I cured my Vitamin D deficiency with Sunshine and Sardines...

Once upon a time, about 3 years ago, I was feeling rather icky.  I felt tired. I felt twitchy. I was moody. None of this bothered me, until I was having repeated episodes of tired twitchy muscles.  I went to the doctor very concerned.  The doctor ran some blood tests.  My tests came back clear except for one thing.  My Vitamin D.  The doctor told me my Vitamin D was at 35 which could cause all of my symptoms.  My Vitamin D should be between 51 and 90 or so.  I asked, "How does that happen?  What can I do?"

 I was told,  "This happens to...well...to...women of a certain age."  Women of a certain age?  What certain age would that be?  "Women YOUR age. Women heading into middle age."  Well, I was nearing forty, but to hear that I was now in the category of "women of a certain age" was startling.  Now that the doctor dropped THAT bombshell, I started to realize that "this just happens" really wasn't enough of an answer for me.  I wanted to know why I was Vitamin D deficient and how could I fix it.

I was told, basically, my body is beginning to degenerate (age) and that my body, as I "continue to age" (are you sensing a theme) will just become less efficient at absorbing Vitamin D. I will have to work harder to help that process along and consume more Vitamin D.  The doctor advised me to sit outside for 30 minutes a day without sunscreen and with little clothes on, preferably in a bathing suit for the sake of the neighbors, to absorb direct sunlight.  The doctor also advised me to start taking 2000mg of Vitamin D3, twice a day via supplement, every single day...forever...or until my number came back into range consistently, but I would probably have to be on a supplement forever because that is what "women your age" tend to need.

So, I did what the doctor ordered.  Well, okay,  I kind of did what the doctor ordered.  Well, okay, I am just not very good at remembering to take supplements but I did do the whole sunlight therapy on a pretty consistent basis.  I went back after a year and of course, my number was still not in range.  I started to take the supplements more regularly and continued the sunlight therapy when there was sunlight to absorb.  I lived in Texas, at this time, and Texas is very generous in the sunlight department.  I went back a year later and this time, my number was lower.  My number was now 29. This made absolutley no sense. Something just wasn't working. Or maybe I was just getting older and this was just going to get worse? Then I moved.


I moved to South Florida.  During the move, I was distracted and stopped taking my supplements. When I finally found a physician in South Florida, I had my records transferred.  I went in for my physical and of course, they ran all of the normal tests that they run for "women of a certain age". When the doctor mentioned the blood test for Vitamin D and a number of other things, I thought, "Oh no!!! Vitamin D!  I completely forgot I was supposed to be taking that!"

When I went in to review my test results, everything came back normal.  Everything. My Vitamin D levels were, now, well within normal range at 64. When I asked for a third time, "Are you sure?  My Vitamin D levels are normal?", the doctor asked me if I was still taking my supplements. I sheepishly said,  no. "Well, what have you been doing differently".  I pondered this for a while. "I started eating better and I am at the beach or outside much much more."    She seemed content with this answer. "Well, keep eating what you are eating and stay in South Florida. It's working."   No more supplements but we'll continue to monitor it every year.

I was shocked. I started to research natural methods for obtaining Vitamin D.  Of course, sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D and I DID move to the sunshine state. I learned that even SPF as low as 8 can significantly reduce your Vitamin D absorption and so the sunscreen-craze could be leading to more Vitamin D deficiency.  All that beach time paid off with more than a nice tan. And it turned out that a lot of the new food I was consuming happened to be on the list of Vitamin D superfoods.   I was eating more eggs and salmon.  Believe it or not, I started to fall in love with sardines, eating sardines almost daily. Yes, it is possible.  I recommend sardines in tomato sauce. I was making kale and spinach smoothies. I was back to putting flax seed in everything and cooking everything in olive oil.  In an effort to eat less meat, I had started using mushrooms and white beans more.  As it was sinking in, I realized,  I could not remember the last time I had felt that weird tired twitchy muscle feeling.

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I am not a nutritionist, a doctor, a dietician, or in any way, qualified to make this declaration, but I will: I cured my Vitamin D deficiency with sunshine and sardines, among a few other things.

The Chore Swap- He said. She said. The end? Cheers!

He said.

