Getting Back on the Bandwagon

by FadraN on February 8, 2012 · 25 comments

in Food + Drink,Giveaways,Healthy Living

When seasons start to change, do you find that you feel like you’re constantly sick? That’s me and I’m not a sickly person. I don’t typically have allergies (or at least I didn’t until after I had my son). I don’t often get fevers. But I do get this one little thing going on every year.

My doctor usually picks a random diagnosis. It’s not entirely random but it’s tough to pinpoint. Sometimes he calls it URI (upper respiratory infection). Sometimes it’s sinusitis. Sometimes, and most recently, we called it “acute bronchitis.”

Bottom line is this. I alternate between coughing and sneezing and thick, mucousy stuff in my throat. I won’t go into more detail but you get the idea. Then life seems to cease around me.

I try to get more rest but I can’t rest because I’m coughing. I try to medicate myself but usually end up wired instead. So I wait it out, drinking echinacea tea and hoping my immune system will kick into overdrive. But there are other symptoms of my ailments.

1. I eat comfort food. And by comfort food, I don’t necessarily mean healthy food. I usually mean soup or pasta or a cheeseburger (hey, you have your comfort food and I have mine). So I’ve been overeating and eating all the wrong foods. And I was doing so well with my green smoothies every morning. And yes, I do realize that I would probably get a big burst of antioxidants from drinking that smoothie would would inevitably help. But you know. Comfort and all.

2. I stop exercising. I was feeling really good about myself. I had just finished the second day of Week 3 in the Couch to 5k program. I was well on my way. I didn’t want to stop no matter how awful I felt because I was afraid that once I stopped, I wouldn’t start again. I did stop and I haven’t started again and it’s been 2 weeks. But the coughing and wheezing has been so bad I’m not sure I could handle it yet.

3. I get lazy. You can call it rest. I call it lack of energy and motivation. I’m sick and I get a little depressed and then I don’t want to do anything. So I don’t do anything. And then I get overwhelmed by all the things I didn’t do. That’s where I am right now and I’m digging my way out.

So I’m trying to get back on track an I had this opportunity to talk about NutritionPossible.com. It’s a site and assessment tool created by Centrum, the ones that make the multivitamins. I’m awful at taking vitamins for three reasons:

1. I hate swallowing big pills.
2. I always forget.
3. I never know which ones I should take.

Here’s why:

Well, I love taking quizzes and I need all the help I can get so I thought I would give it a shot, expecting to be told that I need to buy, of course, a million and one Centrum supplements.

I was actually surprised by my results:

These were all pretty cool with me because I specifically mentioned I’m interested in boosting my immune system and my energy levels. As a rule, though, I prefer to get my fiber and Omega-3 from natural sources and not supplements.

The beans were cut off at the end but, hey, this looks like a pretty nice shopping list. I eat a lot of these foods anyway. But I definitely need to do better in the fish department,

Um, my activity list starts with a nap. I can totally embrace that. I did indicate that on average I get 7 hours of sleep per night and they recommend 8. I recommend 8 as well but we all do what we can.

Now, here’s where I need your help. You know, you help me… I help you.

I’ve shown you that the NutritionPossible tool is pretty cool. If you are willing to create an account and complete the assessment, I might just have $25 for you.

GIVEAWAY

Here’s how this works.

• Hop on over to NutritionPossible.com, create your account, and take the assessment (My Plan).
• Come back here (I’ll wait) and leave a comment sharing something you learned that you were lacking.
• That’s it!

From all of the comments, I’ll randomly draw one of you to win a $25 gift card. Either way, you’ll get a pretty good coupon to download for an Centrum supplement. Complete rules are listed here. Deadline is Monday, February 13th at 10pm ET.

Disclosure: I am participating in a sponsored campaign hosted by One2One Network. I received incentives and am eligible for prizing. While all opinions stated are my own, I make no claims about NutritionPossible.com as a product or its effectiveness.

{ 25 comments }

My Biggest Regret

by FadraN on February 6, 2012 · 11 comments

in Blogging + Social Media,Humanity,Inspiration

While this post is about me, it really is meant to be about Susan Niebur, who passed away today from inflammatory breast cancer. She was a fighter and an inspiration for many. My biggest regret is that I never had the chance to meet her.

Susan Niebur

I’ve been thinking so much about writing this post. I wanted to write it. I wanted Susan to read it and know how I felt. But I didn’t want it to feel so contrived. I didn’t want to be part of “the bandwagon.”

There are so many causes that are near and dear to my heart but I’m cautious about how I approach them because I want people to know it’s something that speaks to me and not just something that everyone else is talking about.

And instead, I wait for today, of all days, the day we say goodbye to Susan to really write about how I feel. It’s bad form. It’s bad taste. I don’t want to make her tragedy about me. But I can’t not write about it.

I’ve known of Susan for a few years. When I was new to blogging, I met one of her oldest and dearest friends, Marty Long, right here in Raleigh. I learned of their friendship but never really knew how deep it went. I knew Susan was a brilliant scientist – an astrophysicist – what some might call a real, live rocket scientist.

