A quote from Albert Einstein

Today`s problems cannot be solved if we still think the way we thought when we created them.     — Albert Einstein

Insanity

The definition of insanity: Doing the same thing everyday expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

Reducing your Grocery Bill

How's your grocery bill?  Maybe you would like to make it smaller but you don't want to compromise your family's health.  There are ways to do that.  This article should give you some good ideas.
Simple Strategies to Eat Better For Less

If you would like some more ideas, shoot me an email.  I can help.
My Email

Cholesterol and Menopause Issues

Here's a really fascinating story about taking Cholesterol Reductions Complex. Not exactly what you would expect, but we always say Shaklee nutritional products have side benefits, rather than side effects...



I started taking the Cholesterol Regulation Complex a couple of years ago when my Dr. wanted to put me on meds b/c my cholesterol kept creeping up. I reminded him that menopause (which I am going through) will cause chol. to increase.

I also said no to the meds and started on the CRC. He was impressed by how fast my numbers improved w/o meds and wanted to check the next 6 months as well. That test didn't do as well b/c I think I was not being careful on my food intake. Anyway, Shaklee released the new Cholesterol Reduction Complex and I started on it right away.

The first thing I noticed was within a few days all hot flashes (or as I called them "warm flushes") stopped. Any complication from menopause ceased to be. I was back to wearing sleeves and socks at night and not waking up many times b/c of being hot.

My mood swings went away - just any little thing that I can contribute to menopause stopped when I started the new CRC!!  I had been taking the Menopause Balance Complex for about 2 years at this point and even had to increase to 2 twice a day b/c the side effects of menopause were becoming increasingly difficult to live with.

So you can imagine my surprise when just taking the new CRC it all balanced and I feel like normal!! (I went back to taking 1 Menopause Balance Complex 2x's a day.)  It has been at least 8 months now.  My cholesterol numbers improved also after started the new CRC.  I am soooo grateful to Shaklee for making this product!!!
From Toni Maggio

Sometimes side effects can be a good thing - particularly when one is dealing with herbals and naturals.  Maybe a better word for them in this case is side benefits.
 If you would like more information go the the following link.
Cholesterol Regulation Complex
If you would like it get it at the reduced price send me an email.
at sunandsage@wwdb.org

Choosing Ones Battles

Choose your battles carefully, otherwise you will spread yourself too thin or end up fighting for things that don't matter.  Your choices should not be based on what's easy but what is going to bring you the most desired outcome.  Then stick with it and fight to the finish!
Doug Goodall

Power trips

Some see a power trip as a strength.  I see it as a weakness.  If you are on a power trip, rethinking your attitude would be a big favor to everyone who has to deal with you and especially to yourself.  You will be much happier for doing so and not just because I have a predatory attitude towards people on power trips.
Doug Goodall

Been Cutting up Hot Peppers – Better Keep Your Hands Out of Your Eyes, unless….

You just made your favorite salsa.  You used fresh hot peppers.  You washed your hands real well afterwards, maybe even took a shower.  An hour or so later you rub your eyes without thinking – OUCH!!!!  There’s a way to avoid that with a very inexpensive Shaklee product.   It’s called Dishwash Concentrate.  Just put a drop of it in your hand and then wash your hands with it.  It removes the residue left from cutting the peppers.  This even works if you have been cutting up habaneros.  For more info go to the following link.

DISH WASH CONCENTRATE

Fight Cancer ... Grapes and Grape Juice

MD Anderson Cancer Center website:

Both grapes and grape juice are

rich sources of resveratrol, a type of

natural phytochemical that belongs to

a much larger group of phytochemicals

called polyphenols. The skin of the

grape contains the most resveratrol, and

red and purple grapes contain significantly more

resveratrol than green grapes. Grape jam and raisins

contain much smaller amounts of this phytochemical.

