A Ray of Sunshine

For about 15 minutes, around 4pm we had sunshine and no snow.  I was able to get out and take a look.

It has already been announced that school will be cancelled for tomorrow.  Many roads were closed around the area and many services in the city were closed due to the bad weather. Visibility was limited to less than 1/4 mile due to white out conditions.  I think in all we got around 10-12 inches today in 8 hours!

Resistance is Futile!

The boys had a much anticipated snow day today

When is enough...enough?

News Flash...We had more snow today!  We woke up to about 4-5 inches of new, feather lite powder on the ground this morning.  The boys and I did a quick shoveling with .... brooms.  It was much easier to move the snow with the broom than with the shovel because right now, the snow is piled so high along the driveway, you have to throw it up and over.  You can't do that very well with this snow.

My garden wall is 4.5 feet tall at the very corner.

I went up to the office this afternoon and while I was there the wind started blowing the snow off the trees and that added to what was already coming down, we could not see anything but white outside for several minutes.  I was sure glad I wasn't driving, but did wish I had the camera with me.

I shoveled the snow off the driveway again this afternoon, about 3 inches and it is still coming down. We did have a rather nice break when the sun came out for about 10-15 minutes and there was blue sky!

I tried to mark the snow around our driveway with blue food coloring.  I was having a hard time telling where my driveway started with all of the white around!

My concern now is,  when do I need to shovel the roof!

Travel Advisory

Morgan had a basketball tournament in Corvallis this weekend so we left on Friday to make the 4 hour trip.  It had been snowing here when we left and we knew that it would take a little longer to get there.  The roads were fine once we got out of town and onto the highway and actually made it in about 5 hours.

Diamond Peak 

The tournament was a really fun one.  The boys get to play some really good teams and we can see improvement all the time.

They had an early morning game Sunday, 8:30, so Morgan had to be up and have breakfast about an hour before the game so it was really no surprise that his blood sugar was 400+ right before the game.  I am sure he was spiking from his breakfast AND he probably under bolused because he was going to be playing basketball soon, but 400+ is pretty high so he gave himself a few units of insulin just in case.

He didn't play much the first half because when he is that high it effects his game so when he checked at half-time imagine his surprise when his meter responded "HI".  Not "HI" as in hello, but HI as in "I can't tell what your blood sugar is, HIGH".  He lifts up his shirt and his infusion set is barely hanging on...Well we gave him boluses by syringe and got him down to reasonable levels soon enough.

The real excitement of the weekend also came on Sunday when we woke up to snow in Corvallis!  It snowed most of the morning and there was about 4 inches in places.  When it was time to leave for home our dilemma was not whether we should stay in town or not, but which road to take....we were sure highway 58 and 97 would be a mess(if it was snowing that hard in the valley, imagine what it was doing up there!), and at least along I-5 there were places to stay if we needed to.  So I-5 it was.  

Beautiful snow cover and cloud cover.

What were we thinking?

There is a downed tree right in the middle of the bend.

Trucks chaining up.  I don't even know what mountain passes we were on.  I couldn't find any signs...they were all buried.

The roads were terrible.  You have heard those traffic advisories that tell you to stay home and off the road unless in emergency situations....well we should have stayed home...or in a hotel somewhere.

This is I-5, we are headed south an the other side is headed North.  They were backed-up for about 5 miles while crews checked for chains, which were required headed north.  We were pulled over at 7-Feathers casino and the highway was closed due to downed power lines.  We were out for about 45 minutes before they started letting traffic back through.  

Total, it took us 9 hours to get home.  I know that one day, when he is older, Morgan will appreciate what his dad and I have gone through to get him to these basketball tournaments!

(Disclaimer:  The driver of the vehicle wasn't snapping photos...the passenger was!)

Winter Driving

Usually the city does a pretty good job of keeping up with the snow on the roads.  This year there must not have been enough money in the budget.  The roads downtown were terrible, with ice ruts that were at least 5 inches deep and snow berms in the middle of the road 3-4 FEET high.

Driving while taking pictures...

Last week I got caught in one of those ice ruts, my car rides pretty low and was rubbing bottom so I tried to climb up on top of the rut.  But instead of catching and STAYING on top...I lost traction and spun down the road sideways finally landing, high centered on the sidewalk in front of someones house.  

