Transitioning

This cute little tyke is the spokesmodel for Motherease diapers. My cloth diaper of choice.

I am one of the many who has a time-share. Apparently those little sales talks can be quite effective. Because of this association, I recently went on vacation to Fairmont Hot Springs.

This was one of those last minute deals that had us out for a week and coming home on Christmas Eve. I was to find out that I was hosting dinner that night but that is a separate story. Knowing that I'd be gone so long, this mom of a wee one who normally uses cloth diapers stepped off that treadmill and had a bit of a tough time getting back on.

I knew I wouldn't have the capacity to manage the usually simple schedule of laundry while out and about all week in the mountains. Our schedule instead revolved around time at the pools, springs, games rooms and outdoors. So the natural choice was to use disposables.

All of this is rather hum-drum I know. The point of my little entry here though is once you get used to the convenience of using disposables it's not so easy to transition back into using cloth. For instance, I've been home for 6 days and haven't done a load of diapers yet. I would have done 2 loads by now if I hadn't been away. So what's with the change up? Well, I guess I got a bit too used to the ease of disposables. I knew that Christmas Eve and Day would be crazy for me. What with the impromptu dinner (I had cooked for it weeks ago so everyone would be fed regardless - but I had thought not in my home) and the inevitable running around to all of the family, there was no way I was going to be changing diapers ever hour. No way whatsoever. So I stuck with the disposables that I had used during vacation. What are those things made of anyway? If the little one isn't pooping, they're good for like 12 hours. What's with that and how is that even possible? Are they toxic? Is there some sort of NASA-like space-age substance in them that enables them to hold a whole day's worth of pee? Seriously! Good thing the New Year is coming and with it the usual guilt of not living our chosen 'Best Way'. If it weren't for that, I may never pick up my socks and get back into the swing of cloth diapering. So to all of the mothers who diligently use cloth every day of their babies' lives, my hat's off to you. I wish I had that much fortitude. Perhaps next year.

The things no one tells you about having kids . . .

It all starts the same way. We're happy to finally know that a baby is on the way. Ah, Babies. They're soft, cute, warm, beautiful. There are no more wonderful little beings on the planet than babies.

Getting a baby is a different story. I'm not going there today. Where I will be going is to my temporary blindness. OK, blind is a gross over-statement. Vision problems. About 4 months after my first was born, I woke up, found my glasses and still couldn't see. Weird lots? No doubt. With the glasses, I covered each eye in turn to find out which eye was the problem; the right. So I took off the glasses and checked out if my right eye was suddenly worse or better. Either way would mean that with the glasses I had, I wouldn't be able to see properly. Turned out that my right eye was suddenly better. It didn't help me but I could see better out of my right eye than I had in years. (Insert small happy dance.) I got an emergency appointment with my long-time optometrist and saw him a few hours later. (Quite the drive over - no fooling.)

And that's when I got the news: breastfeeding can alter vision. In a million years I never would have guessed this one. Apparently, the tears can change consistency which would change the moisture level and clarity of the surface of the cornea. Huh.

I had laser eye surgery in the time between having my 2 kids. The procedure is a whole thing that has to be planned out - so many menstrual cycles have to occur, vision has to be stable for 'x' amount of time. It's a bit of a series of hoops to be ready to have it done. But, I did qualify for the surgery and I've enjoyed perfect (well practically perfect) vision for a few years now. So imagine my surprise when the day after my second's 1st birthday, I woke up and couldn't see out of my right eye. Really?!? Again? I got another emergency appointment. Sadly this time not with my eye doctor - he had the nerve to retire without informing me. Sheesh, who does he think he is retiring like that? Turned out the practice had another fellow able to see me so I got someone to drive me this time and figured it would be the same thing as last time: "Vision should return to what it was in a day or 2" It did last time. I woke up that next day with my right eye as bad as it had always been and used my glasses as before. This time though, the new doctor told me that something was wrong. Apparently, I had corneal damage. What? It didn't hurt. I just couldn't see very well out of my right eye. I had gotten so used to having perfect vision it was a real bummer to have a haze over my eye. Like there was oil or cream in it. It didn't seem that bad and I wasn't even going to see the optometrist until the next day. (You know, in case it just corrected itself.) Turned out it was a good thing I went - corneal damage, it would seem, is nothing to brush off. Especially after having had the surgery. There were some scratches on my cornea. And now I cannot remember how it happened. I had to run down the possible reasons: I sleep with my eyes a little open because there are always kids needing something in the night. The kids often either head butt me in the eye or poke me in the eye. It happens with shocking and I wish less frequency. I make my own saline sometimes and perhaps the salt wasn't completely dissolved. You'd think it would have hurt at the time though. (I crochet and often get bits of yarn on my eye and it's best to wash off the surface of my eyes with an eye cup. - - I love my eye cups and couldn't possibly live without them.) So there were multiple possibilities as to why. I don't know how, I only know that I now have to take anti-inflammatory drops 4 times a day and go back in a week to see if the damage has fixed itself. Yikes! Bottom line: Breastfeeding is great and wonderful but can have a couple of unforseen consequences. So if it happens to you, or someone you know, you've got a story to share and some advice - See An Optometrist, NOW.

Steer clear of the sharks - 8 ways to increase web traffic to your website

Publish = blood in the water

From the second I published my online business website, I have been inundated by sharks. They contact me every way you can possibly imagine at all hours of the day and night, weekdays and weekends. No time is safe and they seem to never sleep. To whom am I referring? All of those companies who make money selling online businesses the 'service' of generating exposure.

The calls usually come from area code 425 – Washington State. Although some have been from Utah (801). I'm wise to such calls. Mostly because I am not in Washington or the states so there is no particular reason for my initial clientelle to be from WA.

The claims and approaches from these blood-suckers are as wide and varied as the types and number rain drops that fall on their beloved state.

