A JUICY SUGAR BOLUS!!!!!

**THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED**

Are you ready for a Sugar Bolus that is sure to raise your BG's??? If so, I have exciting news for you...

A couple months ago I wrote a late night, out of my mind cuz I'm tired, "Dear Juicy Juice" letter. You can click on the link to refresh your memory, but the overall signification of the letter is how much many of us D Mama's use Juicy Juice as our go to box of juicy blood glucose raising goodness when our super sweet kiddos are at their lowest.

I didn't know it as I plugged away at my keyboard in the early hours of that sleepless A.M., but that post has become my most viewed/shared post EVER. Bra-less bat spinning is a close 2nd though :)



To celebrate my most popular post ever... this weeks Sugar Bolus is

ALL.ABOUT.THE.JUICE.BABY!!!

I contacted Juicy Juice and told them about all the reasons why we love the JJ. And guess what!!!! They are offering up a generous supply of our favorite 15 carb boxes. EXCITED MUCH??? I AM! Wait... is it wrong to enter my own Sugar Bolus??

Here's what you get... 

Five 8-packs of Juicy Juice (4.23oz boxes) shipped right to your door. You choose the flavor. PLUS... three additional Juicy Juice coupons for when your JJ stash is getting low.    

That's 40 boxes of night time sucking to raise your bg while you sleep action baby!!! HOLLA!

Just in case your not sure where to keep 40 boxes of JJ... I have a few ideas for you.

In the center console...

In the glove box...

In your pocket when you go outside... definate risk factor here!

In your back pack...

On the shelf by your bed...

In various spots in your outside refrigerator...

On the shelf in your inside refrigerator...

 In the mixer?!?! Doesn't everyone keep it there?? 

In the D travel pack...

In the door by the cookies and the party stash ;)

Also includes its own risk factors

 The best part is that with all that Juice in the house... not only can you make the low go...

You can share it with one happy sissy too!

Oh the things you can do with a JJ!

Now for the fun stuff... the rules.

Please read them as they may have been changed up a bit to keep you on your toes.

To enter: Post a comment before midnight on Thursday November 4th telling me at least one of the following things . Please include your first name. Comments without names will be eliminated.

- weirdest place you have found your JJ

- a JJ story

- or why you love the JJ

To earn extra entries...

-Write a blog post linking back to the Sugar Bolus and leave a comment with a link to the post.

- Tweet about this Sugar Bolus and leave another comment.

-Facebook about this post and leave an additional comment.

Winner will be selected via random draw on Friday November 5th.
Winners name will be posted here on this blog...
After winners name is posted, winner will have 48 hours to send a message to me at loraack@gmail.com
If I do not hear from the winner within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.

GOOD LUCK!!!

**Disclosure: I.AM.NOT.A.DOCTOR. Anything I say should not be taken as medical advice. It is only the opinion of one crazy D Mama and meant to express how I like to do things at my house or in my car and maybe even in my closet. Lets face it... we all like to stack our juice differently.

In addition, I have not been compensated in any way by Juicy Juice to write this post. They have simply been awesome enough to offer the above mentioned items as part of this weeks Sugar Bolus giveaway.  


You know the rules... now go enter silly!

Last chance...

Don't forget to head on over to My Sugar Bugs to enter this weeks Sugar Bolus.

AND!!! Stop back by here tomorrow to see what I have in store for the next Sugar Bolus.

YEP! That's right... I am hosting this week and this giveaway is sure to raise your BG's.  

2 years in...

photography by Amanda Kern

Today is Justi's 2 year d~aversary ("Justi"... I don't think I have ever mentioned that I call him that). Last year I didn't post about this day. Many factors make up my reasoning for that choice. One being, I didn't want to remember it. Lets face it, that day sucked BIG! It changed me. It changed my family. But most of all... it changed my child in a way that he should not have been changed.

