FU Blegh

FU = Follow Up

I wish I could say things went perfectly, but that would be a lie. Last night I was talking to a friend about his day. I said “Good things? Bad things? Entertaining things?” His response was “True”. Now, that was Not At All what I was getting at, but he was right. Every day consists of good, bad and entertaining. There are probably more parts to days, but that’s a basic list. So without further ado, a recap of November 24th…the day that should be removed from the calendar. (If anyone knows who I should contact about this, please let me know)

Blegh

Happy November 24th! It’s been a day I’ve dreaded for weeks. There are a number of factors contributing to my dread, almost none am I willing to discuss publicly. Before I get to my rant on today sucking, there ARE a few great things happening!

#1 – Happy 24th Birthday Janelle! I love and miss you.

#2 – It’s payday so I can go buy my insulin now.

#3 – I get to have the yummiest of meals with a good friend.

A Father’s Gift: All In The Family Pt.3

A “good” life insurance policy. Yep, that’s my, my mom and my sister’s gift.

When I was diagnosed with T1 my family all but shunned me. Diabetes doesn’t run in our family. No one knew anything. My aunt’s father was T2 and she and my uncle all but stopped talking to my parents after my diagnosis. (I’m incredibly grateful for their trying to knock sense into my parents…even though it didn’t work)

The Box

“The Box” has been sitting in my room for a week now, mostly untouched. Last weekend my great aunt and uncle had their 60th wedding anniversary party. My Aunt Norma gifted me with “The Box.” It is a collection of photographs my great grandma Leis had collected over the years and had in her trunk. She passed away last Fall, about a month before her 100th birthday.

Before I go on about “The Box” there are a couple things that need to be regarded:

No. 1 – My Aunt Norma and Uncle Matt have been married for SIXTY years! SIXTY! In 60 years I’ll be 83, to be honest, I seriously doubt I’ll live til I’m 83. Plus, I’m not planning on getting married in the next 3 and a half months, so even if I did live til 83 it’s doubtful I’ll have been married 60 years.

No. 2 – My great grandmother lived until she was 100…almost. 100! I hope I got her longevity genes. She lived a very difficult life. Nothing came easily to her. She had to work incredibly hard for everything she had in her life. When her youngest child was still a toddler she had to move into her 2nd oldest daughter and new husband’s house because her abusive alcoholic husband broke her youngest’s eardrum. She had 5 children, worked and had said husband (Grandpa Hank). (He eventually left and later remarried, so I suppose I have some other relatives out there in the world somewhere)

Back to “The Box”…

The pictures in the box are from my childhood and my father’s childhood. They’ve been really cool to go through. It’s sad how I’ve obtained them, but it’s cool to think of the years they’ve traveled.

Without further ado, “The Box”:

Lindsey, Sophie & I Christmas 98

Lindsey & I @ Uncle Kenn’s Wedding September 94

Dad & Uncle Kenn

Uncle Kenn

Uncle Kenn

Uncle Kenn

Me and Lindsey 90

Me and Lindsey 90

Senior HS pic Aug 2003

Santa, Uncle Kenn and Dad

My Dad, Santa and Uncle Kenn

Uncle Kenn, Santa and my dad

Uncle Don Santa and my dad

Parents’ Wedding October 80

Parents 1980

Family Fall 2002

Grandpa, Uncle Kenn, puppy Muffy and Grandma 89

Grandpa, Grandma, my dad, Uncle Kenn (clockwise from the top left)

Grandpa & Muffin in his shop, that he built

My Grandma & Grandpa

Various school pics of my dad

Me @ Clear Lake July 1989

Family @ Christmas 2008

Family @ Christmas 2006

FunDay Friday!!!

So I am copying Chris‘ Friday gaming blog. Sort of…

I am not a gamer, and probably will never amount to much of one. I start out really good at games, and as I play I get worse…and worse…and worse. An example of this is Wii Sports. I LOVE Tennis, I started out and rather quickly made it up to Pro. Once I hit Pro I sucked, and not even just a little – I ended up back at beginner! How sad is that?!?!

Why?

Okay, not that I need to spend much time on this…at all. But WHY do things/people happen?

Please don’t take me as a pessimist, I’m not. I would say an optimistic realist were more fitting.

Personally the whole theory that everything happens for a reason I feel is a cop out. It happened. Not to “teach” you something, not to punish you, not to build character. People and things happen, without reason. It’s your CHOICE to make it something positive. Your CHOICE to learn. Your CHOICE to allow the event/person build character.

Because I like lists:

#1: You should all read Michael J Fox’s book Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

#2: Liz is the best friend you could ask for and I miss her dearly

#3: Crystal is awEsome! Awesome doesn’t even fit, she’s awesome times 312

#4: I’m absolutely freezing

#5: Today I’m getting my very first filling…actually my first 6 – NOT excited…because I don’t like my numbers to be messed up, I’m adding #6 into #5 – Today I will not be disappointed…and if I DO happen to get disappointed please still love me even in my grumpiness

All In The Family: Freunde und Familien

So, on World Diabetes Day I asked my sister to write about what my diabetes meant to her. She actually read the post and tried to look up diabetes info. (Some of the stuff she said she learned didn’t make any sense…but I don’t know everything and it’s sweet she’s trying to learn)

I have something written about my father, but I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to publicly post that. What if I ask a question and don’t get an answer? Meh. Maybe later this week, after a few revisions.

My family is pretty complicated, but rather entertaining – usually only if you’re not involved though. AND my best friend, Liz, has been my family on more than one occasion and helped me see the entertainment value in my family many many times.

Emphatic Typing – It’s a ReVoLution!

Let the #UrbanAWEsomeness commence. It’s all about RandomCapiTaliZation!!

The Official ReVoLution Theme Song AND Video

(Song/Lyrics courtesy of Blaxy Girls – Revolution)

#UrbanTakeOver FTW!

WDD 2009 – All In The Family: Sisters

For World Diabetes Day 2009, the first I’ve been aware of despite having T1 since 2004, I wanted to do something a little bit different than usual on my blog.

Recently I’ve been reading a lot about families and diabetes. So, I asked my sister to write a little bit about how my diagnosis affected her. Yes, diabetes made a HUGE change in my life, nearly everything changed. But, the changes weren’t limited to me.

To be honest, I’ve never had any real in depth conversation with my sister about my diabetes. As far as I know she knows almost nothing about insulin, carb counting, endocrinologists, blood sugar ranges…and everything else that goes along with diabetes. In fact, I know she knows nothing about endocrinologists because just the other day she asked me what an endocrinologist was when I was talking about mine. Just because she knows nothing about my daily “maintenance,” doesn’t mean diabetes hasn’t affected her life too. Since my sister and I haven’t had much conversation about diabetes other than our family’s view on modern medicine, what she had to say was just as much news to me as it is to you.

Hate HAte HATe HATE

I hate diabetes. I hate that it makes me feel like a failure when I get something wrong. I hate that a stupid misstep of a button combined with one give in to an unhealthy craving can result in hours upon hours of feeling shitty…because one, I messed up, two, why’d I have to give in to that dumb craving and three, my sugars are through the damn roof and I feel like I am trapped in my own body without relief.

I hate that this makes me so upset. How can ONE meal make a person fall to pieces? Just ONE.

How can just one misstep, well maybe two, make someone feel like a complete failure? How can it make you so upset?

I can’t remember the last time my sugars neared 500. Well, NOW I can, last night.