Friends, Phones, and Addictions

We had a lot in common!

I just had my awesome meet up with Sara. She beat me to the punch so I suggest you get over to her blog right now (unless you have already read it) and read her post. I am going to try and
tell you about some other stuff that happened.

First off, we have the same cell phones. Sara posted her picture and here they are from my angle. I forgot to tell her that only the coolest of the cool were able to buy this particular phone, at least that is what I heard.

We chat chitted in the Red Robin for about an hour I think and man, we laughed a bunch! I also forgot to tell her that the big scary Red Robin character kinda freaks me out so I was thankful that it did not fly by!

We talked a lot about the D of course. Sharing diagnosis stories is always interesting to me and we had some parallels in that too.

We talked about our faith and how important that is to us. So many things in common and none of them had to do with Diabetes. HA! Take that stupid Diabetes! ;)

I told Sara that I wanted to explain what makes me turn all "Ninjabetic" on someone. Here is the story I told that ended with me spilling my soda on the remaining Cheese Sticks. I will quote myself here so you can get an idea of the level of Ninja skills I possess.

"So my little sister and I go to McDonalds one night and we order two meals. One with a Large Diet Coke and one with a Regular Coke. When the guy in the window hands me the drinks I noticed that one lid had the little "diet button" pressed down and the other had no buttons pressed. My sister asked me 'want me to check your soda?' to which I reply 'Nah dude, at least one of them has to be diet.' So we get home and guess what? Both are regular! So I call up Micky D's ready to ream the Clown! I am going all the way to the TOP! So the manager gets on the phone and I say, 'Okay, you need to explain to your employees that pressing the button on the top of the lid does not magically change the contents within the cup! They have to actually fill the container with the correct beverage before they....." And the soda spilled.

And now that I think back, maybe I knocked it over with my mind. Yeah, that sounds better huh?

Anyway the next 3 hours consisted of several gallons of Diet Soda! I think the dude at Carls Jr could spot me in a crowd at this point. And hanging out in the mall like all the "cool kids" do.

We strolled through the Mac store and took this sweet picture using an iPhone! If only I had 600 bucks lying around. And honestly, it was pretty easy to use accept for the whole turning the screen from portrait to landscape. Sara kept shaking it as if it was stuck. I laughed a lot about that.

And I think that was how we spent most of the 4 hours together. Just laughing and learning. Learning about this person that I only knew from blog posts and pictures online. I feel as though I have known Sara forever which is just about the coolest thing.

I spoke too soon. The coolest thing is that we have mutual friends! And I mean goo friends! Let's put this into perspective. My daughter is currently at this friends house right now having dinner with their family. Sara had mentioned what College she went to out here and I asked her if she may have heard of someone I know that used to work there. That my friends was the coolest thing that happened.

I cannot wait until the next time Sara comes out here so we can meet up again.

We laughed.
I almost cried. (Don't laugh but I got a little choked up talking about Neville Longbottom)
We talked.
We walked.
But most importantly, we drank lots of soda together and really isn't that what it's all about?

My Week in Rhyme

On Monday night I was trimming
Clipping away at my nails
When I must have clipped too much
And my toe began bleeding in pails.

I scurried off to the Doctor’s
Met a new Doc that I didn’t know
He asked, “bad trip to Market for piggy?”
As he stared at my favorite Big Toe.

He said, “we will clean it and wrap it
And you’ll need to do the same.”
I agreed and he left the room
And I sat there feeling very lame.

On Wednesday my toesy felt better
so Racquetball I went to try
Two serves were all I got through
Because I pulled a muscle in my thigh!

I tried to deal with the pain
But hardly slept all night
So off to the Doc’s again Thursday
Hoping he would make it all right.

As I sat in Urgent Care
With every Harry, Dick, and Tom
I couldn't believe who was on duty.
The Notorious Doctor F-Bomb.

I was lucky that he did not see me
It was the Doc from the time before
He said, “Hey I just saw you
And now you’re back for more?”

I told him the story of what happened
He pulled and pressed here and there
He said, “Take it easy and ice it
And keep you butt in a chair!”

So my weekend will be mellow
I will keep it safe and sane
Except when I meet an OC’er
That has jumped out of a plane!

You Tube Tuesday #28

I used to love cartoons as a kid. I guess I still do. Anyhow, here is a He-Man clip that you might like.

A Bad Sign

On Independence Day each year, we have a worship service at our church around the flag pole. It is always a short, casual service consisting of Patriotic songs, Prayers for our country, and a “retiring of the flag” ceremony led by a local boy scouts troop.

I usually am in charge of getting the music together and leading the songs. Patriotic songs are some of my favorite songs I think because of the memories they spark. Besides Earth, Wind and Fire and the Grease soundtrack, Patriotic songs are some of the first songs I learned as a child.

I never really thought of myself as a very patriotic person until I went on a trip to Washington DC that got me in touch with my internal Red, White and Blue. Since then I recognize the lump in my throat as I sing the national anthem, the pride I feel when an American wins a gold medal at the Olympics, and the disgust I have when I see things like what I saw on my way to church yesterday.

On my way to church I saw a sign hanging from a tree that read. “America is for Americans.” My kids sat in the back of the car while I let that statement sink in. I thought about my heritage and how much my Cuban Grandfather and Puerto Rican Grandmother loved this country and encouraged all of their 6 sons to serve in the military to protect the land that they loved. I thought about my father, a Los Angeles County Sheriff who would have served in Vietnam had it not been for a Hernia, encouraging me to join the military and had it not been for Diabetes, I would have had that chance.

I am all for free speech and I know that it is part of being American but I cannot get the picture of America being “the Melting Pot” made up many colors and cultures. I love the diversity of Los Angeles which is one of the reasons I stay here. So many different cultures and lifestyles to experience and live with makes intolerance less existent. I think it is a good thing that my kids get to see different people and not look at them as “different” since in reality they are not.

It seems to me that only true “Americans” were given a little bit of land to call their own after the rest was taken from them. And now the first few immigrants call themselves the true “Americans.”

I understand that we need to have laws about immigration and all of that. That is not the point I am trying to make. This sign was like a “Strangers are not welcome” sign and frankly, that is not what this country is about.

Sorry about the rant friends but this one really bugged me.

You Tube Tuesday #27

Everything is more fun at a baseball game. Especially making fun of someone dozing off.

Enjoy and Happy 4th of July