Mom Wants A Diabetes Cure

Just Call Me Rip Van Winkle

2011-08-15T19:57:00.002-04:00

I had been gone for so long from the blogging world that I couldn't remember my password (went in and made a new one), Blogger has changed all sorts of things, and I'll still never figure out how to make an awesome blog skin.

Funny enough, I could tell you what's been going on with Brendon and you'll find not much has changed with him and diabetes issues.

We used to have awesome insurance, but that was recently switched to a high deductible plan. Whoever invented that kind of plan can suck some stuff. I'm trying to clean up my language, so can you imagine the worst stuff possible for them to suck on, please? Thanks :)

Am I still on the D-blog roll? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I hope everyone is healthy!

Santa Looks Sketchy

2009-12-18T12:38:00.003-05:00

Old Kris Kringle. We know him as happy and jolly with rosey cheeks, and a belly that looks full of jelly when he laughs.

Kids can't wait until Santa arrives with his bag full of gifts.

But these Santas give off a bad feeling somehow. Kids pick up on these things. Goddamn are these pictures funny as hell though.

www.sketchysantas.com

Why Do Clouds Float?

2009-12-05T14:28:00.002-05:00

Every kid has questions that form as a result of all of the observations they make about the world around them.

Who do they usually go to first for the answer?

Well, mom and dad of course. And kids have a knack for asking questions that parents don't have the answer for.

Parents no longer have to rely on answers like:

"Because."

"It just is."

"I don't know."

The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents), Second Edition, by Gina Misiroglu is THE reference book to rely on for answers to questions like:

"Why is the sky blue?"

"What do fir trees and pine trees tell us about the weather?"

"Would it hurt if a plant eating dinosaur bit you?"

"How do clouds float?"

Collected from moms and dads across the country, The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents) have questions that will enlighten the most inquisitive children and provide answers for grateful parents.

No longer do parents have to look like deer caught in the headlights when their child asks them a question.

The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents) is a great book to give as a Christmas gift. I know my own kids have read it and found it to be interesting and fun to read.

7 year Anniversary :( Eat, Dose, and Be Merry :)

2009-11-25T06:57:00.004-05:00

On Friday, November 27th, Supernanny will be helping parents regain control of their family after their 5 year old son is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

http://abc.go.com/shows/supernanny

Oddly enough, this is bringing tears to my eyes because I'm thinking back to the struggles my own family and I had when we dealt with our newly diagnosed son. You would think by now I would be more steeled against being emotional over it.

But, no....the feelings are still raw after all these years.

Wow....... It hit me right this second that it has been 7 years this week since Brendon was diagnosed with diabetes. If it weren't for writing about the episode, the anniversary reminder would've come and gone without notice.

He was diagnosed just a few days before Thanksgiving. That was nothing to be thankful for that year.

But, each year afterward, we were thankful that he was able to regain his health and vigor and live a semi-normal life.

Well, let me fix that....HE was able to live a TOTALLY normal life because he was never phased by having diabetes. He played and did everything he was meant to do in life.

He still lives life on his own terms. Sometimes to our frustration as parents, LOL. But, I wouldn't want my little man to be limited by anything at all....not by diabetes....or his own imagination.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Eat, Dose, and Be Merry :D

I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One When I Watch TV

2009-09-01T06:33:00.002-04:00

I'm a regular viewer of Army Wives. It's a cheesy, soapy kind of series on Lifetime, but I like it.

A couple of episodes ago, Claudia Joy would mention how thirsty she was and take a swig of water. It was very subtle and not much attention was brought to it on the show. Not another mention was brought about it following her swig.

But, I immediately zoned in on it and thought, "Ha, I bet she has diabetes."

On the next episode, they alluded to her being told devastating news after a car accident.

I thought, "I'll bet she's diagnosed with diabetes. Now will it be Type 1 or 2. What a cliffhanger!"

During that episode, she complained she wasn't feeling well. And then she asked someone for some water because she was thirsty.

She and one of the Army Wives were driving at night and her vision blurred. They got into an accident after she swerved out of the way of a car whose lane she passed into.

At the hospital, they did regular blood work that night. The next morning, the doctor mentioned that they saw her blood sugar was high and thought maybe stress from the accident caused it, so they did another blood work up that morning and found it to be high again. He told her to follow up with her physician.

I was like, "Damn! I should be a doctor! I'm feeling so House right now."

So, at the end, she's diagnosed with Type 2. It was an educational scene for the viewers. I was impressed that the TV doc was very thorough and pretty accurate with the info she gave Claudia Joy about Type 2 and the fact that even though she is thin and fit, she could still get Type 2.

This past episode shows Claudia Joy taking insulin because the doc wanted to get her started on that therapy right away.

So of course, I'm making sure that the technical part to this scene is accurate, LOL.

She didn't exactly get the air in correctly, but I'll let that pass. No biggie.

She did draw out the insulin correctly, did not tap out bubbles though, and she didn't go nuts over pushing out the insulin to get the correct dosage.

I remember eyeballing the bejeesus out of that syringe to make sure the plunger met up with the correct markings on the syringe. I was always cross-eyed.

OK, anyway, not much TV time can be taken up measuring out the insulin.

But when she injected it into her stomach, she rubbed the spot afterwards.

I was thinking, "Don't rub it! You're not supposed to rub it!"

Anywho, yeah...I'm a stickler for accurate diabetes portrayal. This will probably play out for a few episodes and then be forgotten about. But, I will watch like a hawk in the meantime to see if they do the Type 2 justice.

Hey There, Ho There....

2009-08-18T19:13:00.006-04:00

How has everyone been doing? Sorry I've been MIA for longer than I've ever been since starting this blog, but frankly, I didn't know what to write about anymore.

Brendon has been doing spectacular with baseball, not so much with diabetes. We're going through a transition into him receiving more independence with his care and us trying to teach him how to be responsible with his independence.

He'll probably have his worst A1C since he was diagnosed....we have an endo appointment tomorrow. BUT, I'm hoping for better of course.

He's happy, read all of the Harry Potter books since school ended, and has played baseball nearly everyday for two different teams since Spring.

Here is as starting pitcher for the playoff game:

Anyone Know Why the Cozmo Pump is Discontinued?

2009-03-31T09:00:00.002-04:00

We got a letter in the mail saying Smiths Medical isn't providing the Cozmo pump for direct sale anymore. But, they're honoring the warranty for all old and new customers. We have 4 years left on ours, but it sucks that now we'll have to switch after that time.

Has anyone heard about why they've discontinued the Cozmo?

Gettin' The Itch.....

2009-03-17T10:10:00.003-04:00

My poor neglected blog needs some TLC. So here's some cow bell to get it revved up again:

This morning I was awakened to three little munchkins jib jabbering about the leprechaun coming.

"Let’s see if the Leprechaun came."

"The Leprechaun came!!! WOOHOOOOO!!"

"He left us chocolates!"

"The Leprechaun took the money!"

Background story:

Yesterday, Jacob told me that he and his class built a leprechaun trap to leave in class and that maybe he’d leave them gold coins and candy. He was mostly hoping that the trap would capture the leprechaun himself. He’s been working on earning a pet and a leprechaun would be the best pet ever!!

But Jakey got greedy and wanted to build a trap at home too. I didn’t think of the ramifications at the time.

Later that night while I was cooking dinner, he and Jessica constructed a trap made of a cardboard box and some green cellophane wrapping paper.

"Leprechauns LOVE green!"

They wrapped the box inside and out using a whole damned bottle of Elmer’s glue!

Then they set the trap by propping the box up with a green notebook and a gold basketball trophy.

The kids all went to bed and now it was time for the leprechaun to come and trick ‘em!

The leprechaun couldn’t leave candy because there was no junk food to leave. Grrrrrr…..

No Sakajawea coins were laying around. So no gold leave. Grrrr……

ROCKS! Leprechaun will leave them rocks as a trick for trying to trap him.

But all the mangy rocks in the house that were collected by the kids were tossed out. Grrrrr…..

Aha! Chocolates!

So I asked Jeff where he hid my chocolates that he bought me for my birthday and that are offlimits because of all the working out I'm doing. He said they were on his shelf in the closet.

"You’re kidding me! I looked for them there one day and never found them." Grrrr……

He said they were hidden in a shoebox on his shelf.

I got them down and put a few under the box, took the sh*tload of coins the kids left and called it a night.

A Christmas Story(s)

2008-12-23T09:02:00.002-05:00

Jessica: Does Santa go around stealing toys from stores?

Me: No, he doesn't do that. Why are you asking?

Jessica: Then how does he get the toys?

Me: The elves make them.

Jessica: How do they make them look like the ones in the store?

Me: They're magic.

-----------------

(Background story: I was decorating the family room for Christmas and Jacob asked me if the family room were clean, would that make Santa happy. I told him it would make him VERY happy. So he said "OKaaa-aay, I'm going to clean the family room. Sure enough, he did just that and the family room was completely spotless! And he even placed some more decorations around the room. It actually looked really nice for the work of a 5 year old)

Jakey: Dad, will we be here for Christmas?

Jeff: No, we'll be in New Jersey.

Jakey: Then how will Santa give us our gifts?

Jeff: He'll know where you are and deliver them to Aunt J's house.

Jakey: Awww man! Does that mean we have to clean another family room?

-------------------

Jessica: Does Santa really exist?

Me: Yes he does.

Jessica: Oh yeah? PROVE it!

Me: I can't. He's magic.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmahanukwanza.

The List

2008-11-12T09:52:00.002-05:00

1. Brendon's school nurse quit and no one knew about it until the new school nurse was announced over the speaker during morning announcements....this was 2 weeks after she quit. The new nurse never worked with kids with diabetes before. In the meantime, he was dealing with a substitute nurse who called me to tell me what a pleasure it was to work with Brendon.

2. Jessica went to the school nurse with chest pain and we talked about it that night at dinner. Brendon suggested that maybe she has amnesia. He meant pneumonia.

3. I've been going to the gym and have lost 13 pounds. I need to lose more.

4. I have nothing else to talk about.

This video is so twisted, which is probably why I think it's funny as hell.

Puketober Fest 2008

2008-10-03T08:42:00.002-04:00

All day yesterday I was getting calls from the school nurse reporting Brendon’s blood sugar readings and how at one point he looked pale and clammy. I chalked it up to his blood sugar dropping since...well... it was dropping from the last time she checked him. So she treated him with a juice and a snack.

At 3 p.m., she called again saying he never ate his lunch and he was currently laying down in her office and didn’t want to send him home on the bus. He didn’t eat his lunch? Oh, yeah, he’s definitely sick. So I picked him up, got him home, and all he wanted to do was lay down in bed. No fever, blood sugars were good. Maybe he’s catching a cold or something.

Fast forward to 9 p.m. Now mind you, he hadn’t eaten lunch nor did he eat dinner. HIGHLY unusual for this kid, btw.

Back to 9 p.m. He calls out: "MOM!!…I JUST THREW UP!!" (oh yeah, call for mom on that one, haha) and Jeff and I run upstairs to witness him in the bathroom, bent over the tub, with a lake of puke on the bathroom floor. He informs us that he threw up in bed too.

Where the hell did he get all this puke from?? He hadn’t eaten anything all day!

Oh, the joys of parenthood!

So Jeff gets a large trash bag, wraps up the comforter and sheets, and just throws the whole thing out.

Meanwhile, I’m stuck sopping up the damn puke in the bathroom.

But, his blood sugar behaved all night, THANKFULLY, and he's home from school today. He's fine, but I'm making him rest anyway.

I'm missing a lunch date today with a friend of mine....a SUSHI lunch date....and a party in NJ this weekend where all of my college girlfriends will be gathered for the first time in years.

Ah well. C'est la vie. Such is the life of a parent.

Three Little Birds

2008-10-01T04:51:00.002-04:00

I haven't been posting lately because every little thing is gonna be alright and my 3 little birds remind me of that all the time. So, I don't worry 'bout a thing. (even when I pull Brendon out of school early, drive an hour to Waltham for his endo appoinment only to be told as I check in that the appointment was made in Boston. Grrrrrr. I have another appointment made in WALTHAM now in October.)

Instead, I provide you with mindless, funny entertainment. Sometimes we need that kind of escape even if things are good:

I Don't Know How We Managed That

2008-09-20T18:02:00.004-04:00

This summer royally sucked as far as Brendon's numbers go. We saw numbers in the upper 400 to 300 range on a regular basis....just about daily. I don't think a day went by where there weren't those kind of numbers in the mix. There was a week where his numbers ranged from 490 to no lower than 300.

He had some blood work done for his last appointment to see how his cholesterol was doing and they did his A1C at the same time.

I had been convinced all summer that his A1C would be in the 8 range. Completely convinced and so I became at peace with it because we did the best we could. Sometimes you just have to let it go and be at peace.

When we saw his A1C on the results sheet it was:

7.6

I'm friggin happy about that right now.

9/11

2008-09-11T10:31:00.002-04:00

Hey Look! A Gray Hair!

2008-09-10T02:20:00.004-04:00

Jessica (6 years old): Is pot illegal?

Me (in my head): DOH!

Me: Yes. It's illegal.

Jessica: What is pot?

Me: It is a plant that people dry up and smoke like a cigarette.

Jessica: Is it sometimes called weed?

Me (in my head): Wha the fuuuu???

Me: Yeah.

Jessica: Is it a poison weed?

Me: Yes. It's poison.

Jessica: Does Nana have any of the poison weed?

Me (in my head): Whaaa? LMAO.

Me: Uh, you know. I don't know.

Jessica: Why aren't cigarettes illegal?

Me: Because tobacco isn't illegal and too many people make too much money off of it.

Me (again): Where are you getting these questions from?

Me (in my head): And why am I getting the munchies?

Jessica: NEVERMIND!

I turns out she has seen commercials about "It's never to early to talk to your child about drugs". I will remain calm and openminded about questions that pop up.

SAME DAY

Jacob (5 years old): What does illegal mean?

