Goodbye Hello

It’s New Year’s Eve and I figured I’d squeeze in one more post to finish off 2011. I probably will be asleep, snug as a bug in bed, as people ring in the New Year all across the Atlantic Time Zone tonight. I’m working tomorrow, which means I’ll be waking up at 5:45am or so, and I’m trying to get over a head cold. Even though I’ll be asleep as others are singing “Auld Lang Syne” and giving midnight kisses, I am actually quite looking forward to the New Year. I’m anxious and excited because applications for the 2012-13 Professional Development programs at NECCA become available in January 2012. That’s TOMORROW! Not to mention that winter session classes start up on January 9. Bur now I also have to put some serious time and effort into assembling an audition video. Thankfully, long-time friend Tim Bradley agreed to edit the footage, once I’m done filming it. First things first, though, I have to start filming! And I haven’t forgotten that I still owe Tim and Andie a wedding present.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about why I want to attend NECCA’s 10 month Intensive Training Program, what I want to do with that, and what I want to do when I grow up. I think I’m starting to put something together that feels like I’m going in the right direction, but I can’t quite name it just yet. But this feels right; that’s why I want to get in, be accepted, so badly. It’s much different from when I was applying to college. Back then, college was the accepted and expected next step. It’s not that I didn’t have a choice, because I did, but it was the thing that kids-who-do-well-in-high-school did. What else was I going to do? Don’t get me wrong, I did well and enjoyed myself; I even joined the crew team. But I can’t say I was passionate about it. This circus work, on the other hand, has me hook, line, and sinker, and I see many different ways to make a life out of it. So, I’m anxious, excited, thrilled, restless, eager, a little apprehensive, and plain old looking forward to the New Year. I hope you all have great big plans for the future, too! Happy New Year!

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give me a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne

P.S. I did not forget. I said I would put some warm ups for pull ups on my next post, and this is my next post but I did not put them up here. Sorry. The next one, I promise.

Mission Possible 1: Pull Ups Progress Report 1

They’re getting easier. I think. I don’t really have a great solid plan for training for this goal, so that makes it a bit difficult to judge progress. Working up to it is the hard part because I want to see immediate results. I want to do those 2 measly pull ups right NOW!

You may be wondering, after reading the last post, what is the difference between pull ups and chin ups? Well, it’s in the grip. What I’m referring to as “pull ups” are also known as “overhand pull ups” and what I call “chin ups” are also known as “underhand pull ups.” It’s just easier to say pull up and chin up than the rest. So, with “overhand pull ups,” or as I call them “pull ups,” you grab the bar with your palms facing away from you. With “underhand pull ups,” or “chin ups,” you grab the bar with your palms facing toward you. The rest is pretty much the same with both; you pull yourself up so that you chin is over the bar. Ta-da! Each grip targets or works slightly different parts of the arm, shoulder and back muscles. That’s why one might be more difficult than the other.

I will have a more detailed account of what muscles are used and ways of working up to doing pull ups in my next post. I’ll also post what my pre-pull up “workout” warm up is like, in case anyone is interested. Happy Holidays to everyone who celebrates whatever you celebrate during this season!

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Back_Muscles.jpg

Mission Possible 1: Pull Ups

Alright, so here it is, I am publicly announcing that I am making it my mission to do pull ups. Right now I kinda suck at it and can sort of do one. Chin ups are marginally better and I can basically do one of those. Pull ups are something that is pretty basic but pretty crucial for circus work, and pretty much required for acceptance into one of the professional training programs at NECCA. And, being able to do pull ups is pretty awesome. And they make you pretty. I should probably make my goal more specific. Ok:

• · I want to do 2 full pull ups, from a dead hang, by the end of January. That sounds good.

About a month ago I had a training session with one of the coaches at NECCA. At that time I was having major difficulties with the pull ups and told her that I was defeating myself before even trying by having negative thoughts. Such as, “Pulls ups are way hard and I can’t do them.” So, she told me to work on a positive mantra (in addition to working on the actual pull ups). I want something better than the old go-to of, “You can do it!” I’ve heard it’s beneficial to think of it as pulling the bar down instead of pulling your body up. It’s really not as difficult as I think it is.

Got any tips you’d like to share about pull ups? The one I hear most often is just to practice pull ups. Do pull ups and you’ll get better at doing pull ups. Also, pushups help strengthen the muscles used for pull ups. I kind of want something a little more magical, so to speak, like, “Wake up real early, put on your grey sweats, break 3 eggs into a glass and drink it, then run and run and run up some stairs and pump your fists into the air.” Except I’m not so keen on drinking raw eggs.

Doctors, Insurance Companies, and Test Strips, Oh My!

Where should I start? So, my insurance company has a maximum limit of test strips they will cover each month at 150 strips, or 5 tests per day. I test more than that. This is a face of life I have come to expect. Recently, I changed primary care physicians because I changed insurance and my old doctor is not covered by this insurance. Ok. I had an appointment with the new doctor and told her I test 8 times per day because I am active and am insensitive to lows and that I would need a prior approval. She said, “Ok, when you go to the pharmacy, have them send a form to us which we will send to the insurance company.” As it turns out, she could have gotten the form online and sent it directly to the company covering prescriptions. So, there was some wasted time and energy already. Then I call the office on Friday to tell them this (it kind of felt like I was telling them how to do their job). They call back and long story short make an appointment for Monday (yesterday) so that I could talk to my new doctor. I suppose I should note that I told them I test 10 times per day. It really varies between 6-10, but why not just say the maximum? Seems easier that way, but I guess not. At the appointment yesterday she told me she was concerned that testing 10 times per day is an indication of anxiety. And that people with controlled diabetes often test only once per day, and those with uncontrolled diabetes test 4 times per day. So she didn’t think I should be testing 10 times per day. This frustrated and confused me so much I lost my composure and started to cry. So, I did a blood test because I usually cry when I’m low. I wasn’t. I was just soooo angry that I cried. That sometimes happens. Am I so far out of the loop that everything I’ve learned, read, and been told is now obsolete? I thought the recommendation was a minimum of 4 tests per day for Type 1 diabetics. That would be testing before breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bed. Makes sense to me. Then, last I knew, it is recommended to test before driving to avoid driving while low. Driving with low blood sugar is like driving drunk. So, that would bring it to 6 tests (assuming a round-trip). I’m pretty sure it’s recommended to test prior to exercise, too. And after. I just don’t see how someone could have well controlled diabetes on one test per day. There was a while that I was only testing 1-3 times per day and my A1c (which is an average glucose measurement of the last 3 months) was above 8.0%. My most recent A1c was 7.6% (when I was testing 6-10 times per day). The target A1c is less than 7%. In terms of glucose readings you’d normally see: 8.0% = 183 mg/dL, 7.5% = 169 mg/dL, 7% = 154 mg/dL. It seems that with more tests, my blood sugars are, on average, better. On top of this, the American Diabetes Association says, and I quote, “To get tight control, you must do the following: Measure your blood glucose levels more often.” http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/tight-diabetes-control.html It makes me feel a little crazy that I should be taking advice from this person, this doctor, who should know the right information, but it’s almost opposite of everything else I thought I already knew. Alright, I’m done ranting.