 

(Mike sent me this email. He is much more concise and to the point than I am.) "I, first off, wanted to say that I am very impressed with the work that you have done in the yard over this past month.  I know that it isn’t easy and the weather was very hot and humid. You hung in there like a trooper and kept the yard looking good….nice work to you. As far as doing the house work for this past month, I am ready to swap back.  It isn’t that the work is as physically challenging as the yard work, but it is constant work.  Especially, since we have the 2 dogs and the 2 kids that love to make messes, it seems like it never ends.  I definitely think you do a better job than I do as you are much more disciplined and just have a better eye for the details in our house.  I appreciate your organization that you have provided this family.  I really enjoy coming home to a clean house and that has always been a big thanks to you. So, I surrender to you and ask that we switch back now.  I would rather sweat it out outside doing some good ol' yard work than to take on the full responsibilities of maintaining our household."

 

She said.

Did he say, "I surrender"?  Just making sure I read that correctly. Okay, I will stop gloating.  I have to say,  I am impressed with the work that he did do.  Even though he didn't do my chores as often as I do, when he did them, he did a good job.  On the last day, he scrambled around the house, and did his best to leave the house just as he had found it when we started this experiment one month ago.  As for me?  I am so excited to swap back.  Let's just say, if someone asked me if I would rather...clean up a yard full of dog poop or clean a house full of toilets? I would choose toilets. I completely underestimated the physical exertion that yard work entails.  I spend hours doing indoor chores and never...EVER...have my arms felt like noodles, not even when I do a speed clean.  I never reached my 1 hour completion goal but I did get close.  One time I finished mowing and edging in one hour and fifteen minutes. 

I can remember my frustration when Mike used to do the yard work.  It would take him a couple of hours and THEN he would have to rest and THEN he would have to shower and THEN he just seemed tired for a while after that.  It would seem like the whole day was lost to the yard.  I didn't really understand.  Now, I understand that even though the hardest labor of mowing and edging only takes about 1.5 hours, there is the pre-work (picking up poo, toys, loading batteries, etc.), clean up of tools and self, sometimes weeding, sometimes hedging, and then...there are noodle arms. When I was done, I always savored the refreshment time, whether it be a beer, water, or a dip in the pool.  I needed that resting time. With the humidity, I needed a shower and it was a courtesy to the world that I take a shower. The process of cleaning up the tools and the debri always took another 30 minutes or so, and then the rest time and shower took up another hour, AT LEAST.  So, the bulk of the yard work only has to be done once a week but it is a 3 hour endeavor, minimum. I can see why someone would procrastinate.

 

I am also excited to swap back because I am just ready to get back to cleaning and organizing my home.  It is therapeutic for me.  I enjoy the solitude of it and I enjoy the cleansing feeling that it gives me, a feeling of starting fresh.  However, Mike's modifications to the amount of times I do my chores made me think that I work too hard. Or that I might have a cleaning compulsion. I don't need to do as much as I do.  I was only mildly uncomfortable with his standard of what "clean" is.  I thank him for teaching me that. Also, I did notice that Mike helped out more with keeping the kids on track with their chores and he helped out a lot more with the cooking.  The kids were dumbfounded and wanted to know what I did to him as they were not too fond of his newfound interest in how few chores they did willingly.  I thank him for this as well.  I love the unexpected findings of this experiment.

 

The End?

 

As with any chore, monotony and tedium are the biggest drawbacks, both for indoor chores and outdoor chores. So, moving forward, we will approach chores differently.  I will continue to clean the entire house once a week (for my own sake).  I will dust twice a week.  The rest of the duplication will be put into a chore jar.  Mike will mow and edge once a week. He will hedge once a month or as needed. I will help Mike with edging twice a month and hedging and "beautification"  a month or even with mowing when I have time to spare or he is out of town.  Weeding and picking up of dog poo will be going in the chore jar.  All four of us, will each choose 5 chores per week from the chore jar. Mike's number of chores will be adjusted based on how many days of the week he will be in town. The girls and I will adjust ours based on our schedules as needed.  This may mean we will have to double or triple up before we leave town or have a crazy busy week.  We have survived more traumatic scenarios in our little lives. We will all take our turns picking up poo, weeding, cleaning toilets, cleaning up yard debri, sweeping up dog hair, washing towels, and more...Family-style.  The girls are not terrible excited about this but Mom and Dad are.  2 out of 4 isn't so bad? The Chore Swap resulted in the Chore Jar.  Can't wait to get started!

 

And that's concludes the Chore Swap...we survived! CHEERS!!! 

 

The Chore Swap- Why DIY?

