Me & Cherry Vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream

At the beginning of the year, my husband George found out that he had Type 2 diabetes. This turned his world upside down, as it would anyone. He was very mad at himself for letting himself get out of shape and not take better care of his health by eating all kinds of stuff on the road, etc. He travels a lot for business. I respected and felt his pain, but I kept saying that he did not give himself diabetes, he was predisposed to it genetically. Does someone give themselves diabetes? I don't think so, but if you are diagnosed with Type 2, you need to take that diagnosis seriously, cause your life and health are really at stake.

My mom was a Type 1 diabetic since her late 20's early 30's. Even though she took her insulin as needed, she fought that disease tooth and nail. She did not eat healthily, didn't exercise, smoked till her final days and lived her life by her rules. Because of this, her diabetes took her at 68 years old. She had to have her legs amputated, quadruple bypass, congestive heart disease, and that is what finally took her down, her heart and all of the other organs that just couldn't take it anymore. My mom was an incredible fighter and one of the bravest people I know. She went down kicking. There is not a day that doesn't go by that I don't miss her. Life without her is different, a little less colorful in many ways. But the good news is that there is still a huge rainbow of colors that follow me around on a daily basis.

What does this have to do with Cherry Vanilla Bluebell ice cream? Well, since George was diagnosed with Type 2, I quit my Curves membership, cause it was really not a workout, and we both joined Anytime Fitness (http://www.anytimefitness.com). This is a place where I get a really good workout. I have been going religiously (like I can't believe). I am feeling so strong and feeling in pain from the workouts, but it is good pain, not my back aching like hell. So, the thing that is bumming me out is that I have to cut down on the amount of food I eat each day. That is the hardest part of all of this. I have to get myself to really be better about what I am eating, so that I can start to lose weight, not just tone-up. Let's see how this goes. I have got to get serious, and maybe by writing it here in this blog, it will be a good kick in the ass for me to be serious. It's not that I eat ice cream all the time, but whenever I do, I feel really crappy about it, not ever good. The ends doesn't justify the means. Well I have gotten this message loud & clear. See Blue Bell Ice Cream, do not buy it, do not be tempted by it and that goes for Cheetos too! I can sign off now.

Disconnect Between Brain Regions in ADHD

Here is an interesting research article about two regions of the brain that fail to connect when children with ADHD attempt a task that measures attention, according to researchers at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain at the M.I.N.D. Institute.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100111155116.htm

Here is some of the information from this very interesting article.

"This is the first time that we have direct evidence that this connectivity is missing in ADHD," said Ali Mazaheri, postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Mind and Brain. Mazaheri and his colleagues made the discovery by analyzing the brain activity in children with ADHD.

The researchers measured electrical rhythms from the brains of volunteers, especially the alpha rhythm. When part of the brain is emitting alpha rhythms, it shows that it is disengaged from the rest of the brain and not receiving or processing information optimally, Mazaheri said. "The brains of the children with ADHD apparently prepare to attend to upcoming stimuli differently than do typically developing children," he said.

Children with ADHD did improve their reaction times when properly cued, but they don't seem to allocate resources as efficiently, Mazaheri said.

This is the first evidence from brain electrical patterns for a functional disconnection in cortical attention systems in ADHD, he said. Current definitions of ADHD are based only on behavior.

Check out the rest of this article at your convenience. Happy reading!

Reducing Your Stress - Part 2

Here are additional ways to decrease your stress:

Music. Playing music is good for the soul. Play something upbeat and fun to dance to when you’re cleaning house or need to work on a project. Check out Lady Gaga’s The Game, a dance record that gets you moving. There are times when you have to dance. If you need to relax, put on something dreamy and relax.

Find Your Funny Bone. One way to reduce stress is to stop reading newspapers and watching TV news. This is really true. Escaping the news headlines and heading for pure fun and escapism is a great way to reduce stress. Also, do not watch the news before going to sleep. This will cause you stress. Turn off the T.V. and turn on the calming music with chimes in the background.

