The storm has been dubbed Snowmageddon, for threatening multiple feet and its windy, blizzardy nature. But no worries. Snowmageddon all you want! There's chicken stew already made, sitting in the fridge. The diabetes supplies are all stocked up, and I even fought my way through the grocery store yesterday for some and delicious Florida strawberries (but actually to pick up some washing machine soap). Matt's home, too -- yay!! He picked up some red wine just before the heavy snow started falling. The neighbors are already checking in for play dates & get togethers. Life is good.
The powers that be let us off at noon today, but there were so few kids in the class that it was an easy day. Maybe we'll even be off on Monday, my busy day, for a complete bonus.
In Maryland we don't get the February break that school systems in New England get, and it always seems like a looooooong stretch from winter break to spring. Hard to stay focused, short days making for short tempers, and it feels like the school year has gone on for 10 months already. As my friend Leah says, every February she says she's quitting. (I'm sure the students have the same sentiment!)
But this year mother nature has given us a reprieve. Break out the board games and pour the cocoa (or the wine). Thank you, snow. I really needed you.
A few lines from Billy Collins' "Shoveling Snow with Buddha"
But here we are, working our way down the driveway,
one shovelful at a time.
We toss the light powder into the clear air.
We feel the cold mist on our faces.
And with every heave we disappear
and become lost to each other
in these sudden clouds of our own making,
these fountain-bursts of snow.
This is so much better than a sermon in church,
I say out loud, but Buddha keeps on shoveling.
This is the true religion, the religion of snow,
and sunlight and winter geese barking in the sky,
I say, but he is too busy to hear me.
He has thrown himself into shoveling snow
as if it were the purpose of existence,
as if the sign of a perfect life were a clear driveway
you could back the car down easily
and drive off into the vanities of the world
with a broken heater fan and a song on the radio.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Endo craziness
What do you do when you just can't get in to see the endocrinologist? Daniel is supposed to have an appointment every three months to check his A1c, go over his blood sugar history, and have a quick check up. I usually make the appointment three months in advance -- at the end of whatever appointment we're at. But we had a major FAIL this time. My husband took Daniel to his appointment in November. I didn't tell him to make a new appointment before he left. So here it is, 2 months later, and I started thinking hmmm. When is Daniel seeing the endo next? Yikes!
The next available opening is in May. MAY! I took it, of course.
Since Daniel was diagnosed, we've only had experience with the endocrinology department at Children's Hospital. I love the staff, the nurses, and especially Daniel's endocronologist. But it is so hard to get an appointment there! It seems like you have to have an emergency to be seen sometimes! At some point in the not to distant future, Daniel will grow out of the Children's system. I don't know at what age they no longer consider him to be a "child." I wonder where we'll go, and whether we'll have to wait 3 - 5 months to get an appointment.
The next available opening is in May. MAY! I took it, of course.
Since Daniel was diagnosed, we've only had experience with the endocrinology department at Children's Hospital. I love the staff, the nurses, and especially Daniel's endocronologist. But it is so hard to get an appointment there! It seems like you have to have an emergency to be seen sometimes! At some point in the not to distant future, Daniel will grow out of the Children's system. I don't know at what age they no longer consider him to be a "child." I wonder where we'll go, and whether we'll have to wait 3 - 5 months to get an appointment.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
GF Goodness in Stamford, CT
A couple of weeks ago when we took a drive up to visit my in laws in Connecticut, we stopped in Stamford to take my husband's aunt out for lunch. I Googled around looking for a place with a gluten free menu, and found a place listed right in Stamford where we were stopping. It is called Frascati's, and it is at 581 Newfield Avenue.
Frascati's is a small, Italian restaurant with a great GF menu. Daniel ordered a pizza (they use the Still Riding pizza crust, which we also can get here at restaurants in MD). But they had more than just pizza. They had a full GF menu with GF pastas, appetizers, and a warm delicious GF brownie for dessert. Daniel split a calamari in tomato sauce appetizer with my husband. We found out later that, even though it is not on the menu, we could have requested gluten free fried calamari, and the chef would have prepared it. Daniel hasn't had that since being diagnosed, and I think we might make the trek up to Stamford again just for that!
It is just so nice to go to a restaurant where we don't have to worry, and where everyone in the family can find something they can eat. Thanks, Frascati's, for making it easy and delicious.
