Instructions Not Included

So I've made no secret of my love of Dancesport. We're now far into the competition season, with only Roses 2011 left to go. This has meant some late nights, some early starts, and interesting dilemmas regarding the D. And where to hide Anneka. 

So earlier in this month had me competing in the Inter-Varsity Dance Competition (or IVDC as it's more commonly known) in Blackpool - the home of ballroom dancing, doncha know? So we were dancing at the Wintergardens. This place is gorgeous, for the record, and has one of the best dance floors in Europe. Problem of course, is that in order to get there for doors opening, and to get ready in time for the first rounds (which of COURSE happen to be one that I was competing in), our coach had to leave at 5am. 

Yes, you read that right. FIVE IN THE MORNING. Oy vey. By the way, I don't live near the university, so that means getting there. Too far to walk, especially with the amount of stuff I take with me, and several hours before the first bus. So expensive taxi ride it is.

Now, in my infinite wisdom, I managed to get my weeks mixed up, and thought that I had another week before the competition, which meant that I didn't really have any time to do those two words that fill me with a kind of dread, coupled with self loathing and ultimately necessity - fake tan. So that meant I had about 24 hours with which to achieve a hopefully appropriate level of tan, which was subtle enough for me not to be scared of my own reflection. I bought a wash off instant tan. 

There are a couple of things you should know about this. 1: I spent the end of my evening in a pair of latex gloves, pyjama bottoms and a bikini top. 2: It took about three attempts to get this right. 3: This was mainly because I hadn't realised I'd bought a shade too dark. 4: I realised about half way through that I would not be able to shower in the morning, and 5: It takes much, much longer than you think it will. 

I slept for a total of 45 minutes that night. Then I got up again, and got a taxi. When we got on the coach, I disovered that I had, in fact, found the coldest place on earth. Customarily, one expects the indoors to be warmer than the outside, but I'm fairly convinced that the sadistic coach driver had actually put the air conditioning on. It turns out that it's a longer drive to Blackpool than I'd originally given it credit for. 

Now last time, when I did a the Northern Universities Dance Competition (NUDC) in Chesterfield, I seemed to spend the majority of the day pretty high, scores wise. I headed out the door that morning coming in at 6.1mmol/l (109). Since my scores have still been rather....uncooperative as of late, I was very happy with that. As we pulled in to Blackpool, I was riding higher, at 13.2 (237), but a correction pulled me back down into range, and I was sitting pretty on 7.9 (142) as Round One of Beginner's Waltz started. 

Alice and I unfortunately got knocked out of this first round. This wasn't much of a surprise though, as I got hit on the head with someone's elbow, and then got rammed by two couples, right in front of the judges' table. Sadly, there aren't any more pictures of us dancing, mainly because our heats of Quickstep, and Jive all happened in a different room, and we just got missed in Cha-Cha. It's probably for the best, because every photo of me dancing ballroom makes me look like a have no neck. It's something of a cross between my still needing to learn better dance posture, and the picture being taken from behind me!

As with Waltz, we got knocked out of everything first round, which was a real shame, particularly for Quickstep, which went beautifully - I was fairly sure we'd progress to the following round. But such is life, and there's still Roses, and next year, although neither with Alice. And whilst I could easily believe that we got knocked out of each class, what I couldn't quite believe was what was happening with my levels. I'd been having such rotten numbers that it was like the Diabetes Fairy had waved some sort of wand over me for the day. Every number was acceptable! 5.3 (95), 7.0 (126), 5.5 (99), 8.2 (147), and so on! I'd decided on trying a grazing strategy, and somehow, it seemed to have worked!

Between the Ballroom classes and the start of the Latin, was the Off-beat competition. This is so much fun. Each university team gets 3 minutes 30 to do whatever they want. It's marked 50% on dance, and 50% on entertainment. Since our entry was a piece choreographed to 'Star Wars Disco Boogie', we were clearly going for the entertainment angle. See my kick-ass Ewok mask if you need further evidence. The whole thing was utter comedy, but apparently comedy that worked, considering we made it to 6th place out of the 12 entries. I maintain that we would have broken the top 3 if we'd had more rehearsal time!

