Falling Back to Earth

The wonderful high of landing a full-time, salaried job one month out of college has now ended and I'm back to being an over-imaginative, highly anxious twenty-something who remembers that she has no idea how to take care of herself by herself.

Now that I have that whole job thing taken care of, I'm moving onto the other, equally important factors in the Next Step equation: finding temporary housing and transportation until my parents arrive in New Jersey four weeks after I do; determining how much money I'm actually going to make versus the salary and making a budget; finding an apartment (that I can afford!); buying a car; figuring out car insurance and health insurance (I have health insurance, but now I need to know what to do with it); finding a primary care doctor, endocrinologist, opthamologist and dentist (thank God I've got the CDE figured out already and that I'm not sexually active, thus in no need of gynocologist at the moment); buying furniture; and shipping all my clothes, books, pictures, knick-knacks and 50-odd shotglasses to my TBD apartment.

I have spent hours scouring Craigslist, Rent.com, apartment websites, hotel websites, rental car websites, cross-checking prices and locations. I practically have the entire map of Northern New Jersey memorized at this point.

I'm glad I decided to skip commencement. Part of me is a little disappointed that's how it worked out because I wanted to go. But adding another $300 plane ticket into the mix is looking more and more like a terrible idea.

Besides, the ceremony is at 9 in the morning. Who wants to spend seven hours to fly across for two days to attend a long-ass boring ceremony with complete strangers? I already have my diploma. I'm good to go.

In lieu of commencement, I'm having a graduation/going-away party on May 19 with my friends from high school and college. I'm excited about that, but I'm also sad because that's the last time I will see most of these people for a very long time.

Hopefully my proximity to NYC will be an incentive to have visitors.

One whole month until I'm there. And I can't even really do anything on my list until I get to New Jersey, which is really driving me nuts at this point. I hate waiting. I'm not a patient person.

I'm tired of these empty spaces, these answerless questions.

I know everything will work out.

I just wish I believed it too.

You Are All Wrong!

The correct order from highest Glycemic Index to lowest Glycemic Index is the following:









Don't worry. I got it wrong too the first time I tried this.

This is a quick chart of the Glycemic Index of sugars:



As you can see, Fructose is smack dab in the middle of the Glycemic Index. Orange juice is literally in the middle with a GI of 52 (out of 100). The sugar that makes Rice Krispies is actually very similar to the sugar found in your glucose tablets, so that's why it's the fastest with a GI of 82.

Bagels come in second with a GI of 72. Bagels are a "branch-chained" starch, which means it kind of looks like a tree (Okay, that's how Gary described it... I'm not making this up). Because enzymes are able to break down more than one sugar molecule at a time, it doesn't take as long to digest. Straight-chained starches take long because you have to break it down one at a time. Potatoes and most breads are pretty high on the GI, with most being over 70 (except for pita bread and rye bread). Legumes and pasta tend to be lower on the GI.

The low-fat yogurt, being lactose, comes in last at 33.

So, if you're low, have a bowl of Rice Krispies by leave out the milk!

Also, coincidentally, dLife just posted a new article all about the Glycemic Index, so you can find out more by reading it.

Sometimes, You Just Need Two Posts in One Day

Like when you get a job on the East Coast!

Exclamation mark times infinity!

I've been offered a job as 'New Media Coordinator' (or some such title) at MWW Group, which is located just across the Hudson in New Jersey.

And, yeah, I'm going to take it.

I start on June 4.

Which gives me exactly six weeks to: pack up, move belongings to Portland, prepare belongings for shipping, fly across the country, find an apartment, actually have belongings shipped, buy furniture, figure out if I need a car (::crosses fingers that I don't::) and basically organize my life.

First, I just wanted the preparation for New York to be over so I wouldn't have to worry about getting interviews.

Then I wanted the New York trip to be over so I wouldn't have to do the interviews.

Then I wanted the waiting period to be over because I didn't want to wait to hear back from anyone, I just wanted to know if I got a job.

Now I want this part to be over with because I don't want to go through the stress of actually moving and finding an apartment in a state that I've been in for exactly 24 hours. I just want it to be done already.

