This first part I wrote yesterday, 4/6. We are referring to the Arizona Bark Scorpion, should you want to do your own research. Not that I think anyone would want to. The second part is how I'm doing today, 4/7.
PART 1
I *might* wish this on my worst enemy. But even that seems cruel.
These little bastards are just that - bastards.
I was in the office, prepping my work materials. I turned on the swivel chair for something, my foot brushed under the laptop case sitting on the floor....and BAM! I look down, and sure enough, there's a scorpion.
I started screaming like a banshee, getting DH up and out of bed like a lightning strike. He sat me down and started looking for the fucker. Found it in a box of batteries and killed. Said it's the biggest one he's found to date - my stupid luck.
As I was sitting there, I called my boss - don't ask why, it just seemed like something that needed done. She's totally cool about it, including getting someone to take my stores. I also called my mom and bff to bitch, cuz it REALLY hurt and DH was on a hunting mission.
When my mom called back, I was starting to feel a tickle at the back of my throat, that then spread to my lips. I think I really scared her, cuz most of that convo was "We need to leave for the ER NOW!" Thought I was having an allergic reaction. When I was a kid, I had an allergic reaction to a bee sting or two, but not as an adult.
Turns out, it was just the neuro-toxin from the sting getting to that part of my body. It never got worse, and I'm not dead. It did however, get me slightly faster service at the ER, since no one wanted me dying on their watch. LOL
These little fuckers are VICIOUS. Their neuro-toxin is super concentrated and VERY effective at what it does. IT spread through my foot, then my leg, then my whole body. At one point, it felt as if EVERYTHING in my body was asleep - major pins and needles all over. Now it's receded, and it's just a massive burning pain in my toe and foot. Like, I would rather cut it off at this point than deal.
They gave me ibuprofen and norco, which so far has just made me high and a little nauseous. Which means I don't care so much.
DH says from his reading online that the worst of the pain will be over in a day or so, and then some lingering effects for another week or two. I'm off work til Friday, and then we'll see.
I never thought it would be so bad. I certainly will not underestimate these fuckers again.
PART 2
My toe is like a rock. I can't feel it, unless something bumps it, or I stand up to walk. It's totally paralyzed, I can't even wiggle it. The really weird part is there's no swelling or redness, which is typical of this species of scorpion stings.
We're staying at the Stratosphere, last night and tonight. Maybe even through the end of the week. It just depends on what we can get done. The church (that we don't go to, are members of, but is still awesome in cases like this) is doing their best to get us some unpacking help, and we're getting a storage unit for a bunch of our stuff that otherwise would have been in the garage. We are NOT giving ground to these fuckers.
We had to go back in for a minute today - I had to get all my work materials to a co-worker so everything will still get done. I almost had a panic attack walking back into the office. I was pretty ok in the rest of the house - paranoid, but I could touch things and do things. But walking into the office I just FROZE. I'm usually not like this, but this pain is so much worse than ANYTHING I've been through, including childbirth. The burning, stinging, gawd-awfulness of it is more than I can describe.
I'm alternating the pain pills every 4 hours, which was a bitch all night, but worth it - I was able to sleep in between, and I slept very deeply, with no dreams. Just what I needed. We got up to go to the pool, but it's outdoors and unheated. It was FREEZING. The spa was warmish, but they don't let kids in the spa, so poor Kirin couldn't do anything. We ended up leaving. Totally sucks, because we chose the Stratosphere because it had a pool and was cheap.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
THE MOVE
(I originally wrote this on April 1, but it's no Fool. This is really what happened.)
Get a drink and a snack and strap in. This is going to be a long and bumpy ride.
So, this all started last week, on Wed. I picked up the keys, went home for a load of things, and the cable guy called - he was there early because of an earlier cancellation. Fine, I head over while DH is still loading his truck. Find out the place is FILTHY. The carpets haven't been cleaned, everything is gritty with dust, and the broken window hasn't been replaced. Cable guy starts hooking things up while I start calling the property manager to get things DONE.
Cable guy ends up pulling cable through every room of the house to get a decent signal. But he's fine, everything works.
Power and water show up as scheduled and turn on their services. YAY! Same with Orkin, guy shows up and does our bi-monthly pest spraying.
