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Tuesday Reading Kaffeeklatsch 10/26/21
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@ Theresa-just buy special treats for the super's kids-LoL. I have learned my lesson, and don't buy candy to pass out until the day before, that way I don't have to go to the store twice
It looks and feels like fall here, but it has rained for the past week which is nasty. I have read Frankenstein twice. It is one of my favorite monster tales but after the second time I decided I never needed to read it again... And now, it's kinda pulling me back in! After enough time passes I always think I wanna revisit it. Such a clever story. But Victor is oh so melancholy, I always yell at him through the book!
I am not sure what is happening with trick or treat in my neighborhood but those treats are long gone!
I am going to see A Nightmare Before Christmas at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on the 30th and I have a costume and everything :)
Joanne wrote: "@ Theresa-just buy special treats for the super's kids-LoL. I have learned my lesson, and don't buy candy to pass out until the day before, that way I don't have to go to the store twice"I can cover the supers 4 kids with what I have on hand, I think.
@Meli - spill on the costume!I am going to try to go Thurs to the special pumpkin float at sunset on Thursday Oct 28 on the Harlem Meer, one of the 'lakes' near me in Central Park. A witch in a canoe pulks the lit jack o'lanterns around the lake. You can drop off one an hour before to be in the float.
Problem is that is a busy work time for me.
Oh man, speaking of Halloween candy woes - I just tried to buy a nice variety since I'm expecting more kids to turn out this year than last year (last year there was a local mandate not to take kids out for Halloween), but I'm afraid I might have gone overboard... we still do a lot of grocery shopping online which can be hit and miss with getting what you ordered. I tried to get a small bag of Reese's pumpkin shaped peanut butter cups because I thought they were cute. The delivery today gave me normal looking Reese's but a bag twice the size! And this to go with two other bags I had previously bought. If not many kids show up, what am I going to do with all this candy?! (Other than the obvious... I'm trying not to succumb to the obvious... ;)
Theresa wrote: "On another topic...I've pretty much eaten all the Halloween treats for giving out I purchased....question is do I buy more? ..."Just got home from the grocery store where I spotted two men (prob mid-30s in age) standing and staring at the candy display like they had no idea what to grab first.
I used to always be sure to buy at least one big bag of Safe-T-Pops. (I think that was the name of those lolipops with the soft rope handles, so kids would get poked with the stick.) I haven't seen them in the stores in ages now. More's the pity.
I'm undecided about the whole Trick or treat thing, as we have so few kids in our neighborhood now. We might have 3 or 4 groups and I can see that some in our neighborhood are planning on having them, so they will have plenty of choices to visit, but it is always fun to see the little ones and we won't have to buy much candy.We had the bomb cyclone, atmospheric river rated at 5 come through on Sunday. We had 5 inches of rain in one day and in neighboring Sacramento, they broke a 140 years record. A town in the Sierras had over 10 inches.
While it caused mudslides and localized flooding, it really was a blessing and began to fill some of our reservoirs. Hopefully there will be more to come as we need it so badly.
@Heather Reads Books - pre-pandemic, I would have said just take it to the office for everyone. That is what I used to do.Or ship those Reeses to me....my favorite Hershey candy.
Theresa wrote: "if we are going to go from green to yellow then brown. So far, still mostly green here with touches of yellow. ..."This is pretty much fall colours in Calgary. We really don't have a whole lot that turns orange or red, unfortunately. A few things here and there, but not much.
Booknblues wrote: "I'm undecided about the whole Trick or treat thing, as we have so few kids in our neighborhood now. We might have 3 or 4 groups and I can see that some in our neighborhood are planning on having th..."I usually hand out candy, but didn't last year. I don't plan to this year, either. Our covid 4th wave is starting to abate, finally, but I still feel like kids who are trick or treating still don't have the option getting a vaccine, so I decided not to hand out candy again this year. I imagine I'll go back to it again next year.
We are handing out candy at work, though. That is, it's already out for students to take. For the first time in months, I had a few of the small sized chocolate/candy bars. Oh! Are they ever sweet! Not used to that, anymore! It's a good thing they were the small sizes!
(For those who didn't know or don't recall, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes in January. I made a big change to what I eat and when retested in July, I was (way) down back in the normal range. I am still trying to eat quite a bit better, though I have gone a bit backwards on a few (smaller) things. But eating chocolate bars more often again is not one of those things!)