Me: It means if you do something that is against the law then you go to jail.

Me (in my head): Why not just cut to the chase with the kid.

Jacob: I want Brendon to do something illegal so he goes to jail. And then he'll have to work in a restaurant.

Brendon (8 years old) (Laughs): That would be so cool to work in a restaurant!

Me: What!? No it wouldn't!

I Poop On You

2008-09-07T12:12:00.002-04:00

I saw Triumph the other night on Conan O'Brian and I was hoping HOPING that there would be a Youtube clip available. It is a must see.....

"Fox News....you swing to the right more than Ann Coulter's strap-on."

How They Found This Blog

2008-09-03T06:18:00.002-04:00

Note: Brendon's first day of school went well. I received a call from the nurse saying he was a 60 after recess. She treated with a juice and after that, his numbers were awesome. In fact, all of his numbers were awesome yesterday.

Now for some interesting terms people Googled that led them to my blog:

wife wants vagina stretched
10-4 rubber duck
coneechiwa
diabetic feminin itch
moms saggy ass
guys saggy ball pictures
men in feminine hygiene ads
i hate shannon lewis

And then some others that have something to do with diabetes.

WOW WOW WOW. The Times They Are Achangin'

2008-08-29T13:05:00.002-04:00

We'll either have the first black President in the history of the United States, or the first female Vice President in our nation's history.

The Downside Of Nanny 911

2008-08-28T23:53:00.001-04:00

Jessica (age 6): Mom. Why do I want to watch Nanny 911?

Me: I don't know. Why?

Jessica: So I can learn how to be bad.

I Shouldn't Think About This While I'm Tired

2008-08-27T22:24:00.003-04:00

Today was a "Meet Your Teacher Day" where parents and kids go to school to meet their teachers. We met Brendon's teacher in a new school with a new nurse. So explanations needed to be gone over with Mrs. S. She seemed very understanding and was willing to work with us. She was sweet. I'm meeting with the nurse tomorrow to give her supplies and a once over of the 504 Plan.

As we walked through the halls, I said hello to people we knew, stopped to talk for a while and was so envious at how carefree they were. They just had to breeze in, meet the teacher and walk out again.

I, on the otherhand, was tense about making sure the teacher knew everything she had to know about Brendon.
Make sure to send him to get tested at the nurse's office if you notice him to be very agitated. That could be a sign he's low. He generally knows he 's low, so make sure to have him tested if he complains he feels that way. He's to be tested before lunch, before and after recess, before and after gym. But I'm sure the nurse will go over everything with you and work out a plan for you two to follow. Don't worry. It will all be fine. I don't think there was ever a major problem that the other school had to deal with.

Ugh. One explanation after the next while hoping we weren't overwhelming the teacher with information.

I just wanted to go to the school and meet the teacher. That's all.

Drink Me. Eat Me.

2008-08-26T23:13:00.002-04:00

He eats too much.

He doesn't eat enough.

He drinks too much.

He doesn't drink enough.

Demolishing the highs.

Building up the lows.

Round and round the carousel goes.

Too Much Anatomy

2008-08-17T21:52:00.002-04:00

What is UP with banana hammocks?

The first beautiful day we had in a loooong time was spent at the beach, today. The beach was really crowded because everyone was taking advantage of the beautiful weather while they could.

We found a primo spot right next to the jetty so that it would be easy for our kids to find us and it’s a built in playground if they get sick of the sand.

We settle in nicely when who shows up but Banana Hammock Man. He was about 60 years old, tanned, leathery, and short. But not fat…just saggy.

He plants his reclining lawn chair right. next. to. my. chair. No buffer zone to speak of. Didn’t even try to even out the spacing between my chair and the people next to us.

OK, who the hell brings a lawn chair to the beach?

And then he just stands there….back to the sun….ass facing me….face level. It was fabulous to have a saggy ass smack dab in my facial space.

Jeff came over after playing catch with Brendon and mouthed to me to look behind me. I told him I was absolutely aware of the violation. I didn't want to come face to ass with the guy.

BHM stood there for an eternity. The kids started asking why he was standing there. Never moved. Never adjusted his footing. Ugh.

Finally he lays on his chair and begins his sun worship. He couldn’t get any tanner than he already was. He was a tanorexic.

So he’s laying there and every time I returned to my chair after being in the water, I had to witness his saggy ass. I have to tell you how ill I felt. I tried not to look, but it was right there. Damn…….

We finally started packing up to leave and he adjusted his positioning so that now he was laying on his back. Not only was he laying on his back, but his legs were spread wide open with his feet planted on the sand so that the insides of his saggy thighs could get some rays.

And his saggy ball sack was just laying there all lumpy and disgusting.

Jeff said the guy was a P-I-G. I thoroughly agreed.

The Idiot Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the F***ing Tree

2008-08-14T19:55:00.003-04:00

The time has come when I must clean up my language. I know......I know.

When you hear "Jesus Christ" and "idiot", it's not so bad. But when they come out of an eight year old's mouth, it sounds pretty damn bad. Particularly when he's saying it to his friend in front of his friend's mother and grandfather....with me right there.

Those words come from this scenario everytime I'm out driving with them:

"What are you doing, you idiot?!", I ask through my windshield to an idiot driver.

"Jesus Christ. When is the light going to turn green?"

Fuck has the highest ranking of swear words. When it comes out of an eight year old's mouth, it makes me feel like a failure of a mother.

"Fuck!", Brendon exclaimed when his golf ball missed the hole when we were out playing miniature golf.

Yeah. It's time.

Our Meet And Greet With Carey And Family

2008-08-12T07:23:00.003-04:00

I've tried to think of clever ways to write this post. I wrote versions in my head on the way back from meeting them. I wrote yet more versions in my gray matter on my 6 hour drive back home.

But let me get to the point:

Carey and Susanne, their kids, as well as Carey's mom are just the nicest goddamned people you ever want to meet.

Cases in point:

Originally, we were going to meet at a restaurant....6 kids and 4 adults. Need I say more?

But, Carey's mom suggested we all meet and have lunch at her place. Which I must say put my mind at ease that they didn't think I was a blogging weirdo... :D

That's nice, isn't it?

I shook hands with Carey who looks just like his pictures and did NOT sound like Mike Tyson at all. I had imagined that there has got to be something about him that blogging doesn't reveal and thought, well maybe he sounds like Mike Tyson. But, he has a very nice sounding man-voice.

Susanne is the nicest person and has the most gorgeous bone structure....as well as beautiful curly hair...(damn her!). We have much more in common than we'd like. We're the mothers of two boys with diabetes who like to negotiate the hell out of everything ;)

Carey's mom. What can I say about her other than she is no typical Nana. She had just gotten back from the gym when we got to her place. She's 30 going on 21. And she wants to get a tribal tattoo across her lower back. My kids pretty much adopted her as their own Nana. She's beyond cool.

So, I have admit there was some nervousness on my part. I have my 3 kids in someone's beautiful house...I prayed that they'd be on their best behavior. Jeff and I are meeting Carey and Susanne for the first time....I prayed that I would have plenty to talk about and not sit there staring at them trying to find things to talk about.

Well, I'll tell you that conversation flowed nicely (it's all about nice here). We felt comfortable and at ease.

The kids got along great. Other than Maeve coming to us saying the boys (meaning Charlie and Brendon) were wrestling with her for no reason, they became fast friends.

After lunch we walked to the boardwalk for fun and games. I talked with Carey's mom. Carey talked with Jeff. I talked with Susanne. Carey's mom talked with Jeff. I talked with Carey. Everyone mixed and mingled as we walked.

Since there were 6 kids, there was a natural pairing off.

I thought Charlie and Brendon would hit it off. They did. Being the only two girls in the bunch, Maeve and Jessica hit it off to my relief. Jessica can be a little shy sometimes (understatement). The age difference between Jacob and Ben isn't far, but with the ages that they are right now, they just couldn't relate to each other...yet. But, I see it happening in the future. They're the quintessential 3rd child...and they need each other ;)

I don't know at what point this happened, but there was a shift in the pairings. Brendon and Maeve drifted together. And Jessica and Charlie were connected at the shoulders. This was how it was basically the whole time we were at the boardwalk.

In fact, Brendon felt so comfortable with Maeve, that when Susanne asked if she felt like she was getting sunburned, Brendon...being oh so protective of his new friend, pulled away Maeve's spaghetti straps to check for signs of sunburn. "No", he said, inspecting her skin. "She doesn't look like she's burning." He's a smooth operator.

Brendon' s blood sugars started dropping while we taking them to the rides and he became uncertain about the speed of the Merry-Go-Round that he and Maeve were waiting to start on. So he got off the horse. We gave him juice, cut back his basal, and gathered the kids to get on the train together. But he was uncertain about the speed of that too. His blood sugar was messing with his head. He's cautious by nature, but being low exaggerated it to the Nth degree. Maeve asked Jeff if Brendon was going to be O.K. She was concerned. She was a good friend. He eventually snapped out of his low induced speed cautiousness and eventually was able to relax and have a great time.

Charlie wanted Jessica to go on the motorcycles with him. She happily went along. He wanted her to sit on the back of HIS motorcycle. Jessica wanted her own. But he insisted that it was important that she sit in the back of him and hold on. They were buddies and it was essential that they not leave each other's side.... But they were separated for all of 5 minutes. Jessica hopped onto her own bike.

Picture time came. I forgot my camera, but being the awesome blogger that he is, Carey brought his.

There is a picture you may see soon of Brendon and Charlie standing side by side. Before the picture was taken, Brendon's shirt was haphazardly showing off his pump pak. Charlie noticed this and said, "I want to show my pump too". He lifted his shirt and tucked it in back of his pump, put his arm around Brendon and smiled for the camera.

I turned to Susanne and told her what I saw and heard. I told her it was cute, but bittersweet. We both agreed that it was sad. The boys don't know any different. There is a 2 year age gap between them, but they were diagnosed as toddlers in the same month...different year, I believe. I think Charlie was happy to have something in common with another boy for the first time.....despite the meaning of it.

I don't know about them, but I honestly felt completely comfortable and at ease with every one of Carey's family members, Carey included of course ;)

I was happy we all got to meet and I hope we can do it again sometime soon.

If I Were A Hipster, I'd Be Diggin' The Irony

2008-08-05T08:28:00.002-04:00

But when you have a kid who tells you his blood sugar is 30 and he has 3 units of insulin on board (meaning in his system), the irony sucks.

The other day, Brendon informed me of what his blood sugar was. Of course we had just run out of juice the day before and I keep junk food out to the house, so there were no foods with simple sugar. I had already given him honey that morning for a low and he could barely swallow it...he hates the stuff. So getting enough of it in him wasn't going to cut it.

I gave him what I thought was enough carb loaded foods...along with jelly to keep him from dropping any further. All was well in the end.

Here's where the irony comes in: This morning, I was refilling the sugar bowl with Splenda and when I took the big ol' bag of the stuff out of the cabinet, what do you think was behind it?

Two juice boxes.

Third Time's A Charm

2008-08-03T15:41:00.002-04:00

Jessica lost a tooth on Thursday.

She received $3.....one dollar for every night the tooth fairy "forgot" to come. She almost received $4.

I think she knows the truth because cousin Elizabeth told her the tooth fairy isn't real.

I tried to convince her that she IS real.

Jessica seemed skeptical when, in the middle of the day after Jeff asked if I put money under her pillow and I raced up to do it, I asked if she checked under her pillow to see if the tooth fairy came.

"No, I looked when I woke up and my tooth was still there."

"Go check now."

She went upstairs and came down with $3.

She didn't seem excited about it.

Mmmmm....Garbage Tastes Good.

2008-07-31T13:22:00.002-04:00

I Suppose You'd Use a Dual Wave/Extended Bolus for These Food Items??

He Won Me Over

2008-07-30T06:13:00.002-04:00

....At the moment I thought that, the cute guy in the muscle shirt came over and said,

"Is there a problem here?"

The drunken idiot looked up at him...I think the guy was shorter than me...and said, "Uh.....", and then looked back at me.

I said, "No, there's no problem here."

"No, no problem. Sorry to have bothered you." And the drunken idiot slunk off to another corner of the bar.

"Hi, my name is Jeff."

"I'm Shannon."

"So, blah blah blah blah."

"Blah blah blah blah."

"Ugh. I hate dance music. Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air?"

"Sure."

Jeff opened the door to the FRONT of the bar and let me out first.

Nice!

We walked into a little section smaller than a breezeway to get to the door to the outside.

Jeff turned to me and here's where I thought, 'Oh brother, now he's going to try to make out with me. So typical.'

But instead, he opened the door for me and let me through.

I had never had a guy open the door for me. I was impressed.

So we walked...holding hands!! I never had a guy hold hands with me before because he was so busy trying to make moves on me.

We talked while we walked. I kept looking back to make sure that if he tried to rape me, I'd know where to run back to.

There was a little park bench on the sidewalk where we sat and we talked some more.

And that is all we did. He didn't try to kiss me or touch me. He just talked TO me. And he seemed interested in what I had to say.

Not that I was the intellectual college student at this point:

"I watch TV a lot."

"OMG...me too!!"

"My parents are divorced and I have a brother."

"OMG...me too!!"

We talked some more and realized how much we had in common, LOL.

We decided to walk back and saw that there were no signs on the front of the buildings we walked along. How far up had we walked from? I guess I hadn't paid that close attention.

We stopped to scope out the situation when, from across the street, I saw a midget walk out from a bar and cross to the other side (Why did the midget cross the street? To get to the other side).

"You know", I said, "there was a midget at the bar we were in. Maybe he's the same one. Let's follow him and see where he goes."

"I don't think he's going back to the bar we were in."

"Well, let's just see."

So we followed the midget and saw that he walked through the entrance of one of the buildings. We walked through the same doorway he did and I was accosted by one of my friends. Yup, we found the right bar.

