Besides being awesome and supporting unknown bloggers, they also do fun things such as giveaways to the faithful readers of said unknown blogs. It is another way of supporting this blog and rewarding the people who spend time here and I am incredibly grateful for their support. As such, I’d like to direct you back to their amazing home page and ask you to give them a whirl.

They are offering a great line of Skinceutical Advanced Brightening products, as well as all of the amazing skincare stuff you love. The Advanced Brightening products are particularly good for damaged skin, as they decrease the effects of that damage as well as protect your skin. If you aren’t using skincare, now is a good time to get started. I can tell the difference in my skin on the days that I use skincare versus the days I don’t. Soap and water isn’t enough, especially with the pollution we encounter daily in the air around us. I’m a fan of even toned skin, as mine tends to be blotchy, and this particular set helps even out the skin tone, as well.

My favorite product in the set is the sunscreen. I hate sunscreen. I hate the way it feels. I hate applying it. I hate having it on my face and stinging my eyes. I actually tried this brand a couple of years ago and it’s the only sunscreen I’ll use on my face because I can apply it with a makeup sponge and it feels like there is nothing there. Ok, enough gushing about the skincare. You want to know about the prize, right?

You don’t have the money to invest in skincare? This is where I come in and SkincareRx.com helps you out. We’re offering a giveaway for my readers! It is the largest prize I have ever offered and I’m thankful to them for sponsoring it. A gift card to SkincareRx.com is up for grabs in the amount of $150! This is NOT just for women. Men have skin, too, that needs protection. Even if you aren’t into your skin, I’m sure you know someone who is. Mother’s Day is coming up. What better gift than a $150 gift card to a great site? It’s pretty easy to enter, too. Here’s what you do:

As the sponsoring blog I will track and validate all entries. So when you post here that you posted or retweeted. I will check to see if you did. The winner MUST provide me with their full name, email address and a mailing address. Those are the rules. If you can’t do it, you can’t win.

How can you enter?

SkinCareRx Giveaway Entries

1) One entry for becoming a fan of SkincareRx on FaceBook
2) One entry for following SkincareRx on Twitter
3) 2 entries for retweeting any one of my tweets about this giveaway
4) 7 Entries for a blog post with a link directed to Skinceuticals Advanced Brightening System. This blog post must have a minimum of 100 words and use the words “SkinCeuticals Advanced Brightening System.”

That’s up to 11 entries! Post here when you have completed all of the entries you’d like to complete and I will keep track of them. The contest will run for 2 weeks and the winner will be posted March 22, 2010. Good luck everyone!

Congratulations, loopy, on your toothbrush and refill set win.

If you are ticked you didn’t win, and I get ticked about not winning freebies all the time, so you are in good company, please don’t stress it. I will have another giveaway very soon. If the toothbrush was the only thing you needed to complete your life’s work, sorry about that. My bad.

Thanks again for reading my blog. It means a lot to me.

Feedback is good, though. If you guys aren’t interested in the little giveaways, please let me know and I’ll stop doing them. I don’t want to waste your time reading them or irritating you with them if you aren’t interested. If you are, I’ll keep on with the freebies.

Today, I have what I think is a GREAT giveaway. For one lucky winner, I have an Oral-B Vitality Sonic Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush and 2 refills to help get you through the next 9 months of your oral toothbrushing needs.

I think it’s great because I bought one of these myself and had some stellar results with it. My teeth feel squeaky clean and haven’t looked this good in years. Best of all, the Sonic Vitality Toothbrush has a built in timer, so I’m not tempted to brush fast and run. Which I generally do all the time.

Interested? Awesome. Here is what you have to do to enter for this sweet little gadget:

Here’s how to enter and the types of chances you can take to win:

1) Leave a comment before August 21, 2009 at 5pm CST telling me who your biggest influence has been in your lifetime.

2) For more chances, leave feedback regarding this blog. It can be positive or constructive. You can leave up to 3 separate feedback comments.

3) You can tweet this giveway and/or link it on facebook and/or link to it on your own blog for extra chances to win! Make sure you leave individual comments so all of your entries count.

4) New blog followers/subscribers get one extra chance! Make sure you leave an individual comment letting me know how you are following/subscribing.

5) Loyal blog followers/subscribers (meaning you’ve been here for at least the last week) get three extra chances. Make sure you leave an individual comment for each of these.

