Crazy Eights!

I’m overdue for a meme these days.  Bring on the Crazy Eights!

8 Things I’m Passionate About.
1. Music.
2. Love.
3. Family.
4. Dogs. Animals.
5. Being healthy.
6. Did I say Music?
7. Exercise. Eating Nutritionally.
8. Diabetes advocacy.

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die.
1. Sing at the Grand Ole Opry.
2. Have a #1 Song that we wrote.
3. NOT be a Diabetic. 
4. Bury a time capsule and then open it in twenty years.
5. Travel/Tour the world doing what I love, singing. with my family as MJ2.
6. Sing/Perform our song, “You Can’t Say Love Enough” at the ACM’s with everyone on the song on the same stage: Dolly Parton, Wayne Newton, Rio Grand, Bill Anderson, Steve Wariner, Andy Griggs, Cowboy Troy, Lee Greenwood, Heidi Newfield, The Gatlin Brothers, Buddy Jewell, Burns & Poe, T.G. Sheppard, Mark Collie, Moe Bandy, and Heartland. :)
7. Learn to play the mandolin.
8. See our music video on TV!
9. Sing in the Thanksgiving Day Parade!!!!!

8 Things I Say Often.
1. “Where’s my tester?”
2. “I can’t find my phone!”
3. “We neeeeed a picture!!”
4. “I need juice.”
5.  “I need to blog that!”
6.  “I love you.”
7.  “Where’s my notebook?”
8.  “Where’s the camera?”

8 Books I’ve Read Recently.
1. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
2.  Twitter Power by Joel Comm
3.  The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
4.  Complexion Perfection by Kate Somerville
5.  Ning for Dummies by Manny Hernandez
6.  Right Time, Right Place by Richard Brookhiser
7.  Digital Photography for Dummies by Julie Adair King

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over.
1. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley / Justin Timberlake & Charlie Sexton
2. Enchanted - Taylor Swift
3. Bubbly - Colbie Callait
4. Faster Than Angels Fly - Big & Rich
5. Happy People - Big Kenny
6. I’m Letting Go - Francesca Battestelli
7. Fly Me To The Moon - Frank Sinatra
8. Imagine - The Beatles
9. ( I had to add this!)   ANY Backstreet Boys song. always a fan. :) 

8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends.
1. They make me laugh.
2.  They inspire me.
3. They’re fun.
4.  They understand my schedule.
5.  They’re Loving.
6.  They’re always there for me.
7.  They’re Honest.
8.  Loyalty.

People I Think Should Do Crazy 8s.
1.  Whoever would like to fill out a meme. It’s NablopoMo.

Dear Blood Sugars

Dear Blood Sugars,

You and me?

I thought we had a good pattern going on.

And then two mornings in a row,

you go ahead and mess up my morning.

I know I won’t always know what you’ll do…

but some warning would be nice.

Knowing and feeling my numbers are totally different.

Why can’t I feel lows anymore?

This morning I didn’t know I was 52 until I was 52. 

I lost all strength. 

I couldn’t even open up my juice bottle that was half open.

(thank you Jackie!)

I felt so sleepy, but had a busy busy day ahead.

Why these feelings? Why these lows? 

Can’t I just have the blood sugars of my 3 year old self before I was diagnosed with diabetes?

Maybe not, probably not for a while. 

But until then, please give me some signs of lows. and highs, if you don’t mind. :\ 

Love, me.

curemoll © 2010

Well, we’re already in the middle of November (wow!) and i’m still doing Nablopomo, and running out of things to write about…actually, I just cannot think of anything and it’s almost 11 o’clock and tomorrow will be an early morning! So on the NabloPoMo website under “Prompts” I found this question:

What do you like most about cold weather? What do you like the least?

What I love move about cold weather is how you can see your breath in the air! It’s been getting colder and colder here in Las Vegas and I’m really excited. Wearing colorful tights, and pea coats, dressing up, warm fuzzy blankets, and drinking hot chocolate and wrapping your hands around the mug to warm up your hands. :) I love that. 
What do I like the least? Hmmm….shivering from being so cold! Heat seats in a car are the cure for that! haha 

A Profound Thought by Mollie Singer :)

Why is it that you notice your blood sugar is low…AFTER you brush your teeth?

