“It smells!” or …. How to tackle unique school backpack odors

Morning,

Sigh, kids are so….kid-like.

One of my kids came to me today and say, Mom, I need a new backpack, mine smells!

So he brought it over, and I checked it out….and then pulled out a fossilized sandwich that looked like it had been residing there since 1723.

  • “Ahem, child of mine, might you explain the meaning of this?” I gently asked.
  • “It smells!” he creatively responded.
  • “Well of course, if something is decaying in your backpack, that’s generally what happens, dear” I reassuringly told him.
  • “It smells!” he repeated, perhaps thinking that my Mom brain had passed over the obvious but would now demonstrate my All-powerful Mother Techniques.

Sigh. ’tis amazing what scientific experiments generally end up generating within a backpack. Anywhos, I doused it with foot powder and added some peppermint essential oils to boot; problem is solved, child is thrilled.

You just can’t get this kind of Real Life experience in corporate land. :)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some nice kids backpacks include:

P90x Review, X Stretch – Week 4, Day 4, Total Days – 24

Morning everyone,

Joy of joys, it seems that my sleeping patterns are returning to normal – I got up at 5:15am and did my X Stretch at around 9am.

Have I mentioned how much I truly enjoy this DVD? Stretching has imparted such flexibility to my body that I’m able to move far more freer and easily than before. I can hardly believe the “me” of today is so superior, physical-wise, to the “Me” of last year!

I’m not able to do the inverse wrist stretches, mind you, and “camel” hah! is not even really an option. Be that as it may, however, I did make certain to substitute in my karate stretches whenever possible – standing side leg, split leg, etc. The good news there – I can virtually (almost!) attain a 170 degree angle and sit on the floor when I try to stretch out the right leg (yay!). It’s been 2 months now that I’ve been practicing splits on and off…it’s really coming together.

And that’s day 24,

Barbara

ps – some nice P90x goodies include:

Healing Touch – Important in family and friends

Morning all,

One of the most important things you can give your children (and spouses, and friends, and people who are important to you) is the gift of the healing touch.

What is that, I hear you ask? Well, ask a dozen different folks, and you’ll get a dozen different answers. I myself have my own brand of this, that has grown out of raising my family. My grandmother and parents passed it on to me.

For me, the healing touch encompasses many levels. You can perform it with just touch, or you can let your spirit animate your hands and lend energy and healing to the person you’re touching. The second form is very beneficial for physical and emotional healing; it gives the body focus and energy and rebuilds the person’s inner strength.

Using the healing touch is very different than massage. While you can heal with massage, mind you, I find the healing touch to be far more effective. Instead of using firm strokes, you use only the tips of your fingers and trace over various parts of the body. I tend to follow the energy meridians, and take great care to build upon each prior touch until I’ve reconstructed the entire energy flow.

This is superb for family and friends! I’ve rejuvenated my kids, energized my friends, and helped calm down family who was suffering from various sicknesses and the like. I think it enables both people (the healer and the recipient) to tap into the energies of the universe; I’m always surprised it’s not widely known.

Some resources for massage/healing touch include:

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some neat Healing Touch Resources include:

YOU on a Diet reviews, resources, coupons and discounts

Morning everyone,

Unless you’ve been fossilizing under your toddler’s bed, you probably have heard of YOU on a Diet, ie, goodies like:

Any time a diet plan like You on a Diet becomes popular, lots and lots of additional marketing gets thrown in! You can now get

etc. But what really is You on a Diet? What resources can you use to find out if it’s for you?

I’ve searched about and came up with:

So how else can you get discounts for this particular product? Well, places like Amazon.com will offer you free shipping if you order over $25 worth of stuff. And you can always post at your local Freecycle.org and see if anyone is willing to give up their copy (you’d be surprised how many people generally are!).

Craigslist is also also an option. And don’t forget about looking thru book swap sites like:

What if you want to compare how much stores are selling You on a Diet for? Try:

You’ll see that Amazon.com has the cheapest price.

Nice, eh? You almost never have to pay full price…when you tap into the power of the Internet.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Some more You on a Diet goodies!

Karate kicks, Kendo hits, and bruised elbows oh my!

Howdy all,

Before I give myself permission to collapse in a heap from this evening’s workout, I have to post about:

I can actually do vaguely decent karate kicks now.

