Friday, September 02, 2011

The construction experiment, or DIY diabetes camp

OK, as long as I just accidentally posted a camp blog update on this site, I will actually do a quick update.



At times I’ve wondered, if I were more active, if I didn’t have a desk job, would my BG control be better?  It always seems to be on vacations or during weekend gardening binges.  But what about a whole lot of activity, all day, for a couple of weeks?
Years ago, as part of a plan to always have something to look forward to (and right after my dx with T1) we purchased a wooded lot in the adirondacks with beach rights at a small lake.  For years, we’ve planned our camp - I’ve spent many hours sitting on the windowseat in my “castle room”, making sketches and looking through books for the perfect camp.
It would be small.  It would have a loft and a catwalk.  Since our lot was sloping downhill, we hoped for a walkout basement.  We’d start off with just a place for the summer, eventually insulate and heat it. 
And so we planned, and set funds aside, and finally got ready to build.  Since we couldn’t find anything close to my dream camp in our budget, we decided to cut out the labor costs by doing it ourselves.  We wound up being our own general contractors and arranged the driveway, well, septic, foundation, permits, and inspections.  We bought a pre-cut kit and worked with the kit architect to get all our “must-haves” in.
We arranged the delivery day for the start of July, and took three weeks vacation, renting a cabin a short drive away to get us started.
Turns out, with weeks of 12-hour days hauling lumber, going up and down ladders, and swinging a hammer, my daily BG wasn’t any better than at my desk job.   I think the stress canceled a lot of the activity out.  And believe me, there was stress.  Nothing was ready on time - we didn't have a foundation until a week after the kit was delivered.  Things went slow.  It either thundered or went over 100 degrees.  Family crises kept drawing our attention back home.

But, we are still working on it.  It's moving along.  And even if my BG doesn't seem to care if I'm programming or hauling lumber, the rest of my body is in great shape.  And next year, when it's a relaxing vacation getaway, maybe then my BG will behave!