Word of the Day #3

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(3) diabetes - a condition in which the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin or when cells stop responding to the insulin that is produced, so that glucose in the blood cannot be absorbed into the cells of the body. Symptoms include frequent urination, tiredness, excessive thirst, and hunger.
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Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that causes serious health complications including renal (kidney) failure, heart disease, stroke, and blindness. Approximately 14 million Americans (about 5% of the population) have diabetes. Unfortunately, as many as one-half of them are unaware that they have it.
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The causes of diabetes mellitus are unclear, however, there seem to be both hereditary (genetic factors passed on in families) and environmental factors involved. Research has shown that some people who develop diabetes have common genetic markers. In Type I diabetes, an autoimmune response is believed to be triggered by a virus or another microorganism that destroys the cells that produce insulin. In Type II diabetes, age, obesity, and family history of diabetes play a role.
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Word of the Day #2

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(2) determination - Firmness of purpose; a fixed intention or resolution -
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I am determined to keep my weight below the obese or heavy categories and to keep my FBS below 120.
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A little catching up...

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I have decided that my weight, walks and FBS will be on the other blog I have created called "The Biggest Loser".
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On this web site, along with pictures, I am going to try a word of the day since the one I programmed in to record has decided to bomb out!
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To catch up, I need to double up on words...or even triple up. 365 words. Let's start...
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(1) dedication - commitment; a message that makes a pledge -
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I have dedicated myself to keep up my fitness that I have begun since last year and will continue to strive to maintain a regular schedule of exercise, stretching, massage therapy and meditation.
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Wow! Lots of Changes

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Our local DP (Don Pablos) shut down on December 26th, suddenly, so I researched and found that all but 2 closed in FL. We are (maybe) fortunate to have the remaining two in the Orlando area. We will visit the Seminole Towne Center location on Wed. if it is still open.
The Orlando Dixie Stampede shut its doors today saying that they received an offer for the property that was too good to pass up. What about the close to minimum wage job earners that were told not to report for work the next day? I hope Dolly had some kind of compensation/back-up plan for them. It so saddens me.
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My weight for this week is 168...down 2 lbs from 12/24.....yeah!!! I didn't weigh myself on the 31st due to a lack of a scale in TN. FBS...not so good this am...115...but, I sure did enjoy that double serving of the bottom of the chip bag...known as the crumbs....last night with my Subway turkey/cheese wrap! YUM!!!
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I have walked all 3 days since arriving home from vacation. 5 miles each. Today I was really sore so my time was over 1 hour and 20 minutes. Not to worry, it means I had a few more minutes to burn calories at a heart rate of 60% of my max! After a hot bath with salts, I stretched and feel much looser. Actually, pain free at the moment! Life is good!
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Welcome 2008!

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I did my first walk today. Read about it here .
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My goals for this year have been in place for a while now but they will continue and expand as I am able. I lost 20 lbs last year and hope to lose another 20 lbs this year. That would be a great goal to achieve. My blood sugar was down on average at least 10 points by the end of the year from August testing. I even had 4 readings on vacation under 100. The last one from 3 days ago - 82!!! Yep, you read correctly. Eighty-Two!!!
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Today was 108 but I splurged on 5 pieces of mountain taffy we brought back from TN on the drive home last night. As I begin walking daily, I hope to see the FBS stay below 110 and possibly below 100 most days. My goal is to not have any FBS above 120 until the end of January. At that time, I will re-evaluate as the weight drops and maybe lower the goal to 115 for the next month.
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Other goals, Well, I am really bad at corresponding. I plan to write letters to everyone who is long distance and I didn't see at Christmas. I want to catch up on showing them pictures of the family and let them know what we are doing these days.
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Another goal is to have reduced the size of clutter in the garage...not sure by how much but just make an effort to remove unwanted items will be a goal achievable for me and rewarding, too. Also, reducing, downsizing the amount of crafts I have by USING THEM!!! What a concept. I have plenty to use up so it won't be difficult to achieve this one, too. Plus, it might make some people happy to receive a nice home made item from me.
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I also want to do something with my massage therapy background. Maybe volunteer some time massaging somewhere. Not sure yet. I have to renew my nursing license this April. Will start before April this year! HAH!!!
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And if I can continue to set and achieve goals, I want to keep track of them here. Maybe I will have the most entries this year. If I have a post every other day, that would surpass the 147 from 2006. More goals. More to focus on. I had better get started...
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It's the most wonderful time of the year...

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'Tis the season to be jolly. I may not be jolly all of the time but I am lately. I have lost 20 lbs and feel great! I have health, a wondeful family and many good friends to count on. And my cats love me.
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Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!
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UHHHH......

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Just for the record, I am NOT older than Kenny Rogers whose birthday is today!!!!! Sheesh! Who does these birthday things?
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Whose birthday is Today?
Today's Birthdays
1977 - Brittany Murphy
1968 - Sammy Sosa
1964 - Kenny Rogers
1935 - Roy Scheider
1889 - Claude Rains
All Birthdays on November 10
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One more time...

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Karl and Teagan

Oviedo Homecoming 2007

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Today was Oviedo's Homecoming dance. The kids went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner and then to the dance. I wasn't able to be there for pictures but Teagan's mom sent me some pictures so this is hot off the presses!
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Famous Halloween... Famous Banks Boys

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Life Is Good...

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KJ always keeps an eye out for the newest Famous Stars & Straps on-line store clothing* and when he saw these tees being offered for a limited time, he showed me the day they came out and had to have it. He also wanted his brother and dad to share in the excitement. They obliged! Karl's tee is called "Fangs", KJ's tee is called "Bandages" and Kent's tee is called "Bolts". How apropos for Halloween.

