Why I blog.

I stumbled upon the diabetes OC nearly 3 years ago. I was searching for answers. I wanted an insulin pump. I wasn't sure what I was doing. I had questions. I felt alone. I knew no other type 1 diabetics (that I could talk to anyway). Basically, my diabetes life was in the process of crashing completely.

Then I ran across and article that Kerri wrote for dLife. She was near my age, she was funny and had an amazing was with words. From there I found her blog, and her blogroll.

I discovered that there were others out there who had diabetes too! They had bad days. They had good days. They got frustrated. They fell in love. They lived their lives. Suddenly, I wasn't alone.

I read blogs for nearly a year. I got my pump in May of 2006. On April 12, 2007, I posted my first blog post. I didn't really know what I was doing. Who of us does at first? But I posted. I only got 1 comment. From Scott K. Johnson. That first comment is thrilling.

Now I am coming up on my third anniversary (or blogoversary, as it may be known). I know many blogger. I may have never met you. But I count you among my friends. Just check my blog roll on the right! There are many more, and I try to update as I can, but the ones listed are amazing as it is.

I have found TuDiabetes.com.

The OC introduced me to Twitter.

I have more passwords than I care to mention.

But my life has been drastically improved by blogging and knowing other bloggers.

"So," you ask, "Why do you blog?"

I blog because I need a connection. I blog to help other people. I blog for my sanity. I blog because I love feeling like I am a part of something great. I blog because you guys are part of my family.

I DO NOT blog to make money. I never have. I would love for someone to pay me to do this, but I do it anyway. Because the money isn't a reason. It's something much bigger than that.

Yesterday a Tweet was sent out that referred me to this article. What I read chilled my heart. The title of the article: How the Health Blogosphere was Scammed.

I was nearly one of the scammed. I got the e-mail from Dr. Rutledge. I e-mailed him back, asking for clarification on what "featuring" my blog included. Instead of an answer, I got an e-mail back from a Victoria Ho asking for my blog address. I never replied.

Less than 2 weeks later, this all comes to light.

I have many of my family in the D-OC that were scammed. Their blogs were posted on this site. People who have other chronic illnesses and professionals who blog were also scammed.

Now that Wellsphere has been sold, that money that they earned will, more than likely, never be given to the people who rightly deserve it. The bloggers who's content made the site what it is.

Even though I never jumped on board with Wellsphere, I feel violated. When I post a blog, it is MY property. I put the work into it. It may not be great work, but it is MINE. I don't mine people asking to link back to me. But to have my work reproduced by some company that then thinks they can earn money from what I have written is disturbing.

There are many people in the blogosphere who have written professionally, freelancing and otherwise. I am not one of them. But they deserve to be paid for what Wellsphere made a profit from. To have your work sold for profit, and to never be informed is darkness in it's finest form. It's pure evil.

I hope that there is something done legally to be sure that no one else profits from these works.

Most people don't know this (although they do now), but I hope to someday be a published author. Maybe that's why this bothers me so badly.

So, to all of you who were violated in such a way, I am truly sorry. Let it make all of us smarter in our decision making. Let us have learned a valuable lesson, if nothing else comes from this debacle.

TMI Post....Gentlemen beware!

Okay ladies, I have a question for you: how does birth control effect your diabetes? Mainly your blood sugars?
I have a good reason for asking this question. I had been on birth control for a little over a year now. My blood sugars generally run okay. My A1c for the past 3 times has been 6.3, 6.3 and 6.6 (darn Thanksgiving & Christmas!).
For the past several months (maybe longer....I don't keep the best records) I have been fighting horrible high blood sugars. Super highs at night and spikes that never used to happen. My insulin intake in the past year went from staying between 40-47 units a day, to being consistently over 50 units per day.
About 2 weeks ago, I did some major changing in my basal and bolus rates. I thought this might help me out in controlling some of my crazy swings in my blood sugar readings. It began to get somewhat better, but still, not perfect. Then, a week ago, I stopped taking my birth control pills (no worries, they were for regulatory purposes only). Basically, I am a slacker and my prescription lapsed. Since there was no real purpose for them anyway, I just quit taking them.
Suddenly, my blood sugars have improved dramatically. For the past 8 days, my blood sugar average in tests, and on my sensor, are averaging 115. My daily insulin intake hasn't been above 48 units.
Because of the lapse in time between changing all of my basal rates and stopping taking my birth control, the only thing I can figure out is that the dramatic change in my blood sugars is from the absence of the birth control.
I want to know what the experience is with you ladies. Have you noticed a change in your blood sugar ranges when on and off birth control? Have you heard that birth control can effect your blood sugars?
I want to know if I am alone in this one. It's kind of creepy.

