I am new to the blogging world and even less experienced with the diabetes blogging world. Before January of this year, I had never read blogs and it never occurred to me that I could find friends out there in the blogosphere. Statistically, I knew that there were plenty of people with diabetes out there…somewhere. But, truth be told, I really didn’t know any of them. I have a few people in my life who have Type 2 diabetes but diabetes never played a key role in our relationship.
I knew no one with Type 1.
On a whim I decided to start blogging and, as a result, discovered other blogs. One here, one there. It didn’t take long for me to start clicking on other bloggers’ favourite blogs and it just mushroomed. I discovered that there is a huge, diverse, passionate diabetes community out there. We have one thing in common – diabetes.
That’s it.
That’s enough.
I started out by looking for people like me - Type 1 diabetics with a passion for running. It took a whole ten minutes to find someone my age, with a similar story, living 30 minutes down the highway. At the time she was also training for the same 30k race I was and we even use the same insulin pump (only hers is purple instead of blue). Ah-mazing! She makes me laugh, makes me think and shares some of her tricks for trying to keep blood sugars in check.
My next discovery was a father with Type 1 diabetes who has five children, two of whom also have Type 1 diabetes. I follow his daily struggles with trying to find ways to afford all of the supplies they need to stay healthy, keeping a close eye on his youngest daughter who doesn’t feel her lows and staying on top of his own A1Cs. His daily reports give me perspective when I face my own struggles with the incessant demands of diabetes - financial, physical, and psychological.
I also found some pretty hard core athletes who were blogging away about their triathlon training sessions, their crazy workouts and fabulous race times – as well as their blood sugar struggles and tricks for carrying supplies during marathons. They keep me motivated and inspired. A perfect example of if they can do it, so can I.
Finally, I branched out a bit and found others who share the same disease but who struggle with things that do not appear on my radar. The struggles so many Type 1 women face for good blood sugar control because they so desperately want to get pregnant and have a healthy child. The struggles with depression, with fear, with complications. The struggles with trying to raise a child with Type 1 diabetes.
I read them all.
I am left humbled. Inspired. Sometimes angered. Always touched.
The best thing about diabetes you ask?
The people.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Notice: D-Blog Week is Coming!
Next week is the second annual Diabetes Blog (or D-Blog) Week.
Don't worry - I didn't know what it was either...
But I checked it out and have signed up to be part of the movement. Because I think it's a great idea both for me personally as well as for the entire diabetes community. Not to mention the non-diabetes community who may just want to learn a little bit more about what all the diabetes fuss is about.
Here's how it works. There are seven days and seven blog topics. Each day, bloggers participating in D-Blog Week will write about the day's topic. Anyone interested can read the blogs and get all sorts of different perspectives from people with diabetes, people who love people with diabetes, or people who advocate about diabetes. From all over the world.
What a great idea!
The topics are pretty cool too and have already got me thinking about what I'm going to write.
Over the seven days I get to write a letter to someone or something (ex my pump) about my diabetes, share some diabetes bloopers, vent about the frustrations and celebrate all the awesome things about diabetes. Oh, and I get to take some pictures too.
There are already over 100 bloggers signed up with more joining up every day.
When I started my little blog back in January, I really just wanted a creative outlet to write. I did not expect to make new friends. I had no idea that there was such a strong online diabetes community out there or how great it would be to connect with others 'like me'. I am a lone wolf no longer and there is a great comfort in knowing that there are people who get it.
Next week is going to be informative, inspiring, heart-wrenching and tons of fun. For those of you kind folks who stop by my blog on a regular basis, my daily musings about diabetes, running and life will have a decidedly diabetic slant. I hope it provides some insight into my world and that it inspires you to check out some of the other amazing diabetes bloggers out there.
If you want more information, click on the link above or head over to Karen's blog. She's the lady behind the idea.
Don't worry - I didn't know what it was either...
But I checked it out and have signed up to be part of the movement. Because I think it's a great idea both for me personally as well as for the entire diabetes community. Not to mention the non-diabetes community who may just want to learn a little bit more about what all the diabetes fuss is about.
