Today's Prompt: Diabetes Celebrities – From rock stars like Bret Michaels to professional athletes like Jay Cutler, people with diabetes are showing how diabetes has not stopped them. Who’s your favorite diabetes celebrity?
Current Blood Sugar: Right now it is too soon to check since I just ate dinner, but at 4:00pm it was 236 and dropped to 74 by 5:30. I had been having site trouble the last two days so my numbers were pretty high. I changed the site about 4:30 and corrected, exercised a little and had a drastic drop.
So today's prompt is about celebrities. There are several celebrities with Diabetes...did you know that Mary Tyler Moore is diabetic? Bret Michaels? Tony Bennett? Nick Jonas?
I have always considered the definition of a celebrity as someone who is famous for something they have done. They are well known and (mostly) well respected by society. But when it comes to the diabetes community, I define celebrity quite differently. I define a diabetes celebrity as someone who is dedicated to the cause. He/she is proactive and supportive of others with diabetes and families of those with diabetes. A diabetes celebrity is dedicated to their health and to helping others follow healthy diabetes lifestyles. He/she understands, shares and accepts. Diabetes celebrities are famous for their strength to live every day meeting the challenges diabetes brings.
So, who is my favorite diabetes celebrity? My favorite diabetes celebrity is every person with diabetes, every parent, spouse, sibling and child...every family member, co-worker, and friend. Every person who musters the strength to live every day with diabetes (or loves someone who does) is a celebrity in my eyes.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Wordless Wednesday
Prompt: “Wordless Wednesday” – Share a picture or video on your blog! What are the most important things for your diabetes management?
Current Blood Sugar: 201....this makes me feel....ughhh....that's the best word for it...now I will spend the rest of the afternoon correcting with insulin to get it back into range....ughhh....
Well it's hard to be totally wordless since a few of you may not know what these pictures are of...so I will put some captions :-) The prompt says name 3 things, but I showed pictures of a few more.
Current Blood Sugar: 201....this makes me feel....ughhh....that's the best word for it...now I will spend the rest of the afternoon correcting with insulin to get it back into range....ughhh....
Well it's hard to be totally wordless since a few of you may not know what these pictures are of...so I will put some captions :-) The prompt says name 3 things, but I showed pictures of a few more.
Testing my bloodsugar 8-10 times a day
Warhol version of my pump sites :-)
Exercise
My pump and me chilling on the couch watching tv....we are best friends :-)
Random supplies I carry on a daily basis
My hubby...not to mention all of my animals, family and friends who offer love and support too!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Please Understand
Day 2 Prompt for Blog 30 days of Diabetes: What issues are important to you? If you could tell your representatives one thing about diabetes, what would it be?
Current Blood Sugar: 157, this is a good number for me considering it is about 1.5 hours after lunch. Let's hope it goes down instead of going up!
So this prompt is a very hard one for me. I am often steer clear of discussing all things politics and generally all things religion. It's not because I don't have a point of view on these things (believe me I do!), I just prefer to keep them to myself. There are many things dislike about politics. But the one that I hate the most is that I often find that talking politics leads to a heated discussion...dare I say argument..about who is right and who is wrong. I generally just like to avoid these confrontations because I truly believe that a person's opinion is just that and your opinion cannot be right or wrong, it is what you feel is right and who am I (or who are you) to tell me what I believe is wrong?
When it comes to healthcare and diabetes, I am torn. I am grateful to have awesome insurance. I cannot say enough about how well my insurance company treats me. I have not once run into any problems with care or diabetes supplies. My hubby and I have worked very hard to get where we are today and he has worked very hard to secure a career with a company that provides top of the line insurance. I am privileged in this aspect, I know that.
The new healthcare reform scares me a little because it threatens to take away some of coverage that my insurance offers. On the other hand it is the best thing that has happened to diabetics in a long time. I know some day hubby wont have this job and it scares me to death what that will mean for my care. I think it is so important that healthcare be provided to those that need it most and that pre-existing condition policies should be eliminated.