The Biggest Loser...and Fit4D

Well, as some of you may know, Landileigh, over at Landileigh's Little World, has decided to start a group for some of us. Biggest Loser D-Style. I joined up. I am intent on dropping a few pounds. I just need a little support.

So if you think you might want to join us (it's a support group, NOT a diet!), go check out the post.

Also, as some of you know, I won one of the Grand Prizes on Diabetes Mine, which was a 2 month introductory membership to Fit4D. I have been in contact with them, and have finished most of the paperwork. Currently, I am working on getting a week's worth of food diaries/blood sugar logs/and daily steps taken together for them, so I can send it in and we can get this thing started. I'm excited, but I keep terrible logs (okay, truth be known, I don't keep them at ALL), so this is a little difficult for me.

So this whole Biggest Loser thing and the Fit4D are coming together at a really good time. Hopefully the support and encouragement will get me in a good place and get me on the right track.

Molly Version 2.0

Okay, I realized how horrible my first Molly was. This one isn't much better, but it makes me feel better anyway. :)

So meet Molly Moretic-Version 2.0

In Response....

To the comment Scott left on yesterday's post, may I introduce

Mark Moretic...Space Cadet Diabetic.

I hope you enjoy him, Scott. Then you don't have to worry about walking around with a girl on your shirt. :P

Moretic Diabetic

Well, it seems like my last post struck a chord with the blogosphere. Apparently, I'm not the only diabetic that has some totally moronic moments. There are even some parents of diabetic children who are having these moments too!

Kelly, over at Diabetesaliciousness, picked right up on it, and has founded the "club" that we all talked about in the comments section of my post. And we are all members! :)

Lynnea joined us, as she explained in her most recent post.

I have to say, that the blogosphere rose to the occasion, once again, and made me feel like a human. You guys made me feel like a normal person. And you made me feel like I wasn't alone.

That is priceless.

So, I suggest you go over and check out Kelly's post. She is a total comic, once again. Thanks, Kelly, for making a comic twist on something that could otherwise, be very depressing. You rock!

By the way, I think Molly Moretic-Space Cadet Diabetic, is my new best friend! This is my very sad Microsoft Paint version on Molly. I challenge you all to come up with a better one. PLEASE!!!! This one sucks. :D

I'm a moron....

No. Really I am. Don't believe me? Well, here are two "I'm a moron" moments that I've had in the last two weeks....

New Year's Eve. I spent the night by myself, hanging out and watching the ball fall on TV, while designing a cake that I wanted to make over the long weekend. It was already my third day, and I should have changed my pump site that morning. I knew I was low on insulin. I'd already had the beep for the 12.5 units remaining. This meant I'd have to do a site change before I went to bed. I don't like to do a site change at night, but even if I gave bolus insulin with a syringe, I still wouldn't have enough basal to make it through til morning.

I had resigned myself to a nighttime change.

Well, I don't typically stay up much past 11:00. I love my sleep. So I was already tired. The ball dropped and I was watching the after shows when I decided to take my BG. I was in the low 200s. I knew I needed a correction bolus. I used my bolus wizard and gave a bolus.

About twenty minutes later I nearly had a stroke! It just hit me out of nowhere: YOU DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH INSULIN IN YOUR RESERVOIRS TO BOLUS, MORON!

I looked down, and sure enough, for the first time since I started pumping, I had run my pump dry. Instead of a number in the spot that says "units left", it was "---".

Thus, I am a moron. I quickly did a site change and did a 3 a.m. wake up to check and correct another high. But, I couldn't believe I had actually run my pump dry! Wow.

