This is a rare post that has nothing to do with American Girl or dolls. But today, I learned a important lesson while I was playing outside. Sure, it was dreary all day and I had to be cooped up inside for a long time. But then, the sun finally came up. I was so happy when the sun finally came up, because HOORAY! I could play outside. And it was worth the wait.

Fifteen minutes into my outdoor play (I can't go outside over a half hour or else my blood sugar will get too low), it started to drizzle. When I felt the first drop, I was blasting my music and on my swing, having tons of fun. But my first thought was, "Great. It's going to rain!" So I stopped my music. When I stopped, the couple of drops turned into drizzle. I tried a trick to stop the drizzle that worked maybe 99 out of 100 times. It was probably coincidental all of the times it worked, because all I did was pretend to bark and be like my puppy, Snickerdoodle. Snickerdoodle is the cutest puppy in the world. Here's a picture of her:

Yep. World's cutest puppy.

So then, I barked. And instead of the drizzle stopping, BANG! It just kept "drizzling" on. So I stopped my swing, got out and went on my phone to cancel my half-hour timer. But then, I realized that it might thunderstorm tomorrow, and I would be out of luck. But this drizzle, was just water. Nothing harmless. So I decided to go blast the song I was blasting and have a dance party in the rain. I did just that, and had tons of fun. Sure enough, by the end of the song, the rain was gone!

But, why did I name the post the name I chose?

Because, when I got back on my swing, I realized that I had two choices when I got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last summer. Choice 1 was the easy route. That route was to cry over the diagnosis and not be happy with myself. But Choice 2 was difficult. It was to actually do the stuff I had to do with confidence. I chose Choice 2, spread a lot of awareness about Type 1 diabetes, and led my grade level at school to raise $201 for JDRF. When I announced the results at lunch to the whole grade, lunch became a party. There was high-fives and hugs, and of course, the big standing ovation right when the results were announced. And that party would never exist if I didn't choose Choice 2. Same with the aftermath of my experience with the princess party lady a couple of weeks ago with my dad and Jade. (Search for "Why I'm Creating Sydney's Special Dolls" a couple of pages in my blog feed back to know what happened.) Choice 1 was to mope around again, knowing that there was a gender stereotype with dolls, princesses and "girly things" like that. Choice 2, was to fight against those stereotypes and get more awareness for diseases. I'm a Choice 2 girl through and through. And in today's situation, Choice 1 was to go home, and Choice 2 was to dance in the rain. I chose Choice 2, thankfully. And now I will always choose Choice 2 in life.

COMMENT DISCUSSION QUESTION: Do you have a pet?

MY ANSWER: I have the Cutest Puppy In The World named Snickerdoodle!