Snack Attack

This is the longest I have gone without a cigarette in a LONG time. I know it has only been 2 days but that is a major accomplishment for me. The thing is, I have become the ultimate Snackster! I am eating carrots, Cheetos, celery, Triscuits, gum, mints, peanuts, toast, popsicles, and pretty much anything I can get my hands on. I think Master P is getting mad since we are talking a lot these days (extra bolusing).

I have found a few things interesting living La Vida Smokeless.

• My feet don’t tingle and hurt as much.
• I can smell fabric softner – Downey smells yummy.
• EVERYTHING tastes yummy (not Downey).
• My Car still smells new.
• I get a lot more work done each day.

Every time I eat a snack, the little George dressed in Red on my left shoulder says, “You never ate this much smoking! Maybe you should lose some more weight and then try quitting.”

But then, little George on the right (who is always right) dressed in white says, “You can always lose weight but you cannot grow back toes.”

So true little G, so true.

Wearing a Patch

No not that kind!

As of this morning I have applied a Nicotine patch since my last
attempt failed. I am hoping that with a little help from the patch I will be able to kick this habit once and for all.

I had an appointment on Friday with my Endocrinologist and he was pretty happy with my numbers. He gave me lab work paperwork to see what my A1C looks like and of course other tests.

I asked him for a referral to a CDE and a Podiatrist. You see, I have a little discoloring in one of my toes and it is not the one I had
a problem with in July. I had noticed this a while back. I had mentioned it to the old crazy doctor I had a while ago and he told me that was normal! This is one of the many reasons I do not see this quack any longer.

I know that my smoking directly affects my blood flow and lack of blood is what is causing the grayishness of “the piggy that stayed home.” I know it seems a selfish reason to quit but it is tangible. I can see that smoking is hurting me even though I have always known it was hurting me inside.

Here I am on the pump, checking my BG 8-10 times a day, counting all my carbs, and exercising each day. WTF am I doing continuing to smoke? It is almost as if it is the one thing I was holding onto. It kept me different and made me feel rebellious. Not to mention I am addicted.

Let’s hope that this time is the last time I ever have to quit this stupid addiction. Your words of encouragement and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

In the box of Patches, there was a little wallet card that says, “Reasons why I quit.”

1. My Toes / Feet
2. George
3. Gillian
4. Jasmine
5. My (future) Grandchildren

Brother & Sister Day

At the Simmons house, every August 22nd, our children celebrate "Brother & Sister Day."

It was 3 years ago when Georgie & Gillian told us one August morning,

"We want to start a new holiday. It's called brother and sister day! Every year on August 22nd we will make it a special day where we just play together and do cool stuff, but just us. No other friends or anything! Isn't that cool?"

My wife and I were a little curious as to where they came up with this and why August 22nd? Georgie said, "Well, we have mother's day and father's day but no Brother and Sister day. And since our birthdays are both on the 22nd of our months, August is kind of in the middle so we thought that would be good."

Keep in mind that George was 9 and Gillian was only 5 when they came up with this. They were so excited!

The first annual Bro and Sis day consisted of playing in the sprinklers, watching movies, playing board games, and switching bedrooms for the night.

3 years later and the tradition that they started continues.

Gillian told me that after they have breakfast, they are gonna watch a movie, then play Checkers, maybe a board game, ride bikes, play on the slip and slide, then pitch up a tent in the backyard and camp out for the night.

George had told us earlier in the month when planning began for this special day that He and Gillian have talked about keeping this tradition going even into their adult years. He said that when they have their own families they will take a day, just the two of them, and hang out together and just enjoy each others company.



Have a great day guys!

Happy Brother & Sister day.

Lunch Chatter

Everyday at lunch my whole office sits in the break room together at a large oval table and eats at a group. We have two phones in there and each day 2 of us are assigned to answer them during the lunch hour. It is actually a lot of fun because we chit chat about TV’s shows, happenings in our lives, or news stories. Whatever is on our minds. It works out to be a good team building routine and at first I thought I would hate it but it’s actually okay.

Today, as one of my co-workers was looking through an “O” magazine or “Ladies Home Journal” or one of those periodicals that when I look at it, I can never find a single story, all I see are advertisements! Anyhow, there was a story about kids with “Glass Bones” which is a condition where a child has very brittle, fragile bones. So much so that a mother who picked up her newborn broke 3 of her ribs! So sad. So awful. I cannot imagine how terrible that would be.

Then the stories started flying from both sides of the table.

“I heard about these kids that are missing layers of skin and are in extreme pain all the time!”

“The worst are the children that age before their time. That is awful!”

“I do not know what I would do if I had Siamese twins. I don’t know how my husband would handle it!”

Some started tearing up and others just sat in silence.

I just listened. As usual my brain started coming up with something to say but luckily my normal “verbal diarrhea” response was halted by a spoonful of soup. I thought to myself, what is sad to me is that something so out of the ordinary, something so rare is what is on people’s minds more then something that is an epidemic. How can that be?

