Engineer My Life

I love Days of Our Lives! It kinda just is what it is. People see me as a fairly smart individual and when they find out that I am practically obsessed with a soap opera, they just don’t get it.

I have a very busy life with a career, family and household to run. I don’t have time for a hobby that will require me to leave the house or invest time and energy. I tried really hard to find the time for yoga on a regular basis but I still seem to only be able to get there once every week or two. I had someone staying in my house for a while and she would watch Days of Our Lives (DOOL) religiously. Needless to say I got sucked in, but why?

It was easy. It took no effort, I didn’t need to do anything but sit there and get sucked in. Then we got a DVR cable box; it was all over! I now read the updates on line every day and post comments, and then I watch it at night when my husband has fallen asleep.

I spent some time wondering why this is the thing I got sucked into and not CSI or watercolor paintings. It is because it comes on 5 days a week and I can watch other people make a mess of their lives, secretly root for the bad guys, and every now and then witness a tender, humane moment.

I think that we all need to find these kinds of releases, especially if we have all consuming lives!

There is not much in life that is more immobilizing than menstrual cramps, rarg! I have had awful cramps for most my life; buckled over, nauseous, on the verge of passing out or throwing up or both. When I first consulted with my OB-GYN, he prescribed me prescription strength Naproxen Sodium. The BOMB, that’s all I have to say. I was actually completely functional. Prior to this, I had tried Vicodin and Percocet, but those made me pass out and wake up like 4 hours later, not what I need when trying to work or take care of my kids.

Now that I have two kids, the cramps are not quite as immobilizing, but they are still there. The only thing I find that helps without a prescription is Aleve. Aleve is brand name Naproxen Sodium and it is awesome. I have tried other menstrual medications like Midol and they have made me throw up. I find that Naproxen Sodium does the trick.

What the medicine (Naproxen Sodium) actually does is relax the cramping. Menstrual cramping is like a mild (not really) form of contractions, those things you get when having a baby! Menstrual cramps are thought to be related to a naturally occurring hormone-like substance called prostaglandins which causes the uterus to contract. Over-the-counter pain relievers such as Naproxen Sodium used around the clock as soon as you notice the first sign of your period help to reduce the severity of cramps in many women by inhibiting the release of prostaglandins.

Aleve says take 1 every 8 hours. However, I find that if I take 2 right away and then 1 every 6 hours, life is GOLDEN. Wouldn’t even know it was that time of the month, except for my attitude of course.

Who says you can’t have the best of both worlds? I recently met the most delightful individual who embraces all my favorites! How to be clean and organized and look good doing it. Kathi is always very well put together when I see her and she has a beautiful living space with the cutest little items that are also functional.

Please check out Kathi’s site addSpace to your life for great tips on almost everything in life having to do with image and organization. These things help de-stress your life and help you to feel better about yourself. Having an appealing image for yourself and your surroundings makes you feel good about yourself. This boosts confidence to do just about anything in life, from getting the girl to getting the job!

I believe that Kathi, in all her infinite wisdom, eminates all the ideas of my site and can certainly help you to Engineer your life!

I think we all take for granted how important sleep is and what an impact lack of it has. This is true for both adults and children. To drive the point home, sleep deprivation is used as a torture tactic.

I know first hand how lack of sleep affects my family. I am the most unpleasant person to be around first thing in the morning. My husband even makes a point of keeping the kids away from me until I have had my coffee. Without the right amount of sleep, we do not even think or act rationally. This can have many repercussions, including causing traffic accidents or performing at a substandard level at work/school.

Today, we decided to have a play date with another child who has his nap time much later than my children do. We knew it could have a negative effect, but we decided to put our kids to nap later than usual. We left the friends house about an hour after nap time and my younger one fell asleep in the car. I thought he would continue to sleep once we got him into his crib at home, but instead he stayed in his crib and iggled and giggled with his brother until I finally let them out of the room. BIG mistake. I should have made sure they went back to sleep.

At dinner time, the little one decided to throw a fit as we were not serving him fast enough. He threw a fit to the point of not even eating dinner. We eventually had to treat him like a 9 month old and coddle him to get him to even calm down and drink some juice. His dad eventually calmed him down and he subsequently passed out in our bed almost an hour before bed time.

Although the effects of not enough sleep aren’t always as severe as throwing a fit, many little things can be attributed to it. If you are having difficulties with a child’s behavior or performance in school, look first to fix things like bad sleeping and eating habits. It is amazing what good disciplines will do for a person.

Children of school age do really well with routines. Suggested sleep times can be found on several sites. I read a study a long time ago that compared the amount of sleep children get in today’s society to how much they used to get before our society became so industrial and technological. I am going to look for that article, but I found another one on the study of “the sleep of America’s children”. This article can be found here. I am actually really pleased that I found this article. I cannot stress enough how important a good amount of sleep is for everyone!

I found another really good one that goes into detail for the amount of sleep for each age and good practices for bed time routines. It can be found here at netdoctor.com. It is amazing how in line it is with my previous post on getting your child to go to sleep.

Now I know just as well as anyone else how hard it is to fit everything into a busy day and still get to bed on time. Hopefully, future posts will help to make your time management more efficient so that you can get to sleep at a decent hour, after having had enough time to wind down.

It is all over the internet, but I though I would share again. I am thoroughly pleased that L-lysine is the reason I never again have to spend two weeks covering my mouth when I talk to people so that my cold sore doesn’t show. Forget about how embarrassing they are, they are unbelievably painful and long lasting. Two days ago I felt the tingling and immediately ran for the bottle and took 2. I then took 1 three times a day following that. I can feel it there under the skin, but it never surfaced or festered. YAY for me.

It is very important to take 2 right away and then take 1 three times a day to make sure that it does not surface. Continue to take it until you do not feel it under the skin or a scab has formed. I promise the heal time will go from 2 weeks to 2 - 4 days. Below is some technical information about L-lysine from www.forces-of-nature.net. This supplement can be bought over the counter at any grocery store or pharmacy and several different manufacturers make it. It is also not any more expensive than a bottle of vitamin C.