Things we take for granted...

Oh wow. It has been a long time since I blogged. So long that I found this post in my drafts from back in April and I decided to post it even though it has been so long. I'm going to try and post something more regularly. Oh and today isn't April 13th. It's October 30th.

I've started an experiment lately. One of my coworkers, Natasha and I decided to try giving up chocolate for two weeks. Why you might ask? Not because we're on a diet, or because we're trying to eat healthy (well we are, but that's an aside). We're doing it just to see if we can do it. Today is day 8, and I can say we are 100% chocolate free. 6 days to go! But of course the whole point is after the two weeks not to binge on chocolate but to control the intake, because now we know we can live without it and choose alternatives. As an aside, we've also given up chips and fries for two weeks, but that's much easier to give up since we don't have those as often anyways.

Mind you, giving up chocolate isn't easy. Especially when there is temptation everywhere. Especially in the form of people. People have been tempting us left, right and center. It doesn't help either that its a big commerical chocolate time for Easter and that it's everywhere. It doesn't help when people have been saying that brownies with chocolate icing would be so good right about now. It doesn't help that my boss gave everyone chocolate bunnies. So I have this big, gourmet chocolate bunny sitting on my desk staring at me. Natasha and I initially decided that should we break and have chocolate we'd have to put $1 in a jar each time. one of our supervisors suggesed something much bigger. She suggested that we put in $20 each time, and with whatever is collected at the end we to treat everyone at work to something. It's meant to act as a deterrent, and has it ever worked so far! The grand total is $0!

What I have learned in this process: it's not much the craving of chocolate, it's the convenience of it. Since it's all around us, it's almost intuitive to pick it up and just have it. It's easy and convenient. The trick is in finding alternative snacks. Of course, nothing hits the spot like chocolate but fruit is a close second. The whole point is to strengthen our self-control and see if we can go without. And as time goes on, it gets easier.

We did manage to get through the two weeks totally chocolate-free. And we didn't have a chocolate party afterwards either. But we don't crave chocolate as much anymore either, it's become more of an occasional thing now. Either way, the experiment worked. Way to go!

Politics in a Nutshell...

Hahaha...so true. Your thoughts?

Medicine 101

I'm too sick to blog. Blah. What have I learned in two weeks? My intuition of not trusting walk-in clinic doctors is right, they don't diangose you properly and give you antibiotics for no reason. And we all know what that leads to. Antibiotic resistance, so when you actually DO need antibiotics, they won't work. Here's a primer in medicine: DISCLAIMER- this is not meant to override any professional medical opinions!!! This is just me and my sickness talking.

- If you have a cold/flu, don't bother going to the doctor. It's viral and no medication of any sort will help. Unless you want a nasal spray to clear up your nose, that might help. The best thing: take an antihistamine. It'll clear up your nasal passages and dry out your runny nose. Well, it worked for me. Sort of. Just suck up the misery, it'll go away. The common cold lasts a few days and the flu lasts up to two weeks. Oh yeah, and wash your hands like crazy. Its the best way to avoid getting sick and spreading germs.

- Antibiotics are for bacterial infections. They are not cure-all miracle drugs. Be wary.

- Codeine is a good cough suppressant. (according to published literature) So pop those Tylenol 3's! (of course, under a doctor's supervision).

- No matter how much you dislike needles, get your flu shot. I'm learning that the hard way.

- And last but not least, the flu shot will NOT prevent the Avian flu.

'Tis the season to get sick, so good luck in your battle against whatever malady might befall you. I wish you all the best of health. I have a feeling some of you are going to need it.

Back to Blogging...

I'm sort of back! Only because my fans miss me so much. Hahaha its been exactly three months to the day that I haven't updated so now I'm doing something. But it's not really anything. It's just a "hi how are you" type of post. So please feel free to comment. I know the majority of the comments will be "you suck!" but it's still a comment. Let me know how you're doing. Me? I'm busy with work and work, most of you know that already. For those of you who didn't, well I am. And '24'. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the most awesomest show on TV right now. (Yes, awesomest is a word...well at least now it is) So yes, please drop by and leave a comment, I promise the next blog will be more current and less nonsensical, so stay tuned. =) In the meantime, cheers and enjoy!

Yikes...

Something I think we can almost ALL identify with:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-radiation.htm

P.S. This is a really good website www.howstuffworks.com There is a broad range of various topics, from how autos work to how money works to how health works, which of course- me the science nerd, went to first. Regardless, it's a very informative site and you'll find a lot of good and relevant information there. Like how cell phone radiation kills our tissue. But that's besides the point, right?

Re-living my Childhood

This past weekend I went to the Ontario Science Centre with some friends from work, their friends, and Iram came as well. I can't remember the last time I went to the Science Centre but it was definitely a long time ago. Don't you remember the thrills about visiting the Science Centre for school trips, which were fun yet educational? I've driven by the Science Centre countless times and Iram and I always said how we wanted to go. So needless to say, I was very excited when this plan was made.

