PANIC! No, Wait, Everything's Fine.

For about five seconds, I thought today was a first: after arriving at work, I rummaged through my purse (and because my purse is huge, it took a while) for my CGM. I came up short. I thought, "Noooo! I finally left it at home for the first time!".

I was all ready to post this:

I felt defeated. I mentally counted how many test strips I had with me, and wondered if I should set up some reminders to test every hour. (Have I mentioned that not wearing my CGM makes me feel a little helpless?)

But then, as I reached in the wrong pocket for my insulin pump, I discovered:

Apparently my hip is dead? How did I not feel that in my pocket? Ixnay on the anicpay. We're good.

(Sidenote: I am really, really going to miss Picnik when it shuts down next month.)

Billy's Birthday Blowout.

Billy Corgin turned one year old yesterday, and because I'm slightly ridiculous, I baked him a cake. And put a hat on him. And made him pose for pictures.

Totally normal, yeah?

Enjoy.

Birthday car ride! (If only I were a bit taller...)

Homemade doggie cake - recipe lost to the Internet Gods. RIP 

Yes, I made him wear a stupid hat. With notches cut
out for his ginormous ears. Not that it stayed where
I put it, but I tried - and he was a good sport.

One good shot! Yes! (Notice I had to hold him back
from diving nose-first into that cake. He was EXCITED.

Nom nom nom...

Stick a paw in it. He's done.

Wrap-Up.

Today's post is a smattering of randomness, reaching many places on the emotional spectrum. Let it begin!

• You may have noticed a new purple button over on the left side of my blog this morning. My friend Meri, who writes the blog Our Diabetic Life and is the mom of four boys - three of whom have type 1 diabetes - could use your help. Her husband was recently diagnosed with metastasized melanoma, with tumors on his brain, lugs, and in his abdomen. Please send any positive thoughts, healing vibes, prayer, or whatever you're comfortable with, their way. There is also a donation page set up, should you be so inclined, which can be found by visiting the Facebook page.
• For those who don't follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you might not know that You Can Do This officially has a table at Friends For Life (!!!!!!) - you can check out the map here to see where I'll be! Thank you, again, to all who have offered their help in making it happen. 
• Speaking of You Can Do This, I was interviewed by CallingAllTypes.com this week. You can read the interview here.
• Either my body just laughed off the antibiotics I took last month, or I've developed a new sinus infection. It's been a month now. I'm done being "real people sick", okay?
• And lastly, I came across what I think might be the most beautiful analogy I've ever heard regarding what online community support for PWDs is like. It was written by Babs on a post that Scott wrote recently.

I have this picture in my mind of this wide dirt road, where each of us is walking, toward the same goal. Some are walking ahead of me, some behind. Some are running, others are taking their time. I see you further up the road than me, looking back and waving, "hey, try this side of the road, it's less bumpy up here!" I don't know what my health would be like today without your guidance.

I think it's very much like that - we're all on the same road, and we're helping each other find the less bumpy ways of traveling it.

Hope.

I saw some whisperings last week on Facebook about March 1st being "Hope for a cure for Diabetes day".

I have hope for a lot of things - better ways of living with diabetes, better ways of FEELING about living with diabetes. Hope that no one feels alone when they struggle. Hope that I can, at some point, not shoot up over 200 after breakfast.

Hope for a day when none of us have to worry about this anymore, because that one thing called "diabetes" was cured a long, long time ago, and no one remembers much about it.

Here's hoping.

Check out the event on Facebook for hundreds of hands expressing hope for people they love with diabetes. (Over 2,800 people participating as of this posting!)

Wordless Wednesday: What Security Looks Like To Me.

Giving Glooko A Go.

Have I ever told you guys that I never log anything, ever, when it comes to diabetes?

It wasn't always like this. As a child, my parents were very diligent about making sure we wrote down everything we were supposed to - food, blood sugars, insulin, exercise, you name it. But as I got older, I somehow lost the skills/motivation/energy/desire to do it. Logging is something I struggle with. (And not typing "Loggins" was something I struggled with just now. Typos are my danger zone?) I'll download my Dexcom data and insulin pump settings in a last-minute frenzy before doctor appointments, and that's about as far as I go.

The reason I'm telling you this is that I recently got to try out the mobile app (which is free) and corresponding cable (which can be purchased for around $40 in the U.S.; $50 in Canada) from Glooko, which are "simple tools for people with diabetes to download their meter to their iPhone or iPod touch" (wording taken from the original email they sent me). And it really is that easy - I downloaded the app on my phone, plugged in my purple UltraMini, and with a few touches of the screen, off we went.

Thanks for the heads up, dude.

History in list form...

...and in the traditional chart.

