Kinected

Exercise. When I see that word I do not think positively. I think of failure, guilt, commitment, and anger. My attitude towards exercise was never good.

And it still isn’t.

Thinking about planning to exercise is an exercise in itself. Planning the time, the activity, and making sure I have all I need to make it through without a life threatening low is a task that stops me from moving closer to that exercise program I know I need to be on. The one I always start but never stick to.

And I am still not there.

After our Christmas in Flagstaff my wife was on a major kick to buy and Xbox 360 with Kinect. If you are not familiar with the Kinect, think Wii type games but without the controller. The Kinect sensor tracks your entire body so you move around and you are the controller.

My sister brought her Xbox to the cabin and my wife loved it. And she loved it for one game.

Dance Central 2.

I am not going to lie, I really loved it myself. Dancing is one thing that I am very comfortable doing and enjoy. Plus I have been known to clear dance floors with my sweet moves. HA! That is another story for another time.

Long story short(er), we picked up an Xbox on the way home from Cabin Christmas and have been playing it all the time.

And I love it!

It is awesome!

If the Xbox is on than I am ready to go. Dance after dance, game after game, I am up and moving and sweating like a pig. (I used to have a pig as a pet and they do not sweat. That is why they roll in the mud and dirt to cool off. Who came up with that?)

Moving matters in whatever way you do it. Exercise does not need to be strapped to a machine or being a member to a gym. You can find other ways and I think I have mine for now. At least it is a start. Maybe when I get to a point where I am not so self conscience I may venture into other stuff but for now I am just gonna keep on dancing.

Anyone else have thoughts on unconventional exercise and things I can do to  get moving and still have fun? Or do any of you have any good Xbox Kinect games that you would recommend?

None Here

Yesterdays eye exam ended with a, "No diabetes here," from the doctor. 

w00t! 

After all these years I still hate the exam. The drops. The bright light. The fear.

But it is what we do. It is what we all need to do. So much can be corrected if caught in time. 

So until next year, SEE you later doc! 

Bridges

Back in January I realized I never purchased a new wall calendar for my office. One day my wife, son, and I were out shopping and I saw a display of calendars on sale.

“Oh sweet, I need a calendar for my office. Honey, come here and tell me if I will like this one.”

I held up a calendar called “America, Small Towns and Cities.”

“Well look at the pictures and you tell me.” My wife is still annoyed by my hang ups but luckily my son gets it.

“No I can’t look at the pictures of all the months! That would ruin it. I LOVE the beginning of each month and changing my calendar to see something new. Just tell me if you think I would like it.”

George grabs it and has a look.

“No you wouldn’t like this on Dad.”

I keep going. Churches? Nope. Beaches? Nope. Great Vacation Spots? Nope.

“What about this one?” I see one called Bridges with a cool picture of the Golden Gate Bridge on it.

George has a look at the back of it. Jasmine looks over his shoulder and lets out an, “Niiiiice!”

“This is it Dad. You will like this one.”

“Are you sure?” How I dare question it after all I put them through?

“Yes! It’s really cool. You will dig it.”

When we get to the register I let Jasmine pay just in case the cashier flipped it over and revealed all the pictures. I would have not purchased it if I knew what was coming.

Bringing it into the office was tricky. I had to make sure I kept it face up the entire time I transported it and put it up on my wall.

Yesterday afternoon I got so excited that today I would finally see the next picture since the cover was January.

Check it out.

Surprises are such a big deal to me. They really carry so much weight because of the anticipation and payoff. Whenever I can build in surprises in my life I do. Except when it comes to diabetes.

This afternoon I have my annual eye exam and I am hoping for no surprises at all. Knowing what is going on means that I can react accordingly. The sooner a problem is known, the sooner I can act on it, and hopefully the sooner the problem can be solved.

One surprise today is enough.

Eve Of Change

It’s Health Net Eve.

Today I am enjoying my last with Blue Cross of California and will begin anew with Health Net tomorrow.

And I am nervous.

I know I shouldn’t be since I checked with Doctor Awesome before we made the switch at work and he accepts them so I am okay there but it’s other stuff that concerns me.

Stuff that I should have thought about but maybe didn’t.

My company lagged on getting this going so the info I have received has been minimal at best. The specifics about prescriptions, durable goods, specialists, and all those little things I am totally in the dark about.

So not cool.

All I could do was choose the most expensive PPO and hope for the best.

Anyone have any feedback on Health Net? 

Glucgross

This weekend was spent a resort with the rest of my employees at our company annual conference.

This year’s theme was the Wizard of Oz and the first time I have ever been so deeply involved. From food choices to outings. Breakout sessions to awards. It was a lot of work and at lot of stress. I was excited for the weekend but also looking forward to some time to not have to plan and stress out every single night.

The weekend went well. I started the weekend off with a song of course. My coworker and I sang, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as I played Ukulele. It was my Ukulele debut and from what I have been told, a success.

Friday night was spent at a guest home we rented on the grounds. It has a game room, fire pit outside, putting greens, extra rooms to hang in a lot of space. We ended out evening there with drinks and fun.

I cut out early to prepare for my Communication breakout session the following day. My roommate and fellow coworker stayed back to have fun so I could focus on getting some work done. By the time he came to the room I was ready for bed.

At around 2 in the morning I hear my Dexcom screaming.

LOW

Ugh, I grab my bag of Cherry Sour Balls (the best treat to treat) and scarfed down 4. I slowly started to doze off when I hear Dexcom scream at me. Ugh. I waited for a while to see if he glucose would kick in.

[insert Jeopardy theme song]

I must have dozed off because the Dexcom scared the crap out of me again. I ate 4 more CSB and fell asleep.

I did this until my bag was empty. It had at least 20 pieces in it.

Slowly I dozed off.

“WAKE UP!!!” The Dexcom says in it’s buzzy language.

I see a southern arrow and freaked out. Now what?

I think I left my extra glucose tabs out in the car or are they in my bag? I could not think straight of course.

My handy man satchel was laying across the room and when I looked inside I saw nothing.

Until I spotted this.

My cousin gave it to me a long time ago and I have never used it for some reason.

The Instructions said, “Twist off cap and discard. Bring tube to mouth and squeeze slowly and evenly, swallowing entire contents. If no response after 10 minutes, repeat with another tube.”

Ten minutes? Another tube? Huh? NO RESPONSE? What the hell is this stuff?

Anyhow I figured I better just take it and hope for the best. It was so gross that I almost barfed the moment I squeezed it into my mouth. EWW.

I now call it Glucgross. 

It made my mouth tingle which it turns out I am not a fan of. I choked it down and stood there for a second. The Dexcom was still pointed South. I walked over to the bed and decided that I was done. I am going to sleep and if I wake up in the hospital or in heaven, so be it.

I woke up at 202.

The rest of the weekend was UnDiaventful but very good otherwise.

We did some line dancing and I learned how to 2 step which was a blast. When I get a hold of some video I will post it. Fun stuff indeed.