I Love You More!

This last Saturday we celebrated my Aunt’s 60th birthday with a big 50’s themed party.

My church has a big hall that any of the members are allowed to use at no cost so it works out great. We had a bunch of food, lots of fun decorations like records and balloons, and so many people that we had to set up extra tables to accommodate.

The highlight of the party was an Elvis impersonator who was going to be entertaining us and my aunt especially. Her name is Addie and she has Down syndrome. She is my mothers older sister and the 8th in the family of 9 nine kids! My mom is the baby of the bunch.

When we were kids we used to live with my Grandparents and Addie. Me and my sisters grew quite close to her and I think know her very well. She is energetic, loving, hard headed, tough gal who taught me how to make movie cameras out of folded newspaper, build “Hollywood” out of Lego’s, and sing “What’s New Pussycat” over and over again. More than anything, Addie taught all of us about unconditional love.

Every gift you buy her is “Her favorite!” Ever person she sees she hugs. If you will sit and talk to her then she loves you. No matter what you feed her. No matter how you look at her. If you are around and you acknowledge her then she loves you. Without question. But if you are “The King” then she does not just love you…

“I LOVE YOU MORE!”

I must have heard her say that 1000 times on Saturday and each time, I loved hearing it even more. “Elvis” held her hand as he sang and entertained us. She stood by his side singing EVER SINGLE LYRIC and dancing throughout the performance. Every time a song would end “Elvis” would sing a line acapella and then stick the mic in Addie’s face and she would also sing the line but then sing “I LOVE YOU MOOOOOOORRREEE” to the same tune of the song. It was awesome!

At one point “Elvis” (who’s real name is George too!) came over to the DJ booth to hand me a different CD to use. He said, “Wow, she is awesome! She has so much energy I wish all my parties were like this.” I responded with, “Oh yeah man, Addie is the best!”

He went back out and took the mic from her after she was singing “He’s my guy!” and “I love you MORE!” over and over.

Elvis said, “Wow. You know if everyone gave this much love to one another, this world would be a perfect place!” Everyone at the party applauded and cheered. Righty O Elvis, Righty O!

He asked Addie, “What do you think about that? You are like the star up here! I am just the opening act for you!”

She said…

“I. LOVE. YOU. MORE!!!!”

Weight Watchers Update

Gain - 1.0 lbs.
Total loss - 40 lbs.

Not bad for a week with 2 parties. On to next week.

Child Dies Because Parents Only Prayed

I just found the news report on CNN of the 11 year old girl who died because her parents decided to pray instead of getting her treatment for her undiagnosed type 1 diabetes.

I have a few things I want to say about this even though it will probably not make many happy with me.

First, to everyone who believes in Christ or who considers themselves a Christian I would suggest that you pray for these people. Prayer is powerful and necessary for us. Pray for these people to find understanding about how prayer is a tool to talk to God. Pray that they will see that God’s hand is in everything including the medical profession and medicine. Even insulin. All of those who have studied the Bible or I should say the gospels, can see how Jesus healed people. He did not tell people, “Just pray and wait. That’s all.” He would heal with a touch, not prayer alone. There was something physical that happened. I do not see how medicine or doctors are against or the opposite of God or how prayer and a doctor’s visit can’t happen! Call me crazy but I do not understand that.

To all of you who practice other religions, I would say please do not think that this is the belief of most Christians. These people are not the norm. As much as I joke, cuss, laugh, and act like a dork I am still Christian. I am not perfect and would never claim to be. It is people that off the deep end that give Christians a bad name or at least, make people look at us like we are all crazy. Just please know, Master P will stay by my side until a cure or until death shall we part.

And to those who are Agnostic or Atheist I would say please do not think faith failed or that prayer is dangerous. We all have faith in something. Faith didn’t fail, these parents did. Prayer is important to us in that it provides comfort, hope, and it is our way of communicated with our God. We are not taught to pray and expect God to do the rest. We pray and act. We pray for guidance and peace. We pray for change and for the knowledge on how to create that change. We do not sit on the couch and wait for prayers to be answered. We are charged to act and work with God’s love directing us.

It is just like after the World Trade Center attack. We cannot assume that all Muslims are terrorists or are evil. I know some and they are not like that at all. As people we have to accept one another and not assume that just because one person in a group takes things the wrong way that the rest of us are on the same page.

We are not.

Ow! OUUCCCCHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

That’s the noise I make when I am tagged. Twice.

Thank you Araby62 and Nicole for the tag. Not so hard next time geesh!

I am sure you all know how this meme goes so here are my six words.

Keeping God first. Everything else works.