Another major issue I have with celebrating on this day is Leighanna. You see, this dire day falls just two days before her birthday. She has already sacrificed enough. I can not give any more attention to D that will possibly overshadow her special time. I just don't think it would be right and I would regret it if she began to resent him or me for all she has had to deal with. I promise that I do the best I can to give her the attention she needs, but sometimes D just takes my attention away no matter how hard I try. Heck! It took me away from myself for a long time.  

 Since I didn't celebrate, I had nothing to write. Or maybe I just didn't have it in my heart at the time. I didn't want to bring attention to that day; not only for myself, but for Justin. Don't get me wrong... I envied the trips to IHOP, the ice cream for lunch, the movies and all the other ways my fellow D Mamas celebrated. I smiled as I read each post about living. Because that is what we are doing... LIVING! With a little bit of Diabetes in the mix(okay, maybe there is a lot in the mix :).

 As I reflect on this past year I realize that... Last year, on this day, I still felt alone. I had only been blogging for about two months and was just getting to know everyone. I don't even think I had began to make connection on Facebook yet. I still had my head in the sand. I was still pretty numb. Still going through changes such as being forced to go back to work. It was this time last year that I started subbing to help pay for this mess. 

But as this year has passed me by faster than the year before... I have made those connections. I now have people in my life that mean more to me than some people I see on a weekly basis. People I consider friends. People who have given me so much more than most have in a lifetime. I have been reminded of their true value several times over the past week or so. I could not imagine my journey without them. 

We have come a long way in this past year and I look forward to where we will be one year from now. So before I go... I want to share a little of Justin's story. To remind myself that each year is a journey that can only make me a stronger person. 

Flashback... October 21st, 2008  click here to read Justin's full story.

I didn't know the signs. I didn't see it coming. I only knew something was terribly wrong. I couldn't understand why Justin was getting into so much trouble. He had always required a little more patience than Leighanna, but this was extremely different. This was not my loving child. This was someone else and it was eating me up inside. On Tuesday, October 21, 2008; I made a last minute appointment at the doctors office. I had had enough. Enough of the bed wetting. Enough of the reports from school and CCD. Enough of the malignant spirit that had taken over my son. 

 The news of this diagnosis shattered every ounce of my being. Feeling as if I was the only person in the world; I sunk into the deep hole that became my reality for a very long time. Little did I know that in another town... another city... another state... another "Justi's" life was changing too... Click here to read on

My Hero...

I
AM
SOO
EXCITED!!!!
 I got THE email yesterday as I was car shopping. Once I read it... I couldn't wait to get home. Wanna know why I am so excited???

Because Amanda Kern posted some of the photos from our Littlest Heroes Project photo shoot.

I'm all giddy... can you tell??!!??

Here is a sneak peek at how fun our day was.

 You may also notice my header. The awesome Amanda snapped that shot of Justin too. I can't wait to get them. I will be at the mail box every afternoon ready to attack our mail lady :)

BUT WAIT!!! You can see more HERE. There are some awesome shots so be prepared... cuz those are some cute kiddos.
Don't forget to leave some love for Amanda while your there (comments = love).

I would like to express my sincerest THANK YOU to Amanda for taking time out of her busy schedule so that my family could have this opportunity. We are truly grateful for the gift she has given us.

I will share some of my favorites and tell you a little about them as soon as I get them.

Happy Monday!!

FLAT LINE...

Why hello again! Have you been waiting?
For what you ask? Well... part 2 of this post.
You remember... spinning bat game. Support-less tatas. Good times!


As I said... It had been a strange week for sure. I guess I am a bit tired as I did not wake up to check on him at 3am the next morning. When I finally got up and went in Justin's room... this is what I saw

HOLY SHIT!! DID YOU SEE THAT LINE?? THE FLAT ONE?? THE ONE THAT HAS BEEN FLAT FOR A GOOD 2 HOURS??

