The Diabetes Games

I took C to a new endocronologist yesterday. I like him. Unlike our previous doctor, I believe he will provide us with quality health care. Before we left the office, he gave us five contact numbers: office, home, pager, cell, and wife's cell. He told us that any time we have concerns about C's health, we should call him. Wow.

The doc also challenged us to play in The Diabetes Games. This is a system he invented to interest children in becoming involved in their own diabetes care. He claims that if I don't get C actively involved now, and give him some incentive to work at it, then getting him to manage his own disease in his teens will be a real struggle.

Part One of the Games is the Over/Under Game. C earns a point each time he tests his blood glucose (BG) level before a meal or snack. That's 5 points per day just for checking his BG. Then, if his BG is in his target range (70-150), he earns another point, for a total of up to 10 points per day. At the end of the day, Super D and I settle up with him and pay him up to $1.00, depending on how well he managed his diabetes during that day. As C ages, we can pay more, which will probably equate to gas money when he is old enough to drive.

Part Two of the Games is the 100 Game. Each time his BG hits his target (100), he gets a Bonus prize. We haven't decided yet on the prize, but it can be a game download for his iPod Touch, a new book, or a new toy. Maybe we will give him a choice between the three.

Part Three of the Games is the 7% Game. Every time we visit the endocronologist, they take a sample of C's blood and test his HbA1c. This test measures his BG control over the past 2-3 months by measuring the percentage of glycosylated hemoglobin, or HbA1c, in the blood. (I don't get it either.) The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends a level of 7% or below, while other health care professionals recommend less than 6.5%. Yesterday, C's A1c was 8.8%. Our doc has promised that when C's A1c results are less than 7%, he will give C $20! You should have seen C's eyes pop out of his head when he heard that.

We are on day 2 of The Diabetes Games. So far, C has raked in 80 cents. The doc changed some of the settings on the insulin pump, so it may take a few days for his BG to level out to normal levels, but C has been eager to test and disappointed when his BG is too high. Before yesterday, he didn't show any care about testing or good levels. The doc talked with C about diabetes management being C's job, and if he does his job, he gets paid. I think the doc is right; this may work yet! We just had to find the right motivator - money!

Tradition

I am fascinated by holiday traditions. This year, I enjoyed reading about my friends' Christmas traditions as they posted on facebook. One family hops in the car on Christmas Eve in their jammies and goes out to look at Christmas lights. Another family reads by candlelight the story of Jesus' birth. Some families open one present the night before Christmas. Others get new Christmas pajamas.

For as long as I can remember, my mom has served the same Christmas breakfast. I think she learned the recipe from a high school Home Ec teacher. On Christmas Eve, she prepares a Pillsbury hot roll mix and lets the dough rise. Instead of shaping it into hot rolls, she rolls it out with butter, cinnamon, sugar, and pecans and fashions it into the shape of a Christmas tree. She bakes it that night and leaves it for Christmas morning.

After all of the presents have been unwrapped, she quietly slips into the kitchen to reheat the tree, and she "decorates" it with green icing and sprinkles. In previous years, the tree has also contained raisins and been ornamented with candied cherries, but since most of us don't like either ingredient, they have been omitted. The tree is then served on Waechtersbach Christmas pottery with orange juice, coffee, or homemade hot chocolate. Leftovers don't usually survive to lunchtime.

Considering that some years she has made more than one cinnamon roll Christmas tree, I would guess that my mom has made well over 50 of them through the years. I have made a few of my own, too. I love sharing it with my coworkers and friends. And I plan to pass on this family tradition to my children.

My mom and the 2011 tree

2009 tree (We didn't have any candy sprinkles that year.)

I got a hippopotamus for Christmas!

Only a hippopotamus would do!

No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses!

I only like hippopotamuseses!

And hippopotamuses like me, too!

The stocking were hung . . .

We had no trouble getting C to bed tonight. He told me that despite what everyone thinks, Santa does not visit our house at midnight. He said there was no point in waiting up for Santa because Santa comes sometime between 12 and 2. C knows this because last year, he checked the living room at midnight, and there were no presents. He went back to sleep, and when he awoke at 2 a.m., the presents had arrived. I guess he knew he couldn't stay awake that long, so he just went straight to bed at his regular bedtime.

The Grinch who almost stole Christmas

My mom bought herself a Christmas gift - a new T.V. She purchased it online and expected it to be delivered a day or two before Christmas. It was delivered early. Normally, this would be an occasion for a happy dance, but on this particular day, Mom wasn't home.

Most people would not be able to see a box at her door if they're just driving by. Mom shares a short street with about 23 other families in a dozen duplex homes. Her door doesn't face the street and sits in a small alcove, so you would have to walk up in her yard to really get a good look at her entryway. But when the FedEx man pulled up to her door and delivered a large box marked "T.V.", I guess some of those families were bound to notice.

Mom doesn't know many of her neighbors, but she has spoken with a few of them. One man, who lives across the street, is, at first glance, a nuisance. I have noticed him on several occasions making lots of noise in his garage late at night. It's not the sweet sounds of the Whos down in Whoville, but we do hear loud music and, sometimes, power tools. Fortunately, I don't think Mom can hear the din from inside her house, so I haven't made a big deal of it. But Mom met the Who neighbor, has spoken to him on several occasions, and has said he is very nice. I wasn't sure I believed her. Well, not until yesterday.

You see, he was one of the neighbors who noticed the FedEx truck. And he noticed that another neighbor, a Grinch, had seen it, too. When Mom returned home yesterday, Neighbor Who came to her door and told her that he had her T.V. in his living room. He said the Grinch had walked past her house several times, looking toward her front door. Mr. Who knows that the Grinch is a thief. So, Mr. Who saved Mom's T.V. from the Grinch, who had already backed his truck into the driveway next door. Mr. Who brought Mom's new T.V. back to her.

