CAN AN ALTERNATIVE MED REMEDY LEG PAIN?
I know some of you with Moebius have various aches and pains, especially in the leg area, so I thought you might be interested in this:
"The Remedy: Horse chestnut seed extract.
The Claim: It helps relieve leg pain and other symptoms of venous insufficiency.
The Science: Poor blood flow in the veins of the legs is one of the common problems that develop as we age.  But when the problem becomes severe enough, it can result in a condition called chronic venous insufficiency. People who have the condition can find themselves struggling with a host of bothersome symptoms like leg pain, pruritus (itchiness), hardening of the skin and edema (swelling of tissue under the skin).
Wearing compression socks or stockings, one of the more traditional solutions, can be helpful but also uncomfortable for some people, causing them not to use them. But one alternative remedy, popular in Europe, is to use extracts from the seed of the horse chestnut, a large and leafy tree native to the Balkans and other parts of Europe. The extract contains beta-aescin and other compounds believed to help strengthen blood vessel walls and reduce swelling and redness.
Over the years, numerous studies have examined whether horse chestnut can actually make a difference. Most have found that it works well, but some studies have either suffered from poor design or were financed in part by commercial interests.
But in 2006, scientists with the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in England sifted through years of studies and selected the best randomized controlled trials for a meta-analysis in the respected Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
“Over all,” they found, “the trials suggested an improvement in the symptoms of leg pain, edema and pruritus with horse chestnut seed extract when taken as capsules over two to 16 weeks.”

Horse chestnut seed extract---man!  You learn something new every day.

LITTLE KIDS AND THE WORLD'S DISASTERS
So some of you reading this are moms and dads, and you have very young children, and you're worried about how they may react when hearing news of earthquakes, tsunamis, disasters, and death.  How do you handle it?  Here's some good examples:
"1. Kids mirror behavior so stay calm
In scary times, kids use our behavior as their model to copy. Remember, it’s not what you say about the news, but how you react that really makes the difference. It’s best to keep your emotions at bay. Security for younger kids is often better conveyed physically (rocking, hugging and touching) than with our words.
2. Be the family news director Monitoring  what your child watches is always a good idea. But especially be aware of television that shows graphic images of tragedy. When in doubt, turn the television off. Studies show that even though kids may not have personally witnessed a tragedy, they can still be traumatized from viewing troubling news images.  A child’s age dictates what they can absorb."

There's a lot more there.  Read the whole thing.  And pay attention to the news---you know, one of the reasons I was able to become a teacher and a writer was because, when I was young, I got interested in history, current events, etc.  And one of the reasons THAT happened was because my family was interested in these things--they read books, they had the news on, they read the papers, they knew what was going on.  What you do influences your children.  Believe it.

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain
way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
-Thomas A. Edison