So far I haven't had any diet drinks for the past 7 days.  Surprisingly it hasn't been as hard to break the diet coke addiction as I thought it would be.  There has only been 1 time that I thought "boy a diet coke would sure be good about now" and that was when we went out for a hamburger.

I'm drinking about 2 1/2 to 3 liters of water per day and I NEVER drank water before this.  So that is huge for me.  I can say that I am noticing my skin is much more hydrated than before.  

I'm checking by blood sugar just as directed.  So far I haven't seen any numbers that are alarming in the least.  One evening it was high but that was due to eating late that night and going to bed early. 

I've got to start thinking about Christmas.  I was trying to come up with ideas the other day but my creative mind is asleep.   

Unfortunately I haven't gotten rid of pain like I had hoped.  I started having excruciating knee pain last week on the same side as my hip replacement.  From all the research I've done this isn't uncommon especially if the hip was bad for sometime before replacement.  It has to do with how I compensated by changing my gait etc.   But it is very frustrating to simply trade one pain for another.

I think the only thing to do is to do exercises to strengthen the leg and especially muscles around the knee.  I printed a whole list of them and I'm starting today.  They say it could take as long as a year to rehab. the knee/leg.  Good grief!  Will it ever end??????

The beheading

After the horrible acts of terrorism involving the beheading of the two journalists I told Ron...."Just watch, some nut is going to behead someone in this country."  I didn't think it would be just 10 miles from where I live but that is exactly what happened last Friday.

As if Moore, Oklahoma hasn't had enough time on the news with two deadly tornadoes flattening it to the ground.  Now they are in the news because of this horrific act at Vaughn Foods.

They are saying there is no terrorist association connected to Alton Nolan, the man responsible for the attack.  He had been converted to Islam when incarcerated in prison and he was recently pressuring co-workers to convert as well.  My guess this is what led to his being fired.  I think he was influenced by the Isis attacks and that was enough to push him over the edge.    I just figured it was a matter of time before something like this happened somewhere.

I feel bad for the woman who was killed for she will forever be known as the woman who was beheaded.  That can't bring any comfort to her family.  It was just so savage.  Fortunately, the other woman who was attacked is going to be fine.  In fact she has already been released from the hospital.  I said she would be fine but I'm sure she will never get over seeing what happened and being attacked herself.  If the Chief Operating Officer hadn't shot Nolan she would have been beheaded as well.

This is a dangerous world we live in........
 

Right to Vote

Last night I was thinking about whether people should pass a basic civics test before they receive a voter registration card.  So I checked the internet to see if I could find some discussion on it.  When one political blogger suggested the idea one response he received was simply, "Are you trying to scare democrats to death?"

An experiment was performed,  Newsweek gave 1,000 Americans the U.S. citizenship test to see if they could pass it if they had to. 38% failed. Questions like why we fought the Cold War stumped 73%. Defining the Bill of Rights tripped up 44%. 29% couldn't name our current vice president. And 6% weren't sure when we celebrate Independence Day. 

My favorite response was if potential voters are required to pass a test then political candidates should be required to pass one before they are allowed to run for office. (Watch out Sarah Palin)

I'm curious......what are your thoughts?  Maybe we need to put more emphasis on government and civics in the high school curriculum.  That is where future voters are residing in fact many get that right before they ever graduate.  I think this is where we have the opportunity to create better informed voters.

Getting off the artifical sweetener band wagon....

I'm at work early this morning to attend a meeting but so far I'm the only one here!  I'm sure they will show up soon.

I'm a little miffed.  As soon as my hip fully recovered my knee started giving me fits.  I don't believe it has anything to do with arthritis but it seems to be the IT band.  The PT explained it was inflamed and rubbing against the knee cap because my thigh muscles are weak on one side and this is causing the other side of my leg to pull that IT band tight.  (I know I didn't explain that very well)  It didn't get bad until I came back to work and I think it is sitting at my desk for long periods that really aggravates it.  Unfortunately the exercises to stretch it are not allowed because of my hip precautions.