Fast forward to Monday of this week. I had been fighting lows all night. I woke up that morning with a blood sugar of 75. I didn't correct, but instead turned my pump off and got ready for work. I also changed my CGMS sensor that morning. So I was essentially flying blind at that point. I tested before I left for work and was 79. I drove straight to McDonald's (yes, I know that's bad for me!) and got biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Usually, this spikes me to the high 100's, low 200's, so I figured that would keep me in the mid 100's on a morning that was already starting out on the lower side.

I got to work, and as I am carrying in my stuff, I get a "lost sensor" alarm from my CGMS. Basically, it was going to be a long morning. I reset my sensor and ate breakfast. It was a very busy morning at work, compounded by 3 more "lost sensor" alarms (sometimes it can take half a day to get it to "take", but I am too cheap to take it out and do another sensor). At 11:00 I realize that I am dying of thirst.

And then the light bulb came on. YOU FORGOT TO BOLUS FOR BREAKFAST, MORON! I looked at my pump, and sure enough, the last bolus was at 9 pm the day before. I checked my blood sugar: 369. Correction bolus, 7 units.

I spent the rest of the day, correcting and eating only jello, cheese, and almonds (basically, the lowest carb I could).

I mean, it's not like I haven't been a diabetic for 23 years. It's not like I don't KNOW that I have to give insulin when I eat. But I forgot.

So, you see, my lovely friends in the Diabetes OC.

I am a MORON!

Nuff said.

A Borrowed Meme!

Borrowed from Allison

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog - Yeah? I mean, that's what you're reading, right???

2. Slept under the stars. - I grew up in TN....you figure it out. :P

3. Played in a band


4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower


6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain - How high of a mountain are we talking? I mean, I grew up on a mountain. And I've hiked.)

9. Held a praying mantis


10. Sang a solo (in the shower)

11. Bungee jumped


12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.


14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. -cake decorating, scrapbooking, blogging (yeah, it's an art!)

15. Adopted a child.


16. Had food poisoning.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty-the first time I was there, I was on a time limit (high school senior trip-we had 3o minutes and the wait was 4 hours) and the second time I was there it was not too long after 9-11, so no one was allowed up.

18. Grown your own vegetables.


19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train.


21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Hitch hiked.


23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. -cut me some slack. I was immature and in college and it was only once.

24. Built a snow fort


25. Held a lamb.

26. Gone skinny dipping. I was 12. :P Never again!


27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice


29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.


31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise


33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors


35. Seen an Amish community We just have Mennonites around here. I think I spelled that right.

36. Taught yourself a new language.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person


39. Gone rock climbing.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David


41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt


43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.

44. Visited Africa


45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

46. Been transported in an ambulance -isn't that a prerequisite w/ diabetes?

47. Had your portrait painted. - I had it drawn one time...


48. Gone deep sea fishing.

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person


50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling


52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud.


54. Gone to a drive-in theater.

55. Been in a movie


56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class


59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen - I served Christmas dinner at a place where homeless people come one time. It wasn't an actual soup kitchen.

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching.

63. Gotten flowers for no reason


64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving


66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check


68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy


70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial - I've been several times. It's really cool.

71. Eaten Caviar


72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square -Not enough times for me. :P It's crowded, but soooo cool!

74. Toured the Everglades


75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London

77. Broken a bone -the day before I turned 18 I tripped on the sidewalk running into the library. Which tells you what a complete nerd I am. I fractured my arm.


78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person


80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican


82. Bought a brand new car.

83. Walked in Jerusalem


84. Had your picture in the newspaper. - If you've ever heard that song, by Miranda Lambert "Everybody Dies Famous In A Small Town". I grew up in a small town. I've been in the newspaper several times.

85. Read the entire Bible. -I need to work on this!

86. Visited the White House -I don't think the outside counts, does it? If it does, then I have. If not, then yeah, I wanna go.


87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating -a fish. But that's it.

88. Had chickenpox.

89. Saved someone’s life.


90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous.

92. Joined a book club


93. Lost a loved one.

94. Had a baby.


95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake


97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone.


99. Been stung by a bee

The Year Begins...

