Redneck

Picture, 5-24-08, Redneck
Originally uploaded by NaomiPoet

Daniel woke up with a low this morning at 6:30. I heard him puttering around downstairs in my sleep. By the time I got my eyes open & headed down, he was already back in bed! I checked his meter & saw the 57.

I woke him a couple of hours later because he had to get ready to go to work -- first day. He was a little high; he had a little too much sugar, but he had also eaten a clif bar & bolused, so he couldn't bolus again until 9:30, which was right when we had to leave. I told him I could throw together a ham & cheese omelet so he could have a non-bolus breakfast.

"Okay," he said, "but I'm not too hungry. Just 3 eggs, please."

I raised an eyebrow at him and asked how many eggs he would eat if he really was hungry?

"You don't want to know the answer to that," he said.

I may have to raise chickens pretty soon.

Oh -- the red neck? He had suntan lotion. Just chose not to use it.

ARGH!!!

Levemir & Gluten

I subscribe to a message group, celiac@childrenwithdiabetes.com, and I'm so glad I do! I found out today that Levemir has gluten in it.

I had a discussion with out endo just last week about perhaps switching Daniel to Levemir from Lantus because of his high evening numbers. I don't even want to think about what a mess that would have been.

I'm surprised & concerned that there isn't a red flag on all diabetic celiac patient files that says NO LEVEMIR! GLUTEN!!

Why the hell do you need gluten in insulin, anyway?

Reality

I don't watch reality shows. Maybe I'm showing my age, but when I turn on the boob tube it's for a dose of some unreality. Visions of what life would be like with a laugh track or dramatic musical accompaniment. I'm also a great fan of a compelling plot.

I heard a story on the radio the other day that reported on one of the ways producers add tension and drama to these reality shows --by depriving the participants of sleep. Nothing will make you more edgy than getting 3 night's worth of sleep in a week's span. That's what the sleep level has been like chez moi this week, and friends, although I won't tune in to those shows, I'm just about ready to participate in one.

This afternoon's show was Adventures in Multitasking!!! Watch the harried mom, on little sleep and much caffeine, rush to meet a freelance deadline, fix the printer in her son's room, cook dinner, find pictures of Puerto Rico on Google images for the middle school girl's project, scoop youngest off the driveway after a bike wipeout, apply ice, answer 3 phone calls (three more edits! fix page count! reduce picture size & PDF!), translate "hot springs" into Spanish, email documents, remove ice pack, email documents again after they bounce back because they are too big, worry that child protective services will see youngest child's biking bruises and take him away, repeat the words, "DO YOUR HOMEWORK!" 100 times, serve dinner, all in the space of 15 minutes!

Who needs reality? I'm ready for a chick flick.

Two Wheeler

Some Days

Some days I have been staying at home and some days I have been going into the sad and desperate office. Every day is busy. How the hell did I ever get anything done when I was at work all the time? Maybe I just drank more coffee. Anyway, all days have a full agenda. No down time so far.

I just took the SAT as part of a job application to teach SAT preparation. Now I'm all fingernail bitey as I wait for the results. I have to score in the 90th percentile to be able to teach. The English portion seemed pretty easy (watch me flunk) but the math portion was like... oy, like high school. Honestly, I haven't done algebra since then and have had NO REASON to. Geometry? Well, I guess you could call some of the quilting that I've done an exercise in geometry. The worst part was trying to remember formulas like areas of cubes and slope intercept formulas when the only formula I dealt with for the past 28 years was the type that turned into spit up.

So I'm still looking for gainful employment. But Daniel starts his job this weekend, and I will honestly be able to say that my 15 year old will be earning a greater salary than I.