Not only that, but I actually like them. Hand techniques were my favorites before…but now that I can actually (gasp!) move! and kick! and almost balance! and … you get the idea…I really like doing kicks now.

This is an unbelievable shock to me, let me tell you. I’ve always been timid about using my legs and always felt like I didn’t have the ability to really use control. But today, I found myself asking for kicks as part of the practice and then mentally slammed myself – is this me? Me, asking to do something I never did well before….and now, actually really like doing today?

I really cannot wrap my mind around this. I honestly cannot. Decades of being totally incompetent with my legs, and now, it’s coming together. Wow.

And in Kendo today, it was the first time in 1.5 months that I did sparring…..and my oh my, you could tell. I’ve gained more confidence but lost whatever skill I might have had…I now have a delightful 3 inch bruise on my right elbow. Ouch! But it was still great fun (so I went a second time!).

I honestly wish I could package the wisdom I’ve been accumulating since July (when I found out about my doorknob on my femur) up until now….and instill it into my kids. But I think it’s something you have to experience and live yourself before you can fully internalize all the gifts it gives to your inner self.

Just had my coffee, and it’s time for sleep. Night night everyone!

Best wishes,

Barbara

ps – great karate stuff!

Want to interview at Google? Check out these unbelievable…

Morning all,

As well as being an author, I also teach recruiters how to find candidates online.

This came by yesterday from Recruiters and Sourcers Exchange, and it’s quite an eye-opener!

From Google Job Interview Questions, Brain Teasers etc:

Example Brain Teaser Questions:

Personal Interview Stories:

Fascinating, no?

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some more Google goodies:

Turbo Jam Fitness reviews, discounts and more – finding coupons online

Howdy everyone,

One of the best cardio DVDs out there is TurboJam. And did you know you can get great discounts like:

From where did I get these goodies? Why, eBay of course!

Generally there are two types of Turbo Jam sellers on eBay – your typical merchants, and then those folks who bought it and have moved onto a different workout program. And if you’re lucky, you can even find great lots of Turbo Jam fitness DVDs and videos; those turn out to be quite the money-saver.

So! Turbo Jam fitness is neat because the workouts involve all parts of your body – upper, lower, core, etc. And the instructor, Charlene, is just one happy enthusiastic individuals – the time whooses on by during all the workouts.

Here are some of the great Turbo Jam Fitness DVDs available:

As you can see, there are lots of Turbo Jam fitness goodies and discounts online. Want to find some reviews? Consider:

As you can see, you can find lots of reviews and great discounts alike. Enjoy your exploration!

Barbara

ps – more Turbo Jam goodies include:

P90x Fitness – Does it really work? Reviews, resources, links and more

Morning,

Well! Today will be day 24 that I’ve been doing the P90x fitness package and let me tell you, if you’re wondering

  • Is this the REAL deal?

I can say without a doubt…..YES! And you can even get it at discounts like I did like below:

I started P90x a month or so after getting surgery to remove a bone tumor on my right femur. Since then, I have faithfully done it every day and have found the claims really are true. If you follow the workouts and eat clean (she said, stating common sense), your muscles grow and your body slims.

I think the best part about P90x fitness is it forces you to work out different muscle groups each day. True, anyone can do this themselves….but I’ll confess, I’m the kind of person who needs to follow a guideline for it. Left to myself, I’d do the same routine week after week. It does help build muscle, but I’m seeing far better gains by doing it this way.

And I really love the different types of workouts that are included. One day is YogaX, fondly known by me as Yoga Death. It’s 90 minutes long and is by far the most difficult DVD in the whole package. I have become far more flexible than I thought possible! I utterly hate and despise this DVD…but wow, it delivers results.

Another fun DVD is Plyometrics, or “Jump Training”. The heart rate really zooms up there when you do all sorts of creative jumping, explosive movements. My favorite one has to be “swing the right leg over a high chair followed by the left leg and repeat” – it’s just like a crescent kick! That brings me to another point of P90x fitness – it has really helped my karate moves. The moves I cannot do due to physical limitations, I can substitute with karate kicks/blocks/etc. I really like the fact that you can modify everything to your own best abilities.

