Monday, October 20, 2008

How...

Did I ever live without picassa? Suddenly the thousands of digital photos I have on my computer have a purpose.

Cropping, adding effects and text, removing red eye, making collages, and uploading online albums all in the matter of seconds? Seriously.

Is there anything better than Google? I think not.

Less

Over the past six months, diabetes has been as present as ever in our lives. Thomas started on an insulin pump, but the daily in and out of diabetes is the same. Testing. Bolusing. Site changes. Rinse and repeat.

Somehow, though, diabetes has receded; become less. While the daily chores are the same, the emotional toll is so greatly diminished.

The day school started in Bourne, TJ's pump broke. TJ was supposed to be sleeping over his grandmother's, and we needed his pump to be working. But while the whole thing was a huge pain - I had to order another pump, rush home the next day to program it and do a site change before rushing him to Grandma's - it was just a pain - nothing more.

A woman at work asked about Thomas the other day, wondering if he was "all set and under control now." As I was briefly explaining that while he was doing well, we have to monitor him each and every day to keep him that way. It dawned on me, though, that diabetes care had become less like a terrible, sad imposition, and more like changing a diaper - not the best part of the day, but something that needs to be done.

In the meantime, my blogging has suffered. Carey wrote once that he was always waiting for his son to "do something diabetes-ish" to be blogged about. And while there have been things to write about, I just don't care to, or haven't had the time to, or a little of both. So, the tales of by the numbers may change - to the stories of regular life. Which is, after all, life with diabetes.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Boo!

Look what we made this morning...
all lit up...
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Walk on the Wild Side


"Team TJ" came out of retirement to strut it's stuff on October 4th in Boston, and strut we did. The day was fantastic, falling into place amazingly. We took the T in from Cambridge, met up with the other team members easily, and walked at the front of the pack in beautiful weather.

This year our team grew. All of the Kerrigans came out to support us. We were especially happy to have Warnick family members Cassie (also Type 1), Dave, and Christine join us. Grandma came along as well, and Grampee came as an honorary member (anyone who rides a motorcycle all the way from Indiana and still wants to walk 3 miles can join our team anytime!).

Unlike last year, this year's walk was much more fun and far less stress. Suzanne helped with the t-shirts and logistics, and for the most part I was able to keep myself in check, remembering that just being at the walk is enough. We did raise a more than respectable $4200, but even if we had not, the walk was a success in my book. As beautiful day, a reminder that we are not alone in this journey, a fantastic lunch at Boarder Cafe. And really cool t-shirts from customink.com...a great day all around.

Many, many thanks to Sally and Kevin, Mike and Suzanne, the Kerrigans, Warnicks, and Bornings, and TJ's amazing friends! As I have many times, we are so lucky.

See more pics of the day here:
JDRF 2008