Updates

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I've been MIA on the blog sphere lately... not too much to report diabetes-wise, after such a "diabetes focused" stretch a couple weeks ago. Here's what I've been up to:

My mom came to visit for a week over Thanksgiving! She lives in Eureka, CA which is 800 miles away from San Diego (it's on the coast, just south of Oregon). That's way too far away!! My mom and I are extremely close, and it's miserable only seeing her a few times a year. Her latest visit reaffirmed mine and my husband's resolve to move up north (probably not to Eureka though!) in the next few years.

Anyway, we have a very active week with Mom. We ate dinners out, went to an amazing exhibit at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. It was photos of migrants all over the world, with a huge section of Mexican immigrants in San Diego. It was a very somber experience and just incredible. Afterwards we ate In-n-Out Burger and checked out the new Bloomingdales. The irony of this juxtaposition was not lost on us.

We also did our share of shopping! We skipped out on Black Friday however, what a zoo! My mom figured she'd buy our Christmas presents while she visited, instead of trying to ship everything. Very fun :) The two of us (Dennis stayed home to watch football) went to the outlets on Sunday afternoon. They're right next to the Mexican border (literally there are signs that say "Left Turn- No US Return" right near the outlets. It's a very cool experience to be near an international border for the day. You'd think it would be a clear cut US/Mexico cultural change at the border, but actually San Ysidro, CA feels more like Mexico in many ways. Very interesting.

Instead of hitting the malls on Friday, we took a leisurely drive up to Julian. This is the same little town Dennis and I visited on our anniversary. We loved it so much and really wanted to share it with mom. So, after our typical Starbucks stop, we headed east.

I rode in the backseat. In hindsight, this was not a good idea.

When we arrived I definitely felt sick. We strolled around awhile and then I tested my blood. Uh oh, 70 mg/dl and 3 units still on board. Damn! I over bolused for the zucchini walnut muffin! I gobbled down some M&Ms and kept looking around. I was feeling worse by the minute.

Another test 25 minutes later yielded 43 mg/dl. Great! I consumed a whole bottle of apple juice while we sat on a bench. We'd only been in Julian for 40 minutes or so, and I felt terrible.

Once my blood sugar rose a bit, I tried to be a trooper and keep looking in the little shops. I felt awful. Finally, I told mom and Dennis, "I'm just going to sit in the car for awhile."

I laid down in the back seat with the windows open and just felt nauseous. When my loved ones returned about twenty minutes later they said, "You're sick, let's go home."

It's about an hour drive back to San Diego. When we arrived at the next town, Ramona, I asked Dennis to stop so I could get some gatorade. My blood sugar was still not over 100 mg/dl. At the Chevron station I emptied my stomach! Totally!

I'll spare you the details, but I threw up twice more that day. I took some Pepto and had some Campbell's Chicken Noodle (the best when you're sick!) and felt fine by 7 p.m.

What the heck was that?! We considered food poisoning, but I highly doubt that from baked goods... I guess it was just motion sickness from the drive up. The road is incredibly curvy and I haven't sat in the backseat for that kind of drive in years. I don't get motion sickness typically, but I do remember curvy roads getting to be as a child. How odd.

Speaking of illness, I've been taking Airborne like it's going out of style! My mom came down with a terrible cold during the last part of her visit. So far so good, Dennis and I aren't experiencing symptoms. But, my blood sugars have been slightly elevated, so I'm wondering if my body is trying to fight off the bug. Hmmm.

Well, it's almost December... the season of giving, and the season of runny noses, sore throats and coughing!

Thanksgiving Eve

My mom arrived yesterday for her week long visit! I'm so excited! We've got a long list of things we want to do and tomorrow we'll just be cooking, eating, and watching football. I'll give my little pump quite a workout, I'm sure.

This post will be sort of all over the place, but since I only really post at work, I need to share some things before the long weekend.

First of all, I witnessed the miracle that is blood sugar control with an insulin pump on Monday. Here's what my readings looked like:

7:00 a.m.- 85 mg/dl
11:30 a.m.- 84 mg/dl
5:00 p.m.- 85 mg/dl
7:45 p.m.- 78 mg/dl
9:30 p.m.- 115 mg/dl

There is NO WAY to achieve this kind of control, without hypos, on injections. Even with the pump, these days are few and far between (as verified by my string of low 200s yesterday!) But still, I was so impressed with my pump and encouraged to eat healthfully and low carb as I did this particular day.

