Season Finale(s)

I feel a little more alive now.. the fever broke this morning. Yes,it was the flu(not a cold). Haven't had a cold (since last August) and the last time I had the flu was 4-5 years ago so I guess I was long overdue. There's one interesting fact about the flu..hypos are never an issue, you could bolus for a meal, not eat the meal,and still be high 4 hours later. The body requires a lot of insulin when there's a fever.

So anyway, as I was hanging out w/all my paraphernalia last night, alternately watching/crying/sneezing through the season finale of "House" it occurred to me how utterly repetitious and boring season finales have gotten.
First, it was Meredith of Grey's Anatomy going into a coma/near death experience.(talking to Denny Duqette)

Then, it was Eli Stone going into a coma/ near death experience.(talking to George Michael)

Now, it's House/going into a coma/not quite death experience.(talking to now deceased ex-girlfriend)

I can't wait for tonight..maybe one of the Davids in the American Idol Season finale will sing/bore the other one into a coma/and when he wakes up, he'll figure out that there are so many other MORE worthwhile things that he could be doing..
(sorry, a bit of sarcasm there)
Or I'll be bored into one myself. I'm sure I'm missing some of the coma finales, because I really don't watch alot of tv shows but this is just a trend I've noticed.

7 Excellent Reasons to Hang at 300+ Mg/Dl

#1
While attempting a reservoir swap this morning, I cracked the cartridge case+ a piece came off.(on top-you can see the hole) Called Deltec, because it wasn't cooperating(stuck on a certain screen)-put in another cartridge and that worked. Unfortunately, when you chip the cartridge case, it can't hold in the reservoir of insulin and it becomes unsafe to use.(envision 300 units of insulin being jolted into your body) Replacement cap should be here by noon tomorrow, (Fed-Exed)but its back to shots for me. They really should make those things tougher.

#2 I have a cold. Or something. Not allergies, throats don't feel this way for no good reason. Besides, its been raining + my husband also has the bug(which he kindly gave to me) + the pollen count is essentially zip around here. Gonna be a fun weekend.

#3 I'm craving Chinese food, chocolate,ice cream, and pizza. Feed a cold, starve a fever(so the old adage goes) + despite the fact that its about the worst possible thing to eat when you're well, much less sick, high carb stuff is about the only thing I want right now. Really weird.

#4 This.


Just the earth transcending heavenly scent, is enough to put you in full-blown DKA.

#5 It's almost a full moon.

#6 Speaking of months and moons, its simerarily that difficult, basal rates need doubling, week.

#7 Narnia opens this weekend..and Indiana Jones the next. Can't see either, because we're going to go with friends(who are,maddingly, on vacation). Cannot wait.

Hope your weekend is better then this.

My Van Gogh

(click picture for close up)
It may not look like much, but after 3 years and 3 months of periodically slaving away at the thing it is finished. (Hurrah!) This is entirely free form, nothing was off a pattern. The poem is original too. Now to get it framed(but not at Micheal's prices, they quoted me $260+.)While I think this item is valuable, its more of the sentimental kind. I may frame it myself. I intend to enter it the county fair this August. (the murky smudges is the camera's fault.. the actual piece is flawless) I wanted to give it to my EMS instructor(originally) but it took too darn long to complete..

The Wisdom of the Juice Box

Especially as it pertains to difficult-to-treat hypos.

Tucking in the Tubing

In keeping with the "arm sites" experiment, I'm also trying more convenient places to put my pump. There are the obvious places..and if I had really long hair(I don't) I could even put it in there. But right now, my favorite is the Schwarzenegger look:



Pump carrier: ipod arm band. The tubing tucks up nicely, and I look like muscle girl when I pull down my shirt sleeve.(hmmm, maybe I should do the same for my Dexcom on the other side, to match)

Inspirational quote of the day:

"Diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint." I need to remember that, when I get obsessed with doing everything exactly right/right now, the big picture is, you need to balance it with all the other obligations in your life. D will likely be around for many more years(much as we all hope for a cure), this super marathon has many more miles left in it.

