taking things in stride

(My most favorite NY picture from my girls trip, Spring 2007)

Phew.  I’m feeling wiped out after my third round of snacks this evening.  My blood sugars have been in the tank most of today except for the afternoon of 200’s.  Bleh.  Although it is so annoying, I know it is just a phase.  Turns out, my diabetes has been so much more manageable these last few months.  I can think back to this time last year and whoa buddy I was so frustrated.  So a blip low or high doesn’t get me down too much these days.  I owe that success to the bright doctor that told me to change my pump injection site to the backside.  Big, big difference.

I didn’t really sit down here to tell you the ins and outs of my medical condition but I did want to say that today was another nice, manageable day.  That is a big statement to make considering I will be starting the actual first day of school one week from today.  And I am not the kind of person to take on big change in stride.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to mix things up but major life shifts don’t generally come and go without a major meltdown or at least a lot of anxiety.  (aka, the WEEDS!!!)  All that to say, I owe this so far success to the “do a little a lot of the time” mentality rather than do a lot in a little time.  I tend to be a procrastinator.  No, you know don’t say??????  It’s true, but I have tried very, very, very, very hard for the sake of my marriage and my sanity to take this one slower and steadier.  I worked some today, took a break and worked on that pesky supply list, and then I headed to my afternoon meetings.  I would like to put a major shout out to my new district for doing things right today.  We had a forum and instead of sticking the art folks with their grade level peeps or the gym/music folks, we got to have our own group.  Another Jen, me, and a current district art teacher.  Yes, we had our very own group.  And that might not make any sense to any of you but trust me, I felt so appreciated knowing that they went to the trouble to make us our own group.  That tells me that they value art.  Did you catch that?  They value art, therefore, they value ME!

Ok, I will get down off my soapbox now.

I really did sit down to write to you about my afternoon tour.  We could sign up for an optional bus tour of the district including but not limited to an explanation of each school and the ins and outs of local businesses, landowners, and anywhere else our students might hang.  It was delightful, especially as we watched a wicked storm roll in from the west.  As I rode and listened to our guide, I could not help but remember my top of the Grey line bus tour I took with my mom and dad in New York roughly nine years ago.  Or was that Chicago?  Either way, Mom, you would have loved this tour, too.

(my second most favorite NY pic from Spring, 2007!)

Tomorrow:  A few more meetings – with a Hawiian theme.  More classroom work.  A county fair.  Cool.

 

Hold on, it’s a doozy.

Ok, first things first…where on earth have I been?  I miss blogging!  After getting back into blogging last August, I told myself to keep it simple, stupid!  (K.I.S.S.) but now I’ve gotten myself behind on my blogging ideas and I have had a hard time picking up where I left off.  I keep thinking, I can’t blog about what happened today because I haven’t talked about x, y, or z yet.  Silly, me.  I am a classic over-complicater!

So, back to the basics!

My right-now favorites!

1.  My DAD!  I’m so glad I got to spend last weekend in KC with him in honor of Father’s Day.  My dad is the coolest.

2.  This crazy awesome deodorant Kelly told me about.

I have talked about my deodorant quests before but this one takes the cake because it’s cheap, easy, natural, smells nice, and IT WORKS!  I had doubts but after some humid days in KC and some serious exercise in Colorado, this stuff really works!  I do have to keep in the fridge but it’s worth it.  Check out Kelly’s tutorial HERE.

3.  Dan and I were thrilled when we found our favorite energy chews by Honey Stinger on sale at REI today.  Only 79 cents as compared to $1.99, wow!

Seriously – you need these.  We love them when we ski and I love them for an occasional low blood sugar.  They taste just like those super great fruit chews you used to take in your lunch in high school, plus they are made in Steamboat Springs and they are organic!  Yum.   Click on the pic above to get to the site.

4.  Ok, so I didn’t mean for my favorites to turn into a sales pitch on products but I just have to add one more – these melamine paper dinnerware plates.  They are plastic outdoor plates but they look just like the cheapo paper plates.  Talk about being green…err…cough, cough (they do come in all colors but I like the white the best).  I found mine at Target and I’m sorry I don’t have a pic but please click here and you will see what I’m talking about.  These go along well with my other trick-the-eye interests because I am such a sucker for a clever design.  They really are cooler in person, I promise.

