Ninjabetic Vlog - This one is supersized.

I did not mean to record a vlog that was so long but if you have some time to spare, it may be worth checking out.

Yesterday I posted 25 Random Facts about Me on Twitter. I chose some silly things, some embarrassing things, and some simple truths. It was fun, so there is a mention in this clip about those 25 things. I posted them below so you can see them in case you do not use Twitter.

I also talk about short fuses and moodiness. There is a point to this madness I swear.

I hope you like it.



25 Random Facts About Me

1. When I was a kid my, sisters said I used to strip their Barbies, chew on their feet boobs and hands, and then throw them on the hill.
2. I do an amazing impersonation of Aaron Neville.
3. I used the amazon gift card from a Dexcom survey to purchase one of my favorite movies. Hedwig & the Angry Inch.
4. My middle name is Scott.
5. My favorite number is 56.
6. I know The Pledge of Allegiance in sign language.
7. I've been to Australia. In and around Sydney.
8. Cheese and Syrup was a favorite treat of mine as a kid.
9. I have a major fear of Clowns, Horses, Birds, and Pinata's. Mime's are a close relative to the clown and equally as scary.
10. Cement being mixed is one of my favorite smells.
11. I once flipped the bird to the Easter Bunny.
12. Cheryl Ladd was my first crush ever. What a foxy "angel!"
13. My shoe size is 14. I hate having to find shoes but I love the $ I save on not having to rent ski's.
14. I have both my ears and my nose pierced. I don't wear anything in them anymore but I could.
15. I cannot eat chicken on the bone. I once had to cook a chicken and I had to call my mom for support to cut it. It Freaked me out.
16. I love the wind. I can stand in it and close my eyes and be happy.
17. If I could remove one thing from my memory it would be Michael Bolton. His whole career. I want to be free of it.
18. I can do the dances from Thriller, Miss You Much, Love is a Battlefield, and The Right Stuff by New Kids.
19. I failed Spanish twice and I am Latino!
20. In 3rd grade my teacher asked if any1 knew what "Broad" meant. I raised my hand and said, "A dumb waitress?" I guess I watched too much "Alice" as a kid. You know, Mel's diner.
21. The first time I tried a cigarette I was 6 years old.
22. I have never been in a fist fight. Ever.
23. Grape anything makes me want to vomit. Grape soda, drink, now and laters, cough syrup, glucose tabs, all of it. BUT I LOVE grapes. LOVE!
24. Until I was 15, I thought UPS delivered Tortillas. My grandma told me that once. I thought,"Wow! Tortillas are popular!"
25. I married the first girl I ever kissed.

Anna & Steve

I will be wearing a tuxedo this Saturday. Appropriate attire indeed for a “best man!”

Saturday is my sister Anna’s wedding day and her fiancé asked me to be his best man. Cool beans right?

It’s a funny thing being the only brother in a family of girls whose dad died way too early in life. I always feel like I am supposed to keep an eye out for them like dad did and would have. When Jennifer starting dating her husband Paul I became good friends. I clicked with him (not that it mattered) immediately. He treats her right and makes her happy, the two things that are most important to me. And now he is going to be a Daddy! So awesome!

My sister Diane was lucky that my dad actually got to know Frank when they were first dating. My dad loved Frank. I love Frank. You would too, he is awesome.

Steve, my brother in law come Saturday, is a great guy and I love him already. Kind, funny, smart, geeky (in an awesomely cool way), laid back, warm, and friendly. But none of that matters.

All that matters is that my sister is happy and he that treats her right.

Check and Check.

My sister is the happiest I have ever seen her and she also seems so much more “herself” then she has been in the past. It’s the Anna I know and love who is chilled out most of the time but will put the smack down if needed.

I see them and they are already such great friends who laugh, play, and even go to church together which for my sister is a big thing.

So this Saturday at about 6:30PM, grab a hold of a drink somewhere and join me in toasting Anna and Steve.

“May their years together be many, their days joyful, and every minute together cherished.”

A Funny Exchange

Coworker: Hey dude.

George: Hey.

Most of the people I work with I feel are like family and close friends. There are a few that piss me off but most are pretty chill. This exchange this morning cracked me up.

C: Dude, so I was wondering if most people keep their pumps in their socks or pockets like you.

G: You were wondering that? Why?

C: (laughs) Well I mean do people rock it on their belt like a Black Berry or what?

