#ffl12

This was my family's second year at the Friends for Life conference in Orlando. As you may recall, my kid asked us to commit to come to this year's gathering before we were even halfway through last year's. So we've just gotten back from a whirlwind week of Disney overload, diabetes education, and bonding with people we may only see once a year but are going through the same things we are 24/7/365. Bullet points? Don't mind if I do.

[This might will get long. If you'd rather just cut to the chase, then scroll down to where it says tl;dr.]

+ Spent the first couple of days at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Diabetes dx = lifetime fast pass. I straight up told my kid I couldn't go to Disney any more if there's a cure for diabetes. It's like Seinfeld said about flying First Class: once you've experienced it, you can't go back. I can't. I won't.

+ We were standing under an umbrella near the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios waiting for a thunderstorm to pass when a large bolt of lightning struck the top of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. WHAT! The cast member we were with looked petrified and said to me in a small voice, "I think I need a hug." Naturally, I obliged. After that brief moment of vulnerability, he put his professional face back on and got back to work. It. was. awesome.

+ The first people I ran into at the hotel were Kim and Ginger. I was so giddy to see Kim again and to meet Ginger that I started using my Excited Voice, which is a cross between Amy Poehler's Kaitlin  and Kristin Wiig's Terget Lady, with a little bit of the ERMAHGERD meme thrown in for good measure. I spent much of the week alternating between RICK RICK RICK and CREDIT APPROVED! and ERMAHGERD BLERGERS!

+ So Kim was lovely as always but I don't think Ginger was prepared for that amount of fangirling because she just had this WOW look on her face but she was sweet and complimented my hair and said it should have its own vlog or something, I'm not really sure, it's possible I blacked out for a moment.

+ Shortly thereafter, John and L and I were waiting to meet up with the one and only Katy from the Bigfoot Blog and I spied a gaggle of bloggers in the lobby bar. I didn't want to walk over and start chatting because I was worried I would miss Katy and Bubs. My kid was like, "No offense, but...do those bloggers even know who you are?"  Imagine L's shockaprise a few minutes later when they all headed our way, smiling and waving and acting like they *gasp* KNEW WHO I WAS. (after they all left, I may or may not have told my 12 year old daughter to suck it.)

+ Then Katy and Bubs popped in from outside and let me just tell you, they were a delight. I am thrilled I got to hang out with them so much over the course of the week. Bubs and L hit it off immediately, and instantly formed a good-natured rivalry over who would reach 10,000 steps on their pedometer first. After we had dinner, the two of them stood up and began jogging in place around our booth for an extended period of time. Eventually we headed off to Sports Central, which was a perfect place for them to burn off/ramp up their excitement in a safe environment.

+ Speaking of 'safe environments', our room overlooked the hotel pool and the view from our balcony was a diabetic swimmer's dream come true! A station with a fridge to store your insulin, glucose tabs for lows, and water for highs. Not to mention the sharps containers. I want one at our local pool!

+ At the opening keynote the following morning, I was leaning over to say something to L and missed out on what the speaker was saying and suddenly Jess and other bloggers were standing up at their table and gesturing to me to do the same. I thought they meant my kid, so I tried to strong-arm her into the standing position, but Jess and Sara were like, NO, YOU! and so I stood without even knowing why and it was only afterwards I realized they were including me in the people to stop and chat with if you were interested in learning about diabetes social media (I think? It's still unclear). Whatever the specific shoutout was, it remains a very generous act of inclusion and I urged Katy to stand with me as well. She had enough sense to stay seated rather than stand up and look lost and confused like I did.

+ Joe Solo. Joe Solo. Joe Solo. I just. can't even. I asked him for a word of advice about a small issue I'm dealing with at the moment and he wasn't even finished with the first sentence of his reply and I had him in a bear hug. Like, his arm was still in front of him, wedged between us, and he continued to answer me in a very calm tone with the perfect advice as I clinged to him and wept a bit. How do you do it, Joe Solo. I want to write a song about you, Joe Solo. Everywhere I went, people were having these kinds of exchanges with him. He is just pure light. Thank you Joe Solo.

+ Speaking of clumsy hugs, when I finally saw Simon for the first time, I squeezed him so hard that I tripped over my shoes and almost brought the both of us down. "I'll tumble for you!" is what I should have said, but didn't. I'm lucky the DOC is filled with so many huggers and/or non-hug-averse. Including the snuggliest and best-smelling of them all (IMO), Martin. A-Flizzle, you are a very lucky lady indeed!


+ I did not hug Olly Double but I did do a fair amount of fangirling based only on the impression he and his charming family made on me last year. I was jealous of all the college-age T1s that were privy to his performance this year.

