Step Out: Walk for Diabetes

I just wanted to say THANKS to everyone who supported my Walk for Diabetes this morning. I raised $220 and was proud to bear my red had, designating me as a "Red Strider" (a participant with Diabetes).

My friend Justine (from Rippleside) and I walked almost seven miles this morning to support the cause. We started out at a brisk thirty-four degrees, but it quickly warmed up to a balmy 50-degree day. Hoorah! With great company, yummy snacks, BEAUTIFUL changing leaves, and a walk along the Paul Bunyan Trail, it was a start to a fun day!

Here is a picture of my snazzy hat. :)

Things I love most about Aitkin (so far)

1. Camp: I am close to camp, but I am not at camp (all the time). When I visit camp, it's for the right reasons - to celebrate, to visit friends, to volunteer, to worship, or to work. I'm not at camp because I'm living there, feeling like I'm saving money.

2. My house: I love living alone, even though it can be lonely (I guess that's why it's called "alone"). But, I have the freedom to do things like make the world's best dessert, an oreo wrapped in a chocolate-chip cookie (see pictures/a recipe here).

3. The staff: I cannot even begin to describe the hospitality and warmth with which the school staff has surrounded me. I feel as though I'm a part of the community and as though I'm supported and welcomed! Everyone seems to care, even clerks at Aitkin Furniture and Paulbeck's Market. :)

10 things to never say...

This is a list of 10 things to never say to a Vegan. I am not vegan, and I don't ever plan to be vegan, but it's pretty applicable to vegetarianism, too! :)

http://vivelevegan.blogspot.com/2011/08/10-things-never-to-say-to-vegan.html

Exciting news!

Scroll down to "Staff Changes" :)

http://www.aitkinage.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=75&ArticleID=37711

Books!

My new favorite website is www.thriftbooks.com, and I may have gone on a bit of a spending spree this week (oops!). Anyway, I have quite a few books on order, due to arrive within the next week or so. Here is what I am looking forward to reading soon:

1. Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year

Esme Raji Codell

2. How to Talk so Kids can Learn

Elaine Mazlish, Adele Faber

3. Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence

Rosalind Wiseman

4. We Will Sing: Choral Music Experience for Classroom Choirs

5. Me Talk Pretty One Day

David Sedaris

6. Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis

7. Velvet Elvis: Repainting Christian Faith

Rob Bell

8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson

9. The Girl who Played with Fire

Stieg Larsson

10. Pretty Good Joke Book

Garrison Keillor

Anyway, I'm eagerly awaiting my shipments! I paid about $37.00 for the ten books, with free shipping, AND they're all used and therefore not going in a landfill. Great!

Today!

Today was busy! And really great! Here are a few things I did today...

1. Yoga! I led early-morning (only 7:30am, not that bad) yoga with Alex. We like to start out with a theme, since it's silly yoga. So, we picked the themes of Easter and breakfast and figured we'd let the campers go from there. Requests included dinosaurs, outerspace, and unicorns. With our twenty-two campers, we combined unicorns/dinosaurs/outerspace/breakfast/Easter to fill a half an hour with adventurous yoga. My favorite move was the pancake - you lay flat on your back and don't move, because you are a pancake! Pretty relaxing. :)

2. Sailing! Meghan took me sailing during free time today. There was hardly any wind and I can't say I remember much from sailing camp three years ago, but it was a great day to get out on the water.

3. Dance! During campers' choice in the afternoon, Cassie and I led dancing. We had twelve high-school juniors and seniors sign up, so it was a really fun and silly activity. We made up a few dances to teach to the campers, and we let them make up their own to perform for each other (they were actually really great!). Then, we played "freeze," an improv game where two people dance up front and when someone else yells "freeze," they take the place of one of the people up front. Finally, we led circle/square dancing. During Creative Arts week last week, the families get together for a hoedown each night (it's super intense). They dance late into the night, and they're always really great dancers because of family tradition and coming to Creative Arts for years and years. So, we had a blast teaching the campers circle dances this afternoon.

4. Delivered treats! I baked treats this weekend - campfire crack (trail mix/Chex mix, don't worry!) and Special K bars. I delivered them to cabins this afternoon, bringing the bars to counselors I knew were having a tough week. I also packed some campfire crack to send to friends working at other camps this summer. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to mail the Special K bars because they were too goopy and would've melted.

5. Helped in the kitchen! Our kitchen volunteer this evening really wanted to play the all-camp game, so I volunteered to jump in and take her place. I spent a few hours prepping food, mopping, washing dishes, etc...none of which was very fun. However, Tuesday's theme is "hospitality," and I feel like I did my part today!

It was a really fantastic day at camp, even though I am exhausted. I'm looking forward to an evening of singing/reading to cabins, playing NERTS/cribbage, and reading the books I just got in the mail! Woohoo!

Things I can do with Diabetes.

I don't mind Diabetes - really, I don't. In fact, it almost seems weird to me that people can eat whatever they want all the time and be okay, and that they don't have to check their blood sugar and take shots before every meal. It's crazy how quickly it's become second-nature to me, and how it's just a part of what I do. I don't really think about it anymore, and it all just makes sense.

I do, however, really dislike the stereotypes, myths, and assumptions about Diabetes. I find that most people really have no idea what Diabetes is, how insulin/glucose interact, what it means to have a "low," or even what the function of the pancreas is. Most of all, people think that Diabetes means I ate too much sugar one night and woke up the next morning in a coma. They look at me funny when I eat dessert at meals, and think that when I have a low it's because I don't control my sugars. Booo.

Mostly, people think that Diabetes restricts my life. They don't realize, however, that I am capable of normal things. I thought it might be fun to compile a list of a few things I've done in the last thirty-nine days since my diagnosis.

- Road trip! 1200 miles, two homestays, and three interviews in three days. Yowsers!

- Camping! Slept alone in a tent for three nights just for kicks and giggles.

- Vacation! Went to a friend's cabin for three nights with no electricity. Participated in: card games, napping, tubing, water skiing, boating, Settlers of Catan, cooking, sauna-ing, and more.

- Boating! Stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing, canoeing, tubing, water skiing, hydro-biking, snorkeling, etc.

- Working! Job interviews, long hours in the office, facilitating the high ropes course, leading one-hundred campers in an evening game.

- Playing! Swinging, going down a slip-n-slide, rolling down a hill, beating friends at cribbage, going to a Twins game, painting and coloring, finishing the NY Times crossword puzzle, sewing, attending local churches, playing Scrabble, reading.

- Eating! Being vegetarian, enjoying Dairy Queen, baking five-pound bars, eating out every weekend, cooking over a campfire, counting carbohydrates, not counting carbohydrates, navigating the sugar-free sections of grocery stores.

Not to mention graduating, going to Europe, and getting a job... :)

Take THAT, Diabetes!