Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween! (I Mean It)


Yes, this is me. No glasses. Fake-singing into my hairbrush in a bathroom self-portrait. Why? Because I'm Hannah Montana today! Happy Halloween, blogville! FYI...that's a tank top, not my underwear, and also, NOT my real hair. I am cutting some bangs into that wig when I get home for authenticity.

I still need to obtain a teenybopper-y shirt and a scarf. I have skinny jeans and either boots or Chuck Taylors, depending on my mood. I promise more pictures after I go to my party tonight. My indie-rock friends will certainly laugh, and I know some people won't get it at all. I had also considered being Sarah Palin, but I decided I didn't want to spend any money on a suit that's more prim and matronly than I would ever want to wear again.

Plus, being named Hannah, I get called Hannah Montana pretty frequently. It used to be Hannah Banana all the time. I do wish that would make a comeback...

It's Friday. I am the only one in the office, and severely lacking motivation. It seems like a good day to clean stuff here. That way when my boss comes back in on Monday, she will be impressed. Instead, I am blogging and waiting for coffee to kick in.

NaBloPoMo starts on Saturday, and I'm excited to bring you an entire month full of blogs. Who's with me?

It's Halloween. Oddly today, my thoughts are not about the outrage I feel for diabetic kids whose parents won't even let them near candy, or stereotypes about people with diabetes and sugar, but of my dad. The past couple of weeks have brought me to tears at random moments--discovering a pic of him on Matt's computer that we snapped when we were trying out our new camera at Christmas last year, getting a copy of his will in the mail--but I realize so many of my Halloween memories come back to my dad. Dad liked to dress up at Halloween. One year he even greeted trick-or-treaters at the door in drag. It was this awful purple taffeta bridesmaid dress my mom was supposed to wear to her friend's wedding. However, the dress was hideous and HUGE, and thankfully Mom's friend admitted it was not her best sewing work, so Mom bought a different dress from a catalog.

Anyway, Mom helped dad with this monstrosity of a dress, did his makeup, and tied up some pillows to make him a huge ass and boobs. I think he greeted people Mrs. Doubtfire-style: "Helloooooooo!" Priceless.

My dad cut out and painted Halloween decorations for the front yard: ghosts rising out of the ground, a tombstone, the grim reaper. We had the sharpest-dressed Halloween house on the block. When I went trick-or-treating, he'd call it "Halloweening". He was often the one to take me out. It all made me realize how much I miss him.

Oh...the best thing about Halloween when I was a kid? The neighbors my parents were closest to all knew I had diabetes, so they would prepare special treats for me: apples, Halloween pencils, stickers, toys. If your kid is growing up in this day and age, be grateful. When I was little, there was no mention of bolusing for any candy I'd eat. I'd have to sneak some into my coat pocket outside, then sneak it into my bedroom and hide it next to the bed.

Let your kids live a little. If there's 15 carb grams' worth of chocolate that they want to eat, just make sure they bolus.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Twitterpated!

Yes, now that I have a fancy new pink Palm Centro, I have decided to try out this whole Twitter business.

Care to follow my mundane and silly life updates? Check me out here, and start following me, however you go about doing that. I'm not sure I completely understand this Twitter stuff yet. Give me another day or two. But rest assured, I'm already following some of you out there.

Wait a sec, that makes me sound like a stalker. Anyway, friends, I'll be watching you see you around the inter-tubes! It's okay, you can follow me around too. It'll be pretty, er, tweet. I mean cool. Yes.

Monday, October 27, 2008

NaDoFiMo 2008

You may look at the title and think, "What the eff, Hannah?"

I shall explain! Don't worry!

It's scary how November is almost upon us. Where the heck does the time go, anyway? Mine has been draining into some extra hours at work and lots of time getting our new house set up. We are still pretty far from looking organized, but we make a little progress each day. Maybe if we weren't all so freakin' exhausted when coming home from work each day...anyway. I feel I've been neglecting the blogging life lately, and it's not sitting well with me. Something must be done. But what?

Then I realize...November is almost upon us! And if you are a writer around the internet, you know what this brings:

NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. Every year several thousand crazies from all over attempt to write 50,000 words in just 3o days. That's 175 pages, people! Is that a lot to do? Would I be crazy to take on the challenge? I've got a lot to say, and a lot of fictional ideas. I actually used to write fiction a lot more frequently than I do now. I am majorly considering NaNoWriMo this year, even though I've never done it before.

Many of you will remember doing NaBloPoMo last year in November. Somehow, National Blog Posting Month has expanded to something EVERY month. In my mind, that seems like it's a bit besides the point, and not exactly what NaBloPoMo should really be about. However, I think I may take on the challenge of one blog post a day for every day of November again. November is a great time to do it, especially here on the Diabetes OC, since it's National Diabetes Awareness Month, and World Diabetes Day occurs on November 14th.

So I think I'm a definite yes on the Blog Posting Month, definite maybe on the Novel Writing.

But here's a question for any and all of you out there: What do you, the readers, want me to talk about at some point during the month of November? I want some suggestions! Some writing prompts! Anything at all!

I am tired to being a blog slacker. Help me get out of the rut.

It's time for Hannah's NaDoFiMo, which stands for National Do Fings Month. "Do Fings!" is a phrase we throw around our household pretty frequently, meaning "Do things!", which depending on the context can have a variety of emotions behind it. The rest is up to your imagination. I can't explain away every last one of my inside jokes, can I? I don't really think so.

Oh, and for anyone out there who cares...GOOO PHILLIES!!!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Bits, Pieces, Videos, Web Comics!