I remember my first job (delivering the Washington Star newspaper) and the crackle of real paper money in my purse. Then babysitting. Then working at Sears, in customer service. Let me tell you, that's one way to learn about humanity, and it takes a brave person or a stupid high-schooler to stand at that counter and let dissatisfied customers get all in their face. There was one hellish episode where a man, angry over the quality of his newly purchased appliance, yelled at little old me with his finger in my face as if I personally had loosened all the bolts. I must have looked quite shocked, with my eyebrows up to my hairline & mouth agape because my manager (Ms. Linda Little) every so quietly escorted that not very gentleman into her office and shut the door. He walked out of there, 15 minutes later, with a set mouth, and his hands twisting his hat. Ms. Little came out smiling.

She said to me that I never EVER had to put up with anyone talking like that to me. EVER. She wasn't just talking about in a job situation, she was talking about life and I've never forgotten. Thanks, Linda Little, wherever you are.

Finally, 10 Things About Me!

I'm sorry it took so long for me to get around to this! It's been a busy week. My wonderful hubby turned 50 yesterday, and I threw him a lovely, yet quite small dinner party. He did not want to make a fuss. But I was able to invite a just a couple of friends & neighbors so I had to do shopping & get the house clean and make the special request white chocolate cheesecake... etc. etc.

Anyway. The meme.

The rules are that 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 and why you tagged them. Don't forget to leave them a comment saying ('You're It!') and to go read your blog. You can not tag the person that tagged you, so, since you can't tag me back let me know when you are done so that I can go read YOUR blog answers.

1. My mom didn't let us kids have sodas when we were growing up (except on special occasions or going out) and now I hardly ever drink them. They don't taste good to me, except the rare coca cola over lots of ice on a very hot day. My mom also never got us peanut butter, but I just love that stuff. Have it all the time. Isn't that weird?

2. I make a damn fine white chocolate cheesecake (gluten free).

3. When I was a kid spinach was my favorite vegetable. It's still in my top 10.

4. I know lots of songs from Broadway musicals and sing them all the time. I raised my kids on show tunes. Hence we are a very weird family because we don't know anything about American Idol but can sing all the words from "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

5. I married my husband twice, almost a year apart.

6. Daniel was born when I was 30. I was born when my mom was 30. I don't know if this 30 year thing goes back more than this.

7. I am "woman, interrupted." I was interrupted 3 times while trying to write the last 6 lines.

8. I wanted to be an actress. Now I want to be a writer. I have been slowly choking in non-artistic jobs. I want my next job to have an artistic component. OR if it doesn't, then I have to write something on the side. A story. A book. An encyclopedia of mom knowledge that's important yet hilarious.

9. I shouldn't hide things because I forget where they are. One Christmas Daniel was a little sad after present-opening time, and it was because he didn't get something that he asked for. I said, "Wait. I got you that." Yet there were no more presents under the tree. OOPS! So I went in search of it (and I found it in the garage) but while I was looking in other places I found another present that I had hidden for Nora, and then yet another present that I had hidden for Dominic THE CHRISTMAS BEFORE.

10. I just took the SAT.

Who am I going to tag? Jules, Daena, Windy, Kristen, because I'd love to hear what they have to say, and I'm not tagging anyone else because everyone has been tagged!!!!

I'll post pics from Matt's birthday soon. More people coming for dinner tonight, though!

My favorite rose

My favorite rose
Originally uploaded by NaomiPoet

My favorite roses are blooming. The rosebush is heavy with blooms!

This morning I walked Dominic to school. Here was part of our conversation.

"Mom, I want to tell you what I think about people."

"Okay, tell me."

"I think that the older people get, the stronger, faster, and smarter they get."

"Wow, that's great! So when I get to be 105, I'll be even stronger, smarter, and faster than I am now?"

"No. When your hair gets silver and white and you get wrinkled, then you get slower."

"But I'll be stronger and smarter?"

"You can be smarter. But you will be weak. Your teeth will be weak. They will be weak as kittens. That's why grandpa eats oatmeal every morning. When you are old you have to have soft food."

Well folks, I don't know if the bloom is off the rose yet, but I'm still eating crunchy things and moving pretty quickly. I'm not so sure about my brains, though. I think my kids might be ahead of me on this one.

Kittens. Hmph!