On top of everything else...

I am a type 2 diabetic. I was diagnosed with diabetes around 14 years ago. I have taken various oral medications since then. I took the pills - faithfully but I didn't do much else. I seldom took my BG. I made up the #'s I told my doctor (like he wouldn't be able to tell I was lying from the A1c he was about to have drawn). That was then.

2 years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. This changed my life a lot. I had to go gluten-free and I was good about it. I attended support group meetings and I read all labels before eating anything.

1.5 years ago I had a heart attack.

Now, I am going all out and taking care of my diabetes. I'm testing. I'm eating well. I'm exercising. I'm happy. I found the DOC and I love it here.

More later... I just wanted to give this a start and to come out of the closet with my diabetes.

Thanks for reading.

Things I'm lovin' right now

• Fall - taking long walks through the multicolored leaves
• Barnes & Noble - just spending a Saturday afternoon browsing in the books and reading all the magazines I can't afford to buy
• Spending time with my daughter and baby grandson, Ivan, who's 6 months old (see photo above)
• Pumpkins - on my porch, in a smoothie, in pie, pancakes, in a bowl, in a glass or any old way
• Coffee drinks - I'm addicted to skim, sugar-free, non-whip vanilla lattes
• Twitter - mostly reading other's tweets
• Cookbooks - I have 80 at last count
• My front porch - I love to sit out there and read magazine
• Magazines - I won't tell how many I subscribe to but it isn't enough no matter how many there are

What are you lovin right now?

The Mercury hit 112* F for the first time since 1936

No matter how you measure it, Yesterday it was hot in Topeka

THE TOPEKA CAPITAL-JOURNAL

"By Corey Jones Copyright 2011 . Tim Hrenchir Copyright 2011 ."

"If there is a silver lining in the searing heat wave scorching the Midwest, it is of its historic nature. Topekans can one day tell their offspring how they walked to summer school uphill both ways in temperatures that reached a staggering 112 degrees, melting the sidewalks.



Kids and grandkids may roll their eyes, but a portion of that story actually will be true.



Topekans on Tuesday sweltered through the capital city's highest temperature in nearly 75 years.



The National Weather Service reported the mercury topped out at 112 degrees Tuesday afternoon at its office near Philip Billard Municipal Airport.



Temperatures previously had last gotten that high locally on Aug. 15, 1936, when they reached 112 degrees, said Shawn Byrne, a meteorologist for the weather service's Topeka office.



The 112-degree reading also eclipsed the city's past record high for Aug. 2 of 106, set in 2010. The city's top heat index Tuesday also was 112.



The weather service reported Tuesday's temperature was among the six highest ever recorded in Topeka.



The other mercury readings on that list were:



■ The city's all-time high of 114, on July 24, 1936.



■ The city's record high for August of 113, recorded on Aug. 13 and Aug. 14, 1936.



■ 112, recorded on Aug. 10 and Aug. 15, 1936.



Byrne said Topeka set an unofficial all-time high Tuesday when the mercury reached 105 before noon, which was the city's highest such mark since the weather service in 1978 began keeping unofficial records of the highest temperatures recorded in the capital city by noon.



The weather service has been keeping weather records in Topeka since 1887.



Tuesday marked the 21st day this year that triple-digit temperatures had been recorded in Topeka. The city's record number of 100-degree days in a year is 59, set in 1936.



Topeka's highest number of triple-digit temperature days in a year since 1954, when it saw 30, came in 1980, when it recorded 24."

I'm praying that fall comes early.

How about you?

Astraphobia

What's that you say? It's the fear of lightning and thunder and yes, I have it. I've been afraid of lightning since I was 9 years old. I remember walking beside an old brick building with my mother. A bolt of lightning hit the chimney of the building and bricks scattered all around me. I don't remember being hit by the falling bricks but my mother said that I opened my mouth to scream and no sound came out. I was struck dumb. Since then I cringe when I see lightning. It's a reflex. I don't run and hide under the bed like my cat does but I absolutely experience fear. Fortunately it's not bad enough that I need to seek treatment. I guess having a phobia makes me human and that's a good thing.

What's yours?


More later...

Oh what a tangled web

Spent a few minutes this morning sitting on my front porch in the mid 60 degree temps, holding my big black lap cat, and watching a crafty little spider make its web. The web spanned several feet  from pole to pole. I watched quietly. No need to destroy all the work that went into spinning it.After all, spiders help get rid of insects and the web wasn't in my way. I simply enjoyed the early morning example of the glorious things we can see in the natural world.

Then I went to work.

More later...

Fishing for new ideas

Recently I had one of those amazing "ah-hah" moments. You know the kind where you stop what you are doing and let the thoughts ripple through your mind. It's the kind of feeling that is shown in comic strips as a light bulb glowing over someone's head. I love eating fish. I grew up in south Louisiana during a time when seafood was clean, plentiful, and definitely local. We used to buy directly from the men who were responsible for the catch. We didn't have to worry about oil spills in the Gulf. We didn't know about the dangers of overfishing because most of the folks out on the water were from small outfits with men who lived in the area. Often the fish was still thrashing around. Now that's a fresh catch folks. I was absolutely spoiled by what was available in the marketplace that was south Louisiana in the 60's. Not to mention that what we bought was inexpensive.

That was then. Today I live in a landlocked area in the middle of the country. Most of what is available has been frozen. I've been here for 16 years. I left the south on July 4, 1995. I don't remember buying fish to cook at home since then. I remember what I had then and wouldn't be happy with what I found in Topeka, KS. During my "ah-hah" moment that changed. I decided to seek out information on buying the best, most sustainable fish I could find locally. What kick-started my sea change (pardon the pun) was reading this article The Truth About Fish from the June 2011 issue of Self magazine. It got me to thinking. I decided to learn more about sustainable fishing and to start combing the area to make the best choices I could regarding buying seafood. I will begin eating fish again.

More later...

Gratitude for a Wednesday

This morning I was standing in my doorway waiting for my ride. The sun was coming up over the houses across the street and I saw the yellow flowers blooming on the dandelions growing across my yard. They were beautiful even if they were just weeds. The sun's rays were glowing through the branches of the newly budded trees and I was thankful for the glorious morning I was enjoying. I started thinking about all the things I was grateful for. I have a home to live in - a roof over my head for protection. There is plenty of good healthy food in my kitchen waiting to be prepared. I have enough clothes to cover my body in between trips to the laundromat. I own a car even though it is currently not licensed to drive. A sweet cat purrs at my feet as he rubs against my legs and I have a job that I love to go to each day. My health is getting better every day with all the changes I have been able to make . I found myself content and happy and that is enough for me.


Are you grateful for what life has given you?