You Gotta Have HEART

February 5 is Go Red for Women Day. This is a crucial day for us gals to raise awareness of the #1 killer of women: heart disease. Surprised? It's true. But it's also preventable with some easy steps on your part:

1. Get active. All you need is 30 minutes a day of physical activity - climbing stairs, walking around the block, chasing your kids. You don't have to run a marathon.
2. Eat better. More fruits and vegetables. Less fats and highly-processed foods. Start with small changes. You don't have to go vegan.
3. STOP SMOKING. There is no healthy level of smoking. Period.
4. Lose weight. See steps 1. and 2. There is no shortcut, no magic diet pill. Just do it.
5. Control cholesterol.
6. Manage blood pressure.
7. Reduce blood sugar.

You may need to see a doctor to get readings for 5., 6., and 7. Look into community resources - free blood pressure clinics are common, as are machines in pharmacies. Many cities with medical schools also have free or low cost visits with supervised medical students. Aren't you worth the time and money it takes? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and regardless of how many people don't have adequate health insurance (ahem, Congress!!), it's still a better idea to not get sick in the first place. Make yourself a priority.

February is Black History Month

"Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise." -Maya Angelou

"The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression." -W.E.B. Du Bois

Celebrate the history and herstory of your brothers and sisters this month!

Adventures in Eating

Since we started our CSA subscription, affectionately known as our "farm box," I've experienced new culinary revelations. Here are some.

• After receiving butternut squash at every delivery for the past three months, I am now officially DONE with this particular gourd. I love me some butternut - don't get me wrong - but after multiple rounds of soup, roasted with garlic, baked with stuffing, mashed, etc. - I'm tired of it! I have one more recipe to try - muffins. Then enough till next fall.
• I have eaten more mandarin oranges in the past several weeks than I have in my entire life up to this point. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
• Farm box carrots are waaaaaayyyy better than grocery store carrots.
• The apples are the perfect size. So are the potatoes.
• Turnips. The jury is still out.
• Greens. I have now tried collards, kale, bok choy, tatsoi, and chard. I'm developing a taste for them.
• Lettuce actually has a flavor.
• Garlic doesn't have to be bitter.
• Eggs from happy chickens. 'Nuff said.
• Fresh herbs are really easy to dry and taste much better than bottled ones.
• TH loves the fresh beets.
• I love leeks. Who knew?

For more information about CSAs, see here.

It's the Little Things

I'm realizing that my happiness at work is not just determined by the BIG THINGS - environment, coworkers, boss, duties - but also by the little things. The new semester started Monday and I am positive this will be a better semester than last. I am making an intentional effort to pursue the following little things:

• socialize more. I sometimes get so tied to my office that I forget how important it is to chat with my coworkers. A simple "good morning" and "how was your weekend" will not get in the way of our duties and will go a long way towards smoothing away the grumpies.
• close my office door. I spent so long in cubicles and reception desks that I often forget I have a door I can close. This small step can make a big difference in how I concentrate and maintain my sanity.
• listen to music at work. See previous post.
• take my breaks. While I will always stop to eat, I don't always get up and out of my office and away from my desk. Even a five-, ten-, or fifteen- minute walk helps reset my mental functioning and takes some of the tension out of my shoulders.

What little things would make a big difference in your day?

Deep knowledge

Do you know something about yourself so deeply that you keep forgetting it? I do. For me it's my love of music. My mom and dad tell me that as a baby, I responded to music early on. They tell me that one of the only things to soothe me was to have someone hold me and sing or hum to me. I made up songs, listened to music, made music, all through childhood. I play violin, sing, and I'm learning piano. Nothing makes me happier than singing along to the radio or my iPod or the song stuck in my head. TH and I met doing musical theater. I could go on.

What's interesting to me is how I know all this, yet each time I feel stressed, I don't automatically turn to music. But if I just listen to music, or spend time practicing an instrument, it's like a whole world opens up to me all over again. I feel the burdens fall from my shoulders. I feel renewed. And a good boogie to my favorite tune is enough to lift my mood for an evening.

What deep knowledge do you have to remind yourself of?