Note to self...

Note to self: Next year, take the week before school starts OFF! Holy Moly this past week had been busy, busy, busy.

• 3 kids
• 3 different schools
• 2 registrations
• 1 orientation
• 1 back to school picnic
• 1 diabetes meeting
• 1 trip to the grocery store specifically for diabetic supplies for school
• 1 phone call to new bus driver

And that doesn't even include the back-to-school shopping, which thankfully I did weeks ago, and packing backpacks!

This week has been nuts! I feared that the beginning of the school year would have me going in circles trying to figure out which kid is supposed to be where and when. Turns out it happened the week before school has even begun.

But I made it through. Made it to each destination on time and with the correct child. That alone I consider a huge accomplishment. Now I can enjoy the last weekend before the school-year routine begins.

I had a meeting at Autumn's school with her principal, new teacher and para to go over her care plan for the year. 4 years into it these meetings and they don't stress me out anymore.

At this particular meeting I was so impressed with Autumn's principal. He has been at her school for the past 3 years. In that time I have gotten to know him well. He's a very hands-on principal. He knows all 700+ kids by name. He greets them all each morning with a high-five and says good morning to them by name. The kids adore him. The staff adores him. And the parents adore him. What really impressed me this particular time was his knowledge of diabetes and Autumn's insulin pump. He WANTS to know the in's and out's of it all and WANTS to be able to care for her also. He was telling her teacher about things that took me a year to learn and I live with it every day! I am so grateful that he is the Principal and feel so comfortable having my child at the school.

Then there's Autumn's para. If you keep up on my blog, you've read about her already. (If not, search for my Guardian Angel post). She is such an amazing person. Each year I am so thankful that she will be there to take care of Autumn. She loves her as much as I do. I am thoroughly amazed by her knowledge also. Some times I think she has better answers for Autumn's care than me or her doctors. I rely on her so much and she never disappoints. I would be a mess if she wasn't there for Autumn.

So even though this week was crazy, nutso, busy, I feel good about the start of the year. Everything is in place and I will make sure my kids get to the correct school each day!

Cracker Candy

Cracker Candy is one of our favorite treats in this house. I don't make it very often, usually just for a special occassion. We had a couple reasons to make it this month so I thought I'd share the recipe.

 

Cracker Candy

2 sticks butter (not margarine)

1 cup sugar

1 sleeve saltine crackers

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil, creating sides, and line with saltines. In a sauce pan over low heat melt together butter and sugar, stirring constantly. When melted, bring to a boil on high for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. It will be a light caramel in color and will resemble melted marshmallows. Pour mixture over saltines and smooth to cover completely. Bake on top rack of oven for 5 minutes, until crackers are lightly browned. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crackers. Wait one minute then spread melted chocolate with rubber spatula. Put in freezer to cool. When hard, break into small pieces. Store in ziplock bag.

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Gentle Reminders

Last week was my 44th Birthday. During the past week I have gotten some gentle reminders about my age!

JUMP
Autumn was given a little excercise trampouline. I was in the family room watching her jump away and having just a great time. I wouldn't help but think how much fun it looked. I went on Youtube and found some fun excercises to do on it. When she wore herself out I asked if I could give it a try. She enthusiastically told me I could. I got on, jumped 2 times and ran to the bathroom. I felt like my bladder was going to pop right out! Seriously? What was THAT all about? After my bathroom visit my jumping was much better. Note to self: empty bladder before jumping.

KID ROCK
I was lucky enough to be able to go to a Kid Rock concert the night of my Birthday. This is the 2nd time I've seen him right on the day. As usual, he did not disappoint. My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, which would have been perfect as I don't have to work until  noon on Thursdays. But this particular Thursday I had to have Joshua at the high school by 8:45 for registration. I certainly couldn't go to that looking like I just crawled out of bed. So I had to get up early enough to make myself presentable. After being out late, dancing my butt off a the concert, getting up early, working in the afternoon, I came home exhausted. I had to take a nap before bed! Note to self: you're getting too old to go to week day concerts.

BUMP
On the way home from picking my kids up in Canton I had the pleasure of having Zachary sit in the passenger seat on the way home. When Zachary is riding shotgun it means that he is in control of the radio. We've grown used to his music and the volume which he listens to it. We were at a stop light, windows down (in my rockin' mini van) and a song comes on. He instantly informs us all that it's "his jam" and turns the radio up as loud as it will go. I'm slightly horrified. First of all, I'm 44 years old, Second, I'm driving a mini van, Third, his music is NOT the type of music most moms listen to! So I turn it down and tell him it's too loud. He informs me that you have to "bump" to that song. Um...did I mention I'm 44 years old? I don't even know what that means. I didn't want to ask and look like a loser so I'm guessing it has something to do with the bass. Maybe it's the bumping of the bass that you feel in your body when the music that loud. Or maybe it's the bumping in your head afterwards from the headache you get from the loud music! Note to self: google bumping and try to find out what it really means.

