Merry Christmas!!!

Our traditional Christmas breakfast of coffee and cookies has been eaten.  Complete with a second helping to combat my morning of lows!!

The presents have been opened. Even K.C.'s - although she's scared of the whole Christmas experience and won't touch any of her new toys.   At least she cowered near the coffee table long enough for me to get this shot of her by the tree on Christmas morning.

Now we're off to my parent's house for more celebrating and feasting!  Hoping you and yours are having a wonderful day too!!

Happy Diaversary to Me???

Today is my diaversary.  Maybe.  Or perhaps it was yesterday . . .  or maybe it's tomorrow.  It could have been last week or the week before.  The truth is, all we really know is that in December of 1979 I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  The exact date has been long since forgotten - or maybe blocked out, in the case of my parents.  The hospital has destroyed the records.  My doctor at the time passed away long ago.   My exact diagnosis date has been lost to the past 30 years.


I myself remember very little of that day.  I was 11 years old.  I have a vague and cloudy memory of being wheeled down the hospital hall on a gurney by several doctors whose lab coats fluttered out behind them like the capes of super heroes.  I know I was close to lapsing into a diabetic coma.  I guess I was in ICU for a few days.  I remember later being in a room with a girl who loved to watch Benny Hill - but the English humor was lost on me.  I suppose I learned to give injections on an orange but I actually don't remember doing that.  I do remember seeing the nurses bring a cake to another patient who was celebrating her birthday - and I told them that I couldn't have cake on my birthdays anymore.  (They assured me that I could, but ONLY on my birthday.)


Once home, I remember testing for sugar in my urine with little tablets that fizzed hotly in a test tube.  I remember cloudy insulin that got rolled in my mother's palm before it was mixed with clear insulin in my syringe.  I remember having my exchange list and meal plans secured to the side of the fridge with bright magnets.  I remember doing my injections on my own . . . . until the day I froze up and couldn't do them.  My mom had to inject me for months and months before I built up the courage to do them myself again.  I remember shaving off little slivers of luscious banana cake when no one was looking and eating them quickly before anyone saw.  Sometimes I shaved off too many slivers and my brother would get blamed for eating all of the cake.  I also remember thinking I wouldn't live more than 15 more years.  And that by that time I'd be full of complications.


But here I am, 30 years later.  Give or take a day or two.  I'm very sad that I'll never know when my real Diaversary is.  I so wish I knew my exact diagnosis date.  But in the grand scheme of things, I guess it's not really important.  What is important is how far we've come in 30 years.  Exchanges and R and NPH have been swapped for carb counts and fast acting insulin.  Cake is no longer taboo on every day except my birthday.  The urine test tubes were replaced by finger sticks and my CGM.  I punch buttons on my insulin pump instead of injecting with syringes. And my only complication so far is a small leaky vessel (or two) in my eye.

Happy Diaversary to Me?  Yes.  Yes indeed.

Meme Monday - Christmas

Okay, I'll admit it. I didn't have a Meme lined up for today. So I Googled "Christmas Meme blog" and found this one . . .  ummm, somewhere.  I don't remember exactly which blog I found it on.  (How very Scroogey of me - sorry!!)

1. What is your Favorite Christmas Movie?
Hands down, it has to be A Christmas Story.  But I know that doesn't surprise you after my last post.

2. What is your Least favorite Christmas Movie?
I've never had any desire to see the newer ones, like Santa Clause or Elf or the Grinch one that isn't a cartoon.

3. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Carol of the Bells

4. What Christmas song(s) drives you crazy?
Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer.  And Dominck the Donkey.  Yuck!!

5. What is your favorite Christmas Drink? (ie. egg nog, hot chocolate)
Sugar Free Gingerbread Latte from Seattle's Best, of course!!

6. What is your favorite Christmas Memory?
Having waffles by the tree while we looked at all our toys.  Christmas was the one time of the year mom would make us waffles for breakfast!

7. What is the best toy/gift you've received on Christmas?
I guess it was the little rocking chair I got one year.  I still have it in our bedroom to this day.

Rockin' the '70s red pants in my new Rocking Chair!

8. What is the worst toy/gift you've received on Christmas?
Last year my stocking contained nothing but anti-bacterial hand soap.  Not sure exactly what Santa was trying to tell me there.

9. What do you LOVE about the holidays?
The shopping and baking and anticipation.

10. What annoys you about the holidays?
The rude people you have to put up with during your shopping.

11. Do you prefer star or angel on top of a Christmas tree? Or something else?
A star!!  (See below)

12. What is your family favorite recipe at Christmas?
I don't really have one.  But every year at Christmas I make pizzelles, just like Grandma did.

13. Are you a Grinch or a Who at Christmastime?
A Who - although this year I've found myself having a few Grinch moments.

14. Christmas light displays - Love them or Hate them?
Love them!!!!!  But I hate all of those blow-up lawn thingies that are getting so popular.

15. Santa's at the mall - Fun times or Creepy?
Really good Santas are fun - but some I've seen venture quite into the creepy.

16. Christmas cards - do you send them, yes or no?
I do.  I will.  I swear they are going out this week.

17. What is the best thing about Christmas, in your opinion?
Spending time with loved ones.

18. What is the worst thing about Christmas?
It seems to become more and more stressful every year.

19. When do you put the tree up and take it down?
It varies each year.  This year, it went up yesterday.

Don't worry, ornaments are going on tonight!!  I'll probably take it down on the first Sunday of the new year.

