Back to School

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted (why does that sound like “since my last confession?”). I was talking about changes and how I was dealing with them. First, I want to discuss a few of those changes and then talk about more changes that are coming.

I signed up for SugarStats.com the other day and manually put in all of my blood sugar readings from the Accu-chek website. Note to the people at Accu-chek: Love your blood glucose meter, but your website is incredibly hard to use. SugarStats has Twitter integration! How cool is that? So, I can use twitter (via SMS or IM) to post readings (“d ss1 bg xxx”) or medication I have taken. You can also track doctor visits, keep notes for each day, track lab results (A1C). The premium version lets you track of food that you eat and exercise. The only thing I would add is a place to track blood pressure.

Here are some interesting statistics:

• First reading was 7/10 at 327.
• Average for July was 250.
• Highest for July was 345 (7/13).
• Lowest for July was 174.
• Highest for August so far has been 292 (8/4).
• Lowest for August so far has been 153.
• Average for August for far has been 195.

These numbers are certainly no where near as low as they should be, but it helps my motivation to know that I am making a difference with the medication, exercise, and changes in what I eat. I will confess that the past week or so I haven’t felt much like exercising due to severe congestion from allergies or a cold. I am committing to getting back on track this coming week.

It’s been a few weeks since I started my new position and I feel that I am doing very well. I think I have gotten into issues and worked to get them resolved in a way that everyone is happy with. I hope my employees feel that I listen to their needs, help them accomplish their tasks, and stay out of their way when they don’t need me. My manager has been out of the office on vacation, so I’m curious what his appraisal of my performance in his absence will be once he’s had a change to catch up on e-mail.

I’ve been reading Stephen Covey’s The 8th Habit and I’ve really gained a lot more insight than I did when I read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People back in college. This book really is the next step for the 7 Habits and I’ve found numerous opportunities to apply its teachings.

In gaming news, the latest expansion of Guild Wars called Eye of the North will be released on August 31st. I was able to get in on the sneak peak weekend and I must say that I’m impressed. I’m totally prepared to buy when it comes out. I don’t own Nightfall, so this was my first time to use heroes. Plus, the storyline is very engaging and the art is superb.

On to upcoming events. Tomorrow marks my son’s first day of third grade. It’s hard to believe that it’s here already. My third grade was the year we came back from Germany and I always thought of it as a pivotal year for me. I met his teacher on Friday and I think he is the kind of teacher he needs. In just another week, I will be heading back to class after taking the summer off myself. I will really need to apply myself if I hope to graduate next May.

Over the Labor day weekend, we are planning to meet my parents at a lake between Austin and Dallas for a three-day fishing and camping trip. This will be our first family trip since I left home and will be my wife’s camping trip since she left the farm. My son and I did a father-son camping trip two years and we had a lot of fun with the other fathers and sons. I hope to get lots of pictures and I hope I can keep the bugs and sunburn at bay.

When I get pictures, I’ll post them here on Flikr.