While I'm a little mad that FedEx would deliver such an expensive package without a signature, I am overjoyed that there are people in this Grinchy world who still do good deeds. They have a heart for others. They look out for their neighbors. They care. I'm especially glad that one such Who lived across the street from my mom. Maybe we need to watch a little Dr. Seuss on her new T.V. this Christmas.

I'll never be a Martha.

I've never been that mom who makes a fruit bouquet. Or the mom who makes cute little brownie bites that look like Santa hats. I'm not even the mom who makes homemade cookies. I'm the mom who makes a side trip to Walmart on the way to school to grab a bag of Chips Ahoy! cookies for the class party.

I want to be that Martha Stewart mom. I want everyone to "Ooh" and "Ahh" as I take the lid off the cupcake holder to reveal snowman cupcakes wearing earmuffs. That's why, as I was pouring myself a bowl of Rice Krispies, I decided to release my inner Martha. The picture on the back of the box was of the cutest little Tree Trimmer Treats.

I've made Rice Krispies Treats before. Surely I can make these adorable edible ornaments. How hard could it be? Snap, Crackle, and Pop and even the plain M&M guy seemed to be cheering me on. "You can do it. You can do it. You can do it."

I had no idea how hard it was going to be to find the Christmas M&M's at the SuperCenter or that I would have to make an additional stop at the 7-Eleven to find cherry Twizzler ropes. If that wasn't bad enough, I almost gave up on Step 1: Fold each licorice piece in half and push ends through centers of marshmallows. "No problem," I thought. "I've got this." After all, I took Home Ec. I can read and follow directions.

For future reference, licorice rope ends don't push through the centers of marshmallows. Not without a few marshmallow deaths. But I was determined. I made a slight design change, and, thirty minutes later, I had a small arsenal of marshmallow/licorice nooses.

Since I've made Rice Krispies Treats before, I know that once you add the cereal, you have to work fast. Otherwise, the Treats begin to set up. The key to these ornament Treats is that you must use "buttered hands". Eeww. So I shaped the Rice Krispies into little round ornaments and let them cool. The next step was to decorate with frosting and M&M's.

Obviously, this didn't turn out the way Snap, Crackle, and Pop's did. This is when I was within seconds of calling it quits. I was ready to concede that I am, indeed, not a Martha. I have no business in the kitchen. I can't even get a stupid red M&M to stick to a Rice Krispie ball.

But when I thought of my 20 adorable 2nd graders who will be celebrating Winter Break tomorrow, I knew I couldn't show up empty-handed. Forget the picture on the box. The kids don't know how cute that Treat is. They just want sugar. So, I made another design change and carried on.

My ornaments don't have hangers, but they have marshmallows and frosting, which is all the kids care about anyway.

I'll never be a Martha. I'm okay with that. Super D says I make the best carrot cake ever. I'll just hold on to that.

"God sure is smart!"

Super D and I went to the health food store. Don't get me wrong, we don't usually shop there. I just have to buy special shampoo and conditioner that is fragrance-free, and the health food store happens to carry it. But since we were there, we walked up and down the aisles to see what kinds of crazy things they sell.

Super D pointed out this cereal:
Strange name for a cereal, right? We almost passed it by, but my curiosity got the best of me. Who would name a cereal after a Bible verse, and what did the verse have to do with cereal?

Here is how the side of the box reads:

Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Cereal is inspired by the Holy Scripture verse: "Take also unto thee Wheat and Barley and Beans and Lentils and Millet and Spelt and put them in one vessel and make bread of it..." We discovered when these six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, an amazing thing happens. A complete protein is created that closely parallels the protein found in milk and eggs. In fact, the protein quality is so high, that it is 84.3% as efficient as the highest recognized source of protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids. Plus, there are 18 amino acids present in this unique cereal - from all vegetable sources!

So there we were, Super D and me, standing in the middle of the health food store, grinning from ear to ear, with tears in our eyes, in awe that modern science has proved that such an ancient combination of foods would produce such a super-food. Super D said, "God sure is smart!"

And how does it taste, you ask? Super D suspected it might taste like cardboard, but it isn't too bad. I wouldn't eat it by itself, but with milk and fruit, it just might do.

The Fashion-Challenged

C often dresses himself like this. He has no sense that two plaids don't work together. When he came out of his room with this ensemble on, I just said, "No." He tried again. Note the aqua shoes in the second attempt. Some battles simply aren't worth fighting.

Say what?

C asked to watch TV. He said he wanted to watch "The Kinga Dyson Amir".

Need a clue?

I whistled for a cab and when it came near, the license plate said "fresh" and had a dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought nah, forget it, yo homes to Bel-air!

Plural nouns

C read it somewhere, but you should know that the plural of "rabbit" is "rabbi". (It's the same rule that is used for hippopotamus.)

Rudolph, the red-nosed teacher

Tonight we had our faculty Christmas party, so we all wore festive Christmas attire. After last year's ugly sweater theme, I decided to go tacky and wear every Christmas item I could find. Between my small stash and my mom's closet, I put together this lovely ensemble. It included blinking antlers, a candy cane turtleneck, embroidered sweater, two necklaces, three jingling bracelets, two curly elf shoes, and a flashing red Rudolph nose. We all displayed our Christmas cheer throughout the school day and even paraded across the stage during our assembly. The looks on my kids' faces was well worth the humiliation brought on by my blinking nose!

Merry Christmas!