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  It’s amusing really, to me, how coloring has gotten to be this adult thing now.  And yes, that is one of my creations in the photo spot, done solely in Crayola, my crayon of choice.  Everywhere you go there are adult coloring books. I see them in every store.

The truth is that I was a coloring fanatic longgggggg before it was an adult “thing.”    I have been coloring all my life.  It’s something, that as a kid, I got hooked on, and never lost my love of it.

Before adult coloring books were the thing, I always bought children’s coloring books and colored in those and my favorite tool of choice are still Crayola crayons. Yes, I can tell the difference in quality.   It makes me laugh because most of my life, friends have made fun of me for my obsession, and now there are adult coloring nights at the library, and groups of people who get together to color.  I see postings all the time of things people color.  I always kept a coloring book and crayons on my desk at school.  I used to carry emergency crayons in my purse because you never knew when a coloring emergency might happen.   PS. I don’t carry them anymore, but you never know when I might start again. 

Read moreI love to color….

I know…. you think I wrote that incorrectly.   It’s supposed to be love your neighbor as yourself.   The fact is that it’s a lot easier for me to love my neighbor.    I have always lived my life as a person who tries to show kindness to everyone I meet.   The world can be such a cruel, unkind place and I always thought maybe I could just make a difference to one person each day.  Just one, because I know how grateful I have always been to anyone who does that for me.

In my life changing  journey, I have come to understand that I really am not very kind to myself. Where I can be so sweet and nice to others, to myself, I am awful.  I show such loathing and hurl such self inflicted cruel remarks larger than anything others have said to me.  It’s almost like some sick obsession, that if the world is cruel and unkind to you, well, you show yourself that was nothing and be ten times worse to yourself.    My friend, Mark, aptly pointed that out to me years ago.  “You are a bully,” he told me.  “What are you talking about?   I am never a bully! Not to anyone!!” I barked back.   He patiently went on to explain that I bully myself.  I hold myself to unrealistic expectations, I am unkind.  I don’t do that to a single person on this planet, I would never….. except to me.

Dr. Jack pointed that out to me several….numerous….Okay, a thousand times already.  Rob Ciminelli showed me that, too. Okay, a thousand more times.   I always tell them all, I am a turtle, I learn slowwwwwwwlyyyyyyyy….. I am stubborn, a trait that helped me survive so much, so if you tell me I need to change something, it’s going to take time for my head to catch up. I never saw it as hurting my health, but now I do.   Turtle…..

Read moreLove yourself, as your neighbor….

Okay… I am addict,  I admit it.   One of the things I have developed a huge taste for since I started this plan? Really good olive oil.   I mean REALLY good olive oil.  Not that kind in clear containers that you wonder if it is real olive oil.  No, I like the good stuff, top shelf olive oil.  Mmmmm…. I am getting happy just thinking on it.

When I first started with Dr. Jack, I asked him what kind of olive oil he liked and he told me, D’Avolio.  I didn’t know what D’Avolio’s even was… lol….hey, I live in South Buffalo, work in Lackawanna, and Hamburg.  I rarely travel to Williamsville or Amherst.   What do I know about that part of the world.  Anyway, last Easter break, I decided that I was going to be up near Dr. Jack’s office and I had always wanted to see where he worked.   So I stopped in to say hello!

Read moreOlive oil addict…

If you are a patient of Dr. Jack’s and you order supplements from solutions 4, and you have never tried the skin repair cream?  You are missing out!

I loveeeeee everything they make, everythinggggggg but this stuff has really helped me so much. Next time you order, put one in the cart…. that stuff is the BOMB! You won’t be sorry.

There is only one thing about it I don’t like, I don’t care for the medicinal smell… okay, well, it doesn’t smell bad, just not… well. You know…. lol… I can live with that.  What’s it good for?  Name it! Holy Cow! I need about a thousand words to cover that.

Chapped lips? Put a little on at night, next morning? Bam….. gone!

Burns? Gone ….

Irritated skin? Gone….

Rash? Gone!

Earring issues? I get those sometimes.  Gone!

Dry patch behind my ear that I fought with for years! Gone!

Beat up hands from Walmart boxes? Tried every lotion known to man? Gone!

Read moreSkin repair cream….

An email I got yesterday.  Heck no!  I still have so much to talk about.   So, what has interrupted my chatter?  Life.   lol….

I am a middle school teacher.  In my my family,we have a running joke that we call the month of May, Mayhem.  It is the season of kids sports, dance recitals, Mother’s Day, family birthdays, parties, graduations, exams, school work I don’t even want to talk about.   For me it comes with its yearly traditions of Ribbon day, and eighth grade state testing.  I could go on for three paragraphs. Parties, planning, organizing, family weddings, showers, Life.  It has been years since I put in my lovely vegetable garden because I just don’t have the time to get out there.  Thinking about paying someone to turn over my garden so I can get it in this year.

My life gets to be a three ring circus, and I seriously but jokingly tell people that Mayhem now begins in April and ends on the Fourth of July.   Like everyone else I know!

