This and that...

I've had a lot to write lately but have not taken the time to sit and blog so hopefully in this teeny tiny moment of quiet I can get something accomplished.

Veggies

Instead of planting hundreds of dollars of annuals this year I invested in vegetable plants instead. Besides the whole "going green" idea of planting and harvesting our own food, living off the land, saving money and teaching the children to rely on the Earth's bounty - I like plants and gardening. Oh okay, so it's just the plant thing but give me a break, it sounded good for a minute. I planted three types of tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and a bunch of herbs. The tomatoes are going a bit slow. At first the plants were so puny but now they are ginormous with tons of green fruits just weighing them down. But hardly any reds to be seen.

This is an example of a daily harvest. The green beans don't usually make it into the house - they are garden snacks. Just wipe off the dirt and munch. And if I send Shelby out to gather (I just love sounding like Caroline Ingalls tonight.) the tomatoes don't even make it into the house. I just may have to grab a bunch of green tomatoes off the vines and let them ripen on the sun porch.

One LESS remaining brain cell...

I had to get up at the crack of dawn this past Saturday to have an MRI on my brain. I hear you laughing. Yes, there IS a brain in there. It is prone to migraines and tripping off-line occasionally, but it is still nestled safely within the confines of my skull. Here's proof.

There's no reason for the MRI scan other than the fact that the last scan I had was a CAT scan about ten years ago; well, that and the fact that I, personally, am questioning it's existence lately. I've been suffering from M.A.J.O.R. anxiety lately and I didn't know if the fact that I am getting close to the age my mom was when she passed away (from a brain tumor no less) is getting to me or what so we just wanted to eliminate what could be one source of my recent (and hopefully, temporary) insanity.

So on Saturday I am a bit nervous about this MRI thing since I can be just a little claustrophobic at times, inopportune times mostly. They had asked if I needed to be sedated but they don't sedate anyone on Saturdays - hello...someone needs a day off, I guess. I had one out-of-body experience right when she put me into the machine when I pushed the button and INSISTED on being let out. That wonderful tech let me out for a minute, talked me down off the ledge and for the remainder of the MRI I was blissfully lounging on a beach in Bermuda. Or maybe that was my broken brain cells playing games with me...

Bookstores and Blogging...

Also on Saturday Misty and I stopped in at Borders (I picked her up and took her to EB to get her house key after her son locked her out and for those of you familiar with the area, Borders is not too far out of the way - well, maybe 6 or so miles, but I digress...). As Misty and I are apt to do when we are in public we act accordingly and appropriately and like perfectly well-behaved adults who have been in public before, NOT and we ended up making quite a scene in the knitting/sewing/craft book aisle. The two xanax I had taken before my MRI had FINALLY taken effect and I needed to sit - on the floor - and that got me laughing and Misty snidely throwing comments out of the corner of her mouth and pretending she didn't know me. After a particularly funny comment about my "magnetically-shaken brain syndrome" I said I needed to remember to blog about, we apologized to the nice woman standing next to us who was obviously just trying to find a book and get out to enjoy the nice day. Come to find out, she is a blogger too and has introduced me to her blogosphere of friends through her blog here. Please stop on over, check out her blogs and leave a comment for me.

Well, I think that is it for now. I have to hit the hay as I have a job I have to get up for in the morning. Wouldn't want to sleep in and miss it, would I?

You need a license to catch a fish...

...to drive a car, to sell real estate, to practice medicine, to sell liquor, blah, blah, you get the idea. But you do not need a license to have a baby and raise that child. Any idiot can do that. And most do.

Case in point, the woman I saw today at the lake on the Subase. She walked onto the sand carrying the usual paraphernalia: beach bag, blanket, toys, and a car seat/baby carrier. A young man/teen was accompanying her holding the hand of who I can assume was her son, a very small child, probably 2-ish. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. The young man took the little boy into the water and they played while the woman watched from the shore. The baby stayed in the car seat. In the sun. The woman went into the water and swam. The baby stayed in the car seat. In the sun.