With so many opportunities to hire professionals these days, why do we take the DIY route to housekeeping and yardwork?  I ask myself this question all of the time, especially when we become crazy busy with the kids' activities, or I just feel like there are so many other things I would rather be doing, or when Mike seems to be traveling nonstop and the yard begins to look like a jungle. Why don't we just hire professionals to come to our rescue? Believe me, we have.  Once upon a time, I was in the corporate world.  I hired a housecleaning professional to help me make the house a haven, so I could come home to rest instead of just do more work.  With my husband's career, we have moved a number of times.  Each time we move, I find a professional housecleaner to help keep the house "show-ready", inside and out, while it's on the market.  Once we settle into our new home, I seek the help of a professional once again, to help me clean while I am unpacking and organizing and making our house a home. I let them know it is temporary and after a few months, I am on my own. Each time we move, Mike decides that THIS is the time he is going to do the yardwork all by himself.  Usually, this lasts just about 2 months and then we decide he needs help.  This move was no different, except this time, we ran into a few hiccups when we had landscapers take over and recently, we have decided to promote different values in our home.  So, why have we taken the DIY route?

1. If you want something done right AND for the right price... Sometimes you just have to do it yourself.  When we moved to Florida, we were incredibly busy and yardwork was just not going to be high on the priority list.  However, we have a mostly low maintenance, indigenous landscape and so, we really only needed help with the lawn and some periodic weeding. We went through a few services because they hacked our beautiful natural and lush plants and trees and turned them into perfectly manicured little balls and twigs, even after we were very clear that we only wanted lawn service. We could not find another service that would adjust their price for "lawn only". It just wasn't worth their time. We didn't want to pay for services we did not want or need and they did not want to accept less, so, we were on our own.

2. Practicality.  We have decided to make practicality a value in our home.  Why spend the extra money on a service when it is something that we can do or learn to do ourselves?  We will not take on duct cleaning or roof repairs, but we decided to start with things like landscaping, housecleaning, garbage disposal replacing, handyman type stuff, and we are adding things to this list all of the time.  We are not the handiest people in the world but we are learning.


3. Time.  I'm a stay-at-home mom by choice and I have extra time...on purpose.  When I was a part of the corporate world, Mike and I were rarely home and our lives were somewhat scattered.  Mike is in the restaurant industry and the hours and travel schedule is unpredictable and relentless.  I was a brand marketing professional with an increasingly demanding travel schedule as well.  I had my first child and just knew that the only way to continue my career was going to be to hire a nanny and that just didn't interest me.  I wanted to be the primary caretaker of my child and my family. It was a choice. Every time I have attempted to re-enter the rat race, I am reminded of why I left. I wanted to simplify my life.  Now, I have time.  So, I clean my own house.  It's not my favorite thing to do but I do it. I enjoy the routine, the order, and the way that it slows me down and forces me to stay home for a few hours because for being a stay-at-home mom, I am rarely ever home.
 
4. Role Modeling.  We want our kids growing up to see us "doing" things, not hiring people to do things.  Of course, when they become adults, they can make their own choices, but for now, we would like to do our best to reasonably role model practicality, initiative, and ingenuity.  We don't want them to grow up seeing us hire-out for everything and then expecting that this is how the world works.  Learn to do what you can, for yourself.  Sometimes, we all need help, though.  We want to role model humility as well, and so, we have no problem admitting when we might need help with something, like changing entry locks or faucet fixtures.  Oh, the funny stories I could tell.  But we want to show them that we tried to help ourselves first.

5. Work Ethic, Personal Responsibility, Pride of Ownership.  We want to instill a strong work ethic in our kids, and a strong sense of personal responsibility, as well as a pride of ownership.  We do not want to hire people to do everything for us and for our kids and then have them leave the nest not knowing how to fend for themselves or looking around for someone else to do everything for them.  We want them to learn how to take care of their own messes and to take pride in themselves and those things that they work hard to provide for themselves.  Those values start at home, and are up to them to carry on.  If they make a mess, they need to clean it up.  They need to help take care of their room, their clothes, their bathroom, their yard, their dogs, and their house.  It is all of our responsibilities. When we do a chore, it isn't always fun but we learn to do it because it needs to be done. If there ever comes a time when we do hire, we all still have chores that we do to bridge the gap.  So, the kids are learning to vacuum, wash cars, do laundry, clean windows, clean bathtubs and toilets.  We are always working on graciousness and patience. When we send our kids into the real world, our hope is that they will take pride in their work, even the boring, tedious, dirty parts. We hope they will be role models of personal responsibility and be more than capable and confident in how to take care of themselves and their place of residence, even if their first residence is a dorm room.


