Thursday, July 29, 2010

What is in your shampoo?

Most people use shampoo at least a few times a week. But do you know what's actually in it? A list of shampoo ingredients from the website Good may give you something to think about when choosing your next one:
  • woman using shampooSurfactants Surfactants are necessary for the lathering, cleaning, and degreasing effects of a shampoo. Conventional surfactants such as sodium lauryl or laureth sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate, cocamide DEA, and ammonium xylene sulfonate have the potential for harshness, stripping away fatty acids.
    Natural surfactants such as decyl glucoside, sucrose cocoate, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, and sodium lauroamphoacetate may not foam like a conventional product, but your hair will still be just as clean.
  • Preservatives The main function of preservatives is to ensure a long shelf life. None are truly benign. Conventional preservative such as iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazonlinone, and parabens tend to be stronger, with more allergenic and irritant potential.
    Natural preservatives such as potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and alcohol are milder.
  • Color In basic shampoos, color is added for decorative purposes only. Conventional colorants are often added, but are not necessary for a shampoo to function at all. Most natural brands do not even use colorants at all!

Sources:

  Good July 6, 2010

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Detox Your Body with
Purify Your Body Foot Pads!
www.purifyyourbody.com

Minnesota Boxer Rescue
www.mnboxerrescue.org
Adopt a Boxer Today!

Christian-inspired apparel
www.faithhopecharitees.com
Keep the light of Christ with you!

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Sunday, July 25, 2010

ardyss body garment after laparoscopy and also the adhesives to my foot pads

I was able to wear the Ardyss Body Magic again 7 days after my laparoscopic surgery. My abdominal stitches are still in with the 3 incisions that I have, but the pain now only feels like mild to moderate menstrual cramps (men you won't understand -- women, they totally will understand). I don't really have any limitations anymore, except no sex. bleh.

So now I can fit the Ardyss Body Magic on, and fasten it to the 2nd or 3rd hooks. Hopefully in another few days I will be back to fastening it to the 3rd hooks all the way up, as I was before the surgery.

Another thing I want to talk about is my foot pads. They are not like kinoki foot pads because mine actually work! Kinoki's detox foot pads have over 50% cornstarch in them, used as a filler, so if you have a 5 gram pad, 2.5 grams is nothing helpful at all in detoxing your body. Purify Your Body's detox foot pads have 100% of the 5 grams of actual ingredients -- no fillers at all. I even list out the foot pad ingredients by percentages, so you know that it all adds up to 100%.

But here is another complaint I have, albeit mild... Sometimes my customers tell me that the adhesives to put on the foot pads to your feet, don't stick well enough. So I told the factory that, and to help, they made some super strength adhesives. Now, I have customers telling me that they don't come off!!! I have experienced that as well. I have been using them because of my surgery (get the drug residue out of my body please!) and I cannot seem to scrape the adhesive off my feet. I know I have told my customers that if they experience this, to just put lotion on their feet about 15 minutes before they put the foot pads on at night. Then the adhesives peel off very easily. But I don't listen to my own advice and now I spent about 15 minutes this morning scraping the bottoms of my feet- YUCK!!

And last of all, I made a homemade vegetable soup -- mostly with veggies from my garden. It was delicious. And nutritious! I am becoming a country girl!

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Detox Your Body with
Purify Your Body Foot Pads!
www.purifyyourbody.com

Minnesota Boxer Rescue
www.mnboxerrescue.org
Adopt a Boxer Today!

Christian-inspired apparel
www.faithhopecharitees.com
Keep the light of Christ with you!

Posted via email from rhauptman's posterous

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

MRIs and Migraines - my blog post

This morning I was lucky enough to get an MRI, yay!! I have been going through some shoulder pain --INTENSIVE shoulder pain on both shoulders. I have been doing physical therapy for more than 6 months, and had cortisone shots as well. My right shoulder responded very well to the cortisone shot. The left shoulder, not so much. As a result, I now have shoulder surgery scheduled for the right shoulder, in early September.

As I was in the MRI machine today, I recalled my first MRI, in Hayward, CA about 12 years ago. That morning, I woke up with a very severe migraine -- the works: the aura, the throbbing stabbing pain in my head, the nausea, and the light sensitivity. The last thing I wanted to do was stick my body in a machine making that loud pounding noise!

But, as I recall clearly, I pulled up my big girl panties and went through with it!

About 25 minutes later I came out of the machine. My migraine was gone.

HOLY COW!

That was amazing! I knew from experience that was going to be a 3-day migraine.

I had heard about magnets being good pain relievers. I didn't know if I believed that. But now I do.