"WHERE WERE YOU????!!!! WHY DID YOU LEAVE WITH HIM????!!!! YOU COULD'VE BEEN RAPED AND KILLED!!!!"

She got very loud whenever drunk.

"It's OK. He didn't even try to make out with me!!"

"Really??!!"

"Yeah! It was so nice. We just talked."

At the end of the night, he walked us to our car (we DID have a designated driver, btw) and we exchanged numbers.

This one was different. He was a really good guy.

He called me the next day and for 17 years, we've talked every day since. With some sex in between.

Confession Time

2008-07-29T13:13:00.003-04:00

Late one night, I went to the supermarket to buy a gallon of milk. As I walked into the breezeway on the way out of the store, the milk slipped out of my hands and dropped to the floor splitting the plastic container wide open. A mother-gush of milk started flowing all over the floor right near the exit door.

I sidestepped the milk lake and walked out of the place. I didn't even tell anyone what happened I was so embarrassed. I just went to another store and bought another gallon which made it home safely.

"Mommy, How Did You And Daddy Meet?"

2008-07-28T18:23:00.010-04:00

This "how we met" story is for Jessica at "O The Joys"....who was intrigued by my mention of a midget being involved in my story....and anyone else who'd like to hear about how I nabbed myself a husband. I tend to "lighten" up the story for the kiddies when they ask me how daddy and I met. They know a version where we met at a party and daddy asked me out on a date. My family knows the same version as well.

But, you'll get the authentic version.

Characters:
Southern Comfort
3 Guys who looked full of themselves
A drunken idiot
and
A midget

Background:
It was June 21, 1991 and I had just finished my Sophomore year in college. I had also come out of a painfully rocky two year relationship amongst the usual jerks I was used to dealing with, so I swore I'd quit boys and partying when I went back to school in September and concentrate strictly on my studies. I was ready to go pure nerd.

The Story:

My college suite mate and I lived close by in neighboring towns and she invited me to go out with her and some friends. I agreed to go out with them. A friend of a friend knew the owner of a bar in Port Jervis, NY and could get us in without I.D.

At 20 years old, I wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to get into a bar without I.D.!!

On my way to meet her, I got this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. It wasn't butterflies, but very close to that feeling. My intuition told me that one of the most important things would happen to me that night, but I couldn't tell if it would be a good thing or a bad thing. I put the thought away and kept driving.

Fast forward to the bar:

We came in through the back entrance and sat at the closest available table. The owner told us if he saw us anywhere else in the bar, he'd kick us out. He was nervous about letting a bunch of underage girls into his bar. Who knows what the hell kind of trouble we'd deliver to his place.

My friend and I were slamming a shot of Southern Comfort when I noticed 3 guys walking into the bar.

I immediately thought to myself "Who the HELL do they think THEY are? Them and their muscle shirts. Puhleeze." So I turned my attention away from them and returned to drinking a rum and Coke sitting in front of me.

As I sat sipping, I saw one of my friends talking to a midget (who returns in the second part of the story). He was all up in her chest trying to convince her that big things come in small packages. She was amused, but not willing to hook up with him. I didn't even try to rescue her. It was just too amusing.

I sat there continuing to sip on my rum and Coke when I noticed one of the muscle shirt guys looking at me. I was given another shot of Southern Comfort and knocked it back. I glanced over at him again and saw him still looking, this time smiling. I thought he was kind of cute, but because of the shots and my rum and Coke, I had to make sure.

"A, see that guy over there?.... Do you think he's cute?"

"Yeah, he's cute."

"Oh yeah, he's totally cute", said another friend who caught on to what we were talking about.

I looked away. I wasn't interested in boys anymore.

I looked over at him again anyway and he smiled. I smiled back...and looked away. I told myself that I'm not making any moves. If he's so interested, he'd have to do all the work.

Another friend had to go to the bathroom, so I got up out of the booth to let her out. Before I could sit back down, a drunken idiot came over and asked if I wanted to go to a party with him. I told him I came here with friends and didn't want to leave without them. He kept badgering me telling me he'd take me to the party and then back to the bar again so that I could go home with my friends.

As he continued badgering me, I looked over at the muscle shirt guy who was watching the exchange.

I thought to myself, "If he doesn't come over now and help me out, he's shit out of luck."

to be continued.....

Where It's At!

2008-07-28T14:28:00.003-04:00

graphjam

Rock Star Demands

2008-07-28T11:27:00.004-04:00

The school year is coming upon us (yippee kiyay!!) and our 504 Plan is in place for the time being.

This sort of reminds me of the contract demands rock stars make for their concert tours. For instance, we demand that the school discards brown M & M's when served at classroom parties. It could totally affect his performance.

The school understands that this plan can be changed at any time which is cool. No one fought us on any of the points and in fact, there were quite a few of them that they came up with themselves.

So here's ours to share. If you have one you'd like to share, I'd love to see it. Maybe there is something we haven't th0ught of that can be added to ours if it applies to him and what he currently needs.

Referral to Special Education:

The 504 Team has determined that this student should not be considered, at this time, as educationally disabled under IDEA: Yes:___x_____ No:_________

Describe the reasonable accommodations that will be implemented:

1. Classroom will have blood sugar meter, glucose tabs and juice box available.

2. For fire drills and lockdowns an emergency kit for Brendon will be available.

3. A nurse will accompany Brendon on all field trips.

4. If Brendon is not feeling well he will have blood sugar checked in classroom. He is not to walk alone to nurse’s office for blood sugar checks. The nurse will be called to the classroom.

5. Brendon’s bus driver will have emergency kit to use if needed.

6. At snack time the nurse will go to classroom for bolus deliver via Insulin Pump.

7. He will have blood sugar checked and receive bolus delivery before lunch.

8. Blood sugar will be checked before bus ride daily.

9. On days where Brendon has PE class, his blood sugar will be checked both before and after class.

10. The nurse will provide teaching for staff and students on an “as needed” basis regarding diabetes. This will help keep Brendon safe at school, while respecting confidentiality.

11. The school nurse will communicate with Mr. And Mrs. Lewis as needed to inform them of high/low blood sugars.

12. Should any episodes of aggressive behavior occur, Brendon’s blood sugar should be checked immediately. If levels are significantly low, Brendon should not be disciplined. If levels are within normal limits, he should be held accountable.

13. Brendon would benefit from being in a classroom that is air-conditioned.

I don't think we're as demanding and nit picky as Nigel. Do you agree?

My Little Interviewer

2008-07-25T19:23:00.004-04:00

Q & A with Jessica (age 6) interviewing her mom:

Q: If you do something illegal that you didn't know was illegal do you still get arrested?

A: YES!! Just because you didn't know that what you did was against the law doesn't mean you don't get arrested.

------------------------------------------------------------

Q: Why are people different than bugs?

A: Because of genetics.

Q: What genetics? Us or bugs?

A: Genetics determines what we're going to be. (I think)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Q: When dad was a nerd in high school, did he have nerd girlfriends?

A: I don't know if dad ever had girlfriends in high school.

UPDATE: Jeff informed me that he did have girlfriends in high school.

And that they were in fact nerds ;) (I added in the last part. They had to have been nerds, I just know it.)

Stick A Fork In Me. I'm Done.

2008-07-24T18:32:00.007-04:00

I hate diabetes and want nothing to do with it anymore. I'm done and fed up. Great numbers today up until this afternoon. I know what the problem was. But it's completely and utterly defeating to keep trying and trying and fixing and succeeding only to be knocked down again within in a couple of hours from feeling on top of the world.
Comments have been turned on again.

Take THAT Diabetes!!

2008-07-24T10:12:00.002-04:00

Little by little Jeff raised his basals, working conservatively so that Brendon didn't swing the other way and crash. Yet, we still saw ranges in the 350's to well over 400 on a regular basis.

I was all about cranking that shit up and would correct him every chance I got, but he never went below the upper 200's.

Finally, Jeff did a major overhaul by raising his total basals by 3 units and adjusting his bolus ratios. Finally, FINALLY, his numbers have been excellent since last night.

Of course hindsight is 20/20, or at least an illusion to 20/20 when the D is involved.

For the past couple of weeks, Brendon had been complaining of achy legs and would ask me to massage them. I attributed the aches to his playing catcher in his baseball games.

The other day, he weighed himself and said he gain a lot of weight and is now 91 pounds. I can't see extra fat on him, so he must've had a big growth spurt.

Whether it's a growth spurt or not, at least his numbers have been awesome. But, the day is not over! We'll see how it goes over the course of the next few days.

Pulling Out The Velveteen Rabbit

2008-07-22T20:01:00.006-04:00

I thought today was going to be a good one until he was in the 400 range again.

It was time to pull out Old Faithful...one of the hundreds of neglected needles we have stashed in the closet, but are always there just in case they're needed. They were once used all of the time...every day...several times a day until one day they weren't needed anymore. Yet, there they remained...waiting for his pump to stop working, or for some other mishap that they may need to rescue Brendon from.

It sort of reminded me of The Velveteen Rabbit:

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.

But the Skin Horse only smiled.

I plugged 403 into his pump to see how much it would dose him for...if anything at this point, his pump is great for calculations!!...and it mercifully called out 1 unit. Easy peasy.

I told Brendon he needed a shot and he asked, "With a needle?"

I told him yes.

He paced back and forth like a caged tiger and stomped off into the family room and plopped himself on the couch.

"Do it in the stomach."

"No, your stomach might be all used up."

"Where are you going to do it?"

"In the arm. It won't even hurt. It'll hurt less than an infusion set!"

"No, I don't want it in the arm. What about me? I want to do it."

"You want to give yourself the shot?"

"Yes, I've done it before."

He wiped the tears from his eyes and watched as I cleaned off a section of meaty thigh, and he pinched his skin while holding the needle in mid air....hesitating.

He was thinking too much. I could see the needle inching closer. Finally Jeff told him to do it quick.

Brendon in achingly slow motion pierced his skin with the needle and pushed the plunger down.

He saw a microscopic teeny tiny speck of a speck of blood and pointed to it asking "I think I see something. Is that OK?"

"Yes Brendon. It's fine. You did a good job."

To see him so worked up over a needle now at a big burly 8 years old when at 2 1/2 years old he was so nonchalant and cooperative about getting a shot somehow broke the hell out of my heart.

It's just one of those things I guess.

Now he's whooping, hollering, and laughing at a prediction his Dad made about a play the Mets made not too soon after that prediction.

"How did you know that, Dad? Holy mackerel!!"

I Don't Know

2008-07-21T22:38:00.002-04:00

Is it that he's sneaking food and not dosing himself for it?

After being dipped in a lake, is it that his pump has gone a little haywire and isn't pumping the way it should?

Is he growing?

Are his infusion set sites all used up?

Is his insulin corrupted?

Did Jupiter and Saturn line up directly with orbit of the moon while the Sun did a backflip landing into a graceful pirouette?

Who the hell knows why, for the past few weeks, he's been sky high in the 400s and then dipping into the 300s and lo and behold delighting me with a sweet 200 range every now and then.

Fuck an A.

None of the standard "fixes" are doing the trick. We've upped his basal rates and bolus ratios. We've changed his infusion sets when ever he's been in the 400's. His insulin isn't expired.

I don't know what else to do.

That's Illegal

2008-07-20T09:27:00.002-04:00

Jessica: Is it illegal to drive while you're blindfolded?

Me: Yes, it's illegal.

Jessica: It's a fun illegal, right?

Me: NO! It's not a fun illegal!

Lesson: There is no such thing as fun illegal!! (Well, there is, but would it be responsible of me as a mom to let her in on that?)

I Think I'm Extra Sensitive

2008-07-16T07:47:00.003-04:00

I notice the little things and take it all in and keep it inside of me for a long time. When a child does something in the way of noticing that Brendon has diabetes and does something nice for him, I take notice. And my heart melts.

Last night at another of Brendon's games, I had him test his blood sugar. A team mate, was sitting beside him, watching from underneath his visor.

He didn't ask questions, and I saw him look away as though he were peaking at something he shouldn't, but couldn't help himself and went back to looking in his shy little way.

In the midst of testing, an unused lancet drop onto the dirt.

The boy saw it and instead of ignoring it, he quickly picked it up and handed it to me. He instinctively knew how important it was.

In his quiet, shy little way, he wanted to help his teammate who was nonchalantly...in a way, absent mindedly...checking his blood sugar. I smiled and thanked him for being so helpful.

To me, the smallest, tiniest gestures like that speak mountains. I've written about the small gestures other children have made toward Brendon, or the concern they've showed for him. They all hold a special place in my heart.

Maybe I'm so sensitive to those things because I know there are gestures out there that could instead be mean spirited and the concerns nonexistent.

10-4 Rubber Duck

2008-07-15T21:02:00.003-04:00

Remember the movie Convoy? I heard the theme song on the radio tonight on the way home from Brendon's baseball game. God I loved that movie when it came out on HBO in the late 70's. Rubber Duck was so badass. He didn't bow down to the Man. Yeah! Stick it to the Bear, Rubber Duck!

I believe I'm going off the deep end.

I want to cry because I don't think I could take much more of being home with the kids. Is it September yet?

If I hear "Hey mom!" one more time, I don't know what I'll do. Maybe get a job with Gap so I can fold their jeans the Gapster way.

This is how brain my dead is...cuz I watched the whole thing and thought it was interesting. And then I read the comments people wrote about it and laughed my ass off.

I turned over a new leaf by deciding to write "laughed my ass off" instead of LMAO. Expect to see it in my upcoming posts and comments possibly on your blog!

In The Still Of The Night

2008-07-10T23:15:00.004-04:00

Sitting on wooden bleachers in the summertime dusk, I have one eye on Brendon in the Allstar game and another on my rambling two.

The air is dryer than it has been for a while and a chill begins to set in as the sun simmers down along the tree line. The field lights flicker on to brighten the field where boys are adjusting their little protection cups, flicking away the bugs flying around their baseball cap visors and watching their coach give them encrypted hand signals for what to do next.