Here's how it works. There are seven days and seven blog topics. Each day, bloggers participating in D-Blog Week will write about the day's topic. Anyone interested can read the blogs and get all sorts of different perspectives from people with diabetes, people who love people with diabetes, or people who advocate about diabetes. From all over the world.
What a great idea!
The topics are pretty cool too and have already got me thinking about what I'm going to write.
Over the seven days I get to write a letter to someone or something (ex my pump) about my diabetes, share some diabetes bloopers, vent about the frustrations and celebrate all the awesome things about diabetes. Oh, and I get to take some pictures too.
There are already over 100 bloggers signed up with more joining up every day.
When I started my little blog back in January, I really just wanted a creative outlet to write. I did not expect to make new friends. I had no idea that there was such a strong online diabetes community out there or how great it would be to connect with others 'like me'. I am a lone wolf no longer and there is a great comfort in knowing that there are people who get it.
Next week is going to be informative, inspiring, heart-wrenching and tons of fun. For those of you kind folks who stop by my blog on a regular basis, my daily musings about diabetes, running and life will have a decidedly diabetic slant. I hope it provides some insight into my world and that it inspires you to check out some of the other amazing diabetes bloggers out there.
If you want more information, click on the link above or head over to Karen's blog. She's the lady behind the idea.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
My Mind's Slow Simmer
I took part in a training session yesterday about communication. At the beginning of the session each of us was asked whether we make decisions primarily with our minds or with our hearts.
Most people said that it usually depended on the situation - sometimes mind and sometimes heart. Fair enough I guess but I don't work that way.
I learned a long time ago how I make decisions and my little method has served me well. The process may take seconds (should I buy that new running jacket?) or may take months (should I stay or should I go?) but it's almost always the same.
My heart (or my gut if you prefer) informs me immediately what my final decision will be and then my mind simmers away working out all the logical reasons why that decision is in fact the best decision. I trust how my mind and heart work together and let them do a lot of the background work on their own. In fact, this system works so well that it often happens without much active work on my part. Things just simmer away (I supposed I should say subconsciously) until I receive confirmation that the final decision has been made and both heart and mind are in agreement.
I thought a lot about it yesterday and I really couldn't come up with a good example of a time when my gut told me one thing that I talked myself out of it later. At least not a significant decision - I do change my mind about menu items, whether or not I want tea or if I want red or white wine with my dinner.
Pretty much all day every day, my mind simmers away in the background even while it is actively working away on something else. Decision are made, plans are developed and I often don't even realize what's happened until someone asks me what I want to do about something and I start spouting out detailed plans. I can be typing policies for work while it debates with itself whether or not I will run after work, how far and how hard I will run and what I will wear. At the end of the afternoon, the policy is written and all running decisions were made.
Was I even there?
Is that normal?
Does everyone's mind work that way?
I doubt it.
My point in all of this is that we get used to how we do things and how we see the world. My methods work for me and I don't give much thought about what everyone else does until we're asked to share in a group. I listen to everyone else explain how they do something and I nod politely while my mind thinks "really?!? That's odd."
I learned the hard way that logic for one is not logic for all. In high school I was asked to tutor someone in math. I liked math and was doing fine so it seemed like a fun, easy thing to do. Share my wicked knowledge of numbers.
It was such a bomb that we did not survive two sessions. I showed the person how I worked through a problem and the look I got in return was priceless. Not because he could not comprehend the math, just because he really thought I was nuts. He couldn't solve the problem on his own and I couldn't find another way to explain how to solve it so we were doomed from the start.
Here's a fun activity to try - ask someone to do something (calculate the tip, solve a Sudoku or follow a new recipe) and then ask them the process they took to do it. It's the process, not the final answer, that I find fascinating. Because man oh man, there is more than one way to skin a cat. And learning how other people do it gives great insight into how they think.
It's not always easy to understand how each person sees the world. But just keeping in mind that it's probably not how we see it can be helpful - when making decisions together, planning a trip or figuring out a math problem.
Humans.
Crazy bunch of nutters.
