filling #1

went to the dentist today for my first filling since the 90s.  i have 2 mercury fillings and one of them had a cavity behind it so it needed replacing. 

let me just start by saying that my dentist and his staff is wonderful. they are very nice, considerate, and give me no reason to be anxious.  they actually go out of their way to make me feel as comfortable as possible.  however, it is nearly impossible to make me comfortable at the dentist.

today, i had to have 7 shots of novicane to make my tooth numb to the drilling and  my remaining teeth numb to the coldness of the air-sucker (the teeth have to be dry for the filling).  my face is numb.  i can say, though, that besides the tiny bit of tingle i felt when he was drilling and i realized that my tooth wasn't completely numb, i felt NOTHING.  not even the shots.  he was good at what he did.

so i'll let you know how my teeth fit together once i can feel my face again. 

in the mean time, i still feel like puking.  i hate the dentist [office].  i tell them everytime - its nothing personal.  it's the facility and the procedures, not the people. :)

shutterfly

i always try to update my shutterfly site every month with the previous month's pictures.

trouble is that there is a 1000 picture max for each folder (or month for me).  i can tell i have a new camera because i now take over 1000 pictures a month (personal pictures).

i suppose i need to start doing a better job at weeding out the bad ones, eh?

anyway, i even updated the header pictures this morning. 

http://kendaltherocket.shutterfly.com/

lead in with soy...

i was going to write a blog today about what i put in my tummy part 2 which i intend to be about "FAKE MEAT" but nathaniel sent me an article about "creating chicken without the egg" and it reminded me that maybe i should write a blog first about why i don't eat soy.

my #1 reason is because of the high amounts phyto-estrogen in soy.  oh, and the fact that most soy is genetically motified.  they also can mimic testosterone and inhibit the absorption of minerals like iron and calcium, and cause you to need more vitD and b12...  i've also read something about the thyroid and i know that if you are susceptible to aluminum toxicity, that you should avoid soy (learned that in the book he's not autistic, but...).  but anyway, when i was poking around looking for more reasons (i was hoping to make a top ten list), i found an actually list of ten reasons why that was so well written, i decided to just link to his blog (which i see that he posted it from another link but that one wouldn't work for me...) and repost it rather than coming up with a list of my own.

i'm just going to reiterate his last line really quick, though:  "I personally do not eat soy and will avoid it at all costs." which is almost exactly what i do.  i try not to buy anything that has soy in it - i will consider it if it is processed in a plant with soy (because that is nearly impossible to avoid), but, i'd say that 95% of our house is soyfree.  that 5% would be soy sauce (which i rarely use) and other sauces that have soy sauce in them. 

so, here is the list i didn't make:

10 reasons why you should NOT eat soy!

I have decided to write this Blog about soy because there is a lot of controversy and myths out there in the health and fitness industry as to how beneficial soy is for your health. I am going to tell you quite the opposite and how you should most definitely AVOID SOY!

1. Phytic Acid. Soy contains  high levels of phytic acid. In soy this reduces the assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children. It is possible to neutralise phytic acid in soy through methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. However most soy  in modern times is not prepared through these methods.
2. Protein Digestion.  Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.
3. Phytoestrogens. Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.
4. Hypothyroidism. To add to the point above, soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.
5. Vitamin B_12. Vitamin B₁₂ analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body's requirement for B₁₂.
6. Vitamin D. Rather than satisfying the body's needs for vitamin D, soy foods increase the body's requirement for this vital vitamin.
7. Denatured proteins. Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.
8. Processing. Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.
9. MSG. When soy is processed with typical food processing methods, free glutamic acid or MSG is formed. MSG is a potent neuro-toxin. Often additional amounts of MSG are added to many soy foods.
10. Heavy metal toxins. Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

As you can see, these 10 reasons to avoid soy are rather damaging to the reputation of this "health food". I suggest you review these points and then have a think whether you would like to continue using soy in your diet.
I personally do not eat soy and will avoid it at all costs.

 

bittersweet

got some really bad news today - our favorite local toy shop - tookie's toys - is closing its doors.  this is sad in two ways - not only are they truly the ONLY good toy store around, but also it is where my sister works.  so, she'll be back on the job market.  hopefully she'll find another job as awesome as the one at tookie's pretty quickly! 

ok, so that is all the bitter side. 

the sweet side is that since they are closing, they are selling everything.  this INCLUDES the train table that my kids have loved since the first day we discovered the store.  fortunately, we already have a nilo and a ton of trains, so, katherine (the owner) is letting me buy just the train tracks and the flat to which they are attached (nailed down)!!!  how awesome is that?  not in a million years could we be able to build a train set as awesome as this one. 

i'd really rather the table stay at tookie's and the store stay open.  but, in the mean time, i'm glad i get to keep a piece of a local legend - right in my very own home!  the table will stay there until they close completely so we'll not pick it up until july.  i wonder if she'll be able to tell me who built it - and maybe a little history about it!  this is something i hope to hang on to for a very long time.  i know i'm not sentimental, but this table just seems like a treasure to me!

what goes in my tummy... part 1

at the beginning of the year, i made a change in my diet and life that completely eliminated anything processed, manufactured, genetically modified, unnaturally dyed, etc. from entering my body by way of my mouth.  i had nearly eliminated these things before, but i wasn't as particular as i am now. i only eat organic foods and rarely eat out.  when i do eat out, i try to select foods that have the least bit of processing or chemicals (ie salads, no dressing) from restaurants that advertise their desire to provide whole, healthful foods (jason's deli is a good example).  i stopped drinking sodas and pretty much only drink water.  a "clean diet" is what i think it is called.

a few weeks ago, i decided to step up that change and also eliminate meat, reduce animal byproducts (dairy/cheese/eggs), and reduce-as-close-as-i-can-to-eliminate anything refined or processed such as white rice, white flour, etc.  i also eliminated tea or any drink besides water or juice.  (like the daniel diet i blogged about before, except i have not completely eliminated cheese or eggs yet.  though, i don't eat much of them.)

these changes have all been a great effort to seek relief and/or efforts to eliminate triggers my migraines. 



i was thinking today on the drive back some things i noticed in the past 3 weeks after i made my diet upgrade.

first, which is the object of part 1, when i told nathaniel what i was doing, he snapped "just don't make me become a vegetarian with you" which i thought was funny since i think it was after a week of me not eating meat that i told him i made the switch.  um, i know how much he loves my mom's beef jerky! 

something to blog about

been so busy that i forgot to mention that rob's cousin is pitching for the carolina mudcats now!!!

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=t249&t=p_pbp&pid=502076

long time no blog

we're still away... sorry for the blog hiatus!!!