Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Well the weekend's here enough in my book. I'm getting ready for the float trip tommorow. I can't wait! My school check came just when I needed it the most (too bad taxes took WAY too much; I'm going to start claiming 1. This is ridiculous!) so I could buy supplies. I cleaned the house today, did my interview with Weekends Only (btw their sale is pretty decent, you should check it out.)

I'm still out looking for a p.t. job. Dillards called me today from Galleria so I'm going to stop by tommorow and apply there. I'll have to wait on the reference check at Weekends Only. And maybe the Dillards at Chesterfield will call me sometime soon as Clinique referred me to 'another dept'. Until then, I'm busy orgainizing, participating in weddings, reading, sleeping etc. I can't believe I only have 1 1/2 months left of break :( I still have to stain the deck! EEK!

Well gotta run. Anyone have plans for Monday? Call/email me. I'd like to see some fireworks and hang out with friends :)

Craig's List

I still cannot get enough of Craig's List. Have you ever checked out the "Rants and Raves" or "Lost Connections?" I was randomly checking it out today for fun. I'm usually looking at random job postings or housing postings etc. But I just love this site, and best of all it's ad free and cost free. I hate free sites, but then they have a million pop-up sites, viruses, and spy-ware to last a life time. I don't remember who told me about this site, but I love it, and it's all over the world too!

Your opinion counts :)

A quote I felt compared to list here is below:

"If you let something go, and it comes back to you, is yours."
"If you let someone go, and he/she comes back to you, then they're' yours'"

Agree or disagree with this statement(s) and explain why.

P.T. Job search continues

Today I had my interview with Clinique. I think they were really interested in hiring me. There was one major snag though. I would be required to do two training sessions a year, during the week days. These are three days long, and I only am allowed 2 personal days. I felt it wise to inform them of my current job's (and career) policies and they said they would forward my application to another department in which my availalbility would be more conducive to both positions.

I've decided not only to find a summer position, but to attempt to continue this throughout the school year. Jamin, in a comment from last entry, spoke of making 'sacrifices' to then be prosperous later on, of which I must agree. I think my sacrifice will be of personal free time and using that to earn more money to continue to successfully pay off my debt. I personally feel this works better for me than trying to move in with the parental units (whenever that would occur). I figure rather than 'giving up' going out and having fun through various entertainment means, and sitting around at home entertaining myself through books or movies etc, I'd rather work and have something productive to do. This would not only help relieve my financial burdens but I could also meet new people while working and thus earn more income.

I did work at the Gap during the school year last year and it worked out perfectly until my hours were increased to 25 per week, 5 days in a row, all closing. I couldn't keep up with that amount of time and still survive mentally and physically. I requested less hours, and they told me to be patient as they were making new hires, but 1.5 months of 60-70 hours a week was just too much to handle whereas before I only worked weekends and the shift times varied still allowing for some semblance of a social life. I hope my endeavors work for the best. I pray that my interview on Thursday is more successful (only a weekend job) and that perhaps even with Clinique forwarding my application to another department, perhaps that can work out too. Wish me luck.

Since then, I've decided to withdrawl from my candy concession endeavors. I know I only tried it once, on a not-so-normal concert venue. But I can't leave to chance only making 15% commission with $3 per candy item. I made a whole $7.35 for five hours of work last Tuesday, and I can't see that as being a productive use of my time, despite any cool concerts I might happen to see/hear along the way. I was really excited about Clinique, and I'm disappointed about the training requirement only occuring on weekdays, but there's nothing I can really do about. They sounded like a very cool company to work for, and I know I would have had a lot of fun helping people with their cosmetic needs.

"Getting the Shaft"

Ok, most students know or at least should have heard about the fact that student loan interest rates are going up 2% to 5.30% on July 1, 2005. If you didn't know this, you might want to look into consolidation to lock your rates, especially if they are variable.

Anyway, I was looking into consolidation and am very discouraged by the following points that should have helped me out. Because of varying factors as described below, I cannot receive any benefit whatsoever to help me pay these stupid things off any faster!

