Word of the Day: philter(FIL\ter); a magic potion for any purpose
Weight: 206 pounds
Goal: lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose: 74 pounds
Waist Size: 43 inches
Rowing Duration: one hour, eight minutes, four seconds
Whew! What a day yesterday! We certainly accomplished alot! Early in the day, we went to the Target store to buy Christmas wrapping paraphernalia, and we also went to the Toys R Us outlet to get a "rain check voucher" which we should have got on Friday for spending over one hundred dollars on a Barbie item. Getting the voucher took some work; but we got it.
We also went to the Phillips Centre in Gainesville, Florida with Louise, Sally, Zac and Jessie to see the ballet "Cinderella." Winter was taken care of by my brother Biff and his fantastic son, Raphael.
The production of ``Cinderella`` was not what I expected, it wasn`t performed by a professional ballet company, but instead was put on by a dance company wherein the dancers were all different shapes and sizes, seeing a ballet with female dancers six feet tall was a completely new experience for me. I did enjoy it, but by the end, I was longing to see the old National Ballet Company of Canada, I guess that when it comes down to it, I enjoy seeing regular ballet by a regular ballet company.
There are only thirteen (13) days left until Christmas Day, and if you think thirteen is an "unlucky" number, just think how "unlucky" you're going to be if you don't start your Christmas shopping, come on, get out there, you might have some fun doing it.
After the ballet, (sounds like a song from the musical "A Chorus Line,") Zac and I went back to my brother Biff's house as Louise, very kindly, invited us to have dinner with all of them in her brood, you know who they are: Biff, Louise (of course,) Sally, Jessie and Raphael, not to forget the two cats, Winnie and Tory. We had spaghetti for dinner and it was good, Louise uses whole wheat pasta!
After dinner, well, before dinner, we went and got a Christmas tree, but after dinner, we began to trim the tree, and just doing this activity raised all of our excitement level, the kids were dancing with each other and singing Christmas carols, it was really quite alot of fun and I'm so grateful to Louise and Biff to include us, we are so blessed to be part of such a loving family.
Today, Zac and I are going to the church to see the children, Sally, Jessie, and Raphael in a Christmas play, it should be alot of fun to see all three of them performing in the same vehicle.
Well this is not going to be a huge surprise to any of us, but here goes: Researchers are now saying that kids whose parents allow them to watch R-rated movies, films for which children under seventeen (17) years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, are up to three (3) times more likely to start smoking than those whose parents are more restrictive. Isn't that interesting? The researchers believe this sort of leniency could trigger smoking by exposing youngsters to depictions of smoking as well as by opening the door to more thrill-seeking, risky behaviours. Okay, I for one am going to ensure that I do not expose any children to R-rated films, I hate the idea of any of them smoking, I hate the idea of anyone smoking.
Lily, sorry, but you and my sister Judy really need to strongly think about what you are doing to your lungs and you need to stop smoking TODAY as cigarette smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity and premature mortality in Canada, the United States and the world.
Other smoking facts include that: Smoking-related diseases cause an estimated 440,000 deaths each year, women, just like you Lily and my sister Judy, women account for thirty-nine (39) percent of all smoking deaths, smoking costs the United States over $150 billion annually in health care costs and a 2004 Study by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC's) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion found that cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. I mean really think about that handful of facts, there are plenty more.
The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) of the World's Most addictive substances places smoking at the top of the list. Heroin placed 5th. Smoking is forbidden to advertise on television, cigarette companies rent huge signs in sport stadiums. Humphrey Bogart, seen smoking in Casablanca, smoked heavily in real life as well. He died of lung cancer at the age of 57, leaving poor Lauren Bacall alone and widowed.
In 1953, the New England Journal of Medicine announced that the evidence linking smoking and lung cancer was “so strong as to be considered proof within the everyday meaning of the word.”
Here is a fact I hate and want to thank the smokers for doing this to me: nearly some ninety (90) percent of nonsmokers have some residues of cigarette smoke in their blood.
Tobacco is a poisonous plant. The poison in it is nicotine. Tobacco plants contain nicotine as a natural defense, to keep bugs from eating their leaves and workers on tobacco farms sometimes suffer nicotine poisoning when they absorb the chemical through their skin. Thank goodness, I never had to do that for a living.
Okay, so my writing wasn't Walt Disney quality, sometimes we have to be serious, and sometimes we have obligations, of which, I am not an exception and must now end today's post so I can get ready to go to church.
Have a good day.
Topics coming soon:
Art
Politics
Technology
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