I can't think of a better night than that. When all is right in the still of the night. The boys are excited and attentive. The siblings who came along are all in another deserted baseball field clustered in a haze of cartwheels, running, tackling, inspecting something in the grass, starting their own clutzy game of baseball.

Jeff is umpiring in the field...I guess at first base. Another mom and I talk about how ignorant we are of terminology, rules, and basic knowledge of just about every sport. But we intently watch the game clapping when we think someone made a good play or scored a point. Oh...right...a run.

Jeff walked to the fence to give me a baseball-like hand signal: the pointer finger held out with one hand while the other pointer finger points to it.

I walk over to the dugout where Brendon is trying to guess whether a baseball is being hidden under the glove of another teammate. He guessed that it was and that it wasn't, thereby covering all of the bases.

His friend B, who wasn't playing in this particular game but whose father was assistant coach, was sitting on the other side of Brendon saying he thought there was a ball under the glove.

I took the test kit out of his baseball bag and began the assembly of the kit.

"What's that?", his teammate asks.

"That's for his diabetes", says B. "I had it done to me yesterday when I was at his house."

The boy watched intently as I pricked Brendon's finger, squeezing out the drop of blood and jerking my head to the side as Brendon yelled near my ear for his teammate on the field to "RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN!!!!!"

"What's that black thing?", another teammate asks as he notices what I'm doing and walks over to inspect.

"That's blood!!", says B.

"Why do you need blood?", asks the newest observer.

"It's for the sugar in my blood", says Brendon.

"Is that like a shot?", says Houdini, with the ball under his baseball glove.

"No", says B. "It doesn't even hurt! I had it done yesterday and it didn't hurt at all."

I was relieved to see he was at 116. He was safe.

I returned to the bleachers and sat to watch the rest of the game.

They lost by one point...or score??...10 to 11. It was a great, fun game though.

Brendon's coach walked over as I was testing Brendon yet again on a different set of bleachers as he ate his after-game hotdog, and told him how impressed he was to see him as catcher.

"Way to stop the ball, Brendon. Way to stop it. I liked the way you worked. You were real good out there. I want to make sure you get more catching time."

I looked at Brendon who was looking upward at his coach with a smile on his face, one hand in mine getting poked with a lancet, and a hot dog in the other hand waiting to be eaten.

All was right in the still of the night.

P.S. The game ended at 10:30 p.m.!!!!!

Email From A Fellow D Mom

2008-07-08T17:38:00.002-04:00

I won't cut and paste her email here since I hadn't asked her permission. I do believe in privacy afterall.

I can tell you what it wasn't about. It wasn't about how I inspired her about diabetes or parenting a diabetic child or anything like that.

What it IS essentially about is that she's had many laughs about my use of the word Fuck and what a tension reliever it can be for her to say it privately. And she sent me the following video which absolutely made my day.

I was feeling down and blue today, but damn if the word Fuck doesn't cheer me up whether it's by saying it, writing it, and now watching a very educational video about the word! What a magical tension reliever it can be. She had perfect timing :) Thank you, my new friend :)

We're all adults here, right? (you better be...and make sure you're not at work...or if you are and can't help yourself, close your office door...or if you're in a cubicle, lower the volume and put your ear to the speaker). So, I think you can handle it.

It's funny as H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks (that means Hell).

Rant About Women's Feminine Hygiene Products

2008-07-06T09:59:00.002-04:00

Women have certain hygienic challenges that many come face to face with during the course of their lives. It's just a fact of life and one that we'd all like to be kept PRIVATE!!!

None of us talk about it with each other.

I don't hold hands with my mom walking down the beach asking her what she uses to keep her hooha clean and fresh.

In fact, I don't even want to KNOW she has a hooha! My mom has Barbie Doll privates as far as I'm concerned!

Women and men alike have been subjected to watching commercials like a recent one where a woman is window shopping with a screwed expression on her face like she's about to shit her pants and the voice over asks: "Do you have a burning itch down there? Embarassing odor that no matter how often you bathe you just can't get rid of?"

Guess what voice over! It's none of your business!! Do you honestly think women are willing to come forth with their hygienic problems??? Women don't even want to show the cellulite in their thighs! What makes you think they would want to admit they smell like fishermen after a month out at sea??

Last night's commercial really did it for me. A woman is walking down the street acting all gay and peppy, looking pretty in her light, flowy, sleeveless dress enjoying the men ogling her when she steps in front of a cop car sitting in an alley.

She stops and faces the cop car

Lifts her arm

And smells her armpit!!!!! She rolls her eyes in ecstasy and continues on her merry little way.

WTF is wrong with you you advertisers for Secret deodorant!!!!

Do we see men asking each other what jock itch product they use for itchy balls as they scratch away?

Do we see men sniffing their pits and acting like they just smelled cinnamon buns?

So why the hell do advertisers think it's OK to subject actresses to do and say the most embarrassing things that could possibly be thought of?

End of rant...thanks for reading.

Batman...a Loser??

2008-07-05T15:03:00.004-04:00

This is the longest movie trailer I've ever seen. You pretty much don't need to see the movie now.

Actually, it's a movie trailer spoof with a conniving Joker who must've taken makeup application lessons from Jessica and an ineffective Batman who is at the bottom of his game. He can't even get the girl! And he drives a really little motorcycle.

How The Kids Occupy Their Time During Summer Vacation

2008-06-30T09:40:00.002-04:00

I interrupted their game of "baseball".

I Saw Him Cry For the First Time Tonight

2008-06-29T19:49:00.005-04:00

The kids and I were watching TV tonight when I turned on dLife. It's the first time since we appeared on the show that Brendon had watched it.

He sat quietly, paying attention to all that was talked about. He asked me what Type 2 diabetes was and if there was a Type 3. I answered the best I could.

He said, "I wish I didn't have diabetes".

And then a clip came on about wondering what it would be like to not have diabetes anymore. A member of the show talked about the promises of a cure. Five years from now there will be one....ten years from now. What would life be like if he didn't have diabetes anymore.

I heard a small whimper and looked over at Brendon.

He was crying...wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand. It was the first time I had ever seen him cry about diabetes. During the six years since being diagnosed, he's never cried about having it.

I asked if the show was upsetting him and he said no. I walked over and sat beside him on the couch, put my arm around his shoulders and let his head lean heavily against my arm. We sat for a little while as I turned the channel, landing on Nickelodeon. I asked again what was upsetting him and if he wanted to talk to me about it.

He said no.

So I turned my attention to what was being shown on TV and saw the middle of this commercial:

Brendon and I looked at each other and laughed.

EDIT: We tested Brendon an hour after the show aired. He was 25. He's been that low before and was completely normal and coherent then and now....which is the scariest thing in my opinion. He said, "Wow. I'm really low. Maybe that's why I was crying before." I said, "So nothing bothered you about the show?" "Naw. Nothing bothered me."

Kids These Days

2008-06-29T08:32:00.002-04:00

Jacob (eating a handful of peanuts): Hey Mom! There's peanut butter in these peanuts!

Me: No. They mash up peanuts to make peanut butter.

Jacob: NoooOO! They put peanut butter in the peanuts. That's why they taste this way.

Me (mumbled under my breath): Whatever.

___________

It's first thing in the morning:

Brendon: Mom, I'm going down to the basement for a minute.

Me (smelling trouble): Why do you need to go down there?

Brendon: unintelligible.

Me: Why do you need to go down there?

Brendon: To loosen up my LEGS!

Me: What? On the elliptical?

Brendon: YES!

Me (in my head): OMG. He's turning into a 40 year old already.......

How Did You Found Me?

2008-06-26T16:37:00.002-04:00

These are search terms people Googled that led them here:

crazy ass mom
kernel lodged in ear
do lions eat their young
strong poking finger
mom son hot foot
new hampshire driver suck
when daddy sperm and mommy egg
woman shitting her pants
jessica smut came
what do lions eat for kids

Where Do I Start?

2008-06-26T11:33:00.001-04:00

Well, pictures are always fun to look at, so let's start with them!

Let me introduce you to my brother, Ian, and his lovely bride, Jen.

Ian is here with our grandmother who I've blogged about her experience in a Nazi prison camp.

Me and my handsome family. We were all in the wedding party.

Jessica with her flower girl attire and hairdo.

This is me and my sister. Notice what I'm holding? Yes, it's a Cosmopolitan....about my 5th. I'm wearing Brendon's tie. No, my sister is not talking me out having just one more Cosmo. She handed that to me. I couldn't sip and dance at the same time. It got messy.

Do you notice what is sitting on the table in front of Brendon that he never touched? He's just sitting there for a rest. Jeff said, "Brendon. Dessert is served. Don't you want some?" Brendon's reply "No, I don't want any. I just want to dance."

We had the firemen on standby. Brendon was burning up the dance floor with his fancy footwork.

My sister asked if we taught him how to dance by shooting as his feet with a shot gun...."Dance boy DANCE." Pow pow....powpow.

Jessica told me Aunt Jen had Brendon's moves. I couldn't stop laughing after she told me that.

The weekend was filled with laughter and tears. Laughter because of the stories told about my brother by his best man and tears because we missed our dad and were worried about him.

The food was awesome and so was the company we kept at our table. My brother sat Jeff, the kids, and me with a few other couples who had kids because he thought we'd have "fun" talking about our wee little ones. My brother has soooo much to learn. Luckily though, even though we didn't know these people, they were fun to talk to. We moms had several rounds of Cosmopolitans after the guy sitting next to me told me it would be a good drink to order. He was right!!

I danced the night away and did a Lemon Drop shot with all of the female guests and laughed my ass off the whole night, not because I was drunk, but because everyone is so funny. It's nice to have family and friends with awesome senses of humors (that last part sounded weird...pluralized like that).

Diabetes never escapes the equation:

My brother introduced me to his hockey buddy from college who wanted to tell me he saw me on Dlife when they aired a clip of me and my family for a little episode. He revealed his pump that was clearly clipped to his belt and said how nice it was to see the episode. He DVR's the show every now and then and got a kick out of catching us on it.

I asked how long he's had T1 and he told me he was diagnosed when we was 27. I told him it must've sent his mind reeling that he's got a whole new body and way of thinking to handle, and he said his dad had T1, but that he passed away. His dad thought his son was in the clear since his education on diabetes took him as far as thinking that once you're an adult, you can't get "juvenile" diabetes.

It was nice talking to him. I wished I could've talked to him some more.

After the wedding, we all gathered back at the hotel where some of us "young uns" went up to the 6th floor club room after I had a Corona at the hotel bar. Mind you, this is after several rounds of Cosmos and a shot. In the club room, I had another shot of some wicked-chest-hair-growing-suitable-for-wound-cleansing-cuz-it-smelled-like-rubbing-alcohol Russian vodka brought back from Russia by another one of my brother's hockey buddies.

The next morning, at around 7 a.m. I woke with a migraine and the exquisite craving to puke my guts out.

So I did just that and I took a shitload of Advil and went back to bed.

At 11:45 a.m. I woke to the sound of a text message being sent to my phone saying my dad was off of the heart-lung machine and was OK.

I shlepped down to the dining area of the hotel where a post-wedding breakfast was set up. I ate the greasiest bacon, sausage and eggs I could get my grubby paws on and chased it with some sweet ass coffee. Perfect hangover breakfast.

Everyone else looked so showered and refreshed.

I, on the otherhand, looked like I used to look during my college mornings after a rockin' frat party.

So uncomely of a wife and mother of three.

Where Do I Start?

2008-06-26T10:43:00.000-04:00

OMFG...It's Good To Be Back

2008-06-25T19:25:00.003-04:00

Firstly, thank you thank you for all of the well wishes you all sent. It meant a lot to me. One of the many reasons why I love this blog community.

I plan to post a bit tomorrow about the wild wedding weekend....with pictures...and a special video.

My dad is great and will be home by Friday. It was scary to see him doped up on heavy drugs coming out of anesthesia and trying to read the air-writing he was doing with his finger because he still had a tube down his throat (my recollection from E.R. episodes is that he was still intibated), but by the next day, he was sitting in a chair talking and looking like he always does.

My brother's wedding weekend was fun and awesome and better than I could've imagined. I had my first hangover in years...not fun...but an indication of how tasty the Cosmopolitans were.

I'll take time to download the pics and videos we took tomorrow. I just walked through the door and needed my blog fix.

Wearing His Heart On His Sleeve

2008-06-20T14:43:00.002-04:00

I called my dad a little while ago to see how he was doing and he told me he is staying in the hospital for another week.

"So, will they let you leave to come to the wedding and then go back in?"

"No. I, uh, need open heart surgery."

"What??"

And then I started bawling.

He and my stepmother explained that it's preventative because he'd keep having mini-heart attacks until he kicks the bucket (as my dad worded it).

So, on Monday, he'll be going in to have some of his veins stripped from his legs and place all around his heart to make up for the veins that are weakened. There are now 3 stents in his heart and those veins will all collapse someday, but instead of having a HA as a result, the new veins will make up for them and his heart will keep on ticking.

"Are you scared, Dad?"

"Nope. I'm not scared."

Once a Marine, always a Marine.

That And A Heart Attack Will Kill Ya

2008-06-19T10:58:00.002-04:00

I got a call today from my stepmother saying my dad had a heart attack yesterday. It's his second one. His first occured when he was in his mid 40's. And now...about 12 years later...he was hammered with another.

He's overweight and doesn't exercise. He did quit smoking back when he had his first, so he's slightly ahead of the game.

I reamed out my stepmother by initially telling her when will it be the last time I get a call saying he had a heart attack. I said he has to lose weight and exercise. I hadn't said anything before because I knew that they knew what to do and that it's hard and that they didn't need me lecturing them. But, now that I'm getting a call about his second heart attack, I told her I can't sit back and not say anything anymore.

I told her she needs to lose weight too. They can go for walks. Pick a diet and stick with it. Just stick with it.