Most people said that it usually depended on the situation - sometimes mind and sometimes heart. Fair enough I guess but I don't work that way.
I learned a long time ago how I make decisions and my little method has served me well. The process may take seconds (should I buy that new running jacket?) or may take months (should I stay or should I go?) but it's almost always the same.
My heart (or my gut if you prefer) informs me immediately what my final decision will be and then my mind simmers away working out all the logical reasons why that decision is in fact the best decision. I trust how my mind and heart work together and let them do a lot of the background work on their own. In fact, this system works so well that it often happens without much active work on my part. Things just simmer away (I supposed I should say subconsciously) until I receive confirmation that the final decision has been made and both heart and mind are in agreement.
I thought a lot about it yesterday and I really couldn't come up with a good example of a time when my gut told me one thing that I talked myself out of it later. At least not a significant decision - I do change my mind about menu items, whether or not I want tea or if I want red or white wine with my dinner.
Pretty much all day every day, my mind simmers away in the background even while it is actively working away on something else. Decision are made, plans are developed and I often don't even realize what's happened until someone asks me what I want to do about something and I start spouting out detailed plans. I can be typing policies for work while it debates with itself whether or not I will run after work, how far and how hard I will run and what I will wear. At the end of the afternoon, the policy is written and all running decisions were made.
Was I even there?
Is that normal?
Does everyone's mind work that way?
I doubt it.
My point in all of this is that we get used to how we do things and how we see the world. My methods work for me and I don't give much thought about what everyone else does until we're asked to share in a group. I listen to everyone else explain how they do something and I nod politely while my mind thinks "really?!? That's odd."
I learned the hard way that logic for one is not logic for all. In high school I was asked to tutor someone in math. I liked math and was doing fine so it seemed like a fun, easy thing to do. Share my wicked knowledge of numbers.
It was such a bomb that we did not survive two sessions. I showed the person how I worked through a problem and the look I got in return was priceless. Not because he could not comprehend the math, just because he really thought I was nuts. He couldn't solve the problem on his own and I couldn't find another way to explain how to solve it so we were doomed from the start.
Here's a fun activity to try - ask someone to do something (calculate the tip, solve a Sudoku or follow a new recipe) and then ask them the process they took to do it. It's the process, not the final answer, that I find fascinating. Because man oh man, there is more than one way to skin a cat. And learning how other people do it gives great insight into how they think.
It's not always easy to understand how each person sees the world. But just keeping in mind that it's probably not how we see it can be helpful - when making decisions together, planning a trip or figuring out a math problem.
Humans.
Crazy bunch of nutters.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
My New Pace Bunnies
When my two sisters and I were growing up, we shared a few special days each year with the three sons of my parents' good friends. We sort of overlap in age with me being the oldest of the six of us. Every year we had a pool party in the summer and shared a special meal around Valentines Day. We watched each other grow up and, now that we're all in some stage or another of adulthood, it's pretty neat to get together.
The middle son is home for the summer and the youngest son happens to be home for a week so they asked me if they could come running with me tonight. Nothing too hard they said. We haven't been running in a while they said. Just 5k ok? We'll try to keep up they said.
Oh my good god.
I joked with a co-worker before leaving to meet them: "if you see an older lady chasing two young boys down the parkway around 5pm, that would be me."
I am trying to get faster - I really really am. I can now confidently run up to 10k while keeping a brisk pace of between 6:15 and 6:30. No matter how tired I get, I no longer allow myself to run more than 7:00. While I may not qualify for Boston, for me - that's pretty freaking amazing.
Keep in mind that I can sustain this pace if everyone leaves me alone, no one tries to chat with me and I have my music keeping me moving.
Tonight I ran 5k with two boys who, while claiming to be completely out of shape, started off at a pace of 5:30. They then immediately started chatting away. "How was Boston?" "What are your plans for the summer?" "What was your last race?"
A few minutes in, I was feeling decidedly unfit and trying to find a polite way to tell them that there is no way I can run with them all summer if this is their 'out of shape' pace. That was about the time that the youngest asked if we minded if he ran ahead. He proceeded to bound off down the road like a gazelle - leaving the two of us looking like we were out for a casual stroll.