And as for my migraines, after using my detox foot pads on my toes, my migraines have completely gone away. I had suffered from them for 15 years, and now a simple detoxing of my brain (all the neurotoxins that I put in: MSG, aspartame, etc) and they are gone! I was so excited.

Now, my shoulder pain will go away after the surgery, and I will be a new woman!!

YAY!!

-------------------------------

Detox Your Body with
Purify Your Body Foot Pads!
www.purifyyourbody.com

Minnesota Boxer Rescue
www.mnboxerrescue.org
Adopt a Boxer Today!

Christian-inspired apparel
www.faithhopecharitees.com
Keep the light of Christ with you!

Posted via email from rhauptman's posterous

Great Dog Story and well worth the reading KLEENEX TIME!!

I know this is not a true story, according to Snopes, but it is still a tearjearker!!

 


Great Dog Story and well worth the reading!

They told me the big black Lab's name was Reggie, as I looked at him lying in his pen.  The shelter was clean, no-kill, and the people really friendly.

I'd only been in the area for six months, but everywhere I went in the small college town, people were welcoming and open.  Everyone waves when you pass them on the street.

But something was still missing as I attempted to settle in to my new life here, and I thought a dog couldn't hurt.  Give me someone to talk to. And I had just seen Reggie's advertisement on the local news.  The shelter said they had received  numerous calls right after, but they said the people who had come down to see him just
didn't look like "Lab people," whatever that meant.  They must've thought I did.

But at first, I thought the shelter had misjudged me in giving me Reggie and his things, which consisted of a dog pad, bag of toys almost all of which were brand new tennis balls, his dishes, and a sealed letter from his previous owner. See, Reggie and I didn't really hit it off when we got home  We struggled for two weeks (which is how long the shelter told me to give him to adjust to his new home).  Maybe it was the fact that I was trying to adjust, too.  Maybe we were too much alike.

For some reason, his stuff (except for the tennis balls --- he wouldn't go anywhere without two stuffed in his mouth) got tossed in with all of my other unpacked boxes.  I guess I didn't really think he'd need all his old stuff, that I'd get him new things once he settled in.  But it became pretty clear pretty soon that he wasn't going to.

I
tried the normal commands the shelter told me he knew, ones like "sit" and "stay"  and "come" and "heel," and he'd follow them - when he felt like it.  He never really seemed to listen when I called his name --- sure, he'd look in my direction after the fourth or fifth time I said it, but then he'd just go back to doing whatever.  When I'd ask again, you could almost see him sigh and then grudgingly obey.

This just wasn't going to work.  He chewed a couple shoes  and some unpacked boxes.  I was a little too stern with him and he resented it, I could tell. The friction got so bad that I couldn't wait for the two weeks to be up, and when it  was, I was in full-on search mode for my cell phone amid all of my unpacked stuff.  I remembered leaving it on the stack of boxes for the guest room, but I also mumbled, rather cynically, that the "damn dog probably hid it on me."

Finally I found it, but before I
could punch up the shelter's number, I also found his pad and other toys from the shelter...I tossed the pad in Reggie's direction and he snuffed it and wagged, some of the most enthusiasm I'd seen since bringing him home.  But then I called, "Hey, Reggie, you like that?   Come here and I'll give you a treat."  Instead, he sort of glanced in my direction --- maybe "glared" is more accurate --- and then gave a discontented sigh and flopped down.   With his back to me.

Well, that's not going to do it either, I thought.  And I punched the shelter phone number.

But I hung up when I saw the sealed envelope.  I had completely forgotten about that, too.  "Okay, Reggie,"  I said out loud, "let's see if your previous owner has any advice.".
____________ _________ _________  _________

To Whoever Gets My Dog:

Well, I  can't say that I'm happy you're reading this, a letter I
told the shelter could only be opened by Reggie's new owner. I'm not even happy writing it. If you're reading this, it means I just got back from my last car ride with my Lab after dropping him off at the shelter.  He knew something was different.  I have packed up his pad and toys before and set them by the back door before a trip, but this time...  it's like he knew something was wrong.  And something is  wrong...which is why I have to go to try to make it right.

So let me tell you about my Lab in the hopes that it will help you bond with him and he with you.

First, he loves tennis balls. The more the merrier.  Sometimes I think he's part squirrel, the way he hordes them.  He usually always has two in his mouth, and he tries to get a third in there.  Hasn't done it yet.  Doesn't matter where you throw them, he'll bound after it, so be careful - really don't do it by any roads.  I made
that mistake once, and it almost cost him dearly.