I realized, just a few minutes ago, that we are nearly a week into the New Year and I haven't posted a thing. Time to get back on the posting bandwagon. :P
My New Year's Eve was pretty boring and perfectly perfect all at the same time. I stayed at home by myself and watched the ball fall and spent some time on the Internet. I stayed up way too late, but had a great time at it and ended up sleeping in on New Year's Day until nearly 9:00. Which for me, is pretty late.
The rest of the weekend passed in boring, normal fashion. Posting didn't occur to me because there was nothing very exciting to post about.
I did, however, get all of my paperwork filled out for fit4D. I faxed it all in today, and am hoping to hear from them in the next couple of days. I am super excited after speaking with one of the people from fit4D. She made me feel super special and actually listened to what I had to say. The first consultation couldn't take place until I got all of my paperwork in. Now that is done, so I wait. :)
I'll keep you guys updated at it goes.
Have a great rest of your week all you dbloggers.

Monday Rocks!

Okay, not every Monday rocks, but this one does. After fighting highs all night long (literally up in the 300s and my CGMS waking me every hour) I got up and went to work. After having 5 days off, I felt spoiled and really didn't want to go in, but that's the life of someone who isn't independently wealthy. :)

Last night, I had made some muffins from a recipe listed in one of my new cookbooks that Kathy sent me. My co-workers were very grateful for white chocolate berry muffins with cinnamon streusel. I thought they were pretty darn good myself. I had 2 for breakfast. Sure, it's not the healthiest breakfast, but there was fruit. And pecans. And chocolate comes from a bean, right??? :P

Surprisingly, my blood sugar actually has run LOW all day long. I've been drinking juice boxes and eating peanut butter crackers for a vast part of my day already. Now one would typically think that a day full of lows would make for a bad day. But after chasing highs since last Tuesday, this is actually a welcomed change.

While I was working this morning, I checked my Twitter account, only to discover that I WON!!!! Again! I was one of the three grand prize winners for the Holiday Survival Sweepstakes over at Diabetes Mine! I've won a Starter Membership to fit4D.com, which can help you with your nutrition, exercise, etc and is ALL related to diabetes! This is an area I need help in sooo much. I don't exercise because I have such trouble with my blood sugars during and after. Maybe this will help me get on the right track.

I love that Amy did this sweepstakes! It's nice to win something once in a while, but the best part was seeing all the different survival tips. It gave me some wonderful new ideas, and also let me know that I was on the right track in alot of areas.

At this point, my day was already looking wonderful. I live only 0.2 miles from work, so I headed home for lunch and on my step was another box.... apparently my Secret Santa's gift didn't all come in the same box. Inside this box was Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor. Another cook book that I will use ALL the time. In fact, I made some muffins last night from the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor. I just have to say that Kathy ROCKS!!!!! She has to be one of the coolest Secret Santas ever. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Secret Santa!

I spent the morning with two of my best friends (and a tag-a-long husband) this morning. We were having out Christmas. It's always been rough for us to get together, but since one of them got married this summer and moved, it's even harder than before. One lives two hours south-east of me and the other (and her husband) lives 4 hours south west.

But, this morning we were able to get together for a few hours and have breakfast and celebrate. It made me very happy. I hope we can do this every Christmas, but I know it's only going to get harder as we marry and start families.

Of course, my friend and her husband and I did a little shopping after the other friend had to leave to go to work. We went to store after store. While it was fun, I am totally BEAT! And ready to take a nap.

When they dropped me off at home, all I could think about was getting up my stairs and taking a rest....until I got to my door. Where there was a package waiting on me! From my wonderful Secret Santa!

I am so glad we got to do a Secret Santa this year. It was so much fun picking out stuff and who doesn't like getting extra presents?? Thanks to Allison for getting this thing together.

Turns out my Secret Santa was Kathy, also known as Araby62 over at Trying To Be Human. She completely ROCKS! I got two books, The Cake Mix Doctor and Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor. Two recipe books that let you take cake mixes and make them so much better than any boxed mix could ever be. I am sooo excited.

Yeah, it's kind of a weird gift for a diabetic, but I asked for it. And since my current hobby of choice is cake decorating, it couldn't have been a more perfect gift.

