Meme Monday - 6 Things I love

It's time to get back to Meme Mondays, and this week I'll start with this Meme that Evy tagged me with.

Rules of the game:

* List six unimportant things that make you happy;
* Mention and link to the person who tagged you;
* Tag six of your favorite bloggers to play along , and comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.  (I never tag anyone, but please feel free to grab this meme if you wish!)

1. A freshly vacuumed floor.  Somehow if my floor is clean, it seems like my whole house is clean.
2. Pizza and Martini Friday.  Every Friday for the past couple of months, Pea and I have been "treating" ourselves to an Archer Farms frozen pizza and Pea makes Cosmos.  It has become a way to kick off the weekend, and I look forward to it every week.
3. Goofing around on Twitter.  I've gotten to know a lot of great people through Twitter, and tweeting with them makes me happy.
4. Watching my "guilty-pleasure" soaps.  Yes, after all these years, I still watch All My Children and General Hospital.
5.   New shoes.  No explanation necessary.
   
6. Comments.  That's right, I'll admit it.  I blog because I like to, comments or not.  But each and every comment I get makes me happy.
   

Believe it or not, it was hard to come up with six UNIMPORTANT things that make me happy.  Because anything that makes some one happy is very important!

Happy Anniversary, Sweetpea!

Ten years ago today, Pea and I went on our first date.

Five years ago today, we were married.

I wonder how I ever got along without him. He's my biggest supporter and my best friend.  We laugh, we dance, we share.  And I can't wait to see what the next five years will bring!

How a Ping-Pong ball feels.

My fabulous morning (please note the sarcasm) was spent ping-ponging between phone calls to Medronic Minimed and my endo's office. But let's start at the beginning.

I opened my last box of infusion sets on May 24th. Like a good little diabetic, I got on-line and ordered my new supplies from Minimed.

Then I waited. And waited. And then I waited some more. The happy little e-mail letting me know my supplies had shipped was not in my in-box. After listening to me bitch worry, Pea called Minimed on Sunday and used the automated system to check my order status. It said my supplies would ship yesterday.

This morning, there still was no happy "your supplies are on their way" e-mail in my in-box. I have only two infusion sets left, so I called Minimed again. The automated system still said my order was processing and would be shipped . . . yesterday. I decided to talk to a live person to confirm that it had been sent.

Good thing I did. My order has not shipped yet. Minimed said they are waiting on a new prescription from my endo's office. They rattled off a list of dates over the past 2 1/2 weeks on which they talked to / faxed / called my endo's office.

Next up, I called my endo. My one and only complaint with his office is that a real person doesn't answer the phone. I worked my way through the automated menu and left a message asking what the status of my refill prescription was and if there was anything they needed from me. A few minutes later, the nurse called back and let me know that Minimed had been faxing the wrong request to them. It had all been straightened out and the refill order was faxed to Minimed yesterday.

Okay. I hung up and immediately called Minimed back. Worked my way though their automated system (again) and reached a real person. Explained the problem (again) and the latest status from my endo's office. The nice lady told me any fax received yesterday is in another department with hundreds of other faxes and could take a day or two to be sorted and processed. *sigh*

Is it just me, or is this whole situation really WRONG? If my prescription had expired and needed to be updated, why didn't Minimed let me know when I placed my order?  I certainly would have called my endo right away to get the paperwork they needed.  In the 2 1/2 weeks I've been waiting, they couldn't give me a status update? And now it will be a couple more days before my fax gets to the right department so my order can be processed and shipped?

I have two sites left. What happens if I have a repeat of Saturday and my site fails and needs to be changed out early? What if I have a repeat of two weeks ago and accidentally yank my site out in the bathroom? Luckily, a wonderful D-Friend has my back and offered to loan me a couple of spares if I need them. But how many diabetics have friends that use the same supplies and can help if an emergency arises?

