You know… that Blog?

Humped?

Written By: Jenn - Apr• 02•11

Well that was a bit of a naughty come-hither title, wasn’t it? Sorry to disappoint, but I’m talking about posture today.

(Oh, and before I get going on this, I just want to assure people that I am not pregnant. Really, I’m not. I didn’t cheat on my husband, either. It was an April Fools joke. Relax!)

I’m getting quite alarmed at the amount of people I know who are developing a pronounced stoop to their shoulders. Even a hump-back, in a couple extreme cases. My voice coach is one of them, and it’s alarming because he’s still quite a young man. Another is someone we sing with who I’ve mentioned on here before (an extremely obnoxious someone who I’m not terribly fond of). She’s 60 or 61 now, so I can only imagine how crippled she’ll be as an old woman if she’s already getting a hump at her age.

What I’m really worried about is our youth, though! Can you look at a crowd of kids and find a single one who stands erect, with good posture? Hard to find. The Teen is in cadets, so they stand at attention quite a bit, and know good posture. I’m hoping that she keeps that in mind as she ages. I have been known to come up behind my kids (and the Hubby) and poke them in the spine as a reminder to sit up straight. It bothers me! Don’t even get me started on too-heavy back packs. Go through your kids’ backpacks and make sure they’re only carrying what they absolutely need to have in there.

My neck is aching from a pinched nerve as I write this, which probably was the reason I got to thinking about the subject. I have a great office chair, and on it I have a firm, round, bolster-shaped support cushion that I set at just below my shoulder blades to force me to sit up straight. Without it I find myself slumping as I work, and my shoulders and the middle of my back get quite sore. I also stretch and move around quite a bit because I sit here far too many hours a day most of the time.

Do I need to worry about you too? When you started reading this post, did you find yourself suddenly straightening up? I hope so.

How can you tell if you or someone you love has bad posture? Here are some signs:

    Protruding abdomen
    Hyperextended knees
    Rounded or uneven shoulders
    Curved spine
    Sunken chest
    Unusually flat back
    Swayed back
    Uneven hips
    Neck craned too far forward
    Chin thrust out

Now here are some disturbing facts about how bad posture can affect your health:

    Limited flexibility and range of motion
    Loss of vital lung capacity
    Distorted skeletal alignment
    Headaches
    Joint stiffness and pain
    Jaw pain
    Reduction of blood and oxygen to the brain
    Muscular tension
    Wear and tear on connective tissue
    Predisposition to injury

I’d be willing to bet that more than one of you suffers from at least a couple of those symptoms.

Meanwhile, good posture makes you look taller, thinner, and more self-assured. It makes your clothes fit – and look – better on you. It reduces headaches and gives you more energy. And hello… if slumping actually takes away vital blood and oxygen to your brain, don’t you think you’ll think better too??

So… what do you do?

Why is it that it always comes back to that dreaded should-be-four-letters-but-isn’t word? You got it; Exercise.

Yeah, but it’s not as simple as that, either. First and foremost, you need to actually be aware of your body, and how it’s positioned. Keep that awareness, and make adjustments to your normal movements and resting positions during the day. Stretch your back and neck muscles, and work on toning those supporting muscles – you need them to be strong in order to hold you in the right position. Too often those under-used muscles are the reason for the poor posture in the first place. Google has tons of posture-friendly exercises just waiting for you to find them.

Oh sure, I’m a fine one to talk, sitting here with pain radiating down my arm (the right one, and yes I’m sure I’m not having a heart attack). Even with my groovy chair and supporting cushion I know I spend far too much time in this position, and it takes a toll on me. I’m also under a lot of stress usually with my businesses and personal obligations, and that isn’t good for the tension in my neck and shoulders either. (Plus email from a certain someone who really should just call me from now on and not mess with my head, dammit! You know who you are. And yes, I still love you and you well know it.) And that “E” word… well, I don’t get enough of that either. So maybe I’m talking about it today to motivate all of us into getting more aware of our posture, and to actually do something about it.

Ok, so do something about it!

Atten-SHUN!

 

Posted in Multifarious, Rants , , , , | 6 Comments »

The unthinkable

Written By: Jenn - Apr• 01•11

I wasn’t going to post about this, but I have no idea what to do.

It’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, finding out at age 43 that I’m pregnant!!! What am I going to do?????

How many times have I joked with my girlfriends that I’d actually jump off a building if I found out I was pregnant again at my age? How many times has the hubby nodded vigorously at that and said he’d help me over the edge? (Not even remotely funny now!)

ultrasound

What am I going to do? I’m too old to have another baby! We’re so far past that at this stage of our lives that I can’t even imagine raising another child. Having to deal with sleepless nights, diapers, temper tantrums, preschool and play dates?? I don’t have that kind of energy.

The worst thing about this though, is that after Wee One was born – she being the biggest shock of our lives to date – the Hubby went in for a vasectomy… so exactly how am I going to explain this to him??

“Um, Honey… maybe it didn’t work and we’ve been unknowingly playing with a loaded gun for the past 6+ years??” I think he’s smarter than that, even though he’d really want to believe it.

I haven’t told anyone yet. Not even him. I’m still trying to deal with the news myself, but I obviously have to do it before too long.

I remember the first year we were married, and I rigged up a little science experiment in the bathroom for him to find. It was almost 20 years ago, so pregnancy tests were not what they are today, and it looked pretty convincing, even to me. It worked for about 30 seconds, and he came flying out of the bathroom with saucer-shaped eyes. One look at the smirk on my face clued him in to the fact that it was… ahh yes, April 1st. And a joke. Just like this one. (That’s an adult heart ultrasound, in case you were wondering.)

I would seriously jump off that roof. And he would seriously help me.

 

Posted in About Moi, Silly Stuff , , , | 16 Comments »

What would you do?

Written By: Jenn - Mar• 31•11

I’m champing at the bit to get into my new house, and daily coming up with different things for my wish list.

Trouble is, the earliest it will be completed is December 13 (more like February I’ve heard, unofficially) and I’m just not a patient person. It’s driving me crazy having to wait for almost an entire year!

So let’s talk about upgrades, shall we? Not the “usual” upgrades like carpet and underlay, windows, kitchen cabinets/counters, insulation, etc. though – I want to talk wish list items. Big and little special touches that you have or wish you had in your own home.

So far we’ve decided to move a wall in the basement design to make the rec room larger, and upgrade/upsize the windows to make it brighter. We don’t have to do too much in the way of structural upgrades because we’ve gone with a really good builder who includes these things as their own standard. We’re having natural gas lines run to the kitchen for a gas range, and out to the back deck for a BBQ hookup. I’m also thinking to have a water line run to above the range for a pot filler faucet, although the hubby doesn’t really like that idea. Since I usually get what I want, I’m not too worried about swaying this to my favour when push comes to shove. ;)

A dumbwaiter would be fantastic, but is unrealistic for this place, and also wouldn’t work due to layout. Pooh. How fun would that be though?

I confess that this isn’t the house I’ve always dreamed of. It’s a little smaller than I’d like, and I’ve never wanted to purchase a new build. However, it’s a great investment property in a perfect location, and we don’t plan to live in this new house more than 2 or 3 years. Frankly, as soon as the Teen is finished with high school, we’re likely moving to a different city. So what I’m thinking about is resale value, and making it a very attractive “must have” home for when we go to sell.

Get your designer hats on, and let’s discuss! What would you add as special touches to a new build?

 

Posted in About Moi, Life in General, Multifarious , , , | 14 Comments »
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