Dear LibraryCin -- do not eat that candy. I was never diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Spent almost 60 years running around the world, eating what I wanted. All of a sudden, the doc said you have a mild form of diabetes - handed me a box that had a small meter, some test strips and a little gadget to shoot a needle out to prick one's finger. She also set me up with a diabetes educator and a diabetes nutritionist. I took it home, read all the stuff and could not get up the guts to stick a hole in myself. I had more courage the next day and performed my first stick and put the drop of blood on the test strip. The diabetes educator and nutritionist helped me a lot - gave me a lot of info about the disease and showed me various ways to prevent damage to myself. Later I went to a support group to which they had referred me. I was sitting there with friends, listening and the educator said something like, "Research shows that the average person who has diabetes will be insulin dependent within 7 years." I was dumbfounded and when she allowed questions, I asked her to repeat the data so I could write it down. That night, I phoned my only brother and told him my woes and what she had said. He is a good listener and comforter. He said, "Jan, don't worry, you are NOT average." I felt better. Five years later I was insulin dependent. I had moved to Florida and just ignored the blood sugar issue - when I finally got in to the Endocrinologist, she examined me, sent me home. The next day, her nurse phoned and asked when I could come in to be trained on giving myself insulin shots. Again, I just could not envision myself shooting up with insulin. I slept on it and the next day, I was able to do it. That was 8 or 10 years ago. Today, I take 2 different types of insulin, quick acting and slow acting (for night time) - I take shots 4 times a day, along with measuring my blood sugar level before shots. I have to send her reports every two weeks. I write all this out because I had never even thought of having diabetes. Now, all my friends and neighbors know about me and watch out for me. We had a birthday dinner tonight for a friend, he gave me one bite of his dessert. I write out all this because I never dreamed it could happen to me - it did, in spades. Please limit your sugar intake and your intake of carbs - no sandwiches. If you have a hamburger, eat it open faced, with only one piece of bread. Avoid sugar and carbs. I only write this because this is a horrible disease and you have it forever. A tip -- not my idea, someone told me, when you can not stand it any more, take a spoon full of ice cream, put it in your mouth, (yes, it is melting), then spit it out. It gives you a taste. Good luck - stay off the carbs. Get a very good doctor who will monitor your long time sugar levels (A1c) every few months. Good luck. One of the things I learned in support group, if you have prediabetes, you often slip on over at Christmas, Thanksgiving, or with a few of those small sized candy bars. peace, janz
Theresa wrote: "@Meli - spill on the costume!"
It's this Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington costume but a dress version... can I use external links now?
I'll try to get a good pick and share.
Meli wrote: "Theresa wrote: "@Meli - spill on the costume!"
It's this Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington costume but a dress version... can I use external links now?
I'll try to get a good pick and..."
yes Meli external links are now working (or they were the last I tried)
OMG, that is ADORABLE! You will rock it! Is this an event you will be attending with your husband? What is he dressing as -- whatever it is, you will put him in the shade.
Love it Meli, you will look darling in that!
Theresa wrote: "OMG, that is ADORABLE! You will rock it! Is this an event you will be attending with your husband? What is he dressing as -- whatever it is, you will put him in the shade."
It's me, mom, and grandma :)
Husband opted out so just the girls!
If I can get a pic I will share with the group.
History and non-fiction lovers, this month's BookPage journal has focus on history reads. You can get a 28 day free trial from Amazon, or buy a single issue.
Peacejanz wrote: "Dear LibraryCin -- do not eat that candy. I was never diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Spent almost 60 years running around the world, eating what I wanted. All of a sudden, the doc said you have a mil..."Wow, thank you!
Actually I have a ridiculous family history of diabetes, so I always knew it could happen. In January, I was at a 6.2 or 6.3. I had such a sweet tooth! (I'm sure you know, high end of normal is 6.0, but they don't consider someone diabetic until they hit 7.0, so I was pre-diabetic.)
In any case, with that wake-up call, I cut down a LOT on the sugar I was eating. I have not cut it out altogether. Also cut down on the carbs (but not gone altogether). I am choosing much better items, but still allow myself some treats.
In July, when I was retested, I was at a 4.8!!! I have not gone back to where I was (no where near!) though yes, I probably do allow a bit more in the way of treats (as compared to Jan-July), but not much.
I do have one of those test kits, as well, and I did see a nutritionist early on (who specializes in diabetes). I haven't done the testing in a while, but I probably should again occasionally.
