A Ninja at the Alamo

That was a little nod to my buddy Chris.
I am in Alamo NV and you should definately google this place. I am in the middle of no where but somehow I have reception. My leadership training is difficult and my BG has been thru the roof. I am guessing it is the stress, who knows.
I will post again tomorrow via Blackberry.
HOORAY for technology.

Off He Goes

I am leaving for Las Vegas this morning and will not be back until late Friday night.

Nope, just business.

I am a little worried because I may not get reception on my cell phone where I am going. I am going to try my best to post up tomorrow via my blackberry just so I can keep up with my NaBloPoMo record.

Alright, gotta go catch a flight.

See ya!

You Tube Tuesday #48

This is a special edition this week.

The clip you are about to see goes along with yesterdays post. After my brother in law and I braved the snowy slope we talked my sister into giving it a try.

Now you will hear her scream "I'm scared" and then you will hear me telling her to get over it and to just do it.

Back Home

We made the long journey home safe and sound. Thanks for all the good vibes being sent our way.

Now, I wanted to post some pictures of our snow time in Santa Fe. If you are wondering how cold it was. Here a few pictures from town where we were walking around.





Brrr! After walking around for a while we headed up the hills just North of town to play in the snow. Here is a few pic's on the way up.




Here are pics of the kids getting ready to play. We pulled over on the side of the road and this little picnic area made for a good spot for sledding fun.





Here are my kids and my nieces sliding down the hill on little sleds my brother in law picked up. They had a blast.





I think I saw a ninja on the snow too!

Farewell

Today we bid farewell to The Land of Enchantment. A 13 plus hour drive awaits us and of course I am dreading it but all and all it was a great time.

We all got to play in the snow yesterday just North 0f Santa Fe. I have pictures but I cannot get them on this computer for whatever reason.

Since we are running late I am going to have to save those for you until tomorrow. I know how much the OC loves pictures!

This post feels strangely like writing home during summer camp. I have not had a chance to read any blogs during this vacation so expect late comments from your Ninja friend.

Please pray, rub a rabbits foot, cross fingers, or light a candle and hope for a safe drama free drive for the Simmons'.

No Weigh In

Since I am freezing my ninja self off in Santa Fe at the moment, I will not be visiting the Weight Watchers scale. I am hoping to have some pics for tomorrow.

Friday Food Hangover

We spent most of the day driving around Albuquerque checking out the sites while staring out the window recovering from all the good food we ate last night. That is the reason for the late post BUT I would love for you to check out my Blogabetes post today on dLife. You can get there by clicking on the icon over there -->.

The picture below will explain the picture below. Enjoy.

Thankful

Last night my family and I drove for 13 hours to New Mexico to spend Thanksgiving with my Mom and sisters. On the way I was thinking about what I am most thankful for this year.

God has to be first for me. Then my Family. And then, I would say my decision to take more control of my life.

For so long I did not take care of myself health wise and it affected every facet of my life. My lack of care to my health set the tone forbad habits and overall not caring about anything.

I am also very thankful I have so many who lift me up and encourage me to do my best.

So thank you for your support.

I hope you and yours have a fantastic Thanksgiving.

The Tagged Ninja!

I’ve been tagged a lot! Gina at Diabetes Talkfest, Adjoa at A Girl, Her Pump, and Reflections on Life, Heidi at Diabetic Dane, Lea at Candy at Midnight, and Landileigh at Landiliegh’s little world all tagged this Ninja!

The Rules:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

1: I do not like clowns. They freak me out! Let’s just say that if I was stranded on the side of the road and 30 of them rolled up next to me in a VW Bug to offer a ride, I would decline. And probably run. Not liking clowns also includes their close relatives. Mimes, Magicians, Ventriloquist Dummies, and Marionettes are all included. LOL I am messed up!

2: I can dance. Like Soul Train Dance Line Michael Jackson Thriller Pop Lockin’ Breakdancing kind of dancing. My sister and I once cleared the dance floor at a club. It was so ridiculous but at the time I thought I was “funky fresh!”

3: I spell using sign language all the time. Almost to the point that I do not realize it. When someone asks me how to spell something I say and sign it at the same time. It is a weird habit I picked up when I was young and had a friend who was hearing impaired.