I love meeting women in science. I went off to college in 1988 with ambitions of becoming an astronomer with hopes of one day becoming part of NASA’s space program. That career was derailed very early on when I realized how much calculus and physics were involved (neither were my favorite or best subject). I switched to Biology with a minor in Chemistry.

After graduating, I spent time as a research assistant at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Finally, science came out of the textbooks and came alive in my hands. It was then that I knew I wanted to teach science to kids. I wanted to teach them how to bring science to life and apply it to the world around them.

I went on to become a middle school science teacher. After a year, I moved out of state and embarked on one of several other careers. I never lost my love of science and when I meet someone in my world these days that shares the same passion, it reminds me why I fell in love with it so many years ago.

So Susan was one of those people. She was someone I looked up to. She was a smart woman, a scientist, a wife and mother. She was a writer, a blogger, an activist.

Where’s the regret?

I attended Type-A Parent Conference last year. I was surprised to see Susan in attendance. I knew she was ill but never really knew the severity on any given day. She was surrounded by people who clearly knew her and loved her. We had talked on Twitter and I wanted a chance to say hello.

It was the night of the Bloganthropy awards. Katherine Stone (the previous year’s recipient) had gotten up to present the Blogger of the Year award to the new recipient. It was Susan. I thought I would quickly dash to the bathroom. The conference bathrooms were small and it was hard to grab a moment and why I took that moment still baffles me. As I returned to the table, my friend Melissa was wiping away tears. In fact, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.

I felt like such a heel. Why did I do that? Then I felt utterly foolish. I didn’t want to go up to Susan, say hello, and not know anything about the speech she had just given. So instead, I did nothing.

A few days later, Susan tweeted to me “I wish we had gotten a chance to say hello!”

I do too.

Susan is now gone. She is free from suffering and heartache. She is free from worrying about how to tell her little boys goodbye. While I didn’t have a chance to say hello, I did have a chance to say goodbye.

As part of the @whymommy love fest, I sent my picture to be included in what her friends and colleagues were calling the “the best, most awesome eCard that has ever been made–for our sweet friend…”

You have inspired me as a scientist, a writer, a mother, and most importantly, a human being.

{hugs} Fadra

{ 11 comments }

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Saying Goodbye to my Carpet

by FadraN on February 5, 2012 · 20 comments

in Household,Nostalgia,Observations on Life,Pets,Stream of Consciousness Sunday,Writing

I love my house but I’ve needed new carpet for several years. It’s not that we don’t take care of the carpet. It’s that I’ve had many geriatric pets over the years who have had their share of “accidents.” So when we finally took the financial plunge to get the carpet replaced so we can SELL OUR HOUSE, I thought I’d be jumping for joy. Instead, I had a surprising stirring of emotions.

Today’s (Optional) Writing Prompt: Write about something that you unexpectedly had a hard time saying goodbye to.

Here we go…

—

Everyone gets attached to things, I suppose. I know I do. I have crammed drawers and boxes to prove it. In a way, I think I understand hoarders. Not really understand them but sort of understand them. It’s emotional attachment and it’s usually misplaced.

I think I do the same thing. I keep things. Mementos, receipts, ticket stubs – all of these things to try and capture that one moment in time. I don’t know why I want to capture it, other than happy memories, of course. Maybe it’s that I want to have the ability to relive those moments.

So why would old smelly carpet make me feel sentimental? Honestly, those stains are memories of all of the things, good and bad, that we’ve experienced in almost 9 years. The stains where our dog Einstein used to frequently mark if he was unsupervised. It was a compulsion. He couldn’t help it. It made us insane and was the first step to destroying our carpet. But Einstein has been gone almost 5 years now and all we have left are memories.

Holden was the good dog. The dog that would surely outlive Einstein. And he did but not without thyroid problems and the need for medications that made him drink and pee excessively. Then he lost his sight and his hearing and some of his mental capacity. He didn’t know if he was coming or going. And he would often stop and forget he was indoors and flood the carpet.

We didn’t live in filth. My most recent carpet cleaner cost $400. It was worth the investment and most people couldn’t even tell we had pets.

There are also spots where Sean tried to actually bleach the carpet (even though I specifically told him not to). Places where Evan had a stomach virus (yuck). Places where he spilled chocolate milk or Sean spilled red wine. Spots where I splashed paint on the carpet.

I know it’s ridiculous and I know that it’s going to be much worse when I leave this house, in terms of sentiment. Maybe it’s good to let it go. To give us a clean slate in this house while we let the memories fade. And after all, it does smell better.

—

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Now…

1. Grab the button

(it’s over in the sidebar)

2. Write your post.

3. Link up here.

{ 20 comments }

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Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Take It Easy

I’m a TWIN!

When it’s laundry day at my house…

Ode to My Baby Boy

If you’ve never read my About Fadra page, it might be worth a look. I don’t hide the fact that I’m a mom but you won’t find me pushing cute pictures of my kid on my blog all that often. I have plenty of other channels in which to do that. But there is a [...]