Future accomplishments - Post 29

Today's topic suggestion is about a hoped for accomplishment in 2013.  I tried, but had a hard time picking just one thing.  So here is my to do list.

I have a long list of things I would like to accomplish in 2013:

• Finish the grizzly bear cross stitch I started 2 years ago.
• Remove living room carpet and install laminate.
• Tile the kitchen and laundry room and front bathroom.
• Actually make the quilt I bought the pieces for 4 years ago.
• Get the garden designed and planted.
• Read the stack of books I have at my bedside and in the hallway.
• Get all my pictures sorted and in albums.

There are some that I have to accomplish in 2013 whether I like it or not:

• Graduate my daughter from High School, with limited number of tears.
• Send my daughter off to college, with limited number of tears.

There are some that are health related too:

• Achieve an A1C of less than 7.0
• Lose about 20-25 pounds.

There are even some that are advocacy related:

• Successfully participate in my local JDRF walk.
• Assist my daughter in starting a local sharps container exchange program.
• Get everyone in my office to wear blue on Fridays, or at least on WDD.
• Blog at LEAST once a week. 

You don't think it's too much, do you? I don't'.  I CAN DO THIS!!  Who am I kidding.... I can't do all these things.  We all know I'm going to be crying like a baby at graduation and then again in August.  Maybe I need to add one more thing to that list:

• Stock up on tissues

Community Care Package - Post 9

Today's suggested post topics were to create the perfect care package or tell a descriptive story.  I love giving gifts.. and getting gifts, so I chose to stuff a care package. Nothing is as exciting as getting a box in the mail. True, most of the time it has pump supplies in it, but still.. it's a box. I get the stuff, and my kitties get the box. Win win!

If I were to receive a Care Package this is what I would love to see in it (in no particular order):

• Teddy Bear - Or some other stuffed animal, like a purple unicorn with a rainbow tail. There are times when you need to hug something, or throw something and a stuffed animal is the best for both. 
• Coffee/Tea - There is just something comforting about a hot beverage.
• Cute and fun notebooks - You'll end up using them to log food intake, note trials and errors and successes, vent when you've had enough, doodle when your waiting at the doctor's office/lab, etc.
• 52-12pks of Diet Coke - There should be at least 52. Enough to get you through the first year, if you only go through one 12 pack a week.
• Candy variety, snack size bags - These are to treat those pesky lows. There should be Snickers, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Smarties, Dum Dums, nuts, crackers w/cheese, etc. I could go on... but I'm getting hungry
• Blog roll - A list of all the blogs related to Diabetes.
• 5-10 extra meters - You can put one at work, one in your car, one in your purse, one in your significant other's car, one in the bathroom, one in the bedroom, one in the kitchen, and one in the closet. That way you have a spare just in case.
• 100 boxes of test strips - What's the point of having the extra meters if you don't have enough test strips.
• Insulin pump - I absolutely fell in love with mine when I got her. 
• Books - I have read "How to think like a Pancreas".  I know there are other great books out there, so include your favorite one.  There should also be some fun books that are NOT related to diabetes. 
• Smart phone - It is useful for so many things.  Looking up nutrition facts and keeping in touch with the #DOC are just two I use the most often.  Not to mention a good game of Words With Friends or Angry Birds.
• You Can Do This bracelet - I know these are a limited, and coveted, item, but wouldn't it be great for everyone to have that visual reminder everyday (Thanks Kim for founding this great project.)

I am sure I have left out many things that you would like to see in a care package, but I think the package would already be delivered on a pallet.  Hmm.. send two packages maybe?

A letter to my health - Post 8

Today's suggestion of writing a letter to my health really hits close to home. Throughout the last couple years when I've had stressful situations with people, particularly those close to me, I write them a letter. To this day these letters have never been mailed, and some I have even burned. Will I every mail them? I highly doubt it. The benefit I got from writing them, and being able to say what I needed to say without fear of retribution, was significant. I highly recommend you try it sometime.

Dear Jenn's Health,

I first want to thank you for doing such a good job. There have been many a time when the sniffles have ran through my house and you've been able to fight them off and keep me feeling good. I've only broken two bones in my life time of which only one required a cast.. darn tree.. anyways. Thanks for making my bones strong. My eyesight hasn't changed over the years at all. There was a couple months in junior high when a money hungry optometrist said I needed glasses. That was a yucky couple weeks of wearing them. I'm glad that was over quickly. You have done a good job... almost too good.

I'm not quite sure why you decided that parts of me that I was born with were all of a sudden alien and needed to be destroyed, but you did. Were you being over confident and cocky? I really did need those, they were very important to me. Now, because you were being overly self-assured, I have to watch things more closely myself. I get to spend time with a lot more people. That really nice lady at the top of the stairs who gives me gold star stickers, the not so nice guy in the white coat with a bat on it, the funny guy who thankfully doesn't say, "this little piggy when to market" when checking my feet, and the guy who really should smile more but looks funny anyway when my eyes are dilated.  I am very thankful that I've met all these people, but you didn't have to push the issue.  I would have gotten around to it eventually... maybe.

So I ask one favor of you.  The next time you think something should be killed off that has been with us for as long as we both can remember, check with me first.  If I am not sure, I will consult one of my new friends before I tell you how to proceed.  Either way, it will save us both a lot of work in the future.

Thanks,
Jenn