Crafts, gardening, and carb sensivity hodge podge

So, let's start with crafts. For Sunday as part of my job as Director of Ethical Education I do a service project with the kids for Mother's Day. This year's project was twofold, one was for Mother's Day, the other a start on the Father's Day project. I really only have 45-50 minutes with the kids, so that isn't enough time for them to cut apart egg cartons, paint, let them dry and then assemble, so I had to cut them apart (getting a blister in the process) and paint them. I then organized all the materials so that on Sunday the kids (ages ranging from 3 to 11) could assemble them. This took up a big chunk of Saturday, and any of the time I was going to devote to gardening. I was "gardening" in a different way!

This fit in perfectly with our curriculum on reusing/recycling/being good to the earth. All materials for the projects except for the ribbon were leftovers from other projects, and egg cartons, of course.

They turned out so cute and I think the kids had fun making them. We'll finish the Father's Day "owls" soon. (As always, you can click on a photo to make it larger).

 

Next, gardening. I need to do a lot of it and I "sort" of love it. I get a bit overwhelmed when I look at the big picture though. We inherited a mostly blank slate of a yard with the exception of some overgrown bushes.  Here are the masses of flowers and plants I need to get into the various spots in the yard:

My front yard is actually taking shape. We put in this stone path two years ago and a lot of the perennials have come back and are filling out a bit. And when I saw "we" put it in. We put it in. I dug up the sod with a manual sod cutter and then my husband and I laid the stones and then I planted.

Two of the three peonies in the front yard have gotten quite big and beautiful. For some reason, one, that I planted a year later than the rest isn't filling out - same with the ones I planted in the back yard too. All three "newly" planted ones have just 1 stalk. This one and another are only one year old, which is typical for a first year, but one is two years old and it's still like that. Weird.

I do have some naked spots though where the perennials didn't make it. AND I need to get the front step pots filled and organized and the area surrounding it weeded.

A problem area I have in the yard is this side yard. It is COVERED in sweet gum balls and it is either WET or DRY and doesn't get a lot of sun. So, I have tried planting several things back there now and nothing likes to grow there except the crepe myrtle and the Viburnum tree. I have ordered a few things to go there - some giant astible and red hydrangeas

 This side flower bed is a pain in the butt too. It is FREAKING HUGE and was a huge mulch pit with layers of that weed prevention cloth - FIVE layers. I took that out two years ago and 'some' areas have filled in, but others not. What grows really well there are thistles. I have TONS of thistles I need to dig up.  It's a combo area of shade and partial sun.

We also have a rock garden. And it gets SOOOOOOO weedy in the front with those false strawberries. Ugh! But the one peony is HUGE. It's almost up to my shoulder!

While in the back yard, we took out all that overgrown forsythia. That one patch is HUGE. The other got wide at the bottom of the property:

A big bummer was that ALLLLLLL the figs I had in ginormous pots died! The winter was just too harsh for them this year. Now I have to decide if I want to try again or just plant one in the yard - like back where that huge forsythia was.

And, our deck needs a lot of attention. I have a ton of pots on the deck, planters around the deck (10 of them) and then the raised planters to plant the herbs (out of rabbits reach).

Lastly, I have to plant a tree in the front yard. Hopefully third time is the charm. I first transplanted a tulip tree there and it took, but then I read that those were "discouraged" because they tend to splinter. So, I planted an ornamental I ordered, but it never took. This time I bought a native pink dogwood. Let's hope.

One of the 'fun' spots in my yard is the gnome garden. I am so happy to see the perennials I planted around it mostly came back (and are still filling in).

And lastly, carb sensitivity. This weekend, being it was Mother's Day, I treated myself to rhubarb pie and homemade ice cream. I had one slice and one scoop and it was GREAT.  However, because of that indulgence despite my caloric intake only being 1800 and I took over 10,000 steps yesterday, I gained 1.4 pounds. According to my gizmo (and calculators), I should have been at a huge deficit for the day, but those carbs? Nope... they make me hold water like crazy!  It's water weight and it will come off, but I think it shows how extremely sensitive I am to carbs if a single dessert on an otherwise spot on day can do that to me.