Sadly, my family doctor is no longer my family doctor (don't know if she moved or retired - can't see that, she's pretty young - or what, but they let me know in the summer that she is not my family doctor anymore). I don't have a new one, but I will see someone in Dec or Jan again to keep an eye on things.
Try to get a board certified endocrinologist. I no longer have access to the diabetes educators but my endocrinologist insists that I send her my form every two weeks - I list blood sugar level 4 times a day and list the insulin I put in my body. Also anything that is unusual. I hope you know that we are going into our worst time. Thanksgiving and Christmas -- I really love fruit cake soaked in rum. Solid sugar. So I buy a little cake, soak it and treat myself every third day or so. Please be careful during the next two months.
One time when I had radiation, my endocrinologist was not paying much attention to what was happening. I started falling, had zero balance - canes and wheel chairs and walkers. Went to Mayo - they could find nothing. At my next appointment with the endo, my A1c was 9.2 -- off the chart for me. She went nuts and so did I. That was why I was falling and had no balance. She set me on a high dosage of a different long term insulin and I am much better. My point is: Always be alert. You never know what will jump up and bite you in the behind.
My educator set me on a valuable path. I keep a little notebook in the kitchen and write down every single thing I eat. Check the carbs on the box or package - then keep track of the carbs. My educator wanted me to keep it around 170 carb grams a day. Then she went down to 160. That was many years ago. I still write down every single thing and make a guess - you can get carb charts on the web. For example, a normal sized apple is about 30 grams of carbs, so I limit myself to one half apple at a time. Put the other in the fridge, face down on a flat plate - it is ok the next ay. I also list the glasses of liquid (water, coffee, diet coke, etc.) with tic marks at the top of the page. Diabetics need to keep flushing out system - I set myself at 10 per day but the Mayo doc recently said I should be drinking the equal of 12 glasses (12 ounces per day). Also, I bought a kitchen scale and use it. While cheese does not have carbs, it has fat and I was stuffing myself with cheese. Weight! Weight! Started using the scale and am doing better. Good luck the next two months. We need it. And I do know that desire for ice cream, choco, bread stuffing, etc. Please let me know how you are doing. You need to test yourself. The A1c is the gold standard but daily testing helps you daily - or maybe every Wednesday - write it down. Keep logs of everything.
Good luck. Your original statement just scared me. peace, janz
Peacejanz wrote: "I hope you know that we are going into our worst time. Thanksgiving and Christmas.."I'm past Thanksgiving (I'm in Canada - it was a few weeks ago for me!).
I don't remember the actual title of the guy I saw (the "dietician", but dietician is not it. His title is more to do with diabetes, though he's not an endocrinologist.
He didn't seem to think (because I was pre-diabetic, not diabetic) that I needed to test myself all that often. I asked for the tester because I wanted to find out about particular meals, etc. Which were worse than others, for instance.
But yes, I should go back to testing myself more often again. Once a week is probably good timing.
I was told (by a friend (and confirmed by him) that when reading labels for carbs, I take the carbs but then subtract the fibre to be more accurate.
Believe me, I have cut out a LOT of stuff. Or cut down quite a bit. I am being careful and limiting amounts that I eat, especially of anything with sugar (and a bit less-so, but with carbs, as well).
We also talked about the GI index (which I had heard of previously, but didn't know much about). I now have charts that I can refer to for that, too.
With all the changes I made between January and July, I did lose 22 or 23 lbs. I could definitely stand to lose more, but at this point, I think I've plateau'd.
Thank you, though, for all the advice and suggestions!
Hooray for you. Keep it up and search for an endocrinologist in your medical pool. There must be one - ask for a referral. A GP first diagnosed me but she did have appointments for me with the educator and dietitian. Just stay healthy. I just had this same conversation with a dear friend at the library - she had a scare a couple of years ago and the doc said she was going to be diabetic if she did not change. She must have listed a dozen ways she changed - diet, exercise, stop the bread, etc. I probably heard this stuff many years ago but I did not really hear it. It will never happen to me has been my theory. You are an angel for thanking me. Once a teacher, always a teacher - I can not get away. peace, janz
Peacejanz wrote: "Once a teacher, always a teacher - I can not get away...."LOL!
It’s pouring rain and dark for the fifth day in a row, heading into a wet weekend in Boston and the Northeast. Wishing you all a fabulous day and weekend. Don’t let the weather dictate your mood and experience. Have a great great day everyone!!!