Frascati's is a small, Italian restaurant with a great GF menu. Daniel ordered a pizza (they use the Still Riding pizza crust, which we also can get here at restaurants in MD). But they had more than just pizza. They had a full GF menu with GF pastas, appetizers, and a warm delicious GF brownie for dessert. Daniel split a calamari in tomato sauce appetizer with my husband. We found out later that, even though it is not on the menu, we could have requested gluten free fried calamari, and the chef would have prepared it. Daniel hasn't had that since being diagnosed, and I think we might make the trek up to Stamford again just for that!
It is just so nice to go to a restaurant where we don't have to worry, and where everyone in the family can find something they can eat. Thanks, Frascati's, for making it easy and delicious.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
At last!!!
Daniel got his braces off today. Phew! Poor kid has had an appliance of one sort or another in his mouth for the past nine years -- longer than he's been alive! Of course, he still has to wear retainers, but still -- what a relief. At least those can come off!
I told Daniel my retainer story. I had mine in junior high. I took it out to eat, and put it on a napkin on my tray. When lunch was over, I forgot about the retainer, and dumped it into the trash everything else. A class period or so later, I got that "UH OH" feeling... and not too long after that I was digging through enormous trash cans looking for my retainer. I found it. I boiled it...
Today when I was at work, I saw another teacher walking in front of me. She had pump tubing coiling out of her back pocket and then going under her clothes. The coils were sticking out quite a bit, so I tapped her on the arm as I was walking by and said, "hey, your tubing is sticking out." She said thanks, and tucked it in. I walked back to my classroom, sat down, and thought, wait... maybe that wasn't the right thing to do! It's something I do automatically when I see Daniel's spilling out of his clothes, because he tends to catch it on door knobs or drawer handles. He's ripped a couple of sites out that way, ouch! Anyway, I'm his mom! But until the moment this afternoon when I saw the other teacher's tubing, I didn't even know she was diabetic. Should I have said anything?
Speaking of pumping, Daniel has really taken over his diabetes management over this past 6 months or so. I used to tell him when it was a site change day. Now he tells me. He mostly does that himself as well, unless he's inserting into a place that's difficult for him to reach. I wonder how diabetics who live on their own reach the back of their arms, or other difficult spots, for that matter. I'm sure some have partners, roommates, moms, or other friends who help them out with the "ka-chunker" (as we call it) to insert the infusion set. But what if you live on your own? Daniel can twist around and get his hips pretty well, although he has to look in a mirror. The arms are practically impossible for him.
In any case, it's been wonderful for Daniel to take charge of his care. It makes me feel better about the looming college separation. Now if he would only take on gluten free cooking...
I guess I'll search youtube for how to self administer infusion sets in difficult places -- you can find almost anything on that site.
Keep smiling!!
Monday, December 21, 2009
cooooookie
Last year's gluten-free roll-out sugar cookies were, well... okay. Not fabulous. I found a recipe that made me happy because it rolled out so easily, yay! But the taste wasn't great. They were made with oil rather than butter, and I blame the oil.
I looked around on the internet for gf roll out cookie recipes, and found a few that looked good. I always look to Gluten Free Gobsmacked, Gluten Free Girl, Living Without Magazine, and a few others. GF Girl and Living Without had a similar recipe, so I gave one or the other of them a try. I can't remember which is which now. The dough is sitting in the fridge right now. It seems a bit too loose to roll out, though. *sigh*
The gluten-filled cookie baking has also started. The pistachio biscotti are cooling on the rack right now, and the dough for the gluten roll out cookies is also cooling. It is quite firm, and will roll out very well. I'll also be making almond biscotti, date balls (we call them Christmas crack, they are so addictive!), and perhaps some gingerbread, if there is time. I also found out that the Italian pignoli cookies, which are soooo yummy, are gluten free! Almond paste, sugar, confectioner's sugar, egg whites, pine nuts. I'd like to make those, too. Like most GF cookies, I think the shelf life is pretty short for these. I wonder if they freeze well...
The roads were clear enough today to get out of the house, and the snow plow cleared our road last night, so I was able to get out to the store. I stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up pistachios and pine nuts, flour and other goodies. They were cooking a baked bread pudding made out of their panettone bread. They added milk, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla... oh, it was yummy! They were also walking around handing out samples of their fruit filled chocolate truffles. I tried the pomegranite. MMMM.
Then, of course, I had to go to the "regular" grocery store to pick up supplies that were not available at Trader Joes -- gushers, which are Daniel's sugar of choice when his blood sugar goes low, cream cheese, and some spices. And in a few minutes I will go to YET ANOTHER grocery store -- the organic place -- where I can get more xanthan gum and some GF supplies. Wow, it would be so nice to have one store that sold all that stuff!
