Post-Vacation Update

A few days ago, I returned to work after a two-week vacation.

That gobbled up my time during the day, as it should. Personal time outside the office has been mostly focused on home tasks, following our recent move into a new house and all the issues associated with that.

So only now am I getting around to an update on my vacation and some of the highlights. Better late than never, or so “Those Who Don’t Grasp The Concept of Deadlines” once said.

Not taking an annual camping trip in Summer 2011 as we often had in the past, this meant I had accrued about 11 days that needed to be taken before my upcoming anniversary. So, it was a great time to get back into the routines that I’d fallen out of in the past year or so – reading my Bible every day and starting off my morning with a walk of the dog and some positive mental thoughts.

Not to mention some quality time with Mind Ninja.

More than enough headache was spent trying to navigate the crappy Comcast coverage and customer service we’ve inherited, as well as a wave of leaking appliances and pipes in the new house. That took up a chunk of time. But it didn’t take away from the relaxing tasks that were on tap each day, and the ability to make a four-day trip up to the Detroit area to see family and friends for long overdue visits.

Reading and writing on diabetes and health care is something I very much enjoy, but I needed to get back to a place where I was reading something different – American or classic literature, creative writing or just fiction where my mind could escape and get some exercise all at once. Walden was the place for that, along with a few chapters of some John Grisham and Anne Rice. Very enjoyable reads.

Yes, there was my never-ending D-Management that just can’t take a vacation. D-Discussion and health care communications talk was also a regular vacation task, and a couple D-Meetups were also sprinkled into the mix. One was an unplanned encounter with a hairdresser, who happened to be a fellow Type 1. Another was a great real-life visit with a good friend in the Diabetes Online Community, Mike Durbin from My Diabetic Heart.

We both live in Indiana and as it turns out my trip back to Indianapolis from Detroit lead me right by where Mike’s at. So we setup a D-Meetup at a local Panera Bread there. I've known Mike for a couple years and he was one of the first DOC members I had a chance to meet in person back in early 2010. And since then we've had a handful of visits (mostly in Indy) and have had the privilege of both attending the Roche Social Media Summit last summer on the West Coast. Anyhow, it was great finally being able to visit with Mike on his turf in northern Indiana for a change! Stories were shared, support was offered, and of course cupcakes were a part of the visit. (Sidenote: Mike, YES these made it all the way home and we LOVED them!!!). Plus, Mike got to see Riley – who waited patiently in the car while we chatted inside. All around, it was a great visit for a couple hours.

Oh, and speaking of cupcakes: I forgot to mention that I penned a freelance article for Diabetic Living, and it just came out on Feb. 14 - with a cover featuring carrot cake cupcakes!! So, make sure you get a chance to check out this whole magazine and the story about Team WILD.

And while we're on the topic of writing... My own Type 1 mom and I and took some time recently to have a phone chat with some of the folks at Sanofi, and during my vacation they ran two blog posts from our interview. The first post on Feb. 7 and was mostly about my mom, while the second post on Feb. 9 was more focused the two of us and me. Thanks for taking the time to share our story and running this two-part post!


After getting back home and settling down, we spent part of the day at a Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana fundraiser for Camp Until a Cure. We helped last year, and this annual pinstriping event at a local Indianapolis car show raised more than $12,000 for our D-Camp. It was a great time, and something I’ll summarize in a separate blog before long.

Vacation was well-spent, and provided some needed relaxation and re-focusing.