Wisconsin Radio Network - 70 stations broadcast Triabetes

Sorry, inundating you with news today, but in an unrelated moment, the Wisconsin Radio Network contacted me about doing an interview about President Obama's executive order that reverses George W. Bush's decision on stem cells funded by federal money.

In 2004 Jesse and I spoke with Tammy Baldwin and Governor Doyle about the importance of letting scientists do the science, and letting moral values be something decided on a personal level. The Wisconsin Radio Network asked for an interview to follow up today on that 2004 interview.

please give it a listen....click here to view and listen!

Triabetes IronFAN...get your tshirts while they are hot!

Ironman is coming up quick and Madison is buzzing! Our fabulous graphic designer, Emily Dobson, put together the official IronFan shirt for the Triabetes project!

WANT ONE???!!!

We will be handing out tshirts the day before Ironman (more info to come) to anyone who is planning on cheering the crew on out on the course! We want to be able to see you. Shirts will go fast of course, so here's an opportunity to RESERVE QUANTITY AND SIZE TODAY!

If you are willing to pre-order, I will set aside your tshirts! No waiting! No hassle! And you are supporting a GREAT cause!

All it takes is a $10 donation (tax deductible) for each shirt. You can email me your request at curejesse@gmail.com OR click on the "FIRST GIVING" button on the left of this blog with your donation. It's that simple!

You've been with us this far.....now go the full 140.6 miles with us, baby. Get one, and pass on the information to anyone who might be out on the course on 9/7/08. Thanks for all your support - together, we educate the world that people with diabetes can do...ANYTHING.

An Honest Blog - should I still do IM?

Ok, usually I try to post something funny.... but I've had a few days of pondering. Maybe I can chalk it up to some scared "29 days to IM" thoughts, but maybe not. Here's the deal - listen and weigh in, will ya?

So here is the deal. I've worked what, 18 months on this? Well now it comes down to a lot of the local efforts. I've been busy trying to get host families lined up to house the 12 athletes and their families AND their friends....establishing a "Triabetes Headquarters" at the finish line (thank you SHARENDIPITY.COM you are rockstars!!!)....putting together a week long schedule, a welcome reception, dealing with NA Sports (who are FABULOUS) about logistics for safety issues on the course, trying to figure out where the best filming locations are...what is the story really going to be....who's going to market it....distribution...showing at local film festivals....

and on top of all that...I'm trying to train...and be a single mom to three great kids....and looking for a great new job (which I think I found...more to come on that).... I'm tired. And I think this: It is difficult to arrange the schedule and life of one ironman athlete during IM. How the HECK am I going to manage 13? I'm feeling overwhelmed.

I talked to Joe Brady today. Told him I was feeling a little like I should drop out of racing. I mean, someone has to make sure it runs smooth from a business standpoint. It should be me. It's my dream, my goal. Of course he answered that I just need to prioritize and basically told me to stop being a whiny baby (in his own way, but I know what he was thinking!).

Do I race? I biked 30 miles today, 22.5 HARD miles on Wednesday in the pouring rain on the hills of Mt. Vernon with an 20 mph pace...and I'm getting up super early to bike 60 miles tomorrow morning....

Should I do it? Am I being selfish? Ugh...... help?

Meet Triabetes Triathlete - Joe Brady

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFhEtDjLma0


Ok, this video rocks out. Today Nella put together a few clips to share with the world. I'm choosing this one first to share. Meet Joe Brady. Joe was my bike coach at JDRF for a couple of years. (Actually, in the photo to the right, we are at a checkpoint in Whitefish, MT. I had just climbed on board the Kansas City Smack Train and he was about to be the first finisher of the day for the JDRF century ride.) I convinced him to do the Triabetes project - now he tries to convince me to meet him to swim at 6:00 am - yuck! I spent the day over at Ray and Nella's (a.k.a Andiamo Productions). I meant to go over there just to get the video, but the kids hung out and they invited us for a delicious dinner. It was quite rewarding to watch the process of what they do to transfer the data, etc. Ray had just returned from San Francisco, filming Anne, John, Bill, et al as they swam in front of Alcatraz, ran the Golden Gate Bridge - SO jealous! I also think a very cute moment at their house was when my son, Jesse, picked up one of the Emmy Awards that sit above their tv like forgotten bowling trophies and said, "Um, is this REALLY what I think it is???" I said, "Yes. They have 13 of them." Pretty cool moment....