I do like the fact that Glooko is "plug and play" - hooray for no manual entry, because I would never bother with it if that was required - and when it's done downloading, I can email the logbook file to myself, my doctor, or whomever. The app is super easy to navigate, and I had options when it came to sharing my logbook:

I can't see any reason why I won't have logbook entries to take with me to the doctor now. I mean, really. This cable and app combination couldn't make it any more simple. And, there is a food database included in the newest version of the app - convenient, but I haven't played around with that feature much yet.

What I do wish is that 1. the app was available for Android phones, and 2. more glucose meters were compatible with it. (The good news is that Glooko is already aware of and is working on those "wish list" items, so hopefully we'll see more integration soon.) The list of currently compatible meters includes:

In my dreams, I'd be able to download from my Ping meter, the Verio and the UltraMini all into one glorious, colorful chart. And Kenny Loggins would be there, wistfully gazing into a pond, while a unicorn tries his best to photobomb us. (See? It all comes full circle.)

Disclosure: Glooko kindly offered to send me a free cable to try out, with the hope (but not the requirement) that I would share what I thought of it. They probably weren't expecting the unicorn tie-in, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

 UPDATE: I couldn't help myself:

Oh, Would You Just Shush Already.

That annoying moment when you're right in the middle of being extremely productive and your pump battery decides to finally bite the dust...

Diabetes and Batman.

I will not let wonky, impossibly stubborn, unpredictable numbers thwart my exercise efforts.
(Four days in a row with the dancin', y'all.)

I will not beat myself up over this.

"Why do we fall?
So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

Feedback = Action.

Thank you to everyone who filled out the You Can Do This Project survey last week - I got so many responses that I had to close the survey early. Wow! (SurveyMonkey only allows 100 responses. I didn't think I'd get that many.)

I learned some things, I gained some reassurance about some things, and I received some new ideas that I wish I had thought of earlier.

Here are some of the results:

In short, I have some work to do. In the coming weeks I'll be revamping http://www.youcandothisproject.com/ to make it easier to navigate (I hope) and get all of the stuff in one place (read: no link list on this site anymore). Also, I apparently need to start tracking down some Camera Corgis.

Question 7 was especially enlightening, because a couple of those options were in the far-fetched category of my brain. They were the kind of "dream big" items I assumed could only happen at some point in the distant future. And as such, I tweeted this after seeing the feedback that was coming in:

And then something a little bit astonishing happened.

People started asking me where they could donate.

I got a flood of tweets and private messages, emails, and texts. I started realizing that the distant future might, in actuality, be this July.

I emailed the folks at CWD (who run the Friends For Life conference) and found out what it takes to get a booth there, and while I can afford to get myself there, I can't also cover the costs associated with running a successful booth. I've never done anything like this before, and I'm still trying to figure out how this is going to happen.

That's where I'm hoping you'll come in.

(You can also find this appeal on the You Can Do This Project website, under the "Donate" tab.)

If you're feeling inspired to help this happen, you can donate through the Paypal button found below. (Hopefully it works? First time I've done this.) Much in the same way that just one of the videos can impact multiple people, every dollar donated can help the project reach hundreds of people. No donation is too small. 

Fingers crossed - let's get You Can Do This to one of the biggest diabetes conferences in the U.S.!

Thank you in advance!!

UPDATE: $205 raised in the first two hours!

UPDATE #2: GOAL REACHED after five hours!!! Thank you SO MUCH - You Can Do This Project WILL be at FFL this year, thanks to you! (Donations from here on out will help fund table setup for FFL, and a table at TCOYD this year in Des Moines on 9/22!)

Dancin'! Dancin'!

Ever since the beginning of the year, I've been meaning to find some different ways of getting my exercise on. Originally Aaron and I thought we'd give P90X a go, but when we realized what was actually involved (holy crap, are you kidding me?) we knew that wasn't a realistic program for us to start with. I then set my sights on something dance-based, because I knew I'd likely enjoy that more than anything else - and if you enjoy it, you're more likely to actually do it, right?

I had talked to a few people on Twitter who had done stuff like Zumba and TurboJam. I'm sure those programs are wonderful for some, but really, they just intimidated me. I mean, look at the blonde lady on the TurboJam site. She looks way too happy about working out. I don't trust her face.

Then my friend George wrote about getting a Kinect, and using Dance Central 2 for exercise. For one, George has good taste so I probably would have tried it based on his recommendation alone, but secondly, the trailer video he shared in his post made that game look SO FUN. Who doesn't want to shake it to some Montell Jordan or Missy Elliott?

Or Chingy. Five stars. NBD.

Long story made blogable, Aaron was able to find a Kinect and DC2 on that list that Craig has (we already had an XBox), and now our basement living room has become a dance floor. I did my first "real" workout with it yesterday, and I'm telling you - it didn't feel like 30 minutes! I actually had to double check the time because I didn't believe I'd been at it that long. I also love that unlike using the Wii for example, I don't have to hold a remote or stand on a board for it to give me feedback on how I'm doing.

So, for now - that's what I'm doing. What exercise do you all enjoy when it's too cold to venture outside?