Here's how to play:

1) Write your own six word memoir

2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like

3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere

4) Tag at least five more blogs with links and

5) Don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I tag Kevin, Chrissie, Minnesota Nice, Keith, and Sara. I hope that didn't hurt. :)

You Tube Tuesday #65

My very good friend Lisa put together this Public Service Announcement on social workers and asked "little old me" to score the music for it. I have never done anything like this before so it was a cool challenge and I think it came out okay.

I really wanted to share this with you all because I thought it was cool to see some of the different facets of social work. I had no clue.

You may notice that a familiar disease makes an appearance in the PSA.

Thanks Lisa!

10/35/41

My baby is 10 years old! Saturday we celebrated Gillian’s birthday with lots of family, friends, food, and fun. The party ended with a private game of Laser Tag at Laser Quest! That has to be about the coolest place ever! She had a great time as did all of her friends. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday I became an older ninja. My 35th birthday was shared with the Easter Bunny this year which is a brand new one for me. Palm Sunday has fallen on my birthday before but never Easter. After the sunrise service at church and the rest of the resurrectiony goodness of the morning, my birthday was spent at home with my wife and kids. I dozed in and out all day while I sat on the couch. It made for a perfect day in my very busy book. I also realized that since I was diagnosed at age 17, I can now say that I have diabetes for most of my life. I know for many of you that number was reached a long time ago but it actually was a “whoa!” moment for me.

And the last number from the title, 41. On Saturday morning I weighed in at Weight Watchers and had lost 3.8 pounds this last week bringing my total weight loss to 41 pounds. I normally post my Weight Watchers updates on Saturday mornings but for the last two weeks I have not. I actually gained 0.6 pounds each week! I notice that I go up a little and go down a lot. I guess I did not feel like writing about the gains those weeks. It was lame of me I know but in the future I will stay true to what I said at the beginning and post it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Washington D.C. Trip

In two weeks my son will be spending his Spring Break on a trip to Washington DC with his 8th grade class.

He has been excited about this trip since last year when the other 8th grade class went. George is a very patriotic kid. Ever since he was chosen as a Student Ambassador in 5th grade and was able to travel to Canada with a group of other student ambassadors from Southern California, he has been really into U.S. History and being very patriotic.

So when a writing contest was announced in which the winners will be participating in the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, he decided to enter. “What American is to me” was the title of all the essays that would be submitted. It had to be two pages long and typed. 16 kids entered the contest and last night at the meeting they announced the winners.

“Each of the essays was read by three teachers,” one teacher explained. “The names on the essays were covered up so the teachers did not know whose essay they were reading.” This point made me happy because George is kind of a charmer especially to adults. He is funny in that he enjoys talking to adults and most remember him because of that. I am glad that was not a factor because I wanted the best essays to win, not necessarily my son. “Each teacher scored the essays, we added them up, and took the 4 highest scores. Two from the boys and two from the girls.”

The teacher read a boys name first and of course everyone applauded. I was sure another boy's name would come next but instead it was a girl’s name. Here it comes! Nope the girl sitting behind us was named. Oh man. I cannot stand this….

“And Geoooooooooorge Simmons!” The teacher looked right at him and said it like he was on a game show. I may be crazy but I am pretty sure he got the biggest applause. I later found out that this teacher was sort of messing with George about his essay saying almost daily, “Don’t ask me. I know nothing!” She waited to say his name last to mess with him one last time! It was very cute.

Anyhow, all 4 of us sort of floated home last night being proud of our little dude. Gillian told me that she almost started crying. She is a proud little sister.

Jasmine and I stayed up late talking about our kids and how blessed we are. They are both so different except that both are very much alike in that they continue to amaze us with their accomplishments. We are not the pushy parents at all but we are the encouraging type. We are both good cheerleaders. With very good reason to be.

We have quite the team.

The Mission Grade

When I got home late last night, Gillian comes running up to me with some news.

“Dad. We got our grades on Mission projects today!”

“Sweet! How did I, I mean we, I mean you. How did you do?” All this time my wife was somewhere between laughing at me and hucking a remote control at my head.

“Well, it said ‘great job!’ on the sheet and we got an A+!!! 100 points and I got some extra credit too because we took pictures of our visit to the mission!”

She was so proud and I was very proud of her. The coolest part of the whole process was the way all 4 of us pitched in to get it done. It became a fun family project and for Gillian to acknowledge that “we got an A+” was very sweet. She high-fived her brother and hugged both me and mom thanking us for our help.

“Thank you honey for letting me help. I had a blast and we kicked butt!” I said through a lump in my throat.

“That’s what the Simmons family does. We kick butt!” She said jokingly. Or half jokingly.

Oh yeah, this kid is definitely mine!

Cure Curiosity

This morning I posted on dLife about clinical trials that are beginning soon. I am sure most all of you have heard about it by now.

