Isabel and her friends.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
World Diabetes Day
Today is World Diabetes Day. I am thinking of my dad today, who passed away due to complications from diabetes almost 21 years ago. I am thinking of my mom, who is struggling with this now, seemingly triggered by other medicines sue needs to take to keep healthy.
I am also thinking of myself. I had been living with a prediabetes diagnosis for two years, and early this year my doctor said it was time to do away with the "pre" and consider that I am a diabetic. I am on Metformin to control my blood sugar, and for the most part it works. But I still have some work to do to optimize my eating and physical activity habits. For example, I need to try to get back to the daily exercise routine I had during the summer. It is said that 30 minutes of walking every day can help keep type 2 diabetes under control.
The Big Blue Test (see video below) in an initiative to create awareness of the importance of physical activity to control blood sugar levels. The test itself is fairly simple:
1- If you are a diabetic, test your blood sugar
2- Do some kind of physical activity for 14 minutes
3- Test your blood sugar again
4- Post your results here: http://bigbluetest.org/
I did it right this morning. My initial value (30 minutes after breakfast) was 155. After exercise, it was 131.
http://bigbluetest.org/
http://www.diabetes.org/
http://stopdiabetes.diabetes.org
I am also thinking of myself. I had been living with a prediabetes diagnosis for two years, and early this year my doctor said it was time to do away with the "pre" and consider that I am a diabetic. I am on Metformin to control my blood sugar, and for the most part it works. But I still have some work to do to optimize my eating and physical activity habits. For example, I need to try to get back to the daily exercise routine I had during the summer. It is said that 30 minutes of walking every day can help keep type 2 diabetes under control.
The Big Blue Test (see video below) in an initiative to create awareness of the importance of physical activity to control blood sugar levels. The test itself is fairly simple:
1- If you are a diabetic, test your blood sugar
2- Do some kind of physical activity for 14 minutes
3- Test your blood sugar again
4- Post your results here: http://bigbluetest.org/
I did it right this morning. My initial value (30 minutes after breakfast) was 155. After exercise, it was 131.
http://bigbluetest.org/
http://www.diabetes.org/
http://stopdiabetes.diabetes.org
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
Funky Brain
I wonder if somebody somewhere has done a study on the mood and mental state of telecommuters versus people who work in an office environment. For various reasons I have worked from home quite a lot the last few weeks, and I feel like I want to climb up the walls.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Morons
There are a lot of sanctimonious morons in this world, typing typing typing away, their judgmental spew oozing with superiority and contempt. Judgmental idiots only feel good when they put someone else down. They know everything there is to know about others, and they disapprove.
Shoo, judgmental idiots. Do not come visit. You are not wanted here. Go blog about plants or something.
Shoo, judgmental idiots. Do not come visit. You are not wanted here. Go blog about plants or something.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Emptiness
Feeling lonely tonight. One kid is at volleyball practice, the other is in bed. My husband is not home yet. I am sitting on the couch listening to earnest songs with piano music and sensitive male voices, making myself sad.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Flow
I am obsessed with the storm door. Why did I wait so long to get one?
I sit in the living room with the patio door open and the storm door window down. I can hear all kinds of sounds outside. Someone is mowing their lawn. Birds chirp here and there, and I hear cicadas. It's pretty cool, and it reminds me of growing up in Puerto Rico in a house with a screen door and screened metal pane, miami-style windows.
I sit in the living room with the patio door open and the storm door window down. I can hear all kinds of sounds outside. Someone is mowing their lawn. Birds chirp here and there, and I hear cicadas. It's pretty cool, and it reminds me of growing up in Puerto Rico in a house with a screen door and screened metal pane, miami-style windows.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Justification for the existence of Auto-tune
The latest Auto-tune the news meme
The one that made Mainstream media notice the trend
The little known, earlier gem
Even infommercials
Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain!
The one that made Mainstream media notice the trend
Bed Intruder Autotune Remix - watch more funny videos
The little known, earlier gem
Even infommercials
Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9/11/01
I had just made it up the elevator and was approaching our team's block of offices when I first heard of the events of September 11, 2001. A co-worker was listening to the news in her portable radio; the second plane hit the South Tower right around that time and it was evident this was not a freak accident, but some kind of a terrorist attack. People were terrified about our city being the next target.
Years later, people have questioned why I did not rush out of the office right away to pick up my child and go home, like other people did. I really do not know why. I guess I just did not think it was necessary. I did not feel in any immediate danger. It all felt so far away, almost unreal. Rather than fearing for my life, I obsessed about the doomed passengers of the hijacked planes, or the people who jumped from the towers. I wondered what I would have done had I been in their shoes, powerless in the face of an inevitable demise.
Not much work got done as we spent hours listening to the radio and checking the Internet for news about the attacks. Sometime that afternoon, an Argentinian colleague expressed his annoyance at our American coworkers "making such a big deal" out of what had happened. I was at a loss for words. I have an appreciation for the fact that there are countries ravaged by political instability and terrorist attacks on a regular basis. When the threat of violence is part of everyday life, you definitely develop a tough skin. But it was insensitive of my colleague to not realize that life in this country was forever changed that day. For the first time an outside enemy had successfully executed a large-scale attack on Continental US soil; worse yet, it was done from the inside, turning our own transportation systems against us. If people were scared and freaking out, it was totally understandable.
