Now that Zika has arrived here in the US, know how to protect your family.  The Zika virus can cause severe brain damage in newborns and may trigger nervous system disorders in adults. It is carried by mosquitoes in 30 states and can be transmitted through sexual contact.

Use bug repellents when mosquitoes are present except on infants under 6 months.  Here is a list of repellents:

Most Effective:
DEET (20-30% concentration)
Picaridin (20% concentration)
IR 3535 (20% concentration)

Less Effective:
Oil of lemon eucalyptus

Not Effective:
Vitamin B1 patches
Essential oils

Check the EWG website for more information about how to protect infants and children.
 

Forget electronic calendars and school planners; your child needs the Merit Planner to start the school year ahead of the game!

Don’t spend exorbitant money trying to buy your child’s organization.  All the binders, notebooks, dividers, and pencil holders in the world won’t make your child organized, and certainly won’t help them learn how to study.  The only thing they really need is the Merit Planner.  For tips on how to guide your child and get them started on top of their game this school year, check out this post and this post!

We performed and produced “CATs” at Merit Academy twice, and we saw live performances in New York City, London, Reno, and Cupertino. 

Jaclyn was cast as the Rum Tum Tugger and loved the character – he was sassy, just like her! 

When we saw the New York cast in Reno, she got to meet the “real” Rum Tum Tugger backstage.  Jaclyn was ecstatic! After exchanging photos and letters with him – she was a fan —  she got to meet the Rum Tum Tugger again at the Flynt Center in Cupertino.  

When my youngest daughter told me that she wasn’t sure she should go to St. Martin because she was worried about Zika, I was taken aback.  She’s not married and she’s not planning on starting a family anytime soon, but still she was worried about how long the Zika virus might stay in her system. 

After meeting with her doctor, she was relieved to hear that getting bitten now will not harm her future (2 or more years out) baby.  Phew!  I was proud of her for checking into this before her trip and for making smart choices.  Family planning in the age of Zika — like our twenty- and thirty-somethings don’t have enough to worry about!

Young couples who live Brazil and the Caribbean are having to make some tough decisions about having children.  Women who are nearing the end of their reproductive years are especially stressed out because they may not have time to wait out this virus.  Some have resorted to freezing eggs and embryos.  Others are getting pregnant but moving abroad during the pregnancy. 

Either way, it’s an expensive problem and many solutions are solely for the “haves” but not the “have nots.”

Why one degree matters! Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you need to wake up!

When I hear people make snide remarks like “it’ll be nice for our winters to be a few degrees warmer!” while referencing CLIMATE CHANGE or GLOBAL WARMING, I lose my s**t.  Even with the Paris Climate Change talks last year, some world leaders are either in denial or they’re controlled by Big Oil.

A shift of one degree is barely noticeable to human skin; but we’re not talking about human skin, we’re talking about the planet.  One degree warmer for the planet is and will continue to cause devastation that we are all beginning to see now.  One of my students forwarded me an excellent article that describes what will happen to the planet, and subsequently, human civilization, for every single degree that the planet warms.  READ THIS:

0.5-1.0 Degree Warmer: (No chance of stopping this; we are already here)
Droughts = Deserts = Forest Fires
Melting ice caps – feedback loop – won’t be able to save the ice caps and glaciers

1.0-2.0 Degrees Warmer: (93% chance of stopping this IF we reduce greenhouse gases by 60% by 2026)
Saharan-type heat waves = kills hundreds of thousands
Mass migration away from equator
Fresh water supplies gone
Ecosystem collapse — 1/3 or species will face extinction

2.0-3.0 Degrees Warmer: (Little chance of stopping this once we reach 2 degrees because of carbon-cycle feedbacks)
Mass starvation (as soon as 2050)
Even more mass migration with starving people causing political and social upheaval

3.0-4.0 Degrees Warmer: (Little chance of stopping this once we reach 3 degrees because of runaway thaw of permafrost)
Millions of refugees flee to the coasts
Sea levels rise so coastlines and islands will be submerged
Permafrost thaw causes billions of tons of carbon to release into the atmosphere
Fires = dustbowls
World economy bust

4.0-5.0 Degrees Warmer: (Little chance of stopping this once we reach 4 degrees because of the release of trapped methane from the sea bed)
Ice sheets from both poles have vanished
No international aid; fight for survival
There’s more bad news but I don’t want to write it (read the article)

I blogged about this because we need to make substantial changes to stop CO2 from entering the atmosphere NOW.