I'm sorry, but I think this whole situation could have been handled much better. And when it's supplies that your life depends on, it absolutely should be.

An exercise program I can stick to . . .

I had to pick up a few things at Target today.  As I was making my way toward the check-out, I started to get that familiar feeling.  The fog in my head that makes it even harder than usual for my wee little brain to focus.  Ugh, not again.

I held strong while the cashier rang up my bargains. (Starbucks beans on sale and a cute spring jacket on clearance for $17.48!!).  Then I made my way through the rain to my car and did a finger stick.  52.  Grrrr.  I pulled out my Smarties (aka: glucose tablets on a budget) and my iPhone and settled in.  While waiting for my blood sugar to come up, I used Twitter to vent my frustrations.

"Stuck in car at Target b/c BS is now 52. Target always makes me low. Having a crappy D Day."

Soon, two friends tweeted back.

"Target makes me low, too!"
"Maybe Health insurance should cover Target shopping costs... BG management tool!"

Now that sounds like a plan!!  Better blood glucose readings through browsing in Target for 45 minutes a day?  I've finally found a work-out plan I can stick to!

Small Steps . . .

On my knitting blog I used to make a list of projects each month and set goals for the knitting I'd like to accomplish.  It helped keep me on track, and I'm not sure why I stopped.  So when June rolled around yesterday, I decided it was time to start my Monthly Goals back up again.

Then I started thinking about my diabetes blog, and the kinds of goals I can set over here.  Although I'm taking better care of myself than I ever have, there are still many (many many many) areas in which I can improve.  (*ahem* have you noticed I haven't mentioned exercise in a long time)  Instead of beating myself up or trying to fix everything at once, I thought it might be a good idea to set a couple of small goals each month.

I thought about how I wanted to kick off my Monthly D-Goals.  Exercise seems like an obvious one, but I think I'll save that for another month.  I have a very hard time keeping my exercise mojo going, and it seems like a bad idea to set myself up for failure on the first goal list.  Eating better is also an obvious goal, but it isn't measureable or quantifiable enough to qualify as a goal.  (Hey, look, I ate half a bag of chips instead of a whole bag.  That's BETTER!)

After a little more thought, I've come up with two goals for this month.  Neither is that hard, but both are pretty important to a life-style that is healthier.

• Get back to drinking eight glasses of water a day - I used to be really good about drinking water, but somehow I've gotten away from it.  But I notice a real difference in how I feel when I drink enough water every day.  (Not to mention all of the exercise I get running up and down the stairs to the bathroom - hey, double benefit!!)
• Eat at home - between my birthday celebrations and the busy schedules around here lately, we've gotten into a bad habit of stopping for a quick dinner out or bringing take-out home.  It leads me to less healthy food choices and SWAG boluses.  So, until our cruise at the end of the month, I'll be cooking our all of dinners at home.  Unless we have plans to go out with friends - because the goal is not to become anti-social.  (Mwahahaha, now to invite a different friend out to dinner each night so I never have to cook!  *kidding*)

And that's it.  Eight glasses of water a day and healthy, home-cooked dinners.  Two simple goals that will make a difference.  Care to join me in setting some goals of your own?

Out-running the goblins . . .

As the years go by, something happens when it comes to birthdays.  Some of the excitement with which we greet the birthdays of our youth fades as we watch the candles multiply so quickly on our cakes.  In a flash, getting older is something you dread rather than something you look forward to.  And so, it was with some apprehension that I greeted my 41st birthday on Tuesday.  I am now firmly entrenched in the "mid-life" portion of my years, and it is beginning to seem too late for so many things.

However, life is all really a matter of what kind of attitude you choose to bring.  And when I think about it, turning 41 is a pretty wonderful thing.  I can remember the days of my teens and early 20's, and the brief moments that I allowed myself to think about my diabetes and my future.  I was fairly certain I would not be around to see my 41st birthday.  And if I was, I was sure I would be riddled with those scary complications that were drilled into me as a young diabetic.  Be good, or you will go blind / lose limbs / suffer kidney failure / get eaten by goblins.  (Okay, I made that last one up.)