I know how hard it is because I'm trying too and it's a pain in the ass to lose weight. But I don't want the next phone call to be that either one of them has had a heart attack. I want it to be the last call because they've pulled their shit together and lost the weight. I don't want it to be the last call because they're dead.

My brother is getting married this Sunday. At least my father will be well enough to attend. The fucker.

Can You All Do Me A Favor?

2008-06-16T16:07:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! I have some news to share...just tidbits of stuff going on...all good. I'll get to that next week since I'm still up to my ears in getting things squared away with events I've mentioned in my previous post.

The favor I need from all of you is to read his story posted on Kate's blog. Kate is a fellow Type 1 mom and she interviewed her friend who has Type 1. Don't show pity, but take this lesson away with you:

No matter how much a person is broken down by the ones he loves the most and by those he knows the least, it takes a special person to overcome the cruelty of human nature and to create a life for himself that makes him happy.

No matter how awful his father was to him (and that is just the tip of the iceberg in his torturous experience as a teenager) he still sent his dad a Father's Day card only to have it returned to him unopened.

Children will always love their parents no matter how terribly they are treated by them. That to me is the most heartbreaking thing I could ever think of.

So, please, I think you owe it to yourselves to read his story. I came away with a more optimistic attitude toward those who are treated the worst and come out on top in spite of it.

Sayonara For A While

2008-06-05T14:27:00.002-04:00

Every now and then, I need a break from blogging and the internets. It's so easy to get sucked in while searching and exploring, reading, playing Scrabulous, etc. etc. etc. and a bunch of other etc.'s.

I start my every morning with coffee and my list of blogs to read and the next thing you know, I'm behind on everything including a shower.....

While I'm gone I'm going to:

1. Lose about 5 pounds to fit into this dress that I will wear as a bridesmaid at my brother's wedding in 2 weeks: Click on the green swatch (Olivine)

2. See a doctor about prescribing something that helps with the blotchiness that I know will show up all over my chest and neck when I'm in any situation that raises my adrenaline level or when I drink alcohol...which I know will happen when I'm wearing that extremely exposing dress walking down the aisle....dancing to embarass my brother at the reception...etc. etc. etc.

3. I will read this book.

4. I will make another attempt at following Flylady (that pain in my ass (but oh so necessary) bitch) which requires a minute of internet time, but I will print the list each day rather than clicking on links and getting sucked in.

5. Watch my littlest one graduate from preschool.

6. Hope that at Brendon's appointment next week, his A1C is better than the last time (which wasn't bad, but still).

7. Try my damndest to not get sucked in by the internets!

8. Watch my little bro get married.

Show Me The Funny

2008-06-04T07:40:00.002-04:00

A couple of side notes:
1. Brendon woke up at a 102 this morning after a basal adjustment and some slurps of juice at midnight to prevent a low.
2. I plan to vote for Obama for President.

Now, nothing puts me in a better mood than finding funny, well made videos on Youtube. I was fortunate to find a few. I present you with videos that are safe to watch in the work environment if your IT guys haven't set up blocks:

This first one would've come in "handy" for my birds and the bees talk with Brendon (if you have time, read the end of the post I linked to (starting with "How big is a vagina?") and you'll see why this video would've been a perfect accompaniment to my talk with him):

This next video has some of the best one-liners I've ever heard. And these child actors are geniouses!! Look out Brando and DeNiro:

Finally, you don't have to be a gamer to "get" this one. It is funny as hell. Simple as that:

Before He Sleeps

2008-06-03T19:35:00.003-04:00

Last night at midnight, I checked Brendon and cursed the dark when I saw 38. I HATE seeing a low when he's sleeping. Rousing him from a deep sleep so that he can eat a cheese sandwich and slurp down a juice is a royal pain in the ass.

"Brendon...drink the juice", I say as I press the straw to his lips.

"C'mon, Bren. Drink the juice. You're low. You have to drink the juice."

Snarl, growl, swat me away with his little bear paw.

"Bren, eat the sandwich. SIGH.... C'mon. Take bigger bites. (Why do you have to take such tiny bites?, asked under my breath)."

Plus, I feel terrible that he can't sleep soundly and uninterrupted. There will be plenty of sleepless, interrupted nights when he's living on his own to deal with the nighttime lows alone....and when he has kids of his own (I don't think I've had a night of uninterrupted sleep in over 8 years!).

Tonight, before he sleeps, I need to treat a falling blood sugar. If I can get it now and keep it from falling, I'll be a happy camper when I check him tonight. I hope I can keep it from continuing this crazy nosedive he's currently experiencing.

At dinner time, around 6 o'clock, he was a 58 with .8 units on board. I gave him a juice box and let him eat dinner (an additional 24 carbs) without first dosing him as we usually do. I figured by the time he was finished eating, the carb load would hit him and he'd be OK enough to dose.

Whoops! About an hour later, I forgot to dose him. Checking again, his BS is at 96. Hmm. He'll probably rise even more, but I wanted to wait a bit longer.

He complained he was hungry and ate a few crackers. And then, not long after, I saw him sneaking more:

"How many crackers do you have there?"

"One, two, three, four.... I have six."

"Well, if you're going to sneak food, at least keep track of the carbs!"

I forget to check him to see where his number is. I expect it to be in the 200's when I finally remember again.

A little while ago, he was in the 70's.

"Did you dose yourself for the crackers?"

"No."

PLEASE don't let this be a sign of what late tonight has in store for me.

Dignity At Its Finest

2008-06-01T10:48:00.004-04:00

The President bumping chests with an Air Force Academy graduate. Bush must've felt his crazy frat boy days come back to him.

Taking His Lead

2008-05-31T12:00:00.002-04:00

Being open about having diabetes is something I find to be important. As long as Brendon is comfortable, I don't encourage him to be discreet. It's all out in the great, wide open.

To that end, when several of his baseball team mates circled around him in the dugout as he assembled his meter, craning his neck to watch the plays being made in the field, I thought, maybe I should get the boys to back off. But, Brendon seemed oblivious to the attention. He seemed oblivious to even performing the glucose test as he's done it hundreds of times already and sometimes he doesn't realize he's done one. At times he says, "Oh shoot! I forgot to test myself", with me reminding him that he tested himself seconds ago.

The boys look on as he squeezes blood from his finger.

"Ew! Lookit, blood! Does that hurt?"

"No", says Brendon distractedly because he's too busy watching the game and performing the test at the same time.

"BOYS! GIVE HIM SOME BREATHING SPACE! LEAVE HIM ALONE!", Brendon's coach bellows to the boys from the field.

A mother I was talking to catches what's going on and says, "Do you think they should give him some privacy?"

And then I begin to wonder if I should get them to back off so that Brendon doesn't have an audience.

From then on and long after the game, it nags at me that I probably should've protected Brendon from the onslaught of rubberneckers.

I asked him later that night if he was bothered by the boys watching him do the test.

He says he wasn't.

I ask if I should've gotten them to back off.

He says I don't have to. It's fine.

And so I let him take the lead in all of this. He's eight years old, but he has a right to conduct himself the way he wants when it comes to how he handles his diabetes management.

If he isn't bothered, then I will stand back. If I see him struggling, I'll lend a hand.

WAPTLTTOTTOS

2008-05-30T16:50:00.003-04:00

It was bad enough when Beverly Hills 90210 first came out and I had to get the damn zip code straight when I talked about the show with someone: "Hey, did you see Beverly Hills 91520...er uh...90589...whatever.

Now I come up against the initials for shows. I'll happen upon an article about a show and find initials like:

SATC
ANTM
SYTYCD
AI
TMNT

An article about TC was written by TWOP. Even the gossip websites are initialized!

I'm convinced I'm dyslexic, so referring to a show by using its initials will not work for me, LOL.

I don't think I'll ever get Law & Order SUV straight....EVER.

OMG WTF, people! Type it all out.

Where IS Everybody?

2008-05-28T12:25:00.001-04:00

Where did everyone go? Are you all too pooped out or busy to blog or comment? It's blahsville around here.

Wallis Sands (Pics)

2008-05-27T19:02:00.005-04:00

For those of you who weren't aware, there are 18 miles of New Hampshire coastline.

Last summer, I found a gem of a beach and have declared it my very own oasis.

On any given day this summer while the kids are on break, you will be able to find us at my favorite place. I will take them here as often as possible. We went over the Memorial Day weekend and it's always the most relaxing place to go. It's not too crowded, the kids don't fight, and there is a bath house and concession stand a stone's throw away.

Best of all, Brendon's numbers are ALWAYS spot on. I think we'll go as often as possible just to give him a chance to have excellent numbers more often than not and give his poor body a break.

The beach area is small enough for the kids to go from one end to the other without me worrying about them getting lost.

It's large enough, though, to give them the sense that they have more freedom than they know what to do with.

I simply love being there.

To Know John Cusack

2008-05-25T08:48:00.004-04:00

However you say it, Coosack...Cuesack, he is a cutie...and quirky...and a little off center in a very conservative, mild mannered sort of way.

Let's get to know John Cusack with this Proust Questionnaire (as swiped from Vanity Fair):

What is your current state of mind?
Bloodied and slightly doom-struck, but I am comfortable with these themes. I remain basically unbowed.

What is your greatest fear?
Beyond the normal issue of the mortality of my nearest and dearest, strangely it is a fear of inertia. If I stop, I may not be able to start again.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Whenever I’m lazy enough to assume people think like me. It’s a kind of vanity that gets me in trouble a lot. Also, I tend to project a purity of heart into people who impress me, which is very child-like.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
The inability to think for themselves. Or the need to define one’s core in five-minute sound bites.

Which living person do you most admire?
Living? Nelson Mandela would have to go down as one of the three great figures of the last century.

Which living person do you most despise?
Very tough question. They exist in the realm of war profiteers. These men and women are the lowest form of human consciousness, truly and completely spiritually fucked. Theirs is an amazing satanic dance: create a new market with war, bar competitors from the aftermath, then pay your own companies at a cost-plus basis, which guarantees profits, all at the taxpayers’ expense. They are the biggest welfare freaks on the planet.

On what occasion do you lie?
Only when awake or speaking or looking at someone …

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The great white buffalo.

When and where were you happiest?
Hunting it.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Music. It seems the closest art to prayer and where the shamans roam.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Take myself less seriously. And I would try not to be famous for at least a week or two as an adult.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I couldn’t say I have one besides the small amount of good I’ve done for other people.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would it be?
An angelic (not demonic) non-corporeal presence. Would like to travel light.

What is your favorite occupation?
It would be great to be a medium.

Who are your favorite writers?
I can only speak to what has inspired me lately—meaning stuff I have read or reread by Garry Wills, Bob Dylan, Cormac McCarthy, Mark Leyner, Naomi Klein, Hunter S. Thompson, and J. D. Salinger.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Just happened to reread Salinger, and Zooey Glass made me very happy indeed.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Let’s go with Jesus. Not the gay-hating, war-making political tool of the right, but the outcast, subversive, supreme adept who preferred the freaks and lepers and despised and doomed to the rich and powerful. The man Garry Wills describes “with the future in his eyes … paradoxically calming and provoking,” and whom Flannery O’Connor saw as “the ragged figure who moves from tree to tree in the back of [one’s] mind.”

What are your favorite names?
I like the name Doctor Zhivago.

What is your greatest regret?
That I have lived selfishly or fearfully (when I have).

How would you like to die?
While dreaming—would be a great transition.

What is your motto?
An old Yugoslavian proverb I always come back to: “Tell the truth and run.”

Viva Lost Wages

2008-05-23T19:23:00.006-04:00

My brother is currently holding his bachelor party in Las Vegas with about 10+ buddies of his. Jeff left at the crack of dawn this morning to live the high life until Monday.

I just called to see what he was doing and who he was doing it with.

He told me: "It's fucking freezing here and it's raining. It's 60 degrees with 20 mile an hour winds. You know where we're at right now? We're out at the pool because, DAMMIT, we're in Las Vegas and we're determined to have a good time.

Me: "You guys are losers! HAHAHAHAHAHA. Make sure you get umbrellas for your drinks!

I want him to have a good time, but since I'm here alone with the kids for 4 days, a little piece of me is reveling in the unusually shitty Las Vegas weather.

Taboo

2008-05-22T11:12:00.006-04:00

There are all sorts of folklore and mysticism surrounding menstruating women. One such folklore believed among the French as well as famous chef, Eric Ripert, and Becks & Posh is that menstruating women cannot make homemade mayonnaise for the mayonnaise will "break" or become soupy rather than a thick cream.

Michael Ruhlman, a great author who writes all sorts of cookbooks and non-fiction about cooking and chefs, wrote in his comment section that:

"... it is common knowledge in France, according both to Eric Ripert and Becks & Posh, that women who are menstruating cannot make mayonnnaise. It always breaks. Always."

Well, I went on to prove them wrong. Menstruating women CAN make mayonnaise that doesn't break and I commented as such.

And then Michael edited his post and wrote a nice shout out to Ripert, Becks & Posh saying so.

2008-05-16T08:05:00.001-04:00

Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 people to be tagged, list their names & why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re it!” & to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person that tagged you, so since you’re not allowed to tag me back; let me know when you are done so I can go read YOUR weird, random, facts, habits and goals.

1. When Brendon was in the hospital and we were told that he'd have to receive shots of insulin, my immediate impression was that we'd have to take him to the doctor once or twice a week to get an insulin shot....that's how clueless I was about the whole thing.

2. I read the very last page of a book first.

3. I don't believe in an afterlife. I believe that when we die, it's like the way we were before we were born.

4. I bite my cuticles and crack my knuckles often.

5. I haven't painted my fingernails in about 7 years.

6. I'm going to be a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding next month.

7. The couples from every wedding I've been a bridesmaid in are now divorced....and they're the only ones I know who are divorced.....(good luck brother).

8. I taught myself how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the piano when I was a kid. But that's all I know how to play.

