Wild and Precious Life

Vacation

2008-07-05T14:33:00.004-04:00

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!

Berries!

2008-06-24T21:05:00.006-04:00

We picked seven pounds of raspberries today and a few pounds of blueberries. Last year when we went to Larriland Farms the blueberries were enormous and practically jumping into the baskets, while we had to search under every leaf to fill a bucketful of ripe raspberries. This year we had the opposite experience.

I picked up a copy of "Living Without" magazine at my local health food store the other day, and they had a recipe for gluten free blueberry cobbler cake. I tried it out today and it came out delicious.

Whenever I see the "Living Without" magazine, I feel like calling them up and telling them to change their name. "Living Without" is so negative! How about "Living Well, Allergy Free," or "Delicious Alternatives," or something like that?

I made a no-bake raspberry pie as well. Also a funny name, because something DOES get cooked. I pulverized some Enviro-kids Amazon frosted flakes cereal and mixed the crumbs with melted butter to make a crust. I pressed this mixture into a pie plate and baked it for about 10 minutes at 350 to set it. Then I scooped about 3 + cups of raspberries into the crust. While the crust was baking, I made a glaze to go on top. I cooked sugar, water, and cornstarch over low heat until it got goopy, then added a cup of pureed raspberries and let it cook some more. The goopy glaze went over the berries and the whole thing chilled for a couple of hours in the refrigerator while we went for a swim.

Once we got back home I really went crazy and made spinach/fish croquettes for dinner. THEN finished up the evening with blueberry pie, which is cooking RIGHT NOW.

Stick a fork in me. I'm done.

Balancing Act

2008-06-21T15:47:00.001-04:00

Picture 229, 6-19-08, Balancing Act
Originally uploaded by NaomiPoet

This log wasn't that far off the ground. The boys scooted across it, no problem. I took one step on a damp, slippery spot, and froze. Wide as the log was, it felt like a tightrope and all I could see was the ground beneath. It was swaying.

How do they make it look so easy?

I made it across, eventually. Sheesh.

TrialNet

2008-06-16T20:22:00.003-04:00

We participate in the TrialNet Natural History study. Nora & Dominic are siblings of a person with Type 1 diabetes, so they have their blood tested every year to check for autoantibodies. We do this because, according to studies, relatives of people with type 1 diabetes have a 10 to 15 times greater risk for developing the disease than people with no family history.

Last year Nora, Dominic & I all were tested. Luckily, we all had a negative result. Now I'm too old for the study (sob!) so only Nora & Dominic were tested. We'll get the results in a month or so.

Last year it was difficult, to say the least, to get Dominic to give blood. He bucked like a bronco and ended up with an enormous bruise, even though we prepared and "practiced" beforehand. What a difference one year makes. This year he held out his arm and didn't even say ouch! He said that his arm hurt a little, but it was from the elastic that they tied his arm with more than the needle. Nora & Dominic got bags of prizes, which also helped ease the pain! We were all very proud of him.

Later in the day we went to a playground to run off some energy. At one point Dominic fell off a swing and bumped his back & head. I brushed him off & hugged him, and then he decided to sit by me for a while. He said, "Mom, I could have cried when I fell, but I didn't."

"Why didn't you cry?"

"I thought about how brave I was when I gave my blood today."

He's growing up!!!

Recalculating... recalculating...

2008-06-09T14:44:00.003-04:00

The trouble with having so much to do is that there is very little time to process your thoughts. The end of the school year is approaching like a freight train, and carries with it many meetings, parties, and responsibilities. I've felt, more than once in the past week, that I needed to be two equally important places at the same time.

Highlights of the past week:

I had one fantastic interview and one so so one.

Dominic arrived home on the school bus in the middle of a tornado warning, with the rain flowing in sheets around us.

We didn't lose power (luck) but we did lose cable and I had painful withdrawal from my Internet addiction.

The fantastic interview was for acceptance into an amazing training program. However -- no paycheck. We have to decide if we can do with out that for a while, or defer the training program.

