Everyone needs to take a personal day every now and then. At least that's how I feel. Lately, It seems like I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I have been putting in some long days of landscaping work, I just returned from a weekend trip to Omaha, and my girlfriend is in the process of getting a job back in her home state. And needless to say, all of the chaos and daily schedule changes have my blood sugars going a little crazy.

This past Friday, I worked outside from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. and then I got in my truck and drove 5 hours straight to Omaha. That's a hard day for anyone, but especially a type 1 diabetic. It's pretty freaking hard to keep your sugars in one place when you're lifting huge rocks, raking mulch and dirt, and going from one place to another. I had to "repair" my highs and lows throughout the day. It was very taxing. I would be working and then I would have to stop and eat, or check my sugar, or just basically sit still for 10 minutes while my sugar caught up with everything that I was throwing at it. It was a huge pain in the rear. I felt like I was on a diabetic rollercoaster ride.

In Nebraska, I spent the weekend hanging with a couple of my best buds. I tried to stay caught up with them and their non-diabetic bodies, but doing so wore me out even more. We went out for a night of drinking and club hopping, and I finally had to throw in the towel around 3 a.m. My friends and I got up to go golfing Saturday morning and my sugar was a whopping 260. I guess I didn't take enough insulin as we came home from the bars and ate everything in his kitchen! I was really frustrated and so was my buddy, seeing how my sugar was after a long night with them. He felt responsible, but ultimately I explained to him that it was my responsibility to do better and that I was being stupid, ignorant, and careless with my diabetes. I was looking forward to relaxing Saturday night. But there's no stopping the three us when we get together.

Finally after a long weekend I got to come home late Sunday night. I did the whole landscaping thing again for Monday and Tuesday. And now that it's Wednesday, I felt I needed to take a personal, or "diabetic day" as I should call it. Basically this is the kind of day where I just focus on myself and things that I need to do for my blood sugars. I already feel better today than I have in the past week. I haven't had any sugar fluctuations today like I would have if I was personal training or landscaping. Just sitting here and relaxing is an easy way to have complete control over your glucose levels. Tonight I will go get my fix of exercise and let out anymore stress that I have accumulated. I've got my jiu jitsu training to do and I will also probably work over the punching bag until my heart is content and all the diabetic emotions are released. Thank God for personal days and having the physical ability to practice martial arts.

- Thank you,

Andy.