The issues that are most important to me revolve around my healthcare. I want to be able to keep my good insurance and I want others who do not have good insurance to be able to get it. I want to be able to get quality supplies and healthcare at reasonable price. I want education about diabetes to be above all on the top of the list.
If I could say one thing to a representative about diabetes...I honestly don't think I could do it. I have never been able to say one thing about diabetes to anyone. I either find myself having to dispell myths or explain my day-to-day care, or tell someone the difference between Type 1 and Type 2, etc, etc. There is no "one" thing you can say about diabetes becuase so many people don't understand the disease. Maybe this is what I would say to a politician...maybe that is the best thing you can say to anyone...."please understand."
Current Blood Sugar: 157, this is a good number for me considering it is about 1.5 hours after lunch. Let's hope it goes down instead of going up!
So this prompt is a very hard one for me. I am often steer clear of discussing all things politics and generally all things religion. It's not because I don't have a point of view on these things (believe me I do!), I just prefer to keep them to myself. There are many things dislike about politics. But the one that I hate the most is that I often find that talking politics leads to a heated discussion...dare I say argument..about who is right and who is wrong. I generally just like to avoid these confrontations because I truly believe that a person's opinion is just that and your opinion cannot be right or wrong, it is what you feel is right and who am I (or who are you) to tell me what I believe is wrong?
When it comes to healthcare and diabetes, I am torn. I am grateful to have awesome insurance. I cannot say enough about how well my insurance company treats me. I have not once run into any problems with care or diabetes supplies. My hubby and I have worked very hard to get where we are today and he has worked very hard to secure a career with a company that provides top of the line insurance. I am privileged in this aspect, I know that.
The new healthcare reform scares me a little because it threatens to take away some of coverage that my insurance offers. On the other hand it is the best thing that has happened to diabetics in a long time. I know some day hubby wont have this job and it scares me to death what that will mean for my care. I think it is so important that healthcare be provided to those that need it most and that pre-existing condition policies should be eliminated.
The issues that are most important to me revolve around my healthcare. I want to be able to keep my good insurance and I want others who do not have good insurance to be able to get it. I want to be able to get quality supplies and healthcare at reasonable price. I want education about diabetes to be above all on the top of the list.
If I could say one thing to a representative about diabetes...I honestly don't think I could do it. I have never been able to say one thing about diabetes to anyone. I either find myself having to dispell myths or explain my day-to-day care, or tell someone the difference between Type 1 and Type 2, etc, etc. There is no "one" thing you can say about diabetes becuase so many people don't understand the disease. Maybe this is what I would say to a politician...maybe that is the best thing you can say to anyone...."please understand."
Monday, November 1, 2010
November is Diabetes Awareness Month
The purpose of Diabetes Awareness Month is to provide awareness and education about diabetes. To honor Diabetes Awareness Month I am going to take a break from homesteading and farming posts and talk more about diabetes. This month I will be posting everyday using prompts from the American Diabetes Association's "American Diabetes Month Blog 30 Days of Diabetes in November - and Beyond!".
Yes, I have committed to the challenge, I will be blogging EVERY DAY in November. This will prove to be a challenge for me, but every day living with diabetes is a challenge and it is so important to educate folks on what living with this disease means.
Each day I will write a post in response to the prompt. At the beginning of the post, I will also list my current blood sugar and how that number will affect my day. I got this idea from a fellow blogger over at Bitter Sweet. I think it would be a great chance for you readers to see what my numbers are like...sometimes its like telling someone your weight, the good and the bad.
Today's Prompt: Introduction – Tell us about yourself! Why did you decide to start a blog or share your blog with us?
Current Blood sugar: 122...not bad, but not as low as I would like considering its only 30 minutes until lunch time. This is the kind of number I like to see.