By the evening, the individual classes were over, I was still coming in good at 5.6 (100), and we were all set to go with the team knockout competition. Alice and I were dancing Waltz for the C team (I had wanted to dance Quickstep, but hey ho, you go where you're put!). In an awesome move, all three of our teams got recalled to the quarter finals, and our A team came in 4th place in the 2nd division. Score one for York!

We eventually got back on the coach home at just after midnight, and a score of 4.9 (88), with the heating finally coming on at Leeds, and into bed, after showering off my orange skin, at about 3am. That's one crazy, and very, very long day. 

I don't know how I got such good scores. I need to look into it a bit more, I think. Shame I couldn't repeat it the other night though, when I was at a workshop on contemporary choreography for theatre. I ended up having a hypo halfway through, and spent the rest sitting on the sidelines, because I knew I was going down again after treating. 

Ah well. You win some, you lose some. Bring on Roses!

Posted by Becky at 00:09 | Labels: blog carnival, dance, dsma, exercise, hypers, hypos, numberwang, win | 3 comments |

I'm none too bright or on the ball today. I was slightly on the low side before going out on the motorbike with Andrew, so I had some juice and a handful of cereal before going out, since past experience has shown that I go quite low when out on a ride. by the time that we'd got back though, I was actually fairly high. Still needed to eat dinner, but that ended up being quite late.  Also made the poor choice of pasta, which meant splitting the dose. Further high levels, and blah, blah, blah, meant I ended up going to bed at past 2am.

Tired now, as I'm sure you'll understand. But life goes on. It's all about getting the timing right. Food against insulin, against exercise. You know the score. 

Tuesday night is Dancesport night. Tonight Ben and I were doing the Lindy Hop. Now that is hard work! There were two classes lined up, but we only ended up doing the first. However, we actually seemed to be ahead of the curve for once! If we spent a bit more time on this one, I think we could end up being really good at it. What happened though, was that I ended up burning off my sports drink in the first hour, and we were both absolutely exhausted. 

Now, I take the bus from work up to the class and back, and if I stay for the second class, then walk the two miles back home. If I come home after the first, I can get a bus back from work to my flat. Exhausted as I was after the first hour, I would have loved to do the second - but was it going to be a good idea? Probably not. Being as I'd burned off that sports drink so quickly, I didn't think doing another hour that fast paced and then walking home afterwards would be a good idea. If I added all that extra exercise, and then didn't eat til late?

Moral of this story, I guess? Lindy Hop is amazing, but sometimes you can't always do what you want, when you want, because you know the timing will turn round and kick you if you do.

In other news, I'm featured in today's Blog Carnival over at Chronic Babe - lots of articles that are well worth a read!

Posted by Becky at 23:37 | Labels: blog carnival, dance, nablopomo, testing | 0 comments |

I'm a nail biter. Hate it, but it's true. I have been for years. I do it when I'm anxious, mostly, or distracted. Well, I say I'm a nail biter. I prefer to think of myself as a partially reformed nail biter. I stop and start. Right now my left hand is bitten, and my right hand looks great. 

I abuse the hell out of my hands with all the lancing. Seven plus fingerpricks a day adds up quickly, and I don't like the way that my fingers look these days. They're rough and calloused, and still quite tender most of the time (any guitarists out there got any tips? Hurts like hell to play for long!), so most of the time, I like to do what I can to take care of my hands. 

A big no-no that I learned fairly early on, both through advice, and through own experience, is using hand cream during the day. Messes with readings on my meter no end, if it turns out I have even the tiniest bit left on my hands. Last thing at night, however, I personally make a point of it. Best time of day to do it, in my opinion, as you're not busy doing things when you're asleep, so it gives  the hand cream plenty of time to soak in.

Now there are lots of really great hand creams on the market. There are also overnight 'masks' and similar intensive treatments which I plan to look into. But for general day to day use, I have two particular ones that I would recommend. First up is the one I use the most, which is Almond Daily Hand & Nail Cream from The Body Shop. Smells amazing, helps strengthen your nails, and leaves them really smooth and soft. Second tip is Helping Hands from Lush. Not as nice smelling, to be honest, and it doesn't feel as great when you put it on, but you definitely feel that it's giving your hands all the right stuff. 

