Dearest Doorknobs

This is a doorknob - and don't let the fact that it looks so innocent fool you!

These are Gnome Doors - They pose no threat to insulin pumps and are very cute~

These are "The Doors." Their lead singer was hot & you can totally rock out to their songs~

Dearest Doorknobs -

Stop stalking my pump tubing & I at every turn!

Stop tugging - sometimes ever so gently, and other times literally YANKing me so hard that my tubing's pulled until it's taught, forcing my body backwards at least a foot.

But somehow, my infusion set stays put and foils your evil plans.

Except of course for the times when you cause my infusion set to loudly rip with full force that makes my head spin and belly bleed.

It's a delicate dance that you and I have -

I acknowledge your existence and your gravitational pull towards my pump.

The almost magnetic attraction that you have towards all things tubing & pump.

I acknowledge your the opening mechanism to doors, which are the gateways to other places, rooms and locations - both real and imagined.

Doors keep out enemies and cold weather and give us much needed privacy.

And doors have the magical ability to close one opportunity, while miraculously opening up another and allowing opportunity to knock.

I dig doors - especially walking through the Red Door at Elizabeth Arden Spas ~

Doorknobs, you and I have the unique relationship of being old friends and foes.

And I respect that.

In turn and on most occasions, you allow me to walk by and through you sans incident.

Except of course when you don't.

You seem to work your evil gravitational forces when I'm wearing my crispest white shirt, or running out the door to work, or when I'm sans a spare infusion set.

But try to stop me from walking by, past, and through all you want.

Because no matter what, I'm walking through all life's doors and experiencing all the adventures that await - and I'm packing a spare infusion set on my person just in case you decide to act up!

'Tryptophandango Brain" is Still In Progress

Tryptophandango Brain: WHen your brain is all sorts of wonky after ingesting A Thanksgiving turkey dinner and it's many leftover incarnations.

OK, since I'm all about honesty, I'm still experiencing the phenomena knows as 'Tryptophandango Brain," BIG TIME.

It’s been two days since my last Thanksgiving turkey leftover meal and for some reason, my brain is still tripped out on the tryptophan – at least as far as my diabetes and diabetes blog are concerned. Scratch, that - my Tryptophandango Brain is affecting all aspects of my life, diabetes and otherwise.

I'm still working the increased temporary basal rate thanks to my sinuses issues, which means that I’m constantly sniffling, and carrying an imaginary 50-pound weight on my nose.

I’m working on ½ a dozen blog posts/ diabetes articles, but none are completely finished yet.

National Diabetes Month comes to an end tomorrow and the holiday rush has officially started already.

My work schedule is starting to get busier and that makes me happy - I’m not stressed about work getting busier- I’m stressed about the other stuff.

Like right now, I’m gathering my tax receipts (which stress me out to no end) and reorganizing all sorts of things in my life. All good, but damn if they don’t cause me to stress!

Time goes by so quickly, and when I stop to think about all that’s happened in the past year, it blows my mind!

And then, when I think about what still needs to be done before years end, I come damn near close to stopping in my tracks and freaking out.

Does this happen to everyone during the Holidays, or am I the only one who's feeling like a deer caught in the tryptphandango headlights this time of year??

My Sister Sans D, Sees (And Is) The Best Part Of Me ~

I'm no longer a kid with D, but I was once, a long time ago~

And my sister Cathy, who is my only sister sans D continues to rock my world!

Kelly & Cathy 19??

Cathy & Kelly, Christmas Day 1978 or 1979

The Kunik sisters, #6 & #5 @ the beach~

Family by birth, friend by choice

Caring type 3 -

Who sees (and is) the best parts of me.

Sweet to my tart

and Keeper of my heart...

She's my big sister Cathy & I love her.

kelly kunik~

And Now For Something Completely Different!

Photo courtesy of my iPhone and one crazy Bouncy Ride!

Yeah, I actually took this photo in October, at a children's bouncy ride at a farm that had hayrides, a petting zoo and a corn maze - I kid you not!

Let's just say I thought it looked like anything butt a children's ride.

Am I crazy?

Photo courtesy of my iPhone~

Correction, it's actually the exit/tip (And NO, I'm not even going to attempt a Mohel or Proctologist joke) of the Children's Bouncy ride.

And you know what? I'm NOT typing another word~

The Diabetesalicious Winner of The Blue Bunny Ice Cream Is.....

