2011 Recap

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Moved to Pittsburgh and got a 5.0 A1C!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I never make them

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Steph and Chris had Emma on March 30th and Sarah and Trevor had Katherine on October 27th.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Shockingly my cousin Michael

5. What countries did you visit? Stayed in the US again

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? A baby, a dog and a house, easy enough

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? September 26th when Mike turned 30!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Quitting a job I hated and not being afraid of what would happen next

9. What was your biggest failure? Not looking hard enough for a new job

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Luckily no.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our new Nikon 1 Camera

12. Where did most of your money go? Getting the credit cards paid off, hope to see that happen in 2012.

13. What did you get really excited about? Trip to San Franciso and going to Sonoma!

14. What song will always remind you of 2011? Anything Michael Buble as we went to his concert this year in Pittsburgh with Dad and Annette.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Sadder I think actually.
– thinner or fatter? Thinner, the running has gotten better.
– richer or poorer? Richer, thanks to our cheap rent now!

16. What do you wish you’d done more of? Ran more and took more trips.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of? Sat around and done nothing.

18. How did you spend Christmas? In Erie and Warren seeing both families.

19. What was your favorite TV program? Nothing beats NCIS for us.

20. What were your favorite books of the year? Lets be honest, I dont read.

21. What was your favorite music from this year? Anything on the radio.

22. What were your favorite films of the year? Cant remember the last movie we went to.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? On my 29th birthday Mike made a cake for me and we went to a wine bar in Arlington, VA with Aaron, Em, Laura, Nathan and Erin.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Knowing we were moving to Pittsburgh earlier in the year.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Getting better!

26. What kept you sane? Mike, my Dad and brother.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: "No reward comes without risk"

Cakes

It is hard being a diabetic and wanting to bake something. It does not matter what it is, but everytime I even begin to think about baking I am hit with a pang of guilt over if I should be eating that sort of food or not. I enjoy the show Cake Boss and often wonder how hard it really is to make something similar to what is seen on that show. Recently I had more and more friends putting pictures up on Facebook of some fantastic fondant cake they had made. So I started thinking about if I could make some sort of creation using fondant on a cake that is similar to what is seen on TV.

Once again though I had to stop and think about the consequences of baking, because if it is made it has to be eaten. And did I really need to have an unnecessary cake lying around to mess up my blood sugars and give me unnecessary calories?

The answer was yes and I am glad I did it because after spending a few hours putting this cake together I realized that first of all fondant does not taste that good and second of all it was way too tiring and time consuming than I want to ever spend making a cake again for just a random Thursday!

26 years

I cannot remember a life not being diabetic. There might be some sadness in that statement for some people, but not to me. I would rather not remember the freedom of not being diabetic and be able to compare it to life as it is today. But when you get acknowledgement, no matter how small, it always feels good. Joslin Diabetes Center formally recognized me for having diabetes for 25 years or more. It has not been easy and a certificate is not a million dollars, but I will take it. And I will go forward waiting for my next award in another 25 years.

How Many?

This picture reminds me of that game where they ask you to guess how many jellybeans are in a container to win some prize. I never did well at that game! I have been saving my test strips in this container for months now. It was supposed to help so they did not end up all over the floor, but yet that still seems to happen quite frequently. It is crazy though to see all of these strips and think that my fingers have been pricked that many times in a short amount of time! Yet alone how many times they have been pricked in twenty six years time of being diabetic!

Stress

It is interesting how stress comes into your life when you dont see it coming. It is also interesting how you have to make an extra effort when you are diabetic to not let it ruin your diabetes control. In recent days there has been some stuff going on that makes it harder to stay on top of my diabetes management. Just things that need to be figured out and decisions that have to made. All the while I have to remember to keep doing what I have to do everyday and check my blood sugar as often as I always do. I have never been one to notice stress making a huge difference in my blood sugars, but some people say that this happens to them. I guess I am lucky in that regard, but trying to exercise, eat right and check blood sugars seems to tedious when all you want to do lay on the couch and watch Teen Mom 2 on MTV. Yay!

“The most awesome thing I have done in spite of diabetes is . . . . “

That is the theme of the website DSMA (http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/introducing-the-dsma-blog-carnival/) this month and they have asked people to answer that question on their own blogs.

I think the most awesome thing I have done in spite of diabetes is run. I have ran 2 mile races, 5K races, 8K's, 6 miles, 10 miles, and the most important 3 half marathons or 13.1 miles. The best of these races was the Richmond Half Marathon in November of 2010. I ran it the quickest I have ever ran before (2:13) and I felt good doing it. My blood sugar was stable all during this race as well. And the end of the race I got engaged. None of these events were affected by diabetes and it was not even a thought that day. I cannot believe I can run these races and I am looking forward to doing it again soon!

5.1 and counting

I spoke to my doctor's office today and the nurse told me that my A1C was a 5.1. Um what? How did it go from 6.1 in November to 5.1 in 3 short months? She said not to worry and to enjoy the fact that it was so good! I asked her if that was too low and she said it was not and that it was a great thing. She had to tell me a few times. Of course it is a great thing, it is amazing and wonderful and the lowest number I can ever recall seeing in all my 25 years as a diabetic. But it does make me wonder how it got to a 5.1. I see a lot of blood sugars that are well within the normal range they should. Though I do also see a lot that are in the 200's or even very low in the 40's and 50's. It is just so amazing that even though that does happen now and again that your A1C can still shine through at a good number and occasionally hitting a high or a low does not ruin your overall goal of good control. I think after some initial shock I am going to enjoy this number and embrace it!