A newsroom can be a very noisy place. I've had the good fortune to be relatively quiet and just listen today as everyone bustles about with all our election coverage. It's really pretty incredible how everyone comes together and pulls off so much... content. It's a feat!

But because we have so much Decision 2008 ground to cover, I'm not working on health stuff today. So, let me take a quick moment to share a few emails with you.

About the Stretching Your Dollar segment we've been running during the morning show.. Mike writes:

The heart of the matter comes from our collective American mentality of "keeping up with the Joneses," and now it has caught up with those who played that game. If it's shiny and new, get it! If my neighbor want one, get it, before he does! Charge it! It goes on and on.

Those of us that are, and have been secure in our choices (self confidence), we have not been greatly affected by higher gas prices, etc...

We have used rabbit ears for TV reception since 1993. It's just nuts to pay $50-$100/month for cable/satellite ($600- $1200 a year!!! in 10 years, that moeny could have gone into savings!) We have not chosen gas-hog type vehicles. We don't participate in conspicous consumption, or buying every freakin new gadget, or $250 jeans, or Venti sized coffee everyday, get manicures every week, or beauty or massage salon trips every week. We pre-cyle, recycle, reuse.

We don't miss out on the many good things life has to offer. We take vacations, we eat good healthy foods, we have 2 of our 3 children in college. and we keep a nice and comfortable home. We also make contributions to charities every year.

People just need to say, "No," sometimes, resist advertisers allure, not be selfish, etc...

My wife gets 54 miles per gallon in her 2006 Prius. I drive a 2005 GMC Canyon (4 cylinder mini truck), the kids share a 2003 Kia van and 1988 Volvo 240 DL (4 cylinder with 248,000 miles on it!)

Our family is not just different, we are making a difference too. It's not hard to do.

Can I just say that I hope my car sticks with me for 248,000 miles!!! It's SO nice not having a car payment. Mike-- thanks for the email!! I promise, I'll try to wean myself off the coffee ((and I'm mostly a decaf girl.. I just crave the taste!)).

Laural has this tip for falling asleep/relaxing: My formula for getting to sleep: Work puzzles until the brain gets tired. Logic puzzles, sudoku and its variants. At half an hour before bedtime, I can generally get through about 1 or 2 sudoku grids and my eyes get heavy while my mind starts fading off. Turn off light, and happy dreaming.

(One nice thing about sudoku is that the last thing in your mind is numbers, not usually something to generate nightmares or really strange dreams).

Now, this may not work for everyone. It may be too stimulating. But it's working great for her and so I wanted to pass it along in case you find it helps you!

Shawn writes: It usually takes me about 45 minutes to fall asleep and I tend to wake up after about 2 to 3 hours if i'm lucky. Then it takes me awhile to fall back asleep.
I've come to think that its conditioning. I am a former Marine and sleep in the field never came easy.
Though I served during Dessert Shield some 20 years ago when this war started, some of that training never leaves.
I'm I missing something here, believe me you I would love to sleep a whole night through. Instead I go days where I get broken sleep all night. After about 4+ days later I finally sleep a good 6 to 7hours sleep.

Shawn says he does not have sleep apnea, doesn't snore, or have other medically related sleep issues. And if his situation sounds familiar (in terms of the whole waking up bit)-- I mentioned this in the story and I think it's a smart next step: get to your health care provider and ask about Cognitive Behavoral Therapy. A sleep doctor will know all about this. And while the ideas of visualizations, and counting may not seem like the kind of thing you'd go see a doctor for, or maybe they're too "out there"... studies show if you do it right it can work better and faster than sleeping pills. What do you have to lose??

Have a great Wednesday!!
OHH.. wait. Here's a pic of two little ones who leave me THE cutest voicemails EVER (with mom's clever coaching in the background). If only I could post the voicemails on this blog. This is Tristan and Kiernan and I count their mom Kris as one of my dearest friends-- you know, the kind of friend you know you'll have for life.

sstricklen@kgw.com

1 Comments

Linda Yoshida said:

I think those boys are pretty cute too! (Also know what you mean about the coaching... LOL)

May 22, 2008 11:56 AM

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