Some are relentless, somewhat complementary and smooth, some insulting and impossible to get rid of while some try the kindly, helpful approach. No matter the tactic, the goal is the same: separate online business owner from their money. (And in honesty, most new online business owners don't make money. Like other new business owners, they spend money – a lot of which isn't even theirs to begin with. You know that's the truth.)

The claims range too:

“We'll get you to the top of the search engines.”

“We'll drive qualified traffic to your site”

(I love this one in particular because – they've called, emailed, used my site's contact page – they're relentless. And note the above website info – not found. Every search of this company yielded other companies and even the usual 'purchase this domain name'. Sure – I'm going to give you $1000s to promote my business when I cannot find yours. Wait by the phone for my credit card info!)

“You need to optimize your key words and metas”

“We can guide you through the process of getting seen through blogs, online shopping catalogs, meta optimization, key word searches, etc.”

“You need to know what people are searching – and sell that”

“We get 17 000 online shoppers daily to our 'mortar-and-brick' style online shopping mall”

Really? Hmmmm. I buy stuff online. Sometimes I use a general search. Sometimes a proven seller – like the Shopping Channel. (One of my favs. I just bought a few things tonight actually.) But NEVER have I used either an online catalog, or mall. Never.

The crazy thing is to get to the top of the search engines – you need to do what they want. Mostly, have links going to and from your site. The best way to do this – a zillion malls, directories and catalogs that no one uses but that update many times a day, thus re-initiating all of those links making it seem as though people go to these sites.

Another fav of the search engines – press releases. Most of the online press release sites are likewise totally bogus and you can only find them if you are really looking for them. A reputable news site seems to generate more weight than the fabricated, no one sees them 'news' sites, but bottom line; any website that's updated very frequently and contains the links in the format recognized will do the trick.

Personally, I checked my Google search status prior to updating my Google Adwords and found that my site was being found on page 2. With the adwords account re-invested, I was suddenly 4^th on the 1^st page. (Not counting the ad which appeared at the top of the page.) Coincidence? I doubt it. Pay them money – and they'll immediately rank you higher.

So what have I learned about online business by starting a commerce-based website?

1. Don't pick up the phone if the area code is 425. If they're reputable, they'll leave a message – and often they will when they're not.

2. Use metas and key words in a way that will optimize your searchability. No more than 6 repetitions on any 1 page of your key word(s) and make sure your metas match. And use the reverse search tools to find out how people search for your items.

3. Publish often. By often, I mean as close to everyday as you can manage.

4. Exchange links. Find businesses to link exchange with you. This usually means setting up 1 or more pages to accommodate these but the links are what the search engines want to see so you've got to do it. And try to keep these exchanges within your general category of business. (Not always easy since you're all in competition.)

5. Don't be swayed! Sometimes the sharks will tell you that it's unclear if and/or what you're selling on your site. Or even that your site (that you probably agonized for 100s of hours to build) is awkward to navigate. Ask people close enough to you to check out your site but far enough away from you to tell you the truth. And pick people who shop online!

6. Blog. Become an expert at something – preferably something related to what you're selling. (There's a reason why so much of the info on the net is crap – businesses are forced to be experts – and often they're not. They're just slogging along like everyone else.)

7. Ask for and take advice. I'm big on doing research – mostly because I like it and I'm pretty good at it. I've read so many books and articles on how to generate traffic and business online. And most of the advice is the same. Worse still, most matches with what the sharks say too.

8. Keep at it. I'm sure every person reading this knows someone who's done a multi-level marketing business (Amway, Norwex, Avon, Tupperware, PartyLite, etc.). I'm also going to guess that that person you know gave up on their business. Not because it didn't work – but because they didn't stay in it long enough for it to work.

9. Paying the sharks won't get you all the business you're looking for right away - if ever. When you talk to them long enough, you'll find (if they're honest with you) that they say it'll take 6-12 months to see any marked improvement in traffic.

Calgary Woman's Show Fall 2010

Thank you Calgary!

Thanks to everyone who came by our booth at the Calgary Woman's Show. We are taking this opportunity to acknowledge everyone who took the time to offer their support, give us tips for new products and markets as well as the many, many who came to make purchases for themselves, their loved ones and the soon-to-arrive loved ones in their lives.

The ladies of Calgary were so generous we even had one lady, Heather S., purchase a Ready for Anything pack to donate to the Foothills Hospital so that one of their patients may have an easier time with their stay in hospital. She thought the packs were a great idea but had recently been in hospital and wasn't planning a future visit. Go figure.

When I went into the hospital to deliver the pack, I explained the situation to the volunteer on duty and was taken to the admitting desk. After a long wait and no one available to speak with us, I was sent to Unit 61 where most people who come from emergency end up when they need to stay in hospital. I took the pack to the nurse on duty and tried hard to get the whole story out quickly so that she wouldn't think I was wasting her time and once I got the words out her face changed. She was so happy to hear that someone would go to that kind of effort to repay the kindness they had received at their hospital. It's this generosity that makes Calgary a wonderful place to live and do business.

Our biggest seller was the Office Pack which I think we're going to have to rename. So many people seemed to think it was perfect for a short hospital stay or for returning home from a minor procedure. No one likes to be confined to bed, even at home, but having a few things nearby that aren't going to clog up the whole of your bedside table - now that's convenient.

So once again, thank you Calgary Woman's Show attendees for your warm reception. We will be posting the winners of our Show prizes (2 daily prizes of Elizabeth Grant Golden Angel bath products and our Grand Prize of a photo sitting with pictures from our kind friend Nadine Foster.)

Be sure to use your Calgary Woman's Show Coupon for future purchases - good until the end of the year.

Normally I wouldn't be happy to hear that my dad has the bacteria that causes ulcers. . .

This may sound weird but after my mom's trouble with ulcers you'd think that it would be natural to check my dad for the bacteria that causes 90% of all ulcers: Helicobacter pylori. I wrote a blog about this a few months ago and included info about how this little factoid was discovered - and how it resulted in a Nobel Prize for Dr. Warren.