I spent all weekend, 20+ hours, in an intensive program that certified me to teach sex ed to middle & high school students in my church. I am empowered. Yeah, go ahead. Ask me anything.

Daniel is learning the lesson that sometimes your boss can be an absolute a**hole. However, it is nice to earn $$.

A friend from 15 years ago found my blog and we re-connected. Hi Karen! :)

Nora has rehearsal every night this week because her show opens on Friday. Summer truly begins when the show closes on Sunday. Time to put on my backstage mom clothes!

Chill out, everyone.

June is Bustin' Out All Over!

2008-06-01T13:58:00.003-04:00

The weather has slipped into something glorious. Pools beckon, blue water winking in the sun. School is almost out! Blood sugars cruising in mostly normal ranges, even with graduation party barbecue goodness.

Yesterday our neighbors had a graduation party for their youngest daughter. I've never seen so much meat! Roast pork, sausages, chicken kebabs, lamb kebab, kibbe on sticks, and 30 or so side dishes. Daniel chewed his way to protein bliss without bolusing. Everything was made from scratch, so we didn't have to worry about glutened marinades. Picky Nora even found food to love, and Dominic was too busy trying to swing upside down in the hammock to think about food. Until the cake came.

Today is another graduation party. Tomorrow must be diet day! :) A steady diet of sunshine and swimming this week would suit me just fine.

I have a couple of interviews coming up in the next few days, so I'm nervous and excited, but I've got a smile stuck on my face for the first time since the old job went to hell. Keep your fingers crossed folks, and let's hope for the best.

Breakfast

2008-05-30T10:54:00.001-04:00

Picture 207, 5-28-08, Breakfast 2
Originally uploaded by NaomiPoet

Me: Do you want a smoothie for breakfast?

Dominic: Do you have papaya?

Me: Yes. I have papaya, banana, strawberries, blueberries...

Dominic: Just papaya. And the other stuff you put in the smoothies. In the special cup.

The special cup. What does that mean today? In this instance it was the tupperware version of a martini glass. Some days it is the tall skinny glasses with the polka dots. I no longer have to cross my fingers and hope to guess correctly, though. He uses his words.

When Dominic was two or three, he would bounce down the stairs to breakfast, all smiles and good cheer. I'd set him out a bowl & spoon and bring his favorite cereal to the table, only to see him crumple into a desperate, tearful, hitched-breathing, inconsolable creature.

What? What's the matter? What?

45 minutes later: I wanted a different spoon!

Dominic. A work in progress. Aren't we all?

Clarification

2008-05-28T14:19:00.004-04:00

Update:

Latest info from my celiac group:

The Levemir Flex pen *is* gluten free; however,
the Levemir 10 ml bottle IS NOT gluten free because of the mannitol
preservative.

70/30     10 ml bottle IS NOT gluten free because of the mannitol
preservative.

Can we get the gluten out of the preservative?

Some Things Send You Back

2008-05-26T19:24:00.005-04:00

I was at my mom's house this weekend and she offered me some thermoses that she doesn't use any more because she knows that I pack lunches every day for Daniel. I said that's great, but you know we're now concerned about the plastic. The thermoses I have are all plastic, and I am going to look for the old fashioned, glass lined ones. So off mom goes and finds me an old, tall, glass lined thermos. It's the kind I picture when I think of the guys at the construction site, sitting on the support beam suspended high in the air, taking a lunch break with their old metal lunch boxes beside them. The thermos is more than a foot high and sports a retro, corrugated metal skin.

Then mom gave me another prize -- my old thermos from when I was a kid -- the Campus Queen! I used to have the lunch box as well, and I remember it had a Campus Queen game on the back.

I feel like a kid again when I'm holding this. I *am* the campus queen, with her puffy helmet hair and tiara. My man has perfect hair and a shiny tux, and he's given me a dozen roses, which I'm going to carry around all night.

Look at the small couple on the front of the thermos, so inferior, so jealous. Her dress is not fancy enough. She has no flowers. Her man stands behind her, not even holding her waist, secretly looking for a place to sneak out and catch the game on his transistor radio, which he has hidden in a pocket of his cheap suit. There's another tiny couple you can't see, flaming redhead with too much eye makeup, an inattentive date.

