Update

I just wanted to post a quick update on my friend's daughter that I spoke of here.

Her heart surgery was yesterday and all went well.  The cardiologist discovered the exact problem and was able to 'fix' it with nearly a 100% successful prognosis.  She has what is called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.  It is an extremely rare condition affecting 0.1 - 0.3% of the general population. 

I have not had the opportunity to see her yet as the surgery had to be done at a special children's hospital in a different city, but I can assure you once I do I will hug her as tight as she can handle.  Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers.  I passed each one along to the family and they wanted to make sure I let everyone know how much they were appreciated.

2013 Diabetes Goals

This post is my January entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2013/january-dsma-blog-carnival-2/

My list of Diabetes goals for 2013

One of the goals that I have for 2013, diabetically speaking, I have already achieved. January 4th I had my regularly scheduled endo appointment. I wasn't expecting to leave with a LOWER A1C, but I did. I had hoped to have a lower than 7 sometime in 2013. I just wasn't expecting it to be four days in... and AFTER the holidays!

SO..

Goal 1: Have a lower than 7.0 A1C = CHECK

Goal 2: More than one no hitter day on my CGM in a month/week =

Goal 3: Purchase extra 'clothes' for my pump =

Goal 4: Actually order my G4 before the 'upgrade discount' expires =

Goal 5: Exercise consistently for longer than 3 weeks =

Goal 6: Figure out a more attractive D-bag =

I'm sure I could.. and I know I do.. have more goals. Some of these are trivial and really have nothing to do with my physcial health, but they make me smile.

48 Things that may or may not be common knowledge

I've seen a couple posts around the blogosphere answering these 48 questions. I've really enjoyed reading them, so I thought I'd join them. Thank you Cherise at Diabetes Social Media Advocacy for starting this.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
- I have the same middle name as my Great-Grandmother

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
- Yesterday

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
- When I take my time, ya.. I kinda like it.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? - Turkey ham

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
- 1 Daughter
4 Felines
3 Fish
1 Husband

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? - Probably... Especially at dinner time. I've been told I cook good.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
- I speak therefore I use sarcasm. <grin>

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
- Yup.. and they actually work and don't give me problems, unlike OTHER body parts. (Ahem..pancreas!!)

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
- I used to think so, but the older I get...I'm not so sure.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? - Cereal is EVIL! Before it got all mean, my favorite was Maple Oatmeal Squares.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? - Yes I do! (unless my daughter isn't reading.. and then no, not all the time)

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? - When I have to be.. yes. Unless it's trying to open the jar of honey, then no. Honey = Cement

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? - Chocolate Marshmallow

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
- Facial expression.. or their hair, depending on if they are facing me or not.

15. RED OR PINK?
- Orangy red.. or Blueish Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
- My habit of starting too many projects.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
- It changes. Ask me again in a year and my answer will be different.

18. WHAT IS THE TECHNIQUE THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST?
- Being a duck.

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
- Black

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
- Two eggs, over medium with a slice of homemade flax seed whole wheat bread.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
- Roxette

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
- Periwinkle

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
- Baby powder and desert rain.

24. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS TO YOU?
- Important enough to not discuss them

25. MOUNTAIN HIDEWAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE?
- Mountain hideaway, with a stream nearby.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
- Football

27. HAIR COLOR?
- Brown-ish

28. EYE COLOR?
- Hazel

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
- Nope

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
- BBQ beef ribs or a good Chimichanga

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
- Happy endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
- I honestly don't remember. I must have fallen asleep.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
- BLUE. (Happy Blue Fridays!!)

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
- Winter. You can always put more layers on, but you can only strip down so far, and not get arrested.

35. FAVORITE DESSERT?
- German Chocolate Cheesecake.

36. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO?
- Cardio

37. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION?
- TV.. if I must, but I usually have a book in my hand too.

38. WHAT BOOK(s) ARE YOU READING NOW?
- A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Diana Gabaldon
Illusion - Frank Peretti
Friendships of Women - Dee Brestin
Spiritual Moms - Lynn Wilford Scarborough

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
- My coffee cup. It works great as a coaster.

40. FAVORITE SOUND?
- Rain on a tin roof.

41. FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC?
- Depending on my mood and activity. Cleaning house requires different music than yard work.

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
- Mexico

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
- I've been told that I am a keeping of useless knowledge. I'm not sure that's a talent though.

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
- Small town hospital in Arizona.  Funny fact: the nurse that was there when I was born, was the nurse I had when my daughter was born.

45. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?
- Small town in Utah.

46. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HOUSE?
- Beige with a tint of dust.

47. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR?
- White with a hint of road grime.

48. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING 48 QUESTIONS?
- It was fun.  Now.. it is YOUR turn.

It got me

Yes.. it's true.. a winter cold has finally gotten me.  The heaviness in my chest.. the scratchiness at the back of my throat.. the lack of desire to get out of bed.  Oh wait.. that's normal.

I have founght a good fight, but must confess... tempuratures in the teens is too much for me.  I live in the desert!  We consider it really cold when it's in the 30's (insert wimp comment here).  Yes.. I admit.. I prefer the cold to the heat ( I know I know..."Then why do you live in the desert?").. but waking up to a tempurate of 16 F with a windchill that knocks it to -20 is too much for my immune system.