I'm hoping the trend will stop after this.

Bryant Park
Originally uploaded by amblass.

I think it's pretty safe to say we'll be celebrating my 22nd birthday in NYC.

You might want to go ahead and put the first weekend of August on your calendar.

Amendment to Post Before Last

I am a horrible person and I left out Val and Wendy from my list of O.C. people I have met.

Please forgive me.

I think that brings my total to seventeen.

That is, if I didn't leave anyone else out...

My memory, not so good...

The Glycemic Index Quiz

This Glycemic Index quiz is brought to you by Gary Scheiner...

This was a part of the "Preventing and Managing Hypoglycemia" lecture that he gave in La Jolla last weekend. If you were at the conference or if I have already given you the quiz, please refrain from commenting! I want to see how many people know this.

I will post the results in a couple days. Good luck!

Rank these in order of Highest GI (affects blood sugar the fastest) to Lowest GI (affects the blood sugar the slowest).

George Simmons is worth twenty-one cents

On Sunday, after the conference, I went up to Oceanside to meet a certain wacky gentleman from the literal O.C. for dinner... and I believe I can claim to be the envy of all the O.C. when I say that I had dinner with the one, the only Mr. G-Money Simmons.

And folks, I have to tell you the truth.

He's funnier in person.

I don't think I have ever laughed so much in my entire life.

We talked about how the only way to lose weight is to choose foods you hate to eat. We talked about our ethnic backgrounds. We talked about spicy foods. We went to my favorite restaurant in Oceanside and we freaked out our waitress on more than one occasion (I swear, my new favorite thing to do is try to explain what "water ice" is and see people's expressions - classic).

I also discovered that George is worth twenty-one cents. Our waitress decided to give George back four dollars, even though the change was supposed to be $3.79. I concluded that George was obviously only worth 21 cents.

We drove around aimlessly in Escondido. I pronounced my last name for him so now he is one of five people in the world who can say it right (fyi: it does not rhyme with glass. Short "a" sound. British-ish).

He told me he doesn't like Cold Stones. We cussed a lot (Julia, I think you'd be proud).

He told me he doesn't like the beach. So naturally, that's where I insisted we go. Kerri, I don't understand it either. He told me he kept seeing signs for the beach, which I never saw, so I decided that he was going to drive to alley and murder me and steal my suitcase and post photographs of what kind of toothpaste I use (Aquafresh, if you were wondering). I tried to escape from the car but we got to the beach before I was successful.

This is George, not going onto the beach but staying firmly planted on the sidewalk.

This is us, schmucking it up for the camera.

A beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.

Afterwards, George dropped me off at my grandma's and off he went... with my camera that I left in the front seat of his car. Needless to say I was on the phone with him the next morning.

So ends my 13th meeting with a member of the Diabetes O.C. Scott mentioned in George's comments that I was in the lead with meeting people from the O.C., which I'm not sure is even true. I know Kerri has met a lot of D-bloggers, but I'm not sure how many. In order of appearance, I have:

Jon Schlaman, Amy Tenderich, Lori Rode, BetterCell, Julia, Kate, Art-Sweet, Scott Strumello, Kerri Morrone, Gina Capone, Sean Hughes, George Simmons.

Edit: Scott posted his list and it made me realize that I left out a couple people. I have also met Kelly Close from Close Concerns and Tara Dairman from Diabetes Self-Management. I didn't really think of them as a bloggers, more as just writers. I met Amberthyme last weekend, although because I didn't know it was her, I'm not counting it as a real meeting. So I guess that brings me to 15 OC'ers.

As for the Minnesota trip that was also mentioned on George's blog, mostly it's just an overwhelming desire at this point. I know we'll eventually get to Minnesota, but right now, my finances need to recover from these two little escapades. And I need to find a job. But I'll keep you posted. Just like I do with everything else.

Tales of a Suitcase

I have finally made it back to Oregon. I started this post when I was still in California, but I'm finishing it here in the 'burbs of Portland. So I've had to rewrite the entire intro, but the rest of it is still the same. Onward:

Let's see... where to begin?

