May the Force be with you this Halloween.

Bring on the chocolate

Who would have thought that dark chocolate, besides being a gift of divinity, has some proven medicinal purposes?

Dark chocolate helps diarrhea
Study confirms ancient myth
September 29, 2005-Oakland, CA- A new study conducted by researchers at Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to discover that a chemical in cocoa beans can limit the development of fluids that cause diarrhea. Cocoa beans contain a large amount of chemicals called flavonoids. Scientists believe that these flavonoids can be used to create natural supplements to ease diarrhea symptoms. Dark chocolate contains high concentrations of cocoa and may offer mild relief.
The study, published in the October issue of The Journal of Nutrition, found that cocoa flavonoids can bind to and inhibit a protein in the intestines called CFTR, which regulates fluid secretion in the small intestines. The research was done in collaboration with scientists at Heinrich Heine University in Germany. "Our study presents the first evidence that fluid loss by the intestine can be prevented by cocoa flavonoids," said Horst Fischer, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and co-author of the study. "Ultimately, this discovery could lead to the development of natural treatments that are inexpensive, easy to access and are unlikely to have side effects."

Each year, Americans record an average of 2.4 million visits to their doctor with symptoms of diarrhea. Children younger than the age of five and the elderly are the most likely to develop grave health problems if their condition leads to dehydration. "Patients with diarrhea can lose dangerous amounts of fluids," said Beate Illek, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and co-author of the study. In severe cases children or elderly patients with diarrhea can die from dehydration within a few days.

History shows that the use of cocoa to treat diarrhea dates back to the 16th century by ancient South American and European cultures. Until now, no one knew exactly why the cocoa bean appeared to be a remedy. "Our research successfully proves that this ancient myth is really based on scientific principals," said Dr. Illek. For more than a year, scientists tested cocoa extract and flavonoids in cell cultures that mimic the lining of the intestine. All of the cultures reported lower fluid levels. Consequently, the tests confirmed that cocoa flavonoids are a possible remedy for diarrhea.

Deadline: Halloween

Halloween costumes were so easy with an infant. I could easily pick out any kind of cute or cuddly outfit, something easy to find and reasonably priced and my little boy would happily wear it, giggling and posing for the camera.

Costume selection is much more challenging with my 3-year-old.

We stroll through the aisles looking at costumes, and while I’ve got my eye on Tigger or a penguin costume, my Precious Boy shouts and points – “Look, Mommy, a sword!” Then he points to the gun and progresses through every single piece of fake weaponry on the aisle.

I guess this is a new block of genes on his Y chromosome that suddenly turned on. We don’t even allow him water guns.

After explaining that I don’t like the idea of him being a ninja or some other character with a gun, he announces, “I want to be Darth Vader.” I hide my laughter, since his fascination with the Dark Lord of the Sith is largely my fault.

But my Darling Redhead will not allow his son to turn to the Dark Side. We start to negotiate with the little guy and talk him into being Yoda. The crucial bait: Those Jedi also use lightsabers. My boy is thrilled.

That created a new problem. Every Yoda costume in the catalogs and stores is sold out and the eBay bidding wars have been insane. Hard to believe but some people are willing to pay $76 for one.

I looked at the photos and decided to try to make it myself. Despite the fact that between work, and housework and toddler play, that I have no time. Despite the fact that it’s been at least a year since I’ve even turned on my sewing machine.

So the sewing started. Thankfully, there are other Star Wars fans who have been through the same process

And there are plenty of photographs of the commercially-sold costumes that I have been trying to imitate.

Surprisingly, it took me only a week, working the late hours after my son’s bedtime, to finish the robe and one set of ears. My son loved the robe though the ears were all wrong (I had them angled at 45 degrees and it made him look like a lime-green rabbit). Last night, I did a new set of Yoda ears that looked much better.

Now the real test is whether he actually wears the outfit on Monday.

Hurricane? What hurricane?

A bright sun is shining through my office window as I file my few paragraphs on the beach scene, during and post-Wilma.
Other than the cool 65 degree temperatures (not a normal part of October), it seems like a normal day in Florida.

We had very little damage in my area, but we lucked out since Wilma's eye stayed very far south, and everything in our are is battle tested so tropical-storm-force winds didn't do much.