Speaking of Lush products, which I'm a big fan of, it's good to hear that other people have been having success with a product I recommended back in March called 'You Snap The Whip'. It's honesty time here, I lost my own bar of this, but have managed to find it again, and plan to give it another try. But as I say, I've been hearing that others who've tried it have been having good results.

But my biggest tip for making your hands feel great? Manicure. Now, I don't care if you're a guy or a girl, having well cared for nails is a real ego boost. It makes me feel smart and a bit glamorous, which is a very nice feeling. It makes me feel that I'm looking after the part of my anatomy that gets the most pounding. 

It's all about controlling what you can. So the sides of my fingertips might be covered in dots where I've drawn blood (oh, changing lancets frequently is also good!), but if I can make them look smart, tidy and well presented in all the ways that I can, then I know it makes me feel better.

What about the rest of you out there? What are your top tips?

Posted by Becky at 21:47 | Labels: blog carnival, nablopomo | 0 comments |

I don't really 'do' New Year's Eve. I've never done the whole giant party thing. I'll either stay in and watch Jools Holland, or maybe go out for a meal with a couple of friends. And much as I don't do much for New Year's, I don't do resolutions either. I said in my first post of 2010 that I made one resolution years ago, which I kept. That was not to make any more resolutions. I'm very good at it as well. 

However, there are always things that could do with changing. These days, I'm trying to be all about the realistic goals. It's one of those jargon-y 'buzz' terms, but I think trying to keep things 'SMART' is actually a good thing. If you've not come across this before, it stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable  Realistic, Time controlled. 

But why should we confine these sorts of changes and decisions to New Year? The problem I find with New Year's Resolutions, is that they have such a huge amount of hype and pressure behind them that by the time you've reached the second week in January, you're setting yourself up for failure. From that first day of the year, fulfilling whatever goal you've got can seem huge. A year seems a long long time from the first of January. So why put that pressure on yourself? 

I think changing things because you want to, and not because you feel pressured into it is good and important. Change can be scary, but it doesn't always have to be, if you start with the small steps. Every journey starting with a single step, and all that jazz. One thing that I've been trying to come to terms with myself is that you can't control everything all the time. Trying to do that is like trying to keep sand in a sieve. You just can't. You've just got to do the best that you can. 

Failure isn't a great thing to think about as you try and make positive changes. But you know what? You might fail. Nobody's perfect. I know I'm not! I fail at things all the time - and I don't like it. That's normal, right? But the nitty gritty of it is that I think you're only a 'failure' if you tell yourself you're one, and you don't try again. It's not about how many times you fall, but how you pick yourself up again, I believe is the saying. 

Picking yourself up again isn't always easier, either. Especially when you're trying the best that you can and things still go wrong. It's disheartening. It's disappointing. But the great thing is that we can try it again if we get things wrong. We can start over. If you think of every day as being New Year, then to throw another saying out there, 'tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life'. And that's every single day.

Posted by Becky at 23:26 | Labels: being thankful, blog carnival, bureaux carnival, goals, nablopomo | 1 comments |

Well hello there, ladies and gents, and welcome to the first volume of the Bureaux Carnival! For those of you who might have missed what we're about, the Bureaux Carnival is all about highlighting European health bloggers, and their writing.

We've had a choice selection of submissions for this first volume - I'm sure that as people see what's out there, more and more submissions will come in for the subsequent volumes.

All our submissions for Volume One have been on the theme of friendship, in all its various forms

That's what friends are for...

First up, Loubie Lou over at One Size Doesn't Fit All talks about how despite friends might come and go out of your life, their effects will always be felt, and why having friends you can trust completely is so important.

Osob Gabdon of African Doll tells us how great it feels to find friends she can talk to about living with diabetes, and how a friend can make you smile about even the hardest things.

 

Navigating relationships 

While struggling with a chronic illness since childhood, Tight Rope Dancer has found trying to understand social codes and how to make friends with people especially arduous. In Patronizing authorities, social codes, friendship - a complex trail of associations , she discusses spending her adult life trying to fit in when it's not really possible, and how it calls for a different attitude altogether.

With friends like these, who needs enemies? In My Darling, Diabetes, Alan of Poems For Active Diabetics waxes lyrical about making 'friends' with diabetes, a guest that won't leave - and how life with a chronic disease sometimes takes longer to get used to than you might initially think.