Phew... I think that's all in this very picture heavy post.  As you can see, my yard will keep me busy. We have 1/3 of an acre, but it sure does feel HUGE at times.

This whole carb sensitivity thing

One of the biggest things I learned about myself through this weight loss journey (and man is this a long journey) is that I am more sensitive to carbs than I realized and carbs affect my whole body - more than I realized.

So, I started on a lower carb diet because my doctor told me to and because it worked for me before when I had gestational diabetes during pregnancy. I knew without having to do too much tweaking what foods would spike my sugars and which wouldn't. (anyone can check this as anyone can buy a glucose monitor - EVERYONE'S sugar spikes, it's just how fast it comes down that determines if you are diabetic or not). So, I know to avoid things like bread, rice, pasta, sweet potatoes and bananas.

What I really didn't know is how easy it would be to give them up, but what I also didn't realize is how hard it is to give them up. Confused? It's hard to stand the first 2-3 days of lowering the carbs (and again, I'm not talking about going to Atkins 20 grams low carb, but just ridding the simple carbs, but keep complex carbs like peas, beans, apples, etc). Once your body is rid of the simple sugars and is regulated, then you don't crave those sugars any more and you can have them in front of you and can resist them.

The hard part is GETTING THROUGH those three days. Your body is addicted to the sugar highs, so skipping that donut or that cookie is really, really hard.

I think I exasperated things this time with having a cortisone shot in my shoulder - which can mess up sugar metabolism. So, resisting the sugars was even harder and I LOST my control - big time - gaining 15 pounds over the holidays!!!!!

But what I've also learned is that sugar doesn't just make me crave sugar, but it does this to me:

1. I have to get up during the night to go pee if I have a lot of sugars.
2. I get sinus headaches if I eat too many sugars.
3. I get bloated, especially around the mid section if I eat sugars.
4. I feel very lethargic if I eat sugars.
5. I reach orgasm better if I eat sugars.
6. I need to use the toilet more (#2) when I eat sugars.

I have FINALLY (I think) figured out how they are all connected - or all but #6. It's pretty easy to know if you are getting up in the middle of the night to pee or not. Same as it's easy to know if you have headaches or not. Or have orgasms or not.

In every one of these cases (except #6), it's all caused by bloat/swelling/inflammation I think - based on my unscientific observations.  My gut is swollen, so my bladder is pressed on, so I can't hold as much pee, so I need to get up (and I always need to pee LESS, just more often - like during pregnancy).  My sinsuses feel more pressure because they are swollen/inflamed by the sugars, so they ache.

What about orgasms? Well, I have always found it much easier/faster to reach orgasm when I'm mid-cycle (around ovulation) or right before more period. Why? More blood flow/bloating/swelling of the area, so I'm more sensitive. Why would it be different for when I eat more sugars?

I thought my "problem" of anorgasmia was getting better this summer with the switch from generic to name brand drug for my thyroid. But you know what else changed then? I went on vacation and ate more sugar. I am eating less sugar and I'm having problems in that area again. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Now, #6? I think that this is different. I just think my body doesn't run as efficiently or absorb as much into the gut when I eat higher sugar content foods, so it passes through quicker.

One thing I can't know is if it is sugar or wheat. As for me they tend to go hand in hand. I rarely have too many sugars that don't involve wheat, but both are know to be inflammatory foods to the body. I just must be super sensitive to one or the other or BOTH. Though, I think it's sugar.

What this is POUNDING into my head though is that it's not just making me fat - it's causing other issues. And I really need to stay away from those delicious treats as my body doesn't like them in almost any area (except my genitals it seems).

Again... sorry for speaking so bluntly, but a. how else do we learn if we aren't honest? And b. I'm a sex ed teacher - I've learned that talking about natural body needs and functions is healthier than being all hush-hush about it. I'm married. I'm not dead, therefore, yes, I do have sex.