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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

It's An Adventure

 Long distance running while dealing with Type 2 Diabetes is an adventure.

All long distance runners face some similar training issues.  We all have injuries.  We all deal with the weather.  But diabetic runners have special problems.

When I started to up my mileage in preparation for the Las Cruces Half Marathon, I immediately started have hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes.  So I had to stop every mile that I ran and check my blood sugar on the side of the road until I got a handle on the problem.  I now know that I can go two miles before my blood sugar drops.  Good news and bad news.  That means that I no longer have to check my blood sugar every mile.  But it also means that I have to pop a glucose tablet every two miles. Which means I have to carry glucose tablets with me when I run.

Also, since I do have to eat a glucose tablet every two miles, I spent yesterday  driving The Las Cruces Half Marathon course to memorize the two mile spots on the 13.1 course.  I have to know when to pump up my blood sugar to avoid a hypoglycemic episode on the side of the road.  My goal is to finish the race on my feet, not in the back of an ambulance.

Come race day, I will have to time the ingestion of a slow release glucose bar to be exactly one hour before the start of the race.  That will give the carbs in the bar time to hit my blood stream.  Also, on race day I will carry glucose tablets, glucose monitor, testing strips, and lancet along with me on my run.  But I have a fantastic husband, Danny Dearest, who purchased these shorts for me for my birthday.
See all those pockets on the rear end of the shorts?  Those will carry all my supplies.  I'll look a little like a pack horse running down the road.

Sometimes when I think of other runners who just lace up their shoes and go running, I get a little jealous.  Their running is effortless.  Mine takes planning and effort. But there are a couple of  benefits that make it all worthwhile. One is that  running keeps my blood glucose levels low.  Which is important for all kinds of reasons.  It helps avoid all those nasty complications from diabetes that we all know about.  And it helps extend my life expectancy.

Which leads to the most benefit of running.  These two.












 
I have every intention of cradling their babies (my great-grandbabies) in my arms.  And if it means I have to run in rain, snow, or through hell itself, I will.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Now, people serve their Lord in many different and various ways.  Some help the poor.  Some travel to foreign countries as missionaries.  Some visit the sick.

Me?  I watch TV for Jesus.

That's right.  I watch TV for Jesus.  What? you don't understand how sitting in front of the tube can be done for service?  Just let me explain.

As some of you know, I crochet blankets for Project Linus.  Project Linus provides handmade blankets and quilts for babies and children in the local hospitals. This is a service project for the little ones. I crochet when I watch TV.  Therefore...

I must be watching TV for Jesus.

Do you see a flaw in my logic?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Angels Everywhere

So starting about Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, I noticed a trend on Facebook.  Christmas decorations were featured in many status updates.  In particular, I noticed Christmas trees sparkling from many posted photos.

Now, I love Christmas decorations.  I have boxes and boxes and boxes of Christmas decor in the storage building.  But after Baby Susan and Josh moved to (shudder) Texas Danny Dearest and I have made the trek to their home to spend the holiday season.  (What grandbabies will make you do.)  But, as a result, we don't do much decorating around the old Champion homestead.

Except this year...

When  Danny Dearest and I were pulling in the garage after our traditional eating out of the Thanksgiving meal and viewing of The Muppets, I spied up on a shelf my grandmother's Christmas tree.  Now, some explanation is required about this tree.

Seventeen Christmases ago, my grandfather was in the hospital and not doing well.  Danny Dearesr, Baby Susan, and I went home to Kentucky to spend Christmas and to see him.  It bothered me to no end that he was going to spend Christmas in the hospital, so one day as we were driving to visit him I coerced Danny Dearest into stopping at the local Kmart to buy something that would brighten up his hospital room.

And I found it.  It was a Christmas tree that measured 27 inches from top to bottom.  It had lights and candles that flickered like real ones.  Little pine cones and apples were nestled in the branches.  It was perfect.

I took it to granddaddy's room and it stayed there until we left.

A couple of days after we returned to New Mexico we got the call that granddaddy had died.

But the Christmas tree lived on.  Grandma took it home and used it for her Christmas tree for several years and then the inevitable happened.

Grandma died also.

In the cleaning out of her household goods, I came across the Christmas tree.  I took it back to New Mexico with me and for years used it as my Christmas tree in my elementary classroom.  Last year, when I retired form teaching, it came home with me and was put on the shelf in the garage.

Where I saw it last Thursday.

And now it is the Christmas tree for Danny Dearest and me.

