Last school year Daniel brought a video game to school because a friend of his wanted to borrow it (a DS game, those tiny little things). Actually, for some unknown reason he brought his whole pack of games instead of the one. The pack of games was in his back pack during bio class, and then when he went to lunch, 20 min. later, they were gone. He thought he dropped them. Checked back through the classroom the hallways, the lunchroom. They were gone.
Our initial reaction was, of course, "WHY DID YOU BRING THOSE TO SCHOOL??" And then we told him that they were probably stolen. Daniel refused to believe that anyone could have stolen his stuff. Well, after days & weeks of looking, hearing some rumors, filing a police report, and setting up a sting, the perpetrator was caught and he replaced all of Daniel's games. It was a tough lesson and I think it hurt Daniel's faith in human nature. He was mad at himself, he was mad at the situation, and ultimately, even the return of his stuff was bittersweet.
Moving on to.... Today! I took my youngest to his Saturday enrichment class, and then went to a parent meeting about the 7 keys for college readiness. Yee ha. I multi-tasked during the meeting, with my laptop open on the table, trying to take care of teaching-related work while listening to the speaker. You see, Tuesday my hard drive crashed. I lost all my info from this school year -- my grades, my templates, my lesson plans... you name it. I just started using delicious.com for bookmarks, so I had a few of those saved, but many others were still just on my bookmark menu.
I taught through Tuesday without really knowing what I was teaching. I couldn't hook my laptop up to the projector to demonstrate a new concept. I had a hard copy of the week's lesson plans, but my brain was in a fog as I tried to puzzle out exactly what I had lost. And it's the end of the quarter! Grades are due!
With what was backed up to the network from the year before, I was able to recreate my grading sheets and lesson plan templates. By Thursday afternoon I had a replacement laptop, but my motivation had taken a severe blow. But my hubby send me a big bouquet of flowers, and I disappeared into some good yoga for a while, and came out of my funk able to let go of what I can't control. Move on. Back to work. Recreate what is lost. Start typing.
So, back to the meeting. I was reminded during the meeting of something I needed to add to my grocery list, so I took my itouch out of my purse and added some things to the never-ending list that I keep. I put the itouch back in my purse and zipped it. I remember this. The meeting ended soon after, so I put my computer away, grabbed my jacket, made a quick stop in the ladies' room, and then headed to the car. I had 50 minutes to get to the grocery store & shop before I had to be back to pick up Dominic.
I got to the grocery store and opened my purse to retrieve my never-ending list. Couldn't find the itouch. Dumped the purse. Nada. Went back to the car. No itouch. Drove back to the high school where the meeting took place. The itouch is not in the media center, the ladies' room, the hallways... no where. No one has turned one in. My itouch is gone.
I picked up Dominic, came home, and asked Daniel to come talk to me. I knew he would understand! I told him how upset I was. He hugged me and said, now you know how I felt when I came home from school that day... and yes I KNEW how he felt; I've lost important things before. But I was mad at myself; why didn't I put the damned thing in my pocket? Why did I lose it? Did it fall out? But I zipped the bag!!! He said, "Mom. It was probably stolen." And I said, "NO! I was in a parent meeting for God's sake!" Daniel just looked at me & shrugged.
I was really hooked on that itouch. My family gave it to me for Mother's Day. I used that cute little electronic device all the time. It organized me, helped me exercise, and was portable entertainment. I'm about to go do some yoga, to try to release this spasm that I'm working myself into. The itouch is just a THING, after all, a lovely electronic device but a thing, none the less. I don't need it. What I need is the love and comfort of my family. I have that. My kids gave me hugs. My sister in law (my wife! :-) ) gave me mental therapy. My husband gave me his sweet words and verbal hugs (see you in less than a week, babe!) My faith in human nature remains.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Threes and Ones
People say that bad things happen in threes. I don't know why we don't expect the same of good things, why they are considered singular events. When something wonderful happens we give a "Whoo hoo!" and move on, while we seem to wait for a series of three bad things before taking a deep breath and declaring, "Phew! That's over!"
This past week we experienced the 3 vs. 1 phenomenon.