The conference was great, albeit a bit repetitive at some points. The problem when you read a lot of blogs, talk with a lot of people with diabetes, and attend a lot of lectures and seminars about diabetes is you tend to notice that new information doesn't appear nearly as often as you would like. Read: NEVER.

I'm *still* hearing the stats of the DCCT study. Anytime I hear that acronym it makes me want to jump out of the nearest window...

That being said, it was a very productive conference. John Walsh and Ruth Roberts donated quite a few items for the OCNMC including Pumping Insulin and the My Other Checkbook (that's the logbook that looks like a checkbook), a Calorie King book, and an insulin garter holster. Angel Bear Pump Stuff donated a mousepad and lunchbox, and Lifescan/Johnson and Johnson donated two glucose meters, the new Ultra 2 and the Ultra Mini. I think I'm pretty much set for the year!

Edit: I don't think I explained this paragraph on pump sites very well, so I'm editing it a bit:

I also spent quite a bit of time talking with John Walsh who informed of a very interesting pump tactic that I had never heard of. When we were talking, he told me that he used this photograph from Kerri's St. John post (the one of her right thigh site on the beach) in a presentation recently. He says it's actually very damaging to the skin because of the tugging on the cannula. The reason is because if a pump is ever dropped or the tubing is tugged (i.e. if Kerri stood up or rolled over), it causes irritation at the pump site. John recommend using sports tape to tape down a portion of your insulin tubing near your site to minimize the amount of irritation that is caused where the cannula is. Supposedly it also helps with absorption, but mostly it just helps your skin! So there you go....

Symlin was also discussed quite a bit at the conference as a means to controlling post-meal blood sugars (duh) and while I maintain that I hate the drug because it's so damn painful, according to a member of my family that works for Amylin (FTWFA), that's very uncommon and probably not a very good reason to discourage people from taking it. So be it. According to FTWFA, the Symlin pen should be out this year. Maybe that'll make a difference in my body's reaction, maybe it won't. We'll just have to wait and see.

On Tuesday, I spent the night in La Jolla and saw FTWFA. We had a nice long discussion about diabetes, clinical trials and how they hardly ever happen for potentially awesome drugs because of how gosh darn expensive ($400 million anyone? Do *you* have $400 million?) and the Brazil trials, which he says (and he is a doctor, so he should know) will never happen in America because there is no way that the FDA would ever approve such a risky procedure unless it's done in other countries first. Part of me is mad about that because, hey, I want a cure, but on the other hand, removing the immune system, regenerating the pancreas using stem cells and the undergoing a bone marrow transplant to restart the immune system? Um. No thanks. I'd rather risk the chance of minor complications at thirty years from now than do *that*.

However, there was a bright side. FTWFA mentioned that doctors are theorizing (via anecdotal Byetta stories and studies like the mice at Toronto's Kid's Hospital) that our beta cells might not be completely dead after all. FTWFA told me that there is potential that our beta cells really are continually regenerating, but our immune system is programmed to kill off the beta cells as quickly as they appear. There is such an on-slaught of immune system fighters that the little beta cells never have a chance. But a couple Type 1 patients on Byetta (not that they are supposed to, it is NOT designed for Type 1s and they shouldn't be on it) are saying that they have reduced their need for insulin, so there is a possibility that the immune system just needs a little ass-kicking to back off of the beta cells. Now, this is *just* a theory and has in no way, shape or form, been studied in clinical trials. But given what happens to islet cell transplant patients and what happened in Toronto last December, it seems reasonable to think that diabetes is actually a continuing war, rather than just a one-time death.

Things to think about...

I also had another wonderful encounter with a member of the OC this past weekend...

I met George Simmons.

But this post is long enough. So I think I'll save that one for tomorrow.

My First Oops

Well, technically this is probably my 55,670th oops when it comes to diabetes, but on this new "Unthethered Regime" (see post below), this is the first.

For the most part, things have been going smoothly (in the three days total I've been doing this...). Monday was rough with that 372 mg/dl, but on Tuesday and Wednesday, my numbers were actually normal, except for two bounces into the low 200s right at lunchtime.