These are our reasons for taking the DIY chore route.  I will not rule out ever seeking help to ease the daily load but for now, this is our plan.  It isn't always pretty.  Our house isn't always the shiniest.  Our lawn isn't always the most perfectly maintained but we manage.  As part of this experiment, I have decided that we need to focus on a few more values: teamwork and conscientiousness.  We have a family chore chart. My kids are very focused on doing their chores but ONLY THEIR chores.  They don't really look for ways or take initiative to help out with a task if it is not on their chore list.  So, we need to work on doing chores more family-style and I have a few ideas on how to make that happen.  But that's for another post... until later... Keep Calm and DO YOUR CHORES!

The Chore Swap - 3 weeks DOWN! One more to go!

 

On the 3rd week of The Chore Swap and after days and days and days and days of rain, the weeds were in their full glory as you can see... It took me about one 1/2 hour to pick these.  Done for now.  I will do one more round of weed picking before the 18th.

 

The Palm fronds had blown all about due to the lovely weather and it was time to collect them from all over the yard, put them in a pile and put as much of this debris as I could into this week's trash pick-up.  I have at least one trash pick-ups worth, and by that time, I will certainly have more to pick up as South Florida's stormy season is just beginning to kick up.  And then I thought, oh, by the time I can make another pile this big? The Chore Swap will be over! and Mike will be in charge.  But I do have a feeling that we will be doing yardwork and all of our chores more family-style when this is all over but those changes are for another post down the road.

 

 

Somewhere in the last three weeks these beanstalks began to grow, three of them.  I have been asking around and no one seems to know what they are.  One day, it was a beautiful plant and the next day there was a bean stalk growing out from the middle of it.  I am waiting for it to flower or do something. We have only lived in South Florida for a year and so much of the vegetation is new to me.  Plus, I am not a gardening type.  I am not sure if it's going to grow taller or if I should be cutting that.  I see a research trip to a nursery in my future.

Yardwork in South Florida is exhausting anytime of day, this much I have learned.  The biggest and hardest job of mowing and edging the lawn, only need to be done once a week and only take a total of about 1 1/2 hours (I can't seem to get it done in one hour but I'm still trying).  My noodles, I mean... my arms feel like noodles when I'm done.  I thought my arms would strengthen over time but not so much.  I have a few tricks I've discovered for yardwork survival in South Florida:

1. Start early. This is easier said than done because it totally interferes with my coffee time but it is key to not overheating and actually finishing in a timely manner.
2. Sunscreen and bug spray.  These things are a must.
3. Long pants and a light but long shirt. To protect you from the bugs and the sun and the whipping of random twigs and yard shrapnel. 
4. BEWARE of lizards, and spiders, and dead frogs, and ant piles.  When you dig through plant debri or reach under a plant to grab those weeds, yes, that was a lizard that just crawled over your hand, or a spider.  And no that is not a rock, that is a dead frog or dried poop.  yes, beware!
4. REFRESHMENTS!!!  This is the most important of all.  I have found that if I plan for a nice refreshment afterward, it's like placing a light at the end of the very hot, humid tunnel.  Here are a few of my favorites...besides beer...because I just can't have beer all the time...or can I?



Lemon-Cucumber-Coconut Water

A dip in the pool!!!

Homemade popsicles...or any icy treat will do

 



How are we doing?

How am I doing?  I am doing fine.  I mow the front and back lawn and edge them in one day.  I do the weeding once a week now instead of looking for the little buggers everyday.  My kids made me wonder why in the world we all hate weeds so much that we have to snatch them up and kill them.  "Everything is here for a reason.", they say.  "No one weeds in real nature. They just get to live free with all of the other plants.", they say.  I have no response to these statements.  Why do we not just let weeds be? I have no idea, whatsoever.  When you start philosophizing about weeds?  That's when you know you've been out in the heat for far too long.  I like my plants, shrubs, and hedges a little on the wild, more natural side, so edging and trimming is really only a once a month job.  I vacuum the patio furniture once a week, pick up poo daily, and I vacuum indoors once a week.  And the rest of the week, I'm free.  The 1 1/2 hour of hard yardwork is hard and exhausting but it's also a nice workout and then it's done and I can move on with my week, scattering the other little chores here and there.  So, I'm doing all of Mike's chores and I'm doing fine. 