Check out some of these recipe names:

Chocolate Midnight Cake

Pear and Chocolate Terrine

Guatemalan Wedding Cake

Pumpkin Spice German Chocolate Cheesecake

White Chocolate Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel

Marbled Cream Cheese and Kahlua Brownies

Lemon Lovers' White Chocolate Cake

Snickerdoodle Cake

Plum and Cardamom Cake

Easy Tiramisu

Hummingbird Cake

Pumpkin Pie Crumble Cake

Fresh Lime Cheesecake

Orange Almond Angel Food Cake

Tomato Soup Spice Cake

Can you believe some of them?? I can't wait to try some of them out, though there's supposedly 150 in each book, so I don't know how I'll ever try them all.

Thanks so much to Kathy, who ROCKS! If you don't read her blog, check it out. I linked it in this blog post as well as it being on my blog roll on the right side of the page.

Winning and Christmas and Catching Up

I've not had the time or energy to post much in the past few days. I have such good intentions, but I never seem to get around to it. So this is my catch up post.

I WON!!!!!!!!! No really, I did. :P Amy T, over at Diabetes Mine, has been having her great holiday contest. Not this Monday, but the last, I won one of the great prizes. My prize: a great medical ID bracelet from HAH Originals. It had lots of room to personalize and great ideas for info to put on the bracelet.

Now, since I started wearing an ID bracelet on a regular basis (about a year ago), I have been wearing one of the generic $5 ones you pick up at Wal-Mart that simply says Diabetes on the back. It served it's purpose, but I really had been meaning to get another one. This one is great. I was able to put important information on the front, like that I am a Type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump and that I use CGMS. On the back (I don't want everyone seeing all the info, unless they are looking for it) is my full name, date of birth, month of diagnosis, and my emergency contact person and phone number.

Here's a picture:

The best part about it was that it was engraved and shipped the same day I ordered it. I had it in 3 days. Great customer service. HAH Originals has a great selection of bracelets, and if I order a new one, they will certainly be at the top of my list.

Also, Christmas has come and gone. It was rainy and warm here in Tennessee. Kind of sad, since I was hoping for at least a little snow. But, it was still filled with family and love and LOTS of great food (I'm still fighting my blood sugars! Yikes!). Christmas Eve I headed to my dad and grandma's and started dinner. My dad and I cooked most of the day to get a turkey dinner ready. It was pretty good, considering I'd never mad a turkey before...and neither had my dad! My brother and his wife and my nephew and my sister-in-law's son all came over and we had good food and then exchanged presents.

I'm not sure how my brother does it, but almost every year he gets me something that I love but would have never picked out myself or even thought to ask for. This year it was a cool set of bookends (I read ALL the time) that came from Tractor Supply. I'm dead serious. They are really cool though and they look like they have barbed wire on them. Not to mention being heavy enough to chunk at someone's head and kill them. :)

My dad got me some new Christmas ornaments that I needed. No lie. I needed new Dale Earnhardt Jr stuff. I don't have anything with his new number on it... but now I do. :) Pictures below.

Christmas morning I was up early and headed to my mom's to celebrate with her, my step-dad, my baby sister, and my step-grandmother. It was nice. My mom cooked a ham (I LOVE ham!) and I don't get to eat her cooking nearly enough. Though that's probably a good thing for my waist-line. :P My step-grandmother gave my sister an electric organ that she's had for years. It may not seem like much, but it was perfect for my musically talented sister. She was thrilled and even cried (how many 12 year olds do that over a Christmas present?).

I got a radio for my car! Yippee!!!!! I've been without a radio in my car for over a year now. The other one just died and I had never had the money to replace it. It's not usually a big deal since I live so close to work, but on trips out of town it's nice to have. My step-dad and I installed it in my car yesterday before dinner, so I am no longer music deprived. :)

Also, I have been truly blessed this year with Christmas cards. I hang them on the back of my door. The picture I am posting below is actually from a couple of days ago. I have even more now. They are almost all the way to the floor. :) I love Christmas cards. Several of them are from those of you in the Diabetes OC. Thanks for them!