I have NEVER ran up a step ladder so fast in all my life. I am 100% positive that I stopped breathing. I GRABBED Justin as if I was waking him up because of a fire.


You can not possibly know the feeling that came over me when he popped up. It is far beyond the feeling of relief when you see their chest rise or simple see movement while they sleep.

3 days that week that Justin went low in the morning before school. The second time was pretty drama free compared to the one I posted about the other day. We were walking to the bus stop(support in tact) and I had him check for me(mama's intuition) and he was 68. Not a panic mode number... so I gave him a couple glucose tabs and sent him off.

Friday was the worst of the three, I was making his lunch. Justin was sitting at the table and he had just finished his breakfast. I start again with the same old tune, but this time was a little different. He didn't budge as my voice raised... I automatically start transporting the meter to the table and tell him to check.

What does he do??? He gets up and lays on the couch... WHAT??

I end up going over and checking him myself... 35 How can this be?? He JUST ate. All this made me about as confused as Oakley's ears...

just don't know which way to go!!

I was 45 minutes late to work this day. Good thing they like me over there :) I decided the bus was really NOT a good idea. I got Justin all settled an loaded with juice before I drove him to school.

I ended up raising his I:C ratio again and I have been letting him eat a little before I bolus.  

There was a little less excitement this week on the D front. Probably because I don't have time to pay attention to it. I am sure D will make up for his good behavior soon :)

Have a great weekend.





WAZZ UP WEDNESDAY...

Wazz up everybody?

Look! I even made a little logo thingy to use for these posts.

Guess that means your stuck reading about them for a while... OR maybe not(?!?).

 

So here goes... another post about everything you might not have wanted to know.

************************

I have about 5 draft posts that I have not been able to finish because of that darned thing we call life. I phoned the "life council" and tried to have a heart to heart with them, but they wont budge.

Things have not improved on the "low" front. Unfortunately, my mind is so boggled with this... I can't think enough to fix it.

Justin's D-Aversary is in..... (????) 8 days. Two years in and I am still NUTS!! WTH? Someone promised me that I would find my sanity... I would like to collect on that please.

We had an Endo appt.(by posting this I can delete one of the above mentioned drafts - HOLLA!). It went well. Made a few changes. And also had a bitter sweet A1C of ....

6.5.

Normally, I would say that's a kick ass A1C Mama Lora, but this time around it has come at the cost of some wacky, roller coaster kind of numbers... not steady pretty ones. UNLESS... pretty dang low with the occasional pretty dang high counts as pretty. NO?!?

OOOOH! Guess what - Guess what!!! I get to host the sugar bolus in a few weeks. Be sure to pop in and check.it.out! For this weeks sugar bolus head on over to see Jen at I am your Pancreas.



FREEZE!!!!

I meant AFTER you finish here - Sheesh!

On Friday(yes, this Friday), I get to ride the big yellow bus(noo-wa! Its not the short one). Justin is going to the Performing Arts Center and since this is one of those field trips that DO NOT require chaperons(unless your 504 happens to say so) there should be "plenty of room on the bus" for lil ol' me. HAPPY-HAPPY-JOY-JOY!!

My lease goes back on the 20th and Anthony's goes back on the 27th of.this.month and I have no clue... no plan... and in 8 days no car. HMMM! Maybe this post need to go into draft too(?).

I just wrote 4 different checks to Girl Scouts... they sure stick it to ya these days.

Leighanna's birthday is in 10 days... I have no plan for that either.

Apparently, I am off my game!!!

I guess that's it for this week. I need to hunt for a ride before I become a permanent bus rider :)

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!



Happy Tuesday!!!

MOM YOU SUCK... 2010

Yep, that's right... I said I suck. I can feel a little "suckity" right now. This is worse than last year when I lost my "Mom of the year award".

Wanna know why??? 

If  not, click out now... cuz its my blog and I'm tellin!

If so, grab a beverage, sit back and I will tell you all about it.

