Hot as a crotch!

Humidity is the amount of water vapor in air. Absolute humidity, relative humidity, and specific humidity are different ways to express the water content in a parcel of air. Relative humidity is the most frequently used of these expressions because of its importance in weather forecasting.

I do not handle the heat well (ever since I had heat stroke at my wedding). I am longing for Fall...

Best $250 I ever spent

Masai Barefoot Technology
MBT stands for "Masai Barefoot Technology," and the shoes are designed to simulate walking in sand. It's a multi-layered, curved sole that accomplishes this by creating a natural but uneven walking surface. This technology is meant to make the core strengthening muscles more active, creating better posture and increasing shock absorption for all of the joints.

Benefits of MBT Shoes - What's Real and What's Hype
MBT shoes have been billed as "the world's smallest gym." Since they increase muscle activity, strengthening and toning of the leg, buttock, stomach and back muscles takes place during everyday activities like walking and standing. They've received a lot of press since celebrities like Cher, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Heidi Klum have reportedly added them to their shoe collection. Their unique design has supposedly help wearer's tone up, lose weight, and even smooth cellulite, which has garnered the brand a lot of attention as well. While no such claims are made on the manufacturer's web site, MBT shoes have been used in training by Olympic medalists, and other top athletes. And according to Swiss Masai Inc., other benefits of the shoes include:

· Increased muscle activity
· Increased circulation
· Encourages upright posture and relaxed stride

Verdict: These shoes are awesome and help with my plantar fasciitis and metarsalgia.

I wish was in...

Hana, Maui

Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing

Yum!

What I am reading...

C.S. Lewis joined the human race when his wife, Joy Gresham, died of cancer. Lewis, the Oxford don whose Christian apologetics make it seem like he's got an answer for everything, experienced crushing doubt for the first time after his wife's tragic death. A Grief Observed contains his epigrammatic reflections on that period: "Your bid--for God or no God, for a good God or the Cosmic Sadist, for eternal life or nonentity--will not be serious if nothing much is staked on it. And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high," Lewis writes. "Nothing will shake a man--or at any rate a man like me--out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself." UPLIFTING!

Triple Berry Crisp

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
4 tablespoons white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, gently toss together blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and white sugar; set aside. In a separate large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half of mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Cover with berries. Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over the berries. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown.

BFF du jour

ABBY

Abby is my BFF/cousin/God daughter who was the original "white Oprah" long before Dina Lohan co-opted the title. She is mature beyond years both socially and spiritually. She taught me how to play Wii and is far too tactful to ever admit that I am too old for any of the immature behavior I engage in. Also, her mom referrs to Abby's website as her "yourspace". Love it!

(p.s. the long hair you see in this photo is now in a wig, via Locks for Love)

I had a dream about Barack

I dreamt I was scrambling all over Washington D.C on my bike carrying around heavy bags and sweating like crazy trying to get to an Obama appearance where I was a VIP. I finally made there in time for lunch (which was crappy sandwiches and artichoke dip) but I was so exhausted from by biking that I fell asleep before he showed up and slept through the entire speech.

Watch this video: I've Got a Crush on Obama

Slang of the Week: Hail Damage

hail damage
n. dimples on the thighs caused by cellulite. Subjects: English, Body, Slang

Jake's 30th

BOOK-IT!

Megan's Book Club

FICTION

Great reads...

* Book of Ruth - Jane Hamilton
* Kite Runner - Hosseini
* Life of Pi - Yann Martel
* Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
* Midwives - Chris Bohjaliam
* Roots - Alex Haley
* Running with Scissors - Augusten Burrows
* She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
* The Book Thief - Markus Zucak
* The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
* The Color Purple - Alice Walker
* The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
* The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
* The Nanny Diaries - Emma Mclaughlin & Nicola Kraus
* Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
* Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

Good reads...
* Angels & Demons - Dan Brown
* Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon
* Deep End of the Ocean - Joanie Mitchard
* I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb
* Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri
* Memory Keepers Daughter - Kim Edwards
* Mother of Pearl - Hane
* Peace Like a River- Engel
* Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers
* Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
* Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
* The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
* The DaVinci Code - Dan Brown
* The Dive from Clausen's Pier - Ann Packer
* The Known Road - Edward Jones
* The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve's
* To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
* We Were the Mulvaneys - Joyce Carol Oats

NON-FICTION

Adoption
* The Complete Adoption Handbook - Godwin
* The Open Adoption Book - Rappaport

Baby
* 50,001 Baby Names
* Heading Home with Your Newborn - Jana & Shu
* The Baby Whisperer - Tracy Hogg

Biography
* A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
* Marley & Me - John Grogan
* Naked - David Sedaris
* Dreams of My Father - Barack Obama

Cancer
* A Cancer Battle Plan - Ann Frahm
* Beating Cancer with Nutrition - Patrick Quillin
* It's Not About the Bike - Lance Armstrong

Cooking
* 30 Minute Meals- Rachael Ray

Faith
* A Grief Observed - C.S. Lewis
* Bhagavad-Gita - Swami Prabhupada
* Case for Faith - Lee Strobel
* God's Politics - Jim Wallis
* Grip of Grace - Max Lucado
* Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
* Purpose Driven Life - Rick Warren
* Where is God When it Hurts - Phillip Yancey
* Wherever You Go, There You Are - Kabat-Zinn
* Quest Study Bible

Health
* Eating Well for Optimal Health - Andrew Weil
* Take Charge of Your Fertility - Toni Weshcler
* The Nursing Mother's Companion - Huggins
* The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - La Leche League

Holocaust
* Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
* Night - Ellie Wiesel
* The Hiding Place-Corrie Ten Bloom

Politics
* The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama

Pop Psychology
* Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
* Freakonomics - Steven Levitt