Look at the smug smile on Campus Queen's face, her cat-like eyes searching out every other woman in the room, finding them somehow wanting. Who else can carry off that fur-trimmed cape?

She may be small-town royalty, but there's nothing wrong with being the big fish in a small pond.

Yeah. All that from a thermos.

Redneck

2008-05-24T19:43:00.001-04:00

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

2008-05-23T17:02:00.002-04:00

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

2008-05-22T21:14:00.007-04:00

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

2008-05-20T07:42:00.003-04:00

I gave him a little push and off he flew!

And yes, it took about 3 days to upload the video.

Some Days

2008-05-19T19:51:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-05-17T15:35:00.005-04:00

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

2008-05-14T18:15:00.001-04:00

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!

This, That, and the Other

2008-05-12T14:11:00.003-04:00

I'm in between now. Between interviews, between jobs, between morning and evening, between sick and well.

I'm going after opportunities, yet I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen.

Between phases of my life. Between the cold of winter and the warmth of spring.

Between...

one word and the next
one breath and the next
one post and the next...

One Year Later, Life is Beautiful

2008-05-08T19:20:00.002-04:00

Picture, 5-8-08, Life is Beautiful
Originally uploaded by NaomiPoet

Matt asked me if we wanted to celebrate... no, not celebrate. Commemorate. Bring attention to. Get a cake or something.

I said, how about we light a candle and say a prayer?

One year ago Daniel was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. One year ago, at this time, I sat beside him in the intensive care unit, willing him to heal. One year and half a day ago I had no idea what diabetes meant.

Daniel isn't paying much attention to this anniversary. But as a parent, I can't help it. I'll never forgot the rush to the hospital, the switch to another hospital, the frank diagnosis, the kindness of nurses. The snoring, buzzing sounds and hushed voices in the common sleeping area for parents with kids in the ICU. The 3 sleepless days and nights.

Days and nights that followed in a blur of shots and numbers, watching the clock, clocking the test results.

I told a friend today that when Daniel comes home from school I don't ask, "How was your day?" I ask, "What were your numbers?" That needs to change.

One year later, I no longer have nightmares night after night about giving the wrong dose of insulin, making mistakes with carb counts, causing Daniel to sicken. I no longer cry myself to sleep every evening with my hand clapped against my mouth so he won't hear me down the hall. We're in a routine. Daniel counts carbs & gives himself shots. He has taken on this disease, he's roped it in.

So one year later, I *do* celebrate. I celebrate the strength and courage of my child. I honor his ability to go with the flow. I am in awe of his constant, happy demeanor.

I light a candle and say a prayer.

Let there be a cure in our lifetime.

Nora at the JDRF Walk

2008-05-07T17:06:00.001-04:00

IMG_5782
Originally uploaded by JDRF Capitol

I got an email from the JDRF thanking all the family teams for a successful walk on May 4! There was a link to the JDRF pictures on flickr, and as I was scrolling through the pictures I found Nora!

Cookies

2008-05-05T20:20:00.002-04:00

Got some new cookies at Trader Joe's the other day. Espresso chocolate chip. Lord.

Biting into a cookie is like biting into an espresso bean -- bitter & addictive -- and then there's a sweet chocolate chip chaser.

Two cookies and hours later, I'm still tasting espresso. I wonder if I'll sleep tonight?

JDRF Walk

2008-05-04T16:37:00.003-04:00

The weather forecast was wrong, and we had a beautiful day for the DC JDRF Walk!

Woke the kids early and got downtown just as registration was starting. Dominic quickly found the free food. He was complaining a little bit on the way downtown, but once he saw that nice people were handing out granola bars, then life was suddenly GOOD.

After registering & claiming our t shirts we walked over to the sign-making & kids activities. Nora made a Homer Simpson drawing on her sign, and at the end of the walk a lady came up to her and actually asked if Nora was going to keep it or if she would mind giving it away! Nora wanted to keep her sign, however.

