Before she was convicted, Martha Stewart received my sympathies. Though I’m all for justice, I felt weird about this domestic diva serving a prison sentence—and today it seems even weirder that she’s actually in jail. Don’t get me wrong, I believe she was guilty of a crime and is rightfully paying the due penalty. I can’t help, though, but be impressed by her straightforward approach to serving her time and regaining her freedom. I actually think she’ll be just as popular and successful as ever once her incarceration is over.

Jeremy and I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It’s that time of year where it’s too cold to go outside at night for walks around the neighborhood or for gardening in the backyard. Also, the sun goes down around 5:30pm, turning our living room into a cozy haven of warmth and light which we don’t enjoy leaving for more than a few minutes to run to Blockbuster (and maybe to get some ice cream). Jeremy’s into a good book right now, but I’m not, plus movies are something fun we can enjoy together. Unlike someone else I know, I am most definitely not a movie reviewer… But here’s what I think about what we’ve seen recently:

Super Size Me
Did you know most fast-food hamburger patties are composed of the meat of thousands of cattle? This tidbit comes from a special feature on Super Size Me where Morgan Spurlock (director, writer and experiment-conductor) sits down with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, and just so you know, I find this piece of information very gross. I will credit this documentary with helping to knock me off my fast food habit, the one where I absolutely crave McDonalds and can’t be satisfied with any other hamburger. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this restaurant… I have fond memories of dining in Ronald McDonald land as a kid, sitting on a fake stump under a fake tree, eating the hamburger patty solo when I didn’t like the buns. Oddly enough, its greasy food has always been desirable to me even when all other foods caused nausea; I ate a cheeseburger All-American meal on my wedding day when my tummy was rocking crazily with anxiety. But, supposedly, all good things come to an end, so I thank Mr. Spurlock for pushing me over the edge. And when I begin to crave the golden arches again? Then I’ll read Mr. Schlosser’s work.

The Terminal
This movie got knocked by several critics and called slow and unimpressive by others, so we skipped watching it until now. But really, I thought it was great. Tom Hanks was fun to watch and the plot was interesting enough to keep me engaged. My favorite moment during the film? When Jeremy says, “Hey, that looks like that one actress!” Me: “Catherine Zeta-Jones?” Jeremy: “Yeah.” Me: “It is Catherine Zeta-Jones.” Jeremy: “Oh.” I think her bangs threw him off.

The Last Castle
Brook keeps adding to her DVD collection and every so often we enjoy a free movie, so this is one of her recommendations. I can’t say I would purchase it (though I’m glad YOU did, Brook!) but it was enjoyable to watch. For the past few years I’ve been really interested in the military, so the notion of a military prison, and a three star general who was sent there, intrigued me. Robert Redford and James Gandolfini were okay in their roles. I really like Mark Ruffalo, though, and imagine I’d watch him in just about anything.

Cheaper by the Dozen
No, I haven’t seen the original movie, and no, I’ve never read the book. I went into this flick (a recent Blockbuster purchase) with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It made me laugh. It made me think with fondness about family. It made me appreciate Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt for their comedic abilities. It was fun! This is the kind of movie a diverse audience can watch, which make it a decent addition to our DVD library.

Pieces of April
This film has been added to my Top Ten favorite movies. I’m not sure what the other nine are but give me some time and I could name a few. I love this movie. I love the pacing. I love the storyline. I love the yellowed camera shots and the sometimes crooked camera angles. I especially love the acting. Patricia Clarkson and Oliver Platt give standout performances and Katie Holmes partially redeems herself for all those years of Dawson’s Creek. If you want to know what kind of movie I like, well… this is it. Good stuff.

Green beans? Check.
Cranberries? Check.
Sweetened condensed milk? Check.
Canned pumpkin? Check.
Sweet potatoes? Check.
Butter? Sugar? Flour? Check. Check. Check.

I’m in the holiday spirit! Christmas lists are ready to go. I’m picking up my tree tomorrow. Livia and I sang along to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas after we finished grocery shopping this morning.

I love this time of year.

“If I were a buoy, where would I be?” Uttered upon arrival at a “Detour” task by one, now eliminated, teammate.

“It’s so cold my implants are frozen!” I think the Hollywood chicky said this. And yes, I was surprised she said that on national television.

“I’d rather put that in a martini.” Endearingly said after Grandpa of the grandma/grandpa team climbed an ice wall with pick axes and ice shoes.

