Wednesday, November 27, 2013

NaBloPoMo Fizzle

I had intended to do NaBloPoMo (National Blog Writing Month), but realized that there were days I was posting rubbish just to make sure I posted. If you haven't noticed, I took a break from my blog and purposely didn't post because of this.

I had to take a step back and think, "Why do I write this blog? What is my purpose? Is it to post every day?" I write this blog as a way to share my life with Type 2 diabetes. I don't write it to impress anyone with my number of posts.

So that is why I stopped writing. I needed to get back on track with the purpose of this blog. It doesn't bother me that I didn't meet the challenge of NaBloPoMo. It bothered me that I felt pressured to do so.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Prayer

This was the end of one of the prayers we said today at church.
It spoke to me!


Prayer and music calming my heart.
Peppermint tea settling my stomach.
Working on finding that comfort.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Homework Saturday

Yes, this is me today.
This week, I've been dealing with other schoolwork, my daytime job, 
tutoring, my own children, housework...
So today I have a research paper, quiz, and a report on group work participation.
I'm also dealing with an ear ache.
I also have a large family who enjoy doing things on Saturdays.
Like listening to Christmas music while baking cookies.
Like watching Star Wars DVDs.
Guess grad school mama will be heading to the library to at least get my quiz done.
The paper may take me to another quiet location after dinner.
Taking it one step at a time.
(I'm kind of liking this format for today's blog.)
Edited to add: And sometimes illness causes you not to get done what you intended to do.
And you deal with what comes and move on.


Thursday, November 14, 2013

World Diabetes Day 2013 #wdd

My wonderfully supportive hubby helped put up my World Diabetes Day flag this morning and took this picture.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

World Diabetes Day is approaching!

Thursday is November 14th - World Diabetes Day. In honor of this, I plan to wear blue every day this week.

Yesterday was Veteran's Day, so my outfit of red, white, and blue involved a red shirt, white scarf, and blue socks. (Black pants in case you're wondering.)  Today I am wearing a long sleeve blue shirt, a blue scarf with white birds flying, khaki pants, and blue-gray socks.

I've been doing great with my goal of wearing at least some blue every Friday this year. I don't expect everyone to do this, but I would love it if you could join me in wearing blue every Friday in November (Diabetes Awareness Month) or at least this Thursday (World Diabetes Day).


WEAR BLUE!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Silent Sunday

Kind of like Wordless Wednesday... Perfect for a grad school mama!


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Not Cheating Today

Ok, yesterday's post wasn't written yesterday. That picture of my cat wasn't taken yesterday either, though it feels like it.

Here is a picture of my cat taken just a few minutes ago when she jumped up on my lap begging for attention. My crocodile geckos are in the tank lit up over my shoulder.

So this post is honestly written on November 9th with an honest picture taken the same day. Hey, what do you expect from a mom of five kids who takes six hours of graduate classes while working during the day? Perfection? HA! Not on this blog!

Friday, November 8, 2013

NaBloPoMo Cheat Day

Ok, so it's not an official cheat day, but I'm making it my own cheat day. This post was actually written on October 9th but I'm changing the date for the posting to October 8th.

Shhh! Don't tell. I want it to look like I didn't miss any days.

We'll pretend my cat did it!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

PWD vs Parent of CWD

PWD = person with diabetes. 
Parent of CWD = child with diabetes. 

Which would I rather be? I'd rather be a PWD hand's down. I can't imagine being the parent of a CWD. I worry about my kids enough as it is. Now I do know that if any of my children wound up being diagnosed with diabetes that I would do what I needed to do, but I hope and pray that never happens. 

I think parents who get up several times a night to test and retest, plan meals and schedules, count carbs, and do all of the things they need to do are amazing. I know they're "just doing what needs to be done." It's still amazing! They have mama worry/guilt at a whole 'nother level!

As a PWD, I don't have to sit at home worrying if my kid has too many or too few carbs, if glucose levels are high or low, if someone got into the Halloween candy, etc. I know what my diabetic is doing every single moment of every day - because I am that diabetic. Now I will say that I am blessed that my mother is still around and she still worries about me, but she also has a different diabetic that she cares for 24/7 - herself. Yes, we were both blessed with Type 2 genetics. However, as people who like to be in control, it is somewhat less stressful for each of us to be the diabetic instead of the parent responsible for the care of a diabetic.

