[Boo'sMom]

Shannon--there are lots of sites if you search "tornado safe rooms". Texas Tech has also created shelters that a lot of people in this area have. Here is the FEMA for kids link--there is a lot of good info.

http://www.fema.gov/kids/kidsafet.htm

Apparently there are all different sizes but it seems the standards for mph and flying debris are about the same. It can be overwhelming but when you live in tornado alley I guess you have to just bear up.

[Kimphin]

When I was 10, my dad was supposed to be transferred to Kansas - I was petrified because of the tornado's. Luckily for me he quit and opened his own place. I hope that the weather guys are wrong and it is not a bad tornado season for you, Lea Ann - at least I can worry less about you if you get one of those safe rooms.

[KrispieD]

Kim are there safe rooms you can build from the in laws.. and their 'marking' dogs??

[Kimphin]

Kristen - Entering the land of stabilization!!! The extra fats would confound me, too. The rest of it doesn't seem too bad, though.

Glad you are pulling out of your MIL-induced funk. I try not to let the crazy people win - I vent and let it go. I'm proud of you for staying strong and avoiding all of the old comfort foods.

[Kimphin]

LOL - Kristen - Yeah, they are called "hotel rooms in Jamaica".

Speaking of which - Katiebug is getting married today in Jamaica!!!!

[KrispieD]

Quick.. everyone go get your Mimosa cocktail..we promised her we'd have a toast!!!

[Mama Nicole]

Joni…….Jordan disappointed me a bit last night too…….she could have totally done better on that song…….but I still adore her. And LaTisha disappointed me also. I cannot wait to see what happens tonight. Also……..you have mentioned before that professionals have told you that you were dehydrated before. The water/sodium/potassium balance is pretty complicated. Knowing you, you have probably done a bit of research online about it……but I was just peeking, and holy cow……there is a lot to it. There are so many factors……like exercise. What did the nutritionist recommend? Because dehydrated, by definition means that your cells do not have enough water in them…….. dehydration (dē'hī-drā'shən) Pronunciation Key

1. The process of losing or removing water or moisture.
2. A condition caused by the excessive loss of water from the body, which causes a rise in blood sodium levels. Since dehydration is most often caused by excessive sweating, vomiting, or diarrhea, water loss is usually accompanied by a deficiency of electrolytes. If untreated, severe dehydration can lead to shock.

The sodium in your blood rises because it is more concentrated due to lack of water……and that compromises cell function, as the fluid inside of cells contain more potassium, and the fluid on the outside of cells contain more sodium. The sodium and potassium trade places as part of normal cell function; however, if the balance of sodium, water, and potassium are not optimal, cells do not function properly. Nothing inside of our bodies functions properly if cell homeostasis (electrolyte balance) is off. That is why the first thing they do for you if you are ill and admitted to the hospital is start an IV with 0.09% sodium. Dehydration prevents healing. Dehydration is not good. So, while I feel watching sodium intake is important……ensuring adequate potassium and reasonable water intake are just as important to overall health. Here is a little excerpt about potassium from my Nutrition book:

"Diets low in potassium seem to play an important role in the development of high blood pressure. Low potassium intakes raise blood pressure, whereas high potassium intakes appear to prevent and correct hypertension. Potassium-rich fruits and vegetables also appear to reduce the risk of stroke—more so than can be explained by the reduction in blood pressure alone.

Potassium deficiency is the most common electrolyte imbalance. It is more often caused by excessive losses than by deficient intakes. Conditions such as diabetic acidosis, dehydration, or prolonged vomiting or diarrhea can create a potassium deficiency, as can the regular use of certain drugs, including diuretics, steroids, and strong laxatives. For this reason, many physicians prescribe potassium supplements along wit these potassium-wasting drugs. One of the earliest symptoms of deficiency is muscle weakness."

My rule of thumb has always been, everything in moderation. So, while it is of great health value to keep sodium low, potassium high, and take in a lot of water…….you need to do so in moderation. Low sodium does not equal NO sodium. Extremes rarely pay off in the long run. I am almost thinking that if you can up your potassium rich foods, that might help you more than anything.

Anyway…….I am wondering if you should have your doc run some blood tests on you to make sure your electrolyte balance is ok. That would be the only scientific way to check for dehydration that I now of. I am probably over worrying, but you know, that is what I do.

