Chris and I have a selection of diaper bags to choose from when it comes to toting around BSparl's stuff, but regardless of the bag we choose, that thing is heavy. Heavy because it's filled to the gills (Gills? Great, now picturing a diaper fish.) with not only baby-related goodies, but a pile of diabetes stuff as well.
Le video to follow:
And now le weekend to follow le video. (Once I find a cartoon representation of a diaper fish, that is.)
(Okay, eight months, but who's counting?) A vloggy look at our nine months of pregnancy and the arrival of Ms. BSparl.
I'm proud to be working with Animas on the Ping sponsorship, but I also wanted to share some of the editorial stuff I've been working on with the company as well. I'm writing a few blog posts every month over at the Animas website in the "Life, Uninterrupted, with Kerri" section, and they've also convinced me to put my puffy, pregnant face in some vlogs, as well.
If you're not too busy, please pop on over and check out the features on Animas - and forgive me for including Siah in the photo montage. (But come on ... that face? Is one of the goofiest ones I've ever caught on camera and it makes me laugh every damn time. ... Yes, I am always this highly professional, why do you ask? :D)
A guest vlog, by Ms. Siah Sausage, expressing her views on BSparl, sandwiches, and her desire for world domination.
It's been aaaaaaages since I recorded a new vlog post, and much of my delay was the fault of my old PC (and its magical, melting hard drive). That and I lost the tripod for the Flip, so it's taken me a while to figure out how to wrangle in iMovie and all the Mac crap.
Here's my first Mac vlog, touching upon that moment every mother-to-be experiences as her baby is growing in the womb ... when she realizes that the ultrasound pictures sort of look like her husband's film poster.
(Sundance in less than two weeks - I can't wait!!)
Poor cats. We forgot to buy cat food. Forced to supplement with a can of tuna fish. Mewing cats went berserk.
(And I am not doing NaBloPoMo next year. Because I'm embarrassing myself with these filler posts! :) )
When in doubt about what you really want to write, go with a bloopers video. If nothing else, it will become clear why these segments never made it into an actual vlog post. :) (But doesn't explain why I'm talking about books for no reason, what's with the cursing streak, why the cat is on the toilet, and why Abby is impersonating the MGM lion.)
This cartoon took FOREVER to make, complete with bouncing chocolate chip cookie and a broccoli tree, and it's pretty terrible. But it still makes me laugh. So I'm revisiting this one - The Diabetes Police video.
I think this video is brilliant, and I'm not just saying that because I adore these two fellas. George and Scott teamed up to create a Making Sense of Diabetes video for TuDiabetes and they focused on taste ... showing how we, as people with diabetes, don't get to taste much of anything without embarkng on some kind of blood sugar testing, carb calculating, math confusion adventure.
As I said - brilliant. These guys raise awareness using humor, but boy does this message resonate. See for yourself:
I think this video is brilliant, and I'm not just saying that because I adore these two fellas. George and Scott teamed up to create a Making Sense of Diabetes video for TuDiabetes and they focused on taste ... showing how we, as people with diabetes, don't get to taste much of anything without embarkng on some kind of blood sugar testing, carb calculating, math confusion adventure.
As I said - brilliant. These guys raise awareness using humor, but boy does this message resonate. See for yourself:
Here we go: diabetes vlogging about the potbelly, our new apartment, sharing a bathroom with the cats, and a craving for Apple Jacks.
And please excuse my belly rubbing fixation. It's new, so I keep touching it. :)
It's been aaaaaaages since I recorded a vlog post, even though I've had my Flip camera stashed in my travel bags over the last few months. But I couldn't think of what to vlog about and quite frankly, I didn't know if I had the patience to sit and edit a video.
Thankfully, Lee Ann over at The Butter Compartment inspired me to go purse-diving and see what's hiding in the depths of my massive shoulder bag. And while I have plenty of loose change, test strips, and gum wrappers in there, I did uncover a few oddities:
So the gauntlet has been thrown down: Are you willing to show the crap you're carrying around in your purse/man-bag/satchel? And are you willing to Photoshop googly eyes onto things? My mind, she is an inquiring one!
Way overdue on a new vlog post, but I was inspired by George's post yesterday about getting back on track with exercise. So here's my vlog post about diabetes, working out, and what motivates me to move.
Some of my reasons are a little goofy, but I think whatever gets me to exercise is well worth laughing at myself a little bit. What gets you to break a sweat?