Amy wrote: "It’s pouring rain and dark for the fifth day in a row, heading into a wet weekend in Boston and the Northeast. Wishing you all a fabulous day and weekend. Don’t let the weather dictate your mood an..."Sorry that you are having rainy days. Hope your weekend will be good anyways. We've had some fabulous sunny October days here, I loved the walks I took, the falling leaves, the relatively balmy air.
This week I am focussing on what I have achieved and where I have made progress.
I wish all of you a weekend in the same spirit.
Theresa wrote: "On another topic, I started reading Frankenstein: The 1818 Text last night and really enjoying it. How modern it reads vis. language! It's the Feminerdy November discussion book, and I wanted to read it in October to fit in Flurries. It also fits the Popsugar prompt for anonymous author, yay!.."Now I want to re-read Frankenstein, too! I want to focus on finishing at least the AtY Challenge. I won't make the Popsugar this year, I think, but I can still finish the AtY, so I am reading The Nickel Boys now which will fit a few prompts at once...
We had a sunny day yesterday but rain due again today and tomorrow. Right now cloudy - but I never mind that. @Miriam - I still have 5 to read for Popsugar - of which Frankenstein is my published anonymously. I still have the longest in pages to go but I can knock that off in a week to 10 days reading. I will finish, by year end, probably by early December. I'm taking a week vacation at Thanksgiving and another week the 2nd week of December. That should do it as both vacations will have a lot of reading time in them. I did not do AtY in 2020 or 2021 - prompts didn't thrill me and I had too much on my plate already! For 3 years in a row, I've had at least one really big long read slotted in for each year - this year 2. Those are not conducive to participating in multiple reading challenges when coupled with my day job demands. 😒
It's a very blustery day here in Wisconsin ... certainly "encouraging" the trees to shed their leaves!We have a relatively young sugar maple in the front yard (I think we planted it 5 or 6 years ago), that is about half-way to that glorious red/orange color.
There are two more maples in the back yard. Sadly, the big sugar maple that was there when we bought the house has died. We'd notice in the past few years that it was always the last tree to leaf out in Spring and the first to drop its leaves in Fall. This year we noticed the small buds on the tree, but it never leafed out. Our arborist is coming tomorrow to take it down.
The second maple is not a sugar maple, so it's color doesn't get quite so glorious. We planted it about 15 years ago, and it's nearly 30 feet tall now. About a third of its leaves have changed so far.
Are you going to plant a new sugar maple when the old is gone? It's amazing just how quickly they do grow from spindly saplings.
Theresa wrote: "Are you going to plant a new sugar maple when the old is gone? It's amazing just how quickly they do grow from spindly saplings."
Sadly, No.
It was probably there when the house was built ... it was a heavily wooded lot. About half it's root system is under the driveway, which I'm sure contributed to its demise ... just could not get enough water to sustain that larger tree.
The one in the front yard is in perfect spot for me to watch its leaves changing day by day from the office window.
It is a perfect night here NYC to disappear into my blanket fort in my jammies to read. It is cool, windy, smell of rain in air, soothing beverage in hand. Ah, Frankenstein: The 1818 Text, let's finish this tale!
I just wanted to wish everybody a happy Halloween weekend!
Lets see who might be on right now to help me with my low tech issues...... I have a question that is going to reek of stupidity for you guys. At least once you tell me, I catch on quick. Like how do I find a shelf?For Example, I have planned all this time to use the Beantown Girls to Fly Back Home to Fly the Skies back to Boston in December. But just today, I thought to double check. What if it doesn't have the requisite 5 tags? I just figured it would because of the title, But on closer look, the book is WW2 and it takes place largely in Europe! Its just the three girls that are from Beantown, that are the heroines. Turns out, Massachusetts has four tags and New England also four. But no Boston.... Not even one. So now I need to find a Boston Shelf. How do I do it?
Amy, you do not have to fly to Boston. You can fly to Mass. Do you have any GR friends that have this book their shelf? If so ask someone to tag it Mass. for you, and bam-you got the 5 tags you need. This is ok, per a discussion in the beginning of the challenge.
@Amy, here is the link for books tagged as Boston if you want to be that specific.https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Each of you guys are above and beyond amazing! First of all the offer to tag for me Holly, is so thoughtful, but I kind of do want to be aboveboard. Jen, thank you for the list, although you know this means I'm going to be asking you guys again to teach the me the simple things. I swear I'm 53, which I still consider fairly young.But... When I clicked on the list, I saw that I have read many from Boston. Jennifer Haigh's Faith was incredible by the way, and in my top ten for life. But there are four more on my list, three which are extremely high up on my TBR, and I am now excited to go for it!
