Ladies and gentlemen, hobos and tramps,
Cross eyed mosquitoes, and bow legged ants.
I am about
To tell you a tale I know nothing about.

Early one morning, in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight.
They stood back to back and faced each other;
Pulled out their swords and shot each other.

A deaf policeman heard the noise
And came and killed those two dead boys.
If you don't believe this lie is true,
Just ask the blind man - he saw it too.

This is an old poem; actually it's two old poems, sort of mashed together. The first four lines actually don't belong with the rest of the poem. But I learned it from Mark and this is what he remembers - more or less.

Hope I started your day with a laugh.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It's five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules ...

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don't edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post to this week's here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

One caveat, before we begin: some of what we're looking at, as far as refilling containers, is not about food storage. Not all plastics are food-safe. They can leach chemicals, some of which are known carcinogens, into your lunch or leftovers.

Containers

One thing we are famous for, at our house, is repurposing plastic bottles. That big, empty dish soap bottle - rinsed well - now holds the feeding solution for our plant. The oven cleaner spray bottle - thoroughly washed - is our plant mister.

There's no reason why, if the bottle for the window cleaner doesn't spray anymore, you can't repurpose the one from the carpet cleaner. Just wash it well first. (The window cleaner might just bleach the carpet.)

Bulk Buying, Refilling, and Going Green makes a really good point about containers. Old mayonnaise or pickle jars make great canisters and dry goods storage. Since they're clear, you can easily see what's stored in them. If you don't have room on the shelf for a big can or box, these smaller jars are perfect.

At our house, we love coffee and oatmeal containers. The large coffee ones are a great size for our small cupboards, have great stay-fresh lids and easy-grip handles, and hold about 4 pounds of flour or sugar, each. I covered several tall oatmeal containers in matching contact paper to hold our rice, corn meal, and spaghetti noodles.

Concentrates

One great way to save money, and save the environment, is to buy cleaners in concentrated form and refill smaller, easier-to-manage bottles. Ready-to-use products are already diluted with water, meaning they weigh more to ship - further increasing cost to the consumer.

Some manufacturers, like Windex®, are already testing the shopping waters, by offering small pouches of concentrated products that you just cut, pour, and dilute - at home. Some, like LA's Totally Awesome, have always offered a concentrated version of their most popular products. Hopefully, this will keep a little more plastic out of the landfills.

We make our dish soap do double duty. The brand we buy is concentrated and we buy the largest bottle they have. Part of it goes, full strength, into a smaller bottle at the kitchen sink; part of it, diluted by 1/4 to 1/3, goes into a pump bottle at the bathroom sink for hand soap.

It's easy to see the 1,000,001 ways that bottles, jars, cans, and containers can be used and reused. Plus, as Greenery points out, the more we reuse and refill - the less we have to schlub to the trash can.

(Press any of the above links for more great ideas from the three writers who inspired this post.)

The first day at school, Autumn's world turned upside down. Her son's new history teacher who was single and getting divorced (or so everyone kept telling her)? Good ol' Mr. T? was Henry! Her Henry!

And he was not happy to see her -- especially after she bounced into the bookcase, knocked down the encyclopedias, and bloodied his nose rushing to pick them up - in front of twenty of her son's new classmates. She was mortified, Elliott was mortified, and Henry was wounded.

Autumn stumbled out of the room, knowing her heart hadn't changed. But would Henry ever forgive her? Would he ever love her again?

I guess we all have a 'what-if' person in our past; a wondering in ourselves about what might have happened ... if. If we had gotten together or if we hadn't broken up, where would we be today? And what if we had the chance to do what we didn't or undo what we did?

That's what this book is about - second chances.

It may have been the intention, but many of the conversations and behaviors felt too much like high school. The main character, her thoughts and interactions, seemed to be formed by a teenager who was imagining life as a grown-up. And, perhaps, a tad more research could have gone into the father's condition.