My dad reminds me in some ways of Dr. David Suzuki. I don't mean in the seriously eco-sensitive, hosts his own TV show, has a foundation to help protect the earth way. You may not have seen the interview with him that disclosed his commitment to his physique but it left a lasting impression on me.

OK, so in that interview he told a story about how one of his daughters had a bodybuilding magazine out that she was looking at and he offhandedly mentioned that he could look like that. According to his interview, she scoffed as only a teenager could which prompted him to take up bodybuilding. He did end up looking like the guy on the cover of the magazine (see above - wow) but more to the point of my father, they showed some footage of Suzuki building a deck. He was hammering nails into the boards with the speed and accuracy of a nail gun. No fooling. And he was in his 60s at the time. Yikes and Hey - How You Doin'? My dad believes in exercise as no one else I've ever known. He devises little machines and routines regularly to improve his physique. The man exercises for a living via his career in home improvements and then comes home to walk the dogs for and hour. Every day. And then proceeds to do his made-up exercises. So when he was having gastrointestinal problems that would not be cleared my mom began to worry. I was asked for some insights and gave the usual answers - watery diarrhea use activated charcoal. But if it's an infection it should clear on its own in 7 to 10 days. This didn't happen. He wasn't dehydrated. He didn't have cramping or pains. Just this knowledge that the volume going in wasn't reflected by the volume going out. So my next suggestion was a laxative. This did help with the volume going out. This is good but still this water problem. Adding to my mom's concern was that he wasn't active. He was watching TV. Not that he never watches but he sat for more than an hour. This doesn't happen. Ever. He was fatigued. And it wasn't ending. Combine that with the need to use the facilities immediately after eating and that's a combo no one wants. Now when my mom was diagnosed with an ulcer back in 2006, I told my mom to get dad checked. They are from a part of the world (middle Europe pre-1960) where the incidence of Helicobacter pylori infectivity is super high. Did he go? Course not. But something about these symptoms really bugged me - so I put the bee in mom's ear and she called his doctor's office and forced them to run the test. And finally the results are in - yup, he's got it. So why am I relieved? There is a cure. Even though antibiotics do not work a lot of the time (like a 70% failure rate). There are natural things that can help out with clearing the bug.

Now I don't know if my dad will be 100% after his treatment regime but if he can get back his energy and not need a washroom every time he thinks about eating - I'll be happy. Bottom line - you need a patient advocate. Seriously, what kind of doctor doesn't think to check the spouse of a known ulcer patient who has tested positive for H. pylori. This isn't rocket surgery. It's passed through saliva and hello married people are known to kiss, share food and drinks. Not to mention the above stated likelihood of his having the bacteria due to location and conditions of his life prior to living in Canada. The patient shouldn't need to diagnose themselves. A reminder of your individual situation no matter how difficult it may be to get your healthcare practitioner to listen, may just lead to the diagnosis you need so that you too can be on the road to recovery; like my dad.

Why does my mind kick in after the person I'm talking to has left?

Has this ever happened to you? You're chatting with someone you don't know very well and after they leave you remember all the things you should have said or done. For instance, I ran into a high school alumni at a farmer's market and instead of giving him a business card to get in touch with me I pointed out my website address on my bag.

To be fair it's a lot easier to remember something simple like You Get Well Soon than it is to ask him to remember my name and its exact spelling. (Some names are complicated and mine really is one of them.) It also would have been nice for me to remember some of the details I wanted to at the time that I was giving away my maternity and early baby clothes. Life is pretty funny. I was trying desperately hard to find a local organization to take these items along with some baby stuff (swing, breast pump, sling, etc.). I am now and always have been a firm believer in donating rather than trashing my used stuff. And I don't know why I forget every time but it's like the organizations go out of their way to not get donations of anything other than cash. Now I understand that used stuff (and even new stuff - that they'd prefer) requires sorting and storing and assessing needs and therefore Manpower. I get that. Not every facility has storage space or enough volunteers to make this possible. I really do get it. BUT. Why is it that items that were perfectly good for me and my kids are somehow found to be lacking for the less fortunate?

They're less fortunate - why do they need better stuff than I used? I ran into this years ago when I wanted to give away my car. Plenty of organizations were willing to have me trash my car and then give me a tax voucher. That's not what I wanted. It was a fully roadworthy vehicle. Subarus last forever - well practically. They'll go until the body rusts through and there's either nowhere to sit or the engine falls out. But giving it away was a nightmare. After far too many phone calls and surly volunteers (I even talked to churches), I ended up finding someone through my mom who needed a car.

This lady grew up in a less that ideal situation and had let's say a limited trust of people. She befriended my mom though and they were quite close. When I gave her my car she was not only happy to have a working car - for free, she also gained some measure of faith in people. The small thing caused a ripple effect. And I was happy to do it. I'd rather give my car to someone who can use it that trash it or go through the hoops of selling it for a few hundred bucks. So likewise, I wanted to give my old maternity and baby stuff away. There is a never-ending need for these items by those ladies who cannot afford them for any number of reasons. So why is it so hard to be charitable with such items? I burst into a conversation a table of ladies had at a coffee shop regarding charities. (Not surprised are you?) They were discussing the sad state of charities. One point that was brought up was the high number of organizations. Each, of course, with at least one paid position . It's not a bad way to make money. Solicit funds for a genuine cause, get the tax breaks and collect an income while doing good. Sounds like a perfect scenario. And it would be if there weren't so many thus spreading the actual usable dollars so thin. Think of it, if there is say $1 million dollars donated annually to charities in your city geared towards those who are financially in dire need (homeless and those victims of abuse who need to abandon their homes). Of that million wouldn't more actually go to those in need if there were fewer agencies and therefore not only less overhead (as far as salaries go) but also more volunteers that donate their time would all be working for the same place - getting more done. After what seemed like endless calls to about a dozen agencies, I got referred to 2 places. The Thrift Store which is an arm of the Salvation Army and the Women in Need store.

