*if you are reading this post in a reader on January 18th, please click through to view my updated header image and visit this page.
Wordless Wednesday – It’s not my fault
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New and Improved Best of the ‘Betes Blogs
Introducing the New and Improved Best of the ‘Betes Blogs!!
What’s so new and improved about it?
Let me tell you –
When Ninjabetic George and I came up with the idea for the Best ‘Betes Blogs, the purpose was to bring attention to the great blogs posts from around the diabetes community. There are so many tremendous bloggers and well-written posts, with new bloggers joining us almost daily; it can be difficult to follow everything. By giving people the opportunity to nominate blogs, the hope was to connect everyone’s circles together and allow people to expand their network of support and encouragement.
After several successful months of posting the Best ‘Betes Blog awards, it became evident that George and I needed to take it to the next level. If he and I are the only ones publicizing the awards, then we aren’t really expanding the community as far as we can! And that’s where YOU come in.
Each month, the Best of the ‘Betes Blogs will now be hosted by a different blogger within the diabetes online community. We will do all the detail work for you, and all you have to do it pick the winners and write a post with the results.
Here’s another big change –
Nominations are now open all month long. If you read a post that deserves a nomination, send an e-mail to bestbetesblogs@gmail.com with a link to the specific post and the category in which the post fits OR use twitter to direct message the Best of the ‘Betes Blogs Twitter account (@bestbetesblogs) with the same information.
George and I will still handle the details with the e-mail and twitter accounts and then send the host all the nominations to choose from. The host gets to choose from the nominations and post the results on their blog on the 1st of the month. It’s as easy as that!
We are starting the new and improved Best of the ‘Betes Blogs on February 1st over at Texting My Pancreas. Start sending in your nominations now, and if you would like to host in the coming months please e-mail us.
Pass the word – we want the Best ‘Betes Blogs to truly represent the best of the entire diabetes online community!
Confused about what all this is talking about? Find out more here.
Wordless Wednesday – First rule
I won’t say “it“. Because this will happen.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about – it’s the first rule of diabetes fight club.
The facts for a crown
The D-Mom recently posted about her experience dining out at Cracker Barrel and the difficultly she had retrieving nutritional information. It reminded me of a story of something that happened to me at my favorite fast food restaurant shortly after I started using my insulin pump. I actually couldn’t remember if I had blogged about it or not yet, but a search of my archives didn’t turn up anything so here we go!
A bit of a backstory first – When I was released from the hospital a family from my church that had/has a child with diabetes stopped by the house to answer any questions and set our minds somewhat at ease about our new life.
It was a little over a week until my birthday so one of the first questions was whether or not I could still have birthday cake (I could!).
Another important question was whether or not I could have fast food. The mom asked what I typically ordered. When I told her that I ordered the chicken nuggets, she said that was one of the best options because of the balance of protein and carbs. I took that as my go-ahead to continue to enjoy some Burger King.
My first insulin dosing was NPH and Humalog and because of the peaks of NPH I could generally eat most moderate meals without much thought to carb counting. When I started on the pump, I had to get more serious about knowing exactly how much insulin to take.
I was driving home from work (or grad school – you’ll have to forgive me, it was 2004) and stopped at the drive thru of my local Burger King. I ordered the chicken nugget combo for the first time since I had my pump. When I got to the window, I asked for the nutritional information. The employee walked away for a minute and came back to the window with something in his hand. Before I could see what he was holding he said,
I couldn’t find the nutritional information for you, but I did find this…
crown.
At first I was shocked. In what alternate universe is a CROWN comparable to nutritional information. I remember stammering out something about how I needed to know the information because I needed to know how much medication to take.
I think the medication word scared him because he told me that the nutritional information was posted on the wall in the restaurant and that I could come in and look at it. I did end up coming inside and looking at the nutritional information that time. It would be years before I could look up the information on my cell phone. And now I have the carb count of a least one meal memorized at just about every fast food chain for when I am on the go.
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A little extra information on nutritional information:
- From the FDA – A Labeling Guide for Restaurants and Other Retail Establishments Selling Away-From-Home Foods (basically they don’t have to provide information unless they make a claim. If they say it’s low-fat, they have to know how much fat is in it)
- And a federal law passed in 2010 as part of the health care legislation requiring “restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to disclose calorie counts on their food items and supply information on how many calories a healthy person should eat in a day.” (source). The article is a great read and the regulations sound like good news. But don’t look for your favorite restaurant to have their nutritional information posted tomorrow, “the effective date could conceivably be years away.“
A definition please
We received a package in the mail from a friend a little while ago. We would be offended by the address…
… if we weren’t so tired.