Thankfully, I was only about 1 block from home and Pat had not left for work yet.  He came and dug me out while I took the boys to school.  That day the city plows were out in force trying to clean up the roads.  But alas, we had more snow yesterday.

Chinatown

I have visited China Town in San Francisco before, but this time I had new-found appreciation for the sights and smells.  For brief moments I was back in Chaoyang, thinking about the kids there and what they were doing.  The shops that we went to in Chaoyang seem much more modern and westernized than some of the shops we went to in ChinaTown.  It was particularlly fun going into little restaurants and know a little bit about the food as most likely we had eaten something similar for breakfast, lunch or dinner in Chaoyang.

The boys and I spent more time in the shops looking at the unique foods, trying to figure out what exactly they were.  

I was on a particular mission to find gifts for my nieces birthdays.  I did find some cute little purses, but I was specifically looking for a certain candy for Jaelyn.  Alas, I don't think it is something that is imported.  I asked many shop keepers, but they had no recollection of what I was searching for.

Bush Man of San Francisco

Okay, This is like the second time I have written this post, Blogger loses it  and I re-type it.  The story has lost some of its flair during the last couple of re-writes so bear with me!!

When we were in San Francisco over Christmas we were able to visit the pier and Fisherman's Wharf.  It is always  a fun place to visit, with the sights of the wharf, sounds of all the people and smell of the sourdough bread steaming from the bakery!

We were unable to eat at the sourdough bakery as the lines were just way too long so we made our way back down the pier to "Joe's Crab Shack".  Pat and I had eaten at Joe's in Houston, but not the one in San Fran.  The restaurant itself is above street level and was surprisingly empty. 

We were seated at a window table with a full view of the street below.  After a couple of minutes a man, who I will call "Bushman", came along with his 5 gallon bucket to sit on and an armful of branches. 

 Bushman set up shop on the opposite sidewalk and we watched with a perfect view.  What happened was absolutely hysterical.  This guy would 'hide' behind his armful of branches and scare any unsuspecting soul that happened to not be paying attention...which was quite a few.

We saw big burly men jump about 3 inches off the ground when Bushman would scare them.  There were quite a few of us in the restaurant who where busting a gut laughing at what was going on at street level.  We had a perfect view.  

What we couldn't see was the mob of people that had grown on the sidewalk below us watching  Bushman do his thing!

When I Move Out

It has been nearly 28 months since Morgan's diagnosis of diabetes.

I will not even begin to count the number of finger sticks he has had in order to check his blood sugar levels. I will not even begin to count the number of injections/infusion sets he has had in the past 28 months.

I could probably count the number of times he has forgotten to check his blood sugar before he ate or I could count the number of times he has forgotten to bolus for something he ate 1-2 hours earlier.

I feel like Nagging Nellie when I remind him to check his blood sugar, or the ever present question in the morning, on the way to school "Did you bolus for your breakfast?" Or the question asked everyday after school "How were your numbers today?"

He has never asked me to back off, or told me "Mom I can handle this." I program his pump; all of the basal rates, insulin to carb ratios, insulin sensitivities....everything. But, I always pull him in and tell him what I did and why. I still check his blood sugar in the middle of the night, when I feel the need. It is only a couple of times a month now, nothing like it was early in diagnosis when sleep was something I only vaguely knew.

The past 6-7 months have probably been the most difficult for me to deal with regarding diabetes and I don't really know why. His blood sugar levels are actually pretty easily managed, thanks to the "spot on" rates I have programmed in to the ever present Minimed 722. We are in the full throws of puberty, but his last A1c was 7.0% so we are doing a great job of maintaining.

It could be that MY own honeymoon with diabetes has worn off. I don't research the net as much as I did before, looking for ways to handle post basketball highs and lows....I know how to handle them. I am not researching insulin pumps...He loves MM722. I am not reading up on Section 504.... been there, done that, have one. CGMS?...he doesn't want any part of that.

I am not a newbie anymore.

What I have been doing is reading about people who live with this, day-in and day-out. Reading about their daily struggles and triumphs; coming to the realization that this is for real, this is for life, this is forever. I always try to maintain a positive attitude regarding diabetes, especially in front of Morgan. Getting down about isn't going to help him one bit and I don't want him to adopt a 'poor me' attitude.