4: I LOVE the smell of cement being mixed. Especially when it is in a wheelbarrow and it is first being mixed with water. I love the sound of the shovel scraping it off of the sides mixing it. I have no clue why but if I could get “Mixing Cement” smell for my car I would. (I know I am weird.)

5: I am very dark. Color wise. Like Tan or Olive or Brown or whatever. I think flashes in pictures make me look different but I am a dark mocha hue! LOL Being Cuban and Puerto Rican (among others) is the combo that gives me my “healthy glow” all year long!

6: I was an extra in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not the cool TV show but the lame movie. It was one scene and you can see half of my face at the basketball game.

7: Blond, Black, and Blue my hair has been (in Yoda talk). Also I would shave it completely bald which would make my earrings and nose ring really stand out. I was not always the clean cut ninja you guys have seen. It’s much easier to blend in now!

I hope you learned something semi-interesting. It was hard thinking of 7 things since I am pretty open and tell you guys almost everything!

I am so late to the game that it seems most of you have already been tagged so I am going to use all 7 of my tags and send them to Siah at LOL Diabetes!

Go Kitty Go!

You Tube Tuesday #47

Ahh, a sense of humor. I forgot all about that. It’s nice to have a little fun along the campaign trail right?



Thanks for the "heads up" on this one Sara. :)

Answers to Your Questions About Weight Watchers

On my way down the scale I have had several readers ask me some specific questions about my Weight Watchers experience and I thought I would take today’s post to address them. If you have a question about my WW experience just comment and I will answer and edit this post.

Are you doing the point system?

Yes I am. Currently Weight Watchers provides two separate plans to choose from. Either the Core Plan or the Points Plan. The Core plan has a limited amount of foods to choose from. Basically, if you only eat those foods then you will lose weight. I did not think I could handle that so I chose the Points Plan.

The Points Plan works by figuring out your daily “Points” amount according to weight, profession, sex, and age. Every food item has a point value. Some items do not but you can figure out the point value by taking a look at the nutrition label on food packages which we are all familiar with. Then each day you are to eat your allotted points for the day and you will lose weight. As you lose, you lose points so you will eat less as you lose more.

How many points to you have in a day?

I am going to leave this one alone and just say that because I am very overweight and a guy, I have a lot of points. I have found whenever I say how many points I have, people think “Oh well that is a bunch so you have it easy,” and frankly comparatively they are right. Except that what got me into this mess is that I was used to eating many more points then I do now so I can tell that I am eating less and less and more things that I would never had chosen in the past. I hope that is enough of an answer for you. Sorry L.

How much weight do you have to lose?

Yuck! This one reminds of the last one and my answer is about the same. I do not want to say. The reason? The comments like, “Well no wonder you are doing so well. It’s easier for people that have more to lose.” And yes, that is true except that WE WOULD NOT BE FAT IF WE HAD WILLPOWER and that is the bigger problem I think.

You have lost 30 pounds, how long has it taken you to lose that much?

On Saturday I also got to celebrate 16 weeks on the program. Being this committed for this long only keeps me coming back to the meetings each week and counting points each day. I am surprised that I have stuck with it this long. I attribute that to my wife, the 3 other friends that also go to meetings with us, and all of you bloggers and lurkers. The cheering section helps a great deal.

How does the mix of Weight Watchers and Diabetes work out for you?

A conversation last night with my Daughter on the way home from Disneyland brought forth a good look at how this program is affecting my diabetes. When I first thought about having to count carbs and now also points I figured that I would drown in a sea of numbers and calculations. It turns out that I have found that my numbers are much better since I started the WW. The carb count of my meals has dropped considerably since I am eating better. With that my ability to keep my BG in check has increase 10-fold. I was concerned that lows would screw me up but since you get an additional 35 points each week to use if you go over now and then, I have not found it to be a problem. Also, glucose tabs are 0 points J.

Has Weight Watchers affected your Insulin needs?

I have not needed to adjust my basal rates yet but I would figure those days are coming. I have found I use much less just because I am eating more foods without as many carbs as I used to.

Would you recommend it to other diabetics?