So, most of you have read my blog for a while and know all about me. But here is a short recap. I am 30 years old living in central NC. I was diagnosed with Type I in June of 2007....not even a year after I was married, bought a new house and started a new career as an Agriculture Teacher.
After a year of teaching with diabetes I decided to take some time off from my stressful job to maintain my health. Two years later, I am still officially unemployed but I have plenty of other "jobs" at home...I am a homemaker. Hubby and I started growing our own food, raising chickens and bees, and I began making most of our food from scratch. This was prompted by my diagnosis and our need to eat a healthier. We were healthy folks before, but diabetes meant a whole new outlook on food. I am very active in the agriculture community here in our town. I also work part time as a mentor for high school students.
I first started blogging because I was bored and needed an outlet for my thoughts. I also wanted to let my friends and family in on some of the crazy things going on in our lives. This turned into a desire to educate others about our lifestyle and how living simple and healthy was easy. I have always hoped that one day my blog would cross over in the diabetes online community and stay within the homesteading online community, creating a link between this lifestyle and its benefits for managing diabetes.
Yes, I have committed to the challenge, I will be blogging EVERY DAY in November. This will prove to be a challenge for me, but every day living with diabetes is a challenge and it is so important to educate folks on what living with this disease means.
Each day I will write a post in response to the prompt. At the beginning of the post, I will also list my current blood sugar and how that number will affect my day. I got this idea from a fellow blogger over at Bitter Sweet. I think it would be a great chance for you readers to see what my numbers are like...sometimes its like telling someone your weight, the good and the bad.
Today's Prompt: Introduction – Tell us about yourself! Why did you decide to start a blog or share your blog with us?
Current Blood sugar: 122...not bad, but not as low as I would like considering its only 30 minutes until lunch time. This is the kind of number I like to see.
So, most of you have read my blog for a while and know all about me. But here is a short recap. I am 30 years old living in central NC. I was diagnosed with Type I in June of 2007....not even a year after I was married, bought a new house and started a new career as an Agriculture Teacher.
So, that is a short introduction to me and my blog. I hope that this month of blogging about diabetes will bring awareness to my peers and support to those of us living with diabetes.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Red Drum, Red Drum
Hubby and I went kayaking fishing down at the coast a few weekends ago to fish for Red Drum. These were the biggest fish I have ever caught! Enjoy the pictures!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Green beans, a broody hen and table of pears...
Now I know what you are thinking, based on the title of this posting, you think I am about to tell you a hilarious joke, you know the kind...a green bean and a broody hen walked into a bar....or a riddle...if you have green beans, a broody hen, and a table of pears how do you get them all across the river? But alas, this title reflects my busy life the last few weeks.
I thought September-October would be when things would start to slow down, the winter garden is planted, the chickens are healthy and laying eggs, and the summer canning season is coming to an end. But I was wrong....
Lately I have been up to my elbows in landscaping. Here at our home and also at my folks house and a friend's new goat dairy. I have been tutoring my nephew, I start a new part time job this coming Wed, and I have recently started babysitting for a set of 2 year old twins, one of which has Type I diabetes. I am also in the beginning stages of starting a blog for a local school garden I volunteer with! Whew and I thought I was busy with all of my normal chores....
Speaking of normal chores. I thought I was done canning, at least until the apples were in full season. But I was wrong, we are STILL getting green beans. Yes folks, central NC, October, still getting basket fulls of pole beans. We planted these pole bean plants in the early spring along with our bush beans. All summer the plants grew up the fence and never once produced a flower. Along comes late August and the plants decide they are finally ready to make some beans. We have picked beans 2-3 times a week since and there are still blooms and tons of beans on the vines as we speak! I have even had enough to can a few quarts at a time...speaking of...I have at least 2 quarts waiting to be canned in the fridge.
We also have a Buff Orpington that went broody a few weeks ago. For those of you who are not familiar with this term, it basically means she is sitting on the eggs being a good mom waiting for them to hatch. This would be great if the eggs were fertilized, but they are not. So this poor little hen is mustering all of her strength to sit on eggs that wont hatch, sometimes she even sits on nothing. Poor confused hen.