Made of Honor

A year ago today, I said yes to the most wonderful man in the world. It's been a life changing, wonderful year..and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
(now to go watch Made of Honor..very appropriate movie to watch, on one's 'versary, sooo romantic)

A Pumping First

That River in Egypt

This has been a very exhausting week, and if I never again set foot in a Kmart/Sears store it will be too soon. I completely abhor them.

It makes me just about ready to sign up for THIS, the ultimate lazy excuse. (the only problem, you have to be a perfect physical specimen to participate) I sure could use $17,000. But the strict schedule(being awake 16 hours, asleep 8) would be extremely difficult, if I'm in bed, I want to go asleep. It would be ok if they just induced a 90 day coma and did what they wanted to me. Wake me up, hand me the check, and I'd leave.

My car got flooded several nights ago(windows open, thunderstorm, dead sleep= several inches of water inside) so its been kind of disgusting/smelly. Great thing is, I still had to drive all over the place..and its still rainy, so nothing is really drying out. I hope next week is sunny.

The blood sugars have been a mystery, fairly ok but sometimes when they're just sitting on 90-130 and you feel hypo it drives you absolutely nuts. Because you aren't hypo, multiple checks have confirmed that. And you're also not dropping, so that's not to blame. Effects of caffeine..maybe, who knows. I don't drink caffeinated coke everyday though, and its been happening everyday.(and on some of the real hypos,come out of the blue) I have to learn to deny myself the urge to treat/eat.(not very easy)

Tomorrow is Mother's Day.. go out there and do something special for the moms in your life! (wife,mother, grandmother, etc.)

A Chapter Meeting of D.E.S.A.

Long, long ago, the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association was named I.D.A.A.(International Diabetic Athletes Association) They dropped the diabetic and the international parts for the sake of political correctness. Anyway, I learned that and a whole slew of other goodies at last night's founding chapter(Baltimore D.E.S.A) Doug Dressman(Executive Director) and Rick Philbin(Animus, diabetes exercise guru) were on hand to kick things off, and then a local CDE falicitated the meeting. (held, where else, at the most humongous health club I have EVER seen, it was like a Super Walmart with two stories. If it weren't so far, I'd consider joining it.)

So...it was inspiring. All these triathletes/marathon runners/cyclists/mountain climbers/parents of kids with D, and about 7 CDE's from every hospital in the state.(And just plain me..there to learn, from the pros) I think it will be a good group, DESA is not just about type 1's. It's for the type 2's, parents, and anyone who knows someone with diabetes. DESA is about "hookups", (not that kind, mind out of the gutter, please)matching people to people with similar interests. (type 2, type 1, CGMS users, etc)

The DESA International Conferance will be held in Toronto this year. Of course, that's totally infeasible to attend but the entire schedule sounds really amazing- not only do
you learn from the experts, you get a darn workout every day(whether you were planning to just kick back, eat yourself into a stupor, and fall asleep during the lectures) or not. Then on Sat..they have a soccer tournament.(Italy vs The World)
I love soccer, have played it since I could walk all the way through high school. Never got any awards, because kids on homeschooled teams just don't, but I'm still good.(to toot my own horn) It would be cool to play on a team again.

Refreshments: tofu sandwiches and water. I've never had tofu sandwiches before, they were actually good.

Now.. I want to get a Running on Insulin t-shirt, it will inspire me to greater heights. That's one of the cool things about diabetes..we get to wear t-shirts like that! Non D's don't.

Remember Me, part 1

This is military appreciation month.. go here for ideas on how you can show support. Some of us fight battles within ourselves, and some of us fight the external battles-its a good thing everyone doesn't have diabetes.(not sure which is more difficult, but I rather suspect the diabetes wars are) I wonder if people in other countries(like Israel, where military service is mandatory) who have type 1 can be in the military. Anyway,I am grateful for their sacrifices..and just wish that so many of them didn't have to pay the ultimate sacrifice.(that doesn't make me bitter about current administrations though)Freedom isn't free,and if someone I loved died defending this nation I'd have to honor that.(through the pain)

Golden Tickets

The night air, slightly nippy, had the pollination enrichment impact of a swarm of honeybees over a field of flowers. Pollen, pollen, everywhere, reeking havoc upon the sinus systems of the individuals who suffer from seasonal allergies.