I saw a new doctor Tuesday.  He is an endocrinologist and his specialty is diabetes.  Now, I have my diabetes controlled but he is pushing for even better control.  I have to give up all diet drinks!  That is sooooooo hard for me since I am addicted to Diet Coke.  But I decided to just dive in and go cold turkey.  I didn't have a single one yesterday but I did have a horrible headache!  So I bought some coffee yesterday and had one cup this morning just to get a hit of caffeine.  So far I don't have a headache. 

Meeting over and it is now past lunch time and still no headache!  Guess the coffee worked. 

After reading all the health risks of artificial sweeteners  I don't have any excuse to drink diet sodas.  One is supposed to do better when they know better.   The new doctor explained that diet soda can actually increase your chances of developing diabetes by 40% and all the time I thought I was doing good by eliminating the sugar.  He also said it can cause weight gain.  Again I was dooped!

Anymore I don't know what is healthy or unhealthy. 

Warning....Will Robinson

There are warnings on everything and everywhere we look.  Commercials touting the latest drug leave us with such cautionary warnings as “THIS DRUG MAY KILL YOU” not to mention that if you do manage to survive other horrors may besiege you.

One of the latest warnings to come about recently is that women should not keep their cell phones in their bras.   Seems this is causing an increase in breast cancer.  I don’t have to be concerned about this warning since I don’t keep my cell phone in my bra anyway.   I can’t hear it ring from that far away!

Man Cold

My poor husband was home all weekend with a cold.  I actually talked him into staying home Friday and  hibernating with the dog.  So he and Bella vegetated all weekend. 

I don't know why it is that when a man has a "man cold" it is the end of life as we know it.  I am married to one of the sweetest men in the world but when he's sick - watch out - cause he is one big cranky man.  I'll sure be glad when he starts feeling better because I can only hide out for so long.

I did keep myself busy and (absent) as much as possible.  I did so much more this weekend than I've been able to do for a long time.  I did some house cleaning at Mike's house plus took care of his Subway card and weekly allowance.  I did grocery shopping and even managed an outing with both daughters to an outlet mall in the city.  That just about did me in though.  

All in all a good weekend in spite of the man cold.

I am actually getting excited about the holidays.  I had a moment of regret that I got rid of so many holiday decorations last year.  At the time I couldn't imagine ever being physically able to decorate the house again.  I hadn't been able to for four years so I just let it all go.  Now I want to decorate for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas..........but I sure can't purchase new stuff.  It took me years to collect what I had.  I guess we will just drive around and enjoy what our neighbors put out.

It feels wonderful to be excited about things again!

Kelli Stapleton

Good news!  Twin #1 does not have to have a 3rd surgery on her shoulder.  Her surgeon was pleasantly surprised when he saw her yesterday and told her she has 12 more weeks of therapy but no surgery.  Thank goodness!  Twin #2 will have surgery (her first) on her shoulder over Christmas break.  Hopefully she will not fall in her sister's foot steps and require a second surgery.

Has anyone been following the story about the mother who attempted to kill herself and her autistic daughter?  Her daughter is extremely violent and had beaten the mother unconscious on several occasions.  She was also aggressive toward her younger sister.  It's just a very tragic story and my heart goes out to the entire family. 

What has bothered me is the judgmental response that is being shown toward the mother.  This mother had reached a state of total hopelessness.  Insurance refused to pay for inpatient treatment, schools wouldn't allow the child in school and the mother was now experiencing brain damage from the beatings she was receiving.  People are judging this mother when they should be saying what can we do to fix the system?

My twin daughters will be 44 years old in December.  They are an age that has become incomprehensible to me.  Sometimes it seems that they are catching up with me since it only seems like yesterday that I was 44 myself.  I was 38 when they graduated from high school and 44 when they graduated college.  I recognize that my daughters are grown women and I enjoy our adult relationship to no end but yesterday I received a call from twin #2.  She called and asked if  we were going to be home awhile because she wanted to come over since she hadn’t seen me in the past two weeks.  Then she added….”I miss my mom and I want a mom hug”.   My eyes swelled with tears and it felt so good to still be needed for a hug.

