NaBloPoMo- Week 1, Day 1 and 2

Hi Everyone! Long time, no see.

As is tradition with this here blog, I can't maintain it the way I want. I fall off the bandwagon during the summer when my life gets crazy and gravitate back when the weather starts to get cooler (and holy moses, it was cool this morning!).

But, I'm going to try and do NaBloPoMo and I've decided to try and use some of the blog topic suggestions that my friend Dayle created.

So, here's day 1 and day 2 because I completely forgot yesterday was November 1st.

Monday, November 1 Introduction – Tell us about yourself! Why did you decide to start a blog or share your blog with us?

I started LS&LG in May of 2009 after getting fed up with my old blog, Tales of a Twentysomething. The Diabetes OC was the reason I started blogging in 2007. I was thinking about what I was going to write my senior undergraduate thesis on and I decided to focus on media studies and representation. I analyzed several blogs and compared them to other media accounts of diabetes (i.e. Steel Magnolias and news reports). One of the things I learned was that to do proper research, you have to immerse yourself in the subject, so I started a diabetes blog.

But, about me! I'm 26 years old and live in the DC-area. I'm married to my high school sweetheart and we've been together for almost 9 years. My day job is working for a large health care non-profit in their government affairs and advocacy division(though on this blog, you won't find much information about my job- I'm not trying to get dooced or anything). In June, my husband and I bought our first house and have spent the last few month making it our home. I have a Yorkie-Bichon pup named Tucker who I have decided is the greatest, smartest, cutest damn dog in the entire world. I love carmel macchiatos, zumba classes, Mexican food, my family and Disney World. While I've admitted to being knee-deep in a quarter-life crisis, I remind myself everyday that I am truly blessed.

(I didn't mention diabetes, did I?)

Well, it's because in the grand scheme of life, it doesn't make the list of what makes Allison Allison! I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 17 years old. I remember life before d, even though the older I get, the more memories I have that include a little black kit and glucose tabs. I currently rock the Omnipod with pride and use a Dexcom 7 Plus (a gift from my husband and his extra "life insurance" policy- romantic, right???).

Tuesday, November 2 Election Day – What issues are important to you? If you could tell your representatives one thing about diabetes, what would it be?

Issues that are important to me relate alot to funding. Funding for research (like the Special Diabetes Program, which will provide funding for type 1 research if it's reauthorized) and programs. I also totally support legislation like menu labeling. I love restaurants that have been early adopters (Hello Panera in VA!) who post the calories and fat (and will give you carb info if you ask) and allow people to make better choices (for example, should I get the panini that has 400 cals, or the soup and salad for 390 cals- duh, soup and salad!).

And if I could tell my respentatives one thing about diabetes, I would say that when people manage their diabetes really well, it looks easy and likes it's not important. But gosh darn it, it really is difficult. And it takes up some much time and energy. And will probably end my life prematurely. And I hate it. And I wish he/she would help reauthorize SDP. Or else.

And if I said everything like that, I'd likely get escorted out of my representative's office and their staff would think they let some girl out of the loony bin. But, they would probably say I have passion or something.