Ok, back to Joe. Take a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFhEtDjLma0


BE SURE TO WATCH IT IN 'HIGH QUALITY'. Click the button directly under the video!





Enjoy!

The Ultimate Compliment

What would be the ultimate compliment? Ponder while I tell you about my day.

Today was a beautiful (but hot) afternoon to go biking with the usual JDRF suspects - Dave Dahler, Steve & Amy Eager, Steve & Kitty Verkuilen, Joe Brady, Harvey Johnson (who has become a crazy rockstar on his bike), Patti Batt, Bob Gorsuch, newcomer Julie from Saris, Sheryl, Laura Bauer, etc. A great mix.

I was rushing around because a new neighbor decided to pop over to introduce herself and welcome me to the neighborhood - turns out we have known each other from a previous life, but I digress. The point of that story is that it made me late. So I rush into a convenience store to buy necessities - water, gatorade (I could NOT find my vitalyte and was seriously bummed), blueberry crumble coffee (yes, I am a coffee snob) and then I look...what on earth is actually edible? Hmmm... I pick up...these oatmeal cookie dealios. Um, bad idea.

So, I eat it as I'm driving and realize it has this taste...you know the one... "shelf-life" taste, like it could last through a nuclear holocaust? That's the one.

Patti and I are climbing a hill called "Old Mother" (which I might have added one more noun to that phrase) and the so-called cookie gets...well.... tossed.

Hm. Interestingly enough, I feel GREAT after that.

After finishing up a great ride with friends, I go home and spend some time chatting with Anne Findlay, one of the Triabetes superstar athletes. As we are chatting away, she makes a comment about Jesse doing the Ironkidz trip - a great excursion planned by the good folks at insulindependence that pairs up a type 1 child with one of the triabetes athletes. And she says, "you could be Jesse's Triabetes athlete."

You see, she then cracked up because she remembered - I do not have type 1 diabetes. Now, John Moore has said to me on many occasions that I should be flattered that he frequently forgets that I produce insulin. In our world, that is an extremely flattering compliment in some strange way. It just is. Now I got two of the athletes forgetting...who can I get to forget next?

PS The picture of the cookie is NOT a product endorsement NOR was it delicious NOR do they give us money for this project. Um, yucky.

Feelin' the love

This past week has been extremely difficult, and yet, it's been one of the best. The outpouring of support has been just nothing short of incredible. I'm amazed at the people who have called or emailed me.

Our lives are full of chapters. When one chapter closes, another opens. Triabetes has been one of the most rewarding projects I've ever been part of. Every time an athlete calls me or emails me to tell me how it has changed their lives...I can't tell you what that does to me.

Nella told me that we should be able to have the documentary out there and ready to go in December. December! It's going to change lives, more so than the 12 athletes, the executive producer (me), the emmy-winning filmmakers (Nella/Ray), the amazing team at Diabetes Training Camp (Matt), the folks at Insulindependence (Nate), and those who have touched us through sponsorship like Charles.... it has expanded my diabetes world in an incredible way.

Now I get to focus 100% of my diabetes energy on watching Triabetes soar.

A humble thank you to all of you who got my back.... :) I look forward to seeing many of you at the Capital Brewery on Friday for the celebration party! (It cannot possibly be my 39th birthday....so let's not call it a birthday party!!!! )

Would you like one breath, or two...with your swim?

Sunday mornings are turning into my "swim with fellow Triabetes athlete, Joe Brady" day. Not that I mind, it's exactly what I need both in pushing me to pretend to be a triathlete AND to feel the camaraderie of the team. Joe was trying out his second wetsuit of the season, a two piece deal he saw Larry Smith wearing while at Diabetes Training Camp in Chicago. We had a good chuckle as we figured out which one was better and he claimed the new one to be more buoyant as we sat in the middle of the lake with his feet out.

Open water swimming has been a bit tricky in these parts as flooding has made some less-than-idea lakes even less-ideal. Lake Ripley in Cambridge had more recent flooding but the quality was do-able (not tasty, but do-able). We swam just inside the buoys to avoid the boats, me with my tingling left arm (what the hell is causing that?) while I concentrated on relaxing my legs, as I am pretty prone to leg cramps because I'm so tense in the water.

