New Leaf

(norwalk virus)

Well, it is that time again. A time of resolutions and revolutions.

Things I didn't do over the holidays which I intended to do:

-study biology
-begin correspondence organic chem class
-read a few books
-drink a lot of hot chocolate
-see my family
-buy downhill boots and perhaps a ski pass

Things I did do over the holidays:

-skied a fair bit
-slept in a fair bit
-cooked a hell of a lot
-turned around 50kms outside of Revelstoke on my way to AB because the highway was ass
-got the norovirus a second time
-spent time with all my great friends in Revey
-spent time with all of their great kids
-begrudgingly returned to Kelowna
-bought the first Harry Potter book on tape
-finished my application to SABA University


So, I have been humming and hawing about this whole resolution thing and I am still feeling unsettled and undecided.

A couple of sure things...

As I writhed with the norovirus part deux I made a lot of empty promises to the universe with the hopes of sudden recovery...

1) I will abstain from alcohol---including Champagne...
2) I will abstain from rich foods, including my favorite stinky cheeses
3) I will drink more water
4) I will be a better person overall...

So I recovered, well, I should say I am still recovering...but by thoughts on food and food choices linger....it seems that there was a lot of sugary, rich, delicious foods and a lot of alcohol consumed over the past 3 weeks and I think that in fact I will attempt a cleanse for the next 28 days. My own Amy-Winehouse-Lindsay-Lohan-Brittany-Spears detox if you will (minus the custody battles, jail time, and alcohol monitoring devices).

Yup. As hard as it will be to pass up a tasty Syrah or some of AM's delicious chocolate something-somethings I am going to do a 28 day no alcohol, no refined sugar, no vinegars, white flour, chocolate, coffee, red meat, well...you get the picture.

The only reason I am blogging this is to make it that much more difficult to break.

So tonight I went for dinner alone and toasted a pretty bad local Gewurtz and fish dinner, and have now filled my fridge with the necessary foods. Wish me luck. It is not so much a new leaf I am turning over, I am just going to water the tree with something different for a little while.

No tempting allowed when I come home!!!

I know it is cliche to do a cleanse after New Years, but hell...I never claimed to be an original.

Happy New Year!

Well If You Put It That Way....

I am in the midst of studying for my medical microbiology midterm (which is tomorrow) and I came across this description of why women have higher incidents of urinary tract infections when they are sexually active:

"Urinogenital Tract:
Microbes gaining entry via urinogenital tract can spread easily from one part of tract to another (the tract is a continuum)
Vagina:
Particularly vulnerable in sexually active females due to repeated introduction of contaminated (sometimes pathogen-bearing) foreign object (penis)." Medical Mircobiology 3rd ed. Mims et al. 2006.

Bet you never thought of it that way before....here is a little E.coli as an example of what that contaminated (sometimes pathogen bearing) penis can bring into a woman's life.