too cool for drool

I've mentioned my No Bodily Fluids rule before. And, technically, this post breaks it, but I think with one of the least harmful of fluids.

Saliva.

I produce a lot of saliva. It's one of the reasons I don't like going to the dentist - we have to spend a lot of time with the suction tool. After one particularly long and noisy sucking session, the hygienist informed me that I have very viscous saliva. This amazing saliva make-up protects my teeth against cavities, with the small downside of creating more plaque.

The problem with my overactive viscous saliva is my unrelated problem of not being able to breath well through my nose. So, when I sleep, I am a mouth breather. Combine this with the zealous saliva glands and ... well, nights get soggy.

When I was in sixth grade, I got new green flannel sheets. I was so excited that I used them before washing them. One day I got to school and one of my friends said, "Why do you have green stuff on your cheek?" What? Huh? Green? Sure enough, there were a few green smudges on my cheek and the corners of my mouth. I washed it off and thought nothing more of it. The next day it happened again. When someone else pointed it out to me, I realized my drool-seeped green pillow was rubbing off on me.

Jump to today. We got new sheets a few weeks ago. And I've now noticed that my pillow has bleach splotches all over the corners. You know, the corners where my head usually rests at night. I don't have experimental proof, but I'm pretty sure that the drool that protects me against cavities is also combining with toothpaste residue in my mouth at night and bleaching my pillow out.

I suppose I'd better rinse better.

Potbellys = 141.8% of my daily protein!

My coworker introduced me to a slick web application for tracking daily food intake. MyPlate is part of the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong website. The application works off of user-generated content. Anyone can enter in the nutritional value for any food. This creates a huge database of foods that you can then search for the specific food you've eaten that day. It gets quite specific: 2% milk from Kroger, Kashi Pumpkin Spice Granola Bar, raw blueberries.


[Screenshot of website]

After putting in your food, it will calculate your nutrition intake, by day, week, month. I was pretty cheery when entering in my oatmeal and strawberry breakfast, but not so much with the PotBelly Big Turkey Sandwich for lunch, where my protein shot up to 141.8% daily value and sodium to 120.6%.

There are a few other nifty features, like being able to save a meal (e.g. cereal, milk & blueberries together as "breakfast" rather than entering each item in separately) or writing how your body feels each day.

I've always wondered how many calories I really consume each day. That, along with a growing suspicion that my body is not digesting dairy as well as it used to, will (hopefully) motivate me to use this for a few weeks.

Results forthcoming.

things are looking up

And I didn't even have to start wearing make up!

This week I tried to get to bed early and wake up early enough to do my favorite morning routine of yoga, scripture study, and breakfast. I felt energized and healthy each day.

Also helping is the warmer weather. Which, of course, brings with it a chance to resume Ultimate! We had a captain's meeting on Thursday night for the spring league we play on. And on Saturday I went to my first casual pick-up game. It was glorious. I couldn't run very far without panting, but it helps that everyone else is similarly softened by winter hibernation.

Three cheers for smelly cleats, grass stains, and full layout bids!

perky polly picked a peck of potent peppers

but puddly paula poked a pack of porous potatoes



This is discouraging. I may have to start wearing make up on a regular basis. I didn't think my world would ever come to this. But several times in the last few weeks, when I went in to work, my coworkers look at me with concern and ask how I'm doing. One of them went so far as to call me "peaked" (merriam-webster's definition - being pale and wan or emaciated: sickly). This, for the girl who was recognized by her 11th grade cross-country coach for being "most enthusiastic" runner. Because what else do you call a girl who finishes the 5k in 45 minutes and smiling. Still, me and "peaked" didn't even use to share a room.

Alternative remedies to make-up to counteract my pale and sickly demeanor:
- Wear a high pony tail tied with ribbons. Think high school cheer captain.
- Dress in pastels.
- Dark sunglasses, or those creepy glasses with the open eyes painted on the lenses.
- Do vigorous push-ups in my office whenever people walk by.
- Sit with my cheeks resting on my hands, so they're bright red whenever I look up.
- Spread Vaseline on my teeth for a more dazzling smile.
- Sit on an exercise ball instead of my office chair.
- Wear sneakers.
- Close my office door.
- Walk in singing a show tune. "Oooooklahoma!"

Maybe I'll just go to bed earlier.