Weight Watchers Update

Loss 7.4 lbs.
Total Lost 38.4

Wow! And that is in only 5 days.

Have a great weekend!

How You Got Here

***A quick note. I am weighing in tomorrow because I will be a retreat this weekend. I will post my weight loss or gain and then will be heading up the mountain. And now back to your regular scheduled post.***

I was looking at the stats for the site which I do every once in a while. It's cool to see if anyone is out there in the world reading my strange ramblings.

Anyhow, here is a list of some of my favorite Keywords that brought web surfers here.

"diabetes joke"
"diabetes jokes"
"diabetic joke"
Okay, I am like a cyber comedian or something?

"Weight watchers scale" - yeah, I broke a few of those.

"bad blog" I hope this person did not think this blog was bad but B.A.D.!

"is apple trailers in HD." And yes they is. ;)

"styrofoam mission kit" Aww man and last night I glued some sweet little doves on the water feature. I will have pics next week.

AND my favorite keyword and the BEST SEARCH EVER is this...

"How to say in sign language Ninja."

ROFL

You Tube Tuesday #61

Star Wars. I have been a fan since I saw it in the theater as a kid. It is good to see that parents are still making new fans all the time. This child's explaination of the movie is awesome! Enjoy!

Another Great One

This weekend proved to be another great one. I had a very minor loss on the scale but a major win in the weight loss evidence department! That made for a great Saturday.

Sunday after church, which is always good, we took a family trip to the San Gabriel Mission. Before we got there we met my sister and her fiancé for lunch which was wonderfully yummy.

When we drove into the mission parking lot I shouted, “My mission doesn’t look anything like that!”

“YOUR mission?” I am so glad my wife caught that instead of my daughter whose project this really is.

“Well you know, Gillian’s mission. It doesn’t look like that at all! The whole staircase on the side and the little cut outs on the pillars! Lame! I looked all over the internet and the only mission kit I could find was the lame one we got! LAME!” I was not a happy camper.

We walked into the gift shop to make our way through it into the actual mission for some research and picture taking. As soon as we walk in I see it. In front of us is the perfect model of the San Gabriel Mission and my jaw hit the floor when I read the sign, “This mission kit is available inside the store.” Eureka.

“Let’s hurry honey we have a lot of stuff to do today.” My wife looked at me a little funny because from what she could tell we were on schedule for the day.

We walked all around the mission grounds into a small museum and then into the actual mission. As we looked around I noticed all the other stuff that our mission model did not have. The sacristy for instance, which is the room behind the altar where the priest gets ready, was not there! Lame!

We got a bunch of pictures and ideas for the project and headed out to take pictures of the outside of the mission. On our way through the gift shop I told my wife and kids to go ahead without me and that I would meet them around front. When I finally met up with them I was holding a brand new mission kit.

“You are out of control, you know that right?” I could tell by her tone that she knew I was buying this better mission kit.

“Yes but my daughter is not going to turn in some bogus Fischer Price mission when this awesome perfect one is here for us to use! We already have all the paint and stuff. We can all work on it and bust it out quick fast!”

“You are nuts dude.” Her way of saying “I love you” I’m sure.

We got home and put this bad boy together in just over an hour! Then we painted and all the good stuff. I have been thinking about it all day so when I get home tonight I can start decorating it.

I am gonna get an “A” I bet!

I mean, “we”

or um…

She?

Weight Watchers Update

Loss 0.4 lbs

Total Lost 31

I lost what I gained last week. I guess that is special. I need to change something but I am not sure what...

I think this week I am only going to do cardio and see what happens. I have been weight training a lot more then usual.

Here's to another WW week. w00t

On the Mend

After several doses of Ammodium I have left the internal rain forest but am nearing the Sahara so I am downing water like mad. I did want to feel horrible all weekend and sitting here at work was awful yesterday. I ended up leaving at around 2pm.

Today at work we have our monthly meeting. Being that the economy is in a not so happy state, my boss asked me to compile a CD with some happy songs. You know to cheer people up. Here is what I came up with.

Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
It’s a Sunshine Day – The Brady Kids
Shiny Happy People – R.E.M.
Lust for Life – Iggy Pop
Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades – Timbuk 3
C’mon Get Happy – The Partridge Family
Rock This Town – Stray Cats
Daydream Believer – The Monkees
Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations

For one day warning I think I did okay. I have become the company DJ as of late. It’s cool since I am a HUGE lover of music. Listening and playing. IN FACT, my band is playing at a coffee shop again this weekend. I am really excited because gigs are just being offered to us which is a blessing. We also got an email from the Chaplain at Chino Prison wanting to book us for two more Sunday services later this year. I am so excited and thankful for these opportunities to spread Good News with our music.

Hey, if any of you happen to be in Orange County on Sunday Night let me know and I will send you a flyer to the gig. You can enjoy a Chai Tea too!

Mmmmmm Chai tea.

A TMI Post - Sorry Folks.

The day started out fine. I was feeling chipper and ready to take on the world. Or at least, my little version of it.

On my way to work something changed. Oh no! I can feel and hear my stomach doing strange things. It felt like my tummy was a front loading washer during the wash cycle. Back and forth with lots of sloshing and growling! UGH

I made it to work in the nick of time.

I am liquid from the neck down.

:(

The Ocho

8 Things I’m Passionate About.
1. God
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Music
5. Film
6. Justice
7. Creativity
8. Equality

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die.
1. See Fireflies.
2. Give my daughter away.
3. Have Grandchildren.
4. Have a 70th birthday party for myself.
5. See the northern lights.
6. Skydive.
7. Win an Oscar.
8. Get the cure for diabetes

8 Things I Say Often.
1. Dude!
2. w00t!
3. Clowns are the Devil!
4. Honked Up!
5. Fridays are like Pizza. Even when they are bad they are still pretty good.
6. I am so tired.
7. The Biggest size you have, DIET Coke.
8. Amen

8 Books I’ve Read Recently.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
2. Cheating Destiny by James S. Hirsch
3. Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes: 5 Essential Health Factors You Can Master to Enjoy a Long and Healthy Life by Richard Jackson & Amy Tenderich
4. Phantom by Terry Goodkind
5. Deception Point by Dan Brown
6. Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
7. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
8. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over.
1. Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder
2. Then She Did – Jane’s Addiction
3. Mexico – The Coasters
4. Sealion - Fiest
5. Golden Years – David Bowie
6. Can’t Hide Love – Earth, Wind, & Fire
7. It Is You - Newsboys
8. Butterfly – Lenny Kravitz

8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends.
1. They are themselves and are not phony.
2. They love me.
3. They listen
4. They make me laugh.
5. They’re non-judgmental.
6. They have a zest for life.
7. They care about others.
8. They care about themselves.

If you have a little purple pony pictured in your mind when you finish this sentence and have not done this meme then you should do it.

You Tube Tuesday #60

Ahh Microsoft. This video kind of explains why I will be switching to a Mac instead of upgrading to Vista.

PG for a little language. But still very funny.

THE CLIP WAS REMOVED FROM YOU TUBE. HERE IS A LINK TO THE SITE WHERE YOU CAN VIEW IT. IT IS WORTH IT!

Watch "Vista Sucks!"

Mission: Mission

This weekend turned out to be great. Sure I started Saturday off with a “gain” weigh in at Weight Watchers of .4 lbs but seriously, that is nothing so I am not upset.

Yesterday after church my daughter Gillian and I headed off to the craft store to pick up a Mission Kit for her 4th grade mission project. She had already decided that she wanted to do the San Gabriel Mission. We had been there for a wedding and my wife used to attend services there as a child.

When we got to the store there was a huge display with every Mission in the state in model form. There is something weird about Styrofoam models that are only about an inch think in the package. We thumbed through the case and found the last San Gabriel Mission model set. Just in time!

All around this display were little trees, little people, little cattle, little stalks of corn, and lots of other little things. We grabbed a monk, a cross, some bells, an adobe roof, and a few trees and left. I realized about halfway through the shopping that I had no clue what we even needed since the kit didn’t say much except for show a picture drawing of the finished product!

When we hopped in the car I told Gillian that we should hop online and check out pictures of the mission to get ideas on how to decorate it. She agreed and asked me which mission I did in 4th grade. I told about how for some weird reason our teacher did not have a mission report for us to do. My sisters, all the kids before and after our class, and pretty much every other person in the state got to make missions and frankly I was bummed that we didn’t. It looked like a fun project but oh well.

