Monday Mimisms ~ Omega 3 Omega Me

My study perch

I woke up this morning feeling very clear-headed and centered. Happy. Calm. Healthy. Change your diet. Change your life.Change WHEN you eat and HOW you eatmight just reverse your diabetes. 
I'm on a new path of nutrition and healing. My glucose needed a good kick in the pants and out of my body for good...so....I took a deep dive into how my body actually works; binge-watching youtube videos by cardiologists and endocrinologists, kidney specialists and nutritionists. I had to weed through the quacko-pretend doctors first (!) but it was entertaining and enlightening.  The subject of lipopolysacchirides was intriguing. Did you know that there are fluffy LDL particles and small dense LDL particles? I never knew.  You want the big, fluffy kind (think snowflakes) not the little ones that wreak havoc on those pesky cholesterol numbers. 
And why do I think dietary changes will improve my diabetes even more? Precisely because I can tell you from my experience that quitting CAFFEINE reversed my hypertension. I replaced coffee with French chicory root coffee. It's a natural diuretic.

No more high blood pressure. This morning's reading was 118/77 and has been consistently so for many months. Such a simple change made a huge difference in my life. More importantly, NO pills, NO side effects, NO caffeine jitters. In fact, it helps with sleep as well.
Then I put my Milani knee-high combat boots on!I am NOT playing. All business.  I am not one to blindly follow the status quo. Knowledge is power. I hunkered down.I focused.
I'm on the first week of intermittent fasting and major dietary changes; only allowing myself an 8-hour window to eat and then nothing but water, chicory, or tea for the rest of the night. Rinse. Repeat. Since removing insulin some time ago, I've felt better overall, lost weight (I stay out of strong winds) and have had good-to-moderately-OK control on no medications with periods of perfect control and low blood sugar. In each season of your life your body changes. Diabetes, too, is always changing. 
THIS recent uptick in numbers is totally my fault. I really thought I could eat ...oh say...a bowl of popCORN at night? Seriously, Mimi? 
My diabetes started nine years ago just past the middle of my life.  As you learn to live with it, your body has to adjust to all kinds of new medicine chemicals and protocols and habits (finger-sticking yuck). Shots were not fun. Then I learned I had hyperinsulemia. Who needs that??! The shots had to go. 
Doctors hate patients like me. I'm allergic to everything (literally)..in particular, three classes of diabetes' drugs, two insulins, and most every antibiotic known to man. It's not that I'm opposed to medication, it's that it most always makes me sicker. And I'm just stubborn enough - and annoying enough - to ask 40 trillion questions at every single appointment. I want to control it myself because I have to control it myself.
That reminds me...Did you know there are 40 trillion bacteria in your gut?!This microbiome is incredibly important for your overall health.Aren't they pretty?

and critical to metabolic health
My struggle is nighttime snacking. I "think" I'm hungry when, in fact, it's emotional eating. I'm not eating past 7:00 pm now and it's totally reducing the morning basal reading which is EVERYTHING. 
When you start out low, you have somewhere to go! When you start out high, you might actually die!

Yes, I have an old-fashioned
telephone!

That is my motto from experience. Today I made an appointment with a nutritionist/dietician to help me navigate these waters and will have a virtual visit with an internist tomorrow. 
I'm currently researching Omega 3s & 6s. I learned recently that you're not supposed to overheat olive oil and cook with it but it's OK to put in your salads. What??! I do that every.single.day. I'll ask the doctor. 

Meanwhile...there's a real live Princess in the castle.

I'm a little distracted by all the wand-waving. I bowed and asked her name.

"I'm Elsa," she seriously declared, then wafted back down the stairs to re-accessorize.

 Her braid fell off. It was tragic. 

She told me her wand is "magic"Somehow, I believe her. 

Back to studying. I hope you all are healthy and happy.
P.S. I am not a doctor. Consult yours before embarking on major changes. Follow Me

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Monday Mimisms ~ Like He Just Walked Through The Door

Papa's box 1974

Somewhere in the attic is a box....and another....and another......that looks like this one. Every year of my life until the year that he died, on Valentine's Day, he brought one home with him - one for her and one for me.

It was the same every year.

Wonderfully the same.

A red medium sized heart-shaped box of chocolates
with a red silk rose and a ribbon.

From Papa

It wasn't the chocolate I craved. Nor the box.
It was this....

As if on cue, he would enter with an eager smile and a faithful gift for both of us on February 14th. He would kiss my grandmother on the cheek as she hugged his laughing belly, cup my uplifted adoring face with the other hand and ask, "How's my girl?"

What a silly question.

He knew I was his girl.

I still am.

Today I asked my own sweet three-year-old granddaughter the same question: 

"How's my girl?" 

Her answer was a big sloppy kiss on the side of my cheek, and then the other, as if she knew I needed affection that only she could deliver, with an extra smack of "wipstick" smeared from one end of her face to the other now transferred to mine, she laughingly commanded, "Go look in the mirror, Mimi!"  And there it was. Two big love lips on both sides of my face, purposely planted by none other than "my girl."