Today and Forever

The son of a very good friend passed away unexpectedly last week. He was 31 years old. I've known my friend for 12 years. In that time I had the pleasure of meeting her son a couple times. But I mostly knew him through her, her family, friends and facebook. He was a very likeable man. Always had a smile on his face. Was considerate and kind. Smart, funny and athletic. And was a wonderful dad to his 3 1/2 year old son.

Today was his funeral. I hadn't spoken to her since it happened, but she was in my thoughts, prayers and dreams for the past week. During this week I felt helpless. I wanted so desperately to reach out to her, to help her, to just be there for her. But in honor of her request I held back and hoped that she knew I was there for her should she need me.

Another friend arranged to do video clips at the funeral for his son so when he get's older he will know what a wonderful person his dad was. She asked for volunteers to help with the taping. I immediately volunteered.

For 3 hours this morning I video taped his friends and family sharing their love and stories of this amazing young man. It wasn't an easy job. I had to keep my emotions in check and treat it more as a "job" than a favor. Obviously these loved ones were devestated so I felt I needed to be strong and help them feel comfortable.

It turned out to be an amazing experience for me. I learned so much about him, his family and his son. I was thorougly impressed with what people had to say. And I felt like I was finally doing something that would make my friend happy. I was helping.

What I learned was he loved Michigan State. Over 1/2 of the people who made a video commented about this and stated that his son better pick a "good" school to go to! I also learned that he was quite the athlete. I knew he probably skiied and snowmobiled, having know his mom so well for so many years. But I also learned that he was quite the tennis player as well. Another thing people commented on was his love for music. Frank Senatra in particular. Very cool fact to learn about someone so young. I'm thinking his parents and grandparents were the influence of that love. A couple people told his son that he had to drive a GM car when he is old enough to drive, since his dad (my friends husband) had just retired from GM and that is all the family will drive. And everyone commented on how smart, kind, funny and full of life he was.

The funeral was packed, as expected. He comes from a large, close-knit family and had a ton of friends, as do his parents and other family members. They pulled together and made each and every person in attendance feel like they were part of their family. The Service was led by his Uncle who did an amazing job. His sister than spoke. I'm not sure how she got through it, but she did and she had the group laughing and crying at the same time. His brother-in-law spoke next and had the same effect on the group as his sister had. Next was his dad. What an amazing man to be able to get up and speak at his own sons funeral. He said he was speaking for himself and his wife (my friend) as she wasn't sure she would be able to speak herself. She, of course, jumped up and said a couple words. As I knew she would because she is just as amazing as he is. I've oftened commented that they are the perfect couple.

Each person handles grief differently. There is no right and wrong way. My friend handled hers today with laughter and the wish that we all did something special and fun in honor of her sons memory. She told me twice to hug my babies and do something special with them. Next Wednesday we are going to Michigan Adventure and not only will we be celebrating my birthday, we will be celebrating her son. That will be my gift to her.

Spring Break 1987

I'm not sure what made me think about this, but it's too good a story not to share.

It was Spring Break 1987. Daytona Beach, Florida. My best friend, Rose and I flew there and met up with our boyfriends and about 10 other guys from our school. My parents let me go mainly because my boyfriend would be there and they felt I would be safe. Huh...as a parent now I question that, but will just leave it as they must have really trusted me.

Anyway, back to Daytona. The "theme" that year was Party Naked. Yes, it really was. I, of course, came home with my neon orange Party Naked t-shirt (which I still have to this day) and a pile of Party Naked bumper stickers in assorted colors!

Note: I could wear that t-shirt to school and not get sent home. I'm sure if my kids wore it now I would be getting a phone call from the school within minutes of them being there.

This was my senior year in High School. I drove to school, had 3 classes than left at lunch time to go to work. I drove my dads 1981 Firebird. (Yes, I was the little bitch with the cool car. Little did people know that my dad had driven that poor car almost to it's grave. It looked nice but it drove ruff). And on that Firebird was one of my Party Naked bumper stickers. (My poor dad, he sometimes still drove it, bumper sticker and all).

One night some friends and I were cruisin' Main Street in downtown Plymouth. That was the thing to do that year. Drive down one way, turn around and drive down the other way. Most weekend nights the traffic was bumper to bumper. That particular night I was making my turnaround and got pulled over by a Police officer. (Note: my friends and I were ALL decked out in heels, short skirts, huge hair, lots of make-up...the works!) He asked me to step out of the car than asked me who the car belonged to. I told him my dad. He asked if my dad partied naked. I was not amused and was a total smart ass at the time so my response was "No he builds missiles". I got a strange look to that. It was the truth but I'm sure it was not the response he was expecting. He let me go with no other questions. No ticket. Nothing.

My dad actually got a kick out of the story when I told him. Apparently I got pulled over because of that bumper sticker. That's all I can figure.