1. Once you consolidate your student loans, you cannot reconsolidate (as in refinancing your house or car) in order to get lower interest rates. I'd like to know why I can save by refinancing on my car, home etc, but not on my student loans. Anyone?

This leaves me with an interest rate that is only 2 points away from my home mortgage. How SAD is that! Had I taken a small loan for those classes at Forest Park, perhaps I could have enjoyed a better reconsolidation interest rate. DARN the luck! :(

2. Mohela offers a teacher reward bonus for ever year you are a f.t. teacher.

This could have saved me about 2-3% in interest every year. BUT in the teeny tiny fine print at the bottom it states: 'This does not apply to consolidated loans.' ARGH!

3. The government offers teachers a $5,000 loan forgiveness program if you choose to teach in a low-income school for 5 years.

BUT the kicker is that you have to have only received loans starting at 1998 OR started school in 1998. This means I missed the boat just because I was two years older.

4. Mohela is offering a pay-off incentive (for new consolidators) that involves giving you an approximate $1,500 principal reduction under the condition that you make your first 15 months payments on time.

You guessed, it this does not apply to preexisting consolidated loans. Once again, not fair. (Yes I do realize that everything in life is not fair, but this is my blog, and I have the right to rant, ok?)


Why is it that current persons in pay-off of their loans or students who are older, get the shaft with all these new government incentives? I was already shafted because of my parents' income when applying for student loans! This prevented me from getting subsidized loans because they made too much money despite that I covered 95% of my college expenses. I couldn't get subsidized until my parents were nice enough to take me off their "dependant list" (for their taxes) during graduate school. This is also despite the fact that I lived continually at my university for 2.5 years without living or residing at my parents' home. How can I be dependant when I don't even live there?! UGH! I saw 2k/year of their ginormous income of which somehow the government decided they were 'supposed' to be able to afford 12-14k for my tuition each year. How does that work, they have bills too you know!

I'm not saying all parents or my parents even were expected to pay for my school, but I am saying the government should not base a students' loan opportunities based on parental income that may or may not even be applied to their sons/daughters' tuition. There should be some way the government should track or verify how much the parents in fact do offer their child (if able), so that the loans can be given out accordingly. Therefore if a parent who makes 14k a year at poverty level obviously can't afford their child's tuition, that student should be have subsidized options. But if a parent makes say 100k a year but, for example, offers merely $500 a year to their child, and the Child (I prefer student) makes up the difference, then that should also be taken into consideration.

My income during college was about 5k per year, including either summer jobs or working part-time during my last three years. I'd like to know how/why the government thinks I can easily pay that off just because my parents are doing well for themselves and paying their debts and bills. In addition, I'm a teacher two years behind the new loan forgiveness incentive. Why am I getting shafted because I knew the profession was in need (and chose it as my profession), before they decided to do something to help those also interested? We all know teachers DO NOT even come close to having comparable salaries to people with similar educational backgrounds. I have two degrees and make less than 40k while a couple friends of mine might (might is the key word) have an associate's degree and make 75k? How is that comparable?

We are teaching the children of the future. Without teachers, the world would be a conglomeration of very unintelligent and possibly unproductive human beings. There would not be doctors, nurses, lawyers, dept store managers etc etc. For the longest time I was even embarrassed to tell anyone I was going into music education because even my parents thought I was 'out of my mind' and wouldn't even find a job. While they were mislead by rumors from their generation, I still think somewhere something has to change. I can barely get by, and that is with a roommate at age 28. Sometimes I have to grovel with my parents for help. I should be past this by now, shouldn't I? I hate having this constantly trapped feeling over these loans.

My parents when they were 21 were married and I was on the way. I'm not even close to being able to completely afford (with any security) my loans, car payments, rent, bills etc. I live check to check hoping that everything works out each month. How could I even afford a child? No wonder society is starting to take its time in the childbearing department! All the X generation kids are still kids themselves, forced into high-interest loans that won't be paid off until the year 2030 (ex.) The only people I know my age who are well off (or ok) are those geniuses with 30 or above on their ACT, or those people whose parents paid their loans for them.