It started out at 2am when I didn't hear the alarm to check Justin. You can imagine my panic when I heard the words "what time do you need to get up" from Anthony. He asks this every morning because some days I can sneak in an extra 15. PANIC is not my idea of a pleasant way to wake up. I scurried off to Justin's room who JUST.SO.HAPPENED to have good numbers over night for the first time in weeks.

After a sigh of relief, I carried on with the morning in the usual way. Justin is in his typical dawdling mood where any form of direction has to be repeated ten times before he even acknowledges that there are actual words spilling from my mouth.

Because of the already frantic way in which I awoke... I was particularly on edge and growing substantially more agitated with every repeat command that certain parties remained oblivious to. I wont name names (starts with a "J" and ends with "ustin") because that would not be polite.

So as I go through the motions...
"get up! get up! get up!"
"check ur blood! check ur blood! check ur blood!"
"choose ur breakfast! choose ur breakfast! check ur blood! choose ur breakfast!"
 "STOP chasing the dog... CHOOSE your breakfast... CHECK your blood!" ahhhhh! This goes on, but you get the point.

As usual we are behind. We need to leave the house by 7:15am to catch the bus. I have to work so Justin not "feelin the flo" is only setting me up to look like the crazy lady in the office with my mis-matched closes and improperly paired shoes because I will be lucky to get a good teeth brushin in this morning (hey! Just because my hair isnt brushed and my clothes are a mess doesn't mean I have to have stank breath).

So after my second verse of "get dressed, wheres your shoes, get your socks, brush your hair, brush your teeth... solo. (side note... at 7:14 the nameless offspring still did not have his socks and shoes on OR his mop brushed).  Things in mama-ville start getting all tornado tyrant. Arms flailing, exorcist voice streaming the "word of Lora" through the halls of me casa. Was not pretty! I decided at that moment (as I have in past tangents) that THIS.WAS.IT!! NO.MORE!! YOU WILL DO THIS AND YOU WILL DO THAT!!! OR ELSE!!! The look on Justin's face let me know that he would take my words seriously for the next five minutes, but to be prepared because tomorrow is a new day.

Now, we are dressed... ready to go... until I realize that I have no bra(white t-shirt) and no shoes laying in there usual spot because we have to keep them from the puppy. (shish-kabob!!... yeah, I didn't think you'd believed that's what I actually said) I scramble around with more flailing fashion... find shoes (no need to be crazy AND barefoot)... grab the dog to carry across my slingshot-less chest and we sprint out the door.   

As we round the street corner, the bus pulls up. Were moving along as I apologize to Justin for my tantrum(not those words) and let him know that he need to start getting up and get motivated in the mornings. You know the speech... your getting older bla bla bla.

We are half way to destination big yellow bus when Justin pulls D'Com(CGM) out of his pocket and says "I'm low with an arrow down".

WHAT!!!!! You've gotta be F*ing kidding me.

This is where my suckity motherly thinking skills come into question... Rather than being calm and logical and taking him home when I read 47 on his CGM; I opted to go into "fix it and shove him on the bus mode". That's right... here is how it went.

You remember... "I'm low with an arrow down", right? Well, we will start from there. Picture this... crazy mom with white T, no bra, puppy draped across chest, now literally running in a circular motion (kind of like that game where you stuck your forehead on the bat and run in circles until your dizzy) in search of the one back pack pocket(out of 20... stupid pockets) that has the glucose tabs. Bus is waiting, 7 other moms, a dad and a German Shepard all staring as I frantically unzip and re zip above mention possible hiders of the tabs. One nice mom runs up and offers some help... I toss her poor scared puppy thus exposing my not so perky anymore cuz I'm getting older girls and continue to search.

FINALLY, I find tabs and start walking at  a fast and frantic pace towards the bus (as if this was a good plan) while handing Justin 3 tabs saying "eat, eat em, eat them now" and sticking the tube back into what I hope was the right pocket(not that that matters). I look at the bus driver who's mouth has now hit the floor and say" he's running a little low, please keep an eye on him and I will call the nurse".

