I was going to start this entry by saying I'm not updating every day like I had intended, but there had been nothing worth writing about.  Then this thought flitted through my brain: I had a nice visit with Janet.

In the picture from my class reunion, the second person in from the left in the middle row is Janet, one of the girls I had known since kindergarten, but we were never really 'friends' - meaning that though we didn't dislike each other, we didn't hang out together. But I called her yesterday to place an order for her home-based business and we spent about an hour talking about a lot of stuff, then exchanged some long emails.  We had 37 years of catching up to do.

It felt like sitting in the kitchen over coffee catching up.  And for a second there, in my brain, that is exactly what it was.  Makes that old phone slogan almost literal

Had my final diabetes class last night.  I don't know why I was never "prescribed" this education before - I've been diabetic for almost 12 years and most people take these classes right after diagnosis.  Instead, my doctor in Chicago had me talk 1-on-1 with a diabetes educator for an hour.  (The classes are a total of 10 hours)

So, I learned that if my glucose is ever over 400 I should seek medical attention immediately.  I never knew that.  It hasn't gone above 400 very many times, but it did about a month ago (almost 500) and a couple years ago when I was traveling and didn't bring enough insulin with me it hit 400 three or four times.

Fortunately, most of the time it's in the correct range lately.  I'm hoping my next A1c is much better.

I'm not going anywhere.  I just had that lyric floating through my mind LOL

When I abandoned Kallioph and revealed that this was my true site, people were surprised because they inferred from my layout that I was some kind of young rock singer.  LOL  Far from it.  But I decided to add a link to my SingSnap page and my only public recording - "Tears in Heaven".  I am not a great singer.  I'm a mediocre singer.  But I really ENJOY singing, and that is what matters.

I dedicated this song to my family members who were no longer with us - posed as a question.

During the summer, a group of my classmates was having a discussion on Facebook about how we should all get together - those of us still living in the area (or, like me, who have moved back.)  The talk started moving toward renting some place, and I interjected that if it were less than 50 people, we could do it at my house.  Mainly because I thought if people had to pay, they might not come.  So we decided to make it a pot luck, where everyone contributed something and there would be a nice variety.

I have a photographer friend who I asked to do the photography for the gathering.  He's a celebrity photographer but because he is a friend, he has done some photography for me before.  This is a picture of the group. The two ladies on the far left in the middle row I've known since kindergarten.  The girl with the long blonde hair sitting down I've known since 4th grade.  The rest I think I met in Junior high or high school.

I had an appointment with a diabetes educator today.  If there is any place to go hypoglycemic, it's while you're talking to a diabetes educator.  We were discussing what I had for breakfast and how much insulin I took.  She asked me how I was feeling and I told her "I think I'm having a low right now."  I happened to bring my meter with me, and I tested - a blood glucose below 70 is considered low (hypoglycemia).  My reading was 59 and I had just eaten 3.5 hours earlier.  She gave me some glucose tablets and a small can of orange juice and about 20 minutes later it was 125.  (and by the time I got home it had stablized to around 110).

She also gave me a new meter (like one I already have) and now I'm keeping one in the kitchen so I'll remember to test before dinner (where I have the most problem.)

But looking over my log in my meter, my control has been pretty good except for evening because I keep forgetting to inject before dinner.  I asked what would define a good candidate for an insulin pump.  She said 'You are not a good candidate.  You have to test consistently at least 4 times a day - before meals and before bed.'  That is what I'm working on now.

We also discussed exercise.  Um.  Yeah.  Something I *KNOW* I should be doing.  I told her how tired I was all the time, how I can go to bed at 10 pm and wake up every couple of hours and still feel tired at 9AM and end up taking 2-3 hour naps sometimes during the day.  She is going to mention it to my doctor.  I told her I would like to hire a trainer.  She told me their gym has a "punch card" program where you can buy 10 punches for $40 - that means for just $4 I can come to one of their water aerobics classes (or any class).  She also said since my schedule was flexible, I could probably join (after my medical membership - which would only be for two months) on the senior plan (I'd have to attend the gym during normal business hours, something like between 10am and 3pm).

I can't possibly be getting as much sleep at night as I think I am. Today at around 5pm I could hardly hold my head up and took a 'nap' until 7. I missed all the little trick-or-treaters. Roger said they were really cute.

There is just so much that needs to change. I think that is part of what is making me so tired.

1. I need to get my weight down
2. I need to exercise
3. I need to make those lifetime habits
4. I need to remember to inject insulin before every meal
5. I finally am consistent at taking my meds twice a day every day.

I can't work on everything at once, no matter what anyone tells me to do. It's too easy to get discouraged. I am working on taking my insulin before every meal now, no matter what I eat. That is going to be key in getting my numbers right. Once that becomes an ingrained habit, I'm going to work on the food part.