So chances are as follows:

New followers: Link blog, link FB, tweeting, 1 just because, 1 for being new and then 3 more if you want to give blog feedback = 8

Loyal followers: Link blog, link FB, tweeting, 1 just because, 3 for being loyal, and then 3 more if you want to give blog feedback = 10

Things to know:
**Anyone may enter as long as I can read your post (must be in English). If your country has rules about mailing toothbrushes that vibrate (???), please do not enter as I cannot guarantee you will receive your vibrating toothbrush.
**Comments posted after the deadline won’t be included in the drawing.
**If you win, you must email me your mailing address within a week of the drawing end in order to receive your prize. I am not responsible for anything that happens once this stuff leaves my hands. If it melts, gets lost, etc., I’ll feel really bad, but I can’t replace it.
**I will be using a randomizer to choose the winner of the giveaway. As long as your answer fits the criteria, you are eligible (unless you are me, Leon or A.J.)

Things to remember here: 1/You can always follow me on twitter to get sneak peeks at giveaways and find out when they are coming and 2/the giveaways are made possible by me.

I’d like to make my giveaways better, but that will only happen if I receive support via my paypal button or my wishlist (not required, but if you are happy with the site and want to support me, that’s awesome), both of which are located on the right hand side of your screen. If you wish to sponsor a giveaway item yourself or promote your own store/site, please contact me. Thank you!

I have some pretty big issues with this story. Mainly because I use Zicam and, let’s face it, we’re more inclined to be impassioned about a cause when something affects us directly or someone we care about in some way. Or someone we pseudo-care about. Why do you think so many celebrities get paid to endorse things or they support causes? Because if they care, you will, too.

I care because when I get sick with a cold or a flu, this has been one of the first things that several different doctors have touted to me as a recommendation. “Get zicam, take zinc, drink orange juice and stay hydrated. Lots of rest.” It’s become part of the “general prescription.” I don’t like sticking things up my nose, but I use the Zicam because it’s supposed to help shorten my symptoms. I’ve used the kids version for my son.

I’m not a ship jumper or a lemming and I don’t get unnecessarily unraveled at small things. I have the heebies about this. I only use it once or twice a year, thankfully, but I wonder if it would affect me if I was a more sickly person. I want to know more about what’s happening here. The company that makes Zicam is suppressing information. If their product isn’t causing anosmia, why do that?

Most people believe that they can live without their sense of smell. Let me tell you this, your sense of smell is connected to your sense of taste. If you don’t have a sense of smell, your food won’t taste the same, if you have a taste at all. Why do you think you can’t taste food or don’t eat as much when you are sick? Food smells are memories for us. The smell of baby shampoo can take me back to the time when my son was an infant. I hate it when my husband wears cologne because then I can’t smell HIM. That unique makeup of pheromones and sweat and whatever chemical makeup is HIM. What would I do without that?

Why am I writing about this? I wasn’t affected by it, but I won’t be using it until I get the “all clear” and the company provides information about why they didn’t report findings to the FDA and why these people are losing their sense of smell. It didn’t affect me. It might affect you. I care about you.

I think I’d rather be sick an extra couple of days than lose my sense of smell. I’m just sayin.

It started when I went to the dermatologist and she diagnosed me with…sensitive skin. Duh! I’m sorry, that wasn’t very ladylike, but really. You can’t really tell from my author picture, which my friend Natalie says makes me look like an Oompa Loompa, but I make pale look pale in comparison.

In my life, I’ve had few nicknames. I hate any of the ones that refer to Jack and Jill or putting my name with a bean near it (unless it’s been pre-approved by me). On some websites, I’m referred to as a “pale porcelain goddess” when discussing what color of makeup I should wear. A friend from right about the time before I got married called me “china doll” because my skin is light and I look like I’m porcelain. Someone else called me Lucy, but that’s another story for another time and has nothing to do with this post.

So, to say that I knew my skin would be sensitive due to its hue was an understatement. What I didn’t know was that her prescription for me would take away my bubbles. This was serious. Not serious in a terminal illness kind of way. Please. I’m a sensitive person behind that sensitive skin. No, merely an inconvenient kind of way. I live with boys. Boys who appreciate a good smelling girl. One of the ways I achieve that is with my Philosophy 3-in-1 scents. Man, do I love those things, and my boys often comment on how nice I smell. I don’t know how to cope without that self-esteem boost.

