Halloween already?

Although Halloween is a holiday of a sort, it is not really a holiday about giving thanks like Thanksgiving and many others. I thought I would include a wonderful story that came to me via e mail, I hope they do not mind that I am sharing this as it has to do with two things I love, animals and the devotion of animals to their humans.

This is a wonderful story, enjoy.
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Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you don't, and you may even decide you need one!Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably,someone would forget and something would come up missing.Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys.

Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease....in fact , she was just sure it was fatal.She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders.The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky.A thought struck her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through.If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him.

The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom.

Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure. Remember....live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us. If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours!

Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. A small request: All you are asked to do is keep this circulating,even if it's to one more person. In memory of anyone you know that has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it.

Germs are everywhere, even in places we forget to think about

I hear so many people say that they cannot believe the picked up the flu or cold bug because they did not go anywhere where sick people are. You must remember that things you do everyday that you would never think twice about expose you to germs. Below is a list of things you touch that have more germs than you can possibly imagine. Always carry a small container of hand sanitizer. People will say that is kind of over reacting, I will usually say, when you are flat on your back with the flu for a week, I will remind you.

Remember, this list is just to make you think that simple things we do every day expose us to millions of germs, and then we go on and do not wash out hands or we eat in the car or wipe your nose or mouth.

1) ATM machine buttons

2) Fax machine buttons at work

3) Door handles everywhere

4) Shopping carts

5) Baskets at the grocery store

6) Public phones

7) Pens at the bank

8) Buttons on point of purchase machines everywhere

9) Shaking hands

10) Hugging

11) Escalator handles

12) Revolving doors

13) Coffee machine handles

14) Drinking fountain handle

15) Kids toys

16) Dressing room doors at clothing stores

17) Restrooms, handles, sinks, toilets, toilet seats and flushers

18) Airplanes, seats and handles and bathrooms

19) Hotels, all doors and even bedding and furniture

20) Your luggage handles after you pick up baggage at airports

21) Copy machines at work

22) Sugar and creamer bottles at your morning coffee place

23) Napkin dispensers at restaurants

24) Counters at all establishments

25) Even when you are looking at CDs at the store that others have handled.

This is just a short list, but the point is that germs are all around us everyday. Make sure to take extra Vitamin C, your Wellness formulas, Echinacea and Golden seal, and bottom line wash your hands often, or carry hand sanitizer. Small price to pay to stay healthy and avoid the crud.

A trip to the city

I ventured into New York city last night. I actually love the crowds and the craziness of it all. I was a little early for the holiday decorations, but it was still a nice little side trip. I always notice the stress in the air on every corner. I was there at about five o'clock, or rush or peak hour in the city, oh my word. It was crazy and the stress on people's faces was so visible as the scurried to get to wherever it was they were going.

As I walked a little further away from Penn Station it started to settle down a little, but just a little as the side walks were crazy with crowds too. You must realize that a large portion of people that work in the city do not live in the city, they commute form places all over New York and New Jersey. If you have never gone to the city or experienced the trains or subway in New York, it is a hoot. When you are waiting for train track numbers to be posted down in the terminal everyone stands and waits and when they post it they run, not walk, but run to that track. The first time I was there I was so confused I did not know what to do, it was like a crtoon where you are going one direction and five thousand people are going against you. After a few years of doing this you learn where to stand to be in the first group down the stairs, as seats fill up fast during peak periods.

I think I would like to open a little stand selling B Complex Vitamins and Stress tabs. I could do very well as panic is on every one's face. Could I live this lifestyle? sure, would it be hard, I think yes.

The funny thing is many of these people change trains more than a couple of times just to get to their homes and some have a ways to drive once they arrive at the station. The moral of this is when you think a little bumper to bumper traffic is such a devastating thing for you some days, get over it as you have it pretty darn good. I wonder how all of these people can stay sane and not get sick?I have put the following list of should do nutrition for all big city commuters because of weather, stress, the close proximity you have with germs and because you are all stressed out to the max.

1) Take a strong timed released Multiple vitamin
2) B complex timed released, at least a 100mg
3) Vitamin C timed released, about three times your normal dosage during flu season
4) Echinacea and Golden Seal, about four times per week
5) A wellness formula daily
6) Zinc lozenges

Make sure you drink plenty of water and limit sugars and wheat and gluten foods. These foods produce a lot of mucous and this can keep and cold or flu much longer than we need. A few wise choices and mild moderation to your normal lifestyle could mean the difference between a healthy winter and holiday season, or one that is full of sickness and stress. Also, hats off to you that can do this every day, the more I think about it, I couldn't.

Weather

Another day out here on the east coast and I have forgotten how chilly it gets in the morning. The days have been very nice, but it takes a few hours to take the chill off. Now remember, I have been in the desert for a long time and I guess my blood has thinned out because it is still thirty to forty degrees warmer than it will be in a month.

I always wonder why people choose to live in such crazy climate areas, this coming from someone who lives in an area where in August, the high nineties is a cooling trend, what can I say? I guess no matter where you are or where you live we all make compromises for being where we are. Sometimes all the other aspects of our home place outweigh some questionable weather. And let's face it, it is so beautiful in the fall, and the spring, that pesky winter just has to fall in between the two.

