Trees Show Support

When I go walking at lunchtime, I try to take different routes just to keep things interesting.  The area is one of the older parts of town and therefore the trees are HUGE! 

I must really like this tree.  I found four different pictures of it on my phone.

I would love to have a couple of these trees in my yard.  I do have a few new trees, and I know eventually they will be big and beautiful.  It just takes time.

Another area where there are trees that I enjoy looking at is along the main street going through town.  A few years ago the city decided to beautify the area and put in a median with trees and bushes.  They also planted trees along the side of the road too.  These trees are getting really big and with the cooler temperatures, the leaves are changing.  It is so much fun, and so relaxing, to drive down the road as the leaves are falling.  It makes me feel like I'm in a movie. 

One of the things I've noticed about these trees along the street are that some are quite a bit larger than others.  They are the same type of tree, planted at the same time, but some have flourished more than others.  When I look around and take all the variables into consideration the thing I notice the most is that the larger trees are planted near grassy areas. 

I know, I know.. DUH!  The trees have more water that way and therefore can grow bigger faster.  I know the science of it, but the parable of it is what makes me smile the most.

Think of the trees as PWD (people with diabetes) and think of the grassy areas as the DOC (Diabetes Online Community).  We get so much support from our online family that we can flourish that much faster.  Like the trees, the bigger we grow the more we can support others too.  Now, not every tree needs that extra support.  We've all seen that lone tree out in the middle of an open field standing strong and proud. 

I am not that tree. 

I am a tree along the street struggling to get through every challenge and being very grateful for the support I find in the grassy area called the D.O.C.

Time to step up my game

I think there is a automatic shrink machine in my closet and it has targeted my favourite jeans. 

Oh how I wish that were true.  It's not, and I know it, but I would feel a lot less guilty if it was.

It is easy to come up with reasons NOT to exercise.  My first excuse was that my foot hurt.  It really did.  I had a strangled nerve and a severely damaged tendon in my left foot.  Walking just exacerbated the pain.  My second excuse was that I was healing from surgery.  The incision was quite a bit longer than I had expected it to be, and made wearing shoes more difficult.  My third excuse was that it was too hot.  Daytime highs were ranging from 108-115 (Fahrenheit).  It isn't exactly a good idea to be exercising in that heat.

I'm tired of my excuses.

I'm tired of my favourite jeans not fitting.

I AM doing something about it.

My best friend and I have started a little competition.  Every Friday evening at 8:30 we report to each other how many miles we have walked/ran during the week.  The one with the most, wins.  The prize?  Bragging rights.  Come one, we all know bragging rights are sometimes the best prize.  We wanted to set an attainable goal and increase it overtime.  It would be useless to start too high and get discouraged before we even started.  A beginning distance of 3 miles per week was agreed upon.  As we get more comfortable, and huff and puff less, we will increase the distance.  One foreseeable problem is winter.  Even though we live in the desert, the winters can get pretty cold.  Add in the wind, and no one wants to be outside.  Thankfully video games can help.  My Wii has a walking game on one of the disks so I'll still be able to get my mileage in.

I know walking is a great first step (pun totally intended).  I also know that it isn't enough.  I asked the DOC on Twitter last week if anyone had done Zumba and what their opinion was.  I received positive feedback about how much fun and how much of a workout it was.  I have a problem though.  I don't dance.  Honestly, I don't.  The thought of having to "dance" in front of people will keep me home.  This is where video games come into play again.  I know that it is a lot easier to make my husband disappear for an hour than it is to tell a room full of people to not look at me. 

My husband and I went on a mission yesterday to find me a Zumba game for our Wii.  SUCCESS!!  Let me tell you, that is one heck of a workout.  I started with the tutorial to make sure that I could at least do most of the moves.  Barely, but I could.  (Yes, my husband disappeared for an hour.  No, the cats didn't, but at least they don't have camera phones.)  I then did the 20 minute routine for beginners.  Overall it took me about an hour.  I plan on doing a routine three times a week, and increasing in difficulty a little at a time.

One think I need to work on is remembering to set a temporary basal rate.  I didn't this first time, and seeing that 104 on my CGM was nice, but the two arrows down was not.  I don't want to run low during, or after, and have to stop and eat something.  I also don't want to be high throughout the exercise either.  How do I know how much to reduce by? for how long?  Sounds like I'll be testing this out for awhile.  I doubt I'll get it perfect, but keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get at least close.

Even though I had fun, and will be doing this regularly, I don't expect it to help me be comfortable dancing in public.  I'm not sure anything would.  I am hoping that this will scare the automatic shrinking machine out of my closet.  What do you think?

D in the wild

My husband and I have been wanting to replace one of our couches with recliners.  The couch is a dark brown with orange-ish specks hide-a-bed.  It really has served us well over the years, but we're wanting something different.  And we want to put our feet up in the evenings.

There are many a few specifications that I want.  The back can't be too high, or too low.  The seat can't wrap around or be too deep, and I have to have enough room to sit cross legged (perfect book reading position).  On the other hand, the seat has to sit down far enough to make the arm rests truly that... rests, not items three inches below my bent arm.    The colour has to be just the right mix to hide as much cat fur as possible.  With four cats ranging in colour from white to nearly black, I know that will be difficult.  We also don't have the most space, so size is an issue.  Needless to say, sales people love me.

The second place we went to we had the best sales rep.  He wasn't pushy and showed us everything that fit our criteria.  At one point, as I was standing up from one chair, he asked, "So how long have you had diabetes?"  It took me just a second to realize that my pump wasn't hiding under my shirt.  I told him when I was diagnosed.  He said he had just recently found out that his blood sugars were higher than what his doctor liked.  He was going to be going in for a glucose tolerance test soon.  He admitted to being a little nervous about the outcome.  I reassured him that, if the results came back with not so good news, He Could Do This.

I hope his results come back with great news.. but if they don't, I hope to see him around here.  The DOC family always has open arms!!

Wordless Wednesday - Sweet Dreams

Electronic evidence of sweet dreams.

Empty nest is not what I expected

It has been almost two months since we dropped our daughter off at college.  In that time my laundry has decreased by more than half, my groceries have decreased, and my own household chores have increased.

Did you know that going from a household of three people to two people literally cuts the laundry in half?  You would think it would only reduce by 1/3, but no.. half.  This fact still baffles me.  However, a downside to this is that I don't have 'full loads' anymore and my dear husband ran out of socks.  I need to rethink my schedule here.

The decrease in groceries wasn't surprising at all.  We almost lost a gallon of milk though.  I don't drink it very often, and neither does my husband.  So when I saw him having a full glass every meal for the last three days I knew something was up.  I guess we need to downsize to half gallons now.  The irony of this is that my husband just finished the gallon yesterday morning.  As he was making dinner last night he went to get some milk, and there was none.  We had to change the menu for the evening, but all worked out.  We both had a good laugh about it though.

The chores.. well.. what can I say.  I don't like chores.  If I could get the cats toilet trained, then I'd have less to do, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

All in all, this empty nest isn't so bad.  I miss my little bear and love the phone calls and texts I receive from her.  I know she'll be home for the holidays as well as random long weekends.  The most important thing is that she is doing what she has always dreamed of doing, and being successful at it.  In my book, I call that a win.