Out of Towner

OMFG Jamie!!!!
I was in Gladstone this afternoon. (about an hour or so northish of Brandon). I was having a late lunch around 3:00 at a bakery in this small town where i did stick out like a sore thumb at best.
I started reading Jamie's post on my Blackberry. The first thing i saw was the pic of Brooke. How adorable is that.
Then i started to read. Deeper into the post my grin was becoming the largest smile that side of Manitoba has seen in a long time.
Then came the redo rick (sp). Then came the chuckles. Then you know when your not in an appropriate spot to laugh out loud especially when your alone in a bakery 3 hours away from home eating bland celery soup sitting with the Hutterites?...yea that kind of scenario.
Then came the comments between Shannon, you, you then Shannon..oh my.

I just fell short of celery exploding through my nose. But i regained my composure. Finished lunch. And reflected on how lucky i was not to expend celery through any of my orifices....SO I THOUGHT!!!

Forty five minutes later in the middle of no-where my stomach decides it doesn't like celery in its soup form. Please..not now. I just want to get home safely. ook ok ..i get it at least let me find a fucking Esso or Husky. I don't even care if i have to ask for the key holding my ass....just get me to that porcelain pony that i want to take for a wild yet relieving ride.

VICTORY! I made it. To what WAS a clean bathroom. I don't care. Its all good. Like you don't know how good it is. Maybe you do.

Well any how with saying that i totally enjoyed and embraced My brief moment with a fellow OC'r and catch up on how our little Joys are doing.

This was actually started to be a comment on Jaimie's blog about my balls but it was looking more like a post so i cut and pasted this in here. Two birds down.

I hope to hear from all of you soon possibly on this comment section or on a new post of yours. Let me know how all of you are doing and your children too. As Denise talked to the Doctor today and started a new attack on Emma's ratio, intake, and management of it all. Feels like a new UN-charted phase we are entering.

Talk to you all soon.

Excuse me while i take a dump

Try blowing this out of proportion if you can.

Finally the sun and heat has encroached into our beautiful city. Allowing us to dust off the bikes, balls, and bar-b-q's. Ahhh summer...screeech...not so fast cowboy mother natures muffles. We all have to remember the violent snow storm that hit us 2 years ago this coming may 14th. But let us not all live in that fear.

So onward we go. Onward to our first bike ride of the year. Emma gets fastened into her seat that sits in the crotch of Mom's sport check special bike. And i pull out my Diamondback Copperhead equipped with NEX suspension forks,hayes solo disc brakes, and ncs performance crankshaft. Oh lord this is a sweet ride.

Oh i forgot to mention one slightly under inflated front tire. Damn those get you all the time.

So on the first leg of our journey Emma and Mom are ahead of me enjoying what you should on a bike ride with the family. But i am a little behind just doing a once over on my kick ass ride. Bouncing the front shocks-check, front break pressure-check, rear brake pressure-check. All is good!

Mom and Emma are still ahead of me turning left on a path with a lady pushing her child in a stroller. The lady stops, lets the girls by, and i follow as they are turning left i start my turn and being the diplomat i am i offer my thanks and excuse us as we pass. It went like this:

Me "hi, excuse u . s." ........oooaahhh hpmph scrape crash skid. Front tire going its own way and me going hard to the ground.

Lady "are you OK?" Emma starts crying, momma starts laughing and i look up at the lady with my sunglasses only covering one eye and the other part on my forehead, leg under the bike, and say:
"I am OK .....but my Pride is a little hurt" (i have always wanted to use that line)
But why would at that moment I get up as if nothing happened and continue my ride inconspicuously?
Maybe she would forget what happened.
Maybe i was just thinking all of this.
Maybe the blood running down my hand and my daughter Crying is a figment to me.

Ok that was slightly embarrassing.
But within moments we both had tears on our eyes we were laughing so damn hard.

Happy gay times.

Walk the Talk

I have mentioned before that i have been to two JDRF walks in the past. And you know that was about the extent of it. I was there. I didn't know much about the day, the people, or the disease. But now i know why I am there. My life and interests seems to have taken on a entire new purpose. I am now an advocate for Juvenile Diabetes.

Before last months seminar on the teen brain (mentioned in earlier post). Both me and Denise would be unsure on how to approach Emma's diabetes to family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances. But after being involved with this the past 6 or so months we have realized that it is safe and necessary to educate people about this. I do not hesitate anymore when discussions about family comes up or health related conversations arise. I know i need to interject and advocate for my daughter, family and friends who have all been affected by Diabetes.

Last week we were blessed with Emma's blood sugars being sureal'ly weird. Weird in terms of too perfect. Every morning i tested her at 7:30 her fasting sugar was 5.6. Yes!....Monday to Friday 5.6! It is amazing what can happen when everyone pulls together. Mom, Auntie Linda (daycare), and myself. I feel those numbers are out there for the taking. And at this point there is no reason why we cannot obtain those type of numbers on a day to day basis.

This may be a type of self affirmation. But i am writing this today on here because i believe those who read this will notice the type of work it takes raising a child with TYPE 1. And i know you all do know and go through it day to day in one capacity or another.

Please understand the impact that this online community has had on our attitude and outlook on this disease. It is not only the day to day that affects us on here it is what does Emma have in store for her down the road. Who will be her support. How will she manage her life.

It is essential that we surround ourselves with people who understand, and with people who want to understand.

Yesterday at the JDRF walk kick off we were surrounded by amazing people who care. They do not only care about their situation but want to be there for everyone else. It is nice to be a part of the masses who channel their energy the same way we do.

The problem with not posting in a long time is that there is so much to say i end up not really saying anything. I want to still be a part of this community and your lives so i owe it to you this to post more often. I like reading your stories, your daily struggles and most importantly your daily triumphs.

