My greatest asset

What is my greatest asset you ask?

There he is.
(the guy on the left I mean)

I adore my husband.  He is fun with the boys and so supportive to me as a wife.   And I also cannot ignore the fact that since I do not work, he is our sugar dadda.  Just kidding.  Ok not really.

So I have been doing research on nutrition for Andrew (reading texts about how to improve neurological connections, increase the mitochondrial ability to utilize energy, detox the body).  In the process, the thought occurred to me that I should try to apply my learning to a new guinea pig--my husband.

Here I am making our morning juice.  P.S. Do you see Joseph in this picture?

I have realized that we as moms work so hard on taking care of the kids that often we forget to take care of our most important asset: the husband, the father, the money maker.

The problem with Mike in particular is his career is extremely taxing--stress, late nights of work, and traveling.

During financial budget season (November and December) Mike works and travels way too much.

I want Mike to continue to be able to be successful in his career for years to come, yet his lifestyle wears his body down and creates mounds of oxidative stress.  Who wants to have a husband that has a heart attack at age 50, or stress-related hair loss, or autoimmune diseases?  I have pointed this out to him and he has agreed to be my guinea pig.

 

We have been on this new plan for a few months now, and Mike says it is working.  I asked Mike and he says his favorite things so far are:

• green drink in the morning (or a "Super Green" pill when I don't ingredients for a green drink); drink is the "Make Juice Not War" here
• multivitamin--full of zippy free radical-fighting antioxidants
• running--this does not always happen, but when he is in town I will beg him to run for 25 minutes--which usually happens around 8pm--it gives him energy to stay up until 1am during budget season
• CoQ10--the best natural coenzyme for those that need more energy (helps produce adenosine-5-triphosphate (remember biology class? ATP=ENERGY))
• probiotic pill--your gut is your second brain, AND where your immune system lives; probiotics get under the layer of crud on the intestinal walls, attach themselves and dislodge the accumulated decay, give a boost to the immune system, alleviate chronic fatigue syndrome, systemic candida, blah, blah, blah
• Omegas 3, 6, 9--I think by now everyone knows (unless they've been living under a rock) that DHA and EPA are essential to brain function
  
• diet--he tries to eliminate sugar/dairy; I know, you are thinking "your husband is willing to do this?" I know, can you believe it?  (while traveling his favorite lunch is salmon w sauteed spinach and a salad)

The good news is I think our plan it is working.

Last year at this time he was miserable, hating his job and showing visible signs of aging.  I had to keep reminding him, "Mike you actually DO love your job, just wait until AFTER the board meeting on December 15th." 

This month's budget season is no less taxing--he is putting in 16 hour days, 85 hour weeks--but he says he feels different. 

This year he is happy (that is good enough progress for me!) and he tells me he actually has energy to do his work.   A big improvement is he used to crash around 2pm--right after lunch--but now he says his energy is sustained and he does not have the fatigue.  I think this is mostly the CoQ10 and taking the sugar out of his diet, but I think the other things help too. 

My proudest moment was last week when he told me that despite having such an insane workload, he feels better than he did in his 20s.   I was so proud!

 

Good job Mike.  Keep up the good work.

Happy Thanksgiving from Malaysia

Three cheers for those Americans!  We spent Thanksgiving dinner at the home of some of our favorite friends in KL Tanya and Tai.

Here are some of the kids getting ready to eat...the little blond boy is T&T's son Tiger.  So cute!  He does the best Michael Jackson dance.

Little Kaile is in the back just dying for some of the yummy turkey (we ordered it cooked from a local Australian butcher and it was fab).

This is what it looks like in November here.  This is their little pool.

Finally sitting down to eat.  Yum!

For dessert we brought these famous Malaysian desserts that Helen taught me how to make.

Singing songs with the iPad.

Yum.  Thanks T&T for hosting!  We had so much fun.

More of Joseph... as if you haven't had enough already.

Joseph and I stopped by Andrew's school this week and Joseph played for a while.  He had so much fun I just had to keep snapping the photos.

Below are A & J at peer play at Andrew's school.  That is when I bring Joseph in and they play together.  They are playing "cooking set" with Xinny. 

Lastly, here are the two Malaysian houses in the neighborhood of Andrew's school that are my favorite.  Random addition to the post I know.

A typical night at the Featherstones

Grandma Jillair sent Andrew a great little present: a birthday book.  He loves it.  Thanks Grandma Jillair!  I took a quick video to catch his reaction. 

This also shows a pretty typical night just finishing dinner, ready for the bath.  And yes, I know Andrew needs a hair cut!  I actally took him the next day, so now it looks much better.

Fun with Joseph