So What Did YOU Do Today?

The question comes from someone who has been gone all day, busy with the business of providing for the family. Someone who does not know how much work goes into "keeping house".

WHAT DID I DO ALL DAY?! It sounds a bit like an accusation. Maybe I did nothing but lie in bed all day and read, sipping on a cup of hot tea and nibbling on a large slice of home made lemon pound cake. Maybe. But I didn't. Your underwear is clean, folded and stacked in your dresser. Your dress shirts are washed, dried, ironed and hung in your closet, organized by color. I made you a hot breakfast, served with a mug of hot coffee. The kitchen was cleaned. The bathroom was clean. The towels for your morning shower were stacked in the linen closet. Heaps of news papers were removed from your library to recycling. Healthy, hot, homemade dinner was waiting for you when you got home from work. 

This activity represents what I do some days. Other days I work in the yard. Take care of the patio garden, organize stuff for Book Club, organize the dinner for Shepherding Group. I take photos of friends for special events, edit and deliver them. I plan trips for us, make reservations. I volunteer at Nathan & Jacqueline's school. Some days I play with our granddaughter, Maggie all morning. I read to her. Let her play Doc McStuffin with me. 

I do stay busy all day. Some of the things I do don't seem that important, but all together, it makes for an orderly household and enriches the lives of my family.

 What did I do all day? Enough that I think I'm going to need that afternoon nap today.

The cure for what ails you.

It's official. I'm now diabetic. I am over the hill and slowly descending the other side. On my birthday this month I will be seventy. I am officially an Old Person. I can now joint the ranks of those whose constant delight is to talk endlessly about their medications, surgeries, and general decline. The scary thing is that I now enjoy these conversations.

I went to see Dr. Martinez and she looked at my numbers over the last year and the news was not good. I did a glucose tolerance test last week and some of those numbers were in red, declaring that medication was needed. When I saw her about four months ago, we decided I'd try exercise and a better diet, but that did not work so now I have three new medications to take. That doubles the number of pills I'm now taking. AM and PM pills for diabetes and one for blood pressure.

See, what did I tell you? I'm an official Old Person. I talk about my health in great detail. Are you bored yet?

I left the Watson Clinic depressed and angry that my body is letting me down. I thought maybe I'd be the exception and I could live for ever. I see pictures of long-time friends on Facebook and I'm amazed how old they look. I guess I just look in the mirror to put on make-up and I don't really see my face. However, there is my son, David who loves to take photographs with the camera the got for Christmas last year. His pictures of me show a fat old woman. David is a master of taking unflattering pictures and posting them on Facebook. He is better at landscapes than people, but I fear his pictures of me are accurate.

I left Watson Clinic about 9:30 AM and had not had breakfast. I headed north on 98 and saw just what I was seeking: IHOP! In defiance of my newly declared physical state I pulled into the parking lot knowing full well what I was going to order when I got inside. I got a healthy omelet with spinach and two blueberry pancakes. "Don't put that gooey blueberry stuff on the top. Just the fresh blueberries." I used a minimal amount of blueberry syrup. MMMMMM! It was the best breakfast I've had in a coon's age! I won't do it again. I'll get my medication. I'll take my pills. I'll exercise daily. I watch the amount of carbs I eat, but that one last breakfast was worth every carb, fat and calorie I put in my mouth. The memory of it still makes me smile.