Happy sugarless birthday to me . . .

The good news is that my doctor finally called me. The bad news is that she confirmed that I do, indeed, have diabetes. The good news is that my labs look really good for someone w/diabetes. My fasting glucose was nearly normal and my hemoglobin a1c is .1 over the desired level, which means I won't need medications and, MORE importantly, don't need to do fingersticks.

That's my bday present right there!

So, I'll get labs drawn in three months and she enrolled me in a 2.5 hour diabetes 101 or bootcamp or intro or whatever class in a couple of weeks. I have to regularly exercise, which I've already started to do, and have to change my diet, which I've also started to do, but will learn more about. And I have to lose weight (of COURSE), which I can't imagine I won't do by doing the above. I'm definitely motivated, since I don't want to ever have to check my own blood and don't want to take meds to manage this.

So there you go!

In the meantime, I found a lovely gift bag on my front step this morning from some of my dear friends from a local chocolatier (just down the street . . . hard to know with the above!). I imbibed a little today: white chocolate-cover apricot caramel (JUST as good as it sounds) and some dark chocolate covered "champagne grapes" (also delish). Never fear, also preparing a lovely salad for dinner + some bbq'd corn and london broil.

Reading Charles de Lint's WONDERFUL "Widdershins" today (great way to spend one's bday). I've missed reading him! Especially missed reading about Jilly and Geordie. Yay!

Also picked up a shovel and have been working off and on in . . . prepare yourself . . . yes, it's true . . . the back yard! Uncovered more brick work. Started spading soil and gave it a good soak.

And . . . the girls are COMPLETELY mesmerized by the bird feeders I put up last night. The birds, little gluttons, have already emptied >half of one of the feeders! I don't know if I'll ever get the girls away from the windows. Maybe once the birds head off to their nests tonight. I'm glad they're so happy.

I'm heading off to see my folks tomorrow a.m. for my dad's bday, then back on Thursday evening. Then ONLY three more days off . . . I need a longer vacation!!!!

Lest Molly feel left out

birds . . .

Yard Progress

Lookee lookee!!! This was all leaves and branches not so long ago (on bottom)! Second major area cleared (and when I moved in, this was ~12" of leaves and branches).

On top, this is a MAJOR success, the back corner cleared!!!

Does it get any better?

Not according to Fiona!

So, is it Labor Day or Memorial Day?

Here's what I did today:

• Slept in! And enjoyed every minute!
• Bought the new Charles de Lint book, "Widdershins."
• Shockingly, more raking (pics to follow).
• Scrubbed out sliding glass door runways (? what do you call them? the part that the door slides on) -- disgusting.
• Watered yard.
• Cleaned out fridge.
• Washed cat bed.
• Washed slip covers.
• Vacuumed a go go.

Isn't that enough????

Tomorrow's the old bday and I will officially be 43 years old. $(#&. Oh well. I have my health (HA HA HA). I have family and friends who love me and vice versa. I have my teeth! There you go!

Had nice long chats today with my Mom and with my bestie friend, Kris (did you find anything at Nordie's?). I'm heading up to Mom and Dad's on Wednesday for Dad's bday, spend the night, then back home (stopping in Sac for a 25th HS reunion planning meeting -- how time flies . . . ). I've already decided one week off isn't long enough! I have two weeks off in August -- yay!

I will be heading to Home Depo tomorrow. I'm still not sure what my first major project will be, but am thinking about paint, since the weather's nice and I have all week for it to dry. However, I'm also thinking screen door -- that would be GREAT once it starts heating up!

For tonight, nothing on TV or cable, so plan to try to BEAT Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (yea, right -- inverted castle is kicking patooty) and also continue reading Val McDermid mystery (GREAT read). I have a ton of library books to read!

Day 2 of Vacation

I couldn't sleep last night (lots of joint/other lupus-type pain), played videogames until 3, then sleep hit hard. Ran a few errands (nearly done listening to "The Ice Child" -- it really is a great book), worked out in the back yard for a bit.

So, I'm roasting a chicken right now with garlic, fennel, tarragon, and I don't know who's going salivating more -- me or Molly. Poor kitty, she's going bezerk! I guarantee when the chicken's done, she'll stick her nose up at it. But not me!

I'm going to have that w/an arugula, cilantra, grape tomato, avocado, red onion, grilled corn salad. Yum, right???

