>Three Things of Significance

>Three things of great significance happened Saturday. Other things happened that are important as well. Barack Obama named a cabinet member. Joe Biden got a dog. Auburn named a coach. But these three things hit close to home, not in order of importance.

1. I graduated from UAB.
2. We had our Christmas Party.
3. My neighbor’s house burned to the ground.

1. I earned a Masters degree in Public Health, with an A in every course. I’m not trying to brag, but that is the best set of grades of all three of my degrees. What does the future hold? We will see.

2. We served up a bunch of Cajun food and desserts and raised several hundred dollars in gifts and money for two needy families. The final tally is not in, as we are still collecting donations through Monday, December 15.

3. This house was known throughout Bessemer as one of the premier historical homes. Known as the G. H. Stevenson House in the South Bessemer Inventory, the home belonged to Glenn Shadix who moved back to Bessemer about a year ago. Saturday it burned. Glenn thankfully was not in the house when the fire started, and is physically OK. The cause has not been determined.

Here is a picture of the fire in progress.

Here is what remains.

Here are some pictures taken after the fire. From indoors…you are not supposed to see the sky.
Still smoldering Sunday…the BFD returned.
The Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association members have you in our thoughts and prayers, Glenn.

Bessemer mourns the loss of this beautiful home and for Glenn, of the loss of so much of his personal belongings.

Baptists and Blogging and Unhealthy Christmas Parties

Wheeler from The Norla Blog first brought this to my attention but here is the link he is writing about.

Sounds like Dale Jones’ rhetoric as Baptists in Georgia have passed a resolution stating that blogs have been used by “certain people … for divisive and destructive rhetoric at the expense of peace among the brethren.” (For those who don’t know: Jones has been critical of this blog, calling it “illegitimate”, “pitiful”,”pathetic”, “a joke” and “crap.”)

So what effect will this resolution have on blogging? The same as the Baptist’s boycott of Disney had on that company’s bottom line…none.

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This is something that should concern us all during the holiday season. Seems that December and January are the deadliest months for heart disease and over-indulging at those smart holiday parties can do you in right there on the spot.

“Right away, a particularly heavy meal, especially a high-fat one, stresses the heart as it is disgested. Blood pressure and heart rate increase. There’s even evidence that the lining of arteries becomes temporarily more clot-prone.”

Great, one more thing to worry about when hosting a party. As if making sure that food-borne pathogens don’t flourish in the items on the menu (especially those with mayo and dairy) is not a big enough worry.

“Too much salt has an even more immediate effect, causing fluid retention that in turn makes the heart have to pump harder.”

Uh-oh, Cajun food for example can be loaded with salt. Especially things like Cajun Deviled Eggs and the Creole seasonings used in many of the casseroles and other dishes.

“Alcohol in moderation is considered heart healthy. But if a round of holiday parties leaves you tipsy, that, too makes your heart pump harder to get blood to peripheral arteries.”

So an early party, both early in the season to avoid that cumulative effect, and early in the evening in hopes that those going to multiple events in one evening don’t tip the scales at the first party they attend, is your best bet to avoid that problem.

“People say the’re too busy to exercise…”

Now there is no way to shift the blame for this on to the host of a holiday party.

“Busy revelers tend to skip their medications…”

Please, take your medicine…all of it..(but no extra) before heading out to the parties.

At any rate, to my knowledge there has never been a falling out or an ambulance pick up at one of our parties and I hope it stays that way.

Besides, a Christmas party of celery and carrot sticks and granola bars just wouldn’t be the same. That’s reindeer food, I was brought up to believe, and we left those vegetable treats for the hooved animals and chocolate chip cookies and eggnog for the fat man in the red suit when I was a kid. And I am pretty sure he had a little alcohol when he stopped at our house on Christmas Eve as well. Now Santa still visits this house each year, so years of holiday goodies has not affected his health, I guess. Rock on, Santa.

>Baptists and Blogging and Unhealthy Christmas Parties

>Wheeler from The Norla Blog first brought this to my attention but here is the link he is writing about.

Sounds like Dale Jones’ rhetoric as Baptists in Georgia have passed a resolution stating that blogs have been used by “certain people … for divisive and destructive rhetoric at the expense of peace among the brethren.” (For those who don’t know: Jones has been critical of this blog, calling it “illegitimate”, “pitiful”,”pathetic”, “a joke” and “crap.”)

So what effect will this resolution have on blogging? The same as the Baptist’s boycott of Disney had on that company’s bottom line…none.

****************************************

This is something that should concern us all during the holiday season. Seems that December and January are the deadliest months for heart disease and over-indulging at those smart holiday parties can do you in right there on the spot.

“Right away, a particularly heavy meal, especially a high-fat one, stresses the heart as it is disgested. Blood pressure and heart rate increase. There’s even evidence that the lining of arteries becomes temporarily more clot-prone.”

Great, one more thing to worry about when hosting a party. As if making sure that food-borne pathogens don’t flourish in the items on the menu (especially those with mayo and dairy) is not a big enough worry.

“Too much salt has an even more immediate effect, causing fluid retention that in turn makes the heart have to pump harder.”

Uh-oh, Cajun food for example can be loaded with salt. Especially things like Cajun Deviled Eggs and the Creole seasonings used in many of the casseroles and other dishes.

“Alcohol in moderation is considered heart healthy. But if a round of holiday parties leaves you tipsy, that, too makes your heart pump harder to get blood to peripheral arteries.”

So an early party, both early in the season to avoid that cumulative effect, and early in the evening in hopes that those going to multiple events in one evening don’t tip the scales at the first party they attend, is your best bet to avoid that problem.

“People say the’re too busy to exercise…”

Now there is no way to shift the blame for this on to the host of a holiday party.

“Busy revelers tend to skip their medications…”

Please, take your medicine…all of it..(but no extra) before heading out to the parties.

At any rate, to my knowledge there has never been a falling out or an ambulance pick up at one of our parties and I hope it stays that way.

Besides, a Christmas party of celery and carrot sticks and granola bars just wouldn’t be the same. That’s reindeer food, I was brought up to believe, and we left those vegetable treats for the hooved animals and chocolate chip cookies and eggnog for the fat man in the red suit when I was a kid. And I am pretty sure he had a little alcohol when he stopped at our house on Christmas Eve as well. Now Santa still visits this house each year, so years of holiday goodies has not affected his health, I guess. Rock on, Santa.