Laughter is definitely the best medicine, and it’s okay to laugh even in bad times. Humor is a good thing, and find your humor wherever you can find it. Here are a few suggestions:

• For political types, check out http://www.cagle.com/. They feature the best political cartoons from around the world.
• TV is a nice short-lived escape. You don’t have to think about anything. Just let those TV rays wash over you. Watching old T.V. series that I grew up with in the 60's & 70's is a real way to escape anything bad. "I Love Lucy" reruns are always good for a laugh.
• Watch your favorite new or old shows on Hulu.com, a FREE website. Check out The Simpsons or the latest Saturday Night Live clips. Need a blast from days when life seemed simpler and less chaotic? Check out The A-Team, The Facts of Life, and Miami Vice. The website adds new series and movies all the time.
• For jokes, check out www.ahajokes.com. Under the one liners category, the site even features gems from Jack Handey’s Deep Thoughts.
• The Fruitcake Lady was a frequent, straight-talking guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Search for her clips on YouTube.com, but a warning – the lady is very, very frank and swears a lot so check this out at home without the kids.

Reduce Clutter. Truthfully, reducing clutter and getting more organized does reduce stress. Being able to find things (and not buy a replacement), getting what you want to get done, and having a clean, organized space all makes you feel better about life. By ridding yourself of old things that drag down your energy and spark bad emotions, you are preparing yourself for a brighter future.

Find Some Friends. Spending time with friends is a great way to brighten up your day. We all need time with friends and family, and having face time is much better than bent over your computer screen, scrolling through Facebook every night. Stop hiding out, and get out. Each city has free activities, such as free nights at local museums. The important thing is to spend time together.

I hope that these ideas help you in some way. Any comments?

Reducing Your Stress - Part 1

I received a brochure in the mail the other day, tauting the virtues of taking care yourself. In addition to getting regular check-ups, the brochure advised that one way you can take care of yourself in these challenging times is to “reduce your stress.” I turned the brochure over. Nothing else was written there. That was their advice. Just "reduce your stress."

In fact, where ever you turn these days you hear how we need to reduce our collective national stress. Well, okay. How do you do that when you’re lying awake at 3 a.m., worrying about your job, your home, your bills, your future, and your world in general?

Research shows companies undergoing layoffs and other financial problems have a dip in productivity. You think it would be the opposite with people trying to act the model employee, but the stress, uncertainty, and depression take its toll, turning people into anxiety-ridden zombies for a while. Everyone walks around with a shocked expression, waiting for the axe to fall and for small signs of hope.

People under stress react in different ways, including anger, insomnia, eating more, fatigue, and moodiness – just to name a few. Stress can cause you to blow up at the smallest thing and later wonder why you were so angry. Was it really about the issue or was it the stress talking? But you’re supposed to reduce your stress, remember? So how do you do that? Here are some solutions for you.

Exercise and Eat Right. Exercise is a great stress reliever and helps you sleep better. By eating better, you can save money by bringing your own lunch and snacks, making your own coffee, and making better choices at the grocery stores. Don’t forget to treat yourself once in a while. You don’t have to adopt a healthier lifestyle by yourself. Sparkpeople.com and Livestrong.com (Lance Armstrong’s organization) are two sites offering FREE help with creating new habits, such as losing weight, eating more fruits and vegetables, and exercising more.

Get Enough Sleep. In my ADHD coaching class we were given an assignment to get eight hours of sleep every night. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to actually get eight hours of sleep but I found that it made a real difference in my life. Try it. You might really like it.

Just Breathe. Meditation and breathing deeply can help relax your body and lower your heart rate. There are wonderful CDs and books out there on meditation and yoga classes focus on breathing. If you get worked up about something, step away from the situation and just take a few deep breaths and you will find that it might help settle your state of mind. Changing your focus is usually helpful.

Try these simple suggestions and let me know what worked and what didn't.

Are You as a Professional Organizer Working with the Right Client?