+ The social media panel was excellently presented by Kerri and Scott, and Karen shared about that time the DOC had helped her in an emergency. Katy wrote it down in her notes. 

+ And there was a great moment when a mom timidly raised her hand and asked if there was a way to tell if people had been visiting someone's twitter or not. She didn't want her daughter to know she had been stalking and enjoying her twitter feed. Kerri assured her there was no way of tracking visitors, and someone asked what her daughter's twitter handle was. The woman said it was @DiabeticProblem and several people shouted out OMG I LOVE HER! SHE'S HILARIOUS! I RETWEET HER ALL THE TIME! The mom was overwhelmed with the love the strangers were showing for her daughter, and she broke down in tears. 

+ Brian brought a coffee drink to Kerri at the beginning of the social media panel and she said, "For those of you with a FFL Bingo Card with a square that says 'Brian and Kerri being nice to each other, go ahead and check it off.' Oh how I LOL'd. What a witty rejoinder from Kerri! Imagine if there was such a thing! What's that? Oh there IS such a thing? And the other squares are equally as hilarious? Well played, sir. Well played.

[this is where I would link to a photo of said bingo card but I didn't snap one and I haven't read any blogs yet so I don't know if any actual photos exist.]

+ Bennet and Wendy vs. the FDA lady. A very emotionally-charged panel and perhaps not the best scenario for any of the parties involved. But it was amazing to see advocacy in action.

+ Crystal Bowersox is so tiny! And she was just walking through the halls of the conference with her friends, like all the rest of the peeps with green bracelets. I love that my kid can look at her and say ONE OF US.

+ Small world moment: while chatting in a large group of people, it was discovered that Caroline (who I had only recently met) shares my superfannishness for the U2s. As we were going down the list of shows we'd been to, to see if we had unwittingly been at any together, we realized that we both used to belong to the same semi-obscure online journal community about 10 years ago. WHAT. Our conversation quickly devolved into using shorthand like GA and LJ and EXIT and in no time at all we had driven the rest of the group away. Sorry I didn't get more time to chat with everyone else after that.

+ The Exhibit Hall was packed full o' freebies and I grabbed some YA books from Lilly and a Verio IQ meter and I even got a pic with the long-lost cousin of the sorely missed Ninjabetic.

+ But the best energy in the whole place was coming from the You Can Do This booth. Mad mad mad props to Kim and her staff of volunteers for creating a space for people to learn more about this incredibly powerful project. Onward and upward!

+ L participated in pump trials for the new T-Slim and the Animas Ping. She was really taken by all the new features on the T-Slim and it's definitely the pump she's leaning towards when she's eligible for a new one in 2 years. I just realized I didn't get any pics of the T-Slim but if you have any questions, let me know. I'm sure there are other bloggers in the DOC who plan on going into more depth about their trials though.

+ Due to a full day planned for Saturday and not knowing if we'd make it to the farewell breakfast, I felt compelled to say a large portion of my goodbyes prematurely, during the T1 Adults Dance Party on Friday. Since I was basically crashing the one non-kid place those guys had all week, I wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. But then I got to talking with Simon and Karen and Pete and you know how that goes. All the ladies (the ladies) were having such a kick-ass time on the dance floor, I wish I coulda busted more than just the one move, but the fam and I had a big day ahead of us, so after a too brief throw down courtesy of Montell Jordan, I made my way out. Thanks for making me feel welcome, guys.

+ So many people I only got to say hi to briefly. Jacquie, Meri, Lee Ann, Kelly, Scott, Wendy, Leighann, Chris, Dayle, Kerri, hopefully next time there will be more time (and oh boy I hope I didn't forget to tag someone!).

+ It wasn't all a loss though because I was lucky enough to get some extra time with Scott and Simon over dinner. Thanks for the laughs and the quiet moments both. <3

+ Not to mention extra Disney time with Katy and Bubs. If you read Katy's blog, you already know how clever and funny she is. And guess what, she's the same in real life! She was always quick with a smartly worded observation that usually ended with me doubled over with laughter. And Bubs, where do I begin? Sweet. Independent. Smart. Thoughtful. Hilarious. The kind of kid you'd love to spend all day at Disney with. Hope we can meet the rest of the family next year! :)

tl;dr

The Friends for Life conference is a place where my kid can feel normal for a week, surrounded by people who don't stare when she checks her blood sugar or give her funny looks when they see her infusion site. She can run off with friends all day and we never have to worry about the people she's with not knowing how to handle an emergency. John and I can bond with people who have been there and offer support to families coming up behind us. We can be silly and loud and weepy and quiet and not have to explain ourselves. We came home with our heads filled with new strategies and our hearts filled with memories. Both will help us along on our journey. Thanks to everyone who made it possible. And to those who couldn't make it this year, I really hope to see you next time. <3