EtsyBloggers BlogCarnival: November

Our EtsyBloggers Team Blog Carnival Host this time is: ME!


I chose two topics for my fellow team members that are close to my heart, and as such, I am going to answer BOTH!

1. November is National Novel Writing Month. As a blogger, have you ever though of crossing over and writing a book? Have you ever tried NaNoWriMo? Win or lose, tell us about your experience!

I discovered NaNoWriMo in 2007, and in both 2007 & 2008 I tried writing, but life was just too busy and I didn't complete either novel; in 2007, I wrote 4,274 words, and in 2008 I wrote only 1,692 words.  The following years were so busy I didn't even try, and this year is no different.  However, the rest of my family are all super gung-ho about it every year!  Even though we miss the first few days of November due to an annual trip, they all buckle down and writewritewrite!  Last year, our daughter Esme finished a really great story and one of the NaNo sponsors published it for her!  We all got to read her story in book-format; it was so exciting!  This year, they're all hoping to win and get a published copy...


2. November is also National Diabetes Month. Do you have diabetes or has your life ever been touched by it? Please share any stories you have...

About a decade ago, I was told I was pre-diabetic, and aside from telling me to lose weight - something I had been told at every doctor visit since my early teens - nothing else happened.  My doctor didn't make a big deal about it, and although my step-father had been a diabetic since age 17 and I knew the problems that could arise from diabetes, I didn't do anything about it.  I felt I didn't need to worry about it until I was older.

In 2007, after a few years of not seeing a doctor due to a lack of insurance, I went back to the doctor to find a solution to the problem I was having with irregular periods and infertility.  This time, I was told I was diabetic, Type II.  Well, now I had an explanation for my lethargy, as well as my infertility, and thankfully, it was easily controlled with metformin.  Then I was without insurance again, and my father was also diagnosed with Type II diabetes.  Things did not go so smoothly for him.  His blood glucose numbers were sky high, and he suffered many complications, including a forced early retirement because he could no longer work.


Then my step-father had an accident.  He blacked out from low blood glucose, fell & hit his head, then died after 3 days without ever waking up again.  He was 57 years old.  I decided that if I didn't want the same kinds of problems as my dad & step-dad - and if I couldn't get insurance so I could take the drugs - then I needed to take precautions to get my numbers down the hard way: diet & exercise.  So after a ton of research and a lot of playing with my diet while carefully tracking my blood glucose reactions, I cut my carbs way back, lost 50 pounds, and now have A1C levels back in the pre-diabetic range.  I can eat more carbs now, and still keep my blood glucose levels ok, but I am still trying to lose more weight.

I wish so much that when I was first diagnosed, that my doctor had warned me more forcefully about the problems that having diabetes can cause.  I wish that I had realized it on my own sooner, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20.  However, another saying tells us to learn from others' mistakes.  So if YOU are in the pre-diabetic range, or if you know someone who is, DO something; SAY something.  Don't just figure it'll be ok, you can work on it later... Talk to your doctor about cutting back your carbs, changing your diet somehow, exercising more, so you can lose weight and get your A1C levels down.

Here are some websites that offer information and community:

• DiabeticConnect
• TuDiabetes
• American Diabetes Association

Head over to the EtsyBloggers team blog for all the other EtsyBloggers' links!

Writer's Block: Super Bowl XLV

I usually don't answer these, and certainly not over here on the blogspot as they're an LJ kinda thing, but this one I really wanted to share...

Are you watching the Super Bowl this year? If not, how will you enjoy the day? If you are watching, how will you be celebrating the game?

In the past, I've made special themed pizzas or other dishes in honor of the teams playing, and headed to my mom's for a party, where most of us just watched the commercials and half-time show, but some actually watched the game. However, in the past few years, our family has just stayed home because of the snow, but still had a special meal, and watched the commercials via the internet.

Since we've been carless for a week now - and our oven doesn't work - we don't really have the ingredients - or means - to make one of my special pizzas (I was thinking Philly Cheesesteak with Wisconsin cheddar of course... ~_^ ), or any other special Superbowl food. So I think we'll just be hanging out as usual and watching the commercials sometime... I see quite a few are already available for your viewing pleasure! ^-^

http://www.bzzagent.com/gallery/chevysuperbowlads <--HILARIOUS!
http://www.superbowlcommercials2011.com/
http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/

And Hulu has last year's up still, and will have all of this year's too: http://www.hulu.com/adzone/results

Josie's a Published Writer!

A long time ago, JoAnn entered a very short writing contest to win a year's subscription to What if? and a signed copy of The Invisible I from The Amanda Project.

SHE WON! ^o^

Here's the copy of the magazine...


...with her story in it!


And here it is! (Their typo not hers... "OMG, *have* you heard?" it should say...)

P.S. Today is her FOURTEENTH birthday! ^o^

21-Gun Salute

I wrote this more than a decade ago; how serendipitous that I should find it on my desk today...

The silence in the cold air was deafening. A light snow began to fall and the sound of 16 feet marching in time faintly drifted the air. Eight men came over a rise in the road; their movements stiff and formal; their uniforms as dully colored as the day. They took their place several yards away and the silence resumed.

My mind began playing scenes from my grandfather's life; some I only knew of from old photographs and the stories that he told, others I had been there for. But I wasn't here because of him today; I was here to witness the final honor of a man I never knew. Perhaps, somehow, my own grandfather, who had also served his country and yet had not had this honor, perhaps he would see, from wherever her was, that in my heart, I was present here for him, as well as for my new family.

A voice called out an order and broke the silence, almost physically. And then the sharp report of seven guns rang out three times in the frosty air. Eerily, almost as if from a dream, the bugler began to blow Taps. The mournful sound carried on the breeze seemed so very final. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I would not let them fall.

As the closing notes faded away, the men began to move. They came toward us with the same stiff formality as before. Staring straight ahead, they arranged themselves around the grave. Solemnly, they unfolded the flag of our country with exact precise movements, a few of the stern-faced men sniffling in the cold. Then they refolded it, placing 3 shells within it's folds.

They passed the flag with great respect to their sergeant, who turned his staid face to my future mother-in-law. With a deep rich voice he spoke. "On behalf of the President..."

The tears now flowed freely down my cheeks and off my chin, not just for the man I never knew, not just for my grandfather; nor did they fall for my new family who had lost one of their numbers. They fell for all the families who had lost someone and for all those someones.

The men eventually left with deliberate and rigid marching and the silence continued. How to end it? How to step in on another person's thoughts? What words could ever be appropriate? A hug was all I could think to do and even that seemed an intrusion. So I stood there quietly, wiping the tears from my face.

I wrote this in the late winter of 1999 after attending the funeral of my future grandfather-in-law. I only ever showed this to my husband. I asked him if it would be ok to send to his mother. He said not to. I regret my decision to go along with him. His mother would have appreciated this. By the time I knew her well enough to figure that out, the hard drive of the computer it was saved on had died, and now she has. I don't remember ever printing it out, but here it is...

Don't give yourself a reason to regret. Thank a veteran or the family of veteran any time you get the chance. Let them know how much their service means to you. They'll appreciate it, even if it seems like they won't or don't. In the end, it matters...