Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

Lucas recently tested for his high white belt (karate) and as I looked in on him through the glass doors to his class, I was overwhelmed by the sense of my little boy on his own in the world.  He looked so small in his white Gi in front of the table where his Sensei, her Sensei and another instructor, sat.  I watched him stand with his weight on one foot, then the other, doing jumping jacks to warm up and practicing kicks and blocks with his classmates. I felt the tears well up and got that old lump in the throat.  I hadn't felt like that in a long, long time with Lucas, why now? I think that unlike his spelling test, where I can help him by reviewing the words with him, or his Maths,  this was something he had to do on his own. I couldn't help him. Heck, I didn't even know what the right moves were!  I guess he is at the age where he will have more and more independent experiences.  I will hold on to this picture of him in my mind, and the feeling that washed over me

After I put up the first set of pictures, a friend suggested that I should also include some pictures of someone "bussin' bamboo".  What is that? In the words of one, hilarious blogger ( Things I've Found in My Pocket ), " Bamboo cannons... Backyard ballistics ", you get the picture. Bursting or exploding bamboo is a popular thing in Trinidad for Divali, particularly in the rural areas. I've included a picture of someone attempting to "buss bamboo" below, as well as some additional Divali pictures.  It is not uncommon to find someone setting off bamboo in the park or their neighbourhood street (thanks Deb for the pictures!) ***Disclaimer***  Do not attempt this at home. This is being done by a professional (I hope) with safety precautions in place (I wish). If you are really interested in finding out how this is done, read it here.

I know I am a little late, but I wanted to put some pictures of Divali in Trinidad, for those of you who might be wondering what the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean do for Divali. Eating on soharee leaves (looks like fig leaves but different plant), is still popular in some places, as well as using old-fashioned deyas (oil, wick and clay pots).  Unfortunately I didn't have any pics of the more elaborate structures using bamboo which is cut in half and bent into fantastic shapes.  Deyas are then held in place by mud which hardens.  It looks quite spectacular at night. Thanks to my friend Debbie for the neatly arranged food pictures and the nighttime deyas, and to my cousin Gary for the rest.

What is the accounting error? I'll get to it. I've been paying attention to what is happening on the climate change scene, on and off over the last few weeks.  Imagine my dismay when I read that the laws passed on limiting carbon emissions, omitted or viewed biofuel emissions incorrectly. Essentially, carbon emissions from smoke stacks count, but not carbon released from burning biofuels (e.g. a tree, or from a car using ethanol as fuel).  The article makes a reference to this gross mistake as an "accounting error", it has the self-explanatory title of Scientists: Biofuel Laws May Harm Environment . Nice.  According to the article, this is how the laws in Europe and in the Kyoto treaty are written.  You've got to be kidding me!! And scientists have only realized this  now??!!  But what does that have to do with my nieces in Trinidad?  Or the roadside vendor who pulled his children out of school so they could beg for money from passing motorists? Not one damn t

I came across this article from WebMD about the personal stories of breast cancer survivors.  I find them tremendously encouraging and not only relevant to the specific subject of breast cancer, but also about handling adversity in general.  Some of the key points I noticed in these women's stories: They took action They were hopeful They had support They dealt with what they were facing in different ways.  In the words of one "you don't need to be a hero" while another decided to do just that and continued to go to the gym.  They are great examples of women who have met the challenge of breast cancer and made it through.  If they can do it, so can you.  No matter what your personal challenge is.  Take a read of the WebMD article Me and the girls. Breast cancer is a subject near to me, and I wanted to remind everyone (male and female), that there are wonderful opportunities to help support the cause: You can find events in your area at the Susan G. Komen fo

It's days like these I really enjoy being a stay-at-home mom.  I was with Liam last week and as we were driving out of our street we saw a fire engine ahead of us. The sirens weren't on, so I figured it may be going back to the station a few blocks from our house.  Not having to get to work, I was only too happy to follow it around, besides, I could hardly do anything else because Liam was squealing so loudly .  Good thing he was strapped-in otherwise he would have literally jumped out of the car. So we followed the fire engine around for a few streets, talking about what we could see on the truck (the hoses, controls, ladder) and then finally it reached the fire station.  We stopped and I turned the car so he could get a good look at the firefighter reversing the engine back into the bay. What could be better than that? Well, it's the little things that occur in the day.  Last evening, I saw my husband looking at Liam (my 2-year old) playing happily in the bath. So I

This is my post for Blog Action Day . This is an annual event where bloggers everywhere in the world post about the same issue on the same day to spark discussion around an issue of global importance. This is part of a conversation I had with my 8-year old. Mama : Do you know what climate change means? Lucas : I think it means when it is like 90F and it is hot.   And the change? It's when in the daytime it might be 90F and sunny and hot, and then you go inside for dinner and then right after dinner and it might have dropped to 70F Well, yes it is that in a way.  That describes what is happening in your area, but when people use the term "climate change" they really mean something more global, like affecting climate around the world Have you heard of the team "global warming"? What global warming is that it is made up of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and when they burn stuff the smoke releases CO2 and it's like a blanket covering the earth and if it k

I was one of those women who said, "If I had kids I would never ....", fill in the blank. In this case it is pander/cater to multiple tastes. How did I end up here? Milk - I started off the year with 3 different types of milk - low fat for Lucas, whole for Liam and soy for us. I've made it down to 2 (switched Lucas to back to whole milk) and I am slowly transitioning both of them to soy. Whew!! Bread - We are down to 2 types of bread, one type for Lucas and Liam and one for us (hard-core multi-grain whole-wheat). I started giving Liam our bread which he accepts, but Lucas has something against bread that has "stuff" in it. As for toothpaste - that's for later. Meals - Ok, this needs some serious work. In general, once we sit at the table, I try for all of us to eat the same things, but maybe Lucas would have plain spaghetti and Liam would have his with spaghetti sauce. It is a mess, but Lucas, my problem eater, seems to be getting more adventu

If my husband is reading this, I can just imagine his reaction, "WHAT NEXT CHILD??!!!" A friend of mine recently mentioned wanting another child (this is someone who is finally ready to do sleep-training with her 2-year old - a baby who is not completely weaned yet), but anyways, yes this crazy mom is talking about another child. (By the way, I should warn you, this is a short post on a complex topic.) So it got me thinking. Liam is 2 now, and it would be great to have a little princess, but I started this baby business a little (ahem) later than some of my peers and having a child later in life is complicated because of the risks (both for mother, baby and of course emotionally and financially if baby has health issues). I look at Liam and think what a sweet child he is, wouldn't it be wonderful to experience that all over again? But getting there would be a problem - struggles with nursing, up every 1 1/2 hours, not to mention getting through a pregnancy and deli

I came across some short articles on the differences between boys and girls and raising them, that I thought might be interesting. In the books I had read about raising boys, they mention some of the points raised in the links below - different expectations for boys/girls, different language is used with both, the difference in physical and emotional maturity. Although these online articles are not very detailed, it certainly gives you a flavour for some of the current thinking on this. For me, it is enlightening to learn more about how what I do, what I say and how their experiences affect how they behave and interact with the world around them. From TVs to Toys:What shapes boys into boys and girls into girls Differences in raising boys and girls As a further example to the different messages that boys get to girls and how in turn it affects their behaviour (circular reinforcement), check out this lemonade experiment. Difference between boys and girls When Lucas was born,