We’re already halfway through the summer and by any measure this has been a hot one! A few years ago I had two proposals to decide between; one, install central air conditioning or two, install solar panels on the roof. We decided that we could live without the A.C. and could tough out the handful of dog days of summer. So we went with the green alternative and now generate a lot of energy with our solar panels. But this summer has been a challenge. Working outside designing and building residential gardens, it gets hot!  At night, I can feel my body releasing the trapped heat of the day.  I’ve discovered a great new use for my Paradice icepacks, though!  A perfect, cold buddy for falling asleep at night in the heat, they have become my portable A.C. pack! The cold dry fabric pack gives off enough cooling power to make the unbearable bearable until I drift off to sleep!  A pair of P150 cuffs slipped onto my feet, or the 6×9 flatpack on my head, I’ve found the way to chill this summer!!  P.S. Check out our mention in the August issue of Self Magazine on page 76–We certainly are a COOL AID and FROZEN TREAT!!

Every day as I go online to read my e-mails, I allow myself to get sidetracked and read celebrity news headlines or breaking news headlines, then I finally get down to business. Lately I’m reading a lot of USA Today info about exercise and leading sports injuries.  I’m shocked to learn that only 40% of all Americans are getting enough exercise. Come on people–how can we sit here and complain about health care and drug companies, as we become more and more dependent upon them,  when we each have the power to make ourselves healthier by MOVING our bodies a little more often?? Of course I’m being simplistic and yet not really since most great change begins in a small way. Maybe we should all make a renewed commitment to exercise this Spring as it remains a powerful way to express our independent American spirit.  As our mentors have said, actions speak louder than words!

Today I have been sorting through boxes of photographs, and what has stood out for me is how young my youngest daughter was when we began developing Paradice icepacks.  I came across a picture of her stretching up on her toes and craning her neck to get a look at an assortment of icepack prototypes that I had sewn in hot green fabric that were set out on the kitchen countertop.  The icepacks and the kitchen show up in many of the photos I’m looking through today.  There is the kitchen table on Mother’s day–set for me with a delicious lunch and homemade cards and presents (created by that same grinning little one, her sisters and her Dad).  Then there is a great photo of her big sister with two icepacks tied with a scarf against her jaws on the day her wisdom teeth were pulled. (She would be so mad if I showed anyone that picture!!). I even found a photo of our dog with an icepack on his leg after he had his knee rebuilt. This family and our icepack have come a long way since these photos in front of me. Today, many other families are opening their freezers and grabbing the family friendly solution to cold therapy that we started here in our kitchen.  I love my kitchen and all the great stuff that happens in it!

My friend Jessica is a prolific writer and blogger.  Yesterday I caught up with her blog and learned that her husband recently took a spill on an icy sidewalk and ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery.  Here is our email exchange:

Jessica, thanks for keeping me posted about your blog, I enjoy reading it!  I’m sorry to hear that your husband broke his ankle!  I hope he’s doing well.  He should try one of our ice packs for his ankle–Grove Pharmacy has them in stock or I could get one to you.  (then you could blog about it and we would become rich and famous and instead of hanging out at Egan’s we could be relaxing in St. Bart’s on the beach!)  The great thing about them is you can treat your injury in bed with no mess.  I know because I tore a ligament in my foot last winter and would fall asleep every night with one of our ice cuffs around my throbbing foot until it finally healed.  ANYWAY… hope all is well and we should all do another Moms night out soon.

Jessica replied:  As fate would have it, we received a Paradice pack as a get well gift from one of your Montclair fans.  If I ever have time to write again, I just may blog about it—although I’m sorry to say that my small blog audience will not land us in St. Barts.  Maybe the Short Hills Hilton if we’re lucky.  Also, I know that my son has landed at your home at least once since we dined that night.  So thanks for having him.