Halfway Through

I am halfway through summer quarter. Next week will be crazy as I finish up my 2 week intense Microbiology class. So far in class I have a 95%, which is great.

On Monday we have a quiz,
Tuesday we have a quiz, and we will read out our susceptibility tests in lab.
Wednesday we have a quiz.
Thursday is our lecture final and the lab final. That is 2 exams on the same day.

In addition to my work in Microbiology, I have Anatomy and Physiology too! Our midterm exam is due on Monday (it was take home).

Plus I have a full 40 hour work week.

Also on Monday I start a new fitness program, Kaia Fit at 5am!

I am looking forward to next weekend, to take a break and relax. Mr. Harer and I,  are going camping up at Barton Flats and the Center Ice Arena ISI Open competition is on Sunday.

Dog Toy Craft Tutorial

I'm crafty, although not nearly as talented as Cynthia over at Precious Cupcakes. Over the weekend I made a Tinkerbell fleece blanket for my niece, who is turning 5 this month.

As I was cutting the selvage off the fleece, I notice Sheila playing with it. Which got me thinking, I could totally turn the selvage into a dog toy.

Sheila can destroy most dog toys in less than 30 seconds. She enjoys soothing on them, like a baby would suck on a pacifier, until they get a hole in them. Then she tears all the stuffing out and spreads it around the house like carpet fertilizer. After that is complete she continues to soothe on the empty stuffy carcass.

This toy is perfect because it is stuffing free and still satisfies her oral fixation.

Here is what you'll need:

Fleece Selvage 

(any fabric selvage may work, but the texture of the fleece feels like a stuffy toy)

Scissors

Let's Begin:

Fold selvage piece in half and tie a knot at the top to form a loop.

Continue to knot without any space between the knots.

Leave approx. 1 1/2 inches of unknotted fleece.

Tie the unknotted end into the loop at the top of your fleece, creating a circle.

Repeat with additional selvage pieces, linking them together to form a chain.

Sheila has been chewing on this one

That's it! You're all done.

Accident Prone

My mother misnamed me. I was named after both my Grandmothers;  Judith April Earhart and Elizabeth Ann Lansdell, however I should have been named Jane....

As in Calamity Jane

*not my x-rays

I've always been accident prone. Like the time when I was around 7 years old and my grandparents were coming to visit from Arizona. I tripped over some electrical thing, with sharp edges, and needed 8 stitches across my 2nd-3rd toes.

Or when I was 11 years old, at my grandparents house in Arizona, I fell off a dead tree and broke the radius and ulna and my left arm.

How about when I lost my glasses on the Mist Trail in Yosemite, and had to hike 3 mi. back to the valley nearly blind.

Just in the past year, I have broken my scaphoid, tripped over a curb and tore up my knee. Today I ripped my pants while skating.

It seems I am always one step away from catastrophe. I should be bubble wrapped and wear a helmet. The good news, bubble wrap is available in pink!

Baby Drama, or not....

Every few years it seems all my coworkers, friends and family go through a baby making  cycle.

It gets me all worked up about having my own bundle of spit up joy.

So I figured I'd make a list to remind me why Mr. Harer and I are waiting to have a family.

Reasons to have a baby right now;

1. Risk of general complications increases with age.
2. Diabetes related risks, increase with age
3. Pressure from friends and family is steadily increasing.

Reasons to wait to have a baby;

1. Doing clinical rotations while pregnant would not be fun.
2. I will make significantly more $$$ after I finish school.
3. Our house is too small for Mr. Harer and I (and the dogs) a baby won't fit.
4. My A1c needs to be lower.

Reasons not to have a baby at all;

1. Babies are expensive
2. The idea of a diabetic pregnancy is scary
3. Sheila will be jealous

CGM in the Pool

I am trying to fit daily exercise into my schedule. So working out at the Drayson Center is ideal, since I don't have to leave campus between work and school to go to the gym.

I'm not really into using the weight room or the fitness machinery and the aerobics classes tend to be really crowded with staff and students around 5pm.

Hence, I swim.

I am not a strong swimmer, in fact most would call what I do, dog paddling. In order to stay out of the way, I dog paddle in the leisure pool, with the kiddies, rather than the Olympic size pool.

Have you ever noticed how curious kids are? Yeah, the kids at the Drayson Center are no different. I spend about 10 minutes of my swim time explaining the CGM to the kiddies and giving mini lessons on type 1 diabetes to the parents.

Anyway, there is a really cool water slide into the leisure pool, but I am afraid to try it.

"What if my sensor gets ripped out, slides down the slide and doesn't float. I don't dive, so I'd have to enlist the help of a little kid to retrieve it; only to discover that since it became detached the water got inside the connection and ruined the transmitter."

Really, I am serious! Can someone please share their experience with water slides and CGM's? I'd really like to enjoy the slide without worrying.

In addition, does anyone else get a minor skin irritation from their IV3000 (or CGM adhesive) and chlorine?

She's Alive... Alive!

Thank you to the 40 of my 42 followers who still remain after my 3 month dry spell. I am going to try to post more often. For today, how about a short recap of what has been going on the past 3 months?

Diabetes:

My last endo appointment was good, A1c dropped .6, let us hope it continues that trend. Dr. Lee did have me start taking Metformin (*please note, this is off label use in a Type 1) to try and control the post meal spikes and overall blood sugar craziness. Supposedly it is supposed to support weight loss as well, but i've yet to see any results.

School:

I didn't finish my Anatomy & Physiology or Microbiology classes in spring because of a financial aid issue, so I am taking them this summer. Which means my schedule is insane, but it is only until the end of July. 

Skating:

I will continue to try and keep skating related posts to a minimum here. I've moved up to freestyle 1, which is where the real jumps begin. I need new skates, like 2 months ago. The Center Ice Arena ISI Open is July 24th and I am competing (but I haven't actually learned my program yet.)

Home/Family Life:

My wonderful husband bought me a new power cord for the laptop, which is why I am able to blog again. 

Dogs:

The new Redlands Dog Park opened recently and it is walking distance from the house. However, Sheila doesn't want to play if we walk to the park, I think she gets too hot and tired. I bought Sheila the cutest pink bunny pj's, I can't wait for it to be cold enough to put them on her. 

Other:

I inherited some of my mother's talents and tripped over a curb last Tuesday. The new season of True Blood is disappointing so far, and I may not continue to watch it. 

That's about it.....