I recently saw a talk show on which a woman was complaining that her husband never notices when she gets her hair done. Another lady in the audience was equally incensed about her boyfriend being so unobservant that when she went to the trouble of buying a new, cute bathing suit, he had not even complimented her on it when they went to the beach.

One by one, female audience members shared similar stories about their oblivious men. They were incensed and looking for answers from the panelist, an “expert” on male behavior.

Halfway through the program, I realized that I might be the only woman in America who adores this supposed male flaw. Perhaps it takes a fashion disaster like myself to truly appreciate that men can be unobservant creatures more often than not, but my deodorant-smudged shirt and I have benefited from this trait more times than I can count.

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Let’s talk naptime. If you’re a stay at home mom, you know how precious that small window of opportunity is when your kids are down for the count. You hope it will be a long count – two hours or more if they’re long sleepers, but you count yourself lucky if you get at least 60 minutes of uninterrupted time to yourself.

Well, for a lot of you moms this is the only time in the day that you might get to fit in a little work out. You don’t have the luxury of running off to the gym, meandering from machine to machine and chatting up the other moms between sets, because you’re stuck at home waiting for your little one to wake up.

What’s the answer? Think: 4th grade PE class!

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Remember that blissful moment when you peed on the stick and realized life was growing inside of you? And then about four months in, after all of your concerns about the baby’s health and the viability of the pregnancy were laid to rest, the tiny little thought occurred to you, ‘holy crap I hope I can get my pre-pregnancy body back!’ Well, guess what? You’re not alone.

Some women feel guilty about thinking these thoughts because they think it might be selfish to worry about something as trivial as their own looks rather than simply being thankful for the blessing of the life that grows inside of them. But don’t forget that your physical and mental well being is vital to the well being of your baby during and after pregnancy.

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I just read about a new thing that allows you to use your iPhone to watch workouts as you do them. I can’t decide if I think this is cool, or totally lame. I think I’m leaning toward lame. Here’s how it works. A company called PumpOne makes portable videos. They team up with the fitness experts at Men’s Health magazine to create step by step exercise routines and they film fitness models doing them. 

Enter you, the customer. These routines walk you through what exercise to do and how to do it properly. You pay ten bucks per routine, download them on your iPhone, and Voila! You are an instant morphing of Steve Jobs and Denise Austin - a trend setting, gadget guru, walking, talking, lunging, squatting, fitness fanatic.

Why am I having a hard time being positive about this? Oh yeah, because I am a late tech adopter and resist and fear technology like it’s a bad case of the runs. But let’s think through this in an open-minded fashion.

I just don’t understand when and how people will be using it. (That was my attempt at being open minded.)

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Let’s flash forward into a future place called Regret. You’re sitting there with a full time nurse to feed you and you can’t remember your adult children’s names let alone their faces. The reason? Alzheimer’s. Now, enter into the scene, Mr. In Retrospect. He’s the annoying reporter coming to interview you about past life choices. He sticks the microphone in your face and asks you one question, “Mrs. Alzheimer’s Sufferer, if you had it to do over again, would giving up sodas and candy THEN have been a small sacrifice in exchange for having a functioning brain NOW?”

Your  answer? Well, actually, you’ll look at him with a confused look and say “Who the hell are you and what are you talking about?”, because your brain doesn’t have the capacity to remember back to the place you used to dwell called Opportunity.  But if you could answer him with your present brain, you would of course, say, “YES, Mr. In Retrospect, losing soda and candy would have been a small sacrifice in exchange for a healthy brain. Sugary foods in exchange for not remembering my own name was not worth it!”

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I’ve always been an electronic gadget late bloomer. I tend to be a good couple of years behind everyone else when it comes to new technology adoption. The reasons are varied but most of the time it is due to one of the following: ignorance, stubbornness, perceived lack of need,  or lack of funds.