Okay, time to get the boots back on...
In a few minutes I have to go to the
Friday, December 18, 2009
Hello?
The first phone problem was weather-related. Or so we thought, because what happened was, every time it rained, we got a horrible buzz sound on our phone line. So we called Verizon and told them the problem, and invariably they would come and check it out on a nice, sunny day, and there would be no problem with the line. Hmph.
Finally it happened that the repairman arrived on a rainy day (after much complaining to Verizon). He said yes, there is a problem! He checked the box outside the house, then took his long ladder off of his truck, and climbed the telephone pole across the street. Then he left for a while. His truck was gone for about an hour, but the ladder was still up against the pole (with an orange cone next to it for safety). He came back climbed up the pole, changed something, and then came to the door and asked me to check the line. Yay! The buzz was gone! I thanked him.
The next day, the fax noises started. We had no problem calling out. But when the phone rang and we picked up, it sounded like someone was trying to fax us. I thought whoever was doing it would finally figure out that we are not waiting on a fax.
But then, my husband was out, and he called home. And his phone call produced the fax tone. He asked me if our fax machine was plugged in. I double checked it -- and NO, the machine was not plugged into the wall at all! Not the electricity plug, not the phone line -- NOTHING. After a couple of days we figured out that if we grabbed the phone on the first ring, we wouldn't hear the fax tone. If we let it ring more than once, the fax tone would scream during the phone call. We could hear the caller, and they could hear us -- only in between the fax screeches.
So, of course, we called Verizon again. They let us know that their repair schedule was very busy, but they could get to us within about 10 days. But wait, we said, this was caused by the person who just repaired the line! Can you come back?
back and forth and back and forth with supervisor
Okay, we'll make it a week. Ugh. So for the past week we've been diving for the phone to catch it on the first ring.
Yesterday it was supposed to be fixed. My daughter got an automated message on our answering machine from Verizon saying the problem was fixed.... followed by a screeching fax tone. So I called Verizon and explained that the problem was not fixed. The gentleman on the phone told me that the case was closed, so they had to open a new case, and someone could come by... well, they are very busy.... January 6th or 7th.
NO! Then I went round and round with the guy about how the case is not closed, it is NOT fixed, they have to come back and do what they were supposed to do THAT DAY. Nothing helped. Fine. I hung up in disgust.
Luckily my husband had the name of the supervisor he had spoken to originally, who had scheduled the repair for yesterday. They scheduled someone to arrive today. Between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Very convenient.
Is it time to drop the home phone? Is there anyone out there who no longer has a land line, and just uses cell service? I'm wondering if it is something we should do....
Finally it happened that the repairman arrived on a rainy day (after much complaining to Verizon). He said yes, there is a problem! He checked the box outside the house, then took his long ladder off of his truck, and climbed the telephone pole across the street. Then he left for a while. His truck was gone for about an hour, but the ladder was still up against the pole (with an orange cone next to it for safety). He came back climbed up the pole, changed something, and then came to the door and asked me to check the line. Yay! The buzz was gone! I thanked him.
The next day, the fax noises started. We had no problem calling out. But when the phone rang and we picked up, it sounded like someone was trying to fax us. I thought whoever was doing it would finally figure out that we are not waiting on a fax.
But then, my husband was out, and he called home. And his phone call produced the fax tone. He asked me if our fax machine was plugged in. I double checked it -- and NO, the machine was not plugged into the wall at all! Not the electricity plug, not the phone line -- NOTHING. After a couple of days we figured out that if we grabbed the phone on the first ring, we wouldn't hear the fax tone. If we let it ring more than once, the fax tone would scream during the phone call. We could hear the caller, and they could hear us -- only in between the fax screeches.
So, of course, we called Verizon again. They let us know that their repair schedule was very busy, but they could get to us within about 10 days. But wait, we said, this was caused by the person who just repaired the line! Can you come back?
back and forth and back and forth with supervisor
Okay, we'll make it a week. Ugh. So for the past week we've been diving for the phone to catch it on the first ring.
Yesterday it was supposed to be fixed. My daughter got an automated message on our answering machine from Verizon saying the problem was fixed.... followed by a screeching fax tone. So I called Verizon and explained that the problem was not fixed. The gentleman on the phone told me that the case was closed, so they had to open a new case, and someone could come by... well, they are very busy.... January 6th or 7th.
NO! Then I went round and round with the guy about how the case is not closed, it is NOT fixed, they have to come back and do what they were supposed to do THAT DAY. Nothing helped. Fine. I hung up in disgust.
