Oh Shit

If my blood sugar meter could speak, that is what it would say. Because, lately, my blood sugars have been pretty terrible. I'm either waking up three times in the middle of the night from a low BG (blood glucose) to chug apple juice or I'm taking a million units of insulin to correct for a high BG.

The good thing, however, is that I'm constantly surrounded by people who are looking out for my safety. Everyone is well aware of my diabetes. At Andy's party on Friday, upon noticing that I'd forgotten to wear my medical identification bracelet, Will took a Sharpie to scrawl "I have diabetes type 1" across my forearm. And at a party on Saturday night, my diabetic friend Brandon tested my blood sugar for me, retrieving my glucose tabs to make sure my BG didn't drop.

Well, aside from the poor blood sugars, I really love college. I'm having such a great time...I love everything so far. However, that might change as my homework load increases...which it most certainly will by the end of the week!

Good day

Adam called from Georgia today! I was so incredibly happy to talk to him and to hear that I have two letters to look forward to already.

I wrote this post a week ago but, for some reason, I didn't want to publish it. But I miss Adam a lot and it makes me happy to read...

Yesterday Adam and I spent our last full day and night together. In the afternoon we decided to take the dog with us on a picnic in Sharon Woods. We drove to our usual secluded spot where Sadie could run around and play. There the three of us ate and took a short nap until we were chased away by several annoying bees.

"I need to get an address book," Adam said, glancing at me from the corner of his eyes as we drove out of the park. I just nodded my head. At Wal-Mart while we searched for the address book, we hardly said a word to each other.

The air between us started to feel tense as the heavy realization of the end settled in. We started fighting and eventually I stormed out onto the porch. As I sat fuming, I watched two little kids across the street play in the front yard...and observing the simplicity of their childhood happiness calmed me. I wish I was still completely oblivious and happy about everything all the time, I thought. A few minutes later, Adam stuck his head out the door..."Baby, come back inside," he smiled. I glared at him as I walked back into the house but I squeezed his hand three times, our silent "I love you." It's so simple, it's ridiculous.

I was still angry...but that was until we started watching a Man vs. Wild episode in which Bear Grylls' face swells to the size of a watermelon after he gets stung by a bee. After we'd laughed at Bear's idiotic attempt to kill a deadly snake through half-opened eyes, things had returned to normal. That evening we watched the rest of the Man vs. Wild marathon while preparing our last dinner together. Our delicious meal consisted of some of our favorite foods: crispy Ore Ida french fries for appetizers, classic Mac n Cheese for the main course, and a huge bowl of Lucky Charms for dessert. Yumm.







Around midnight, we took a blanket outside to gaze at the lights and the stars. We talked about what we would do and where we would live if we got married ten years from now. He wants to travel across Australia where we can raise our kids like the Wild Thornberries. I want to live in a house surrounded by acres and acres of land where the seasons change and every year before Christmas, we can chop down our own tree. And I warned him that we were going to have a big family because I've always wanted one. He agreed as long as we can create our own Little League team.

When we got back to his house, the both of us tried as hard as we could to stay awake but I gradually fell asleep in his arms. It was a good day.

Ice Spiders

This picture is awesome.

I should be reading for Psychology but I keep clicking on Stumble...where I come across random things like this picture. Plus, I don't have class until 11:30 tomorrow! And I'm too excited for jello shots and Ohio State football.

I do not enjoy getting scalded by hot water in the corridor bathroom shower whenever someone on the floor uses the plumbing!

New Beginning

Since Adam ships out to Basic tomorrow, the Army put him in a hotel in Columbus, which was about 20 minutes away from campus. So my sister let me borrow her car so I could see him one last time today. We had said our goodbyes on Sunday when I moved in but I had to see him again. Very recently, we started using the "love" word again...something we had both avoided doing since he forgave me. It's made this a lot more difficult and complicated. Today we hung out for a few hours, saying our second and final goodbye. The scary part is that this is the strongest we've ever been. We're breaking up...I'm not going to sit around and knit while I'm in college...but I don't know how hard I'm going to try to get over him.

Tomorrow I'm starting classes - Math, Psychology and Chemistry. And going to the first Running Club practice. I'm trying to get involved in as many things as I can - Running Club, Pre-Health Giving Back Club, Intramural soccer, volunteering at the Medical Center, The Meshuganotes, etc. I'm considering joining a sorority but Rush doesn't start until Winter Quarter so I still have time to think seriously about it. I need to jump into a lot of activities to help take my mind off of all the Adam stuff.

Honestly, it's been a rough start because I've had to say goodbye to Adam twice in the past three days. But I know it's going to get better. My roommate Kelly is a sweetheart and we get along really well. Last night Kelly, Nate and I went to a party with my sister and, after about a half hour of feeling like silly freshmen, we met some really cool upperclassmen. I'm looking forward to going to a party at Jessie's house on Friday. I'm still feeling a bit shy and nervous but I'm excited to meet more people and start learning a few things. I'm such a dork...excited about classes!

I've fallen in love with this artist Sia...these two songs calm me so much...

Today is...

The first day of college.
The last day I'll be with Adam.

Wind Storm Aftermath

Finally! I have power after five days without. A few things I learned/discovered during those dark days:

1. Put your insulin on ice immediately! Or else you're as good as dead. Just kidding. It increases the risk of losing its potency when it warms up. Or something stupid like that.

2. I get a lot more accomplished when I don't have my laptop, cell phone or television to distract me. I purchased every single item I'll need for school (jeans, iPod, hole punch, pillows, etc.), jacked boxes from Costco to pack all of it up, ran a total of 22 miles, gave the dog a bath...very productive.

