Posts for category ‘the diabetes’

Fun facts about Canada! Or maybe not so much facts as bits of information I picked up during my visit of very limited scope and duration…

1. What we call stocking caps are called “tubes” in Canada. I learned this when we took our cruise on Lake Minnewanka and it was so cold and windy that I needed to purchase a hat from the shop at the boat dock. I said, “Do you have any stocking caps?” “No, just what’s in the box. The baseball caps and the tubes.” EDIT! In the comments, Shari says, our stocking caps are actually “toques” (sounds like “tukes”). Quiller over on LJ also said it, and Wikipedia says it, so now I know it’s true. Toque/tuque, not tube. See, this is how rumors gets started and misinformation is spread, like a game of telephone! Here I am in my toque:

2. As in the south here, iced tea in Canada is by default sweetened. In fact, I could not find a restaurant with unsweetened iced tea. That was sad, because I don’t drink soda and unsweetened iced tea is my drink of choice when out.

3. There is a food item I was told again and again to try while I was in Canada: poutine. Which is a really fancy-sounding name for fries smothered in all manner of gravies and toppings. As much as I love fries, I have to admit it didn’t appeal. Gravy is not a favorite. Maybe next time. Convince me!

4. Speaking of food items, I almost fell over when in the Calgary airport shops what did I spy with my little eye but the legendary Kit Kat Dark. It’s been legendary to me, anyway, ever since reading Steve Almond’s wonderful book Candyfreak. He scored a case somewhere along the way while researching and became obsessed. I was restrained and only bought two, along with a bag of 70% cocoa M&Ms. Dark chocolate treats and my diabetes get along really well. I may have to move to Canada for health reasons.

5. Noticeable differences in restaurants there vs. here, other than the iced tea thing: They do not obsessively keep your water glass filled, and in fact may let you run dry for a long time. They do not rush you out by giving you the check five minutes after serving your food. We had to ask for it every time in every place, after sitting for long periods after a meal. Which was fine. What’s the hurry, anyway? And they call it the bill, not the check. Canadian readers: am I making sweeping assumptions based on limited experience? If you haven’t dined in the states, there is a total compulsion with topping off water. I noticed in general Canada (at least in Calgary and Banff) seemed greener–recycling bins in hotel rooms, dual flush toilets, etc.—so maybe the water thing is part of that.

Okay, have a good weekend!

Is it Wednesday already? Lordie. I’ve been super absorbed in my office project, and some other stuff. Like shopping. (PSA: Ladies, you are going to want to go to the Gap soonish before they are all out of their summer-weight cardigans, which come in the best colors I’ve seen in many-a-season. Also, adorable tank dresses with ballerina skirts AND POCKETS.)

I’m not sure how I even stumbled upon this Real Food Wednesdays thing, but I did, and since my brain is overly taxed by my slow-but-steady process of throwing crap away, I will take the writing prompt and post about fantastic whole wheat cinnamon waffles. I found the recipe on a cooking blog I like, long before The Diabetes. I love dense, whole-grainy, low sugar things like that, and got in the habit of always having a batch in the freezer, and used them (by the half – very filling) for peanut butter toast, as a snack with cheese, even under tuna salad. Oh, and also the regular waffle way.

When I was diagnosed, one of my first thoughts was, “I can’t have my waffles any more!”  The fact that I was worried about that rather than going blind or my feet falling off tells you something about what food means to me. But guess what? These waffles are so brilliant, they do not give my blood sugar a spike. I nearly wept when I discovered this. Of course I can’t eat them with syrup anymore, but love them with pb or butter and fruit-only jam along with a couple of eggs. They are full of stuff that is good for you, and very sustaining. Also, there’s lots of cinnamon in them, which allegedly does nice things for blood sugar.

Here is the recipe.

(I usually use 1 3/4 cup buttermilk rather than the yogurt + milk combo.)

