And Awhile later...

Okay, so now it's been 8 months almost since I last posted here, but anyway.  My Name is Fulcna is released and available online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com and you can google it to find it elsewhere too.  Tis week is also Invisible Illness Week, so I'd like to post this list here:
30 Things About my Invisible Illness that You may not Have Known
1. The illness I live with is: Type 1 diabetes (diabetes mellitus)
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: September 2009
3. But I had symptoms since: Easter 2009
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: getting used to checking my sugar and doing injections, especially around other people
5. Most people assume: that diabetes means you have to do insulin and you're fat and you ate too many lollies and sweet things and it goes away
6. The hardest part about mornings are: getting out of bed after checking my sugar through the night
7. My favorite medical TV show is: Medical Emergency
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: my insulin pump - no joke, if it failed and I didn't have needles around, I'd be in hospital within days
9. The hardest part about nights are: Having to get up through the night to check my sugar
10. Each day I take _0_ pills & vitamins. I have insulin infused every three minutes through a cannula under my skin and more when I eat.
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: can't say anything about them since there are none.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: invisible
13. Regarding working and career: It's a pain at work because I have to keep stopping to check my sugar some days and if I had wanted to go into law enforcement or firefighting or paramedic or something I wouldn't be able to since diabetes stops you from being allowed to
14. People would be surprised to know: For the most part, putting in cannulas and giving myself injections doesn't hurt
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: having to count carbohydrate in absolutely everything I eat and not being able to snack freely anymore, even on the pump
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: eat junk food
17. The commercials about my illness: What commercials?  They're literally non-existent
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: eating without thinking about carbohydrate content
19. It was really hard to have to give up: feeling free to go somewhere without worrying about when my next meal was, where I had food, where my sugar kit was, etc.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: taekwondo
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: since I actually feel normal most of the time, I'll say that if I didn't have to worry about insulin for a day, I'd eat whatever I felt like, work without checking my sugar, do all the crazy, immature things I probably will never do now for that day.
22. My illness has taught me: that life can be so short and that we should never, ever take a moment, a person, a friend, anything for granted.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: 'Don't worry, you can still come to *event* because we'll have plenty of food for you that has no sugar'
24. But I love it when people: understand diabetes and treat me like I can deal with sorting out my food myself
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: Psalm 27
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: It's hard, it's scary, and no, it's never going away.  I know.  But as you get used to it and your sugar settles down, it does get easier.  If you need to talk, I'm here, so talk if you need to.  If you need help, tell me and I'll do what I can.  Just don't think you're alone.  There's 144,000 Australians who know exactly how you feel.  I'm one of them, so don't try to hide it, because I will know.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: how much more I understand people's reasons for doing things sometimes.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: express concern and ask if I was alright, but still let me deal with it
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I want people to know more about how invisible illnesses impact our lives and how they can help someone who they know who has an invisible, or visible, illness.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: happy, because there is one more person who maybe understands a little better how invisible illnesses impact people's lives.

bits and pieces

Well, school's started again and boy, do I wish it was holidays again.  My schoolwork's okay, but sooooo dull.  Well, maths is anyway.  English not so much - it's just frustrating.  I still don't have my cert 2 in IT yet, but I'm well up on Bible and hist/geog already.  For someone who wants - no, is destined(hopefully) to become - a teacher, you'd think I'd love schoolwork more.  But I've already covered heaps of what these 2 years work is covering, so I can't wait for uni to get into something new.

I've been really tired lately.  I think this 2 am sugar check could have a eenie bitty bit to do with it.  Since I went onto lunch insulin I've been doing it again.  I think I'll ditch it now.  It's pretty right.

Well, I didn't finish Somewhere Over the Rainbow through the hols.  But I'm a fair ways into it now and to me it's looking good.

Signing off for now.

Bits and Pieces

Sooo... I know I wrote yesterday, but I feel like it again today.  I'm elated, because I've finished my outline of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and I love the 'done' feeling.  Now to finish writing the book itself.

I've spent rather a lot of time on the net lately, and I wish now that I'd spent the time writing instead.  It's a glorious feeling, to read over what you've written and to know that it fits together like a complete jigsaw puzzle.  And sometimes to feel that it's a lovely as one, too.