"Please just open," the girl in front of us moans.

Ahh,Choo! I sneeze, grab a tissue from my pocket, and nod my agreement. 7 more minutes till we get to go in. Hope the tissue stash lasts that long.

"Ticket?" a store employee inquires.

"You bet!" (that is one of the reasons I'm here...)

7:30 pm. The doors spring open, and as we, the favored few dash through the entrance, the employees(lined up on both sides) cheer us madly. Very, very, bizarre. I've never been cheered like that before.(I could totally dig the celeb paparazzi life, it was nice)

First, we head for the stockpile of Wii's...obtain one, wander about the store, husband goes off to get us some drinks. I'm browsing in the video section when a women asks me if I'm staying and gives me her raffle ticket. Look at the stoves/ranges + get a cheaper one, but still nice.(ours is pretty old) Hang around store, until...

8:58 pm. "Will ticket number #20019006 please come up to the front, you've won a $50 gift card."

I start jumping up and down. "That's me!" (the ticket the women had given me, not like I ever win anything otherwise) Last drawing of the night. Pick up gift card, check out. Use the gift card I already had, save the one I just got.

Get home, and realize we'd failed to get the freebies that you were supposed to get as you walked out. Winning that gift card made me so excited I forgot about the other stuff.(I'm going to try to call about it today and see if I can still get it, since I have the ticket) Head for the Claritin, which (in addition to the adrenalin still pumpin') revs me up so much I don't get to sleep till 1 AM.What a night.

------------------------

And the results are in.. 35 minutes with the endo.(5/5/08)

Blood Pressure: 135/89 (I'm never that high???)
Thyroid antibodies: positive, I apperently have Hashimoto's but the levels are normal for now.(so I don't need any meds) Weird..because at diagnosis, the antibodies were negative but the levels were screwed up so I had to take thyroid medication for a year.
Cholesterol:(LDL) barely normal, but normal, thankfully
Kidneys: fine for another year, no protein
Hemoglobin A1c: 9.0. (up 0.5) Hasn't been that bad in awhile.

Give me a gold star, someone. I can fully explain the 9.0(had a run of 300-500's for over a week) but it is still embarrassing. Back to trying..weird thing is, numbers have been pretty great over the last week and endo didn't have to make many adjustments(just overnight).

Weight: Lost 6 pounds. Guess that's good.

Another Role Model

# May 1, 2008 8:27 pm US/Mountain

Jay Cutler Reveals He Has Type 1 Diabetes
CBS4 Broncos Insiders Sign Ups: Get Broncos Email Updates or text 4broncos to 66247 for free wireless text updates
Reporting
Vic Lombardi
DENVER (CBS4/AP) ―

Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, he told CBS4's Vic Lombardi Thursday.

Cutler's business manager Marty Garafalo confirmed the illness Thursday night to the Associated Press.

Cutler told CBS4 he dropped eight to ten of pounds towards the end of the 2007 season and that he was not throwing the ball with as much force as he had in the past.

"I"m just excited about this year now that we know what the problem was," Cutler said. "I'm not the first person to get it and I won't be the last person to get it."

CBS4 medical editor Dr. Dave Hnida said Cutler may actually see improvement in his play now that he has a diagnosis and is getting treatment.

"He should look for a long and healthy [life]," Hnida said. "New things are popping up every day and the disease will one day be curable. It's just a blessing he caught this one early and I bet his advice to you would be to get screened if you have any signs or symptoms. You don't need to be an NFL quarterback to beat diabetes." (Read more in Dr. Dave's Blog)

The 25-year-old Cutler found out about two weeks ago that he was diabetic and needed daily insulin injections, Garafalo told The Associated Press.

He said Cutler was managing his disease and "in no way is his football career jeopardized."

Some 21 million Americans have diabetes, meaning their bodies cannot properly turn blood sugar into energy. Either they don't produce enough insulin or don't use it correctly. With the Type 1 form, the body's immune system attacks insulin-producing pancreatic cells, so that patients require insulin injections to survive.

"It's something that he's dealing with and something a lot of other people have," Garafalo said. "Even though it's a serious condition, it's a condition that can be managed. That's the way he's treating it right now.