Luckily my husband had the name of the supervisor he had spoken to originally, who had scheduled the repair for yesterday. They scheduled someone to arrive today. Between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Very convenient.
Is it time to drop the home phone? Is there anyone out there who no longer has a land line, and just uses cell service? I'm wondering if it is something we should do....
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Talking to the Universe
I teach a wonderful 6th grade class at our UU church. It's the "Growing Up Year," where we visit different houses of worship and learn about many religions, including our own. I think it is a way not only to build tolerance of others by finding common ground and dispelling mysteries, it is also a way to pin down and put into words what it is that we believe. Quite an accomplishment for 11-12 year old kids.
Today we did a follow up class to several different field trips, and we had the kids write down what beliefs they remembered from their visits. We put signs up on the wall -- Totally, firmly agree; agree; unsure corner; hm... disagree; and totally, firmly disagree. Then we read the beliefs out loud, and we all had to move around the room to stand under the sign that matches our feeling about a belief.
Sometimes the wording of these beliefs can change where I stand. There's "I believe that prayer works," versus "Meditation gives me peace of mind." Is there a difference between prayer and meditation? One seems to be TO a deity, while the other is turned inward. However, if you believe that god, or a holy spirit, or the great life force is within all of us, then meditation can be considered prayer TO the deity within. These are some of the tricky questions the 6th graders wrestle with -- as do I.
I tend to ask the universe for a lot. It's kind of like throwing spaghetti up on the wall -- at some point something will stick. I don't know what's out there in the universe, but perhaps something holy is listening. (Not last week, though. We didn't get that snow day). And yet, when I'm talking to the "universe," I feel like I'm actually sinking deep inside of myself. That's more like a description of meditation.
There's also that whole "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" way of prayer/meditation. If you want something in your life, imagine it is already there. So I spend lots of time imagining (in a background sort of way, while I'm getting on with daily life) that diabetes has been cured. That scientists have found the key to autoimmune diseases. That life got a little easier. It calms me down. Is it "working?" I don't know. Maybe it will, but I won't know in my lifetime. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to see this part of my imagination come to life. Then I'll *really* have a great lesson to bring to class! How I'd love to stand under that "Firmly, Totally Agree" sign when it comes to the power of prayer!
These kids I teach -- they are wonderful. So expressive, full of wonder, and so very intelligent. They made me think about all this STUFF (as they say) today, as they do each week. So today, in addition to asking the universe for so many things, I'd like to thank it for sending me this particular group of wonderful kids. Thanks for my co-teacher, who makes me laugh. Thanks for this wonderful UU community, which feels like home.
Today we did a follow up class to several different field trips, and we had the kids write down what beliefs they remembered from their visits. We put signs up on the wall -- Totally, firmly agree; agree; unsure corner; hm... disagree; and totally, firmly disagree. Then we read the beliefs out loud, and we all had to move around the room to stand under the sign that matches our feeling about a belief.
Sometimes the wording of these beliefs can change where I stand. There's "I believe that prayer works," versus "Meditation gives me peace of mind." Is there a difference between prayer and meditation? One seems to be TO a deity, while the other is turned inward. However, if you believe that god, or a holy spirit, or the great life force is within all of us, then meditation can be considered prayer TO the deity within. These are some of the tricky questions the 6th graders wrestle with -- as do I.
I tend to ask the universe for a lot. It's kind of like throwing spaghetti up on the wall -- at some point something will stick. I don't know what's out there in the universe, but perhaps something holy is listening. (Not last week, though. We didn't get that snow day). And yet, when I'm talking to the "universe," I feel like I'm actually sinking deep inside of myself. That's more like a description of meditation.
There's also that whole "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" way of prayer/meditation. If you want something in your life, imagine it is already there. So I spend lots of time imagining (in a background sort of way, while I'm getting on with daily life) that diabetes has been cured. That scientists have found the key to autoimmune diseases. That life got a little easier. It calms me down. Is it "working?" I don't know. Maybe it will, but I won't know in my lifetime. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to see this part of my imagination come to life. Then I'll *really* have a great lesson to bring to class! How I'd love to stand under that "Firmly, Totally Agree" sign when it comes to the power of prayer!
These kids I teach -- they are wonderful. So expressive, full of wonder, and so very intelligent. They made me think about all this STUFF (as they say) today, as they do each week. So today, in addition to asking the universe for so many things, I'd like to thank it for sending me this particular group of wonderful kids. Thanks for my co-teacher, who makes me laugh. Thanks for this wonderful UU community, which feels like home.
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