That's right... I put my child, who was low, on the bus.
After it was over... it hit me. What did I just do? I should have brought him home. Why didn't I just bring him home?

Of course I called the nurse. I was pretty embarrassed to admit how much I suck, but I had to let her know.

30 minutes later I received a phone call. "Just wanted to let you know that Leighanna(love that girl) walked Justin straight here. He did not go to the classroom. His BG is now 119 per meter and the CGM has one arrow up slow.

Phew, it was okay this time... I can breath and Justin survives my excellent parenting skills one more time.

This all happened at the beginning of the week... I started this post and didn't get to finish. There are now more stories about this week. It has been a strange one! More to follow the above mentioned fiasco... I will share more later in PART 2.




  

More chances to win...

Man... the giveaways are coming in double this week. There's Spibelts and Tummytotes and my favorite... COFFEE!!!!

Enter one... Enter both... the giving never ends around here!

Up first is THIS WEEKS SUGAR BOLUS hosted by the beautiful Jen over at I am your pancreas. 

This is where you will find the Spibelt and YUMMY coffee


Then... head on over to the Tallygear Tummietote Giveaway for your chance to win a Tummietote of your very own.

More chances means MORE WINNERS!!!
Good Luck!!!!

"You never know what your gonna get"

Until now!!

BETTER RUN FAST

because the deadline to enter is melting away weeks Sugar Bolus will be here before you know it.

No D-D-D... D?!?....

George over at Ninjabetic had a great idea - a No D Day! Where we all blog about something OTHER THAN D. Now you would think this would be an easy task. But I am finding it hard to decide what to write about. Does this mean I am trapped in my D world? Wait... don't answer that! It's not allowed on "no D day".

I guess I will fill you in on some of things you never wanted to know about me. It's all about me on no D day.

Excited?

My name is Lora Mae spelled L.O.R.A. I was sort of named after my great-grandmother Dora Mae. Except my mom didn't want to name me DORA(phew!) So I became L.O.R.A.

I have been married to the hubby (Anthony) for almost 11 years.

We have two pretty awesome kids!!!

However, they are not awesome enough for me to desire anymore. :)

People make fun of my Martha Stewart ways... I love to make stuff.

I have made a few costumes and every year I make this or that as friends/teachers gifts.

I even have a another blog to share these things... if only I could keep up with it.

Here are just a few examples of things I have made....

I also LOVE to plan parties... I get a little OCD about it all though. Kind of a sickness.

These are a few pics of Leighanna's tea party... it was my most favorite so far.

I even hand painted teapots

 BUT...

There is a little DIRTY SIDE to me too!!!
.
.
.

Did you know I like to ride...

.

.

.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

Mind out of the gutter people!!!

I like to ride ATV's

YEP! This is me jumping.

I like drag race



I stole the hubby bike... he thinks I can't handle a "big boy quad".

What else is there????

I have 2 tattoos... sorry no pics!

I prefer a handful of true friends rather than an abundance of fake ass bitches!

I will do anything for you... unless I am done with you.

It takes A LOT... and I mean a shit load for me to be done with you. BUT... once I'm done... I'M.DONE!

I LOVE to learn new stuff. If it is not a challenge... I'm not learning.

I thrive on figuring things out. I might get pissed, but I will get it.

Black is my favorite color... can you tell??

I am bleep bleep years old... lol

I like all kinds of music... this comes from having a variety of friends. The exception to "all kinds" is hard head banging headache causing crazy stuff. I can only take so much of it.

chaos makes me crazy.

Not a fan of crowds.

I like it how I like it and its best to deal with it.


I love to read quotes and inspirational sayings... I write them down sometimes and stick them places as reminders.


I guess I need to cut it out before I miss "No D Day" all together.

