Diabetes in the jungle.

Yesterday was the first day of spring (ha!) vacation, and Noah picked what he wanted to do- visit the Lego store.

Legos are his ultimate favorite toy ever. His imagination just goes crazy with them, and he can put together the coolest things. Plus, it's way better than sitting around playing video games all day, so off we went down to Massachusetts to a mall way nicer than our regular mall, 45 minutes away.

You can see how cool the Lego place is...



I planned on taking him to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch as a surprise. They sat us down, and we passed the time looking at the fish in the huge fish tank right by our seat, and discussing the environment. A half hour went by, and still no server. I didn't realize it right away, because we were having such a nice time just hanging out together. I let someone know, and the manager came over and couldn't have been nicer- apparently we were sat at a table that they don't normally use. Normally, I would have been pretty angry and probably would have walked out, but this mishap afforded Noah and me a time to hang out, have a nice conversation and really connect as mother and son.


Our server (who was so super nice) noticed Noah entering a bolus into his pump. She said "oh, you have a pump! my sister has a pump, too - cool".


Noah beamed and got all excited to show off his pump, and so we struck up a conversation about pumping and diabetes, and you could tell Noah was just so happy to make that connection. It was especially cool to have a waitress plunk down a big dessert (free of charge because of the mix up) and say "dude, you're going to have to do a BIG bolus for this one".

Stranded and rescued, all before 9 a.m.

Snow is coming, and in New England you know what that means: get your ass to the grocery store a.s.a.p., and beat down all the little old ladies to stock up on milk and bread.
I decided to go early and avoid the crowd. I got front row parking! woot! As I shopped, my stress level was zero. No line at the deli. No screaming kids. I practically had the store to myself. Awesome.
I smiled and headed to the checkout and then home...
except when I got to my car, there were my keys sitting neatly on the passenger seat, next to my gloves.

crap.

Thankfully, my husband dropped everything and came with fob in hand to resuce me. (We tried that thing where you hold the fob to the phone and press it while the locked-out person hold their phone up to the car- urban myth or whatever- I felt like a fool.)

He is the best! Thanks babe!

Now that I've had a cup of coffee, and gotten my head together, I can relax with the Crazy Eights meme from Kerri

8 Things I’m Passionate About.
1. My family.
2. Love.
3. knitting and crocheting.
4. Music.
5. diabetes education and advocacy.
6. the beach.
7. good books.
8. cooking.

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die.
1. Live in Ireland.
2. Sing and act on stage.
3. Become a photographer.
4. Run the Boston Marathon.
5. Face my fears.
6. Volunteer at Habitat for Humanity.
7. Ride in a hot air balloon.
8. Visit Japan.

8 Things I Say Often.
1. "I want to go back to bed."
2. "Do you have your kit?."
3. "double-ewe tee eff?."
4. "Love ya, baby"
5. "hey sugar."
6. "Aw duuude."
7. "That is the shizz!"
8. "Hurry up, or you'll miss the bus!"


8 Books I’ve Read Recently.
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling
2. Some James Patterson book about a beach ...I didn't like it.
3. The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer
4. Never Give Up by Tedy Bruschi and Michael Holley

Since I've been learning to knit and crochet, I've been reading less. I'll catch up when I'm on the beach in a few more months!

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over.
1. One - U2
2. Everlong- Foo Fighters
3. Paul Revere- Beastie Boys
4. Ants Marching- Dave Matthews Band
5. Barracuda- Heart
6. Hallelujah- Rufus Wainwright
7. Jambalaya (On the Bayou)- Harry Connick Jr.
8. Shoes- Kelly


8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends.
1. They always have my back.
2. They bring the funny.
3. They're not fake or phony.
4. They're forgiving.
5. They are like family.
6. They are kind-hearted.
7. They are fun to be with.
8. They are understanding.

People I Think Should Do Crazy 8s.
1. Anyone! It's fun :)

by the way, my spell checker feature isn't working here on Blogger. Anyone else having that problem?

Hug someone you love.

Last night, we watched Super Nanny. Yes, we watch crappy reality shows. Don't judge me, ha! ;)

The mom on the show was completely clueless and devoid of emotion with her kids. It seemed like she gave up on being a mother. It was pretty painful to watch her flounder and literally hide from her children during the day, to avoid interacting with them.

So, one of the kids on the show, her 12 year old daughter, says she can't remember the last time her mother hugged her.

My husband and I just looked at each other with tears in our eyes. We spent the remainder of the show talking about how we couldn't imagine not hugging Noah or interacting with him. In the end, the mother came around, but it was so heartbreaking. It made me wonder about what that does to a child's self esteeem in the long run.

So, not only on Valentine's Day, but every day- show the people in your life how much you love them. Throw your arms around them and squeeze!

NyQuil Haiku

The plague has hit me

sweet relief in a small cup

down the hatch and...sleep

Yep. Sick with a cold that has me feeling exactly like those people in the commercial that have huge inflated balloons for a head. The perfect frosting for the shit cake that has been this week.

This pretty much sums it up:

(warning- offensive language. usage of words like clusterfuck, New York, Manning,
etc.)


have a great weekend everyone... ;)

Fill er' up.

I have always been a "glass half empty" person. Sometimes, the smallest inconvenience can send me into a crying, shouting frenzy of panic and anger. So not cool.

I realize that's not the best way to live, so recently, I have been on a personal quest to learn to chill, and enjoy life to the fullest. So many things have happened in the past couple years that make life appear as less enjoyable, never ending drudgery. Learning to adjust my thinking - not to automatically assume or expect the worst in life has been tough. It's as if it's engrained into us as a society that bitching and moaning about life is more acceptible than loving life. That somehow, if you're truly happy and you want to share that with others, you're a fake and a phony. I'm beginning to see that is the furthest thing from the truth.

What I'm finding out, is that it's imperative to my well-being and that of everyone around me, to be enthusiastic, content, adventurous and fearless. That in becoming a "glass half FULL" person, I will bring that fullness into all areas of my life, and to all the people I care about. Like emotional osmosis.

We'll all be able to handle whatever comes our way- whether it includes combatting type 1, the rising cost of gas, impending teenage angst...it will all be embraced with optimism and a knowledge that it will make me, him & us stronger.

How did the accident happen?

Yesterday, as I stood in my kitchen chugging water after just getting home from the gym, the phone rang.

My stomach did a little flip-flop when I glanced at the caller ID, and saw the school nurse's number on the screen.

Apparently my son thinks he's Evel Knievel and fell off the monkey bars while doing a "stunt". The nurse said that even though the cut on his ear was not large, it was still bleeding , and was deep enough to possibly warrant a suture.

Why do these things always happen when I'm completely disheveled??- at least I wasn't still in my pajamas. I showered (barely) and ran to collect my son. He was grinning from ear to ear as he told me of his incredible acrobatics, and the patch of ice that foiled his perfect landing off the monkey bars.

I tried calling the doctor's office, while simultaneously driving there, and they were at lunch. Noone was in the office (how can that be??) so my only option was to just show up.
We ended up in the waiting room for an hour. :P

Our doctor patched him up...no stitches were needed. He asked Noah how the diabetes was going , and if he liked his pump- and that was it. Took all of 5 minutes. He has some steri-strip tape holding it closed , and he can't get it wet for 4 days. I'm wondering how he'll wash his hair?

I'm glad he's okay, and it wasn't a broken bone or something. His sense of humor is completely intact, as evidenced by his comment on the way home:

"I'm like Van Gogh, now."

Tom Petty was cool...

I'm so bummed. My Patriots lost, but I am and will always be a devoted fan. I love my team. Till next season, guys.

I blame the red sweatshirt.