Like many of you, as a working mom I find that my plate is always full of things that need to get done. In the rare occasion that it’s not, I will find things to add to it. Quite frankly, I wear myself out. There are times that I lay in bed at night thinking of all the things that didn’t get done or all the things that I need to do and there are nights that 'all that needs to get done,' gets to me.

There’s something you should know. I can easily cave to sugar. My goodness, it is absolute madness because I know better. It’s easy to do because sugar can be so TASTY.

Oy! It’s so dark all the time right now. It’s tough enough that our allotment of sunshine is so limited here in the PNW anyway, but it drives me CRAZY when I barely see the light of day. So I give myself the “when life gives you lemons” speech.

It’s official – I am middle-aged. In fact, I have been for quite a while, but I am choosing now to embrace my older self. There are things that have happened to my body and my brain that I never expected when I was a young thing. Some of these are good – I have more patience, for example. Other changes are not as good, like wrinkles, but at least I knew they were inevitbale.

An oversimplified analogy for this product might be baking a cake. You can make a cake with eggs, flour, milk, and baking powder but it’s not a cake unless all of these components are there to create that delicious cake matrix. Similarly, bones need several components in order to support the ongoing dynamic process that is bone.

T’is the time of year to count your blessings and reflect on what you are truly thankful for. In the depth of flu season, we can all be thankful that we are not re-living the “Swine of ‘09” flu epidemic! However, every year someone in your office or classroom or home is suffering from those annoying cold and flu symptoms.

Ah, summertime.  Early mornings stretch into evening, and we spend every second that we can outdoors – gardening, hiking, bicycling or just hanging out with friends and family in the backyard.  Before you know it you are thirsty, and perhaps you even have a slight headache.  Chances are you are dehydrated. The most common form of dehydration is when fluids and electrolytes are lost in even amounts – which is why water is often not enough.

One of the best health news stories that ever came out was the one about how cocoa is good for you.  Am I right?  Who wasn’t totally stoked to hear that?  The incredible health properties of cocoa were revealed in a way that all women everywhere clearly, intuitively, knew to be true.  Did you know that the Kuna Amerinds, an indigenous tribe off the coast of Panama, have been drinking up to 40 cups of fresh cocoa per week and, according to Harvard University studies, experience 1/9 the rate of heart disease as mainlanders?