Well, the name out of the Blue Bunny Ice Cream giveaway hat out of all the wonderful comments from this week that I pulled was................
Meri, from Our Diabetic Life.
Meri's winning comment was comment # 3 from Tuesday's http://diabetesaliciousness.blogspot.com/2010/11/diabetes-blessings-week-diabetes-road.html post.
Congrats Meri & Thanks for leaving your comments! Please send me your address so I can give it to the folks at Blue Bunny!
And thanks to everyone who left comments and entered - YOU ALL ROCK!

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's 2 Clips To Make You Laugh & Lower Your Blood Sugars

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DOC!! May your day be filled with laughter, happiness, good family & friends, and a bolus worthy meal followed by Blood Sugar Nirvana!

Laughter lowers blood sugar, and to help get the yucks rolling and your numbers heading south, here are two of my FAVORITE TV/Movie Thanksgiving clips, EVER!

Every Thanksgiving on Diabetesaliciousness, the energetic & hyperkenetic Dot, from MadTV gives her take on the holiday. And every year, I still laugh when I watch this clip. ENJOY.

This year I've added the Thanksgiving scene from Adams Family Values - I think this is one of the best movie portrayals of the holiday ever filmed! If you've never seen Adams family Values, you to Net Flick it, NOW.

Thankful For....

I'm thankful for:

Family as friends
Friends who I consider family
Drs. Banting & Best
My Diabetes On-Line friends and family
My nieces and nephews
My mom still being here
Bristol Palin not winning DWTS – I don’t watch the show but I’m thankful she didn’t win just the same just the same
Unprompted I love you's, hugs & kisses from my friend’s kids
Unexpected gifts in the mail – More on this in a later post
Little things that mean a lot
The fact that pickles are considered free food
Hand written letters and cards
Comfy comforters
Gut feelings & listening to them
Dark chocolate as a great source of anti oxidants
Generous samples from my Endo
Loud Belly laughs (or as my niece & nephew call them “Kelly Laughs”)
Helping hands- both virtual and in IRL
Experiencing my goals becoming my reality
Learning
Growing
Loving
Being loved
Movies that make me laugh and cry
Out of the blue phone calls from old friends
Finding 10 dollars in a pair of jeans or handbag I haven’t worn in ages
The combo of mashed turnips & potatoes
A hot tea mug warming my hands and my belly
Bacon
Reading (or writing) a blog post that makes me laugh or cry

That I have memories of my father that make me smile

Knowing I’ve helped someone who needed help and keeping it to myself

Thanking someone whose helped me when needed it and telling everyone how fabulous that person is
Finding flashes of inspiration on a dreary day

South Park and Family Guy episodes that make me ROTFLMFAO

Figuring out how to achieve Blood Sugar Nirvana with Cupcakes & the occasional ice cream cone

Knowing and experiencing first hand that HOPE does indeed float

Diabetes Blessings Week: The Diabetes Road

When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place. C.S. Lewis

Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing. Mark Twain

What seems to us bitter trials are often blessings in disguise. Oscar Wilde

Humor is just another defense against the universe. Mel Brooks

Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing. Mark Twain

#####

Mike over at My Diabetic Heart has found the way to accentuate the positive by declaring November 22- 28, 2010 Diabetes Blessings Week – and you know what? I totally dig that concept!

I’ve always been a fan of gifts and blessings, in both diabetes and life~

Diabetes is a tough road, filled with twists, turns and all sorts of bumps along its never-ending stretch. I’ve traveled this road for 33 years and just when I think I’ve figured out the route to continue on, diabetes surprises me and takes my life in a whole new direction. Many times it leads me on a path filled with even more work, self-discovery, frustration levels turned up well past 11, and curse words strung together like a dirty Shakespearean sonnet.

Sometimes the trek isn't just life changing, but surprisingly funny and filled with unexpected gifts, like the DOC.

Diabetes has taught me to appreciate the gifts that it gives. I find myself grateful for little things because of diabetes. Things like finding pump supplies I forgot I had, an extra lancet in the bottom of my handbag when the one I normally use decides to get bent beyond use, or thanking my blood sugar when it plays all nice like, during a hectic time and or deadline.

Diabetes has made me see the funny in things that some might consider frustrating, annoying and or morbid. And it's made me appreciate the term:"We've got a bleeder!"

diabetes has fine-tuned my empathy, understanding & sensitivity “ chips.”We’re all born with those “chips” in our brains, but few develop them to their fullest potential. I find that many of us in the Club of D, are filled well past our eyeballs with empathy, understanding, and sensitivity.