Nonetheless, it was a fun book and a great summer read.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary electronic galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com <http://www.netgalley.com/> professional readers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

I must admit, I loved the article from snopes.com. No one knows where the eight-glasses-a-day rule came from, and there are most certainly experts on both sides of the issue, pointing fingers and crying foul. But I was looking for information about how much fluid we lose on a daily basis. This quote, I think covers it:

To replace daily losses of water, an average-sized adult with healthy kidneys sitting in a temperate climate needs no more than one liter of fluid, according to Jurgen Schnermann, a kidney physiologist at the National Institutes of Health.

Food

Not all of the fluids that we take in during an average day come from beverages. Depending on our diet, we could be adding two or three of those 8 oz. glasses through fruits and vegetables, alone.

Foods with high fluid content include:

• 1 medium Apple - 4 oz.
• ½ medium Cucumber - 5 oz.
• ½ medium Grapefruit - 4 oz.
• 1 small Potato, baked 5 oz.
• 1 small Potato, boiled 6 ⅓ oz.
• ¾ cup Soup, average - 5 ⅓ oz.
• 1 small Tomato - 4 oz.
• ½ cup Watermelon - 2 ½ oz.

It's easy to see, with just these few items, how simple it is - especially right now when produce is at its best - to keep hydrated. All without guzzling copious amounts of water.

Bad Beverages

Not all fluids are created equal.

Caffeine

For years, we have been told that drinking coffee and tea leads to dehydration. This is apparently based on the fact that coffee and tea contain caffeine, and caffeine has a diuretic effect on the body. However, a 2003 review of medical and scientific literature for the period of January 1966–March 2002 found that, in simple terms, if you indulge in caffeine on a regular basis, you are likely to be immune to the mildly diuretic effects.

If you rarely drink tea or coffee, when you do indulge, you may spend more time in the bathroom than your neighbor - the caffeine junkie. But there is no evidence, according to this review, that simply having a cup or two of coffee will cause you to pee out more than you drank. You probably don't need to drink extra water to counteract the caffeine.

Alcohol

Like caffeine, alcohol has a diuretic effect on the body. However, it's just a little more aggressive. (If you've ever had two beers and peed out four, you know what I mean.)

To paraphrase this article on kidney function: to conserve water, the pituitary gland excretes vasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone or ADH) which, in turn, increases permeability of the nephrons in the kidneys. More water is kept in the bloodstream; less is released in urine. Alcohol causes dehydration by blocking release of ADH, removing fluid from the system and sending it to the bladder.

If you regularly consume large amounts of alcohol, you are regularly at risk for dehydration. You may very well need those 6 to 8 glasses of water per day, just to keep up. That glass of wine with dinner? Probably not an issue.

Fluid Loss

Perspiration

People who live in the desert or exercise regularly, know that excessive sweating leads to excessive fluid loss. By the time you're thirsty, according to common wisdom, you are already 2% dehydrated. So, for us desert dwellers and you exercisers, 6 to 8 glasses of some sort of fluid every day is already the norm.

If not, it probably should be.

Illness

Vomiting, diarrhea, and/or a sweaty fever are other ways we suffer fluid loss. In the midst of a nasty bout of the flu or a wicked virus, it's not always easy to get enough fluids. Your stomach may simply reject everything you try to swallow.

Even if it's only a few sips of water, followed by a few more, fluids are critical when you're sick.

Conclusion

What I have tried to do is look at fluid intake and common causes of dehydration - whether they hold water (pardon the pun) or not. I'm no medical expert, but it seems to me that, when clean drinking water is readily available, hydration is reasonably simple. And, despite the hue and cry from some quarters, I believe that few of us are at risk of imminent death from dehydration.

I don't suppose that taking in 48 to 64 ounces (6 to 8 8-oz glasses) of fluids over the course of the day is going to hurt anyone. I just don't see it as some do-it-or-you'll-die mandate. Especially when there's really no scientific basis for it.

What do you think? Good or bad? Sane or silly?

Life is an interesting thing.

Some days, it's a bit like having a Facebook account - stuff that you know you didn't agree to pops up to surprise you. You run around in circles, trying desperately to fix what you hadn't actually broken. Hoping against hope that you can.