9. I've been to 18 funerals in my lifetime (and I'm only 37!)

10. My goal is to travel the United States in an RV with Jeff either before or after we retire......

I tag the following 6 people because they're funny and interesting and I know I'll be highly entertained by whatever they choose for their 10 facts, habits, or goals:
Carey
Lea
George
Paige
Kate
Ed

It's Been Too Long

2008-05-14T19:19:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since there has been a Youtube video that made me aLOL. I've finally found one.

Poor little Link. Despite getting picked on, he's the only reason this video is worth posting. I love his British accent.

Icing On The Cake

2008-05-12T12:53:00.002-04:00

Jamie left a comment on my previous Mother's Day Post saying I was treated like a queen. That is for sure. Breakfast in bed, hugs and kisses from everyone. Hardly any fighting amongst the kids. It was the start of a beautiful day.

Brendon and Jeff were invited to go to a Fisher Cats baseball game, so I planned to take Jessica and Jacob to lunch at a lake and then to Charmingfare farm where they have farm animals as well as wild animals like bears and wolves.

I was going to top off the day with a trip to the nursery to buy some flowers and plants. I pictured my idyllic day ending with the smell of the earth and flowers.

Well, we had lunch at the lake (good ole Mickey D's) when Jacob complained his stomach hurt.

I was hoping he wasn't being hit with the same flu that Brendon and Jessica had fought with since Thursday.

He only drank his chocolate milk since his appetite seemed to have left him. He otherwise seemed fine and energetic, so I was hopeful that he was perfectly fine.

We finished lunch and headed over to the farm.

We got there, found an awesome parking spot and trekked across the parking lot.

Suddenly, Jacob lost his lunch....literally.

The poor kid.

We turned around and started walking back to the van only to stop every few seconds to let him puke up some more chocolate milk.

"The chocolate milk didn't work for me", he said between hurls. I just wanted to hug him at that point, but didn't trust the pukefest was over with.

We got him home and inflated the trusty blow up mattress that we use for bedtime when the kids have the stomach flu. It's so easy to clean up!!!

So, he and I spent the remainder of the day laying on the mattress with a pot next to him and with me relaxing, reading "Love in the Time of Cholera".

Later that evening, after Jeff and Brendon got home, we ordered take out for my special Mother's Day dinner. Jacob was feeling lousy, but he was hungry. He was able to keep down water and attempted a couple of bites of dinner, but he just didn't have the strength to finish eating.....

That is until it was time for Sunday night dessert time. He ate a ice cream sandwich which promptly came up into the kitchen sink right when he went over to wash his hands.

"The ice cream didn't work for me", he said between hurls.

The rest of the evening was spent with me laying next to Jake on the blow up mattress as I read some more.

Just the day in the life of a mom.....

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T10:10:00.003-04:00

To all you awesome moms out there-

Have a great day today.

Breakfast in bed.
Cards from the kids.
Chocolate.
Bookmark.
John Grisham book.
2008 Calorie King Carb book.

Can't get any better than that :)

Meh.

2008-05-08T17:49:00.003-04:00

You have to understand that if Brendon doesn't fight me on not going to his baseball game tonight, then he is truely sick.

I got a call from school this morning saying Brendon was low, terribly pale and that he threw up in computer lab.

I thought I royally mucked up his dosage as he was low at breakfast time when I tested him.

When the nurse tested him, he was a 72, but soon after, he was a 42. She was able to get enough tabs and juice into him to start raising his blood sugar.

I brought him home and tucked him into my bed while he watched Sports Center.

He said he wanted to rest so that he'd be energized for his game tonight.

I played around with a temp basal rate to keep his numbers from dropping and hoped he didn't actually have a stomach flu.

A couple of hours later, he was "nice" and high. But he was still lackadaisacal, so I was suspecting he was sick rather than affected by a low.

Then this afternoon, he bargained with his father that if he didn't feel well enough to play then could he watch the game? That was fine.

Through out the day, he was resting and complaining his stomach bothered him, but he seemed hopeful that he would still play.

Well, when the time came, he said he needed to lay down and that his stomach was bothering him. I told him he wasn't playing and braced myself for an argument from him. But he conceded and asked if he could watch. I told him it's not a good idea for him to go at all and braced myself again for an argument. But he conceded.

He just asked me what time it was. I told him it's 5:55.

"That's 10 minutes after my game started."

Responsible

2008-05-07T13:59:00.003-04:00

Brendon will feign exhaustion if asked to clean up the mess he's made on any given occasion, regardless of the fact that seconds before I asked him he was running around like a lunatic. If I ask him to put away his clothes after I fold them, the furthest they get is on the floor at the entrance of his bedroom.

While he goes "half-way" with undesirable chores, I always make note how he goes full throttle when it comes to being responsible with his own diabetes care.

We had gone on a three hour trip to visit family and on the way home, we stopped at a rest stop for snacks and gas. I let the kids pick whatever junk they wanted if it meant a peaceful car ride home. While they picked at the assorted crap, they all zoned in on the "forbidden" Pop Tarts. Jessica and Jacob made their choice...some sort of Chocolate Sundae thingy. Brendon immediately picked up the same, but rather than tuck it under his armpit as his brother and sister had, he looked at the carb count.

"90 carbs!!?? I'm putting this one back."

And so he continued to look for a more suitably lower carb snack. As much as he's begged me in the past to buy him Pop Tarts ("Just this once, Mom.") he passed because he took his diabetes into account first and foremost.

When he gets his equipment packed for baseball practice, he may forget one thing or another, but he never forgets juice boxes and his test kit.

There are times when I'll tell him he needs to be checked while he's in the middle of playing, and he may tell me, "I feel fine, Mom. It's OK, you don't have to check me", but when I insist that he does need to be checked, he never balks or sulks or kick at the ground the way he would if I told him he has to put his dirty underwear in the laundry basket. He takes his lumps with dignity.

Yes, there are times when he wants to just be a kid.

The school nurse called yesterday to let me know he was in the 300's before lunchtime and when she told him how high he was, he pleaded with her to not make him wait around for a ketone check. He wanted to hurry up to the lunchroom so that he could eat in time and get to recess.

Overall, he certainly has made our job easier to deal with. Even as a toddler back during the early diabetes days.

I give him tons of credit for taking his diabetes care like a champ.

I worry at times that I let him take on too much and that as he gets older he'll burn out. But he seems to deal with his care without a second thought.

He knows his limits though. If he's had a long day or he simply doesn't feel like dealing with it and I've told him how many carbs he's getting for dinner, rather than automatically entering into his pump, he'll ask "Mom, can you do it for me?"

I do so, willingly.

I Had A Dream. I Had An Awesome Dream.

2008-05-06T17:09:00.003-04:00

Last night I had a dream that I was working out or training for some sort of fitness routine. I'm not really sure why I was doing the following:

I was doing one arm pushups and was amazed at how easy they were. I couldn't figure out why they seemed like an impossible feat to perform when I thought about doing them on previous occasions. They wound up being a piece of cake to do.

After doing several of them, my legs lifted off the ground so that they were horizontal to the floor and I was able to balance myself as I continued doing more pushups. They were so EASY to do. It was awesome.

What Is There To Say?

2008-05-05T23:02:00.003-04:00

Jacob had a fun, rainy day birthday party on Sunday. The kids (and parents...interestingly enough mostly dads) had a blast playing with all of the neat science exhibits and having races hoisting themselves up in the air on chairs using the pulley system. Jess and Jake were not, however, impressed with the petrified ice cream (a.k.a. dehydrated ice cream that the astronauts eat). But they all enjoyed the Sponge Bob cake and all of the kids had seconds, after having had 2-3 slices of pizza. Don't their parents feed them??
Brendon did really well pitching for his team's first official baseball game on Opening Day on Saturday. It was drizzly and our hands were gnarled into wet claws from the raw cold, but despite the poor weather, the boys did a great job playing without complaint. Unlike us parents who were muttering to each other about which inning it was and when would the game be over already.
I'm signing Jacob up for soccer for the Fall. Registration is Tuesday already. The poor kid is the only one not involved in a sport because he missed the Little League cut off date by two days and they wouldn't give him an exception. He's the typical 3rd child who gets the short end of the stick. So, here he is having to wait for 5 months to get on some sort of team.
I started Anna Karenina with the lofty intentions of finishing it. I bought it a couple of years ago when Oprah had it as her book club pick. I had several other books to read that I wanted to get out of the way so that I had no distractions and could sink my teeth into this 800 page monster. Holy Hell is it boring, so I'm going to pick up John Grisham's new release instead.
Stayed tuned for a special interview with the cutie pie, John Cusack.

Oh, How They Amuse Me

2008-05-04T10:47:00.002-04:00

Jessica: We're going to see Aunt Jen and Uncle Ian kiss at their wedding. And we'll see mom and dad kiss too.

Grandma: Are you going to kiss anyone?

Jessica: No way!

Grandma: Jacob, are you going to kiss anyone?

Jacob: No way!

Grandma: Why not?

Jacob: Because I don't want babies. I don't want all those babies comin' outta my tenticles.

--------------------------

Me: Jacob, go pick out an outfit to wear to your party.

Jessica: Jacob is going to wear his birthday suit.

Me: Do you know what a birthday suit is?

Jessica: Yes. It's pink and squishy and says Jacob on the front.

Happy Birthday Jacob!!

2008-05-02T07:57:00.004-04:00

He's 5 years old today. He wants to go to Applebee's for his birthday dinner tonight. He'd like me to buy him baseball cards using the birthday money he received from his Nana. Last night when I tucked him into bed he asked if he would be 5 years old tomorrow. I told him he would be and that he'd always be my baby.

"Moooom....I'm not a BABAAAY!"

"OK OK you're not a baby. Good night."

"Mom?"

"Yes Jacob."

"Can you get me a sippy cup with water and ice?"

Guys And Gals

2008-05-01T07:44:00.003-04:00

This here's a new post. So, you know what that means. YES!! Brooke went bye bye.

Brendon had a friend to the house and while eating lunch D asked Brendon if he still like L (a girl). He said, "No, I used to like her and then I dumped her. Now I like S." Then they laughed. I thought to myself, '1. Did L actually know that Brendon liked her and 2. Did she ever know that she was actually dumped?'

Jacob will only allow "boy songs" to be played on the radio because boys listen to boy songs and girls listen to girl songs. "Boy songs" are basically songs sung by male performers. In the same vein, Jacob asked me if I ever fart? I told him I try not to but sometimes I do on the potty. After he misheard me and I clarified for him that I do not fart in Karate, he said "You don't fart!! Only boys fart. Girls don't fart."

Jacob is having a birthday party on Sunday. Out of the 12 kids invited from his preschool class, only 4 have RSVP'd and only 2 out of the 4 are going. That childish insecurity in me is rising up. It's embarassing to face the few parents at the party and have them see that no one else showed up and perturbing to not have anyone RSVP and stand up Jake on his birthday when he's looking forward to his party.

So now that I thoroughly threw myself under the bus with my farting habits and insecurities, I will bid you adieu...for now.

I Will No Longer Blog

2008-04-30T08:44:00.002-04:00

Nothing, not the Iraq War, Bush's fascist regime, nor China's occupation of Tibet, has moved me to take a stance more than the fact that Brooke White is still on American Idol.

When will the American people wake up and realize they have to stop voting for her in order for her to be booted off the show?!

Every night that she's been on the show has been the last straw for me, but it wasn't until her butchering of Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer" that the straw finally broke the camel's back.

In protest of her position on American Idol's stage (playing either a guitar or the piano with that sun shiny smile plastered on her face) I refuse to publish another post on my blog until she's finally voted off.

Here is her rendition of "I'm a Believer":

I believe she must be voted off tonight!! VIVE LE VOTE OFF!

The Other Woman

2008-04-28T10:01:00.004-04:00

When a person is desperate for survival, they'll do things they never imagined in order to cling to what little they have left of their minds, let alone their bodies.

In the prison camp where my grandmother was held during WW2, she befriended a woman who seemed to receive little bits of luxury...scraps of food (other than the cold potato soup they were served daily), soap, socks, chocolates.

How did she come across these things?

The Nazi guards gave them to her.

Why did they give them to her?

Because she was a woman....

My grandmother was lucky that the woman was generous with the Nazis as well as with her and would share the little treasures she received in payment with my grandmother. It made life slightly bearable and my grandmother didn't have to give of herself to those monsters. At least willingly. The woman, I think, didn't do what she did willingly to the point where she wanted to do it, but if what she received helped her cling to living, then she did what she had to do in order to survive.

He Doesn't Have Diabetes

2008-04-27T13:45:00.002-04:00

Brendon didn't have diabetes yesterday. We cut back his basal so that he wouldn't drop deathly low as he played catch, explored some wet wooded area with his older cousin and his cousin's neighbor friend, played air hockey, jumped in the bouncy house, and fumbled with the keys to Guitar Hero.

He ate pasta and pizza that we barely dosed him for. Before eating a honking piece of birthday cake, he never heard us call out the words "Brendon come here, let me see your pump" because he didn't need to be dosed for it AT ALL.

Anytime we checked him, he was a sassy 70....at the end of the night, a nifty 144.

He didn't throw temper tantrums from his blood sugars plummeting or rising. He was a steadily happy boy.

He didn't have diabetes yesterday. It was nice.

The Birds And The Bees From Soup To Nuts

2008-04-24T23:31:00.003-04:00

Well, he asked for it. He wanted me to tell him where babies come from and before I could answer, Jessica said they come from mommy's stomach. I've told the kids the Cliff's Notes version of baby making before, but he's getting older now and "magic" just doesn't cut it anymore.

"Yeah I know, but how do they get there?", he asked.

"The sperm meets the egg and says a fine how do you do and then POOF! a baby is made." (I improvised this line a bit).

"No, start from the waaay beginning and take it to the end", he insisted.

Ohhh...whew...well, uh. Hmm, how can I tastefully get into the bow-chicka-bow-wow without getting too graphic?

OK...here goes:

"The daddy puts his penis in the mommy's vagina...."