It's hard to be too bothered - I love those guys. They are young, extremely intelligent and super-eager to share all the cool things they are learning and doing in school. We never run out of things to talk about. The thought of running with at least one of them during the summer makes me want to push hard to keep up. So, while the younger speed demon runner is leaving this weekend, I have committed to trying to run my 30-40 minute Wednesday runs with his older brother. These runs are supposed to be recovery runs. You know - nice and slow. They will most likely be anything but. But during these speed training sessions I will have fabulous discussions about theology, ecology, Magic the Gathering, proper running form and world travel.
Can't really complain about that.
The middle son is home for the summer and the youngest son happens to be home for a week so they asked me if they could come running with me tonight. Nothing too hard they said. We haven't been running in a while they said. Just 5k ok? We'll try to keep up they said.
Oh my good god.
I joked with a co-worker before leaving to meet them: "if you see an older lady chasing two young boys down the parkway around 5pm, that would be me."
I am trying to get faster - I really really am. I can now confidently run up to 10k while keeping a brisk pace of between 6:15 and 6:30. No matter how tired I get, I no longer allow myself to run more than 7:00. While I may not qualify for Boston, for me - that's pretty freaking amazing.
Keep in mind that I can sustain this pace if everyone leaves me alone, no one tries to chat with me and I have my music keeping me moving.
Tonight I ran 5k with two boys who, while claiming to be completely out of shape, started off at a pace of 5:30. They then immediately started chatting away. "How was Boston?" "What are your plans for the summer?" "What was your last race?"
A few minutes in, I was feeling decidedly unfit and trying to find a polite way to tell them that there is no way I can run with them all summer if this is their 'out of shape' pace. That was about the time that the youngest asked if we minded if he ran ahead. He proceeded to bound off down the road like a gazelle - leaving the two of us looking like we were out for a casual stroll.
It's hard to be too bothered - I love those guys. They are young, extremely intelligent and super-eager to share all the cool things they are learning and doing in school. We never run out of things to talk about. The thought of running with at least one of them during the summer makes me want to push hard to keep up. So, while the younger speed demon runner is leaving this weekend, I have committed to trying to run my 30-40 minute Wednesday runs with his older brother. These runs are supposed to be recovery runs. You know - nice and slow. They will most likely be anything but. But during these speed training sessions I will have fabulous discussions about theology, ecology, Magic the Gathering, proper running form and world travel.
Can't really complain about that.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
FInding Solidarity in a Solitary Sport
There are plenty of things that I don't like about how much information I learn about other people through Facebook and other social media. I think the biggest issue for me is that I have fairly clear rules in my head about what I will and will not share with others and it makes me uncomfortable when other people break those rules for themselves. While it's certainly their prerogative, I really don't want to know about their fight with their boyfriend, drunken fiasco, divorce drama or bowel movements. Way too personal.
That being said, I have discovered that there is something really really positive about sharing things.
Sharing helps, inspires and encourages other people to try things they might not normally try.
Like running.
I started running on my own a few years ago. There was no one in my life who ran (that I knew of anyway). My sister and father had run (past tense) but my inspiration came from something internal rather than external. As I started running and discovered how much I loved it, I became one of those annoying runners who talked about it all the time. Family dinners, staff meetings, lunch with friends - I would try my hardest not to bring it up and would perhaps last ten minutes before I somehow turned the conversation to running. Sad but true.
I'm sure it annoyed some people.
But it inspired others.
I have had six friends join the running clinic since I started. I have received emails and Facebook messages from friends who have started running on their own and who have all sorts of questions. I've had co-workers come to my office with a look of excitement on their faces to tell me (in a hushed voice) that they have started running - "it's only a few minutes at a time but I'm running!" To which I respond "running is hard stuff and if you can already run a few minutes that's amazing!".
I'm certainly not claiming that all of these people are able to run because of me. As anyone who runs knows, it's hard and takes a lot of commitment and self-discipline. That can only come from within and I take no responsibility for anyone's successes.