Other days, it's like dancing in the warm summer rain with someone you love. Nothing could be better. (I've been there, done that; it is incredible.)

Every day, we wake up not knowing what kind of day it will be. I guess that's what makes life interesting; or incredibly frustrating. It all depends, I suppose, on how you look at the 'gifts' that arrive with each new day.

Life is an interesting thing. Much better, I imagine, than the alternative; although there are days.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It's five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules ...

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don't edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post to this week's here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

The days and weeks leading up to that jolly holiday are the busiest for JMark Afghans. We, easily, get as many orders in the last third of the year as in the other eight months combined. And since we don't make it, until you order it, those four months can get pretty ... interesting.

Which is why we'd like to offer you a little Christmas-in-July gift, a reason to order early and order often.

From now, through August 31, we're running a Buy-One-Get-One special. Every order, over $150, will automatically include a matching lapghan - a minimum $40.00 value - at no extra charge. At 36" x 36", they are the perfect size to throw over your legs, wrap around your shoulders, or bundle up the baby.

And you just can't beat FREE!

Whether you're decorating a dorm room, jazzing up the den, or brightening up the bedroom, avoid the holiday rush and crush by ordering now. Then, when the snow is falling and shoppers are scurrying, you can sit back and gloat, just a little. Because you did your shopping - in July.

One of the travelers in their camp, Zachariah, is an old friend of Sean's and, I suspect, the author's alter ego. He shares the story of his work: studying the survival skills of the animals of the Serengeti and how those skills can be applied in our lives.

There are seven animals and seven types of skills: the strategic lion, enterprising crocodile, efficient cheetah, enduring wildebeest, risk-taking mongoose, communicating elephant, and graceful giraffe. Each of us, in our daily lives, instinctively responds to problems and challenges - to threats to our survival - with a skill set that matches one of these animal's.

Which one are you? Which skills would you like to master?

*****

I must admit, I didn't expect to enjoy this book. Self-improvement tomes always seem dry, preachy, and pushy. Not to mention, five minutes after I finish them, I've forgotten what they said.

Happily, Surviving Your Serengeti was none of those things. And, because the messages were attached to and surrounded by incredible mental images, they stayed with me long after I flipped the last page.

Admittedly, the story portion of the book is a little rough. It was, obviously, not written by a novelist. But it is, nonetheless, engaging.

This is a book that you'll need to read twice. Simply because, the first time through, you'll be too busy sightseeing your way across the Serengeti to notice the message.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Guggulsterones

Briefly, guggul is an extract from the resin of the mukul myrrh tree Commiphora mukul. It has been used, medicinally, since 600 BC for obesity, atherosclerosis, and inflammatory conditions. It is believed that the plant sterols, E- and Z-guggulsterone, are the bioactive compounds, the parts of the extract that interact with the body.

The Claims

Obviously, when use of a plant extract goes back 2600 years, there's bound to be a great deal of anecdotal evidence related to its medicinal properties. The idea of completely dismissing such information, out of hand, is as foolish as blindly accepting it. However, throwing in a little common sense and science is never a bad idea.

Now for the claims from one product [emphasis mine]:

Guggulsterones have been shown in studies to maintain normal blood lipid levels ¹⁰, support a fine skin texture by decreasing the appearance of blemishes, and optimize thyroid gland function (thus supporting ideal fat loss and body weight). And the best part… [product name] won’t strip away your muscle like other weight loss products.

We'll start with the study¹ that supposedly supports these claims. Luckily, for a change, I was able to access the full study on JAMA. (The documentation for the supplement references the abstract from the same study.)

Cholesterol

Recent research indicates that the guggul compounds affect two specific hormone receptors. One of those receptors is related to cholesterol metabolism, leading researchers to question whether guggulsterones might be an effective treatment for high cholesterol. Hence the purpose of the study.

While not large, only 103 people in the Philadelphia area, it was a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Participants in this 8 week study were divided into three groups: low dose, high dose, and placebo. The low dose group was given 1000 mg tablets containing 2.5% standardized extract; the high dose group, 2000 mg tablets at the same concentration.

