25 Days of Wellness - Day 25

For the final day, here the best idea yet: share some joy by giving service, just as the Savior did. Merry Christmas and God bless us, every one!

25 Days of Wellness - Day 24

Nothing so far has been food based, so here's one: Resist one treat. Even better, add a fruit or veggie in. Nom nom nom.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 23

Have you spent time outside today? It might be late where you are, but the Princess and I spent time watching the rain from inside the garage. It was the fresh air without getting wet, which was lovely...we were barefoot though, so it would have been cold. Sounds fun! Maybe again tomorrow.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 22

Take a walk! Have we already done this one? Well, I'm going to be walking and sitting a lot today, so that's the plan! Wanna join me?

25 Days of Wellness - Day 21

Another Sunday, another Sabbath. In my little part of the world, it is the end of the day, so maybe this can be fore tomorrow, but do you play, sing, hum, whistle? Make some music! Christmas carols work great.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 20

Here's a toughy, and highly applicable to today, for me at least: Let one thing go. It might be something dumb you did or said or that someone else did or said.

When I originally started this, my vision was that most of these would be exercise/activity based. I'm coming to learn that, while moving and physical activity are important, mental well being plays a huge roll in 'wellness.' That's my take.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 19

Tickle your brain today by trying something new. What did I do? Tie dye. Never done it. I hope they are happily received on Christmas morning! Photos will come after Christmas to not spoil the surprise.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 18

Have you tried doing something the hard way lately? Or tried avoiding a modern convenience? Take the stairs, walk and extra bus stop, mop on hands and knees, chopping wood, mowing the lawn, which is still an option here down south if we actually had grass, or scrub the wash...if you happen to own a scrub board. It's kind of refreshing and pretty demanding too, sometimes.

25 Days fo Wellness - Day 17

Need a little time off your feet? Try a self massage or do a give and take with someone else. Wash your feet, or other sore spot, with a warm towel. Dip your fingers in a bit of oil and rub gently. Okay, does anyone actually need a step by step here? End post.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 16

Today is one of those days I question how well this wellness is going, especially as this comes a day later than scheduled. What's it doing for you? At least it gives me one clear goal in mind for some activity in the day.

How are your legs? If they need some attention, try some sumo squats. With feet apart and pointing forward, bend, as if sitting, and return slowly. If you want to raise the challenge, raise your arms as you go down. Need more? Hold weights. Keep breathing and do enough reps to feel you've done something. Then do a second set later. Or a third.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 15

Do you feel the tired that hits at the end of the day, or middle of the day, or somewhere in between? One thing to try is a nap, or staying better hydrated, or cutting out sugar, or having uninterrupted sleep, or becoming immortal. Somehow, if those seem impractical, find a small spot with a clock. When it gets to a new minute, start jogging. Time yourself for a minute or two. Or five. It does wonders. Remember to pump the arms! This can be done any number of times a day. Good shoes are recommended.

What do you do to keep the tired at bay?

25 Days of Wellness - Day 14

Being that it's Sabbath, I like going for less strenuous activities, not that many of the previous ones can be termed strenuous. (Just wait for next week!) Today is time for some mental de-stress: Write in a journal or a letter, or in those Christmas cards that are hoping to be sent. I hope to write about how my daughter made our toilet paper roll her 'bone' yesterday when she was a dog, at least I think that was her motive and to get a few more cards written to someone that I want to remember this year. Let me know what you think!

25 Days of Wellness - Day 13

Who was waiting to see how long it would take for me to miss a day? My hand is up!

Okay, here's one spot that gets a lot of work and not much play: the face. Give it some stretch by raising the eyebrows, gently rolling the eyes, pulling odd faces, puffing the cheeks, or opening the mouth in different directions. Do it with a little person to make it really entertaining.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 12

Pain in the neck? Don't we all at some point? Try moving, gently, from up to down or side to side, by pointing the chin one way or the other. Keep breathing. It may not solve world peace, but hopefully it will give a few restful moments to you.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 11

How often do you raise your arms above the shoulders in a day? IF it happens at all, how often is it out of obligation or under stress? Try some arm circles. I found them rather refreshing after a day of no nap for the Princess and not getting the gifts purchased as I had hoped. Remember both directions. Tip: Keeping the thumbs up will give you greater range of motion, but feel free to move!

