Whoa, where'd I go???

It is time to resurrect this blog!  I've been absent for far too long.  As summer is approaching and I'll be returning to the states just two weeks from today, I want to get back to blogging about all the cool things happening in my life.

Many of you already know that just over one year ago I had a Roux-N-Y gastric bypass while here in Doha.  It was my hope to eliminate my type-2 diabetes, acid reflux disease and sleep apnea.  The icing on the proverbial cake would be losing tons of excess weight (130 kg or 285 lbs).

Each of these conditions greatly affected my every day life.  I was taking six pills a day (four different classes of medications) for the diabetes and it was still uncontrolled with an A1c of 8.6 even though I was eating well.  I was taking the maximum prescription dose of omeprezole for the acid reflux and one shouldn't be taking that much long-term as I had been doing.  The sleep apnea (technically hypopnea) was also occurring 59 times an hour but was much better with a CPAP machine.

Well, the diabetes has been eliminated, the acid reflux is gone and the sleep apnea is now down to only 6.5 times an hour (5-15 is considered mild).  This has been the most amazing time of my life.  This human body of ours is an amazing creation!  Thank You, God!

So much has happened in the last year or two and I want to start blogging about it even though it is in the past.  I feel a need to actually document what happened, who helped me through each part, and honor God for what He's done.  So the resurrection of Footnotes From Afar begins.  :-)

The first thing I want to mention is two particular blogs that I found that are incredible for offering me recipes that are good for me.  If you're interested in eating healthier, whether for losing weight or for dealing with medical conditions, these two blogs have been my main source of recipe ideas.  And inspiration.

The first blog is www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com and it is the bomb.  Eggface (Shelly, in real life) has these Bites that are incredible and I make them all the time.  There are so many varieties and everyone I've made has been fab.  She is also running a giveaway right now for the new Click Espresso Protein Drink Decaf.  Check out her blog for a chance to enter and win.  I've entered and I'm hoping I get to win a canister of it.  :-)  I'm drinking Click Mocha as I type.  Oh, and I'm spilling it on the keyboard, too.   Brown liquid on my white Mac keyboard.  :-\

The second blog is bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com and is ah-maze-ing!  I make her Taco Casserole all the time and my friends ask me to make it for them.  It's soooo good.  And healthy.  And delicious.  And did I mention delicious?!


Well, this has turned into a long post, but a much needed post.  It's good to be back!  Stay tuned!

Summer Update 1

Wow, two and a half weeks goes too quickly! I've been in Rochester, NY with family since I got back from Doha. I stayed on my dad's boat on Lake Ontario and prayed daily for sun. That prayer was only answered about 5 of the days. Rain, rain, go away, please!?

I had only been here two days when my 12 year old nephew was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. What a huge surprise! No one in the family has Type 1, only Type 2. For those who don't know, Type 1 means that the pancreas is not working properly and is producing very little or no insulin, which is used to keep the blood sugar down. So there are major changes for him but thankfully he is being very responsible and giving himself insulin shots. Life happens.

Highlights are Father's Day with my Dad, seeing friends from Moscow (Anya and Christine and her mom), sewing projects, learning to embroider (kinda), waking up to the sounds of birds and water lapping the boat, taking my nephew go-karting, driving all over western New York (gorgeous, just gorgeous), eating pork of all kinds (bacon, sausage, ribs, ham, ...), seeing tons of animals and just being in nature.

Here are some pics:

My aunt feeding her dogs using chopsticks

Auggie and his pillow - I LOVE this dog!

Beautiful Nature

Beautiful Friends: Christine, me, Anya (7 months pregnant!), Christine's Mom

My nephew and my Dad, on Father's Day

My nephew at his best: laughing!

Go-Karting!

Whew! Finally complete!

Stress, you must leave now. My thesis is done and handed in (just awaiting corrections). The AP computer science exam was taken by my students yesterday. Botball is over. Standards and Benchmarks AND my courses' indicators are written. Stress is melting away. Time to go get a massage!

It's been beyond busy these past few months but it now looks like I'll survive. The good stuff is coming. What good stuff? Thought you'd never ask! I leave for NYC and graduation a week from tomorrow and I'll get to see my friends and family. I'm presenting a workshop at "Scratch Day at TC". I'm getting myself an iPhone as my graduation gift to myself. I'm teaching my students how to make iPhone applications (as I learn how to make them myself). I'm moving into a villa, shared with a friend, that has outdoor space and I've already bought a pool. I'm bringing a hammock back to Doha with me. I'm seeing (and staying with) Nicole in London on my way back to Doha. Ed and Mike are visiting in June.

How's that for a quick update?

BOTBALL!!

Updated with pictures!

The competition board and our robots in action!

Taylor, Grant and I discussing strategies for reprogramming.

The team watching the competition. The five boys
surrounding me are on our team.

Original Post:

What a fun, fun day! Today was the Botball competition and we loaded up our robots, our toolboxes, our computers, and our students and went over to Carnegie Mellon to showcase our stuff. Lots of lessons later, we didn't place in any of the categories but we did receive a "Judges' Choice Award" for our robot designs. The kids had a great time and, although they are dead tired, are already thinking about next year's competition. I'll post pictures tomorrow when I finally get my hands on some.

You know..

... you live in the middle east when you pull into the grocery store parking lot and realize that the Porsche Cayenne parked next to you has been left running while its owner went inside. I couldn't believe it! The owner possibly felt comfortable enough with middle east justice or was just so filthy rich that he/she didn't mind the car being stolen.

Welcome to Doha.

Recovery

After two naps yesterday, I was finally rid of the migraine. Or so I thought. Nasty bugger decided to return and attacked me all night. Today is much better.

I'm up at school working on writing my major paper, kind of like a thesis just not as big, for my masters degree. It's a gorgeous day and I'm sitting in the senior commons, a place in school with windows two stories tall. Birds are flying around outside the windows and I'm energized to write. Wahoo!

Okay, break time is over now. See ya!

Migraines are for the birds

When I was a kid, I would get a migraines often and have to go in to my mom's bedroom because it was the darkest and quietest room in the house and I would sleep it off. Now that I'm an adult, the don't come around as often but when they do, they are whoppers. I've been fighting a bad headache off and on for three days and so it was no surprise last night that it turned into a full fledged migraine. Yuck. Queasy, dizzy, hungry but nauseous, pounding, pounding, pounding. Thankfully, these days there are better over-the-counter medicines to help. Thank you, Excedrine Migraine! I took two pills and slept through the night. Now that I'm awake, my head feels about 5 feet big/wide and a little light-headed, but that's pretty normal for the after-effects. There is still some lingering pain so I'll wait to see what it does before I decide to take more meds and go back to sleep or not. Or maybe I'll just go back to sleep.

Thank you, Lord, for sick days. It feels so weird to be home when everyone else is at school. I put more birdseed out on the balcony so I could watch the birds come and listen to them sing. It looks like it's going to be a hot day here!