Now they will take the clothes but not any 'furniture' and apparently the swing was considered furniture and was deemed un-donatable. How I was told that they work is that they are a store. So anyone can come in and buy anything in the store. And, they give vouchers to those who qualify and they can 'spend' them on whichever items in the store that they need. It's like giving them away but also has I suppose an accountability associated with the donation. Needless to say, I did not end up using these organizations for the donation of my baby and maternity stuff. I called up a couple well-connected people I know who then led me to the same lady. She and her husband came by my home and picked up the items. I told them they could go through the stuff now and leave what they didn't want or they could take everything if they promised to give away what they wouldn't use. They were great and seemed to be appreciative of the items. They were actually really cute and asked about a few aspects of parenthood and I volunteered what info I could at the time - and then directed them to my blogs (here and through Wordpress) to flesh out some topics that are too big for people who don't really know one another to get into - like breastfeeding and diapering without droning on and on. Can't really do that with people who not only have come from work and are tired already but also, hello, pregnant lady. She doesn't need to be on her feet any more than is absolutely necessary. Bottom line - it shouldn't be this hard to give quality items to those who genuinely need them. The women who got my things could use them and I'm sure the expenditure savings were nice but Need is another concept altogether. It's a shame that it isn't easier to connect the haves with the have nots when both parties want.

How I went from infirm to energetic

I was having dinner with a very dear friend tonight and a topic came up: my friend was having serious problems with her energy levels. Given her recent troubles, it wasn't unexpected but she's so out of breath that it brought to mind a situation I had many years ago and what I did to "cure" myself. Many a moon ago, I worked in a lab that poisoned me with chlorine gas. I went from being quite active to not being able to vacuum my tiny apartment in a matter of months. My lung function was so poor that the doctor who examined me actually asked me to sit down to review the results directly with him in his office. I was put on a variety of medication and given a schedule by which to see him. After 3 months, there was no real improvement - with the meds I could vacuum but not go up the 2 flights of stairs to my place without taking a breather. So I started looking into alternatives. By chance, I came across the book by Dr. Robert Fulford: Touch of Life. (I've since found out that it is available in paperback to this day. It was first published in 1996 - 1 year before the beginning of my symptoms. Lucky for me.) Dr. Fulford was an osteopath. The DO stands for Doctor of Osteopathy. This discipline is similar to medical school but the methods are very different. Osteopaths usually deal with injury repair - not like I was shot and need my tissues put back together. More like I was shot 3 months ago and need to remold and repair the area. They also deal with chronic injuries like those that result from childhood trauma or car accidents; you get the idea. Part of how it works is by opening up the congested, scarred region to the flow of the body's energy. And, at the end of this book is a chapter called exercises. I pulled the exercise pix that I'll post here from this osteopathy pdf. These exercises together with using a cleansing tea called FlorEssence took me from that terrible physical state to being able to help my parents re-roof their home just4 weeks later. I even went back to university right after that. And as everyone who's been knows, this is not a stress-free endeavor. So what is FlorEssence? This is a tea that was based on Renee Caisse's original formula known as Essiac tea. Essiac contains burdock root, Indian rhubarb root, sheep sorrel and slippery elm. This formulation was based on a Native American/ Native Canadian combination used to treat cancers and other serious ailments. If memory serves, Ms. Caisse was allowed to test the tea on terminal, untreatable cancer cases early in the 20th century. The results were so unexpectedly favourable that the formula has not died but instead been expanded by an additional manufacturer in the form of Flor Essence. It contains the same four herbs plus watercress, blessed thistle, red clover and kelp thought to increase the potency of the Essiac formula. For me, the combination did wonders. I've used the tea for 3-12 weeks every year since (expect when pregnant and nursing). Unfortunately, I've let the exercises go by the wayside. This blog post is reminding me of how good it felt to do these exercises and I think it would make a great addition to my daily routine. Well, I hope that this combo can help you or someone you know. And please check out Touch of Life. It changed my views of medicine and what has been practiced in North America for the last 100 years. Here are the exercises - try them out. They're simple and surprisingly beneficial.

Julia Roberts has done it - now I'm displeased . . .

I was happily watching the Oprah, even though it was a repeat (I'm pretty sure I saw parts of it the first time). It was the one with Julia Roberts discussing Eat Pray Love the movie. Haven't seen it yet but I read the book and liked it so hey why not catch the O about it.

Where does the displeasure come in - well Julia was talking about how she has taken to knitting and sewing stuff for her kids. So far so good. It's a nice gesture to the kiddos and as she herself said, it's good for the mind to learn new things. But then she did it - she went on to say how in these trying economic times, you've got to do all you can to save. "Have you seen the price of kids clothes?" Hazel's dresses are just 2 panels sewed together - I can do that'. (I paraphrase - but it was something like that - I tried to look up the interview on You Tube but was copyright protected and the Oprah website didn't have the whole transcript available.)

Now doing sewing and knitting for your family as an expression of love - awesome. Doing it to save money - that's cool too. BUT this woman makes $10's of MILLIONS for the movies she does. Are you *&@ing kidding me? How Profoundly Insulting to the millions of Americans who are actually struggling. And that doesn't include the millions who are homeless. Or the 10's of millions of children who don't have enough to eat in the States - let alone pretty clothes. (According to the Hunger Site, 14 million children in the States live in "poverty and desolation".)

And that's just America! Worldwide - 1.02 Billion are experiencing chronic hunger (due to the current economic crisis!) with 53% of pre-schooler age children's deaths being directly attributable to malnutrition. Julia - You do NOT need deals. You are not affected by any economic crisis. Be respectful of actual people's daily struggles as opposed to rejecting the reality of the vaulted life you are privileged to live and accept.