At the end of the trial, not only had the guggulsterones not reduced cholesterol levels, LDL-C (bad cholesterol) levels actually increased 4% and 5%, respectively. Additionally, HDL-C (good cholesterol) levels were depressed in both groups. With the placebo group, however, LDL-C decreased by 5%.

(A review of scientific evidence on the use of guggul for hyperlipidemia, performed by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration and published in 2005², agreed that the effects of guggulipid on cholesterol were not clear and there was "not enough scientific evidence to support the use of guggul for any medical condition.")

Thyroid Function

It was noted in the research, as in the claim for this supplement, that guggulsterones are reputed to have a positive impact on thyroid function. Within this clinical trial, due to its relationship with cholesterol, thyroid function was monitored and tested. "There were no significant changes in thyroid function as assessed by a sensitive third-generation TSH assay."

An article³ from the American Thyroid Association on thyroid and weight offers some guidance. The more active the thyroid, the higher a person's metabolism and, consequently, weight loss. It is possible to increase activity in the thyroid with hormone therapy. However, increasing thyroid function also increases appetite, potentially negating any benefit.

Furthermore, there may be significant negative consequences from the use of thyroid hormone to help with weight loss, such as the loss of muscle protein in addition to any loss of body fat. Pushing the thyroid hormone dose to cause thyroid hormone levels to be elevated is unlikely to significantly change weight and may result in other metabolic problems.

Muscle Loss

While, undoubtedly, dietary supplements do not (or should not) contain prescription-grade hormones, clearly the American Thyroid Association believes (see above quote) that altering thyroid function can lead to changes in muscles. It has been my experience that loss of muscle protein equals loss of muscle.

Conclusions

I'm no medical professional, although I do spend a good portion of my time studying health and wellness articles.

In the case of this diet pill ingredient, I have tried to use and review the supporting documentation. It seems to me that even the research cited doesn't support these claims.

What do you think?

1. Guggulipid for the Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia: A Randomized Controlled Trial
   Philippe O. Szapary, Megan L. Wolfe, LeAnne T. Bloedon, Andrew J. Cucchiara, Ara H. DerMarderosian, Michael D. Cirigliano, Daniel J. Rader
   JAMA. 2003;290(6):765-772.
   doi:10.1001/jama.290.6.765
2. Guggul for hyperlipidemia: A review by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration
   Catherine Ulbricht, Ethan Basch, Philippe Szapary, Paul Hammerness, Serguei Axentsev, Heather Boon, David Kroll, Levi Garraway, Mamta Vora, Jen Woods, Natural Standard Research Collaboration
   Complementary Therapies in Medicine - December 2005 (Vol. 13, Issue 4, Pages 279-290, DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2005.08.003)
3. Thyroid and Weight: <http://www.thyroid.org/patients/brochures/Thyroid_and_Weight.pdf>

Disturbing Sunscreen Secrets

Originally published in Women's Health , this article looks at 10 things the average consumer may not know about sunscreens. Here are four of them:

Ingredients

Retinyl palmitate, a vitamin-A compound found in almost half of all American sunscreens, is added to help reduce the signs of aging caused by sun exposure. Sounds good, doesn't it? However, in truth, it "may speed up the development of skin cancer–related tumors and lesions when used on skin hit with sunlight." In a nutshell, retinyl palmitate and sunshine look like a bad combination.

Oxybenzone and octinoxate, common block chemicals, are linked to allergic contact dermatitis and photocontact dermatitis (irritation caused when certain chemicals are on skin that’s exposed to sunlight), as well as hormone disruption, in lab animals.

UVA vs. UVB

Just a quick reminder: UVA rays cause wrinkles, UVB rays cause sunburns, and both have been linked to skin cancer.

The SPF number on that bottle of sunscreen relates only to protection against sunburn. To protect against those wrinkle rays, you need something entirely different.

Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have been around for a number of years. The solid white, Kabuki-mask effect was so unpopular that many manufacturers started adding colors. (Yeah, that was a lot better. Not.) Today, most preparations are transparent.

There are also two chemical-based ingredients, now available: Avobenzone (a.k.a. Parsol 1789) and Ecamsule (a.k.a. Mexoryl SX). Avobenzone is one of the most effective of its type and is fairly easy to find in U.S. sunscreens. Ecamsule, a more recent addition to the American sunscreen arsenal, is even more effective; it is also harder to find and much more expensive.

Expiration Dates

Something I didn't realize or even consider, sunscreens expire. Ingredients, designed to maintain the potency of the product, are only effective for a limited time. Generally, three years is the outside limit. After that, you're not going to get the same level of protection.

In addition, lying around in the sun at the beach or the pool is just as bad for your sunblock as it is for your skin. Heat in general is the enemy. So, store it in a cool place indoors and, outdoors, try to keep it in the shade. (Pretty much the only way to survive summer in Arizona. {winks} )

Labels Lie

Not surprisingly, not everything you read on a bottle of sunblock is the god's truth. One of the more common misrepresentations has to do with SPF factors. The assumption is that the higher the number, the greater the protection. That isn't necessarily the truth:

“People think they’re doing themselves a favor by using high SPF, but the difference is incremental. SPF 15 filters out 93 percent of UVB rays; SPF 30 protects against 97 percent; SPF 50, 98 percent; and SPF 100, 99 percent–and that’s only if you apply enough of it.”

Another crossed-my-fingers-when-I-said-that issue relates to coverage. The terms 'waterproof' and 'all-day' sound impressive and reassuring, but may be far from the truth. In fact, common wisdom says sunscreen should be reapplied every 2 hours, no matter what's on the bottle.

New Sunscreen Regulations from the FDA

Directly related to these sunscreen issues, the FDA has issued new regulations for sunscreen manufacturers. They officially go into effect in 2012. And I quote:

The new regulations promote a change in terminology:

• Sunscreens that have UVA and UVB protection will be known as broad spectrum. SPF, which protects from UVB radiation, will remain on the package.
• SPF ratings 15 and above will be permitted to state that they protect against early skin aging and reduce the risk of skin cancer. SPF’s below 15 help prevent sunburn but offer no other protection.
• The highest SPF rating will be 50+ as studies have shown there is no additional benefit gained beyond this.
• Waterproof or sweat proof sunscreens will be vigorously tested to determine the exact amount of time they provide sun protection. This helps consumers know how often it’s necessary to reapply in order to reduce the risk of burning. Most sunscreens should be reapplied every two hours, which is the longest amount of time allowed.

The hope is that sunscreen makers won't wait until next year to make these changes. I can imagine that there would be some marketing benefit to being the first to comply.

Let's hope that, by next summer, we'll know what we're really getting in that bottle of sunscreen.

I suppose, as my bedtime reading has been the "Three Sisters" trilogy and I'm currently watching Harry Potter chase dragons, it's not surprising that I have magic and power on my mind.

For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of having 'special' powers, of being able to twitch my nose or blink my eyes and change what is. I would imagine part of that accounts for the popularity of Harry Potter and other magical stories. As children, we rarely operate from a position of power.

You don't have to come from a dysfunctional family to feel powerless, although that certainly helps. As parents, we tend to think we know what's best for our kids. If we, and they, are lucky, as they mature - so do we.

Children, in order to become healthy adults, need chances and opportunities to make their own decisions; to operate from a position of power, however limited that power might be. This is how they learn self-reliance and develop personal autonomy, the hallmarks of stable and well-balanced adults.

When those opportunities are missing at critical stages of development, powerless children can evolve into adults who constantly need guidance and reassurance.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It's five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules ...

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don't edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post to this week's here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

When the leader of the survivalist community learns that his daughter has been taken by the Rebuilders, he vows to get her back. And Cass, with nothing left for her now that Smoke is gone, packs up her daughter and insists on going with him.

Suddenly, Cass finds herself deeply involved with two men and an organization that has vowed, by any means necessary, to ensure the rebirth of humanity.

