Autumn Leaves Must Fall

Beautiful, messy, fragrant, delicious autumn. I can't get enough of it!



"I am rich today with autumn's gold
All that my covetous hands can hold;
Frost-painted leaves and goldenrod,
A goldfinch on a milkweed pod,
Huge golden pumpkins in a field
With heaps of corn from bounteous yield
Golden apples heavy on the trees
Rivaling those of Hesperides,
Golden rays of balmy sunshine spread
Over all like butter on warm bread;
And the harvest moon will the night unfold
The streams running full of molten gold.
Oh who could find a dearth of bliss
With autumn glory such as this!"

-Gladys Harp

As you begin your week...

If you are feeling stressed out this week, take a couple moments to stop and watch the leaves turn and fall silently to the earth. You will be surprised by how calming it can be. Let your mind wander, not on all you have to do, or all you haven't gotten done, but instead think about those you love, maybe even those you miss, and for once, let yourself feel all those feelings you would usually put aside. Let yourself feel, for as long as you need to. Breathe in, and breathe out the stress until you feel yourself relax. You deserve it. :) It works... trust me.

-Carly

Round John Virgin, Margarine Child

"There is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it."

-Minnie Aumonier

It's that time again. It can't be escaped. Everywhere you go, there it is... Christmas music. Personally, I hate, hate, hate most Christmas songs, and avoid them like the plague, but there are some people, such as Alan, who love listening to holiday music. This has been a point of contention with us over the years, to the point that during one Christmas season, I refused to ride in his car with him, if he insisted that we listen to the Ho, Ho, Ho's or the Jolly, Jolly, Jollies. LOL.

I have mellowed in my position on this over the years, and have made the effort... for him... to find at least a few holiday songs that I can live with. You do that kind of thing for those you love. In truth, it took a bit of doing, but I did find some songs which I actually enjoy now, such as the Peanuts song, "Christmas Time Is Here." It's such a gentle little tune, how could that not put me in the holiday spirit?

My reasons for disliking this type of music are very personal ones, but I have made an effort in recent years to change how I think about things. I am much more at peace now, then I have been in a long time. I find myself enjoying the holiday season, as opposed to dreading all the festivities. I suppose some of my change came as a result of maturity, and my will to do away with unfounded fears, such as my overwhelming fear of mall Santa's. Talk about an unreasonable fear, heck, I married a former mall Santa! LOL.

One of the ways I found to beat the holiday happiness dread, was finding out that I wasn't alone when I actually heard the lyrics to Christmas songs wrong. Everyone has done that, right? Mondegreens are one of those silly things that we all share, so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite ones. I have collected these here and there across the net, I hope they bring you a smile. :)

Silent Night

Silent night, holy night;
All is calm, all is bright.
Round John Virgin, margarine child
Holy Imbecile, tender and mild.
Sleep in heavenly peas, peas;
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Oh! You better watch out
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why;
Santa Claus is coming to town!

He's making a list
Of chicken and rice
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice;
Santa Claus is coming to town!

The kids in girl and boy land
Will have a jubilee.
They're going to build a toilet town
All around the Christmas tree.

Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why;
Santa Claus is coming to town.

Frosty The Snowman

Frosty the Snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a canecob pipe and a bloody nose
And two eyes made out of coal.

Frosty the Snowman
Is a ferret elf I say;
He was made of snow, but the children know
How he came to life one day.

The Christmas Song

Jeff's nuts roasting on an open fire
Check for snipping at your nose
You'll tide carols being sung by the fire
And folks dressed up like Eskimos.

Everybody knows a turkey, handsome Mr. Soul
Help to make the season bright;
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.

Good King Wencesias

Good King Wences's car back out
On the feet of heathens.
When the snow lay round about.
Deep and crisp and even.

Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel,
When poor man came in sight
Gathering wine and gruel.

Good king wants his applesauce
At the feast this evening.
When the snow lay round about,
Deep and crisp and even.

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas

Have a holly, jolly Christmas
It's the best time of the year
Well, I don't know if there'll be snow,
But have a cup of cheese.

Tee Hee. There you have it. Do you have a favorite Mondegreen? How about a special holiday Mondegreen? If so, feel free to share it in the comment thread for this entry, but remember, Ellipsis is a PG-13 blog... so be nice. :)

-OndineMonet
"Holiday Music"
Berkeley, California
November 24, 2007
Evening

My Continuing Adventures With Diabetes: Week #1 "Choices"

"My own prescription for health is less paperwork, and more running barefoot through the grass."