Definitely. I think about Weight Watchers and Diabetes and how the two have some similarities as far as limitations. I can still eat whatever I want. I have to make sure I know the carb count and the points value. I log my BG and my Points usage. If I exercise I help lower my BG and I get to earn extra Points. I must be conscious of portion sizes for proper carb and Points calculations. Low BG’s equals low A1C and less Points means less weight!

I hope that clears up some questions you may have had. If any new ones come up in these comments I will add them and let you know. In fact, I am feeling saucy. I get 38 points each day and I have about 70 pounds left to lose to get to my ideal body weight. I was over 100 pounds overweight which is why I joined. I knew I had lost all control.

You guys have a way of getting me to open up and tell you all kinds of stuff I never thought I would. I love that.

I Just Lost 30 Pounds...

I'm going to Disneyland!!!

Sorry, but this a short post. I will post a nice long meaty but low in points post tomorrow.

Weight Watchers - Update

Loss - 4.6 lbs.

Total Lost - 30.4 lbs.

BOOYAH!

I was not expecting that much so I was a happy camper. Will being 30 pounds lighter help me to make some good choices come Thanksgiving dinner? I hope so. Right now, I think so.

I am off for a round of Disc Golf.

Thanks for your support OC.

An Apology. A Survey. A Comment.

The very first thing I must do is apologize. My World Diabetes day post had a line that I must have deleted while editing. I am upset that I did not notice it and wanted to apologize. I hope that Allison and Sara will forgive me. I honestly had you guys in there right from the beginning of conception! (Kerri got a mention in a different category although she could have been in there too) The line has been added so I can sleep at night.

If you have not done it, please take the Why Diabetes Technology Matters survey. You can click on the image and let your voice be heard. It will only take a few minutes and for a scatterbrain like me, that is a good thing! Thanks for the getting the ball rolling on this Amy.

Did you guys read Bernard’s comment on yesterday’s post? I am going to paste it in here because I was LMAO this morning as I read it. This is about the Praying Mantis phenomenon occuring at my home. Bernard, you are so funny!

This is dialog believed to occur between the two insects. Enjoy

Mantis 1. "I was sitting on this car minding my own business. Next minute this really cool Ninja guy comes by, and guess what?"

Mantis 2. "What?" (In that tired voice, coz they hate answering guess what questions.)

Mantis 1. "He took a picture of me...and blogged about."

Mantis 2. "No way."

Mantis 1. "Way."

Mantis 2. "I don't believe you."

Mantis 1. "OK, you sit on his car yourself and see what happens. Go on. It's that dark blue SUV over there."

Mantis 2. "OK. But I'll bet nothing happens." (In that "I'm sure you're wrong, but just in case" tone of voice.)

This morning.

Mantis 2. "You'll never guess what happened."

Mantis 1. "What?" (In that tired voice his bro used the day before.)

Mantis 2. "That Ninja dude came by. And... And..."

Mantis 1. "He took your picture and blogged about it."

Mantis 2. "Dude."

Mantis 1. "Dude, told you so."

Mantis 2. "You're awesome."

Mantis 1. "I know."

Mantis 2. "Let's go tell the rest of the gang."

LOL That is so freaking funny.

And now I am back to counting points and carbs. I hope to goodness I have a loss of poundage this week. I have been extra crazy this week logging every little thing. Please keep your fingers crossed!

Correct Me If I'm Wrong

This morning as I was leaving for work I noticed a familiar sight on my tire. Except this time it was on my back tire.


You have guessed it. ANOTHER Praying Mantis! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!??!!?!?

Now I need your help here. I am pretty sure that this is a DIFFERENT one. Please tell me if I am correct.


Here is the one from Sunday.

And this one from this morning.

It's different right!?!?!?

I wonder if my tire smell like yummy praying mantis food or something. I have asked several people around my home about it and most of them have never seen a live one before. I just think that is weird.

Do I need that many prayers?

I am just going to enjoy the uniqueness of it and be glad they are not Black Widows or Cougars.

:)

My Diabetes World Day.

Today is World Diabetes Day.

My diabetes world consists of many people.

People you know like AmyT and Kerri.

Some you may not know well like Jess, Beatriz, or Jennifer.