When we started to put it together we realized that this is going to be a much bigger project then either one of us pictured it to be. We covered a table with newspaper, broke out the kit, opened the glue, and started going. It was a blast! We were cutting Styrofoam with such precision you would have thought we were architects or something. You know like, Mike Brady? Then gluing column together to make sure they were exactly the correct distance from one another. It was awesome!

And it looks great so far. We just put it all together and have downloaded many pics of the mission from websites galore to get ideas. This coming weekend we are going to drive over to the mission and take a tour. Gillian wants to get pictures of herself in front of the mission and do some extra credit stuff for fun (seriously who is this kid?). So we plan on doing some light decorating this week like painting the roof and such and then do the final touches next week.

The best part of the day was a short conversation that occurred while using popsicle sticks to evenly spread glue on little Styrofoam columns.

Gillian said, “I am glad you are doing this with me daddy.”

“Me too Shug. It’s fun!” I honestly replied.

“Yeah. I am just glad because you didn’t get to make one before.”

I agreed after I held in a tear and let go of hugging her.

Temptation

Yesterday I posted about a sticky situation on my blog at Blogabetes. Well, today when I walk into the kitchen here at work to put my Lean Cusine in the freezer I see this on the table.

There are actually two sitting there right now. With fruit and cream cheese and yummy effing goodness! Oh my, I could easily devour that whole thing in a matter of seconds.

But you know what? The grits that I am having for breakfast are pretty good and only two points, so there! Here's to a good weigh in tomorrow.

Any guess on how many carb a slice of this thing is? Or Points even?

Post Speech Post

My son was not able to give his “I Have a Dream” speech due to time constraints in his class. He has a day off on Monday and ended up giving speech yesterday.

When I got home last night I went straight to my desk, as usual, to check my emails and such.

“Hey dad, I did my speech today.”

“Right on. How did it go?”

“It went really good. It really got to some of the kids.”

“What did your teacher think?”

“She never really listens. She grades papers and stuff during speeches. But that’s cool, I wanted the kids to listen.” He did not seem disappointed about the lack of attention from his teacher.

“How could you tell that you ‘got to’ some of the kids?”

“One guy who I don’t really know was really freaked out about diabetes. He said he didn’t know it was like that and felt really bad because he thought it was just for old people. One girl said she almost started crying. And one guy just thought I wrote a good speech and delivered well. He kept saying, 'man that was good.' It was funny” He was very proud of himself but also kind of surprised.

“It’s important when you give a speech to not only have something interesting to talk about but also to be able to keep people’s attention. That’s good dude. I am sorry your teacher didn’t listen, that kind of sucks.” I do not sound like a dad do I?

“Nah, it’s not a big deal. If I only got 3 kids thinking about diabetes than I think it’s a success.”

I agree.

Apple TV "Take 2"

Yesterday our Apple TV got the sweet upgrade I heard about at the Macworld event. The update that prompted me to purchase one.

I must tell you, our viewing time of “normal” TV has been almost non-existent except for the hour I devote to watching Lost. Granted, now that the strike is over the shows I miss will be returning such as The Office, 24, Heroes, and Family Guy. But other than those shows which I can purchase through iTunes I do not see a reason to pay all the money I do for cable each month.

With the “Take 2” update for the Apple TV, I can surf though thousands of video podcasts all with great content and all for FREE! It rocks. I watched cartoons last night on the Nickelodeon podcast section and a few geeky shows on the Revision 3 podcast section.

I surfed You Tube right from my couch and watched HD Movie Trailers well into the night. In fact, if you are a movie fan you may want to check out the audio Podcast that a friend and I do each week. We review movies by only watching the trailers. It makes for a funny 15 minutes. Trailer Talk is its name and we would love for you to check it out.

Getting back to ATV, tonight I hope to rent an HD movie and let you know. Did I mention that? You can rent movies now and even in High Def right from our couch! The price is not too bad at 4.99 per rental for new release HD rentals. Older flicks and regular definition movies are cheaper.

I am still not canceling the old cable box but I am definitely going to down size the thing to basic channels.

Let me know if you have any questions about it. You know me, I love to share my experiences.

You Tube Tuesday #59

It has been so hot here in Southern California lately that a dip in this natural swimming hole would be nice. Except of course the very scary view. Enjoy.

Communication

I am a talker. Rarely do you see me not engaged in conversation. I am very open to talking about my life and my ideas. I have no problem revealing mistakes I have made as well as my successes. I have always felt that sharing my life is a good way to help others either feel like they are not alone and/or learn from my mistakes.

