Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Balance in Life with Diabetes


Health Mascot. As a Health Activist, your voice is prominent within your specific health community. A mascot is associated with a distinct group or team. Branding your voice with a mascot can be an imaginative and gratifying activity. Here, you can pay tribute to your favorite mascot or you can create an original character. Ensure, whichever you decide to go with is related to your Health Activism. So for today’s prompt – give yourself, your condition, or your health focus a mascot. Is it a real person? Fictional? Mythical being? Describe them. Bonus points if you provide a visual!

For those of you not familiar, my condition is Type 1 Diabetes.  When thinking about today's prompt, I was a little stymied.  We all know that the DOC has it's mascot's.  Cupcakes, Unicorns, even Bacon could be considered the DOC's mascots.  But for myself, diabetes has never been about any of these things.  Don't get me wrong, I've eaten my fair share of Cupcakes, love bacon, and have even sung songs about Unicorns.  But what is Diabetes about to me. 

Well, I guess, after many years, I have finally figured out that it is about Balance.  Yes, balance.  It's sort of like walking a tightrope.  Picture yourself, way up in the air, standing on a wire, wind blowing, stuck half way between two incredibly tall buildings, sun shining down.
(photocredit)
Living with Diabetes is a balancing act.  Whether you are the diabetic or you are a parent of a CWD, it is all about balance. 

  • balancing carbs with insulin
  • balancing exercise with food and insulin
  • balancing anxiety and stress
  • balancing glucose
  • balancing hormones
  • balancing basal rates
  • balancing sleep
  • balancing life
This is going on 24/7/365.  It is never-ending.  It almost becomes something you don't really have to think about.  And so you slip.
(photocredit)



  As Diabetics, it happens to all of us at some point.  Try as we might, we  will slip. But that's okay.
We just have to find Balance again.  For some of us it takes longer than others.  And that's okay too.

So here is my Symbol. 
(photocredit)

This is the triform. In Waldorf education, the familiar head, heart, and hands, or thinking, feeling, and willing, is represented by this simple triangle.  It is simple, but holds everything I need to remind me of how it all comes together.  I liked this too, because the triangle is surrounded by the Blue Circle.  So for me this is what i am trying to achieve.  Balance in life with Diabetes.

Monday, April 23, 2012

a game of hide and seek



Health Activist Choice Day 2! Write about whatever you like.  Take today to write about whatever your heart desires.

Today is a yucky, rainy day here.  The sky is grey and it is supposed to snow.  Up to 8cm is called for.  There have been a few flakes, but no accumulation yet.

I am having an indoor day with the grandkids today.  We were going to go grocery shopping but i will do that myself without their help.  After lunch will be quiet time for the little one, so perhaps that will work.  Their aunt is home today, so she can stay with them.

First on my list of groceries today will be eggs.  You're probably wondering why I think you would care.  Well here is the simple answer.....in picture form.

Aubrey's idea of Hide 'n Seek

found them!

oops, hide 'n seek is a rough game

and it makes a girl thirsty!



Sunday, April 22, 2012

Sudoku anyone!!







Today is day 22 of the HAWMC.  We are nearing the end.  I am so freaking surprised at myself.  I never thought I would get this far.  Not selling myself short, but things sometimes happen, and you just don't get to write.  I have even gone so far as to start my post the night before, if i happen to have some time on the computer, so as not to be so rushed.  For example this post.  I looked at WEGO's prompt for today last night.  I knew that today would be an incredibly busy day for me.  We were up early this morning.  We planned a road trip to visit my husbands brother.  He has MS.  His wife passed away a little over a year ago, and he lives in a nursing home.  He lives 2 hours away from us, so we try to get there every other month or so. We are his only family.  He does have family on her side, and they are very good to him.  They visit him often and he joins them for things like Christmas dinner and such.  He can order the van to come pick him up and take him wherever he needs to go in the town where he lives.  Today we took the grandkids and our daughter with us.  Things being as they are, we actually haven't been to see him since Christmas.  We are long overdue.  

I also had to work tonight at 5 so I thought it best to see if i could pull together todays post last night.  And I did!  I was going to post it early this morning before we left, but i couldn't copy and paste the HAWMC daily header that i have been adding to the top of my post.  By the time i got home this evening it was too late to do it before i left for work.  So here it is,  9:41pm and I am finally posting!!

For Day 22,  we were to visit http://thingsweforget.blogspot.com   and come up with our own sticky note, and talk about where we would post it. 

So here  is my Post It Note. 


I am thinking I would post it on my fridge.  I would see it everytime i went to open the fridge door.  It would remind me that Diabetes is a puzzle.  And like Sudoku puzzles, never the same twice.  It takes careful planning to come up with the right combination, so that everything comes together.  Some days the puzzle seems easy and other days not so much.  We just keep plugging away at it.