Come on government, help us GenX people out! We're barely making it in this economy let alone with such little help for our CURRENT (not new) student loans. We are productive members of society hoping for a light in the dark tunnel that is student loans and the world of debt.

Disclaimer: I do not take any specific amount of time rewrite, revamp or edit what I write. This is a blog/ a journal; not a professional news casting website. While I feel guilty about not completely editing my writing, sometimes I just don't feel like it, and would rather focus on the meaning behind the words, rather than the specific details of how precisely it is written. :) Yes, I do have a formal, professional writing style. I've even written an A-grade thesis for my profession, but I choose to keep this personal and filled with the emotions and thoughts as they come to me.Thanks for reading, stop by anytime, and feel free to comment.

Busy Weekend

Wow, I had so much going on this weekend it was unbelievable. I'm still trying to recover from all the lost sleep. Friday I was in fact able to go see Over the Rhine. It was very awesome, and even moving at times. Their music really speaks to me. This year we were lucky to even have seats, which was just fabulous.

Saturday I prepared for Liz's bachorette party, and then we headed to West Port Plaza for the events of the evening. We headed to Marciano's for dinner. I had never been there, but it's a really nice Italian Restaurant. We then returned to the hotel to toast Liz to her engagement and upcoming wedding. We then visited America's Pub and Margarita Mama's. I was very impressed with how well-behaved and respectful the men were for the evening. Usually I have bad luck at those places. None-the-less I made boquet of suckers for Liz ("suck for a buck" idea), and the boys we found bought her about $45 in drinks and then her brunch afterwards. I can't believe how successful it was. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and watched our movies as part of the package deal we purchased. Needless to say, "Miss Congenialty 2" was poor (and I'm a fan for cheesy movies) so we all went to the other room and watched "The Wedding Date," which was pretty good.

Sunday I woke up early and headed to church. I finally set a date to meet with my DLT coach and we had a good talk over lunch about various things in my walk with God. I was very relieved to hear that a lot of people go through the same thing I do. I guess because I don't have many close Christian friends, I don't really have the chance to sit down and chat one-on-one about struggles and challenges in my attempts to improve my walk with God. I'm sure I babbled and talked about stories that might not have been completely pertinant to our discussion, but they were all things I had questions about regarding my faith and walk. Basically I need the most work on consistency: sticking with my goals to go to church regularily and not beat myself up if I miss it, but to make sure I get back up and continue going.

I guess that's a problem many of us face when trying to reach goals. You are so 'gung-ho' about making it happen in the beginning and one little snag can completely throw you off track. It applies to just about everything in life from trying to exercise regularily or quit at bad habit at new years etc. I just hope that I can make little goals which lead to the main goals I would like to focus on. More importantly, I need to stay with it, even if I fumble here and there. If you are praying type, I could really use prayer on following through, and being consistent (even if in small amounts at first) with my walk with God and even in life.

Outdoor Candy Sales in 91 degrees

Well today was quite the interesting day. I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock buzzing, to then the sound of people knocking on the door to drop off my replacment chest dresser. As I watched them move the furniture, I realized why it was damaged to begin with. They open the drawers to move the items easier, at which point probably broke the already weak (in manufacturing?) cross beam. Tommorow the service person is coming by to replace the tiny plastic thing missing on the dresser, and see if the scratches on the night stand are repairable.

Anyway, after attempting to sleep in longer, I prepared for my work with iCandy, Inc. I was so anxious that I forgot my cellphone and the info paper to the point of having to twice return to my place of orgin. UMB Bank Pavillion is apparently much closer to my house than originally thought, so that was good. I had absolutely no trouble asking about employee parking, and getting in the employee gate without so much as a badge, t-shirt, or list (which they should have had a list) to verify my intent. As I walked toward concessions, I admired the scores of people rocking away to various bands located around the perimeter of the Pavillion. Definitely interesting, I thought.