REST WELL JOE. WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU.(scroll to "joe joe")

Bragging Rights

Just dropping in to say everything is going really well over here. In terms of Emma's diabetes and controlling it to both of our new jobs and Momma's recovery. Very busy though. I just don't feel the need to be posting on Emma's perfect BS's, or that this new job is the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time. But i just did... i guess i am proud.

Emma's thought process has been really developing so rapidly and sharply. Making her say and do the most of darnedest of things. She is a truly special little human being.

Every time i lift her up i am thankful that i have her to lift. I didn't want just anyone to be my first born. I wanted Emma to be. I cannot think of a greater gift. This is why i have bragging rights.

See you all soon.

Our First Seminar

Our Diabetes Education Resource Center here in Winnipeg held a all day seminar about the teen brain and diabetes. Emma is sure a long way off from becoming a teen. However we thought this was a great opportunity to more or less prepare ourselves and get educated on the resources offered here in Manitoba. (and may even find a babysitter with type 1).

In the afternoon the research crew were able to present what has been going on in those terms in the past while. We learned about Pumping and their goals for pumps. Regarding closed loop systems. We learned that researchers are more openly thinking outside the box, to alleviate some "staleness" in some past research findings for finding a cure that seem to be redundant after a while. (this was my take on it).

But! With saying that we came out of there with a replenished sense of optimism and hope in regards to the research and awareness that has transcended over the past while.

The highlight of our day was by far meeting our Nations Youth Ambassador for The Unite For Diabetes Campaign for the Resolution on Diabetes. I hope did not butcher that description too much. I had the pleasure of shaking his hand during lunch and was honored that he got to meet Emma as well. Honestly at that time i had no idea on who i was meeting and what sort of impact he has had on thousands of Diabetics and of his mission.

How cool is that?!!!! Twenty five hand picked ambassadors throughout the world and our guy is from Winnipeg.
Joshua talked (very well) about this past year in Cape Town South Africa where they were advocating for November 14 to be recognized under the UN as National Diabetes Day.
Diabetes is the first non communicable disease that has been recognized by the UN. This will raise the awareness and i believe will instill a better sense of urgency on finding a cure.

I always find myself making sure people know in one way or another that Emma has diabetes. It wasn't up until yesterday did i accept that this was the right thing to be doing. Now i know. It was. And it is.
Simply i am spreading the awareness of this disease. Communicating to people and showing them this is a disease that Emma and others should not have to live with. We were all put on this earth for a reason. My families function is slowly evolving.

Well this may be it for me for a while as i am flying to Calgary and then Vancouver to start my new career. I will miss Momma and Emma alot. I just hope they have a welcome home banner for me when i get home.

This is the 5 minute video that was filmed in Cape Town. Joshua shared it with is yesterday.
Break the silence.

Oh Nuts!?

Upon entering the gym changeroom this past Friday. I glanced over at the air dryer and noticed a man, an old man he was, choosing to dry himself off under this dryer. He was shaking his (what seemed to be a hand towel) between his legs, i guess to expedite the drying process in his "region". However upon further investigation it was not his hand towel he was shaking but merely his nutsack! And i swear to god if he let go of one end of it, it would have smacked the poor unsuspecting swimmer sitting next to him. Good thing the swimmer had just put on his goggles i had thought.
I am pretty sure since his nutsack was so gargantuan and elastic he could climb to the highest tree, grab each end of his "cloak" and float from tree to tree, just as a flying squirrel would in search of a warm place to sleep.
With saying this i wonder what does the future hold for my sleeve? How do i manage this possibility? How do i go about damage control? Is this a natural physical change that every man goes through? I sure hope it is just a statistic. I have googled it but nothing comes up of any value to my concern. Just scary pictures of flying squirrels.
Or even it is very possible this man was a ignorant and not a very nice person to others growing up. And in turn he himself became a "nutsack of epic proportions". I guess time and gravity will tell the tale as we move on.
But until then it is supportive briefs, no air dryers, and minding my p's and q's.

We had the absolute pleasure last weekend of meeting the Olsen family. They are a great bunch. Their daughters are absolutely adorable. I thought it was just super that we got to meet someone from this Diabetes Online Community in person.

Jamie took some pictures. Unfortunately my camera was dead. However please check them out on her site. Of course the couple of hours was mainly spent talking Diabetes. And that seemed to be fine for all of us. It was comforting when Jamie brought out her test kit and tested Danielle. That is the first time i have ever seen anyone else get tested. It is extremely therapeutic and replenishing to be in the presence of great people, and great people going through this first hand helps too.

I feel that we connected when otherwise we possibly would not have. I love people. I love meeting new faces. I am smitten when i get to know how other families exist and let us into their lives. Totally awesome. I would love to meet all of you one day. Maybe we can all have a party together when we see the cure. Deal?

Emma and Mom will be going to the clinic tomorrow. And i know Momma will enter that building with broad shoulders and holding Emma proudly. So she should. Because she has everything to be proud of. Her numbers have been dialed in like a well oiled machine. And the way she has been coping over the past few months with this among what has been going on in this house since her DX. Wow! Iron woman.

On a non Diabetes related note....No more UPS for me. I have officially given my notice of resignation this past Tuesday. My last day there will be next Friday. I feel really really good about that. However UPS has been a really big part of my life. I have more or less matured and gained an unprecedented work ethic from being there. I owe alot to that company, but it was time to move on and do something that i have wanted to do for a very long time.
I am now a Sales Representative for a Sporting Wholesale Company. I start on The following Monday with training in Calgary and Vancouver. This was a move that will able me to spend more time with Momma and Emma. And be more involved in every ones lives including mine.