Letting your fingers do the walking...

In Someone to Share Things With, Sam at Talking Blood Glucose muses over how the Internet has given her a new lease of life, new friendships, and new social circle that understands where she's coming from.

In a similar fashion, Siobhan at Click of the Light has found that the online community has helped her feel less isolated, and in Type One - The Lonely Condition Until Recently, she talks about finding friends who are her safety net, and are in it for the long run.

Like what you see? Why not join in?

Thanks to all the wonderful contributors of this first volume! The Bureaux Carnival is aiming to be a bi-weekly event. Volume Two is going to be hosted by Siobhan at Click of the Light with the theme of 'My First Day'. So do keep your eyes open for her opening submissions, which should be happening shortly. Please do point any talented European bloggers you know this way, and if you would like to be a future host, please give me an e-mail, and we'll see what we can sort out!

Posted by Becky at 21:20 | Labels: blog carnival, bureaux carnival, INI let loose, nablopomo | 2 comments |

So tomorrow is the General Election here in the UK. I have refrained from making a statement of my political leanings on here, and although I may comment on the results, right now I'm not going to. However, if I may make a request. If you are in the UK, and are old enough to vote, vote. Go out and vote - both men and women died so that you would be able to have your say. And whilst I might hope that you'd vote (in my mind) sensibly, that's not for me to say. I just want you to vote full stop. I'm rather of the school of thought that it's disrespectful to all those people who died, and that if you don't vote, then you don't have any right to complain about the state of things!

Message over, and hopefully received! First up, a big happy birthday to Lou over at One Size Doesn't Fit All.

Secondly, a post of mine is featured in today's Blog Carnival over at Chronic Babe. There are lots of really great posts over there, and I suggest going and having a read. 

With Blog Carnivals in mind, just a reminder that you've still got time to submit a post to the first ever volume of the Bureaux Carnival. Looking through the inbox, we've had some terrific submissions so far, and I'd really like the first volume to be absolutely aglow with all the amazing blogging talent I know is out there. So if you've not put fingers to keyboard yet, get thinking, and pass the details on to anyone you think should be joining in. 

For those interested, tonight was the first session of my four week 'Living With Type 1 Diabetes' course. A full report will be here in due course, I assure you! 

Posted by Becky at 23:35 | Labels: advocacy, appointments, blog carnival, bureaux carnival, INI let loose, nablopomo | 0 comments |

Posted by Becky at 19:55 | Labels: being thankful, blog carnival, guilt, INI let loose, nablopomo | 4 comments |

We all love a good Blog Carnival! I've been very proud to have been involved with several Carnivals over at Chronic Babe, and to have done Grand Rounds twice.

What I've noticed though, is that most of the major Carnivals tend to be heavily dominated by, if not exclusively made up of submissions from US blogs. Now, please don't get me wrong - I love reading these blogs, and I have not a single thing against them. America's a big place, so it makes absolute sense that lots of posts would come from bloggers in the US. 

But what about Europe? Europe's a big place to - we're ethnically and culturally diverse, and we manage as many different health conditions as our brothers and sisters over the pond!

So, whilst talking to Sam, over at Talking Blood Glucose, I hit upon this idea: why not have a Carnival that showcases all the best health blogs that Europe has to offer?

So we will! I'm inviting you to be part of the very first volume of the Bureaux Carnival (Blog Euro - Bureaux! Get it? I'm funny, me!), which I will be hosting here at INI on Monday 10th May.

If you're a health blogger, whether you're a patient, a doctor, nurse, or carer, and you'd like to be involved, the Bureaux Carnival is for you!

Our first volume will be looking for posts on the theme of friendship. That's nice and broad, so should give you a lot to talk about.

If you want to submit an entry, email us at bureauxcarnival @ googlemail dot com. Put "Volume One" in the subject line. Send your name as you'd like it to appear, the name/URL of your blog, the name/URL of your post, and 1-2 sentences of description. Deadline: Saturday, 8th May at midnight GMT.

If you'd also be interested in being a future host, email and let us know! Do spread the word to any amazing bloggers you know who you think should be involved and aware that this is happening.

The Bureaux is open for business!

Posted by Becky at 20:46 | Labels: blog carnival, bureax carnival, guest post, INI let loose | 5 comments |