G: I used to but since I have a Blackberry that I wear on my belt I was starting to look a little like Batman which is not as cool as I thought it would be.

C: I saw this commercial with these blood monitors but in different colors. Have you seen those?

She is talking about the One Touch Ultra Mini’s that are available in 6 different colors. I use mine when I do not want to carry my bag around and I can put the meter and lancing device in my pocket easily because of their compact size.

G: I actually have a green one. It was gift from a good friend of mine.

C: That one was my favorite!

G: Yeah, they are pretty cool.

C: Dude, it makes me want to get one and check my blood sugar. Like, BAM check me out and my stylin’ green machine.

G: (laughing) Kind of like when people got all into wearing fake glasses because they thought they looked cool.

C: Ugh! I HATED that phase. People would come up to me and say, “Cute glasses. Are they real?” I mean, YES. Of course they are real! I will crash my car without them!

G: Yeah. This would be exactly like that.

C: Oh… I get it.

G: Cool.

You Tube Tuesday #105

I love music. I love playing it, listening to it and occasionally writing it. I also love to hear different musical instruments and the different sounds you can make with them. Always amazing to me.

Check out this Harmonica player and how he can play some classics.

Enjoy

People's Perspective

Yesterday was a sick day. I was up all night as was my son. We were sick to our stomachs until morning came. It was a rough night.

My son had his last day of finals yesterday and said he could not stay home so he went to school and was fine.

I, on the other hand, could not get out of bed. I was drained and wiped out and still felt terrible.

Age? Diabetes? Both?

By noon yesterday I felt better. I was scared to eat but finally managed to have some soup. It soothed and made me feel better. Luckily it was an overnight thing and not a week long thing like I have had before.

But today something strange happened. I walked into work and co-workers started asking how I was. But I detected something different. It was almost as if they didn’t believe me at least, that was how it seemed.

Wanting to know what time George threw up, and what time I felt funny, and what did I eat, and why did I not go to doctors, and could it be my diabetes, and then my favorite statement of all…

“You need to take care of yourself.”

I think this is it. I think they think I don’t care about myself or my diabetes. I can almost hear them all talking in the lunch room about how much weight I have gained and how “down” I have been and they knew what happened the other night with my BG skyrocketing after my set got pulled out.

Is it just me or are there people around you who assume that any stumble, any complication you may have means you are not taking care of yourself? I know the real deal but honestly, we all want to take better care of ourselves. So those statements start to make me wonder.

So when I hear them say “You need to take care of yourself” and I just nod, smile, and blog their asses.

BAM!

>600 to <60 in 8hrs

Yesterday sucked and here is why. 

Here is not why.

I heart the "D" sometimes. NOT.

You Tube Tuesday #104

Over the weekend I found this old tape of my band Six Degrees playing at a club in North Hollywood. This is a cover song we used to do and it was always a crowd pleaser. Video cameras do not do well at recording music but I think you will get the idea.

Enjoy

Lot's of NEW's

This week is loaded with New Stuff that you should check out.

First is the Biggest Loser – D Style. I wrote about the challenge last week and today marks day one for me! If you still want to join then send Landileigh an email and get on board. It is never too late to start getting healthy!

Second is a new blogger I wanted to introduce too. Erin emailed me before Christmas asking some advice about quitting smoking. She ended up quitting a month ago and is still smoke free. She is a Type 1 mom who loves Stamping and Paper-Crafts. Please head over there and show her some love. She is great!

Third, I knew there were D-vloggers out there like Sara, Kerri, Allie, Landileigh, Windy, and Manny but there are so many new ones now! Tony, Chris, Scott, and even a practice one from Minnesota Nice! I love watching vlogs because you feel like you know the person even more! It takes blogging and this community to a new level. Keep ‘em coming!

And the last thing is how amazing tomorrow is going to be. Even if you are not on the Obama bandwagon you must agree that it is a HUGE step forward in the world when America will have an African American president. It feels like a wall has been knocked down or at least, has been seriously weakened. I am thankful for that and you should be too regardless of your political views. The view for humanity is a bit clearer in my book.

Tomorrow is going to be a special You Tube Tuesday for whatever reason. I found an old video tape and there is something I want to share with you all.

Friday Vlog - The Biggest Loser

It was late Thursday night that I recorded this so my voice and distance from the camera are not the norm.

The Biggest Loser - D Style that Landileigh put together is the topic as is support and the community we offer to one another. It is an awesome tool for motivation and accountability.