Years later, people have questioned why I did not rush out of the office right away to pick up my child and go home, like other people did. I really do not know why. I guess I just did not think it was necessary. I did not feel in any immediate danger. It all felt so far away, almost unreal. Rather than fearing for my life, I obsessed about the doomed passengers of the hijacked planes, or the people who jumped from the towers. I wondered what I would have done had I been in their shoes, powerless in the face of an inevitable demise.
Not much work got done as we spent hours listening to the radio and checking the Internet for news about the attacks. Sometime that afternoon, an Argentinian colleague expressed his annoyance at our American coworkers "making such a big deal" out of what had happened. I was at a loss for words. I have an appreciation for the fact that there are countries ravaged by political instability and terrorist attacks on a regular basis. When the threat of violence is part of everyday life, you definitely develop a tough skin. But it was insensitive of my colleague to not realize that life in this country was forever changed that day. For the first time an outside enemy had successfully executed a large-scale attack on Continental US soil; worse yet, it was done from the inside, turning our own transportation systems against us. If people were scared and freaking out, it was totally understandable.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Cliches
Can we please declare a moratorium on the tired trope of inexperienced parents and poopy diapers? I saw these within a few hours of each other. Honestly, people, let's try a bit harder, OK?
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Friday, September 03, 2010
Friday afternoon
I am a recluse. The last couple of weeks I have spent so many days in a row working from home that I have forgotten what it's like to roam the world at large. My daytime solitude is interrupted only by visits from Cipriana the cleaning lady, an A/C technician and a door installer. I have no friends who would feel compelled to drop by my house casually. Everything has to be scheduled in advance, everybody is too busy or lives so far away.
Friendship was a lot easier when I was young. These days I have more contact with random commentators on some of the blogs I follow than I do with my friends. Maybe I am socially awkward; maybe I can't muster enough interest to put on a happy face and reach out. Who knows.
I venture outside only to drive a child to and from school. I think of mass extinctions, ice shelves breaking apart, and oil spills. I dread getting old, losing my job, dying of hunger, alone and forgotten.
I fight with everybody. I yell at my kids; the slightest hint of an attitude, the dragging of feet when it comes to schoolwork, are enough to send me into paroxysms of rage. I tell my husband to drive safely every time I speak to him on the phone. I am convinced he is going to die of a heart attack or a car accident at any moment.
I am an alien in my own home, married to a man who does not speak my native tongue, raising kids who are mine and yet so different from me. They speak to me in English because they know I can speak it fluently, and as a result their Spanish is rudimentary at best. They are barely interested in my cultural heritage and are utterly unimpressed by my culinary traditions (except for tostones, they all love those).
My children love the idea of Puerto Rico, but they do not miss it like I do. Growing up in Texas is their reality. I miss it so much it hurts, yet I do not jump through hoops to go back. The last time I visited was a year and a half ago; when I was there I felt slightly clueless and out of place, like someone walking into a movie showing that is halfway through and has no idea what is going on.
Friendship was a lot easier when I was young. These days I have more contact with random commentators on some of the blogs I follow than I do with my friends. Maybe I am socially awkward; maybe I can't muster enough interest to put on a happy face and reach out. Who knows.
I venture outside only to drive a child to and from school. I think of mass extinctions, ice shelves breaking apart, and oil spills. I dread getting old, losing my job, dying of hunger, alone and forgotten.
I fight with everybody. I yell at my kids; the slightest hint of an attitude, the dragging of feet when it comes to schoolwork, are enough to send me into paroxysms of rage. I tell my husband to drive safely every time I speak to him on the phone. I am convinced he is going to die of a heart attack or a car accident at any moment.
I am an alien in my own home, married to a man who does not speak my native tongue, raising kids who are mine and yet so different from me. They speak to me in English because they know I can speak it fluently, and as a result their Spanish is rudimentary at best. They are barely interested in my cultural heritage and are utterly unimpressed by my culinary traditions (except for tostones, they all love those).
My children love the idea of Puerto Rico, but they do not miss it like I do. Growing up in Texas is their reality. I miss it so much it hurts, yet I do not jump through hoops to go back. The last time I visited was a year and a half ago; when I was there I felt slightly clueless and out of place, like someone walking into a movie showing that is halfway through and has no idea what is going on.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Opinions
The older I get, the more I dislike the idea of writing about "important topics" from an armchair expert's perspective. Socrates was so right.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Summer
Wow, I just realized I never got around to posting the rest of the pictures I had taken from earlier this summer.
The school recess is almost over. Isabel still has a couple of weeks of summer camp left. I just had a week's vacation and the prospect of getting back to work tomorrow is not that exciting. My mom visited for two weeks. She left on Friday and already I miss her terribly.
These days my time on the web is spent mostly reading the news and media blogs, and sometimes on Facebook (which bores me, for the most part).
The school recess is almost over. Isabel still has a couple of weeks of summer camp left. I just had a week's vacation and the prospect of getting back to work tomorrow is not that exciting. My mom visited for two weeks. She left on Friday and already I miss her terribly.
These days my time on the web is spent mostly reading the news and media blogs, and sometimes on Facebook (which bores me, for the most part).
Sunday, June 27, 2010
National Mall # 3: Korean War Memorial
Both my father and my stepfather served during the Korean War, although neither of them wound up in the line of fire. This is for them.
Washington DC # 1
On Saturday, May 29th, while Isabel, Paula and my in-laws stayed for the wedding rehearsal, Gabe and I took the train from Shady Grove to Dupont Circle. We had breakfast at a bookstore/cafe, and then Gabe showed me around his old stomping grounds. Then we walked up Embassy Row until we reached National Cathedral.
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