But I do love the fact that everyone knows I run and therefore people who also run seek me out to share successes, ask for advice about electrolytes, layering or chafing or marvel at what a difference a five degree change in temperature can make.
It's amazing to watch someone transform as they begin to run. They gain confidence and learn that they are capable of so much more than they thought they were. You can just see it in their eyes.
I am grateful each and every time someone includes me in their journey.
That being said, I have discovered that there is something really really positive about sharing things.
Sharing helps, inspires and encourages other people to try things they might not normally try.
Like running.
I started running on my own a few years ago. There was no one in my life who ran (that I knew of anyway). My sister and father had run (past tense) but my inspiration came from something internal rather than external. As I started running and discovered how much I loved it, I became one of those annoying runners who talked about it all the time. Family dinners, staff meetings, lunch with friends - I would try my hardest not to bring it up and would perhaps last ten minutes before I somehow turned the conversation to running. Sad but true.
I'm sure it annoyed some people.
But it inspired others.
I have had six friends join the running clinic since I started. I have received emails and Facebook messages from friends who have started running on their own and who have all sorts of questions. I've had co-workers come to my office with a look of excitement on their faces to tell me (in a hushed voice) that they have started running - "it's only a few minutes at a time but I'm running!" To which I respond "running is hard stuff and if you can already run a few minutes that's amazing!".
I'm certainly not claiming that all of these people are able to run because of me. As anyone who runs knows, it's hard and takes a lot of commitment and self-discipline. That can only come from within and I take no responsibility for anyone's successes.
But I do love the fact that everyone knows I run and therefore people who also run seek me out to share successes, ask for advice about electrolytes, layering or chafing or marvel at what a difference a five degree change in temperature can make.
It's amazing to watch someone transform as they begin to run. They gain confidence and learn that they are capable of so much more than they thought they were. You can just see it in their eyes.
I am grateful each and every time someone includes me in their journey.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Yellow Pee
I'm fairly sure you've all heard that you are supposed to check the colour of your urine to know how hydrated you are.
How the hell am I supposed to know if I'm hydrated enough when my pee is bright yellow from the multivitamin I took this morning?
There is a certain comfort on the days when I don't take my vitamins because I get to watch the colour fade with each trip to the ladies. By early afternoon, it's pretty much clear with just a faint yellow tinge. Not today. Today it looks like Big Bird melted in my toilet.
I've heard all the jokes and comments already. When you take vitamins, all you're doing is spending money to create really expensive urine. Just eat a healthy diet and you'll be fine.
Follow Canada's Food Guide.
DON'T follow Canada's Food Guide.
I actually had one person tell me that the daily requirements in the food guide are those that pig farmers follow when feeding their pigs. They warned me not to follow it because humans aren't pigs. Seriously?!?
Good lord.
I would love to be able to meet all of my nutritional needs in the healthiest way possible. Trust me, I try hard. But I have learned some lessons along the way about my body and about eating.
Lesson one - I cannot for the life of me keep my iron levels up through diet alone. I've tried all the iron rich foods, made sure I had vitamin C at the same time to help with absorption etc etc but if I slack off even for a few days I can feel it dropping again. I have learned to recognize the signs - dark circles under my eyes, no energy during runs and a hard time trying to catch my breath when running.
Lesson two - I don't get enough calcium. I have yogurt and soy milk for breakfast, yogurt at lunch and often nibble on cheese before dinner. After runs, I'll have a glass of chocolate milk (my favourite post run treat). Add that all up and I get about half of my daily requirement of calcium. Osteoporosis is pretty common on my mother's side so I need to be extra careful about keeping my bones strong and healthy.
Lesson three - diabetes can affect how I absorb nutrients from the food that I do eat. Over time, that absorption will probably deteriorate. So I have to be extra vigilant.