What?
P.S. Do you like the new icons in the sidebar? —>>>
I like how it looks like they are peaking through the page from behind. I was looking to add ones for instagram and pinterest but I guess they aren’t popular enough yet.
Faith Friday – Fears
Sometimes my brain gets stuck. I don’t really have a better way to describe it. I start to worry about something and I just can’t stop.
For example, the minute my head hits the pillow at night I start thinking about what I have to do the next day.
I think about e-mails I have to write and what they should say.
I think about conversations I should have and actual things I should say.
I think about the order in which I should do the tasks of the next day.
I think about what would happen if I had a bad hypoglycemia episode and there was no one here to help me.
I think about my grocery shopping list.
I think about why one of my cats won’t stop peeing next to the litter box and how to make sure my apartment won’t smell like pee.
I think about what would happen if the rapture happened that night.
I think about what I will eat the next day.
I think about my bank account and my budget.
I think about what I will wear in the morning.
These aren’t fleeting thoughts. My brain gets stuck on them and I can’t sleep. Nerd alert but Siri helps a little bit by getting my thoughts on an actual list or letting me set reminders by just saying things out loud.
There is plan that seems easier and costs less money. I just have to figure out how make myself do it when I need it most.
“I sought and he answered me
and delivered me from all of my fears.”
~ Psalm 34:4
Goals, Resolutions or Plans for the New Year
Last night’s DSMA topic was about the new year and setting goals and resolutions. I don’t think I have ever set an official resolution at the beginning of the year. I have made plans and considered goals as the year changed but I don’t think I have ever had a grand plan to start something new or stop something old.
Resolutions are popular this season because mentally a fresh year just feels like a fresh start. I mean, why else did I wait until January 1st to restart Diabetes365 when I’ve been thinking about trying it again for months?
The first topic was -
As I mentioned, they resolutions really aren’t my thing so I responded that I make plans for the new year, but nothing official.
That led to the second topic -
I’ve researched goals a little bit and and part of the reason why I don’t declare that I make real GOALS is because I am not putting the effort in to make them SMART goals. Since they aren’t SMART goals they are much harder to reach.
So, no I don’t have any goals. But I do have some plans for the new year. In no particular order and listed here to keep me accountable in twelve months.
- I am not happy with my weight and fitness level right now. I am trying to work out more each week and eat out less. (If this was an actual goal I would tell you how much weight I am trying to lose, how often I am working out, and how often I will let myself eat out)
- I don’t think I will be going to Haiti this year, but regardless I have let my Creole studying slip and I want to continue to learn the language. It is a difficult language to learn. There’s no Rosetta Stone for Creole. I found one resource on Amazon about a year ago so I do have a textbook, workbook, and audio CD to study. Hopefully by the end of the year I will be able to carry on a conversation with an adult and not just ask a kid their name.
- Somewhat depending on the results of my endocrinology appointment next month, I think I am in a decent place with my diabetes management (after making some changes to my routines and doses last month) and I would like to keep that going throughout the year.
- I want to be successful with my efforts to finish Diabetes365 this year. Some of those attempting the project set up a Facebook page to encourage each other and keep each other accountable so that is helping keep me motivated.
- While I am satisfied with my diabetes management, I am not satisfied with my offline advocacy efforts. I’m not sure exactly what I am going to do yet. I have had some trouble finding my place in some “big name” organizations and might be spreading myself too thin to make a different in organizations that might be more receptive. By the end of the year, I hope to be more successful in my advocacy efforts BOTH online and offline.
Did you set any goals resolutions plans for the new year?
How I spent my Christmas vacation
Today is my first day back at work, so I figured it would be a perfect day to share what I did during my break. Isn’t that what kids typically do on the first day back at school?
On the day before Christmas eve, my mom and I packed up her car and headed to my brother’s house. This was the year that we were going to cut back on our gift giving. From the view into the back seat, I think it worked out pretty well. We thought that by leaving the day before Christmas Eve, we would be able to miss a lot of the traffic. We were wrong, and very thankful when we finally arrived.
On Christmas Eve, we added an evening service together as a family. I think the boys especially enjoyed the candle-lit portions.
After that we went home and enjoyed a spectacular prime rib dinner. It was my only major diabetes mis-step of the break. A few too many pieces of homemade bread and an unexpected glass of wine made for a very angry graph and a delayed portion of creme brûlée.
