Summertime, and the living is wacky

Ah, summertime. The blast of hot, humid air always takes me back to my childhood days of swimming and biking, of hiding out in the air conditioned library, sleeping on the screened-in porch listening to the crickets and the scarier night sounds, with the cool breezes, looking at the stars. Long days or short evenings on the gold course (yes, I played a lot of golf as a kid - no time for that now!).

I get a blip of this memory now, and then, zzzziiip! The needle scratches the record, and I return to my current reality: Long days of work in the office, followed by chasing H around the house, trying to get her to the potty, and make dinner, and clean up the breakfast dishes, and get H to bed, and prep lunches for the next day, and do a little laundry so H has underwear. Maybe change my pump (infusion set) out, if it's not too late (if I can stay up at least an hour, to make sure it's working right). I stay up later than I should, trying to capture some of that summer atmosphere, and the daydreaming that went with it.

For some reason, summer always makes me think about what I'd like to do with my life -- you know, when I grow up. Am I where I'd like to be? Where do I want to be in, say, 5 years? But most of all, how do I make the most of the summer, right now? I haven't had much chance to do this kind of thinking yet, though - we're always so busy around the Fourth with family and friends, and this year was particularly crazy. We hosted several meals for a crowd, and some house guests, watched one parade and a bonfire (of which H was scared), and participated in another parade (in which H was terrified of our own float). All while still working on the potty training (a.k.a. many, many outfit changes and laundry). Also while trying to stay cool without air conditioning (although our summer cottage is a little cooler than the rest of the world). Fortunately, we broke down a couple of years ago and put AC in every room in the house (not central air - can't afford to retrofit our 100-year house with that - but a unit in every room). I feel no guilt whatsoever - I help the environment out in other ways.

I appreciated the reminders from a posting on drugs.com, via Diabetic Connect, about the special risks we folks with diabetes face in the heat. I certainly notice that, although I sweat, I don't do that well in the heat - I think my sweating is a little delayed, because of a slightly wonky autonomic nervous system (like most of our bodies' systems, this one can get thrown off after years of diabetes). I'm in air conditioning more than I used to be (in my childhood), but when I am in the heat, I take extra precautions to stay hydrated, to not spend too much time in the direct sun, wear sun screen when I do, and check my BG extra often. In fact, switching between AC and no AC all the time makes it even harder. I need a lit less insulin in high heat - I think it's because the insulin works faster in the heat (insulin being an enzyme, and all enzymes work faster in warmer temps). Also, I bet I eat a little less in the heat. So I crank down the pump significantly. Then, when I go back into AC, I have to amp up the insulin right away (or, uh, as soon as I get that first high reading).

Also, all the weird summer foods make for a lot more guess work in carb counting. I realize now that part of my problem with my pregnancy (lo these three years ago) was that I was eating out a lot more (as we do during the summer), so I got a lot more salt - no doubt that contributed to my maternal hypertension, as much as the heat and the diabetes itself did. So, between the extra salt (and calories), and the greater uncertainty about what I'm eating, summer is indeed fraught. I take every chance I can get to balance that out with exercise. And oddly, perhaps, yoga is figuring high on the exercise list. I need the stress busting maybe even more now, when I'm trying to balance work, H and her potty training, and the extra summer activities.