DH brings me some cleaning supplies and I wipe down the kitchen and bathrooms while waiting on this, that, and the other.
Property manager gets the handyman out, who gets a window replacement company out to measure the window and a carpet cleaner called, who can come out that evening. Great.
You'll notice I didn't mention the gas company. Turns out they need 5 working days notice. Which I had found out on Mon, and they couldn't be out til 3/29. Fine, whatever. We'll make do, we're still in the old house through 3/31. Except, come Mon the 29th, we don't have gas at the new place. When we call on Tues (didn't learn this til too late Mon to call) we find out there's something wrong with DH's SSN in the system, and they sent us an e-mail so we could fix it. I ask which e-mail, and it's mine. Uh, no. Never got an e-mail from them. We get it straightened out, and they can come out Wed, anytime after 7am. That's it. No better time frame. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Anyway, back to last Wed.
I get Kirin from school and we wait for and meet the carpet cleaners. They did an AMAZING job. So amazing, in fact, that I take down their # so we can call them for our move out cleaning at the old place.
Thurs we get the U-Haul and the movers come. Except the movers get lost trying to find us and show up 2 hours late. But they were really great, and it was so nice to not have to do any heavy lifting. While they and DH load the truck, I run loads with my car, then pick up Kirin from school. We unload the truck into the house, and get the boxes placed where they will eventually be unpacked and stay. Great.
Fri.... I can't remember Fri. Either I've blocked it out, or that was one of the few days nothing major happened. Same goes for Sat. Other than a few runs back and forth, and lots of packing, I think things went well those days.
Sun, DH came to help me work. That was kind of funny.
Also, Sat and Sun, my friend Kelli took Kirin for us, which made things so much easier. We got so much cleaning and packing done. THANK YOU!
One of those nights, while cleaning, I did the inside of the oven door with Easy-Off. Got some on the linoleum. Ended up with HUGE dark brown and black spots. Thought it was burned, and the linoleum was toast. Searched the internet, found out that bleach and elbow grease would get it up. Started soaking and scrubbing, and it was coming up, but slowly. Added a Magic Eraser and BAM! Suddenly, it all came up SO much easier. Linoleum was saved. YAY!
Monday, more packing. Kirin's on Spring Break, and DH has to go out to site. DH takes Kirin, I go to work and get 2 stores done. More packing, and realizing that there's no gas at the new house. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
Tues, deal with gas company, pack, do a store, deal with gas company, pack, clean, sleep. Somewhere in here, we realize that they've turned the gas off at the old house. Because of the SSN issue, we can't get gas at the new house, but they can turn it off?
Whatev.
Wed. 3/31 Last day to clean out old house. Need to turn in keys. Only day to meet friend for Spring Break fun. Pedi's scheduled for 2pm. Gas guy coming - sometime. DH breaking down old garage shelves and doing dump runs. Need to grab stuff and clean last stuff at old house. VERY busy day.
Leave at 10 am to meet friend so kids can play at park. Haven't heard from gas guy yet. Get to park, it's windy and cold. Gas guy calls, miss it, leaves message, but no call back number. I apologize to friend, get in the car, all while on hold with gas co to find out what's going on. Turns out, it's our half-hour head's up, gas guy should be meeting me at the house by the time I get there. No one's at the house. I start sorting out the stuff for my next store while waiting. After almost an HOUR I call the gas co back to find out what's going on. They say he's probably been called on an emergency, and who knows when he's coming. He showed about 10 mins later, but sits in his truck for like, 5 mins for no apparent reason. I start taking things out to my car, to signal him that I can't/don't want to wait any longer. He comes in, does his thing, and we find out that the new dryer doesn't work. He checked all the fittings and connections, he can hear the gas flowing, but the dryer won't heat. So I call the prop manager on the way to the old house - I have time to do a little cleaning before the pedis. He says he'll call the handyman and get it taken care of.