Next, I wanted to respond to Scott's question in his comment to yesterday's post. When I first starting pumping, I set my "duration of insulin action" to 3.5 hours. During the first few weeks, I kept running into a situation where I'd test 2 hours post pradial and be high. I'd want to correct, but the pump said not to correct due to "insulin on board." Then, two hours later, I'd still be high. My rationale was that my "duration of insulin action" was set too high. I moved it down to 2.5 hours. When I asked John Walsh about this situation he responded that the problem was due to underbolusing for the meals, not the duration setting. Duh! He also explained that having an accurate setting for your "duration of insulin action" is important when testing basals. Otherwise you might think your basal rate is too high or low, when really those issues are due to bolus insulin. Interesting.

Now my setting for insulin action is 3 hours. A little on the low side, but its working for me. Also, if I'm high and I'm pretty sure I'll need to correct, I can override the pump's suggestion, something I wasn't too comfortable with when first starting the pump.

Finally, on the eve of Thanksgiving, a few things I'm thankful for:

• My loving and supportive husband, Dennis
• My wonderful mom who among many other things, taught me to sew, so that I can alter my pockets to better accommodate my pump.
• The great people at ADA, JDRF, TCOYD, etc. who work hard on behalf of people with diabetes.
• The O.C. because it keeps me inspired and sane!
• My professors at SDSU who encourage and push me to be a better historian.
• My faith and our favorite little church in Old Town.
• Gravy at Thanksgiving!
• My insulin pump and the very friendly and helpful folks at Smiths Medical.
• The community of Barrio Logan and its heart in Chicano Park, which has motivated me and provided me a wonderful place and people to study.
• Football, especially when the Dolphins are winning.

Mostly I'm thankful for my life, and for peace, health and happiness.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

My Weekend, Part 2: TCOYD!

This past Saturday, my sleepy-eyed husband and I woke up at 6 a.m. to get ready for the TCOYD Conference! Since it was held just 15 blocks from our apartment, we walked to the Convention Center, grabbing our Starbucks Peppermint Mochas on the way!

What an amazing event! If you get an opportunity to attend one of these conferences, do it! They're very informative, and even if you know most of the information, it's a great source of inspiration (and reminders too!) Headed by Dr. Steven Edelman, of San Diego, this conference always ends the year, sort of like a homecoming :)

The first morning session lasted over two hours, while Dr. Edelman and Dr. Polonsky (see yesterday's post) gave their presentations. I experienced a typical situation for me whenever I'm sitting in confined situations, i.e. class, church, presentations, etc. I overdo it in my attempts to keep my blood sugar from going low. It's so odd because I feel my lows very well and always have something with me. For some reason when I'm in an environment where it seems inappropriate to be eating, I freak out and end up going high. This is where a CGMS would serve me very well!

Anyway, their presentations were great and really set the tone for the day!

We then had a break, when people could browse the vendor displays in the exhibit hall. We stopped at the Minimed booth to look at their CGMS. The representative asked me if I used a pump, and I replied, "Yes, I have a Cozmo." She then asked me how long until my warranty ran out, to which I replied, "Not for awhile, I've only had it two months." She didn't have much to say to us after that. Kinda rude. This pharmaceutical world seems kinda cut throat!

Later we stopped by the Smiths Medical booth and I got to meet Allison, the rep who I'd been corresponding with via email. She was the one that gave my name to Dr. Polonsky for the insulin pump therapy interview. It was great to be able to put a face with a name!

After the break, 5 speakers gave brief presentations (they each led a workshop later in the day.) Dr. Edelman's wife, Dr. Ingrid Kruse a podiatrist presented "Be Sweet to Your Feet." It was great and it reminded me why diabetic foot care is so important. It also made me incredibly sick to my stomach! The pictures she showed us of foot injuries and ulcers were almost more than I could take! Gross.

Other presenters were CDE Diane Pearson who talked about our glucose meters being "little laboratories in the palm of your hand." She was really enthusiastic and fun! Fellow diabetic Bill King, the marathoner inspired me to get back into running. A diabetes specialist from Canada, Dr. Ian Blumer (or the Canadian Dr. Edelman as he was referred to!) talked about how to make your endo appointment a success. Very practical and useful information (which also made me realize I need a new endo!) And finally, Diabetes Advocate Kriss Halpern (a lawyer with type 1) discussed some of the ways diabetics are discriminated against. I'd never even considered a lot of the issues he brought up. Quite educational.

So, that was our morning. Intense!