Joe tells me that during his open water swim classes, Dave is teaching him to breathe on every stroke - long, deep strokes, each time. I'm going to try this next time I'm out, but I cautioned Joe that he needs to learn several methods and here is my "I've been-there-done-that" advice from Ironman 06. Wind, rain, and waves bigger than your head smacking you in your face gives you the option of what breathing pattern you choose. If you are an even side breather, you're screwed if you are used to breathing left...and can only breathe right. My advice is to practice breathing in 3s, 4s, 5s and 7s. It also gives me something to think about while swimming.

It's been fun training with another triabetic athlete. If you are ever in the neighborhood and would like to join us, give me a shout!

Now, whether or not you take my swimming advice, you are at your own risk considering my excellent skills didn't stop me from swimming smack into a buoy. Nice sighting on my part, eh?

So, I'm sitting on this blanket...

Concerts on the Square is a wonderful place to be on a warm summer night. Hundreds of people on blankets, picnicking and enjoying the Madison Chamber Orchestra, seeing people you know, (watching your seven year old find live ants to put on the spiderweb of the beautiful lion statue at the capitol...to see them devoured). You get the idea.

I'm with old Madison friends, and a few new ones. I met Sheryl on a WNBR. That's "Wednesday Night Bike Rides" to us locals. She met us out and brought some of her friends to mingle with us. Turns out, one of her friends went to junior high and high school with me in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Graduated the same year, in fact!

So it turns out a few others from the Eau Claire North Huskies reside in the area.

What's my point? I don't know. I think my point is that today I got an email from another alum, Eric, who I haven't talked to in may, ah, 23 years? And he said, "I just saw your Triabetes video, it's great what you are doing!"

So my point is that Triabetes is everywhere, and I absolutely love that. New fans! hooray!

PS I have no idea who this is in this photo below taken in 1980 but dude, I had to post it.

How do we get our documentary "out there"?

Most of my blogs are about training. Or maybe you think most of my blogs are pretty random. :)

We have had some great sponsors supporting our work over the last year. A list of them is available at Triabetes.org. But what does it take to get an award winning film crew to not only travel the country to shoot the film, but to actually get it chopped out, spit out, and looking perfect? How do we get it to Sundance Film Festival?

Cash. And lots of it.

But more so, it takes good hearted people like you. You see, much of what we do is out of the goodness of people. We rely on people every day to donate their time, talents and money to spread this message. Not only do we need to secure the money, we open our doors to anyone willing to help us with PR as we near the finish of this project. We look to people willing to promote it, to interview the athletes, to get them the gear they need to race, etc.

I was out for a run yesterday after a nice bike ride with my friend, Stacy Cook (who bought herself a sweet little Trek Madone 5.2 today for only $1,000!) and I was thinking, "Man, how COOL would it be to enter this documentary into film festivals and how do I make that happen?"

That's where you come in. The last few months we are working hard on our training. But we have to be thinking ahead to the future of Triabetes. I know you want to see it in completion just as much as we do. I lean to you - if you know of anyone wanting to get involved in the project with time, talent or of course, deep pockets, you know how to find me.

Now I have to go mow my lawn. I think it has gone to seed.

2 months to Ironman...do the math....

So you all know by now that I worship the ground that Lifescan walks on. Our biggest sponsor, the nicest people, the most supportive top reps as well as local reps.... they make the best meter around with the ultra-mini and my son still thinks the pink meter is "the new black." He's not afraid of his masculinity.

So it's time to gear up for the big race, 2 months and 9 days away....I have twelve diabetic athletes that are overexerting and rockin' the house. So what does this mean.

LOTS OF TESTING AND TESTING AND TESTING.

Now, you may ask, "Michelle, I thought many of the athletes are on an insulin pump therapy with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM)?" Right you are, and thanks for paying attention! But you see, the meter is still the tried and true method to really put it to the test, so the triabetes athletes mount these ultra-minis right to their bikes!!! They put one in each transition bag and special needs bag during the race (that makes THREE additional meters just for race day), and they test sometimes upwards of 20 times per day.

So I fire off an email to Lifescan and say, "gosh, is there any way I can get the dream amount of meters and test strips for these athletes through their season?" I got a "you betcha, girlfriend!!!" (Ok, he didn't say it exactly like that, but close!)

So do the math.

I have 12 athletes needing enough strips and meters to get them through September 7, 2008 which is in addition to what they are already ALLOWED to get from their insurance (cheapskates).

I am requesting 10,500 test strips and 31 more meters.

I have to quote a few of the athletes responses:

"do they realize that we may be checking BG's like 15 or more times a day? they are okay with this?"

"Wow. To test whenever I need to......... that is a cool feeling. I'll take 1050 and a few meters, please!"