Lesson four - I honestly don't think that there are enough meals in the week to eat all of the foods we're supposed to eat. I exercise a fair amount and have a healthy appetite. I don't skip meals (ever!) and I'm pretty fond of snacks too. We don't eat fast food and cook 95% of our meals at home. Every meal has carbs, veggies and protein and snacks are usually fruit and yogurt. And yet I cannot get manage to get all the servings of fish, multi-coloured veggies, dairy and healthy grains that are recommended.
So I take vitamins.
I take a multivitamin, calcium supplement and a fish oil capsule most days of the week. When my iron drops to the point of affecting my life, I take an iron supplement too.
So my pee is bright yellow. Apparently it's from the B12 or B-complex in the multivitamin. The body absorbs what it needs and expels the rest as Big Bird.
I may be throwing my money away. Or I may be really really grateful when I'm 75 years old and still standing tall and straight.
It's hard to know.
Just like it's hard to know if I'm hydrated enough today.
One thing is certain - Big Bird is my bff.
How the hell am I supposed to know if I'm hydrated enough when my pee is bright yellow from the multivitamin I took this morning?
There is a certain comfort on the days when I don't take my vitamins because I get to watch the colour fade with each trip to the ladies. By early afternoon, it's pretty much clear with just a faint yellow tinge. Not today. Today it looks like Big Bird melted in my toilet.
I've heard all the jokes and comments already. When you take vitamins, all you're doing is spending money to create really expensive urine. Just eat a healthy diet and you'll be fine.
Follow Canada's Food Guide.
DON'T follow Canada's Food Guide.
I actually had one person tell me that the daily requirements in the food guide are those that pig farmers follow when feeding their pigs. They warned me not to follow it because humans aren't pigs. Seriously?!?
Good lord.
I would love to be able to meet all of my nutritional needs in the healthiest way possible. Trust me, I try hard. But I have learned some lessons along the way about my body and about eating.
Lesson one - I cannot for the life of me keep my iron levels up through diet alone. I've tried all the iron rich foods, made sure I had vitamin C at the same time to help with absorption etc etc but if I slack off even for a few days I can feel it dropping again. I have learned to recognize the signs - dark circles under my eyes, no energy during runs and a hard time trying to catch my breath when running.
Lesson two - I don't get enough calcium. I have yogurt and soy milk for breakfast, yogurt at lunch and often nibble on cheese before dinner. After runs, I'll have a glass of chocolate milk (my favourite post run treat). Add that all up and I get about half of my daily requirement of calcium. Osteoporosis is pretty common on my mother's side so I need to be extra careful about keeping my bones strong and healthy.
Lesson three - diabetes can affect how I absorb nutrients from the food that I do eat. Over time, that absorption will probably deteriorate. So I have to be extra vigilant.
Lesson four - I honestly don't think that there are enough meals in the week to eat all of the foods we're supposed to eat. I exercise a fair amount and have a healthy appetite. I don't skip meals (ever!) and I'm pretty fond of snacks too. We don't eat fast food and cook 95% of our meals at home. Every meal has carbs, veggies and protein and snacks are usually fruit and yogurt. And yet I cannot get manage to get all the servings of fish, multi-coloured veggies, dairy and healthy grains that are recommended.
So I take vitamins.
I take a multivitamin, calcium supplement and a fish oil capsule most days of the week. When my iron drops to the point of affecting my life, I take an iron supplement too.
So my pee is bright yellow. Apparently it's from the B12 or B-complex in the multivitamin. The body absorbs what it needs and expels the rest as Big Bird.
I may be throwing my money away. Or I may be really really grateful when I'm 75 years old and still standing tall and straight.
It's hard to know.
Just like it's hard to know if I'm hydrated enough today.
One thing is certain - Big Bird is my bff.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Health, Life, Love and Food
Every day is an experience.
My nature is a little Pollyanna-esque. Actually, it's very Pollyanna with a little dash of practicality, a pinch of whimsy and a dollop of twisted thrown in for fun.
The always look on the bright side of me really does see every day as a new adventure and an opportunity to experience as much as possible.
Today was a celebration of health, life, love and food.
