TRAVEL BLOG

Wow, I can't believe this is my 1st entry of the new year!! (Warning, this is SUPER wordy) Firstly, I would like to apologize to my readers for the lack of updates... I know I'm blaming the pregnancy again but it's true, especially after hitting my 3rd trimester all I want to do all day long is eat, marathon tv shows, and sleep. It isn't just the blog I'm neglecting - that day I realised I let my armpit hairs grow to a record-breaking length due to the infrequency of me leaving the house. I've got not much to blog about really, all I'm busy with is making a baby, and I'm not sure swollen limbs, constant backache and how fitfully my baby is kicking will interest you guys. (Update: This is false, ended up I wrote A LOT about pregnancy) But since some of you are asking for updates on the pregnancy... Well, I'm 29 weeks along now, which is a little over 7 months... The baby is estimated to be due on April 9th, but my mother, who had 2 premature pregnanci

If you are an employer, you are likely familiar with OSHA, or should be. Most employees or individuals in general are not going to know much about this government agency. However, OSHA, which stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is the government watchdog at the federal level that oversees workplace safety. So, if you are in human resources, or a business owner, you are going to hear from them or about them. According to www.OSHA.gov , the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) was passed to prevent workers from being killed or seriously harmed at work. The law requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers. The Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets and enforces protective workplace safety and health standards. OSHA also provides information, training and assistance to workers and employers. Workers may file a complaint to have OSHA inspect their workplace if they

Simple is Healthy! Simple is Healthy ~ Food, Part 1 YES…I have lots to say about keeping it simple and being such a chatter box, and trying not to jump too hard on the soap box, I knew this was going to become a series of SIMPLE.   I came across a quote that struck me “90% of people avoided obesity and diabetes long before anyone knew what a calorie was let alone counted them…let’s make “healthy” healthy again” and it ended with the word…SIMPLE. WOW, I thought on that and realized just how dynamic and powerful this statement was to me and how true it is for my life.   As a child, my parents modeled living from the land in our back yard and boy do I ever remember how my weekends were spent…pulling weeds from the garden.   Talk about a bitter sweet chore as a child…dirty hands, dirty knees, blisters…and the smell of tomato leaves so strong it could choke you…anyone relate?   Fruit trees adorned our backyard, and my Dad was a master grafter trying to create the perfect blend of fabulous

Have you ever been guilty of taking too much of your prescription medications? Have you ever double dosed? It’s a common problem with people who are on maintenance medications or who may be responsible for dosing others under their care. Children especially may be vulnerable, and it’s absolutely critical to be as careful as possible when giving medication to kids. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, more than 70,000 visits to emergency rooms each year are for accidental medication overdoses, some of which are ultimately fatal. Most cases occur when a child accesses prescription medication while a parent or childcare provider is distracted or in another room, though there are incidents involving medication poisoning resulting from inadvertent double or incorrect doses. If your doctor has prescribed medication or recommended an over-the-counter drug for treatment and symptom management, these tips may help you prevent an i

As a result of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 becoming law, individual states have been provided an option to develop a health care exchange. These public entities have been in development over the past three years and are in various stages of implementation. The ACA mandates that states provide a mechanism for individuals and employer groups be given an opportunity to purchase health insurance on an open exchange basis. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), states have the option of operating their own exchange or partnering with the federal government to run an exchange. States choosing neither option will default to a federally-facilitated exchange. All exchanges, regardless of how they are administered, must be ready to begin enrolling consumers into coverage on October 1, 2013 and must be fully operational on January 1, 2014. While many states have already announced their intentions, several remain undecided as to which exchange approach they will take. The Department

Happy New Year! I live with expectations for myself, and push the word of anticipation of something to happen into making it happen.   Truly, I am responsible for my own expectations and waiting around just does not make sense.   The problem with expectations, and I have been guilty in years gone way past of this BIG NO NO…creating “unrealistic expectations”…you know…the kind that we create in our heads that say, and I will use “he” for this example, is going to surprise me with flowers, dinner, dancing and when “he” shows up offering nothing but his cute self ready to tune in to some sports event on TV, a 3-alarm fire goes off in our heads, feelings of anger and OMG…how could he let me down like that…and guess what…the night is ruined…WHY…Did he do anything…NO.   What did I do … well, I created this unrealistic expectation in my own mind…HOW CRAZY IS THAT.   Can you relate…been there and done that maybe? Or still doing that?   I stopped thinking in “Cinderella Land” through my journe