In the almost 30 years since my diagnosis, I have not exactly been "good".  Sure, I take care of myself now, but in my younger years . . . not so much.  And yet, I can see.  I have my limbs.  My kidneys are fine.  I have, apparently, out run the Diabetes Goblins.

I'd say that sure is something to celebrate.  I'm thankful for my 41 years, and I'm daring to dream of 41 more!

How is today Thursday???

Seriously, I've got to get back to blogging on a regular schedule. But the past week has been a total blur.

There was some celebrating done over the holiday weekend.  With lots of martinis.  And cake.

Lots of cake!!  One on Monday and one on Tuesday.

There was a trip to the casino where I didn't win, but since I did so well last time I really can't complain.  And of course, there were some gifts.  Lovely diabetes gifted me with a couple of higher highs than I've seen in a long time, and one scary extended low.  I'm hoping to exchange those for a more even run of blood sugars.  I'm keeping the rest of my presents though.

Unfortunately, it hasn't been all parties over here.  We also had K.C.'s surgery to get through yesterday.  She had a tough time and we had some bad scares last night.  But this morning, she's doing so much better.  She can walk again, and she even purred and snuggled down into my lap. She's a trooper.

If you look close, you can make out some of her 3 inches of stitches on her poor shaved belly.  For now, she seems to be resting comfortably in her sick room (aka the bathroom) where she is safely away from anything she might be tempted to climb on.

And for me, I'm pretty tired too.  Should I knit?  Or should I nap?

Sometimes diabetes is just the icebreaker . . .

Diabetes can be a lot of things all rolled into one. A chronic illness, a pain the the ass, a character builder . . . the list goes on and on. But I have found that diabetes can also be an icebreaker, creating a bond that leads to so much more.

Before I started this blog, I didn't know anyone else with Type 1. So it seemed somewhat surreal on Tuesday when I met Kerri on a train to Grand Central for a Woman's Diabetes Support Meeting. I wasn't sure what to expect and I was a little nervous. I anticipated only that we would talk about the disease we all live with every day, and that I would get to see LeeAnn again. Then the meeting started, and I suddenly heard people saying things that I was sure nobody felt but me.

"Sometime when I go low, I just can't stop eating even though I know I've scarfed down more than enough to bring me back up."
"I was so scared to go on the pump, because I didn't want it attached to me all the time. I had done MDIs for so long that I was used to them and didn't want to change."
"When I was younger, I didn't want anybody to know I had diabetes."
"For a long time, I didn't take care of myself the way I should have. And now I'm so scared that I'll pay with complications."

Each time one of us took a deep breath and confessed something, I would see nods of understanding and hear "me too" muttered quietly. I was surprised at how quickly the 90 minutes went by and disappointed when it was time to leave the room or risk being locked in overnight.  Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was sorry that our time was up, because most of the group ended up at a nearby diner for more chatting.

Thank you, Kerri, for not only being the guest speaker and my traveling companion that night,  but the official event photographer as well. She was kind enough to send me this picture for my post, since I forgot to get a picture too.

As it turns out, diabetes was only the icebreaker. Our group had many other things to talk about, like weddings, careers, husband and boyfriends (and the benefits of having one of each) and shopping.

The train ride with Kerri was the same, with diabetes simply being the icebreaker to a friendship.  Sure, any eavesdroppers on the train might have heard two women with Type 1 discussing lows and pumps and CGMs. But they also would have heard two friends talking about normal, every day topics. Husbands, parents, grandmas, jobs, best friends, hot guys, cat vomit, workouts on The Jag, trolls locked in the bathroom and dying yarn with Kool-Aid.  You know, normal stuff.

It's nice when the icebreaker of diabetes can fade away and real friendships grow in its place.