Up next: the neck!

25 Days of Wellness - Day 10

How was your sleep last night? It's a work in progress at our house.

So, let's try something to relieve some stress: Do you like shoulder shrugs? Try some with deep breathing to go with it. Try both directions. May it make you feel a little more perky.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 9

Have you had a 'well' day? Mine was a little lacking in that department, so here's what I'm planning: Go do bed as early as humanly possible. Let me know how it goes for you!

25 Days of Wellness - Day 8

My teeth probably don't thank me for brushing lefty yesterday, but I'll work on it.

What's next? Let's stretch a bit today. Monday is a good day for that. Here are some ideas:

Back: Rest your hands on the edge of a table and back up, so you are bending in half. It feels great on the shoulder blades and spine.

Hips: Hold the table still and cross one ankle over the opposite knee. Lower down as if you were sitting. Do both sides.

Hold these for a few seconds each and breath deeply. What's your favorite stretch?

Also, some of you may wonder why I'm doing this or what qualifications I have. I'm a certified Health Coach through ACE. It used to be called Lifestyle and Weight Management Coach, but I like the name change. Here's a bit about it. This is my way of encouraging others, and myself, in a healthy lifestyle. 

25 Days of Wellness - Day 7

Did the back hold up with good posture yesterday? Mine spent 6 hours in a car, so it was a tough one. But here's a fun one for the Sabbath: Use your non-dominant hand or foot for some task, like eating an apple, stepping down a step, or brushing your teeth. I recommend not trying this activity with knives. Let me know how it goes!

25 Days of Wellness - Day 6

How's that back? It gets a lot of use! To give the back a little love, here is an all day challenge: Try to have good posture all day today, be it sitting, standing, or walking. One quick way to realign is to keep the shoulder blades drawn together. It's hard to slouch with square shoulders.

25 Days of Wellness - Day 5

The moves this month have been somewhat joint-centric, so let's keep going. Today is the hips. You may want to do this out of view of others or you might be one to just let the world know. Your choice. Find a recording of Jingle Bell Rock, audible or in your head, and let your hips get some Christmas Spirit.

Recap:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

25 Days of Wellness - Day 4

It's a new day! Time for something different. This is a total body work-out. Find a toddler. Tail them for a bit. That will get the heart and muscles going. If one is not available, try a pigeon or a duck. If none of those are available, take a walk around your office area, living room, or the block, weather permitting. At the very least, the "up, down, touch the ground" Winnie-the-Pooh demonstrated make for some good wiggling.

Merry Christmas!

25 Days of Wellness - Day 3

How's the month? The link below totally changed my perspective on some things, like what I wrote the past two days and how to do more functional exercises. No, I'm not compensated for linking to it and the suggested exercises probably won't work at your desk or in line at the store, but it gives some good food for thought!

http://www.acefitness.org/blog/5151/top-exercises-for-pain-free-knees/

Merry Christmas!

25 Days of Wellness - Day 2

Any soreness from yesterday? While it was not the most difficult exercise, I had a 25 pound weight sitting on my toes some of the time. On to today:

Weak in the knees

This one is fairly easy to do, but after seeing patients of degenerative diseases struggle, might as well keep up what you have. Me too, of course.

Use a chair or wall for support, if needed. Bend at the knee until the calf is parallel with the floor and return. This focuses on the knee joint, so no other joints should move. Add a little more challenge by adding weights to the ankles or don't use support in order to challenge your balance. Then try it with your eyes closed while the other leg is on tip toe. Maybe that's a stretch. Do this enough times at a slow and even rate on each leg to feel like you've done something.


If you want to make things really fun, add yesterday's exercise too.
Day 1

25 Days of Wellness, Day 1

Merry Christmas, World!

During that time of year when every day is packed with music, gifts, food, and little time in between, it's easy to push fitness time aside. Every day until Christmas, I plan to post little exercises to fit in the day. These exercises are meant to be done for a minute or two when you need a break from your desk, the kitchen, the line at the store, or anywhere else. The body is such a great gift! Follow along, if you like!

