A Fine Rainy Friday Morning

I perform my morning ritual of putting on coffee, filling my cup with a generous dose of milk, warming it, stir two teaspoons of Splenda into the warm milk, and fill the remaining space in the cup with coffee.

I sit at the computer to check emails.

I take a sip of coffee.

Hmmm...this coffee tastes weird.

Is there residue from the dishwashing soap still in the cup?

I take another sip from another side of the rim.

My still waking brain detects....saltiness?

And then it dawns on my sleepy brain.....


Yesterday, Jacob wanted to help me cook so he took some salt from the stash I had on the counter to stir in a bowl.

Yesterday, after dinner, I had noticed the Splenda container was out on the counter where I did not leave it.

2 + 2 = salt in the fucking Splenda

Grrrrrr.......

America's Stonehenge

Just a hop, skip, and a jump away is a place in the middle of the woods where ancient people created an accurate astronomical calendar approximately 4000 B.C. To this day it is used as to determine specific solar and lunar events of the year.

The site is made up of chambers and astrological markings along with a tablet where sacrifices were made! This was the family field trip this past weekend.
(click images to enlarge)


The kids were too creeped out to crawl into this chamber. Who knows what's lurking inside.


This chamber looked much less threatening.


In one end.....


....and out the other.


In a 360 degree turn, rows of trees were cleared to observe various solar and lunar events. These two rows of trees allowed.....


....the Aug 1st sunset (clearing on left) and the Summer solstice (clearing on right) to be observed.


Last, but not least is the sacrificial tablet where who knows what was sacrificed (chipmunks, racoons, frogs, deer, people....it's all up to the imagination).

Chock Full O' Pictures

Downloaded some pictures last night and discovered some that I had no idea were on there. The Duke and Duchess of Mischief were at it again:

My Favorite Ride Is A Rollercoaster

Our family minivan is filthy. There is sand, salt, grime covering its green exterior. An entire winter (and now most of Spring) has gone by without a single trip to the car wash. I never bothered to take it in because as soon as I did, the cleanliness would've lasted just a few days.

With the warm weather finally having arrived, we are all in the throws of Spring cleaning. Jeff plans to do a bunch of yard clean up with the kids, I plan to clean up my act and get outside to exercise (do you honestly think I'd spend time cleaning the house).

Brendon came to me asking where he could find a bucket. Since the kids were planting some apple seeds outside a short time before that question was asked, I figured he needed it to do some more planting or digging or whatever. I told him to look in the basement.

Later, as I was reading a book to Jakey, Jessica yelled to me from the kitchen "Hey mom! Can you help put more water in this bucket?"

"Why do you need it filled?"

"Brendon is washing your van."

Hmm. The van is in the garage, so that ain't gonna happen.

"Brendon!", I yell down the stairs to the basement hoping the sound carries through to the garage.

"What!", he yells back.

"What are you doing down there?"

"Nothing."

Nothing means something, so I go down stairs and see water flooding the garage floor.

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

He meant well as misguided as his intentions were.

Somehow, while I was reading a bunch of books to Jakey, he managed to fill the bucket in the kitchen sink, haul it downstairs and proceeded to clean the van....in the garage!

You know what? I love all the crazy, frantic, whacky, noisy, nerve wracking things my kids do.

They enrich my life with funny, interesting memories and remind me that a roller coaster is my all time favorite ride in the world.

Scene From A Breakfast Table

(The kids are sitting quietly, eating a healthy breakfast of eggs, oatmeal, and milk. Jessica picks up a LimitedToo catalog showing a few cute preteen girls on the cover.)

Jessica: Hey Bren, which girl do you want to be your girlfriend when you grow up?

Brendon: None of them. Which boy do you want to be your boyfriend when you grow up?

Jessica: (scrunches up face, lets out a blood curdling scream, and then starts crying)

Brendon: (looking confused) What's wrong? You said the same thing to me! (looks to me) Mom, she said the same thing to me! Why is she crying?

I don't have an answer for him. We females are mysterious creatures.

Forgive me, but it's too perfect to not be said: If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen, haha.

Lean, Mean Snacking Machine

I'm not so lean, I'd like to think I'm not mean, but I am certainly a snacking machine.

I was about 15 pounds from my goal weight, but now I'm 10 pounds more. So, being the math whiz I am, I'm 25 pounds from my goal weight.

Shizznit.

