Of Showcases, Diabetes, Exams and Ice Cream

I had planned to start blogging again at the beginning of the month, but things got in the way.  The last couple of weeks have been crazy for me.

We had to "create" a restaurant and bar, a hotel, and an event for a convention center.
As an extra part to our project we made a soup that I can't remember the name of,
chocolate covered cherries and a strawberry citrus punch for our guests.
(Photo cred: Maycie)

To start, I had a big showcase final project for my Intro to Hospitality and Tourism class.  We had been working on it throughout the semester and at the end we got to present our projects to corporate leaders from the industry in Wichita.  The showcase was great! Think about a career fair, but reversed! The "big dogs" came to us and we got to steer the conversation and make contacts with future employers.  Some of my classmates ended up getting interviews and then hired by the end of the week.

The showcase happened on a Monday and my group and I pulled an all nighter (it's college, what's a final project without an all nighter?)  It was all super fun because we were cooking and crafting our board at all hours of the night and having fun.  We even watched several hours of Grey's Anatomy while we put the finishing touches on things.   Around 10:30 we made a WalMart run and I noticed my legs and ankles were swollen.  I had been sitting for a while so I thought walking at the store would help.  I remember around 4  looking at my ankles again and they were worse than before.  I called my mom an hour later to see what I should do.  Long story short, I went to my doctor's office where I saw one of the associate doctors and they pulled labs and made me pee in a cup.  All was good with the exception of a couple of things (I'll get to those, I promise) and told me to sit, drink lots of water, no sodium or caffeine.

A few days later they called with the rest of my lab results and told me that I needed to come in with a follow up visit with my regular doctor.  So that brings us to last Monday.  I went in and my doctor made it really clear what was going on.  I've been diagnosed with prediabetes. He told me that he was concerned with my weight gain over the last year and a half (around 40 pounds) and we discussed how to make lifestyle changes so that I wouldn't end up with Type 2.  No more sugary drinks (goodbye Dr. Pepper), no more indulging in my baking (goodbye yummy cookies), and he made me promise him that I would start walking again and to start counting what I'm eating.  So in total, it's been just a week since I've been diagnosed and it's been a massive learning experience.  I've learned that in order to function properly I've got to have a bigger breakfast than anything. Oh, and another thing, I don't like unsweetened almond milk.

This is the fancy certificate part.
I have a mini version that lives in my wallet.

I took three classes this semester, seven hours total.  The first one was my Sanitation Management class and it was only half the semester.  I passed the national exam with an 83 and got my certification.  I mentioned my final project for my Intro to Hospitality and Tourism class, I aced the project and ended with a 98 in the class.  The one class I had been struggling in all semester was my online US History class.  For the life of me I just could not get and stay motivated with that class.  I literally failed every single one of my unit exams but managed to pass with a low B.  I ended my first semester at Butler with a 3.3 gpa, which I'm super proud of because at the other school I went to my grades never looked quite that good!

So I promised my doctor I would start walking again.  Well, we can check that off the list because last Tuesday I started working at the dairy store again.  Since I told them I couldn't work on back drive like I did before I wanted to be put on front line.  Working on front line has been fun and I've been walking so much because of it.  I particularly like when I get to run front drive and I get to make the shakes and scoop the ice cream for the drive thru.  It means I've got to walk back and forth to get all of the items before handing it out the window.  I struggled a lot last week due to the fact that I was way more out of shape than I thought I was and my body (especially my hips) were tired soon into my four to six hour shift.  Yesterday was lot better and I'm aware that it's going to take a while before I'm running the front line solo.

Blogging should return to some sort of normalcy for a little while.  I start summer classes on June 2 so we'll just have to go with how it comes.

Whew! Lots of stuff to cover.  How has the blogosphere been holding up? What's new with you?