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Entry bubble You. Me. Thanksgiving.

By: Nancy | November 27, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Here we are again for the second year in a row:  You. Me. Turkey Day. If you won't ask me what I'm doing blogging all by myself on Thanksgiving, I won't ask you why you're reading a blog today instead of watching to see which balloon pops first in the Macy's Parade. Or eating a hunk of pie. Or, ideally, doing both at the same time.

Jake's already given you lots of great Thanksgiving tips from USA.gov and around the government web to help you make sure that—

Regardless of how you're celebrating today, you'll know the story of what happened that first Thanksgiving...


You'll practice safe food handling in preparing your turkey...


You'll know what to do with all those leftovers...


Yep, we've covered it all now, except for one thing—what we're thankful for here at Gov Gab headquarters:

You.

Thank you for stopping by, for reading, commenting, emailing us, and for telling your friends and your coworkers about Gov Gab.p

When we're counting our blessings today, we're thinking of you.

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Entry bubble Get Ready for Turkey!

By: Jake | November 25, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

I suggested a way you can work off those extra calories from your Thanksgiving turkey yesterday. Today I'm going to get you prepared for Turkey Day.

Turkey CalendarThe best way to get ready is to go to the USA.gov Thanksgiving page. Here you will find information on everything you need to get ready for Thanksgiving. The page will help you find air travel status for those of you flying, send thanks to members of the U.S. military or learn how astronauts eat turkey in space. Of course there's also tons of recipes with the usual ways to cook your turkey and some unusual ones.

I'm a big fan of trivia and I got these Thanksgiving tidbits from USA.gov:

I'm posting today in Joanne's absence while she attends to a family emergency. I'm sure if she was writing today she'd say the most important thing on Thanksgiving is to be very thankful for what you have, especially those you love.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: cooking   jake   sleep   thanksgiving   tryptophan  

 

Entry bubble Run Off Your Thanksgiving Turkey!

By: Jake | November 24, 2008 | Category: Health

JoggerTurkey Day is this week and Nancy will be here to assist you with all your Thanksgiving needs (you need to provide your own dinner, of course). If you're like some of my friends, you're already wondering how you are going to work that dinner off your body. Might I suggest going for a jog?

It may seem like an odd suggestion coming from someone who's not a runner, but I've noticed recently that running is a good way to work off any meal - big or small. My girlfriend always wanted to run a marathon and she ran the Richmond Marathon last week. After she signed up for it in August she averaged 25 miles of running per week, along with exercises to strengthen her core. She did this in addition to her demanding job as a fifth grade teacher (seriously - not an easy job). I played the role of Mickey Goldmill by cooking, cleaning, and getting a bike to help her train on some of her longer distance runs.

She had a diet she followed during her training, but she was able to eat a lot more than usual. You may not want to train for a marathon but, at the very least, running provides a way to work off those (sometimes) excessive holiday meals. There is plenty of government information on exercise, but there isn't a lot regarding running. I did find information about running by searching Healthfinder.gov from the American Podiatric Medical Association and American Academy of Podiatric Sports. As you might imagine, running causes a lot of stress on your feet and it is important you select the right shoes. In addition to taking a look at those links, you should check with your doctor about how you should approach running to make it a permanent hobby so you can always say yes to that second helping of turkey.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: exercise   jake   marathon   thanksgiving   turkey  

 

Entry bubble Thanksgiving, Gov Gab Style

By: Nancy | November 22, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

turkey looking at calendarIt's ok.

I know you're not reading a government blog today. You're at the table with your family, negotiating with your 10-year-old nephew for the second drumstick (go on, let the kid have it). Or you're with your gang, having a Friends kind of Thanksgiving. Or you're going it solo this year, kicking back at home, watching the parades and football games and enjoying your own version of Thanksgiving dinner. A friend of mine is making herself some glazed Spam today. See, that's good eatin' if you asked me.

But you didn't. Because you're not here.

If you were though, I'd be telling you about USA.gov's Thanksgiving page. Its facts, tips and trivia could actually save you during dinner discussion today, distracting your mom from asking you when you were going to give her a grandchild because she's "tired of waiting and you're not getting any younger, you know."

You could have been your family's Top Chef, learning how to cook turkey safely, the old fashioned way in the oven or by using alternate methods. I'm kind of partial to my cousin Tim's "boiler 'im up in oil" deep fryer technique.

The Thanksgiving page could have made you the know-it-all of the family, with US Census Bureau Thanksgiving stats like:

  • 1.6 billion pounds of sweet potatoes are produced each year in the US. No word on how many millions of pounds of marshmallows it takes to top all the resulting sweet potato casseroles.
  • There are nine "Turkey Townships" in the US, three of them in Kansas alone. Don't know what's up with that.
  • 272 million turkeys are raised in the US each year, only one of which gets a pardon from the President and a free trip to Disney World.  Something tells me tofurkeys don't get that same honor. 

Or you could have been the family historian, holding up dessert by first making everyone listen to your recitation of America's Thanksgiving beginnings, including George Washington's proclamation that established the holiday.

But see, you can't do any of those things because you're not here learning about them with your lonely Thursday blogger. But I'll be ok. Really. You just go right ahead and have yourself a Happy Thanksgiving. And eat some of that cranberry jelly stuff for me.  And a roll.  Two rolls.  Oh, and some of that pie...

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Entry bubble Food, Family, & Football

By: Sam | November 21, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

Colleen likes to say that Thanksgiving is for food, family, friends, and football.  I couldn’t agree more.  Except, I hail from the South where game day is on Saturday.  And this Saturday my GA Bulldawgs play the Ramblin’ Wreck from GA Tech.  With only 70 miles separating the schools, this annual slugfest gives the winner bragging rights at family dinners and neighborhood BBQs for the coming year.

Saturday also marks the last regular season game in college football.  With a season full of surprises (An undefeated Kansas? A 2-9 Notre Dame? ), one common thread is the amount of injuries the players sustain.  From concussions to torn ACLs, there’s not a week that goes by where one of your favorite players or Heisman candidates isn’t sitting on the sidelines injured.

Even though I don’t sweat it out on the gridiron every Saturday, I do try to workout  several times a week, particularly right before Thanksgiving.  And over time, I have succumbed to plenty of my own injuries.  So much so that I no longer associate the word rice with food but instead with rest, ice, compression, and elevation.

Some of my most common injuries are those pesky sprains and strains.  And for as long as I’ve been running, I can never remember the difference between the two.  Thankfully, this great sprains and strains Q & A publication helps me sort it all out and gives me great tips on how I can prevent them.     

Lately, sprains and strains haven’t been the only problems that keep me sidelined from my workouts.  Unfortunately, years of pounding the pavement haven’t been too kind on my knees.  I now try to switch up my workouts with more gentle aerobic exercises like walking or swimming (watch out Michael Phelps).

Feel free to share how you like to say fit, whether it’s by gardening or jogging, and what you do to prevent injuries.  Meanwhile, I’ll be gearing up for Saturday’s showdown in the ATL.  Go Dawgs!!!

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: exercise   fitness   football   injuries   sports   thanksgiving   workout  

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