Check out the post and hear my ramblings.

I almost forgot, Teddy makes an appearance too!

Enjoy.

I Am Naturally

Today’s post has nothing to do with Diabetes. In fact, it may be looked at as Diabetes taboo but I want to let you all know about my cousin’s new blog.

B Sweet Cakes

Here is a cake she made for my wife when she earned her BA.

Check out the site to see more cakes and check back often. She is getting a bunch of orders for showers, parties, and even a couple of weddings!

Soy Un Perdedor

"I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me."

That would be a line from the Beck song "Loser" and no I am not calling you "baby" and no I am NOT asking you to kill me.

But I do want to tell you about something cool...

Landileigh mentioned wanting to start a "Biggest Loser" type program on her blog and I quickly jumped on board. Here is how she explains how the program will work.

Now let me start this out, this IS NOT a diet. We’re all adults here, we’ve probably been on tons of diets. This is not an exercise plan. I’m not a doctor or a trainer. This is a support group. Here to encourage and push and guide. We all know what we need to do. We’ve been on Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, SlimFast, a thousand diets. But what we lack is motivation and support. THAT IS WHAT THIS IS!

The Biggest Loser - “D” Style is a way to see your progress in black and white. To hold yourself accountable by having it published. No yelling, no “oh you’ve been bad”, just encouragement! No prizes, i think losing weight and getting healthy is prize in itself. We each plan on doing our own diets and starting our own exercise plans."

So if this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of (we will have cool Biggest Loser graphics for your blog!), then just send me an email with your weight/weight/age and a front facing face shot of you to landileigh2 at gmail dot com, and we’ll add you in! Hope we have lots more participants!

So are you in? I think it's cool that we can just support one another and have a place to check in and cheer each other on.

I am excited to be a loser!

You Tube Tuesday #103 - My Blogiversary!!!

3 years ago today I started this blog.

So many things in my life have changed and so many have stayed the same. Through it all you have stuck with me, supported me, laughed with (and at) me, and been an awesome sounding board for me.

As weird as it sounds I feel like all of you are my friends and wish I could shake each one of your hands (probably give you a hug since I am a hugger).

I hope you stick around even just to see what strange things I get myself into in the next 3 years.

So in honor of The B.A.D. Blog hitting the big 3, I give you a sweet clip with a ninja like dude also hitting 3. 3 boards that is. Enjoy.

A Nice Conversation

A long time ago I told you about a colleague that I found out had type 1 but did not really want to share about it. 

Since that call almost 2 years ago we have spoken many times but have never mentioned diabetes. 

Not. Once.

Today she called in and it went a little different.

"How's it going Karen?"

"Pretty good George except my diabetes is driving me nuts lately!"

She went on to tell me how lately she has been having really high BG's and she cannot figure out why. 

"I had a bag of Cheetos and took the right amount of insulin but now I cannot get my level down." 

I told her how I understood what she was going through. Then she said something that I had to talk about.

"But with all of that I still will NEVER get on a pump." It was a weird statement and it seemed totally out of place. I explained to her that I was on a pump and that I like it but that it is not for everyone.

"I still get high blood sugars and have issues but I just love the flexibilty of it and I don't have to take shots all the time." I was trying not to sound mad because in a way she offended Master P and I could not let him get dissed like that! 

"Oh," her voice totally changed, "but don't you have problems with the sites?"

She was talking about infections and pain. I told her that I have never had infection but have had some pain but nothing horrible. I explained all the things I like about being on a pump but reassured her that I think it is not for everyone.

"Hmm. I thought it was painful. Interesting." She sounded like she was almost considering a pump. Or at the very least not totally dissing it. 

It was not the conversation I hoped for long ago but at least she talked about it. 

Today's Appointment

This morning I had my appointment with my primary care physician. His name is Dr. Mendez and I like him a lot. He is easy to talk to, funny, and thorough.

When he sat down and asked about my long Wednesday, I told him everything, even the rude doctor we saw in his place. He was very understanding, encouraged me to contact member services if we felt strongly about it AND he drew my blood right there in his office for my lab work.

I have never had a doctor do that before and he has done this twice already. It’s a pain to have to go to the lab another morning and wait to get blood drawn somewhere else. This was it is done and he gets his results much faster. I really dig him.

He gave me a referral for a neurologist that he says, “is one of the best in Southern California and he is a younger guy so you should feel comfortable talking to him.”

