The Butterfly Effect

Everything in life is supposed to be inter-connected. Intertwined in a way that one small change in one can ultimately affect the bigger entity.

I suppose that is what we were kind of hoping for when talks about reforming health care was first bandied about. Here it is a couple of years later and it's time for me to renew our health insurance again and I have yet to feel a change. Nothing has changed with regards to our health insurance.

Now, it is time again to renew our health insurance at work that is never seems to be sufficient. We will be reviewing affordable health insurance quotes, hoping to get ample coverage for what we are able to pay for.

But, as most working people know, cheap health insurance that will cover all your needs is hard to come by. Those who can afford it supplement with additional private health insurance just to be sure not to end up owing doctors and hospitals in the end.

There are a couple ways to ensure this. One, as I mentioned is to buy private insurance. Another is to set up a health saving plan that you can pay for before taxes. That is what I'm doing. I have an account set aside that I pay on every month and every time my family and I go to the doctor or the hospital, I use a debit card from this account to pay for co-pays and other fees. And believe be, if you don't plan ahead those fees start adding up.

If you would like to learn more about your health insurance and what is offered and how you can supplement them, check out http://medicalhealthinsurancetoday.com/. They have several articles that may be helpful to you. I sure learned a thing or two just browsing through their website.

Fight Poison Ivy with Ivarest

Early this spring I received samples of a new product called Ivarest. I received both the Ivarest Poison Ivy Cleansing Foam and the Ivarest Cream Poison Ivy Itch Relief. When I first received the samples, I knew this was a set of products that I will definitely be using soon.

Later that month, the girls and I went fishing so I packed up this duo in our first aid bag for just in case. Luckily, we didn't come into contact with anything that would have needed these products.

Unfortunately, a couple of weeks later while my husband was clearing the back of the garden under the trees, he came into contact with poison oak and poison ivy. Of course, typical of him, he doesn't come in right away but rather finished the job first before coming in to complain about his arms. By the time he came in, he was sweaty, dirty and miserable. His arms had started to itch and a rash was already in full bloom. We immediately went into the bathroom where he rinsed his arms and we put the Ivarest foam all over both arms. He then rinsed them off again and immediately got in the shower. When he came out, we applied some of the Ivarest cream all over his arms.

I'd love to say the itch and rash went away, but no. His arms stayed itchy and even started developing welts. It stayed this way for almost a week! The good thing is, that he did get some relief from the itching every time we applied more Ivarest cream. He was grateful for that on nights when he wasn't awakened by the itching on his arms. He said that was the worst time was at night when he didn't have anything else to distract him from the itch.

If you're likely to run into poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak and the likes, make sure you keep some Ivarest on hand. I have a feeling that the itch would not have lasted as long if my husband had just come in immediately to wash off allergens and toxins before they had a chance to get under his skin.

Ivarest Poison Ivy Cleansing Foam, offers 50 percent more product than leading cleansers and retails for $5.97-$8.99. Ivarest Double Relief Formula retails for $4.37 - $6.99. Both products are available at select drug stores, supermarkets and mass retailers nationwide.

Beauty for Life

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder" has become quite cliche' but it still rings true, depending on how you look at it. Some people are quite happy with what they see in the mirror, others are not. If you've even wondered whether plastic surgery is for you, there is a Beauty For Life Quiz that you can take, either for fun or with a tinge of seriousness, it's up to you, that provides you with a personalized beauty plan as to the best cosmetic surgery best fits you. It is developed by professionals in the industry and if you are considering any of the recommendations from the quiz, please schedule a personal consultation and most importantly, get a second opinion. Just my two cents :)

Who Was Star Kidding Anyway?

I've been watching the Barbara Walters interviews in the past week as she promotes her book or memoir. Of particular interest to me is the Star Jones incident on The View. While Star was on the view and it became apparent that she was losing weight drastically, she apparently asked her co-hosts to back up her claim that the weight loss was due to portion control and exercise. Now did she really think people were going to buy that? I think that from the beginning, people already suspected that she had gastric bypass surgery.

It seems that a lot of people, even young ones, have been opting for the surgery lately. We have a friend who just recently had the operation herself. I think that the less drastic lap band surgery may have been a better step for her, but hey, I'm not a doctor.

There is a website, Journeylite, that will help you decide whether lap band is a better option for you or not. They have a lap band physician on hand to provide counseling and help you decide whether this procedure is the right step for you. The website is also a valuable resource to start from if you're interested.

Stress Relief

One reason we garden is because it relaxes us. Even though it can be hard, back breaking work sometimes, just the fact that you are outdoors in the sun and not thinking of anything but the next weed you have to pull can be very relaxing. It's very meditative, being out there wit just you, the weeds and the dirt. But, that doesn't work for everyone. To others, gardening could be down right stressful.

We all know that stress is the silent killer and we should all do what we can to reduce stress in our lives. What works for one person may not work for the other though so you have to find what works specifically for you.

Some people find benefit in a device like the emWave pictured above. It is a handheld stress reliever which has a LED display, audio feedback and a powerful stress relief technique to help you significantly reduce your stress and increase your feelings of well-being. Here's how it does it: when you place your thumb on the sensor or attach the ear sensor, it detects your pulse it synchronizes your breathing with your heart rhythm. In addition to the device, a Coherence Coach CD demonstrates the Quick Coherence Technique. With this device and the techniques learned from the CD, you are armed with a stress coping techniques that you can avail anywhere you find yourself in a stressful situation.

Investigate different methods and techniques, this is just one, until you find one that works for you and fits your lifestyle.

A Temporary, but VERY Welcome Relief

I wish I had known about Dentemp OS before now. Dentemps is a temporary dental repair material. I wish I had known that there was such a thing when a bridge came loose on me.

Now if you don't know, a bridge, in reference to teeth, is a device that bridges two rotten teeth together, ergo, a bridge. I had one of those. It's like a permanent denture if you will. Well, one popped off on me one time. I guess it was so old that the cement keeping it in place finally gave way. The procrastinator that I am, and I hate going to the dentist anyway, put off making an appointment with the dentist to put the device back on. I resorted to buying over the counter dental cement which didn't really worked at all. The thing kept popping off every time I ate, and sometimes when I am just talking. I'm surprised I didn't swallow the darn bridge!

But silly me, I just kept putting off going to the dentist until I couldn't stand it anymore. By the way, when you lose a crown, you expose the anchor teeth which have usually been grounded down to get rid of decay. And when those teeth get exposed, it surely means a toothache. A bad one! By the time I got to the dentist, it was too late to put the bridge back. The anchor teeth by this time had moved and gotten chipped and the bridge just didn't fit well anymore. I had to be fitted with a new bridge, which ended up costing me more money!

If you're ever in the situation I was in, don't forget Dentemps. It means temporary dental repair. You can use it to re attach a bridge until you can get to a dentist; and if you've lost a filling, you don't have to suffer through the tooth aches until you can get a dental appointment, you can easily fill the tooth yourself with this temporary repair kit.