The Wedding 2

If you're fat and you know it drink green tea......

A while back I said that I would keep you updated on some of the healthy changes
I was going to make in my diet...
So far, I have done pretty good..
One of the changes was to change from Cow milk
over to Almond milk...
(For more on that click Here ... or Here )
Another change I have made is to drink green tea...

Now I know a lot of people LIKE green tea...
I can't profess to be one of them...
To me it just tastes like dirty socks...
HOWEVER...
that being said...
I am now drinking two cups a day...
no milk and no sugar...

In my research of green tea.. I found these possible benefits....

University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea
inhibits the growth of cancer cells...

other possible benefits

• rheumatoid arthritus
• high cholesterol levels
• cardiovascular disease
• infection
• preventing diabetes  
• cavity prevention
• immune boosting
• conception aid

Apparently this is due to the fact that it has high concentrations of polyphenols and flavenoids
Please click on the link if you would like to know what these are..
I haven't a clue... LOL!

What I DO know is that after I started drinking the stuff...
I started to lose weight!!!!
So far in a fairly short period of time,
I dropped ten pounds..
At the time, I didn't even know that green tea could help with that...
but I checked into it, because there hadn't been any other significant weight loss before that!
Wow.... so cool.

The health benefits at this point seem far more dramatic then the side affects..
which seem minimal...
The only thing to keep in mind, is that if you are pregnant,
it is probably better to stay away from it,
as it can effect the way your body uses folate
which is needed during pregnancy.
It also contains tannic acid, which when consumed in excess amounts can
increase the risks of miscarriage.
For that though, you would have to drink 8 or more cups a day...
For more info about green tea and pregnancy ... click here

It also has a reputation for helping with fertility...
A study done by the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California revealed that the chances of conceiving doubled for woman who daily drank more than one- half cup of green tea containing caffeine (American Journal of Public Health, 1998). Because this wasn't the case for the other tested caffeinated beverages, caffeine wasn't deemed the causing agent. Some credit was given to the possibility that the polyphenols and hypoxanthine, compounds found in tea, resulted in a greater number of viable embryos, and increased maturation and fertilizability of oocytes.


Green tea also has far less caffeine in it then coffee does...
there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea
compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee...
However, if you are going to add green tea to your diet,
it would be best to limit how much coffee you are drinking...


So far as I know there have been no documented cases of death by green tea...
so drink to your health...
(and if you don't like it... plug your nose!  :)

Note of interest..
For those of you who really CAN'T stand the stuff,
and can't handle the taste
They do sell green tea capsules at the health food store..
(follow the directions...)

For more information on the health benefits of green tea... please click here

This just looks wrong.....LOL!

Santa Parade!

The Christmas season is here!  Once again we headed off to the annual Santa Parade....
However.....
This year was far colder then normal.. -25....
Good thing we brought blankets...
and extra clothes.
Not only was it colder, but the parade seemed much longer then normal as well...
My 18 year old...in typical teenage fashion
didn't have a coat. or gloves. or a hat.
My two year old...
in typical two year old fashion...
was refusing to wear her gloves...

Goosed by a Reindeer!

On Sat. we brought the kids to the Cathedral district

to go see Santa and his reindeer and visit a craft sale or two.....

We parked at Safeway, and I was taking Gracie out of her seat,

when I heard.. "Excuse me"...

I turned around and 

SCREAMED!

because...

This (reindeer) was standing directly behind me 

with Santa...

and his horns were...

Well...too close for comfort...

Funny thing is...

It must really be Santa, 

because we never saw him

in the parking lot, or when we got out of the car...LOL!

I should add... 

that the reindeer apparently was as scared as me..

because he decided to pee.

almost on top of my son...

and imagine my chagrin, 

when said toddlers decided it was good times to 

jump on the frozen reindeer pee...

Even worse.. the next day

Gracie found her own stuffed reindeer 

and informed daddy in a gleeful voice...

that it poop  ed.

(insert evil little girl giggles here....) 

sigh.

Bad blogger.....

WOW! I am seriously falling behind in the blogging department...

The busier I get with the photography thing.. the farther I am falling behind in everything else..

including my blog...LOL!

So... lets see.. Other then work, and home stuff.. what have I been up too...

Well...Gracie had her second birthday party....

It was late this year because we had some stuff going on in October 

and couldn't have it..

We took the kids to It's a Blast..

Pretty exspensive to rent a room for half an hour..let me tell you.

I don't know what was wrong with my brain...

but I was REALLY disorganised...

forgot the birthday candles..

forgot forks. 

forgot THE CAKE!

(lucky me, at least i had ordered it...so hubby went and picked it up)

Gracie had fun anyways, and was so impressed by the Spongebob cake

that she dropped all her presents and clapped her hands 

when daddy brought it in... 

They had fun... that's what counts right?

Not that her mom is missing her brain...LOL!

Last Sat. we had my hubby's work dinner...

It was in Balgonie, which is about 20 minutes outside of Regina...

or ... it would have been about 20 minutes out if it hadn't been so foggy...

I had to drive 70 kmp, and couldn't see anything in front of my face...

It was actually pretty scary.

However, it was dinner theater..

a play called "Lonestar Love Potion",

and the food was FREAKING amazing!

So Props to the cooks!  

It was the best Christmas party we have been too since we have 

lived in Regina.

Again... the drive back wasn't too much fun though... :/

The Villagers of Stiltsville

The Villagers of Stiltsville

Perhaps you don’t know,

then, maybe you do,

about Stiltsville, the village,

(so strange but so true)

where people like we,

some tiny, some tall,

with jobs and kids

and clocks on the wall

keep an eye on the time.

For each evening at six,

they meet in the square

for the purpose of sticks,

tall stilts upon which

Stiltsvillians can strut

and be lifted above

those down in a rut:

the less and the least,

the Tribe of Too Smalls,

the not cools and have-nots

who want to be tall

but can’t, becuase

in the giving of sticks

their name was not called.

They didn’t get picked.

Yet still they come

when the villagers gather;

they press to the front

to see if they matter

to the clique of the cool,

the court of the high clout,

that decides who is special

and declares with a shout,

“You’re classy!” “You’re pretty!”

“You’re clever!” or “Funny!”

And bequeath a prize,

not of medals or money,

not a freshly baked pie

or a house someone built,

but the oddest of gifts—-

a gift of some stilts.

Moving up in their mission,

going higher they aim.

“Elevate your position”

is the name of the game.

The higher-ups of Stiltsville

(you know if you’ve been there)

make the biggest to-do

of the sweetness of thin air.

They relish the chance

on their higher apparatus

to strut on their stilts,

the ultimate status.

For isn’t life best

when viewed from the top?

Unless you stumble

and suddenly are not

so sure of your footing.

You tilt and then sway.

“Look out bel-o-o-o-w!”

and you fall straightaway

into the Too Smalls,

hoi polloi of the earth.

You land on your pride—-

oh boy, how it hurts

when the chic police,

in the jilt of all jilts

don’t offer to help

but instead take your stilts.

“who made you king?”

you start to complain

but then notice the hour

and forget your refrain

It’s almost six!

No time for chatter.

It’s back to the crowd

to see if you matter.