I'm a Book Worm Too!

I finally started reading again!
It's been a while and I thought... I'll post what I'm reading in a gadget on my blog!
Well here's the problem with that. When I start reading it's hard for me to stop! I can read a book a day or maybe 2 days. I got the book The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb on Friday, December 19th and thought, "Man this is a big book! Can I finish it before I have to return it in 2 weeks?!"
Isaiah's eyes got HUGE when he saw it, I believe it's like 750+ pages. When he saw me come out of the library he said "what's that mom?"
I told him "Something for you to read while your off on holiday break"
His voice cracked as he said "I CAN'T READ ALL THAT!"
Well I think it took me all of 3 days to get through that book! I tell you , I have a sickness! I HATED to read in school! I guess because the teachers always want you to read off a list and even though I like fiction, nonfiction and love biographies I never found anything that interested me on their lists.
Another problem of mine is when I find an author I like I have to read every book of theirs I can get my hands on. A few years ago it was John Jakes. I read so many of his books! Also I've been stuck on Maeve Binchy, Sophie Kinsella, Jonis Agee, Sarah Strohmeyer, Jodi Picoult, books from Ophrah's list and Anne Rivers Siddon.
My book Gadget has gotten outdated pretty quick! I read 2 books over the weekend. I read Sea Glass by Anita Shreve and Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella. I really liked Anita Shreve's book, well I liked them both but I've run out of Sophie Kinsella books to read! So now I'm going backto the library to check out a couple more Anita Shreve books.
I should start reading only dead authors then at least I'd know what I was up against.
I tried to read Faulkner, his book As I Lay Dying was on Oprah's book club list and I may have missed something. It was the stupidest thing I've read in a long time, I do not see the genius in it It's a story I could have heard from any of my hillbilly relatives!
My favorite author, the author I just can not wait until he puts out a new book is David Sedaris! He's in nonfiction, all his books are stories from his life, but are so unbelievable hilarious! I love a book that makes me laugh out loud! If you've never read his books or even heard of him search for him on Youtube. There's videos of people reading his books and once I saw a video of him doing a reading on Letterman.
One of the best biographies I ever read was A Boy from Plains by Jimmy Carter, I'm not just saying this because I met his brother Billy when I was young (like 4!). I also read Barack Obama's book Dreams from My Father, which was lucky since now I can dispute my mother in law when she says things like "he's not American because Hawaii wasn't a state when he was born". Also Charles Barkley's book I May Be Wrong.... But I doubt it, is so funny, though I guess that's not really a biography.
Anyway, if anyone has read anything good let me know. I'm always on the look out for a good book!

Bilingual??

On Christmas Day I talked to my friend Carol in North Carolina. Then that night I woke up and was just laying in bed thinking. At some point I realized my thoughts had a southern accent! I don't know why but it was crazy! I don't know if it was talking to Carol that bought it out or what!
When we moved back to Ohio from North Carolina I had a very thick western Carolina accent. You know, where it's not "pen" it's "pey-en". It's not a "shopping cart" it's a "buggy"(heavy on the UH in bUggy).
A local factory was shut down without notice and they filed bankruptcy and the people thought they'd be with out a job for Christmas. Well a North Carolina based company came in and bought them. Gave them all $1500 shopping cards just to win the trust of the former employees, isn't that nice. Well last night I got to thinking, I should go down and see about getting a job there! I could tell them I'm bilingual and would be able to answer phone calls from their main offices in N.C. and actually understand what was being said to me. Also I know enough to talk slow so they can understand me!
When we moved back to Ohio there was a message on our answering machine. I remember Bill and I sitting around the machine and playing the message over and over saying "why is she talking so fast?". I can't remember what the message was about but it took us a bunch of tries to try to understand what that fast talking northerner was saying! She wasn't talking any different than anyone else up here it was just so strange to hear! I think that's when I finally admitted I did have an accent!
Speaking of accents, since we got a Christmas card from Fawn Isaiah has asked me some questions about Canada. First he wondered if when they talk do they say things like "Nice car, Aay". I don't know where he got that! Probably some cartoon with a Mountie in it. Then last night I was watching Comedy Central and Jeff Dunham and Bubba J came on. Isaiah saw Bubba J and said "Why's he talking like that? Is he from Canada?" Sorry Canadians!!! Obviously we have not let Isaiah spend nearly enough time with his Daddy's family or he'd know exactly where Bubba J is from! HA!! Kidding!!! Actually some of Bubba J's stories sound like my own father's family!
(note: the clip on Youtube is NOT the same as was on T.V. last night. I didn't let Isaiah watch the whole thing and there was no cussing on the t.v. version!)

How The Diet is going

Well we've been on the diet about 8 weeks now and Naomi is still not staying in Ketosis. Her ketones are very low in the morning and don't get up to the range we want them until around 3 p.m. They fall again before bedtime. I've been keeping the dietitian updated on how it's going but can't get any answers or instructions on what to do next. With the holidays and the fact that the dietitian is only at main campus 3 days a week, it's been a pain to get answers. I emailed her this morning and she emailed me right back but I've never gotten an answer as what to do next! Do I just wait it out? Does something need to be changed? It's very aggravating. Naomi gained over 2 pounds since the start of the diet. They aren't supposed to gain ANY weight. So something needs fixed!
Her seizures have been cut in 1/2 since we met with the dietitian Dec 5th and changed her to a 3.5:1 ratio (3.5g fat to 1g carbs+protein). She's still having clusters when she wakes and then one here and there. We call the one's here and there her "stragglers". They're usually very mild and she just falls to her bottom, they're over in less than a second.
It's just aggravating to have been on the diet 2 months now and she's still not staying in ketosis! Hopefully we'll get some answers soon!