(I probably will steal ideas from other sources. If there are links to other sites, I'm not receiving any compensation from it. Thought you should know.)

Let's start from the bottom and work our way up. How are those ankles feeling? Try a few calf raises by lifting up onto the toes and lowering down again at a slow rate. Exhale as you go up and inhale coming down. This can be done on both legs or one at a time. Feel free to use a chair or the wall for support. To add even more interest, roll back onto the heel and lift the toes after coming down each time. Keep the knees straight and avoid rotating the feet.

Enjoy this little gift to the ankles today!

Sunflower bouquet

Here's a bunch of cupcakes. I made them for the 2 year old birthday we just celebrated. They are decorated with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. The chocolate hardens in the refrigerator, which makes it like a candy center. The whipped cream is tinted with turmeric. It worked well, but took quite a bit of spice, enough that I could taste it. A leaf tip made the petals. And I found a really simple chocolate cake recipe (but I cut the sugar down by about 1/2 c...and left out the espresso powder. As a non-coffee drinker, I don't understand why all chocolate needs coffee flavor.) that stayed really moist for the next few days. Now you want to eat one. So do I.

Soft serve

Hungry for something new? We tried ice cream cone cupcakes, complete with chocolate/vanilla swirl whipped cream. Tasty!

How? Fill the ice cream cone about 2/3 full and bake as directed, with a few minutes extra. We baked them on a mini-muffin tin, but mostly just be careful not to spill as they are top-heavy.

Whip some heavy whipping cream with sweetener. Remove half into one side of a large pipping bag fitted with a large star tip. Sift cocoa powder into the half remaining in the bowl and mix briefly. I used about a teaspoon for 1/2 cup of cream. Fill the empty side of the bag with the chocolate and swirl away.

An account of the creation of the world, and also of Adam and Eve

Here are Adam and Eve, our first parents.

Adam's face pieces

Specs on Adam:
He is zigzagged onto the backing completely. His face is velcro as are his various face pieces. His hair is from an old puppet I made for 7th grade English class. His coat is from a 'leather' shoe I wore at my sister's wedding. His robe is from some of my Dad's pants. He doesn't wear them anymore. His hands and feet are the lining of a tank top that wore out. His eyes are the shortened hem of my husband's gi. Not sure where the red mouth came from. The Princess likes to make him a Picasso face.

Specs on Eve:
Eve's skin is the same tank top lining. Her hair is an old t-shirt I bought for my mission. Her arms are stiffened with pop-sickle sticks, so they can be inserted into the sleeves of the dress. Her 'legs' are also free to fit in the bottom of the dress. The buckle on the dress shown above is from the Mister's watch band. She can be dressed and her hair braided. Or tied in knots or crocheted. That might be a little advanced just yet, but it's something to work toward. So far Eve's dresses are from a pink jacket that never fit right, but I planned to remodel one day. I guess that day is now, just a different remodel that I anticipated. The green dress (seen in the previous post) is mimicking a bride's maid dress for my college roommate. Since I was a bride's maid for several of my favorite people, and made two of the dresses, I had a little left over. On the line-up for other dresses are material from my Prom dress (aka mine and Mister's first date), material from my Homecoming dress (aka mine and Hubby's other major dance date), and some from the alterations on my wedding dress (aka Eternal Date). Nostalgia and toys all in one.

Wanna play?



The rest of the book:
First 
Second & Third
Fourth
Adam

Adam was first formed, then Eve.

I like this one. Here's your preview. But Eve is in the making. Her dresses are in the making too. More soon. Enjoy!

The rest of the book:
First 
Second & Third
Fourth
Adam

Adam Fell

Adam may have fallen a long way to be represented in such a state, but I'm excited about this one. It's not complete - he'll have hair and hands and feet, and other face options -  but it's face pieces that attach using velcro. More to come.


The rest of the book:
First 
Second & Third
Fourth

Snipped off her nose!

The constant repetition of 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' has died down somewhat, but we still play with bread and honey often and have now, mostly, completed the maid in the garden. No, it does not actually involve snipping, or 'sniffing' as is done in our house, but it involves hanging laundry on the line and matching colors. Next time, I would change the orientation a bit, by moving up the clothes pins to not cover so much sock underneath, and make it a bit bigger, but someday you'll see why it needed to be small. Maybe the Princess will have learned how to work clothespins by then. This is a great way to use up old socks. Very, very slowly.

