The Corner Booth

September. Clean. Crisp. Clear. Refreshing freshness. Anniversaries of how we started out, beginnings experienced again. Resetting MDI into that freeing-lifestyle of pumping, convenience, ease. Crazy lives, busyness condensed into one life, a single soul, a loving harmony. A new beginning after sweltering summer heat. Colors shifting. From clusters bleeding together to majestic mixes creating perfection. Too much to do. Too little to do it. Springing forward too quickly. Now, slowing down. To smell, see, hear, feel, experience. Summer's last breath, before we Fall into a slumber, No more artificial coolness. Now, windows open. A breeze blows in. We look out, waiting to be one with the weather. The dog sits with nose sniffing, on the sill her chin rests. Watching, smelling, interpreting sounds and smells. Waking up to see that sunrise for the soul, before a seasonal sunset sets in. September. Welcoming. Appreciated. Renewed vigor for what we have,...

T.G.I.F. Without a doubt. It's been a long week, one that was amazing because of Diabetes Art Day! With reading massive blogs in one single day and everything else going on this week, there's no time to blog now. Mostly, because I'm off enjoying the FREEDOM of being re-connected to my insulin pump. Not having to stab myself in the leg everytime I want to have a "carby snack" is AWESOME. So,  I leave you with the next best thing... My D-Dog Riley! In my stead, she will keep watch on the Diabetes Online Community for a bit while I'm away. RILEY! Two important items before I leave you with Riley, though... I do want to wish my parents a happy wedding anniversary, celebrating their big day back in 1977! So, borrowing from Jacquie over at Typical Type 1 , this may very well be National Larry and Judi Day. Well, at least it's an international event in my mind. With this longer weekend, make sure to take a few moments to click here and submit a comment ...

As you may know, today is the inaugural Diabetes Art Day ! Inspired by the T1D-peep Lee Ann Thill, who is a fellow DOC member who is an art therapist and hosts The Butter Compartment  blog You can read her posts on D-Art Day over there if you're not familiar with what it's all about, but basically participants are creating our own diabetes-inspired works of art using whatever materials we may choose. Our masterpieces are being posted all across the online community, whether it be a on a blog, Facebook, Twitter, or social media network like TuDiabetes . Anyhow, Suzi and I had some fun making our creations in recent days and it turns out they all have one theme in common - the Kitchen! Just happened to work out that way! So, without further delay, you can find our contributions below: Daily Ramblings of a D-Mind: The Chore Chart on our fridge became the centerpiece of this 1st piece of artwork... My D-Mind ramblings combining with the magnetic words from my college da...

Adult Type 1s are mobilizing in Central Indiana, trying to reach out and bring more of us together in a way that the JDRF hasn't traditionally done or been known for. We want that to change. Some of us gathered Thursday for the first D-Meet-up of many, which will hopefully bring more into the fold as time goes on. At Joe's Crabshack on the north side of Indianapolis, four of us gathered: Myself, diagnosed at age 5 back in 1984. Neal Hoffman , a 28-year-old diagnosed at age 12. Aaron Walton , a 29-year-old diagnosed about two years ago. Pat Kinder , diagnosed about 40 years ago when he was in the eighth grade. Between the four of us, we have 84 years of diabetes. Looking at that time in history more than eight decades ago, we'd be at a time where insulin had just been created a handful of years earlier and D-Management was so incredibly different than it is today. No testing as we know it today. Significantly, we have Novo Nordisk receiving a Danish charter that yea...

Here we are on Friday. TGIF? Not this time. At least, not completely. A quote comes to mind as we hit the last day of this week, and I reflect on the progress made, strived for and not achieved. "Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday."   ~Author Unknown Hmm. Sadly, it doesn't appear that I'm Robinson Crusoe. So, this doesn't apply to me. For two reasons: A.) I'm not a castaway on a tropical island. B.) While making it this far through the week feels like a tremendous victory, my To Do List lingers on and continues haunting me. Stealing sleep and stressing me out like a man who dropped his bacon on the floor. So, as I scramble to end the week on a more productive note, I offer a light, randomly-assembled recap of the week's Highs & Lows plus a preview of what's down the road in the week(s) ahead. ( Warning: Link heavy, but all are worth the mentions! ) Rain, please. Seriously. Why the Fuzzle Navel doesn't it rain anymore in...

This post has nothing to do with diabetes. Rather, it's about inspiration. About what's important and how you can achieve your dreams if and when you truly want to. The main character in this story is Melinda Dennis, a Michigan native that I had the honor of becoming friends with back during our first year of college at Oakland University in 1997-98. She was one of the first people I'd met when starting college, and we had a close-knit group of friends living in the same dorms that had a lot of fun that first year. Though we kept in touch a bit through the years, mostly we lost touch as our own lives progressed and took us to new places and adventures. But this story isn't about me, our friendship, or our time in college. Rather, it's about Melinda's newest adventure - an amazing "ride of a lifetime" that everyone should have a chance to hear about. Her journey is the American Ride 2010,  a three-month solo trip that takes her along the country...

My pancreas doesn't work. It doesn't produce insulin, and that's why I'm a Type 1 diabetic. To delve deeper: for some still unknown reason my immune system launched an attack on me that destroyed the insulin-producing beta cells inside my pancreas. Always been common knowledge. But what if, since my diagnosis at the age of 5, those tiny little beta cells have been trying to repair themselves? What if that long-wanted cure we've been hoping for as long as we can remember is in that little turnover fact? They didn't just stop working for the sake of sitting around to do nothing, but they've been trying to get going again. What if? That kind of throws a lifetime of knowledge out the window. We may be getting close to finding out if that's the case. Thanks to the Joslin Diabetes Center, and one of the longtime Type 1 "survivors" who made a comment to her doctor once about believing her body still making insulin. I've joked about tha...