Tonight as I get ready for bed, I plan to say a special prayer for all of you parents of children with diabetes, regardless if they're young children, teens, or adults. Whether newly diagnosed or an old pro. May God bless you and keep your CWD safe!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

I'm tired. I worked today then had my on campus grad class tonight. So in order to keep up my momentum with NaBloPoMo, I'm dubbing tonight "Wordless Wednesday"! Here are some of my favorite diabetes-related pictures:



















Monday, November 4, 2013

Homework Helpers

 As I sit here working on my homework, a little visitor arrives. She walks over my pens and highlighters, steps on my notebook, then settles on my lap. Josie seems to know when I am stressed and need her snuggles. Even when I don't think I do.

Right now she's laying on my left hand, forcing me to type one-handed. Thankfully years of snuggling my babies while online prepared me for this.

Of course as I sit here with a cat laying on my homework with her head resting on my hand, it brings back fond teenage memories of my childhood cat, Scaredy Cat. He was also a "homework helper" like Josie. He loved to lay right on top of my math papers whether spread out on the floor or ottoman. His timing, like Josie's, seemed to always be when I needed to take a break from studying and just relax for a little while. Of course I would never (and probably won't even now) admit to it. It seems as if these homework helpers seem to know what we need.

(The picture here is of Josie, taken right after she had walked across my notebook, before she used that hand as a pillow for her head.)

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Pancakes

I love pancakes. The idea of a nice hot stack of pancakes with butter and syrup makes my mouth water. Or pecan pancakes! Oh wait, maybe chocolate chip pancakes with miniature chips sprinkled over the circles of batter on the griddle. Yum!

Diabetes Police: Woman, you have diabetes. You can't have pancakes!

Me: Says who?

DP: Don't you know that pancakes = carbs. Aren't carbs evil in the lives of diabetics?

Me: Haven't you heard the phrase "moderation not deprivation"? I can eat whatever I want. I can have ice cream. I can have cake. I can even have pancakes. Now I admit that I shouldn't have two large stacks with regular syrup pooling around the edges. I usually have a short stack with a little sugar free syrup. However I do occasionally splurge and add some chocolate chips.

DP: Oh now you've done it!

Me: What have I done? Admitted I'm human? I admit that sometimes I do indulge and eat more carbs than I should. Knowing that I'm not taking oral medication or insulin. Knowing that I'll have to bring my glucose levels down with some type of physical activity. Did you see my to do list for today? I need some extra carbs otherwise I'll be dealing with a sudden low.

DP: I guess you might actually know what you're doing.

Me: You think?

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Update on My Life

I don't share everything about my life here. Let's face it. We all deserve some privacy. However, I do share a lot. I've obviously shared about my diabetes. I've share about going to grad school. I've also shared about my life as a substitute teacher and YMCA drop-in nursery worker.

Well parts of my life have changed. I no longer work at the YMCA except for occasionally as a sub in the nursery. My grad classes got in the way of that schedule. School comes first! I'm also no longer a substitute teacher. I'm now working as a paraprofessional/teacher's aide/program assistant (whatever you want to call it). About a week before school started, I was asked if I would be interested in applying for this position. If I didn't want to apply for it, they wanted to see if I would be willing to sub in the spot until they hired someone. The job? Helping with sixth grade choir first period and then working with the reading intervention teachers the rest of the day.

Repeat that please. Did you really just spell out to be almost word for word my ideal job, second only to a full-time teaching position? The only part I hadn't thought of before was working with the choir. However as someone who sang in high school and college, still enjoying to sing with the radio or at church, this was an added bonus.

So of course I applied and was given this amazing opportunity. Many of the things I'm learning about in my masters program to become a reading specialist I am able to apply in my job. I'm also able to bounce ideas off the two reading teachers I work with every day. Although I miss some parts of substitute teaching like working with teachers at every school in our district and getting to know the children at those schools, I don't miss the phone calls at 6:00 a.m.

I wake up every morning excited that I get to do this job. Yes, there are some mornings I'm dragging, especially if I've had to stay up late to finish a homework assignment. I am blessed to do a job I enjoy and work with some wonderful students and amazing teachers.

Friday, November 1, 2013

It's NaBloPoMo time!

This month is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), but it's also National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). Given my busy schedule of working at the school (more on that later), six hours of grad school, five kids, a huband, and the desire for sleep, I have opted to participate in NaBloPoMo.


I'm looking forward to this kick-start back into blogging.