This is the fascinating story of one woman, trying to create a normal life in an extremely abnormal world.

There is no doubt that this is the second book in a series, although I didn't know that in the beginning. Consequently, when I first started reading, I kept feeling that I was missing something. That there was something I should know or understand, but simply wasn't getting.

Once Cass, Ruthie, and Dor leave to find his daughter, and some details from the previous book are shared, my confusion cleared and it was easy to lose myself in the remaining chapters. The author paints word pictures that carry her readers into the Aftertime, with all of its sites, scents, and dangers. A very exciting journey - that I highly recommend.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary electronic galley of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com <http://www.netgalley.com/> professional readers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

By guessing how much you own and what it's worth, you run a huge financial risk. Overestimate and, month after month, you're paying premiums for coverage that you'll never use. Guess too low and, in the event of a loss, you'll be replacing furnishings out of your own pocket.

For example, if you opt for a policy that covers $50,000 in personal goods, that is the absolute maximum that the insurance company will pay out. Own more than that, and you're out of luck. If you own less, the insurance company will only pay out the value of what you owned; not $50,000.

How To Make a List

The easiest way, at least for me, is to go room by room.

If you've never done this before, start with a small room. Grab your camera and a notepad, or better yet an inventory form. There's a good one here to get you started.

Now simply photograph and record everything you own. The process is the same whether you rent or own your home. You are going to write down and take pictures of anything and everything that, if it were damaged or stolen, you would personally have to replace.

Do your best to remember what you paid for it at the time. Ideally, your coverage will be for the replacement value of each item; but all mattresses look alike, even though prices vary widely.

Additional Information

Hopefully, you are a diligent record keeper and never throw anything out; because you're going to want to add the original receipts to the pictures and list.

As I mentioned before, all mattresses look alike, as do many electronics, appliances, towels, and dishes. Without receipts and/or detailed information, it is entirely possible that the insurance company's payout will be much lower than your original cost.

Storage

Once you've put together all of this information, you're going to want to make certain that it's kept in a safe place.

I would suggest making several copies, on disk and/or online, of your pictures, lists, and receipts. Ideally, one set would go to the insurance company and one set would be kept in a safety deposit box or a fireproof box. You could even give a copy to family or friends for safekeeping.

The whole point is to have an accurate record of what you own in case of an emergency. Disasters strike and burglaries happen. You should never be unprepared for the worst.

It is interesting how well the software understands most of what I say. I do see, however, that I'd tend to speak very rapidly and tend to slide over certain syllables.

And, apparently, there are certain letters that I simply do not pronounce well. I was taking the tutorial for this software and at the end of each section, I had to say "next". By the time I finished the first few screens, Mark was ready to kill me. (In fact, I had to manually type "next" just now.)

Frankly, I don't know how well I'm going to do with this, since speaking clearly enough is much more difficult than I expected. It also, for some reason, makes me feel very self-conscious. Perhaps, if I didn't have to speak quite so slowly, I wouldn't feel like the village idiot.

Oddly enough, in the midst of this learning curve, I have found an interesting side benefit: I spend much less time worrying about formatting each post. Despite making myself crazy, I actually seem to be getting more done. It just feels as though I've run a marathon by the time I reach the end of each sentence.

There is always the chance that it isn't all me. It may be that the microphone I am using, although designed for voice recognition, isn't quite up to the challenge. If memory serves, it has been treated rather unkindly since I bought it several years ago.

So, with all of that working against me, I am begging you, please! - cross your fingers, your toes, and your eyes for me. I am obviously going to need all of the help I can get.

Oh, while I'm asking for favors, could you toss in a prayer or two for my life? Because, if I don't get very good at this - very soon - Mark is going to kill me!

Not everyone who needs a little help gets into trouble. But the potential for problems increases when you're adding debt to an already shaky situation.

It's one thing when you have a stable income and don't routinely live beyond your means. An occasional small bump in the road isn't going to send you into a financial tailspin. And that one time loan is just that: one time.