So when everyone I knew was running around with IPODs and MP3 players strapped to their bodies like they were miniature colostomy bags they needed in order to survive, I resisted the trend for all four of those reasons. Hell, it took me a couple years of  MP3’s existence to realize people weren’t talking about a new Star Wars movie character. What? R2D2 has a cousin? Does C-3PO know about this? Seriously folks, I am the technology straggler of all time!

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I have written before about the best berries for your health. I have a few more fruit additions to add to your list of anti-aging foods! You may not have heard of some of these, but they are worth incorporating into your diet.

1. Noni Fruit – This might not technically be considered a berry, although it is sometimes known as Indian Mulberry. Noni has been reported to have a range of health benefits for colds, cancer, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, pain, skin infection, high blood pressure, mental depression, atherosclerosis and arthritis. Noni conatins scopoletin which inhibits the growth of Escherichia coli, which is responsible for intestinal infections, and Heliobacter pylori, which causes ulcers.

2. Seabuckthorn Berries - This berry is said to have anti-oxidant properties.   It contains dense contents of carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, amino acids, and dietary minerals. Check out this site for Seabuckthorn products:

http://www.sibu.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1

3. Pomegranate – It can reduce systolic blood pressure, reduce heart disease, has tons of antioxidants, and has been shown to have anti-cancer properties.

4. Mangosteen- Said to be an anti-aging fruit. Xanthones in the fruit show promise in combating bacteria, fungi, inflammation, free radicals and cancer. Check out this interesting article from The New York Times regarding the big business of growing and selling mangosteen products.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/dining/09mang.html

We all know the feeling. You arrive home from work with the full intention of changing into your gym clothes and heading out the door to the gym, but your butt finds the couch for the minute it takes you to lace up your shoes, and that’s just one minute too long!

You stretch back, realizing how exhausted you are from a long day, and before you know it, the gym visit takes second billing to fluffy pillows and the afghan.

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The other day  a friend commented on the dorky looking glasses women wear while working out, and suggested we write a piece on some of the feminine looking eyewear options available. I got stuck on the dorky part.

 “What do you mean by dorky?” I asked.

 “You know”, she said. “Those big goofy athletic and masculine looking ones with the weird lenses.”

 I gave her a blank look, so she continued with the optical descriptions and observations.

The more she talked, the more it sounded like she was getting dangerously close to describing my favorite BluBlocker infomercial-bought shades from 1990.

 “Are you still married to those things?” She asked.

 “No, but we are seriously dating, and practically engaged.” I responded.

 “You should break up.” She said without missing a beat.

 “They block the blue rays!” I answered defensively.

“Well, you know what else they block? They block the man rays. You are much too cute and much too single to be wearing those in public.” She scolded.

 “Well sometimes I mix it up with my other ones when I play beach volleyball.” I explained.

 “You mean those Cory Hart-tribute shades you go around in?”

“My black Ray Bans?” I asked. “No, I only wear those at night.” I winked. She got the joke.

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About six weeks ago, I noticed that my left boob sags slightly more than my right boob. I do not have implants nor any other high risk factors for developing lopsided Lulus, (pregnancy, breastfeeding, mutant ancestors). I did not know that disproportionate droop could happen to natural boobs, as I only associated this problem with Tara Reid, whose famous implants have been the focus of a lot of media attention.  I am also not really sure how long this has been going on with me. I’m assuming it has been a gradual process caused by years of wearing substandard sports bras.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I was imagining the uneven sag. I blamed it on my weird bathroom lighting. But after conducting highly scientific experiments in front of no less than 5 mirrors in my house with all variations of light – including natural sunlight through the spare bathroom window, and a flashlight in an otherwise pitch black room, (yes, really), I determined that indeed, left sista hangs unapologetically lower than her right sibling. There was no false assessment at play here. Angles, lighting, wall shadows ( I was hoping), bad eyesight – none of them qualified as reasonable explanations any longer, because indeed, my boobies are crooked.

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