THANK YOU LIFESCAN! Did I mention Johnson & Johnson? Did I mention One Touch Ultra-Mini?

Smart Insulin - this blew me away

It is very rare I get excited about something "new" I read about in diabetes research. True, I work for an incredible organization, JDRF, that funds research like no one else, but that said, we sure see a lot come across our desk each and every day and it starts to lose it's luster.

At our annual conference, on of my favorite researchers, Dr. Aaron Kowalski, actually got EXCITED talking about "Smart Insulin". Read about it at:

http://www.smartinsulin.com/index.html

I will be brief in my "mom" version of what I interpreted but basically, the patient receives one shot of insulin per day that adheres to a gel. As glucose levels increase in the body, the gel releases the insulin and in short, gives a type 1 diabetic normal blood sugar levels throughout the day. This is currently succeeding in rats, but has quite a ways to go. So while the scientists over at Smart Cells, Inc. continue to test rats (I keep envisioning rats lounging in a hot tub, drinking margaritas to see if heat affects the gel), I will keep my hopes up.

(I couldn't help myself...INDEED...you CAN google "mouse in hot tub" and behold.....it exists)

Triabetes Rules You Tube - at least in my opinion

Ok! I've been DYING to see new footage of the hottest thing in diabetes in sports (I may be biased). Here you go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpIywyPvqDg

Thank you so much for continuing to support the Triabetes Project! Many of the athletes are in Chicago at this very moment at Diabetes Training camp with Matt Corcoran, M.D. (featured in this video). Please take a moment to comment on YouTube about the video so more people find us!

A break in the clouds....

The weather has been nothing but rain and storms the last few days in Madison. Yesterday my kids spent most of the day watching tv in the basement with tornado sirens going off most of the afternoon. I thought, however, that it was a good sign that I was actually upset that I couldn't get my running in or my biking. I'm finally starting to feel like I'm losing the weight I had gained over the winter (mostly, I think after 35 it isn't even so much weight gain - as I never ever weigh myself - but more so the dang shift of waistlines etc that just makes you realize your age). I proudly displayed my new "bike tan" at WNBR (Wednesday Night Bike Rides) this past Wednesday, thank you very much. I saw some old JDRF Death Valley riders that I really miss. They've promised to bike DV with me in 09.

This morning I woke up to the sounds of cars crashing outside my window. I live at the bottom of a major hill and we were experiencing some serious flash flooding at the intersection. I watched more than one car try to slam on brakes when they hit this newly formed lake, hydroplaning across. Seriously, it was so bad I actually had to WAIT to go get my morning coffee! That'll teach me for running out of my own coffee! For those of you who know what I look like at 6:30 a.m. without coffee... I know you understand the issue! Ha!

So, the forecast for Madison for the next 7 days is: RAIN. Lots of it. I have found a break in the clouds and going to give it a shot. Luckily I'll be in Washington, DC all week and can escape the weather! Except.....DC has a forecast of 99 degree temps. Sigh..........................

I'm ready for my wetsuit, Mr. Deville

I hate "cold". Hate it. I'm the world's biggest baby about getting in the pool. TOTAL toe-dipper. To be honest, I once got to the pool, dipped the toe and actually LEFT without getting in. Yep, I'm Ironman tough. haha

Today all I managed to do was go to the theatre and see Sex In The City (excellent by the way). But tomorrow.... tomorrow..... I'm dipping my toe into my favorite swimming hole, the Verona Quarry. It's quiet, wooded, and I don't want anyone seeing me try to squish my untrained body into the seal suit. Yikes. I hope it still fits.

So let's get it straight. Today Anne biked 124 miles, and I made an omelet at 11 p.m. Obviously two very well-trained machines. :)

But seriously, I AM excited to put the wetsuit back on. I am looking forward to open water swimming and getting into my full training mode.

Team Type 1 Coming Out My Ears

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting yet another tt1'er, Bob Schrank out of the Chicago area. I was invited to a dinner hosted by Sanofi Aventis to listen to Bob speak about his diabetes management, etc. The room was filled with diabetes educators.

Memorable phrases from the evening:

Michelle: "My son wears a CGM"
Three educators: "What's a CGM"
Michelle: "???????? Really???????"

Bob, when asked about other pro racers saying it's an unfair advantage that they use insulin: "my pancreas red-lined, what's your excuse?"