After a nice, low carb lunch (with a list of carb counts... so cool!) we headed off to our first breakout session of the day, Diabetes and Women's Health Issues. Being married and in my mid-twenties, I chose this session because I hoped to learn more about pregnancy issues. Well, I was in the minority. The endo giving the presentation turned out to be an expert on diabetes during menopause. The majority of attendants were older, type 2s. Can you guess where the discussion led?

My poor husband! We sat in the front row and he kept sinking deeper and deeper into his chair as these women launched into very graphic descriptions of their personal "women's health" issues. Did I mention Dennis was missing the Michigan v. Ohio State football game for this?! He's the best :)

So, I learned a lot about how diabetes will be affecting my body 30 years from now, so that's good. I managed to slip in a couple questions about pregnancy and thyroid issues, but that was about it. Oh well, live and learn.

As we left that session, I said to Dennis, "See all that we women have to deal with?"

To which he replied, "Yeah, I was thinking: How do you guys even get up in the morning?"

Hysterical laughter ensued. :)

Our last session of the day was on insulin pumps and CGMS. I didn't learn a whole lot that I didn't already know, but John Walsh helped me to understand one of my misconceptions about the duration of insulin action features, so that'll be helpful.

Wow, quite a day. I'm so glad my husband shared this experience with me, because he learned a lot about what this disease really entails. As for me, I came away very inspired to keep working on my control, particularly my standard deviation and avoiding hypos.

The day was perfectly capped off when we returned home to see that the football game had indeed been recorded.

Plus, football is so much more fun to watch when you can fast-forward through the commercials :)

My weekend, Part 1

First of all, thank you for all the nice comments on our gala photo! I made my husband read the comments, and I'm pretty sure he's getting a fat head over the whole thing!

This weekend ended up being very "diabetes focused."

On Friday afternoon, I took a traffic-filled drive up to Encinitas to be interviewed about using an insulin pump. None other than Diabetes Psychiatrist extraordinaire Bill Polonsky of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute interviewed me at his home. My interview will be used along with many others to form a video about people's apprehensions to beginning pump therapy. Dr. Polonksy asked me all about my fears regarding the pump (of which there were many!), what finally "clicked" for me, and how it's been working out. The crew was really nice and supportive. We had to deal with the occasional plane flying overhead, truck backing up, and construction noises, since we were filming outside. This made it challenging because I kept having to stop in mid-thought and then had to remember what I was saying!

What a great experience!

It always makes me feel, I don't know, special I guess, to be around people who are working on something diabetes related. I'm all of the sudden the "expert" in the room, or at least the one living with the disease. Having someone ask me about the mental and emotional side of diabetes was very cool too. It's something that often gets pushed aside in the never-ending quest for good blood sugar control.

I told Dr. Polonsky about my google search for him and how Dr. Glaseroff was my first "diabetes doctor." He thought this was pretty cool too! They've been friends for years, so he wanted to know my opinion of him as a doctor. I loved Dr. Glaseroff, so it was pretty much a love fest! After the interview we tried to call my old doc, but couldn't get a hold of him. What a small world :)

My husband got to meet Dr. Polonsky at the TCOYD Conference the very next day... more on that tomorrow!

Firm Gala

Last weekend my office had their "holiday party." Kinda early, I know, but with all the businesses in San Diego trying to have their parties on the few weekends in December, it can get tricky to find a cool place.

Anyway, it was pretty fun! I know these things are notorious for being awkward, or places were one or two inappropriate people get really drunk... but it was actually fun. I've worked there for a couple years now, so my husband has meet some of my coworkers. He chatted about sports with my friend's fiance, so he was happy! There was a casino night too! I've only played blackjack a couple times, in Reno mostly, but I'm really good. Well, really lucky I guess is more like it. We'll have to plan a Vegas trip soon!

I used my "thigh thingie" to hold my pump under my pretty dress. Worked out well! The pump helped me keep my blood sugars under control, not perfectly, but at least no lows. I had my share of wine, but skipped the dessert. Whenever I indulged in alcohol in the past, I would have a low that night and have to cut my insulin boluses by a lot the next day. With the pump, I just set a temp basal and woke up with a fasting blood sugar of 84 mg/dl. Yeah!

All in all it was a very nice evening! Here's a picture of me and my hubby :)

Meme of Threes

I borrowed this meme from Kerri. Felt like a good post for a Friday!

Three Things I Do Every Day:
Test my blood, kiss my husband, say "I love you."