Parents who have kids with diabetes like Shannon, Penny, and Vivian.

Parents who have diabetes themselves like ArtSweet, Bernard, and Robert.

Those that crack me up like Julia and those that always touch my heart like Kathy.

And what about those who start online communities like Gina and Jon with Diabetes Talkfest, Manny at Tu Diabetes, and Elizabeth with Diabetes Daily.

Then there are those who inform like Scott, Caramaena, and Caro.

Some seem so far away from me like Amylia, Chrissie, and M.

And there are some that I have had the pleasure of meeting face to face like Allison and Sara.

Some I wish would sing karaoke with me like Nicole.

Or play video games with like Hannah.

And those that I must be related to like Scott.

We know that 246 million people have diabetes which means even more then that are affected by it. This was just a small fraction of that number but a big part of my world.

My diabetes world day is going to be spent thinking about all of you and those I did not mention.
Thinking about how much you mean to me and how diabetes ties us all together.

You Tube Tuesday #46

If you happen to be in Modesto, California this weekend you should come down and not see me. This clip is from last year's event. I'll be there but... well watch the video and you will get it.

Veterans, Awards, and Hands

There are a few things I wanted to mention this Monday morning.

Happy Veterans Day! I wrote a post about this over at Blogabetes. I would love for you to check it out. It is not such a happy day for this ninja.

Second, our good friend, and keeper of the Diabetes OC Website, Allison has just announced that the Diabetes O.C. Awards nominations are underway. Keep all ninjas in mind when nominating! :)

And I know it is not You Tube Tuesday but I did not want to wait to help spread this clip from Tu Diabetes.


Find more videos like this on Tu Diabetes - A Community for People Touched by Diabetes

Wisdom from Nature

After being a whiny little "#@*%" yesterday I must say that I am sorry. I was a little angry but reading your comments slapped my arse out of it. I think.

The wedding was not nearly as far on the bad scale as I thought. It was nice.

So this morning I was determined to "Get over myself" and start the week off right. My week starts on Sunday because of Church. Churchy goodness is a good way to start, not end a week at least for me.

So on my way out this morning, with my dudely satchel filled with D-supplies on and guitar in hand, I notice something strange about my car.


Do you see it? Here is a close up.

Now, I am not sure about your neck of the woods but here, in LA, this is like spotting Bigfoot. Nature does not show its face very often around these parts and not in such a unique way.

I got up close and said, "Hey little Praying Mantis, what are you praying for?"

Then I snapped this picture and...well I dunno.


AMEN!

Weight Watchers - Update

Gain - 0.8 lbs

Total Loss - Who the hell cares, I gained again.

I cannot tell you how mad I am. My scale this morning read the lowest I have ever seen since I started this stupid program and yet I am up? Please disregard my tone but I just cannot find the "no biggie" or "next time tiger" attitude.

I am mad. I am depressed. I am sick of being fat.

Blah.

And tonight I get have to go to a wedding.

Lovely.

Happy D-Blog Day!

It would be a happier day if we did not have to worry about Diabetes but the fact is I love blogging and reading and just being a part of this community! So I say Happy D-Blog Day!

Be sure and click on the picture to read about D-Blog day over at Gina's blog.

Thank you Gina and Jon for all your work over at DiabetesTalkFest!

Reminiscing

“We’ll go dancing in the dark, walking through the park and reminiscing.” – Little River Band (One of this ninja’s favorite songs)

I spent this morning looking at my posts from this time last year. I wrote about my first walk and about how blogging has changed my life. I wrote about quitting smoking and how checking my BG several times a day was now the norm as opposed to the 1 a month that I was doing.

I remember back 2 years ago when my A1C was 12.5 (which still freaks me out).

And this year I get to reflect on the weight loss. That has been the big battle that I have attempted to win. I should say that I will win. I know I waited for a long time to start this weight loss stuff but I knew I had to wait at least a year after quitting smoking. I just wanted to hit that milestone before taking on something new.

Just like last year, I am so thankful for all of you readers and those of you that leave me comments. Your words of encouragement provide great support for me. I will go back and read comments many times over when I start to get down on myself.

Do you ever just stroll down memory lane in your history of posts? I find it to be a really good exercise.