Red wine also contains resveratrol. However, with

AICR’s second expert report noting convincing

evidence that alcohol is associated with increased risk

for cancers of the mouth, pharynx and larynx,

esophagus, breast (pre- and postmenopausal) and

colon and rectum (in men), wine is not a recommended

source of resveratrol.

Studies suggest that polyphenols in general and

resveratrol, in particular, possess potent antioxidant

and anti-inflammatory properties. In laboratory studies,

resveratrol prevented the kind of damage known to

trigger the cancer process in cell, tissue and animal

models.

Other laboratory research points to resveratrol’s ability

to slow the growth of cancer cells and inhibit the

formation of tumors in lymph, liver, stomach and breast

cells. Resveratrol has also triggered the death of

leukemic and colon cancer tumors.

In one series of studies, resveratrol blocked the

development of skin, breast and leukemia

cancers at all three stages of the disease

(initiation, promotion and progression).

Here’s a good source of resveratrol

Vivix

We can Learn from the Birds

How often have you seen a magpie or a blue jay that's not well fed?  Not very often.  Do you ever wonder why?  They can be obnoxious but maybe we can learn something from them.  the reason they survive so well is because they are risk takers.  They wait until last minute to get off the road when eating their road kill.  Maybe you have almost hit a few.  I came very close to running over a golden eagle one time because of that.  They grab your food and fly off with it when you're not looking or even when you just have your back turned.  They understand the need to take risks.  So how does this apply to us?  There are many people who just play it safe and stick with their jobs.  The workplace may leave much to be desired but at least your getting a check.  It may not be much of a check, but at least you can count on it.  It's "safe" - at least until one of the supervisors or big bosses decides for whatever reason you need to go.   It's fairly safe but you will never get ahead.  The ones who get ahead are the ones that jump when they see an opportunity even when there are risks.  They may not always make it the first time but they keep trying and they eventually succeed. 
Doug Goodall

What is Your Body's PH Level?

Maybe you have heard about body PH.  If your body is too acid, you will be much more susceptible to disease.  There are ways you can adjust your diet so you have an body that's less acid.  Here's a chart that should help you with that.  If you would like more information about this subject, please let me know.
Click on each of the following charts to get an enlarged view. Click once to open it then a second time to enlarge it further.

Valerie Thurner-Viers Vegan Chilli

This recipe was passed on to me by someone I went to high school with.   I'm not a vegan but I like my vegies.  I thought this sounded good.
Enjoy

This is a recipe that I created years ago when I was a very strict vegetarian.

Heat 2 Tablespoons of EVOO in a 8 - 10 quart, heavy pot and saute the following ingredients:

2 large onions minced

4 large organic Carrots minced

Add the following till fragrant and remove from pot:

6 cloves of garlic minced

Heat 1 Tablespoon of EVOO and add the following and cook till tender”

1 pound of organic Carmine Mushrooms cleaned & cubed

While the mushrooms are cooking roast the following in a preheated oven at 425:

5 small to medium organic Zucchinis cubed

10 Roma tomatoes peeled and seeded

Steam the following till just tender and turn in to the mushrooms after they have been cooked:

1/2 pound of Broccoli

Add everything back into the pot, and add all the following ingredients:

2 large cans of organic diced tomatoes, undrained

2  cups of organic Tomato Juice

2 Tablespoons chili powder

2 Jalapeño chili, seeded and chopped

1 Tablespoon Cumin

2 teaspoons Paprika

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

Optional

1 Tablespoon of EVOO in a heavy sauce pan and add the following:

1 pound of Veggie Meat tossed with one Tablespoon Chili powder. 

Cook till heated through and add to pot.

After all the ingredients have been added to the pot let simmer on LOW heat for an hour and serve with garnish.

Garnish

Tortilla chips

Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Red onion, chopped

Avocado, diced

Black beans drained and rinsed

Success Story about Skin Issue

Skin Testimony (7 months)

SHAKLEE DID IN 7 MONTHS WHAT 14 DOCTORS COULDN'T DO IN 10 YEARS!!!