I must say that seeing trees change color right before my eyes, and the field of red, and yellow across the wooded areas is a thing of beauty long forgotten by my eyes. Maybe the best thing to do when you are gone from home should be to absorb the beauty, and embrace the differences and enjoy your surroundings and create some visual memories that you can take back to your little neck of the woods, wherever that may be.

A day of loss for all who knew my friend.

Most of you that know me know I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. You also know that when you are in my life, you are in my life. If you are my friend and or family I will go to the mat forever no questions asked. Relationships like these are important and heartfelt, they are some of the things we should be grateful for, and also I, in my heart am grateful for all of my close relationships every single day.

When we lose a link of this very important chain, it almost seems as if our world stops spinning for a while. Like a large piece of heart and soul is taken away and we are supposed to continue as if nothing happened. Impossible for me, I am too close to all of my special people and too grateful for them to feel whole after such a loss for a very long time.

I lost someone on Saturday that was a very important part and vital relationship in my life. Although his fight with cancer has been going on for just under four years, and he was in a forth stage situation when it started, the reality, although in front of us for so long never really seemed to be a possibility. Mel always had this effervescent personality, almost too big to be in a small room, and immortality, if you will that seemed like it could never be taken away, nor his flame that burned so bright ever be extinguished.

Mel Rich was a mentor, a teacher, a friend, a father to many of us, a leader in the field, and an individual whose visions helped to develop the products many of you use everyday. Products we rely on due to the quality and expertise that is used and the love and research that were put into them, this is why we will continue to take these supplements everyday and will continue to long into the future.

Mel was known to all as an innovator and leader in the field. His reputation preceded him everywhere, and I may say when you talked about Mel, ears perked up everywhere in every situation. When it came to quality and being able to create greatness in the nutrition field Mel was there, right in front leading the crusade for products that are life changing, health creating, and high quality. Making these products was not just a desire for Mel, it was the thing that drove him as well as his mission statement, and we were all the healthier for them, and for him.

I will personally miss his laughter, his zest for life, his shoulder, his appreciation and the talks and chats when I needed them most in my life. I will cherish all the memories that I have of him and I am sure more of them will come back to the memory front, ones I might have temporarily forgotten, but great memories that will come back to me as I think of him in the future.

A loss for all who knew him, and also those who did not have the distinct pleasure of meeting him or knowing this great man.

Mel, I will miss you.

Here we go again, FLU SEASON

Good morning everyone. Wow, what a busy month it has been for me and all around me. Four of my dogs delivered their litters this month and it will of course be a very busy fall and winter at my house.

I just returned from New York and along the way both in the airports and in the airplane people are already sneezing and coughing as the flu cold season is upon us. I have learned that when traveling I change my nutritional routine, but lately I have decided to keep it consistent on a daily basis for the entire season. Living in Las Vegas is like traveling around the world every other day. People are here vacationing and leaving money, it's Vegas remember, and germs in the city.

I am often told by people that they never go to the casinos, but when you think about it, all of the people that work in the casinos, and are exposed to germs on a daily basis go to all of the places you normally go. If you go to the grocery store, the gym, any mall, almost anywhere, you might just as well have been sitting in a casino.

The moral to this situation is be prepared every day no matter if you are visiting tourist locations or not. I am always asked is it hard to stay healthy this season, and the answer is no, just go back to your basics on everything.

1) Drink more water, eight to ten glasses daily. It is a little harder because most of us are not as thirsty this time of year, force yourself.

2) Take a strong timed released Multiple Vitamin, once or even twice daily, with food.

3) Take a triple amount of Vitamin C, make sure it is buffered and in complex form and timed released for all day protection.

4) Cut way back on wheat and gluten and dairy products, all of these are mucous forming foods and if consumed when sick can take you from a simple cold to pneumonia very quickly. Keep the lungs clear of mucous.

5) Eat lots of vegetables and fresh healthy seasonal fruits, not caned.

6) Take half a teaspoon of Colloidal Silver in a shot glass of water morning and evening. Keep it in the bathroom and take it morning and evening after you brush your teeth. This is a preventive and medicinal long term protective antibiotic that works on viral and bacterial infections.

7) Keep Echinacea and Golden Seal tablets or capsules handy for the first sign of a bug exposure to a group of sick people with a cold or flu. I take it two or three times a week as prevention.

8) Exercise, both cardiovascular and weight training keep your immune system strong. Drink a lot of water before and during exercise, and if you go to a gym, wash your hands thoroughly when leaving as germs are spread here at the gym very easily.

9) Get as much sleep as needed to refresh yourself, and recharge your batteries.

10) Balance your stress, try not to get completely caught up in the holiday end of the year craziness, if possible, and take one or two extra timed released B Complex supplements to help your body deal with stress better.

11) Keep these supplements available in your medicine cabinet for you and the family. Oil of Oregano, Elderberry syrup, Zinc lozenges, Nasal Colloidal Silver, and extra Vitamin C Complex.

Having things on hand can make the difference between being down for a day, and down for a week or more. Starting the nutrition now before you are run down is the best thing you can do for yourself. Being ahead of the game is the best medicine for yourself and all of those around you, and tell everyone about flu preperation, some will listen and some will not, but tell them all anyway.