Oh, and the power and water are off at the old place, so DH needs his generator to do his take down. I take it to him, but then he needs special oil to mix with the gas to run the thing, and the gas station doesn't carry it anymore, so he has to go to WalMart. Which means I have to take Kirin to the salon with me. Not a huge deal, but not the plan, either. Enjoy the HELL out of my massage - mostly cuz I'm sitting for half an hour with no worries! LOL Friend agrees to come help finish if I'll drive her home. NO PROBLEM. We chat and clean and get done! So does DH. Get the keys back on time. Drive friend to the furthest depths of Henderson, while enjoying a nice chat. Best time of the last week.
Get home. Deep breath. Get computer out. Watch tv. Do normal things and ignore the boxes. Kirin starts screaming - there's a scorpion on her foot. It doesn't sting her, but DH is FREAKED. So, we go up the street to a hotel for the night. They have a pool that's open til midnight, so we go across the street to WalMart for swimsuits (as ours are in boxes only God knows where). We swam and enjoyed the hot tub for a bit, then go to bed watching turkey callers on Letterman. Slept so hard, when my alarm went off at 4 am I couldn't make sense of it (migraine meds).
Enjoy wonderful HOT shower, come home, and go to work. I am so tired, and sore, and BLAH. Work sucks. My hands hurt so much from all the scrubbing I've done for the last week that I can barely hold my screwdriver. Getting down on the floor for the sticker and any low shelved products is MURDER.
Still haven't heard from the handyman about the dryer. I need clean clothes but do not have time for a laundromat. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. I have one more store to do and I DREAD it. DH called an exterminator who will be out tomorrow to take care of the scorpions. He's got GREAT reviews online.
I can't deal anymore. I need to cry or something, but don't have the energy. The only nice thing is that now, I can sit and watch tv, I have a comfortable bed waiting for me, and I had a real dinner. A wonderful friend brought us a meal over. It is seriously FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC to be normal. To watch tv, To play on the computer. And to eat something that didn't come out of a paper wrapper and a drive-thru.
I'm surrounded by boxes, but they can wait. I am not ready to unpack. If I can get my way, I'm seriously not getting out of bed on Sat. Seriously.
Get a drink and a snack and strap in. This is going to be a long and bumpy ride.
So, this all started last week, on Wed. I picked up the keys, went home for a load of things, and the cable guy called - he was there early because of an earlier cancellation. Fine, I head over while DH is still loading his truck. Find out the place is FILTHY. The carpets haven't been cleaned, everything is gritty with dust, and the broken window hasn't been replaced. Cable guy starts hooking things up while I start calling the property manager to get things DONE.
Cable guy ends up pulling cable through every room of the house to get a decent signal. But he's fine, everything works.
Power and water show up as scheduled and turn on their services. YAY! Same with Orkin, guy shows up and does our bi-monthly pest spraying.
DH brings me some cleaning supplies and I wipe down the kitchen and bathrooms while waiting on this, that, and the other.
Property manager gets the handyman out, who gets a window replacement company out to measure the window and a carpet cleaner called, who can come out that evening. Great.
You'll notice I didn't mention the gas company. Turns out they need 5 working days notice. Which I had found out on Mon, and they couldn't be out til 3/29. Fine, whatever. We'll make do, we're still in the old house through 3/31. Except, come Mon the 29th, we don't have gas at the new place. When we call on Tues (didn't learn this til too late Mon to call) we find out there's something wrong with DH's SSN in the system, and they sent us an e-mail so we could fix it. I ask which e-mail, and it's mine. Uh, no. Never got an e-mail from them. We get it straightened out, and they can come out Wed, anytime after 7am. That's it. No better time frame. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Anyway, back to last Wed.
I get Kirin from school and we wait for and meet the carpet cleaners. They did an AMAZING job. So amazing, in fact, that I take down their # so we can call them for our move out cleaning at the old place.
Thurs we get the U-Haul and the movers come. Except the movers get lost trying to find us and show up 2 hours late. But they were really great, and it was so nice to not have to do any heavy lifting. While they and DH load the truck, I run loads with my car, then pick up Kirin from school. We unload the truck into the house, and get the boxes placed where they will eventually be unpacked and stay. Great.
Fri.... I can't remember Fri. Either I've blocked it out, or that was one of the few days nothing major happened. Same goes for Sat. Other than a few runs back and forth, and lots of packing, I think things went well those days.
Sun, DH came to help me work. That was kind of funny.