To avoid our planet from getting 2 degrees warmer, we have 10 years to reduce our output by 60%.  That means that we need to embrace an energy source that is 100% clean and we need to convert our internal combustion cars to use hydrogen NOW.  My students are working on solutions that can divert our current collision course and I’ll be blogging about it in the next few months.

Get your head out of the sand and start reducing your carbon footprint today!

I admit that I am not a good parker – it takes me 2 to 3 (or more attempts) to parallel park my little sports car, and I usually just drive around the block to find other parking options.  Yup; I’m the stereotypical female Asian driver.  And when I slowly back out of a parking space with my rear end jutting out into traffic, I panic because I can’t see what’s coming until I’m already causing near accidents.  With giant SUVs and trucks lining parking garages, they create huge blind spots that are really dangerous. So that’s why I was so glad to read this article about backing into parking spaces.

It makes sense that if you’re having to jut out or do awkward maneuvers to get into or out of a parking space, it’s in your best interest to do it when backing into a space. After all, when you’re backing in, you can see the traffic around you.  You can put on your blinkers and motion to people to go around you, then take your time to back your car into the parking space. You can see everything in all directions and it’s much safer to do than to back out into on-coming traffic that you can’t see. 

Then, when you’re ready to leave, you hop into your car and pull out head first! Ta da! Studies says that Americans only back into parking spaces about 25% of the time, and the types of people who do that are usually high achievers who want to invest more time and effort (backing in) so they can appreciate delayed gratification later (quick and stress-free exit). Americans are never taught how to back into parking spaces when they take driver’s education and driving courses, while Europeans and Asians learn how to negotiate tight spaces on the road and in parking lots out of necessity.

My take-away from this is that we should back into parking spaces when it is legal (some parking lots post notices about how to park) because it will reduce your stress and probably save you from fender benders.  With back-up cameras in most newer-model cars, backing into spaces is a piece of cake! 

So if you see me on the street holding up traffic, smile — just know that I’m probably preventing an accident on the other end.  

[Source]

http://www.vox.com/2016/8/1/11926596/safer-back-into-parking-spaces

When you think about it, just about every major problem we’re facing today is caused because we have too many people on this planet.

That’s what Pascal found while she searched for viable projects to do.  After much research and contemplation, Pascal is proposing that every couple has just 2 (or less) kids.  We found it difficult to explain, so she created a cute whiteboard video with great illustrations to show the world why we need to reduce our population of 7 billion people before we hit 10 billion. 

Check out her website and whiteboard video at www.PopOverPop.com.  Then go to the PROMISE page and pledge to only have 2 (or less) children or share this with friends and family to get the message out. 

It’s really not okay to have more than 2 children because of the devastating impact it will have on our quality of life and the environment. Watch Pascal’s whiteboard video to see why you really can’t afford to have more than 2 kids anyway. 

She’s done a great job with this movement!

Back in 1997 (yup, that was a long time ago), I planned an unforgettable adventure for my family.  My husband had recently sold his computer marketing company and I had just started Merit Academy.  We certainly didn’t have the funds for a 6-week European vacation but I found a way to pull it off for little more than our normal cost of living.  We traded homes and cars with families in our destination countries.  With a little organizing ahead of time, we had the time of our lives!

We went to England and stayed in a flat in Lewis for 2 weeks, which is about an hour south of London.  The kids, who were 8 and 12 years old at the time, loved exploring this English home.  They loved the feather beds and were intrigued by the tiny steps (different from our standard 7-inch rise and 11-inch run) up their bedroom on the 3^rd floor.  The boy who lived in the house left them games to play and books to read.  We discovered the Horrible Histories series that were filled with history facts that were presented in a hilarious fashion – they were irresistible to read!  We grocery shopped at their neighborhood stores and learned how to use their kitchen appliances, which were surprisingly different from ours at home.  By having a home base in Lewis, we took many day trips using our exchange family’s car.  They used our extra car while they stayed in our house, too!  We also travelled up to Stratford to see Hamlet, and then up to Liverpool to check out the Beatles Museum.  Then we took a 3-day trip to Ireland to meet our Irish family (the Mahers and D’Arcys). The girls enjoyed staying on the farm and meeting their D’Arcy cousins.