1) Writers and Lovers. Of course, Lily King, Alice Hoffman, and like seven other really well known top authors live here. Of course she's writing about Boston, and its shelved like 26 times. I have put this off, even though its at the top of my list, because i really wanted to read it with my Book Club. And we are likely doing Cloud Cuckoo Land this December or January. Also HayJay wanted to read it with me and I put it off because of the book club wait. But since I run the club, I'm able to say I'm doing it for December as an additional offer, and call it a Happy Chanukah gift. I know plenty of people will do both.....
2) The Hour of the Witch. I waited all year to read it for October Flurries, and then I couldn't get to it. But its tagged Boston somewhere between 14 and 26 times.
3) The Unseen World. Holly and folks were just talking about this one as a favorite. 14 times Baby. Also Holly, your Saints for All Occassions, which is like 24 times and is climbing up the secret phone list. I couldn't be happier.
Seriously, you guys are awesome. Maybe some of this list will help for Karin or Nicole. Or did Nicole land a little farther south this year? Thank you from the Bottom of my Boston heart!
Plus - I just discovered that our own BnB just got Massachusetts to 5. She tagged Boston too, to get it on the list. Maybe Holly does want to try to tag both just to see how far we can get with this. A little help from my friends indeed!
Holly, did you like the book? I just asked Fran the same thing....
@Amy, I had this difficulty too, a few months ago. I wanted to use a book tagged 4 times as "Israel" for Fly the Skies - and one of those tags was mine. At the time, I was too shy to ask someone to tag it "Israel" a 5th time.I just now tried to tag The Beantown Girls "Massachusetts" for you, but Goodreads did not register it. Perhaps, it's because I listed it as To Be Read, rather than Read. I believe that you can tag it "Massachusetts" yourself, after reading it. Currently, the book is tagged "Massachusetts" 4 times.
You reminded me that I should double check my choice for December, When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain. California has 28, so I'm good there.
Holly R W wrote: "@Amy, I had this difficulty too, a few months ago. I wanted to use a book tagged 4 times as "Israel" for Fly the Skies - and one of those tags was mine. At the time, I was too shy to ask someone to..."Holly - you can tag books for specific shelves even if marked 'want to read' - i do it all the time. Sometimes GR just isn't playing nice. Next time you are in GR, give it a try.
@Amy - in the future if you want to find lists for specific tags, it's very easy. These instructions are from desktop not app. I never ever use the app because it is so limited. At top of GR page, click on BROWSE., then in the drop down window, click on LIST on the left in middle, and/or ALL GENRES at bottom right of drop down. The window that opens has a search feature - just typed in BOSTON for example and voila.
You really should just one day click on all the tab options and see what they offer...
Amy wrote: "Each of you guys are above and beyond amazing! First of all the offer to tag for me Holly, is so thoughtful, but I kind of do want to be aboveboard. Jen, thank you for the list, although you know t..."Amy, both The Unseen World and Saints for All Occasions are favorites of mine. I'll be interested in your reactions, should you decide to read them.
Theresa wrote: "At top of GR page, click on BROWSE., then in the drop down window, click on LIST on the left in middle, and/or ALL GENRES at bottom right of drop down. The window that opens has a search feature - just typed in BOSTON for example and voila...."What is with GR and terminology! Are they "shelves" or are the "genres"!? Ugh! How about tags... ? :-)
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
The Unseen World (other topics)Saints for All Occasions (other topics)
When the Stars Go Dark (other topics)
The Beantown Girls (other topics)
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (other topics)
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Not normal.
On another topic, I started reading Frankenstein: The 1818 Text last night and really enjoying it. How modern it reads vis. language! It's the Feminerdy November discussion book, and I wanted to read it in October to fit in Flurries. It also fits the Popsugar prompt for anonymous author, yay!
I know I've read the book before but probably 40 years ago or more and definitely the 1831 rewrite that Shelley did and that was the primary available edition until somewhat recently. While I recognize some parts of the written version (as opposed to the many movie adaptations and satires I've seen), rereading it is definitely more like reading a book for the first time that you have a basic understanding of the plot.
Why I'm rambling on about this is just to share how fresh and contemporary it reads -- well at least for the first 50 pages.
On another topic...I've pretty much eaten all the Halloween treats for giving out I purchased....question is do I buy more? So far there has not been a sign-up for trick or treaters in the building. The only young kids right now are the super's kids... Eh, I've a few days to decide.