But before I go... did you learn anything about me that you didn't know? Is there anything that surprised you?










A MEME FOR MY SWEET JUSTIN...

The awesome Heidi and Jack from D-Tales started this great MeMe for our awesome kids. They tagged Tracy and the Superhero from the Superhero and the Princesss. Tracy passed it on to Reyna and Joe from Beta Buddies, who then gave it to Kris and Bumble Bee at Our Sugar Bugs. Kris tagged Meri and her boys over at Our Diabetic Life and the marvelous Meri tagged Justin & yours truly.


In the wise words of Meri... here were go!

What is your name? "You've gotta be kidding me" (after a long stare... "is that your answer") "YEAH!"

 How old are you? Um........................................................................................9"


When were you diagnosed with diabetes? "What?!? I don't know. (can you guess?) 2 years?!?"


Do you remember what happened when you were diagnosed or how you felt? "felt weird"



Do finger pokes or shots [or site insertions/infusion set changes] hurt? "No"




What is a high number? "300 up"



What is a low number? "100 down"

 

What does low blood sugar feel like? "Um... nothing" (yeah, we don't feel those around here)





What’s your favorite way to treat a low? "Eat"






How do you feel when your blood sugar level is high? "grouchy"
 



What’s the best thing about having diabetes? "The best thing is... now if I were shooting lizards right now, that would be a nice size lizard... what?!? Oh I get to stay up and eat". (shooting lizards... huh?!?)



What’s the worst thing about having diabetes? "Not eating"





Do you worry much about diabetes? "Yes, I worry about going to high or low"


If one of your friends were diagnosed with diabetes, what would you say to that friend? "YAY! I am not alone in my class anymore"



What’s your favorite food? "Macaroni stuff... with all that on it".



 What’s your favorite snack? "Strawberry Newtons. No wait... cross that out... pineapple."






What’s your favorite low-carb food? "Um... cheese"




Do you know what a blog is? "Wait, is that a question?" (yes, do you know what it is?) "Yes!"




Do you know that I blog about diabetes? "Yes, everything that talks with the blog thingy... I say yes for". (what in the world??)





Do you care? "Kind of" (why) "I don't know".




Why do you think I blog about diabetes? "I don't know"




What’s your biggest wish? "2 new Nerf guns"






Who’s your best friend? "Bobby... Tanner"



What do you like about him/her/them? "We shoot lizards... can I call him to see if he can play?"




What’s your favorite thing to do? "Play Modern Warfare- Call of Duty 2" (I think I need to start monitoring the gun/shooting situation).

 Do you have a hero? "you" (LOVE HIM!!)




What do you want to be when you grow up? "Electrical Engineer"






Who’s your favorite person in the whole wide world? "you" (LOVE HIM MORE!!!)






Are you afraid of anything? "The dark"





Fill in the blank. (Your name) is___________. There is no right or wrong answer.
"is.......... Justin is smart" (Sure is, did you see those answers about hero's and his favorite person?)
 

And that is that!!! I talked to Justin about who he would like to tag next... He choose:

So keep a look out for Misty and Sweet Allison's MEME

From the mouth of yours truly...

  

• 
  
  Its no accident that the initials for blood sugar is "BS".

• 
  
  I need to go pee first so that I can clearly think about this.

• Tongue up the nose... GOOD STUFF!

• I think I am going to be a responsible parent and actually log his numbers this week. Don't look at me like that... we have an endo appt. on Monday.

• I don't care if that's not what you meant... I have "on demand" credits and I am "on demanding" a diet vanilla coke!

• I might know where you can find a "sugar filled tampon".

• Your out of your flippin ass mind if you think I'm doing that!

• If you keep that up your gonna get hemorrhoids.

• Its good to know that in case of a blunder... sticky side up only hurts for a second.

• Apparently, lows are like periods... if your around the same group of people long enough, you all start getting them together.

• Stop scratchin your butt and it won't fall off!