Diabetes has given me a voice in which to protect myself and my people and the ability and humility to learn what others have to teach me.

Diabetes has given me the strength to pick myself up, just when I think I can’t.

Look, I’m no Pollyanna, and I can flip my Bitch Switch with the best of them, and yes, I flip my Bitch Switch but good when it comes to life with diabetes! But because I find the gifts and unexpected blessings in life and life with diabetes, it’s almost always easier to deal with the crap life throws our way.

Of course, "crap thrown" is much different than an all out Shit Storm - but that's for another post entirely! ;)

Monday Contest Madess: "I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For......"

So, as I stated last week, for the next few Mondays, I will be announcing different weekly contests & giving away all sorts of "Diabetesalicious" prizes away. WHY? Because you guys advocate 365 days a year and deserve rewards for all your hard work!

This week It's all about ICE CREAM, as in the Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom Ice Cream line, which has no sugar and is lower in fat and carbs than it's Blue Bunny 'fully leaded" counterparts!

Now, because I love you guys, I actually had to do a comprehensive taste test on the following flavors that the folks at Blue Bunny Sent me. And again, because I love you all; I forced myself to indulge in The Sweet Freedom Crunch Lite Bars, I gave my tongue a sleigh ride on the Sweet Freedom Fudge Lite Bars, and literally and figuratively took a dive right into Blue Bunny's No Sugar Added Reduced Fat Chocolate Ice Cream. It was hard work, but I have to say, all three products were damn tasty & TOTALLY bolus worthy!

In order to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog this week. The more comments you leave, the better chance you have of winning. At the end of the week, I pull a "blue bunny" (pun intended) out of the hat, and pick a winner!

Go for it and GOOD LUCK!!

Full Disclosure: Blue Bunny did not pay me, but they did send me free ice cream, and YES, my neighbors were TOTALLY jealous! Now, if Blue Bunny would like to advertise on my blog in the future, I'm all for it - as I really do like (and eat!) their products.

Butterflies In The Garden~

Place: In the front garden of a little cottage by the sea~

Date Pictures taken: 10/09/10 with my trusty little Nikon CoolPix

Photographer: Kelly Kunik

"If you stand almost completely still... and just be-

It's amazing what the butterflies in the garden will let you see.

Painted Ladies, and Monarchs too

Will dance about the garden -

sharing their secrets with you."

kelly kunik

Purple Fandango

Winged Creature- Pre flight

Monarch amongst the daisies

Undermined Baby Flitterfly

Painted Lady, Eye of Wing

Painted Lady With Daisies

Painted Lady with Daisies -Aerial view

Close-Up of a Painted Lady's Wing

Painted Lady - A Study in Blue

Tandem Flight

Painted Ladies - Quatre

Big & Little Painted Ladies

I'm Not Going To Over Think Mexican Food- But I Am Going To Try A Different Approach~

Tonight I’ll be dining at my favorite Mexican restaurant with some of my favorite folks in the world and I couldn't be happier!

BUT, (and YES, there's a but,) this will mean that there's a very good chance that achieving a post meal Blood Sugar Nirvana might not happen at all.

I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for the chips & salsa, but I never order rice.

Still, I never seem to be able to make Mexican food work for me. For some reason the chips and salsa, fish tacos and Cactus Salad make my blood sugars reach for the sky! As does the chicken or veggie fajitas, chorizo and black bean soup, etc.

So instead of thinking about it until it makes me crazier than usual, I've decided to make Mexican food work WITH me. YEP, yours truly is going to embrace the Temporary Basal rate and increase it by 1/2 and for 2.5 hours- both during the meal and after.

And like always, I'll count my carbs, go extra heavy on the hot sauce and enjoy my meal!

I'll also be testing like crazy afterwards, and that's OK.

Hell, I might even change my lancet!

I'll make this work. But even if I don't, I 'm trying, and TRYING in both life and diabetes eventually leads to figuring things out and actually DOING.

And you know what? THAT works for me~

And The Winner of The PJs For The Cure Is............

Well, after taking every comment from this past week and assigning it both a day - as in the day the comment was left, and a number - as in what number the comment actually was on said day. And then mixing all those numbers up to pull the said winner out of a hat so to speak - The winner of the Komar PJs For The Cure is........................................

Cara from Every Day, Every Hour, Every Minute!!!

CONGRATS CARA!

Cara, please email me you contact info so I can get those PJs out to you ASAP!!