With the training I'm doing, I was tricked into thinking that I can eat more. Well, I went overboard and now I'm paying for it. Running is harder, swimming is more difficult.....try strapping 25 pounds on your back and swim freestyle, biking is easy so no complaints there.

I'm very frustrated and I'm trying to psych myself into eating healthy, eating lean, eating to make me a mean swimming-biking-running machine.

This post bites. Just bear with me. Thanks.

Numbers Take On a Whole New Meaning

My mom is visiting for the weekend and yesterday, Jeff and I were in the process of getting ready to go out for dinner.

My mom asked what the kids should have for dinner, so I started setting things up to bake some mini pizza bagels.

As I started dinner, my mom asked Brendon what number he was up to.

He replied he was a 363.

Whoa, I thought, where the heck did that number come from? I decided to correct him after everything was set to bake.

Soon after, my mother asked Brendon what his number was now. He said he was up to a 400.

Jesus Christ, does he need an infusion set change? Why the hell was he rising like that?

I said out loud, "Why is he so high?" and told Brendon to do a correction. My mother and Brendon looked at me with puzzled expressions. Then it dawned on them.

"We were talking about how many times he bounced the ball in the family room. We had been counting how many times he could do it."

What a relief!

My First

Today I'm hitting the pool for the first time to begin the training of the swim leg of the triathlon I'm training for.

I have a Speedo bathing suit, goggles, and a swim cap. I tried them on and I look a little something like this:


I'm exaggerating really.

**********EDIT**************

The chlorine in the pool is brutal. My already parched skin is even more dry and now itchy. I didn't have ear plugs, so my ears are feeling a little achey from the bleach leaching into them. Plus, I ditched the goggles because the lenses are too big, so I need to buy smaller ones.

Aside from the items I listed previously, ear plugs are on the list of supplies to buy.

So once I have everything I need, instead of looking like a Sleestak from Land of the Lost (Kerri, take note of that), I will look more like this:

For My Friend

I have a friend who I will be visiting in France this August. She is kind hearted, inspiring, thought provoking, and funny. I can tell her anything and she never passes judgement....just wisdom. With all she's gone through and is currently going through, she never wavers in her enthusiasm and passion for life and all it has to offer. She sees the beauty in the good and the bad. For National Poetry Month, I dedicate this poem to her:

The Rose Still Grows Beyond The Wall

Near a shady wall a rose once grew,
Budded and blossomed in God's free light,
Watered and fed by morning dew,
Shedding its sweetness day and night.

As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,
Slowly rising to loftier height,
It came to a crevice in the wall,
Through which there shone a beam of light.

Onward it crept with added strength,
With never a thought of fear or pride.
It followed the light through the crevice's length
And unfolded itself on the other side.

The light, the dew, the broadening view
Were found the same as they were before;
And it lost itself in beauties new,
Breathing its fragrance more and more.

Shall claim of death cause us to grieve,
And make our courage faint or fail?
Nay! Let us faith and hope receive:
The rose still grows beyond the wall.

Scattering fragrance far and wide,
Just as it did in days of yore,
Just as it did on the other side,
Just as it will for evermore.
A.L. Frink.

Invincible

6 a.m.- 358 (correct it)

7:30 a.m.- 290 (correct it again and bolus for breakfast)

11:30 a.m.- 316 (correction and bolus for lunch recorded by school nurse)

2 p.m.- 370 (correction and bolus for snack recorded by school nurse)

3 p.m.- receive call from school nurse telling me he's been high all day and that she's been careful about carb counts and that she's been correcting him each time she's checked him. I say it must be his infusion set and will change it when he gets home. She tells me he's been telling her how he's going to be on TV. Then, she says he's thirsty, and we say goodbye so that she can give him water.

4 p.m.- receive call from Brendon from his friend's home asking if he can play football. I say yes, but he must come home asap to change infusion set.

4:10 p.m.- he runs in, breathless, shrugs off backpack and jacket, lays down on the couch waiting for me to gather supplies. I change the set while he tells me he told his friend he'd return in 10 minutes. I do my task quickly. "That infusion set didn't even hurt", he says incredulously. I smile.

4:20 p.m.- "Thanks mom", he says. "Wait", I say, "let me check you to see if you need a correction". 290 pops up on the screen. I try to correct, but pump suggests I do not. Enough insulin must've gotten through during the last correction before he left school.