After the kids went to bed, we set out the final preparations under the tree. I may have raged bolused during dinner, so I “played Santa” and ate the treats we left out. Apparently I didn’t eat enough because the youngest told me the next morning that Santa left too many crumbs and that he ate the leftovers.
In typical kid fashion the presents were open very quickly. A few gifts of note. After carrying around a fake cell phone for years, my niece finally got a real phone of her very own. She had been told that she would not get one until her 13th birthday – in 2 1/2 years – so the gift was quite a surprise.
My brother knows how much I love my cats, so he got me a gift to help me take care of them. They get lonely when I’m not around so it will be nice to give them a little extra attention (hint: click on the picture).
We spent the next few days enjoying all of our new gifts and the great weather.
If you are ever in Vegas, this destination is a must see!
A remote controlled plane and a 70 degree day (it was snowing the same time last year) led to a picnic in the park.
Both my niece and nephew got new cameras so there were quite few image captured of the afternoon.
One of my favorite activities with one of my favorite little people was eating some boogers, ear wax, blisters, and stomach fluid. The ear wax was my favorite – tasted just like a tootsie roll.
All too soon it was time to take me to the airport. Thankfully a few little monsters made sure that I made it there safely.
I took a overnight flight back to Florida and picked up one last Christmas present the next day. My brother bought my sister an iPhone for Christmas and loved it so much that he ended up getting one for himself a few days later. I have been wanting one since Siri came out, and through a holiday upgrade exception was FINALLY able to make it happen. I am so excited to use it, and have even jumped back into the diabetes365 project (join us on facebook).
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P.S. I wrote a new post on Diabetes Daily about my issues with holiday food hoarding and was happy to find out I’m not the only one. Are you a holiday food hoarder too?
Moments of a Wonderful 2011
What an amazing year! My blog title was made for posts like this – an opportunity to look back at everything the last year has represented. My posts on this blog began in April, so this is a combo of my favorite posts from here and my blog at Diabetes Daily.
January 2011
On the anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I shared about my plans to return for a second trip.
February 2011
“8 years – a gift of bronze” -
February marks both the anniversary of my diabetes diagnosis and my birthday. I am still dealing with a lot of the same feelings I had when I wrote the post. “I am feeling sentimental for the good ol days. The days when (I at least believed) people blogged for fun and didnt have thoughts of page views, ad clicks, sponsorships, disclosures, or getting invited to the next big event, and just wrote what was on their minds and hearts just because it made them feel better and because they knew they could count on the support of the rest of the diabetes online community. Perhaps it was never that way. Perhaps I was just naive. Now it seems like we just jump from controversy to controversy as we retweet our posts to bring in comments throughout the day and ask people to like us and follow us on every form of social media…. Either we are a community that is in this together or we arent. Either its us against each other or its us against diabetes. It’s not about hit counts, ad revenue, sponsorships, or invitations to summits. We can’t keep fighting with each other like this.”
March 2011
Dyabet an ayiti (diabetes in Haiti), Ralanti chanje (slow change), Lespwa and the DOC mean hope.
A few posts about my week in Haiti. If you only click on one, choose the last one to find out about how beloved DOC member Sir Bob fed a family for a week.
April 2011
“Push ups, pumping, persistence, and pizza – a vlog” -
Health Coach Extraordinaire Ginger participates in a vlog “interview” about her book.
May 2011
Did you know that cupcakes may actually cure diabetes?
June 2011
“Introducing… Best of the ‘Betes Blogs” -
George and I began profiling the Best of the ‘Betes Blogs this month. It has been fun to bring attention to great posts by new (and old) bloggers and I look forward to finding new ways to do it in 2012.
July 2011
FFL11. New BFF.
August 2011
“Insulin pump hackers do not care about me” -
Four months later and no one has hacked me yet. Guess I’m safe.
September 2011
An interview with my favorite Type Awesome.
October 2011
“293.” “You Make a Difference.” “Wordless Wednesday – DOC.” “Moments of Simonpalooza.”
In a word, Simonpalooza.
November 2011
After I was called an “idiot” for providing some accurate information on a Facebook post more interested in flaming a target, I wrote this to express my feelings about the diabetes community.
December 2011
Christmas vacation – shopping for presents, spending time with family, reflecting on the true meaning of the holiday, and of course – enjoying dinner with my favorite diabetes online community friends.
A great 2011! See you next year!
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from my family to yours.
The niece and nephews are playing “Cut the Rope” on the iPads, which is why I had time to upload a quick picture. The next few days will be full of new toys and electronics, including eating the products of a stomach churning candy maker. Wish me luck!