On Wednesday, my flight was supposed to leave at 3:23 and didn't leave until an hour later, leaving me to kill a whole hour at the airport. Luckily, I am from Portland. Which means we have a Powell's bookstore *inside* the airport. After picking up a copy of Devil Wears Prada (I'd always wanted to read it and now seemed as good a time as any), I tested to see if I should have a diet soda or a smoothie - 83 mg/dl. Nice. I opted for the soda and chicken nuggets from Wendy's because the smoothie was a little too expensive (frickin' airport) for my wallowing wallet. Didn't bother reconnecting to bolus because I didn't think the nugget would do more than maybe a 20-30 point damage.

When I got on the airplane, I tested again to see if a temp basal was in order - 81 mg/dl. Huh. Okay, probably should leave the pump off. Two hours later when we landed in dirty smoggy disgusting sunny and beautiful Los Angeles, I tested to see how much damage a 2-hour flight and a mini-package of pretzels (seriously, why must they mock us with such small portions? They might as well just hand us a frickin' picture!) had done to my system - 230 mg/dl. Not bad. I've seen worse numbers coming off of a flight.

I met up with my friend, Christina, a fellow diabetic and journalist living right near the beach in LA county. We've known each other since my CureNow days, but this is actually the first time we've met. I'm all about meeting the imaginary internet weirdos. ;-) We drove to Barney's Beanery on the Santa Monica Third Steet Promenade for dinner and I tested at 144 mg/dl. Huge turkey burger with guac and bacon (mmmm) and onion rings (mmmmm) and bolused for 80 carbs. Possibly too conservative, but I didn't think I was that far out of the ballpark.

That's when things went downhill.

After dinner, we headed over to meet a friend of mine from high school at the Starbucks near the University of Southern California campus.

I hadn't seen her since last fall when she was up in Portland, so we chatted in line.

I ordered a Mocha Light Frappaccino (half the carbs! Only like 45 instead of 78 - yes, 78. I looked it up once).

We talked about agency work, interviews, finishing up school, Santa Monica, and the breakthrough stem cell research in Brazil.

And I forgot to take my Lantus.

When I tested at 10:30, my blood sugar was 353 mg/dl but when I tried to bolus, my pump said I had to much active insulin in me from bolusing for the frappaccino. It never even occurred to me that it had been an hour and a half since I was supposed to take my shot of Lantus.

On our way home, Christina and I stopped at McDonalds to get a couple of diet sodas -me thinking I was thirsty because I had been talking so much. When we got to her house, I finally realized the missing item to my evening.

I rang in at 453 mg/dl. Lovely.

Of course, not knowing quite what to do, I just took a shot of Lantus and went to bed. Hopefully the three-hour difference tonight won't be that big of a deal, though if anyone has any idea how to mitigate a possible low, that would be appreciated.

Woke up at 8:00 to a 198. Correction bolus.

Woke up at 11:00 to an 86. Off to make a quick (ha!) post, and now... breakfast!

Untethered

Me and my pump
Originally uploaded by amblass.

Ms. Amy caused a minor debate in the O.C. a few weeks ago when she joined the community forever subjected to the incessant "Is that an iPod?" question.

The debate was circled around the pros and cons of being "tethered" to an insulin pump. Those using the traditional pumps liked the tubing because it allowed them to disconnect occasionally, there was no PDA to remember, there's no lump under clothing and you don't have to throw out each one every time you change the site (which, I believe, has brought PWDs a kind of kinship with medical devices not seen in many other health circles).

On the flip side, you don't have to worry about clogged tubing, strange people gawking at your waistline, waking up with your insulin pump trying to choke you to death or having a 3-year-old try to yank out the tubing with her foot when you put her down (or perhaps that's just me...). You also don't have to worry about finding a place to hide it/stash it/clip it every time you get dressed.

My entire wardrobe is pump friendly. All my skirts and pants (except one) have pockets, and the one that doesn't have pockets has belt loops. I don't wear dresses.

It's been at least seven years since I wore my last dress, possibly longer, because I don't really think I look that great in dresses (that abdomen needs toning).

While I love the pump and everything they stand for, I am sick of being tethered to insulin pump.