"Ahhhh!!!!", he screams as he ducks for cover on the couch and assumes the fetal position with arms and hands covering his head as though I just unloaded a hand grenade on him.

"And the daddy's sperm comes out and finds the mommy's egg in her belly and then they meet together and break up into a whole bunch of cells and they keep dividing until the baby is formed."

He came up for air when I started mentioning the cell division part and relaxed a lot more.

"Where does the baby come out?"

"Well, the baby comes out of the vagina, but for some women, like mommy, the doctor cuts open the stomach and pulls the baby out from there."

A bit like Alien...

"How big is a vagina?"

I close my fist and say..."A vagina is closed like this, but as the baby comes out, it opens up like this", as I spread my hands wide, "and the baby slides out."

"How does it open that wide?"

"Well, it's able to stretch open..."

He cuts me off and says, "That's weird." And resumes watching Cory In The House.

Quote by Jakey

2008-04-24T07:30:00.003-04:00

"Don't tickle my lightsaber."
-Said while dressed as "Dark" Vader.

So Smart

2008-04-22T10:35:00.003-04:00

Jessica: I know how to spell O.K.

Me: How do you spell it?

Jessica: O-K.

Brand Me A Losah

2008-04-19T07:36:00.007-04:00

Omen #1: Black snake in our path when Jacob, Jessica and I made our way from the baseball field to the park during Brendon's Little League game. Jessica nearly stepped on it after I screamed "Ooh!! Look a snake! A snake!! See it! See it! Jessica watch it...you're going to step on it!!". I cringed the same way one might cringe in anticipation of seeing if the next step will land a foot in a pile of dog shit.

Clue #1: A clean, white partial tampon applicator sitting at the outside of my mini van. "Ew", I thought to myself when I went to check the time on the dashboard clock because, gawd, when is this game going to be over, "who the hell used a tampon around here?"

We all piled into the van after Brendon's game as the "terrorized" children claimed they were starving.

"Let's go to McDonald's", I mouthed to Jeff.

"That's fine", he said.

So we went our merry little way and as we're about to pull into the drive thru, Jeff asks if his wallet is in the van.

"Yeah, I saw it in my pocketbook." I rummaged for it, but couldn't feel it amongst all of the receipts.

Nada.

"Your wallet isn't in here, is it in the baseball bag?"

No it isn't I realize after I check.

"OMG, someone took your wallet! I swore I locked the van. I unlocked it when I checked the time, but I was sitting where I could see the van."

I took out $20 from my own wallet to give to him for the food and I noted how nonchalant Jeff was. Jeez, I can't believe he's so calm. It's nice, actually.

"Was anything taken from your wallet?"

"No, I just handed you some money. They only took your wallet. Let me check to see if anything is missing out of mine."

As I pick up my pocketbook, I see the tampon, in the other part of the applicator, sitting on the van floor.

"Oh shit, they unwrapped my tampon and messed with it!! And my credit card is missing!!! Oh shiiiit"

I pictured teen thugs (who I saw playing basketball on the playground) rummaging through my pocketbook and examining my tampon like chimpanzees examining some odd discovery...just short of sniffing and tasting it.

"Please let me find my credit card floating around my pocketbook."

I fished around the receipts and found my credit card. Which then made me doubt the accuracy of my memory of seeing his wallet in my pocketbook.

Man Jeff was awfully calm.

We got the food for the kids and shot home with the plan that Jeff would go back to the field to see if the thugs tossed the wallet somewhere after they finished pillaging it.

We got home and Jeff checked his truck.

"The wallet was in there."

"Ohh...so I guess I remembered seeing it the last time we went somewhere", which I believed happened a few days ago, but couldn't for the life of me remember where we could've possibly have gone because we never go anywhere.

"It was in your purse last night when we went to the support group meeting."

"Ohhh. So THAT'S when I saw it."

OooKaay.

Why Mama Lions Eat Their Young

2008-04-18T10:37:00.005-04:00

I was sitting at the kitchen table during dinner the other night...alone, but with the kids...because Jeff was at a dinner soiré for work...and Jacob kept getting up from the dinner table to show me different tricks he could do with different parts of his body.

I kept telling him to sit down and eat....to stop climbing on the table....to sit on his rear end instead of standing on the chair....so on and so forth.

Brendon comes to his brother's "rescue" and says "Quit harassing the poor kid."

Excuse me??

"I'm not harassing him, I'm trying to get him to behave at the dinner table."

"You terrorize kids all the time. And you're mean to them. You really need to take a look at yourself, young lady.", says Jessica, who is 6 years old.

I was totally offended and she was WAY off point.

"I terrorize YOU GUYS??!! YOU kids terrorize ME!! THAT'S why I'm so mean! Now eat your dinner!"

--------------------------------------

This morning Brendon says, "I want to wear this shirt again", as he buries his nose into it and takes a deep whiff. "It doesn't smell. Here, smell it."

Never mind the lack of odor, what about the unidentifiable crust showing like a badge on the upper chest area??

"No! You're not wearing that again even if it doesn't smell. You can't wear clothes two days in a row. People will think you're poor." (Holy shit, I just used a line my mom used on me when I wanted to wear my gauchos every single day of my kindergarten career back in the good ol' 70's).

"But mom!! It's going to get hot today!"

We argued back and forth and thankfully I've kept up with the laundry this week so that he was able to find an acceptable shirt to wear.

It wasn't even 8 a.m. and I already needed a swig of hard liquor to calm my frazzled nerves.

I Couldn't Do This Alone

2008-04-17T22:20:00.003-04:00

I don't think I could've gotten through a lot of this diabetes stuff for the past five years if it weren't for Brendon and Jeff. I mean, I'd do it. I'd have no choice and my motivation is to see my son be vibrant and happy, but I think I'd be more of a nervous wreck if it weren't for those two.

When I spoke to Brendon's school nurse on the phone the other night after calling her at home, she said she was so nervous, but didn't want to show Brendon because she didn't want to scare him. I told her we also try to keep our emotions in check in front of him because we don't want to scare him either.

She said, "You did so good!"

If I had seen Brendon in bad shape, or emotional from being so high, it would've been hard for me to get a grip if I could've gotten one at all. Seeing him play cards with her when I walked into her office, and then him relaxing back while I changed the tubing, and then watching him walk out of the office as he said to me "Thanks mom, I'll see you when I get home" with a big grin afterwards really helped me to not fall into a million useless pieces.

Jeff helps me to keep my cool as well. If I can't figure out a problem, or for instance I'm unsure of how much to correct Brendon at night, I know Jeff will come up with an answer that will allow me to relax and be rest assured that whatever we did won't have a disasterous effect.

He picks up where I left off...he starts what I can finish. I never feel burned out because of that. I feel frustrated at times because diabetes management sucks balls in general, but I never feel like I can't make it through the day...thanks to Jeff.

If we don't see eye to eye in what to do with any kind of diabetes management situation, I don't have to worry about him not respecting my point of view. And I totally respect his. We either come up with a compromise, or we try one idea first and if that doesn't work we try the other's idea. If THAT idea doesn't work, we bang our heads together and try to knock loose another idea.

We make a good team, Jeff and I.

I'm lucky that they are who they are. And I give thanks every day for the luck I have.

No Rage Against The Machine

2008-04-17T08:20:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a brilliant day for HI's.

When I picked up Brendon from school, he had started getting ketones, so we knew he wasn't getting the insulin he was supposed to be getting. By that time he was in the 600 range...or HI.

And then by dinner time, he was in the 300's.

I could've raged bolused during the day, but I was too afraid that there would be that one bolus that would "do the trick" and I'd be greeted with a nifty low.

A new issue arised.

Brendon was dawdling when it came time for me to insert a new infusion set and I was trying to get him to hurry up and settle down so I could change it. He had been riding in the upper 500-600 range for a couple of hours already, with ketones, and I wanted to get everything fresh and new.

"You've been very high and I need to get this done so I can get some insulin in you."

"But I feel fine."

"Even though you feel fine, it doesn't mean that you are."

"Well, why do you need to do this so fast if I feel fine."

"It's not good for your body to be this high. And the high might sneak up on you and make you feel really bad, so let's get this done."

He has to understand that what he feels physically and what the numbers read don't always jive, but he has to take action according to the meter number instead of how he feels.

I don't want him having a false sense of security thinking that he's "OK" as long as he's "feeling" OK. The number always has to take priority. My cousin has gone through major complications because he treated himself with insulin based on how he felt physically instead of testing himself to see what his body was REALLY doing to him.

So back to the rage bolusing.

Like I said, I was afraid to keep correcting him to get his numbers down faster because I didn't know which correction would be the one to drop him too low.

He had insulin on board from a snack he had at home, plus whatever he had on board from the corrections done at school.

By dinner time, he was in the 300's.

An hour after dinner, he was a 300. I called Brendon's school nurse because she was very worried and just wanted me to tell her how things were going.

By bedtime at 8:00 (about 2 hours after dinner), he was FINALLY at 145.

This morning at breakfast, he was at 108.

So for several hours, this kid put up with some mega high numbers.

He takes a licking, but keeps on ticking ;D

Cue The Lone Ranger Theme Song....

2008-04-16T15:45:00.002-04:00

Get call from Jeff while I'm unloading groceries saying go to school because Brendon is in the 590's and needs a new infusion set.
I feel bad because I never bring my cell phone anywhere with me, so nurse had to resort to contacting Jeff.
Grab new tubing to replace what was ripped out of cartridge while he played catch during recess.
Vow to be more organized and less forgetful and make bringing my cell phone with me high priority from here on out.
Show school nurse how to hook up tubing and load cartridge.
Ask about her giving him a shot of insulin. Looking good.
He's coming down, but not quickly.
Go home, unload and unpack groceries...thank gawd it's a COLD SPRING HERE IN NH because the perishables haven't perished in the garage.
Pick up Jacob at preschool.
Get call saying meter reads HI. Bolus isn't working. Will pick up Brendon at school. Can't wait for him to come home on bus.
Pick up Brendon and Jessica, drive home wait for kids to fight through getting mail out of mailbox.
Hurry inside to set up set change.
Brendon has to pee...of course.
Comes in and takes sweet, slow as molasses time dropping his drawers.
Mini-argument over where to place infusion set.
Mom wins....of course ;)
Change set.
Voila! All done.
Frig an A (whatever that Grease quote means).

Raise Your Voice About Type 1 Diabetes

2008-04-14T08:42:00.006-04:00

If you've come here on purpose to see what I've written, or you clicked on a link that Google provided while you were doing a search, please take a moment to read this. It's about my son who has Type 1 diabetes and I'd like to raise your awarness about it:

From the World Health Organization:
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.... Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.

Type 1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent or childhood-onset) is characterized by a lack of insulin production. Without daily administration of insulin, Type 1 diabetes is rapidly fatal.

Without the daily administration of insulin, Type 1 diabetes is rapidly fatal.

-----------------------------------------------

Like any other kid: Brendon loves baseball...his favorite positions are pitcher, catcher, and 3rd base. He rides his bike. He writes notes to the girls he likes. He collects baseball cards. He loves school and especially recess where he plays touch football with a group of boys...every day!

Unlike any other kid: He is 8 years old and has had diabetes since he was 2 1/2 years old. We have to monitor his blood sugars all day long and through the night every single day by pricking his finger with a lancet device and applying the drawn blood to a test strip in a glucose meter to get a reading of his blood sugar levels. We also have to check him extra times during all activities.

If his blood sugar is too high, we have to give him insulin through his insulin pump to bring his blood sugar to a normal range (between 80-125). If it is too low (under 70) then we must give him a fast acting sugar like juice in order to raise his blood sugar. Other children need to receive anywhere from 2 to over 4 needle injections per day.

How many of you adults are afraid of shots? Imagine a child having to endure this all day, every day, for the rest of their lives. For the rest of their lives..........

With all of this monitoring and treatment with insulin, it is nearly impossible to keep his blood sugar in range. We are merely doing the best we can to prevent the immediate effect of death from a low blood sugar and future complications from high blood sugar.

He also must receive insulin everytime he eats food or drinks a beverage with carbohydrates in it. We must monitor his carbohydrate intake for that is how we determine how much insulin he must receive to regulate his blood sugar. Carbohydrates cause the blood sugar to rise.

High blood sugar, overtime, will cause complications like blindness, organ failure, limb amputations and many other body destroying complications. It is one of the only diseases that has the ability to cause destruction of nearly every organ and body part.

Low blood sugar is an emergency situation where if it isn't treated promptly will result in unconciousness leading to coma leading to death. The effects are nearly instantaneous. The cause of the bodily shut down is that glucose (blood sugar) is the only source of energy the brain receives. When the brain doesn't receive enough glucose due to low blood sugar levels, it begins to starve to death and in turn begins to shut down the body.

Brendon is lucky enough to have been born during the right time in history. If he was born before 1922 (when the discovery of insulin was first tested on a human being) Type 1 diabetes would be a death sentence within months...or if he was lucky he would die within weeks. I say lucky because to die slowly without any administration of insulin to help him survive is a miserable, painful process.

We do what we can to provide him with a near normal life. He plays with his friends, he does very well in school, and he loves to ride his bike. But, while he does these normal things, my husband and I (along with his school nurse and teachers and friends) are on constant vigil.

We can never take a moment to forget he has Type 1 diabetes. We can't take a break from his care. If we do, the effects will be devastating and even deadly.

Fancy Schmancy

2008-04-09T19:49:00.002-04:00

I was watching the British version of "Make Me A Supermodel" when Jessica came in and started watching with me.

"They're talking fancy. Where are they from again?"

"They're from England. That is where Queens and princesses live."

"Does Queen Latifah live in England?"

"Uh. No. She's not a real queen."

Call Me Kevin Bacon.

2008-04-08T01:15:00.009-04:00

Winters are prime time for blogging and blog exploring. I liken myself to a spelunker...entering one blog and seeing another to enter into and before I know it, I am hopelessly lost and have no idea how I ended up where I did.