The next giveaway is on Monday, so be sure to "tune in!"

#Disms

D-isms: Things and or happenings that only occur when a person has diabetes and are best understood by others who live with diabetes.

Infusion sets never rip out unless:

A. You’ve just put them in

B. Your walking by a doorknob

C. It gets caught on your emergency break

D. You’re getting romantical with your significant other

E. You don’t have a replacement infusion set on hand.

When your infusion set starts to itch, your going to have to change it – like really soon.

When you reach Blood Sugar Nirvana after a crazy carb filled meal that you have absolutely no idea how to bolus for and feel all types of confident because Blood Sugar Nirvana has been reached. It’s then that the diabetes gods get all medieval on you and cast you into Dante’s 7 layers of Blood Sugar Hell for a meal/snack you always bolus correctly for.

When you find glucose tabs on sale for a ridiculously low price, it’s never for the flavor you like. In fact 90 % of the time, it’s for the flavor that causes your gag reflex to go crazy!

The one time you don’t carry a spare battery for your pump, is the one time that you’re going to need it.

That last bottle of insulin that’s been indestructible up until now, will fall and shatter on the bathroom floor the day before your refill is allowed to be filled.

According to my studies, 9 times out of 10, meeting a stranger with an insulin pump causes the phenomenon known as Bumping Pumps to occur.

When you finally find (and by in bulk) the perfect snack to carry around with you:

A. The manufacturer stops making it

B. The price goes up

C. You get so sick of eating said “perfect snack” that the very sight of it makes you physically ill and you end up throwing out ½ of what you bought because you stopped eating them and they went bad.

When you start tweeting about #diabetes, all sorts of snake oil/miracle cure,” buy my brand” type tweeters will start following you on both Twitter and Face Book. They will act like your friend and then try and sell you, hard. As will many miracle weight loss tweeters.

FYI: Do your homework as to who they are and what their diabetes connection/brand is. And if they don’t answer your questions or don't give you a straight answer, BLOCK THEM.

Just when you feel like you’re the most alone in your life with diabetes, you discover the Diabetes On-line Community and realize that your not~

Do you have any other #Disms come to mind?

The DRI Foundation @ Tibi (And A few DOC Fashionistas) in Soho

Designer Amy Smilovic & Act1Diabetes Lindsey Inserra

Four Diazon Fashionistas

From left to right: Yours Truly, Tibi Mannequin wearing Alfred Shaheen inspired shirt created by Tibi owner Amy Smilovic, Stacey Divone & Allison Blass

Photo courtesy of Stacey Divone~

Last night I ventured into the city that never sleeps( for the second time in four days) and had the opportunity to attend a champagne reception hosted by the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation at Tibi in Soho.

Tibi Owner & Designer Amy Smilovic offered those in attendance a 20% discount from 6 to 8 p.m. (not to mention champagne and goodies) and unveiled her new fashion creation, inspired by Alfred Shaheen, the creator of the classic Hawaiian shirt, who passed away from diabetes.

Amy also lost her 12 year old nephew to type 1 diabetes almost 8 years ago, so finding a cure for diabetes is very near to her heart.

I found Amy to be not only a wonderful & talented designer, but incredibly down to earth & easy to talk with.

Amy is so serious about finding a diabetes cure, that $100 of every shirt sold will go to the DRI Foundation to help them find one~

The event also gave me the opportunity to meet several members of the DRI Foundation in IRL (in real life) and the chance to see some beautiful clothes!

I met up with Alison Blass and FINALLY had the chance to meet Stacey Divone (a.ka. Cupcakes Divone) face to face for the very first time- And yes, she's fantastical in every sense of the word!

If your interested in purchasing the Tibi Top for yourself or as a Christmas gift for a friend (hint, hint),visit: http://www.diabetesresearch.org/TibiTop or click HERE.

The Onion Blows Their Chance To Make Things Right

So Anne Finn, PR Manager for The Onion kept her word, and did respond to my friend Michelle Alswager’s request of helping to sponsor Jessepalooza. I’ll let you read the following and then you can tell me what you think.

On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 1:01 PM, Michelle Alswager wrote:

Hi, Anne. Kelly Kunik asked that I forward this email to you. I agree with you that all of your articles are in good fun - this one struck a cord with many of us. Especially so soon after the death of many children due to diabetes as of late - it’s been all over the news, apparently you missed it. One of the deaths was my son. Who loved your newspaper. Please read below - I think it really would go a long way if you got involved in our event.