I have decided to take a pump vacation and am now on the "Untethered Regime."

Those of you who frequent the CWD website may have seen the page written by Dr. Steven Edelman about the Untethered Regime. Essentially what it means is using a shot of Lantus to cover your basal and reconnecting at meals for the bolus. This allows people to use extended boluses and temp basals (but only if you're going up, not down) and you can disconnect for long periods of time without worrying about going high.

You also don't need to worry about clipping the insulin pump to your clothing.

This July, it will be seven years on the insulin pump. It's not that I don't like the insulin pump or think that what it does isn't useful, but after seven years, I just don't want it on me anymore. I don't want anything on me. I don't want tubing on me and I definitely don't want a piece of plastic mounted to my body 24/7. I am wearing a set like usual, that will have to stay unless I wanted to switch to injections - which I don't. Who would?

I have only been on the Untethered Regime for two days, so I'm still getting the hang of things. Gary initially put me on 26 units of Lantus, which worked overnight and in the evening, but I spiked at 372 mg/dl yesterday afternoon. Which I was completely expecting. On the pump, my basal rate overnight goes down to .75/hr, but reaches 1.3/hr in the afternoon. Quite the difference. I went up to 28 units for today and my highest I was 214 mg/dl. Not too bad. I think I might be able to fix that high with an increase in my bolus ratios.

I've been carrying the pump around in my meter case, so I'm not too worried about forgetting it or leaving it anywhere. It certainly is an odd sensation to suddenly not have an insulin pump essentially fixed to your hip. I reflexively reach down to catch my pump when I get out of bed in the morning and I keep trying to look at my pocket to see what time it is. Now I need to get used to using my cell phone to find the time.

I find it a bit ironic that I'm leaving for California tomorrow to attend a CWD regional conference on pumping. Though I will add that Dr. Edelman is going to be speaking at a session on the untethered regime and other pumping strategies, so I'm looking forward to seeing if he has any tips to help me get the most out of this experience.

I haven't decided how long this little experiment will last. Probably until I get sick of being untethered! Either way, I will keep all of you posted.

(P.S. Apparently I failed to mention that I got a pump skin awhile back. They are jellybeans.

Don't worry, that irony has not been lost on me either.)

Return of the Five Question Meme!

I wanted to finish all the questions I had received before making another meme post, but Kerri's limerick request really had me stumped.

George

1. If you had to star in a TV show about your life, what would you call it?

As uncreative as this sounds, I would probably call it Lemonade Life because it's the one phrase that I think really represents the way I want to live my life and so to have a TV show about my life called this makes the most sense.

2. Which super hero power would you want to have and why?

Well, considering Heroes is my favorite TV show, this is a hard question because I keep seeing new powers that I want! I think the power of turning into someone else was pretty cool. You could find out so much if you could pretend to be another person.

3. What is your favorite planet besides earth?

Risa. You didn't say it had to be a real planet. Bonus points to those who get the eference.

4. What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?

Whenever I receive an email from a parent or a teen with diabetes who is struggling and burnt-out, and they tell me that what I’m doing has inspired them to take better care of themselves, that’s when I know I’m getting it right. That’s when I know that everything I have done has meant something to at least one other person, and for me, that’s my greatest accomplishment.

5. If you had to listen to one Band/Singer for the rest of your life, who would it be?

Moby. He has the most diversity in style in his music, so I don't think I would get bored very easily listening to his music.

Vivian

1. If you could no longer blog (gasp!) what would you replace it with?

Podcasting.

2. Name three must haves in your soul mate.

Love of God, honesty, and curiousity of life.

3. Is there one quote or piece of advice that has affected the way you live your life?

When I was in high school, my dad told me the phrase "'Tis better to light one small candle than to forever curse the darkness." It motivates me to do whatever I can to help a situation, even if I know it won't solve a problem, I like to know that at least I'm a part of the solution, and not the problem.

4. If you could design the path of your life over the next ten years, what would it look like?

First, I don't think I would want to because I'm human and fallible and I would probably come up with a pretty stupid life plan compared to what God would come up with.