Now, I’m down to using Aveeno body wash for sensitive skin. It does its thing, I think. It doesn’t strip my skin, so I don’t have that super clean feeling, but my body isn’t flaking like a snake shedding it’s skin. It has no scent, however, so I suppose I’ll have to rely on perfume. I feel like a petulant child and it’s making me unhappy with my body makeup only because I really like the way Philosophy smells. It’s immature, but it’s a sad, sad state of affairs….

Without the bubbles.

It’s a life change, to be sure. If you still have your bubbles, enjoy them and remember that there are people in the world, not just in 3rd world countries, who do without bubbles! Be thankful for your capability to bathe in bubbles! Revel in your bubble bathing abilities and be confident that you will come out of your bath smelling great!

Here’s why: I have no idea how big 30 stone is. I don’t care if you are 2 stone, 30 stone or 3000 stone. Because I don’t know what that means and I’m too lazy to look it up, it suddenly becomes irrelevant to my story. What is relevant is that the woman, presumably she of the 30 stones, is nourishing her children with McDonald’s at 6 months old.

I’ll wait for your shock and awe to pass. Look, there may be some extenuating circumstances that I don’t know about and I’m prepared for that. If there is something I don’t understand, someone contact me and I can say I’m wrong. Check back for the edit and it may eventually be here. I doubt it, but maybe. However, as a mom, I feel like this is pretty irresponsible.

Within the article, it notes that the babies consume about 1,250 calories a day. Listen, I don’t talk about my lifestyle changes a lot here, but I don’t consume much more than that. I’m close to 6′ tall. I’m a large woman. These are infants. 8 months old. Most 8 month olds cannot even walk, so it’s not as if they are burning calories. This cannot bode well for these children. How is this not considered child abuse?

Studies have shown that children who are obese that have an obese parent have a 79% chance of being obese as an adult (Whitaker, et. al, 1997). What do you think the opportunities are for these children to avoid heart related illness?

As parents, we are called required to be diligent in how we teach our children to make choices about their bodies. There is a reason they use the word “neglect.” It’s negligent to give a child who is still developing nothing but this junk. In the last 4 months, I’ve watched AJ change his way of thinking about food. He’s still able to eat the “good stuff” now and then, but he doesn’t live on it. Since then, he’s been sick much, much less. He doesn’t get winded as easily. He’s a happier person. I’m not saying you have to be thin to be happy. I’m saying, give your children the choice of whether or not they want to have high cholesterol or other heart related issues. Don’t force it on them due to your own laziness and neglect.

Citations:
Whitaker, R.C., Wright, J.A., Pepe, M.S., Seidel, K.D., & Dietz, W.H. (1997). Predicting obesity in young adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. The New England Journal of Medicine. 337(13), 869-873.

I have not been stressed about swine flu in the same way I chose not to be stressed about bird flu. I just don’t panic about that stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I will panic if I’m late for work or if Wendy’s runs out of grilled chicken. I will panic about tests, and bad haircuts and my second toe being longer than my big toes (yes, it is, I admit it now leave me alone about it). But, I’m not going to panic about a widespread virus when there isn’t much I can do about it that I don’t already do. It was like Y2K–it’s just not worth my time.

The other day, though, I saw something that grossed me out enough to make me think that, at the very least, I could remind people to stop spreading germs. Here it is. Your big wake up call aka gross out. Cover your freaking mouth.

For those that can’t see the video, please click here.

Claudio Vitale is an Italian brain surgeon who has recently made headlines after exhibiting extreme bravery in his field: he completed brain surgery while having a heart attack. Why is this a big deal?

As a surgeon, Vitale was aware that he was having a heart attack and that for every minute he delayed his own help, a part of his heart was losing function that would not be restored. In other words, he was killing himself to save his patient. His only comment was that he couldn’t leave the patient at such a delicate time (in the procedure). Other stories have commented that if he’d left the patient, the patient would have surely died.

So, let’s break it down. Vitale was dying. The patient was dying. Vitale saved the patient at loss of his own heart functioning permanently.

Amazing courage. I’m in awe of this man. I want to believe that I would do the same for people, but I’m not sure I’m there yet. Regardless, he’s tugged on my heartstrings and some days I need to be reminded of the humanity of the world we live in.

Let me sum up the article for you. Dad gets sick with cancer. Grown daughter gives birth and decides HEY! Boob milk is full of immune boosting antioxidants that my dad should be drinking that will help him fight cancer. Dad agrees and drinks boob milk every day.