Can you see two angels near the tree?  I do every time I look at it.
I love you Grandma and Granddaddy. 

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Oh, the Things You Will See

On Monday I posted about how Danny Dearest pedaled into bicycle history at the El Tour de Tucson.  Now at a bicycle race of the epic proportions of the El Tour, there will be characters of all kinds.

In addition to the tandem bikes, recumbent bikes, and such there are other riders that stand out.  There are the unicyclists.
Can you imagine riding that one wheeled wonder for 111 miles?
There are the elliptical bikes.
This makes my thighs hurt to look at it.
 But when Danny Dearest and I were discussing the events of the day, he told me of something he had seen while on the course. He said  that he had seen a rider with a dog on his back.  And that wasn't the odd part.  Danny Dearest said that the dog was wearing a helmet and googles.

I thought Danny Dearest had been on his bike in the sun too long and was seeing things.

But then I was looking at images from the race on-line and guess what I found?.
Safety first!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011

Ride, Danny, Ride!

Well, I'm back after my little bloggy break.  I just seemed to run out of words but I think my words are back!  I'll start by recapping our weekend.

Danny Dearest and I went to Tucson so that Danny Dearest could ride in his third consecutive El Tour de Tucson, an 111 mile bicycle race.  We drove over there on Friday, picked up his race packet, and toured the exhibitors.  After that, we had an absolutely delightful Italian dinner and early to bed.

Up early the next morning for race day.  We got up and drove to the start line.  Danny Dearest was about midway back in the pack of 4,000 riders.
What? You can't find him?  I don't believe it!
 I wanted to see Danny Dearest cross the actual start line, so as it got close to start time I wandered up to the front of all those riders.

That's where the star power was located.  Bill Walton, former NBA player was riding that day also.
Can you tell by his height that he was a professional basketball player?

Another biker with star power was Barry Bonds.

When my amazing cell phone photographer skillz it is a little difficult to tell but he is the one in the middle with the black and white jersey. (Notice how I spelled skills with a "z"?  That means I have mad SKILLZ.)

But the sun did come up and they were off!

Now there are really four races in El Tour de Tucson.  The 111miles, the 80 miles, 65 miles, and the 35 miles.  In total, there were 6300 riders.  That's a lot of bicycles.

Now, what's a woman to do when her husband is off on a seven  to eight hour bike ride?  GO SHOPPING!!! So I purchased a too cute for words sweater runic at Macy's. I had told Danny Dearest that the longer he was out on his bike, the more that I would spend.  Maybe that is why he had one of his best times ever.  But I am getting ahead of the story.

Because it was time for Danny Dearest to cross the finish line.  And there he was!
My winner!

Friday, November 11, 2011

In Honor

In honor of all our veterans.



The Statue of Liberty made out of servicemen. And if that isn't cool enough for you...
Ten thousand service members made this flag.

To see more, here is the link.

Thanks to all our veterans.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

I Just Don't Get It

About my second or third year of teaching, all the teachers were herded into the Gadsden High School gym.  District Attorney Susana Martinez, now Governor Martinez, informed us of the ramifications of the child abuse laws for educators.  She told us that, as educators, that if we even suspected child abuse among our students we were legally obligated to report.  Report directly to child services.  Not the counselor.  Not the nurse.  Not the principal.  Directly to child services. 

And if we didn't, we could be charged with child abuse.
So what does this all mean?  When I first heard about the child abuse scandal currently rocking Penn State the first question that came to my mind was...

why didn't Mike McQueary call the cops?

Just to make things clear, according to published reports McQueary walked into the showers and heard noises in the showers.  He looked around and saw Jerry Sandusky sodomizing a ten year boy. in the shower. 

And what did he do?

Did he call the police?  Did he call child services? 

No.  He called his father.  And then he told Coach Paterno. 

If one of the educators in the Gadsden Independent School District did something compatible concerning a child, that educator would be facing charges of  child abuse, just like the abuser. 

Why, in the fire-fest that is currently going on at Penn State right now, is this man being left out. Current reports state that he will be on the sidelines of this Saturday's game.

Just let me say, I have a ten year grandson and if ANYONE had ever touched him in that manner, the question as to whether or not he should be on the sidelines would be moot point.  He more than likely would not have been ABLE  to be on the sidelines.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

I Still Bounce, Just Not in the Same Places

My stinky ankle has healed enough that I have started training for the Las Cruces Half Marathon again.  I am enjoying hitting the pavement again.  The place that I prefer to run is the Triviz Running Trail in Las Cruces, NM. 
This picture really isn't the best one of the trail.  It really is a nice trail that is used by joggers, walkers, and cyclists. It is busy most of time.