However, when you routinely spend more than you make and, just as routinely, borrow to make it to the end of the month, those payday loans become the shovel that digs a deeper financial hole.

I suppose that borrowing is an occasional necessary evil in this economy. But, to my way of thinking, learning to live within one's means is the smarter way.

Truth be told, there are keyboards that I can buy that will plug into this laptop. And given the fact that we now have two laptops with problems, it will probably be in our best interest to own a keyboard that works from a USB port.

Let's play a little, shall we? Would you like to play a game?

I will simply talk for a moment or two or three or 10 or 15, because I loved to talk, and we'll see just how software recognizes my speech patterns. I want to correct what he gets wrong I won't even look at what its typing for now.

Now, I will say the same things that I said before. But this time, I will go through and correct the mistakes.

I will simply talk for a moment or two or three or 10 or 15, because I love to talk, and we'll see just how well the software recognizes my speech patterns. I won't correct what it gets wrong, I won't even look at what it's typing, for now.

It could be a tremendous amount of fun, or this could be what finally sends me to the rubber room.

Luckily, I won't be going alone. I am taking Mark with me.

It all started late in May of 2003. Mark came home, not feeling well, and went in to lay down. By the next morning, he had a fever of about 104° and the ambulance was at the door. He was septic and the doctors suggested we call the family; the beginning of, nearly, the end.

No one told Mark he was supposed to die, so he didn't.

By January 2004, he had been in and out of the hospital more times than I could count. He had HepC and his liver was failing. Shortly before his birthday, he slipped into a hepatic coma. Only 20% of patients ever come out of a hepatic coma.

No one told Mark he was supposed to die, so he didn't.

We celebrated his birthday, February 3rd, at the VA with his family present. He wasn't even remotely well, but he was alive and that was worth celebrating. (While all of this was going on, we were working our tails off to get his disability instated.)

No one told Mark he was supposed to die, so he didn't.

If I thought he was sick in January, by April I knew that we hadn't seen anything. Mark needed a new liver. The VA in Phoenix sent us to the VA in Portland for evaluation, in an attempt to get Mark listed for transplant. They nearly killed him; and refused to put him on the transplant list.

We came home and signed up for hospice care. The scale for measuring liver failure tops out at 40; Mark was at 38. They brought in oxygen tanks and tried to help me understand that he had about 2 months to live.

No one told Mark he was supposed to die, so he didn't.

Then, one day, I checked the mail. Mark's disability had come through, but no insurance coverage - until that day. An envelope in the mail held the hope for our future - the state was giving Mark insurance. We notified our contacts at the VA.

Immediately, we had to stop hospice; patients on hospice can't get on the transplant list. Before I could take a breath, we had appointments with the transplant clinic and a transplant surgeon. On the day we met Dr. James Cashman, Mark was added to the transplant list and admitted to the hospital.

My memory is a little fuzzy - but, as I recall, the surgery took place within 72 hours.

On July 2, 2004 Mark was released from Good Samaritan Hospital with a brand new liver. And that's an anniversary I will gladly celebrate.

No one told Mark he was supposed to die, so he didn't.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It's five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules ...

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don't edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post to this week's here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Which really got me thinking.

I'm big on coupons for everything we get at the grocery store. Yet, I never think of looking for coupons for places like Kohls, where I can probably save a small fortune on clothes and shoes and stuff for the kitchen (one of my fave shopping categories). And, with these coupons, I could probably avoid buying what are (undoubtedly) irregulars at the outlet shops I frequent.

Some of the coupons are short-term - a couple of weeks or the current month. Which inspires me (and other savvy shoppers) to check in on a regular basis. Nothing wrong with that. If you want to save a bunch of money, you have to be willing to do a little work.

When you're looking at twenty-percent off or free shipping with no minimum, non-grocery coupons just look better and better. Of course, you still have to shop carefully and maximize the return on those coupons. And, in my case, get over previous issues with a store.

Okay, I've showed you mine - now, you show me yours. What are your favorite coupon offers? Where do you find the best deals?