THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

SWOPPER
The Swopper is a German stool which allows the sitter to tilt, lean and bounce. They call it active sitting. I call it comfortable and the best desk chair I've come across. I bought my first set of Swoppers years ago as seating at our breakfast bar. Now we also use them at our desks. They are pricey, but I spend a lot of time at the computer and figure it's a small price to pay to avoid back ache.

The look is attractive high tech, and they are quite durable. The colors are rich and vibrant. I bought mine from the good folks at Fitter International in Calgary. Their web site is fitter1.com


NIKE SHOCKS
Nike Shocks have been in the marketplace for some years now, and until this year, I could never get a decent fit in that model, so I gave up long ago. Then last year, my friend Val gave me a pair which were bought for her husband but were too small for him. I wore them to do my fitness walks on vacation in California. Wow, they were soooo cushy. Though a small man's shoe actually fit me and my orthotics, they looked like boats on my feet and stuck out so far behind my heel that they may have been dangerous. I passed on the male model to a guy in CA and resumed my search. It wasn't until this summer, again in California, that I found a pair of Shocks that fit well. I bought two pair right then and there. And I LOVE them.

More than any other athletic shoe I've ever had, the Nike Shocks actually DO absorb much of the impact of walking, especially in the heel strike. I presume I have a very hard heel strike because I quickly wear off the back of the heel on my walking shoes and hiking boots. When I walk in the Shocks, there is a noticeable decrease in the impact of that heel strike. Though the heel strike doesn't come into play so much in low impact aerobics and step, the Shocks work well for me in those fitness formats. It's convenient to have athletic shoes that work well for so many sports.

The one exception I've found is MUD. Because of the open space under the shock absorbers, Shocks are not good for muddy paths. We were training on a local hill this fall at the end of hiking season. We went up and down this hill ten times in an hour to get a huff and puff cardio workout. When the trail got wet, the shocks collected all the mud and grass that could pack in that available space. Each foot weighed a pound or two more than normal. It took me a full hour outside with the garden hose to clean up those shoes the next day. Not gonna do that again.




MICROPLANE GRATERS
Vacationing in Carmel Valley, California a couple of years ago, we came across a fabulous knife shop. Among our purchases was a Microplane zester which has made a change for the better in my cooking. I love orange and lemon zest in salad dressings, baking, etc, etc, but I never wanted to lose the time or knuckle skin required to get the rind off the fruit. Problem solved with this great grater which is my current kitchen gizmo.

The zester was just my introduction to the Microplane line of graters. I now have several more models, each designed for a specific task. The other one that I use a lot is the cheese grater. Just before serving the salad, I run the hard romano over the grater a few licks and, voila, a perfect sprinkle of cheese offers a taste kick that enhances most any green salad. Anything to make salads interesting is in our best interest, don't ya think.