WebMD might be the death of me; Go Sniff a Lemon!

I love WebMD...and I hate it.

 

I love being able to look up diseases and medicines and symptoms...

and then of course, I think I have every condition I find, of course.

A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

However, I recently started following them on Twitter.  

@WebMD  

And their tweets are interesting.

Did you know that taking 10,000 steps a day may lower your risk of getting Diabetes? 

They have email newsletters you can sign up to receive in your inbox daily.

And I signed up.

Because knowledge is power, right?

And I want to be healthy.

And aware of hot topics and health issues.

And now, my inbox is swamped.

It's sagging under the weight of newletters.

The problem?  I don't want to delete them, because they all look interesting, 

and surely some time soon I'll have the time to read them all.  

Ineed to know the "Fourteen common causes of fatigue."

What do my "fingernails say about my overall health!?"

(A touch of white here, a rosy tinge there, 

or some rippling or bumps may be a sign of disease in the body. 

Problems in the liver, lungs, and heart can show up in your nails.) 

I discovered the #1 brain boosting activity for preschoolers 

is one-on-one time with their parents!  

Oh, course, it's too late for my kids because they're 9 & 13 now, 

but maybe it's not too late for your kids.

Do you know how to "spice up your workout?"

I figure it would be handy to know "common lies about depression" 

and how to prep my pooch for winter weather (puppy coats and reflective collars?).

OH, this one grabbed my attention immediately: 10 Quick ways to improve your day.

1. Make your bed

2. Pack a healthy snack (Fruit, cheese, peanuts)

3. Clear off your desk

4. Pump up the music

5. Sniff a lemon  (they're serious!)

They also send recipes.

I'm becoming addicted to WebMD.

What's their advice about that?!

The Importance of being Unimportant

I found out today that one of my brother-in-laws, (one of my five sisters' husbands) got to be at the New York Stock Exchange and help ring the opening bell. Very cool! What an important thing to get to do! One of those things I certainly will never get to cross off my To Do list. Way to go, Q!


Another of my brother-in-laws (another sister's husband) is on Easter Island this week or last week. What an important place to visit! I mean, who can say they've been to Easter Island? For those of you who don't know, Easter Island is rather mysterious, in the middle of freaking nowhere (way west of Chile in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) and has the awesome ancient statues sculped out of volcanic rock all over the island. Way too cool, M!

I'm pretty jealous...although I did hear there was some kind of insect infestation, which produces nightmaric images in my mind.


You know where I went yesterday? Not New York, the stock exchange or Easter Island. I went to the Dr's office, where I was made to feel very unimportant. I spent most my time in the exam room looking at this wall...

Which led me to start wondering if I had any of these diseases or disorders displayed so prolifically. I'm a bit of a hyperchondriac...I often end up on WebMD, researching esoteric diseases I'm convinced I have. Don't get me started.


I also went to baseball practice yesterday. Not a super important task to most people, but super important to me and the two young men pictured below. See Remy, my six year old left-handed, pinch hitter and Donny, my bored looking 11 year old carrying a lethal stick that doubled as a baseball bat during his little brother's practice...

Donny has a weird hat choice with his UT Longhorn jersey...

I've taken to carrying my camera everywhere, for blog material, and when I explain this to Donny, my eleven year old, he gives me this look...

So, feeling slightly unimportant after hearing about what my brothers-in-law are up to, I find the need to get therapy with shopping...some new shoes...

By the way, is it bad to feed the dog lasagna?

Eights

Today's theme is 8's.

First I saw a news story about a Hexapus. I like to root for the underdog, the odd man out, the weird gene mutation, the octopus named Henry with six legs instead of eight. I'm kind of surprised we haven't run into more of these. I have to admit, I'm not sure I'd stop to count if I did run into Henry...I'm kind of wimpy about scary looking sea creatures.

Secondly, I was reading a hilarious blog where a woman was chronicling everything in her pantry, and I ran across something I had never heard of before. She had an Octodog Frankfurter Converter. Oh my gosh. I was falling off my chair laughing at this thing. Such a simple little contraption, hilarious, not sure I'd ever use it, but I find myself wanting one. Not sure if the kids would love it or run screaming.

Thirdly, I'm going to share eight of my favorite websites today. Drumroll please...I know you're waiting with baited breath...

Amazon is my best friend. Everyone knows about Amazon (unless they've been living under a rock or in a cave for the past ten years but even then, if these people have access to Internet, then there's no excuse for you). If I'm not buying books online, then I'm spending time researching subjects, finding authors and titles for me and the kids to check them out at our local library. I have that nifty Amazon Prime service where everything I order shows up on my doorstep within two days (and since I do most my Christmas shopping on Amazon, it pays for itself!). Gotta love it. I also put up wishlists for the whole family for Christmas and birthdays, so relatives can find a variety of gift ideas.

WebMD is another old friend of mine. I go there regularly to research exotic diseases I'm convinced I have and to discover all the bizarre side effects I'm sure I have from the meds I might be taking. WebMD is the paranoid girl's best friend!

Sometimes a girl needs to just veg a little, and People is a good website for that. If you need to catch up on the celebrity gossip or see all those beautiful Oscar gowns you might buy one day. US Magazine is fun also, albeit a little more smutty. But, smutty is fun.

In case you're counting, those are four of my favorite websites. Here come four more:

I have hundreds (or maybe thousands) of photos stored on Shutterfly. I have tried other photo-sharing websites and most of them are fine, but Shutterfly is my favorite. I share photos, upload from my camera, and am constantly making photo books and photo gifts for people. I could spends lots of money there if I had it!! Photography is a big passion of mine.

I love the mother's bracelet I bought from Sterling Sisters. I don't visit this site much, but I've had my bracelet (and made other bracelets as gifts) for years, and they're beautiful!

Another great website for making photo gifts for women is Contessa Bags. They're awesome! I had pictures of the boys made into make-up bags for my mom and mother-in-law a while back, and I've made photos into pillows and purses. Great gift ideas.

Finally, each year I faithfully order my new Mom Agenda. I couldn't make it through the year without it and it's my lifeline!

This is just a small snipit from my massive favorites file.