SUBLIME SPIRIT: Purpose

Do you have reasons why you choose certain things over others? I am sometimes biased against people who MUST always have a rationale behind choosing something. I know someone who would always choose to back up to a parking space so the front of his vehicle would point outward, that way “I can drive away real quick in times of emergency”. COOL but UNCOOL. Or “eat a lot of tomatoes, it has Lycopene in it”. I find that too square for me.

I’m usually not picky. To me, I would use tomatoes on my dishes if need be. But I won’t let it rule my life. I usually would let things happen when they happen. I would use things depending on accessibility. Simple. Recently though, I’ve been going gaga over some new stuff! It might be passé for other people…but I just can’t hold it to myself when I get excited! It must be rooting from a fantasy to have my own magazine (okay, what am I up to this time???), I’ve been meaning to write about “PRODUCT PICKS OF THE MONTH” or something in that league. I thought about that (light bulb above my head!) when I first tried the Cholula Hot Sauce. But then again, that’s considered passé since I have been pouring it over my eggs, hashbrowns, pasta, ground meat and anything you can imagine for about a year now. It started when this really nice Mexican server who always had a smile pasted on her face recommended it to me at Tilly’s Diner after I asked for Green Tabasco. I’ve been hooked ever since.

So, I am evolving (we are always evolving, I’m just a little bit on this obvious point right now). Here are some really good findings I wish to share:

1. The Joys of Crock-Pot cooking. Okay, where have I been? It’s only now that I really truly discovered the joy of slow-cooker cooking..uhrm…slow-cooking. I would toss all the ingredients into the pot/set it on low for about 8-9.5 hours before taking off for work, and I’d come home to the aroma of a hot and delicious home cooked meal. That gives me at least one or two more free hours after work to do other things instead of devoting it for preparing supper. Two hours are precious if you are a working wifey! What joy! I checked the energy consumption too. (OFCOURSE). I gathered, based on Typical Appliance Energy Use and Costs, a crockpot uses about 100 Watts while a large electric range uses 2400 Watts. Let’s take a closer look at the formula for average costing: Watts/1000 x hours = Kilowatt-hours (kWh) x rate = cost. Ergo, even if a crockpot operates for a longer period of time, it still comes to a smaller figure than a range would in terms of Kilowatt-hours before computing the cost. Lovely!

2. Cross-action Pro-Health Oral-B. Yeah, it sounds more like a new model of Nike running shoes than a toothbrush. I never paid close attention to what kind of toothbrush I use. But this one, which hubby and I picked at Target hurriedly because we misplaced our toothbrushes after our vacation to the Philippines, just about slapped me on the face, shaking me to reality with the gift of painful guilt over the realization that I have been maltreating my teeth for the past 30some years. For the first time in my whole life, I feel like wanting to keep brushing my teeth over and over simply because it leaves me feeling good each time (uh-oh…compulsion). Just kidding! But it sure suggests what it feels like to be a kid discovering the joy of toothbrushing for the first time, with a mickey mouse toothbrush in hand slathered with red-and-white-striped strawberry-flavored toothpaste. I’m not a dentist, but do check it out: http://oralb.com/us/products/manual/crossaction/. Why just brush your teeth when you can clean your whole mouth? It provides 7 oral care benefits to help you achieve a cleaner, healthier mouth. They have to pay me for this.

3. A HUGE personal water jug at work. I just got this yesterday, after a Kidney-ailment-scare at Kaiser last saturday. Apparently, I have not been “watering” myself enough lately. Looking back, I think I guzzle only…let’s see: 1 mug of morning coffee, I mug of water for lunch, half a mug of water on my afternoon break, 1 glass of water at dinner, half a glass of water on my bedside to tide me over during the night on dry throat moments. Bad girl. If I was a plant that depended largely on 8 glasses of water a day, I would have transformed into natural fertilizer a long time ago. So I guess this is an experimental solution to my dehydration malady and hefty water quota. I'm so relieved I don't need to stay away from salt just yet. It is a 64oz jug with water level indicators. It even has a straw and a big handle for convenience. Just remind me not to chew on the straw because it’s just washable, not disposable. It’s cute too! Anyway, check out your IWI (Ideal Water Intake) here: http://wellnessndiet.com/calculators_iwi.php.