20. Out of the 12 days of Christmas, which day and item would you want your truelove to give to you?
I guess I'll take the Golden Rings.  All of those birds would be awfully messy, and the maids and lords and drummers would put quite a strain on the grocery budget.

21. Why do you think that Grandma got run over by a reindeer?
She must have been trying to make time with Old St. Nick.  I'm sure those reindeer are very loyal to Mrs. Claus.

22. Who is your favorite reindeer?
I guess Dancer - since I do ballroom.  There isn't a reindeer named Knitter, is there?

23. Do you believe in Santa Claus?
I do.  I think we all should!

24. What is your favorite smell at Christmas time?
The pine tree - even though I might be allergic like my dad is.  And the cookies baking - which I am not allergic too!

25. What would make you happy at Christmas this year?
Spending time enjoying the season with my husband - it's what makes me happy every year!  Also, K.C. getting over feeling traumatized by the new decorations and smells and coming out of hiding!!

Things that burn . . .

1. Me!!!  It seems all of that NaBloPoMo writing burnt me out but good.  I felt like I needed a bit of an internet break this week, so I took it.  It felt good.  And allowed me focus on other areas of my life, such as . . . 
2. Fat and Calories.  I've been working hard on burning these.  Which also causes burning . . . 
3. Muscles.  Ouch.  Feel the burn.  It's good though.  Right?
4. Money.  As in, the Christmas shopping has begun and I'm burning through my budget!  My credit cards are getting just as hard a work-out as my body is!   But it's been fun.  The favorite gift I've bought so far is for a Yankee Swap at my best friend's Family Christmas.  One lucky guest will enjoy the softly burning light of . . . 
5. A Leg Lamp Night Light!!!!  Please note: Cat not included with gift!!

 

Sick . . . .

A nose that’s stuffed,
A throat that’s sore,
Blood sugars running high.
Chills and shivers
And ears that ache,
Just make me want to cry.

Some stupid germ
Some mean virus
Has nestled in my head
Making me sneeze
And sometimes wheeze
And turning my poor nose red.

Can't clean or blog
Or do laundry
No treadmill for me today.
Will soup and tea
And a nice long nap
Please make this go away?

I'll watch TV
and get some rest
And have plenty of time to knit.
And hope that tomorrow
when I awaken
I no longer feel like like . . . .

Working out the Workout . . .

I've often written about my struggles sticking with an exercise program.  That's not my problem this time.  (Nothing like a bit of public humiliation to get the motivation going!!)  Now I'm struggling to get in a good workout without going way too low.

I've been shooting for an hour a day on the treadmill.  The first two days I only made it 38 minutes before my blood sugar crashed down into the 30s.  I've been trying different combinations of food and insulin.  Yesterday morning I had my coffee and skipped the unit I usually take to cover it.   Then I had my banana and skipped the bolus again.  Ten minutes later I started my walk.  And it was good.  I got the whole hour in and ended like this:

A small rise, followed by a steady fall and an end number of 83.  Looks perfect, right?  Perfect, except for that little arrow beside the 83.  That little arrow announces that my blood sugar is falling quickly.  My finger stick confirmed, ringing in at 58.  So I had some orange juice.  And a handful of trail mix.  (Maybe a rather large handful.)  Didn't measure.  Didn't bolus.  Not so smart.  An hour later I was up to 198 and needed a correction.

Working out an exercise plan can be so frustrating.  Some days it feels like nothing will work.  The nasty lows that plague me when I begin my exercise program yet again are very discouraging.  The extra juice and food seem to replace any calories the exercise zapped.  But this time, I'm sticking with it.  I'll add a reduced basal rate into the mix and hopefully end closer to that 83 the CGM showed . . . . without an arrow.  When my body starts to get used to regular exercise, I'll probably need to switch my basal back to 100% and bolus a bit for breakfast.  I'll work that out when the time comes.  Because working out the workout plan is so worth the effort.

You didn't think I'd post today, did you???

That's right, it's December 1st. And that means November NaBloPoMo is complete.

I did it!  And I no longer HAVE TO post every.  Single.  Day.  To be honest, when I signed up for NaBloPoMo I wasn't sure I'd succeed.  30 posts in 30 days.  On two blogs.  It's a tall order, but I did it.  Of course many days I used the same post on both blogs.  In the end, I wrote 46 posts in 30 days.

Did I love feeling pressured to post every day?  No, I didn't.  Did I write some lame posts that are just taking up valuable Cyber-Space?  You bet I did.  Did I still manage to neglect posting about some big topics I need to sit down and write about?  Absolutely.  I still need to write up a review of the new Bayer ContourUSB meter - and I can't believe I didn't get it finished during the 30 days of constant posting!!  But overall, am I glad I signed up for NaBloPoMo?  YES I AM!!!

I had become such a blog slacker before November.  There were months when I barely posted once a week.  Usually I was just being lazy about blogging.  I had gotten out of the habit of being on the lookout for potential post topics.  NaBloPoMo helped remind me how much I like blogging and how many blog topics are there just waiting to be noticed.  I've even had a request to keep up "Sunday Snapshots", so I'll be sure to get a few of those in every month!

Will I post every day in December?  Nope, I can tell you right now that won't happen.  But I will try to post much more than I had been lately.  I'd love to be a consistent Monday - Friday blogger, although I know I'll miss a few days here and there.  Maybe more than a few once the holiday crunch really gets going.   I'm okay with that, because blogging isn't really about how often we post.  It's about the connections we make and the pieces of our lives we share.  That is what's most important and that's what makes blogging so wonderful!