But this week, well, even though Mrs. O, my teacher self has a boat load of school work to do, she is going to have some time to get back to this blog that she lovesssssssss doing!  I miss you all!!  Hugssssssss

I have to scoot, job number two is calling me for an early day.   Let’s all try to get through this season of Mayhem!

Hugs

Chris

Isn’t that a funny title for a blog about Hashimoto’s disease?  Lol…..

The fact is, I found out yesterday, I am a garbage collector.  Who taught me that?  The man who teaches me all kinds of things that have nothing to do with food and yet everything to do with the aspects of my life that are holding me up, Dr. Jack.  He is an amazing doctor, in every facet of that word, interested in helping people get healthy in every single way they can.

After an interesting few weeks, yeah,  interesting, that’s a great word for it and come to think of it, more like months!   I am trying to use less negative words.  Anyway, I, once again, find my weight standing on the same number.  It isn’t that I eat poorly, or sneak in treats, it’s all the other pieces of the pie that is good health.  And one of them, a huggggggeeeeeeee one,  was pointed out to me yesterday, in a quiet unassuming kind of way.

Read moreMy life as a garbage collector…..

I got caught unprepared yesterday.  Life happens….. to all of us. I have had a busy, stress filled week and my own needs get away from me sometimes.  We all have those times. You would think I learned that by now, but I always tease Dr. Jack that when it comes to learning things, I am a turtle 🐢.

It was a busy week and I had a couple of stressful days thrown in.   On top of that, I had to work my second job all day Saturday and I didn’t have time to pick up fresh vegetables, salad fixings or much else during the later part of the  week. I know what you are going to say, I work at Walmart, how hard is it to just pick up stuff before I leave.   I don’t know how to answer that, except to say that when I leave my house at six thirty in the morning,  and don’t return until ten thirty at night? I just want to go home, because tomorrow I am doing it all again.

Read moreIt was just half an apple, not a pie..

If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that…. none of us knows the inner burden that others carry.  You don’t know mine and I don’t know yours.  It’s easy to walk by people and think we know what their problem is, but if we have never walked their road, how do we know?

I was reminded of that at my second job a few days ago.   A woman in one of those riding carts came in with her husband.  He was a tall very thin man  and she was on the larger size.  She had ordered some clothing on line, and was stopping by to pick it up.   I went to get the packages.  His comment that everyone in a ten foot radius could hear,  was, “I hope you ordered your stuff large enough.  4x probably won’t fit you, you know.  You are a lot bigger than you realize, and every day you seem to get bigger.” I walked out with the first package making eye contact with him, and went back to get the other.

“You shouldn’t need that cart.   If you walked around this store, the exercise would help. You are always talking diet and yet, you just get bigger.”   When I walked out with the second package I am sure my fingernail prints were in the box and smoke was pouring off the top of my head.

Read moreYou don’t know the journey others are on….

Lent in the mind of most Catholics, means you give something up.  That is how we were raised.  It’s in our blood, our heritage.  The idea is that you go without something you enjoy, and then the money you might have spent on that, you give to charity.  People give up all kinds of things, like cookies, or sweets, coffeee, alcohol.   Over the years, I have given up lots of things.

I have this overly active conscience.  And I mean overly active.  So whatever I give up, I had to always make sure it was painful enough.  Lol…  so I would sit there and analyze what I was going to give up.  Coffee?  Nah, if I went without it, I could just drink tea and I would be fine. Cookies or sweets?  Nope…. that wouldn’t have bothered me all that much.   Alcohol? I don’t drink, so no.   What to give up……  A few years I gave up meat for Lent.  That was somewhat challenging, and felt painful enough to me.  Lol….. Catholic Guilt… look that up, is my my face the illustration?

Read moreWhat I gave up for Lent….

That is not the best title because I don’t think you ever get over sugar.  Sugar is an extremely  addictive habit.  There are a million studies one line that you don’t need me to quote.  I read one once that really caught my eye.  It said that when rats were given a choice of sugar or cocaine, they choose the sugar.   There are thousands of reasons to kick the habit, health being primary, but it is easier said than done.  It’s not a big secret that studies link cancer and sugar.  And if you are autoimmune?  Yikes! Talk about inflammatory foods.  Has that stopped anyone?

What’s funny to me is that before Dr. Jack, I never considered myself much of a sugar addict. I really didn’t think I was addicted.   I could easily go without desssert. Liked fruit but ehhhhh….. could take it or leave it for the most part.  I never liked overly sweet things.  Like birthday cake?  I can go without it.  But I loveddddd chocolate milk, two whammies right there.   Desserts?  Never cake, but I did enjoy sweet treats, and things like cannoli, cheesecake, fruit pies but not the yucky sugar dropping ones, raised sweet dough treats. My heritage is Hungarian, German, Italian…. yeah, we know how to bake.  My go to though?   Ice cream!  Loveeeeeeeee ice cream! And those wonderful concoctions  my family makes.  Coffee and dessert were always a Sunday afternoon treat at my Oma’s.   She made these lovely Hungarian desserts, not a lot of sugar, but yummmmmmyyyyyyy…..

Read moreKicking the sugar habit….