Dominic & Nora played around on the bouncy horses while Matt & Daniel walked across the mall to check out some of the tents.

After an intro by local weatherman Bob Ryan and a warm up exercise, the walk began! We made it a little farther than the family fun walk, but not as far as the entire route. Dominic's legs just wouldn't go that far. Our method of getting him to keep going: insert granola bar, hold hand, tug. Repeat. After I don't know how many granola bars, he had to make a run for the bathroom in the Air & Space Museum with Matt. That's when Jillian called!

Amazing that of all the places on the big National Mall, she was only a block or so behind us on the walk! Her group caught up with our family as we waited on the bench, and then we had our photo opportunity. Jillian and her group looked like they were having a great time as well. What a bunch of sweet kids (and mom!). Then they went on their way while Nora, Daniel & I waited for Dominic to finish his... business. I forgot to ask Jillian if she ran into anyone else from the OC on the walk! Did you?

Then we walked to the finish line & headed for the car. At that point Moe's restaurant was dishing up lots of free lunch food, but we stayed away because of gluten issues. Drove home where Matt made the most beautiful frittata you've ever seen... but you can't see it because we ate it before I could get a picture. We were that hungry. Except for granola bar boy, who couldn't eat a thing.

It's been a great day. Now the laundry is in the machine, shrimp is thawing, and we're getting ready for the school week. I'm making lists and lists -- all the things I need to do with my newly found free time.

It's Great to be a Kid.

2008-05-02T21:46:00.002-04:00

Sorry if the video is sideways. Can't figure out how to turn it.

What a Mess!

2008-05-01T20:42:00.004-04:00

Mea culpa. I've not been writing. When things are going wrong, sometimes it's better to sit and let them be for a little while before writing about them.

Okay, that's my excuse. I was just too tired.

First of all, the bank thing. We went to the bank and had the bogus ACH withdrawals to "Sprint" blocked. I'm checking the account every day to see if anything else happens, and if so, we'll get a new account number. Maybe we'll get a new one anyway, because this was just too upsetting. The bank promises to refund the stolen money within a few days. (Haven't seen it yet. Grrrr.)

Then there's the job thing. I've complained about my job before, I know. Well the kicker this week was the meeting on Tuesday afternoon where they told us that we wouldn't be getting paychecks on Wednesday. They are out of money.

I work in the office of a small, independent school. Some of the teachers at the school are lucky enough to have spouses who can support them or other sources of income. Some of them don't. So for the past couple of days, teachers have been dropping like flies. The lower school is safe, and those teachers will volunteer teach through the end of the year. But the middle and upper school teachers are leaving. Bills to pay. Mortgages. There are 2 full time and 1 part time teachers staying -- the full time ones have kids in the school. I said to my co-worker today that pretty soon we're going to turn into a one-room schoolhouse.

It's depressing, to say the least. I can't continue to volunteer, either -- I need to earn some money! I've got 2 interviews set up for next week and hope to have more prospects soon, just in case. But I also feel guilty about walking away. I know how hard it will be for the people who are going to stay through the end of the school year to deal with the day to day routine, to figure out the many, many things that those of us in the office attend to. I don't know that I'll stay past tomorrow. There's lots that I can take care of at home, where the pay is the same! It will save me some gas money, too.

Next week is the one year anniversary of Daniel's diagnosis. The week after that, my husband turns 50. An AARP card arrived for him in the mail today. He will NOT be amused.

That's about all I can blurt out right now. I *am* looking forward to the JDRF walk this Sunday, and to meeting Jillian.

Oh, and I did get a very nice phone call from the people at Pelikan Technologies after I left a question on their web site about dealing with insurance companies. It's nice to know that people read those things and are able to help out. He gave me the hcpcs number (a code for insurance companies) that should cover the lancets, so I will call Aetna back. When I have a moment to breathe.

Seriously, I'm done now. Good night!

Identity Theft?

2008-04-28T21:39:00.004-04:00

There have been two payments taken out of my checking account to pay Sprint. A mobile phone, apparently.

