Christmas in April

The holidays are such a busy time of year.  This past Christmas, my extended family (we're talking over 60 aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin's families) couldn't find a time for us to all gather for the family Christmas party, so we decided to have it in April.  You may have heard of Christmas in July, but we went with April... Gotta love my family for coming up with that one!  I'm not sure if there will be a tree, or presents, but the important thing is that we'll all get to hang out together for the afternoon.  And, the weather will be better than in December.

The tough part about parties for me, is "grazing" on food all afternoon.  I try my best to limit the appetizers and focus on the meal, but its really, really hard.  I'm tempted by chips, salsa, my aunt's seven layer dip, spinach and artichoke dip in a giant bread bowl, and tons of other snacks.  Sorry, celery, but you got nothing compared to a giant bread bowl filled with cheesy artichoke dip.

Then, there is the dinner. We usually have a big buffet of Italian type dishes: eggplant parmesan, ziti with Alfredo sauce and broccoli... you get the idea. My mom is also the BEST baker and she always brings cookies.  She tries to make them with splenda for me, but I admit, I still prefer her originals.  I struggle to count carbs correctly with this kind of meal, and usually underestimate.

I got my insulin pump last November and really didn't do a great job of using it to its best potential in managing my blood sugar. I didn't quite understand the square wave, or dual wave bolus, so I stuck with the normal bolus through Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Today, at this "Christmas party" I am going to try to set a square wave bolus that will last during the grazing appetizer phase of the party, and then bolus again when we eat our meal.  I'll make sure to fill up half my plate with salad but I know I won't be able to resist some eggplant parm and ziti. 

I'll post again about how I do with the square wave bolus and I'm curious to hear about how others manage their bg when at a family party or long dinner, whether its Christmas in April, or any other fun gathering.