I arrive at my location, with my food bag and water (THANK GOD I brought that at least, although we do get free drinks and discounted food which is nice). They hand me a t-shirt and set up my tray. I then proceed to attempt to sell candy on a hot, sunny day that is St. Louis. The first half hour I sold a whole $19 worth. Somehow I then managed to only sell $31 in candy for the rest of the day (unless somehow I miscounted somewhere in there, or some was swiped when I wasn't looking). So from 330-830 (900ish) I managed to sell a mere $50 in candy. How sad, I thought! No tips, and barely any commission. Apparently it was a bad day for candy, this is what ALL the vendors said. Normally it's easier since most people are condensed they say, but this go round, people were all over for the concerts. The worst vendor sales was 1 candy bar for 3 hours (WOW!), and the best was the professional at $235 in sales. (Seriously, what is his secret, the scary, old guy look? We couldn't figure it out. I even watched him as I passed and he wasn't doing anything special I thought.) Anyway they asked me on for Friday, which wasn't on the original schedule. Since I have no money to do anything (and I can't go see Over the Rhine because of it :(( I agreed to work to give it another try (maybe).

In the meantime I need some super-duper vending skill suggestions if you have them. Also I'm looking for another job for the summer (to possibly continue on as pt during the school year). Thus far I've applied to: Home Depot, Fragrances, Cosmetics at Galleria and Chesterfield Mall, and I'm going to attempt to get more information about the Gateway Arch positions (I'm booked July 4th weekend so that would be out if it's for Fair St. Louis.) Wish me luck in my vending sales, and finding another job if that doesn't work out!

Summer Yard Work

Ah, good ole summer. Now I know why I have to have summer vacation. I'd never get any of the other stuff done that has to be done when living in a house. Shew! I just spent the whole day mowing the lawn, trimming the trees, bushes, cleaning up the trimmings, and then applying weed killer I bought last year and never had time to spray. It's amazing how much has to be done when you never have time to do it little by little. I felt bad trimming the bushes in the back that were starting to grow their beautiful pink buds, but they were getting to be overgrown. Now I just have to wait for the right time to finally get my deck finished (I was going to restain last year, but there was too much rain when I was free to get it done). Once that's done, my next year/ much later this year goal will be painting the kitchen cabinets. If I have the money then I'll be doing that during Christmas break or I'll just save that for next summer along with the basement and the ceilings. Well, break is over, time to go clean the car! :)

New Certificate

Today I came home and found my new teaching certificate in the mail. I am now certified to teach until the year 2104, provided I continue to do 15 hours of PDC (easily accomplished through any school district, as I had well over 80 hours this year alone.) I guess I'm just putting this good news up here, because it sounds cool, so official :)

Summer Job

I just found a cool summer job! I'm so excited. It's completely different than anything I've ever done and I get to go to music concerts for free! I will working for iCandy Inc. which is a concessions company that sells candy at UMB Bank Pavillion and Savvis Center. I live pretty close to both those places and I can pick and choose the concerts I wish to work. If anyone is interested I'll give you more info, because there are referral bonuses. I'm just so excited I found a fun job and I can make my own schedule! :)

Organizing Galore

Wow I have spent the last 4 days organizing and going through stuff I don't need anymore. While I can say my online garage sale was a failure, I hope that the stuff will sell at the real garage sale on June 25th (not at my place.) I had to have my friend Brie help me to haul the stuff in a truck that's how much stuff I had. From shoes, to phones, to air purifiers, to clothes; I flat out had been holding on to stuff I really didn't need. Some of it even came from the previous owners. You can build up a lot of items over the years. I have continued my usual cleaning out of clothes once a year, but there's always that one something you hold on to as you are not sure you want to give it up yet. This year I tried to hold nothing back as all of the proceeds are going to the church.

