Sun-Burned Days
We went to the beach yesterday. It was amazing. We played in the sun, splashed in the waves, built sand castles with moats and walls and invading armies. We applied sunblock every 30 minutes to our fair-fair skin – spf 50. And in between those moments sprayed another kind of sunblock over our whole body to ensure that I hadn’t missed any spots.
Nonetheless, today we are burnt. Really burnt. Ok, so kiddo is moderately burnt and my legs look like lobster legs.
These are the days when being a reader and quasi hermit come in handy… we are sitting in the cool of the house watching book-based movies (The Rise of the Guardians) and patting our body parts down with home remedies.
So far, it has been a steady application of vinegar water (to take the heat out), egg whites (to minimize the blistering), aloe vera (because everyone knows to use aloe!), and at some point today I plan to try out a black tea poultice but that will require me to go purchase some Earl Gray. Frankly, neither one of us wants to leave the house.
Prior to all this excitement (or miserable post-beach adventurism) however, I was seriously looking into the idea of moving closer to the shoreline. (I’m still thinking I want to add this to my bucket list.) If only for a 6 month lease someday.
Galveston in particular is full of a rich history that I was briefly introduced to in school, mostly surrounding the epic flood of 1900 and the statue memorializing that event. I remember studying the great September 8th flood in both fourth grade and seventh grade. I even wrote a fictional diary of a girl caught in the flood as part of a required creative writing exercise. With 145 mile an hour winds, near total destruction, families lost and killed, I sort of believed it wasn’t a viable living option. Despite it being a great place to visit for the day, when Ike hit, I was still surprised to learn that people actually live on the island year round. I grew up believing it was a Houstonian’s day trip destination and nothing more.
One in particular that amazed me this weekend was the statue regarding the Texas Revolution. It’s huge, and gorgeous, and well worth a child’s research paper. Despite all the intense Texas History a child is submitted to as a ward of the Texas public education system, I had completely been unaware (or merely forgot) that Galveston was the Republic of Texas’ capital city.
I definitely want to incorporate more beach trips into our lives – despite our fair skin and my current severe sun burn. But if I were to ever live there for a few months or so with our kiddo, I have so many cool lessons plans already half built around what would become our daily schedule. Just the architecture alone is worth a good week’s worth of study.
The whole day was a gentle reminder to be a tourist in your own city from time to time. It can be highly educational.
Until then, maybe we’ll check out some Books about Galveston Island
For Women Only – A Review
Title: For Women Only
Author: London Tracy
Publisher: New Hope Books
Genre: Self-Help, Health, Homeopathic
Length: 85 pages
I have to admit when I first saw the cover, a bit of dread came over me. A self-help title on depression. Give me memoirs about manic depressive women and I’m riveted, self-help, not so much. But it was 80-some-odd pages, no biggie, easy cheesy. I was tempted to procrastinate, the author didn’t expect me to post a review immediately after all, just within 3 weeks as per my Review Policy. I am SO GLAD I didn’t put this book off!
For Women Only: A Novel Approach to Depression in Women is short, sweet, wonderfully concise and to the point. London Tracy tells you what you need to know and who to talk to to get more information. Having had bouts of depression and fatigue myself, I appreciated that Tracy wrote this book specifically for the person suffering from the problems being addressed. While suffering from depression, one isn’t very likely to commit themselves to a lengthy and overly wordy explanation of how to deal with their issues. They want an answer. They want that answer now. A listless person can only handle reading chapters a page and a half long in an 85 page book. Tracy’s work is perfect.
Even if you don’t think you suffer from depression, this report is worth 30-45 minutes of your time. It is very informative and may prepare you for issues you might not otherwise know might be coming up in your future. I called my sister twice to share factoids and lists with her that I came across while reading, just little things that every woman should be made aware.
This is a quick women’s health guide for ladies from their 20’s on through menopause. When I open a Kung Fu studio (hopefully, one day, in my perfect dream world) there will be a member’s library, where resources and reference material both on health and martial arts will be available for students to browse. I plan to keep this book in that library. It could help someone in a major way one day.
Anakalian Whims 