My favorite quote from Bob that instantly became my tagline was when he said: "I didn't join Team Type 1 for cycling. I was already a cyclist."

I love what he said because it reminds me of so much of what we all do, those of us invested in the "d" world. We use the amazing skills we already have to spread the message and do good things, to get us closer to a cure.

I'm not sure what my amazing skill is but I'm pretty sure it involves pot pies or something.

PS Check out Bob's new blog as he embarks on RAAM 2008:
http://gobobgobobgo.blogspot.com/

Gala Success - What a Night!

Ok, so Friday, May 2nd, the "When You Wish Upon A Star Gala took place in Madison, Wisconsin. Lots of committee members made it happen. I know there are amazing photos yet to come that I will blog about, but for now, here are a few.... I'm starting with my favorite.

Phil Southerland of Team Type 1 and I were joking about him flying in to be my date. Phil and I have been friends since what I call the "old" days (a.k.a. he wasn't even out of college, Team Type 1 was something still in his imagination, and I was just fresh out of my chubby PTA mom days in Carmel, California). What started off as a joke, became reality with Phil flying in as my honorable date. We are lucky that he does a class-act job as being a key-note speaker as well! Lucky us!

I was a little shy about his documentary company holding a camera to us as we were both frantically trying to get dresses and tuxes on (I do not know how to tie a bow tie - thank you you tube!). I raced to the VIP reception, he watched the bow-tie video 7 times, and the evening was on. Could I ask for a better date? Nah.

Enter the reception and skip past Triabetes athlete and wife extraordinaire, John and Maureen Moore. Ok, so John picks on me that I don't recognize him, but hey! I've never seen him dressed up like that! All is forgiven and we have an amazing ballroom-filled evening.

SOLD OUT.

GORGEOUS.

I stood at the door briefly just to listen to people as they entered the ballroom. I giggled everytime I heard a gasp.

The evening is filled with silent and live auction. Phil tells the story of growing up with diabetes. He takes the time to speak to lots of the kids of the evening. My inbox has proven that Mr. Southerland made quite an impression in Madison, Wisconsin.

I'm proud to say our evening raised a whopping $360K at last count - a good $90K over our goal! Good company, good friends. I will post a photo album once our professional photographer puts the photos together.

Enjoy!

I finally have a tshirt for Bill Carlson

Ok, I've got a BIG message I want to send out about the JDRF gala on Friday that ROCKED THE HOUSE thanks to so many people. I'll talk endlessly about having my Triabetes athletes here (John Moore, Brian Foster, Joe Brady, Aaron Perry...) and how fun it was to have Phil Southerland here along with his Team Manager of Team Type 1, Tom Schuler.

BUT...as we finished up the gala, Brian Foster was in town and wanted to do this little 5K for the physicial therapy department of the UW-Madison, to give Ray and Nella a little footage for the documentary. Now, this girl has NOT been running. Running her @ss off to get the gala going, sure, but not training. SO.... Brian is at my house, we are just chilling out, talking about the documentary...and I think, "well, Michelle, giddy up. Time to lace up the shoes officially."

Training season. Late start.

So we go to the race, it's a beautiful sunny morning, 52 degrees. Brian and I have on our Triabetes shirts (of course), Ray, Nella and Elisa show up to film. I'm feelin' good. Brian goes to the front, I meander to the back as to not embarrass myself. Phil had given me this awesome Team Type 1 jacket that I was going to wear, but realized if I wore it, people would think I was actually an athlete. Not wise. Went for some quieter fashion thanks.

Started off the race with a bad stich in the right side. Tried to push through it, felt a little whiny. But I felt ok as I finally passed some 90 year old guy (seriously, how bad am I????) and got a little stride.

I knew Brian would finish at like 15 minutes (of course he did, finishing like 6th overall) and jogged back to find me, thank GOD I was not walking, then I see Ray pull out his video camera. Girl tries to lay it on hard for the camera. As I finished, the timing crew stopped me to get my #. I have this thing where I have to keep moving, or I feel breakfast coming up (in this case, breakfast was merely coffee, but it still felt bad). It subsided and I felt good.

I'm sad to say it took me 28 minutes to finish that bad boy, but hey, I think I won my age group. Ok, ok, there weren't a lot of old people like me there! But I'll take it.

BILL CARLSON: I love my LA Marathon shirt you gave me. I have a "UW Wisconsin Rehab Run" shirt for you. Time to trade up, baby.