Anyway, I finally received my new br set, but to much disappointment. It looks great and I LOVE my new mattress. I'm particularily distressed over the fact that I found 6 scratches on my night stand, my chest dresser totally has to be replaced (as it's broken in two places on the inside), my bed frame: foot rails and foot board were chipped (straight out of the box) and they didn't even put it together all the way on top of that, AND my mirror/dresser is missing a tiny plastic part keeping the drawer from being completely straight. They are coming out I believe on Thursday, but I'm stopping by tommorow to make sure I get everything straightened out. If I'm going to spend this much money they better send me something of quality! Some of this probably happened in shipping or was unnoticed, but still this is very poor service in my opinion. I guess I'm just stressed out that they won't do their job and I'll have to take further action.

I'm also a little down just because I feel like that last person in the known universe (ok well my group of friends) to be married. My family says "you've just been the one to wait for the right guy." True I've had two almost proposals (meaning I stopped them before they could happen), and it's definitely better to be single then married to the wrong person, but still. Maybe I'm just too darned picky. And why is it when I think I've found someone to even have a decent relationship with, then they aren't interested? I guess that's my luck. It's not that I want to be married by say next month or even next year, but hopefully before or around my 30 yr marker. Not to sound dumb but I don't want to push my luck if I decide to have kids, but then am too old to have them. I'm just frustrated, I guess we all go through random frustration stages, and this is mine.

Interesting Recipie

I was looking at recipies on KSDK 5's website. Check this out! What do you think of Spam in a recipie? I haven't had Spam since I was a kid!

Curried Rice and Spam
Thanks to Let's Eat

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup fresh or frozen peas, cooked
1 cup thinly sliced celery
4 green onions, sliced
1 (12-ounce) can Spam Classic, diced
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup prepared chutney
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine rice, peas, celery, onions and Spam. In a small mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, chutney and curry powder. Add to Spam-and-rice mixture; stir well. Chill before serving.

Music is GOOD for you!

Wendy Erickson from KSDK 5 says great things about music for kiddos!


By Wendy Erikson

Kids are having so much fun, they don't even know they're learning in this music class!

Welcome to Music Together. It's a weekly meeting of mommies, caregivers and kids where everything revolves around music.

They sing, dance and play instruments. The program is open to newborns through 4 year olds.

Music Together was created back in 1987 based on research showing how important music exposure is to young children. It now offers programs around the U.S. and other countries.

Robert Bernstein has a background in music and first discovered the class with his own son. Now he's teaching it at several locations around St. Louis.

The cost is $135 for a 10-week session. For more information call 314-721-1182.

KSDK

Race for the Cure June 18

Race for the Cure is June 18th. Go support your friends and family or join in the fun! I can't go since I'm going to a wedding, but I wanted to support it here on the blog.

The Muny

Anyone interested in going to the Muny! Their premier of Beauty and the Beast is coming up June 20-29!

Get tired of eating the same old thing?

Do you ever find yourself eating the same foods, because they are easy? Maybe you go through a phase where you eat just about the same thing everyday? The other day I went to CostCo. to buy cat litter among other things, and I came out with all sorts of foods just because they were different. I went a little crazy, but for those of you looking for a variety of foods and snacks, here some suggestions (btw these are all low-carb for S.B. diet I just started (again):

Snacks:
Edamame (soy bean pods)
Put them in the microwave for a minute, eat and enjoy
Any type of nut (yum!)
Beef Jerky
Pork Rinds (brand does matter, get the good stuff)
String Cheese
Fresh Mozzerella Balls