Three Things I Wish I Could Do Every Day:
See my mom, dad, sister, brother and best friend; make someone smile; make a difference

Three Hopes I Have for Today:
That I have something worthwhile to contribute to Dr. Polonky's pump therapy project, a successful basal test tonight, and to be re-inspired to work on my thesis this weekend.

Three Things I Hear:
My coworker chatting, the air conditioning system humming (it's been 80 degrees all week!), and the photos from our Firm holiday party downloading.

Three Ways I Have Changed my Life:
Matured emotionally, moved to San Diego on my own, followed my heart.

Three People I Wish I Could See Again:
Justin Keele, my father-in-law Jesus (whom I never met) and my Papa.

Three Items I Wish I Owned:
A CGMS (Definitely Kerri!), the entire set of the Great Books and a puppy!

Three Wishes I Had When I Was Young:
To be a Supreme Court Justice (honestly, Sandra Day O'Connor was my hero!), that diabetes would be cured, and live happily ever after!

Three Fears I Have:
Losing someone I love, failing, becoming jaded with the world.

Three Things on My Desk:
Lots of pictures of my husband and me, my Suzy's Zoo calendar, a copy of the Serenity Prayer.

Three Thoughts in My Mind:
I can't wait for my mom to arrive on Tuesday! Have those pictures finished loading yet?
I'm so ready for the weekend and the TCOYD Conference tomorrow!!

Infusion set success!

Thank you Bernard, Megan and Johnboy for your words of wisdom!

I did an infusion set change today. I must have let the IV prep dry just the right amount, because it stuck perfectly!

It's so awesome to have the OC as a resource! I love to read posts from other diabetics about their own struggle, because it makes me feel "normal." I love sharing my thoughts about diabetes and life and having people respond, "I get that." And, it's totally awesome to ask some little random question and get real world feedback! So cool.

Also, I inserted this set on my side. This was big for me, since I'd been sticking to my stomach for sites. However, there's not a ton of surface area there, so it was time to start trying new places.

So far so good!

Elation after anxiety

I've been a bit anxious the last few days, anticipating today. I had two appointments this morning. First, I saw my endo for my quarterly check-up and then I met with my thesis chair to review my rough draft. All the while I was missing work, using sick time, expecting to find dozens of projects awaiting me upon return to the office.

Since I've been pumping, (almost two months now) I've had many highs! They haven't lasted too long, but I've seen more 300s and high 200s than I had for many months. So, my A1c wasn't looking good in my mind. One thing I've realized from pumping is that my string of great A1c results were due to many lows! I was using my basal for 70% of my TDD, which meant I was always "almost low." Great for the average, not so great for everyday life. Anyway, I was expecting my lab test to have gone up by half a point or more. My friendly nurse (who was also my pump trainer) gave me the result: 6.2. Cool :) However, I was in that low-all-the-time phase for a good 5-6 weeks of the 3 month period this test covers, so I think the averaging is working in my favor again. Though it's good to know that those highs haven't wrecked havoc on my overall control.

Couple observations at the endo's office:

While waiting to be called in, a young guy, probably around my age (26) came in to get a letter from the doctor to allow him to take his insulin onboard an airplane. He was very friendly to the nurse and mentioned that he called a couple days ago to have the doctor prepare the letter. It seemed like the letter wasn't ready for him. He said, "Oh, no problem. I can always come back for it." He proceeded to wait at least 20 minutes for the doctor to sign the letter.

I thought to myself: Isn't it amazing how type 1 diabetics make room for their disease in their life? I'm sure this guy had better things to do than wait for this letter, but he needs it to do a simple thing like fly in an airplane. He resigned himself to this fact and was perfectly pleasant, if not overly friendly, about having to wait. I too had to wait excessively for the doctor after I met with the nurse, at least 40 minutes. I just read a book I've been needing to finish for my thesis and didn't complain (though I was about to!) What am I going to do? I'm so used to taking this time out of my life to meet with my endo so that I stay healthy, I don't complain about it or expect exceptional service.

It's very interesting the major and minor ways that diabetics, particularly type 1s, have made accomodations for their disease. We have to, I suppose, but it still deserves recognition.

Oh, I also received my flu shot at this appointment. I lied down, as usually, but it was really nothing. Still, I felt accomplished :)

After the doctor's I headed out to SDSU (San Diego State) for my meeting with my thesis chair. This professor has had my rough draft for three weeks. We've met each of the last 4 Wednesdays, and he keeps telling me he'll review it, but hadn't yet! Oh, the frustration! I was anxious about this meeting because I was fairly sure he'd have some feedback for me. I dreaded the idea that he'd respond with something along the lines of, "What are you doing here?! Let's start over!" A bit of an unrealistic fear, but my fear nonetheless. Also, I was afraid of my reaction to his comments. Taking criticism is not something I do particulalry well. I'm a big fan of affirmation :) I've been preparing myself and praying that I would take his comments well.

