him look younger. "Not bad for a 66-year-old fat man."

7. Fight fair
Nasty arguments between couples increase the risk of clogged arteries. In a recent University of Utah study, women's hearts suffered when they made or heard hostile comments; men's hearts reacted badly to domineering, controlling words.
"It's normal to have a fight with your spouse -- it's a matter of how you fight," says Ronald Glaser, Ph.D., an immunologist at Ohio State University. What he and his wife, Ohio State clinical psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, Ph.D., put off-limits: "Getting nasty, sarcastic or personal, or using body language like rolling your eyes. It's better to simply agree to disagree."

8. Stop and plant the roses
Gardening or being around plants bears fruit. In one study, blood pressure jumped in workers given a stressful task -- but rose only a quarter as much if there were plants in the room. And patients who had a view of trees as they recovered from surgery left the hospital almost a day sooner than those with a view of a brick wall.

9. Hoist a few (weights, that is)
Everyone knows cardio exercise is key to slowing the advance of time and how to look younger. More surprising: Strength-training is crucial, too. That's because after their mid-40s, people lose a quarter pound of muscle mass a year, gaining fat in its place.
But, says Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University, "For a couple of decades, you don't have to lose any muscle, if you do the appropriate exercises." Even people well into their 90s can regain muscle, she's found. Just lift weights two or three days a week, for a minimum of 30 minutes.
The payoff: more endurance, stronger bones, less risk of diabetes -- and better sleep and thinking. Nelson rock climbs and does plenty of other weight-bearing exercise.

10. Do a good deed
Pick up trash in the park or shop for a neighbor who needs help, says William Brown, Ph.D., a lecturer of psychology at Brunel University, West London. He studied people in Brooklyn and found that those who had a denser social network and gave more to their friends and family than they received -- whether the gift was in the form of money, food, advice or time -- reported feeling healthier than others, even when he factored in activity levels.
Another study, at the University of Michigan, looked at 423 elderly married couples; after five years, the pairs who were more altruistic were only half as likely to have died. "Many people grow up thinking it's a dog-eat-dog world," Brown says. "But there's a lot of data that suggests the best way to be healthy is to be kind to others."

11. Eat a rainbow...
...made of vegetables, says Peter Greenwald, M.D., director of the division of cancer prevention at the National Cancer Institute. Their cancer-preventing abilities are unparalleled. Remember, to look younger: Aim for nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

12. Sup from the sea
Don't just slap anything with fins onto your plate: You want fatty fish, such as salmon, sardines and lake trout. They contain the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, which many studies show help prevent sudden death from heart attack. Omega-3s may also help ward off depression, Alzheimer's disease, and age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness -- and maybe some cancers, although evidence is mixed.
To get more of the benefits of good fats, snack on an ounce (a handful) of walnuts a day. Use less corn oil, and more canola and olive oils. Greg Cole, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and neurology at UCLA, also avoids cookies, margarine and snack foods such as chips, which are loaded with unhealthy trans-fats. On his personal menu for how to look younger: two tuna sandwiches plus a couple of DHA-enriched eggs a week. He takes 2 g of fish oil daily.

13. Belt out a tune
Exposing yourself to music might help boost your immune system: In a study done by Robert Beck, Ph.D., a professor emeritus at the University of California, Irvine, levels of an infection-fighting antibody called IgA increased 240 percent in the saliva of choral members performing Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.

14. Drink a cup of Tea
Intrigued by studies (of mice, cells in lab dishes and people) that say tea may fight prostate and breast cancer and heart disease, researcher Anna Wu, Ph.D., a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California, downs at least three cups daily. Green is best, although black tea confers some benefits, too.

15. Whittle your waist
To determine if your body is staying young, the tape measure is better than the bathroom scale: Your weight can remain the same while you lose muscle and pack on fat, including visceral fat, the culprit behind a thick waist. It's linked to a heightened risk of age-related ills such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. If your waist measures more than 35 inches (for a woman) or 40 inches (for a man), you probably have too much belly fat.
The best way to look younger and shed that inner load: Exercise, says Kerry Stewart, Ed.D., director of clinical and research exercise physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In a six-month study of 69 men and women, he found a 20 percent reduction in visceral fat, though participants lost only five pounds. Stewart's program was brisk but not too arduous: 45 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobics three times a week and 20 minutes of moderate-intensity weight training, also three times weekly.