"Everything's fine," Garafalo continued. "His condition is fine."

Cutler, entering his third NFL season, threw for 3,497 yards and 20 touchdowns last season after supplanting Jake Plummer with five weeks left in the 2006 season.

The 6-foot-3, 233-pound Cutler was taken by the Broncos with the 11th overall pick of the 2006 draft, becoming the first Vanderbilt player taken in the first round since 1986.

Cutler is expected to hold a news conference Friday.

Three other notable NFL pros have played with Type 1 diabetes. Jay Leeuwenburg played for the University of Colorado Buffaloes and went on to have a 9-year NFL career. Wade Wilson, currently a quarterback coach for the Dallas Cowboys, played in the pros for 17 years. Cornerback Mike Echols of the Tennesse Titans also has the disease.

Other athletes who have competed with diabetes include Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke, Charlotte Bobcats forward Adam Morrison, golfers Scott Verplank, Michelle McGann and Kelli Kuehne and Olympic swimmer Gary Hall Jr.

(in for the haul..its amazing how upbeat/positive he is just two weeks after diagnosis,when I'm sure it still feels like the end of the world!) it's nice to have role models, but I wouldn't wish anyone that I admire/respect get this disease. It's the toughest.
(my humble opinion, two weeks after my diagnosis I was doing my darnedest to prevent people from learning I had it)

Oysters on the Bay

There's a semi-annual event we like to attend, a seafood extravaganza of sorts.. located at a gazebo-type place next to (where else) the Chesapeake Bay. (The Bay is huge, so I trust I'm not giving away private info with that statement) Anyway,last weekend we show up, get our tickets, and start right in on the ham/beef sandwiches(sliced right there, I've never seen one of those slicers) on choice of rye/wheat bread, find our assigned table and socially mingle. Beer, tea, coke, diet coke, and water is free, and flows in abundance as the DJ blasts out canned dance music at the top of the decibel scale, strobe lights streak across the floor. It was impossible to hear oneself think, so the only recourse was to keep eating + drinking (until you either popped or passed out). Go back for more..some sort of sweet fish dish, mashed potatoes, green beans/carrots, chicken leg. By which time, I'm rapidly approaching satiety and haven't even yet gotten to the piece de' resistance, the oysters.(kind of the entire point of the event)

I get in line again.

"You look like an oyster fan!"

Hmm, interesting assumption. "I've had them approximately three times in my life, I'm not sure I'm at the "fan" stage yet."

"But you love 'em, right?"

"They're ok." (try to block out painful memories of the oyster soup of two years ago)

"How many?"

"Two."

"Plates? or pieces?" Laughs.

"Err, pieces. Oh ok, make that three, they look small. Thanks."















Blood sugar at 159 mg/dl. (a safe number, if these don't stay down.) Eat oyster #1, just like I remember it..like eating ketchup covered, crunchy-snot-dotted eggwhite. (the red stuff is not even ketchup..its salsa)Not even much taste, the sensation is what's annoying about it. By number three, I'm glad to have only gotten three. Guess I'm just not a raw food sort of person, I can't believe people pay top dollar for these.

Pic of the Bay:














Go back inside, finish up with cake(definatly stuffed to the gills at that point).
Around 9 pm we left..it was fun.(any later and the number of drunken individuals would probably have made it not so fun) Only it was odd that the oysters came from Louisiana, NOT the Chesapeake Bay. It wasn't exactly a genuine Bay party, but it was 95% of the way there.

Random Blogging Thoughts on the Smart Pix & Apidra

Several years ago,I participated in a research study..and the end result, was this. At that point, it definatly wasn't a plug-in device, it was a computer program on a PDA that you had to manually enter the info.(blood sugars, hypo treatment, how you felt symptom-wise on a 1-5 point scale) Took way too long,it was a pain in the butt. And it took an entire week to spit out a number.(up to 0-50?) Most of the time..I was on the "Extremely Variable" range, though by the end of the study I'd worked that down to a "Slightly variable" range. Seeing those numbers inspired me in a way that my a1c didn't, it was real, it was now, and there was a chance to make it better. Now I'm wondering...would getting such a device be worth it? of course I have five million meters (including Accucheck) so that's not a problem. The scientist in me likes trying out new toys..I may get one with part of the tax stimulus check.(based on my SS#, should be in my checking account by May 16) And I think I heard a rumor that Dexcom will soon be compatible with all the meters.
(someone correct me if I'm wrong) Not having to use a Ultra all the time will be more convenient.

