Hot Wings and Nursing Research

What a fun weekend!  J. and I spent a lot of time with his family, including his funny and adorable niece and nephew.  We spent Saturday afternoon at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science...

Hello from the museum! What a pretty view!

 ...followed by dinner and games at Dave and Buster's.  Today, we had lunch with the fam at Dino's - a great little Italian restaurant on Colfax and Kipling with the best homemade spaghetti!  After lunch, we did some shopping at Colorado Mills outlet mall.  In the fitting room of Banana Republic (my favorite store) is where I determined that I really REALLY need to get back into the habit of working out (and cut down on eating out).  So I want to know if you all have any tips for squeezing a workout into a busy schedule.  And also, can someone teach me how to like running??  Because I can't seem to grasp this concept.

J. and I thought we should make a contest out of it - get a bathroom scale and have weekly weigh-ins to motivate us to get-movin'!  Has anyone else tried this "biggest loser" plan?  Though we both agreed that it was a good idea, it did not prevent us from making our first batch of homemade hot wings for Sunday night football (with a whole stick of butter - Paula Deen would be proud).  They turned out really good, and I had to eat a pear afterward to make myself feel better.

NOW, I am procrastinating this assignment for Nursing Research.  I think this is a very important class, especially in the context of evidence-based nursing practice.  I think it is important for nurses to be able to read, understand and critique research articles for their accuracy, validity and applications to practice.  I understand why we have to do this.  HOWEVER, I have a lot of experience with research.  Not necessarily nursing research, but research in general.  Between my liberal arts biology degree, my graduate certificate in clinical investigation, and my work experience in clinical research...I am really unmotivated to participate in this class. 

But I know I can always learn more, so I will try.  At least I chose a fairly interesting article to critique - about the effects of early mother-infant skin-to-skin contact on successful breastfeeding.  As it turns out, early skin-to-skin contact seems to have positive effects on successful breastfeeding habits as opposed to babies being taken for assessment and swaddling immediately post-birth and then being returned to their mothers.  Here is information for the article if you are interested in the details of the study:

Moore, E. R., & Anderson, G. C.  (2007).  Randomized controlled trial of very early mother-infant skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding status.  Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, 52, 116-125.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.