for you, easter bunny

is that a huge carrot on your front door?

yes.

one or two times i've been asked this question.  if it looks like a carrot and acts like a carrot, it usually is a carrot.

the kids thought it was funny until i reminded them of the movie wallace and gromit. remember? they love that movie. the huge bunny that comes out only at night and eats all of what would be prize winning produce from every garden in town?  the bigger the better, that's what i said.  we want the easter bunny to notice us.  it's important to be noticed. 

easter is one of my favorite holiday's.  probably because it's always darn close to my birthday and my birthday is my favorite holiday.  are birthday's holidays?  anyway, i love easter and i love spring almost as much as i love summer because i LOVE the sunshine.  who doesn't?

speaking of sunshine, apart from my bed, our storm door is my favorite part of our home.  i love when the house is full of sunlight.  this makes me grateful for sky lights and big windows too.  i am lucky.

i love sunshine but learned that i do not get enough of it.  

during my visit to the dr. a couple of weeks ago, she took my blood.  when they called with the results i was told i was vitamin d deficient.  so much that she had to prescribe 50,000 iu of vitamin d3 for me to take for the next two weeks and then after, 2000 iu a day at least until summer.

do you know what happens when you're vitamin d deficient?  do you know your body cannot adequately absorb calcium without vitamin d?

for women, it can lead to osteoporosis and cause fatigue, depression and joint pain, to name a few.  research also suggests vitamin d may provide protection from hypertension, cancer and several autoimmune diseases.   

in children, vitamin d deficiency causes rickets which leads to skeletal deformities.

i'd heard of "seasonal affective disorder" and knew it was important to take a multi vitamin but i had no idea that there were so many negative effects of not having enough vitamin d in my body.  

it is estimated that up to 90% of people are vitamin d deficient.  especially as we all become more and more aware of the negative effects that too much sun can have on our overall health.  

so, i started taking this crazy dosage of vitamin d last week and have noticed a considerable difference in my energy level and, i had been dealing with joint pain in two of my fingers for some time which has since become less noticeable.  coincidence? i don't know.  but, i do know that osteoporosis runs in my family and i need to be sure i'm taking care of myself and that my family is being taken care of too.  that's why today, i bought my dear husband his own pill box.  i filled it up with all sorts of goodies for him to swallow every day and i'll be making sure i'm better about giving the kids their vitamins too.

take care of yourself ...