I have a lot of things I need to follow-up post on (i.e. product reviews, the guy from Panera, guest posts, etc.), but I found myself recording a ridiculous lunchtime vlog about the cortisone shot, blood sugars, and my ridiculous wrist issue.
Thankfully, my wrist seems to be on the mend, but the shot wrecked some havoc on my numbers. I'm hoping that this is the beginning of the end of this ridiculous problem.
Also - Siah? Ridiculous.
I tapped the Twittersphere again for some vlog ideas, and Windy came through with a ringer: When in doubt, talk to the Bird.
I could have slapped myself in the forehead. Of COURSE! Larry! My fictional personal trainer! God knows I've been having trouble making exercise ends meet these days with my schedule and that stupid wrist thing. I could use a few minutes with Larry.
So I donned my best southern accent to bring you "When Larry Bird Calls."
(Note: No medical advice was given during the course of this video. This video barely makes sense as it is. But southern accents are, and remain, adorable - twangy or not.)
I have the Flip camera in my bag almost all the time, so I make attempts at vlog posts pretty often. Thing is, they are usually chaos and never make it to the SUM YouTube channel as a "real vlog."
But they do make it into blooper reels.
Sara, Rachel, and Julia - this is for you. (And my apologies to the French.)
I've had about three solid weeks of good blood sugar control, with just one or two lows and not many excessive highs. I celebrated regularly, because this kind of even keel isn't common for me. And because I'm in hot pursuit of a lower A1C.
So you can imagine my frustration when I had a 400+ blood sugar with no detectable cause - until I realized the pump tubing hadn't clicked into place properly after my shower. (Something about the sweaters on my teeth and the fact that I was falling asleep face-first into my laptop didn't tip me off, apparently. I had to wait until the realization of "Hey, haven't you peed three times in an hour?" hit me in full.)
Kerri + Diabetes Technology = FAIL.
(And also, be on the lookout for "fox paws." You'll see what I mean.)
A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Internet last week. I wanted to record a vlog post on my lunch break, but my blood sugar took a bit of a dip.
Moron that I am, I still recorded and talked my face off.
The point I made at the end of the video is one that I've thought about a lot - diabetes is an invisible disease, especially for those of us who are younger. Even though we are dealing with diabetes every day, it's not a disease that is visible to people on the outside. There's a certain blessing to people not knowing we're "sick," but does it make it seem like we don't need our cure?
Oh hell yes we need our cure.
I had my A1C drawn on Monday. Late. I haven't had one since like June and that's waaaaay too long between results. The last one, taken a few weeks after we returned from our honeymoon, was extremely high (or at least extremely high for a woman who is trying to gain better control as she plans for pregnancy ... in third person) and I was very reluctant to have another one done.
I hate negative reinforcement. I don't like that feeling of "Hey, you worked hard. You really put a lot of effort into managing this disease. Here's your shitty A1C." And that feeling of "ARGHHHHH!" is what I'm vlogging about this week.
(Also, guest appearances by Siah, the Dexcom, and some bed dinosaurs.)
I like to vlog, but I talk nonsense about 80% of the time. (Those of you who know me in real life can attest to my ability to spew nonsense.) Only a small portion of what I end up rambling on about makes it to the vlog post, and the rest remains on the cutting room floor (also known as the folder on my laptop marked "Vlog Crap").
Since I haven't had a chance to vlog recently, I thought I'd share the running blooper reel of outtakes from SUM vlogging attempts. Unfortunately, I could do a new blooper reel every damn month, but eventually the cats would tire of being pulled in front of the camera.
I present ... the sad little blooper reel:
Being awkward is my specialty. :)
Today is the fourth D-Blog Day, and I'm proudly raising my voice with you guys, the diabetes community. Three years ago, I wrote about why my blog is called "Six Until Me." Two years ago, I wrote about my heroes. And last year, I wrote about what matters.
This year, I wanted to thank you guys for being such a crucial part of my health. You are all heroes, and I appreciate every one of you.
Folks who commented on the last vlog post gave me some stuff to talk about, and this round I've tackled diabetes management and Halloween. I was diagnosed in 1986 and have spent almost all of my Halloweens as a diabetic, so I've been trick-or-treating around the block for decades now. (Hmmm ... that sounds a bit ... odd. Yet I've digressed again.)
If you have any tips on managing diabetes during trick-or-treat season, feel free to toss 'em in the comments section! And share what your costume idea is for this Halloween! Chris and I are dressing up as ... well, you'll hear at the end of the video. ;)
Vlogging - still haven't qute figured out the format yet. But this time, I'm vlogging from my new car and hooked back up to the Dexcom - with a little Weezer in the background because they are just cool.