A Blog About Juice…

So, the other night, I was low for the umpteenth time it seemed, and was absolutely dreading that walk to the fridge to pour yet another glass of apple juice…which brings me to my topic today: What is your favorite flavor of juice?
Apple: (I am in an apple juice rut, I swear!) In my kitchen, it is the most convenient, its what I always grab first, it must be what my brain automatically thinks will bring me up faster when I’m low, that’s my only guess as to why I ALWAYS have apple, hmm. My favorite is Tree Top Apple Juice. I don’t know if anyone else has ever tasted this, but when my blood sugar is low, and I drink Martinelli’s Apple Juice, it tastes like it’s going bad? Jackie tries it, and she always says its fine, but when I’m low, it does not taste good at all!! Anyone else have that happen?
 Orange: It’s good too, and depending on the brand (Simply Orange is AWESOME!), you have to shake up all the pulp. Plus, the acid can be bad for the enamel of your teeth my dentist told me recently.
 Grape and Cranberry: For some reason, these just are not popular in my fridge and I kind of find it sour, which is probably why I don’t go to this one first, I find that diluting it with water helps me avoid getting that ‘pucker face.’
 Apple-Grape: I put this one in for Jackie, she LOVES this one, but only the bottles made by Martinelli’s, she says it has ALOT of carbs and sugar too, so that’s a good benefit. I, on the other hand, cannot stand this particular one and will never get why she likes it so much. 
 Fruit-Punch/Mixed Berry: You really cannot go wrong with this one, I think it is the sweetest of all of the ones I’ve mentioned, and will always take this flavor over anything else! 
This brings me too another thought…brands. What’s your favorite brand of juice? I recently went to Wal-Mart (my FAV store!) and took my cart into the juice aisle, and left feeling like a little kid with all my little 8-oz bottles of Juicy-Juice (YUM!), Welch’s, V-8 Splash, Minute Maid, etc. I have deduced that they are all good! 
I don’t know about you, but for me, regardless of the brand of flavor, what it comes down to is what type of bottle fits best in my purse. In the end, juice is juice carbs are carbs, and sugar is sugar, whatever it takes to bring my blood sugar up is just fine with me, I’m not normally picky about it. However, after more than 2/3 of my life living with diabetes, I’ve found that shopping around and finding yummy flavors and switching it up once in a while are good things to do, especially when you get stuck in an apple juice phase like me!
Hopefully after writing this blog, which caused me to analyze juice in a way I never ever thought I would, I can get out of my apple juice rut! I’d love to know if anyone else feels this way too, so feel free to share with me your thoughts about favorite flavor/brands of juice and all? :)

CUREmoll’s D-Blog Day: 6 Things I Want You Know About Diabetes

Happy D-Blog Day everyone! I wanted to blog today and let you know the 6 things I want you to know about diabetes. And, yes, that is Lenny The Lion from Medtronic Minimed from the JDRF Walk To Cure Diabetes on Saturday. :) 

1. No, I did not  catch diabetes in the air when I was 4 years old.  Diabetes is not a cold, we don’t “catch diabetes.” Type 1 Diabetes is not something you catch and it’s not contagious.

2. You can’t take a vacation from diabetes. It’s there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We can’t take a vacation from it, but I sure do dream about the cure an awful lot. :) That day will be the BEST day in a lot of lives, not only in my life, but in the lives of a lot people, their families, and friends. :)

3.  Yes, as a diabetic, I CAN eat cake, and sugar, and bread, and pasta, and desserts. It is okay every once in a while (at least for me) because I know I don’t have a lot of desserts, but when I do, it’s not that often, and it’s a small amount, just enough to taste. I allow for what I eat with insulin, and LOVE my insulin pump. :) 

4. Insulin is not a cure.  Just because we all take insulin doesn’t mean we suddenly are cured of diabetes. I don’t know how the cure will be found, but if it’s ever in a shot, that’s when I’ll say I’m cured from my diabetes, and actually be happy about getting a shot. Insulin is a life line, it is not a cure; it’s what keeps us alive.

5. Diabetics are AWESOME people and there are a lot of resources out there now. When I was diagnosed 17 years ago, there was no one. I was the only one in my school who had diabetes. I was the only one in my area that had diabetes. That all changed when my sister, who is not a diabetic, and I and my mom and aunt, traveled to Washington, D.C. when we were 10, and met 100 other young people with diabetes at the first JDRF Children’s Congress where Jackie and I were the first delegates from Nevada, and that is when I met other people who were dealing with the same things I was and felt the same way. Today, there is a whole diabetes community online now and are blogging, vlogging, and talking to each other, and meeting up, like Keri, Allison, George, Chris from Diabetic Rockstar, Manny from TuDiabetes, Alexis, Elizabeth Edelman, Scott, Amy, Gina, and many, many more! 

6. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It’s okay. I love when people ask me questions or ask if I am okay. I am very very grateful to people caring about me. There are no stupid questions, and people should know that if you’re worried about something a diabetic is eating, its better to ask them if what they’re eating will cause them trouble than it is to make a blatant statement like, “you shouldn’t be eating that.” The truth is, diabetics can eat many things, within reason, but they need to account for it with insulin.  

7. BONUS! Just for the record, my name is not “Did you test?” or “What’s your number?” :) Growing up I had to bite my tongue because there were times those questions bothered me, but I also know that I am blessed and it’s much better to have people who care enough to ask about your health than it is to go through life knowing no one has your back.  

Real Jam?

We were making dinner tonight and somehow we decided on Jelly Omelets. Oh, childhood memories! I remember one morning before school, we were all in a hurry, and mom made us a jelly omelet. But, instead of using cinnamon, she used Pappy’s Seasoning (to sprice up chicken dishes). haha.  Ooops!

Any way, tonight before dinner, my blood sugar was 91. 

Mom said, “I’m putting real jam on your omelet, Mollie.” This made me very happy. :-)  Normally I use my sugar free jelly, but tonight, a teaspoon of REAL jam was quite a treat!  :) Yummm! :) 

Late Night Nutrition Label Reading

Last week I went to my Endocrinologist Appointment…and I filled out the routine paper work and everything, and they took my blood for my A1C Test which is my favorite part of the appointment. (no, it reeeeeallly is not)   

My a1C was 7.8    ….down from 8.2 three months ago.   

At least it’s coming down, right? I am working very hard now to “trust my pump” by putting in all of my blood sugars after each time I test using my FreeStyle Lite tester and Accucheck Multi-Clix poker that I love, but it’s not my sister Jackie or my mom’s favorite when they test me. Any way, I am trusting my pump as much as I can remember and carb counting everything I eat and putting the carbs in as much as I can and I am definitely seeing a difference!

My doctor also changed my basal rates in my pump and the ratios for insulin to carbs. That is something I am afraid of changing and when he changed it last week, I feel like I have been getting very broken sleep from testing my blood sugars during the night.  I know I could wear the sensor, but it hurts and has not been accurate for me, I wonder if that is soemthing that happens to a lot of people, but when I use the sensor, it is a horrible expereince and I end up very frustrated because my tester tells me what my number is, I feel totally different, and my sensor tells a whole other story.  So I’ve been testing at least 3 times a night and then real early in the morning when we feed our dogs. :)

So a couple of nights ago, I was low. again. Being low at night is annoying, because most of the time, I’m not hungry and need to have a snack with juice. I had juice and my Mom and I were looking for a snack that I could have, but since I wasn’t hungry, I didn’t want a lot to eat.

We looked at english muffins and raison bread, but that was a lot. Granola Bars were really sweet or some were too crunchy.  

Then we stood in our pantry looking at the boxes of crackers, and man, all I said was, “man, that’s a lot of crackers for 21 carbs!”  

Mom and I ended up making a little snack of 3 Trisquit crackers, and we split a small piece of cheese.  That was the perfect late night snack, and it brought my blood sugar up just enough and I was safe during the night and woke up with my blood sugar at 125! :) 

NaBloPoMo…Here’s To November!

Hey everyone! As you know or might see by reading my blog, I have not been posting everyday like I was hoping I could keep up. So, since it is the first of November, I am going to (for the FIRST TIME EVER) blog something every day for the month of November and see how long I can keep this up!! Wish me luck! Maybe it will get me in the habit of sharing something each day for more than a month!! 

I’m sure you’re wondering what NaBloPoMo is? It means National Blog Posting Month” where you post every day for the month. There are normally themes to keep everyone inspired. However, this month is the month of no theme. I’m really looking forward to this daily blogging, maybe even vlogging on curemoll!! Let me know your thoughts!!  So….I’ve signed up with  http://www.nablopomo.com and look forward to writing something on curemoll every day!! :)

Here’s to November!! :)