My Mexican friend, her daughter and I decided to take a long hike in a national forest somewhere around Ciudad Guzman, deep in the heart of Mexico. I had taken a little adventure trip to Mexico to see what I could see. So, here we were, looking for a hidden waterfall somewhere deep in a huge forest.

We had eaten breakfast with the locals at an open air market in the nearby town. It was a lively place, complete with dogs and vagabonds looking for a handout. It was an interesting place, where the locals gathered in the mornings. I didn’t really like the lack of sanitary conditions though, and sure enough, I got the worst case of diarrhea that I’d ever had.

My friend took me to a pharmacy and got some medicine. She said she was a medical doctor, but considering all the lies she told me while I was with her, I have my doubts. Anyway, she got some pills that helped quite a bit, and she made me some kind of traditional concoction out of maize, lemon, limes, pineapple, and who knows what else.

So, we were deeper in the forest than I expected, when I saw a mansion, sort of all by itself. Strange, why would there be such a place out here? I asked her and she kind of looked around and quietly said: “narco-traffickers.” Oh, I understood.

I asked her if it bothered her, she said, “Of course not! It’s you stupid American with your drug habit that feed it. For us it doesn’t matter if it’s corn or peas or cocaine.” I’d never looked at it like that before, at least not so close up!

I found out later that people didn’t really dislike these businessmen; in fact the gifts that they gave the local community were greatly, appreciated. There was a nice park in Ciudad Guzman, courtesy of whoever owned this mansion, for example. Sort of a Robin Hood outlook to the matter.

I didn’t see anyone around, so I took out my camera and took a few shots of the place, after all, how often do you get to see something like this?

Then I heard a noise like a truck coming up the hill toward me. I didn’t even realize you could drive on this little pathway. Oh no! I don’t believe it! This time, they are going to read about me in the paper. There were six mestizos in the truck, three in the front and three in the back.

Mestizos are a mixure of Spanish and Indian and to me they always looked kind of scary. I guess it’s because the only ones I’d met were fierce looking policemen in Guadalajara. To me, they all had black eyes, surrounded by red instead of white. They probably were kind-hearted fathers who read bedtime stories to their infant children, but these guys looked downright scary.

So, there I was, miles from town, alone on some remote road, in a Mexican forest with six scary looking men coming toward me. Plus, my friend and her daughter had gone on ahead of me because I had stopped to stare and take pictures.

The truckful of scary men stopped when they got to me, and the three in the back jumped out. They each had a big machete in hand and they all proceeded to walk toward me. I greeted them in my better-than-average Spanish. I must have convinced them that I was a harmless, stupid American tourist because they greeted me back and sort of moved to the side and started cutting brush on the road side.

I glanced around quickly to see if any other weeds were cut down anywhere, of course they weren’t! I said “Hasta luego!” and got out of there as quickly as a nonchalant acting bee-line will allow.

This was the first time in my life that I’ve actually thought I was going to die. All I could envision was me cut up into pieces by some ruthless, drug-addicted minions of a heartless drug lord who despised Americans. Maybe he would feed me to his dog or crocodiles.

There were several more of these mansions, but you can be sure that I was a kept my camera in my pocket and minded my own business! We never did find the waterfall either!
Don’t forget Mother’s Day! Perfect for Mother’s Day… The Smallflower Bath of the Month Club

How many times have you been waiting for somebody who said they would call, and they neither call nor show up! As much as I try to keep my word, I just wonder how many times others have had the experience I recently had– because I just didn’t call.

My 80 year old father emailed me and said he was coming for a visit at the end of May. Great, I don’t see him that often, and was looking forward to the visit. Next thing I know, he calls me up and says he is 12 hours away and will be here soon.

Well, I’m used to this. One time he drove from Colorado to Wisconsin without notice and called me from the local grocery store to ask me how to get to my house! Good thing I was home.

This time it went fine, except he and his friend got really lost because he didn’t trust the GPS navigator they were relying on! The 12 hours became about 18, and of course he didn’t call.

