How to explain...

This time, 7 years ago, I was sitting in a hospital room in Walter Reed Army Medical Center learning how to live with diabetes. The plethora of information that my family and I received at the time of diagnosis was completely overwhelming and ill fitting. I wasn’t a kid with diabetes- I was a young adult with established habits that needed to learn how to make diabetes work with my lifestyle. I was initially put on a regimen of NPH and Regular insulin, but for a 17 year old with afterschool activities, a part time job, and a budding social calendar, that simply wouldn’t work. Also, in all the pamphlets and brochures I received, nothing mentioned the emotional effects that diabetes would have on my life. Nothing talked about the social issues that I would encounter from having diabetes. Nothing explained what to tell people when they asked about diabetes.

7 years later, I’m sitting in Montana visiting my grandparents and am thrown into the situation of having to explain how my diabetes is different, why I don’t take shots, why my pump doesn’t have tubing, why I check my blood sugar as much as I do, etc. to various members of my extended family. I’m the anomaly in my family and the only one with a chronic conditions (“yes, I’ll have to do this for the rest of my life”) This is the first time they’ve seen me since I’ve worn a pump and the first time they might be brave enough to ask the questions that they have. And sometimes, despite the fact that I’ve had diabetes for what seems like an eternity most days, I just don’t know the answer or how to explain it to someone that has no background knowledge.

So to you veterans with diabetes, or anyone else- what is the most concise way to explain type 1 diabetes in 2 minutes (bonus points to people wearing the Omni-Pod and can explain that.)? I have a large family bar-b-que to go to tomorrow and it’s bound to come up. I don’t want to give the biology of diabetes (which I can do at work, since I work in healthcare and people seem to understand), just the facts.

Thanks in advance for helping to eliminate another awkward conversation where I might start talking about my islet cells going rogue.

We know their names now...

Ross and I have been living in our current place for over a year now. I've pretty much loved our actual apartment since we took the tour-the black granite counter tops, the light wood floors, and the gorgeous views. While the management has changed for the worst in the last few months, I love the fact that our building allows dogs, which allowed for us to allow Tucker to become part of our family. We live in a great neighborhood with tons of shops, restaurants, and bars. We're within walking distance to Georgetown and have easy access to the Metro, which is pretty essential to getting around DC.

But what defines this as home for me was exemplified last night when Ross and I spent two hours outside in our courtyard with a bottle of wine and some of our neighbors letting the dogs play. Conversations ranged from credit cards to vacations, jobs to photography skills. While we may have initially bonded over simply having dogs (and we might not have exactly known their names to begin with), my neighbors are by far some of the nicest and most interesting people I've ever met. With our dog park going to shambles and management being less than responsive, someone created a Facebook group and we've "friended and followed" each other to stay connected.

Our neighbors have become more than just people that we acknowledge in the elevator; they're the people that we truly enjoy spending time with and consider friends.

Night and Day

It's funny to think that we're already into the middle of the month of July. Time flies pretty quickly nowadays. My Nana Hazel says that alot, but it's so true. The older I get, the quicker time goes.

In that same vein, I'm always looking to make sure that I enjoy the time and don't rush it away. I try to live in the moment as much as possible, but being a busybody and worrier by nature, that doesn't always pan out. I'm always worried about what we're doing next weekend and counting down the days until vacations, skipping right by the days in between, which is okay since most of the days I spend at work and I'm not sure that I'm really in the right place. So skip right on by workday, you suck anyways.

But my nights, they've been pretty awesome. Lately, with Ross traveling, they've consisted of long walks to enjoy the beautiful weather with Tucker, conversations by phone with my husband, cooking delicious food just for me, watching some mindless television that makes me really happy, playing my Wii Fit, and just having fun.

Enjoying the evenings. Enjoying my time.

34. Learn a new G-rated joke every month for a year (2/12)

Q. How do you wake up Lady Gaga?
A. You "pokerface"