Also, on Christmas Eve I got home from my dad and grandmother's and I checked my mail. Inside was a package. No, it wasn't my Secret Santa package, but it was a package from Jill and her family over at Diabetes Sweeties: My Crazy Life. It was full of fun stuff. Beautiful, handmade jewelry made by Jill herself, and a tee-shirt from their JDRF walk that they did this year! Kacey is even getting awarded the Golden Sneaker for raising $2500 for their walk! How fantastic is that? Jill says the award ceremony is January 11th, so we should all be thinking and praying for them that day.

I know this post is very long and full of information, but I wanted to be sure I didn't leave anyone or anything out. I hope everyone else had as blessed a Christmas as I did.

Merry Christmas

A much lengthier (is that a word??) post will go up, hopefully later today. But for now, I am getting ready to head to my mom's, loaded down with Christmas presents.


I hope everyone in the OC has a great day filled with family and love (and maybe even some gifts).

p.s. This is not snow from today. I have no white Christmas. It's currently 48 degrees. :( So I put the picture up instead. :)

What Happens When A Diabetic Eats Too Many Cupcakes....

I found this picture and this post on a great blog called Cake Wrecks. You can see it's the only non-diabetic blog on my blogroll. I am a cake decorator in my hobby time. I love the act of creating (though if you ask me to draw my cakes, it's a disaster!) this kind of art. I'm not fantastic at it, but I am learning.

Anyway, this one was found on Cake Wrecks just yesterday. When I saw it, I laughed and had to let the rest of my D-buddies know what will happen if we get carried away this holiday season. :)

To Request or Not to Request....That is the Question

I am planning on taking another Praxis test in a couple of months. The Praxis, for those of you who don't know, it the test you take to get your teaching license. The first license I got had only one area of endorsement and took 3 tests to get the license.

I am working on another area of endorsement right now and working toward my Master's degree. There are 2 additional test to get this endorsement. One test I took shortly after I went on the insulin pump. All the previous tests, I was on MDIs.

I have never, ever asked for special accommodations for testing. Not even when I was in school taking the Assessment Tests they make you take as a kid.

I, however, have never taken a test while on CGMS. I am confused about what to do. I may have no problems whatsoever. The last test I took, I was in a car accident on the way to the test, still got there in time and took the test and PASSED! I was on the insulin pump, tested before going into the room. I was pretty high from the adrenaline rush from the wreck, so I corrected, took the test and never had any other problems.

With my CGMS, I am afraid I may have some problems. What happens if it starts to beep during the test (even if I have it on vibrate!)? Will they think I am cheating if I reach in my pocket to make it stop? Or what if I need to test because it is low or high? What if I need a juice box?

With CGMS, I tend to be more consumed with my diabetes care. It makes me uncertain. Should I request special accommodations? Basically, the right to have my juice and meter if needed? Will this mean I have to test in another room?

I have heard so many horror stories of people having the pump ripped out my test administrators. I DO NOT want to risk that. But I fear giving up my "normalcy" by requesting special accommodations.

What do I do? Diabetes OC, things have changed so much since I was a kid. And my diabetes care has changed so much since I took my last standardized test. Do you have any suggestions? What should I do?

Christmas Tree

George beat me to the Christmas Tree post. And he did a vlog. How cool! Well, I still don't vlog, but I did take some pictures last night to share with all of you in the Diabetes OC. I, like George, don't have a themed tree. I just have a random collection of ornaments that I have collected over the years. I quit using garland and changed to ribbon. I have my first Christmas ornament and many that have been given to me as gifts.
By my Angel that sits at the top of my tree, I always thought it made it look kind of country. Being from Tennessee, this is okay. :)

I also wanted to share with you my totally country stocking. I bought it several years ago. It's made from a pair of Wranglers jeans. Patch and all. Very country, but it comes from growing up in the South and being around horse shows and rodeos so much.

The little fellow sticking out at the top is a horse purchased in the gift shop at the Dixie Stampede (Christmas edition). Sadly, since it's just me, that little guy is all that will go in my stocking. That is one thing I miss about being a kid. My stocking was always so fun to open. Almost better than the other presents.

I also wanted to share an ornament with you. This is one of my newer ones. I bought it for myself two Christmases ago. Go VOLS! :) This also comes with growing up in Tennessee. As we say in Tennessee: I bleed Orange.