Also, Sat and Sun, my friend Kelli took Kirin for us, which made things so much easier. We got so much cleaning and packing done. THANK YOU!
One of those nights, while cleaning, I did the inside of the oven door with Easy-Off. Got some on the linoleum. Ended up with HUGE dark brown and black spots. Thought it was burned, and the linoleum was toast. Searched the internet, found out that bleach and elbow grease would get it up. Started soaking and scrubbing, and it was coming up, but slowly. Added a Magic Eraser and BAM! Suddenly, it all came up SO much easier. Linoleum was saved. YAY!
Monday, more packing. Kirin's on Spring Break, and DH has to go out to site. DH takes Kirin, I go to work and get 2 stores done. More packing, and realizing that there's no gas at the new house. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
Tues, deal with gas company, pack, do a store, deal with gas company, pack, clean, sleep. Somewhere in here, we realize that they've turned the gas off at the old house. Because of the SSN issue, we can't get gas at the new house, but they can turn it off?
Whatev.
Wed. 3/31 Last day to clean out old house. Need to turn in keys. Only day to meet friend for Spring Break fun. Pedi's scheduled for 2pm. Gas guy coming - sometime. DH breaking down old garage shelves and doing dump runs. Need to grab stuff and clean last stuff at old house. VERY busy day.
Leave at 10 am to meet friend so kids can play at park. Haven't heard from gas guy yet. Get to park, it's windy and cold. Gas guy calls, miss it, leaves message, but no call back number. I apologize to friend, get in the car, all while on hold with gas co to find out what's going on. Turns out, it's our half-hour head's up, gas guy should be meeting me at the house by the time I get there. No one's at the house. I start sorting out the stuff for my next store while waiting. After almost an HOUR I call the gas co back to find out what's going on. They say he's probably been called on an emergency, and who knows when he's coming. He showed about 10 mins later, but sits in his truck for like, 5 mins for no apparent reason. I start taking things out to my car, to signal him that I can't/don't want to wait any longer. He comes in, does his thing, and we find out that the new dryer doesn't work. He checked all the fittings and connections, he can hear the gas flowing, but the dryer won't heat. So I call the prop manager on the way to the old house - I have time to do a little cleaning before the pedis. He says he'll call the handyman and get it taken care of.
Oh, and the power and water are off at the old place, so DH needs his generator to do his take down. I take it to him, but then he needs special oil to mix with the gas to run the thing, and the gas station doesn't carry it anymore, so he has to go to WalMart. Which means I have to take Kirin to the salon with me. Not a huge deal, but not the plan, either. Enjoy the HELL out of my massage - mostly cuz I'm sitting for half an hour with no worries! LOL Friend agrees to come help finish if I'll drive her home. NO PROBLEM. We chat and clean and get done! So does DH. Get the keys back on time. Drive friend to the furthest depths of Henderson, while enjoying a nice chat. Best time of the last week.
Get home. Deep breath. Get computer out. Watch tv. Do normal things and ignore the boxes. Kirin starts screaming - there's a scorpion on her foot. It doesn't sting her, but DH is FREAKED. So, we go up the street to a hotel for the night. They have a pool that's open til midnight, so we go across the street to WalMart for swimsuits (as ours are in boxes only God knows where). We swam and enjoyed the hot tub for a bit, then go to bed watching turkey callers on Letterman. Slept so hard, when my alarm went off at 4 am I couldn't make sense of it (migraine meds).
Enjoy wonderful HOT shower, come home, and go to work. I am so tired, and sore, and BLAH. Work sucks. My hands hurt so much from all the scrubbing I've done for the last week that I can barely hold my screwdriver. Getting down on the floor for the sticker and any low shelved products is MURDER.
Still haven't heard from the handyman about the dryer. I need clean clothes but do not have time for a laundromat. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. I have one more store to do and I DREAD it. DH called an exterminator who will be out tomorrow to take care of the scorpions. He's got GREAT reviews online.
I can't deal anymore. I need to cry or something, but don't have the energy. The only nice thing is that now, I can sit and watch tv, I have a comfortable bed waiting for me, and I had a real dinner. A wonderful friend brought us a meal over. It is seriously FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC to be normal. To watch tv, To play on the computer. And to eat something that didn't come out of a paper wrapper and a drive-thru.