And Oprah even backed up this sentiment of hers in her August issue of O Mag - in the "What I Know for Sure" article. She discusses wanting deals. Really? Are you kidding me? I get not wanting to get screwed over just because you have money. But it's that sentiment of not wanting to pay what something is worth that is the most insidious form of greed. That's the greed that big business uses to justify its figurative and literal enslavement of workers. More Profits - well, there are limits to everything. It's long past time we figured that out.

There's nothing wrong with paying what something is worth. Mind you, if we were really doing that natural gas, hydro-electricity, nuclear energy would include the environmental costs. Corn, wheat, dairy, beef would all cost much more - they're currently subsidized. We actually throw out more milk than we consume - because we don't produce food for consumption, we produce it for profit. But there's a cost - and the Oprah's and Julia Roberts' of the world should at least be willing to acknowledge that there's a gap. AND that they, of all people, can afford to pay it!

It's a SCAM! Snack food expiry dates that is.

I've begun checking expiry dates very carefully on snack foods for business reasons - no one wants to purchase a gift bag with expired treats. This led me to an interesting and disturbing find. . . Have you noticed that snacking foods (crackers, cookies, etc.) all have ridiculously short expiry dates?

I bought 4 boxes of the 100 calorie Oreo wafers. I like them and there was a double coupon offer so, hey, yeah 4 boxes. It wasn't until I was prepping for a home show for You Get Well Soon that I noticed that of these boxes that I had bought ONLY 2 months ago 3 had already expired. So I thought I'd check out all the snacks I could find in Costco that would otherwise be appropriate for the business. Lo and behold, not 1 and I mean that literally, not 1 had a date later than November. Most had September. September? It's August!

I was in the health food store and heard the clerk speaking with a customer about how if everyone in the world ate the way we did (in North America) the Earth would run out of food in just a few years. But the more I thought about it the more I was angered. It's not the way we eat it's got much more to do with the fact that we don't grow food for consumption we grow food for profit. Every grocer has to have 'enticing'displays so that we'll buy their food. How much waste is involved in that process? And when we don't buy - it all goes to waste. What about the food we do buy? Do we eat all of it or isthere waste in that process too? This doesn't even include restaurants - even more waste. We are training ourselves, our children and the rest of the world to waste food at a rate many times (orders of magnitude) higher than that at which we consume.

And so I am brought back to the expiry dates. It would seem as though the producers of the snack foods mentioned in the first paragraph are not experiencing enough waste - because clearly waste = profits. It must, right? If the food expires before the store can sell it - it's tossed (at a loss) and then the store will have to order more. And so the cycle continues. It's a SCAM and it's time we as consumers started talking to not only our local stores, news and everyone we know. It's time we took the argument to the producers - not only by not buying their products (because we're talking about pretty much all snack food producers) but directly talking to them. Letting them know that we're on to them and we want honesty - not scams.

If food packaging was really that poor - for snack foods in particular - than none of us would be alive today to be scammed. Expiry dates on snack foods is a pretty new phenomenon. So we who are older than 10 years old have eaten food from the pantry (that had been there for more than 2 months - I can almost guarantee it) all of our lives. I have had such food and I know it was more than a year old. And guess what - tasted great. It is highly unlikely that the packaging available has gotten less effective over the last 30 or 40 years. So what is the difference? The manufacturers have realized a new way to increase their profits - WASTE.

Nothing makes me more crazy that waste - especially when it's for no reason. If it makes you crazy too - I Want to hear about it. We can stop this - but first we have to be aware. Then let those in the biz know that not only are we on to them - but we won't stand for it!

Help me out on this one and we'll all benefit!

Hospital gifts - Flowers

I know that I'm not a girly-girl. Never have been. I do have some experience with being in the hospital and I also know that when you're all alone for 20+ hours a day a nice floral arrangement does make you feel better. (It doesn't do anything for me when I'm at home but hey that's me.)

The thing is there will come a time (and it's here in some places) when flowers won't be allowed in rooms at all. There are already bans in France and the UK and probably more of Europe. The reasoning that's been used has little to do with the real hazards though. So what reasons did they use to create / enforce the ban? Bacteria in the water of flowers, oxygen use (by the flowers and therefore less available oxygen for a compromised patient) and a potential hazard to equipment should they tip. Well these are somewhat valid reasons I suppose. When a patient has very serious and urgent oxygen needs every little bit makes a difference but this won't apply to the vast majority of patients.

Bacteria in the flower water sounds like a possible health risk but it's again unlikely to cause problems. You'd have to drink the bacteria or inhale them. No one's drinking flower water. As for inhaling the bacteria, this sounds easier than it is. The water would have to beaerosolized for that to occur. So it'd have to be put into a spray bottle (and when are those going to be banned in restaurants, etc. Spray bottles cause aerosolization of whatever surface greeblies that are supposed to be cleaned off.) It's unlikely that flower water would end up in a spray bottle. Again, for the very few who would be affected by such a minor number of bacteria of that variety, it would be a health risk but not for every patient.

Equipment risks - that's the third listed issue for no flowers. This is a real possibility given that there is very little space in hospital rooms and always too much stuff. So tipping them over and perhaps having water get on machinery - that could certainly happen. And here, the hospital wouldn't charge us for such an accident so the hospital would have to absorb the replacement costs.

Why didn't they use the real reasons: spores, pollen, water molds, multiple chemical sensitivities, nurses have enough to do and look after? Now there's a question. As the sound bites about severe peanut allergies should have enlightened all and sundry, fungal spores are very dangerous. Fatally dangerous to some. This was enough to handcuff parents to never include any peanut-containing items in kids lunches for school. (What lesseconomically advantaged parents do when peanut butter is one of the best combinations of cost, nutrition and kid-appeal; I don't know?) There are fungal spores associated with soil and therefore flowers. And again, we know from the peanut allergypeople who you don't have to have an appreciable number for 1 to get through and cause trouble.

