Blogging

It has been entirely too long since I have played with my blog.  I am sorry, whoever is left out there that still follows me in some way.

Anyway, all kidding aside, I miss my blog friends.  I miss Selma, and Meleah, and Paisley, Ixia and Josie, and everybody else whom I interacted with when I started blogging.  Some of them are Facebook friends, but I have totally lost track of others.  It's hard; sometimes I did not even know their real names, so I have no idea what became of them.

Rainy Morning

The last few days it's been rainy and gloomy where I live. This morning, on the way back from dropping off my kid at school, I was listening to "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire. The song felt especially fitting, knowing it was inspired by The Woodlands, quite close to where I live.

I wished I had a camcorder with me on that short drive through my neighborhood. Everything felt dreary, from the overflowing trash bins sitting on the edge of every driveway (it's trash pickup day) to the line of cars in front of the school; the bike riders getting wet in the drizzle; a lone jogger in purple sweats, a black cat crouching in front of its house, a broken down Jeep Cherokee with a sticker advocating impeachment for Obama, the car that ran the stop sign in my street corner and almost hit me. I would have taken footage of all that and put it together with the song, its whiny melody the perfect soundtrack to a depressing morning.

Maybe I have SAD.

A commenter on a forum I am prone to frequent commiserated.  They sent hugs and said: On days like that, it's difficult to remind yourself that the real joy is in the journey.  And that is true.  On a different day the same things would not drive into a pit of emptiness and despair. There are days when I would see signs that life's quirks are all around us, even in what would appear to be the most common and mundane places. I would get reassurance that no matter what, life goes on and we are all in the same boat. My heart would warm at the sight of siblings walking together to school, or I would chuckle at the notion that a possum visits my neighbor's porch at night to munch on food she leaves there for the couple of street cats that roam our street. But I can't enjoy the journey today. Today I am too wrapped up in my own private dance with the Beast. 

 

 

Best wishes

Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Tidings, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, or whatever floats your boat!

Fire Station Visit

Isabel's Daisy troop visited a fire station this week, Klein Ladder 36, in Tomball.

Kindergarten Holiday Party

Isabel and her friends.

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

New haircut for the tween

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.

My Little Daisy

 

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.