When I was 13 years old, my face started breaking out. My sisters (6 of them) had peaches and cream complexions. My mom felt badly for me, so she started taking me to dermatologists. Within a 10 yr span, I went to 14 different doctors.

Each doctor had his own solution; and all of them included some type of antibiotic. I had salves (that burned), shots in my arm and cortisone shots in my face, dry ice therapy, sun lamp treatments, etc. Each time my skin would clear up, but then after stopping the treatments, my skin would break out again and get worse. My few pimples turned into acne and I was eventually referred to the head of dermatology at Johns Hopkins. There, they put me on 6 tetracycline tablets a day for 2 yrs. Can you imagine taking antibiotics for 2 yrs? and at such high levels? I moved to New York when I was 23 yrs. old. One day at my new job, my mom called to say she had made an appointment for me with the head of Columbia Hospital. I started crying and said that I was done. I couldn?t take the ups and downs, the disappointments anymore ? I would rather have the acne!

When I got off the phone, Helen, one of the secretaries in the office heard me on the phone. She said, "I have something that will clear up your skin for good. It may take a year, but it will get to the root of the problem." She was a beautiful woman - beautiful hair and skin, but she was always taking pills and I thought she must be sick!!!!! There was something so genuine and caring about what she said and how she said it that I was willing to give it a try.

She was very honest and said that my skin might get worse before it could get better because of all the medications I had taken. That it all had to come out so I could get better. And, that made sense to me. Well, the products she was talking about was Shaklee. I took ONLY 3 products - Energizing Soy Protein, Vita-Lea and Herb-Lax.

At first my skin did start breaking out... but at the same time a lot of other things started happening. I started sleeping better, my PMS symptoms went away, the skin around my eyes started looking healthier - no more circles, and I had more energy. I started experiencing a feeling of well being that I had NEVER experienced before. Well, true to Helen's word, my skin was clear within 7 months.

 Barbara Mulin

11 year old - Organic Food Activist

Check this out!  This is worth your time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNfxYuB-3y8

Why you suck. And what you can do about it.

Here's an article I just found that I found very interesting



Security, stability and safety don’t exist.  You think they do but they do not.  It’s something made up in your mind or it was a story, a fairytale, someone told you.  Probably someone you trust implicitly.  And you chose to believe them because it felt good.

Well wait a second.  Maybe you didn’t “choose” to believe it.  Maybe something in your brain, your primitive Lizard Brainotherwise known as your amygdala, latched onto it because the alternative to security, stability and safety is uncertainty, fear and failure.  It was easy to believe the fairy tale about security, stability and safety.

 What has all three of those S’s?  Your job?  Your family?  Your next meal?  All of those can and will disappear in the blink of an eye.  The things you cling to that are your 3 S’s can and will leave you unless…. Unless you decide to be remarkable.  Choose to be great at your job, being a husband or parent or even a consumer of meals.  Enjoy them with every ounce of your being.  It’s hard to do because it sounds silly.  “What do you mean be remarkable?”  That’s your lizard brain telling you to do something easy instead of doing something great.