We went from England to France by ferry and traded homes with a young couple who had a studio in the heart of Paris.  Living in Paris for 2 weeks gave us the opportunity to buy baguettes and cheese every morning – just like the Parisians.  The girls looked forward to going to their favorite bakery to pick up their own baguettes and buy scrumptious desserts like Napoleons!  Yum.  We also played an art history game that required that we visit 16 art and history (mostly art) museums.  They found Modiglianis, Dalis, and all of the Impressionist painters on their lists.  Learning how to buy vegetables in the French corner stores was an adventure in itself. Without help from the grocery clerks, the girls had to figure out how to weigh their produce, pay for it, and then bag it up themselves.  Ahh, the French! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?  We didn’t trade cars because we took the Metro everywhere.  We even took a day trip to Versailles to see Marie Antoinette’s trianon palace.

After Paris, we took a train all the way to Florence, Italy, where we stayed for our last two weeks.  We also exchanged cars with our Italian exchange family.  This time we stayed in a luxurious apartment suite with an elevator.  The house was filled with magnificent artwork and decorations.  We learned yet another culture, that was quite different from the English and French.  We visited art and history museums but the girls weren’t impressed after spending 2 weeks in Paris. They saw enough Madonna and child paintings that would last a lifetime. We took several 2-day trips to Rome to see the Coliseum, Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter’s Basilica, then down to Pompeii to see the archaeological site, and then up to Venice to ride gondolas.  We accidentally ended up in Siena on one of the 2 days of the year when they held the Palio, a 90-second horse race. Ten horses and riders dress in full regalia marched around to the cheering crowds before the race.  Each rider represented their extended family and the entire town comes out for this race.  After the race, 90% of the people burst out into tears because they lost the race.  It was quite a spectacle for the girls to see!

We used Intervac Home Exchange back in 1997.  All three of our home exchanges were wonderful and different.  One of our good friends, Jeni Sudbrink, greeted the foreign families at our home here in Santa Cruz when they arrived and gave them a welcome basket filled with tourist information and insider tips on where to eat and what to do. 

By doing this 6-week home exchange, we didn’t have to pay for exorbitant hotel costs or dining out for three meals per day.  We didn’t have to rent a car or pay for Eurail passes.  Even our flights were all free because we used our frequent flier miles.  Our only expenses besides normal costs of living (groceries, dining out, gasoline) were entertainment and ferries or trains between our destinations.

I would do this again in a heartbeat!  It makes traveling much more comfortable and the experience culturally enriching.  

Okay, I realize I’m not your sports model who works out all the time and stays super slim. 

Actually, I’m quite the opposite.  But when I read this article, I thought I’d share it with you because it’s simple to do and it seems to be working for me. 

I have read all kinds of theories about eating or not eating certain kinds of food after exercising, but nothing ever stuck because it was too complicated. 

So here is the CliffsNotes ® version for you:

BEFORE EXERCISE:

• Nuts (100 grams of almonds or walnuts)
• Oatmeal with a handful of blueberries
• Whole-grain bread with low-fat cheese

AFTER EXERCISE:

• Whey protein and almond milk
• Scrambled eggs with a glass of orange juice

Check out the source article at Lifehack.org to learn about why this optimizes weight loss.

[Source] 

Now that there’s just a few weeks of summer left, you might be pulling out your hair trying to engage and entertain your young kids.

Here’s something you can do with things in your pantry. Chemistry experiments are always fun because it’s all about change.  I love this one because it also teaches kids how to mix primary colors to create a rainbow of colors – or mud when they mix all of the colors together. 

Simply pour baking soda into a glass baking dish.  Then fill 3 glass jars with white vinegar.  Add food coloring to each jar: red, blue, and yellow.  Then let your children pour the vinegar on the baking soda.  They’ll love watching it bubble up and then change colors as they mix the vinegar. 

It’s a great way to get your kids turned on to science!  Make sure you click the link in the source below – there’s a great video!

[Source]