Hello, internets.
It's been over four months since this blog last saw anything resembling a post. There are three half finished musings just waiting to be deleted. I was even considering using Typepad's "Feature a Post" option to make it look like I'd written something. Nobody would notice that I'd dragged an oldie out, dusted it off and stuck it back up at the top of this blog...right? But Candid Diabetes is, first and foremost, for myself and so here I am typing like a fiend while my school work lies dormant. Go slackers of the world!
So much has been going on of the nouveau sort that I don't even know where to start. Or what to tell without turning this into a 411,000 word essay. I guess the beginning (or the end, if you take my last post into account) is as good a place as any...
But first, a well deserved kudos to my pump and CGMS. I wore a sensor during my Florida getaway and it saved my butt numerous times. While walking around parks and attractions all day it helped me to anticipate lows and prevent them. I didn't have one single hyperglycemic episode. The sensor was on and transmitting BG's to my pump during the flight there and back, and my pump got the full force of water from Shamu's splashing tail (the resulting tide wave fried my sister's camera!) and kept on ticking. I swam for a full day with my trusty Paradigm RT, maintained level BG's in spite of the horrible foods I ate as well as the lack of regular meals (I admit, I even had some cotton candy, for the first time in almost 20 years), and I didn't have to worry about stopping every few hours to bleed the finger. The CGMS really helped to make my vacation about seeing and doing things with my sister, without having to worry about Diabetes intruding and getting in the way of fun! And, of course, I could never even imagine going back to shots, especially having to shoot up during that much activity!!
Florida. The vacation hot spot. And I mean, hot. During the almost-week that we were there, it reached 104F. One Hundred and FOUR. Fahrenheit. That's 40 degrees Celsius. Forty. The only forty my body has ever seen has come after a minus sign. And the humidity...my sinuses thrived and my lungs went into shock as soon as I stepped off the plane. Humidity for Albertans is a machine that you plug into the wall when you have a cold. Though I did get used to it, for the first several hours or so the air felt tangibly viscous and seemed to require extra breathing force from my lungs. I won't go into much detail as I think that each day during my vacation would probably require its own post, but I will post a few pictures!
Cinderella's Castle
Day 1: Disney World. Though I love Disney Cartoons (Finding Nemo is one of my all-time fave movies) I wasn't expecting to enjoy Disney as much as I did. Splash Mountain was my favourite ride, and I even shelled out $60 USD for the photo of the last plunge (during which I look rather constipated) and a fancy themed frame. Second in line was Space Mountain. A rollercoaster in the dark. No big loop-de-loops or anything horribly terrifying...except you have no idea when the next turn is coming. Fantastic. The Haunted House was a blast as well and I only wish that I'd been able to take pictures of the ghosts in the dining room. But what amazed me most was how clean it is, and how it really does seem like you're stepping into Mickey's house or walking through a town right out of the cartoons. Thanks to my forgetting the bottle of sunscreen in the hotel room (and having some delusion that my pale, redheaded complexion would weather under the blistering - and I literally mean blistering - sun) one of my first souvenirs was a sunburn of epic proportions.
In the evening, we went to downtown Disney and had dinner with a member from Insulin Pump Forums. I have to say, this was one of the neatest parts of the whole week! We talked pumps, CGMS's and Diabetes, and just got to know one another. After dinner, we walked through the shops looking for a souvenir for one of my girlfriends children (a "My First Mickey T-Shirt" t-shirt!). I wish we could've met up again during another day, as I was tired, jet-lagged and sun-burnt and likely didn't make for a very entertaining new friend! Now, if she likes bright red Zombies.....
Day 2: Discovery Cove. This was, flat out, the best day that I've had in years, and it fulfilled a lifelong dream. We swam with dolphins, waded in a huge pool while Rays glided through the water all around us, snorkeled in a man-made reef, took ridiculous underwater pictures of eachother with our top lips pushed out thanks to the masks...it was expensive, and worth every single penny. I could've gone there every day; in fact, if I lived in Florida I'd probably go there every year!
Day 3 was Seaworld Aquatica and shopping. We drove, and drove, and drove. Frankly, I don't understand the freeways down there - even with a GPS I missed a turn-off not once, but THREE times. Seriously. The names of the freeways just don't make sense. Oh, and what is with the having to pay for gas before you fill up the tank?!? Uhhhh???
Seaworld was next. I loved the belt through the glass aquariums, fish above, beside, all around. The Shamu show was not for me, but the penguins were a blast - and small enough to fit in my carry-on!
Rhino's on the Serengeti
Last but not least, Day 5 was Busch Gardens. Two words: Awe. Some. I am a rollercoaster junkie, and that place had the best coasters I've ever been on!The lineups for rides were brutal (we waited in one for almost two hours!) and the Serengeti Plain was amazing. At one point during our ride on the railway (immediately prior to the picture on the right, in fact) two rhino's ran right in front of the train, so close that I thought they would collide! Fortunately, there were no injuries - and we got some pretty cool close-ups!
After a ten hour trip (thanks to two lay-overs) we made it home, both my sister and I generally sick of each others company. I was glad to be home, to my dogs and my house and the everyday parts of living.