I am a listener. Rarely do you see me not engaged in conversation. I think it is very rewarding listening to others successes and failures. It makes me a stronger person when I hear and learn about others. It’s good to not feel alone.

My mother always tells about a time when I was 10 years old sitting on the curb with my best friend Stephanie counseling her. Her parents had split up and she felt like it was her fault. She talked about how she would have done more stuff around the house or whatever it was that made them so tired and angry all the time. Since I had already gone through a parental split I assured her that it was not her fault and that things would be okay. I still remember how she felt and remembered how I did when my parents split.

We can always learn from each other when we stay in touch and communicate. I recently enjoyed a nice long AOL instant messenger chat with my good buddy Scott. If any of you are on AOL Instant Messenger please add me to your buddy list! My screen name is Ninjabetic. I am not on all the time but if you see me, drop me a line!

If you are looking for a cool place to get together and chat with other PWD’s or I should say, people effected by Diabetes, check out Diabetes Talkfest. They have a cool chat room which I dig. In fact let me know if any of you have a free night and we can have a Ninja Night in the chat room!

That would be awesome!

Weight Watchers Update - A Day Late

I weighed in on Saturday morning and then we were out all day long. Sorry guys.

Lost 2.4 lbs.

Total Lost - 31.0 lbs

My Son's Dream

My son is giving his “I Have a Dream” speech today at school. Here is his.

-------------

I Have a Dream

I have a dream that one day, there will be a cure for diabetes. Now, I know that people may not know the whole deal about diabetes, and that people say that diabetes is not as serious as other diseases. I’m here to tell you that it is a serious disease. Now, I’m not saying that other diseases aren’t as important or as serious. Other diseases can sometimes be treated to such an extent, resembling a cure. With diabetes you live with it for the rest of your life.

There are two different types of diabetes. Type one diabetes develops when the body’s immune system destroys pancreatic beta cells, the only cells in the body that make the hormone insulin that regulates blood glucose or sugar. Type two diabetes accounts for about 90 to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. It is where the cells do not use the insulin properly.

Also, with diabetes, comes responsibility. You have to take daily glucose tests, testing your blood sugar, to see if you need to eat something if it’s to low or to put in more insulin when your blood sugar is to high. Also, the next bad thing that comes with diabetes is the complications. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure. Diabetes has also become the leading cause of new blindness. Another big part of these horrible problems is amputation. More than 60% of non-traumatic lower-limb amputations occur in people with diabetes.

These are just some complications out of the never-ending list. Diabetes can cause Heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, Kidney disease, Nervous System Damage, amputations, Dental disease, Pregnancy complications, Sexual Dysfunction, and more. Just think about it, one cure for diabetes will stop all of these. The problem is we don’t have a cure right now. So diabetics must do things to survive. Type one diabetics must take insulin by injection or pump. Type two diabetics can follow a healthy meal plan and an exercise program to avoid taking pills or possibly injections as well.

Now you can see how serious diabetes is. I still can’t believe that that’s not all of the complications of diabetes. One of the biggest reasons people don’t think it is as serious is because they don’t know a lot of people with it. Every 21 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes. My dad has diabetes. He was diagnosed when he was 17 years old. He was diagnosed with type one diabetes. I’ve asked him countless times that if someone found a cure would you go get it. He always has the same answer. Yes, I would go and get it as soon as I could.

He is the reason I wrote a speech about diabetes. He is very involved with diabetes programs. He writes a blog about a lot of things, but mainly about diabetes. He was nominated for best type one blog and best diabetic blog. He is also involved in diabetes walks for different foundations, such as the ADA or the American Diabetes Association, and the JDRF, or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Our walk team was called team “Beat the Bete.” We were handed these sashes with the ADA symbol on them and the message that said how frequently someone is diagnosed with diabetes. There was something unique about the way they passed out these sashes. They passed them out every 21 seconds. When you looked around, in no time, almost everyone had a sash. This goes to show what an epidemic this really is.

Diabetes has had a profound impact on my life. I will continue to fight with my family and friends, raising money as well as awareness every time I participate in a fundraising event. I hope I have affected your life by increasing your knowledge on the subject of diabetes.

This is my dream.

I hope and pray for it to come true in my dad’s lifetime…

or at least mine.

