Hi.

So I didn't get swallowed up by laundry, but September 22nd- aside from marking the end of one year of diabetes in our life- got a heck of a lot more complicated. Big stuff happened, and then some really lame stuff happened, and that is not at all why I am here. (Although there is another post in there somewhere.)

I just wanted to check in and say how grateful I am for the things I have in my life. My beautiful, awesome kids-yes. My hardworking, always making me laugh when I need it husband- definitely. My family, my friends, the food on our table, the roof over our heads- of course.

But in the face of diabetes, which let's just face it- sucks- I have some awesome things that I just want to recognize.

1. A support system that can not only listen to me rant on and on about blood sugar spikes and basal rates, but can make me laugh so hard that I am within inches of actually peeing my pants as a grown up. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have not only tapped into the support network here online, but to have also found such great friends so close to home. Whatever sanity I do possess, it is because of you all.

2. A dedicated team of teachers at Liam's preschool that take this seriously enough that I know he can go to school where he started just a few short weeks before his diagnosis last year. While his teachers last year were helpful, I am blown away by one in particular- Ms. M- who takes the time to notice when Liam drops so much as two fruit loops at snack time, then actually takes the time to grab another premeasured bag of them to give him two more, then thinks to return the bag to me to tell me it is no longer 15 carbs. The first time this happened, my jaw DROPPED, because in all of last year, this never once happened. I can't believe my 3 year old didn't drop one piece of food last year, but I never heard about it. She has gone to the trouble to put together a set of photocopies of the backs of packages in advance when they are using food during the science portion of class- so that Liam could taste for himself the difference between salty, sweet, and sour. I am so appreciative that he gets to be a normal kid in class, even if there is extra work going on behind the scenes to make it happen.

3. The MOST awesome front desk person turned super stand-in school nurse at his school who has not only volunteered to learn to test Liam's blood sugar and bolus him, but takes the initiative to peek in on him before he goes out to recess and call me if he's dropping to see if he needs a glucose tablet or two before he goes out. She reads him stories when he's low and can't sit in class until he's re-tested, she calls me when special snacks come in and helps me google Taiwanese almond crisps to see what they might possibly contain so we can estimate a carb count when a pan of homemade ones come in. She is indescribably awesome- and a big part of why Liam is in preschool. This is a private preschool, and NONE of this is her job, yet she donates to his JDRF walk team and tells me how amazing he is and how much she loves getting to be a part of this.

4. In the face of all the worries I have about transitioning him to public school next year when he goes into Kindergarten, and a full day, and new staff, and dealing with an honest to goodness 504 plan instead of just the kindness of school staff with no obligations- I was able to call and talk to the school nurse, who was AWESOME, who then told me that one of the kindergarten teachers has Type 1 herself, and that we can request to get him into her class. But even if we don't do that- the entire school faculty and staff work closely with her and are familiar with this whole song and dance.

Woo hoo!