How many toes does a lovie have? 10? 8? 7? 6? Well,...a lovie is born with 8 toes; 4 toes on each foot, 2 in the front and 2 in the back. 2 in the front and 2 in the back so that they can perch and grab stuff. For some reason, I have a hard time remembering that or maybe it's wishful thinking. If I were to answer the question yesterday, I would say, 10, just like us! And if I were to think that out loud, Alan would probably *bonk* me in the head. So, yes, most lovies have 8 toes..but if you look at Itchy closely in the picture, you'll see that Itchy only has 7 toes. She had her left big toe amputated early this year because she broke it. And, poor Itchy ... she recently injured her big toe on her right foot... and might even lose it. Dr. Freeman said that this time, it's not broken but the blood vessel was affected and that there's a 50/50 chance that it will heal if not all of the blood supply is cut off. If not, it will eventually fall off. Oh no! Itchy's going to only have 6 toes!!!!!...she's going to have a hard time perching or even playing with her toys :( .... if only she had 10 toes to start with, then losing 2 won't be such a big deal.

Since last November, my contacts (Gas Permeable) had been bothering me. My eyes would be red from the discomfort, and they would pop out easily (my contacts that is..no, not my eyeballs) or even get dislodged. I was thinking..hmm..maybe I've developed some allergies or something. It wasn't like that when I first got them. I went to see my optomestrist and ha-ha-ha I've been wearing my left contact on my right eye and my right contact on my left eye..silly me! I don't even remember when I made the switch. My optometrist said, "Audrey, you've been putting them on the wrong side! The curvature on each eye is slightly different. That is why they didn't fit right. Green, second letter is "r", "r" for right, so the green lense is for your right eye. Blue, second letter is "l", "l" for left, so the blue lense is for your left eye. Remember that." Wow, what a neat little association trick!!! I don't remember being told that before. Or perhaps I wasn't listening before because I would remember these things, I'm good with associations! For example, All Dogs Eat Kidneys is a good little association trick I used to help me remember that vitamins A,D,E, and K are fat-soluable and that taking too much of any of them over the daily recommendated amount is harmful.

Alan kept eating all my bananas!!!! Last week, we bought some bananas. Instead of eating my bananas, I set them aside so I could make Almond Banana Bread. The recipe calls for overly ripe bananas. But every time Alan saw a ripe banana, he would eat it. So...I didn't have enough ingredients today to make my Almond Banana Bread! This was not an isolated incident, it happens all the time. Well, I can't get mad at Alan for eating my bananas, after all bananas are a good source of potassium and potassium is a mineral that counteracts the effects of too much sodium in your diet. Looks like I'll have to hide my bananas if I want to bake some banana bread or buy more bananas. Alan's doing everything he can to keep his sodium at the right level. A ripe banana lying there is asking to be eaten by Alan.

An adequate amount of sodium is very important to sustain a healthy body. We need to eat food that is high in potassium and calcium and low in sodium. To add to this confusion of how much sodium is too much or how little sodium is too little; we also need to be smart about where our sodium come from. As you may or may not know there is such a thing as good sodium and bad sodium. The goal is to sustain a healthy body with good sodium. Good sodium occurs naturally and is not refined. Try to stay away from refined sources of sodium such as commercial table salt or products (processed food) that use table salt whenever possible. Table salt is stripped of most of its minerals and is chemically cleaned, bleached, and treated with anticaking agents. How disgusting is that? And when we consume it, it collects and builds up in our body causing problems.

Here is a shortened list of healthier salts and alternatives from Anne Louise Gittleman's "Get The Salt Out - 501 Simple Ways To Cut The Salt Out Of Any Diet."

Instead of commercial table salt, use the following instead:

· Commercial sea salt

· Unrefined sea salt

· Unrefined rock salt (Real Salt)

· Seasame salt

· Herbal salt

· Kelp

· Kombu

· Lite-sodium soy sauce or tamari sauce

I burnt my soup...again..*sigh*. Alan, who had been looking forward to my low-sodium soup was very disappointed. He asked me, "why do you always do that"? Well, ..because I'm forgetful? I have been preoccupied....with...salt! I have been counting the total mg of salt per serving for everything that I make.

Ever since Alan measured his blood pressure and found that his pressure is higher than what it used to be (higher but definitely not bad), he has been obsessed with how much sodium he consumes and that has rubbed off on me. I picked up a book called "get the Salt out" by Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S from the library and started reading it to Alan during our commute to work.

(Note: The following may contain information related to health or healthy living. Read at your own discretion. If you are experiencing health problems, please go see a doctor, as the suggestions or tips provided cannot be substituted for medical attention. )

The FDA recommends a daily maximum of 2400 mg of sodium. If you eat like most Americans do, you are probably consuming well over that amount. One of the many health conditions linked to having too much sodium in your body is high blood pressure (hypertension) and this is what Alan is worried about.

How much sodium we need depends on who we are (our genetic make up, age, weight, disease, environment, level of physical activity, illnesses, and diet). If you are curious as to how much sodium you should have, ask your doctor to perform a simple nutrient analysis blood test for you when you get your next physical. The book recommends that if your sodium level is between 137 and 144, you'll do well to stay within 2000 mg of sodium per day, if it's above 144, it is best to eliminate unnecessary sodium sources on top of your diet, and if it's below 137, you may need to increase your sodium intake. Be sure to discuss your result with your doctor and get recommendations from her/him.

If you're eating an apple a day to keep the doctor away. Maybe you should consider doubling it to 2 apples a day. Why? Because according to some dude at the University of Texas at Austin, fruits and vegetables are not as rich in vitamin as they used to be. Up to a 30% decrease in protein, calcium, vitamin C, phosphorus, iron and riboflavin from before. This is all due to farmers using new techniques to increase their output, which results in fruits and vegetables spending less time absorbing nutrients from the soil and less time soaking up the sun. So, if you normally save some space for fruit during dinner, you might want to save some extra space.