Finally she took the baby from the seat. This little one could not have even been a month old. She was so tiny, with little chicken legs waving. The mom held her in one arm while she sprayed her, front and back, with sunscreen. Then rubbed some on her little face. I was in shock, and commented so all within earshot could hear me. No one else seemed to care or notice.

Once "mom" deemed her child was safe from the sun, she took her into the chlorinated lake, splashed her around, dunked her once or twice (now into the sunscreen-slick surrounding them), and then put her back into the car seat. She didn't rinse her off, change the chlorine-soaked diaper, or dry her. I just stared. I wanted to approach her, and I know I should've - I am ashamed I didn't - but I could predict the outcome and was not up for a confrontation. In the mood I have been in I am sure I would be writing this from jail.

I know this mom was not beating her children and it could have been worse, perhaps she does not know any better, and it was obvious she loves her kids. My only hope is that these two children grow up to be healthy well-adjusted adults despite their naive or incompetent mother. I hope it is the former and she learns right from wrong soon.

Paper and Yarn and Patterns, oh my!

Spent Saturday buying myself a little happy! :) Misty and I went to Old Saybrook to our favorite yarn shop and had a little fun feeling up the yarn and deciding what we just could not live without. I bought some Noro sock yarn on sale, some more sock yarn in variegated blues that I hope to make into a shawl, and some Flat Feet Yarn! I have wanted that for a long time and am so excited to get started on that. Flat Feet yarn is sock yarn that has been knitted into a flat rectangular panel and then dyed. To knit socks from it you knit as you unwind from one end and the dyed pattern knits into a random pattern in your socks. Each flat makes a unique pair of socks - so exciting! (I know, lame to you non-knitters, but that's the extent of my happiness lately so give me a break, okay?)

We also went to a new-to-us scrapbooking store in Clinton and browsed for a while. Well, I can hold out for a long time until I find that one piece of paper I have to have and then it's all downhill from there. All in all I did okay, just $13.00 so I am proud of myself. But not proud that I will add this bag of paper to the previous bags in the scrap area just waiting to be used! I just need to get down there but it's not on the top of my list right now. What is? knitting.

Okay, okay....

...so I said I would be updating regularly showing my progress completing my many creative projects. Well, yeah, um...so it's been like this - I have started knitting a sweater but the gauge was off so I had to start over. I have not been scrapbooking nor painting nor making jewelry. I have been taking TONS and TONS of photos off the old desktop (which takes about 20 tries to finally boot up) so that's been taking up some of my time. I will be buying an external hard drive to back up those photos and the 1500 or so I have on this laptop. Then I will begin sending them to be printed. I actually feel safer with them here in boxes than on the hard drives.

Anyway, here is a preview of the sweater I am knitting. This pic is actually of the one I had to rip out, but I haven't gotten to the pattern on the new version and that's no fun to look at. The color is a little off - it's more of a blue-green - and the yarn is a super soft "eco-blend" of cotton and acrylic. Knitting has not been at the top of my list of things to do lately but I want to get back to this before I totally lose interest.

So, to the few of you who read this blog, expect to see some creative progress posted soon, or at least a few more excuses why that's just not happening 'round here.

An (un)creative moment in time

I am a creative person. I not only 'like' to create, but I NEED to. It keeps me sane, relaxed and happy. If I do not take the time to knit, paint, scrapbook - anything creative, I get tense. And grumpy.

Well, lately I am feeling very grumpy. And one reason I am grumpy is it's all my fault - nobody keeps me from being creative, it's all me.

I just don't take the time to do those things. I feel I need to have my 'work' done before I can 'play.' Therefore I have paintings half-finished, baskets of yarn waiting to be made into socks and scarves, and tons (literally, TONS) of pictures to be put into scrapbooks.

Now, you may think: "Denise, the time you are wasting on the computer blogging about being un-creative could be better spent being...uh...creative!" Yeah, well, I know that. I really do.

So I am making the commitment to blog weekly about something I have created. A half-knit sock, a few pages scrapped, a brush stroke here and there. Promise.

Stay tuned. And please feel free to send an email or comment 'kick in the ass' to keep me focused.