Of course I have thought about not having diabetes. I have prayed for a cure and dreamed of a life free of shots and finger sticks. I am sure most of us have. But for some reason the thought kind of scares me.

Remember the movie The Shawshank Redemption? Remember the scene when Brooks get out of prison and desperately wants to go back? He has been so used to living in prison that being free is now like a prison for him. He has become “institutionalized.” Functioning in prison is the norm for him and anything else is uncomfortable and disturbing.

Is that was a cure would be like? I mean, at first will we hesitate each time a box of cookies is plopped down in front of us? Would we wonder how many carbs are in that meal we were just served? Would we want to check our BG every once and while just to see if our machine is still working or just for fun?

I think I would save Master P. I would have him in a shadow box or something. That would be awesome. I could make a mobile with all the old BG machines I have too!

I know after time I would be very happy not having the big D but I honestly think I will miss it. Well not miss “it” but miss the routine.

Would we all stay in touch? That would be my biggest fear. I would hate to now keep in touch with all of you and read what you are going through. We should make a pact. If there is ever a cure for diabetes and we all do not have this stupid disease to deal with any longer, we should promise to continue posting about all the yummy goodness we are enjoying.

Now that I look at it, the only negative to being cured would be the possibility of losing touch with those friends whose friendship began because of the disease.

I promise I will continue even if it’s only You Tube Tuesdays and an occasional Ninja post.

That is of course, if a cure is found.

You Tube Tuesday #64

This has to be the laziest dog owner I have ever seen although, Jerry does not seem to mind.

Enjoy.

St. Patrick's Day Memory

St. Patrick’s Day was always a fun day back when I was a kid. I would figure out what I was going to wear so I would not be pinched all day long and look forward to lots of cool Green projects like coloring Leprechauns and pots of gold. Grammar school was so much fun. I miss those years.

The sad thing is that St. Patty’s day will forever remind me one very disturbing afternoon.

Georgie was a little guy and staying each day at a daycare on location where my wife worked. She was working as a Teacher’s Aide for hearing impaired kids. This particular location had a daycare available to the school staff so Georgie would stay there during the day. It worked out great because Jasmine could stop in and see him whenever she wanted or was needed.

One evening as my wife was cooking dinner and I was hanging out with little G, I quickly realized that the awful odor I smelled was thankfully not dinner but a very full diaper. I took him into his room and put him on the changing table. I could not believe what I saw when I took off his diaper!

“JAAAAAAZZZZZ!!!!!! GET IN HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!”

As my wife comes running into the room my brain starts spinning. What the hell did he get into? Do I need to call poison control? Oh my goodness, something is wrong with my baby!!!!

There in his diaper is what looks like Bright Green Paint. I was sure he drank paint or ate a marker or something. I had no clue. We were both freaking out. My wife had enough sense to call one of the girls who worked there at the daycare and find out if maybe the school was missing a Gumby doll or something. I cleaned him all up as Jasmine called. I kept waiting for him to start crying or spitting up green goo like the exorcist but nothing happened.

Suddenly I hear my wife coming down the hall crying. Oh no! As she turns the corner into the room and I am finally able to begin breathing again since I realize that she was laughing. Hysterically laughing.

“They gave him green milk to drink. They gave all the kids green milk for St. Patrick’s day!”

You have got to be kidding me? So here I am, ready to take my kid to the hospital to have his stomach pumped and this was all a St. Patty’s day thing? I felt so dumb but at the same time, I was kind of mad that the people there did not say anything to us.

Oh well at least all was okay. It is too bad that every year when St. Patrick’s Day comes around, I have memories of one thing.

Green Poo.

The Bomb has been Dropped!

I did it. I dropped the bomb.

I should say, I dropped Dr. F-Bomb. Sure he was good for many great blog posts but I have finally broken free and found a new primary care physician.

The reason I decided to make the change, besides not having a potty mouth doc, was for a particular Endo that I heard was really good. The Endo I have (or had) is not interested in my health at all. I can think of countless times that I should have left this dude but I just never knew where to go! The one good thing he did was get me set up with Minimed for my pump but that was after I said, “I want an insulin pump” so I do not know if he should get credit for that.

I remember the time I went in to see him and told him about my foot hurting. He said, “We’ll get you a referral for a podiatrist.” I asked him if he wanted to look at them and he said that that is what the podiatrist will do. He NEVER saw my feet! WTF right?

The last time I saw him he asked me if I have ever thought about getting an insulin pump. I pulled Master P out of my pocket and said, “I am already on a pump.” HELLO?