In reading the many blogs and forums, I have found many wonderful people from the diabetes online community (D-OC). People like my wonderful SIL who have helped me muddle through the first year of the diagnosis fog, those who unknowingly helped me thrive, grow and become more confident in the second year and who I am sure will also unknowingly help guide me through the teen years of dealing with diabetes and beyond! Thank you!

I asked Morgan a while back "When do you want me to hand this diabetes stuff over to you? When do you want me to back off?"

His response: "When I move out."

I know even when he does move out, I will never be free of worrying about diabetes because neither will he and maybe that is why it has been so difficult.

Something About Me...

I picked this up from Toni, who picked it up from Amylia
Just something fun to get away from doing housework!


1. Age at my next birthday: (At least for another day!)
2. Place I would like to travel to:

3. A Favorite Place:

4. A Favorite Thing:
5. A Favorite Food:

6. A Favorite Color:

7. A Favorite Flower:

8. The Place I Live In:

9. Name of a Past Pet:
10. Nickname I once had:

11. My College Major:
12. My First Job: (I never wore rollerskates)
13. Hope for 2008:
Lost!

Wintery Day

Pat had to cancel most of his afternoon due to the snow storm so he was able to get home a little early and go for his usual 'run on the mountain'. He and Lena like to go up on the hills behind our neighborhood and run through the snow. He took some pictures of the area. It is difficult to tell just how much snow is out there...but it is deep.

The forecast is for warmer weather and rain later in the week, which will create a terrible mess if the forecast holds true.

White Out Conditions

I ventured out this am for my hair appt. It was fine when I left and 45 minutes later we had white out conditions. WOW. It was hard to see the road with all of the white on the ground and the white falling from the sky.


We have only gotten about 1 inch since this morning, but it looks like it will continue to fall throughout the day.....updates will be made as the storm progresses :)

Winter Wonderland.....

Snow Day....
Another big front, coming through last night, dumped 4.5 inches at our house with more coming down this morning.
PROOF! I can no longer say that I am the only one who shovels the driveway!
Lena is pouting that she isn't going for a run in the snow!


School is closed for today so hopefully we can all get some much needed rest and recover from this nasty cold.

Back deck, lost in the snow piles.

Lost of snow so far this year!

Crummy....

I thought I was getting over this nasty cold. In fact, on Friday I felt good enough to shovel the driveway not once, but twice. Things started going downhill after that. My back molar has been bothering me the past couple of days, but since I am a 'grinder' I thought I just needed to start wearing my brux guard again. That didn't help, in fact all of my right upper teeth started bothering me and by Sunday I was laid out flat...my teeth killing me, my ear hurting like the devil and it being too late to head to any doctor. But I was there first thing this morning...8am.
Sinusitis and DOUBLE ear infection. My right ear hurts like heck, but the doc said my left ear looks worse...go figure. No wonder I haven't felt like doing anything other than laying around.
I now have my course of antibiotics and some cough syrup with codeine to help Pat sleep and hopefully I will feel better in a couple of days.

Slacker...

My 'Charlie Brown' Christmas Tree:
I was informed by my family that I was a slacker. I have not posted since November...wow I can't believe it has been that long. After Thanksgiving I went into Christmas mode and had pounds of candy and goodies to make. I was going to take a picture of it all, but didn't get the chance. I weighed out the peanut brittle (12lbs) and made 8 batches of baklava, 4 batches of gingersnaps, chocolate covered peanuts, but left out the almond roca (sorry Toni I'll make you some next year).

After Christmas and a wonderful visit with Mike, Toni and their kids, we headed out in a snowstorm to San Francisco to watch Oregon State play in the Emerald Bowl. The Beavs won, we had a great time in SF despite me getting sick and a dead battery in the parking garage (we are now members of AAA). I am still recovering from this terrible cold which has now settled in my chest and head.


We made it back home in record time, with no snow to speak of and no excitement except for the near-head-on-collision just 1/2 a mile from Malin! I am so thankful Pat was driving, I was paying attention to the semi truck who did not have their lights on....Pat saw the car pulling out to pass...about 30 yards in front of us!

I also need to see in the people at Diabetes365 will let me back in....I have slacked there as well...ooops!