4:25 p.m.- "Have fun Brendon", I call out as he bounds through the door, jacket in hand. "Bye, mom", he yells back.

I sometimes wonder when diabetes will bring Superman to his knees.

That heartbreaking thought has brought me to mine.

D-Life Experience

1. Pat the Producer and Brad the Camerman came to our house yesterday to film a segment about Type 3 diabetics (a.k.a. the caretakers) for D-Life (CNBC Sundays @ 7 pm eastern standard time).

2. Jessica and Jacob were running around, doing cartwheels, and watching Brad adjust the family room and his camera to get the best shot during my interview.

3. When all was adjusted and I was seated, Jacob chose that moment to plant himself on my lap and wouldn't budge.

4. I forced him up in my room to watch TV....he wasn't happy.

5. I had to answer the same questions a couple of times over because Jessica snuck up behind me getting in the shot, and then Jacob could be heard screaming for me.

6. I finally got through the interview, went up to get Jacob.

7. He says "Mommy, I have to throw up" and while he's dry heaving, I rush him to the bathroom where he missed me by a millimeter and nails the toilet.

8. Pat and Brad were very patient.

9. The bus drops off Brendon and Brad films him walking home. Brendon waves to the camera.

10. Brad films Brendon and I going through our normal routine of glucose checking, weighing out a snack, and dosing for it.

11. Brad films Jessica and Brendon sleigh riding down our front lawn while I'm with Jacob as he throws up in the bathroom.

12. Jeff, Jessica, and Brendon are filmed playing basketball in the backyard where Brendon becomes combative.

13. I check Brendon and he's a 45. We treat with a juice.

14. Jacob throws up in the bathroom and has 103.7 degree fever.

15. Brad films me making dinner.

16. He gets a closeup of my ragged, dry, old ladylike hands pressing buttons on the scale....damn myself for not moisturizing.

17. Brendon wants to be interviewed. Brad and Pat want his room to be a backdrop, so they head upstairs.

18. Pat tells Brad to get a shot of me plating spaghetti on scale, Brendon and I adding up dinner carbs, and the kids sitting down eating dinner.

19. Jacob throws up in the bathroom. Falls asleep.

21. I fret over my slouched, trancelike appearance during earlier interview.

21. I agree to do a roundtable discussion at the studio sometime during the Fall.

The Easter Dealer

Jessica: Does Easter candy make you high or low?

Me: It makes you high.

Jessica: Ooh! You wanna get high with me?


We actually had a very nice Easter this year. This morning the kids found that the Easter Bunny had eaten the eggs we decorated as well as the big ol' carrot we left on the fireplace mantel. In return, EB left behind baskets filled with a bit of candy and a lot of fishing gear that the the kids had been asking for all year.

Jessica looked out the window and insisted that the prints in the snow were those made by the Easter Bunny.

Brendon handled the candy well. Although, first thing in the morning, he did eat a packet without dosing himself, so he started out the morning at 300, but with a correction and a decent breakfast of some eggs and waffles, he wound up at a very nice 124 at lunch time.

For lunch, we headed up to Hampton Beach for our annual Easter lunch/beach outing. Brendon asked Jeff if this was a tradition, and he agreed that it was indeed a tradition.

Once we made it to our usual restaurant (Fantini's), we found that it was closed for renovations. We were a little bummed just because we wanted everything to be just so. You know, when you have a tradition, you hate to bust it up. But, we headed upcoast to another restaurant in Rye called Saunders at Rye Harbor. The tradition was a bit unlike the previous three years, but I think we'll make this restaurant our new annual stop.

Jeff and I had lobster stew served in crusty-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside-bread boules. Can I just say how incredibly delicious it was!! I also had butter crusted brie with a raspberry jam on the side served with crackers and grapes. Holy smokes was it good!

One small thing was that we needed a reservation since it was Easter afterall, but the restaurant accomodated us by seating our ragamuffin family in the back where the bar is located (we were dressed for winter on the beach, not lunch time with the toodleloos). Two very well dressed couples were seated at tables on either side of us and while the kids were switching seats, handing me knives, and needing to check out the bathrooms, they watched on and smiled and commented on what beautiful children we had. WHAT!!!??? So, while Jeff and I were cringing and shout-whispering at the kids to "be quiet and stay seated and be polite and stop playing with the salt and take the napkin off your head" they thought our kids were so charming.

