Success!!

So the internet may not be all it's cracked up to be, but I've still had some good luck with some things recently.

Today, for instance, I received the package containing my 3rd attempt at buying new trail shoes for work: GoLite Lava Lites. This is the same company that Alyssa likes so much for their outdoor gear - okay, maybe it's technically a different company, but they share the same name and used to share the same website. Anyhow, they're barefoot technology shoes (zero drop, no foam sticking up in weird places in the footbed) and after reading the reviews I decided to order a size 8.5. Usually I'm somewhat in-between the two, but the reviews said they ran small, so I confidently ordered the larger of the two sizes and was pleasantly surprised when they fit wonderfully! Yay! It would appear that my search for appropriate work footwear is finally over. Now I just need to get the $200 in refunds back for the shoes that I've tried and am sending back.

I'm on the email list for Dr. Laura Koniver, the Intuition Physician and have been getting semi-regular updates from her for several months now. Recently she sent out a blog post on tooth care, and I was intrigued by her step 1 - something she called "oil pulling". You swish coconut oil in your mouth for a minute to ten minutes to help loosen things up for brushing. Interesting. She also recommended just plain baking soda as the best (and cheapest) way to brush your teeth. While looking up articles on natural sun protection, I stumbled upon a recipe for coconut oil toothpaste (incidentally, multiple sites claim that coconut oil blocks 20% of the sun's rays and thus works as a great sunblock; it's also good for keeping the no-see-ums from biting you... sounds like a great combination for Bodie!). You just mix 2 T of coconut oil with 2 T of baking soda, add 10 drops of peppermint oil if you have it, and voila! So I softened some coconut oil a touch and whipped it up with the baking soda, cleaned out a mini spice container and filled it with the stuff, then brushed my teeth with that this morning, swishing it around for awhile before finishing the job so I essentially combined the oil pulling and tooth brushing in one fell swoop. It felt pretty good! I think I might have to try and find some peppermint oil in the store or online (or maybe my personal midwest favorite: wintergreen!), but the plain coconut oil and salty-tasting baking soda is alright for now. I've still got a partial tube of the Trader Joe's baking soda & fluoride toothpaste to use up, but I think I'll start using the natural stuff once a day. It's certainly cheaper overall and creates less waste than those non-recyclable, non-emptiable toothpaste containers. And after what I've been reading on fluoride lately, I'm not convinced I need it in my toothpaste, especially if what Dr. Koniver says is true about it being present in just about every fruit and vegetable and the water supply - doesn't seem like we need an extra dose when we're getting it from everywhere else!

You may be wondering why I'm posting two days in a row: it's because I was planning on going into town to meet up with my hiking buddy for a hike, but he ended up having to work today. I finished my knitting yesterday, finished listening to Catching Fire on audiobook, finished watching the multi-disc BBC documentary on Scotland that Denise lent me, and don't have any plans until after the park closes when a coworker and I are going to go for a walk and I'm going to break in my new hiking shoes. So today is mostly reading, writing, meditating, tidying, and generally sitting on my butt. Hopefully tomorrow I'll at least get out to the post office to send out my returns, and maybe get a new book or two from the library (and possibly a movie). As it is, I'm reading "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey from the Bodie library and I'm absolutely loving it!

Until next time...