There are a few things I NEED to say.

1. Type 1 diabetics WILL DIE if they don’t inject insulin or infuse it with an insulin pump EVERYDAY.

2. There is NO CURE for type 1 diabetes. It doesn’t matter what you eat, you will not cure type 1 diabetes with diet. It’s IMPOSSIBLE.

3. Insulin is NOT a cure. It is only replacing what a type 1 diabetic’s body has stopped producing.

4. Type 1 diabetes is an AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE. The body’s own immune system is mistakenly attacking the pancreas and killing beta cells that produce insulin. Beta cells do NOT regenerate.

5. Being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with what a person ate before they were diagnosed. SUGAR consumption does NOT cause type 1 diabetes.

6. A type 1 diabetic will have to inject or infuse insulin EVERYDAY… for the REST OF THEIR LIFE.

If you learned something new from these 6 facts, please share this blog post.

There are a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding type 1 diabetes because the majority of information that you read about “diabetes” is actually referring to type 2 diabetes. Type 1 and type 2 share the name “diabetes”, but they are very different diseases.

Of all the people diagnosed with “diabetes”, 95% are type 2 and only 5% are type 1. This makes it easy to see why there is so much confusion, as society as a whole caters to the majority when disseminating information, but lack distinction between the two diseases.

Btw… type 2 diabetics actual produce A LOT of insulin… which is the exact OPPOSITE of what a type 1 diabetic’s body does.

I don’t know why I wait until the end of the day to write something.

There are days like today, where I have several thoughts and ideas of things to write about, but then I think maybe I will think of something better… so I wait. Then I end up here… tired and scrambling with no idea of what my ideas were earlier in the day.

The man got home last night after being out of town all week.

Needless to say, I was a little distracted and completely forgot to write!

So, in lieu of that, I bring you an early morning question from an 8 year old…

Hey mom, would you rather have a paper cut and jump into a pool of lemonade or have a toothpick under your toenail and kick a wall?

It’s been a long, uncomfortable, painful 24 hours.

Heartburn, acid reflux, GERD, etc. is not for sissies.

Trying to sleep while sitting up is a total no-go.

It makes me want to go on the “No Food Diet”. You know, that diet where you don’t eat anything at all because when you do, it just feels like it’s sticking in your throat?

I mean really, I’m actually considering asking someone to throat punch me in hopes that maybe it will help the food go down where it belongs.

It has played through my mind several times in recent months.

I’ve stood in classrooms, teacher lounges, gymnasiums, offices, etc. and heard the background chatter.

“The only way to get fired as a teacher in Arizona is to show up drunk.”

“I’m not worried about losing my job over x y and z, because there’s a teacher shortage.”

“SpEd teachers are hard to find in this state, my job is secure, it doesn’t really matter what I do.”

The offhanded remarks are endless.

I’m not saying this is the attitude of every teacher, but let’s be honest, when you believe your job is 100% secure, there’s a lot less motivation for some people to work hard.

If we as parents, don’t like our kids being taught by teachers who hold themselves to a low standard, then we need to support finding a way to pay quality teachers what they are worth.

As a side, wouldn’t you rather have teachers paid a salary they can live on rather than paying them so little that they have to get 2nd and 3rd jobs? No wonder they can’t put their heart into their teaching job anymore, they’re exhausted from trying to work every extra second they have just so they can survive and provide for their own families.

You get what you pay for.

I work in a high school… in Arizona.

Teachers across the state are ready to walk-out this Thursday.

I’ve heard a lot of people in support of our teachers, but others who are not.

It has caused me to think a lot about the idea of “walking-out”. Especially the claim that these teachers are walking out on the kids.

There are some parents that are pretty upset and heated.

To this I ask, how many parents have already walked-out on their own kids?

How many people walk-out on their marriages?

A teacher walking out of a classroom for a few days to stand up for themselves and what they believe they deserve… I don’t see this as a tragedy.

Everyday at my job I work with kids living in group homes.

Parents walking out on each other and their kids… that’s a tragedy and something worth getting upset over.

La la la… just jumping onto my blog site to write. Then something catches my eye…

What? Someone commented on one of my posts? Hmmm… I wonder who it was and what they said.

Wait a second… there isn’t just one comment, there are many, some of which happen like a couple weeks ago.

Interesting. How did I miss it?

I love that I missed it.

It means I wasn’t obsessing over how my writing might be being received.

It means people are thinking about what they are reading and it has some sort of impression on them.

I like this.

I like that I can have a conversation with someone when I don’t even know I’m having it.

I love that there is connection.

Did you read day 26? I’m not even supposed to be here writing anymore.

Here’s what happen on day 26…

It was a normal Friday. I went to work, took a nap, went out on a date with my husband.

I was in the car riding home from the movies and I glanced at the clock… 11:55 pm.

Oh no! I hadn’t written anything yet! Maybe I should quickly jump on my phone and type a few words to publish before it was too late!

Nope. I’m not doing that. I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Here we are, at tomorrow. I could beat myself up over missing a day, and therefore breaking my goal and streak of writing every single day. What purpose would that serve?

Do I need to be so rigid that’s it’s either this or that? I do it perfect or not at all?

There was a time that I thought this was the way it should be. That’s not how I think anymore.

The me who writes these passages each day is perfectly imperfect.

I feel more pride in this person that is willing to embrace failure than the one who used to believe you do it perfectly or not at all.

If I focused on tearing myself down instead of embracing who I am, I would have completely missed this moment of brilliance.

Only a genius, would take a misstep of missing 1 day of writing, and turn it into 2 days from nothing.

Oops, I missed day 26. I’m actually writing these words on day 27.

I guess this means I failed my goal to write everyday.

There’s no point in going on with this writing thing.

My streak is broken.

Done.

Over.

The end.

I’ve been thinking a lot about bullying in the last 24 hours. Between working at a high school, having my own boys tell stories from school, friends who share their experiences, and all the news of school shootings… it’s hard not to think about it.

I wonder why it seems so prominent in today’s society. Has it really increased? Or is it just a matter of us hearing about it more because of social media?

I definitely think it’s a subject we all need to address with our kids. All sides of it. Our kids need to understand what a bully is, so they can be sure that they aren’t one. We also need to teach them what it means to be bullied and how to be brave and use their voice to speak about the truth that they see or happens to them personally.

Today I read a story a long time friend of mine wrote detailing being raped just a few months ago. An ultimate act of bullying. This reinforced for me, the importance of speaking up for yourself and standing up for others if you witness a bullying situation.

I know I’ve heard it said that some people are too sensitive and they need to not make a big deal out of someone simply calling them a name or jokingly punching them, etc. The fact is, these things can deeply affect people on both sides.

The bully becomes empowered as they continually mistreat others and are not held accountable. Their behaviors can escalate and become more severe and damaging, like in the case of a rapist.

The bullied becomes disheartened and their spirit can be broken as they repeatedly endure abuse whether it’s verbal, psychological, or physical.

I hope that as parents we will have these discussions with our kids about the proper way to treat others. We don’t have to like every person we meet, but we can still choose to be respectful to everyone we come into contact with.

The whole “love thy neighbor” and “do unto others” are important principals to live by and teach our kids.

Don’t bury your head in the sand and pretend that your own child will never be the bully or the bullied. Have those discussions and be sure that they understand the impact for both good and bad they can have on others around them.

Every person matters and deserves to be treated with kindness and respect.