Training for Ironman Can Be Dangerous

So I get an email from my friend, Peter, founder and prez of http://www.insulindependence.org/ and Triabetic extraordinaire yesterday morning. It starts out rather mundane. You see, like most of us, he "accidentally" didn't hear his alarm and missed his open water swim with his training group in San Diego. He was disappointed, but hey, he knew he was usually the last swimmer in the group, not so much the front of the pack, he'd go to the pool instead. Then he hears the news that someone he recently met, Dave Martin, was attacked and killed while swimming at the back of the training pack - by a Great White Shark. Peter was pretty shaken up, obviously, and considering some pool swims instead of ocean swims for awhile.

At least during Ironman Wisconsin, the only thing Peter has to fear is boat fuel, some kicks to the head by the guy in front of him, and maybe a small mouth bass skimming his leg.

I'll Take the 200 Words Given to Us...

Ok. So it's not the world's biggest article. I was excited, however. The May Issue of Triathlete Magazine is out! The May Issue is out! I walked over to Barnes & Noble to get my fresh copy (a triathlete doesn't DRIVE to the bookstore - sheesh!) of the issue.

Page 30 of the 25th Anniversary Issue. There it is. My idea on real, bonafide, national magazine paper. Someone.......pinch.......me.

I have had an interesting week, for sure. I found a new house to move into. I move Saturday. Yes, that is a crazy thing to do right before my huge SOLD OUT gala (gosh I love saying that). But hey, chaos is life, live on chaos. What choice do we have, right? I know there are people out there who enjoy their 6000 sq ft house with pool in the backyard, but hey, are they living life? They go to work, push some paper. Not me. Sometimes the bumps in the road are big enough that you hit your head on the roof of the car, right, but hey, we still find time to make it to the Wednesday Night Bike Ride with 200 of your closest spandex-clad friends, bike into the wind only to enjoy the 30 mph ride back with wind pushing you onward....grin, and enjoy the beginning of what I call "training season". Giddy up. (Athough Mark G did tell me that my idea of bringing razors to the wnbr rides to get guys to shave their legs for my enjoyment was a "bad idea." What? Party pooper....)

As for me and Triathlete Magazine, my issue is framed on my JDRF office wall. I won't be replacing that bad boy until Dave Shack ends up on the cover of GQ, or we get that 3 page story - cover of course - of Bicycling Magazine.

Wicked happy evil grin.

Today I am definitely glad I didn't trade it all in for some 6000 sq ft house. You?

A little of TT1, a little of Triabetes, a lotta JDRF

WOW! I'm SO excited for the upcoming JDRF gala on May 2nd. I've worked my tail off with an amazing gala committee to raise as much money as humanly possible for diabetes research. If you don't know, JDRF has a mission to raise money for research. It's amazing. Check it out at http://www.jdrf.org/ if you haven't before!

That evening, we will be honoring Bob and Carol Gorsuch. Now, Bob rode for JDRF in Whitefish, Montana during the Ride to Cure Diabetes with his daughter, Amy, and grandson, Prentice. They were very excited to get to meet my friend Phil, founder and superstar of Team Type 1. I'm so excited that Phil has accepted the honor to be my date and superstar guest speaker for the event. Phil has an amazing story that starts at 7 months old and a great mom who told him he could do great things despite his diabetes. Just one week before our gala, he will be racing (PRO!) in the Tour de Georgia. I can't wait to watch.

So onto my next exciting news. John Moore and Brian Foster from Triabetes are flying in as guests of Nella Citino and Ray Ibsen, our wonderful documentary artists at Andiamo Productions. I'm hoping to also get together Joe Brady, Aaron Perry and Larry Smith for an amazing Saturday morning bike ride on the Ironman course they will soon be racing for real! WOOHOO! I am really looking forward to getting out there and actually being part of the documentary we all envisioned.

How about some icing on the cake? Lifescan is going to be there loud and proud and purchased a gala table. Lifescan is not only a HUGE sponsor of JDRF, but a out of this world sponsor for the Triabetes project. I hope they look around the room and see all the beauty that is there with donors...corporate...families....the kid who raised $153 at a bake sale...they are all there.....

So let's get this straight. I will spend Friday with all of the people who donate to JDRF that I know and love, mix in a little TT1 love from my good friend, Phil Southerland, and add a dash of superstars from Triabetes. A pinch of Lifescan title sponsorship and what are we making?

Oh....that's right. A cure.

Goodnight everyone! I have to go to bed early because I biked to work and I need to do it again tomorrow!