It is almost as if the world is bored with Cancer, Diabetes, Hunger, & Poverty. The news would rather tell you about something that will scare the living daylights out of any would be parent even though they have a better chance of being on a plane overtaken by snakes then having a child with this rare disorder.

I started to think about all of my interactions with people regarding my “D” and I have to tell you, people are bored. It’s like, “Oh you have Diabetes? Big deal, everyone has that!”

But that is the Big FREAKING DEAL!

So many people have Diabetes that it is looked at like having “Chicken Pox.” At least that is the way I believe the world sees it.

That, my friends is sad.

Sunday Blunder

I made a big mistake this morning.

Every Sunday before church I run through the old Del Taco for my one "bad" breakfast each week. Mon-Fri my breakfast is one packet of plain old Oatmeal with 2 packets of Splenda and a little pat of "I Can't Believe it's not Butter!" (BTW, that is not just a clever name! How do they do it!?!)

So this morning I checked my BG, 157 (had a bad low of 42 last night and over corrected but not horrible). I said 157 out loud so I would not forget. Packed up the care and headed for Del Taco. I pulled into the Drive thru.

"welcometodeltacomayitakeyourorder?" the distorted, noncaring, young voice spews.

"Yeah, I want the Bacon and Egg Quesadilla meal with NO SAUCE and a macho DIET coke."

"thatsaquesadillamealwithnosauceandamachodietright?"

"um, yeah. that's it"

"yourtotalisthreeninetypleasepullforward."

Get the grub. Go to the park. Park the car. Eat the grub! MMMMM Bacon!

We had a great day at church. This week was Vacation Bible School so the kids were up in front singing and doing these sweet little dance moves. It was so much fun. We had a lot of visitors at church so that was cool and the band received a bunch of very nice compliments. A very good way to start the day.

After church we went to lunch at Panera Bread for a friends birthday. I check my BG before we go inside. 327. woah, i have not been that high in a long time. What is up with that??? My BG's have been great! Oh crap....

Iforgottobolusforbreakfast! (That was Del Tacoian)

I felt like such a dummy. That was a first for me so lets see how the rest of the day goes after that.

Master P gave me a mega bolus. We just got back from lunch and man am I tired.

Should I have waited to eat lunch later when my sugar was normal? I didn't know exactly how to handle that. I would really love some direction from the OC.

Totally Off Subject

I work with a guy named Kevin. Kevin drives a big gray truck. I have noticed on several occasions that Kevin puts the strangest things in the back of his truck. Being the twisted person I am, I decided to share his collage of curiosities with the world (without his knowledge of course). Check it out.

What's In Kevin's Truck

Please pass this on to any friends that you think would find this amusing.

Yikes! That hurts!

Touching my arms. Stretching in the morning. Opening a can of soda. Putting my arm up on the ledge of my window in the car. Yawning. Getting in and out of bed. Sitting on the couch. Picking up the paper off of the porch.

It hurts when I move. BUT, it means I am doing something.

"Exercise GEORGE, It's Called Exercise!" Shouts Master P (although it sounds like 3 little beeps).

My BG's have been kicking major arse. My routine has been walking on the treadmill, punching the speed bag (love that!) and doing some push ups and sit ups via the exercise ball / the biggest handball my kids have ever seen!

It's not a lot. It's not probably what some spandex wearing beefcake would tell me to do BUT I am doing it and really that is all that matters at this point.

As soon as I lose some more weight I would like to go jogging around the neighborhood but I love my ankles too much to drop this fat ass on them any harder then I do day to day.

That's it for tonight. Thanks for all the encouragement! It helps a ton (or should I say 230 lbs?).

Updates and Annoyances

Exercise: UPDATE - I did what I set out to do last night and worked out in the Old Slimmons Gym (My Garage). I was out there for about an hour and it was great! Tonight will be round two! Wish me luck!

Toe: UPDATE – It looks okay now. Still a little darker then the rest but at least it looks semi normal.

BG: UPDATE – How can I say this? Master P kicks ass! My BG’s have been so sweet lately and even after Pizza! I did the controlled test a few times on my machine to make sure it was working right. So great!

Picture: UPDATE – What do you get when you cross Captain Morgan’s, Karaoke, Me, and a Child’s dress up box? See the new pic! I am some sort of a fireman ninja who uses Karaoke CD’s as Stars to fight crime.

Annoyances – Why did my insurance approve my pump but not the test strips for the BG meter that comes with it? It makes no sense to me since the strips I do get are the ones that require me opening a veil to fill the strip with blood. Man, the machine that came with Master P ( I call it P.Wee BG) only wants a little bit of blood to give me a reading. That sucks because my fingers are turning into ground beef and every time I try and use my middle finger, it turns its back on me if you know what I mean!