I've written a good ten or so posts in my head over the past few months. There are a lot of things that I have felt like sharing, but for some reason I can't get myself to sit down and put fingers to keyboard. It's amazing, the number of changes my life has seen in the past year and a half - graduated college, got married, changed jobs, started traveling for work, bought a house, moved, turned (eek!) thirty. I think in some ways I'm still in the throes of adjustment. All of these changes have been good ones, but I'm still figuring out the new rhythm of my life.
I've been blogging for five years. It's something I enjoy, and something I hope to continue. It'll be interesting to see what shape it takes as this new chapter of my life unfolds.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Green Day.
In 1994, I got Dookie on cassette for Christmas. I played it so much I nearly wore the tape out.
I love that fifteen years later, they still rock my socks off.
I love that fifteen years later, they still rock my socks off.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tapas!
Once or twice a year we throw a tapas party. Luis and I both enjoy Spanish cuisine, and there isn't any place in Missoula to get it. Every time we prepare tapas we try new dishes, along with traditional tapas menu items. This year we made more dishes than we ever have, and everything came out great. Here's what we served:
paella with chicken and chorizo
tuna tartlets (phyllo dough tart cups filled with a tomato slice, tuna, and topped with a dressing of white wine vinegar, olive oil and minced shallots)
chorizo in red wine
tortilla (Spanish tortilla is actually like an omelet - it's egg, potato and onion cooked into a huge slab, then sliced and served at room temperature. It's delicious!)
garbanzo beans with spinach (cooked with cumin, paprika, olive oil and white wine vinegar)
moorish skewers (though ironically, the recipe had us use pork...)
chicken and mushroom skewers (marinated in lemon juice, garlic and olive oil)
roasted almonds
olives
manchego, plus a new find - a delicious creamy sheep's cheese (can't remember the name)
patatas bravas (roasted potato wedges in a fiery red sauce)
chocolate covered almonds (Luis roasts all the almonds himself, then he dips some in semisweet chocolate and sprinkles them with coarse sea salt OMG good)
And of course, LOTS of sangria. I think we went through about 12 bottles of red wine? Mmmm...
It was a great evening. Once again, I forgot to take any photos.
(I was looking for online photos of some of the dishes we prepared, and this website has several of the items we made. Not the exact recipes we used, but they are quite similar.)
paella with chicken and chorizo
tuna tartlets (phyllo dough tart cups filled with a tomato slice, tuna, and topped with a dressing of white wine vinegar, olive oil and minced shallots)
chorizo in red wine
tortilla (Spanish tortilla is actually like an omelet - it's egg, potato and onion cooked into a huge slab, then sliced and served at room temperature. It's delicious!)
garbanzo beans with spinach (cooked with cumin, paprika, olive oil and white wine vinegar)
moorish skewers (though ironically, the recipe had us use pork...)
chicken and mushroom skewers (marinated in lemon juice, garlic and olive oil)
roasted almonds
olives
manchego, plus a new find - a delicious creamy sheep's cheese (can't remember the name)
patatas bravas (roasted potato wedges in a fiery red sauce)
chocolate covered almonds (Luis roasts all the almonds himself, then he dips some in semisweet chocolate and sprinkles them with coarse sea salt OMG good)
And of course, LOTS of sangria. I think we went through about 12 bottles of red wine? Mmmm...
It was a great evening. Once again, I forgot to take any photos.
(I was looking for online photos of some of the dishes we prepared, and this website has several of the items we made. Not the exact recipes we used, but they are quite similar.)
Monday, August 10, 2009
Infectious summer.
Summer in western Montana is short, at least by my midwestern standards. I think of summer as the sweltering, endless days and warm muggy nights of my youth. Summer here means gorgeous, long sunny days, but the heat isn't the same. The month of July generally provides the only truly sizzling temperatures of our summer - frenzied, jam-packed days of sunshine and hiking and rivers and cheap beer and good friends, trying to drink it all in before summer burns out. Somewhere around the first week of August the fever of summer breaks - the temperatures are still warm, but the sun feels weaker, as though it's winding down for the season. The crisp alpine air rolls in nightly, bringing with it faint smells of autumn, even while the calendar attests summer.
Once again the feverish summer days are drawing to a close, and fall is just around the corner.
Once again the feverish summer days are drawing to a close, and fall is just around the corner.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Two part time worlds.
My new job is in another town. As such, I took a little apartment there - it's almost an hour and a half drive each way, and there is no way I could manage that with twelve hour shifts. I enjoy the job and I love the town where I'm staying, but having two "homes" has cleaved my life into two separate worlds.
When I leave for work I am pretty much cut off from the world at large. I don't have internet or television at my other place. No need, really - after I get off work at six o'clock I usually go home, eat, drink a glass of wine, do some yoga, and then it's bedtime. I am reluctant to add distractions, because being a new nurse is already stressful - add that to the unique environment where I practice, and well, I need to be alert. I try to protect my sleep time so that I can function safely and also not burn out too quickly. I'm lucky that after a long day I get to come home to a cute little apartment with no responsibilities, and just relax. It's a nice way to work.
When I come home at the end of my work week (which is either three or four days... awesome) it's a little strange. It feels like my life at home chugs along without me, and I just get to pop in sometimes. I've only been doing this a few months, so I'm sure I'll get used to it, but for now the experience is surreal.
When I leave for work I am pretty much cut off from the world at large. I don't have internet or television at my other place. No need, really - after I get off work at six o'clock I usually go home, eat, drink a glass of wine, do some yoga, and then it's bedtime. I am reluctant to add distractions, because being a new nurse is already stressful - add that to the unique environment where I practice, and well, I need to be alert. I try to protect my sleep time so that I can function safely and also not burn out too quickly. I'm lucky that after a long day I get to come home to a cute little apartment with no responsibilities, and just relax. It's a nice way to work.
When I come home at the end of my work week (which is either three or four days... awesome) it's a little strange. It feels like my life at home chugs along without me, and I just get to pop in sometimes. I've only been doing this a few months, so I'm sure I'll get used to it, but for now the experience is surreal.
A new record...
...but not the kind I was striving for.
I went a whole month with no posts. There will be no "July 2009" in my blog archive sidebar.
Sad.
I love blogging, and I miss writing since being out of school. No assignments, no papers, no presentations. It's strange that I haven't been able to use this outlet to get my writing fix. :)
Hoping to get my groove back. I miss you, internets.
I went a whole month with no posts. There will be no "July 2009" in my blog archive sidebar.
Sad.
I love blogging, and I miss writing since being out of school. No assignments, no papers, no presentations. It's strange that I haven't been able to use this outlet to get my writing fix. :)
Hoping to get my groove back. I miss you, internets.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sleepy snuffle bear.
Over the past few years, I've had periodic bouts of sore throats and sneezing come on during the spring and early summer months. Each time I assumed that I was coming down with a cold, and began a regimen of zinc, vitamin C and extra rest. Each time, the symptoms subsided after a couple of days, and I heartily congratulated myself on the successful thwarting of another cold virus. It wasn't until last year when the symptoms showed up that I realized it was coinciding with with an increase in allergy sufferers' symptoms around town. I felt pretty dumb when it finally occurred to me that I have seasonal allergies (plus it took away my cold-related health victories), but at least I know how to treat it now.
Today is, hands down, the worst day of allergies I have ever experienced. I've been crazy sneezy, sniffly, watery-eyed and spacy. I don't feel bad, exactly, just useless. Blah. I spent the afternoon on the couch, mouth breathing and staring blankly at the television.
Just took a couple of benadryl - don't know how much it'll help relieve my symptoms, but I'll sleep like a baby.
Today is, hands down, the worst day of allergies I have ever experienced. I've been crazy sneezy, sniffly, watery-eyed and spacy. I don't feel bad, exactly, just useless. Blah. I spent the afternoon on the couch, mouth breathing and staring blankly at the television.
Just took a couple of benadryl - don't know how much it'll help relieve my symptoms, but I'll sleep like a baby.
Monday, June 22, 2009
My prescription.
Let me start first by saying that individuals should not stop or alter their medical treatment plans without first discussing it with their healthcare provider. Secondly, I am not against the use of pharmaceutical treatments - when used appropriately, they can be a useful tool in improving the health of an individual.
Now, with the disclaimers out of the way...
The other day I read an article on Yahoo news, which discusses recent research about sleep and the processing of emotions. It's an interesting read - if you have a few minutes you should check it out. But the basic gist of it is that current research suggests sleep is important in the process of emotional regulation. During sleep, the mind reviews and files away the events of the day, and in doing so it processes the emotional aspect of the experience as well. They also looked at the role of sleep and rest as it relates to an individual's ability to recognize social emotional cues. In this particular study, researchers provided some people with naps and kept some awake, and then all participants were asked to decipher facial expressions of people in pictures. The people with more rest (specifically those who had achieved REM sleep) were more readily able to recognize positive emotions, and those without the additional sleep were more sensitive to negative emotions.
Interesting, right? But maybe it shouldn't be news - maybe this should be common sense.
I have been dealing with depression since my mid-teens. In my early twenties I began antidepressant therapy, and it helped me immensely. I was able to get a leg up in life. Getting my depression under control was the first step in getting my life back under control. After seeking treatment for depression, I was able to remedy other problems in my life. I got out of an unhealthy relationship. I joined Weight Watchers and lost weight, and I became more physically active. I began to feel good about myself. As I became more attuned to the nuances of my physical and mental self, I began to recognize my triggers for feeling low. My mom (a wise woman, always with good sound advice), suggested that to stay healthy, I monitor three things: food, sleep, and exercise. I took that advice to heart, and it works amazingly well. I find that if I'm feeling gloomy or physically run-down, generally I'm falling short in one of those three areas. I took the antidepressants for about a year, and it was a tremendous help. However, I am now able to manage my emotional health by managing my physical health. (Though if I ever felt as though I needed more help, I would certainly see my doctor about getting back on medication.)
I share this personal information for several reasons. First, I believe that mental health is important to talk about. We need to get rid of the stigma around these issues and start talking. If we don't know, then we can't help. Second, my personal experience strongly colors my views on health and wellness. Third, body and mind are connected. Interconnected. In western medicine, for some strange reason we separate them into two different entities, though we should know better. Each is entirely dependent on the other, and each can affect the other.
Watch television for a few hours, and see what kind of ads you see for medications and treatments - you know, the "ask your doctor if the purple pill is right for you" kind of ads. I'd lay money that two of the most common issues you'll see are weight control and depression. I believe that this isn't a coincidence. I believe that these are symptoms of a bigger issue in America. Our lifestyles have become extremely sedentary, and so many of our food options are in high quantity and low nutritional quality. What we have gained in the name of convenience, we have lost in quality of life. Our bodies are built to retain excess calories taken in - our early ancstors used to burn every calorie they consumed just procuring their next meal. Our bodies are built for work - work we're no longer doing.
Losing weight is hard. In our culture, food is everywhere. In all cultures, food is used to celebrate, to connect with others. And overeating is a difficult addictive behavior to break, because unlike smoking or drinking or gambling, you can't quit eating altogether. You have to eat to live, so you must alter the behavior rather than extinguish it. But it can be done.
The reason I bring up weight management and depression in the same discussion is because there is a treatment that can help with both: Exercise. Research has shown repetedly that physical activity can alleviate symptoms of depression¹². And as we all know, the basic science for weight loss is to move more and eat less.
I am not saying that everyone on antidepressants should give up their medication and start jogging. There are great benefits from these drugs, and they help people. There are some people who are going to need pharmaceutical treatment, period, and there's nothing wrong with that. Let's compare it to another health issue, like high cholesterol. Everyone could take Lipitor and reduce their cholesterol. But we could also alter our diet and increase our physical activity and reduce our cholesterol that way. Some people, just because of their particular body and the way it works, will not be able to get their cholesterol down far enough with diet and exercise, and may still need to take the drug. But, even if they need to continue the drug therapy, they will benefit from the diet modification and increased activity. In my opinion, same could go with mild to moderate depression. Everyone with depression could treat it with medication and get results. If we add regular physical activity, some of those people could probably achieve good results without the meds. And some people, because of their body and the way it works, will need the medication even with the activity. But whether or not you wind up needing the medication, you will benefit from the exercise.
Whe I chose the above example, I didn't realize until I was typing it out that it is another health issue which can be modified with diet and exercise. What others are there?
blood pressure - improve by lowering body weight, decreasing salt and caffiene intake. (mayoclinic.com)
type II diabetes - manage by decreasing body weight, modifying diet to decrease volume of processed sugars, increasing activity. (interesting side note - exercise helps the body to improve its use of glucose (sugar/fuel). Insulin is a hormone that helps the body's cells to take in glucose, which is what they use for fuel. During physical activity, glucose is more easily taken up by the cells, which lowers levels of sugar in the blood. (diabetesjournals.org)
arthritis - regular, low impact physical activity has been shown to decrease pain and improve mobility in arthritis (uw orthopaedics and sports medicine)
stroke - exercise and healthy diet decrease risk
heart disease - exercise and healthy diet decrease risk
cancer - healthy diet and exercise can help decrease risk for some forms of cancer
All of this leads me to my own personal mantra for health:
Food, exercise, rest.
Food: eat foods that have nutritional value. Limit the intake of highly processed foods, high fat and high sugar items, and decrease the quantity of everything.
Exercise: get moving. Move every day. Get the heart rate up and the body sweating.
Rest: get enough sleep. Schedule it in, make it a priority.
I'll get down off my soapbox now. I know most of this isn't groundbreaking stuff, but I have to admit - it was for me. This changed my life. I'm happier, healthier, and stronger than I was. I hope my exceedingly long post may help someone - anyone, to take a hand in improving their own health.
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2192427
2. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/mh00043
Now, with the disclaimers out of the way...
The other day I read an article on Yahoo news, which discusses recent research about sleep and the processing of emotions. It's an interesting read - if you have a few minutes you should check it out. But the basic gist of it is that current research suggests sleep is important in the process of emotional regulation. During sleep, the mind reviews and files away the events of the day, and in doing so it processes the emotional aspect of the experience as well. They also looked at the role of sleep and rest as it relates to an individual's ability to recognize social emotional cues. In this particular study, researchers provided some people with naps and kept some awake, and then all participants were asked to decipher facial expressions of people in pictures. The people with more rest (specifically those who had achieved REM sleep) were more readily able to recognize positive emotions, and those without the additional sleep were more sensitive to negative emotions.
Interesting, right? But maybe it shouldn't be news - maybe this should be common sense.
I have been dealing with depression since my mid-teens. In my early twenties I began antidepressant therapy, and it helped me immensely. I was able to get a leg up in life. Getting my depression under control was the first step in getting my life back under control. After seeking treatment for depression, I was able to remedy other problems in my life. I got out of an unhealthy relationship. I joined Weight Watchers and lost weight, and I became more physically active. I began to feel good about myself. As I became more attuned to the nuances of my physical and mental self, I began to recognize my triggers for feeling low. My mom (a wise woman, always with good sound advice), suggested that to stay healthy, I monitor three things: food, sleep, and exercise. I took that advice to heart, and it works amazingly well. I find that if I'm feeling gloomy or physically run-down, generally I'm falling short in one of those three areas. I took the antidepressants for about a year, and it was a tremendous help. However, I am now able to manage my emotional health by managing my physical health. (Though if I ever felt as though I needed more help, I would certainly see my doctor about getting back on medication.)
I share this personal information for several reasons. First, I believe that mental health is important to talk about. We need to get rid of the stigma around these issues and start talking. If we don't know, then we can't help. Second, my personal experience strongly colors my views on health and wellness. Third, body and mind are connected. Interconnected. In western medicine, for some strange reason we separate them into two different entities, though we should know better. Each is entirely dependent on the other, and each can affect the other.
Watch television for a few hours, and see what kind of ads you see for medications and treatments - you know, the "ask your doctor if the purple pill is right for you" kind of ads. I'd lay money that two of the most common issues you'll see are weight control and depression. I believe that this isn't a coincidence. I believe that these are symptoms of a bigger issue in America. Our lifestyles have become extremely sedentary, and so many of our food options are in high quantity and low nutritional quality. What we have gained in the name of convenience, we have lost in quality of life. Our bodies are built to retain excess calories taken in - our early ancstors used to burn every calorie they consumed just procuring their next meal. Our bodies are built for work - work we're no longer doing.
Losing weight is hard. In our culture, food is everywhere. In all cultures, food is used to celebrate, to connect with others. And overeating is a difficult addictive behavior to break, because unlike smoking or drinking or gambling, you can't quit eating altogether. You have to eat to live, so you must alter the behavior rather than extinguish it. But it can be done.
The reason I bring up weight management and depression in the same discussion is because there is a treatment that can help with both: Exercise. Research has shown repetedly that physical activity can alleviate symptoms of depression¹². And as we all know, the basic science for weight loss is to move more and eat less.
I am not saying that everyone on antidepressants should give up their medication and start jogging. There are great benefits from these drugs, and they help people. There are some people who are going to need pharmaceutical treatment, period, and there's nothing wrong with that. Let's compare it to another health issue, like high cholesterol. Everyone could take Lipitor and reduce their cholesterol. But we could also alter our diet and increase our physical activity and reduce our cholesterol that way. Some people, just because of their particular body and the way it works, will not be able to get their cholesterol down far enough with diet and exercise, and may still need to take the drug. But, even if they need to continue the drug therapy, they will benefit from the diet modification and increased activity. In my opinion, same could go with mild to moderate depression. Everyone with depression could treat it with medication and get results. If we add regular physical activity, some of those people could probably achieve good results without the meds. And some people, because of their body and the way it works, will need the medication even with the activity. But whether or not you wind up needing the medication, you will benefit from the exercise.
Whe I chose the above example, I didn't realize until I was typing it out that it is another health issue which can be modified with diet and exercise. What others are there?
blood pressure - improve by lowering body weight, decreasing salt and caffiene intake. (mayoclinic.com)
type II diabetes - manage by decreasing body weight, modifying diet to decrease volume of processed sugars, increasing activity. (interesting side note - exercise helps the body to improve its use of glucose (sugar/fuel). Insulin is a hormone that helps the body's cells to take in glucose, which is what they use for fuel. During physical activity, glucose is more easily taken up by the cells, which lowers levels of sugar in the blood. (diabetesjournals.org)
arthritis - regular, low impact physical activity has been shown to decrease pain and improve mobility in arthritis (uw orthopaedics and sports medicine)
stroke - exercise and healthy diet decrease risk
heart disease - exercise and healthy diet decrease risk
cancer - healthy diet and exercise can help decrease risk for some forms of cancer
All of this leads me to my own personal mantra for health:
Food, exercise, rest.
Food: eat foods that have nutritional value. Limit the intake of highly processed foods, high fat and high sugar items, and decrease the quantity of everything.
Exercise: get moving. Move every day. Get the heart rate up and the body sweating.
Rest: get enough sleep. Schedule it in, make it a priority.
I'll get down off my soapbox now. I know most of this isn't groundbreaking stuff, but I have to admit - it was for me. This changed my life. I'm happier, healthier, and stronger than I was. I hope my exceedingly long post may help someone - anyone, to take a hand in improving their own health.
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2192427
2. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression-and-exercise/mh00043
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Why I'm going to prison.
Before that joke will get old to me (and it will about 1.5 days, I'm guessing), I thought I'd be the first to use it.
No, I didn't break any laws, nor was I wrongfully convicted of a crime. Tomorrow I will begin my new job as a corrections nurse.
Is this my dream job? The one I hoped my four and a half years of sweat and tears (lots and lots of tears) in nursing school would help me to land? Probably not. But it is a great learning opportunity, good pay, and a chance to do some good.
I've gotten interesting reactions from friends and acquaintances as they've heard about my new job. I'm amazed at the visceral reactions of some - the "how can you work with criminals?" and and that sort of thing. My answer is simple: they are human beings, and are in need of health care like everyone else. They have broken some law that we as a society established, and they are being punished by incarceration. Withholding food, water, medical treatment - that's torture. My role within the system is not a punitive one. Sure, there are some pretty bad people behind bars, but there are also regular people who just made stupid decisions. Statistically speaking, the poorer population of any society is the sicker population as well. The incarcerated population is overwhelmingly from the poorer socioeconomic class, and so it follows that many of the inmates are in worse health than the general population. This is an opportunity for me to learn from them, and hopefully to teach them as well (many of the people who make up this population have had no health teaching).
My plan is to do a little good, and learn a hell of a lot.
No, I didn't break any laws, nor was I wrongfully convicted of a crime. Tomorrow I will begin my new job as a corrections nurse.
Is this my dream job? The one I hoped my four and a half years of sweat and tears (lots and lots of tears) in nursing school would help me to land? Probably not. But it is a great learning opportunity, good pay, and a chance to do some good.
I've gotten interesting reactions from friends and acquaintances as they've heard about my new job. I'm amazed at the visceral reactions of some - the "how can you work with criminals?" and and that sort of thing. My answer is simple: they are human beings, and are in need of health care like everyone else. They have broken some law that we as a society established, and they are being punished by incarceration. Withholding food, water, medical treatment - that's torture. My role within the system is not a punitive one. Sure, there are some pretty bad people behind bars, but there are also regular people who just made stupid decisions. Statistically speaking, the poorer population of any society is the sicker population as well. The incarcerated population is overwhelmingly from the poorer socioeconomic class, and so it follows that many of the inmates are in worse health than the general population. This is an opportunity for me to learn from them, and hopefully to teach them as well (many of the people who make up this population have had no health teaching).
My plan is to do a little good, and learn a hell of a lot.
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