-Leslie Grimutter

The title of this entry is a bit misleading, actually it was 7 weeks ago today, that I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, but I want to start writing about my adventures with diabetes because I am learning new things every day, about myself, and about my condition. I hope by sharing I can help and inspire others with it to feel a little less alone, so, I have made a decision to update my blog with an entry devoted to what I learn, as I continue on, looking for knowledge and skills for living well with diabetes.

IHOP Garden Scramble Under 600 calories and 15g Fat

A dear friend asked me the other day, "How have you been doing... with your diabetes?" I had to think for a moment, and consider, what to respond. It was a perfectly legitimate question, and it felt good to have my friend ask about me, but the thing is, I am really, really OK most of the time. If it wasn't for checking my glucose readings several times a day, I wouldn't know anything was amiss. There are NO symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, especially early on in the disease. I was even told, by my health education leader, that she once worked at a health fair, in a booth devoted to educating the public on diabetes. One of the ways they did this, was to offer free finger tip testing.

On one of the days she worked the booth, a gentleman approached the booth to learn more about the disease. It seemed a friend at work had been recently diagnosed and he was interesting in finding out some statistics. She gave him some pamphlets and then offered to check his blood. Well, the man scoffed, "I am in my late 30's," he said, "and I am not overweight, and I feel fine." "Then why not see, what your random reading is?" said the health educator. He laughed, but finally said, "sure, okay." His reading was 410 mg/dl. Sigh. He found out that day, that he was also, a diabetic, and had more then likely been for quite sometime.

There are a lot of myths about diabetes that are mistaken for truths. Diabetes is an equal opportunity intruder. Skinny people get diabetes, fat people get diabetes, elderly people get diabetes, children get diabetes, and people who feel just fine, get diabetes. There are high risk lifestyles that may increase your chances, but it doesn't guarantee you will be afflicted. I am not sure why more isn't being done to educated the public about diabetes, but I know one thing, I didn't bother to educate myself on it, until I was diagnosed with it. Sigh. Why would I? I felt fine. Sigh. Truth is, even if I would have done extensive research into risk factors, and statistics, I wouldn't have been able to have stopped myself for contracting diabetes. It's just a fact. What I could have accomplished, however, was that I would have known right away that blaming myself, or trying to figure out just exactly how I had failed, would have been a waste of time, energy and emotion.



Mixed Fruit Approx 250 Calories, 0 Fat, 14 Carbs

I have good days, and some not so good days. I feel good when I get to tell someone, that the old myth about sugar being evil, simply isn't true. I don't have to give up anything, with diabetes, I just have to account for what I put into my body, and plan for certain things. I am eating pretty much what I always did, only in more reasonable. I haven't give up my love of fast food, I simply figure it into my daily intake for maintaining my weight maintenance.

So far, I am finding it to be challenging at times, but far from impossible. I am more hungry for knowledge, then a taco. LOL. It's OK, if I blow it once in a while. I keep track of what foods to do my blood, and act accordingly. As an example, if I want to go and have a meal, which might not be so good for my readings, I have it at lunch, and then take a long, moderately paced walk to help regulate my glucose numbers. Exercising after meals is good for bringing those numbers down. So far, the highest number I have had, 2 hours after a meal is 148 mg/dl. My before meal average is 117 mg/dl, After Meal is, 128 and Overall is, 121. My doctor says I am off to a good start, but there is always room to improve. I try to keep my stress level down, so Alan no longer allows me to watch the news during dinner. LOL. Yep, we are a George Bush free house during meal times. LOL. What can I say, he brings me stress. Sheesh. :)

One of the nice things about taking a long walk after a meal, is that you can discover the most amazing things. For instance, yesterday, I discovered autumn, sneaking into the woods of Tilden Park. :) I will speak more about my visit to the Botanic Garden up here in the hills of Berkeley, this weekend, for now enjoy the lovely leaves I found yesterday, and just think, we are only about a week away from autumn, the most beautiful time of the year, the season that brings every part of me to life. I would rather have a bouquet of autumn leaves, then roses any day, and yesterday, I was treated to just that, and diabetes didn't stop me, one little bit. :)

Website of the Week: Diabetes Mine

-OndineMonet
"Autumn Prelude"
Botanic Garden
Tilden Park
Berkeley, California
September 12, 2007
Afternoon