After a nice weekend visit, he went to visit his grandchildren, who live 3 hours away. I gave him their phone numbers, told him at least 10 times that he should call and let them know he was coming. I even called for him to let them know.

So, they drove the 3 hours, got to the front door and called for the first time. Good thing my daughter had been forewarned though, she had set aside some time from her final exams and soccer practice to be with her grandpa. They had a good time and she enjoyed their visit.

Then, at 9 p.m. he called the other grandchildren to set up a visit. Ooop! It wasn’t possible because they just couldn’t do it on such a short notice. So sad, they might not ever see him again. I wonder how they feel? They barely know him anyway, mostly through the mail and stories. If only he could have made a little effort to simply call and let them know.

I found this whole thing extremely annoying, and still do. But then again, I just wonder how many times I have done something similar? How many people have I inconvenienced or stood up because of my unwillingness to communicate?

In the end, it just doesn’t take much effort to make a simple phone call. Maybe Norah Jones has a dad like mine, or maybe she has teenagers or teenaged brothers who neglect to call. Could be how she got the inspiration for “I don’t know why I didn’t call.”

She said that on some days she felt like “a radiant ray of cosmic energy scintillating on her journey across the universe.” Others days she felt like “a burnt out sparkler.”

This was my friends description of her fatigue from menopause, up and down and maybe more often down. I asked what happened because I had never seen her in the fatigued state, not even close. Her answer wasn’t so simple though.

This is what she did about her symptom of menopause that really interfered with her life.

1. Drank a lot of clear water
2. Went for a vigorous walk everyday
3. Took cold baths (they are really cold too!)
4. Ate lots of fresh vegetables and fruit
5. Took a natural multi-vitamin supplement
6. Read inspiring literature to give her new ideas and thoughts

It occurred to me that many women just keep putting the needs of others first to the point of neglecting their own health and welfare. Wouldn’t it be a great idea to give a beautiful, high quality supplement as a gift on Mother’s Day?

Sure, she might buy some generic brand of chemical based supplements at the local drug store, but why not give her something special that will make a real difference? One of the highest quality supplements available is called Irwin Naturals. They have a passion for the highest quality and go to great lengths to ensure that their products do what they claim.

You can discover a world of health and beauty at Smallflower.com

Recently I discovered a really interesting place to learn about anything and everything: Squidoo. It is put on by some very up-to-date people and  you can pick up all kinds of things there. I posted something about an experience many men have had with their partners: hot flashes and menopause. Pitter patter, tinkle, tinkle…

If you are looking for menopause relief, it is important to understand the types of insomnia. To choose a wise course of action you need good information; it is not enough to take some pills and hope it goes away.

One of the main symptoms of menopause is insomnia, and this is a signal that your body is sending to try and get your attention; Hey! I need some help, do something!  All too often, we just blunder along, hoping for the best, while we become more and more fatigued.

What are the types of insomnia?

•    Primary insomnia occurs when there are no contributing physical or psychological conditions at the root. Usually, this is caused by poor sleep habits such as drinking coffee at night, using alcohol to induce sleep, going to bed with unresolved issues that are stressful, leaving the light or radio on, etc. These poor habits disrupt our natural internal sleep clock and cause insomnia.

•    Secondary insomnia occurs when there is an underlying physical cause such as a psychological or physical illness. This would include medications, obesity, diabetes, fibromyalgia, perimenopause, menopause, arthritis, etc. When treating secondary insomnia, it is advised to treat the underlying cause and, at the same time, help the insomnia.

Menopause relief from insomnia

Many women who have never had trouble sleeping find that during pre-menopause and during menopause, they wake up easily and have difficulty falling back to sleep. This is partly because the internal sleep clock has been disrupted.

This internal body clock is called the Circadian rhythm. This is from a Latin root, meaning about the day. In the past, people slept many more hours because their day followed the daylight and nighttime patterns. So, our bodies are basically set to follow this pattern and when it is disrupted, we need to reset it.

Hot flashes disrupt this body clock by raising the bodies temperature at random times. Our circadian rhythms are closely tied to temperature and thus the hot flashes cause the internal clock to wake us up.

What can be done about these two types of insomnia?

