Tag: Thursday Thirteen

Stemming from discussions with some friends, my contribution to Thursday 13 today centers around 13 Things About Yogurt. An unusual topic, perhaps, but an interesting one none-the-less:

1. Yogurt can be made from cow’s milk, goat’s milk, even soy milk. One article I saw said “any mammal milk,” which gave me pause – elephant yogurt? o.O…

2. It’s fermented milk. Commercial yogurts have the fermentation added, but you can make it at home with a commercially-available home yogurt maker.

3. I have a commercially-available home yogurt maker.

4. I’m not brave enough to try it yet…

5. The bacteria that make the yogurt are VERY beneficial to the human digestive tract. By now, most folks have heard about “acidophilus” (which my spellcheck tried to make “audiophiles,” but I digress…), but there are a broad spectrum of bacteria that are useful.

6. When you have any kind of intestinal trauma, from simple stomach flu and food poisoning all the way up to intestinal disease, yogurt can help re-populate the healthy flora in the intestines and ease up on painful symptoms.

7. Yogurt is an excellent facial cleanser.

8. No, that’s not a typo – yes, it is a non sequitur (my spellcheck tried to make THAT ‘squirt’). You can simply take yogurt in your hands (use a spoon, don’t just dip your paws in the container, sheesh!) and spread it on your face with gentle, upward sweeps of your fingers. HINT: let it come up to room temperature first. (Ask me how I know.)

9. It is an excellent cure for yeast infection.

10. No, I have not personally tested that theory. I used to get them a lot (infections) and did a LOT of research. Something about the beneficial bacteria eats the yeast in your system, and so applying it directly on the … um, affected area… is how it works. I just couldn’t do that myself, but my herbal instructor confirmed it is effective. (Couldn’t eat yogurt for months when I found out, as a matter of fact…)

11. Now, I eat yogurt pretty much daily. I have intestinal problems that I won’t bore you with, but the yogurt helps a) soothe my stomach and gut and b) helps keep the good flora well-populated. Cuz a flowery colon is your friend. (Um, forget I wrote that last sentence…)

12. Yogurt impersonates sour cream REALLY well, and if you use the 0% fat yogurt, it’s MUCH fewer calories. I put it in my spicy Indian food (which, happily enough, is actually rather authentic – they put yogurt on it too!), Mexican food, my baked potatoes, in soup, all sorts of stuff. Even put cocoa powder and honey in it! (The yogurt, ya goof, not the Indian food…)

13. If you need a quick dip for fresh broccoli florets, put some mild curry powder and a smidge of garlic salt into half a cup of yogurt and stir really well. YUM! And, 0% fat is your friend!!

Wow. Despite my worries, I actually ran out of 13 before I ran out of list! We might have to do this one again!

Happy TT!

I’ve had quite a bit of stress in my life lately, and it’s reminded me of the tools I’ve been given, learned, or, let’s be honest, been forced to incorporate in my life in order to manage the stress. While the obvious best solution is to eliminate the stressors in life, sometimes that’s not an option. When stress rears its ugly head, and we aren’t in a position to slay it outright, here are some of the tools that have worked for me. I hope they help you, too.

1. Breathe. This is one of the most effective, in-the-moment tools in the arsenal. Recently, I learned that breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth can give it an extra stress-busting kick that can help to bring the adrenaline down.

2. Drink lots of water. So what, it makes you go to the bathroom a lot? (Seriously, this is one of the most common complaints in response to this suggestion that I hear.) Water helps to wash toxins out of our bloodstream. Stress releases toxic chemicals into our system (that’s part of why it feels yucky and why, over time, stress is actually damaging to the human body).

3. Learn about stress. There are a lot of good materials out there, from places like the Mayo Clinic or your health provider’s website, to your doctor, books, friends, and the internet. Get good information about what stress is, how it affects the body, and what you can do about it. Knowledge is power.

4. Take your own advice. Many times, we know what we “should” do, we just don’t do it. Take the steps to remove your own blocks to good behavior, and implement what you know will help you in the long term.

5. Don’t be the lone gunman. While that has an echo of ugliness, because sometimes people literally become gunmen when under stress, I mean it more figuratively: don’t suffer in silence. Tell your friends, your pastor or rabbi or other religious counselor, your therapist, or other trusted advisor. Talking about it, even just admitting “I feel stress” is the first step to taking control and reducing the stress in your life.