Ohhh, hooray……Emmasmom has a beautiful name…….I love the name Beth. I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I have a daughter named Bethany. I would think that the slimdowns are perfectly “safe” while b/f, however, they may not have enough calories in them. If you are going to use them, you might want to supplement them with a string cheese or a fruit or something. Nursing moms need more calories than pregnant moms……….and you don’t want to compromise your milk supply. When I was younger, I was under the impression that our bodies would nourish breast milk before itself……….and then I found out otherwise……….that the quality of the breastmilk is almost always adequate, but the quantity is what can suffer. So, when you are asking about certain foods, always keep in mind your total daily calorie consumption……..and fitday is a great site to check your calorie intake. Oops, that is probably more than you bargained for…….but I am a huge breast feeding advocate……..and sometimes I get carried away.

Oh, Angie……..that’s a big topic……I will have to think that over, right now my brain is kind of tired after thinking about salt and breast milk so much.

Hi Lea Ann!!!!

Hi Kim!!!

Hi Kristen…..sorry life gets icky sometimes. We understand. Thanks for the info on stabilization. Ok, did you do facebook or myspace?

Tina……love the new avatar.

Kim, just read the MIL safe room tip…………priceless!!!

Ok, boys are going nutty on me now…….have to go be a mom for a bit……I will check back later.
XOXO

[emmysmom]

To Katiebug...

[Dan2112]

Hi all..

well, I finally made my birthday goal.. Just barely...

Regarding disaster emergency kits.. Don't forget when preparing an evacuation kit to include important financial and insurance documents as well as a supply of any medication you or a family member may need. So many times, when we have to evacuate homes due to fire, people forget their meds and that causes ALL kinds of problems...

[Mama Nicole]

Hey, where is Katiebug? Getting ready for the wedding? She didn't leave already, did she?

[MTdebster921]

Libby- Did you guys get snow dumped on you? MIL is in COS city limits and had rain/sun. SIL lives 20 miles NE of COS and had white out conditions and went in the ditch. My parents live about 10 miles east of COS and got rain/hail and a freind of mine lives outside of wildhorse where the tornado hit. Everybody is safe and sound though, thank goodness! How crazy!!

Angie- DH and I have talked about being disaster prepared, but he is one that gets over obsessive about the whole thing. He would be one to build a bomb bunker and have 30 years worth of supplies to live off of. We do have a big container downstairs with MRE's, canned dog food, first aid kit, flashlight, radio. No water though, I keep forgetting that part. So we're kind of prepared.

Lea Ann & Shannon- I read about the tornadoes in Texas yesterday. Stay safe!!

Joni- Our "kids" love to go for car rides too. They always hope that it will end up at the pond so they can go swimming or the drive through at the bank cuz they get biscuits. Our middle guy thinks he is a cow dog. He must think that the cows are playmates or something, but from the time he gets in the truck he is 100% focused on looking for cows, when he sees some, he will race to that side of the truck they are on, stick his nose out the window to smell them, (we have an extended cab, thank goodness) if they are close to the side of the road, he will start whining and jump up and down like he wants to play with them. It is pretty comical for a while, then it just gets annoying. Anybody that has never seen him do it is usually rolling on the floor laughing at him. You even just say "cows" while he is in the truck and he goes on alert.
Oh, and if you can get $10 a book, I'll be happy . I would like a little sporty car this time around. DH can keep the truck. I'll cut you in for a percentage. Man, if would have been charging, I would have enough for a down payment already, DANG!!

Tina- Love the new avatar!!

Kristen- Welcome to the official land of maintenance. You rock Girl!! Here are some veggies to help you celebrate!!

Katiebug and new DH- Here's to you and a wonderful long happy life together!!!

On the LA side of life, I am done with TO #3 of my 8 week challenge. I think that when I go into challenge mode I set myself up to fail. I guess I am just not competitive enough, DH will argue with me there. So I am challenging myself to do no more challenges. Anyway, I have been hovering around the same for a couple of weeks, nobody's fault but my own.
I got a good pedometer and have been logging my walking. Sunday I did 10,380, Mon. was 20,076 and yesterday was 12,999. It also does areobic steps,minutes of areobic, miles, calories and fat grams burned. It's pretty cool.

[smjezzy]

I hear ya on the sleep.

Who was it talking about the inlaws dogs earlier? Well try this one on for size.