•    Primary insomnia. There is a lot you can personally do about this type of insomnia. As we age, our habits often need to change as well. The bedtime routines of the past may no longer work as they once did. The soft music you used to like at bedtime might now sound irritating, or the night light might keep you awake.

Keeping the bedroom quiet and free from activity can be very helpful as well. Many people have office equipment or exercise equipment in their bedroom. This might be fine, but if the fax machine goes off, or your partner is cycling away at night, you may consider relocating the equipment, or changing the times they are used.

It is obvious as well, that limiting caffeine intake before bed, watching what you eat and when you eat it, avoiding stimulating TV programs, etc, can make a huge difference in you quality of sleep.

There are numerous high quality natural insomnia treatments on the market as well. This is a much better choice than a little wine before bed. The wine will make you drowsy, but soon you are awake again, whereas, the herbal remedies can help you to experience a longer nights sleep.

•    Secondary insomnia. If you are experiencing menopause insomnia, there are a number of things you can do. First, listen to your body; it is trying to tell you something.

Hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause are primarily caused by in imbalance of hormones. This is because during menopause the ovaries begin to slow the production of female hormones. Artificial hormone replacement therapy is not advised because of the increased risk of breast cancer.

The best way to begin balancing female hormones is by leading a healthy lifestyle. This goes a long way to resetting the internal clock and bringing peace of mind as well.

Using a high quality natural insomnia treatment in the form of supplements is a great way to help the body restore its natural balance. There are a number of good programs available.

1. Joe Says:
   April 24th, 2008 at 1:28 am eHi Randy!
   Here is the long promised recipe. Try it!
   By the way, we really like your web sitetake care, JoeGuiso – a dish from Spain

   This is a simple to prepare dish that you can adjust to your own particular tastes.

   Chop;
   Two large onions
   One large carrot
   One large bell pepper
   Two garlic cloves
   (There are a lot of variations with this and you can add, chopped eggplant, a can of pealed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes that have been skinned and the seeds squeezed out, leeks or x amount of things)

   Sautee in olive oil in a medium size pan over medium heat for about 15 minutes

   As that is cooking, cut in large chunks, beef roast or lamb or pork,
   Salt them, dredge in flour, then brown in oil on all sides in a frying pan

   (You can use chicken, turkey or whatever but the cooking time is a bit less, you can do fish but then you would want to put it in the oven, covered for the last stage of cooking.)

   Add the meat to the pan with the sautéed veggies

   Add a cup of water, a cup of white wine, a bay leaf or two, salt and pepper and turn heat to low and simmer slowly for 1 to 1.5 hours with a lid on checking that it doesn’t get too dry or cook too fast. Cooking time would depend on how tender the meat is

   Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve

   This can be served with rice or boiled potatoes that have been buttered and sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley

Joe and Sonia have a marvelous villa that they rent, I stayed there and would go back tomorrow, if I could! Take a look at their new site!

A mountain biker named Rod sent me a great recipe for breakfast burritos recently. They were so good that when I tried out his recipe, my son ate so many he could hardly move!

I made them again last night, but had a little problem. It seems that after I diced up the peppers I had to pee really bad. So, I went to the bathroom and washed my hands afterward like a good boy should. Trouble is, I should have washed them before I went to the bathroom!

I woke up after sleeping about an hour with a very intense burning feeling down below, ay carumba! It was the hot pepper residue burning me up! I had to get up and wash, in fact I had to do it twice. Now this was a different kind of stress to deal with, next time I’ll be more careful!

Ok, so they weren’t pickled peppers, but it was a … better stop now.

One of the best tips on setting goals is to begin with the end in mind. I cannot even dream of how many times I began a project with a vague idea of what I wanted, but no plan whatsoever. Sometimes that is OK, because maybe you don’t even want a plan or need one. But then there are the projects that really should have a plan, or a goal.

A perfect example is building something. It could be anything, a shed, a website, a dog house, a re-decorated bedroom or anything else that you might want or need to do. The way I usually do things is to make a vague plan, usually in my head, and gather the things I can think of and dig in!