Thanks,

Michelle

Forwarded email sent:

Date: Sun, Nov 7, 2010 at 3:52 PM

Subject: Story on children with diabetes dying

To: chicago@theonion.com, madison@theonion.com

Hello. I'm not writing to you to attack you on the story you recently did poking fun at Jay Cutler and by doing so, throwing kids under the bus who have type 1 diabetes. To be honest, my son Jesse LOVED the Onion. He read it all the time and commented on it. Nothing offended him. In fact, I'm not sure this article would offend him - but I can't ask him - because he died on 2/3/10 from type 1 diabetes.

I know you are supposed to be funny - I get it. But there is a very loud community out there letting you have it on facebook & on blogs. While I understand you didn't mean to personally offend such a large community, I agree that making jokes about kids dying is never funny.

I have a suggestion - you can take it or leave it I guess, but I think you could make a big difference in our community by donating to something very personal to many people. Since my son died in February (Jesse Alswager) my family and friends - and complete strangers - have done a lot in his memory. And I am sad to say there are many more kids dying as teens right now with a newly identified "Dead In Bed" Syndrome. Nothing funny about that. Parents are scared. My family has always been a lot of fun and we stay positive. In Jesse' honor each year we hold something called "Jessepalooza". You can see what it was all about last year at www.jessepalooza.org. This year - in 2011- we have added a new component by adding a 30, 60 and 100K metric century cycling event.

If you would consider sponsoring the event on some level, it might calm the community. It’s just an idea to show that you did it in fun, and that a mom who recently lost her son is willing to shake it off.

Thanks for reading,

Best,

Michelle Page-Alswager

Here’s the response Michelle got back:

Hi Michelle,

I'm sorry for the loss of your son. While a sponsorship to "Jessepalooza" will not be possible, if you ever decide to host an auction, we would be happy to donate an item to help raise awareness and funds for research and treatment.

Thank you for all the good work that you do,

Anne

After receiving the email exchange in my inbox, all I kept thinking was: REALLY? "I'm sorry for the loss of your son? But we can’t sponsor Jessepalooza in anyway shape, or form? Bite me!" FYI: The auction item she refers to is a signed book from The Onion Staff. Which most likely would have been sign by the idiot who wrote the offending post in the first place!

DISGUSTING.

To The Onion staff, you had such a great opportunity to make things right and really help a wonderful cause and make things right.

But instead, YOU BLEW IT!

PS: If you'd like to tell Anne Finn how your feel, feel free to email her at: afinn@theonion.com

Monday Contest Madness For The Rest Of National Diabetes Month

World Diabetes 2010 is over and it was fantastic, but our work spreading the diabetes gospel continues for the next 365 days.

National Diabetes Month is still in full swing and I think it's really important to keep the Advocacy ball rolling.

But let's face it, being a Diabetes Advocate is a 24X 7 job - and we never get rewarded with time off for good behavior.

Since I'm a firm believer in rewards and have been getting all sorts of interesting things in my inbox as of late, I've decided that for the next three Mondays, I'll be Offering 3 different contests rewarding my readers for all the hard work they do.

Let's call it: MONDAY CONTEST MADNESS

All you have to do to win is:

1 visit the blog daily and enter a comment. The more comments you leave that week, the higher yur odds are of winning.

2. Hope that your name gets pulled out of the hat on Friday

The first contest, which starts today is all about PJ's for The Cure.

Many other fantastic Diabetes Blogs have offered the PJs as a giveaway and now it's my turn!

The PJs are sold exclusively at www.pjsforthecure.org and if you go to the website, you'll see the fabulous designs include;' two different designs for boys, three for girls and three for women, including a mother-daughter matching set.

100% of the proceeds from all sales being donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to fund diabetes research.

Komar has designed women's and children’s pajama sets to raise $1 million to help find a cure for type I diabetes (juvenile diabetes).

Children’s sets are $25 and women $40. Shipping is free. The women’s pajamas have a nifty little interior pocket designed to hold an insulin pump and come in sizes small through extra large.

According to the press release, the children's PJs are snug fitting, feature soft, 100% cotton fabric and come in sizes 2T through size 12.

Why did Charles Komar, CEO of Komar, launch this thing called PJs for the cure? The same reason the rest of us advocate for a cure! In late 2009. Mr. Komar's wife Liz was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1990, and their lives were changed for ever.

I love the Blue Circle PJs for ladies!

So leave your comments on the blog this week and check back in on Friday to see who won!