What else. Let’s see…the XStretch (60 minutes of stretching) is simply heaven – prior to P90x fitness I never realized how useful and beneficial stretching really can be. I’ve noticed vast improvements in my overall flexibility because of this as well.

Weight-lifting wise, my favorite DVDs are P90x Chest and Back because of the pullups and pushups (exercises of kings and queens!). Shoulders/arms creates an awesome burn, and Legs/back involve lots and lots of magnificent squats.

Here are some more resources for P90X:

Hope you find this useful!

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some great P90x discounts:

P90x Review, KenpoX – Week 4, Day 4, Total Days – 24

Howdy!

It’s truly amazing what your mind, body and spirit can handle when you give yourself permission to blast past any barriers known to mankind. :)

This morning, I woke up wondering if anyone got the license plate of the semi that ran over me (at least, that’s what it felt like!). So I figured I’d hold off on any workouts, and instead a.) sleep until the afternoon (ie, 5:30am or so), and b.) doing my workout later. Started working online, fed myself my beef bone/chili pepper soup, and began the workout.
I just finished Kenpo X. Remember, this is my recovery week (ha ha ha, I just love that delusion, recovery, ho ho ho :) . Actually, it really is, as no weight lifting is done, but still). Astonishingly, I felt in top shape, was totally ready to bring it, and did myself proud in the workout. I can now even pivot rather decently in those lovely jab/cross/hook/uppercut! moves!

I modified the workout as usual, mind you – during the jumping jacks, I did sitting-to-standing front kicks and side kicks. And I started doing a static stretch a friend showed me – I stand with my left hip to the wall, move away 2 feet, put up my left leg as high as it will go, and stretcccccccch. My gosh, do I feel that. Then I repeat to the right. Then I do my split stretches (I can get to 2 inches off the ground) and my hamstring stretches etc. I do miss Plyo with the Crescent-kicks-over-the-high-chair, but hey, that will come next week. :)

And that’s Day 24,

Barbara

ps – more Tony Horton goodies!

Evening hot baths, morning coffee, listening to your body wrt fitness and more

Morning,

Well! It’s just after 5am and amazingly, I have NOT yet done my morning workouts!

My gosh why, I hear you ask?

Simple! On Monday, I did massive DDR with the kids, Tuesday was P90x Core plus Cardio GoGo plus two hours of advanced karate including 10 minutes of boot camp plus one hour of Kendo and let me tell you, boys and girls, I’m feeling it this morning.

Yes, it’s true – apparently the body at 43 ain’t the same thing as the body at 23! My gosh, how I wish I had valued this fact back then. :) Ah well.

So! It’s time for (drumroll please) modifications. I’ll still do my workouts, of course, but modify them to suit whatever my body says I should do. Today’s P90x workout is Kenpo, and I’ll make certain to use my Goju-ryu moves during the majority of it. Hey, might as well improve the form! Pivots will be lessened and I’m going to focus instead on balance today.

And that brings me to the important topic of the day. MODIFY WHEN NECESSARY! You never have to damage yourself when working out – go to the level of which you are capable and make it work THERE, not some idiotic level that will end up causing massive amounts of hurt to your body.

Let me explain the title of this post. Last night, I made myself a hot bath after returning from karate/kendo, and ended up relaxing for 15 minutes (without any kids bashing thru the door saying,
“Mom, I sensed you were relaxing so here I am!” Amazing, that). Upon staggering out, I slathered Tiger Balm on my ankles/thighs/lower back, and made my way whimpering to the bed where I collapsed. After 5 minutes, one of my kids came in and said, ‘Mom, are you okay? I heard you making weird noises!’ Apparently I was mewling to myself as I tried to get comfortable, and didn’t even realize that! Talk about hearing sensitivity. :)

This morning upon waking up, my body tactfully told me, coffee. Massive amounts of coffee. Bless thy system and imbibe the drink of the angels and that favors life. So here I am with my morning coffee, feeling energy starting to flow back into my zombie-like self.

So many people over 40 challenge themselves to surpass their own expectations. I’m highly in favor of that; heck, I’ve done it again and again. But there does come a point where your body says, woah! Slow down and modify and when you’re recovered, pounce at full force once again….and THAT is a good thing to which to listen.

You can take that to the bank.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – if you enjoy hot baths like I do, consider: