Guest Blog: Odds and Ends

Okay, my friend sent me an odds and ends post on June 12th. It was very funny and referred to my posts from the week before - so you have to look back to those if you are wondering what she is referring to. The reason I did not post it then was because I had called her just the day or so before to give her some very important news - and she notes it in her text. BTW, she actually cried when I told her my news and I have rarely felt so loved and appreciated as I did at that moment. So here is her post - feel free to laugh out loud and then, I will explain.

Hello, All.

This is the "blog" from "YourHealthEducator's" non-healthy friend, with a few of my own end-of-week observations:

1) My mother informed me this afternoon that I had already told her "TWICE already" that my friend Dee was moving back to the area and that perhaps I had ingested too much sugar today. (no joke).

2) I did the "healthy100" questionnaire, with the following results:
Conservative life: 79
Expected life: 89
Potential life: 97

FYI: 2 great-grandmothers lived into their 90s; maternal grandmother was 91 when she died of a heart attack as result of being thrown from a car in an accident (which was NOT her fault); paternal grandmother will be 93 later this month; of maternal great aunts, one lived into 90s; one died at 101)

Additional FYI: On maternal side, women tend to lose their hair in their 80s. Great! I'll live to be 90 or 100, but I'll live the last 20 years of my life with no hair!!!

3) I took at least 4 years off my life today b/c I took everything out of my clothes closets, vacuumed them, then re-organized them. It was a traumatic afternoon. (What else can you do when it's 96 degrees, 80% humidity, and a big afternoon thunderstorm?) So I then made myself feel better by having half a bottle of sauvignon blanc and one summer squash, sliced and baked on a pizza stone with pepper, salt, and Parmesan cheese. Yep, that was my dinner. Oh, and I also had 2 of those little mini dark-choc, mint 3 Musketeer bite size bars. I keep them in the freezer. They are SO yummy when frozen, and you have to chew them really slowly.

4) I made myself run 3+ miles this a.m., b/c my friend Dee is moving back to NC, and I have to be ready to run 6 miles by mid-August.

5) The not funny news: Yesterday in WS, there was a fatal house fire. Sadly, the woman who died, a veteran, had COPD, was using an oxygen tank. The report said the fire was caused by the cigarette she was smoking.

And to end on a lighter note:

6) I am now less than 50 pages into Sookie's story, and I am addicted. Thank you very much!

7) As I sit at my desk, the wind is blowing this direction from Bowman Gray Stadium (remember that place?), and I can hear all the race cars going 'round and 'round and 'round. Saturday night sounds!

Have a good evening! (Um, sorry, I did NOT video myself: a) baking the squash from my garden, or b) cleaning out my closets.

Your Non-HealthEducator


Ah so - here it is everyone, the news I have been alluding to for several weeks. In truth, the information has been in my hands since April, but kept close to my chest as I kept creating new standards as to what constituted official. My family and three close friends only heard this within the last month. I must tell you, because almost down to a person the GUESS about my news was "pregnant or adopting a child." No, no not at all. The truth is that my passion is preventing disease, especially as related to obesity. I want to prevent the chronic disease epidemic in YOUR children and their children. I want to impact society so that your great grandchildren are not going to have hypertension and diabetes type two when they are 30 and 40.

So my dear friend who just gave us a laugh or two and is more healthy than she is letting on- is my running buddy, was my running buddy. She ran many miles with me while I studied for my MPH and joked to the professors at my graduation that she should get an honorary degree as she heard every single word of all my papers and projects. She is now going to get even more education, whether she wants it or not, because in August I will begin my studies as a full time student at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. I will be working on my doctorate in public health, and YES, I am going to make a difference....