5,  Funnel cakes – especially after a long (LOW BLOOD SUGAR) hike.  Dan and I enjoyed the BBQ fest in Frisco on Friday for our anniversary.  I enjoyed my funnel cake with extra insulin.

**notice the trail of powdered sugar all around me!  I have a thing for funnel cakes

6.  Ok, this is a taking a little too long because I just can’t keep it simple… simplify, Jennifer!

Someone recommended Ihategreenbeans.com which is a site that recaps the recent Bachelorette episodes.  Yea, I like the Bachelorette – EAT IT!  Seriously though, if you are a fan, too, check out the humor and commentary.  I like.

7.  I also enjoy the storytelling and recipe sharing over at joythebaker.com.  Her photography is not too shabby, either.  If I had more time, baking would be at the top of my list.

8.  I really love these water ski pics from last week.

Josh’s funny faces when it cuts it across the glassy water.

Janel’s new found love of wake boarding.  And since all the cool kids are wake boarding now days, Dan and I had to give it a try.  Definitely similar to snowboarding in my mind but I thought it was tons of fun to try something new.

9.  And while I’m talking about water, I can’t forget these hilarious pics of Quattro and Copper taking a dip near a lake by my parent’s house.  Quattro tries to run in the water which doesn’t work so well but Copper is a regular seal and uses her tail like a rudder!

And then there was a dock – so funny.

Flying Quattro and Super Copper Dog

10.  I have to include 10 things because 9 is an odd number and I prefer even numbers, especially if they are easy to add like 10!

I figure I should mention my exciting news about my summer job front and, while it might not be considered a “favorite” since I haven’t actually started it yet, I have a good feeling.  On Wednesday I really thought I’d be joining Lisa and the paint crew again for the summer since no other leads had panned out.  I always have to eat my words when it comes to job planning.  Long story short, after my interview last Thursday, I will be working for a therapeutic recreation summer camp.  This is the summer job I had crossed my fingers for back in March and three weeks ago it just suddenly didn’t work out.  I am happy to say that things will be rocking and rolling again for me and my sweet girl “J” since this is the very camp that she goes to for the summer!  Score!  Her being there had absolutely no weight in me wanting to be there too…nope, none…not at all.

So, with that, I’ll be jumping into wild wild, did I mention WILD(?) days starting tomorrow.  Oh the stories to come.  We take “field trips” everyday.  WILD!

I think that pretty much wraps up my favorites for right now.  I know having my summer job will help keep me more consistent with my blog world.  Structure is a good thing for me because I tend to flounder without a regular schedule.  I have more to share but I need to rest up for my orientation tomorrow.  Have a fantastic Monday and thanks for sticking with my 10 favorites – You guys are the best!

 

Daily Grind

view from the bathroom door

Here are a few noteworthy blogs I have found recently.  Each of them speak to things that apply to me daily.

*Six Until Me is a blog about author Kerri and her life involving Type 1 diabetes.  If you have ever wondered what living as a diabetic feels like – tune in to her recent vlog, Sum Low Vlogging, about having a low blood sugar.  Scary acurate (like right now I am mad because I just brushed my teeth and then checked my blood sugar.  It’s low which means I will need to eat before I go to bed…I JUST BRUSHED MY TEETH!).

*The Marraige Mix is a NEW blog written by a fellow Truman State friend, Cara.  She has another fun blog but the marraige one provides great insight for young and old couples alike.

*I also enjoy getting to know Jody (from Missouri!) through her blog, jodified.  She shares stories of being a mom and running a photography business (and blog!)   My friend Erin shares a similar life on her blog this and that.  While I do not live the life of a mom, I do enjoy hearing about their small business in photography and I can still relate to the crazy ways of their artistic brains.

clean laundry palette

out the window tonight

 

Thought For The Day: Diabetes is Hard

test strip message*

Yesterday I had a super low blood sugar and today I had a super high blood sugar.  I am better now.  Final thought – see photo above!

*a little something I made earlier from my old test strips for my glucometer.  such is the life…sigh

 

70 x 7

I am what you might call a good diabetic.  I test a lot.  I take my insulin.  I change my pump site often.  I carb count.  I keep up with my doctor appointments.  I do the right things but sometimes it is not enough.   

Diabetes is selfish. 

It is needy and can ruin your day. 

And then I have to spend the rest of the night recovering and trying to figure out what went wrong.  This month has been a particularly difficult for me to live with diabetes.  Ever since my 517, things have been all over the place.  A lot of problems but not a lot of solutions. 