I am, however, running out of ideas to vlog about, and would really appreciate any suggestions. SuperG answered some questions from his comments section a few weeks back - anyone have anything they want to ask? How to build a rocket ship? (No idea.) What's the best way to control blood sugars? (I don't have any answer to this, but I'd love to hear your suggestions.) What's it like, living with that weird little gray Sausage cat? (Oy - I could vlog for days about that.)
Oh, and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister, Courtney!
... The Friday Six. It's time for a week-end wrap-up, and to share some of the latest bits with you. I hope you're all having a good week. I am so ready for the weekend (and the debates tonight)!!! I'm going to just jump right in with number ONE ...
1. Last week, I posted a photo on D365 of Tickles the Tapeworm, and just a few days after posting it, a package of Parasite Pals stickers was delivered to my office, courtesy of my Flickr friend, Stinky_Harriet (aka Liz). THANK YOU, LIZ!!! You totally made my day, and I shared these stickers with my editorial team. (We thought they were digustingly awesome.) If you're following the Diabetes365 crew over on Flickr, you may have seen some of the wonderful photos from Liz. Click through and check out the photos, and give some love to Sara, who is on the cusp of finishing her 365 days!!
2. In CGM news, there's a chat with Aaron Kowalski on Monday, September 29th, in the DiabetesTalkFest chatroom. Dr. Kowalski will be answering your questions about the JDRF CGM trial that was in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, so check it out if CGMs are on your wishlist. (It's on mine!)
3. (Full disclosure: This next bit has it's fair share of we in New England call "wicked bias.") My husband has teamed up with some of his old buddies from the fitness world to create a cool and informative health and fitness site called I Look Like Fit. There's a ton of useful information on the site, including workouts, diet ideas, weight loss tips, and even a social networking page called - wait for it - FitHeads. So, if you're looking to tone up or trim down, this new site and its social networking sidekick could be a good fit for you.
4. This Sunday, Fairfield County is playing host to the JDRF Walk For A Cure, and the dLife team will be there. (I'm hoping it doesn't rain all over our heads during the walk, but we're badass enough to take the risk. Diabetics don't melt!) Are there any SUM readers who will be walking on Sunday? If you're there and you see a cloud of white dLife t-shirts, come by and say hello! :)
5. In cake-related news (this may be my favorite segue ever), the popular site CakeWrecks has its first comment controversy going on, all about a cake shaped like an insulin pen. Personally, I find this cake to be amusing. The comments on this post, however, are less entertaining. Plenty of diabetic-bashing going on in there, from laying down guilt on people with type 2 diabetes to the stereotype that diabetics on the whole can't eat anything but carrot sticks and ... dreams, I guess. If you want to weigh in on this mess, feel free. Stop the ignorance, if you can.
6. And finally, I vlogged. I vlogged from my stupid car, because time is limited this week but I've felt delinquent as a vlogger (and I've been enjoying the ones from SuperG and Sara and Windy, and Landi even joined the fray!) and I needed to catch up. If you skip on over to my YouTube channel, you can find my latest attempt at vlogging. And, like George mentioned in his post today, I'm open to any questions because, quite frankly, sometimes I have no clue what to say. :)
The weekend should be rainy here in New England, but it's still the weekend, and that makes it awesome. Have a good one, and I'll catch you on Monday!
Holy late post, but better late than never, right, me hearties? (Oh, this pirate crap will be the very death of me.) Jumping right into this week's Friday Six!
1. Yes, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day. In celebration of this silliness, I offer you the Pirate Translator, some pirate jokes, and a Twitter avatar, courtesy of my extremely silly brother: Kerri the pirate.
2. The JDRF is still taking applications for the 2009 Children's Congress - but not for long! The deadline for application is October 6, 2008, so if you and your child are interested in applying and representing the diabetes community before Congress, now is the time to apply. Visit the JDRF website for more information.
3. Another D-related event is the First Annual Diabetes Rockstar Cruise, brought to you by the folks at Diabetic Rockstar. According to Sara, a SUM reader and a member of the Diabetic Rockstar crew, "The most exciting part about the cruise is that Carnival has a program called Cruising for Charity, where we will be receiving a portion of the proceeds for Fight It! our charity arm at Diabetic Rockstar. Our funding goes to uninsured, in-need and newly diagnosed diabetics who need supplies and additional help." Unfortunately, I won't be attending this event, but if you're interested in learning more about this cruise, taking place next May, visit the Diabetic Rockstar website.
