Keep Austin Weird...

Just about a year ago I started this blog with a post titled "What a difference a week makes."

Well... it has been another one of those weeks!  In a much better way though.  I spent 4 days in Austin at John's Sister's home.  His mom came with me, and both his other sisters also came at some point.  (I don't have any sisters... this was a lot of sisters, lol)  My 2 kids, Sister 1's 2 kids, & Sister 2's 2 kids made a pretty full house.  The reason we went was to attend the JDRF conference and see my favorite T1D mom speak.  Lucky me!

I have debated on writing about the past week by days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday... and so on), but that wouldn't do it justice.  I thought about doing a Pro/Con list, but there is too much grey area.  Maybe just summarize the week based on my professional life, mommy life, t1d life, extended family life, yada yada... but that's a lot of weird categories that probably only make sense to me in my crazy head.  So here is how I am going to try to talk about everything, AND keep it simple:

What I learned in the last 7 days

• My husband helps me with the kids a LOT, I definitely noticed he wasn't there to help me.
• I need to make more time for my kids to spend time with their cousins, aunts, and uncles.
• I have family in Texas.
• I am cranky cranky without sleep... (I don't need much but I need some or watch out!)
• I would do better with less sweets, more wine, and more coffee.
• That "weight" I feel I carry regarding managing Johnny's T1D will one day be his to hold.  It will be as heavy for him as I have let it be.  I can make his life easier now and in the future by not letting myself get weighed down by it.
• If I let being a T1D mama stop me in any way, I am teaching Johnny to let it stop him too.
• I probably have a few settings in Johnny's pump wrong.  In our case multiple wrongs are making a right, but it may not last... I ordered Pumping Insulin and when I read it I will make some changes, even start over.
• I can take more control of T1D.  I can plan ahead better.  I can plan to prebolus.  I can get back to making tweaks weekly, or every other week even.  There are steps I can take to be proactive, and not just reactive.  If I aim to do this 50% off the time we would be doing extremely well.
• WE are already doing extremely well.
• How to take the Glycemic Index into consideration when looking at insulin on board.
• Always give Johhny (and all my kids) the chance to make GREAT friends.  These friends will be who look out for Johnny when I am not around.  If I do not let Johnny attend social events such as swim parties, play dates, camp outs, and so on he will miss out on developing the kind of close friends he needs. (Or the kind of friends I need him to have around him as he gets older.)
• Using a hammer doesn't make me a carpenter.
• There are a lot of exciting things going as far as looking into the future of what sort of treatments are being developed.
• I would enjoy helping new families.
• I will hold onto hope, but I will not get excited about any treatments until my Endo calls me and says, "we want to schedule XYZ procedure/treatment."  Until then, I will educate myself and remain hopeful. 
• I need to take more pictures... not ONE picture was taken regarding this weekend. 

But more than what I learned, what I felt shift this week was that feeling of despair, it actually melted away.  I am writing this 1 day before our 1 year anniversary and it is actually sort of funny but I truly feel a new that we have entered a new phase of living with T1D.