Lifestyle

In the mid 20s and early 30s, peak baby years for my paternal grandparents, tragedy struck often. There was no miscarriage support for women who lost pregnancies. People were quick to wonder, or boldly state, whether a woman had done something wrong, medically or spiritually, to cause such a tragedy. Child loss was common. In 1927, the year my father was born, there was a typhoid epidemic, outbreaks of meningitis, and rampant measles and smallpox cases. Babies were born at home with zero imagining assistance to predict positioning or potential problems, as that would not be discovered for another 60 years. Heck, I had all three of my children without benefit of an ultrasound. But I did have prenatal care, something that the wives of farmers found nonexistent or severely lacking. 1928 changed many things for children. Penicillin was discovered and the world rejoiced. My father was obsessed with penicillin. Thinking back on his family’s incredible luck, my grandmother never had a miscarriage, nor did she lose any children, I can see how that medical discovery and good fortune became one in his mind. Conversely, my mother’s parents lost their infant daughter to pneumonia in the late 30s. There weren’t enough doctor visits or medical protocols in this world to save her. My maternal grandfather developed a distrust in medical providers. I can understand his view, too. Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose your child. I say all of this because I have been sick this week, something that does not happen often. Sure, there was that whole cancer thing. I have worked hard to shore up my immunity, eat as low on the food chain as one can, and stay active. It has helped thwart both a cancer recurrence and the common cold. But, it failed me this week. I was just sitting here and thinking how differently my parents would react to childhood illness and what advice I could now expect from them if they were available for consult.

A nursing shortage in the United States is expected to intensify in the coming years as the aging population grows and the need for health care increases as well. Projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest there will be more than 203,000 openings for registered nurses each year between 2021 and 2031. And it’s not just a shortage of RNs that the health care industry will be forced to confront. The BLS’ Occupation Outlook Handbook also projects a growing demand for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), with estimates suggesting as many as 30,200 APRN openings each year between now and 2031. Qualifications to become an APRN typically include completion of a master’s or even doctoral program, while RNs typically must complete a fouryear bachelor’s or two-year associate’s program.

Want to make a fresh start and invest in your health? You may be unsure what changes will have the biggest impact. Doctors say that the easy, tangible actions you take are some of the most important.

Move to Division I Going Nicely

IF SO, What Did You Do For FUN/LEISURE ACTIVITIES?

B Dear Aunt B, I still have not started any exercise routine. I had planned to start it on January 1st. Any ideas on how to get me motivated?

I love coffee. In an age where nothing is sacred in this world and everything is bad for you (like, seriously, everything) I beg of you – leave my coffee alone. I love walking into Latham Bakery with my official Latham Bakery insulated cup and having them fill it up to the brim. If you haven’t had their Maple Pecan coffee, who even are you? I can hear Melinda’s voice saying, “Room for cream?” The correct answer is always yes. I adore those original tile floors and the glass fronts on the bakery cabinets and the wooden tabletops. Mostly, I love the coffee. I’m no coffee snob, either. Sure, the top 5 coffee reviewers of 2023 all rank Death Wish as the best coffee on the market, with its double down on caffeine, its organic and fair-trade nature, and those almost burned chocolate tones lurking in the aftertaste. But I can drink any coffee. Give me the Starbies Cinnamon Dolce any day. I’ll drink that Black Rifle coffee my veteran son supports. Heck, I am 100% on board with the Great Value Cinnamon Vanilla blend Walmart sells. I will drink it black. I will drink it with a splash of organic whole milk, preferably raw. I will drink it with a little heavy cream drizzle. I will drink it from a drip, as a pour over, and even from, egad, a pod. I will drink it with a fox in socks on a box, Sam I Am. So, color me gob smacked when my husband and I almost broke into fisticuffs over, of all things, coffee creamer options.

B Dear Aunt B Readers, So let’s address the second half of Ready for More’s question. “Do we really become the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with?” Ready for More’s concern was that they were the top 3 (me, myself and I), so they felt they definitely needed to break out of that rut. Let’s talk about the fact that the most of their time was spent alone, or at least that is how I took their comment.

By the age of 3, I spoke fluent Spanish. Fluent, that is, in a 3-year old’s brain who sits around listening to her parent’s best friends, the Castillos, speak Spanish to each other. It became a novelty. I don’t remember that phase of toddlerhood, but somewhere packed in a long forgotten 60s era suitcase lies an old reel to reel tape featuring yours truly doing her best Spanish impersonation. The details were in the staccato like babblings, my attempts at stressing certain syllables, and, according to Mrs. Castillo, my hand movements and pronounced head tilt. There were no real words, just a made-up group of sounds I truly thought others should understand. To the Castillos, the whole thing was fabulous. They would howl with laughter and beg me into repeat performances. My father was not so enamored. He saw it as offensive, if not to the Castillos then certainly to someone unfamiliar with my tiny vaudevillian shtick. Soon, I would begin to grasp that laughter did not equal actual communication. My emerging language skills naturally rerouted to my own native tongue. But, isn’t it true that children just say the darndest things? Take my grandkids, for instance.

“Children!” says Kelly, 6. Kelly, do you mean you’ll finally get even for all those times when adults got to do more than you did?

Baking sessions are a beloved family tradition in many households. But such sessions may not be as revered by family physicians, as baked goods are often prepared with ingredients, like sugar and butter, that aren’t necessarily sound additions to a person’s diet.

After a January kickoff with record attendance at First Day Hikes across the state, Texas State Parks’ Centennial Celebration continues with a new round of special community events this month.

We’re driving. Through hayfields and cotton. Because daddy liked to drive. Because that’s what families used to do before smartphones. Because there was little else to do except to watch lead paint dry.