Fall Morning in Central Texas

Dan was at a men's breakfast this morning, so I took the opportunity to get out and take a few pictures using the morning sunlight. As you can see, the leaves are still on the trees, and the trees haven't yet put on their fall colors. 

Fall's the Best!

Last week Fall really arrived! For the past few nights, the temperatures have been dipping into the 50s, and the high temperatures during the daytime have been in the 60s or low 70s. This is our first Fall in Temple, and I'm excited to see what it will be like. Fall is my favorite season, with none of the other seasons even coming close.

Saturday I went for a walk on a walking path near our house. It's about a two minute drive to get to the trail head. I hadn't walked it before because of the heat, but now that it's cooler, I hope to walk it often. I can't wait to see it when the leaves start turning colors.

Map that is on the sign at the entrance to the trail (where it says YOU ARE HERE).

Last night we had the first fire in our fireplace. You just can't beat Fall! Fires in the fireplace, brilliant leaves, pumpkins and corn stalks on porches, crisp apples, homemade soups and pumpkin pies, a nip in the air, and the promise of Halloween and Thanksgiving.

A Special Day on My Calendar

October 7, 1925. That was 87 year ago. On that day my Grandma Clark gave birth to her firstborn child, Robert, who would grow up to marry my mom and become my dad. You might like to look back to my blog on this date five years ago, when I wrote down some personal thoughts about him.

Every year, on October 7, Dad seems to sit on my shoulder and whisper in my ear. I think about little things that he said to me, little things he did for me, but mostly I think about his smile. He seldom looked at me without smiling.

After Dad passed on, my mom took his ring and had it sized down to fit on my finger. I don't wear it often. It's a little chunky for my short fingers. But I treasure it and I do like to wear it, as I am today, on his birthday. Happy birthday, Dad! I miss you.

Sugar and Spice - Not so Nice!

Some of you have probably noticed that my blog posts have been pretty sparse lately. I apologize to those who are faithful readers. I know it’s disappointing to continue visiting LindasWindow only to find the same old post as was there the past seven times you looked. 

It's funny how one day everything is like it's always been, and the next you are a different person. Well, not really, but that's what it feels like. And in times like that, everything else - including writing blog posts - gets set aside.

It all began with that trip to the doctor - the one I already wrote about, when I got the injections in my knees. [My knees are happy knees now!] I already had an appointment with my new doctor scheduled - a “get acquainted” appointment - but ended up going in early because of the knee pain. While I was there, the doctor suggested that I go ahead and keep that previously scheduled appointment, and have some routine blood work done a few days beforehand. 

On September 26, I went in to have the blood draw. It had been a long time since I’d had any lab work done, and I had a suspicion that the results wouldn’t be good. I had been noticing some symptoms of high blood sugar, but the symptoms were sporadic and not clearly indicative of a problem, so they were easy to rationalize away. Still . . . with a history of diabetes on both sides of the family, I was a little anxious.

This Monday I showed up for my doctor’s appointment. She (my doctor) began: “Let’s start out with your cholesterol results, because I like them.” Of course, I could hardly pay attention to the good news - that my cholesterol levels are nearly ideal - for wondering about the undisclosed results that she didn’t like.

The bad news was, as I suspected, my blood glucose level was high. I have Type 2 Diabetes.

For about four weeks I’ll be pricking my fingers and testing my blood sugar level twice a day - first thing in the morning and two hours after either lunch or dinner. I am also watching my diet and continuing to walk each evening, as I have been doing since my knees improved. Toward the end of the month, I’ll go back for another blood draw at the lab and another appointment with the doctor. Based on all the data, we will then decide how to proceed. She thought I might need to be on some oral medication, along with proper diet and exercise, to bring my number down to a healthy level. I was really grateful that she didn’t seem to be thinking along the lines of insulin injections, at this point, at all.

Happily, the numbers I've been getting at home have not been as bad as the blood work done at the lab. And the morning test results have been going down, slightly, each day. Of course, still not in the good range, but improving.

I’m pretty sure that this new chapter of my life would read better if I retired from Daring Bakers. I can’t imagine baking those delectable treats and not being able to eat them. Even though it’s only once a month, the desserts usually hang around the house for several days. I haven’t pulled the plug yet, but I’m seriously considering it. Most certainly I will NOT be baking this month's challenge.

Now that the shock is over, I'm not having too hard a time with accepting this situation. Right now I have a number of friends - in Alaska, in Washington, in Oregon, in New Mexico and here, in Texas, who are suffering with much more serious medical issues in their lives. I feel blessed that this is a controllable disease, that I have a good doctor who is willing to work with me, and that I live in a time when, and a place where, there are medicines and knowledge that can help me handle it. Still, I'll need to lean heavily upon God's grace and strength in order to stay committed to this new discipline.

2 Cor. 12:9  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.