The best way out is always through

http://health.msn.com/centers/depression/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100144109

 

 

I get to spend lots of time online or with my nose buried in a book. Can’t wait for Dec so I can SWIM and EAT and CYCLE and watch DVDs and make whOOpie all day! Keke.

We’ll do it all
Everything
On our own

We don’t need
Anything
Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don’t quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They’re not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we’re told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that’s bursting into life

Let’s waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads

I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we’re told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that’s bursting into life

All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they’re all I can see

I don’t know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

http://www.mp3.com/albums/20103048/summary.html

 

Sometimes when I’m down and all alone Just like a child without a home The love you give me keeps me hangin’ on Awww honey all I ever need is you You’re my first love, you’re my last You’re my future, you’re my past And loving you is all I ask Awww honey all I ever need is you Winters come and they go And we watch the melting snow But sure as summer follows spring All the things you do give me A reason to built my world around you Some men follow rainbows I am told Some men search for silver, some for gold But I have found my treasure In your soul, honey All I ever need is you Without our love, I’d never find the way Through ups and downs of every single day I won’t sleep at night until you say, my honey All I ever need is you

Rule #1: Always think hospitable, comfortable, cozy and practical
After that can come fashionable, sleek, dramatic or whatever pleases you. But always keep in mind that a beautifully decorated home still has to function as a home! A home is to be lived in and not just looked at. Make sure your home says, “Welcome.”

Rule #2: Decorate for your family first
Strive for a home that is truly welcoming to the people who live there. Your husband should not have to perch in chairs that feel too small. Your children should not have to avoid certain rooms. Consider every family member’s comfort and taste when making decorating decisions. And don’t fool yourself about how your family lives! If your husband watches TV a lot, don’t hide the set under a side table. Remember, other people live in your home too. It’s not just Mom’s place.

Rule #3: Buy what you love - but avoid paying retail!
The fact is that you don’t have to spend a lot to get a rich, fabulous look. Before you pay retail for anything, try garage sales, flea markets, discount stores, sales and your grandmother’s attic. Full price should be your last resort. Remember, a dollar saved is two dollars earned.

Rule #4: You don’t always have to love what you buy if it works to enhance what you love
This is an important corollary to Rule #3. If a certain side table fills a decorating need (fits that empty corner, makes an interesting statement, adds interest to your wall arrangement), if it’s affordable and if you don’t hate it, go ahead and snap it up. You can always replace it when you find something you like better. Time has a way to make you fall in love with those things you don’t initially like.

Rule #5: Work to create a pleasing ambiance
Your overall decorating goals should include creating an ambience that pleases all the senses.

A home is a place where we know we are protected and loved. It is a “trauma center” where hurt people can get well. It is a place where freedom rings. The occupants don’t have to be shaped with the same cookie cutter. Each person is encouraged to grow in his or her own direction for life. In this place called home, we can cry when we are sad and laugh with shouts of joy when we have victories.

Soothing sounds, intoxicating aromas, sumptuous textures - all these add immeasurably to the overall sense of a beautifully decorated home. A comfortable home wants a person to say, “I’m so glad to be home. This is where I can relax, recreate and recharge my battery for tomorrow.”

Rule #6: Put something alive in every room
This is one of the best ways to enhance your home’s ambience - real flowers, green plants, funky-looking cacti or a spaniel curled up on the rug. Try the sound of running water. The trickle sound of water is so relaxing. Even a goldfish in a bowl livens up a room. (However, don’t forget to feed it!)

Rule #7: Try to stage a surprise
An element of the unexpected will do wonders for your decor - an oversized picture, a shelf hung lower than usual, a red pillow in a green room, a teacup turned on its side, a wall of family portraits. The backyard and patio areas are great places for surprises. Don’t be afraid to do the unusual.

Rule #8: Don’t put out everything you own
If one lovely pitcher is good, 20 aren’t necessarily better. In other words, there’s a fine line between cozy and cluttered. Even if you love that rich Victorian look with knickknacks everywhere, try to avoid the trap of too much of everything. You can always store away your extra treasures or rotate them seasonally. Remember, too much of anything that is the same causes it all to “get lost.” Break it up with contrast.

 

From MSN Health and Fitness (fast becoming a daily read for me!)

1. Stay the weight you were at 18

“Next to not smoking, this is probably the most important thing we can do to stay healthy and live longer,” says Walter Willett, MD, chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Leanness matters, because fat cells produce hormones that raise the risk of type 2 diabetes. They also make substances called cytokines that cause inflammation—stiffening the arteries and the heart and other organs. Carrying excess fat also raises the risk of some cancers. Add it up, and studies show that lean people younger than age 75 halve their chances of premature death, compared with people who are obese.

2. Take the dynamic duo of supplements

They’re what Bruce N. Ames, PhD, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley, swears by: his daily 800 mg of alpha-lipoic acid and 2,000 mg of acetyl-L-carnitine. In these amounts, he says, the chemicals boost the energy output of mitochondria, which power our cells. “I think mitochondrial decay is a major factor in aging,” Ames says—it’s been linked to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

3. Skip a meal

Calorie restrictors improved their blood insulin levels and had fewer signs of damage to their DNA. Eating less food, scientists believe, may reduce tissue wear and tear from excess blood sugar, inflammation, or rogue molecules known as free radicals.

Try it: Skip a meal a day. You don’t need to try to cut calories; Or try fasting one day a week. Just drink plenty of water.

4. Get a pet

5. Take a hike

To make the walls of your arteries twice as flexible as those of a couch potato, just walk briskly for 30 minutes, 5 days a week. With age, blood vessel walls tend to stiffen up like old tires—the main reason two-thirds of people older than age 60 have high blood pressure. Exercise keeps vessels pliable. Mild exercise also reduces the risk of diabetes, certain cancers, depression, aging of the skin, maybe even dementia.

6. Fight fair

7. Stop and plant the roses

8. Do a good deed

9. Eat veggies, fruit, fish, curry, drink green tea, listen to music and donate blood (YAY!)10. Take a deep breath

Deep-breathing Technique

Exhale strongly through the mouth, making a whoosh sound. Breathe in quietly through the nose for a count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 7; then exhale with the whoosh sound for a count of 8. Repeat the cycle three more times.

10. Get more shut-eye

Some sleep problems raise the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes—maybe even obesity. Everyone’s sleep needs are different; to find out what yours are, sleep experts recommend you turn off the alarm clock when you’re well rested, and see how long you naturally sleep. (Most people need 7 to 8 hours.)

11. Drop that hot potato

High-glycemic foods, rich in quick-digesting carbohydrates, can cause blood sugar spikes and crashes and contribute to overeating and diabetes risk—which accelerates aging.

We need to retrain our taste buds, says Willett. What to ditch: sugary drinks. And cut way back on America’s favorite veggie, the potato.

12. Put on your rose-colored glasses

If you’re a cranky sort, you might want to tweak your attitude about other things. “People who have a goal in life—a passion, a purpose, a positive outlook, and humor—live longer,” says Robert Butler, MD, president of the International Longevity Center in New York City.

Embrace life!