16. Double up on D
If there's one vitamin supplement you should take, this is it, experts say. Vitamin D is made in the skin when sun hits it -- but as people get older, the D factory doesn't work as well. About half of Americans fall short. Research suggests that a lack of D raises the risk of osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis and various cancers.
"No other nutrient is so widely deficient in the United States," says Meir Stampfer, M.D., chair of the department of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "Unless you eat a lot of fish, you have to supplement." Stampfer takes 1,800 IU daily in the winter and 800 to 1,200 IU a day the rest of the year. Make sure your supplement contains vitamin D3, the form the skin makes.

17. Dine on curry
Turmeric, the spice that makes curry yellow, is loaded with curcumin, a chemical with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In India, it's smeared on bandages to help heal wounds.
East Asians also eat it, of course -- which might explain why they have lower rates than we do of various cancers, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. (Animal research is promising.) Cole, of UCLA, makes sure he gets a good dose of Indian food with "lots of yellow stuff" three times weekly. Don't like the taste but still want to feel and look younger? Try a daily curcumin supplement of 500 to 1,000 m

18. Donate blood
The life you save may be your own. Many researchers think that we take in too much iron, mostly from eating red meat. Excess iron is thought to create free radicals in the body, speeding aging and raising risk of heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's. Until menopause, women are naturally protected from iron overload, but after that the danger of overdose climbs.
Preliminary studies suggest you can lower your risk of heart disease by regularly giving blood. Thomas Perls, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at Boston University who leads the New England Centenarian Study, donates a unit every two months. He has a rare blood type, so he's helping others -- and he may get something out of it, too. If you're scared of needles, at least go easy on red meat: no more than a daily serving the size of a pack of cards.

19. Look out for your eyes

Getting plenty of omega-3s in food or supplements may help ward off age-related macular degeneration. Plant antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin (found in leafy green vegetables like kale and collards) are helpful, too.
People who have drusen -- tiny deposits within the retina that can be early signs of macular degeneration -- can reduce their risk of blindness in both eyes by 25 percent if they take a supplement, says John Paul SanGiovanni, Sc.D., a staff scientist at the National Eye Institute. What to take, according to his study: 500 mg of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, 80 mg of zinc, 15 mg of beta-carotene, and 2 mg of copper.

20. Take fern extract for your skin
Studies suggest that the antioxidant-rich extract of the South American fern Polypodium leucotomos may help keep your skin youthful by protecting against free radicals and reducing inflammation. Until clinical trials find proof, "It's like chicken soup -- it can't hurt and it might help a bit," says dermatologist Mary Lupo, M.D., a Prevention advisor and a clinical professor of dermatology at the Tulane University School of Medicine.
Lupo takes 240 mg every morning in a supplement called Heliocare, made by Ivax Dermatologicals. She also slaps on broad-spectrum sunscreen and Retin-A daily, and eats a diet loaded with colorful fruits and vegetables -- blueberries, raspberries, grapefruit, broccoli, spinach. On how to look younger, it may also help to drink green tea and nibble flavonoid-rich dark chocolate, she adds. What you must do: Avoid excessive sun exposure, and don't smoke.

21. Take a deep breath
Strife at work, bumper-to-bumper traffic, little Will's report card: Stress increases the concentration of the hormones cortisol and norepinephrine in our bloodstream, kicking up blood pressure and suppressing the immune system. Chronic stress delays wound healing, promotes atherosclerosis, and possibly shrinks parts of the brain involved in learning, memory and mood.
"The key is lowering the concentration of those stress hormones," says Bruce Rabin, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Healthy Lifestyle program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He's devised a research-based program that mutes the hormone flow: It includes meditation, deep breathing, writing, chanting and guided imagery. Check it out at the Healthy Lifestyle program Web site.
Deep breathing is the top anti-stress pick of Prevention advisor Andrew Weil, M.D.: He makes time for it at least twice a day. "It only takes two minutes," he says. "I do it in the morning, when I'm falling asleep in the evening, and any time I feel upset."
Technique: Exhale strongly through the mouth, making a whoosh sound. Breathe in quietly through the nose for a count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven; then exhale with the whoosh sound for a count of eight. Repeat the cycle three more times.