That being said, if I had to, I would like to see myself moving to New York and getting settled, working at an agency and being as involved in JDRF and DRI as I could and eventually work my way onto the International Board of Directors (which I have wanted to do since I was 17-years-old - a full year before you are even allowed on the Board). I would love to meet my husband and get married in the next 10 years, probably towards the latter half, maybe have my first kid around 30. I also want to travel to Israel and New Zealand. Eventually, I want to move outside of the city or even to another state altogether to raise my family. I'm not sure what kind of career I want to have when I'm 30. I don't know if I want to work in the diabetes industry the whole time - I have already been doing this since I was 16 years old, so it will be 15 years by the time I'm 31 years old. That's a long time.

Maybe I will write a book. Or become a photographer.

5. What are 2 things you love about yourself and what are two things you would like to add to that list?

I love my persistence (though I'm not sure the same could be same for other people) and I love my eyes. I get a lot of compliments on them and they are my favorite physical feature.

I would like to add a better sense of direction and the ability to speak in a group setting without feeling like I'm interrupting even when I'm a part of the conversation. I tend to become a mute if I'm with more than three people at a time (I don't know if anyone noticed that at the OC dinner). I'm not a shy person, so it annoys me that I do that.

Kerri.

1. You find that you are being stalked by a small cat who is taking copious notes on your life. What do they find that you spend your day doing?

You mean besides being glued to a computer monitor? For the past three years, I spent most of my time in class, at Espresso Roma drinking coffee and chatting with my friends, or at home on the computer working on my various diabetes projects. Now that I'm a college graduate, pretty much anything is up for grabs.

2. Cell phones, email, IM, blogging, chatting over coffee... you only get to pick one method of communication. Which do you pick and why?

Chatting over coffee, no doubt about it. It might not be a very economical use of my time, but I think at the end of life I would feel like I really go to know people instead of just rushing past them. I also remember this time when someone I worked with online said to a mutual acquaintance, "You mean she's real?!" I'm sure it was as a joke, but I think that's why I am on a mission to meet people from the Internet. I am not words on a computer screen; I am a real person. And I know you are too.

3. Wild monkeys steal your car. What do they find in the backseat? And what, oh what, do you have hidden in the trunk?

A huge case of CDs that I just know are going to get stolen one of these days and empty pop cans. In the trunk, I have a bag of clothes that need to be taken to Buffalo Exchange, some books scattered about and a jumper cable.

Oh, and that dead body I've been meaning to bury.

4. You go to pay for gas at the gas station, only to realize you have forgotten your wallet at home. They ask that you pay in the form of a limerick - what limerick do you compose for the gas station attendant?

There once was a girl from the Linn,
Who said, "Let's go for a spin!"
Until they bumped into a tree
And they all went "Wheeee!"
and she landed upside down with a grin.

Morbid I know, but I wanted to do a car-theme and I couldn't come up with very many rhymes. I never did rhyming poetry, so I think I rather suck at it.

5. The ol' hot air balloon bit: What do you want to fly over?

Israel. My cousin has a book of photographs of Israel that I looked at when I was in New Jersey last weekend and it just made me want to go there even more.

The Tour Wrap-Up

I am terrible when it comes to taking pictures. I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I don't notice interesting things to take pictures of. Maybe I'm too lazy to take the camera out of my purse. Whatever it is, I rarely have a recollection of vacations and I'm certainly not in most of them.

This, however, is not one of those times.

I have two photo blogs that I put together to show everyone my trip.

The first is an abridged, 15-photo Flickr set that just has the main part of the trip summary, with accompanying photographs.

The second is an extended, 55-photo Flickr set that has the same photos as the first set but with an additional 30 photos with extra commentary. I tried to make this set make sense considering I was inserting new photographs so hopefully it works!

As for the group shots of the OC dinner and the Museum visit, those are not posted because of privacy reasons. Scott Strumello and Art-Sweet have them in their Flickr galleries, so you will have to friend one of them. I don't know if the Museum group shot is posted anywhere. The Museum group however is Kate, Julia, Olivia, and myself (all of whom are in the OC dinner pictures if you can get to them) plus Val and Wendy and those two have a photo posted on the extended photoblog so you can see them.

