Diabetes is my Leprechaun

Dealing with Leprechauns is deceptively simple, in all the stories: you stare at them and they can't get away, and you end up getting their pot of gold.

For me, keeping good diabetes habits is the same way. I focus on them, integrate them into my life, keeping my eye on the diabetes pot of gold - a future without complications.

Then it seems like I blink and it's all scurrying away. My habits turn into mirror images - snacking on carbs instead of avoiding them, and I wonder if those gold coins are slipping through my fingers.

This is less a frustration rant, and more an acceptance that it's time to reel myself in again, and reach for a plate of cheese instead of a granola bar. Maybe I should cut my cheddar into little circles to remind me why it's so important...

Bad Days

Not anything diabetes related, but my stress level the past couple of the days is just through the roof. I've been doing a lot of internal rants in my mind, and a lot of teeth griding over what other people are doing.

This has been the kind of week that really brings home how little control you can have about what goes on in your life. I'll be taking some steps to try and make sure that it doesn't get quite this upsetting again, and hopefully it'll help.

What frustrates me the most is the feeling that I should have been able to do something different, had more foresight, different priorities, I could have avoided it. Logically I know this is an illusion, but sometimes it's easier to blame myself for not having planned well enough than accept that there will be obstacles in my life I can never avoid.

Diabetic Moments at the Stampede

We went to the Calgary Stampede today - if you've never been or heard of it, it's sort of a combination rodeo/agricultural exhibit/carnival/state fair thing that is a huge deal every summer in Calgary. We all wear jeans and cowboy hats to work for a week, all the store windows are painted with cowboy designs and pancake breakfasts are scattered throughout the city.

If you'd asked me as a child I would probably have said it was my favorite 'holiday' after christmas! It was a lot of fun, though we just didn't have the energy to stay for the free mini concert at the end of the night - Hedley was playing, darn it!

Of course, I had a few diabetes moments. It's "Marathon Sunday" in Calgary today too. On our way to the stampede grounds, we passed the finish line for one of the marathons. I saw a couple of ladies with 'Team Diabetes' t-shirts who had completed the race, which was cool.

At the marketplace, admist the knife displays, three kinds of blenders, this amazingly weird water massage booth, and various sellers of cowboy hats, I found these cooling neckbands filled with some kind of polymer that soaks up water and keeps cool for (apparently) days. I bought one, and wondered if it's the same stuff that's in a Frio Wallet. Not that I have any insulin to keep cold, but it was my first thought.

Finally, after avoiding the fresh squeezed lemonade all day - I love lemonade but it's way too much sugar - we finally noticed a tiny line noting they had 'diabetic lemonade'. This turned out to be water, a fresh squeezed lemon and a packet of splenda. I enjoyed it - but I drink lemon water pretty frequently. It wasn't 'lemonde' to me, because it wasn't sweet (perhaps a couple more packets of splenda..), but I really appreciated that someone was making an effort to provide alternatives for those who can't have sugary drinks. And it was a very tasty lemon water.

Of course, it was an 'off plan' day in part - I don't think i found a single veggie in the grounds, though I'll admit to not looking that hard.. but normally I'll at least try to get veggies and dips if I can find them. I did have some okay beignets for breakfast, and half a really tasty smashed potatoe for lunch/supper. The smashed potatoe place is there every year - it's a regular baked potatoe, but they flatten it with a large wooden mallet before you get your toppings!

I'm soo tired now, so it's time for an early bed.

Another use for Lancets

My family is very big into board games. My younger brother collects them - he has over a hundred - , so on game days, we'll alternate between old favorites and something new. I'm not sure how we'd manage to pass an evening without board games, it's such a habit!

One game we played needed counters to keep track of part of the score. We pulled out the old coin bin to sort out pennies, nickels and dimes but needed more. So I went to the closet and pulled out a box of lancets.

Plenty of counters, and it just made me smile to see them in play.