You can tell you live in Florida when...

A sure sign of someone who lives in warm country is when he or she jump out from under some toasty covers at 0700 in the morning just to go outside to look at the frost covering the car.

It's even more a sign when that same person takes pictures of it.

My son had to go to work this morning and rushed back inside to tell me his car was coated with frost. So, as described above, I rushed out to see it. I was like a kid given free reign in a candy store.

I etched the word "hi" and had my kid take a picture. Another was taken after the rear defrost caused lines across the back window. Still another was taken of the hood with its many frosty fingers etched across the shiny surface.The great part was after some of the covering on the front window thawed. He used the window wipers and swept parts of the frost off to the sides. I picked up a bit and tossed it onto his face and yelled, "frostball!"

It was priceless.

I DO NOT miss snow, or the cold country, but moments like this make it fun when a small bit of it reaches this far south. That, and the temp next week is supposed to be in the 70's again.

Thank goodness.

Janet

The reason I help JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)

Someone asked me once why I'm so into helping JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). I asked them if they ever saw what people, especially young people, have to do every day just to survive. The sacrifices they have to endure, the multiple fingersticks, the illnesses, the reduced lifespan, the many, many, many doctor visits.

I tell them of the times I watched a child go through the motions of pulling out their meter, sticking their finger, then either receiving a shot of insulin or, in the case of a teenager, giving themself a bolus of insulin through an insulin pump.

At many a team captain luncheon for the Walk to Cure Diabetes, I see the kids running around having a ball. Before eating the meal provided, though, they go through the motions. In some cases, the dessert provided at the end is too tempting and the parents give in. Some of the kids became diabetic at around 7-8 years of age, so they remember how it was before the disease robbed them of their childhood.

Being a cardiac nurse in a hospital for the past 16 years, I don't see the kids in the doctor's office, or even the hospital. By the time I see them, the damage is already done. It's disturbing to see a person in their 20's or 30's with heart disease, with kidney disease, with neuropathy, with damage to their eyesight. It's disheartening to know they had no choice in the matter. Even if they took the greatest of care, some will have complications regardless.

It's because of these things that I started helping the JDRF people. I want to see a cure for Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. I want to see that cure in my lifetime. No, I don't have diabetes. I'm a nurse who won't mind having one less young person to take care of just because a genetic disorder changed their lives forever.

Hopefully, forever won't be "forever" because of research and JDRF.

Janet

Welcome to my blog

If by chance you were led astray and found this blog site on your own, welcome. I'll be posting more after I go teach a bunch of operating room nurses how to shock the heck out of someone trying to visit God. In other words, I'm showing them how to run or participate in a code blue situation. Yeah, just like the ones shown on TV. Cool, isn't it?

Janet