Bad event one of three: Tuesday Nora went down the street to play with her friends. She parked her scooter up against the friend's house at the top of the driveway. An hour later I stopped by & shared a cup of tea with the mom. An hour after that we had to go home for dinner. We walked out the door. Nora's scooter was gone. Stolen.
Wednesday we drove to the Chesapeake Bay. We took this excursion last year on a lark with friends to enjoy a day in the sun and (mild) surf only to be delighted to find that the beach was littered with shark teeth. A swimming expedition turned into an all out shark-tooth hunting spree, and the kids came home with more than 50 shark teeth. They were tiny, but teeth, nonetheless. So we went to another beach this time, closer to Calvert Cliffs (but with only a 1/2 mile hike to the beach instead of a 2 mile hike) to check out the shark tooth situation there.
Now we have to backtrack a few months. One day Nora and I had to go to the Guitar Center to have her guitar fixed, and the guy who did the work sat in the back office surrounded by guitars... and shark teeth. Big ones. And a map of the Chesapeake Bay. So we got to talking about the teeth, what kinds they were, where he found them, etc. He told us of a few places to go hunting, but that most of them were only accessible by boat (and in one case it would be better to know the park ranger at a particular property). He had a few mighty big teeth on display; it was awesome. So Nora and I were determined to go back and find a big 'un. I told her the story of when I was in junior high school and went on a field trip to Calvert Cliffs, and part of the time we searched for teeth. I found none, but a lady who was just there on her own found one that was 4 inches long.
Back to last week. We searched around Flag Ponds park and found nothing but a lovely beach, lots of fish, lots of jelly fish, and many, many dead crabs. Dominic wanted to take a bucket of crab body parts home and had to be convinced that was not an option. So we hiked the 1/2 mile back to the parking lot, had our picnic lunch (we were going to have it on the beach but there were too many biting flies) and headed bac
k to Breezy Point Beach, where we had so much fun last year.
Good event #1. Daniel started finding little shark teeth right off the bat. He totally has an eye for them. He was combing the shore. Dominic decided to give up tooth hunting and swim in the netted-in, jelly fish free swimming area. It was all only about 3-4 feet deep, and he was having a ball. Nora went into the edge of the surf to hunt. I came over and sat down next to her, stuck both hands into the sand just below the water's edge, and pulled up a big shark tooth. "WHOO HOO!" As I walked down the beach to show Daniel, many people stopped to check out the tooth, so I experienced a heady five minutes of beach fame.
In the end we got out of there with a number of small teeth (less than last year... it's better to search after a stormy day when stuff on the ocean floor gets tossed around) and the one biggie. Nora was determined to find one at least as big as mine, but I told her that finding a large tooth is a rare occurrence, and were couldn't stay to hunt for a few more hours, we had to get home! (rush hour approached. showers were necessary.)
Bad event #2 of 3. Traffic was moving at full speed on the highway going home, but it was starting to fill up as we neared rush hour. I was in the third lane from the right when I saw the rock in the road. Big rock. About the size of a cauliflower. I swerved to avoid it but couldn't swerve too far because there were cars on either side of me. It missed the front tire but hit the rear with a loud bang, followed by a hiss and that horrible rumble you get when you're driving on a flat. I steered over to the side of the highway where the shoulder was wide enough, but not too wide. I pulled over as far as I could so that I could still change the tire safely, but was unhappy that we were still so close to the traffic.
I have changed many tires in my life, but never before on our minivan. I got out the booklet, figured it out, and told Dominic that he was not allowed to leave the car under any circumstances (he was playing his Nintendo, I don't even know that he noticed we stopped). Daniel and Nora helped by holding on to the wheel lock bolt, holding the spare ready, etc. Of course they were fascinated by the procedure. Also, Daniel will get his license within the year, so it is important that he knows how to change a tire, just in case!
Many cars & trucks beeped at us, but none stopped. A few minutes into this I realized the reason we were getting beeped at... I was wearing my bathing suit with a t-shirt over it. No pants. And while that's fine for the beach, I'm sure it made an interesting view for passing vehicles. Nora wears a rash guard shirt with a bikini bottom. Same thing. We were the pants-less family. Well, except for Daniel. Luckily, he was wearing his pants.
Oh, and a Prince George's county police car drove right by us. Thanks.