Entrees:
Pork Chops
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Put on the seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, italian seasons. 20 minutes later you have food.
Mahi Mahi: Dethaw in warm water for 5 minutes. Marinate in Lemon/ Pepper sauce (get at the store). Broil for 10 minutes (gas stove) and sprinkle on more lemon if you wish.
Chicken Salad (fast method)
Dethaw in microwave. Heat up George Forman Grill, sprinkle on KC Masterpiece Chickent Seasonings and cook for 5-7 minutes (until it's not pink inside). Cut up chicken, and put on Romaine lettuce with cheese (and artichokes if you like 'em). Add dressing of choice.
Southwest Chicken (super fast method)
Use canned (all-white) chicken and add salsa or rotel. Microwave or saute on oven (also goes well with rice and peas.)
Butter Chicken
Dethaw in microwave or warm water. Mix a couple tablespoons of butter with salt, pepper,
garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasonings. Cook in oven for 20 min at 350 degrees.
Sushi (NOT low carb)
Using rice cooker, make sushi rice (can find at Shop n Save). In the meantime cut up in LONG slices as possible: avacado, cucumber (can also use carrot and imitation crab). Put seaweed on bamboo mat. Near the end of the seaweed add a small amount of rice and spread out about 2 inches (thin!). Add the ingredients along the roll in a line. If you like c. cheese, cut it in small long slices. Roll the sushi, and add a bit of water to the end, to ensure it stays closed. Cut into bite, size pieces.
Steak
Thaw steak in warm water. USE A MARINADE OF CHOICE. I have found that marinade can make the difference between an ok steak to a phenomenal steak. I prefer Adolf's Marinade in Minutes. It goes well with everything. I also like Hot n Spicy Allegro Marinade. After 15-30 minutes (or if you really want it juicy do it over night!), grill or broil your steak to desired wellness. Good steaks are London Strip and T-Bone, depends on what you like.
Tuna Salad
Get 1 large or 2 small cans of tuna (all white albacore is good, especially the kind in the packets!). Add MIRACLE WHIP and mustard to taste, one boiled egg (smashed with a fork), celery or a small amount of relish.
Stuffed Peppers
Get any type of pepper you like, green, red, yellow, orange. Cut open the tops and clean out the inside with a spoon. Put 4 of them in boiling water and boil until slightly soft (check with a fork). In the meantime, brown ground meat of choice and season with whatever sounds good: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, thyme etc. (Tradionally you add coooked rice to the meat when finished, I'm skipping that for low-carb). Add low-carb spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce to meat. Then take peppers and put in a pan that can hold them upright. Add meat/sauce combo to inside of each pepper, and put extra on the outside. Cook for 20 min. at 350. This takes even better if you sort of make it as a 'stew' in a crockpot!

Side Dishes:
Broccoli
Take frozen or chopped fresh broccoli. Add butter, salt, pepper to taste. Microwave for about 2-4 minutes (can also be steamed). Add velveeta for something extra.
Salad
Take a spring mix, spinach, or romaine lettuce. Add chopped pecans or walnuts, feta cheese, and artichokes. I like this with Blackberry Balsalmic Vinigerette. If you want something sweeter (not low carb), take out the artichokes add dry (or fresh) cranberries or blackberries.
There are tons of ways to make salad, I'm just including ONE way that I make it.
Broccoli/ Cauliflower Salad (YUM!)
Take FRESH broccoli and cauliflower, parmesean cheese, miracle whip, and walnuts (can also add real bacon crumbles) and mix it up to taste. GREAT for BBQs.

Dessert:
Cheese cake (not for phase 1):
Take Sugar Free Whip Cream? and Cream Cheese, add half a cup of splenda. Blend with a blender. Put in Graham Cracker Crust (or something like it sugar-free), chill and serve.
Jello and Whip Cream
Sugar Free Pudding Pops! (Yum chocolate)
Sugar Free, low carb Ice Cream
Sugar Free Instant Pudding

Hope that helps you be more creative in the kitchen. Share some fav. recipies if you like. Especially if they are low-carb!

Favorite Love Letter

Do you have a favorite love letter? I was going through some old stuff and throwing all my old love letters and cards away from the past. I had to share this one here, because it's so cool. I'm not hanging on to the relationship or anything, I just would like to have something on record to make me smile if I'm having a really bad day. This letter is a sign that I know there is someone for me out there, and that true love really does exist and will find me again someday.