6. Understand bravery. Being brave isn’t lack of fear. Being brave is doing something even when you’re afraid. Sometimes, the things that are causing the most stress are within our power to change, we’re just afraid to. Practice bravery in the small things so that when big things come up, you have the skills polished and know what to do.

7. Trust yourself. Your own inner guidance, that moral compass inside you, is your best and truest friend. Learn to listen to yourself, so that when you need it, you’re there to advise you.

8. Exercise. Endorphins that are released when you exercise lower stress. It can also boost your ability to handle new stress, so it’s kind of a perpetual-motion machine of goodness that can beat back that stress. Just do it!

9. Eat well. Medicating ourselves with too much sugar or fat is a common response to stress. Be aware of this impulse and make good decisions about food. If you need to get yourself into a program like Weight Watchers or Overeaters Anonymous if food is your drug of choice.

10. Remember, or learn, the Serenity Prayer: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Simple, powerful, liberating.

11. Learn what you can control in a situation. There are always options. When you can hone your ability to see those options, you empower yourself. You may not like the options, but having them can give you, well, options. When you can make decisions, you exercise control. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle.

12. Go easy on the drugs. Understand the effects of your drugs of choice: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, or others. Know that putting them in your system has consequences, and that when we’re stressed, it’s natural to want to self-medicate. The problem is that doing so can cloud our ability to effectively deal with the stress that caused the urge in the first place, which is why it’s difficult to stop. If you need help doing so, see a therapist or cessation group and get information and support.

13. Massage. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: massage works. It works with the body’s natural healing processes and boosts your ability to manage the stress you’ve already developed as well as prevent further stress from having adverse effects. If you haven’t tried it, make a resolution to find a good massage therapist. Highly worth the money and time you invest.

Above all, remember: you are the architect of your life. If there are things happening on a regular basis in your daily round that you don’t like, you have the power and authority to change them. Be open to the abundance in the universe and trust yourself. You can do it!

So. … This is my list. It has no introduction, on account of I can’t think of one. Suffice it to say, if you’re a manager, and you want to motivate your team members or build trust, don’t do these things:

1. Yell a lot.

2. Don’t apologize.

3. Yell some more.

4. Look confused when confronted about your mood and why you’ve been yelling.

5. Tell the person that confronted you about your mood and why you’ve been yelling that they obviously don’t know what their effect is on others.

6. Yell at your team members about stuff they do outside of work, that has no bearing on work, and when they don’t bring it in to work.

7. Look surprised when they tell you it’s none of your business what they do outside of work. They’re your employees, right??

8. When you do get an inkling you might have gone a teensy bit overboard, apologize and act contrite to everyone EXCEPT the team members you yelled at.

9. Yell some more.

10. Blame your yelling on your own stress and tell people that if they find your yelling stressful, they should consider themselves lucky that’s all the stress they have in their lives.

11. Don’t apologize.

12. Yell about how you’re the boss, because obviously your employees have failed to realize that you are the boss.

13. Pass off 1-12 as “clearing the air.”

There are many good management books out there. Some are even in English. They’re available for free, even, at libraries. Public ones. That are nearby. Even walking distance of some places.

Isn’t society advanced?

Thirteen Words:

This is what you do when you\’re pressed for time, haven\’t done a TT in ages, and need to do a TT cuz yer friends are startin\’ ta eye yer blog with a dust rag in their hands…

1. Prevaricate
2. Bonk
3. Abscess
4. Obstreperous
5. Fiddle
6. Loquacious
7. Moody
8. Defenestrate
9. Transit
10. Vector
11. Cetacean
12. Nitwit
13. Catalepsy

There!

~faints~

Some of you already know, I have some significant knee problems. In the course of dealing with them, before surgery and after, I’ve had to learn a number of new exercises and habits to keep my knees healthy. They help my ankles too, which is also important because of old sports injuries.

I got to thinking, I’m not the only one with some knee challenges, so I figured I’d share my exercises. Use them in good knee health!

1. Walk, don’t run. If you have osteo-arthritis, walking is a lot better for you as an exercise. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever run, despite what several doctors have said to me, but it does mean you’ll have more work to do if it’s something you want. In the meantime, walk. A lot.

2. Get good shoes. Srsly. I have completely had a revolution in thinking about shoes since my surgery. I spent way too much money and time on my knees to ruin them with crappy – but cute – shoes. Get good shoes, people. New Balance and Nike are my favorite; DSW is a good place to bargain hunt. But initially, I cannot overstress the value of going to a real, live shoe store. One of the best is Waxberg’s.

