Hunting and Free Radicals...

Awesome Friday everyone! *waves* Well, my little one survived his surgery last Friday without tons of drama. *scratches head* This is my drama king child. So, this doesn’t make much sense. *scratches head some more* O-kay…I decided not to look a gift horse in its mouth—I think that’s the way the saying goes anyway…I’m horrible at sayings—and went with the flow and enjoyed his less than stellar drama.

NaNo…eh…it’s going okay for me. I’m proud of the word count I’ve accomplished, especially with all the family distractions I’ve had of late. Currently, I’ve become point man—or point woman as it relates to me—for purchasing the necessary supplies for my husband and son’s deer hunting enterprise. Let me just say, I am NOT a hunter. I’m still too traumatized by watching Bambi as a child to even think of shooting a deer. I do not eat the meat—YUCK!—but I do cook it for my family to eat. None of the supplies they have requested have been difficult; they’ve just not come all at once. *glares at husband and oldest seed* On Monday I was requested to purchase food supplies and take my son’s gun to be sited. They gave me the list and gun and I did the shopping and dropping off. Not a big deal, right? Well, on Tuesday, they decided they forgot the hot hands to keep their hands hot while they sit in the tree stands. (If they actually “hunted” something, scouted it out rather than sit and waited on it—not my idea of “hunting”—their hands might not get cold…just a thought…) So, with a sigh, I grumped about having to go to Wal-Mart to purchase them. I hate going to Wal-Mart…I go for two items and end up buying fifteen. So, on Wednesday, I purchased the hot hands and a bunch of makeup I didn’t need, but couldn’t resist. ;-) Then Wednesday night, they have forgotten to tell me that my son needs a bigger size of thermal underwear. Instead of glaring at them this time, I’m shooting daggers at them with my eyes. Seriously, this is getting ridiculous and they need to get their freaking act together. But, I went yesterday and bought him a new pair and then listened to him grump about the top and bottoms being two different colors. Like anyone’s going to see his thermal underwear! They’re not going into the woods trying to make a fashion statement anyway! I nearly strangled him, then nearly strangled his father when he said, “I forgot B needs a new hunting jacket too.”

At that point I was envisioning with glee slicing, dicing and carving him into tiny, tiny pieces. I think I could easily provide a valid defense. Yeah, needless to say, I informed him immediately they were on their own this time because I wasn’t shopping for any more hunting supplies. I’ll pick up the rifle today, but otherwise, I’m thinking of divorcing the two of them. Anyone know the name of a good divorce lawyer? ;-)

My Word of the Week: Free Radicals

I see the word everywhere. It was even on the new makeup I purchased this week at Wal-Mart. So, that got me to thinking…What is a Free Radical? I figured if I didn’t know some of you might not know either. So, a brief definition, provided to us by: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-free-radicals.htm

“Free radicals are organic molecules responsible for aging, tissue damage, and possibly some diseases. These molecules are very unstable, therefore they look to bond with other molecules, destroying their vigor and perpetuating the detrimental process. Some molecules are unstable. They do not have an even number of electrons, so they are always searching for an extra electron they can ‘steal’ to become stable. Out in the world, this is a normal process, but in the body, it can result in unnecessary damage. Free radicals are ‘free’ because they float around until they stabilize, and ‘radical’ in the sense that there are a wide variety of molecules from which they can take an electron. However, the damage doesn't stop there, as the new molecule, say a piece of a cell wall, is now also missing an electron and has become another free radical. This snowball effect can wreak havoc on healthy tissue.”

I’ve never been awesome at science, so that definition left me scratching my head again just a little. I could understand the basic idea, but it didn’t really tell me much as to how it relates to my life.

I looked for more articles and got some of the same basic definitions and then some that were so detailed and so confusing, I would have needed a professor to explain it. What I did get from all the articles I read was that the antioxidants found in foods prevent free radicals from harming the healthy tissue in our bodies. But, we can counteract free radicals by eating foods rich in Vitamins A, E and beta-carotene, which is found in fresh vegetables and fruits. Antioxidants are like a security systems in the path of a criminal, stopping the free radical from causing a myriad of damage. If you’re thinking a multi-supplement can give you all the antioxidants you need, well, think again. The multi-vitamin might help, but it is better for us to get the antioxidants we need from a balanced diet because our body absorbs the vitamins from foods more easily. I thought that fact was interesting because I’m a multi-vitamin fiend! I’m a one-day multi-supplement girl, along with green tea extract, vitamin C, Cod Liver Oil and Calcium with vitamin D.

While some free radicals are inevitable, aging for instance, clogging of arteries and DNA destruction can be prevented. Causes of free radicals are found in our everyday life…pollution, cigarette smoking, cleaning supplies, herbicides, etc.

Hope that helps some of you that might have been as confused as me. =)

Don’t forget to check back this coming Sunday and welcome our newest Deadly Vixen, Tierney O’Malley!

And don’t forget to check out our Saturday Contest, as our guest blogger Terry Spear will be giving away a copy of Heart of the Wolf to one lucky winner!

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend! Anyone have any plans? Stay safe and be naughty at least once. =)