The post in which I ask you for money

Not for me. Well not directly for me, but for an organization and cause that effects my life on a daily basis.  I don't talk about it much, but I am a type 2 diabetic, diagnosed in 2010.  The past 10 years have been a constant struggle and battle to keep my blood sugar in control.

Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn't go well.  But every day I think about it and how what I do, what I eat, what I don't do, what I don't eat, what effects things like stress, hormones, illness, and everything else will have on my blood sugar.

My morning starts every day with pricking my fingers to get my first blood sugar reading of the day.  Sometimes it is frustrating as hell.  To know that you ate "well" and followed "the rules" the day before and wake up with a number that is way above where it should be.  Sometimes it's great, when all of the numbers fall in line seemingly regardless of what you did the day before.

Have there been times over the past ten years when I just want to ignore the fact that this disease is a part of my life? Oh hell yes. And sometimes I don't eat what I should out of frustration from dealing with it.

Let me tell you, it's hard and it sucks donkey balls through a bendy straw most days. But I know that I'm lucky.  I have good insurance, I have a support network of medical professionals, friends, and family that are there for me.  Not everyone is that lucky.

But the American Diabetes Association is there for all diabetics. They work to support all diabetics with legislation, research, even sending kids to diabetic camp. But that support takes money. And that's why this posts exists.

I am asking you for your support while I participate in their Step Out for Diabetes walk this year.  Please consider making a contribution of any amount to support me while I walk to support this organization that supports me.

This link will take you to my page, where I hope you will be able to support me.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

ENOUGH!!!!!

Violence against the police is NOT the answer, either. These were innocent people doing nothing other than their jobs.

CNN is reporting that at least one person who was at the protest is stating that they are alive today because a police officer shoved them out of the way of gunfire. Think about that, while someone is shooting AT police, trying to pick them off and kill them for whatever reason, this officer's instinct was still to get the civilian out of harm's way.

I have family that are first responders. I have friends that are first responders.  I have had a grade school classmate killed senselessly in the line of duty as a police officer. All of them are good, decent people that I have no doubt put others before themselves every single day.  And I am sure that 99.99% of all other first responders are the same.

Violence against other human beings does not end violence.  Enough already.

It needs to stop

What needs to stop? The killing of innocent people of color by the police. Last night an African American male was pulled over for a broken tail light, soon after he was dead at the hands of the office that pulled him over.

Why? He was carrying a gun. A gun that he had a permit for. A gun that was legally obtained. A gun that was his right under the second amendment to carry. A gun that he disclosed to the officer he was carrying.

Still, when he went to comply with the officer's instructions to produce his license and registration, he was shot....to death.

Ironically, I just read this on facebook yesterday. Probably hours before Philando Castile would be killed in the same situation. Please click on the link and read it, I'll wait while you do. I've seen this post a couple of times over the past year when it was written.  Usually it's followed by something along the lines of "See, if you treat the police with respect they will treat you with respect."  Often times it's followed by something along the lines of "see, if Tamir Rice, Amadou Diallo had just followed instructions they wouldn't have died."

Well guess what? Philando Castile DID comply with the orders he was given.  There has yet to be any indication that he was doing anything other than following directions in a respectful manner.

By all accounts Philando Castile was the kind of man that knew the names of every child that came through the school cafeteria in which he worked.  The kind of man that would put an extra snack in the lunch bag of a child he thought might need a little encouragement, was having a bad day, or just having a rough time with things.

So why is this man dead?  Because he was a black man carrying a gun. The fact that he was legally allowed to carry the gun and disclosed the fact that he was armed to the police officer made no difference.  Even the governor of Minnesota has come out saying that he feels that if Philando Castile was white, he would still be alive.  Yes, even the governor of Minnesota admits in a round about way that white privilege would have probably saved this man's life.

THIS IS NOT A LULLABY THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR SHOULD HAVE TO SING TO THEIR CHILDREN!!!!!

Gotta Get You Into My Life

In an effort to eat more vegetables, I did something this year that I've toyed with the idea of in the past.  I joined a CSA.  What's a CSA you ask?  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, which means you basically pay to get shares of fruits and vegetables from local farms.  Some CSA's also offer eggs (mine does not, which makes me sad) and many offer shares of meats and cheeses at additional costs.

Since this is a new adventure for me, I've been photographing what I get in my share each week and also taking pictures of some of the things I've been making with it.

The first week was the beginning of June, and that share consisted of  green kale, green meat radishes, zucchini, arugula, rhubarb, and romaine lettuce.  The cat was not included in the share. She does seem to think that CSA really stands for Cats Sampling Agriculture though.

Some of the kale, arugula, and romaine made salad for Keith.  Green meat radishes ended up just being eaten plain, although I considered pickling them but as usual, didn't get a "round tuit."

I've never worked with rhubarb before, so I searched the internet and finally settled on a recipe for strawberry rhubarb jam that you make in the crockpot. 

I really found it to be more of a sauce or compote than what I would consider a true jam. It was pretty good on vanilla ice cream and I imagine it would also be good over angel food cake.

I ended up going "trendy" with the zucchini and got a cheap spiralizer to make zucchini "noodles." I think the cheapness of the spiralizer I purchased is evident by the shape of the finished product, but it was tasty!