Another Not Me! Monday...

Well, it's another Not Me! Monday (you can see the original here).

I most certainly did not take a three hour nap today after work. I only had four hours of sleep last night but now to get to sleep tonight...

After this alleged nap, I did not let the girls just eat boxed mac and cheese and fake mashed potatoes for dinner. In my defense, it's what they wanted...

One good thing is, while writing this and simultaneously watching the dvr'd end of The Bachelorette I am getting sleepy. Now to avoid yet another game of Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook and actually hit the sheets.

Not Me! Monday

Not Me! Monday is a wonderful thing that happens every week over on MckMama's blog. Each week she confesses all the 'not me' moments of her week and asks her reader to do the same. The results are raw, honest, and wonderful for all of us who think we are the 'only' moms to do these things. So this week I will join in and I invite you to do the same!

Yesterday I did not stand in front of my new-to-me washer and actually watch the first load run for about fifteen minutes.

This morning I did not give Shelby nighttime cold medicine in the hopes she would take a nap.

I, myself am fighting the cold that is going around the house and on top of that I've had a migraine since Saturday so I plead the fifth on every other thing I did not do and just don't remember. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Hope

President Obama has given me hope. Again. By signing the bill to reverse the ban on stem cell research, I have even more hope that a CURE for Type 1 Diabetes is imminent in my daughter's lifetime. I realize that stem cell research is an emotional, ethical, and moral battle for some. I know that those little clumps of cells have value as a human life - but they also have value as a potential cure not only for diabetes, but for cancer, parkinsons, alzheimers, MS, etc. I'm not asking anyone to agree with me. Just have hope for my daughter and the many other children dealing with type 1, no matter where it comes from.

Here's what Kerri from dLife has to say.

Happy Birthday Shelby!

Today is my baby's 11th birthday. I know, not so much a baby anymore so I guess I shouldn't refer to her as one. But as all moms know, it's hard to give up on that idea of the youngest being the baby and in my heart she will always be "my baby". (I'll stop now as I am beginning to sound like the old mother in the book "Love You Forever" - you know, the one where she climbs into her grown son's bedroom and rocks him to sleep?? yeah.)

So, as I come to grips with the fact that my 11 year old can stand next to me and look me evenly in the eye, wears a larger shoe size than me and can probably take me out with one swing if she is so inclined, let me wish her a very happy birthday.

Shelby, I hope that your eleventh year is the best one yet!! I love you!
Love, Mommy

Say cheese!

I bought myself a new camera. My Fuji has just about bitten the dust after having some hot cocoa (accidently) spilled on it a few months ago. It still takes pictures, but don't try to view, erase (or push any other button) without some major Japanese-technology resistance.

So, I have a new toy and am loving it so far. I went the point-and-shoot route this time around just because it is easier to stash in my purse or pocket. AND I got a great deal on it. I've tried out a few of the features but haven't printed any photos yet. If they come out as good as they look on the touch-screen display, I will be totally happy.

My First Blog Award

"I would like to thank the Academy and Shari for presenting me with this award."

If you've been presented with this award, this is what you need to do...Thank the person who gave the award to you, post the award on your blog or in a post, nominate 10 blogs which show great attitude/gratitude, link to the people you chose on your post, and comment on their blogs to tell them about the award!

Here's who I am passing the award to:

Karen at Karen's World
Pamela at My Place for Attempted Creativity
Stacy at the little things
Carla at Welcome to Uno Acres
Jessica at The Life, Faith and Creativity of Jessica Turner
Angie at Bring the Rain
Gretchen at My Daily Balancing Act
Kristie at Not Quite What I Had Planned
Mama Belle at Mama always said
Karen at Bitter Sweet Diabetes and Musings of a (mostly) self-taught knitter

These are some of my favorite blogs and I encourage all of you to check them out. And pass on the Award! Believe me, it's an honor even if you're only nominated (but I do wish there was a cash prize as well!!).

'Twas the night before...

...my new job and what else is new?
The girls still aren't sleeping and I'm about through.