22. Hey -- turn it down!
Exposure to noise damages the delicate hair cells of your inner ears. So when you're around loud noise, wear earplugs -- the cheap type you can buy at the drugstore, or pricier ones that preserve sound quality. Andy Vermiglio, a research audiologist at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, offers free hearing tests at trade shows for audio engineers (aka, sound guys). He can always tell which 40-year-old engineer was religious about ear protection and which one was careless: The latter typically has the hearing of a 70-year-old.

3. Get more shut-eye
Some sleep problems raise the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes -- maybe even obesity. Everyone's sleep needs are different; to find out what yours are, sleep experts recommend you turn off the alarm clock when you're well-rested, and see how long you naturally sleep. (Most people need seven to eight hours.)
While you're at it, ask your spouse if you snore. Snorting and honking through the night are signs that you may have sleep apnea, which causes you to stop breathing at least five times an hour; it raises your risk of stroke. An estimated 18 million Americans have the disorder, but many don't know it, reports the National Sleep Foundation. Doctors are more likely to miss sleep apnea in women, says Joseph Kaplan, M.D., co-director of the Mayo Sleep Disorders Center in Jacksonville, Fla. -- and women may not want to mention their unladylike habit. Ladylike, schmadylike. Tell your doctor.

24. Drop that hot potato
High-glycemic foods, rich in quick-digesting carbohydrates, can cause blood sugar spikes and crashes and contribute to overeating and diabetes risk -- which accelerate aging.
We need to retrain our taste buds in order to look younger, says Willett. What to ditch: sugary drinks. And cut way back on America's favorite veggie, the potato. It has the highest glycemic index of any vegetable, sending more sugar rushing into the bloodstream faster. Willett's team at Harvard recently found that over a 20-year period, women who ate more whole grains and fewer spuds had a 20 to 30 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes. His carb picks for his own dinner: brown rice and whole grain bread, and sometimes whole wheat pasta or bulgur.

25. Put on your rose-colored glasses
"Embracing some of the positive aspects of aging is helpful," says Becca Levy, Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale. She found more than a seven-year survival advantage for older men and women with a positive attitude toward aging, compared with people who have a negative one.
If you're a cranky sort, you might also want to tweak your attitude about other things. "People who have a goal in life -- a passion, a purpose, a positive outlook and humor -- live longer," says Robert Butler, M.D., president of the International Longevity Center in New York City.

Embrace life, and the coming of old age -- it happens to all of us. If we're lucky.
The Biggest Bang

Here are the top seven steps you can take to look younger:
- Take brisk walks
- Keep your waist trim
- Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables
- Strength-train a few times a week
- Get enough sleep (most people need 7 or 8 hours nightly)
- Manage your stress
- Keep a positive outlook

My Daughter's Adventure to New Zealand!

I took my 23 year old daughter, Tiffany, her husband Ryan, and my grandkids: 7 year old Brooke and 10 month old Noah to Los Angeles International Airport last thursday for their first overseas trip to NEW ZEALAND! :) I am so excited for them to experience a different country and it's culture! I look forward to their pictures and home movies.. They are living in a furnished house in the town of TAUPO, my son-in-law has a wonderful job working on the trucks and rigs for geothermal drilling. His company paid for his whole family to move out there for 6 weeks while he works there. So, this is a rare and wonderful experience for my daughter and her family to experience this wonderful country of the Kiwi :)

We have been using "skype" to communicate for free on the internet and it allows us to see each and our families via webcam. It's a really exciting event in our house everytime Tiffany calls us! Taupo is concentrated around a lake and is famous for it's average 4lb rainbow trout! There is alot of watersking, fishing and bungee jumping activities. Tiffany says it is so beautiful looking out at the lake with the beautiful snow caped mountains in the background.. blue skies and crisp clean air.

I will keep you posted on the latest and greatest regarding their adventure :)

Prayers and Positive thoughts!

So much has been going on lately.. it feels like a whirl wind! I just want to send out a note to let you know what has been going on in our household:

We just found out last week that my wonderful husband Robert has Cancer.

He had a Parotid Gland Tumor removed from his right jaw on 4/14/09. It was a gelatinous tumor that the ENT(Ear, Nose and Throat) Doctor was surprised was malignant.

The fact that the tumor was jell like means that it left a residue and possible excess pieces inside Roberts cheek/jaw area. So, Roberts doctor has instructed him to get radiation to "treat" aka sanitize the area.