A lot of people have asked me how my interviews went, and while they went well, nothing is guarenteed so I'm not going to divulge too much. I will post more as soon as I have a start date.

A Meme to Tide You Over

Courtesy of Julia:

1. What does blogging do for you?

One of the reasons I started blogging was that I could talk about my life with diabetes without worrying about representing a certain organization. I've volunteered for JDRF, worked for Diabetes Portal, Inc. (RIP), and dLife, and I didn't want to get bogged down with "Hm, I wonder if they'll want me to edit this" or "I wonder if this fits the audience." My audience on this blog is anyone who wants to hear me chatter about living with diabetes and the highs and lows (literal and figurative) in my life. I love hearing from people because it gives me a sense of security to know that I'm not insane (at least, not yet). I like the fact that blogging, unlike pretty much everything else I do, is completely controlled by what I decide to do, and not by what someone else thinks. I like the independence of blogging, but I also like the community. Best of both worlds.

2. Do you have any tattoos? If so, what of and what do they represent? If not, would you?

I don't have any tattoos... yet. Right now, the ones I want to get is "faith" in Ancient Hebrew and "grace" in Ancient Greek. Those are the words that I think best represent the Torah and the New Testament. I have "grace" translated, but not "faith" so that's why I don't have it yet.

3. What's your idea of the ultimate day of decadence? Where would you go, what would you do and with whom would you do it? Money is no object.

I would go shopping and sight-seeing in Paris... and I have no idea who I would go with. Probably three of my friends from high school because none of them have been to Paris and I have and it would be cool to show them around.

4. What's your number one pet peeve??

People who are closed-minded about the possibility that there could be Christians who aren't closed-minded. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard people rant against Christians for being hateful, closed-minded, homophobic, delusional... etc. Yes, thank you for shoving me into yet another box. I just find it ironic that the people who are accusing a group of people for being mean and hateful are just as mean and hateful.

5. Again, money is no object - what kind of car would you buy?

Black Mercedes-Benz. That was easy.

Rules of the Game: Post a comment with your email address and I'll send you five questions. I'm limiting this to the first five people to comment, however, so hurry while supplies last!

The Rundown

I am sitting in the lobby of the Club Quarters hotel in Philadelphia for the shuttle to the airport.

For all intents and purposes, my vacation is over, even though I won't land in Portland until 10:30 PST tonight (it's 2:30 EST). I figured now would be a good time to post a brief rundown of the trip because I will most likely be too exhausted to do much tonight, and I have an endo appointment bright and early tomorrow morning.

The past 12 days have included:

sandwich delivery, dinner plates with painted vaginas, steamed dumplings with Bettercell in Chinatown, thai food and sushi in Soho with Julia and Olivia, the New York Public Library, hunting for Kate in Hearld Square, shopping in Soho, dinner on 42nd with Julia, Olivia, Kate, Scott and Art-Sweet, lots of laughing and ranting, Museum of Natural History with Julia, Olivia, Kate, Wendy, Val and Val's family, a metorite from Oregon, new Sketchers from Times Square, train ride through Connecticut, Kerri's engagement ring, Italian food in Westport, Yale, lunch in the Financial District, four hours at JDRF, walking thirty blocks down Broadway...and then walking back, coffee with the editorial ladies of Diabetes Self-Management, interviews, wardrobe changes, evil high heels of death, NYC subway, NJ transit and SEPTA trains, falling in love with my iPod all over again, late night television, expensive shoes and H & M, walking around tipsy in Manayunk, Rita's water ice and Saturday morning cartoons, challah and matzoh crackers and lox and bagels (my entire East Coast family is Jewish - it was inevitable), an Indian grocery store and a mango lassi, more Italian food, children's Passover books and prayers in Hebrew, Philadelphia row houses and Independence Hall, meandering around South Street, feeling loved and lonely all at the same time.

Wondering if next year, I will be here with my family for the seder instead of in an airplane 35,000 feet above Colorado.

Thank you to everyone who came to see me. You have no idea how much I appreciate the time, money and energy that you all put in to make this trip so incredibly memorable.

The past 12 days have been the best graduation present a girl could have.