House Divided

Last night Ron and I went to the Red Horse Grill and proceeded to try and solve the world’s problems over a hamburger.  Two hours later we looked up to see that we were the only customers left and they were starting to clean the floors.

I found this to be a testament to our relationship, especially since our discussion grazed over a few political issues and we are considered a “political odd couple” or a “house divided”.  Ordinarily our political discussions would end in someone (admittedly me) getting a little too loud when conveying my shock at what I consider the misguided beliefs of my husband.  But last night we managed to have a civil discussion although neither changed our basic political stances.  Does this mean we are maturing?

I have learned to see my husband’s loving behavior every day, and it trumps his impossible political attitudes. But sometimes I have to do a lot of mental work so that I don’t wake up in the middle of the night and bop him on the nose.

To speak or text.........that is the question!

Our hospital had a very successful summer with our summer camp program.  Camp ClapHans is the first summer camp designed and built for children with special needs in Oklahoma.  This past summer was the second summer for Camp ClapHans and after the summer ended staff involved in the camp met to discuss what worked and what changes are needed as well as ideas for the future.

What was interesting was what the camp director shared as an issue that what addressed during the camp session that I found very interesting.  The director had banned all cell phones during the camp session for both volunteers and paid staff believing this would allow staff to focus on the campers and not social media.  This sounded logical and also protects the privacy of all campers due to cell phone cameras and video.

The camp director went on to say that he noticed a problem with staff during the first camp session.  They didn’t appear to listen to his directions during staff meetings.  Jobs were not getting done and assignments were not being completed.   He took the problem to the agency director and she suggested he try an experiment.  She said to allow staff/volunteers to have their cell phones during staff meetings and on their breaks.  Then she told him to text them their assignments and any other instructions he wanted them to have or complete.   He did so and immediately discovered that they did everything he asked and there were no further problems.  I found this really interesting.  I asked the director what prompted her to suggest the idea and she said she has found that by communicating to her teenage son and daughter by text any chores she wants them to do they are more apt to meet her expectations.

I can see man evolving into beings that do not have the capability of speech.  Maybe by then they will be communicating telepathically anyway and won’t even need to text.

Gnats and Ramen Noodles but not in that order!

Am I gullible or what?  Ron and I were watching the Shark Tank on tv the other night and I was caught up in the RapidRamen Cooker.   It sounded like something that would work for my brother.  Ramen noodles cooked to perfection in the microwave.  It sounded very simple to use so I ended up ordering it from Amazon.   I am always looking for anything Mike can fix for himself and he is doing pretty darn good with a microwave.

Well, yesterday when I went grocery shopping I checked out the Ramen Noodles.  And just my luck the ingredients list wheat flour and Mike is allergic to wheat.   Now, I guess I’ll find out if the RapidRamen Cooker will cook any other kind of noodle.   Oh, and after reading about Ramen noodles they don’t sound very healthy anyway.  Too much preservative added.

Speaking of Mike, he’s really been doing better about limiting the phone calls.  He hasn’t called me once at work since I returned last week.  He’s not calling us every 15 minutes at home either.  It has made such a difference and I’m actually happier when I do talk to him.  The more independent he is the happier we all are including Mike.

Ron watched a football game with Mike at his house on Saturday and Ron came home telling me how much better the house looked and that Mike is doing better keeping it clean.  We are definitely seeing  improvement.  Hooray!

Here’s a little tidbit of information that may be useful to you at some time.  Mike had an invasion of gnats at his house a few weeks ago.   They had gotten pretty bad and were annoying the tar out of Mike and anyone else who happened to stop by for a visit.  So I did a little research and made him some gnat traps.  I got small mason jars and filled them about a quarter of the way with apple cider vinegar.  I punched holes in the lids and screwed them on the jars.  I put 3  traps around the house where the gnats were and left them there for a few days.  NO MORE GNATS.  The gnats are drawn to the vinegar and go in through the holes but drown in the vinegar.  Easy fix!

Well, 326 more days until retirement……but who’s counting!