Okay, I'll admit I cannot pass up a shoe store.  Friday I went to Oak Brook Mall and stopped in every single shoe store I passed on my way to Nordstrom to pick up the jeans they were shortening for me (the joys of being 5'3" - petite/short are too short and average are too long.)

Bakers.  Nine West.  Aldo.  The Walking Company.  Steve Madden.  And don't forget the HUGE selection of shoes at Nordstrom (which, BTW, started life as a Seattle shoe store.)  And how many pairs of shoes did I buy?  0

That's right.  ZERO  (Though I did buy this really awesome purse)

So, on my way home I saw a Payless Store with BOGO in their window.  It isn't just buy one, get one.  That implies the second one is free.  No.  The second one is Half Off.  But I didn't stop.

If I had, would that have made me a BOGO HO?

Judging by what I saw while shopping, if you want to be hip this fall, wear patent leather (and not just black!)

I love the sound of her voice.  And her range is comfortable for me.  So I bought a book of Sarah McLachlan songs that I am going to try to learn to play on the piano and/or guitar.  I am also going to learn to sing "Angel" well enough to do the next time I go out for karaoke.

My karaoke buddy, Sheri, sings well enough and on key, but I've been told my voice is much more musical than hers (she doesn't have any vibrato at all).  She took second place in a local karaoke contest.

That got me thinking maybe I should try it here.

Yesterday, at the music store where I picked up the Sarah sheet music, I picked up a copy of "Nitelife" magazine, that had listings for karaoke in the western suburbs where I live.  There is a "Karaoke World Series" that I could register for, but I think I need to start smaller. 

I need to develop more of a stage presence.  I have improved.  I used to stand there stiff as a board looking only at the monitor.  Now I rarely look at the monitor, and if I do, it's just a quick glance to see what the next line is, and I try to engage the audience, at least by glancing at them.  I have done a little body motion and arm motion but I really need to learn to be a "presence".  Otherwise, I'll never even get an honorable mention.

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My office closes at noon on Fridays, so I'm home by 1:30pm. (Kind of sucks having a 3-hour round-trip commute for a 3-hour day).

I've persuaded Duane, who works for me in the tech department, to play World of Warcraft.  I guess I should feel guilty getting so many people hooked on this game LOL  But I don't

Health update: Not much to tell.  Still following my dietician's advice.  My morning glucose readings are climbing back up.  Maybe I need to take a closer look at how I'm doing.  I am not skipping meals, but I do tend to forget about the snacks in between, so I am probably not keeping my glucose on an even keel.  And I'm expecting a visit from Aunt Flo so there are probably some cortisol hormones floating around with the anticipation of the lovely cramps I always get.  My weight is still down below that 1n0 number, but barely.  Like 1[n-1]9.2

Haha, sorry for the cryptic notation, but I just don't feel like giving away my weight.  My age, fine.  I've lived a great life and earned every one of my 51 years and wouldn't give any of them back for the world.  However, I would be MORE THAN HAPPY to give back some of the pounds!

My boss has been on vacation for the past wonderful glorious week and a half.  I've gotten SO MUCH work done!  He'll be back on Tuesday, and once again, it will be back to one interruption after another.

I'd want to be able to fly.  Not sure how I'd use it, but some of my favorite dreams are those in which I can fly.

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Maybe they should tie a pork chop around his neck and throw him into a ring with a dozen pit bulls that have been trained for dogfighting.

   

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Interesting question of the day, and one I'm sure we've all fantacised about.

First, I would set up a trust for my sisters so they would have an income for the rest of their lives.  I'd probably help get all my siblings out of debt.  I'd make sure they all had nice houses to live in and nice cars to drive.

I'd pay off my stepdaughter's debts, and set up trusts for her four kids to go to college.

I'd probably donate to several charities - the V.A., VFW, DAV, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association.

I'd set up a scholarship for women who want to return to school but can't afford it.

I'd set up a "trust" for myself to make sure I had plenty of income for the rest of my life.

Then I'd have to move somewhere and hide, because "friends" and "family" would come out of the woodwork, and every charity on earth would be calling me, since they are exempt from the "Do Not Call" list.  

   

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Okay, we definitely need a "Report as Spam/Abuse" button on our messages.  I can't believe I got one of those stupid "I need to send you a bazillion dollars from my extremely rich client that passed away but has nobody to leave his riches to.  Just send me your bank account number, and we'll immediately transfer this money into your account, no questions asked."

I have a MySpace account and my in box is constantly being spammed.  I am surprised that it happened here (though not really, I guess.)  But at MySpace, we can report it.  We need that here.  I don't even know who I can contact here to make the suggestion.

I would be Bart's little sister, Lisa, because she is just beyond cool.  She plays a musical instrument, is exceptionally intelligent, and is absolutely positively sure of herself.  She reminds me of who I wished I could have been when I was in school.  I just lacked the "Absolutely positively sure of herself" trait.  I had no self-confidence at all.

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As anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows, there is some kind of thrill in moving into the next set of 10 - e.g. going from 150 to 149.  Or from 200 to 199.  I crossed one of those threshholds over the weekend.  I have less than 8 pounds to go to cross the next threshhold   Then I'll be lower than I've been in probably 10 years.

On my way to a svelte size 7

Ever since I was diagnosed with diabetes, I've been struggling with my weight. I remember when I thought being a size 14 made me feel huge. I remember looking at horror when the scale hit 155 while I was married to my first husband. I even went to a psychiatrist because I thought there was something mentally wrong with me that I would allow myself to get "that fat". (I weigh more than that now.)

When I met Mac, I was a size 7.  In 1995, when we got married, I had gone up to between a 12 and 14 and had gained about 30 pounds. In the next four years I gained 30 more and was diagnosed with diabetes.

I've always been at risk. I have always had a large waist in proportion to my hips - a trait I inherited from my mom and grandmother (both were diabetics) Even when I was a skinny kid, I had to wear bigger sizes to fit my waist. In the 9th grade, I wore a larger size than my mom even though I was thin (she was petite until after my youngest brother was born and she had to have a hysterectomy - the hormonal imbalance was probably the largest factor in her weight gain.)

So about diabetes. . .

It usually starts out as glucose intolerance in type 2 diabetics. The glucose (sugar) attaches itself to the blood. The pancreas secretes insulin, which is like the key to unlock cells to allow the glucose in, to give energy. When the cells won't open up, it's called glucose intolerance. When the glucose has nowhere to go, it turns into fat and settles around the middle. Excess belly fat promotes glucose intolerance. Thus you can see it's a cycle. (Excess fat around the middle causes glucose intolerance, which, in turn, causes excess fat around the middle.)

So while some people can lose 1-2 pounds a week, I'm lucky to lose 1-2 pounds a month. And that's with a LOT of work. But this year I've been managing to do that (1-2 pounds a month). And since I saw my dietician, I've been doing even better, because my glucose readings are coming down. I bet I'll have a great checkup in September. I have a feeling my A1c will fall below the ADA recommendation of < 7.0 - and maybe even lower than the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommendation of < 6.5.

Non-diabetics would have an A1c of about 4.5 or less.

I just have to keep telling myself "Slow and Steady wins the race."