Also..does anyone out there use Apidra,(or have tried it) and why did you switch/love/not love about it? No insulin is "fast" enough, if the effects can still be seen up to 4 hours post-bolus.(though Novolog has proved the best(out of Regular,Humalog,and Novolog) thus far. Novolog, has this lovely little tail that drops me in the final hour-half/hour and its annoying sometimes.(when one is high, it's ok but when you're normal and not expecting a drop it's not welcome)

And one final thought..don't the individuals in this article look kind of young to be practicing medicine? The doc,in particular,I'm not sure if he could even grow a beard.
(this is a not a commentary on how well they do their jobs,from the sounds of it, they are very caring and up-to-date on things) They just look, really,really young.

Date my Diabetes: A 24/7 proposition

Ever seen that new tv show Date my House? Prospective home buyers get the chance to "try" out the house, before purchasing it. Anyhow, on the show there are ten cardinal rules to "dating" a house.

Top 10 Rules for Dating a House

1. The first impression matters, so beautify your house before any prospective dates check it out.
2. Attractive houses that have put in a little extra effort always get more dates.
3. You can look and you CAN touch.
4. Don’t just judge on looks; get to know more of the house’s potential on your date.
5. Go ahead – find out what your friends really think of your date.
6. Shoes and shirt not required on your date!
7. Don’t keep your hands to yourself – check out my frame and my plumbing.
8. You should get intimate and spend the night with your date right away - make sure the house fulfills all of your needs.
9. Give your date a chance. You might just fall in love after you get to know the house.
10. Even if your date needs some improvements, it doesn’t have to be the end of the relationship!

Here are some rules for dating when diabetes is involved:

1. First impressions matter..so never delve into the horror stories on the first date.Act like you are in control.(even if you don't really feel like it)
2. The people with the matching pump cases always get the best dates.
3. You can look but you'd better ASK before you touch. Someone's life is at stake, and they don't want you adjusting their pump settings if you don't know what the heck you're doing.
4. Don't just judge on looks..insulin pumps aren't the most attractive items, you should get to know the person.
5. Go ahead, find out what your friends would do if you checked the other person's bg when they were lying on the floor unconscious. Scream? Pass out? You need to get some new friends..
6. Shoes are required on the date..proper footwear is something every D needs to keep in mind.
7. Don't keep your hands to yourself..cook them something.(healthy + delicious)
8. You should get intimate and learn about their toys(pump, meter) right away. It's a tremendous turn-on, for a D.
9. Give the (person with diabetes) another chance. Try to overlook the bright red spot of blood adorning the bottom of their shirt, accidents(gushers) happen.
10. Even if your diabetes care truly sucks, you're not out of the game yet. (as the book of Ecclesiastes says, better a live dog then a dead lion) Get back in there and give it another whiz.

I'm so glad I'm married and don't have go dating with diabetes all over again. That was a real trip, at times.

Now dating my endo...(trying them out) is a whole other story, that would (with one of them)have been a horror series right there.

The Wallflower

"Diabetes care..has come a long way since the induction of insulin, in 1923. Some of you,(who he's known forever)in this room, remember testing your urine for sugar. And some of you(looks pointedly in my direction) are younger then the pump technology, you've always known convenience. But its changing, and five years from now, blood glucose testing won't be the same as we know it today. CGS's will be more accurate, more trustworthy."

My hands shake, my heart races, a fine sheen of sweat evaporates from my forehead(soon to be replaced by the all over sensation that I'm pouring off liters of the stuff). Not an insulin reaction, not here, not now.

"When I was a medical student, I participated in a study(they had just started to be able to measure the amount of cpeptide in the blood) to see if the body started secreting insulin just looking at food. We were starved for 24 hours, and sure enough, just looking at food was enough to send the body into I-want-it-mode. Problem is,a closed loop system won't really tell when/how much you've eaten, there's got to be some sort of user input to tell the body that."