My fears were indeed unfounded, he gave me wonderful, constructive feedback! I still have A LOT of work ahead of me, but his criticisms were all the things I knew deep down weren't up to par yet. It felt so good (and very stimulating) to discuss my topic indepth with an expert in the field.

To make a long explanation as short as possible, my thesis is on a Chicano community in San Diego called Barrio Logan. I'm writing about the racialization of social space and how it works to disadvantage inhabitants of those spaces along political, class and social lines. Also I'm focusing on the community building activities and cultural identity that activists have created in this neighborhood. I find it very interesting!

Not only was I concerned about my professor's comments on a personal level, but I had set myself a goal of turning in my thesis right before Christmas (there are administrative reasons for this deadline.) If he had a lot of criticisms and suggestions, it would push back my completion date. However, I finally got real with myself this week and realized that, sure I could turn my paper in in a month or so, but it wouldn't be all that great. I've decided to take the extra time and write something that I can be proud of, and that will benefit the community I'm studying.

When I returned to work, nothing much had piled up for me (leaving me time to blog about my day!) I just ran out with a co-worker and got myself a delicious enchilada lunch as a treat for successfully making it through my potentially stressful day!

So, as the title of this post suggests, I'm feeling good!

Infusion set issues.

I've been using the Cleo 90 infusion sets and have been quite pleased with them.

The issue I'm experiencing lately is they're not sticking properly when inserted! A couple weeks ago I had one that stuck perfectly! Simply gorgeous :) However, since then, they're not sticking!

I end up wetting the edges with the IV prep and resticking it while it's wet. This lead me to believe that perhaps it would stick better if the IV prep wipe hadn't completely dried. Not so much. Now I'm wondering if I'm doing something else wrong?!

Anyway, I have an endo appointment on Wednesday where I'll see the nurse that trained me on the pump, so I should get some help then. But, if you're a Cleo user and have any advice, I'm all ears!

Side note: I actually LOVE the Cleo sets, they're painless and very easy to use. This issue is certainly due to user-error!

How Diabetes has Touched my Life...Lately

Each and every day diabetes touches our lives through blood tests, boluses, carb counts and decision making. I'm always interested in the less routine ways that diabetes gets incorporated into our day to day, very busy lives.

(1) Quarterly blood test for my A1c. As previous posts have illustrated, getting my blood drawn is somewhat upsetting for me. I've passed out several times and now I just lay down each time! Today I was freezing cold in the lab, so my rolly-polly veins were even more illusive than usual. The lab tech (who's awesome) asked me if I'd had much water lately (the answer was "not really") because I guess being dehydrated makes blood draws even more difficult? Anyway, blood was drawn, and I've bought myself 3 more months before I have to go through that again!

(2) I've been emailing back and forth with a Dr. Bill who's organizing a video project to help diabetics decide if they want to start pumping. He's interviewing current pumpers about their experience, fears before starting the pump, etc. I'm really excited to participate! The interview will be next Friday, so I'll give you the scoop then.

His latest email explained that the location of the shoot isn't decided yet, but it might be at his home. Hmmm. I don't know this guy... maybe I should make sure he's legit. So a quick google search lead me to a familiar site: DiabetesMine. Oh, this is Dr. William Polonsky from the Behavioral Diabetes Institute and the author of Diabetes Burnout (which I have and read!)

Yeah, I'd say he's for real!

As I was surfing this info on Dr. Bill, I found something very cool. Yesterday, down here in Southern California Dr. Polonsky held a seminar with Dr. Alan Glaseroff. Dr. Glaseroff has type 1 himself, lives in works in Humboldt County, and was my first "diabetes doctor" :) How very cool that he and Dr. Polonsky worked together (though not so cool that I missed their seminar yesterday). What a small world this diabetes community is!

(3) On November 18th, my husband and I will be attending the TCOYD San Diego Conference. I've been waiting all year for this weekend! I just missed the conference last year, so I left myself reminders all over my Outlook Calendar to make sure I'd register on time! The coolest thing about this event, is that it's held in downtown San Diego, just a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment! We'll be strolling over to the conference with our Starbucks in hand next Saturday morning.