Which brings me to another dilemma. I am allowed 45 grams of carbs at every meal and two snacks of 15 grams of carbs. (This is my dietician's recommendation). It's easy enough to do that at lunch and dinner where I can eat a lot of non-starchy veggies and some form of protein, but at breakfast, it's really tough. It amounts to something like this:

1 slice of toast with 2 Tbsp of peanut butter, half a cup of high fiber cereal and 1/4 cup of soy milk. (lactose intolerant - something I am hoping will go away as I lose weight because I really miss dairy products! Even lactaid isn't working so I have to forego them altogether)

That will leave me starving in two hours.

The other alternative is to have an egg sandwich - but I can't eat just egg on it (well, I suppose I could if it was all I had - and maybe I could acquire a taste for it.) So an egg, cheese and sausage sandwich would leave me feeling full and satisfied for about 5 hours.

For now, though, I'm concentrating on making the insulin a habit - one I don't even have to think about. Once I get my blood sugar from spiking and dipping, I might not be so fatigued all the time.

I'm not doing very well at updating every day like I had intended.  NaBloPoMo is a site where you vow to write in your blog every day for a month.  It started in November...forget which year.  But it stands for National Blog Posting Month.  I am going to try in November to write something every day.

I am still tracking everything on SparkPeople.  Today is my weigh-in day but I usually do it in the nude right before my shower and I forgot this morning so I'll do it tomorrow.  It's the only way I know of to get a correct and consistent reading.  Too bad I can't weigh in nekkid at my doctor's office. 

I have so many changes I need to make but I am concentrating on just a few at a time.  Hopefully, by this time next year, when I am near my goal weight I will have developed great habits that will last me the rest of my life.

Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time may remember when I lost my job in 2004.

Received this in my in box yesterday:

Sheryl,

My name is Val [Edited], I own [Agency Name Edited]. I have been retained by [Former Employer] to identify candidates in the selection process of a new Director of IT (Strategic and Tactical director with Operational oversight) I know it's revisiting your past, but sometimes revisits can be interesting. Any interest in talking?

Kind Regards,

Val [Edited]
President [Agency Name Edited], Inc.

Former Employer is the employer that hired a new CEO who:

• Brought in his buddy to be the I.T. Director - gave him my position description but changed I.T. Manager to I.T. Director  (I had been petitioning my boss, who was the CFO to change my title to I.T. Director before the new CEO came.)
• Brought in the chick he was probably having an affair with to become his second in command (COO), changing who I reported to from the CFO to the COO
• Hired a consultant to find out where there was a duplication of duties (see where this is leading?)
• Sent two of his lackeys into my office to tell me that I was being let go because of a "reduction in force"
• Later brought in another of his former co-workers to replace the CFO

CEO, COO, new CFO and I.T. Director are no longer working there.  CEO was canned (first Karma)

I responded with:

Dear Val,

If I was still living in Chicago I would jump at this.  I LOVED working at the [Former Employer].  However, I now live in eastern Michigan working for a consulting company in Chicago where I mostly work from home.  The only way I would consider something like this would be to work remotely.

Thanks for thinking of me.

Sheryl

If she responds, I'll tell her I forgot to mention that I would require double the salary they were paying me when I worked there before.

When I get up in the morning (at the crack of 9) the first thing I do is take my thyroid meds. I have to wait to eat so I will do what I need to do to get ready for the day then go sit at my computer and log into work. (I work from home 10am to 6pm.) Next thing I know, it's 11:30. So if I eat, is it a late breakfast or an early lunch? Do I skip Breakfast and just wait another half an hour and eat lunch?

I know skipping meals isn't a good thing to do. Maybe I should really just adjust the timing so that breakfast is at 11, lunch is at 3, dinner is at 7. Being diabetic, I'm supposed to eat every 4-5 hours and this is 4 hours apart.

Someone suggested getting my breakfast ready and putting it on my desk so I don't forget. But I normally eat cereal for breakfast, so that's not really feasible.

I wonder what other people do who tend to be busy right through a mealtime without thinking about it.

I have an appointment with a diabetes dietician next week. I may ask her if it's possible to shake things up a bit. Snack, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack instead of snack between meals (I'm rarely, if ever, hungry between meals.)

I wish I could just get up earlier, take a walk while waiting for my thyroid meds to work, but right now, while I'm trying to get everything regulated, my sleep is so broken up at night that going to bed at 10pm and getting up at 9am usually nets me about 6-7 hours of good sleep.

Maybe I'm just making excuses.

Tracking things sure makes you think first. Before I eat, I think to myself that I will be tracking this, so be careful what I eat.

And it also makes me want to do more. So today Deb and I took a walk on one of the nature trails around the hospital complex near my house. 

Roger worked midnights last night so I didn't sleep very well.  I think I need a nap.

Man.  I must be getting old.