Fashion Fun

Great time at last week's Tommy Bahama Fashion Show to benefit JDRF.  I'm always nervous to take part in events like this – especially when there are professional models in the group! But we have fun and if it helps raise money for diabetes, no question I'm happy to help. Here's a look just before we…

Not-So-Perfect Timing

Benny's used an insulin pump for almost four years. We love it, but every once in a while there's a hiccup.  Sometimes it's the pump and sometimes it's, um, operator error. Our most recent trouble came when Benny's teacher called and said the battery had fallen out.    Slade fixed it up ("I MacGyvered it with some gaffer's…

Heaven, Imagined

Great to see Linda Matney featured in The Charlotte Observer this weekend.  I first talked to her about 3 years ago when she asked if I would contribute to a book she was writing.  Imagining Heaven was to be a collection of ideas and stories from dozens of contributors from all walks of life. Matney's husband…

Cake Mistake

Every year, parents at our elementary school pitch in to make the teachers a take-home dinner.   It's a big deal, but usually by the time I respond, the sign-up sheet's full. You know how the mommy guilty goes, so this time I was ready. When the request from my daughter's class mom came through on a Sunday morning, I…

Time For A Change?

How is it possible that this summer will mark 4 years on an insulin pump for Benny? He started  on July 4th, 2007 – six months after diagnosis.  He was only two and a half and I couldn't imagine he'd keep this new, weird thing on. It all worked out beautifully; he only threw it across…

Runway for Rescues

Never work with children or animals, right? I knew to expect the unexpected at the Charlotte Humane Society's Runway for the Rescues presentation at Neiman Marcus.  High fashion and rescue dogs – what could go wrong?! It turned out to be a ton of fun. Meet Pickles, my runway partner. What a cutie-pie, right? She's also quite an escape artist.…

Birthday Cake To Go?

The 6th birthday party is the one parents around here have somehow agreed we'll start dropping the kiddos off.  Unless the invite says Please Stay With Your Child, we just don't.  The kids are getting used to their independence, and if something goes wrong, we're a phone call away.  Not so simple for children with diabetes, though.  Do I stay or…

Diabetes and Sleep?

I've spent 12 of the last 15 years getting up at 3am for work.  I also have two young children.  My husband has asked me to refrain from the comment, "I'm tired."  At this point, it's like saying, "I'm breathing." I'm really starting to get concerned about my six year old son, though. He's just…

D-Day with the Checkers

This past Sunday was JDRF Day with the Charlotte Checkers hockey team.  They call it Family Fun Day, but after we saw a bunch of his summer buddies, Benny decided it should be called Checkers Diabetes Camp.  This is the event where we saw our first insulin pumps in action. I remember sitting on the floor of the arena four years ago…