Want to let you know I'll be at Morton's Steakhouse Friday night.  Great week-long event "A Steak in Our Community" benefits a different charity each night.  Friday it's JDRF. More info here (you may have to click on "special events").  I'm bringing the whole family and Benny & Lea are excited to help out.  We'll be your maitre d's for the evening (that should be interesting!)

So good news and bad news (as usual) with diabetes.  First, Benny's A1c was great at his quarterly checkup.  7.7 and it's been trending down all year, which is what we want.  He has also grown 5 inches in the last 15 months and gained 16 pounds!  No wonder we feel like it's hard to keep up those basal rates.

Bad news, now.  After a long time of relatively easy inset changes, Benny is terrified again.  It hasn't been this bad since we started using the Lidocaine nearly a year and a half ago.  It is so bad that when his inset (we call it "the button") came out the other day, I had to hold him down to put a new one on. Without it, he doesn't get insulin, so we have no choice.  I'm still sore (the dude is 62 pounds!).

We were both pretty upset during that wrestling match.  But less than a minute later, Benny was happy, sweet and loving.  He gave me big hugs and quickly got dressed to go out and play.  It was one of the first sunny days we've had in a while – the kids were outside with friends all afternoon.  But while the sun was shining and the kids were playing, I was inside stewing.

This is probably where I should say something funny or inspiring, to get you to come see me Friday night.  You know what?  I don't have anything.  Diabetes made me hold down and hurt my kid.  Nothing entertaining about that.  Time to take a deep breath and keep it in perspective.  Thanks for reading this; it helps.

(I've contacted our diabetes educator to get some help about this issue.  Benny's got a great attitude about his diabetes, and we can't have these knock-out drag-out inset changes.  I'll let you know what she says, and am open to suggestions here.)

These flowers arrived at work yesterday. At first, I thought it was a valentine bouquet. A day or two late, but why not? Turns out, it was a very nice way for the Mecklenburg Times to announce I am one of their 50 Most Influential Women this year.

(Yes, when we're not in the studio we work in Dilbert-like cubicles.  That looks awful).

I'm very excited to be included in this year's list.  They have a nice event in a few weeks to name the Woman of the Year.  I've included the full list of honorees below.  You can click on it to make it bigger or learn more at the Mecklenburg Times website.
 

Congrats to all the great local ladies on the list! 
 

So much fun Friday night!  We braved the snow to drive to Charlotte and I'm glad we did.  I can't say I was expecting the parade of mustaches (or guys dressed like everything from Ned Flanders to Ron Burgandy to Mario and Luigi) but it was a blast. 

Best part? $55,000 and counting raised for Donors Choose.  Some funny pics – the rest are on Facebook.

These guys won for biggest fundraiser, worst mustache and best costume.

The classic barbershop quartet (couldn't sing a note!)

Joe Romanelli and Susan Tran – the friends who roped us into all this:
 

Me & Slade:

Bias comes in many forms. And the end of the 1970s marked a significant turn – and began a dark period – of discrimination against mustached Americans.

While until then it was fashionable to wear a mustache, virtually overnight, it became a fad reserved for the likes of law enforcement, steel workers, motor cross drivers, and members of the Village People.

– from the American Mustache Institute.

I've got mustaches on the mind because this Friday I'll be judging the winner of Mustaches for Kids Charlotte. It's a really fun group – Grow A 'Stache, Raise Some Cash – and the money helps public schools through DonorsChoose.

This is a pet project of some friends of ours.  Joe Romanelli and my husband have been friends for probably close to 20 years and his wife, Susan Tran, is the former WSOC anchor here in Charlotte. The guys start off with a clean shave and raise money for four weeks while the whiskers grow in. 

Here's a picture of some of last year's contestants. I think that's the winner in there. the crown may not mean what I think it means, though.  Like I said, it's a fun crowd.

As a judge, I may have an unfair advantage.  My husband has always had a mustache. A little out of the ordinary, I suppose, but it suits him.  He grew more of a combination goatee thing the last couple of years. As far as I know, though, he doesn't have a hat like any of these guys. (It's the little things we're grateful for!)

Judging's Friday night. I'll post the best and the worst next week!