The NRA is an extremely powerful lobby. Lobbies are essentially how groups get their legislation passed.

Will your son eat a tofu scramble? The trick to making those taste good is the seasoning. I have one that is a combination of brewers yeast, turmeric, cayenne, garlic powder, kalanamak salt and a few other things. I'm not at home right now so don't have access to recipe. Quinoa recipes might be an idea, too.

Wisconsin is where you can find ridiculously delcious home-baked pastries and cookies. Ask anyone in my family what their favorite memory of Old World Wisconsin is and each of us will answer delicious cookies. (Old World Wisconsin is a village reenacting settlers' lives.) That was ten years ago and I still remember those cookies. If you like the Kringle, you might also like The Elegant Farmer's pies in a paper bag. They are a mess of pie, very sweet, with a thick, buttery crust edged with carmelized sugar. Baked in a paper bag. Our house is now gluten-free and low carb. I may have to see if I can find some substitute recipes.

Juice fasting would probably not help much with reducing inflammation but fasting very likely would. You can find a lot of scientific proof on the benefits of fasting. Fasting strongly induces autophagy which ultimately reduces inflammation by removing/recycling/repairing bits of subcellular material that, without autophagy, sit around your body and lead to inflammation. Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel for his work on autophagy. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/science/yoshinori-ohsumi-nobel-prize-medicine.html https://www.salk.edu/news-release/genetic-switch-turned-on-during-fasting-helps-stop-inflammation/ https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2128695-hungry-stomach-hormone-promotes-growth-of-new-brain-cells/ It's important to know how to fast and what should be monitored. I fast often for short periods of time and stop when my blood glucose to blood ketones hit a certain ratio. I am fasting now actually. It is important to understand when to stop which is why you should read something like Jason Fung's book. Fasting is best done under the supervision of a physician who has received training in it. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, children should not fast. Supervised fasting is best.

Yes, you can reduce inflammation by fasting. The first thing to do is learn more. Read Jason Fung MD's books, watch the Rhonda Patrick interview of Valter Longo and read up on his human studies. You could also join the Facebook group that follows Fung's advice. Some members are patients. You'll find quite a few scientists and health care providers, including doctors and nurses, there as well. I'm starting a fast this afternoon. I stop once I hit a certain ratio of blood glucose to blood ketones.

A former neighbor put her son in a taxi every day to go to his elementary school for deaf children. If you were to do that, you might want to get the same driver if possible. We also had driving services that would take kids to after school activities if parents couldn't. Not Uber, just something run by caretakers.

Thank you! I attribute it to having no kids in the house anymore. :D

The two things that influenced me most were --the five proofs of Thomas Aquinas --studying the definition of God I am not attempting to evangelize or argue but the above did sway me.

Sleep. I try to sleep 10 hours per night because it makes me feel great.

I feel sorry especially for his son. Dude (Anthony), get a clue.

Margaritas and a chicken taco at Velvet Taco. That was dinner tonight. Hooray for margaritas! :D

Three hours? Ugh. For us it takes about 1.5 hours by car or public transportation to the criminal courts. I thought that was bad.

Walking to the fridge counts as exercise.

Hot and muggy in Chicago. Too hot for my liking.

Can you not get out of it because you're a caretaker? Not sure how that works anymore. My husband finds out on Wednesday if he will be called to a criminal case that is expected to last 2.5 months. Ugh. We are called for jury selection almost every year yet others we know have never been called. Chicago is a large city so it's kind of strange how that works. Not that I mind serving because the cases are often interesting and I don't mind doing my civic duty but it is odd how people we know who have lived in Chicago for decades have never been called for jury selection even once. I've heard it's tied to driver's licenses but these people all drive. Still, you have my sympathy as far as arranging care for your girl. I hope it all goes smoothly for you.

The tomato sauce you'd want to eat sparingly but everything else looks fine. Jason Fung sometimes has patients do a fat fast for various reasons. The goal is to get your body to use fat as energy quickly. https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/ Facebook has some helpful Fung groups, too, including a recipe group. The members are very supportive but the moderators ask newbies to read Fung's blog/book and a few articles. You can glean a lot just by reading posts, though.

Maybe a little trial of sound therapy might help. My husband listens to a song before bedtime that helps him stay asleep. It has a slower beat that influences the listener's heart beat to sync to the beat. It's on YouTube and is called 'Weightless' by Marconi Union. Earphones/buds are best. Pink noise played throughout the night could help, too.