Thunk, thunk. Decision time, why is it there are rarely any carb laden snacks at pump club meetings? I so need juice, before I become the main attraction here. But I can't drink it here..without everyone noticing.

"Questions?"

That's my cue to sneak out. I'd rather hoped, that the room would be dark + he'd be presenting a slideshow(instead, I'm a mere 3 seats away so they entire table is looking in my direction) but no such luck.

"I'm on a cgms, etc....."

Lurch up, across the room, to doors. Medtronic rep gives me the puzzling eye (like he knows I'm low) Or at least that's just my hypoglycemic paranoiac perception. Bathroom,juice, get steady. Return to discussion.

"Other experiences?"

Wave hand...

"Yes?"

"Yeah, I was on the Guardian for a research study..I think there is a tendency to trust them too much,slack off on the testing. It really changes your diabetes care(not always for the better) If you get to trusting them too much..and your meter says 100 and you're really 180, and only test twice a day because you're just going off the CGS that is a real detriment ion to your diabetes care."

He smiles. "You must be one of those perfectionists about your diabetes care."

"Not really. I'm about as unperfect as you can get, and the CGMS(which I wasn't wearing that night) just gives a chance to further exercise my irresponsibility. I'm a horrible diabetic."

Laughs. "Well, that's interesting..I agree with you that they aren't perfect, and they require the user being on top of things, but I think they're going to get better."

Further discussion, discussing dual chamber(glucagon,insulin, amylin), biological cures(whether islet cell transplantation will hit the market before the closed loops systems), the role of symlin, etc.

Escape to refreshment table, the shrimp is gone. Only carrot sticks/broccoli remain.Darn. Blood sugar, 159. CDE sitting on my right looks over my shoulder(and thankfully, doesn't comment). That's a nice number. Should be good to brave the Inner Loop with.

"Hey, I thought you might be interested in this."

A flyer, it seems the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association(Rick Philbin) is starting up a Baltimore chapter.(orginization meeting, May 7) Cool. I just might check that out..

Revert to I'm-the-preteen-wallflower-at-this-party mentality, not that I want to be that but I'm just not good at inserting myself into conversations that I perceive to be private. And, they've known each other for eons and who am I to demand someone talk to me, when they'd rather talk to their friends?

So I stand against the wall, hoping something will happen.

Dr. Saudek passes by, and takes pity on me.

"And what's your name?"

"Heidi."

"New to the group?"

"Yes. You probably know my ex-endo, a GB..."

"Yes, he and his wife and son are good friends of our family. We were co presidents of the ADA one year."

"Yeah, great guy. I really miss UVA."

"How long have you lived up here?"

"Five months."

"Welcome to the area."

"Thank you. I'm still getting used to it."

Grab a diet 7up,slowly filter out with the rest of the group. Not every meeting is the "letting it all out" kind, at least the discussion/talk by Dr.Saudek was good. And I think maybe,the reason alot of them don't talk to me is they don't think they have much in common(and I respect that). It just feels like a waste of time, if I don't have at least one good conversation with someone.

Five Minutes for 100 Test Strips

Click:

Found this in a forum I frequent, you can get 100 Freestyle Lite test strips for the initial(and followup) surveys.

they even had my docs name in their database,after as I typed out the first two letters!toooo weird.

22 Actions on a not-so-lazy Saturday

Today, I have...


1. Got up. Tested. Got shocked, because I was 196 mg/dl. (expect the worst and get pleasantly surprised)Swigged a diet pepsi, chucked a fruit bar, and husband + I drug out yard sale items to the tarp/tables/ironing board in the front yard, spend next 30 minutes getting it all set up.