I'm surrounded by boxes, but they can wait. I am not ready to unpack. If I can get my way, I'm seriously not getting out of bed on Sat. Seriously.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Magic Erasers are truly a godsend
I learned something today.
How to clean oven cleaner spots out of linoleum. At first, it seemed impossible. The spots were dark black and brown, and didn't chage at all with hot water and scrubbing. We were sure they were burns and the linoleum was ruined.
Thaks to the internet, I learned that it might be possible to remove the spots. As I started searching Google, I was sure the answer to my query would be "You're SOL, buddy." But, a few different websites all said that bleach, straight up, would do the job.
Here is my list of supplies for undertaking such a job.
Pants that you don't mind getting bleached
Rags that you don't mind getting bleached
Rubber/latex gloves
Bleach
an "eraser" sponge - you know the kind, and generic is fine
Lots of water for rinsing
a mop
music
Change into grubby clothes. Turn on the music. Put on the gloves. Rinse and mopp the floor once to be sure there's no chemical residue from anything else on the floor. Lay a rag over the spots (as many rags as there are spots, don't be stingy), and pour bleach onto it. Liberally. Don't be stingy with the bleach either. Let it soak for a few minutes. Pour some bleach onto the eraser sponge, and start scrubbing. Move the soaking rags around as needed.
If your linoleum is brownish, patterned, etc; than thank your lucky stars. This means you can probably clean the spots to 95% gone, and the rest will blend into the floor. If your linoleum is white, solid, or otherwise likely to show everything, well, you'll be there a lot longer than I was.
Once you've scrubbed the floor to your liking, rinse the floor 2 or 3 times to get rid of all the bleach, and mop to remove. Afterwards, pat yourself on the back for a job well done. If you can still lift your arms, that is.
The "eraser" sponge makes all the difference. I tried using a regular scrubby sponge, and it was working, but it was taking a LOT more elbow grease. The eraser sponge makes it go so much faster.
How to clean oven cleaner spots out of linoleum. At first, it seemed impossible. The spots were dark black and brown, and didn't chage at all with hot water and scrubbing. We were sure they were burns and the linoleum was ruined.
Thaks to the internet, I learned that it might be possible to remove the spots. As I started searching Google, I was sure the answer to my query would be "You're SOL, buddy." But, a few different websites all said that bleach, straight up, would do the job.
Here is my list of supplies for undertaking such a job.
Pants that you don't mind getting bleached
Rags that you don't mind getting bleached
Rubber/latex gloves
Bleach
an "eraser" sponge - you know the kind, and generic is fine
Lots of water for rinsing
a mop
music
Change into grubby clothes. Turn on the music. Put on the gloves. Rinse and mopp the floor once to be sure there's no chemical residue from anything else on the floor. Lay a rag over the spots (as many rags as there are spots, don't be stingy), and pour bleach onto it. Liberally. Don't be stingy with the bleach either. Let it soak for a few minutes. Pour some bleach onto the eraser sponge, and start scrubbing. Move the soaking rags around as needed.
If your linoleum is brownish, patterned, etc; than thank your lucky stars. This means you can probably clean the spots to 95% gone, and the rest will blend into the floor. If your linoleum is white, solid, or otherwise likely to show everything, well, you'll be there a lot longer than I was.
Once you've scrubbed the floor to your liking, rinse the floor 2 or 3 times to get rid of all the bleach, and mop to remove. Afterwards, pat yourself on the back for a job well done. If you can still lift your arms, that is.
The "eraser" sponge makes all the difference. I tried using a regular scrubby sponge, and it was working, but it was taking a LOT more elbow grease. The eraser sponge makes it go so much faster.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Ask me
How the low-carb is going. Go ahead.
.
.
.
.
.
I had biscuits for breakfast.
With coffee, made with sugar free syrup, and skim milk.
.
.
.
.
.
Yeah.
In my defense (and it's a pretty flimsy defense), I have been CRAZY busy lately. Haven't done much grocery shopping. So there's not a lot in the house to eat, period. I found a tube of crescent rolls and some cheese, so I baked 'em up. Yummy. But not low-carb.