Though I’m glad the father/daugher combo stayed in the race, I was sad to see the guys from Brooklyn eliminated on the first leg. They were funny and kinda sweet—and goodness knows funniness and sweetness is needed in this game because we’re stuck with the asinine behaviors of Jonathan (how Victoria remains married to him, I do not know) and Lori the Professional Wrestler. Sigh. Boo hiss to Rebecca’s lack of knowledge of T.A.R. history—you ALWAYS check to see if your car takes diesel or regular gasoline! Hello?! She and Hellboy are lucky to still be in the game. And whichever guy that was that waved the college roommates in the wrong direction (some of the guys look alike at this stage in the race), you’re a jerk who should’ve kept his hand in the car… Poor college roommate girls. Thumbs up to the grandparents who climbed the ice wall and kept up with their competition and a bigger thumbs up to all the teams who maintained positive outlooks and enjoyed the natural beauty all around while still racing. I think T.A.R. teaches a lot of “life lessons”. But that’s another post for another day.

Considering the fact that Thanksgiving is a mere 6 days away, I need to clarify some issues related to diabetes and food.

Type 1 diabetes is what I have. It will not go away without a cure (or a pancreatic transplant) and the only method of treatment is insulin. Type II diabetes is probably what many of our grandparents and parents have. [Another pseudo science lesson…] Over time the pancreas can become fatigued, by weight or old age or weight AND old age, and it decreases its insulin output. At this point one will usually be diagnosed with Type II diabetes and put on a diet, pills, and perhaps insulin. Sometimes Type II can be completely avoided by weight loss and diet, sometimes it cannot.

What I’m trying to say is, be kind to your Grandma this Thanksgiving. If she is Type II, she might be incredibly tempted to eat that sweetened cranberry sauce, a few handfuls of sugar-coated pecans, a piece of pumpkin pie after the meal and a piece of spice cake for a snack. Here’s how you can help… Prepare a recipe using Splenda or Equal. Honor that Type II (and encourage a Type I) by making a sugar-free gelatin/fruit salad, a sugar-free pumpkin pie, or sugar-free cranberry sauce.

As a newly diagnosed diabetic, and as a lifelong sweet tooth, I found my first holiday season to be really tough. (Remember, at that point I was on a strict diet.) One of the most gracious, most loving acts anyone did for me was to bake several batches of sugar-free Christmas cookies. God bless Diane Downing for blessing me that way. Her kindness still brings tears to my eyes.

When she was about 5.5 months old we introduced Livia to solid foods. We decided to wait a little longer to start this process because 1) I wasn’t really ready for it and 2) it may prove to be a wise move when it comes to food allergies. Like I said in Livia’s sixth month letter, she loved the rice cereal and instantly was a good eater. So I mixed in a little apple/prune juice—and how could she not love that? I’ve been reading this book called Mommy-Made about making your baby’s food, so my next move was homemade sweet potato puree. (It’s so simple to do this and I’m happy knowing Livia’s eating fresh food with no preservatives.) So one night found me slaving away in the kitchen—microwaving, blending and mashing through a sieve this gigantic sweet potato. I then froze little dobs of it in an ice tray for convenient storage and packaging. And Livia? She loved the sweet potatoes… for two days. Day three saw instant rejection. What you see on her face in these photos is acorn squash. Again, a mommy-made specialty. And again, a baby-rejected mommy-made specialty. The kid gagged her little heart out with the acorn squash. So for now I’m trying to fool her by mixing the veggies in with cereal—and so far it’s working.

Motherhood is fun.

Quick pseudo-science lesson: In the most simplistic terms, the human body needs sugar to survive. Sugar enters the bloodstream and can only be absorbed into cells when it is accompanied by insulin. If the islet cells in your pancreas are working properly (as they are for all you non-diabetics), then you will always have a perfect level blood sugar level, or glucose. My islet cells, for whatever reason, ceased to function ten years ago and now I have to attempt to do their work. I try to estimate how much sugar is entering my body and then measure the appropriate amount of insulin to match it. Diabetic complications inevitably arise because no one can keep perfect glucose readings all the time. When the bloodstream is thickened by too much sugar, small vessels (in the eyes, kidneys, heart, fingertips and toes) are damaged and sometimes damaged beyond repair. One final point: ALL carbohydrates are broken down into sugar for the body to use as energy.