It was the faithfulness of those boxes that made me love him so.

It's the memory of that faithfulness that teaches me how to love my own.

It's why I make sure she has heart-shaped boxes on Valentine's Day. She will have seasons in her life - as I have had recently - when there is no tangible presence of sentimental gifts, times she'll feel alone. I hope she keeps the boxes. This one from Papa has a reflecting surface in the middle. I can see my own face clearly in the box year after year. For the past forty years, no matter the season I'm in, when I pick up the box I not only see myself..... I see and feel how he loves me 

Still

And it feels like he just walked through the door

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Quicksand and Mistletoe ~ A Holiday Card From Me

The Christmas Holiday season is not happy for all. At times in my own life it has been bittersweet. 

Overshadowed by schmaltzy Hallmark Christmas movies, rife with Walton-Family-Like dinners around a flowery table, carols and presents and music and smiles. Christmas. Right.Wrong. For some, just wrong. To me, holidays can be fraught with landmines and quicksand. When I was growing up, the holidays brought long white-tableclothed layers of southern cooking with scores of cousins and aunts and uncles. Tight squeezes in the bosoms of very large aproned women I only saw once a year. "My, how you've grown! Now go take Grandma the baking soda." 
Somewhere in between the sweet banana pudding and Uncle Joe's smelly cigar, there were happy car rides with  Daddy on Christmas lights hunts and Mama (who hated Christmas) throwing hissy fits (it's a southern thing) with wooden spoons full of cherries meant for the meringue pie that landed on the linoleum floor instead.

I learned to dodge.
It also brought worries over money, arguments that kids shouldn't overhear through the bedroom door, and the ever present reality that some adult  somewhere would get too intoxicated or high as the evening progressed and old family scores to settle would ruin the last of the whipped topping goodness in my impressionable soul.Stomach aches. It always happened. 
So be careful when you longingly dream over those perfect Christmas candid shots on Facebook and Instagram. Nobody's family is perfect. Nobody's life is immune to addiction or alcoholism, depression or stress - even when they try to hide behind a filtered screen. Now that I have my own crew of flawed holiday traditions, I see those generational threads of dysfunction pop up occasionally in the midst of mistletoeing and whispered conversations at the kids' table. I hear them. And I remember. 
Children and adults need a safe place to Christmas. Over the years I've managed to re-purpose my unpredictable lineage into happier spaces for my own kids and grandchildren. That's the thing about painful memories. We have the power to change the way we create the future.
Whatever your situation - and God bless you if you are lucky enough to have one of those Walton Family scenes at your address - I DO believe it's a good thing to honor our spiritual and festive traditions, spiritual or secular. But for some, the season is excruciatingly lonely and sad. Pressured in the quicksand, memories rise to the surface. 
 Not everyone will celebrate this day or this season. There won't be a card for them, so I wrote one. 

To All .....
......whose children are not coming home and will never come homeI wish you peace and fragrant memories
...who never knew their father or mother I wish you nighttime visitations in the form of dreamswords and whispers in your knowing placeto help you understand
...never had a happy childhood ChristmasI pray you make your own holiday so beautiful and full of wonder as an adulton your own terms, in your own way, wholly and deeply meaningfuljust. for. you.
To All...who live with abuse, chronic illness, poverty or griefI wish you strengthin leaving,  strength in staying, strength in rememberingwisdom and abundance and self-care

And if you are alone

I hope the Spirit of Christmas makes you rich with palpable joy with NEWNESS and anticipation (!) 'til it bubbles over right down to your socksmelted like hot chocolate that lost its cupand keeps you warm at night
Know that life is full of wonderful peoplejust waiting to know who you are

To All ...whose children will call from jail or rehabI wish you calm in the midst of your fear
....who children are sick and in need of a miracleI wish you words to pray and an audience with your Maker
To All.......who felt as though an alien ship dropped you into the house of your birth parentsmay you learn to parent yourself with the kindness and insight that comes from loving YOU and then give that gift to your own children may the cycle be unbroken
To All whose homes are silentwhere no none speaks but in angerMay you only speak in loveor not at all

To All....whose empty nests are emptier than they'd hopedI wish you years of bringing your parenting to a new level where letting go feels like flying
To All...whose families live far far awayI wish you warm breezes that speak of hugs
To All.......whose children will sleep in a car tonight, under a bridge, or in a shelterI wish that you will only see the quiet adoration in the trusting eyes of your childand that every star in the cold night sky leads you HOME 

To All .....whose time is shortI wish you arms of Love and whispers of the God-kindso that your family will never be alone and you can leave in peace
And to All..who hear "I love yous" but know it's just an annual Christmas ruseI pray you speak loving fire that burns and pierces and calls for nothing in return but truth 
To All...

whose child became a casualty of addiction or mental illnessI wish a reunion with a healthy child
To All who knows not where your Loved One is tonightI wish a phone call
If your fresh-faced child fights in a warI wish an end to the insanity and a laying down of arms
And To All..whose arms are empty today for whatever reasonI wish a visitation
of peace

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Monday Mimisms ~ Snippets of Life

There are so many people in my house right now that sometimes I feel the need to go sit in my car for privacy.  Has this ever happened to you?  I pray to the God of Real Estate every day! Help my relatives find affordable housing.. Puuuhhlllleeeaasssse.These people are making me itch. 

