1 for you. 2 for me.

Hi! A person can eat a remarkable amount of candy by "restricting" their intake. My rules:

1) I can only eat fun-size candy. (Who cares if it takes 4 bites to eat it.)
2) I can't buy candy for myself. (Not a problem. I'll buy for the store in case trick-or-treaters come.)
3) I can only eat candy if trick-or-treaters are in sight. (Come here, little children...)
4) Oops, I shouldn't eat candy in front of people. That's rude. (Go away, little children...)
5) Nope. Rule 3 is better. Repeat.
6) I can only eat candy if I'm willing to watch my blood sugar level. (No problem, that gives me 2 hours...from the next piece of candy)
7) I can only eat Halloween candy on Halloween. (Oh, CRUEL RULE-WRITER!!! How can you be so mean....and wise.)

Well, I better go to the door. I think I see costumes. ;-)

Tortoise and the Hare

I just celebrated my 40th birthday...something I've been excited about for many years now. Not sure why I was so excited....but it was definitely a day I was looking forward to. Dave surprised me with gorgeous flowers.

A couple weeks ago Megan and I had a ton of fun creating Modge Podge birdhouses. I'm still laughing at our totally different approaches. She loves color and playing fast. In 2 seconds her project was totally transformed from its original state...and then she layered, built up, tore down, and joyfully transformed it 20 more times. Apparently, I'm a more ...hmmmm....methodical crafter. The white birdhouse stayed white for an hour as I selected papers, organized shapes, twisted trellises. I wouldn't make any changes until I was reasonably sure they'd be permanent. And it turned out exactly as I hoped it would. I love it!!! But our approaches sure make me laugh. I think that there's a psych experiment in there somewhere. :-)

I think my approach will probably help me in my next project...getting my newly diagnosed diabetes under control. After YEARS of trying to lose weight with varying degrees of intensity...but always with a high carb/low fat/low calorie plan, I had almost zero success. I'd maintain my weight within a few pounds...but the pounds were usually creeping up, and I've been significantly overweight most of my adult life. Drove me crazy because I knew what I was supposed to be eating.

When I was diagnosed, my doc told me that my diet approach simply wouldn't work because the diabetes wasn't allowing me to process the sugars properly...so up up up I'd go. He asked me to get some exercise in and try to lose about 50 pounds with a reduced carb/low fat/low calorie plan.

I've already lost 6 pounds. And my headaches are gone. And I feel more alert. And my feet aren't purple. Eureka! And, yes, I do eat carbs...but healthier ones. I can't believe that one little switch made such a difference. Bottom line is that my doctor now thinks that I'll probably be able to lose the medications within a year...if I keep it going. And I know I can. I think I've been building my house for a long time. :-)

In Context...

I had a really great chat with Debra's son, Noah. We were talking about the power of prayer...and he said that he believes that even if we're going through tough times, there's always Someone who's stronger. Then he said that Debra could have/should have died when she first became sick...but she was blessed and lived for 2 1/2 years!


Honest to God, I felt like someone grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. In my reality, Debra was "fine" until Christmas and died a few very short months later. It shocked me that her family saw it as an extra 2 1/2 years that they were able to spend together. An extra 2 1/2 years to turn dreams like the store into reality. An extra 2 1/2 years to grow family and friendships. An extra 2 1/2 years to try to reach people with the love of God that she felt.

I think my friend would have called this a "God Shot."

It's Not Easy Being Green

So, sometimes I have story idea pop into my head...almost like a daydream. This is one of them...

It's one of Oprah's "Best of" shows. This time it's the best green toys on the market. The format of the show brings the vendor/manufacturer/celebrity endorser out to demo the product. Then a gaggle of cute kids swarm the stage and get to play with the toys 'til the end of the show. The audience members ooh and aah when they realize that they'll also receive the goodies.

The first guest is a major toy manufacturer like Milton Bradley. The president comes out and explains that they've got the same great toys with 70% less packaging and all pieces made of recycled goods. Crowd goes wild. Kids are happy.

