Just got off the phone with my friend in Florida, her husband loves to play golf. He has made arrangements to get the extra golf balls off the course after hours that other golfers have lost during their play. He cleans them and places them in egg cartons. He has a collection of different brands and colors of golf balls. My friend, his wife, is hoping that he will sell some of them to help pay for the cost of his golfing since the medical bills have been coming in from her fall and being in the hospital. I know this stress is not good for her health.

My youngest daughter has been suffering with migraine headaches for over two years. Her regular doctor has been prescribing a pill medication for her migraines. The pill makes her extremely sleepy. She is not able to drive a vehicle when she is on the medication.

With her working two jobs and going to school, we both have been looking for another alternative solution to help her. Botox for migraines average single treatment lasts for 3 months or longer. This maybe the solution as my youngest daughter’s migraines are becoming more frequent.

I was reading an article the other day in my May and June issue of AARP magazine about simply altering a few mealtime habits to help lose weight. Some of the recommendations they gave was to not eat with loud and noisy background music. The loud and noisy background music cause a person to consume more in a given time.

They do recommend that you use a soft light to cut down on overeating. Using bright fluorescent lights can cause you to eat too rapidly. Turning off the television helps the signal to the brain from the stomach as full. Chewing your food thoroughly, your saliva releases amylase. This enzyme helps carbohydrates to be used immediately for fuel, rather than stored fat. This is a benefit for diabetics to chew slower and breathe between bites.

I have started doing some yard work over the past week from the winter storms dropping branches down from my big old maple tree all over my back yard and my neighbors. This afternoon, I noticed my neighbor’s great grandchildren bringing out their yard toys to play with. Zoey loves to get on her swing set. Haley loves chasing and throwing balls. Brailee loves driving the toy car around the yard. It was great to sit and watch them playing and enjoying getting to use our back yards.

I am learning to find more ways to relax and enjoy my life. This has helped me have a better attitude and stress reduction to help my health improve.

My dear 88 year old friend, Betty, asked me to go to her OWLS (Older Wiser Loving Senior) mystery lunch trip that was going by way of a church bus. I picked her up and we headed to the church. We got there just in time as the church bus pulled up. Many of the senior citizens that were going on the little bus were smiling and laughing. I could tell we were going to have a great time.

There were only 3 men and 18 women. One of the men was the driver who I knew from another wonderful Christian organization, Walk To Emmaus. Another man on the bus was our tour guide along the road trip. I learned about other communities nearby and their history. We finally arrived at an Amish restaurant, Miller’s Essenplatz Family Restaurant. I was very pleased to finally go there. I have been wanting to go there for over 5 years. I decided on the daily special of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and broccoli salad.  I had to have one of their delicious desserts though I did order a slice of sugar free peach pie.

I really enjoyed having fun and relaxing fellowship time with the OWLS group. Receiving a blessing of getting to go to Miller’s Essenplatz. This wonderful day was a good dose to reducing my blood sugar in the long run.

This seems to be the week for friends to call me with decisions or problems. I am glad I can be there for my friends to be able to talk to me. My best friend’s son had to go to court this past week because of the number of DUIs he has had. The judge has ordered him to go to an alcohol rehab center. My best friend is so upset at her son. She told me it is way past time for her son to grow up. He is 31, married and has two children of his own.

My best friend’s health has not been the best for the past month. She also fractured the neck of her femur bone. She doesn’t need the extra stress from her son. I worry about her and this doesn’t help my stress level either for my diabetes.

A friend of mine called to tell me about a business they are interested in buying. We talked about what the business was worth and what she needed to have to figure it out.

Business valuation are done by skilled business appraisers that figure what the fair market value is on the property and buildings. Having a valuation in these economic times is important in knowing what a business is worth when investing your money.

My youngest daughter’s boyfriend asked to speak to her dad privately yesterday. I figured that it was about our daughter moving in with him. Her boyfriend asked her dad for our daughter’s hand in marriage. With his increasing health problem of epilepsy seizures, I was surprised he was thinking of getting married. I do know our daughter will be moving in at his mom’s house in June, not sooner as someone told me at church on Sunday. One problem I have with this is my daughter was just engaged last year to another young man till September. They broke up, then she went with another boy from school for two months. Telling him she loved him too. Now she has only been dating this boyfriend since December, that is only 5 months. Not really enough time to get to know each other in my eyes.

Today, my youngest daughter rode with her boyfriend and his mother to a specialist out of town. She called after his appointment to inform us that the specialist has now referred him to the Cleveland Clinic. The appointment is in two weeks. I was surprised how quick these doctors are seeing him. I am glad that his parents are starting to see how serious his seizures are after my daughter told them what has been going on with her boyfriend. He is a good candidate for a surgery procedure to make him better.

Yesterday, my aunt asked if I could take her shopping for a new mop. We went to several stores, because she is so picky about the type of mop she wants to buy. I didn’t realize since I bought my last mop how many different types of floor mops are in the store to buy. Between the old fashion cotton string and sponge mops, there are now ones that have a micro fiber pads and spray bottle that is attached right on the mop and no need for a bucket. The world of house cleaning is getting easier than it use to be.

Part of my plan this year is to continue working on reducing my stress to help with my health, including my diabetes. I am still working on getting organized in my office space, however my computer is getting full and need some organization too.

I know I need to clean up my computer of excess files and folders and programs that I no longer use. With the different programs and how many files that is a part of a particular program, I am afraid of messing up my computer or that program. It seems it would be easier to just add more memory to my computer than mess up certain programs. It would be sweet to have more memory so my computer runs faster whether I am downloading or uploading.