* Being voted best dressed, you have an image to keep up with!
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Fall Dance (not to be confused with homecoming...)

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KJ and Emily

Hagerty Fall Dance

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KJ went to the Fall Dance at Hagerty High School with Emily. It is called a fall dance because the school is only 3 years old and has up to grade 11 which means that there won't be any "alumni" until this junior class returns after they graduate AKA "homecoming", at that point. KJ enjoyed the dance very much even though they were an hour late due to band competition conflicts.

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Time flies....

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Card that I made for my niece...I "cased" it from Splitcoaststampers.com with a couple of changes.
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Card for my niece's fiance. Also cased from SCS. I'm baaaaaaaad!!!
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Look to the Right

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If you look at the birthday's below, I was aghast when I saw that James Gandolfini is younger than me!!! AGH!!! I expect one of these days that I will see some date with the year after mine that says "Dirt"!!! Shees!!!
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Blog of the Day

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I haven't had time to upload my stuff so I'm taking you to someone else's stuff. Beautiful glass beads. But, that's not why I was interested in it. Take a look at the kitty monorail down on the lefthand side!!! LOL
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Monorail Cat
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I can't drive 55

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Click here... Scroll through the pics and comments...
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More pics to follow...
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A WONDERFUL BREAKTHROUGH!!!

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I have just been googling a report I heard yesterday on the local noon news WESH-TV Orlando about an UCF scientist who may have found a CURE, yes, you are reading correctly, a CURE for diabetes. It boggles my mind that this is so close to happening! Read these articles and spread the news. A $2 million was awarded to UCF from the National Institutes of Health to fund this study.


Here are several articles I found when googling this topic...

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/78273.php

http://www.uwire.com/content//topnews082407003.html (GO Oviedo, FL!)

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5016

http://www.palmcoast.biz/portal/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13078

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070730111638.htm

Being a skeptic, I am always looking for "the other side of the story" but so far, I haven't found anything negative (except that drug companies may lose lots of $ on insulin and oral anti-diabetic medications).


Here is an excerpt about this professor's partial credentials...

"Daniell, who is the first
UCF Trustee Chair in Life Sciences,
began teaching at UCF in 1998. His
research led to the formation of UCF's first
biotechnology company, called
Chlorogen, for the commercial development of
patented chloroplast genetic
engineering technology. In 2004, he won UCF's
Pegasus Professor Award, the
top honor given to a faculty member who excels in
teaching, research and
service. Daniell also became only the 14th American in
the last 222 years to
be elected to the Italian National Academy of Sciences."

I am psyched!!!

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Let's back up a few days...

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HAPPY 1st Anniversary Karl and Teagan!!!

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It was actually the 19th and they did spend it together at Seaworld (their favorite place to visit in California). I apologize for placing it on the blog post haste.

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They were at Seaworld all day on Sunday after Teagan spent the day at the beach on Friday and was burned pretty badly. I was worried all day about her shoulders but she seemed to be resilient and had a wonderful time despite it.
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Karl had fun planning the day and had a special surprise for dinner...
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He made reservations for the Shamu Rocks Dinner Buffet. They sat right at the tank and watched the whales around them as they ate. A special evening to cap off their anniversary! The Shamu Rocks show finished off the night (with priority seating as part of the buffet!)

The picture below has a special story. Karl came home after dropping off Teagan at her house (making sure that her car door was left unlocked) and uploaded his pictures to the computer. Then he picked out two pictures and photoshopped them. He printed both out. One for the frame you see below and the other for the inside of Teagan's anniversary card. Let's just say that it's of Teagan in a "priceless" pose! So, Karl finished making the card around 2 am and drove over to Teagan's house to place the two items in her car before she got up for her first day of school. Forever the romantic!!!

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BTW, the Shamu sticker, punch and cardstock are compliments of mom's scrapbooking stash!!! LOL
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The joy of bringing joy....

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I love a happy ending!

A friend has adopted three little girls and we tried to find a gift for them. Tickets to Wet and Wild sounded good but they went the week they came home to live here in FL! So, I scrambled with ways to make their gift a special, memorable one, while having to hurry before they went and did it first. Somehow, I thought of the Build-A-Bear idea and it became a hit! I ordered them on-line and each girl received her own envelope with gift card attached in a cute "Cub Condo" card. The attached message read, "We come "bear"-ing gift cards!!! Oh Happy Day!!! Congratulations!!! From The Banks". When the parents explained what they had gotten, the girls drove mom and dad nuts to go right away. So, they went on Saturday (received on Friday night) and stayed for 3 hours deciding on everything including accessories! They take them to bed at night and want to carry them all day long, too!!! That makes me smile. So cute!!!

Here are their choices. Mom's is the mouse on the left, dad's is the triceratops in the middle and the girls chose the two kitties and the bear.

How wonderful!!!

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Some new additions...

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I have added a few things to the side bar for your enjoyment.

I may have to add...grab a cuppa joe or a spot of tea and read away...

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QOTD

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I have added a QOTD on the side bar for your entertainment. I send one out nightly to a group of friends and saw this feed. I like it!
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Random pictures of interest...

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This wine didn't make it to the tast test but I rate it a "5" for original name!!!

(And it would have been tied for the most expensive bottle!!! LOL)

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A picture hanging above the bed in my mother-in-law's bedroom. I love to look at it every time I go there.
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This was a weed in the backyard rose garden area but I thought it looked so symmetrical! And green!
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