Friday Fun

That end of the week time is here again, so here we go with another round of Friday Fun! Here's some random, but good tidbits, from the past week. Here we go:

• Ok. This isn't "fun," but it is important. So it leads the list. News of a disappointing encounter with a U.S. Senator came from D-Mom Moira McCarthy this week and spread quickly in the Diabetes Online Community and Beyond. But soon afterward, the incredible feedback to the situation prompted a response that includes an upcoming May meeting with Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts. This is an awesome example of the influence advocacy and social media can have. We will listen intently for how this meeting goes, and hope that it's not a one-time example of this lawmaker listening. Oh, and do you STILL wonder what the impact of social media is in today's world? Well, this is a must read about how social media played a part in informing and probably saving lives when tornadoes tore through Alabama recently. These two examples prove to me why social media matters.

• Went to a Type 1 support meetup the other night and had a chance to visit, for the first time, the Roche headquarters on the northside of Indianapolis. Met some great people and had some insightful, honest discussion about everything from TrialNet research, Changing Pump Technology, Hypo Awareness, and Carb-Counting When Eating Out. Looking forward to the next one of these gatherings, which will get into the fantastic topic of Diabetes Camps! Oh, and here's a shout-out to fellow Type 1 Lauren (3rd profile down on the linked page), who led the group and finished up her college career this week in her road to becoming a social worker! Congrats, Lauren!

• Oh, speaking of Community... What an awesome thing to see Diabetes Advocates membership grow exponentially to include SO MANY MORE new members this year!!! Have even met some new DOC friends, and it's inspiring to see so many people join together in yet another way to be a powerful voice for the broader Diabetes Community. After all, we're just talking. And that's huge.

• The Aerosmith song "Walk This Way" is on my mind, after fellow D-Blogger Kelly Kunik tweeted the other night: "Just found a used test strip in one of the socks that I'm currently wearing." In response, I tweeted to thoughts: 1.) "That BG strip certainly gets around" and 2.) "Give the strip a break. It just wanted to walk a mile in your shoes!" Heh heh heh. Oh, the fun times! And speaking of test strips in crazy, "How The Fructose Did THAT end up THERE?!?!?!", I reflect on this image. (#truestory)

Thanks for bringing that squirrel to me, pups!

• After reading Chris and Dayle's recent saga about The Legendary Hypo Squirrel, I decided to enlist the Riley Dog to be on the hunt for similar sneaky squirrels who might be trying to invade our home. She's on the ball, totally focused on the mission.

• That was just a prep, though, for this weekend's annual Mutt Strut gives Riley a chance for some exercise when strolling around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track (where the Indy 500 takes place!). Thousands of pooches take part every year. We have done this for years and it's fun, plus the money goes to the Humane Society. We're hoping to make it out there this Sunday once again!

• Sadly, all is not as happy for our Shadow Kitten who is sick once again. This first post has details, but it boils down to kidney disease. The constant thirst has returned. Appetite is off and she's both eating little or too much at various times. Areas of our downstairs carpet are, unfortunately, spots where she has decided are ripe to pee on. So, time for a return visit to the vet to see what happens next... :(

• No squirrely rodents like Hypo Squirrel or Cheesels, but that doesn't mean we weren't without our share of house invaders! We discovered an Ant Attack in the kitchen recently. This isn't the first time, but this one might be easier to pinpoint the reason it happened. Possibly, the mass wind storms that have bombarded our house disrupted these little insects in their just-outside-the-house dwelling and so they scattered inside. We found them wandering in the kitchen sink, and a few on the counter. But then, we saw a STREAM of them parading from an electric switch outlet on the wall nearby. I unscrewed and peeled off the faceplate, and BAM. There They Were En Mass. My skin was crawling, but thanks to some hardcore chemical spraying, those little insect invaders were soon enough crawling no more on my countertops. We spent a night cleaning adamantly and combating the infestation. Not fun.

That's all on this end, for now. Happy Weekend!