I ordered Limona Corona as my lunchtime beverage. They pour Limon Absolut into the neck of the Corona bottle. When the waitress served it, it came with a lime stuck in the hole of the neck. As habit would dictate, I shoved the lime, ever so gently, into the neck of the bottle, thereby causing the liquid to go nowhere but up and out....spraying all over the table, and Brendon and me. "Mom, you just sprayed me with your alcohol!" "Sorry there Bren. Mommy didn't mean it....it was an accident" Mommy takes big long swig of Limona Corona.

As I took a swig of my Limona Corona, and proceeded to turn red hot because I was wearing fleece and the Absolut hit me like a Mac truck due to my empty stomach, one couple started chatting us up and told us to enjoy them while we could because when they became teenagers...forget about it. They commented on what a mankiller my 5 yr old Jessica was and to watch out when she got older. On and on they went about their own daughters and how they loved their horses and how one of the girls (who is 17 yrs old) joined the Marines and has a part time job assisting the police department on liquor stings. She goes into stores and tries to buy liquor. If the shop owner sells it to her, police swarm and arrest the guy.

I was thinking: "wow, when I was 17, me and my big hair and my big haired friends were headed down the shore to Seaside Heights to pick up guys and then we'd scrounge around the car floor looking for change to buy gas to get us back home."

That conversation bought us time before the food came out to keep the kids quiet because they were listening in on the conversation.

After our very nice lunch, we drove up and down the coast, finally stopping at a spot for Jeff and Brendon to play some catch with the football, while Jess, Jake and I combed the beach looking for shells.

I couldn't have asked for a better Easter this year :)

Kerri's Questions

I knew I could count on Kerri to ask me some whackadoo and fun questions. And away-ay we go!

1. You find out that your son does indeed have Super Powers. What are his powers and how does he use them?

That's easy. You see, the clutter he spreads around the house has no power over him until it is time for him to clean it up. Then, somehow, the clutter acquires Kryptonite like powers rendering him weak and tired. He staggers around the room and falls to the floor barely able to keep his eyes open (I'm not kidding about this....it's all true). He becomes convinced that his blood sugar is high and/or low and insists on being checked. No matter what his number is, he insists that he must rest (even if it's a good number). DAMN THAT CLUTTER AND HOW IT GETS THE BEST OF SUPERMAN!

So his superpower would be to overcome the deathly weakening of clutter and pick it up with lightening fast speed....as fast as it took for him to spread it in the first place.

2. An alien lands in your backyard, comes to your screen door, and asks that you take him to your leader. Who do you take him to?

Being the prankster I am, I'd take him to see Bush (our President, not the rock group) just so I could laugh at the head scratching the alien would do, but upon further reflection I'm afraid Bush would somehow convince the alien to take over the world with him. Soooo, I'd take the alien to see Bono....lead singer of U2. Between the Joshua Tree and his humanitarian work, Bono is the leader of the world!

3. If you could travel to any destination in the world, where would you want to go and what would you do?

I'd go to Australia, visit Kate and Demarco, throw a boomerang, blow a digerydoo (sp?), see all of the major sites.
4. You're trapped between a rock and a hard place - literally. How do you get out?

Depending on how much of me is trapped, I'd suck in my gut and squeeze out of that trap. Or, if it was just a finger or toe, I'm afraid I'd resort to chewing through it.

5. The ol' hot air balloon bit: What do you want to fly over?

I'd love to fly over Tuscany with its field of poppies and sunflowers.

I Am Screwed

Special Update: Jeff and I went to the gym he belongs to as I now belong to it too and he wanted to give me the grand tour. We go into our respective male and female locker rooms. Jeff came out and reported to me that the naked man with the towel around his neck was in there....sitting his bare ass on a bench....reading a newspaper. Soon after, Jeff returned to the locker room to stash my iPod in his locker. He came out and reported that naked man was shaving and Jeff saw a wet ass print on the bench.

Now, the reason why I'm screwed is because we took a day trip up to where that sprint triathlon will be held (remember the one I mentioned I registered for way back when?). We scouted the routes for the three events and we were appalled at all the hills we'll have to climb when we bike and run. Thank GAWD at least the lake is flat so the swim won't be so bad.

But dear lord am I scared to death of those grueling hills. Oh my.

I'm going to have to really ramp up my training and run and bike further than I'll have to come race day.

I'm feeling a little queasy right now :(