To celebrate my D-aversary

I have to apologize.  Summer has swallowed me whole.  Our garden is at full-steam ahead with beans and cucumbers coming in every day.  This means I get to can those beautiful veggies every other day!  Our first tomato is ripening.  Ask me again in a few weeks how I feel about that when I am up to my elbows canning tomatoes!

 That's my hubby (he is 6'4'') in our sea of tomato plants

But...as I promised I wanted to tell you all about what I did to celebrate my 4 year d-aversary (I know it's a little late).  Back in January Hubby and I planned to head to the Outer Banks of NC and kayak-camp this June to celebrate my 4 years with diabetes.  We were to paddle out to a small island and camp for 2 nights.  The island was close enough to civilization that I felt it to be a good challenge for me...packing supplies in a small kayak, making room for diabetes supplies, and keeping insulin cool for a weekend. 

But...in true and typical fashion for our vacations...our trip to celebrate my D-aversary was canceled.  For those of you who don't know me well, most of our vacations are plagued with bad luck.  It's true...not many of our vacations go by without a major incident (hospital visits, sickness, horrible weather and many diabetes related malfunctions)

This time, I was sick.  I will spare you the details...but I have been getting sick since about March of this year.  I tested negative twice for Celiac Disease (a common concern and first test for Type I diabetics with stomach issues).  From doctor to nutritionist to allergist we are working through the elimination of food groups.  Since late June I have gotten things under control by eliminating certain foods...but unfortunately this discovery didn't come until after our planned trip.  

Don't worry about me...I feel pretty good now.  Hubby and I had planned this trip as a kick off of yearly trips to celebrate another year of living with diabetes.  My idea was that we should plan trips to do the things we love that have often fallen to the wayside since my diagnosis (backpacking, backwoods camping, climbing).  Since we were unable to go on our trip to the Outer Banks, we decided to take an evening and head out to one of our local lakes.  I felt good enough on that Friday to go out for a few hours.
 

We took the kayaks and a picnic dinner and hit the backside of one of our bigger lakes in the area.  We arrived at the lake around 5pm and paddled around.  We found a nice shady spot for dinner and enjoyed a yummy spread. 

 

After dinner we paddled some more and fished a little (ok well Hubby fished and I relaxed in my kayak).  We ended our excursion as the sun was setting.  We had a nice time and in true D-aversary fashion...my blood sugar was PERFECT the entire time :-) 

While paddling and watching Hubby fish I pondered what celebrating my D-aversary meant.  For me it means 4 years of triumph.  Four years of strength and dedication.  Four years of support from family and friends.  Four years of life.  Cheers to all of you who have lived another year with diabetes and cheers to the years to come that WILL be better than the last.