Here It Is

I thought, I wrote, and I conquered my first blog in quite some time. Now I think it's just blah. There is no where to go but up, so don't give up on me! I'll get back in the game of blogging.

I originally was going to blog about deep seeded fears, dreams, and goals. BUT…naw…that's not going to happen for my first blog after a long hiatus. This is a time for…well, I don't know what, but here it is. It's nothing about training or diabetes really. There is more than enough time for that, so let's just start with this.

In the words of Eminem, I've been cleaning out my closet. Literally, and well maybe a bit of cleaning of my brain too. (That's a whole other blog post!)
I recently read an article in the New York Times about a couple that pared everything down and now live in a 400 sq. foot apartment. (Actually, I'm inspired by another blog I read, Zen Habits) Brent and I pared down the mother load of junk about 3 years back, and I felt that we completed that….until I read the piece, and realized that we still have tons of junk. I know, one mans junk is another mans treasure. So why not let it be the other guys treasure and get it out of my sight!

The concept is simple. Very simple. Based on the idea of letting yourself only have 100 personal items. (Now, for a diabetic that's a tough one, so I'm taking the diabetes out of the picture. I don't really see my supplies as personal items. I mean, c'mon…I need that stuff to live!) I'm not taking it to that extreme…100 items…but I love the idea! I think I'll try to make a list of 100 items anyway. I wonder if I can do that? Can you?

So I've worked my way through my office, closet, and ALL my gear. Gear meaning my swim/bike/run collection of nonsense. I mean really, who needs old cleats I will never ever put on my bike shoes again. Seriously! Why did I save them??
Along with all that gear were countless amounts of reading material. I flipped through page by page and ripped out anything of importance, and have filed it away.


I am aware of the oxymoron….a triathlete who doesn't have excess. I'd rather give away a pair of my favorite shoes rather than one of the 4 spare bike tubes, 3 spare goggles, or countless spare parts for my Aerodrink system.

So you understand, those shoes are my absolute favorite!

We all have so much crap built up in our closets, garages, and yes..even living rooms, (That's where my bike trainer is. It's like a piece of furniture to me!), we could all stand to loose a few pieces of gear. It's all about priorities people! Yes, we need the gear, but really? Do you really need that pair of goggles that leaked, and you were going to fix, but never ordered the kit to do it? Ok, I'm guess I'm talking about me…yes I had those goggles, but think…do you have something similar? I bet you do.

It's a constant work in progress being a minimalist. I liken it to practicing meditation, practicing yoga, practicing patience, and yes...practicing blog writing. The more practice, the better you become.

Next up: *Clean out my craft/sewing clutter. This one will be tough! I will feel my Grandmas eyes on me and fear she will turn over in her grave when she sees what I'm going to toss/give away.


*But I promise not to make that one into a blog.

Where For Art Thou Nancy?

There is a blog post creepin' and crawlin' in my head. What, you say? You've heard this before, you say? One thing is true...I think about my blog all the time, so it'll come soon!

Onward and Upward...2010

Well, it's that time again. The time where you say your goals out loud, and hope that no one remembers them so they don't come back to bite you in the ass.

My 2009 year in semi-review
(It's early to do a year in review, but I want to start looking toward 2010)

2009 was the year of no racing. It was one of the hardest and easiest decisions I've ever made. Hard because it's the first year I haven't raced in any event since 2001 I think. Easiest because my training wasn't up to par. I mean really, really not up to par! Why kill myself to race when I can't race well?

2009 was also a year filled with stress. I had to travel quite a bit for DTC, not to mention the work that went along with it! They were long trips and I missed being home terribly. The last DTC Camp was in Oregon...which had to be the hardest for me to date. We had a very old Airedale, 14 to be exact, that had been going downhill for the past year. Decisions had to be made, and Brent had to put him down while I was gone. I'm sure it was harder for him then me, but nonetheless it was an awful time not to be home with him.
Then there was the move to the new house immediately after I got home from that trip. We had a tremendous amount of help from friends and family that made it easier...but still stressful.
THEN......he realization of not racing with my teammates of Team WILD set in. I set out to do the Austin 70.3 in October with them, but when training was too hard to get in, and money was tight, I had to back out of the race. NOT the team but the race. (AND the training camp they had down in Austin I missed!) The countless emails that were bounced back and forth with details of the race were heartbreaking for me. I admit I skipped most of the team phone calls partly because of that. Since I am the official blog poster for the team, I have read every single blog post, and enjoyed every one of them. Bittersweet to read them, but it was the one thing I could do to participate with the inaugural event. Inspiration is a word that's tossed around a great deal when people speak of Team WILD, and being a fellow teammate it's no different. Thanks to all the women of Team WILD for inspiring me all over again!

Ok...out loud...here are 2010 race goals:

• 3 Olympic distance races

• Steelhead 70.3...hopefully the swim won't get canceled this time

• Team WILD 70.3...wherever that may be

• Detroit Marathon (tentative)

And then there is that dangling carrot......

Can You Feel It.....

......the winds of change are finally here. Time to kick some butt!

New Location, Fresh Start

Another day, another Doctors appt. I actually forgot about this one. Unusual for me, but I received the phone call reminder AND the snail mail reminder. I think this is due to the new office location. (Thank goodness for me they have a new location) It's closer...by maybe 20 min. for me. Which is saying a lot, because in the winter getting to Ann Arbor is grueling! The new complex is HUGE...notice the photo. (It's on the compound of Domino's Farms. Yes, yes, the pizza Domino's. Diabetes and pizza, how's that for irony?) That's what you get when you go to the University of Michigan Intensive Insulin Clinic. State of the art stuff there, and nothing done on a small scale.

No resident doc following him today!! YAY! I'm going on Tuesday's from here on out! BUT, there is a bunch of new staff...and they are obviously still learning. AND, the young lady who drew my blood was nice enough to listen to me and use that butterfly to get my blood sample. Tiny veins require child like tools:) Wait...is there a theme here? Am I child like?
I asked my Doc to not only do the draw for the usual stuff, but I wanted the Vitamin D test also. He humors me...I like that.

The rest is pretty uneventful I suppose. We sat for a bit talking his new baby boy, sleep deprivation, Omnipods, CGM's, basal rates, bolus ratios. I think it was in that order too...how funny. Before I knew it, without hesitation, I whipped out my Omnipod PDM and changed the settings we were talking about. What possessed me?? I've always been so casual about that stuff thinking I'll just do it later. Is this the fresh start to getting my A1c down? Knock me over the head with a hammer already. What the hell took so long? I still think having the CGM will/would help me with this by leaps and bounds, but I'll take this baby step in the right direction. Maybe my insurance company will come around and surprise me. HA! A girl can dream!

Fresh starts for both of us!