I promise to drink lots of fluids.. lemon water, specifically.  I promise to get more rest..well.. more than 5 hours per night.  I promise to test more often..now where is that box of lancets. 

Please pass the cough drops and the tissues. 

We should all be Cactus

Yup.. A cactus. Not just any cactus though.

A Christmas Cactus, a Schlumbergera bridgessii.

This one really likes sitting in my kitchen window.

In the last couple days I have been in touch with a couple friends and offered up prayers for them and their various loved ones.

One friend's dog ate a couple things he shouldn't have and ended up needing surgery to remove them. This was after two days of not know what the problem was. The dog just stopped eating and drinking. When he would eat something, he would vomit it back up. Keep in mind the dog is about 10 1/2 years old, not a young pup by any means, so it could have been anything. The surgery was successful. They removed the items. Then the vet called and expressed concern about him making it through the night because of his age. It doesn't make it any easier with him being older. Some would say, "He's lived a good life" or "That's really expensive for a pet." However, I know he is one of the family. Just of the kids who happens to be in a fur coat.

I checked in with another friend about her daughter. A month or so ago this friend's daughter was taken to the ER because her heart wouldn't stop racing. After much monitoring and many tests it was determined that she needed to see a cardiologist. That appointment was this weeek. They were told that to fully determine the issue, open heart surgery is needed. There are two possibilities of the problem... we're hoping for the first, and not the second. The daughter... 16 years old.

I'm not so sure I would be handling either situation as well as they are.

OK.. so now you're wondering what does a Christmas Cactus have to do with all this.

I love plants. It is very relaxing to me to "play" with my plants. I can grow many many things. Except ivy. In my house, ivy dies, no matter what I do. I have a Mother-In-Law Tongue that is over four feet tall and blooms every year. The blooms smell so good... until they wilt. I get them cut off and out of the house quickly at that point.

Christmas catcus are another of my favorites. I had a difficult time at first getting them to bloom. So I did a bunch of research. Come to find out.. they bloom best when stressed. That is probably an over simplification, but hear me out. The 'experts' say that to get the best and most blooms the plant needs to have a lot of darkness at the right time, kept rather cool (around 50-55 degrees), needs to be underwatered, and be pot-bound.

Now, I don't know about you.. but if I were kept in the dark in a cold room with very little water and not enough room to move.. I'd be stressed and then some! However, this catcus, under those exact circumstances, blooms prettier and more abundantly than it's plant mates in a paradise-ical (yup.. new word of the day) environment. SO MANY lessons we could take away from that.

So.. next time you're feeling stressed and the struggles are mounting, remember the Christmas Cactus and it's blooms. You can... and will... bloom just as lovely as it does. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you'll look more beautiful.

Wordless Wednesday - Peaceful Sunrise

There is just something soothing about a beautiful sunrise.

I tried.. I really REALLY tried!

(OK.. this is the second attempt at the Sushi Party post..Pictures linked this time...at least in the preview they did)

For the record... I tried. I really did. I made it through, but was later told I had turned about 4 different shades of green.

I'm talking about sushi.



One of my daughter's wishes for this Christmas was to have a Sushi Party with the family. We were going to do it all; cut all the ingredients, make the rice, and roll it in the Nori... everything.

Water chestnuts, green and red bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, bamboo, green onions...
 

Cutting the skin off the salmon.

 

Now the rice was fun.  After cooking it up in my rice cooker, we had to add the "sauce".  A mix of rice wine vinegar and sugar.  While turning and fanning the rice.. yes fanning.. we fanned with the cutting board... we had to drizzle the sauce over the rice.

 

I now know why it is called Sticky Rice..

 

It was perfect.  Even the layout looked inviting.

 

Notice the Christmas tray with Penguins.  Penguins are a necessity for any Christmas activity.

We rolled...

RESIST THE URGE TO OVER STUFF

 

And stuffed...

 

Some of us overstuffed anyway.



And cut and shared...

First tray full

Second tray full. 

We were having so much fun... Until the eating.

That's when I started turning multiple shades of green.  There was some sort of smell that was not agreeing with me.  It wasn't the shrimp (even though I don't eat shrimp.. it wasn't bothering me), or the salmon, or the tuna, or even the eel (nope.. don't eat eel either, but my Mom does).  I ate a couple pieces, but anytime anyone needed anything from the kitchen I'd go get it.  You know.. Mom's duty and all.  I am proud to to say.. I successfully kept everything down.  It was hard.... MAN was it hard. 

I couldn't confess to my daughter that her Christmas wish was making me sick.  So I sucked it up and ate what I could.  I had bolused for a dubious amount of rice and started to fear that I would drop low if I didn't eat more.  Thankfully there were lots of cookies in the kitchen, so every trip I snuck one.  BGs stayed level without dropping low.  Yay for cookies!!!

The one last thing I ate was a tuna stuffed rice ball.  THAT was tasty.  So we discovered my problem.  It wasn't any of the stuffings that weren't agreeing with me, it was the Nori.  Darn seaweed was trying to make me the same shade as it!

It was a learning experience.  One I will not forget... ever.  I learned I DON'T like Nori.  Give me a rice ball, or a separate plate of all the ingredients and I'm good.. but you can keep the Nori.













Technology 1 Me 0

Ok ok.. I don't get it.

I'm trying to do a really cool post about our Sushi Making Party at Christmas.. and it won't let me insert pictures from my computer.  Dumb computer.