Email subject: My Dream Date

My dearest love,

There are many times that I often day dream or wonder about you and I. Your are better than any Dream I've had in recent memory!! I have never really met anyone quite exactly like you. No one who keeps my heart racing as much as you do. I still have moments when my hands sweat or I get butterflies in the stomach when I'm near you. I know that you don't see yourself as being beautiful, but I beg to differ. I carry your picture in my wallet just so I can keep a glimpse of you in my mind. To remind me of how beautiful you are! I Love you very much and am anxiously waiting to move. Those three words are always hard to say at first, but my feelings for you have never withered especially in the past several months. I know there are times when we both get upset with each other, but that's going to happen. Being with someone who you really care about is not always going to be like fairy tales or movies. You are constantly in my thoughts! I can still remember our first kiss :) There have been many nights that I wish you were next to me so I could just hold you -- to smell you! I feel more "whole" when you are around. I want to make you happy, to see you happy. To me you are a princess! I love to see you smile, to hear you laugh. Your happiness is as important to me as my own! I look forward to spending more time with you -- hopefully my future as well! I can see myself getting old with you. Our love for each other often seems like it's on a rollar coaster, but we have to remember that the highs are better and longer than the lows. And no, I have not done anything and neither have you. I wanted you to know how important you are to me and how much I love You. Those three words cannot possibly explain my depth of feelings for you. It would be like a drop of water in an ocean of love. I hope you know Amy... that you mean the world to me! I love you will all my heart and soul. Until we meet again in my dreams, hugs and kisses, and my undying love, X

P.S. I miss you and hope that this message brightens your day as much as a thought of you does mine.

Sleep

Why is it that I can sleep sooo easily and not even notice it? I fell asleep watching t.v. today, and 5 hours later I woke up. Does this mean I'm sleep deprived, and I make up for it with incredibly long naps? Am I incapable of 'just taking a nap?' I like to sleep as much as the next person, but I hate just wanting to take a nap and not waking up. It's like my body wants more than 7 hours a day sometimes. Maybe I don't sleep well enough so I'm not rested. Here's some research:

Are You Sleeping Too Long?

Summarized by Robert W. Griffith, MD
May 7, 2004

Introduction

The question of how much sleep one needs has recently been raised again, based on a new study from Japan.¹ The Japanese Collaborative Cohort Study (JACC) enrolled 104,000 subjects aged 40 to 80, asked them about their sleep habits, and followed them for 10 years. Their conclusions: men tend to sleep longer than women, and the elderly sleep longer than younger people. Sleep duration of shorter or longer than 7 hours was linked to an increased risk of death from any cause.

Professor Daniel Kripke of the University of California, San Diego, has reviewed the known publications on optimal duration of sleep in a thoughtful editorial in the journal SLEEP. Here's a summary of what he has to say.

Sleeping too long is bad for you

The JACC study results are not actually original - similar findings have been reported from the Nurses' Health Study and the Cancer Prevention Study, and no studies have been described that refute them. But what's valuable about the JACC study is that it specifically enquired about sleep on weekdays, rather than overall, which clouds the picture because of the common 'weekend lie-in'.

The JACC results clearly show that 7 hours of sleep is better than the classically-assumed 8 hours. And for those who sleep only 5 or 6 hours on weekdays, there is no significant increase in mortality. So sleeping longer than 7½ hours has a worse effect than sleeping less than 6½ hours.

What other factors might have caused this result?

In several studies, symptoms of depression have been reported as being more common in people who sleep for longer or shorter than the ideal period of 6½ to 7½ hours. However, making appropriate adjustments for the presence of depression didn't alter the results of the studies.

Overweight is not generally associated with longer or shorter sleep duration, unless it's accompanied by sleep apnea. And the amount of snoring doesn't change the mortality risks of sleeping more than 7½ hours.

In the JACC study, those people who were less well (e.g. they'd had a stroke, heart attack, or cancer) were more likely to be long sleepers. But again, making adjustments in the analyses for these conditions didn't alter the results showing linkage between sleeping more than 7½ hours and increased mortality.