How is Mike Doing? Mike...well...let's just say he has modified my chores to fit his standards and his schedule.  I stopped keeping track because he stopped trying to keep up doing exactly what I do and when I do it.  This whole experiment began because Mike was not really keeping up with his outdoor work and I said something or asked the wrong question or might have said something like, "you only have to do yardwork once a week...I mean...c'mon...is it really THAT hard?" OOOPS... There was my mistake.  He then made the statement that I didn't understand how hard his yardwork was and how hard it is to keep up with it and that all of my indoor work COMBINED was not as hard as his once a week outdoor work.  OOPS...there was his mistake and the experiment was born.  I have now walked in his shoes for 3 weeks and can honestly say that his chores are harder than I thought but not as hard as all of my chores combined. I will be defining "difficult" in another post. And given the fact that he is not doing ALL of my chores or not doing them EXACTLY the same amount of times or per the same standard, I would think he would agree but he won't commit to that or say much of anything about it yet.  He just whistles as he works.  He wants to hold back on his full evaluation until the end of the experiment, so, I cannot speak for him.  I only know what I observe and what I observe is that he has chosen to modify my chore list.  So... there went the control factor of the experiment but oh, well.  Maybe my standards are too high? Maybe I've been doing too much cleaning all this time?  That's possible. I'm contemplating all of this. For the last week, much as I have done from the beginning, I will just focus on what I'm doing and what I'm getting out of the experiment and let him have his own experience.  My house will certainly survive and so will we...I think. I look forward to Mike's final evaluation (as I'm sure you all do) and his possible epiphany.  Oh, you never know...he could totally have an epiphany.  Anything is possible.

The Chore Swap - Beauty and the Beast

Meet our 2 year old dog, Holly.  Holly is the reason for almost 75% of our chores. 2 Januarys ago, we adopted this very precious dog when she was just a few months old and our house has never been the same.  Before Holly I cleaned the whole house only once a week.   Now?  We have to dust the house at least twice a week, sweep the floors at least 5 days a week, mop the floors AT LEAST twice a week, vacuum the couches and rugs every other day, and pick up muddy messes, coconuts, and other random debris a few times a week. She is a beautiful beasty mess, as much beast as she is beauty.

 We (or I should say, I) had all the intentions in the world to train her to stay off of the couches and beds, but look at her?  She is impossible to say "no" to.  Our older dog, AL, does not shed, so, we let him on the couch.  Holly, in the otherhand, sheds what seems like 3 coats of fur a day. Training Holly to stay off the couch would have meant that she was the only member of our family not allowed on our couches.  This felt wrong...discriminatory almost.  She looked so sad when we would demand she return to HER spot on the...floor. She would look up at us with those eyes and no one could turn her away.  I thought, for sure, when I divided the "Holly" labor amongst everyone, they would be inspired to renew the "off the couch and beds" training.  No such luck. This family will vacuum five times a day for her, we will mop up the mud-art she tracks through the house, we will pick up coconuts and twigs and branches and palm fronds, and you name it.  We love our little beast just as much as we love her beauty. The rest is a photographic ode to Holly.  A few pictures tell you all you need to know.  Enjoy!

The Guilty Holly, "What? You don't like the mud footprint art I made for you?"

Holly still stares at us when she first hops on the couch, as if to say, "I'm going to sit here, okay?" 

Holly and her BDFF, Best Doggie Friend Forever, AL-dog.  He was the bad influence who showed her how to lay on the couch and the beds.

Holly does not let a good rainstorm go to waste.  The minute the rain begins, Holly makes a mad dash to take full advantage.  This is what she looks like on most summer days in South Florida.  Oh, what fun it is to clean up after her on a rainy day.

She loves to chase all things that fly: butterflies, dragonflies, or birds.  This can entertain her for hours.  So happy she has yet to catch anything.  I will not look forward to cleaning up any "gifts".

Jungle Holly.  Lizards beware. This is where she likes to gather her mud for the mud art.

Splashing in rain puddles before she makes her way back in the house.

Chasing lizards and butterflies and making mud-art and rain dancing is very hard work.  This is Holly. Sleeping at the end of my bed.  Yes, my side, of course.

How in the world am I supposed to wake her to ask her to move when she looks this darn cute.

This is Holly actually on the HER spot on the floor.  She needed company.

Mommy, PLEASE let her stay here with me.  I will vacuum the couch.

Just one of the girls at the slumber party. 

Mommy, please let them stay on my bed.  Aren't they just adorable?  oh, yes, sure. so, adorable. Do you see what I'm up against?

And the pattern continues...

She loves the beach.  Lots of sand to bring home.

Look, she brought us a coconut from the backyard. One of many gifts from nature that she offers. She is a very thoughtful dog.

And that concludes our little ode to Holly...our beauty and our beast.