Some laundry is drying, the rest folded with care;
So tomorrow I won't be wonderin' what to wear.

No money has come in yet but some has gone out;
It costs some to make some, my husband's found out!

I bought some new pants and new shoes for my feet.
A thermos for soup, and some good snacks to eat;

Right now I'm exhausted, but I can't close my eyes;
There's no more sleeping in, so early I must rise.

I've dreaded this day; staying at home's a good fit;
I enjoy being home; I scrapbook and I knit!

But good things, they say, must come to an end;
I'll contribute in a new way; to the bills I will tend!

So I should be excited, I'm starting a new phase;
I'll have a new 'purpose,' and a "real job" that PAYS!

Goodbye 2008

I'm sitting here reading other people's blogs and thinking of how I haven't posted to my own in a while. Christmas has come and gone with all it's busy-ness of shopping and wrapping and secretly preparing for one day. I'd like to say that the spirit hasn't left me but I can look around from my comfy vantage point here on the love seat and see nothing that even remotely looks holiday-ish. Yesterday I took down the tree and dragged the boxes up into the attic. I did leave the 'skinny' tree up in the dining room with its white lights and homemade paper ornaments and garland; and I'm thinking of how cute it will look in a month with red hearts hanging from it for another holiday.

Now it sounds like I was all Scrooge-like for Christmas and that was not the case at all. I enjoyed most of it and although not putting up the lighted houses might be considered sacreligious here, I looked at it as 'scaling back' and only doing what I wanted, not what was expected of me.

Christmas Day was great. The girls seemed genuinely satisfied with their gifts. And although Randy and I had said we weren't buying for each other (we are remodeling the basement and we usually buy ourselves little things we want when we're out anyway), he surprised me with a little Tiffany-blue bag containing a bracelet. He also won a radio contest for a full dinner prepared by the chefs at the Mohegan Sun so we could relax all day and not worry about cooking! Yeay! We had family and friends over and had a nice, relaxing day.

Now I sit here a couple days before 2009 begins and I'm wondering what this year will bring. 2008 was not all roses and sunshine, but looking back I can now see the rainbows through the raindrops. I am stronger because of the challenges I faced, but I do feel a little ungrateful for saying that I wish we hadn't had to face them at all. Our 'challenges' could have definitely been tragedies instead, and for that I am very grateful.

Before I get all introspective and sappy I will just end this by saying that 2008 has been a long year, especially with that extra day in February and an extra second coming at midnight on the 31st! haha Goodbye 2008, may we all have a happy and healthy 2009.

A little behind on the thanks...

Amazingly enough I have been too busy to blog these past couple of days and have missed my daily "thankful' posts. I had subjects in mind for those days, but never got the time to write so I'll catch up now.

Thursday, November 6
I frequent a message board for parents of kids with diabetes (CWD) and a friend posted a message this morning about November being Diabetes Awareness Month and that she was blogging everyday about diabetes. This friend, Nancy, is someone I had 'met' on a scrapbooking message board and was a source of information and comfort when Kathleen was diagnosed T1 in March (Nancy's youngest daughter has T1 as well). We have never met in person and have only spoken in the phone and computer, but she was 'there' for me when I needed someone who knew what I was going through.

Anyway, I was thinking on Thursday morning that I was thankful for all that I've come to associate with diabetes. My 'friends' on CWD, including Nancy, who are a constant source of encouragement and information; for Yale/New Haven hospital and their great diabetes educators; for medicine, medical technology and medical advancements that have come so far in managing this disease; and for being able to educate everyone I know about Type 1 diabetes.

Of course, I wish none of this had come about but I thank God everyday that Kathleen was diagnosed with diabetes and nothing more serious.

Friday, November 7
This day was my 45th birthday. I cringe when I see that number. I don't know why I have such an issue with age, but I do. Do I feel old? Look old? Older, maybe, but not old. Act old? No way. So why the problem? I think some of it has to do with the fact that my mother died at 48. Believe me, I will have a rip-roaring party when I turn 49!! So on this momentous day I am thankful to have another birthday, no matter what the number because after all, it IS better than the alternative!