3. Stretch the hamstrings. Those are the big muscles on the back of the thigh, under your butt. Particularly if you have a sedentary job, like I do, these muscles get very tight and painful. First stretch: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, facing a chair or bench. Set one heel on the bench, and if you need to for balance, hold onto something or use the wall as a support. Bending forward carefully from the hips, bend until you feel a stretch in the back of your leg. Hold for thirty seconds, then do the other leg.

4. Second stretch: Stand perpendicular to the chair, feet shoulder-width apart. Put the heel of the leg closest to the chair on the chair. Lean toward the chair with the hips, feeling a stretch inside your legs. Hold for thirty seconds and then do the other leg.

5. Third stretch: Stand facing the chair, feet shoulder-width apart. Set one heel on the chair and turn the hips in toward that leg. So, if your right leg is up, turn with your hips to the right. You will probably feel a stretch without even leaning over; hold for thirty seconds.

6. Stretch the thigh by lifting your foot and holding it with the hand – right foot, right hand; left foot, left hand. Push your hips forward and pull your stomach in. You will probably feel a stretch just with that; if not, pull on the foot a bit to tighten. Hold for thirty seconds.

7. Cross one leg over the other. Lean away from the uncrossed leg. To put it another way: cross your right leg in front of the left, and then lean to the left with your hips. You will feel the stretch down the outside of your left leg. Hold for thirty seconds. Then do the other side.

8. Practice squats – very carefully! Stand, feet shoulder-width apart. Without allowing your knee to bend over your foot, squat down – only as much as it takes to feel it; even if it’s only a little. Over time, you can increase this. Then come back up. Do this 12 times, each side, then rest. After a week, increase to two sets; third week, three sets.

9. Side squats: starting in the same position as for #8, step out to the side and squat on that leg, then come back up. Be very careful to not allow the point of the knee to extend past the toes on either side.

10. Back squats: starting in the same position as for #8 and #9, step back and squat on that leg, then come back up.

11. Ball squats: these are done with a ball behind the back. (A small volleyball-sized one is fine, if you have it; otherwise, you can use an exercise ball.) Stand about a foot and a half in front of a wall, and put the ball at your lower back. Back up until you can hold the ball against the wall with your body. Then spread your feet about twice shoulder width. Pushing back against the ball, squat down no farther than ninety degrees, then push back up. Do this twelve times as a set; same incremental increase as for #8.

12. The Roller. I hate this one, but I really, really helps. Using a foam roller, roll along your IT band (the fascia that extends along the outside of the leg from the knee to the hips) up to ten times, back and forth. (If you’ve never done it before, you may only be able to do this once or twice at first, and it hurts a LOT.) Persevere. This is one of the single best things you can do for chronic knee pain; you will hate and love the roller thingie.
Here\’s a good You Tube.

13. Good massage. If you can find a massage therapist that knows myofacial release, HIRE THEM. They will do tremendous things for managing knee pain and helping you to get better. Good therapists will also be able to suggest other exercises to help you.

Good luck. Chronic pain is no fun, and managing it – improving it – and moving past it are a long-term investment. It’s worth it. Hang in there.

So, I got some grumpy news from a friend this week. Rather than expose it to the world of the internet, which could give it legs I don’t intend, I figured I’d vent in a general fashion. It’s been a tough couple weeks, and I’ve been kind of off my game.

On the other hand, staying off my game seems silly. So the second half of my list is stuff I’m grateful for. In fact, since half of 13 is 6.5, the greater part of my list (7) will be grateful stuff. That way, I can vent and then focus on the happy.

1. When people say stuff and then don’t follow through. This is sometimes annoying, sometimes unprofessional, but can be hurtful.

2. Lack of communication. If you do something that doesn’t include someone it should have, don’t let them find out through Facebook. That’s like finding out at recess.

3. Broken fingernails that break off beneath the quick. Ow.

4. When my dog poops on my carpet. GAH!

5. When the alarm clock goes off in the morning.

6. When I can’t find my hammer to kill the alarm clock with. GRR!

And what am I grateful for?

7. My family.

8. My friends.

9. My pets.

10. My writing community. Y’all are awesome, d00ds!

11. Airplanes. Srsly. I get to go visit mah peeps later this month by plane. I’m very excited!!

12. The telephone. The friends who can’t come are going to call in later this month. I’m so excited!

13. Forum software. It lets me stay in communication with people all over the globe, and maintain friendships that otherwise wouldn’t happen.