Yesterday, I spent the morning in diabetes education. I leaned two things. 1: I need to take better care of my feet. I don't need to add amputee to my medical file. 2: Diabetes educators and dr's are killing their patients. And they can't keep their shit straight. We were told 135 grams of carbs per day was a good number to aim for. 135/3 meals = 45 grams per meal. Then they tell us that women can have 3-4 15 gram servings of carbs per meal. 45-60 total. Times 3 meals a day is 135-180. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY! Just for reference, Atkins allows 20 grams per day in induction (the first two weeks). Then you slowly start adding a little bit and a little bit. I doubt anyone in maintenance Atkins is eating 135 grams per day.
Now, this is certainly better than the average American diet. We eat a LOT of carbs. But then they also tell us to only eat a 3-4 oz serving of protein at each meal. And avoid fat, cholesterol, and salt like the plague. Which is just so wrong! Why are they still pushing carbs at people who can't process them?!? It's not like we force peanut allergic kids to eat peanut butter sandwiches, or celiac patients to eat bread - we know it will kill them! Just like these carbs are going to kill diabetics!
I talk a good rant, but I'm not living it. I'm trying to do better every single day. It's hard. Nothing good for you is ever easy. So I'm working on it, and doing the best I can. I'm GOING to be better. Because I was so much younger than anyone in that room. Like, 20 years younger! Some of them had been diabetic for 10-15 years at the most. So, not even as young as me when they were first diagnosed. That, more than anything, depressed the hell outta me.
.
.
.
.
.
I had biscuits for breakfast.
With coffee, made with sugar free syrup, and skim milk.
.
.
.
.
.
Yeah.
In my defense (and it's a pretty flimsy defense), I have been CRAZY busy lately. Haven't done much grocery shopping. So there's not a lot in the house to eat, period. I found a tube of crescent rolls and some cheese, so I baked 'em up. Yummy. But not low-carb.
Yesterday, I spent the morning in diabetes education. I leaned two things. 1: I need to take better care of my feet. I don't need to add amputee to my medical file. 2: Diabetes educators and dr's are killing their patients. And they can't keep their shit straight. We were told 135 grams of carbs per day was a good number to aim for. 135/3 meals = 45 grams per meal. Then they tell us that women can have 3-4 15 gram servings of carbs per meal. 45-60 total. Times 3 meals a day is 135-180. ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY! Just for reference, Atkins allows 20 grams per day in induction (the first two weeks). Then you slowly start adding a little bit and a little bit. I doubt anyone in maintenance Atkins is eating 135 grams per day.
Now, this is certainly better than the average American diet. We eat a LOT of carbs. But then they also tell us to only eat a 3-4 oz serving of protein at each meal. And avoid fat, cholesterol, and salt like the plague. Which is just so wrong! Why are they still pushing carbs at people who can't process them?!? It's not like we force peanut allergic kids to eat peanut butter sandwiches, or celiac patients to eat bread - we know it will kill them! Just like these carbs are going to kill diabetics!
I talk a good rant, but I'm not living it. I'm trying to do better every single day. It's hard. Nothing good for you is ever easy. So I'm working on it, and doing the best I can. I'm GOING to be better. Because I was so much younger than anyone in that room. Like, 20 years younger! Some of them had been diabetic for 10-15 years at the most. So, not even as young as me when they were first diagnosed. That, more than anything, depressed the hell outta me.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Low-Carb, Day Three
I'm halfway through day three, and let me tell you... It's not easy!! OMG I want something starchy SO BAD right now. TV commercials don't help, so I'm trying to watch movies instead. Young Guns II at the moment. :)
I'm being good, I'm eating deviled eggs and drinking Crystal Light. DH has a recipe for almond pancakes that are quite tasty and help with the sweet cravings. I'll probably have some fruit later as well.
We're not super low carb, or Atkins, or anything else that requires counting. I hate counting. It's one of the things I hate most about Weight Watchers - counting each and every bite that went into my mouth. We just don't have any carby food in the house.
On Monday, we emptied the pantry, fridge, and freezer. We took 4 large boxes out to the garage, and 3 trash bags out to the trash. My very large pantry (one of the things that sold me on this house) is now very sad and empty. There's not many shelf stable low carb foods!