Next, commands.  Maybe the shelter staff  already told you, but I'll go over them again:  Reggie knows the obvious ones  --- "sit," "stay," "come," "heel."  He knows hand signals: "back" to turn around and go back when you put your hand straight up; and "over" if you put your hand out right or left. "Shake" for  shaking water off, and "paw" for a high-five. He does "down" when he feels like lying down --- I  bet you could work on that with him some more.  He knows "ball" and "food" and "bone" and "treat" like nobody's business.

I trained Reggie with small food treats.  Nothing opens his ears like little pieces of hot dog.

Feeding schedule: twice a day, once about seven in the morning, and again at six in the evening. Regular store-bought stuff; the shelter has the brand.

He's up on his shots. Call the clinic on 9th Street and update
his info with yours; they'll make sure to send you reminders for when he's due.  Be forewarned:  Reggie hates the vet.  Good luck getting him in the car --- I don't know how he knows  when it's time to go to the vet, but he knows.

Finally, give him some time. I've never been married, so it's only been Reggie and me for his whole life.  He's gone everywhere with me, so please include him on your daily car rides if you can.  He sits well in the backseat, and he doesn't bark or complain.  He just loves to be around people, and me most especially.

Which means that this transition is going to be hard, with him going to live with someone new.

And that's why I need to share one more bit of info with you....

His name's not Reggie.

I don't know what made me do it, but when I dropped him off at the  shelter, I told them his name was Reggie.    He's a smart dog, he'll get
used to it and will respond to it, of that I have no doubt.  But I just couldn't bear to give them his real name.  For me to do that, it seemed so final, that handing him over to the shelter was as good as me admitting that I'd never see him again.  And if I end up coming back, getting him, and tearing up this letter, it means everything's fine.  But if someone else is reading it, well ... well it means that his new owner should know his real name.  It'll help you bond with him.  Who knows, maybe you'll even notice a change in his demeanor if he's been giving you problems.

His real name is "Tank".

Because that is what I drive.

Again, if you're reading this and you're from the area, maybe my name has been on the news.  I told the shelter that they couldn't make "Reggie" available for adoption until they received word from my company commander.  See, my parents are gone, I have no siblings, no
one I could've left Tank with ... and it was my only real request of the Army upon my deployment to Iraq , that they make one phone... call the shelter... in the "event"  ... to tell them that Tank could be put up for adoption.  Luckily, my colonel is a dog guy, too, and he knew where my platoon was headed.  He said he'd do it personally.  And if you're reading this, then he made good on his word.

Well, this letter is getting downright depressing, even though, frankly, I'm just writing it for my dog.  I couldn't imagine if I was writing it for a wife and kids and family ... but still, Tank has been my family for the last six years, almost as long as the Army has been my family.

And now I hope and pray that you make him part of your family and that he will adjust and come to love you the same way he loved me.

That unconditional love from a dog is what I take with me to Iraq as an inspiration to do something
selfless, to protect innocent people from those who would do terrible things .... and to keep those terrible people from coming over here.  If I have to give up Tank in order to do it, I am glad to have done so.  He is my example of service and of love. I hope I honored him by my service to my country and comrades.

All right, that's enough. I deploy  this evening and have to drop this letter off at the shelter.  I don't think I'll say another good-bye to Tank, though.  I cried too much the first time.  Maybe I'll peek in on him and see if he finally got that third tennis ball in his mouth.

Good luck with Tank.  Give him a good home, and give him an extra kiss goodnight -  every night - from me.

Thank you,
Paul Mallory
____________ _________ _________  _______

I folded the letter and slipped it back in the envelope. Sure I had heard of Paul Mallory, everyone in town knew him,
even new people like me. Local kid, killed in Iraq a few months ago and posthumously earning the Silver Star when he gave his life to save three buddies. Flags had been at half-mast all summer.

I leaned forward in my chair and rested my elbows on my knees, staring at the dog.

"Hey, Tank," I said quietly.

The dog's head whipped up, his ears cocked and his eyes bright. "C'mere boy." He was instantly on his feet, his nails clicking on the hardwood floor.  He sat  in front of me, his head tilted, searching for the name he hadn't heard in months.

"Tank," I whispered.

His tail swished.

I kept whispering his name, over and over, and each time, his ears lowered, his eyes softened, and his posture relaxed as a wave of contentment  just seemed to flood him. I stroked his ears, rubbed his shoulders, buried my face into his scruff and hugged him.

"It's me now, Tank, just you and me.

Your old
 pal gave you to me."  Tank reached up and licked my cheek.  "So whatdaya say we play some ball?"  His ears perked again. "Yeah?  Ball?  You like that? Ball?"  Tank tore from my hands and disappeared in the next room.

And when he came back, he had three tennis balls in his mouth.


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