Thank you!

Happy TT!

The Evanston Writers Workshop holds Prompt Group sessions every second and fourth Wednesday at the Barnes and Noble in Evanston. While you could certainly join us, I figured I’d feature a mini-session for today’s Thursday 13: thirteen writing prompts to prime the pump and get you moving. If you decide to try one or two (or all!), please link to the result in the comments so I can come visit and see!

1. You are a middle-aged woman, dressed in black, walking in New York’s Central Park at six o’clock in the evening on a Sunday. Who are you, and what are you doing?

2. Go to your bathroom and find something scented: soap, bubble bath, cologne or perfume. Take it back to your desk or wherever you write. Close your eyes and inhale the scent. Then write.

3. Try a picture prompt. You can go to Google Images and look up random things, or use this one as a starter:

4. Try using prompt cards: take 6 settings, 6 plot ideas, and 6 characters, shuffle each set and pick one of each. Then write about the combination.

5. Setting: desert. Plot: betrayal. Character: Charlotte, 33, hairdresser.

6. Go to Pandora dot com and enter the name of a band you don’t often listen to, but that a character might. Listen to the resulting station and write a story with your character.

7. Open a book at random, and pick the first sentence on the left page. Write that sentence on your paper or type it into your word processor and write for 500 words.

8. “Martin never thought he’d see the day when…” and keep going.

9. Take a short story or flash that you’ve written and rewrite it, from the perspective of another character or with a different type of ‘feel.’ Example: if it’s a romance, write it as a spy story; if it has a happy ending, change it to a murder.

10. Rewrite a story from the Bible. Old Testament ones are interesting: try the story of Ruth or maybe the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah.

11. Rewrite a modern story that you like (this one is tricky, because it can be plagiarism if you mimic word for word, but I’m speaking more of using something as a model and creating your own story from it). Example: Star Wars is about a young man, coming of age, on a hero’s journey. For your story, set that same saga somewhere else, like a young police officer in modern-day New York…

12. Tell a story from the point of view of your pet. Make it serious, not a parody. Make the setting without humans.

13. Write a story without a sense: sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, something. Don’t use that sense at all in description. Bonus points if you eliminate one that you use all the time: if your characters are usually very visual, then eliminate that and describe everything by sound and touch.

~Happy TT!~

With all the doom and gloom repeatedly in the news through all media channels, it’s easy to forget that it’s good to just be alive. It’s even better when we can muster some excitement to be here. In honor of this sentiment, I would like to share thirteen things I’m excited about this summer. Enjoy!

1. I’m learning to weave! I’m attending the Chicago Weaving School and wrote about it last week – with pictures. More pictures will go up after tonight’s class, where I learn to put the weft on and actually weave some fabric. Yahoo!

2. I put in a garden! We have lots of new plants to play with, even some flowers. I also, it appears, have a very industrious squirrel who is soon to be a dog toy.

3. My dog is getting better at behaving when on a walk. We might even get to have some guests over!

4. I have a house guest coming next month for almost a whole week! I can’t wait! Rachel’s visiting the first week of July and we’re going to paint the town red and even visit Madison, the setting for our first serial novel, New World Order.

5. I’ve started back up with Skep, Old Tools For the Present. It’s a blog that I write with my friend and circle partner, Dorothy.

6. I’ve also re-started Eclectica, which used to be a print newsletter. It’s now on the web in blog form, and actually has been since 2008. But I recently re-started it and am blogging about chocolate, gardening, and some other cool things.

7. My writing group is going very well. We are planning our next events, including an Artist’s Way workshop that starts this Sunday and a retreat in August.

8. I was invited back to Michigan to distill oregano again. We’ll be making hydrosol and essential oil. There are possible opportunities to go back and make lavender and lemon verbena, and I couldn’t be more excited.

9. Tunisian knitting class starts a week from Sunday. It’s only two Sundays, but I figure it will be a neat way to learn another way to knot yarn. Knit yarn. I meant knit.

10. Going to Starved Rock in August for our retreat with EWW. We’re working out details, but it should be really fun.

11. Going to Las Vegas in September for our annual writing retreat with a small group of writing friends. I’m excited, since we have a couple new people joining us. We’ll even check out Zion National Park. Can’t wait!

12. Submitted a novel to a publisher a couple weeks ago, so I’ll hear, one way or the other, this summer. Either way, it’s exciting to take the next step in being a New York Times bestselling author.