1. The story of the Story of a Girl cover is now up on Melissa Walker’s blog for her Cover Story series. Witness the original photo and how it has been used since! Leave a comment and perhaps win a copy of Sweethearts!

2. Yesterday while driving my application for the screenwriting workshop over to the film society office, I realized that I really did not want to set up another deadline situation in my life right now, and as part of the workshop involves completing a screenplay that would be exactly what I was doing. So I drove back home and tossed the app. Maybe next year. I am, however, going to rock that clarinet like nobody’s business. Maybe I will even find the arrangement of Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded” that my sixth grade band teacher did…

3. How much did I love last night’s 30 Rock? This much. (I’m holding my arms far, far apart.) A Sims reference, a Johnny Ray reference, a Rob Base reference, a shout out to underappreciated writers, and Alan Alda, all rolled into one. For me, 30 Rock is the first and only comedy since the Simpsons that completely clicks with my sense of humor and the funny comes so fast that you hardly have time to appreciate each joke. Love.

4. I am also into Southland. Or I should say, we are into Southland, which makes me happy, because G. and I haven’t had a favorite show to watch together since losing interest in House awhile back, Hugh Laurie’s hotness notwithstanding.

5. Neither dark chocolate nor peanut M&Ms raise my blood sugar into bad ranges. Please join me in a chorus of hallelujahs, then go have yourself a good weekend!

- In the SLC: Ann Dee Ellis is launching her new book, Everything Is Fine, tonight at The King’s English. 7 p.m. I will be there. I will not be square.

- On the interwebs: Since I am in a self-Googling recovery program and have been abstinent nearly a year, sometimes I miss out on hearing cool stuff. Fortunately, there is my agent, who is like my sponsor, to filter results and send me links to stuff he thinks I should see. Like this. Which has given me my new favorite review quote:

“Usually, when a book is  OMG-I’ve-died-and-gone-to-Heaven-and Heaven-is Scotland-with-a-hundred-dancing-nude-Jamie-Frasers, I tend to become tongue tied. Sweethearts is such a book.”

Thank you, Lit Connection!

- Your daily diabetes tip: Okay, it won’t be daily, but since my post about that the other day, a couple of people have said yes, you should talk about it, because almost all of us know someone with diabetes and it can help us understand them better. So one thing that comes up is that people say, “But can’t type 2 diabetes be almost totally controlled with diet and exercise?” Sometimes. It’s true that you can do a A LOT with your lifestyle choices to stay in good control of your blood sugar.

However, it’s not easy, and there are no days off. For example, to stay in good control, I basically have to work out intensely an hour a day, poke my finger numerous times a day, and be very, very, very careful about the quantity and quality of carbs (and all foods, really) I eat. There’s no, “Oh, just this once, have a donut, it’ll be okay,” because every time your blood sugar spikes beyond normal ranges, IT KILLS IMPORTANT CELLS THAT THE BODY CAN’T REGENERATE! And that leads to long-term complications. Such as your feet falling off and you going blind and other fun stuff. Aiyyeeee!

So, know that your loved one with diabetes who is trying to stay in good control can’t ever just exhale and say, “Just for today I’m going to eat like everyone else/celebrate/be lazy/feel normal.” Well, I shouldn’t say “can’t” because we can all choose whatever it is we choose, but there are potential serious consequences. Even if 90% of the time, all this stuff is no problem and we just do it automatically, the other 10% of the time when you’re just so over it really, really, really sucks.

That’s one reason a lot of diabetics deal with depression or just generally being sad or angry. Sometimes you wake up and think, I just don’t want to deal with food today. I don’t want to get out of bed because that means I have to make choices and poke my finger and take my medicine and go to the f***king gym AGAIN and there’s no guarantee I still won’t get complications some day and I’d rather just skip it, thanks. And maybe if I were 78 instead of 38, I’d say screw it, but in the words of the kids from Bye Bye Birdie, I’ve gotta lotta livin’ left to do.