And, wait for it, he puts it on his cornflakes in the morning.

I want to believe I’m open-minded to unconventional treatments, but this feels overwhelming to me. This story ends on a hopeful note:

Hope at last
A month after starting the regimen, a scan of Tim’s cancer showed a slight, but distinct, improvement. Although doctors can’t say whether the breastmilk’s helped, Georgia says he’s brighter and has more energy.

She has promised to continue feeding Tim for as long as she can. ‘He has been having chemo as well as drinking the milk so there’s no way of really finding out if it is helping,’ Georgia explains. ‘I’m still feeding Monty so I feed him first, then I fill a bag for my dad. We’ll continue as long as I am breastfeeding.

‘It feels like I’m doing the most natural thing for the people I love. ‘I’ve been there when he has drunk it and it’s just not an issue. ‘Not many women can say their dad drinks their breastmilk. But I would do anything to give my dad more time with me, our family and Monty.’

And I am still processing it. If it were someone I loved, would I be ok with it? If it gave them a chance? What do you think?

Because of that nastiness, when this Saturday’s game came around, I slathered some glorious Neutrogena SPF 70 all over my exposed skin. The one thing I forgot to do, however, was to put spf on my lips. I didn’t think this would be a big deal as, when I’m at the games, they are constantly moving. I now see the fault in my logic as THE SUN IS EVERYWHERE.

What have I learned from this experience? Lip burns hurt. They hurt every time you talk, drink or eat. And they don’t peel. They last longer than regular sunburns and they hurt worse. And they aren’t as convenient to treat. The fun part of them, however, is asking who wants to kiss my ouchy. Well, it’s either fun or skanky, depending on how you look at it.

Yesterday, I was reading a blog from one of my co-bloggers, Dad Gone Mad. He was talking about his first migraine and how he only thought he knew what they were about until he’d had one himself. I think this is true about many things, including mental illness—the idea that until you experience it first hand, you really have no idea what you are talking about when you write it off as something that someone should be able to pull himself or herself out of or “suck it up.”

I don’t remember my first migraine, but I remember when they started. I was about 6 months pregnant and, like many of my current maladies, all began with the amazing hormone change that was brought about by one of the loves of my life, AJ. AJ just happened to go with me to my last neurologist appointment, which was, incidentally, my first appointment with this particular neurologist. When he asked when they started, and I replied that they occurred when I had AJ, the neurologist showed a wicked sense of humor, turned to AJ and said, “Ah, so it’s all your fault, then?”

Well, yeah, maybe. Or, maybe I was predetermined to have them as I got older. I don’t know half of my medical history, so I’m missing an important link as far as these are concerned. My mom has only had them for the last few years, but I started mine in my early twenties.

It could be because I’m more tightly wound than most. My levels of stress and anxiety tend to be through the roof. I have to moderate myself carefully to keep them at a manageable level. It means that I have to be very self-aware to avoid a meltdown. I’m usually successful. For me, that is. But stress isn’t my only trigger. Rain, stress, not enough sleep, too much sleep, waiting to long to eat, too much sugar, not enough sugar, msg and caffeine are all triggers for me too. Count noise and light in as well. I’m a sensitive little bugger.

I’ve pretty well given up caffeine, except for chocolate. Don’t ask me to give up chocolate. I rarely eat it as it is, but I won’t give it up completely. Since I’ve been eating more healthfully, my migraines have decreased to about once a month when they were at 3-4 per week. I consider that a success.

There is no doubt they are debilitating. When I’ve got one, I’m not going anywhere. I’m sick to my stomach, with an ice pack on my head and in bed with my Duder dog, who is sensitive to my moods and will not leave my side when I have a migraine. I may lay there for 2 days completely awake, but in pain. I have to give up weekends with my family and even work during them, at times, if I can. It’s been termed chronic pain and just like any other chronic pain it doesn’t truly go away for good. It’s always there. Lurking. Like those bad pictures you took in the 8th grade that you know someone will find and put on Access Hollywood if you were to ever become famous.

I’m just learning to manage it. I’m sorry that Dad Gone Mad had to experience what he did. I’m grateful, though, for one more person that truly understands what the experience is like and has more empathy, however.

AJ’s first game, last week, was canceled due to weather. In Nashville, this time of year is highly unpredictable. Last week we had tornado sirens and warnings on Saturday and the ballparks were flooded. There was no way 7-8 year olds were playing in that weather. He was disappointed, but like a good little soldier, he sucked it up and played Nintendo all day. Practice was canceled all week, again, for weather.

