Julia

I've often thought about making some sort of subtle statement around the holidays regarding diabetes. It's a tough time of the year when you have diabetes - there are so many sugar-laden treats around and your schedule is usually out of whack so blood sugars and testing can fall by the wayside in the whirl of activities.

So for the last few months, I've been saving Olivia's insulin bottles. I planned on putting them on a string of lights once I had enough and then putting them on the tree.

Last night, I happened to be in CVS, getting my thyroid medication (and gummy bears, as you do) and I saw these Tiny Lights and I thought "Perfect!" I grabbed a box and was on my way.
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Mike Cohn

(To the tune of "Jingle Bells")

Andy Bell, Andy Bell, Andy had a great holiday.
Even with all the food, sugars were good most of the waaaay. Hey!
Now it's time to get back to work and focus on fitness for the day..
Here we go, do a curl and burn that fat away. Hey!

(To the tune of "Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer")

Andy had one day of high sugars,
Eating his face off with a jello mold.
You can say there's no such thing as hyperglucose
But as for this diabetic, I am sold.

(To the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer")
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One of the mixed advantages of living far away from family is that when you do finally get home, there's a lot of catching up to be done. Because we've been away and not in all that close touch, we're considered the "neutral third parties", and the updating comes chock full of dish.

Nowhere is this more apparent then when diabetes comes into play. Siblings who'd never "rat" on each other in full-court, whole-family press, will each take you on the side and let you know that the other's numbers are being kept "too high" or "too low", that s/he doesn't test (enough), or that s/he keeps forgetting how many of which pills need to be taken, when. Sometimes one will say another's medication dosages have been increased "because s/he's not watching what s/he's eating". It's Diabetes Police by Proxy (DPP).

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www.surfnetkids.com

Dear Santa Baby,

Ok, maybe I'm not on your list of good persons with diabetes this year, but surely I'm not on the naughty PWD list either!
My A1C has stayed in the 5's all year. I had a baby WITHOUT macrosomia. So I think I can ask for a few items your elves might be able to whip up, if not for this year, surely in time for next year's yule. (READ MORE)

It's that time of year again -- time to report on this year's results of the WebWarren Cookie Laboratories.

Lest you think I've had a bit too much of the nonexistent "adult" eggnog (or given the outdoor temperatures, the nonexistent hot toddy), The Other Half's parents like to have several varieties of cookies on hand for Christmas Day visitors (i.e., the entire extended family) -- and with his mother no longer able to do the sort of baking she once did, we try to take up a bit of the slack. The first time we did cookie baking up here, I was trying to develop some new cookie recipes, and we brought down the results in a carton repurposed with Christmas wrapping paper and labeled "WEBWARREN COOKIE LABS -- EXPERIMENTAL SAMPLES". The name -- and the mock pretentiousness -- stuck. While were not able to get down south this year, the Cookie Labs have been in full force.

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One of The Other Half's family holiday traditions has been to redecorate their entire houses in Early, Middle, and Modern Christmas. Everything from the knicknacks on the end tables to the rug and hand towels in the guest bathroom is redone in red, green, snowmen, and old-fashioned Santa Clauses. The centerpiece of it all is the Christmas Village.

While some folk pride themselves on collecting all the pieces in a particular name-brand collection, most of these villages are odd collections of pieces purchased from sale racks here and there, or made by friends and family.

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