2. Gave away 7 free blood glucose meters, feeling warm and fuzzy because one gentleman couldn't stop thanking me. He was truly grateful. Why can't the meter companies give them all away free..instead of charging $70+ to older folks who STILL have to buy the strips? Geez...
(every diabetes conference, I obtain too many of these things)

3. Sold 58 cans of diet(cherry) and cherry pepsi. Now I only have 36 cans of diet pepsi to get rid of.(I can handle that, but glad to get rid of the regular since we don't drink that)

4. Drank 5 cans of diet pepsi, 1 glass of water, 1 cup of chocolate milk over the course of 5 hours.

5. Listened to an elderly gentleman complain that I was taking away all his Social Security money, and replied that he can feel better since he's contributing to MINE. (item is cheap enough..no one is forcing you to buy this, sir)

6. Saw another insulin pumper.(who bought 2 items) Yeah, I know another reason why I like pumpers-they know a deal when they see one!

7. Testing again, 3 hours later. 176. Yay, for the effects of the boiling hot sun.

8. Listened to an elderly women complain that I shouldn't be selling a pan for .25, it should be free. Listened to similar complaints for the next 10 minutes, wanting to tell her that it was my yard sale, not hers, but she was buying stuff so I had to smile and bite my tongue.

9. Gave away 20 bottles of Boost. I don't drink it anyway.(not unless its a research study, and they're paying me to do it) Did happy dance that the stuff is finally GONE.

10. Walked down the street, bought a bag of 12 fabric paints for $1.

11. Watched in slack jawed amazement as someone cleared out 1/4 of my Bath and Body Works merchandise.(paying generously)

12. Replied 10 times that no, we can't take $7 for two brand new, worth $20 apiece pillows.

13. Finally took $4 for one of the pillows...

14. Replied 20 times that no, we weren't selling our two awesome white rocking chairs that we were sitting on. (Just bought 'em)

15. Sold 15 bags of Halloween-Easter-Christmas candy.

16. Sold 3 cds, did not sell 75. Crudddddddddddddd.(can't even sell them on Ebay)

17. Got acquainted with the neighbor lady who almost bought our house 17 years ago, and still absolutely loves it.

18. Watched husband cart over a weight set from the neighbors across the street. They were free...but rusty/dirty enough to be from the last century. Oh well.

19. Sold extremely ugly (fashionably) cracked candle holder(that was a wedding gift). Yes, we appreciate the individual's thoughtfullness who gave it, no, we cannot keep it.

20. Sold 2 of the pans/griddles that we got as wedding gifts.(we got about 10, no joke) Not enough storage space to keep them all. (nice as they are)

21. Packed up about 1 pm, dug out a few things for the last person lurking 'round who couldn't make her mind about what she wanted(putting everything back, getting it, putting it back, getting another item, putting former item back, repeat). I did my best to help "It's better to have this on hand-then need it, and not have it" but she was more undecided then everyone else combined. Yay, for the yard sale finally being over.

22.Checked again.(150 mg/dl) Ate lunch, counted profits, blogged about it, and took a nap...
Love them yard sale days. I could never make this much money,(in one day) with the exception of in-patient research studies. Kind of like a mini tax rebate check.
(time to do a little shopping...+ pay a few bills) I was pretty surprised how many people showed up, our street only had about 8 people doing yard sales on it. We were the first house-so prime time location, that definatly helped.

Flambe' de Baked Alaska

Fueled by this:


















for an instant pyromaniac high:(watch the tablecloth catch fire)


and a blood sugar high too,
but given the amount of alcohol soaked into the cake it came down without too much argument. Stuff was strong.(but very good)

Meme "Needs"

Weird, weird meme circling around the blogosphere:

Heidi needs: to shut up

No, I don't. I'm generally the quietest in the group. I'm told I should talk MORE.

Heidi needs: to finish her latest novel, and make it very very good, in order to land that agent.
I sure do, although I have 2 currently in the works + another book that I should have finished years ago.

Heidi needs: nine girls that look like her to help model the clothes.

Absolutely not, I wouldn't wish my body type on anyone.

Heidi needs: chocolate

like oxygen...couldn't live without it.

Heidi needs: prayer

We all do.

Heidi needs: royal visitors

Not really, can't see how that would benefit me.

Heidi needs: to crawl back into that hole she oozed out of

Nah. Life is good, in the sunshine.

Heidi needs: to develop her skills in using materials and processes and to think more creatively about how these are used.

Yep-I need to grow + develop as a writer.

Heidi needs: money

Don't we all?

Heidi needs: to wake up

3 Diet Mountain Dews should "dew" the trick.