I don't have anything deep to say at the moment. I just want food. I'm SOOOOOO hungry. But I can do this! I WILL DO THIS!
I'm being good, I'm eating deviled eggs and drinking Crystal Light. DH has a recipe for almond pancakes that are quite tasty and help with the sweet cravings. I'll probably have some fruit later as well.
We're not super low carb, or Atkins, or anything else that requires counting. I hate counting. It's one of the things I hate most about Weight Watchers - counting each and every bite that went into my mouth. We just don't have any carby food in the house.
On Monday, we emptied the pantry, fridge, and freezer. We took 4 large boxes out to the garage, and 3 trash bags out to the trash. My very large pantry (one of the things that sold me on this house) is now very sad and empty. There's not many shelf stable low carb foods!
I don't have anything deep to say at the moment. I just want food. I'm SOOOOOO hungry. But I can do this! I WILL DO THIS!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
And so you see....
...it's all a show! Happy Ending and all! (Herbert, Spamalot)
Are you entertained? At least I'm unpredictable and random. Well, sort of random. There is a main thread to my postings - food and weight.
We will NOT be doing the SNAP diet. There is a very good reason for this, and it's not because we're lazy!
In December, I went in to the endocrinologist for my quarterly checkup. Previously, we had discussed how if I skip meals (specifically skipping breakfast in order to get my fasting bloodwork done) I feel crappy. Shaky, light-headed, and all over blah for most of the day afterward. So for my Dec checkup, she added a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) to my bloodwork list. All of you females who have been pregnant know what a joy this is. @@ Only, if you're not pregnant, it's even worse! You have to drink a different formula of glucose soda, and you get to be poked and jabbed for three hours, not one.
Anyway, in the end, the numbers showed I am pre-diabetic, specifically with an Impaired Insulin Response. Meaning my pancreas can't keep up with my glucose intake, and it took me a lot longer than a healthy person for my numbers to come back to normal.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - we are going back (again) to a low-carb diet. The last time we did this (spring of 2009) I lost almost 20 lbs and dropped 70 points on my cholesterol. Obviously I do well with it, as well as emerging long-term research showing that low-carb is the way to go for diabetics. I'm going to try and do better blogging as well, to keep this journal of my journey up to date, for myself, my dr, and my family.
Today, we are going grocery shopping, cleaning out the carbs from the pantry, and having one last day of carby food. I had last night's tiramisu for breakfast, the last piece of pizza and some spaghetti for lunch, and we haven't decided dinner yet.
"Have a drink and a pee, we'll be back for Act Three..." "Two, sir!" (King Arthur & Patsy, Spamalot)
Are you entertained? At least I'm unpredictable and random. Well, sort of random. There is a main thread to my postings - food and weight.
We will NOT be doing the SNAP diet. There is a very good reason for this, and it's not because we're lazy!
In December, I went in to the endocrinologist for my quarterly checkup. Previously, we had discussed how if I skip meals (specifically skipping breakfast in order to get my fasting bloodwork done) I feel crappy. Shaky, light-headed, and all over blah for most of the day afterward. So for my Dec checkup, she added a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) to my bloodwork list. All of you females who have been pregnant know what a joy this is. @@ Only, if you're not pregnant, it's even worse! You have to drink a different formula of glucose soda, and you get to be poked and jabbed for three hours, not one.
Anyway, in the end, the numbers showed I am pre-diabetic, specifically with an Impaired Insulin Response. Meaning my pancreas can't keep up with my glucose intake, and it took me a lot longer than a healthy person for my numbers to come back to normal.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - we are going back (again) to a low-carb diet. The last time we did this (spring of 2009) I lost almost 20 lbs and dropped 70 points on my cholesterol. Obviously I do well with it, as well as emerging long-term research showing that low-carb is the way to go for diabetics. I'm going to try and do better blogging as well, to keep this journal of my journey up to date, for myself, my dr, and my family.
Today, we are going grocery shopping, cleaning out the carbs from the pantry, and having one last day of carby food. I had last night's tiramisu for breakfast, the last piece of pizza and some spaghetti for lunch, and we haven't decided dinner yet.