I don't have Sprint.

Yes, I'm on top of it. The bank has been notified. I spent LOTS of time on the phone with Sprint (to no avail). But I'm very, very pissed off.

The Feet Are Up

2008-04-25T18:44:00.003-04:00

Picture 174, 4-25-08, The Feet Are Up
Originally uploaded by NaomiPoet

Daniel had a "physics" field trip to Six Flags amusement part today. Okay, the kids all had physics work to do, figuring out acceleration of roller coasters, and other cool stuff like that. But mostly it was a day of fun. There were thousands of kids from many physics classes across the region.

Today was also the "test" day for Six Flags employees, as their opening day to the public is tomorrow. I hope they get their act together! It's probably the worst theme park that I've ever visited, on many levels.

While Daniel was on the rides, I thought I'd check out the souvenir shops so I could bring something home to my other kids. The employees greeted me when I entered the stores & asked if I needed anything. When I finally decided on a couple of items, I brought them to the counter. The young lady who waited on me was very nice, but this was obviously her first time using a scanning device on a bar code. She just couldn't get the thing to work, but she kept clicking it on and off very fast, instead of holding the beam of red light on the bar code for a couple of seconds.

Click! Hmmm. Click! Hmmm. I waited patiently, although I wanted to walk around and grab it out of her hands. "TRY IT THIS WAY!!!!"

Finally, she called her manager who said, impatiently, "just type in the number!" Which worked. At least *that* worked.

I took out my charge card because I wanted to save my cash for lunch. The charge would not go through. It kept saying "processing" forever, then it wouldn't finalize. Eventually I told them to forget it and I walked away. I found out from others in the park that no one could get charges to go through. I also found out that most of the ATM machines were not working, either! I had given Daniel $20 (mostly for drinks, because I had to bring his lunch) and I had $20. It doesn't get you very far there.

I walked around to the different food courts. Most everything was fried, which upsets my stomach. I finally went to a hot dog stand and asked for a hot dog (I really don't like them but it's better on my system than fried food) but there were no hot dogs. They hadn't arrived yet. What??? I did see a Papa John's pizza place there, but for one slice you had to pay almost $7.00 and I just couldn't get myself to do that! Sbarros sells slices twice as big for half the price in malls around the country!

There was also a Chinese food place in a separate small building, Panda Express. The room was about 85 degrees. I stood in line for 10 minutes, and the line didn't move a bit. I saw one girl eating her food -- chicken, batter fried on fried rice -- and at that point I felt like I was going to PASS OUT if I didn't get some cold water so I walked out.

I ended up getting popcorn and cinnamon almonds for lunch, with a big bottle of water. I think the park keeps their drinking fountains at a very warm temperature so that you buy more cold drinks instead of refilling your bottle.

Daniel paid $8.00 for two sodas. One of the soda machines ate one of his dollars.

Honestly, don't these places make enough money on admission and souvenirs? I think it's outrageous how much they charge for food and drinks. I also think the food choices at our local Six Flags are the worst of any amusement park anywhere!

Then there were the rides, which kept stopping. The Superman ride, the big draw, stuttered its way through the morning, with a 20 to 25 minute wait between each ride because of the constant breakdowns. Same with two of the other roller coasters. Some of the kids were late for lunch check in because they were stuck on a coaster.

No diabetes issues on this trip though, thank goodness! Daniel felt low when he was in line for one of the rides, but he got some sugar. He didn't even test at that point (grrrr!) but when he did test later on, his numbers were fine. It was nice to have an excursion without an emergency! His friends were also great -- holding his kit for him when he went on a ride. Actually, the time he was low, he had given his kit to a friend to hold (because they don't allow loose stuff on the rides). But they all have cell phones and he just called his friend to run the sugar over. No problem. No need for mom to hover.

We're both a little sunburned, with sore tootsies. Daniel had a blast, and finally got to ride the Superman roller coaster, after two separate 1 hour waits.

It was also good practice for the JDRF walk, which is next weekend!