4. And in my own personal diabetes news, I've been embroiled in the battle with Oxford Health of Connecticut for CGM coverage. Fun. (Sarcasm.) I have a solid insurance representative at Dexcom who is helping me get all the paperwork together for my external appeal - yes, this is the one I have to send them a CHECK for, greedy bastards - and I'm working with my endocrinologist on a letter highlighting pre-pregnancy planning and the need for tighter diabetes control. This is a paperwork nightmare, and now I understand why lots of people never get to this stage of the appeal, because it's so damn complicated. BUT I am moving forward and will file this external appeal by the end of next week. Hopefully this will overturn my previous three denials. In any event, I'm almost positive they won't refund the $25 filing fee. Pricks. ;)
5. On the Children With Diabetes site, there's a short video about Friends For Life 2008, and you'll find a smattering of diabetes bloggers in there, including Sara, Heidi, Bennet, and me! (And I look seeeeerious, since they caught me in the pregnancy seminar and I was all panicked ears.) Check out the video!
6. And I'm still woefully behind on vlogging, but I'm hoping to get a clip up here by Monday or Tuesday. Next week is pretty nuts - I have plans for dinner in the city, I'll be at a seminar at the UN midweek, and I'm gearing up the dLife crew for our JDRF walk next weekend - but I need a little face-time. I'm sort of short on vlog topics - any ideas from you guys? For now, all I have is this sort of crummy quality clip from The Swell Season show on Wednesday. I have another one, of one of their new songs, that I can post this weekend after I pull it from my KerriBerry.
For now, I'm off to RI for yet ANOTHER wedding this weekend (btw, Chris and I have been married for four months as of yesterday - holy cow!) and to spend time with the family. You guys have a great weekend!!!
I'm coming up fast on my 22nd anniversary with diabetes, and one of the things I've had as part of my management arsenal is Kitty. Kitty was the stuffed animal cat that my parents bought for me before I went in for my 12 day hospital stay after diagnosis. Kitty used to have fur, and visible eyes, and other cat parts, but he's since been matted and hugged into this almost unrecognizable blog.
Kitty turns 22 next week, and it's amazing to realize that diabetes has been in my life for that long.
Do you have any diabetes benchmarks hiding in your linen closet, or under your bed, or in your memory? Share them!
Low blood sugars are not fun. Over the past ten weeks or so, I hadn't experienced many lows, but I've hit more than my fair share of highs. (And not normal highs - instead, those warm, feverish highs that made my eyes ache and suits my teeth up in sweaters.) But the lows seemed to have returned a bit, in part to a tendency to aggressively correct highs and the lack of carbs in my house this week.
Like this morning: I woke up and sat on the side of the bed for a full five minutes before getting up to test. I knew I was low, but it's like I'm unable to let myself drink the juice before testing. Instinct? Impulse? The room was thick with a cottony fog and my head was spinning, but I couldn't function clearly enough to grab the bottle of juice from the bedside table. I grabbed my meter, waited patiently for the 52 mg/dl to pop up on the screen, and only then would I let my hands wander towards the grape juice bottle.
It's frustrating. My lows over the years have become progressively stickier, taking longer to come up and with symptoms that linger far beyond their textbook-issued 15 minute window. This week's vlog entry is about lows and their irritating ways. (And I tried my best to speak more slowly, but I think I'm somehow related to the Micro Machines guy. I just talk too damn fast.)
Click on the logo to visit my YouTube channel, don't laugh at my crappy flashcards, and let me know what kind of vlog topics you want to see covered in the future!
The diabetes police are usually well-meaning, usually nice, but most often think they are the resident experts on all things diabetes. Frustrating for sure. Dealing with the diabetes police usually means supressing a sigh, carefully explaining the situation, and hoping it sinks in. But when the person policing you is someone you love, it can be tricky.
My video post this week is a short cartoon about being hunted by the diabetes police and how Siah, a little iced coffee, and the support of some friends can make a difference.
Stick people have it easy. They don't even have faces. And cookies fall from the sky.
I spoke with my meter about whether or not he's comfortable talking on camera. After some cajoling, Meter decided he was ready for his close-up. He wasn't happy about the nose, and he was a little frustrated that cars kept driving by as we were taping, but overall he was pleased to share his perspectives with the diabetes community.
My Glucose Meter Talks To Me.
Coffee? Yes, it's making me do strange things. Why do you ask?