Enjoy!

More about this project
Here

Page, the Fourth

And the world was formed and the dry land appeared. Granted, this is more of a representation of the land masses now, as opposed to Pangaea. That would make a less interesting puzzle. The pieces snap on. And the back was a shirt I wore in high school. Yep.

What I've learned:

• Stiff fabric is the the way to go. The book will have to endure the terror of a toddler, or several, so it needs to withstand the ages. 
• Stretchy fabric is no good for snaps or velcro. Or really for anything, unless it has a specific stretchy need.
• The backing on each page is a stiff fabric too.
• The shape of the page doesn't fit in her favorite backpack very well. 
• I'm not sure how to represent the firmament or light, so this may not actually be scriptural at all.  

Previous Creation pages
First 
Second & Third 

Other quiet book stuff
Bread and honey
Hanging out the clothes

Page, the Second and Third

The Creation quiet book continues. Here is pages 2-3. The stars live in the moon, and match to the colors on the opposite page. Each color is a different feel of fabric. They are velcro, so they stick really nicely to the pews at church. And sweaters or nylons.

I've wondered if it's worth it to make patterns for all of this, if anyone would like to copy. Any takers?

A Hairy (pony) Tail

There's another chunk of hair for someone's wig.

http://locksoflove.org/

The week, 2nd edition

This is the piece I shared at Grandpa's funeral. It's a bit revised from the first edition:

"It's Saturday, it's Saturday. Time to get ready for Sunday. First, to breakfast, the breakfast of champions! It begins, as always, with apricot juice, or patiently peeled orange, carefully sorted into each bowl, in order to share both the best and the worst. Now comes a bowl of oatmeal with walnuts and a generous scoop of honey. Bread finishes the meal. Then it's off to scrub the potatoes, or make the jello, but only fruit jello with canned fruit and that's only for company. After a long day of work, it's time to unwind with the Lawrence Welk show and the Champagne Lady.

And now to Sunday, a new week begins. The Spoken Word rings through the house. With scriptures in hand, it's time for meetings. The cheese toast is crackling. And mostly, the organ is singing its familiar tunes with its robust and favorite singer, until it's time to play Upwords alongside the worn dictionary and beloved companion. There shall be music wherever he goes.

The work week starts again on Monday. It's off to battle, to battle the noxious weeds, the dandelions and morning glory, with a trusty brown knee pad as shield and a sturdy dandelion digger as sword - the same used by various young invincibles to threaten loss of toe or worse in a treacherous tossing game.

There's a birthday on Tuesday, which must have cake! Out from the freezer it comes bedecked with the candle, the special 8 candle, and only after song can the rowdy group dig in. "Get out and walk."

It's Wednesday, which means it's Ice Cream Night. The night would go as it always does; "What do you want, Boss?" "Whatever's good." Within a few short minutes, a small bowl arrives, brimming with melting ice cream, with indentations where a stray finger eased the scoop into the bowl.

It's Thursday now and maybe raining outside. The saw in the shop is whirring, or maybe the lathe. Sawdust flies to every recess of the room. A tremendous sneeze answers, scattering stunned children in its wake. A break for lunch means fruit or cookies for dessert. Two please! And maybe later, it's the sewing machine binding ever lengthening strips together as the next braided rug forms in tight, flat rows.

It's Friday and shopping is the order of the day. In comes plastic bags of bananas, cereal, milk, and generous packages of meat, ready for the roaster on Sunday. A short walk retrieves the little students at the elementary school or the bush stop.

Hardly a day goes by without some work on a word puzzle, study of the daily paper, and a slice of homemade bread, dressed with delicious jam. In the fall, it's canning and passball. In summer, it's weeding and the print shop. In spring, it's waking the yard. In winter, it's pruning and shoveling.

On every bridge, there is a road to travel. On every road is a sign to read, and very few make it through life unread by one well-seasoned Traveler.

Adios. Au revior. Aufvedersehen."

