Bella, Edward, Jacob and french fries at lunch

I had lunch at the food court on post last week. Charlie's has these grilled sub meals that come with a drink and a side of fries. Italians have no respect for french fries at all. They make sure to put your french fires in the bag first. By the time your sandwich is ready your fries have been sitting in the bag for five minutes so they are nice and cold. The very opposite of how I like them. More on the morays of fast food Italian style in a later post.

While I was waiting in line for my lukewarm fries, a burly soldier holding his young daughter's hand caught my attention. She looked about 11 years old. She was chatting with him about nothing in particular, but I honed in on their conversation for two reasons. The first because I did not want to think about how confusing it would be for the Italians who work at Charlie's if I asked for my fries to go in the bag last. They don't like change back there. The second reason the father and daughter caught my attention was because a big guy like him in uniform holding his daughter's hand is beyond cute. That's why I heard her ask him: "Daddy, do you like Twilight?" She immediately had all of my attention. Time stood still for a few seconds as looked up at the soldier. He smiled brightly and nodded yes. She asked if would take her to see the new movie when it comes out next week. Again he nodded and smiled yes. I exhaled deeply. I was holding my breath in fear that he might say no in which case I would step in and offer to take her next week when I go to see it for the second time.

The movie premiered last night in Italy. I went with an Italian friend in Verona. The movie comes out in English on the base next week. I could not wait that long so I watched it dubbed in Italian last week. I am not ashamed to admit that I loved the movie so much that it made me cry. It's that good if you love the books. I imagine it is a very strange experience watching without having read the books. The movie was made for Stephanie Meyers' vast legion of fans, and it is more accessible to adults than the previous installments of the series. It deals with a complex issues such as sex, intense romantic and platonic love, motherhood, abortion and of course life and death. All this set against the backdrop of a host of supernatural characters. It will be a sad day at the end of part II. All will be resolved and we will never see or heae of Bella and Edward again. A sad day indeed.

Find your own cure

I'm not one for holistic medicine. If I'm in pain give me an Aleve. I don't believe in herbs, teas and natural remedies. My entire childhood was plagued with food allergies. My parents stuffed me with supplements and teas from the the South American bush in hopes of a homeopathic cure. None of it worked for me. Eventually I out grew some of my allergies. I had to learn how to manage the others.

All that being said I began running hard core three years ago. Not for any particular reason...Well perhaps there was a particular reason. I was looking for something physical to throw myself into. I was fresh off of a break up, and nothing frees the mind of dark memories like intense physical activity. I was running from my past. I'm all about mind over matter. Even when my body begged me to stop I pushed it beyond its limits. I achieved my goals, but at a t price. I strained my hip muscle, badly.

My visit to my primary care physician got me a referral to a sports orthopedist who suspected me of being a closet anorexic running herself to death. Fortunately for me he believed me when I said I was naturally thin, and loved to eat. He prescribed an analgesic and gave me a prescription to see a physical therapist. I hate physical therapy. It hurts, and that guy reduced me to tears. He didn't say I would never run again, but almost. I eased up on the running. I worked out. I stretched. I went to physical therapy twice. I cried. I fell in love. I got married. I interviewed Arianna Huffington. I quit my awesome job. I moved to Italy. I suffered though, because the pain did not go away through any of it.

Then I became obsessed with my hair. I spent a lot of time reading about haircare and came across two supplements that have changed my life: Silica and MSM. Since I began taking these over the summer the pain has subsided and my hair looks awesome. Why didn't any of doctors I saw tell me about natural supplements that could help me? The truth is I might not have been ready to hear that message or perhaps they wanted me to keep coming to see them. Through my own research I found a natural cure for my joint and muscle pain. I wonder what else Mother Nature has in store for me...