Pollen. There are tons of people allergic to pollen. Let's face it, if someone's living in a hospital (even short-term) there's something seriously wrong with them. They don't need additional problems. They've got problems already. I encountered this one when I was in hospital. I was there so long that I ended up with more roommates that I could have ever imagined - I think it was 9 in the 17 days I was there. And one of them was allergic to pollen. So I was given a choice, I could ditch the flowers or I could move. I chose to move. It worked out even better for me because I finally ended up with a window. I digress.

Water molds. I know this is a bit of an odd one and it takes time for them to form but the spores from water molds are very dangerous for those who are allergic / sensitive. My sister has this one (and the next one - multiple chemical sensitivity). You'll know if you have this one if you live where there's snow. Snow has more time to develop molds and so with snow melt - the mold spores are released and physiological reactions ensue.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a very real problem for an increasing number of people. This one isn't an allergy but it is a neurological response to chemicals sometimes including those of flowers. Usually it's triggered by chemicals from personal hygiene items (soap, perfume, hairspray, shampoo, hand cream, laundry detergent, etc.) It's a very difficult issue to manage when in public - and there's pretty much nothing more public than living in a place that gets 10's of 'visitors' every day; from the teams of doctors, nurses, cleaning staff, your personal visitors, everyone else's visitors, deliverypersonnel, and the list goes on.

Nurses have enough to do. This one is self-explanatory. They do an impossible job and somehow manage to be nice (most of the time) while doing it. They really don't need to watch out for everything that comes into the room that isn't 'hospital equipment'.

I'll just add one more thing. When I was putting together the inventory for my business (YouGetWellSoon), we needed bags. So we went to our local people for some compostable bags and got into a discussion with the girl at the counter. Turned out she was the daughter of the owners and had been in hospital for a kidney problem. She had received flowers but since she was in the ICU was not able to have them with her. If she craned her head, she could see them sitting on the nursing station table. Not quite what her benefactor had in mind.

Bottom line - this once stable of the hospital gift may soon be no more. So before your gift gets turned back, perhaps check with the facility or give a gift that is more in keeping with what a patient may want / need. It may be less fun but it'll get through the door.

I was wrong - breastfeeding works this way . . .

I was checking out New Scientist online and found an article about the physiology of breastfeeding. I had assumed that baby used their tongue in a peristaltic-type motion to get the milk out but is seems that the functionality is more similar to how we breathe. Baby puts their whole mouth over the areolar region forming a seal and then drops part of the tongue creating a vacuum without breaking the seal. Baby repeats the motion to over and over to continue to rhythmically draw milk into the back of the mouth. It's quite a lot of work which is why some babies stop nursing once they experience bottle feeding. (My little one is usually a bit sweaty during a feed. All that downy hair gets matted down. It's really cute. I don't seem to have a pick - but this one's cute and nearly appropriate.)

Apparently, New Scientist found research via the Medela Breastfeeding and Lactating symposium that used ultrasound technology to literally watch what goes on so that we could better understand the physiology of the mechanism. It helps to explain what women (who have experience breastfeeding) have always known - babies with teeth don't use them while feeding. In fact you pretty much cannot tell the difference while feeding baby.

Well this is news! It also explains why there is no crushing or 'chewing' of the nipple. I'm still nursing my little one and I catch my sister watching me sometimes and cringing. Now she's pretty sensitive in that area and the concept of breastfeeding confounds her. No matter how I explain that it doesn't hurt (and it really doesn't) she doesn't believe me. When I next see her I can explain the why more effectively.

So there it is - fear not ladies! Breastfeeding, once you and your baby have gotten into a rhythm, will be the most convenient and healthy way to nourish your babe. Enjoy this privilege - using your body to support your baby's life. It's an awesome concept. (It's also one that has helped me overcome many 'body issues'. Regardless of what I may think my body looks like - it sure does work.) And breastfeeding doesn't last - so you may as well enjoy it while you can. You know, before they start talking and letting you know what a nuisance you are to them. You'll know that without you, they may not have had the same mental capacity to articulate their angst. Hooray.

Web2.0 - Net-iquette

It's an instant digital world. A big part of this is that everything that you put out there be it personal or business is traceable. Everything. So how to proceed? Honestly, Efficiently, Transparently

I know it goes against everything anyone over the age of 30 has ever been taught about business. Since the advent of big business, it has been the bastion of men on golf courses, men's clubs and other less reputable places. It was an insular world where as long as you could conduct yourself in a manner appropriate for the time and were persuasive you could be successful. It was a world where men like Ivar Kreuger(The Match King) could run the world and hold governments in his hands. He did this in large part by extortion, blackmail and had his monopoly defended by the governments he was controlling (i.e. police and customs officers). But I digress.

Because of trackbacks, near infinite storage of email, unknown network connectedness and net watch-dogs - no business can get away dishonest claims, dealings or transactions. It is a plus and negative of Web 2.0 that anyone can be an expert (with or without credentials) on any topic. The corollary to this is that anyone can be a "key influencer"; someone with massive reach who comments on businesses or events. So above all, be sure that you Net-iquette matches what you would do in person. Every net entry (blog, email, press release, Tweet or Facebook) must be approached in the same manner you would employ for an important business meeting. Yes, it limits how you write, even to your friends on personal matters but because you cannot guarantee who will ultimately be seeing it - it must be in keeping with your most professional business etiquette.

Here's a for instance: I was on Facebook recently and an old high school friend was posting to his wall regarding a business venture. Because I was an official 'friend' after the initial postings regarding his wanting to start a business, what that business would be, funding sources, etc. I was piecing together the post-flow. I gathered that he was getting help from a government agency. The program allowed him to learn about business plans, connected him with loans, helped with building a website, how to develop marketing and it paid him during this learning phase. Well, the post that troubled me most was one that refered to his final meetings from where the money would actually be realized. He posted that the deciding panel consisted of pinheads and he couldn't believe he had to please these people in order to get his business going. Poor form doesn't begin to cover this. Can you imagine if you were on that panel and found out that someone your agency helped, taught, trained, mentored and financially supported was publicly ridiculing you. Would you proceed with funding?

