June 28, 2009
In re-reading my post about INFP’s I’ve decided that you can do what you love (ie: writing) and get paid for it and still love it.
In the last year I feel like I’ve hit the freelance jackpot after working hard for a long time writing for free. Which by the way, writing for free, for the right kind of websites or blogs, has really paid off. I actually had an editor contact me and ask me to write something for their paid publication, a dream come true, because she read a column I wrote for free. And lately, I’ve been freelancing for Charleston Style and Design and was hired by the lovely Olivia Pool to be the writer for Charleston’s Art Magazine.
I’m writing this update because I asked so many questions in my INFP post about my future and whether I’d be able to make my writing into a career… and I feel like I finally have some answers. Teaching may be in my future some day, but for now I’m thrilled to get paid to write and, I’d even do it for free! 
June 15, 2009
Check out my latest Chronic Mama column:
I remember that night; it was a few months after I was diagnosed and my best friend and I were visiting my grandparents for spring break. My friend heard me moaning in my sleep and tried to wake me. When she turned on the lights, she saw that I was sweating and later told me my eyes were rolled back in my head. I recoiled in fear and disgust at the image of myself. Later that evening, after a Snickers bar was mashed into my biting mouth, I lay awake for hours in the dark room, afraid to fall asleep, afraid of the animal inside.
June 11, 2009
I ripped my omnipod pump off last week in frustration and haven’t put it on again. I’ve been doing shots, 5-6 a day and I have to say, it’s a relief to have my body back.
I feel like I am one of those 90 year olds they keep featuring in the local newspaper who is still using an antenna for their tv. I keep reading those stories and getting frustrated with the elderly, thinking, come on already, get with the program! But I can’t, because I too prefer my old fashioned antenna (shots) to the modern cable (pump).
I hated the way the pump, or “pod” as omnipod calls it, felt on my body. I hated the way I could feel it when I drove or when I slept or when I leaned back on the couch. I hated the way it was so visible underneath my clothes. But most of all I hate the feeling that I am alone, that I am clutching to my antenna as the cable guy knocks on my door. Am I the only one out there with rabbit ears, the only one out there who doesn’t like having a piece of plastic equipment stuck to their body?
Of course there were things I liked about the pump too….I liked that I could eat in the middle of the afternoon when I was hungry-an especially good perk for a pregnant lady-that all I had to do was push a button and eat. I liked that I didn’t have to inject myself and I liked that I could micro-manage the amount of insulin flowing into my body. But still….all my life I’ve tried to keep diabetes in the passenger seat while I drove and wearing this pod made me feel like I had a flashing light on the roof of my car calling attention to me.
So I decided to go back to what is the lesser of two evils. Shots instead of a pump.
Making that choice left me feeling blue, wouldn’t it be nice to think I was choosing the better, instead of the less worse option?
June 5, 2009
I got an email from Diabetes UK asking me to share this video about type 1 diabetes and bullying. It’s a great, short video about teenagers teasing a classmate. It’s interesting too because this is something I haven’t heard or read much about….I guess I was fortunate because I didn’t experience bullying (related to my diabetes anyway), my friends were more often curious or else wanting me to share my snacks. I don’t know if times have changed or if I was just lucky.
Check it out, it’s called Setting the Record Straight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8_OPMvLsRM&feature=channel