For those of you who don't know, the Science Centre currently has a highly acclaimed exhibit going on right now called Body Worlds 2. The exhibit is basically displays of real human bodies that have been preserved by a process called plastination and in most of the bodies the skin has been removed so you can see the skeleton and the muscle structure of the bodies. The neat part about it is that the bodies are placed in interesting positions, such as "the thinker", "the soccer player", "the ballerina" etc. DISCLAIMER: Not for the queasy or faint of heart. Although I have to admit, I get squeamish very easily. But this time I was actually fascinated by the exhibit, probably because the bodies didn't actually look real, they looked well, fake. They even had the body of a horse and a camel.

There was also one part of the exhibit that was considered optional, because of its potentially disturbing nature. There was a body of a woman who had died during pregnancy, so you could see the baby inside her womb. Apparently she knew she was dying so she donated her body for use after her death. They also had embryos and fetuses at different stages and it almost showed the process of development of a baby. You could see that some people were visibly shaken by those displays. That part of the exhibit was sad though.

They also had displays of preserved organs. Some of the organs were diseased, which had cancer and you could see the tumours and metastases. Perhaps the most thought-provoking ones were the liver, destroyed by alcohol use and the lung, completely blackened and ravaged because of smoking. That was an actual physical display of the effects of such activities, where most people can't see what smoking and drinking can do do them, here it was actually shown. There was also a cross section of an obese person and so you could see the thickness of the subcutaneous fat as compared to a normal person. It was gross! it definitely made me want to eat healthier.

After we had seen the Body Worlds exhibit we had a little bit of time so we went to explore the Electricity exhibit. Remember the ball that you touch and your hair stands up? Well we found it! But the show was going to start later and we didn't have time to wait for it. So we took a quick look around and the exhibit was pretty much the same as I've always remembered it to be! We didn't have enough time to look around though, so one day we're going to go back and just spend the day roaming the exhibits. We had a lot of fun, and for anyone who wants to check out the Body Worlds exhibit, it runs till February 26, 2006 and for more details visit http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/calendar/bodyworlds2/default.asp

It's something I recommend you to see.

We never change, do we?

To you, the reader, I would like to apologize. I would like to apologize for the past, the present, and any future misgivings I will have towarads you.

Huh, what is she talking about? What does she mean? This will all make sense in a minute. But first, a word from our sponsors...

Just kidding. But really, I do apologize. I'm not sure I can pinpoint the exact cause of this, but lately I find myself becoming increasingly bitter. Do I sound like a nutcase yet? Yeah yeah, I know, "but you already are one!" Don't worry, I'm not in that whole "I hate life, I hate the world, I hate you" phase. I just find myself becoming annoyed with little things, and whereas before I would brush it off or likely just ignore it, I make it known that I'm annoyed. Not on a grand-scale screaming and kicking sort of way though. Rather, kind of a nonchalant, subtle sarcasm kind of response-basically you can tell I'm annoyed. Now some of you are going "ohhh, that's why she was like that!" Which is why I am apologizing.

For those who know me, you know I'm a relatively happy-go-lucky type of person. On the surface. (what, she has two personalities?!) I generally don't let things bother me, and I'm quick to forgive and forget in most cases . So this is why it's bothering me so much that I'm beginning to get like this. Maybe my tolerance for people it becoming lower seeing as to how I have to deal with all sorts of people at the pharmacy. I've noticed lately that people are becoming increasing rude, impatient, and generally ignorant. Sounds like I'm in the USA! (haha, just kidding) No really, sometimes at the pharmacy I feel like I have a "please be rude to me" sticker stuck on my forehead. Some people can be real jerks. Before when people would be rude about the wait time I would smile and tell them we'll try to do it faster. Now I'll "give them the option" of taking their prescription elsewhere. Maybe it's their negative vibe rubbing off on me.

Who doesn't go through hard times in life? If life were a piece of cake I don't think we'd have half the problems we have today! But anyways, I don't want to say that life is making me bitter. That's too cliche. Not even circumstances. I think its each individual event. I react differently than how I would react before.

So now what?
I don't know. I'll try to be nice, I swear! Just like before, I'll try to smile and take it all with a grain of salt. Because believe me, I hate being bitter, its not fun! I don't like hurting people or to see anyone hurt. I'm used to keeping my emotions bottled up deep inside, so that's where they will have to stay. Anyways, without this becoming too mushy gushy its important to remember that in times like this we turn to the One who has the power to change things for the better or for the worse, but its all part of the Master Plan. I'm a strong believer in everything happening for a reason, so for this too there must be a reason. But as everything else, I hope this is just temporary and this too, shall pass. Like I said in the meantime, don't mind me, I'll try to be nice and be the same goof you all know and love. (right?)

"We never change, do we? We never learned to leave,
so I wanna live in a wooden house, I wanna live life, always be true, I wanna
live life, and be good to you, I wanna fly, and never come down, and I live my
life, and have friends around"

-We Never Change, Coldplay