Just saw your question, Pen. Some of the sports include running and weight lifting. One guy goes on long runs during extended fasts and gets good times. He does watch his electrolytes carefully. Another gal does the same. Other sports, too, for various reasons. Some are more concerned with autophagy and neurogenesis. HTH! I'm running into the city and have to catch my train!

Lots of good advice here, but I'll add another idea. Lately, I've been experimenting with sound therapy and decided to use my insomniac husband as a guinea pig. He was waking throughout the night for years due to feeling stressed. Melatonin helped somewhat initially but then not so much. It wasn't until he started listening to a song called 'Weightless' by Marconi Union that he began sleeping the whole night even without melatonin. Listening to the song worked the first night and without the melatonin. So now before bedtime, he listens. It's 8 minutes long but they also have longer versions. The song was purposely created to induce a calm feeling. They worked with sound therapists and used certain harmonies and a slow beat that help to lower heart rate which helps to change breathing. It's been tested on people and found to lower blood pressure and cortisol. So, what the heck. Might want to put in some earbuds and give it a listen to see if that helps, too. I think the very best thing to do is to somehow get the grinding to stop because eventually your TMJ could be affected at some point and that can be a bugger to fix. https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/neuroscience-says-listening-to-this-one-song-reduces-anxiety-by-up-to-65-percent.html

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: My sympathies are with you, Janeway.

I did that when I was clenching my jaw at night and waking up with a sore TMJ. Worked very well. Now I tell myself to keep my jaw open slightly so my teeth don't touch and it seems to work.

There is the Cerezen device which might be worth a try. They are ear plugs. Sounds crazy but people with bruxism and TMD problems have found them helpful. http://www.cerezen.eu

Her irritability could be caused in part by gluten sensitivity which can lead to inflammation of the gut and interfere with the production of serotonin in her gut, where most serotonin is made. For diet, you might want to -- keep substituting nut and coconut flours for grains that contain gluten -- make sure she is getting enough protein/tryptophan-rich foods -- try quinoa recipes -- high in protein and easy to make -- try to eat a bit of prebiotic foods, like jicama sticks -- take a good quality fish oil -- check her vitamin D which is needed to make serotonin and also reduces neuroinflammation -- make sure she's getting enough of her B vitamins -- try using a magnesium gel on her skin because most people are deficient in it -- keep sugar on the low side Lifestyle changes that might help: -- pitch black room at night so her body will make a lot of melatonin -- bright, blue spectrum light in morning when she wakes up or sitting in the sun outdoors. -- earlier bedtime when possible -- aerobic exercise to help balance neurotransmitters -- learning relaxation techniques -- before bedtime listen to Marconi Union's 'Weightless' song or ASMR sounds -- crinkling noises relax me a lot :)

We downsized this past year because we're now empty nesters. I love living in our co-op. Everything, except fixing it up, has been super easy. We do have an extra bedroom if someone should stay but usually we're the visitors. If we should need more space it's easy enough to find nice accommodations in the area. Our area is 1-4 blocks from our suburb's downtown, trains, the lake, grocery stores, hospital. It's very nice. And, our building has a large, private courtyard with patio, gardens and grassy areas for everyone who lives here -- babies to 90 year olds. We also have a 200 sq ft place in Chicago in a lively area and also close to trains, buses, and a lot of the fun city attractions. The apartment is serene and is located near the outdoor rooftop deck. It's also easy to clean. Excess stuff makes me feel shackled and encumbered. It took more than a year to pare down and what a job that was. In the future, we're going to be careful about acquiring stuff.

I belong to a fasting group and many of the members are elite athletes who fast and then compete while in a fasting state. The reason it works for them is that their bodies, during a fast, produce chemicals that are designed to make them go out and hunt for food and they use those chemicals instead for athletic performance. During fasts it's not uncommon to have a lot of energy. I think athletic performance is far less important than inflammation that persistent high blood glucose/ high insulin can cause. The canary is in the coal mine with the higher rates of colon cancer that we are beginning to see in 20-somethings. These are the kinds of serious health problems in younger people that actuarial projections have been ominously predicting for over a decade. https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/colon-cancer-cases-rising-among-young-adults.html