As Daniel helped me lift the damaged tire into the back of the van, I noticed that not only was the tire shredded, the rim was damaged. Ouch! The kids got back in the car, I got the bracket that held the spare back into its proper place and replaced the tools in their little cubby. Then I drove away. About a mile down the road, I realized that I had left the wheel lock on the tire when I tightened the lug nut. Yes, it was gone.
So... next day it was off to the insurance estimator & car repair place. Got a rental for the day because I had to get to work. The car would be ready Friday.
Friday I dropped Daniel off at work, then went downtown with Dominic & Nora to pick up her painting from the National Press Club (see my July 31 posting). Hand lunch with my mom & dad there, then headed back to drop off the rental car & get mine back.
Bad event #3 of 3. First of all that )#(%*)($% rock cost me more than $500. Those rims are expensive! We got our stuff out of the rental car (Dominic was carrying his Nintendo, Nora had a book, I had the painting). The kids got a couple of treats from the candy vending machine and then we piled into our minivan. We headed to the grocery store to get milk & eggs & a couple other things. Dominic went to the bathroom to wash his sticky hands. We went home. Dominic got out of the car and said, "Where's my DS case?" Even though he had been playing it in the car, he had no idea where he had it last. Went back to the van. Searched. Called the car place & the grocery store. Drove back to the car place and the grocery store. Nora remembered him having it at the grocery store (I didn't). He may have put it down when he went to wash his hands. In any case, it's gone. The DS and a number of games in the case.
Daniel had registered all our Nintendo equipment on the Nintendo site (and all the games) a number of months ago, so that the id number on the DS is tied to our name. But I'm sure whoever is using or selling the DS now doesn't care about that. I've checked eBay and Craig's List, but haven't seen it for sale. But if I do...
So there. Three bad things and one good one. Today starts a new week. Let's see what happens.
This past week we experienced the 3 vs. 1 phenomenon.
Bad event one of three: Tuesday Nora went down the street to play with her friends. She parked her scooter up against the friend's house at the top of the driveway. An hour later I stopped by & shared a cup of tea with the mom. An hour after that we had to go home for dinner. We walked out the door. Nora's scooter was gone. Stolen.
Wednesday we drove to the Chesapeake Bay. We took this excursion last year on a lark with friends to enjoy a day in the sun and (mild) surf only to be delighted to find that the beach was littered with shark teeth. A swimming expedition turned into an all out shark-tooth hunting spree, and the kids came home with more than 50 shark teeth. They were tiny, but teeth, nonetheless. So we went to another beach this time, closer to Calvert Cliffs (but with only a 1/2 mile hike to the beach instead of a 2 mile hike) to check out the shark tooth situation there.
Now we have to backtrack a few months. One day Nora and I had to go to the Guitar Center to have her guitar fixed, and the guy who did the work sat in the back office surrounded by guitars... and shark teeth. Big ones. And a map of the Chesapeake Bay. So we got to talking about the teeth, what kinds they were, where he found them, etc. He told us of a few places to go hunting, but that most of them were only accessible by boat (and in one case it would be better to know the park ranger at a particular property). He had a few mighty big teeth on display; it was awesome. So Nora and I were determined to go back and find a big 'un. I told her the story of when I was in junior high school and went on a field trip to Calvert Cliffs, and part of the time we searched for teeth. I found none, but a lady who was just there on her own found one that was 4 inches long.
Back to last week. We searched around Flag Ponds park and found nothing but a lovely beach, lots of fish, lots of jelly fish, and many, many dead crabs. Dominic wanted to take a bucket of crab body parts home and had to be convinced that was not an option. So we hiked the 1/2 mile back to the parking lot, had our picnic lunch (we were going to have it on the beach but there were too many biting flies) and headed bac
k to Breezy Point Beach, where we had so much fun last year.Good event #1. Daniel started finding little shark teeth right off the bat. He totally has an eye for them. He was combing the shore. Dominic decided to give up tooth hunting and swim in the netted-in, jelly fish free swimming area. It was all only about 3-4 feet deep, and he was having a ball. Nora went into the edge of the surf to hunt. I came over and sat down next to her, stuck both hands into the sand just below the water's edge, and pulled up a big shark tooth. "WHOO HOO!" As I walked down the beach to show Daniel, many people stopped to check out the tooth, so I experienced a heady five minutes of beach fame.
