Perfection is unattainable, but . . .

Candy Cane Soy Candle

While I consistently have to remind myself that it's impossible to be perfect or to do something that turns out perfect, it certainly is hard to keep from being disappointed when things don't turn out the way we want.  I had an issue recently with a candle I wanted to pour.  I had ordered a bottle of the new scent and had this vision in my head of what I wanted the final product to look like.  I began pouring, but I was too excited to see the final product, and thus hurried the process along.  This particular candle was going to have 5 different layers.  Each layer had to set up before the next could pour, but still needed to be a little warm so the layers would bind well to each other.  I allowed some cool air to pass through my studio in hopes it would cool the layers faster and let me continue pouring without such a long wait.  Well, it let me pour faster, but the final product had jump lines where the wax cooled too fast, and the binding of the layers was poor.  I was extremely disappointed.  The candle had the layers, and the angles I had dreamt up, but looked nothing like a product I would be proud to offer to customers.  Back to the work table the next day, with a clearer mind and calmer attitude, I began again.  The first day I only poured 2 of the layers and the next day I poured the remaining 3.  I keep the doors closed to keep the air warm, and I patiently waited after each layer to let the wax set up.  I had changed my design for the layers as well after seeing how much I disliked the first attempt.  And the results were... well... not perfect, but certainly as close as is possible.  I almost think that when we fail at first and then reattempt and succeed, it reminds us that we are human - but we sure do come equipped with amazing skills that create perfectly imperfect things.

Devil in Disguise

Oh Ice Cream Man, you and your player-piano music are the bane of my summer existence.  How innocently you troll around the neighborhood, waving sweetly at my boys, with the sides of your truck covered in delightful treats.  Tempting them to chase you the way a dog chases the mailman.  And as if the sound of your repetitive music wasn't enough to lure all those young sweet-tooths, you actually take the time to slow down and stop in my neighbor's driveway to encourage her to spend all her sweaty stripper dollars on ice cream for her 5 munchkins just so they might stop screaming about the ice cream man!!  I had just finished giving my 2 youngsters a sugar cookie treat.  In fact, their mouths were so full of sweetness that they couldn't even fully articulate your name, though they were ready to chase you all over town for a Spiderman on a stick.  In the words of the Saturday Night Live Church Lady, you might be "Satan?"

P.S.  My neighbor isn't really a stripper, but anytime someone pulls out a wad of singles it's the first thing I think of.  Oh, and if you are reading this in time, I left that $2 you handed me on your tv cabinet which might buy you one freezie pop from the devil's dessert truck.

Halloween Treats - The "Fun Size" Candy Bar

Ooooh, I love Halloween.  My pants don't, but for some reason I can convince myself that eating a dozen fun size snickers bars isn't really like eating a couple regular size ones.  I recently heard a story regarding the use of a small candy bar that is going to make it impossible for me to eat these in a couple months.  First let me throw out a little background nutrition information.  There is a growing incidence of Diabetes in this country.  Type 2 (previous called "adult onset") is expanding exponentially, to the point where adolescents are being diagnosed.  Type 2 diabetes is preceded by insulin resistance where if left unmanaged will lead to an individual's inability to maintain regular blood sugars.  The next step may be an attempt to manage it with changes in diet and exercise, but a large number of people are not identified early enough and often have to start taking oral medications immediately.  Some have let it progress too far, or the oral medications are no longer effective, and find themselves with daily insulin injections.  Okay, so for people who are maintaining their blood sugars with diet/exercise and/or oral medications the risk of running a low blood sugar is minimal, whereas those who take insulin injections need to be more careful and be sure to adjust insulin levels depending on what foods they are eating and when exercise is being done to avoid this.  Alright, enough with boring background crap.

So my friend tells me this story of 30-40 year old man who was told that since he has diabetes (we are assuming non-insulin dependent based upon his physical makeup and age) and is doing some extra exercise, he needs to be careful to avoid a low blood sugar.  In an attempt to prevent going into a diabetic coma (highly unlikely with non-insulin dependent diabetes) he must carry around with him a ziploc with a little tube of lube and a fun size candy bar.  He informed my friend's husband that if he passes out, they should turn him over and insert the candy bar into his colon.  ............  pffffft....  Excuse me a moment, I had to get a good laugh out again about this.  He was dead serious!!  He claimed his doctor had told him to follow this procedure.  My friend is going to school for nursing and had never heard of such a thing, but she wanted to see what my response was since I had worked with so many diabetics.  My initial response was to wonder why he needed the lube.  I mean really, if you're inserting a chocolate bar, like a Twix, won't the chocolate melt and become easy to insert?  Next I wondered who was going to step up and handle that particular task if this guy passed out.  And on top of that, was someone going to shove this tiny "fun size" treat all the way up to jejunum (small intestine)?  It wouldn't be as simple just popping it in his butt?  Your rectum doesn't do much, but put stuff out, and your colon (next up the line) isn't going to absorb carbohydrates.  Finally, if someone is passed out because of a low blood sugar, the first thing you want to get into their system is some pure high-octane sugar.  You don't want a candy bar because it has a nice combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat (which slows down the absorption rate of the sugar).

Take home message??  Sometimes your doctor might have a sense of humor and it helps if you do to!  Oh, and if you have diabetes and you want to carry around something in case your blood sugar runs low, how about some Gluco-Tabs or Glucose Gel packs - not a sandwich baggie with a Milky Way and lube.