A tangled mess.

One thing I like about my pump: not having to grab my Pens before leaving the house and then having to have them with me.  Now I just LEAVE the house.  Pump on board.

Five things that I DON'T like about my pump:

#1   (And the most irritating) is people who do NOT have diabetes telling me HOW much I'm going TO  LOVE my pump.  I'm okay with medical people or people who KNOW someone with a pump.  But to everyone else sipping their  beer/wine/cooler/mocha/monster:   Really??  Cause why don't you try sticking this giant ass needle subcutaneously into YOUR stomach and get back to me or MAYBE you should:  just.  Shut.  The.  Fuck.  Up.

#2  Tangled Up Tubing Syndrome (TUTS)  I sleep with my pump next to me or under my pillow but wake up with it impossibly wrapped around my body.

#2  Snagged Tubing Syndrome (STS).  Twice I have snagged the tubing on a door handle and although it does not hurt to rip the catheter out, it is a weird sensation.  And then it is aggravating to have to go through a whole new set change and stick.

#3  Realizing that I am walking around with excess tubing visible.  It just looks weird. 

#4  Set changes.

#5  Beeps and alarms.  Essential and handy.  Possibly life-saving.  But that doesn't mean I have to like them.

#7  Inspired by LisaP.

If you are six and really, really lucky!

Here is a recipe for a perfect day for Bay and Eva: 
The Mall: First stop the escalator because what six year old doesn't want to ride up and down for no reason.  Next stop the Indoor Play Area where they get to climb, jump, run, giggle, jump, run and sit in an immobile cartoon-like airplane.  Next stop: Claire's (it's an accessory store that features all kinds of kid and teenage jewelry... it's a crazy, chaotic mess of pink/glitter/Hello Kitty in every possible accessory!)  There you get to pick out three pairs of clip-on earings.  Then on to the Frozen Yogurt place that has 74 different kinds of sprinkle-able/fruit/cookie/sauce topping.  Finally you HAVE to ride the escalator one last time.  The end!

(Thanks Aunt Lisa!)

Kennewick

Time with the cousins!  Trent and I worried about the long drive.  It was easy.  (We hooked up the TV we bought years ago for road trips and that was that.)  The girls played.  The boys played.  Lisa and I got to shop.  (I'm like Ma Ingalls being taken to the General Store - I think my eyes bugged out at the sight of SO much selection.  So many pretties....  Bloody sad, really.)  (I hadn't realized how much I missed "The Mall".)  We barbecued.  We went to the county fair.  We.  Had.  Fun.

B-Days

Happy Birthday Aunt Lisa!!!

NEIL IS ELEVEN

Isn't "eleven" sweet... Neil is still chatty. And kind. He cares what people think about him. He cares about poor people and black people and people we are at war with. He LOVES President Obama. He is a liberal to the core. He has a distinctly goofy side. Tonight he gave Bay the following advice: "Bay... always be kind to people... even if they are mean to you and ALWAYS be kind to your friends". Bay nodded solemnly. (Seriously... I am not making this up.) We spoiled Neil for his birthday, and I believe that it was the first time we did this. Gene's Driver's Ed class is costing us the best part of $500 so his we warned him that his birthday gift would reflect this expense. Neil is not having a party (after he is in school next year, I expect we can make up for these past two years) so I felt okay in going all out with his present. He wanted a Nerf Gun which we got him. He got that on the morning of his birthday along with his favorite Starbucks Vanilla Latte (bottled) and a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Then after breakfast we met Trent at the downtown bicycle store and he got to pick out a very cool, very solid bicycle. He was SOOOO excited. Gene was a little miffed but behaved himself as he oogled the bikes. (If his grades are good he may get one for Christmas.) (Gus wants one too.....)

We had cake and candles at 11pm. (That was when we got water again, having been without for three days... It's been a long, dry and stinky plumbing remodel... but we're almost done.

Happy Birthday Neil... (and Aunt Lisa!)

Fourth Of July

6 Tents. 6 Dogs. 12 Adults. 19 kids. (10 Girls, 9 Boys.) 1 Grandma. 5 Dozen Doughnuts. 3 Dozen Ears of Corn. 7 ipods. One Bathroom.

Our house may still be lacking in almost everything that could make the weekend a success but we had a blast. (In the words of Jim Turnipseed "oh my God! what a blast I had in Seattle".) The families do not get together the way we used to when the kids were little. Lisa packs her two every year and heads (by plane) to be with family and that's how we used to be. Now months go by and although we all talk all the time, we don't get to hang out the way we'd like. We are holding on to our twice yearly get-togethers... Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. No matter how cliched it is our kids are growing up way too fast. Gene is the eldest kid at 14 and Aoife is the youngest at 18 months. We hit every age and stage in between. Our collective experience should mean we've got this child rearing thing all figured out, but we're all just muddling along jerry rigging and adjusting, three steps forward, one back. We are right on the brink of having a large mix of non-related teen aged boys and girls and that sure will be interesting. We can try to keep up the pretence that they are all related but I'm pretty sure that we aren't going to get away with it.

Gus was the only casualty of the weekend (surprisingly...???!!!) when the hatchback of my car was opened and he got smacked above the eye, splitting the skin open (in that spot nearly where nearly everyone has a scar, and Gus now has three). Terry and Lisa stuck him back together with superglue. There's a joke in there someplace........

Trent made Mojotos for everyone until he got bored sometime around Saturday afternoon and resigned as barman. (He won't be hired next year.)

I'm already making plans for next year's event. I've promised everyone at least ONE more bathroom.

Home is the Hero

Gus is back. He had a blast. He starts many, many sentence with "when I was in Jacksonville, Florida......" He had all these amazing experiences, he got to fly with Grandma and have her all to himself on the trip.  He saw the Spaceshuttle Discovery take off, helped "rescue" a turtle who needed help getting back to the pond, went to a movie, went to the beach (saw the Atlantic), saw Alex play soccer. Aunt Lisa got him a watch for his birthday and he loves being able to tell the time, counting by fives! The dynamic in the house without him was interesting. There was still the usual bickering and aggression... so it was actually good that that can't be pinned on him! He looks bigger and seems louder, but that is probably due to the decrease in noise without him! I am seeking balance again... I think that unschooling is probably the best way for kids to learn, especially my kids who don't seem to do well at all in traditional learning environments. When I think of how I need them to behave in school mode it makes me wonder how much "homeschooling" I am doing and how much I am just doing "school at home". I can't see myself becoming a complete "unschooler"... it takes a lot of faith in the process and a lot of trust in the child's innate ability and hunger for learning. I'm not there yet.

Gus, off on his holliers

Gus goes to Florida with Grandma Shirley tomorrow. We've never had a kid gone anywhere for more than an overnight... and Gus has only been on very few of even those!! I am quite nervous about being apart from him. He will be with Grandma and Aunt Lisa so he'll be in good hands. He and Alex are good friends so Shirley offered to take him with her on her visit which is a great opportunity for Gus. As the youngest of three boys he doesn't often get to have the limelight. I think that he will really enjoy all the attention and hopefully he'll miss his siblings a little. I'm going to miss him terribly. It will be interesting to see how school is without him.

Tomorrow Trent is going to take him to Enumclaw to Shirley's and also get the car out of the garage, empty the garage and pack up the truck with anything else that he can. We have to be out by December 05th and Trent learned today that the next two weekends are booked up with work... which is of course a good thing, the timing is just bad. So it looks like we will be moving in one weekend... over Thanksgiving. I'll go to Buckley next week and the following week for a few days and box up as much stuff as I can.