When I first became a diabetic, I was taught “exchanges.” One starch exchange equals 15 grams of carbohydrates. One fruit exchange equals 15 grams of carbs. One milk exchange equals 12 grams of carbs. I never truly learned meat or veggie exchanges just because they have very little value. Basically, I took a couple shots of insulin, both long-acting and short-acting, that would “cover” my meals. A dietician would work hand-in-hand with my endocrinologist to tell me how many starches, fruits, meats, etc, I could eat per meal, considering my insulin intake. You can imagine how tiresome this process could be. Sometimes I wanted to eat more food, or less food, or food at a different time of day, or sleep in and avoid food all together. But I couldn’t. I was stuck with the rigidity of the exchange system.

Around the time I got married, I learned that I should either begin to use an insulin pump or consider MDI, multiple daily injections. I hated the thought of poking a needle into my flesh more often than I already was, but I also despised the thought of a little insulin computer attached to me 24/7. Circumstances pushed me over the edge of tolerance for the exchange system and I ended up wholeheartedly endorsing the insulin pump.

It was the best endorsement I have ever made. In short, my freedom with food was back. No more set diet. No more set eating times. No more, no more, no more! FREEDOM!

So here is what I do now, merrily all the day long: carb count. Everyone is into counting carbohydrates today thanks to the popular Atkins diet, so I imagine most folks understand something of carb counting. In a perfect world, I’d know the exact number of carbohydrates that enter my mouth every time I eat. Then I could do the calculations, “Nine grams of carbs per one unit of insulin, so this sandwich equals 3.4 units.” And voila, I’d punch in 3.4 units of insulin to be delivered from my pump and the deed would be done. (The pump can deliver a tenth of a unit of insulin, whereas I could never be that precise on shots.) The problem with carb counting is that I’m not always certain how many carbohydrates are in that delicious piece of lasagna, or that enormous cobb salad, or that dutch chocolate/key lime M&M ice cream from Ivanna Cone. So one learns to guesstimate. Perfection has not been yet been found, but a livable lifestyle has been embraced.

Back to Bob’s confusion regarding ice cream as taboo for diabetics… Not meaning to slam you, Bob, but yes, it is an ignorant thought. However, it used to be the truth for diabetics so I’ll give you that. If it was only ten years ago that I was given a rigid diet, you can imagine how strict life was for diabetics 20, 30 and 40 years ago. It was terribly hard to keep glucose readings in line, so sugary foods were a big no-no. The problem today is that most people’s ideas on diabetes are based on old scientific knowledge and techniques. Other than the fact that whole wheat crackers are healthier than a slice of apple pie, it doesn’t matter whether the food I eat is “sugary” or not. It all comes down to “how many carbs are in that?” and “how much insulin should I dose?” My Uncle Tim, also a type 1 diabetic, was in a hospital a few years ago and was given an outdated handout that said something like this: “Diabetics should not eat dessert, soda pop, jams or jellies.” Want to know a sure way to piss off a diabetic? Tell them they shouldn’t eat that piece of chocolate cake being served for dessert! An educated diabetic will know if s/he can eat it or not. The more sugary foods can causes spikes in glucose readings and make it tough to keep glucoses balanced, so I don’t mean to sound like all foods are equal in this regard. But more or less, a carb is a carb is a carb. I eat ’em. I count ’em. I love ’em.

When you find an ice cream store that you really love and when you find ice cream that you just can’t live without, you’ll eat ice cream in the DEAD OF WINTER when all other normal, sane people won’t. After craving Ivanna Cone for days upon days, I finally coaxed Jeremy into getting some last night. Dutch chocolate and pumpkin for him. Dutch chocolate and mint M&M for me.

In the shop, waiting for the ice cream dude to scoop the ice cream, thus granting me wholeness again, I noticed something quite nice. He added more M&M’s to the mint ice cream. How lovely, I remember thinking, that he’s granting me more M&M’s. How very delightful. He then packed up both servings in a take-home bag, I paid him with our hard-earned money, and Jeremy and I drove home.

Horror of horrors, what do I discover once cozily situated on my sofa with aforementioned ice cream on my lap? Dutch chocolate and KEY LIME with M&M’s. Ew. Ice cream dude either made a mistake or he has one sick sense of humor.

Classic symptoms of type 1 diabetes are:

* Increased thirst
* Increased urination
* Increased eating
* Weight loss
* Fatigue
* Nausea
* Vomiting

If you are experiencing several of these symptoms, get checked out by your physician. A simple urine or blood glucose test should be taken.