It cannot be overstated: Be honest - if you've promised something, deliver it. If you've failed to deal with something in a timely manner, apologize and keep going. You will not be able to get away with saying you didn't get the message. It's traceable in a many many ways. It won't fly. Own up. Immediately.

Be efficient - if someone gives you a good review, take the time to thank them ASAP. If a key influencer comments on your business - favorably or not, follow up with them. It'll get you more trackbacks and show you to be connected.

Be transparent - if you get a deal on a product or service (especially if it's publicly traceable), pass the savings along to your customers. Because you can reach an infinitely large market, volume may be your target or a very selective few (and you'll be able to exercise that selectivity). Think it through and let your intentions be known. Back to that honesty angle. Turns out we are not so slowly moving towards the Star Trek ideal of everyone getting along for the good of everyone. There's enough business and fame for everyone. If the web has taught us anything - it's that.

How to keep up with breastfeeding because it starts as a form of torture.

I can only speak for myself when it comes to this topic. I found the first few weeks the hardest. After this, the sentiments you hear from breastfeeding moms like 'It doesn't hurt', 'It's not a big deal', 'It's super convenient to have perfectly warm, mixed, clean food at the ready' become true.

But how to get through those initial issues of poor latching and my personal favourite – bleeding around the nipples? For me and my kids, the latching improved with practice and wasn't much of an issue. (I know that sounds trite but it was entirely true. I don't remember the early days with my first one as well but it was true with the second. She latched terribly at first. She wouldn't take enough into her mouth for a good feed for her or a less-painful experience for me. Somehow after a few days she just started doing it right. It was days more before my breasts started to feel better but it did happen.)

The bleeding those first few days of nursing however – sheesh. I recall vividly my little one looking like a vampire with bright red blood leaking out of the corner of her mouth during a few feeds – I kid you not! And I fully admit that I cringed when getting her to latch on knowing that it was going to hurt, I was going to continue to bruise and bleed. (It didn't help that I was reading the Twilight series at the time.)

This was cured with the use of lanolin. Lanolin is a wax-like substance produced by wool-bearing animals – like sheep. Because lanolin is natural, your baby can ingest it without you worrying about chemicals. (So no need to remove or rinse before feeds.) Of course, if you have any wool-bearing animal allergies, you may need another solution. I found that using pure lanolin after every feed on both nipples (even the one I didn't have baby feed from) enabled them to heal in just a couple of days. No more cracking, redness, bleeding or bruising. Don't get me wrong, those days were torture but I knew they'd pass and that when they did we'd have the breastfeeding relationship that I always wanted. And now I do.

There are physical issues that can hinder nursing on both sides. Inverted nipples can cause problems that can be overcome. Unfortunately if baby is tongue-tied, there is little that can be done. My kiddos have tongues like Gene Simmons so it wasn't a problem. It is something that any competent doctor, midwife or lactation specialist will check. Of, BTW they also open baby's mouth to verify if baby is dehydrated. I've never used pacifiers (mostly because my kids wouldn't use them) but they can lead to fewer feeds than is needed which in turn can lead to dehydration. Just a head's up.

For some great resources – see LaLeche's website. Again, I can only speak for myself, but I thought this would be a real 'grassroots' kind of place with associated advice. It was a wonderful resource and I would encourage anyone wanting to breastfeed or having troubles with breastfeeding to give them a chance to work their magic on your breastfeeding relationship with your baby.

In my experience, if you can make it through the first 2-3 weeks, you can make it for as long as you want; a few months or years.

Reposted with modifications from You Get Well Soon Inc.

Hospital Gifts - Balloons

Back in the day, when balloons were still permitted as hospital gifts to be stored in the room with the recipient this story played out.

This is how it was told to me . . . A Canadian gymnast was practicing before a competition but in a domed gymnasium; for the first time. So when he went to do a release move on the high bar, he caught a glimpse of the uneven surface above him and got disoriented, missed the bar, and fell all the way to the floor below. This injury landed him in a shared hospital room with a broken back in the orthopedics ward. Thankfully, the break occurred past the cervical vertebrae that would otherwise have meant paralysis and he was 'merely' in very bad shape. One day, his roommate received a ton of visitors and one left balloons. Not unexpectedly, as this was the orthopedics ward, this roommate was completely incapacitated in a full-body cast. Lucky for him, the poor guy with the broken back (our gymnast) was lying awake and bored after listening in on this visit. (You can't really watch tv while someone else is having a visit in the next bed.) He heard some awkward breathing coming from the neighbouring bed. He moved the curtain and found that the balloons, instead of being bouyed up by their helium centres, were instead lilting over the man's face impeding his breath. A fast trigger finger (for the call button) and some very prompt healthcare workers prevented a serious catastrophe. They rushed into the room and got the bad balloon free of the man's face before any permanent damage could occur.

Everyone wants to be thoughtful and bring some joy to a loved one in an unfortunate situation but no one wants to cause additional suffering. Stay tuned for our follow up piece on hospital gifts with a look at flowers.

Printed with modifications from You Get Well Soon Inc.

Breastfeeding - what is lactoferrin?

Breast is best also refers to immunity benefits. Immunity is the term used to describe one’s ability to fight off illnesses we get and/or are exposed to. Not only are you able to give your child antibodies (the proteins that fight against illness - they are based on what the mother has been exposed to and fights) but there is also a very useful component that most people don't know too much about: lactoferrin.

Lactoferrin, like transferrin (in red blood cells), carries iron. Bacteria need iron to reproduce. And bacteria that are reproducing are far more likely to cause problems. Problems like infection. So lactoferrin can essentially hide any free / extra iron and keep it away from bacteria so that they can't grow (bacteriostatic action).