Well, school goes back in two weeks, and I kind of want to start again, and kind of don't.  I'm enjoying these hols, writing and all, and I'd rather spend my time writing rather than doing boring and time-consuming schoolwork.  But also, I only have 2 years left now, then 4 years uni, and my formal education's finished.  It's actually quite a scary thought.  2 years, and my schoolwork as I know it will be through and I'll be going to uni, then that'll be done too and I'll be faced with the prospect of finding a job and leaving the security of my casual job and schoolwork, the ever-repeating cycle.  I still find it hard to believe I'll be turning 16 soon.  The magical number - I'll be able to get my learner's license and start to drive and work towards P plates and so much else.

I need to write some more or I'll go nuts.  I have too many words in my head right now.  And finishing cleaning off my bed before bedtime might be a good idea, too.  So, signing off for now.

Back again.

I'm back!  I didn't suffer too much while we were away.  I only banged my knee once and got given the heebie-jeebies when Aaron, my brother, wouldn't stop bounding over the granite rocks.  Other than that, it was okay.  Mostly it rained, so we didn't do many walks.

I'm finally getting going on 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' again.  I will finish it one day.  Hopefully.  Maybe one day I'll actually get enough motivation to do up a yearly planner as well, on which books I want to outline and write this year.  Last year was easy - I had tons of then ready to go.  But this year I'm down last year's ideas and I'm gettin higher in school grades.  Sigh.  If only I didn't want to be anything academic.  Then I could get a job instead of finishing school.  I am truely nuts.

Okay, I know it's been a while.  I'm busier than even my mum suspects.  This trying to write a book or three business is harder than I thought it'd be when I was eight, but I'm too far in to back out now.  And really, I love it.  It'd just be nice to have a month without diabetes to worry about, where I could just sit and write nonstop, stuff lunch, and not have to keep an eye on the time for whatever reasons.  Sorry, if you didn't know, I'm diabetic - type 1.  Now that you know, I can refer to it easily.

Being the holiday season, maybe it's a good time to note that I don't celebrate Christmas.  The Bible devotes, oh, a couple of paragraphs to describing Jesus' birth, and several chapters in each Gospel to describing His death.  The only reason for His birth was so that He could die and set us free from the bonds of sin and death.  Christmas isn't even when He would have been born.  Think about it.  If the shepherds were out in the fields, is it really realistic to think it was winter there?  If it was snowing, would they really have been aboe to walk across the mountains from Nazareth to Bethlehem?  Realistically, Jesus is far more likely to have been born closer to Easter time.  This Christmas, I'd like to challenge you to look at how and why you celebrate it, and see if your motive truly is to worship Christ.

I was on a church Fun and Adventure camp in September/October this year and I was remembering how great it was earlier.  There's only 280 days until the next one, and I'm counting down.  Shoot over to the Calendarsection of my website if you'd like to check the camp out.  If you're in S-E Queensland, I can virtually guarantee you'll have a ball there if you come.  I did, and I'd had diabetes for about three weeks then.  All right, I mean that I'd been on the insulin about that long.  It's hard to work that stuff out, but after about twenty-three minutes there, I decided I had done the right thing in going, after all.  Everyone's brilliant, and I loved it so much I suggested that we take up a petition to make the camp last about 6 months longer.  Sadly, it wasn't created and we said our goodbyes and cried our way home.

I'm camping with my family from the 24th to the 2nd, then going to the 2nd Brisbane International on the 3rd, so I won't be writing for a while.  I s'pose I should start packing.  Thus it is adios till next time!

My Name is Fulcna is creeping closer to publication!  Things are moving along again and will hopefully keep up a nice pace over the next few months.  It will hopefully be hitting the shelves before the end of the financial year (June).

Speaking of books, here's a list of some of my favourites:
* The Chronicles of Narnia
*Somewhere Around the Corner
*The Tomorrow Series
* Anything by Enid Blyton (esp. the Malory Towers series)
*The Giants, by Roald Dahl
* The Bible
*First Draft in 30 Days
*Black Beauty
* Pride and Prejudice
* the dictionary
*Heidi
* I am David
* Jane Eyre
*...

Are you bored yet?  That's not a comprehensive list - it's just a list of the ones I have on my shelves or the ones very close to me.  If you love books and have some suggestions, email me at bookworm.aus07@yahoo.com.au  Also, visit my website at http://sites.google.com/site/jessicamareestone and see what else I'm working on.

Welcome!

Welcome to Fulcna's Journeys.  This blog is about my first book/series of books, "My Name is Fulcna."  It follows an African girl through her capture and life as a slave in ancient Pompeii (first book, anyway.  I'm not telling what happens later until the next books are released.).  "My Name is Fulcna", the first book in the series, should be being released in a little while, so look out for it.  I will post the exact release date soon.  Although my blog is small so far, please bear with me for a while.