My mother specifically asked me for gloves one year, and I'm pretty sure I just saw them still with the tags on, in her giant container of gloves, etc. @@

I am totally identifying with her. But other tampons are just too long and they hurt!!!

Mostly, I've never used anything else and have no desire to add an applicator to the whole process. That seems like a step backward for so many reasons.

I know exactly when I'm gonna start worrying about it. Will be combing Birmingham while I do my xmas shopping. God, don't fuck with that sort of thing.

Mom is terribly hard because she's frikking picky. So far, the only gift I was POSITIVE she liked was the year I gave her a Tiny Tears doll that I bought from Beverly because Mom never got it for Christmas when she was little. Since then, I never know if she likes stuff.

Hey Liese, can you please email me your snail mail address? My email is msgullo at gmail dot com.

I have a frankentree. The tree itself is a gorgeous 7 foot Douglas Fir we got as a school fundraiser for a friend's parochial school. I only had one green strand lights, and when I bought a second strand, they ended up being LED. So half the lights are LED and other half not so much.

Noah decorated so it's bottom branch full and most of my ornaments are dark so they look better on a white tree. But you know what, NO ONE CARES. The tree smells great even though it's not as pretty as I'd like. BFD. I think I need a bit of perspective.

I'm also sucking at gifts this year except for teh kids. I bought my parents steak. And my brother and his wife are getting preserves/curds/shortbreads. I bought K a hippo for Christmas (because of the song).

I know my parents' tastes pretty well, it's just...they have plenty of stuff and don't really want more. So I tend towards practical, or just...charity. Books, except they buy them regularly, so are likely to already have something I find interesting (we have similar tastes.) Ehn.

Also (random) I need to get better about getting a new vial of insulin before I'm down to the last 3/4, because Mister Kitty's picked up a lot with the new vial this week. Guessing the old one was losing viability. Uhg, makes me feel crappy for making him probably feel crappy. I was worrying he seemed to be losing weight, but didn't make the connection until this weekend.

Quote from my mom, "Well. I don't know what your dad wants. Anytime I figure out he wants something, he's already bought it for himself."

@@

Aggravating parents.

I love frankentrees! I don't know if you remember my parents', but OMGYES frankentree. I would insist on every ugly homemade ornament go up and cheesy ones to boot. I love it, it is our family history.

I kinda miss it.

I will start my OB hunt tomorrow

due to internet issues you all have missed my diabetes rant -- which is good. I'll sum it up because my basic idea is important.

Diabetes comes with a barrel of guilt. Listen a little and you will hear "lose weight and you will not get diabetes". So whoever has it, gets to feel guilty for not preventing it. and then the word control is used. For a disease that is progressive. So there are a lot of factors that decide if you get it. and once you have it, you can really only influence it. if you want to help - Don't talk about food. Make healthy food available, but don't talk about the cake. And make opportunities for more time on the feet. As my doctor says -- in this case exercise means move the big muscles , not sweat