I just really hope this is the end of this weather. Winter can't come soon enough.

A blustery day

We're having a lazy morning, watching the rain and wind outside. We're so far north that we're only getting the outer rain bands of Wilma. Things are good.

Watching and waiting

How is it possible that it's nearly Halloween and we are having to worry about a hurricane barrelling through Florida?

It's bad enough that I had to sacrifice the wonderful changing of the seasons, with the leaf color changing and cooler autumn weather, when I moved here.

But now we've got to plan for a tropical storm when all I can think about (outside of work) are Halloween costumes and a trip to the local pumpkin patch.

And even worse, we've had to deal with tired Flintstone jokes all week.
(If one more person calls out that trademark Fred Flintstone shout.....)

We had a recent letter to the editor, suggesting that we stop with these insipid storm names and use names of mythological gods.

I tend to agree. Hurricane Zeus certainly has a nice ring to it.

What would Ronaldo do?

Here is my boy playing while modeling a souvenir from his Lola - a replica of the uniform of Brazil's soccer superstar.

Going to the show

I had been anticipating this event for weeks, probably making up for the fact that my 3-year-old couldn’t do the anticipating himself.
I bought tickets to see someone who is nothing short of a rock star for the toddler set.

We were going to see Elmo.

Now, my Precious Boy likes the little red guy as much as any kid, though he developed a stronger attachment to Cookie Monster when he was younger. (A kindred spirit, perhaps?)

But I knew this would be a great experience, since he would see both of them, plus Big Bird and all the others, dancing and singing.

Then today came and my son was not himself.

He’s been struggling with croup this week, this terrible seal-like, barking cough that he had suffered a number of times as a two year old. It had been months since an outbreak, so I was hoping he had outgrown the problem.

I debated going to the show. He was weary, a little feverish, and a bit clingy.

I asked him if he wanted to see Elmo today. He said yes so I popped some liquid ibuprofen into his system and headed to the show.

It was as magical for Nat as I had hoped. He was speechless, trying to absorb all the lights and the music and excitement. He didn't show his excitement, but he often isn’t when he’s watching something. He talked about it afterwards - a typical clue that he did enjoy something.

The show overall was pretty good. It was amazing to see the aerobic dance moves that these costumed characters could perform. There were a few things only an adult could enjoy – Elmo doing a tango, and Oscar the Grouch (who temporarily lost his green color and his grouchiness), asking “Won’t you be my neighbor?” There’s not a single child in the room who would get that.


So, I was glad we went, though you could never tell from this face that he had a good time. (He fell asleep in the car on the way home.)

The long way home

As I write this, I estimate my sister is crossing some part of Ohio, on a great adventure to start her new life out West.

At least she is moving to a blue state. :)

In the meantime, this Mommy is traveling in spirit through her blog, and through my latest read, the Long Way Round, by Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor.

I admit that I picked up the book because I just adore Ewan, but it's actually a very entertaining read, and a crazy adventure that takes the intrepid bikers through Russia and Mongolia.

So how old do you think my Darling Boy needs to be to take him to Tuva? :)

Post mortem

An afterthought to my prior posting:

Paul Pena, the subject of Genghis Blues, has just died.
He died on October 1, which is, ironically for me, the same day that I enjoyed the documentary about him.

So sad.

Tuva revisited

My new obsession with Tuva continues.
(If you need a refresher, see this post.)

And I've finally roped my Darling Redhead into the whole thing.

The other night, we watched this amazing documentary, Genghis Blues, about a blind San Francisco bluesman who teaches himself how to do Tuvan throat singing.
Just for good measure, the documentary includes bits about a Nobel laureate, Steve Milelr and a lots of camels and sheep.

It is a low-budget feature, but it is an endearing tale about music, friendship and crossing cultural barries.

Unfortunately, my husbands never heard the Tuvans when they came to Daytona. But watching the movie, he is now inspired. He has even been testing his vocal range to see if he can achieve the throat singing as well.

However, I think I need to coax him a little more to do the Tuva trip. There was this one particularly brutal scene in the movie featuring a lamb slaughter, so he is very worried about how a vegetarian would survive over there.

If this would be the only thing stopping me from a trip to Tuva, heck, I'd bring a whole boxload of chick peas and peanut butter.