Happy New Year!

I have sorely neglected this blog but have been posting, here, instead.

Feel free to find me there or look around at what I have left behind for you on this blog.

Love, warmth and peace to you this year!

Jeanine

Remembering Heath...

Caffeine Free

I am happy to announce that I have been gradually decreasing the amount of sweet tea I drink and then, more sharply in the past few days, so that I can get off caffeine and back to drinking the tonic herbal tea I used to drink years ago. The day before yesterday, I had it once, about 5-7 swallows and yesterday, I had none!! YAY!

I have had some withdrawal symptoms. Here is a list I found on Yahoo...

Headache – (often described as being gradual in development and diffuse, and sometimes throbbing and severe)
Fatigue -- (e.g., fatigue, tiredness, lethargy, sluggishness)
Sleepiness/drowsiness -- (e.g., sleepy, drowsy, yawning)
Difficulty concentrating -- (e.g., muzzy)
Work difficulty -- (e.g., decreased motivation for tasks/work)
Irritability -- (e.g., irritable, cross, miserable, decreased well-being/contentedness)
Depression -- (e.g., depressed mood)
Anxiety -- (e.g., anxious, nervous)
Flu-like symptoms -- (e.g., nausea/vomiting, muscle aches/stiffness, hot and cold spells, heavy feelings in arms or legs)
Impairment in psychomotor, vigilance and cognitive performances

The ones I have experienced are fatigue, sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, decreased motivation for tasks, some anxiety and some depressed mood and irritability.

I have been going to bed earlier and sleeping later, and much less interested in chores like reading email, cooking, reading work-related stuff, etc. And two mornings in a row, I woke up thinking, in surprise, "I feel kinda depressed!"

But I am also experiencing some family stress right now so it is the perfect time to get off caffeine. That's part of the reason I chose now to actually make the break when I'd been gradually lessening the amount I drank for a couple of weeks.

I figure if I'm going to feel stressed anyway, I won't really be able to tell the difference.

BUT ... I'm glad to know that some of the symptoms I've been having may have had more to do with not drinking tea than with my reaction to stress.

And I am SO proud of myself!

"Most people will not feel the effects of caffeine withdrawal three to four days after stopping caffeine" ~~wisegeek.com

That's a relief! Because this is Day Two and my partner will be here for a visit on Day Four. I'll be sure to pass this prediction on to her :).

And I think I'll make some apricot tea sometime today. Though that's one of the chores I'm not yet in the mood for because I have to clean the tea maker, measure it out, pour in the water...

Here's what some people may find interesting: I have rarely had more than an 8oz. glass of tea in one day, broken up over 3-4 meals. Even when I had a part-time job for which I guzzled tea for energy, I never drank more than half a 12oz. cup. But I have always been very sensitive to caffeine!

"As little as one cup of coffee can produce addiction." ~~article from associatedcontent.com

I've been looking up natural methods for managing withdrawal symptoms. One is to drink more water, which I was already doing. Another is to drink peppermint tea ~~ but I have peppermint oil and was using that, too.

Another article suggested taking a B vitamin. I had a bottle in my cabinet and noticed it the other day so I've been taking it for two days now. I think it has helped, as have the water and the peppermint.

Crystals and an aromatherapy blend have helped the tension and stress and jitteriness.

I've been craving sweets because of the decrease in sugar ~~it was sweet tea, after all~~ but I have a fruit blend I drink in the morning, which I've added to my afternoon and evening, and a couple of times have just given in and had something sweet. Like Sunday's strawberry milkshake from McD's.

Ah, yes! I remember it well.

So, anyway, off I go into the wild blue caffeine-free yonder!

Apricot tea, anyone?

Quiz: How Gay or Straight Are You?

Your result for The How gay or straight are you? Test...

5

Congratulations! You scored ###%!

Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual. You're in the grey. However, you are pretty much gay, and its unlikely that you'd get yourself involved with anyone but the same sex. There are always those instances where you may just click with someone, or, if enough alcohol is invovled, ANYTHING can happen. Chances are slim though, enjoy your partner!

Take The How gay or straight are you? Test

Farewell to Spring Break

We didn't watch a movie today, but we did go to Barnes & Noble. After a fabulous time there during which my son got to see several baby chicks and got to hold one of them (outside the store, in the mall), we went to lunch with my mother and later, hung out with her for a while at her house.

It has been a wonderful day and a fabulous week!

We've watched movies, slept in, had fun at Barnes & Noble a couple of times, and just had carefree time together. Tonight, my son will spend the night with my mother and I will go to the Tenebrae service at church. It's a little too powerful for young children.

But my son and did talk our way through this "last week" starting with Palm Sunday, so he knows the day Jesus was crucified and that yesterday was Passover, during which Jesus celebrated a last supper with his closest friends before telling them a very poignant goodbye.

During last week's homeschooling, he read several chapters in John and said he almost cried because it was so moving! I wish I could play a song by Bryan Duncan which really expresses the mood of those chapters...

I would like to say
Just before I leave you
I'll be back someday
And with me, I will take you
You will not suffer long
Only watch and pray
And wait for my return

Please know that I love you
I'll stay by your side
If only now in spirit
I'll still be your guide
You will not suffer long
And I've suffered for you
I love you with my life

Beautiful lyrics!

Hopefully, I'm remembering them exactly right. I tried to find the YouTube video but couldn't. But it is one of my favorite Easter songs, along with "The Easter Song" performed by both Keith Green and 2nd Chapter of Acts.

Anyway, what a lovely week!

And I expect a weekend just as powerful.

What Easter Means to Me

After Wednesday Night Supper tonight at my church, our pastor led a Bible study during which we watched a DVD presentation with Marcus Borg and Dominic Crossan. This week's topic was Substitutionary Atonement.

They assert, and I agree, that Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice. He believed in his mission and his message so much that he stuck to his guns, so to speak, even though he knew it would probably lead to his death. The same could be said of Martin Luther King, Jr. or Ghandi. So his life was a sacrifice.

But not a substitute.

In fact, they make the point that part of Jesus' message was to let people know that instead of having to go to the temple to make a sacrifice and seek forgiveness through the high priest, they each had individual access to God and always had.

During the discussion afterward, the analogy I used was that it's like moving to a new place where the electricity has been turned on but the people moving in don't know it. So they don't flip the switch. And they remain in the dark.

One of the other people in the group asked, basically, "if Jesus didn't die for our sins, then do you still have to believe in him to go to heaven?".

The prevailing theme of the group's responses was that Jesus had a lot to say about how we should live and what impact a loving relationship with God should have on the way we live, but he didn't seemed to be focused so much on requirements. It is as if he was setlling once and for all that God loves and forgives us and then, says, "Now, then, how shall we live? Here are my suggestions...".

He wanted to make it clear that Roman imperialism was not the way, and neither were greed or force or violence, but instead, the way is love. God's love and our love for each other. Which cannot be taken away from us.

And the crucifixion followed by the resurrection demonstrates that with an exclamation point and in highlighted color.

That's what Easter means to me!

The lights are on. Flip the switch.

Marie, thanks for giving us Keith!

Marie Olbermann, Keith Olbermann's mother, died recently (did he say Saturday?) and he gave a brief tribute to her tonight on Countdown.

She sounded like quite a gal!

But since I did not know her, what explains my sense of loss? And how did I go from really enjoying his occasional diatribes, loving his perspective on the day's news and laughing at his sharp-tongued comments to grabbing at my heart when his voiced failed at the end of his loving tribute?

It's official (yeah, like it wasn't before!): I.Am.A.Sap