I can’t help that my cannula was bent on three occasions this month.  The last time that happened before now was an isolated incident in February and even then it was strange. 

I am an excessive tester.  I check before bed and one time my glucometer said 94 and then I woke up to 460!  There is no reason for that. 

On one occasion, I actually forgot to put my pump back on after a shower.  I slept all night and instantly knew that life was not good when I woke up.  Another 400. 

And for today…I enjoyed some terrific pizza today with Lisa and Andi.  I know, I know…pizza does weird things for diabetics.  But I was careful.  I took extra insulin and I checked my blood sugar later to follow up.  It was around 150, not bad.  But when I got home this evening I just kept telling Dan how bad I felt.  My head hurt.  I thought I might have gotten too much sun because we worked outside today.  I was thirsty so I figured I didn’t drink enough water.  I was sore but we painted on the driveway all day.  All of my symptoms were justified until I took my blood sugar.  It was 561.  Suddenly, the pain in my lower back and shoulders, the throbbing in my head, the dry mouth, and the trips to the bathroom all made sense.   

My body was mad at me and I was mad a diabetes. 

I cried. 

Dan was good to me and after a lot of correction insulin, a lot of water and a lot of ibuprofen, I managed to keep my eyes open for The Office but then I was done.  I just woke up and life seems a little better but I am still mad at diabetes.  I know I will feel a little less angry tomorrow but sometimes I just sigh while thinking about trying harder.  I do.  I am.   And if I really stopped trying so hard things would be a lot worse. 

So I have to keep trying.  Eventhough I know that with any disease, and especially diabetes, it stays.  It does not go away and it is selfish.  But I have to forgive it again.

Something for me to think about tonight:

“Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (or seventy times seven).’” (Matthew 18:21-22)

 

Worker Man

Dan has been working extra hard lately.  He doesn’t stress very easily so for him to say that he is stressed out must mean things are pretty chaotic.  He has been a busy bee for Habitat for Humanity.  We attended the ground breaking and “house dedication” for two different houses today. 

breaking ground

It is hard to believe that dirt will become this in a few short months!

house dedication

 In a few weeks Dan will be smack dab in the middle of a “Builder’s Blitz”.  Think Extreme Home Makever for Habitat.  That also translates into the fact that Dan has about 6 months worth of work to do prior to the 2 week build.  Yikes!  I can’t even comprehend how he doesn’t lose his mind daily. 

Needless to say, he remains calm and carries on despite the demands.  He even finds time to work on our deck.  Yes, he is the crazy neighbor using the chain saw at 9pm on a Sunday night.  Sorry, neighbors! 

deck progress

look, a deck!

In addition, I haven’t been the nicest gal lately.  My diabetes has been very difficul with lots of highs and lows.  It all started back with my 517 and things are just wacky right now.  Nothing too serious but I’ll just be glad when things balance out.  I know Dan will be glad too because I can be a bit of a bear when those things happen. 

And as if all of that wasn’t enough, he even helped me put away the mountain of laundry on the bed.  I made a pile of all the clean clothes and then did 4 more loads of laundry.  I put it all on the bed for us to put away so we couldn’t put it off another day.  It was so rediculous the amount of clothes we had piled up and I almost took a picture of it but I was too embarassed for anyone else to see.  It’s gone now!

So, all this to say… “Good job, honey.  Hang in there.  Ski season is on the way!”

pre-stress

post stress

 

Five Hundred and Seventeen

517 days of vacation would be excellent

517 pumpkin scones from Starbucks would be great

517 puppies might be fun

$517 would be fabulous

517 more KU basketball wins would be nice

517 free songs from iTunes would be super neat

517 new crayons would be awesome

517 giftcards to IKEA would be sweet (it’s coming to Denver, did you know?)

517 pedicures would make my day(s)!

my glucometer

But, 517 as a blood sugar is not ever, no, never a good thing.  Sigh…

Let’s just chalk this day up as a “bad diabetes day.”  It’s strange to think about how an insulin pump part that works great for five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes minus ONE can make such a difference in my day.  It’s true, a bent .25 inch cannula can be the difference in a normal in the 100’s or a 517 kind of day.  I’m happy to say that I’m back to the 100’s now. 

Despite feeling pretty awful today, good things did happen.  I’ll tell you about my unexpected trip coming up sometime soon!