A Month of Thanks

I'm a little late coming to this game, but I read about this blog challenge on Stacy's blog and wanted to try. The gist of this challenge is to blog everyday for this month of Thanksgiving about something you are thankful for.

To be honest, I really don't know where to start. The past month has been full of challenges for me, some of which I'm not sure I've recovered from and some of which I'm sure will reappear. I know I should be thankful for those challenges as they will teach me and make me stronger in some way...some day. But for now I cannot think of them as blessings or 'teachable moments.' Right now I am just "getting by" using an old AA saying: One day at a time.

So if I have to be thankful for something today I will be thankful for whatever I have inside of me that is getting me by, one day at a time.

Our ship has sailed...

Randy and I went on a cruise this month. Yes, I did get my submariner on an ocean-going vessel that he did not have to navigate and he loved it. (Okay, okay, he was a little tense going through the narrow strait into Bermuda...)

We left Boston on October 12th and headed for Bermuda. Our ship, the Norwegian Dream, is older (and smaller) and not as modern or brightly decorated as the newer ships but since it was our first cruise ever we did not mind. It will be nice, however, to cruise in the future on something with a little more open space. (We had one stormy day on the way home and it was a bit 'busy' with everyone below decks.)

Anyway, Bermuda was bee-you-tee-ful!!! I loved it there. Everything about Bermuda is pretty. The water is a million shades of turquoise and so clear! I stood in the water up to my shoulders and could see my toenail polish perfectly!! The sand on the beach we went to was PINK! and very powdery (is that a word?). The houses are painted in every imaginable color and the properties are clean and uncluttered. The streets, although very narrow, were clean - no litter anywhere. The people were so friendly and nice and accommodating and helpful and did I say friendly? Everywhere we went we were met with smiles and hellos and conversation. I understand that their country kinda depends on tourism and keeping people happy while they are there, but their friendliness just seemed genuine to me. Maybe it was the rum.

Oh, yes, the rum. I cannot say the words "Rum Swizzle" without having a little giggle. They are good. Really good. And they go down too easily. There's a couple Swizzle Inns on the island and we visited both within hours of each other. I could've been on the Bermuda evening news that day and the video footage would have shown me holding my arms out like an airplane on the back of the scooter just before the accident. (No, there was NOT an accident, just my example of how my drunkeness, I mean silliness would've been the last thing people on the street saw before said hypothetical accident.)

We spent three days in Bermuda before sailing back to Boston. It was a great week full of eating, drinking, shopping, beaching, walking, scootering, more eating, and more drinking. I recommend a cruise to everyone. We're shopping for our next one already.

Here are some pictures of our week:

A 'moongate' in front of a 'little pink house'

St. David's Lighthouse

View from a window in the lighthouse

Gibb's Lighthouse (I didn't climb this one)

Reid Street in Hamilton with Allen, Lisa and Randy walking

Horseshoe Bay Beach

All the roofs are white and 'stepped'

St. Georges from the ship

The ship docked in St. Georges

Randy and I at Horseshoe Bay Beach (taken by the 'honeymooners')

Turquoise water

Horseshoe Bay again

St. Georges

...another beach (taken while scootering down the road)

JDRF Walk 2008

I'm a little late in posting about our walk. This was our first year walking for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund). Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be walking for a cure for something one of my children have, but I did. In the rain and wind and cold. And I felt good about it. I also felt good about the support we received from family and friends. The weather was truly miserable and to have them there shivering right alongside us was heartwarming, as was the support from friends who could not walk with us but donated anyway.

Together we raised a little over $700 which was almost three times the modest amount I had set for my first-year goal. I also learned alot about organizing and fundraising which will help us next year. Next year I will start earlier. This year's walk came only 6 months after Kathleen's diagnosis so I was still learning. I know to be a little more 'agressive' in getting the word out there and not to wait until the last minute to do t-shirts! And - Kathleen was hospitalized the day before so I was very frazzled the morning of the walk.

I am very proud to have been a part of the walk this year and although I am looking forward to the next, I most look forward to there being a cure and therefore, no need to walk at all.