-------------------

He wore his "Beat the Bete" shirt today. I am so proud of him and at the same time, sad that he has to know this disease.

A Package Arrived

When I got home I noticed this package in my mailbox.











It must have come from a far away place with all of those stamps on it. Maybe even the East Coast!




Wow, someone really wanted to make sure this got to me in one piece! Look at all that TAPE!







What is it? Oh wait a minute! That looks familiar to me!






Hooray! A very cool green One Touch Ultra Mini! So very sweet!!





Wait, there is something else in here...








Oh wow, these buttons are awesome. Only someone really extra full of awesomeness would have sent this to a Ninjabetic across the country.




But who?




OF COURSE!!!!!

SARA!!!!!!!

When we hung out at Christmas I was eyeing her sweet Green mini and she said she had an extra she would send me. What a very cool gift. Thanks Sara! You rock.

Now let's see if this things works.

Very nice!

I just have to change the time. ;)

thanks again Sara.

We Have Lift Off!

Last night my buddy came over and we worked out in my garage AKA the Slimmons Gym. We did cardio and weight lifting. He is one of those dudes that played Football in high school and can like crush soda can using his neck muscles so I was a little nervous.

He was totally cool and made sure I wasn’t too hard on myself. I am one of those people that over does it which leads to extra sore muscles for days and in turn keeps from wanting to exercise again. Not a good combination. I am sore but it is a good feeling. Like I said a while back, I am not a fan of traditional exercise but it helps to have a pal to workout with.



The big mistake of the night was that I had dinner before we worked out. Everything seemed okay but after we were done but stomach started feeling funny. I checked my BG and was at 160. A little high but I had eaten earlier. I did a ketone check which came up negative. I drank another bottle of water and that was it. I ran to the bathroom and (I’ll use my favorite word for this) “launched.”

I was a new man. And I just gained like 10 Weight Watcher points! SWEET

Note to self: EAT DINNER AFTER EXERCISE

What do you guys do when you work out in the evenings?

You Tube *SUPER* Tuesday #58

With all the "Super" stuff going on I decided to make this a Supersized edition. Let's get started shall we?

Is it just me or does this kid sound smarter then me? Charlie's laugh is the best.



I have been struggling as you all know with losing weight. Maybe this is what I need?



This kid is upset and concerned and rightfully so. We are talking about BUHLUUD!



And here is the video I talked about yesterday. My cousin took this clip of her Step Dad celebrating the Giants win of the Superbowl. Now, if you are a Giants fan you can cheer right along with him. If you are a Patriots fan you can celebrate that this guy is not on the same side of the bleachers as you are.

LOL Just kidding Bill! ;)

Weekend Update

It rained for a while but it didn’t rain enough for my liking. We had a good time but since the rain stopped, the people came and it was much busier then it should have been. We still had fun.

Thank you to all of the comments from my WW post. My buddy went with us and joined up too so we are planning on working out together. He is pretty excited about the program and I am going to cash in on his excitement. We have agreed to meet up and workout a few days a week so I better get into the Slimmons gym and dust.

I cannot wait for tomorrow to share a very funny video that was taken by my cousin.

Thanks again for your motivating words. I will not give up. I just am a pissed off at myself.

Weight Watchers Update

Gain 3.4lbs

Total Lost 28.6

I do not feel like writing much more about this. I'll explain another day when I am not so disgusted with myself.

Drenched at Disneyland

I heard there is this big old hairy foosball game happening this Sunday but the Simmons family will be attending the happiest place on earth.

You see, any Sunday afternoon that we have open AND that the weatherman predicts rain for is a Sunday we plan to go to the “Big D.” Especially on Superbowl Sunday!

Before we had passes we were caught off guard by rain at Mouse world. Since we paid a small fortune to enter the D-Land we decided to buy some ponchos and tough it out. I have NEVER had this much fun at Mickey’s pad since.

All those people who show up to amusement parks in clothes that look like they are going out to a club (Mickey Mouse club?), parents with small children, older folks who are not there to ride rides, and many others end up leaving. Only hard core people stick around! It’s like being a kid again skipping through the rain and stomping on puddles to splash one another. I love it! And did I mention no lines for rides? Awesome!

It may be hard for you to consider doing something as silly as this but it is invigorating to be so childish for a while. My kids get a kick out of mom and dad totally having fun with them. When all of you can be kids together, it makes for a fun time.

So please, pray for rain!