In the end we got out of there with a number of small teeth (less than last year... it's better to search after a stormy day when stuff on the ocean floor gets tossed around) and the one biggie. Nora was determined to find one at least as big as mine, but I told her that finding a large tooth is a rare occurrence, and were couldn't stay to hunt for a few more hours, we had to get home! (rush hour approached. showers were necessary.)
Bad event #2 of 3. Traffic was moving at full speed on the highway going home, but it was starting to fill up as we neared rush hour. I was in the third lane from the right when I saw the rock in the road. Big rock. About the size of a cauliflower. I swerved to avoid it but couldn't swerve too far because there were cars on either side of me. It missed the front tire but hit the rear with a loud bang, followed by a hiss and that horrible rumble you get when you're driving on a flat. I steered over to the side of the highway where the shoulder was wide enough, but not too wide. I pulled over as far as I could so that I could still change the tire safely, but was unhappy that we were still so close to the traffic.
I have changed many tires in my life, but never before on our minivan. I got out the booklet, figured it out, and told Dominic that he was not allowed to leave the car under any circumstances (he was playing his Nintendo, I don't even know that he noticed we stopped). Daniel and Nora helped by holding on to the wheel lock bolt, holding the spare ready, etc. Of course they were fascinated by the procedure. Also, Daniel will get his license within the year, so it is important that he knows how to change a tire, just in case!
Many cars & trucks beeped at us, but none stopped. A few minutes into this I realized the reason we were getting beeped at... I was wearing my bathing suit with a t-shirt over it. No pants. And while that's fine for the beach, I'm sure it made an interesting view for passing vehicles. Nora wears a rash guard shirt with a bikini bottom. Same thing. We were the pants-less family. Well, except for Daniel. Luckily, he was wearing his pants.
Oh, and a Prince George's county police car drove right by us. Thanks.
As Daniel helped me lift the damaged tire into the back of the van, I noticed that not only was the tire shredded, the rim was damaged. Ouch! The kids got back in the car, I got the bracket that held the spare back into its proper place and replaced the tools in their little cubby. Then I drove away. About a mile down the road, I realized that I had left the wheel lock on the tire when I tightened the lug nut. Yes, it was gone.
So... next day it was off to the insurance estimator & car repair place. Got a rental for the day because I had to get to work. The car would be ready Friday.
Friday I dropped Daniel off at work, then went downtown with Dominic & Nora to pick up her painting from the National Press Club (see my July 31 posting). Hand lunch with my mom & dad there, then headed back to drop off the rental car & get mine back.
Bad event #3 of 3. First of all that )#(%*)($% rock cost me more than $500. Those rims are expensive! We got our stuff out of the rental car (Dominic was carrying his Nintendo, Nora had a book, I had the painting). The kids got a couple of treats from the candy vending machine and then we piled into our minivan. We headed to the grocery store to get milk & eggs & a couple other things. Dominic went to the bathroom to wash his sticky hands. We went home. Dominic got out of the car and said, "Where's my DS case?" Even though he had been playing it in the car, he had no idea where he had it last. Went back to the van. Searched. Called the car place & the grocery store. Drove back to the car place and the grocery store. Nora remembered him having it at the grocery store (I didn't). He may have put it down when he went to wash his hands. In any case, it's gone. The DS and a number of games in the case.
Daniel had registered all our Nintendo equipment on the Nintendo site (and all the games) a number of months ago, so that the id number on the DS is tied to our name. But I'm sure whoever is using or selling the DS now doesn't care about that. I've checked eBay and Craig's List, but haven't seen it for sale. But if I do...
So there. Three bad things and one good one. Today starts a new week. Let's see what happens.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Vacation
Diabetes doesn't take a vacation, but I do. Here on vacation my lovely, trusty little laptop died, just after I loaded 100 pictures into it and deleted them from my camera. *sigh* So I'm on a family member's computer, and will beg a friend for help with my dead laptop when I get home.