However, through some magical power or some serious “soak it up” dust, the fields were ready for a game last night so the kids played. Husband laughed at me as I bundled myself in my heaviest coat and got Pea, our smallest dog, a blanket. The weather was cooling and I forced AJ to wear a shirt under his t-shirt. Under duress, he pulled it on and glared at me like I was forcing him to eat broccoli (which, coincidentally, he can make himself puke to avoid eating).

30 minutes into the game, we were FREEZING. I could see my breath, Husband had his hands in his shirt and Pea was looking at me like she hated me. Pea hates cold. AJ was immune because he loves baseball. The rest of the parents were coping, but I don’t think any of us would have minded cutting the game short. AJ’s team lost by a lot. They were seriously outplayed.

On the flipside, they got to play again today. Fearing cold, boy do I fear it, I threw a sweatshirt over my black tshirt and loaded up our Weiner dog and went to the field where I proceeded to fry for an hour and a half. 15 hours after the game where I froze, sure enough, I fried like an egg on the sidewalk. I spilled water on the ground and it was gone less than 5 minutes later. I look like a Milano cookie. Half of my body, the side turned toward the sun, is dark and velvety and the other half, turned away from the sun, is as pale as porcelain. I have a feeling I’m going to look funky tomorrow.

I think the real question here is whether or not this is worth it for the times my son wins…like he did today.

I’ll get back to you after I’m done blistering.

Oh,and it’s supposed to snow on Monday.

What made it clear that I was in trouble was the awful fatigue that settled my bones. An hour after I woke up, I wanted a nap. Three hours after I woke up, I craved a nap and nothing I did would rid me of the need. AJ lovingly told me that I looked like the Scream mask while I slept. He didn’t know it was the “scream mask,” he just made the face, scrunched up his eyes and made a large OOOOO with his mouth. Little snot. At least he didn’t comment on my snoring.

For our anniversary, one of my gifts was a Nap set. I was dubious as to the use of this item, as when I nap, I enjoy my huge, King size bed and my own pillow, but Husband does a good job with gifts and I was waiting to see how this one fared on a day like today.

When the “nappies” (not a diaper for those of you who use that terminology) came on me, it started slowly. First, my feet were freezing. Then, I slowly lay down on the couch as Husband made room for me amid all of his lawyer-ly work stuff. The blanket came out amid a case of the shivers and the pillow slowly followed. I don’t remember much beyond that point. As AJ said, “the scream” was very much in effect.

It strikes me how, when we’re sick, we lose all the facade that we put out there on a regular day. Life goes back to basic things: sleep, food, bathroom breaks, and cuddling on demand. There was no disagreement as to what we were doing over the weekend because I didn’t care what they did. I was silent on the couch. My husband probably cherished that silence, as it is rare. AJ got to go to a friend’s house without having to do chores first and stay much longer than usual. I slept the sleep of unknowing, uncaring and just wanting to feel better. What I ate was no longer important and frankly, I didn’t care if I ate. How I looked was not in the slightest important, though was funny to my 8 year old. The dogs were caring and concerned and stayed beside me, as did my Husband. He checked on me every little bit with ibuprofen and making sure I didn’t need anything.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad day, after all.

Today, however, between physical therapy and teaching my undergrads, I was in a hurry. Normally, I get my grilled chicken sandwich from Wendys but I made the assumption that McDonalds would be faster. I pulled in the line and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

While I sat there, I pondered how much of my obesity was due to McDonalds. No, no, no, McDonalds did not put the food into me. I’m not a foolish person and I don’t blame McDonalds for making me fat. Yet, with that thought in my mind, they aren’t doing much to help me stay healthy, either. They aren’t as “side” friendly as Wendys or Chick-Fil-A. I continued to think about this and chided myself for laying the blame at the feet of a conglomerate instead of myself. As I was doing so, I inched a car length forward and saw a HUGE red and white sign that said “FREE PIE WITH ANY LARGE SIZED MEAL.”

Excuse me, please stop the boat. Wait, what? If I UP SIZE my meal, which is in larger portion already, you will GIVE ME A FREE PIE? So, you will reward me for eating more with more food? Specifically, a dessert food that most people find hard to resist?

Screw you, McDonalds. Screw you. You deserve some of the blame for this!

I got my grilled chicken sandwich and left. Next time, I’m going to Wendys.