Now that that's out of my system....I have a gentleman caller and we are making our way through the beginnings of friendship and such. Six foot two eyes of blue. Male FRIENDSHIP. Perfect.  It's push and pull with me. He must think I'm a yo-yo. One minute I say I'm too overwhelmed with my current Situationship to focus on a new one; the next minute he convinces me that I need him in the kindest of ways. 

I'm drowning in dishes. 

Remember all those dishes I bought in September at the Sale of the Century?Most of them are still here. Sales are UP but not fast enough for me. 

I think I'm allergic to bubblewrap. I'm sure it's not the people...

MUST. FIND. SOMETHING. SMALLER. TO. SELL.

Seriously, I do NOT have time for all this packing and shipping. 

Bree is keeping me entertained day and night. She wants to play "makepop" all the time. So we smear on "wipstick" in a myriad of colors. Then she kisses me on the cheek with a loud POP to leave a BIG mark. It's insanely funny to her.  This is why all my mirrors look like this.

Meanwhile...Beans has started Tae Kwon Do! He can kick higher than a kangaroo.

I'm afraid of him.

I sent out Christmas cards. I had a falling out with a friend that made me sad. I had RSV for a month. I had more nausea from the falling out than the virus. Plumbing and electrical issues here. ACK! Who neeeeds that? My first grandson started college majoring in Computer Science. Remember Baby Boy?

Baby Boy 2010

Making Snowman and Santa cookies with the little ones. Trying not to eat them myself. We're driving around looking at lights like when I was a kid. It was the thing to do! Getting used to having a cat in the house - something I thought I'd NEVER EVER do. And I'm at the age that most times when I search someone on Google, I find an obituary instead. Seriously???! The pandemic has not been kind to mankind. Or maybe I'm just....vintage.
And.oh.the.purging.
I'm throwing out boxes of STUFF. I can't believe I thought I needed all this STUFF. Instead of "stuff" in 2023, how about I try something really important...like a relationship, like taking peace globes to the next level, like taking a ballroom dance class, like finishing that book, like starting all over in the castle once again with a new metamorphosis and a single life vibe that suits me just right. I've climbed over a lot of dross in 2022. I'm long overdue for new pencil skirts. 

Cookies anyone?

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Monday Mimisms ~ Me and a Meme

I decided to do a meme on Sunday for Mimisms on Monday

! Does that make sense? No worries. I was shocked to see that they had stolen my meme (shocked!) from way back in the day. Just kidding. It's what they do. That's why it's called Sunday Stealllliiinngggg. So. I shall play the meme I wrote from my blog called The Queen's Meme - although these questions are a mishmash of romance and groceries. I have no idea who really wrote the first seven or number 14. I like to play tongue-in-cheek. Buckle up. Thanks Bev.

1. What do men really want in a woman? That's like asking, "What do fish really want from the ocean?"Who wrote these questions??!
2. Should marijuana be legalized?Absolutely
3. Why did the cow jump over the moon?To get to the pot store.

(I can't believe I said that)

4. What do women really want in a man?That's like asking, "What does the ocean really want from fish?"Who wrote these questions?!
5. When you are having a really good day, what usually makes it good?A day at the river with Beans.

6. What can make your good day turn into a bad day?If we fall off a rock and plunge into the river. I can't swim.
7. If you could start from scratch and turn back the clock for a re-do, what would you re-do? I would major in Music Therapy instead of Music Education. 
8. Do you make a list when you go grocery shopping?No. I make a grocery list BEFORE I go shopping.
9. Do you buy more groceries when you're hungry?I buy more EVERYTHING when I'm hungry.Just ask Amazon.
10. Coupons. Use them?Yes Yes and YES!
11. Have you ever complained to the manager of your grocery store?The day I found expired dates on my precious keylime yogurt. Alas, I had to buy blueberry instead.

12. Do you like to buy groceries at huge chain stores like Walmart? Or do you shop exclusively at food stores?I don't like to buy food at Walmart. I want a real food store with better sanitary conditions for groceries. The vegetables are left out in the bins hardly ever misted and washed. The watermelons are never fresh. Yuck.
13. What do you typically have for lunch?Salad. Protein. More salad.
14. Tell us about your last lunch date and what made it special.I met an old friend and colleague for lunch in town. We taught together for twenty years on the same hallway. Oh, if those walls could talk! I just hope the security camera footage has long been destroyed. 
Images: Mimi Lenox photography & PixabayFollow Me

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