So, there are a few unique ways that diabetes has been incorporated into my life lately.

I'm excited about two of the three things :)

Happy D-Blog Day

I'm proud to have Type 1 Diabetes.

That's not to say I don't hate having diabetes... but I'm proud of how I'm dealing with it and proud to be associated with other strong, vibrant, healthy people like the members of the O.C.

I've always been a bit of an A-type personality. (I can hear my mom laughing as she reads this!) My family and friends might argue I'm more than "a bit" of a perfectionist. I'm pretty organized and enjoy having lots on my plate. I may complain about it, but I'm happier having too much to do than not enough.

When I think about the things I accomplish on a daily basis, diabetes is one of the things I pat myself on the back about. Whether my last blood sugar was 100 mg/dl or 300 mg/dl, on a deep, personal level I know that I'm fighting the good fight against diabetes. What other people take for granted: eating when and what they want basically, you and I have to struggle with everyday. That's awesome (in an awe-inspiring way, not a "cool" way).

So, today on our Diabetes Blog Day, my message is that we should feel proud of our hard work. Proud for our daily struggle more than for our degree of success. Whatever else you accomplish and strive for, on top of that, you're a diabetic (or a PWD, depending on your preference).

Thank you, Diabetes O.C. for showing me just how amazing my fellow diabetics are... it makes me that much more proud to be one.

Question for the Ladies

I have a pumping during your period question...

Here's what happened: Last night I ate some chicken friend rice from Trader Joe's and half a cup of edamame for dinner, along with a few squares of chocolate! I've learned from experience that soy protein provides a gradual blood glucose rise for me, so I set a 2 hour combo bolus. At bedtime the bolus had just completed, I had almost 3 units on board and my blood sugar was 124 mg/dl.

Went to sleep.

Woke up at 2:40 a.m. (I wake up almost every night to go to the bathroom between 2 and 3 a.m, so I just test while I'm up) I was 134 mg/dl. Since I've been pumping (6 weeks or so now) whenever I test in the 120-150 range in the middle of the night, I wake with a sub 100 reading at 6:30-7 a.m. My basal rate is 0.70 all day (which I know I need to do some testing for) but I've never had issues with dawn phenomenon.

Anyway, woke up for good at 6:15 and tested at 202 mg/dl! WHAT?! I fully expected to be around 90-100 mg/dl given my experiences the last month or so.

My question is, was the rise due to my menstrual cycle or the soy at dinner?! I've heard that women need to change their bagels during their period, but I haven't been pumping long enough to learn what change I need to make. Any suggestions? What do you do?

I don't have good data from Monday night because I had apple pie before bed and had to correct a 303 mg/dl at 3:00 a.m., so I woke up with a 90 mg/dl. I suppose I could see what happens tonight without eating the edamame and then have some soy for dinner one night while I'm not having my period. Now that I'm writing this, it seems like the menstural cycle is a more likely culprit, but I've definitely had weird prolonged rises from soy in the past.

Advice... please!! :)

Five Random Facts About Me

Thanks Johnboy for tagging me :)

1.) Yesterday was my second wedding anniversary! My husband and I took the day off from work and explored the adorable little mining town of Julian, about an hour northeast of San Diego. We had a beautiful day, and it was so relaxing!!

2.) I love Suzy's Zoo stuff! I always send her cards to people and have calendar's all over the place. I just love how cheerful the characters are. It's become my signature thing!

3.) When I was 16 years old and had only been a licensed driver for a month or so, my family was on a ski trip in Bend, Oregon. I was driving our family van with my parents, brother and sister in the car when we hit black ice. I tried to correct, but kept overcorrecting. I then slammed on the breaks and we did two 360's before coming to a stop facing oncoming traffic. Everyone was fine, but it was VERY scary! My little brother never let me hear the end of it.

4.) I love to sing. I'm not very good at it, espeically compared to actual singers like my mom and my best friend. But I love it anyway. My favorite part of mass each week is grabbing the music book to see what songs were singing that day! My husband endulges me and asks, "What're we singing?" first thing when we slide into the pew!

5.) I don't know what my natural hair color is anymore. I've been coloring it pretty much since high school and now, at almost 27 years old, I'm trying to find out it's natural color! It's some shade of light to medium brown with some red mixed in. The quest continues....

That was tougher than I thought it would be... I couldn't think of anything about myself this morning!! It's my Monday, that's my excuse.

So, now I tag: Caren and LaLa. Enjoy :)