It’s easy not to be a great husband or father.  Don’t do anything.  Just sit there.  You risked nothing.  You didn’t have to put yourself out there and risk failure or disappointment.   You grabbed a beer and sat and watched Two and a Half Men.  You didn’t do this once, you do it a majority of the time.  Ok, all the time.
Same thing at work.  Don’t make waves.  Put your head in the sand like an ostrich even though you KNOW what works and what doesn’t.  Even though your boss is an idiot and you could fix or improve whatever it is you do.  Don’t do anything.
The cost of doing nothing is a long slow failure that will result in uncertainty, fear and failure.  The exact place you were trying not to go to.  Sometimes that’s called retirement.
That idea is stupid.  I don’t know how to do that.  It’ll never work.
You’re right, forget it.  You can’t argue with a Lizard Brained thinker until they realize those “failure” thoughts are just your Lizard Brain talking.
The Lizard Brain is not my concept.  Seth Godin writes about it.  But you’ve never heard of it until now.  Better late than never.  At least you’ve stumbled across this blog, that’s good.
You suck because you are afraid of uncertainty, fear and failure.  Rather your Lizard Brain tells you that you are.  It drives everything you do.  But your lizard brain, that tiny part of your psyche that makes your palms sweat when you speak in public or tells you to check facebook instead of talking to your husband or gets you to crack another beer and watch American Idol instead of playing with your kids or being great at your work takes over.  Because it’s easy without risk.
“How did this happen?”
If you have to ask that question, you have a serious problem.  You probably listen to your Lizard Brain too much.  That little voice in the back of your head that would rather spend hours upon hours of doing nothing that matters rather than putting yourself out there to expose your strengths and flaws to possible success (“or failure and death” says the Lizard Brain).
Ever known someone who always has “bad luck” Or who can never quite get it together in their personal and professional life.  Sure.  It’s everyone.  Everyone has issues and problems, hence, we suck.  It’s that stupid part of our brain that fears the unknown because, well, it’s unknown.
I spent almost 12 years in a career I loved and where I excelled.  It provided security, stability and safety.  My family was always taken care of and I was in the upper echelon of success and in a position to affect organizations with a clear career path in a well respected career.  The pension and medical plan was unbeatable too.  I was vested in just eight more years if I would have stuck around.  Everything anyone would ever want. Who would give that up!
I did.  I quit.
All the other Lizard Brains told me I was crazy.  You only have eight years to go!, they said.  What are you going to do!, they wondered aloud.  What about your family!, they cried.
It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.  This was a very personal decision because I truly believed in what I was doing at the time.  You see, that amazing job was being an Army Officer.  I made that decision to leave the service for none of the reasons listed above.  None of the Lizard Brained reasons or questions mentioned.  I made it because I knew, in my heart, that I could still thrive without the Army.  Because at the end of the day, I’m still me.  I’m still the guy who outperformed the best and brightest.  I was able to take my education, experiences and work ethic with me when I left.  My job didn’t, and never will, define who I am.  For a while I WAS my job.  I was my RANK and my LAST NAME.  My life was miserable whenever I wasn’t wearing the uniform.  So I quit and ever since I quit my life has been better than I could have ever imagined it would have been.  (Here’s my blog)
So what’s holding you back from making a plan and doing something else?
“When I grow up I want to have a pension”
Go ask a 6 year old what they want when they grown up.  They say things like; a veterinarian, a lawyer, a police man, a mommy, or President.
But go ask a 35 year old; I want health benefits, reliable income, security, great wages, safety, a decent house, stability and a shiny car.
The 6 year old wants to do something because it appeals to them even if they don’t know why.  Even with limited knowledge of the job or career they honor what that person does not what they get for it.
The 35 year old has obligations.  College loans, car loans, kids, wife, mortgage, plasma TVs, blah, blah, blah.  All of those are your Lizard Brain driving you to do what’s easy without risk of failure… which in the end will cause something to fail.  Something will happen like, you’ll lose your house to foreclosure because “the right thing” to do was buy instead of rent.  And then your company failed because of the other Lizard Brains who run it.  Or get a college education is the only way to get ahead… until you don’t have a job and all you have is student loans, or maybe you got married and got lazy and then your wife left you because you aren’t the person you used to be.  Or you just couldn’t wait for that new gadget so you pulled out your credit card and charged it.  And let’s remember you used that credit card because your Lizard Brain knows it’s easy and that saving money is hard.  You might fail to save enough or die before you can buy it! Yes, that is what your Lizard Brain thinks.
You failed to be remarkable.  It’s your fault.  You suck.  Stop sucking.