Dashing

Isaiah had his choir concert Thursday. On the way home he said "I look quite dashing don't I?"

We made all over him! OH YES YES YOU DO! My parents made all over him how HANDSOME!

Then we got home and I wanted to run some of the kids old coats to the neighbor lady. She's dropping them off at a shelter today. Anyhow.... Isaiah walked to her house with me and she wasn't home. We left the coats because her purse and keys were on the table and her car in the drive. So I called her cell. She was at another neighbors, having a cookie swap. I told her what Isaiah had said when we left her house .... "Too bad Georgia is gonna miss my dashingness!" So she immediately left her cookie swap, Grandma instincts kicking in!, and came to see him. She walked in and said "OH, my goodness! You are Dashing! I'm so glad I didn't miss this!" then had him turn a full circle to model his "dashingness". He had the BIGGEST grin on his face. He was SOOOOO proud! It was too funny!

You can't tell it, and I didn't notice until after the concert but... there's a price tag hanging from the back of the tie! A big one!

The concert went really well! God Bless the choir teacher and her nerves of steel! All those 4th graders and their squeaky recorders! She HAS to be medicated! HA!!
Some poor family had a toddler who threw up right before the curtain was pulled! Not ours! Ours peed through her diaper onto her Daddy's coat, again! I luckily had a spare pair of pants. No spare jacket though!We were only gone an hour and changed her RIGHT before we left!

Other than that uneventful!

Tools of the Trade

Say over 4 days Naomi is going to have #11 four times. I get a stack of these 4 oz cups write #11 16 grams of applesauce on 4 of them. I also check to see if any of her other meals have applesauce so I can measure them all up at once. Then I make a big stack of cups that need applesauce and each of them is already labeled with what they need so I can do 4 days of applesauce in no time. I do that with all the remaining ingredients of the meals. Usually I label all the cups first according to meal number, then separate them according to what goes in them, chicken, hot dog, cheese, 1o % fruit, Group B Veg. etc....






I also do her cream in batches. I make up a weeks worth of stickers for her sippy cups writing what number meal and what goes in the cup. Then I do about 6 cups at a time.






Here's some cute little silicone scrapers, a whisk that fits right into her cups perfectly and an egg separator I found. Aren't they adorable!!!!! Plus the scrapers fit right into the 4oz cups then right into Naomi's mouth so she gets every last bite! I put my regular size scraper and whisk along side so you can tell how small they are.



And here's what it all looks like tucked away on the Keto-shelf of the fridge.
I'm not very well stocked here! Only 2 meals. All the 16 grams are for #11 which she eats for her 1st and usually last meal of the day. I usually have way more whipping cream stocked up too! I was just at Walmart yesterday and I don't think I grabbed any! That's unusual!

Planning Naomi's meals

I've been working on this for a while! I got started then decided I needed to compact it a little! There's a lot to fit in! Fawn did a good job of showing how she weighs out her daughter's meals and what they look like. I've been trying to decide how to show how I plan and get together Naomi's meals. First of all I print out a weekly calendar.

Naomi's meals on Ketocalc are numbered so I simply write #11, #18, #13 or what ever. Maybe with a note to remind myself exactly what #18 is! #18-Eggnog.

Then I got the idea of printing out the meals on an index card from another Keto-mom but that was long before we even started the diet and I forget exactly who it was! I'm pretty sure it was Stephanie Precourt though! I printed them out and then bought some of these nifty magnetic photo holder's and put the index cards in there. I keep them all on the left side of the fridge then move over the day's menu to the right side then move them back as I've fed her those meals.

Right now (subject to change at any moment! Especially since I've just recently gotten all new cards made up!!!) Naomi's on a 3.5:1 ratio and gets 1050 calories a day split evenly into 4 meals. So she eats every 4 hours. Usually 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. She is not on fluid restriction. She guzzles down Free America carbonated flavored water from Walmart! Usually at least a whole 34 oz bottle a day plus her cream 4 times a day which I've been adding water to so she ends up with at least 64 oz. daily. She'd probably drink more if I let her and the skin on her feet is still dry as a bone!

Enough for now, next tools of the trade!

The Free Ride is over!

My husband was off work for a long while. His last work day was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and he just went back to work Monday! This is how Naomi spent that whole time! Usually her little chin was nestled right in the curve of his neck. Her little hand patting Daddy's back. I think she forgot she had legs! If she was down on the floor and her Daddy walked through the room she immediately threw her arms up to be lifted. If he was standing watching T.V. she was circling him letting him know, all he had to do was reach down and pluck her up. When he was trying to fix a lamp, up on his knees leaning on the back of the recliner fixing the switch, she was trying to climb up, grabbing hold of his pants pockets to try and pull herself up on the recliner too. She was pathetically attached to him! I don't know how many times he didn't realize she'd walked right up behind him and he knocked her down. He was up on a step ladder cleaning the ceiling fan and when he stepped down she was so close he somehow stepped right on her.

Now he's back to work. She's loving on me when she wakes up, unless we come down to find him still in the kitchen and then she abandons me. When he has to leave she comes back to me, but when he walks through the door in the evening, she's right there, waiting at the gate with her arms up. Her and the dog, I don't know which one loves him more!