Soon I get stuck and need help, so I back up and read or ask somebody and go at it again. This isn’t the worst way in the world, because it forces you to learn a lot in the process. The problem is that many people just never finish their project. How many yards have you seen with half finished projects? Usually there are 3 or 4 other ones half done as well.

Learning tips on setting goals and achieving them can greatly help reduce stress in your life and your family. I remember very well how stressed out my own mother got because my dad started so many projects, but just didn’t quite finish all of them.

I worked for man who was going to overhaul his back-hoe. He spent an entire day going over every single detail in his mind and on paper before he ever picked up a wrench. This man got an enormous amount of things done in a year, without rushing around and getting overwhelmed. In fact, every Monday this boss and his 4 employees would eat breakfast out at a diner while he planned the week with us. Sometimes it lasted 3 or 4 hours, which was torture for us, but it was very effective.

 Begin with the end in mind.

• State exactly what you want to accomplish

• Break it down into bite-sized chunks that you can manage

• Write it down in a spread sheet like format or flow chart or whatever works for you to visualize the steps

• Write down what you need for each step

• Determine how long you need for each step

• Make a time-line of the steps

• Do it!

This is very liberating, not confining. You will find that you accomplish more with less effort and frustration. Plus, you have more time to play and relax!

Think how many wonderful quotes by kids you have heard over the years, but just never recorded! I used to think I’d never forget them, but it seems to be otherwise. At one time I said I had a a photographic memory, but apparently there was some kind of problem with the film.

My son, Thomas, has two marvelous quotes that I do remember.

• ‘You know Dad, I’ve been thinkin’, one is a lot more than zero…’ I am amazed at how many times I have actually used this in different ways.
• Another great one is from a Moody Blues song. The lyrics go: ‘I’ll be haunted by your love,’ but little Tommy asked his mom why the singer kept saying: ‘I’ll be hunted by your mom!’ Guess he had something going on.

I’d love to hear if you have any good ones, maybe we could even collect them for a good laugh and collective wisdom.

Little people have such great insight sometimes. They are uncluttered, mostly without guile, and more or less innocent (at least for a while, though that seems to be getting to be a shorter span of time with all the exposure they get these days).

It can be so refreshing to see things through their eyes. One of my boys used to have an incredible ability to spot tiny insects on a road or sidewalk. We would be going someplace together and he would just stop and bend over to watch some little theatrical production put on by ants and spiders. I never even saw them until he noticed them.

So, share your quotes by kids and we can all benefit from their great insight!

Lately I’ve seen some really wonderful unique gifts for moms: high quality handmade items from my home state of Vermont, beautiful personal products from Europe and very thoughtful gift certificates to places she would love to go to, but would probably never allow herself to indulge!

A unique gift for moms doesn’t need to be expensive, just thoughtful and fitting for the unique person that she is! Probably everyone appreciates a hand made card over a store bought one, for example. Or maybe you know some little quirky thing about her, like how she likes pistachios, or old movies, or music from Zambia!

It is the personal touch that makes it special, plus the way in which it is given. Like a nice meal, it is so much more pleasurable when the atmosphere is pleasant and peaceful. It doesn’t take that much to make things attractive and warm either. We are in such a hurry half the time that it makes it even more special to make a memory of the occasion, after all, she is your mother!

Another thing men in particular have a hard time doing is making sure the gift arrives on time! Since most men don’t really like shopping all that much, we just put it off and put it off and then remember when it is the last minute or even too late! She is not going to say anything (probably), but wouldn’t have been so much more special if you could be on time and maybe even prepared! That goes a long way in relieving some of the holiday stress, so it can be enjoyable, and not just a routine event.

This might be the perfect gift for Mother’s Day… The Smallflower Bath of the Month Club. She will remember you every single time she gets to savor a sumptuous soak. You get to pick the variety and how often it will arrive at her doorstep. It is a great incentive to take the time to actually relax and soothe away stress.

For the price you get a lot of memory and satisfaction! I think this is one of the better unique gifts for mom that is so easy to pick out and order. It is also all high quality products from Smallflower, the people who seem to get it right!