Anyway, I hope you guys weren't too bored with my totally non-diabetic post. I just wanted to share some of my Christmas with all of you.

The Bad Side of CGMS...

Occasionally you get a bleeder. This one was the worst one I'd ever gotten. It was like a scene from a bad horror flick. There was blood all over my bathroom floor. Kind of gross, but very true. These pictures are from six days after. Before taking the sensor out and after.

The first night having the sensor in, it kept throwing bad sensor alarms at me and I kept restarting it over again. I was being stubborn. I figured if it was going to leave that kind of a mark on me, I was going to at least get my 6 days out of it. And I did.

So Cool!

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from MiniMed requesting I take a survey. I usually try to do this because I want them to keep improving on what they already have. I think it's important to let them know what they need to improve.



At the bottom of the e-mail it said that by responding you would get a $25 Amazon.com gift card (for the first "x" amount of responses). I figured I wouldn't get one, since I usually am late at everything I do.


But this morning in my e-mail was a message with the gift card/code for Amazon.com.


HOW COOL! :D So, I got to spend it this morning purchasing a book I'd been wanting for a while now, but was way too cheap to buy myself (cut me some slack! I'm on a budget!). I got it for $4.70 after the gift card. Thanks MiniMed!



Also, I've uploaded a clip of my little sister singing in our fair's talent show back in the fall. Let me know what you think! We are pretty proud of her. We're just trying to convince her to dance. :) Keep in mind, she's only 12.

Frustrations

November is over and since NaBloPoMo is no more, I decided to go back to my couple of times per week posting. As I said before, blogging is a full time job!

Work has been crazy, family has been busy, and the Christmas season is upon us. I have almost all my Christmas shopping done, which takes away some of my stress, and overall, I am doing okay. Give me a couple of weeks and I may be singing a different tune.

I tell you all this to give you some background info. For the past week or so, my blood sugars are running okay during the day. Then, around 9 or 10 p.m., I start rising. Having not eating since 6 or 7. And they rise and rise and rise. My CGMS was waking my up 2 or 3 times a night to correct. I finally started setting a temporary basal at 110% at night, which keeps me below 200, but still in the high 100s.

There's no reason for this. No (unusual) outside stress. No sickness. No weird foods. Just unexplainable high blood sugars at night. It's gotten so bad that I've been taking almost 60 units of insulin every day. Sometimes more.

It's kind of scary. This hasn't ever happened to me before. I am giving it another week to straighten back out (maybe I'm fighting some sort of infection or something) and then we are looking at a major basal rate overhaul.

I'm hoping it's just a fluke. Or the alignment of the planets. Or something. Apparently I'm not alone in my problem right now.

Any suggestions? Any tips? Anyone else going through this too??

p.s. I found this in my bed when I pulled back the sheets.

Christmas Meme.

Christmas meme! Thanks to Lora!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I like it to match if I can do it and I put curly ribbons on all of my Christmas presents

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. But only cause I don't want to have to carry a real tree up the stairs to my apartment

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually right after Thanksgiving. I actually put my tree up last night.

4. When do you take the tree down? Right after New Year's day.

5. Do you like eggnog? Never tried it. I can't bring myself to.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The Barbie 57 Chevy I begged my parents for. I didn't have any Barbies...I just wanted the car. :) I still have it, broken windshield and all. :P

7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My sister.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have 3.

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Christmas cards! Hey, if anyone wants a card, send me an e-mail w/ your address and I'll send one out. :) beth2027@yahoo.com

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A box of old magazines. I kid you not.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story

13. When do you start shopping? It depends. This year I'm already almost done. I have a couple of things left to buy when I get paid next.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? That's telling....if I would though, I would wait a year. :)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Everything!

16. Lights on the tree? White lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Do I have to pick one? I like 'em all...except The Little Drummer Boy...that one just kind of annoys me.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I stay local. I go back and forth between my mom's and my dad and grandma's.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? An angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve with my dad and his family, Christmas morning with my mom.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People being all stressed out.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I'm not picky.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new radio for my car. I'm tired of singing to myself. :)

P.S. Just thought I'd share a scene from my Favorite Christmas Movie. :)