Diabetes has touched this vacation in ways other than our daily life. A family friend was hospitalized for blood sugar at 800+ (type 2) when her oral meds stopped working. I visited her, along with my mother in law. Hospital smells, hospital flashbacks, finger sticks & ivs.
I hope to be back online soon. Hope everyone had a lovely Independence Day!
Diabetes has touched this vacation in ways other than our daily life. A family friend was hospitalized for blood sugar at 800+ (type 2) when her oral meds stopped working. I visited her, along with my mother in law. Hospital smells, hospital flashbacks, finger sticks & ivs.
I hope to be back online soon. Hope everyone had a lovely Independence Day!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Raise Your Voice
Today is Type 1 Diabetes Awareness Day. Raise your voice!
We have been intimately aware of diabetes for almost a year now. A year ago -- lets see -- Daniel started complaining of needing the bathroom quite often. Having to get up a few times in the middle of the night. We didn't recognize the symptoms. We had no connection with Type 1 diabetes. Now I try to spread the word!!
Excessive thirst
Dramatic weight loss
Frequent urination
"Fruity" breath
Fatigue
These are all signs of Type 1 diabetes. Listen up! It's not like you have to have diabetes in the family to get this! It's seemingly random; we don't know what triggers it. But if you or your child has any of these symptoms, get to the doctor and get your blood sugar checked.
There is no cure for diabetes. It is a disease that needs to be managed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no breaks, no vacations. Diabetics and their parents are frequently up at all hours of the night checking blood sugars or correcting blood sugar highs and lows.
But thank goodness it can be managed. Insulin is not a cure, but with proper care and attention it can keep blood sugar levels in range, which helps to prevent a host of other problems like blindness, neuropathy, and heart issues, to name a few.
Diabetes is difficult. It is heartbreaking. I'm so thankful for the diabetes online community, which has saved my sanity more than once, and has offered love, support, suggestions, and surprise gifts to me over the last year. I don't know what I would have done without them, and I hope to be able to pay all this kindness forward to others who in the years to come will be looking for the same lifeline. Until we find a cure.
We have been intimately aware of diabetes for almost a year now. A year ago -- lets see -- Daniel started complaining of needing the bathroom quite often. Having to get up a few times in the middle of the night. We didn't recognize the symptoms. We had no connection with Type 1 diabetes. Now I try to spread the word!!
Excessive thirst
Dramatic weight loss
Frequent urination
"Fruity" breath
Fatigue
These are all signs of Type 1 diabetes. Listen up! It's not like you have to have diabetes in the family to get this! It's seemingly random; we don't know what triggers it. But if you or your child has any of these symptoms, get to the doctor and get your blood sugar checked.
There is no cure for diabetes. It is a disease that needs to be managed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no breaks, no vacations. Diabetics and their parents are frequently up at all hours of the night checking blood sugars or correcting blood sugar highs and lows.
But thank goodness it can be managed. Insulin is not a cure, but with proper care and attention it can keep blood sugar levels in range, which helps to prevent a host of other problems like blindness, neuropathy, and heart issues, to name a few.
Diabetes is difficult. It is heartbreaking. I'm so thankful for the diabetes online community, which has saved my sanity more than once, and has offered love, support, suggestions, and surprise gifts to me over the last year. I don't know what I would have done without them, and I hope to be able to pay all this kindness forward to others who in the years to come will be looking for the same lifeline. Until we find a cure.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Connections
I went to Dominic's church class on Sunday because they were doing a segment on birth and what it is like to be a big brother or sister. When Daniel and Nora took this same class they had the experience of becoming a big brother & sister, so they had lots of stuff to share with the class. Dominic doesn't have that experience. So I was surprised when after they watched the little movie and the teacher asked for comments about being a big brother, Dominic raised his hand."I know how diabetes is like having a new baby," he said.
"Oh?" asked the teacher. "Tell me how."
"My mom has to get up at three in the morning to give my brother a shot and feed him. That's like getting up for a baby."
The teacher said that she couldn't agree more.
Okay, Dominic got some of the specifics wrong, but he hears what's going on in the house. Our latest middle of the night low involved me making a 3 a.m. omelet for Daniel. There was no shot, but Daniel did test his blood sugar a few times.
It's just incredible what goes through little kids' heads.
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