I am at work now, but did get to start the day with Carmen, the Mary Sue person who designed our yard coming over and telling us what we need to do to prep for next week,, when she comes over and stains the backyard!

She was thrilled at our front yard--apparently, with several of the yard projects she has worked on, people have just let them die afterward. I don't get it--you get a free design expert and lots of help and do days of work doing over your space--why not keep it looking nice? Pruning and watering are not hard, once you get the hang of them. Plants will die, of course, while you get the hang of it, but in California is is not hard to find things that will grow.

Desire to nap, yes. Shop, no.

Yes. This.

I am so happy for your continuing yard joy. And yay for awesome Carmen!

Steph, i wish i were one of your coworkers tomorrow. Just tomorrow, for the pi(e).

Sue, of course!

pie for pi.

I wonder if I should make a pie as well? I haven't made a sweet potato pie since January, time to make another I think.

I'm watching the Carolina-Duke ACC Championship game (GO HEELS!!) with amyth and a fellow geeky friend. amyth says hello and she misses you all and hopes to be back on the board soon, and apologies to anyone she owes email to.

Wheen i ccok dried fruit in my oatmeal -- I don't add more sugar. But then I've weaned my self off a lot of things tha t have extra sugar in them ( why does peanut butter have sugar in it)

and just as a matter of I can't help myself. ... when some uses the term high carb -- what they usually mean is that a small amount of food has about 15 grams of carbohydrate s -- in the case of oatmeal that means 1/2 of a cup. ( rice is about 1/3 of a cup) Broccoli is not high carb it takes about 1 and 1/2 cups to get to 15 grams of carbohydrate. aq

and Nathaniel just stood on the send button.

one more thing

you can get dried without added sugar. Not cranberries, but cherries, berries , apples,etc. So as long as you are paying attention -- usually it is 2 tablespoons to 1 serving of fruit.

and I have to do this with food. I do not believe that anyone food is so perfect or so evil that you should never eat it ( BTW I don't believe twinkies are food) I havve one friend who has to eat a lot of fiber I have another that just can't handle it. You have to know what works for you

Work is still kicking my ass. I'm trying to relax and not undo the ER, but I have plans this afternoon, and everything is moving like molasses.

when some uses the term high carb -- what they usually mean is that a small amount of food has about 15 grams of carbohydrate s

I've never heard people clarify it in such specific terms. I've heard people use the phrase to mean starchy, non-fiber-y carbs that quickly break down to sugar and spike your insulin, like Wonder Bread or a Moon Pie.

But I know that you (beth) are pretty well-educated on all that because of your diabetes, so that usage of it is interesting. I probably hear "high carb" from women's magazines and people who are dieting and so forth, who don't understand (or even know) the whole 15 gram rule.

My understanding is that the fiber of "high carb" foods that are also high in fiber does help to ameliorate the insulin spike one would get with a Moon Pie. But I'm not diabetic, so I don't pay as close of attention to that nutritional fine print the way diabetics do.

And then of course people's bodies are different, and maybe the fiber in oatmeal does ameliorate the insulin spike in most people but not everyone, in which case, well, eggs are a lovely breakfast food.

I've never heard people clarify it in such specific terms. I've heard people use the phrase to mean starchy, non-fiber-y carbs that quickly break down to sugar and spike your insulin, like Wonder Bread or a Moon Pie.

It's been helpful to me to understand it that way. Like beth said, the part of a donut that equals 15 g of carbs is incredibly small compared to the amount of broccoli, for instance (or even rice or whole grain) that equals 15 g of carbs.

I don't like to cut anything out completely, because if it's forbidden it's all I want, but I know if I'm going to have pancakes, I know I have to watch my carbs (and make them healthier carbs) later in the day.