I like this trail because it is separate from Triviz Avenue but there are cars going by all the time.  This makes me feel a little more  secure when running because if I have a sugar crash and go done hopefully one of the good citizens driving down the road will call 911.

Also, I have built up a sense of camaraderie with some of the other "regulars" on the trail.  I always get a thumbs up from the guy on the Hover Round.  The other long haired guy always speaks to me.  A young girl always gives me a friendly wave.  Sort of like an exercising family.

But there is one thing about the trail that bothers me.  The trail runs from the university about 5 miles across town.  It's that university part that gets to me.  Because along with the regulars and me on the trail there is one more constant...
This young lady is obviously not on the desert trail that is Triviz. 

perky young college girls running along in tight running pants with their ponytails bouncing in time.

It's enough to make an old memaw go home and lick her wounds.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Enough Already

I will admit to a sort of morbid fascination with the Duggar family. The simple logistics of feeding, cleaning, and moving from one place to another of that many people interests me. The idea of the amount of dirty laundry produced by this small army of a family is amazing to me.  I mean, I have a difficult time taking care of just Danny Dearest and me much less a family the size of this.
So imagine my surprise this morning when on the Today show the Duggars announced that they were expecting their 20th child!  Twentieth child!

Now, I am very much in favor of EVERY woman having control of their reproductive rights.  But 20 children?  I've had classes that had less than 20 children and I know how much one on one attention each child received from me.  I do realize that I only had those students for 8 hours of the day while Michelle  and Jim Bob have their children for 24 hours, but I also did not have the myriad of chores that go with having children.  Laundry, feeding, etc. did not take any time from the children.

So my concern is how much attention will each child receive from their parents?

But, at the end of the day, it is their choice.

And, apparently my fascination continues.

Monday, November 7, 2011

It Works For Me!

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook.  I stole decided to share this.
Yeah, it works for me, also.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sunday, Sunday

So, it is Sunday afternoon and I am sitting on the couch looking at the blinking cursor on my computer screen and I got nothing.  Nada. Zero.  Nothing to write about. I do have a few observations after a weekend of doing almost nothing.

1.  No matter how much football you graciously,  graciously I say, watch with your husband it does not get better.  College or NFL, it doesn't matter.  Now, I can marginally enjoy a local, live game if the snacks are first rate. You know popcorn, nachos, and hot dogs. But on the television, no thanks.

3. Fires made from wood scavenged from limb clippings in the yard will pop cinders to a greater degree that fires made from Duraflame logs. Also,  those scavenged fires will also pop those cinders on your new white rugs whenever possible totally avoiding the oh so cute area rug you carefully put down in front of the fireplace. Black cinders that will leave spots that no amount of scrubbing and Resolve can remove

3.  Running in a 25-30 mph wind is very, very difficult.

So now back to listening (not watching) to football this Sunday afternoon.

The reason I continue to stay in the same room with this accursed football sound?
I get to feast my eyes on this!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Basic Black...No Way!

So as any avid reader of my blog ( and I know there are one or two of you out there), I have taken up running and hope to run in the Las Cruces Half Marathon on December 4.  Hope being the operative word.

But one little problem had developed.

My shoes had started rubbing a spot on my heel.  As a diabetic, that could become problematic. Diabetics are always hyper-vigilant about there feet.  Anything could become a sore that will not heal so Danny Dearest and I made a trip to the local running store.  And I picked up...
these bad bots. 

Just as a sidenote, because I know that you are worrying about this, my right ankle is black in this photo because I am wearing a brace on my stinky ankle.  I really wanted one that was pink with sparkles but, alas, they apparently only come in basic black.  I think I can have a second career designing ankle braces for people with some sort of fashion sense.  It is a thought.

But, back to my story.  The wise man at the running store told me I "pronate" when I run and I am a "heel-striker".  The result is that other than looking like a duck when I run, my shoes were rubbing my heal.  These new shoes are scientifically designed to prevent this.
See those little waves on the inside sole of the shoe?  That's the scientific way these shoes will solve all my running problems.

So I took my new scientific designed shoes out for a 8 mile run this morning and I am happy to report that they run like a dream.  I felt like I was flying and could run forever. I don't think I pronated as much and if I did my heel didn't hurt.