A minimum of 6 1/2 weeks of radiation, possibly more (which is like a really intense xray, everyday M - F, on the same spot).

This spot will get red like a sunburn and we will have to treat it daily with a special cream. He will be tired and cranky, plus he is going to work at the same time.

He had to have a CT Scan done yesterday to make sure they know exactly where to treat, because the radiation kills nerves.. there is a possibility of his face having nerve damage.

He had to see an Oncology Dentist today and has to have his 4 wisdom teeth pulled immediately because they will end up rotting in his mouth due to the radiation.

This will be another surgery to remove the wisdom teeth. Once he has them pulled, they will have to heal. He has to take measures to keep his teeth constantly clean
because his salivary glands on the right side of his mouth are dead (our salivary glands help to lubricate our teeth/mouth and keep germs from rotting our teeth).

We have spoken to all the children and told them exactly what is going on. Serena and Ben (my stepkids) are especially sensitive to the fact that so many of their relatives have died of cancer within the last couple of years. Robert was a little worried that Serena would lose it, but she was a big girl and held it together. We told them as a family we will handle this together and remain strong, that we will help Daddy in any way we can to get through this difficult time. With lots of love, affection, and attention to his needs.

Unfortunately, when they did the first MRI for the PRT tumor the doctor saw two nodules on Roberts thyroid. One of the nodules is rather large and needs to be removed. They did a biopsy on it, but we haven't gotten the results yet. I am praying that it isn't cancer, because this could mean the cancer has traveled down from his jaw. So, after all of this radiation stuff, he still needs this other surgery!

Not to mention, he has a mediation court date with the wack job (Jeanette) on 5/12th and the following week a custody/child support court date on 5/19th! Dealing with this Bipolar, Personality lunatic of an ex-wife is the ULTIMATE in STRESS because she is FIGHTING to keep OUR $$$$$ $1250 a month to be exact! It is so beyond me how someone who has the kids only on the weekends has the audacity to try to keep our money, money that my family of SIX needs desperately!! Please pray for us on this one!! She has an attorney, she has responded to our paperwork with a HUGE pile of LIES and BS.. that is so upsetting to Robert during this time of difficutly with his health.

Robert has told me that it's been a godsend having me home at this time of difficulty.. He is ever so thankful for my taking over the reigns completely and running around with all the kids! Having me home to take care of him and all the kids and their needs has alleviated him of alot of responsibility. I try to let him rest as much as possible. I am the Domestic Diva and taxi driver extraordinaire. I NEVER realized how much work is involved when you are staying home fulltime! I have a new found respect for stay at home moms!! I used to work fulltime, take care of the kids and cook and clean! But, when people are really sick with a scary illness! Wow! It takes a really strong woman to stay at home and take care of the home front! I guess
God teaches you things through hardship. It has been a struggle.. Especially, with Robert and all four kids doctors appointments it has been ever so busy, we don't know how we would of done this all if I had been working full time. My 17yr old son just had Deviated Septum surgery the
week after my husbands PGT tumor surgery! It has been pretty hairy! Because they both had slight complications! But, thank God they are both recovering nicely!!

It's really sad, because months ago I made reservations for a beautiful Mother's day luncheon at the Huntington Library, for Robert & his mother, myself and my mother. Unfortunately, his Mom won't be able to make it and we were sooo bummed!! My mother is 83 years old and I look forward to enjoying a wonderful luncheon with her and my husband in the beautiful rose garden! They say the roses and flowers are in bloom not to mention the scrumptious food they will be serving!! I am going to take video and do a photo shoot of my Mom with all the flowers.

My hubby has a Phd. in English and teaches English and History at a private school and college at night. He is going to continue working and is so always trying to be strong and act like everything is going to be okay. I pray for it all the time and try to stay positive.. but it is hard to do it all the time..

As you can imagine I am scared for him. I act like a rock on the outside.. trying to remain strong for everyone and hold it together.. But, it is so scary.. with his Dad dying within 6 months from brain cancer.. It raises many concerns. So, please keep him in your positive thoughts and prayers.

God Bless you all and your families!
Happy Mother's Day all you amazing scrapbook mommies

and non-scrapbook mommies!!

Cathe

Yum mee!

Lots of Ribbon, fancy cut paper, layered flowers, vellum poetry, leather-like adhesive letters.