My Real Life

1.  I think I could be a competitive eater.

Whenever I watch tv shows about competitive eaters, I think to myself, “I could do that.”

I wouldn’t want to dip my hot dog buns in water before eating them, and I probably wouldn’t win any competitions, but I could totally be a competitive eater.

2.  Strange follow-up to number 1, but, more and more, I’m hearing about the “clique-ishness” in the Diabetic community from Type 1 diabetics toward Type 2 diabetics.

I’ve read three articles and heard one person on talk radio, in the past week, refer to Type 2 diabetics as “not real diabetics,” “diabetics who brought it on themselves,” and “the fat kind of diabetics.”

My assumption is that those of us who suffer from Type 2 diabetes haven’t been diabetic since birth, so clearly we brought it on ourselves.

Clique-ishness of any kind gets my ire up, but clique-ishness within a group of people all suffering from the same condition???

Seriously???

So, here I’ll make my stand and then let it go, because it ain’t worth it to stress about it:

a.  I am a real diabetic.

b.  I eat well, I exercise, and I take care of myself.  I stray, occasionally, but I’m also a human.

c.  I’m not even the slightest bit overweight.  I have some extra skin leftover from 4 monstrously sized babies, and that cold probably shave 5 pounds off my numbers, but even with it, I’m not overweight.

It’s genetic for me, and there’s nothing I could have done to prevent it.  Now that I have it, I’m doing what I can to stave off the insulin injections, through diet and exercise.

Not fat. Not lazy.

So there.

3.  We have one more week of school to go.

I know this in my head.

I see this on paper.

In my mind, it is summer.

These weekends have this summer feel to them.

Nights sitting on the deck, listening to music while the kids play.

Going hiking with Monkey Girl.

A feeling of peace and relaxation that has taken over me.

I don’t care what the calendar says.

Summer is here.

4.  Is it in the genetic DNA of every child to try to go up the slide backward?

I mean, I get it.

We all have a little salmon in us.

That desire to go against the flow, swim upstream, climb the slide.

But, is it actually genetically coded in us?

Because, I’ve never been to a playground where at least one child isn’t climbing up the slide.

And, as the picture shows, my own are no exception.

And I’m cool with that.

5.  We love parks.