Research has also discovered that the immune response is activated by lactoferrin. This means your baby gets more than a double shot of immunity just by eating your breast milk. Lactoferrin levels are especially high in colostrum (the first milk that emerges after labour). I assume this is to give your little one the best immunological chance possible – and thank you nature!

Reposted from You Get Well Soon Inc. with modifications

Gelatin & Carrageenan - Thick as Thieves

You find gelatin in food products that have been thickened. Food consistency (loose or thick) is a matter taste. Mouthfeel is what the term is for how a product feels in the mouth and some of us are very sensitive to this. That is why we choose one brand of sour cream, for example, over another.

Gelatin is the most common ingredient used to achieve a thicker product. Gelatin is animal-based, usually extracted from the boiled bone remains of animals used in food processing (cows, pigs, sheep and chickens).

Although someone allergic to cow, pig, sheep or chicken products may know they should probably avoid foods containing gelatin, they may not be aware of the animal connection at their doctor’s office. Most vaccines (be they for big stuff like Hepatitis or for more common but equally scary health conditions like the flu / influenza) are often produced using actual animal products – like foetal / fetal calf serum – and/or grown in animals (like horses) and then extracted and purified before being given to human recipients. IF you have serious allergies to animals, make your doctor or hospital staff aware of this before you receive a shot.

Non-animal-based thickeners are becoming more commercially available. Most are extracted from sea plants. Agar and carrageenan are the better known examples. They have also been used for generations in the food industry and because they are plant-based, they are considered suitable for vegetarian diets.

If you have digestive problems (like Coeliac / Celiac or Crohn’s Disease) and or are immuno-compromised you may want to consider avoiding carrageenan-containg products. There have been recent studies that suggest carrageenan irritates intestinal linings and can therefore further negatively influence adsorption of nutrients into the system.

For follow-up information we suggest contacting your local healthcare website, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website or Wikipedia.

Reposted from You Get Well Soon Inc.

Peanut disclosures

Alrighty, for those who've not read my profile, I used to work on a hospital campus for much of the last decade. During one of those jobs (and I don't remember which), I went over to the cafeteria to get a snack. I do not have much of a sweet tooth but every once in a while I too am seduced by a fine looking treat. The treat in question - Nanaimo square. Here's a pretty good rendition of the dessert treat. It's got a base of cocoa-laden coconut goodness, a middle of an icing-like substance and a solid chocolate topper. (How to tell that I don't bake much?) Anywhoosie, I was a bit tired and not paying terribly much attention so I picked one up and went the register. Now this is a hospital cafeteria. It has no labels on anything. I mean that literally - the only labels are on the big board for hot foods. None of the desserts are labeled in any way. So I was paying and unwrapping the thing before I even left. (It's got a very large seating area.) I did notice as I picked up the square that it had a darker than expected middle section. My sister bakes and this was one of the first things she ever made - it was fab, so she made it often in those early years before she realized she was gluten-intolerant. So I know this middle section should look anything from creamy vanilla through yellow. This one from the hospital was slightly brownish. With one bite I was to find out why - the centre was peanut flavoured.

SAY WHAT?!?

In a hospital, they failed to label a peanut-containing item. I immediately spit out the bite and proceeded to ask the cashier about the peanuts. She looked at me as if to accuse me of a crime and said that if I was allergic - it was my responsibility to inform the staff and ask prior to ordering / purchasing any food. Really? I don't think so. A hospital should always take responsibility for the people they SERVE. Are they trying to create 'customers'? Now I am in the fortunate position to be actually allergic to peanuts. For those with allergies, they'll understand immediately. People with serious peanut allergies are not allergic to peanuts themselves but a fungus found on the shells and associated with peanuts. That's why it's so dangerous. If it were an allergy to the peanut, it would have to be present. As opposed to products that have merely been processed in a factory that has had peanuts in it. Spores from the fungus are very small and airborne. It's impossible to eliminate every spore and so that's why it's dangerous to have this allergy. The crazy thing to me is the hospital cafeteria isn't the only place (even though they certainly know better) that I've encountered this. I was very kindly invited as a guest of my boyfriend to the home of his friend's mom. She had made an enormous Indian feast. There was to be butter chicken, tandori chicken, some lamb, desserts and everything. As an appetizer (as if this feast wasn't enough) she had prepared fish cakes. I was perched on her couch in the living room and as an impeccable hostess, she handed me one of the fresh fish cakes hot off the pan. I gladly tried what was for me a new version of a fish cake. I was munching away and notice something crunchy. I mention aloud, 'hmm, crunchy. What's that, chick peas?' She peaked out from the kitchen - 'Peanuts'. I spit out the food and start trying to find any actual peanut pieces in my mouth to get rid of them. It's not like peanut allergies are uncommon. And like most everything in the media, we hear of the extreme cases. Just a few months prior to this incident, a medical student had died due to a restaurant not disclosing their use of peanuts in the kitchen. For whatever reason, serious, fatal anaphylaxis is not unusual in those with peanut allergies. In the realm of fatal allergies there are a few big nasties, antibiotics, aspirin, bee/wasp bites and peanuts. And of them all, peanuts are the worst due to the whole spore thing. (Antibiotics can be made this way but it's far more rare these days. Not to mention the likelihood of encountering someone popping antibiotics while out-and-about are far lower than being on a bus with someone opening a chocolate bar that was made in a factory that uses peanuts.) Maybe more businesses need to be guilted into being careful. Whatever the answer, be careful. Clearly we take nothing for granted. I am allergic to a protein that makes up the peanut. So if the peanuts are processed enough, the proteins are broken down and it's not harmful for ME (and I'm only referring to my personal case) to eat it. This is an important distinction. I don't want anyone thinking that it's OK for them to mash and heat the begeebers out of a peanut and eat it as some sort of test. Don't! My case is quite unique - don't endanger yourself or someone you love.