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Since I have been hanging out with Vera, she has gotten me into all kinds of activities that I never thought I would have time for. I go with her to a workshop about whatever she is interested in at the moment. The latest workshop is how to put together healthy menus and buy the right kinds of foods if you are diabetic. Vera is not diabetic but her Mom is. This workshop was to take place at a hotel in Jersey City. I started to pass on this one, since this all sounded really boring to me. I did not feel like listening to how to do what I already know. I think Grandma has already been a great teacher when it comes to diabetic cooking. But anyhow, I went, and it was all very interesting. There were parts of the workshop I found intriguing, since it seemed to show updated ways of doing the things Grandma does, but in a shorter, quicker way. I am excited to tell Grandma what I have seen and learned. But on the other hand, I don’t want her to think I have all of a sudden learned how to do things better than she does.

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I came home from my doctor's appointment with some diabetic tea. I'm looking forward to trying it in a little while! After talking to me for a bit my doctor suddenly blurted it out. She said she didn't know why she didn't think of it before since I always talk about tea! There's nothing like sitting down with a hot cup and grabbing the travel section. That's exactly what I'm going to do after I finish writing. Speaking of travel, I ran across an article yesterday about some retreats people are going on in Nepal and Myanmar. It sounds amazing! I wanted to do something like that for the longest time. I guess they're sort of like meditation retreats. One of my goals for the last two years has been to meditate and it seems like I can never find the time to do it. I don't know why it's so hard for me. I know it's one of those things I really need to make time for, though, because I'm always under a lot of stress. Then I'm going to do some research about those retreats online. I think I'm going to read the article again for inspiration while I have my first cup of diabetic tea!

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I cannot stand the construction on the highway now. It has turned my twenty-minute commute into an hour drive and in the middle of the afternoon no less. Usually I can count on it to get better when the night comes around but I cannot even take it after work anymore. The other day one of our sales people had to come all the way back to work from home to get his insulin syringe he forget when he left. It took him almost two and a half hours both ways. By the time he got back to the store we were about to close and he was not at all happy. I just end up taking the side roads which do take a bit longer than it usually would taking the highway, but seeing as how they have blocked off one or two lanes, it is much quicker. It is probably better on my tank of gas too, I do not get the urge to speed so much when I am taking the side roads and saving gas always makes for a good end of the night. I have no idea how long the construction is going to take, but I am getting used to taking Western to work.

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My doctor gave me a call earlier this morning. I thought that was really nice. She wanted to see if I felt pretty comfortable monitoring my glucose levels. I told her I was doing fine and she congratulated me on all the progress I've made since the diagnosis. After I said goodbye to her, I debated about whether I should call someone who's been on my mind since I had the phone in my hands already. He's just someone I've been casually talking to in my classes. I wish he wouldn't cross my mind so often. I say that because I think he's made it fairly clear that he's only interested in a friendship right now. It was a topic he brought up. Still, I can't help daydreaming about him. I literally held the phone up next to my ear, for what must've been at least five minutes, with my hand over the button so I wouldn't get that annoying dial-tone while I thought about dialing his number. I went as far as pressing 9 of the numbers and hung up on the last one. I just couldn't do it! The whole thing made me too nervous. I don't want to seem so available either, you know? I think creating a little mystery will work to my advantage.

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One day, my father sat me down at the kitchen table and explained the A1c Test he had to take to me. Since he had diabetes, he constantly had to monitor the amount of glucose in his blood. He ate a special diet, one that predictably cut down on sugar, exercised as much as he could between going to work and having an actual home life. Now he was showing as me as he pricked his finger with something called a lancet and dripped a little blood onto a test strip, which his monitor then read for its glucose amount. All of that was pretty interesting, not captivating or anything, don’t get me wrong, but it helped me understand a little bit more about my father. Besides, I felt relieved. For some reason, I’d been certain that he was sitting me down to have a talk about sex with me. And, really, I didn’t need it. I’d learned all I needed from sex education class from the nun who taught it and then I really learned all I needed to know from old issues of Playboy my friend has. I haven’t told my father any of that but nor do I ever expect I will.

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Right now I'm reading some books about eating right for diabetes. I don't know why I've had such a fascination with it but I've been wanting to read about the topic for the last several years. Maybe it's because I know a couple of close friends who have it. I think I felt like I would understand them better or be able to help in some way. I always am looking for a way to help people and offer some advice. Hopefully after I'm done reading, my advice about health will be as good as my advice about relationships! My friends are always telling me what a good matchmaker I am. My latest effort was trying to get my friend Billy and Sarah to go out on a first date this Saturday! I always see them running into each other in the hallways at school and then it hit me that they would make the cutest couple! They have so much in common that I sometimes wonder why they don't notice it themselves, but I guess that's precisely why I'm the matchmaker! Anyways, I'm going to get back to my reading but at this point I'm just as curious about that as I am about how things are going to progress after that first date!

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My Mom and my Aunties made a great meal the weekend we went to my Uncle’s summer home. Grandma was impressed and praised them for how they prepared the food. She says she feels now that she can see her handiwork in how her children take care of their families. Everyone seems to naturally try to cook fresh foods. There is no processed foods or snacks at all in our Uncle’s summer home. Everything is made from scratch. Grandma has long been concerned about Grandpa’s diabetes and is always on the lookout for ways to keep track of it. She has now switched to the One Touch Ultra meter because it gives her an indication of his glucose levels over a few months, so that she can tell if there is about to be a flareup in his condition. This for Grandma means peace of mind that everything is on track month to month. And with our family following Grandma’s lead and cooking and eating healthy, she never has to worry that when the two of them drop in on any one of our family members, that they will have to worry about eating some unhealthy snack if it comes to that.

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Tara was shocked that her brother could get juvenile diabetes. He was 7 years old. She asked her dad if he really believed the doctors, and he said he did. I hopped online and looked up a few things, and I guess you can get it at any age, though it's not so common so early in life. But he was just a day or so away from dying, so it is a good thing he got treatment when he did. Of course all sorts of horrible things come to mind with this type of diagnosis, but the doctors didn't seem as worried as Tara. Her dad said that if her brother takes the insulin and watches his diet and is careful about monitoring for any numbness that he should be okay. I heard him this on the phone. He was joking. I should be good at least until 100. Tara doesn't have much family left, so I know that she is upset. Probably more upset than her brother. I've met him a couple of times over the years. He seems like a nice guy, but his living in Maine with his mom means that he is kind of on his own. Tara made me promise that we would go out and see him. I said that was fine, as long as we at least wait until May to go, when it will be warmer.

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