But we still need to work on that basic black ankle brace.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Location, Location, Location

Anyone who knows me very well at all knows that I suffer, verily I say, suffer from two hand maladies.  The first is that my hands get unnaturally cold in the winter.  The second is that I have small hands and short fingers.  When I say small, I mean small!  When I taught first grade I would amaze those six year olds by comparing my hands to their's and they would be the same size.  Sometimes their fingers would even be longer than mine!

So, about this time every year I start the search for the perfect glove or mitten to keep these two ice cubes that I call hands warm.  Most of the time I settle for a mitten because of the aforementioned unnaturally short fingers.  Burt sometimes the sight of a 57 year old memaw sporting  mittens is a bit much and I will venture out into that demon world of gloves.

My quest for the perfect hand warming apparel led me to Target this week.  I was ecstatic to see that they had some Isotoner gloves and mittens.  They were perfection.  Suede-like outer surface and lined with a fur-like (nod to PETA).  I settled on the mittens (I know, I know.  Fifty-seven year old memaw with mittens) after the gloves presented the problem I always have with gloves.  Fingers way to long for my little stumpy digits.

Now, I know you are thinking this is a lot of wordage about gloves.  But wait. There is a point to all this.  The gloves at Target were $20.00, a small price for warm hands.  But later on. I went out to the mall and visited an upscale store which shall remain nameless. (But if you live in Las Cruces, NM, you know the only such store in our mall.) And guess what?  They had the same exact gloves for...

Forty dollars!  $40.00!  Forty smackaroos!

What is going on with that?

It's all about location, location, location!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Angels Unawares

The room was dark and completely silent except for the soft sound of the monitor.  My gravely ill husband lay motionless in the hospital bed.

All the friends had left.  The doctor was gone.  There was only Danny and I left in the hospital room.  I pulled a chair up close to the side of his bed so that I could hold the hand that did not have tubes in it.

I was scared.  I was more scared than I had ever been in my life.

I bowed my head to pray and all I could say was, "Not this man.  Not this man.  Not this man."  Over and over.  I began to rock slowly back and forth, back and forth.  "Not this man.  Not this man. Not this man."

Then  I felt a light touch on my shoulder.  A cleaning lady had come, unnoticed by me, into the room.  She leaned close to me and whispered in halting English, "God bless you." And then she left

I felt some of the load lift off my shoulders.

I believe she was an "angel unawares" sent to comfort me in my time of great need.  And she did.

All angels don't have wings.  Some have mops.


POSTSCRIPT:  Don't worry to much about Danny Dearest.  He recovered completely.  So completely, in fact, that in a couple of weeks he will compete in his third Tour de Tucson, a 111 mile bike race since his illness.  God is good.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Awareness Time

If you have been reading my little blog for any time at all, you know that I was diagnosed with diabetes fourteen years ago. 

And if you will take a little glance to the right, you will see that November is Diabetes Awareness month. 

Now, I know that it seems that every disease has a month nowadays and I won't argue that fact. But considering that CDC estimates that 25.8 million people (or 8.3% of Americans) have diabetes, perhaps we should be looking at his disease more closely.  Of that 25.8 million, 18.8 million have been diagnosed.  And here is the scary part,  7 million are UNDIAGNOSED.  In other words, they are walking time bombs just waiting to go off.  As long as we are looking at scary statistics, here is another one.  One third of Americans have  the indicators that are sometimes called prediabetes. 

One third people. 

This is a problem.

I won't recite a list of the complications of diabetes that almost everyone knows, but the one that sticks out to me personally is that 2 out 3 people who have diabetes will die from a stroke or heart disease.

But there is hope.  As a diabetic, I plan to run the Las Cruces Half Marathon in December (if my stinky ankle heals in time).  As a diabetic, I ate Halloween candy.  As a diabetic, I plan on holding my great-grandbabies in my arms and spoiling them silly.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Yes, I Did It Again...I Can't Believe It!

Last month I signed up for the NaBloPoMo to write a blog post every day.  The pressure I put on myself in October was incredible.So what did I do?

I signed up again for NOVEMBER!
NaBloPoMo 2011

I can't believe I did this...again!


I can't believe that I signed up again!

Yes, I did again.  Why?  Because the discipline of knowing I have to post every day has made me open my eyes to the what is happening around me.  I watch for little and big things to write about.

 And Danny Dearest says that I always have something to say about everything.