The week

It's Saturday, it's Saturday. Time to get ready for Sunday. First, to breakfast, the breakfast of champions! It begins, as always, with apricot juice, my personal favorite, or patiently peeled orange, carefully sorted into each bowl, so that no one person gets two halves from the same. This allows the worst and best to be shared by all. Then comes a bowl of oatmeal with walnuts with a generous amount of honey. Bread comes last to finish the meal. Then it's off to scrub the potatoes, or make the jello, but only if it's red jello with canned fruit and that's only for company. And after a long day of work, it's time to unwind with the Lawrence Welk show and the Champagne Lady.

And now to Sunday, a new week begun. The Spoken Word rings through the house. The cheese toast is crackling. And mostly, the organ is singing its familiar tunes with its robust and favorite singer, until its time for to play Upwords alongside the worn and well-loved dictionary. There shall be music wherever he goes.

The work week begins again on Monday. It's off to battle, to battle with the noxious weeds, the dandelions and morning glory, with a trusty brown knee pad as shield and a sturdy dandelion digger as sword - the same used by various young invincibles to threaten loss of toe or worse in a treacherous tossing game.

And a birthday on Tuesday, which must have cake! Out from the freezer it comes bedecked with the candle, the special 8 candle, and only after and song can the rowdy group dig in. "Get out and walk."

It's Wednesday, which means it's Ice Cream Night. The night would go as it always does; "What do you want, bug?" "What is there?" "What do you want, Boss?" "Whatever's good." Within a few short minutes, a small bowl would arrive, brimming with melting ice cream, with indentations where a stray finger eased the scoop into the bowl.

It's Thursday now and maybe raining outside. The saw in the shop is whirring, or maybe the lathe. Sawdust flies to unswept recesses of the room. And maybe later, it's the sewing machine binding ever lengthening strips together as the next braided rug forms in tight, flat rows.

It's Friday and shopping is the order of the day. Reams has all the delights for the week. In comes plastic bags of bananas, cereal, milk, and generous packages of meat, ready for the roaster on Sunday.

Hardly a day goes by without some work on a puzzle, study of the daily paper, and a slice of homemade bread, slathered in margarine and homemade jam. In the fall, it's canning and passball. In summer, it's weeding and the print shop. In spring, it's waking the yard. In winter, it's pruning and shoveling.

On every bridge, there is a road to travel. On every road is a sign to read, and very few make it through life unread by one well-seasoned Traveler.

Adios. Au revior. Aufvedersehen.

http://www.holbrookmortuary.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2512237&fh_id=13204

Eating bread and honey

The Little Miss has really started loving her nursery rhymes. Really. So the current project, okay, one of the current projects is a quiet book page based on 'Sing a Song of Sixpence.' I started with the bread and honey, not forgetting the 'ife. That's honey, not peanut butter. And it really does stick. College education at its finest.

Can you guess how it works?

Sneak without the peek

How many people do you know research Medieval art for a quiet book page? Well, now you know one. More soon!

Page The First

We have completion! At least a start of completion. Here is page one of the church style quiet book. The face is based off of 'If You Chance to Meet a Frown.' The Little Miss was a bit upset when I took her face and attached it to another cloth. She has tried to remove it several times. I hope it holds up. Now on to the moon and stars. After that, is the earth, the animals, then Adam and Eve. It's going to take a lot more than 7 days for me.

(It's quiet now...)

My crafty self has decided to make the Little Princess a quiet book, church style. I've been contemplating the creation and other Bible stories, to include at least one Adam and Eve page. In a nerdy moment of inspiration, or possibly indigestion, I thought about basing it off an anatomy lesson. I'm not thinking Anat/Phys 301, but Adam has a heart, lungs, and a brain. When bouncing the idea off my mister, he said I should include the ribs cage, but make sure one is removable. Smart.

Hopefully more to come, assuming it actually happens.

Green thumb?

It's already mid-80s here and I have yet to plan the garden. So tomorrow is garden day: peas, beans, lettuce, tomato, and maybe corn and sunflowers. :) My husband and I wrote a plant based love poem for Valentine's day the seems applicable:

Roses are brown.
Violets are brown.
It must be time-
To get out of town.

Welcome to more Southern Arizona gardening!