So now what?
Answer the question; what would you do if you could do anything?  Make the proposal at work for something better?  Or heck, just do it without permission.  Be a better Dad by being present and in the moment?  Start that book or blog you’ve been meaning to write but just don’t have the time?  Figure out what it is and do it.  Failure isn’t that bad.  Failure is totally fine.  You will not lose everything. You will not die.  I promise. If you die, that’s mere coincide.
You have the time.  It’s the same 24 hours every single day.  Everyone has competing priorities.  Everyone has a life.  Everyone also has thousands of excuses not to do what they want.  What’s holding them back…  fear of failure probably.  Either you make things happen or things happen to you.  It’s your choice.  You make that choice (or your Lizard Brain does) every day.
You’ll probably fail a little bit.  That’s okay too.  What is the cost of failure?  It’s not as bad as you might think.  If it involves a lot of money, pay with cash.  If you are going to be ridiculed because your service or ideas focuses on a small amount of people, that’s okay.  Just enjoy it while you are doing it.
You have to do one thing, suspend the thought of instant gratification.  If you are trying to building something you aren’t going to get instant gratification.  It’s takes times.  So enjoy the milestones.  Do whatever it is you want to do because it’s going to make you happy.
Total failures… until they weren’t
- Abe Lincoln lost a bunch of elections before being elected President.
- Thomas Edison took 9000 experiments to get the light bulb right.
- Winston Churchill failed 6^th grade.
- John Grisham’s first novel was rejected by about two dozen different organizations.
- Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard.
- Henry Ford’s first two automotive companies failed.
- Albert Einstein’s parents though he was so dumb they told him to quit school.
It’s okay to fail.  It’s just one more step on the way to achieving your greatness.  Just stop listening to your Lizard Brain.

Article by reiter331

http://comluv.com/tutorials/blogging/why-you-suck-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/

I hope this article at least gives you something to think about.  Maybe it might be time for you to try something different. 
"It's never too late to start all over again"
Steppenwolf

Got Stained Coffee Mugs - Read this before you throw them away.

Put some baking soda and a little water in the mug and then use the paste as an abrasive.  Your cup will look good as new afterwards.
Baking soda is a non-toxic but still very effective mild abrasive.  It can be used on many things.

A Quick Tea Recipe to Make You Feel Better

Fresh piece of ginger about the size of your thumb
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
measurements don't have to be exact

Take a piece of ginger about the size of your thumb and slice it up
put the ginger slices in a coffee mug and add hot water
Let it steep for about 5 minutes then add lemon juice and honey

This can be enjoyed even if you aren't sick.

How to keep flies from coming in to your house without poisonous insecticides

It can be so irritating to have flies inside the house.  They tickle torture us and they even land on our food, YUCK!!  You can spray insecticide around the your home but that doens't smell good and it can have some effects on your health.  I have a recipe for a mixture that can stop many of them from coming in your house.
8 OZ water
20 drops of lavender oil
20 drops of peppermint oil
20 drops of citronella oil
An 8 oz spray bottle
I use paper clips to apply the drops.
Mix this together in a spray bottle and then spray on the walls and other surfaces around all the doors that flies tend to enter.  The flies rarely come in all the way from the street.  They perch themselves on the wall near the door and enter the second someone opens the door.  After you do this you can even leave the door open if you want.
Here's my source for the oils.
http://www.kettlecare.com/
I get spray bottles from the local supermarket.

New Years Resolutions

I've seen alot of conversations about new years resolutions. I don't make them.  This is my reason for not making them.  There's very little difference between December 31st and January first. New Years resolutions imply that one believes that they will be a totally different person just because the year changed. If you're ready to make a change in your life that is when you should make it regardless of what day of the year it is. If you're not ready to make the change, it probably won't stick. That's why I don't believe in New years resolutions. This is just something to think about before you get caught up in stressing about what your new years resolution should be.