Master of Procrastination & Some Health FYI.

Oh, hi! This is me, procrastinating. I have a paper due Sunday by midnight (anyone want to write it for me?) and it's like history repeating itself, because I probably won't write the darn thing until Sunday. And I have a midterm to take next Tuesday, which I could start studying for, but since when do I do anything that far in advance? Motivation is totally lacking. Oh, and this is for my online lifespan development class (which I like a lot! super interesting!), not the devil that is advanced physiology.

Anyway, so this morning I was jolted out of my bed by a tornado warning. Lovely start to the day. I was not happy because I had planned to sleep another freakin' hour before getting up, so I decided a two hour nap this afternoon was appropriate. More procrastinating. I then decided to to surf the net for awhile, and said, "Hey, maybe I should pretend I still write a good blog and throw up a post," so here I am. I seriously considered doing a post that said, "Insert Creative Title" as the title and "Insert creative and hilarious post" as the post, but that doesn't allow me to waste much time. But, y'all, that's kind of how I feel. Exhausted. Lacking in creativity. Lazy. Nothing to talk about. Lazier. Rinse & repeat.

This nannying thing is kicking me in the bum; I forgot how much work a 9 month old is. Honestly, I'd much rather have stayed with the family I'd been with the past year that has three kids, but it wasn't meant to be. Not that I don't adore the new family, but I why fix something that isn't broken? I'm kind of getting burned out on the nannying gig (I have been babysitting practically non-stop for 11 years, after all), but I'm only committed to 9 months and the money is better than any other job would pay, so I just need to keep my eye on the prize of nursing school at the end of this tunnel!

I was reading Women's Health last night and thought I'd share some interesting health tid-bits with you guys. Er, gals. Whatever. All info is from their September issue, and I'm including page numbers, because, duh, I don't need to be slapped with a lawsuit.

1. "Depression may stimulate chocolate cravings" (p. 28). Perhaps that is why I used to be able to pound an entire extra large bag of dark chocolate chocolate chips in 1.4 seconds.

2. "Harmful UVA rays can penetrate glass windows" (p. 30). Now, if you're like me, you find this to be wonderful news, because I like to catch as many rays as I can, whenever I can. Pale is just so not my color. However, it turns out there has been a rise in skin cancer on the left side of the body- aka, the side of the body exposed while driving. I guess I'll slap on some 15 spf whenever I'm spending time in my car. Even though the article clearly recommends a minimum of spf 30. Let's be honest, I probably won't put on any spf anyway.

3. "Men and women who have had more than four oral-sex partners in their lifetime are three times more likely to develop HPV-related throat cancer" (p. 36). I don't even have a comment for this. It's alarming, disgusting, sad, pathetic, etc. I won't get on my soapbox because I realize my views on sex aren't shared by everyone, but this statistic doesn't have to be this way. Just sayin'.

4. Everything about the following made me laugh. "Rubber retailer Condomania released a ranking of penis sizes from the 20 most populated cities in the country" (p. 36). It went on to say more hilarious stuff, such as how they conducted this study. Seriously, why is this necessary to know? (Indianapolis was number 13, and, apparently, in another recent study, was ranked number 1 for most sexually satisfied city in the US. Make your own judgments.)

5. "Women with low levels of Vitamin D have extra fat in their muscles" (p. 27). Ok, I don't get this whole new phenomenon of Vit. D. deficiency in this country. How hard is it to get outside for 30 minutes a day and catch some rays? You don't need to be in a bathing suit and laying out-- go for a walk, do some yard work, play with your dog or kids, read a book, etc. I just find this to be completely ridiculous.

6. Different ways in which our bodies manifest stress: 1.) Nose-- sniffing and sneezing 2.) Skin-- breaking out 3.) Hair-- patchy scalp 4.) Jaw-- feels like it's on fire. (I grind my teeth at night, which is from stress and what the article is talking about. My jaw never felt like it was one fire. Just really tight and achy.) 5.) Stomach-- ravenous for junk food 6.) Pelvic-- irregular cycle (p. 30).

7. Last, but not least, this if for my fellow C25k-ers! I've heard (read?) lots of complaints about shin splints. Miraculously, I haven't been hit with them, yet. But here's some advice to help soothe the pain and why they are happening in the first place. The medical term for shin splints is medial tibial stress syndrome. It happens by what is often referred to as the "terrible too's:" too much, too soon, too often, too hard, too fast. And in my unprofessional opinion, I'd say improper footwear and poor form are also to blame. Treatment: "switch to non-weight-bearing exercise like swimming or biking for two weeks, and ice the area for 20 minutes after each session" (p. 56).

That's all for now. There were some other things I found interesting and/or funny, but I'll save those for a rainy day. And this post is probably going to be responsible for some very interesting hit on my blog via google searches.

Oh, what do y'all think of the new blog look? I can't decide. I guess it's good for now.

Happy almost hump day!