Perfect.

I called Dr. Rison (neurologist) to make an appointment and the soonest they have open is February 4th. I took the appointment and am looking forward to getting checked out and hopefully get this taken care of.

FYI my arm is less tingly but is still a little numb.

Thanks again to all those who were worrying about me. You guys do a great job at supporting and caring for your friends even if we haven’t met face to face.

I hope I can return the favor one day.

Team Twitter

Yesterday was a long day! If you are interested hop on over to dLife and check it out.

 

But I wanted to write here about Twitter. 

Twitter is awesome! Yesterday all the people that responded to my “Tweets” made the day much more bearable.

 

If you don’t know what Twitter is, here is the Wikipedia definition…

 

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

 

So yesterday when I first went to the doctors I “tweeted” how I was feeling. Here are all of the replies I received.

sixuntilme @ninjabetic PLEASE let us know how you are doing. Now I'm worried!!!!

bishop1073 @ninjabetic hope everything is ok george.

ronragsag @ninjabetic dude I'm prayin. Hope it's somthin minor.

stickysweetmom @ninjabetic Keep us posted. I'm praying that your ok!

JoeSerrano @ninjabetic Good Luck-Get Well!

coryereed @ninjabetic Keep us updated. Hope everything goes alright

leeannthill @ninjabetic Yikes! I hope it's nothing serious. Keep us updated, George

scottkjohnson @ninjabetic Whoa! G-Money! Hope you're alright! Keep us posted.

imcluis @ninjabetic i hope u are ok!

cerichards21 @ninjabetic Sending prayers your way. Keep us updated

Meg_Han_Solo @ninjabetic st jude? I'm on my way there now.. Gotta get an x ray

dorkabetic @ninjabetic glad to know it's not too serious...maybe less menudo dancing would help ;)

martin_j001 @ninjabetic Hope all is ok!!!

rainbow_goddess @ninjabetic Oh my, I hope you're okay! Please update when you can.

BernardF @ninjabetic I'll say some prayers now George. I hope everything is OK, let us know.

JaimieH @ninjabetic I'm praying George!

 

And those were from my first update! All day I was updating letting all those following me what was going on. All the time I felt connected and felt like I had this community cheering me on, sending good thoughts, and praying for me. It made all of it so much more tolerable. I am thankful I have people who care.

 

I guess I wanted to post about this in case you who are reading it need a support group. It is not easy to open up for some but when you do it is nice to know you are not alone. And it is awesome to be able to return the favor when others are in need.

 

Thanks Tweeple for all your love and support yesterday. I needed it big time!

You Tube Tuesday #102

I need to get a few friends together and do this. So funny.

Enjoy!

Aunt Lisa

Death is never easy. At least not for those left behind.

In my life I have experienced sudden death with my father who had a fatal heart attack at age 43, a slow painful death with my Grandma Lucy who did not know who we were and who seemed to be sick for years, to my cousin who was murdered by her husband to even a very close relative committing suicide.

All are awful. I hate them all.

At least when it takes a while you have time to say goodbye. Although watching a loved one suffer is awful.

There are no words to describe the anger and flood of emotions that occur with both murder and suicide. Both leave you with your jaw on the floor and your eyes full of tears. Sorrow, fear, guilt, anger, grief, confusion, and so many more feelings are constantly tumbling around in your head. Both of these were the most terrible things I have ever had to experience with Suicide being the absolute worst.

Dying suddenly is how I wish to go. Although this may be the way I want, I am sure it not the way my family would like it. Sudden death is hard because it is so unexpected.

My aunt who was 62 died on December 21st. It was so out of no where that an autopsy was ordered and still, no cause of death has been found. I hurt for my uncle who was planning to retire soon. I hurt for my cousins who lost their mom. I hurt for my cousin’s kids who lost their grandma. I hurt because I loved my Aunt and will miss her.

Tonight is the rosary and viewing with the funeral tomorrow.

I know many tears will be shed in the next two days. My resolution this year is simple, and that is to choose to be happy all the time. So as I cry I am going to remember all the good stuff about Aunt Lisa, her sassy attitude, spending the night over at their house so my cousin and I could box each other (My uncle Carl and my dad would love to watch us duke it out in the living room. Guess who busted out the ninja moves), and all the times we got together for celebrations.

Life is short and we don’t know how long we have.

Choose to be happy despite all the tears. There is always something positive and happy to hold onto.