Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick note to wish all my US friends a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the day with family and friends!

~ Heathen

Last Minute Thanksgiving

Ack!  Thanksgiving is THIS WEEK!

If this is how you feel today, here's what to do:

• First, take a deep breath.  This is not a test and you will not be graded.
• Decide what food & drinks you're going to serve, from appetizers to dessert.  But have backup options just in case!
• Make a shopping list.  Don't forget to include some candles and flowers if you don't have those on hand, and remember the roasting pan if you're cooking a whole turkey.
• Not much of a cook?  Have each guest bring a dish for a pot-luck style meal.
• Go to the grocery store TODAY, the pickings will already be sparse so you don't want to wait any longer.  This is the reason for the backup options.
• If you haven't already, arrange your Fall decorations where they will be appreciated by your guests.
• Really clean your kitchen and main/guest bathroom (the guest room too if you're having overnight company).  The rest of the house can get a cursory tidy & sweep.
• Anything that can be made ahead of time should be prepared on Wednesday at the latest.
• On Wednesday night, make some time to put your feet up with a glass of wine or mug of cocoa and just be.  You'll feel much more relaxed to greet and entertain your guests on Thursday.

Better Homes and Gardens

Remember, these people are your friends and family.  So enjoy the time together instead of trying to be Martha Stewart (unless of course you ARE Martha Stewart).

~ Heathen

A Little Help for my Friends

If you follow my blog, you know I recently suffered a nasty back pain episode.  And I know, from reading all of your blogs, that a lot of you deal with some type of pain on a fairly regular basis.  So I want to share with you 2 things I found that have helped me become (nearly) pain free.  I only say nearly because I'm still working through it, but it's down to just a few twinges throughout the day.  This is a big deal since 3 months ago I could barely walk!

Now I, like a lot of people, don't have health insurance so getting bounced around by a bunch of doctors and specialists was out of the question.  Add to that my low opinion of western medicine and our current healthcare system and you find me searching the web for anything and everything that might possibly relieve the pain.

After much trial and error (all free advice I might add), I stumbled upon something that finally made sense to me...http://www.movelikeachild.com/
This guy and his "program" are not widely known in the US as he's based in New Zealand.  But in my humble opinion, this guy is brilliant!  If you follow the link you can get a very good idea of how his program works and the way he thinks.  And if you enter your email address (I have never gotten one piece of spam from this) you get instant access to 13 videos and a ton of advice for turning things around.  After making my way through absolutely everything on his website I went ahead and ordered the DVDs and I'm so glad I did!  I even sent a question to the contact info and I got a response the next day, from the man himself.  I can't say enough good things about this, check the website out for yourself.

The second item I recently decided to look into is the book Healing Your Back Pain, by Dr. John Sarno.  You can find this everywhere on the web, but I just checked it out from my local library...totally free!  It is not an entertaining read, but it's very informative and eye-opening.  They both offer a radically different approach to all types of chronic pain, not just back pain.

So, if you're tired of being bounced through our medical system and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, just to have your pain come back...check these two things out.

Disclaimer: I am NOT being paid to promote these items.  They worked great for me and I love to share a good thing and a great deal with my friends.