Ledge Light

At the mouth of the Thames River here in CT there is a very unique lighthouse. It's called Ledge Light and I have always been infatuated with it. It doesn't look like a typical lighthouse. It looks like a house; it's not round, not particularly tall, and not on the shoreline. It's built atop a ledge in the middle of the water.

I love lighthouses. I've been inside many and taken pictures of even more. I've always known that the public can tour Ledge Light but often seem to 'forget' that fact until someone else brings it up. My sister-in-law did just that while we were camping last month. We were both like "ohhhh....we should go!" and "we've GOT to go out there" and then just as soon as I remembered, I forgot again.

Until she offhandedly mentioned maybe a week later, "We're going to Ledge Light tomorrow!" WHAT?!? You didn't call me?!? Right away I decided that my family and I were going too. Who cared what was "going on" the next day? I had a plan.

The entire tour was to take 2 and a half hours - 2 hours of which were spent at the lighthouse. The weather didn't look like it was gonna be great, but when we got to Avery Point the haze started to lift and by the time we got on the boat the sun started to shine.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We toured the lighthouse from the top of the light to the basement; we learned the history of Ernie the lighthousekeeper who died there and the antics of the Coast Guardsmen who kept watch for years after; we were told why it is designed in the Roman-revival style (New Londoners wanted a 'sophisticated' lighthouse) and that the four faces of the building match the compass points; we learned how the light turned before the building was electrified (candlelight and a weight and pulley system through the center of the building) and how it survived the Hurricane of '38 (barely).

I was surprised the kids weren't bored - they really seemed to pay attention to the guide - especially the story claiming that Ledge Light is haunted by Ernie (Ghost Hunters tv show went there once).

I took a million pictures (although five minutes after leaving the dock my camera's batteries died; I highjacked Robyn's).

We took pics of Chris and I touching the lighthouse and of New London Harbor Light.


I really enjoyed the trip out there and I am sure I will go back again and just sit on the steps watching the water for two hours, it would be worth every penny (although it only costs $16 per adult).

Like I said, I love lighthouses but sometimes I find it hard to climb one even though I'm DYING to see the view from the top (in my defense...Currituck Light in NC had 216 steps and those steps were BARELY attached to the wall!). I will always go out of my way to see one, photograph it, and maybe even touch it. heehee

Summer '08

The girls have gone back to school and although the calendar states otherwise, summer is over. School starting has always been synonymous with fall and I don't like fall. Well, I guess in a way, I do since I love to see the leaves turn glorious shades of red, orange and gold. But okay, if it is said that I like fall, then I LOVE summer. And summer is over.

So while I sit here and reminisce about summer and it's lazy days, I will share some pictures of our summer.

At a 'family' picnic in June. Tasty food, cool drinks (see the three drinks on the railing in the first picture? 2 of them are mine...yeah...), and good friends - the three requirements for a good time!

My mom had always said that if you couldn't afford your own swimming pool or boat, be friends with someone who can. Well, we got our own 'pool,' but do have friends with a boat! :)

Virginia Beach. Only spent about an hour there, but I just HAD to go. Nobody loved it as much as me.... While there we visited some friends and went to Busch Gardens.

On the left is Currituck Lighthouse in Corolla, NC on the Outer Banks. On the right is the reason I didn't make the climb to the top.

No, I didn't get arrested (although stuck in a car with two kids for a week, I came close a few times!), this was the view from our balcony in Kill Devil Hills, NC. And a picture of the girls in a weak moment of sisterly love.

While in NC we had dinner at Dirty Dick's Crab Shack. Shelby had to have the crab hat and wore it for two days straight. Too funny!

Our resort in Myrtle Beach, SC and everybody enjoying the pool (hel-low people? there is a perfectly good beach just around the corner!!)

Just a "few" shells we collected in Myrtle Beach.

We went camping in late August with my brother and his family. The kids had a blast and it was the most relaxed I've been in a long time.

All in all it was a great summer, but as usual, too short. 9 months and counting 'til next summer....