The next guest has remote control cars that are totally solar powered. No batteries required at all. Kids go wild. Drop the board games. Play with cars.

DRUM ROLL!!! Who could it be??? What's next... OMG!!! It's AL!!! Mr. Gore himeself!! Oprah congratulates him on all his awards. They show a little video again about global warming. And he talks about the little changes that a family can make that will save the world.

"Tipper, and my kids always had a favorite toy....and now I've made it earth friendly. I introduce the new and improved ....EASY BAKE OVEN. This low-watt bulb will last for years!"

Oprah - "But, Al..."

Al, "And, it's much safer for child-ren".

Oprah - "But, Al..."

Flash to the kids excited putting little tins of cake batter in the ovens. And waiting... And waiting...and waiting.

End of Show....Oprah off camera, "Somebody go and get me a cupcake."

Mutiny of the Bounty

The pomegranates are preparing to be something delicious. The peaches were prepared to be something delicious. In fact, that would be about 16 pints of peach salsa. So far, we've had it with tortillas, mixed it with baked beans, and used it as a marinade for beef. Yummy. We call it the earthquake blend. About three weeks ago, we had a shaker that forced our decision to "do something" with the peaches.

Believe it or not...we actually thinned these trees out....a LOT.

I've also made strawberry jelly and the most beautiful plum jelly from our Santa Rosa plum tree.

Can you guess what this is???





I'm now working on new knitting projects, too. This one is gorgeous and a really fun pattern called Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights. The color is much more accurate when it's displayed on the lamp...but the other shot shows the stitch definition better.

Hello! My Name is...

Wow! I didn't realize quite how long I'd been away from blogging. The last couple months have been eventful...pretty stunning actually when you think of how much has changed for bad and for good, but I'm still here.

Friends

My friend, Debra, lost her fight with cancer last month. It's actually sometimes harder now because I have over a month of stuff that I want to tell her about. :-) But, I was able to see her a couple days before she died, and that meant a lot. Her funeral was nice, and I've had one analogy that has been in my head now ever since. Someone said, "to me, I'm always surprised that people get upset about the death of their physical bodies. I think of it like losing baby teeth. Nobody cries about losing baby teeth. Instead people congratulate you and say, Wow! You're growing up. Good for you! Now you'll get your permanent teeth! I think of dying the same way. You lose your temporary self but you gain your permanent self!"

Anyway, I like the way she put it.

I still miss Debra, though.

Family

My brother-in-law just went through a scary medical thing. The fabulous thing is that he's doing much much better now. Thank God! Get well this minute, Greg! Love You!!!!

Knitting

Oh, boy, do I have some pretty yarns right now! And actual projects. I forgot to post some finish photos of Leda.

I'm also working on the Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights stole. I'm having so much fun with it, but I don't have photos quite yet. Soon, though!

Gardening

I have lots of real live fruits and vegetables in the garden now. Blackberries are going nuts and are ready now. I'll take more photos of the plums, peaches, apples, pomegranate, etc. And now I've got squash, peas, tomatoes galore, arugula, and lots of flowers. We also had this cool bee swarm that showed up for 48 hours and then disappeared as if they had never been here before...

I'm getting Edgy

I haven't been blogging lately because I've become a knitting fiend. Hee! Well, not quite a fiend, but I've been making all kinds of progress. I've officially finished one edge, removed a whole batch of lifelines, and I'm hoping to finish the last bit of edging on Leda. Hurray!!! Then I just have to block it. I did try it on, though, when I finished the first edge, and I was super excited. It really is beautiful.

Mom and Dad came out for a week, and we had a really great time. Cruised around PCH, had some wonderful meals (LOVE the Longboarder in Oceanside), checked out the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, and Dad stomped over us at pool. So much fun, and we miss them already!!!

I still need to get pictures posted....but thought it would be a good idea to let folks know that I'm still here! :-)