For the past two years I've been looking into and talking about putting myself and Miz Moo, the uber-Border Collie, into herding lessons. And for the past two years I have not had the resources or time to even just get started, let alone dedicate myself to it. So it was the best surprise when my mom (who is the one I've talked to about the lessons the most) went behind my back and, as a birthday present, set up and paid for a first lesson with a semi-local trainer in July. We drove an hour and a half to get to the trainers farm and spent four hours working with him. I forgot my camera because, well, I'm like that. Erg. When she went in the pen with the sheep, it was one of those moments when I wished so badly that I could conjure up a camera (oh, and I most conveniently forgot the camera in my cell phone - DOH!) I would've given my pancreas for it! Since I know that 90% of the world goes into a coma when I talk about herding and sheep and stockdog training, I'll keep this one short. OK, semi short.

Moo and the Boo
Mollie, Ken (our trainer) and I went into a large pen with about a dozen head of sheep. At
his request, I let Mollie off of the lead and Ken told me to walk towards the flock to get her attention on them. For the first thirty seconds or so, everything else was more interesting, particularly the
sheep poop. I pointed towards the flock and said "Go get the sheep Mollie" and off she went, bark bark bark barking behind them. Until the sheep, as a unit, turned towards Ken and I. [Side Bar: Mom goes
dashing for the fence to our laughter - it's a little hard for me to be intimidated by sheep after five green-broke horses have raced head on towards you for years lol) I've read about the 'click'. I've heard others describe the click. (If you don't know what the click is, it's that moment when instinct 'kicks' in and seems to take over body and mind of a stockdog) But man, it was nothing like seeing it. A.Maz.Ing. It was so apparent that I could almost hear it happen: "Hey You," said instinct, "Click!" Mollie stopped barking and suddenly she was a 30lb bullet of instinct, tail tucked down, head held low between her withers, Border Collie crouching like a champ. Two of the sheep wandered off from the main group and she ran over to them and drove them back into the
flock. She seemed to instinctively know how to circle the flock and drive them towards Ken and I, as he pointed out to me. She has it. We've only been back four times, and while I find it difficult to maintain scheduled lessons (the travel time means I am restricted to weekends, and it's an expensive venture) I'm hoping to be able to go to the lessons on a weekly basis so that we can continue to learn and improve. Who knows, maybe one day you will see us on your TV...in the meantime, I keep trying not to forget my camera and failing miserably. Dammit.
(Oh, and the picture is the result of a frustratingly incompetent vet; the initial training visit caused Mollie's pads to peel - which is apparently quite normal and which I didn't even know could occur - I thought her pad had been cut by something. The vet didn't even check her other feet and charged me $10 for the trendy, cute orange bandage with it's little OUCH and flower. When I got her home I inspected all feet, noticed peeling on both front pads, consulted the experts on a stockdog forum I belong to, and learned that I'd wasted $45 on a vet visit. Le Sigh)
And in other news:
I'm starting another blog. My brain is intermittently shrieking "what are you thinking?!? and "ooh fun!" Either I'm psychotic or a sucker for punishment because seriously, I do not have time for this. But listen, this new blog is about my dogs. YeeAH, FUN! And I really want to use it to track my development, as well as Mollie's, with the herding training - that is, if I can ever get it up and running. If you want to see our lack of progress on the new blog so far, have a look at this link: On The Borders of Insanity. The scant three pictures and the links are at least worth the visit!
The weight is still a problem, and in fact has become an ever increasing problem. (Pun intended!) For the first time in my life, I'm actually having to think the word "Diet". What's worse is that the D word is sometimes proceeded by "fad" in my thoughts. I don't do gyms, never have, never needed to - I've always been active, eaten healthy and haven't needed what I like to call 'organized exercise' in the past. I was looking at elliptical trainers on the Sears website a few weekends ago and pricing out Jenny Craig (kill me, now please). That's how badly I've let things get out of control. The Diabetic diet that I self-prescribed some eight (!! How can that be??) months ago died a quick and quiet death that began at the end of May and slipped out of existence not long afterward. I haven't done Pilates since July. I'm still walking every day, but now I'm fighting the deadline for my University course and have cut the walk time to under an hour. I am proud to say that I have vastly improved my eating habits and am enjoying salads, lean meats and healthy home cooked food again, but I know that I've got a lot more work to do.
I am looking into getting back with a riding stable and riding once a week. The cost is rather prohibitive right now as I'd also like to incorporate private lessons, but it's a short-term goal which is being worked into the finances. Oh, I also started going to a Massage Therapist several months ago due to stress headaches (thanks, job) and let me tell you, I wish I'd done it years ago! I'm also considering taking a dog obedience training certification course once the current University course is finished. (again, sucker for punishment)
I'd like to say that's a wrap for the new and current news, but it's not. Lucky for you, I'm wrapping this post up because it's 1:32 am on Saturday morning and I have to go to work in about five hours to put in some overtime and hit all of those things that I haven't had any spare time for (thanks again, job).
But first, a quick question: Does anybody own a Sony Cybershot DSC-S600? I've had mine for about three years and lately it's been a real pain in my butt. It powers off for no reason and then often won't turn on again without my hitting the power button repeatedly. The built-in lens cover sometimes sticks and I have to fiddle with it to get it working. I replaced the batteries, then when that didn't work I bought some Energizer Lithium's and that didn't help. Anybody have any idea what is happening here? Is it on the way to camera heaven? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a new one? And if I should, any recommendations?