It started off as most Sundays do with an early morning bike ride through Niagara. Today, eight of us showed up and we had a great ride (minus the funnel bugs that kept getting stuck in my eyelashes and lipbalm. Disgusting beyond belief. On our ride, we saw all sorts of uprooted trees and I learned after last Thursday to never ever plant blue spruce. For those of you who don't know, last Thursday we were hit with a terrible windstorm that ripped a roof off of a school, uprooted hundreds of trees, tore the huge letter A off the casino sign in Niagara Falls and shut down the Queenston Lewinston bridge for the first time in history. The wreckage is everywhere and shocking to see. It looks like a war zone in some places. And I learned from this experience that the root systems of blue spruces spread out rather than down so it doesn't take much to topple them.
Don't plant them!
The ride itself was great - just a little faster than comfortable but I pushed hard and kept up the pace the whole time. The blood sugar gods cooperated as well - always an added bonus. After our bike ride, we rushed home to watch the Ridley College students march right past our door - in full uniform complete with marching band. Not sure I would have wanted to do that at 13 but it was fun to see. Especially the poor kids with no rhythm who couldn't seem to march to the beat.
This afternoon, we were volunteers at the annual Hike for Hospice. Hospice is a wonderful place that offers end of life care for residents of Niagara. In a place that you would expect to be full of pain and sorrow is a hidden world full of love and life. Tears flow of course but so does love. I had the honour of photographing the event and spent the afternoon trying to capture the day without intruding on private moments.
The new Food and Drink magazine came out this week and, as usual, it's chock full of recipes just begging to be tried. So Japanese Chicken Curry was tonight's culinary adventure. Pretty tasty and the house smells like a gourmet restaurant. The best part about it was that I learned how to make real curry. Mixing about 10 different spices together to produce a delicious curry powder is pretty cool considering that, until tonight, I used to just buy premixed curry. Even the mortar and pestle were put to use.
Health, life, love and food.
Another good day in my books.
My nature is a little Pollyanna-esque. Actually, it's very Pollyanna with a little dash of practicality, a pinch of whimsy and a dollop of twisted thrown in for fun.
The always look on the bright side of me really does see every day as a new adventure and an opportunity to experience as much as possible.
Today was a celebration of health, life, love and food.
It started off as most Sundays do with an early morning bike ride through Niagara. Today, eight of us showed up and we had a great ride (minus the funnel bugs that kept getting stuck in my eyelashes and lipbalm. Disgusting beyond belief. On our ride, we saw all sorts of uprooted trees and I learned after last Thursday to never ever plant blue spruce. For those of you who don't know, last Thursday we were hit with a terrible windstorm that ripped a roof off of a school, uprooted hundreds of trees, tore the huge letter A off the casino sign in Niagara Falls and shut down the Queenston Lewinston bridge for the first time in history. The wreckage is everywhere and shocking to see. It looks like a war zone in some places. And I learned from this experience that the root systems of blue spruces spread out rather than down so it doesn't take much to topple them.
Don't plant them!
The ride itself was great - just a little faster than comfortable but I pushed hard and kept up the pace the whole time. The blood sugar gods cooperated as well - always an added bonus. After our bike ride, we rushed home to watch the Ridley College students march right past our door - in full uniform complete with marching band. Not sure I would have wanted to do that at 13 but it was fun to see. Especially the poor kids with no rhythm who couldn't seem to march to the beat.
This afternoon, we were volunteers at the annual Hike for Hospice. Hospice is a wonderful place that offers end of life care for residents of Niagara. In a place that you would expect to be full of pain and sorrow is a hidden world full of love and life. Tears flow of course but so does love. I had the honour of photographing the event and spent the afternoon trying to capture the day without intruding on private moments.
The new Food and Drink magazine came out this week and, as usual, it's chock full of recipes just begging to be tried. So Japanese Chicken Curry was tonight's culinary adventure. Pretty tasty and the house smells like a gourmet restaurant. The best part about it was that I learned how to make real curry. Mixing about 10 different spices together to produce a delicious curry powder is pretty cool considering that, until tonight, I used to just buy premixed curry. Even the mortar and pestle were put to use.
Health, life, love and food.
Another good day in my books.
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