Please do not kick me off my own blog for blogging so infrequently in 2010. My excuse is that I have entered this New Year with a booming business. My business has fortunately grown steadily over the past 9+ years, and I have counted myself very fortunate that all of my hard work with and for my clients continues to keep my business "rockin & rollin." With the fact that our country is still experiencing such difficult economic times, some of my colleagues have had to change professions and get out of the organizing business.

That has been an unfortunate loss for our industry in some cases. Some of those P.O.'s were really talented, but came into the business at such a difficult time.
Anyone that knows the type of organizing I do, knows that my wonderful, challenged clients have more issues than simple space management problems, or what kind of container to purchase to match their family room furnishings. Their organizing issues are sometimes life threatening. Do not interpret my last comment to mean anything negative against the many different types of client needs and our diverse organizing profession. The beauty of our organizing industry is that there are countless client needs and really well-trained organizers to fill those needs. Those P.O.'s, like me are well-trained by our professional associations such as NAPO (Nat'l Assoc. of Professional Organizers, napo.net) and NSGCD (Nat'l Study Group on Chronic Disorganization, nsgcd.org)

It's when professional organizers step out of their field of knowledge and think that because they watched a program or two about hoarding, that they too can get in on working with hoarders. It has all of a sudden become "vogue" to work with hoarders, as if this is a new phenomenon.
That is a dangerous way to think. Do you, the person that has never done any study or research on hoarding have the knowledge base to work with this very wonderful and challenging population? We as organizers that abide by the code of ethic of our industry know that we do not want to cause our clients any type of harm for any reason. I have heard too many horror stories from my hoarding clients that worked with a professional organizer that had no specialized training, or a clue as to how to work with them. The organizer was hell bent on purging the clients possessions with the zeal of a 19th Century missionary, with no regard for the long-term detrimental effects that this action would have on their hoarding client.

Let's work with the clients that are best suited for our skill set. We as professional organizers have a huge responsibility to all of our clients to protect their best interests above all else.

Four Gadgets for Keeping Track of Things

Here are four new gadgets to help ADD'er (and anyone else) keep track of their stuff. Which one will work for you?

The Find One, Find All

($24.95; FindOneFindAll.com)
This Finding Essential is a battery-powered, radio-controlled homing device that you attach to the two items you never want to lose — your keys and wallet.

Put the fob on your keys and the credit-card-sized device in your wallet. When you press a button on the locator, the devices ring like a cell phone (as long as they’re within a 10-foot radius).

The EZ-Find! 25 Item Wireless Locator

($66.50; at amazon.com)
Have lots of items you tend to misplace? This consists of 25 colored fobs and a remote. Hook the fobs to things you need to take with you — or have trouble finding around the house (you can even hook up your pets or a small child).

The Dane Elec 4 GB Capless USB Drive

($19.99; at buy.com and target.com)
Want to keep track of valuable computer data? This allows you to keep your files with you at all times, and the sliding-top design means there’s never a cap to lose.

No larger than a fingernail clipper, the flash-memory device can carry up to four gigabytes of data/files, and it comes in a variety of colors, for those who like to make a fashion statement. Bonus: It doubles as a key chain.

Remote Play’s TagAlert 200

($59.95; remoteplay.com)
If you lose things outside your house, you may be the answer. Attach the "monitor" fob to your belt loop or key ring (or keep it tucked into your pocket) and attach the "alert" tags to two valuables (such as your wallet and cell phone)

Happy New Year!

I can hardly believe that another year has flown by. On this New Year, I had the pleasure of celebrating with my darling husband and my two brothers here in New Jersey. We enjoyed a fabulous party at my youngest brother Peter's really good friend Brian's gala New Years Eve party.

I am not a believer in New Year resolutions. I am more comfortable making resolutions throughout the year that are more realistic ones that I will stick to. So far, I have not made any new resolutions to date. One that I feel compelled to write about now is that I will write more blogs in 2010 that will be useful to my readers.

I look forward to working with many of my regular clients and working with new clients and their organizing challenges. This year will hold many new and exciting challenges for all of us.

If there is an organizing challenge that you have, please post it here and we will discuss it. If it is private, please email me at: rlyman@ahelpinghandforyou.com.