13. I’m re-doing a camera bag design I’m doing, and have a better design. I don’t know that I’m happy with a curl in this one, so I may make a third, but the design process is rewarding.

I’m so excited, I can’t stand myself! Must go clean something… (bonus points if you can tell me where that comment comes from… hint… it’s an animated movie…)

~Happy TT!~

In honor of joining a new gym, the Evanston Athletic Club, here are thirteen thoughts about the body and being in it.

1. Stress is a fact of life. It is dangerous, because it causes the body to secrete chemicals that are harmful to it, but that are helpful in the fight/flight response. This is necessary for survival; however, too much of it can create harm long term.

2. One of the ways to combat stress is to make an effort to get into the body. If you are great at this, you probably don’t need to read the rest of my post. But if you, like me, sorta suck at it, then read on.

3. Yoga is one of the ways I’ve found that helps me get into my body. I don’t have to “do” anything actively, which is counter-intuitive for an intense person like me, but as I follow the instructions of the teacher (in a group class), I find that I can unhook my mind’s chatter and just do the poses.

4. Being in the body isn’t spectacular, or earth-shaking. It’s quiet. At the end of yoga class, for example, I don’t leap up filled with an epiphany or anything (or, at least, haven’t YET), but I feel calmer and more centered.

5. There is a difference between Grounding and Centering. Grounding is merging your energy with that of the earth and the world around us, and is an act of connection. Centering is pulling our attention and energy back into the physical center, what the Chinese call the Dantian.

6. We have a lot we can learn from the Chinese and Indian philosophies of the body.

7. Massage is another great tool for stress management and physical health. In particular, related to stress, the muscles and connective tissue form something called adhesions in the fascia. If you imagine the fascia as a strip of stretchy fabric or canvas, it wraps around the muscles. It should move smoothly across the muscles and not get stuck. In the process of exercising or being stressed, collagen deposits act like glue between this fascia and the muscle fibers and literally adhere them together. This is what accounts for the crunchy feeling when you run your knuckles along the big muscle of your thigh. Breaking them up can be a tad unpleasant, but will help you feel a LOT better and looser.

8. Trigger points suck. But if you find a good massage therapist that knows trigger point therapy, keep them!! (The therapist, not the trigger point.)

9. Swimming is good food. I find that floating on my back, using my legs to kick gently and my arms to guide myself along the lanes, helps my neck to relax. It takes a while, like sometimes thirty or forty minutes, but it really helps with stress and pain associated with computer work.

10. Chinese Baoding balls help prevent, or manage, carpal tunnel syndrome and other tendonitis associated with typing too much and knitting too much. They’re tricky to explain, but I did find a You Tube that might help. (As I watched it, I thought, I could do a You Tube – the Noonychannel!)

11. I actually HAVE a Noony channel. Not much is on it, just a video about Chuck the Sheep (no, it’s not salacious in any way and yes, it really is about a sheep), and a poor attempt at my first movie… with a twist… (Yes, video quality is awful, but a) it was my phone, and b) I don’t know anything about video production.)

12. The Noony channel has nothing to do with managing stress. Or being in the body.

13. I begin to see my problem. Attention span much?

~Happy TT!~

It\’s my birthday Saturday, and so I bought myself some new sewing patterns since Vogue Patterns is having a sale today and tomorrow. In the process of playing with the images, inspiring myself, I thought of my post for today.

1. Sewing, like any craft, has its share of work. Stuff one doesn’t necessarily like doing, or things that are necessary for the final product. These are part of the process.

2. You know how they say ‘enjoy the ride,’ like you’re supposed to enjoy the process of doing something and not really focus on the product?

Yeah, that’s really hard.

3. I sew slow.

4. #3 is okay, because #2 is true.

5. #1 is also true.

6. Even so, I love to look at patterns and imagine what I can do to design things. I like to design.

7. I’ve been a designer my whole life. It started in calligraphy, and branched out into needlepoint, music, writing, and knitting.

8. It’s not really a surprise that I’d like to sew; it’s tactile, it’s like sculpting with fabric, AND I get to wear what I design.

9. I’m scared of #8.

10. #1 is still true. And because of that, I’m reminded of another truth: the verb is “to sew,” not “to have no fear.”

11. Sometimes, I’d like to run over whoever came up with the idea of Zen. And flow. And process over product. And all that crap.

With a hummer.

12. It’s my birthday Saturday, and I’m excited about the patterns I just purchased.

13. COME TO MY WRITING CONFERENCE! (This is not a non-sequitur!)