"Have a drink and a pee, we'll be back for Act Three..." "Two, sir!" (King Arthur & Patsy, Spamalot)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Food Stamps feed one quarter of American children- from the NYT
A decade after food stamp users were scorned as welfare queens and Congress was slashing benefits from the program, food stamp use is at an all-time high, and the stigma has gone the way of the actual food stamp. (Now, recipients swipe cards.) A New York Times analysis of food stamp data shows that as foreclosures and unemployment rates have soared, food stamp use has risen along with it. The program now helps feed one in eight Americans and one of every four children. More than one-quarter of blacks, 15 percent of Latinos, and 8 percent of white Americans help fill their pantries with food stamps. The Times analysis found a surprising level of diversity among food stamp recipients, from chronically poor inner-city families to newly unemployed suburban moms to fixed-income seniors. Even conservative areas where residents tend to disdain public assistance are seeing an increase in the number of food stamp recipients. States are eager to enroll people in the program because, unlike unemployment insurance, food stamps are funded entirely by the federal government. Because many people who qualify for unemployment benefits don't get them, food stamps are the only form of assistance some people get. Or, as the Times calls it, "the safety net's safety net."
This comes to me right after reading the "One Dollar Diet Project" blog. (http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/) The actual diet project was done in September 2008, if you want to go back and read the archives. Hubby and I got to talking about it, and while we won't go so drastic as to try and live on $1 each, we will try a derivation of it - how well can we eat on the Food Stamp (SNAP) benefit budget? I looked around the 'net last night and found out that the 2008 SNAP benefit average in NV was $97.88 per person in the household per month. For our household of 3, that becomes $293.64 or $$73.41 per week, based on a 4 week month.
We're not going to start this immediately - we have to set out the "rules" for our project. Does food already in the pantry count? If not, then we will spend the month of December eating out of the pantry, in order to make room for the new food. What type of "free food" is allowed? Costco samples? Other grocery samples? Unlike the One Dollar people, here in NV there aren't many if any fruit trees on public land where we could pick lemons and oranges. That idea won't fly for us.
Also, our budget will be ever so slightly higher - families receiving SNAP assistance don't pay sales tax. So we get to spend a bit more to cover the sales tax. Our current rate is somewhere around 8%. It used to be 7.5%, but has recently gone up. Also, we will be including the kiddo's lunches - we don't qualify for totally free lunches, obviously, so we'll look at as if we're a family that would qualify for reduced price lunch, but can't quite scrape the money for that together either. She's pretty easy to please for lunch anyway.
If you have any ideas or questions or whatever, leave a comment! I'd love to hear what you all (what, 3 readers? LOL) think.
This comes to me right after reading the "One Dollar Diet Project" blog. (http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/) The actual diet project was done in September 2008, if you want to go back and read the archives. Hubby and I got to talking about it, and while we won't go so drastic as to try and live on $1 each, we will try a derivation of it - how well can we eat on the Food Stamp (SNAP) benefit budget? I looked around the 'net last night and found out that the 2008 SNAP benefit average in NV was $97.88 per person in the household per month. For our household of 3, that becomes $293.64 or $$73.41 per week, based on a 4 week month.
We're not going to start this immediately - we have to set out the "rules" for our project. Does food already in the pantry count? If not, then we will spend the month of December eating out of the pantry, in order to make room for the new food. What type of "free food" is allowed? Costco samples? Other grocery samples? Unlike the One Dollar people, here in NV there aren't many if any fruit trees on public land where we could pick lemons and oranges. That idea won't fly for us.
Also, our budget will be ever so slightly higher - families receiving SNAP assistance don't pay sales tax. So we get to spend a bit more to cover the sales tax. Our current rate is somewhere around 8%. It used to be 7.5%, but has recently gone up. Also, we will be including the kiddo's lunches - we don't qualify for totally free lunches, obviously, so we'll look at as if we're a family that would qualify for reduced price lunch, but can't quite scrape the money for that together either. She's pretty easy to please for lunch anyway.
If you have any ideas or questions or whatever, leave a comment! I'd love to hear what you all (what, 3 readers? LOL) think.
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