3. John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors at this moment. In my abundant amount of spare time this past week, I finished his book East of Eden which I liked much better than Grapes of Wrath.

4. Bread and cheese is a simple and delicious combination. And I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to Diet Coke...I sought it every single day regardless of the distance I had to drive.

5. Although I suck at Risk and Stratego - or any board game involving strategy for that matter - I still have a lot of fun playing. I did manage to beat the Master Nerd of Board Games at least once!

6. I'm glad that I've lived next to train tracks for my entire life because the roar of chainsaws doesn't disturb my slumber at all.

7. Whoever is Up There wanted to apologize by making the past two days so absolutely gorgeous that I didn't even want to be indoors.

I took some pictures of the damage the morning after the storm...although I didn't capture anywhere near all of it (my neighbor had a tree go right through the roof), it's a good visual explanation of why we didn't have power for a week.













Power lines = bungee cords


















One after the other













Pulled the sidewalk out of the ground









I'm glad to have electricity again. I won't have to: lug my laptop and laundry to Adam's house every day, shower in the creepy darkness, go to bed early, live on cookies and donuts and Chinese takeout, or think to myself duh a split second after I flip on a lightswitch.

Move-In Day

Still no power. So I'm stealing Adam's electricity, Internet, milk, ice, and washer and dryer.

No power is making it a pain in the ass to pack for college on Sunday.

But I'm so excited to finally move in!

I have pictures of the wind storm destruction around my neighborhood that I plan to put up later. It's crazy!

I Love Louis

Back in the day, Even Stevens was definitely my favorite Disney channel show. Mostly because Louis Stevens (Shia Labeouf) was the most adorable and lovable screw-up ever! He's still somewhat of a screw-up but not nearly as funny anymore.



Check out this little gem from the Even Stevens Musical episode...

Sing your heart out

A while back, Nate and I decided to create a band at college. I sing, he plays guitar/piano/trombone/percussion/whatever. So I've been practicing a couple of songs...


SeeqPod - Playable Search

I'm most excited to sing "Fever" but I have to learn how to snap my fingers.

It's not 10.0

I did it! My A1C is 8.7!

Sorry, that's diabetic lingo. A1C is short for "Hemoglobin A1C" and, essentially, it determines how well I've taken care of my diabetes in the last three months. Think of it as a grade on a report card. Every three months at my diabetes check up, the nurse takes my blood which is fed into a computer that determines my A1C in the form of a number (it can range between 4 and 14). A healthy non-diabetic would have an A1C around 5...so 5 is great. To be below 7 is considered good for a diabetic...but once that number begins to creep up...you're in real trouble.

I'd been in trouble for the last year or so because my A1C had steadily been getting worse and worse. At my last appointment in June, my A1C was 10.0 (think of it as an F+). Basically, that A1C reflects dangerously poor control of my blood sugars. I'd never reached a number that high before and it scared the shit out of me because if you allow your A1C to remain that high for a long period of time you're at an increased risk to suffer complications.

Nothing like the threat of losing a kidney or a foot to kick your ass into high gear. After that, I tried harder to keep my blood sugars under control although I definitely didn't always do a perfect job. I know 8.7 isn't an ideal A1C but it's a big improvement. It's a C- if you look at in terms of grades. And still I'm so happy that I'm doing better.

I also found these videos that are kind of cool...



This is a PSA to encourage diabetics to check their A1C...



Here is the same PSA reversed...It's so weird, the guy is saying everything backwards! It's hilarious at the end when he has to trip out of the shot.

Fake Fall Day

While I was driving in the car this morning, I put on my Northface jacket, turned on the air conditioning and pretended it was the crisp fall weather I was feeling. That comfortable chill that reminds me of football games on the weekends, apples that have finally come into season, sweaters yanked out of the bottom drawer and Halloween candy appearing in the aisles of grocery stores.

The Week of Hell...er, Growing Up

This is bizarre: trees are changing color from green to orange and leaves are littering the ground...all before I've even started school. Here I am stuck in summer. But I'm not sure whether I'm ready for autumn yet...

Because this is what autumn brings:

September 21 - Move In Day at Ohio State
September 23 - He leaves for Army Basic Training
September 24 - First day of classes

I'll pack up my room, move an hour and a half away from the comfort zone I've spent 18 years carving out and I'll essentially begin a new chapter in life. And I have to accomplish all of this while I say goodbye to the person who is most significant to my overall happiness.

There is no way I'm going to survive The Week of Hell. But it keeps getting closer and closer, just looming there in my future.

On the one hand, I'm extremely excited for college so I guess I shouldn't refer to it as "The Week of Hell." I only wish these life-altering events weren't all taking place within the same four-day span. C'mon, give a girl a break. This is a huge, enormous, gajillion-pound amount of change that I'm probably not old or wise enough to handle. I keep asking myself, "So when did I start growing up?"

I.A.M.D.I.A.B.E.T.I.C

This video is only hilarious if you've heard the original rap "Independent" by Webbie. And if you've ever had diabetes.

Cure...

My new tattoo!

Addicted to "Weeds"

Recently, Adam got me hooked on the really popular series Weeds on Showtime.



In one day and in almost one sitting, I watched the entire 10-episode first season on my laptop (and suffered a monster headache after I finally peeled my eyes from the tiny computer screen). Now I'm on my second day, about to finish the second season which I rented on DVD (no headache this time, except for the one caused over the $9 I had to dish out at Hollywood Video for the rentals).

So, in conclusion, Weeds has become my new favorite television show...sorry, Office.