She wont come out of the nest box, she wont eat, and she wont drink. This is not a good scenario for our little hen. So the poor little girl is confined to a wire cage at the moment. It sounds cruel but allowing her to stay broody and die of starvation is even worse. The wire bottom in the cage allows air flow under her belly, which in a hen's little brain is not a good situation when you are trying to keep eggs warm. Since she can't nest she should snap her out of the broody mind-set and go back to being a happy egg-layer.
We are seeing some progress with her. She is eating and drinking regularly and she has stopped making the broody "cooing" and "clucking" noises and has progressed to squawking and "bock-bocking" (yes I just attempted to spell the sound a chicken makes!). We expect her to lay an egg soon and then she will be released from her brood-breaking prison.
Ah yes, the table of pears. Our dining room table is covered completely in pears thanks to a dear friend. So it looks like I will be doing some serious canning in the next week or so!
So I apologize for not being here to update you all on my craziness and sorry for the massively long post! So for your enjoyment, here are some pictures of me and my nephews and our recent visit to a friend's goat dairy, Prodigal Farm
I thought September-October would be when things would start to slow down, the winter garden is planted, the chickens are healthy and laying eggs, and the summer canning season is coming to an end. But I was wrong....
Lately I have been up to my elbows in landscaping. Here at our home and also at my folks house and a friend's new goat dairy. I have been tutoring my nephew, I start a new part time job this coming Wed, and I have recently started babysitting for a set of 2 year old twins, one of which has Type I diabetes. I am also in the beginning stages of starting a blog for a local school garden I volunteer with! Whew and I thought I was busy with all of my normal chores....
Speaking of normal chores. I thought I was done canning, at least until the apples were in full season. But I was wrong, we are STILL getting green beans. Yes folks, central NC, October, still getting basket fulls of pole beans. We planted these pole bean plants in the early spring along with our bush beans. All summer the plants grew up the fence and never once produced a flower. Along comes late August and the plants decide they are finally ready to make some beans. We have picked beans 2-3 times a week since and there are still blooms and tons of beans on the vines as we speak! I have even had enough to can a few quarts at a time...speaking of...I have at least 2 quarts waiting to be canned in the fridge.
We also have a Buff Orpington that went broody a few weeks ago. For those of you who are not familiar with this term, it basically means she is sitting on the eggs being a good mom waiting for them to hatch. This would be great if the eggs were fertilized, but they are not. So this poor little hen is mustering all of her strength to sit on eggs that wont hatch, sometimes she even sits on nothing. Poor confused hen.
She wont come out of the nest box, she wont eat, and she wont drink. This is not a good scenario for our little hen. So the poor little girl is confined to a wire cage at the moment. It sounds cruel but allowing her to stay broody and die of starvation is even worse. The wire bottom in the cage allows air flow under her belly, which in a hen's little brain is not a good situation when you are trying to keep eggs warm. Since she can't nest she should snap her out of the broody mind-set and go back to being a happy egg-layer.
We are seeing some progress with her. She is eating and drinking regularly and she has stopped making the broody "cooing" and "clucking" noises and has progressed to squawking and "bock-bocking" (yes I just attempted to spell the sound a chicken makes!). We expect her to lay an egg soon and then she will be released from her brood-breaking prison.
Ah yes, the table of pears. Our dining room table is covered completely in pears thanks to a dear friend. So it looks like I will be doing some serious canning in the next week or so!
So I apologize for not being here to update you all on my craziness and sorry for the massively long post! So for your enjoyment, here are some pictures of me and my nephews and our recent visit to a friend's goat dairy, Prodigal Farm
This horse didn't want his picture taken!
Friday, October 8, 2010
I'm still here....
Things have been crazy busy around here and I have not had a minute to update my blog, so here is a picture to prove to you that I still exist!
Me and Waylon after a long day of work in the yard!
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