The Old Switcheroo

I cannot iron. I have tried and tried over the years and all I seem to do is iron in more wrinkles. The only successful ironing runs I have ever had have taken about 15 minutes for one article of clothing. Not nearly enough time for me to do my entire outfit in the morning as well as shave, shower, check my BG, pack up and hit the road.

My wife always irons my stuff for me and literally lays out an outfit for me. Another issue I have is the inability to match clothing in the early morning. I do well with weekend clothes but work clothes? Forget it! Someone really needs to come out with a line of Grranimals for adults. I would change my entire wardrobe.

Anyhow I get home yesterday after a long day at work and decide to change into something more comfortable, like shorts and a t-shirt when my wife says, “How did the pants work out?”

“Um, they did not fail me (I say jokingly). What do you mean?”

“Well,” she says in a strange voice, “I accidentally grabbed one of your other [read: pre-fat ass] pants and just hoped they would work. I didn’t have time to iron another after I noticed.”

“Woah.” (and not like that Joey Lawence “Blossom” woah) “That is pretty freaking cool. I had no idea. Very cool!”

Scales are one thing and it is nice to see the numbers steadily heading downward but stuff like this is a way better pay off!

You Tube Tuesday #45

This is how I avoid all the extra points from french fries.

I cannot decide is this is very cool or very gross. Maybe a little of both.

Enjoy (and eat some carrots).

Rough Night?

I have no clue what the hell I did in my sleep but I did not notice thise yesterday. And here I thought I could use this thing as a grappling hook if my ninja skills failed me. Thank goodness that has not happened yet.

I would love to hear what you think happened. I am thinking with a funny caption, this could work on Siah's LOL Diabetes site.

Maybe - "Don't bolus so hard!"

I am too tired to think.

The ADA Walk

Yesterday team "Beat the Bete" made its second appearance at the ADA annual walk.

We had 15 people on the team or should I say 14 and a ninja? It was a lot of fun.

I do not want to bore you with too many details so below are a bunch of pictures.

I used many ideas for the shirt slogans which I am so thankful for. In fact, everybody who saw our shirts said very nice things about them. A lady weighing in at Weight Watchers asked me where I bought it! Sweet!!!

Here are the mugshots of each team member and their shirts. Thanks again for all the help! You guys rock!










It turned out to be a great day for a great cause. We all had a blast as you can probably see in the pictures. We must have played Hacky Sack for an hour afterwards. So much fun!

Thanks again Team Beat the Beat. It was awesome!

Weight Update

Loss 3.0lbs
Total lost 26.3

Woot.

Off to the walk. Pics tomorrow.

NaBloPoMo

So it is day two and I am totally into it! Now I just have to post everyday for the next 28 and I will have completed the challenge!

For those who don't know what I am talking about, NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month and I have signed up (As many of the OC has) to post each and every day this month!

I will do my best to NOT fill your eyes with pointless posts. No promises of course. And you can't count this one although semi-pointless.

BOOYAH!

(another one down....sweet!) LOL

November 1

I remember when I first heard that November was National Diabetes month I quickly caught on to the irony.

"So you are telling me that the day after kids get all hopped up on candy starts Diabetes Awarness month? That sucks!"

Each year I laugh to myself about it as I walk through my living room to see the half empty bowl of left over candy.

Now I may be thought of as the "enemy of fun" but after a few days of mindless snacking I throw the left over morsels of chocolately goodness into the trash.

I say to the kids it is becuase I do not have the will power to resist the temptation (which there is truth in) but my real reasoning is that I do not want my kids to be sugar craving kids. We have done so well with them. We have never denied they sugary snacks but we do limit them.

I remember back when our son was 4. He was in preschool and we had our very first Parent - Teacher conference when we played the role of parent (very freaky if you have not experenced that yet). After a very shining report from his teacher we offered him a bowl of ice cream to celebrate his "job well done."

He said, "Do we have any grapes? I want grapes."

Jasmine and I looked at each other as if to say, "is this a real kid?"

Our daughter will snack on tomatoes, brocolli, and fruit if its around.

I don't ever want to be a party pooper Pop but I think a few days of sugar heaven is plenty.

Am I too mean?