I started tackling the blinds in my bedroom today. Good grief, I've never seen such dirty blinds. And I've been sleeping next to them!!! I got ~1/3 done of one window, then pooped out. HARD work -- took almost an hour of scrubbing, soaking, rescrubbing each individual slat. I'm going to figure out an easier way to do this, short of buying new blinds. These are actually in good condition, just haven't been cleaned . . . I know the previous tenants lived here at least five years, probably more. I would fall over if someone tried to tell me that they ever cleaned or raked.

This is the hardest time of year for Lupus. My cheeks are cherry red -- women pay so much money for rosey cheeks -- I haven't used blush in a good 10-15 years. No need. Not only cherry red, but also raised and a little "scaley" for lack of a better word. It's the old butterfly rash. I tried to take some pictures last night, but they didn't turn out well enough to show the redness and kind of rawness. Instead of blush, I spent a lot of money on treatments to keep my skin semi-healthy looking.

I thought I'd go to Home Depot today to use my gift card; however, I've never seen the parking lot SO packed. I'll probably go Tuesday a.m., once everyone's gone back to work. Or I'll have to get up early tomorrow, which seems anti-vacation to me. I still need to decide which project to tackle first:

• Paint the bathroom,
• Paint the back bedroom (the walls are horrendous),
• Build shelves in the kitchen,
• Build new screens for my bedroom and the bathroom,
• Plant new things in the back yard,
• Flowers in the front,
• Flower boxes at my bedroom windows,
• Rugs.

Hard to decide! I hate the kitchen so much that anything I can do in there will be an improvement.

As you can see, the girls are being a great help by staying out of the way and sleeping.

Back yard

Still during the infernal rains of winter/spring, but you can see that I managed to identify patio beneath the more than 12" of leaves and branches I'm still continuing to remove.















One of the good things about rain -- longer growing season! Lots of calla lillies emerged from the debris.















I've cleared more of this area since and the foliage has filled in really well.

View from the front door

Great view out the frong door via stained glass!

View from Kitchen

Here's the view onto the front step from the kitchen window (I think I took this in April, lots of gray skies and rain).


















Here's the next window, facing out across the drive to the yard and house across the way. The girls wait for me (and all the neighbors) each evening from this window.


















And an excellent place for bird watching . . .

Girl's first day out

Yay May!

Not only Yay for May, but Yay for a week of vacation! First since last summer!

My year in review?

Too much in too little time: finished a degree while filling in for two jobs in addition to my own while moving while in the midst of more than four months solid of rain while moving my own office/cubicle twice (not counting my three weeks of not having a workspace at all) while moving other faculty/staff at least four times while dealing with new health issues while not having time for fun while somehow maintaining my sanity while thank god I'm a Type A personality!

So, a nice three day weekend stretched into a nicer entire week off.

I'll be posting pictures tomorrow and getting back into the serious business of blogging.

Latest adventures in media and books:

"The Ice Child" (don't have the author's name in front of me): highly recommended read, tying together several stories: an ailing polar bear and her equally ailing cub, a mother and her dying son, a dead father and his self-wounded son, and the Franklin expedition to the Arctic.

"The Town that Forgot to Breath:" again, don't have the author's name (sorry!), but a creepy fantasy set in Newfoundland. Interesting, but don't read after dark . . .

"Lost" finale: I think I'll rewatch it this week online. It was certainly an adventure! Great great series, which I'd like even if TV land weren't so dismal.

"Grey's Anatomy" finale: Every time I watch this show, I think "what a bunch of schlock" and then I immediately watch it the following week. Same for the finale. It's so ridiculously over the top. Yet I love George and McDreamy and even pathetic Christina. I can't stomach Meredith, the antiheroine, any longer. Izzy lost me throughout her stalking of Denny (can you stalk your own bedbound patient needing a heart transplant? oh yeah, you can on this show). I'll be watching it in the Fall. At least I refuse to watch Desperate Housewives . . .

"Doctor Who:" I was SO excited to see this on scifi channel, but have to admit that I much prefer the Tom Baker and John Pertwee days (embracing my inner nerd . . . again).

Have a new Sue Henry mystery and an old Val McDermid mystery to start off my vacation. Also picked up the soundtrack to Amelie. Have to watch my netflix movies that are gathering dust. Looking forward to some Home Depot time this week to fix up the place (thanks Kris and Rich!).

AND . . . I have to turn 43 this week.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!