My mother had a doctor's appt today here in Austin so she drove down last night from Waco. No, she couldn't leave the dog home for ONE FLIPPIN NIGHT. The first thing he does is pull out of his collar/leash that she had very lose on him and TAKES OFF DOWN THE ROAD. Please picture a 200+ lb woman and a 65 year old woman staring at each other wondering who's gonna take off chasing him. Mmmm not me. He eventually tires of the chase(slow walk with lots of screaming) and storms into my house hoping to catch my 3 dogs unattended so he can attack them. HA FOOLED YA, THEY'RE OUTSIDE. I needed to put him in the back yard to go potty (like he didn't water everything within a 5 mile radius already) so I open the back door and reach down to get the one un-fixed male(Bernie) he always fights with to put up. The other 2 run in and I immediately hear growling and barking and utter mayhem. I run back after putting bernie in the laundry room to find my mother holding the demon seed and my morbidly obese mini-dachshund (Winkie) behind her on the couch. I grab him and almost get him to the bathroom when he slips from my grasp and falls to the ground (please see the morbidly obese comment earlier). I didn't think much about it and closed the door to hear my other dog barking and growling(Prissy - lovingly referred to as PMSy). I get back to the living room, winded and pissed, snatched her up and put her in the chair with me.

Soooooooo now with no animals to attack life should calm down right? Sure, uh huh. He dashes to the water bowl and inhales the entire bowl of water then starts running thru my living room throwing it all up. Oh yeah, frothy dog spit EVERYWHERE. Life is good. I toss him outside and get settled into my chair when my mother says "I need to go to Walmart, let's go".

Alrighty then. We go on our little trip, the dog had to go with us of course, and when we got back my son was home thankfully. He lets Winkie out (the morbidly obese one) to go potty and I notice he's limping terribly. Great. The fall obviously hurt something. Mister (Satan) has been locked in a cage so that all my flock can get out and go potty and roam for a minute. We're sitting there and my son says "Mister just pee'd". I looked at him like he was crazy and said how can you possibly know that, he responds I heard him. Now that's some powerful pee'in I must say. He goes into the kitchen and sure as shootin the d*&^ dog has pee'd all over my kitchen cabinet. Now remember he's locked in a cage in the middle of the room. He power sprayed my cabinets from across the room.

OK bleach everything down, mop the floor, 2 am finally to bed. I found out last night that Bernie is afraid of storms. One came rumbling thru and he sat straight up, started shivering and staring at the window. Who needs a magic fingers bed, my whole bed was shaking from this little dog and his shivers. He finally calmed down when the storm passed (a couple hours later). There's actually more to this saga but quite frankly my fingers are tired....

Morning comes I go into the kitchen and there's a lake of pee surrounding the cage that Mister slept in. He goes out to go potty, comes in, again mad dash to the water bowl, let the vomit all over the floor and the cycle begins again. She finally says ok Mister let's go you're just not welcome here. If looks could kill she'd be a goner. If there's a next time the dog will be kennel'd. If she doesn't leave him in Waco my son can take him to our vet.

So I'm running on 1 hour sleep. No time to fix lunch and I'm trying to determine what to do for lunch today and stay on plan. I think we're going to try to hit lubys. I really want fish but everywhere I know of it's fried. I had too many starches last night and I know that was just shove something in your mouth or you're gonna start cussing.

Today will be a better day!

Oh I just got a call. Her dr appt is over and she's back home. She will be back on Monday. I'm jumping off my desk now.......................

[kicker_RN]

I just got back from WI- down 3 lbs!!!
At curves the other day they had a sign reminding people to drink half their body weight in ounces of water. I did that the last 2 days and I think it really helped.
Dan- The other night my DH and DS and I were playing poker and my DH said we needed something to be the button. So he grabbed the container of lite salt - I started laughing and said that Dan the sodium police would have a laugh over that. Then I had to explain who Dan the sodium police was.
Congrats to Katiebug
Kristen welcome to stabilization!!!!
Hope everyone has a POP day- I am off to Curves.

[Mama Nicole]

oh, i also found this interesting, although I do not know how creditable it is, as I didn't take time to check out the sources....
http://healthletter.tufts.edu:80/iss...uidelines.html
And DUH.......I just realized that Katiebug is getting married TODAY. Sorry Katie......and congrats!!!!

[smjezzy]

Originally Posted by Dan2112

Hi all..

well, I finally made my birthday goal.. Just barely...

Regarding disaster emergency kits.. Don't forget when preparing an evacuation kit to include important financial and insurance documents as well as a supply of any medication you or a family member may need. So many times, when we have to evacuate homes due to fire, people forget their meds and that causes ALL kinds of problems...

WTG DAN!!! WOOHOOO!!!