Tonight I was reading a blog that I stumbled across while reading another blog which is one I found while reading a blog I regularly read. Follow?

The blog I was reading tonight had a post about a recent meetup with a friend at a hotel in France for breakfast. The blogger's friend is also a friend to my friend who I visited in France in November. The friend that the blogger met up with had visited my friend in France as well, but last year.

The blogger and my friend don't know each other, either. They are merely seperated by one person. Which is what makes it so crazy.

It blew me away that people I never knew existed at one time, who are halfway across the world, are meeting with people who have met with people I know who live halfway across the world. Follow again?

This blogging world brings me within 6 degrees of seperation from people who I would never have known existed if it weren't for my spelunking ways.

I am also grateful for the fact that it has also brought me in touch with others who I'd have no idea existed if it weren't for blogging.

How would I ever have come across the fact that Brendon will be OK as an adult living with Type 1 diabetes if it weren't for all of the people who are generous enough to share their experiences?

How would I ever have coped with being a parent of a child who has Type 1 diabetes if it weren't for all of the other parents who are brave enough to share the vulnerability that they can't/won't/shouldn't share with their children?

I have been lucky enough to form great friendships as a result.

With the burden we bear, I am especially lucky to be a part of a blogging community with all of us sharing information with each other to make our lives a little more convenient, a little less worrisome and to give us much more hope.

I am never alone even when I am.

Speechless....

2008-04-04T11:21:00.003-04:00

Who in the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS approved this at the ad agency? Who had the guts to show it to the client in the first place?? And what was the client smoking when he/she approved it and said:

"Excellent work! This will go a long way to put our company in high esteem with the public. I can see them knocking down our doors now to get our business!!"

Everytime I see this on TV I'm simultaneously revolted and amused.

It's All Where The Emphasis Lies

2008-04-02T18:01:00.004-04:00

Just one more thing to think of to make me laugh at odd times during the day:

Brendon: Is Uranus pronounced Your-anus or Urine-iss.

Me (willing myself to be mature and not LMAO): Well, I think it's supposed to be Your-anus, but some people pronounce it Urine-iss.

Brendon: I thought so. Mrs. B pronounced it Urine-iss, but I thought she was wrong. I thought it was pronounced Your-anus.

Please end this conversation before I bust my gall bladder. PLEASE.

Me: Hey, go finish picking up your baseball cards.

Brendon: O.K.

Me (silently mouthing the words and ending it with a deep sigh of relief): Thank you.

Now excuse me while I go LMAO.

What Do You Do With It?

2008-04-02T13:16:00.003-04:00

What do you do with the laughter that is swelling up inside of you waiting to leak out of every pore of your body? When is swells up:

While you're pumping gas

While you're grocery shopping

While you're in the middle of a very important meeting at work

Or when you are in any other public place where you are clearly not engaged in a conversation where something funny is being said that would cause you to laugh.

What do you do with it?

I needed to go shopping today, but opted to stay home. I can't control my laughter. Funny things I've read or heard someone say keep swirling in my head and I am laughing my ass off at the most inopportune moments.

The only place I feel safe laughing is in my minivan usually while on my way to dropping the kids off at school. I was breaking out in random fits of laughter on my way to drop off Jessica today. At first, it was making her feel self conscious, "Are you laughing at the hat I'm wearing? Why are you laughing?" And then she caught on and my laughter peaked her interest.

"What are you thinking about that's so funny?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

I break out into another fit of laughter.

"Mom, you can tell me, I'll keep it a secret."

"Really, it's nothing. It's grownup stuff."

"Awwww c'MON!!"

"Oh time to get unbuckled. The teacher is coming to get you."

As one of the kindergarten teachers, one of many volunteers who take the kids into the school, walks up to the van, I do all I can to draw a blank mind so I can't possibly think of anything that would cause me to laugh.

I love to laugh and truely believe it is the best medicine. But right now, it's really exhausting me....as I laugh while I write this.

The word uvula is busting my gut at this very moment.

Help me.

I'm Tired Of This Sprinter/Wing...What Have You...Weather

2008-03-31T10:25:00.001-04:00

It's Spring, right? I just need ya'll to confirm that it is because it's snowing right now. And back on Friday, I shoveled 8" of snow off of my driveway.

On the bright side, we did break the snowfall record set back in the 1800's....over 100" fell this Winter.

Fucking snow.

The Halfway Mark...Almost

2008-03-29T18:02:00.008-04:00

I'm seeing a new WW leader first thing Saturday mornings and he's fucking evil. Damn him.

This morning, he was talking about trigger foods....the food item you eat that makes you go ape shit and causes you to eat non-stop.

So he's asking people what their trigger foods are and a guy says peanut butter. He goes through an entire jar in 3 days. Now that's the way to pull an Elvis. Dying on the crapper 'cuz you're all plugged up.

A woman speaks up and says she loves to dig into peanut butter with a spoon and dip it into a bag of chocolate chips.

Thanks bitch....I hadn't eaten breakfast by the way....I didn't want to mess up my weigh-in, but with all of this trigger talk, I'm about to go ape shit and tear through the member's pocketbooks to see who's hiding the candy bars or whatever secret goodies they've got stashed.

So, I'm really wanting this session to be over, or for the leader to change the subject, but no. He elaborates on the peanut butter and chocolate chip thing.

He says real slowly and seductively, "The mouths of the peanut butter jars got bigger, so you don't just dip the spoon in, you take a WOODEN spoon and dip it in real slow and then you pull it out real slow so that you have it coated with peanut butter."

It's sounding a little erotic, dontcha think?

He continues, "You don't just stop there. You take that yellow bag you have and open it wide and then you dip the peanut butter laden spoon into it and you get all of those chocolate chips coating the whole thing, and then you start licking it off and you get the chips up your nose and it's all over your face.

And then you're scraping the inside of the peanut butter jar and you know that lip under the mouth of the jar where you can't get the spoon? You have to take your pinky and swirl it around to get the rest. But you know what I do?

I run the water until it's warm and I fill the jar about a quarter of the way, put the lid back on and I shake it until all the peanut butter is cleaned off the sides. And then I drink the water."

I lost my appetite you sadistic bastard. You've redeemed yourself!

As of today, I've lost 11.8 pounds in 11 weeks doing WW. I have 16 pounds to go to reach my goal. According to the counter on the right I don't have a whole lot of time to lose it. But it doesn't mean it isn't possible to reach my goal.

I Just Want To Gather The World Into One Room......

2008-03-27T16:09:00.003-04:00

And EDUCATE them!!

At the front of the row, I would like to place the checkout girl from the supermarket who looked at me like I was a single brain celled organism as well as another girl who was trying to convince me that ketones are OK for most people, but not for diabetics.

Excuse me checkout girl, but the next time you look at me like I'm the biggest idiot on Earth and inform me that sugar free Peeps are for diabetics when I ask you what is the point of the Peeps being sugar free, I'm going to run you across the conveyer belt and scan you.

For your information....and what I didn't have time to tell you because I didn't want to hold up the line, is that 3 sugar free Peeps have 23 carbohydrates. Do you know what that means? It means it'll raise a PWD's glucose level....and that is not a good thing unless they have the insulin to cover it. And guess what...simple sugar does the same thing. So again, I ask you...What is the point of sugar free Peeps?

To the girl who was trying to explain to me that ketones are a good thing to have because it means you're losing weight: Ketones are not a good thing to have.

When you tell me that it's OK for most people to have them, but not for diabetics, I just want you to know that it isn't OK for ANYONE to have ketones, and by the way, the Atkins diet should be outlawed. I know you were on it, and I appreciate you telling me what the book says, but you can lose weight on the Anorexia diet too. Diabetics are more prone to get ketones because of their compromised endocrine system. Thanks.

The Virtual Nutritionist

2008-03-27T08:59:00.005-04:00

Brendon's endocrinologist AND, as of yesterday, his pediatrician have mentioned concern with Brendon's elevated cholesterol and weight. His pediatrician is awesome and I love that he wants every part of Brendon's health, both physically and emotionally, to be just right. I LOVE that.

In any case, I try to be careful about what I buy at the supermarket. I read labels and reject anything with trans fats and high fructose corn syrup. I travel the outer trail of the supermarket, buying the majority of items...whole foods as close to its natural state as possible with as little ingredients listed as possible. But, somtimes I buy things that aren't the best choices....like short-cut foods.

*There are nights when I serve Stove Top Stuffing instead of potatoes.

*I let the kids indulge in cheese cheese glorious cheese when they hound me relentlessly for a snack and I hope that all of that fat and protein suppresses their appetite until dinner is served....20 minutes later.

*I occasionally buy the 100 calorie snack bags for the times when I don't feel like doling out snacks by hand weighing them on the scale and calculating the carbs.

And *gasp* I let Brendon eat school lunches every. single. day.

But, things must change.

At Brendon's last endo appointment, his Doc pointed out that his cholesterol is elevated. She asked what I could do to improve his diet. She also suggested that we make an appointment with his nutritionist to see during his next endo checkup in 3 months.

When I took Brendon to his yearly pediatrician physical, yesterday, we found that:

His height is in the 90th percentile.

His weight....the 97th.

I'm not one of those delusional mothers whose children are clearly obese but claim that their child isn't fat, he's just big boned.

But, I will say that his skeletal and muscular frame is ginormous. My neighbor, whose son is Brendon's best friend, always tells me that she is in awe of his physique and claims he looks like a 15 year old.

Brendon is not obese, btw. He's a big kid, though. And yes, he does have a bit of excess fat on him, but I don't think it's something he won't grow into.

At the rate he is growing, he eats like an adult, but I KNOW that he indulges in snacks too much. Based on his carb intake during meals, I know that his calorie intake is pretty on par with what he should be taking in. So, the snacking has to be tightened up.

I will talk to the nutritionist about whether his weight is OK. I gather she'll tell us it could be taken down a notch.

I enjoy dealing with nutrition, reading about it, figuring out ways to improve it for everyone in my family. In fact, being a nutrionist is something I'm mulling around as a career for when it's time for me to return to work in a couple of years. Must get degree first!

In the meantime, I have already eliminated cheese. He drinks skim milk at every meal, so no worries about getting enough calcium.

I will start to make school lunches...blaaah.

And I will make potatoes instead of Stove Top stuffing.

My Life In Six Words Only

2008-03-24T20:54:00.003-04:00

Twists, turns, detours still lead home.

Rules:

1) Write your own six word memoir; 2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like; 3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere; 4) Tag at least five more blogs with links; and 5) Don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

Jillian tagged me, and now I tag the following...at risk of them being tagged by more bloggers than me:
Julia, Jamie, Paige, Penny, Brensdad

The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of

2008-03-21T14:44:00.002-04:00

Part 1

Brendon came into our room at around 2:30 in the morning. He woke us to tell us that he heard noises in Jessica's bedroom.

"There's someone in her room. When I looked under the door, I saw a big foot near her bed. There's someone in there."

Jessica sleeps with a nightlight, so there was enough light to illuminate her room.

I nudged Jeff to go check it out.

He got out of bed and slowly opened the door. There was no one in there. Jeff brought Brendon back to bed. Soon after, Brendon came back in saying he heard a banging noise downstairs like someone was trying to get into the house.

Jeff got up once again, and checked it out with Brendon in tow. There was no one out there, but Brendon wasn't convinced.

They came back into the bedroom where Brendon asked to sleep out the remainder of the night. I told him he couldn't because Jacob was then with him and he'd want to sleep in our bed.

Brendon pleaded with us. I said, "Brendon, no one is going to come into our house. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because they're all sleeping!! Now get back to bed!"

I want to give a special shout out to my mom to thank her for telling me about an article she read in People Magazine where a guy with a knife broke into a house one night, and was about to attack the daughter in her bedroom when the parents heard muffled noises. They investigated and when they saw the guy, they wrestled him to the ground and waited for the cops to arrive.

Brendon overheard the story. When I told my mom to stop telling it in front of the kids, she proceeded to continue anyway.....I knew I'd be in for a sleepless night.

-----------------------------

Part 2

Jacob came to me asking about vampires. Why they sucked blood....do they know where we live.....where do vampires live.

I knew I had to tread lightly on the subject and not give away too much detail for concern that I'd feed his imagination to create an out of control mess at bedtime.

I told him vampires need blood because that is their food. They don't know where we live. Vampires live in Mexico (I thought I heard that vampires bats live there....I'm just flying with answers off the top of my head here).

"Mom. Do moskweetos drink blood? My teacher said they do."

"Yes. You're teacher is right."

"Are moskweetos like vampires?"

"Well, in a way they are because they drink blood, but they're so tiny. You'd just have a little red mark after they bite you."

A look of concern shot across his face.

Daaaamn it, I thought. Please don't let me be in for a sleepless night.

"Mom. Do moskweetos know where we live?"

"Yes. They're all over the place in the summer, but they can't hurt us."

"Lock the doors in the summer. I don't want the moskweetos to suck our bloods."

"Hey Jake...how many bloods do we have?"

"Only just a little bit. You have a lot, and I have a lot of bloods."

------------------

Part 3

I was working out in the basement while Jessica was rummaging through the holiday supplies I have stored away.

She came across a vampire wig...very long black hair with strips of white hair streaked throughout.

Later the next day, Jessica lured Jacob into the basement where she showed him the wig.

He bugged out and came running up the stairs.

"Tell Jessica to put the wig away!!!!"

"It's just a wig Jake", said Jessica.

"Don't show me that ever again! It's cweeping me out!"

The next day, Jake was enticed by the suspense and he and Jessica went down to the basement.

I heard shrieks and laughter as their little feet tumbled up the stairs as quickly as their legs could move them.

They still can't get enough of getting scared by the wig.

Spring (Give Me A) Break

2008-03-13T11:26:00.005-04:00

To Whom It May Concern,

I must get my life, house, and family in order. Will be back sooner than later.

Take Care,
Shannon