its great to live where there is FALL.

I'm from California where the season changes are barely noticeable. I moved here permanently in October of 2003, but still can't get over how beautiful it is here in Lafayette. while out driviing this evening, the sun brightened the sky in the west briefly through a hole in the snow cloud cover, and it lit up a golden tree so that it was alm0st magical in the way it glowed. I was listening to Enya's "Listen to the rain" on my car CD player at the time, and the emotional experience was bordering on euphoria. It was a nice finish on a cold cloudy day which had been spiting little specks of snow and a tiny bit of rain from time to time. I even marveled at the sound of rustling leaves in my daughter's yard as I pulled up in her driveway and got out of the car. So many shades and kinds of leaves, have fallen or floated into her front yard. After dropping off some bread that I got her at Aunt Millie's outlet over by Unity Medical Center, using my marvelous senior discount, I visited with Emily and April, my terrific grandaughters, and held their little Chiuaua, Spike, who happily licked my cheeks, and I talked with my daughter and her husband and petted their cat, Gert. I just can hardly believe how fortunate I am, to have such a wonderful loving family. I only stayed a little while, gave the girls big hugs then went back out into the cold dreariness feeling all warm and happy inside. I didn't stop by to see my other daughter and her husband on the short drive home, because I was a little tired and hungary after going to the Silver Sneakers luncheon at Newtone gym, because it was just cheese, crackers, fruit and bottled water and I went swimming afterward, then did some shopping at 2 stores. By the way, if you are insured by Medicare, and you get the AARP medigap policy, the membership at Newtone is free! I met a nice lady there who is very fit, and she has been balancing her sodium and potassium all her adult life. She said she will support my new exercise program by going with me on Monday's and Thursdays to the water exercise classes in the evening. I was just lacking in motivation to get going again since the Left partial knee replacemnt I had mid-August. That was a real break to meet her there. I finished reading the biophysics part of the book I got at Sunspot after the lecture about balancing one's intake of sodium with potassium: "The High Blood Pressure Solution" Whoa! its profoundly important to avoid the intake of so much salt, that we just take for grated in all the processed food that we eat today along with the salty snacks we are so used to. It would take so much potassium rich foods to balance it all out that there wouldn't be time in a day to eat it all! I stopped eating salty food and stared eating potassium rich foods, and in just one week my blood pressure was 110/60 taken in the pulmonary doctor's office during my biannual appointment to be followed for asthma and sleep apnea. My blood pressure hasn't been that low since I was a child! This balancing act between sodim and potassium in every cell of our bodies is necessary to to keep the cells charged so that they can absorb just the right amount of Calcium, sugar, magnesium, insulin, and hormones. When its all in balance the way its supposed to be, there are wide ranging health benefits. I know, it sounds like just another diet fad, or some alternative medicine gimmick, but it is well supported with research. It just hasn't been publicised enough to be in the mainstream literature yet. Its hard to understand the literature that supports it unless you have medical training, but that was my forte in nursing school; I was a whiz kid at organic chemistry. You know, the Kreb's cycle and all that...that which happens in the mitochrondia ( the cell's energy generator, that takes substances removed from the blood derived from what we eat,and turns it into the products that support life: such as ATP~P~P, which contracts muscle cells when the P is split off.) See, its hard to understand, right? But, not enough potassium, and the cell energy is weakened. It can' t absorb enough sugar, so we get insulin resistance (metabolic syndrome), and gain weight or get Diabetes Mellitus. It causes constant contraction of the smooth muscle that constricts the blood vessles ( high blood pressure). It takes calcium out of the bones, (Osteoporosus), can lead to thickening of blood vessel walls over time which narrows the lumin (the tunnel through which blood flows), and lends to the cause of stroke, and heart attacks. It also leads to excessive LDL cholesterol, (the kind that clogs the arteries), also furthering the build up of plaque inside blood vessels and contributes to stroke and heart attack as well. Thats enough to scare me right out of eating potato chips, and popcorn at the movies, right there! Wow how exciting is that? Man, this is earth shaking research results. They actually outlawed the sale of salt or salty foods in Sweeden ( a socialist state can do that), and all these health problems subsided. These are not empty claims, its all medically valid. I don't know why Dr. Weil the integative medicine doctor hasn't gotten onto this and publicized it. I personally think I could design a weight loss diet that really works from the information in this book. But I have to finish up my Medifast products first and discuss it with my heart doctor. ( I also have a metal heart valve that I'm being followed for at the Lafayette heart Institute). That was a problem that resulted from a birth defect). Now, you may be wondering, at this point, how could anyone be so happy with all these health problems? Well its easy. I'm glad to be alive in spite of it all, and I can afford good medical care so the problems are all under control and so not very bothersome. Again, I feel so fortunate. Tomorrow will be another day of adventure at Sunspot. They say there is no free lunch...LOL bu7t they feed us a healthy lunch so we can try their products and don't charge a cent for that or the lecture, and it senio day so I get 20% off on anything I buy that day. (I always get the kettle corn popcorn ( less salt than movie popcorn so I can take my own, and the soy milk thats on sale there), and I might try something new introduced in the lecture and luncheon. The lecture tomorrow will be on integrative therapies. Some stuff I take with a rain of salt...(can be a little quacky at times), but its always good to learn about alternative, as opposed to mainstream medical stuff, because it pays to be well rounded in one's knowledge base as a nurse. Even though I'm retired, I try to stay informed. So, I hope my readers learned something useful from my report on that book, which I'd not have learned had I not heard it at Sunspot. Ta Ta For Now.

