There is barely a day now that my joints just squeak every morning. Women experience this kind of change in their routine where the aches that weren't there before are very much present. An ache that is dismissed as mild and just nagging and not the 'OUCH' kind may be a sign that there is something wrong or a bad habit is taking its toll on your body.

Neck and nape aches, often this pain would signal high blood pressure. Neck stiffness is connected to the quality of your sleep, when we don't get the proper rest it creates an impact on our body. An unrelaxed body in sleep is like not sleeping at all, which will result to aches in muscles and joints despite being asleep for more than 8 hours.

Sleep is not a waste of time if you want a fresh start the next day.

Christmas is nearer than I thought. By next week, requests and even slight hints of what my kids would like for presents are expected, so I do my own 'forecasting' since I'd know (more or less) what they'd want and need. I've been browsing the pages and sites and thought of gift surfing for the family cat and dog. Since this would be the only time I'd actually put pets on a Christmas shopping list, am just using “people gifting” rules on this.

Since both pets need identification their tags are not personalized so I've put down Dogs Tags as a priority. Predictably, a dog tag without next years collar is plain nuts! My dog is a female Retriever mix with the energy of a Mexican jumping bean so am looking at a hip and fun kind of collar…maybe the one with snaps instead of D-rings (d-rings sometimes wears the leather collar) since the collar will be of nylon fabric and easy to clean (better to keep smelling good). Our pet cat is getting to be a heavy-set tabby barely a years old, contrary to our she-dog our alpha-cat has the energy of a door knob (active only when people are in sleeping stupor!). For this cat we admired the beaded collars we saw on several Danes…wonder if they have it in small.

And as a pet stocking filler-upper, they get one chew toy each (some toys are typed as chew toys but have small parts that come -off and be swallowed, watch out!). For pet lovers like me to choose a pet toy thing of NEED, FUNCTION and FUN and not because it would make me look like a 'good' pet parent. Sometimes pet parents tend to shower their pets with things they don't need, causing the pet to lose its instincts (perfume some scents are not for pets, switch to colognes and scents made for pets). This season put in mind the trend of toys from China being pulled out, check tags on toys to make sure you don't get to buy a toy coated with lead. Gift buying is as much fun as being able to see the joy of the one receiving it.

Next year, my pet-kids are due for a pet bed surprise!  

Just like an old Virginia Slims tag-line: “Baby, you've come a long way” medical studies have shown an alarming increase of women dying due to heart disease and have racked up a death of under 45 years of age. Expert on heart disease statistics, Wayne Rosamond of University of Carolina has mentioned the higher obesity and diabetes inflicted women as the reason. Physiologically, excessive weight gain and improper nutrition have put women at risk. Improper diets and combination of food in the diet plus the genetic history of most women have led to this startling discovery.

The question now is what makes women forgo health and balanced diet? Some inconclusive theory on a women's role and the effect of having to make ends meet have raised new points to explore. Women have been mavens in multi-tasking and a percentage of women around the world have taken  more than their bodies can muster.

While some would like to write it off as a deteriorating gene pool, others would like to delve on the psychological indications of eating disorders, gluttony, alcoholism, work-related stress and personal stress. More studies are bound to tackle stay-at-home women with the career women to see if there is a link in roles women have in life.
For women, this news must set off alarms concerning health and lifestyle climbing the stairs of success and coping with being the family may be taking its toll.

Having pet dogs snuggle up to my kid seemed like a cute picture for a file shoot, but when both of them got hurt when they tumbled off the bed I decided that our 'teenage' pup needed a space of his own to rest on. We found a huge selection of dog beds at Pet Super Store. We put the dog bed in the den the first night since this is where the pup snoozes on day times. Why was I not surprised when I saw the two were still bunkmates?

The solution we came up with is to put the pet bed in our kid's room- since that was where he'd spend night times. The results are just as expected (though my son had to tuck the pup in)…after weeks of getting used to its own space and bed, it formed an attachment to the bed and finally weaned from my son and his bed. We successfully transported the dog bed to the den and has since stayed there with our pet dog sprawled atop of it. One thing for sure, training your pet needs creativity and patience in un-common situations.

Someone asked me the other day what Bipolar meant, I answered “charged both ways”- thinking it was about electronic  charges like that of a dry cell battery. This started my search and interest in the subject.

A person who has Bipolar disorder is sort of 'charged both ways', the person experiences emotional highs and sometimes abruptly experience depression at a moments notice. Before you self-diagnose, happiness and sadness is normal. On the average, we all follow an emotional pattern: we get hurt or make a mistake, we sulk/cry/get depressed, we get it out of our system and move on. A mark in a change in mood is the trigger for a change in your feelings and mood. A sudden or change that is not an emotional response to a certain or particular event is a sign of bipolarity. Positively someone who is down and out then uppity-up the next day without any physical, environmental reason would often state they do not know why they feel that way.

If a relative shows signs of mood swings consistently, seek professional help. Only a doctor or therapist can diagnose for sure and provide medication for him/her. In some countries, psychological disorders are classified as one and the same. Sadly, those with disorders such as autism, bipolarity are not given the chance to learn and gain skills with the help of therapy and prescribed medication.