But Wait, There's More!

Coleman started playing football August 1st this year and his season has yet to end! They have made it to the championship - which it appears they have won, but that's not all! They will go on to play for our regional championship and then if they win again (not sure how many teams will be at the next level) they may in fact go further. And by further, I think I mean we may have to drive to San Diego or LA or Nevada...How great is that?

read: Boys Adrift

Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax is surely one of my current favorite reads. It's thoughtful, well researched and hard to put down. This is a good book for anyone concerned with current social trends or anyone concerned with our future as a society and indeed our children's future realities. This book raises many concerns for the well-being of our children and future society, but also offers solutions.

The book is broken down into the author's five current concerns for boys: 1. Changes at School 2.Video Games 3. Medications for ADHD 4. Endocrine Disruptors (the result is between concern #4 and #5) 5. Revenge of the Forsaken Gods (or lack of positive male role models in popular culture and our society in general). I think this book deconstructs our current social anemia and articulates causes for our boys (and boys beyond US borders) lack of motivation from a medical, environmental and societal view point. Sax is a physician and psychologist he practiced family medicine for 19 years and has written other books: Girls on the Edge and Why Gender Matters. I hope you will have an opportunity to read this book. It's worth every minute you invest in it. Promise.

{this moment}

an occasional friday post by me...inspired by a soulemama friday ritual.

::grateful::

I am grateful for:

the ocean: a peaceful and awe inspiring place
puppies: do i need a reason?
football: for so many reasons
the forest: our playground
wilshire: a place in the forest we like to go.

Learning About Lyme

I was imagining how I might have lived my life had I known about tick born diseases and how difficult they are to diagnose. Would I not have gone outdoors as a child? What would I be like if I had not explored the big hay field and creek behind my childhood home? The woods at the end of the street - what if I hadn't played in those? And, as I got older, would I not have taken my dog hiking in the mountains, woods and fields? Could I have escaped the disease if I had played life differently? Clearly I can't go back and do it all over, so this was a futile mental exercise. Recently I have been imagining my life after this body recovers from these little critters and the havoc they have wrought on it and my mind. It's got me a little giddy.

My history with Lyme Disease goes something like this: I got sick at some point, not sure exactly when. I can trace a rash and illness back to when I was pregnant with my oldest child, Coleman. But I can also say there were changes in my health a few years before that. Once Coleman was born my illness became dramatically worse. Symptoms were all over the place. A friend suggested I get tested for Lyme Disease. When I asked my doctor she said: "You don't have Lyme Disease. You're supposed to feel this awful, you just had a baby." My baby was about to turn one. I insisted. The test came back positive. I was treated. I got a little better but not entirely. And then I lived with it. For 12 years.

Two months ago I watched this movie: Under Our Skin, which you can watch streaming on HULU or Amazon. Hope for being myself again was renewed. But not before a tiny bit of despair set in. I spent a lot of time researching Lyme Disease and its co infections right after watching the movie. I became overwhelmed. Then I made an appointment. I found a doctor through searching "Lyme literate doctors" in my area. Lots of blood tests happened. Results for my blood tests came back positive for Lyme and Bartonella.

This is still a highly controversial disease. It's under reported. Misdiagnosed. Misunderstood. So often we need to learn to listen to ourselves and trust ourselves in the face of experts telling us it just can't be true. It must be in your head. If you're interested in reading more about diagnosing and healing Lyme and Coinfections here are books and a website for you:

Healing Lyme Disease Coinfections: Complementary and Holistic Treatments for Bartonella and Mycoplasma  by Stephen Harrod Buhner

Healing Lyme: Natural Healing and Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis and Its Coinfections Paperback by Stephen Harrod Buhner

 

 Why Can't I Get Better?: Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease by Richard Horowitz

http://www.ilads.org/

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com

grateful: day on the bay

We went whale watching in a little skiff today. Some days stepping out of the usual routine is just what we need. Today was one of those days. The sun was out, the ocean was calm, the sardines were running. The boys and I rented a skiff on Capitola Wharf so we could explore the bay. There are many humpback whales out there right now, and dolphins and birds and sea lions and seals! We were all a little nervous. (I didn't tell the boys I was nervous, that would not have been a good idea.) One of Coleman's classmates told him they almost got rammed by a whale while they were in a skiff. Naturally Coleman imagined that might also happen to us. In all honesty there was one point in the day that it seemed like it might happen. We lived to tell the tale, though!

We were out there only an hour because we had a lot to do to get ready for Halloween. What an action packed hour it was! I am so looking forward to doing this again, hopefully soon. If you get a chance to go out on the bay don't pass it up! It was only $30/hr to rent the skiff - we were out for an hour. Next time I hope we have a chance to stay longer and go further.

look to the left of Max, there's a dolphin.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo, a single moment to savor and share. 

inspired by soulemama.com

2014 Auction Project Ideas

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to start the auction project plan. The kids are studying Native Americans again this year. I'm thinking Dream Catcher. Big, bold, beautiful and collaborative. I think we can get a lot of good karma into this one. The dream catchers above I found on Pintrest, the two colorful ones are from etsy and the center piece is from Torchlight Jewelry. Our chickens are moulting, so we've got plenty of feathers!

And, let's just say the auction wouldn't be complete without a clay piece. Precious hands coming together to make a difference in the world. Be the change. You can find out more info about this bowl at Studio Art Dallas. I plan on making a similar one with Max's class using their qualities and colors. I'm hoping to get a little poetry into this one.