The Nurses' Health Study showed that having diabetes didn't affect the findings regarding the risk of mortality for those sleeping 5, 6, 7, or 8 hours, but was additionally harmful to those sleeping 9 or more hours.

What does this mean?

None of the studies of sleep duration provide a reason as to why sleeping more than 7½ to 8 hours a night is associated with increased mortality. A clear causal mechanism would go a long way to determining the significance of the phenomenon. More important, however, is the question whether people who sleep more than 7½ hours a night should make efforts to shorten their sleep time. So far, there are no trials of the effects of deliberate sleep restriction on long-term mortality rates.

From a practical point of view, it's probably enough to know that the ideal duration of sleep is 5 to 7½ hours. More or less is undesirable. There are good ways to address insomnia. And reducing your sleep from 8 to 7 hours would give you an extra hour a day to exercise your body and mind.

Source

• Do we sleep too much? DF. Kripke, Editorial. SLEEP, 2004, vol. 27, pp. 51--54

Footnotes
1. Self-reported sleep duration as a predictor of all-cause mortality: results from the JACC Study, Japan. A. Tamakoshi, Y. Ohno, SLEEP, 2004, vol. 27, pp. 51--54

The Tempest

Hopefully if you read this, I had your email and invited you to see Shakespeare with me. We are going Wednesday of next week. It stops playing on June 19th! Comment me if you need more details, and I'll send you an evite.

Shakespeare Festival 2005

Anyone interested in attending with me?

27 May 2005 - 19 Jun 2005 (Every year; not Tue) Born out of an idea in 1997 which eventually came to fruition in 2001 with the inaugural production of Romeo and Juliet, the St Louis Shakespeare Festival annually presents a Shakespeare classic to between 32,000 and 44,000 in the beautiful outdoor setting of Forest Park. It is the turn of The Tempest in 2005. The festival is staged in a natural amphitheatre on the east side of Art Hill, which accommodates around 2000 audience members. Theatregoers should bring blankets to sit on, but for those who prefer a more upright position, there are some chairs to rent on a first-come first-served basis. The festivities begin every night with a "green show," where music, comedy and magic or juggling are performed. Also included in this is a simplified version of the play, explaining the plot. For those interested, there are pre-show lectures, elucidating aspects of the play or explaining Elizabethan history. Food is on sale, or you can bring your own picnic. In the event of bad weather, performances may be delayed up to one hour. Should conditions persist, that evening's performance may be cancelled as a last resort.
Event Details
Place:	USA (St Louis)
When:	27 May 2005 - 19 Jun 2005 (Every year; not Tue)
Cost:	Free
Opening Hours:	8pm
Contact Details
Tel:	+1 314 361 0101
Fax:	+1 314 361 2653
Email:	mspirt@sfstl.com
Address:	14 South Euclid Ave, St Louis, Missouri, 63108, USA

Meaning

The more I listen to this song from Gavin DeGraw, the more I love it. It's so full of emotion and expression, and the message is a good one.

Meaning

Hail to the light that my baby watches me
In the darkness of the window
I can hardly get to sleep
Wish for the hour that
The nighttime soon shall pass
And the morning dew will bring us
To a day our souls can last

Love has a reason
There's a meaning to the world
We're giving love

Situation candlelight
Enough to see the bits around you
But it's never very bright
Stare at a memory
You, through the grapevine, heard the truth
It's good to learn from your mistakes
But that only works in youth

Love has a reason
There's a meaning to the world
We're giving love

Restless minds; curtain calls follow fanfares
Troubled hearts; just a walk down the hall
Restless hearts; you take a punch just to land one
Troubled minds; it's only fair after all
Mountin', the trail, but you've got it in sight
Sometimes the only way is jumping
I hope you're not afraid of heights
Reach in my pocket for a bill that isn't there
And to face all of the undoings
Still isn't more than I can bear

Love has a reason
There's a meaning to the world
We're giving love
Giving love
Love, love

It's all been good to me
It's all been good to me

Love has reason
There's a meaning to the world
We're giving love