Tidbits of the Day:

Have you signed the Google Doodle Petition for World Diabetes Day? If not, please click this button to see what it's all about. A Google Doodle would be an excellent way to raise awareness about the Big D, and it would be even more effective and less lame than a car ribbon magnet:



The button will stay in my sidebar until we get like a zillion signatures. Please consider it. And you don't have to donate anything if you don't want to--ignore the petition website if it asks you.


Speaking of making people more aware of your diabetes, are you a young person? Say anywhere from your teens to your late twenties? Do you have a diabetes-related message for our future president or the whole world? The Young Voices: Life with Diabetes contest needs your video submissions! For every video submitted, Novo Nordisk will donate $10 to the JDRF, up to $25,000. Selected videos will be shown on World Diabetes Day in New York City at an event held in the ESPN Center. Go here to find out more.

Now the only action you must take is to laugh your pants off. And I order you to laugh your pants off. I love when you can tell that a webcomic is written by someone who either has diabetes or is close to someone with diabetes. I have not yet read any of the other Saturday Matinee comics, but this one was sent to me by Carrie this morning on Facebook, and it made my entire day. I just put the up the tiny pic as a preview. Please click here and check it out--trust me, it will give you a new way of thinking about sneaking in carbs around your buddies. Mmmm. Ice cream. Oh my gosh, there's an ice cream place that I can walk to from my new house. I guess it helps me use my insulin more efficiently if I have to walk a block and a half to get a dish of chocolate peanut butter cup, right?

Monday, October 13, 2008

Food, Glorious Food!

I kind of started unpacking our kitchen this evening. I didn't get far, but Matt made some tasty burgers on the grill. I decided then to do this food meme, which I found from this curious girl that I know...

1. How do you like your eggs?
Scrambled, fried, over medium, sunny side up, and especially deviled, ESPECIALLY especially if my mom made them. Yum. My mother makes the world's most amazing deviled eggs.

2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
Coffee--with Splenda, preferably lots of half and half
Tea--with some Splenda, unless it's at a nice Japanese restaurant. Or unless it's chai, which I just take however it's fixed for me.

3. Favorite breakfast food:
All of them, preferably more than one at a time. Eggs and bacon. Bagels and cream cheese. A bowl of cereal and orange juice.

4. Peanut butter:
They're all good--I prefer creamy, though, but I loooove peanut butter so it doesn't matter that much. Also, Nutella is a delicious and dangerous substance.

5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
Ranch, a flavorful balsamic vinegrette, or some sort of Asian Sesame.

6. Coke or Pepsi?
Diet Dr. Pepper!

7. You’re feeling lazy. What do you make?
A box of Kraft mac-n-cheese.

8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
Pepperoni and mushroom.

9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
Baked ziti, or chicken with green beans and Stove Top stuffing. Maybe some cheese enchiladas or a nice stir-fry with Sezchuan sauce.

10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Homemade raviolis. Pretzels. Teaberry ice cream. Home-brewed iced tea.

11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
Not really. Maybe egg salad occasionally, as I got some food poisoning after eating it in college once.

12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
BACON! Nigel claims he does not have a bacon obsession, but he's got a bacon obsession. And beer reminds me of Matt because once he started homebrewing, he became a beer snob.

13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Peas by themselves as a side dish. I can eat them mixed into stews, casseroles, soups, etc., but I just kind of hate peas. Lima beans.

14. What was your favorite food as a child?
My mom's homemade macaroni and cheese.

15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like?
I never ate macaroni salad or potato salad when I was a kid. I didn't like mayo. Now I do.

16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate?
Apparently, I really enjoyed peas when I was really, really little.

17. Favorite fruit and vegetable:
Fruits: Apples, oranges, grapes, grapefruit, pineapple, plums, most all fruit, actually. I'm not crazy about kiwis, but they're okay.

Veggies: Baby carrots, broccoli, green beans, well-prepared fresh asparagus

18. Favorite junk food:
Tastykake Kandy Kakes. Pringles. Cheese balls.

19. Favorite between meal snack:
A bowl of cereal!

20. Do you have any weird food habits?
I like to eat one thing on my plate at a time. I eat all the way around an apple sort of removing the skin, then I eat the rest.

21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
Water. Fruit. Whole grain bread. Tea.

22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like?
Ice cream ice cream ice cream. And cookies.

23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
Fairly mild. I like tasting all the flavors, not just the hot ones.

24. Can I get you a drink?
Please.

25. Red or White Wine?
Depends on my mood or the dinner.

26. Favorite dessert?
Cheesecake!

27. The perfect nightcap?
One with alcohol, please. Haha.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Soul Calibur 4 and Other Ways to Avoid Checking Your Glucose

I now have digital cable with Hi-Def. I have a Nintendo DS, and an incredibly underrated platformer, "Super Princess Peach". I have Soul Calibur 4 on Nigel's Xbox360.

And to play at least 2 out of the three of them, I need to walk up 2 sets of stairs. It seems to be a decent strategy. A little exercise for a little couch-potato fun. All I need is a Wii, and maybe I'll get up off my butt more often.

Anyway. I've been too busy settling in, unpacking, and collapsing in exhaustion over all of that to blog a lot lately. Sorry, all. I'm still around. I'll catch up as soon as I can consistently have a more comfortable chair to sit in. Folding chairs are convenient, but don't exactly cushion you in relaxing, pillowy comfort.

I love my new place, and my new town seems pretty sweet so far. I'm pretty happy here.

See you around the blogosphere, readers. That is, if I can just put down this damn controller.