Sometimes I feel like I died and have gone to Heaven

I really don't think there is a heaven after life, because how could things be better than this? Since I've retired and all my time is my own, and I have everything I need, I just wonder why I forgot the event of my death, because if there ever were a heaven, this is it!

Sure, there are aches and pains that just seem to come with the territory, and my knee still hurts almost 3 months since I had surgery on it, but hey, its strong and holds my weight so that I won't fall when I go walking and theres pain medicine when I need it. I have a physiciatrist (thats a Doctor of physical medicine, not a shrink), who once gave me a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, but retested me later and said she was wrong. I think my osteoarthritis aches and pains were just more intense that particular day when she first tested me. My fat cells just put more inflamitory chemicals into my body from time to time. But I have empathy for those who do have fibro. Thank you for the book, Diane. I was able to see that I don't fit the fibro diagnosis.

Life is so beautiful, that I just don't notice discomfort as much as I guess I should. And I know I don't have enough fear, because when common sense says I should be, I'm just not afraid. endorphans shoot into my bloodstream everytime I see a beautiful red/gold tree in the fall and the Currier and Ives snowscapes here in the Lafayette winter, robins and bunnies in the spring and my hearty vegetables growing in summer.

There is more than enough to do. I don't miss the backbreaking work on the floor of an acute care hospital or any mean customer who wants nurse to be just as miserable as they are, LOL.
Thats all in my past and inconsequential now, and when there is too much to do, I can just decide not to do it, LOL. There are so many things to do, its hard to decide which ones to chose, but thanks to a fellow blogger here, I've chosen this Blog to do.

I think this is a little like journaling only its shared with others immediately. I think I have acquired some wisdom in my life to share with you, so it probably won't be too boring.

I take in the free lunch and lecture at Sunspot on senior Tuesdays, and heard a great talk last week on cell chemistry. Really! It was great. This research scientist: Richard Moore, who got his graduate education at Purdue University and is now living in Northern New Mexico, was only here for his annual physical, graciously accepted the invitation to speak for us. He is 89 and looks and acts like hes about 60 years young. I bought his book: "The High Blood Pressure Solution, A Scientifically Proven Program For Preventing Strokes and Heart Disease." He spoke on the role of sodium in the body's cells and the importance of getting the correct ratio of potassium to salt in your diet. He even went into the importance of other minerals such as magnesium and calcium and their significance in diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis. He has been researching for about 40 years and I think he is really on to something surprisingly great!

Since I am always on the trail of the cure for obesity, ( from my photo, you can see why), I was especially interested in its implications in his work. He hasn't been able to popularize his ideas, but I know in my bones that it will be a new wave leading to solutions of many of America's health problems in the future. The reason why fruit and vegetables are so good for us, for instance, is that the American diet is too full of salt. Vegetables and fruits have so much potassium that they are necessary to counter-balance all that sodium so that our cells can work properly to keep us healthy. Just a low salt diet isn't enough. You can't just take over the counter potassium to get enough, and you need a doctor to participate if you follow Dr. Moore's recommendtions. The book spells out everything you want to know about it. I think they still have some copies at Sunspot on the west side, on Sagamore across from the new Dog and Suds.

I haven't read and "digested" everything in the book yet, but next time I blog, I might have some personal integations from it as it relates to Metabolic syndrom, obesity, and osteoporois to share. I am so fortunate in enjoying the aquisition of knowledge that I can't resist sharing my learning adventures. I hope it gives you as much joy as it gives me. TTFN

MonkeyMiller