A good friend of mine sees an Endo not to far from my home and he loves this guy. The only way I can see this guy is to get a PCP that will refer me to him. I called the Endo’s office and spoke to a nurse there. I said, “Which doctor would you recommend me seeing that will refer me to Dr. Reece?” The nurse I spoke to was so helpful and kind that I am already feeling some love for this change. The nurses at the other office were always short and annoyed it seemed.

The change takes effect on the first of April so I am going to make an appointment to see this new doctor ASAP.

So long Dr. F-Bomb.

I hope you take good fucking care of yourself!

A Good Day to Remember

I will say this upfront. This is not a depressing post. Or what I should say is that, depression is not the place the post comes from.

It comes from my heart. Today would have been my fathers 59th birthday. To think that he has been gone for over 17 years is unbelievable. The pain of losing him still stings now and then. The now’s are further apart but they do still happen.

I am not sure if I have written about my father’s death here. It was a significant event in my life of course so I am sure it has come up. He died just over a year after my diagnosis.

Instead of giving you account of the awful night I heard the news and the days following that were devastating, I would much rather tell you about how amazing he was and how amazing God works in our lives.

My dad was funny. And I mean, twisted funny. He was the guy who asked small kids, “Is Mickey Mouse a dog or a cat?” as a joke to himself. He once had me make him an entire cassette that played “Can’t Touch This” over and over. On both sides! So he could listen to it again and again. One time he dressed up this little kid in my Charlie McCarthy dolls clothes, sat him on his lap and told him to open his mouth when he squeezed the back of his neck. He said he was going to have the first REAL ventriloquist act. He also told all of us that he was going to change his name to R.R. since L.L Cool J was so hip.

He was bizarre, smart, funny, affectionate, strong, kind, encouraging, and what his fellow Sheriff’s referred to as “a good ol’ boy!” We were not allowed to greet him or leave without giving him a hug and a kiss. And none of us ever disagreed.

My father cried only twice that I know of. Once when his mother died. He picked us up early in the morning after we found out and he said simply, “your grandma was a great woman.” And wept. That was the first death in our family that I remember and it was a difficult one since I was my grandma’s only grandson and we were close.

The other time I didn’t actually witness it but I heard it. It was the day after my diagnosis. October 3rd 1990. My dad was out of town on training and I called him the next night to talk to him. I don’t remember all that was said but what I do remember is him saying, “I’ll see you soon. I love you” through tears at the end of our conversation. I could hear the fear in his voice. The concern about what this meant for my future. I cried for a long time after I hung up. I understood a little better that the road ahead was going to be long and tough.

My mother and father did not get along. I do not remember them ever speaking to one another after their divorce. Most messages between the two of them were sent via us kids. Not a very cool way to communicate but my guess is, most children of divorce have been there before.

One night my father called the house looking for me and my mom answered. She told him I was gone and could call him back later. He asked her how I was doing and she told him. In fact, they ended up talking for over an hour. My mother said that it was best conversation she has had with him since they were married. They talked about all 4 of us kids. How proud they both were of us. How much fun they used to have together and even reminisced back to days when they were dating and funny things that happened. My mom can’t talk about this conversation without crying. She said it was awesome and made all those years of being angry seem so ridiculous. That made her night and his too.

That conversation happened the night before he died.

I am still so thankful that this conversation happened. It has made those awful years when my parents were not speaking seem like they didn’t exist.

Anyhow, give your dad a kiss and an extra long hug the next time you see him. I know I will when I see mine again one day.

A Night to Remember

Sometimes it takes people a while to look through their SD cards and find pictures they have taken. Especially when the pictures are from a evening filled with alcohol. That is the reason why this post is coming to you now.

So way back in December my wife and I attended a formal employee Christmas Party aboard the legendary Queen Mary. Since my wife and I rarely get to “dress up” we decided to go all out. I rented a tux and she wore a beautiful dress. I will say it, we looked hot.

So after dinner and festivities at one of the five star restaurants we all headed down to the Observation Bar for drinks and fun.

Once we got in there, I was handed a shot of tequila and then another. And another. The nice thing was that my company had booked rooms for all of us at the hotel so no one had to drive home. We all took advantage of that. At one end of the bar a singer was entertaining everyone. There were at least 400 people in this place. It is a big lounge and it was packed! This guy was singing songs from Elvis to old Motown stuff. It was all older mellow music and it was sounding pretty good especially after a few Rum and diet Coke’s. I should tell you that he was by himself and singing along with accompaniment on CD.

As I was about to do another shot of Patron I hear, “George Simmons” on the loud speaker. I turned to look at the stage where the singer was and I see my boss standing in front of the stage with the singer motioning me to go up there. In fact he shouted, “Get your ass up here!”

Great.

So I walked up to the stage and the singer asked me what I wanted to sing. Now remember, this was not Karaoke night so there is no screen and no lyrics. After going through all of his CD’s I settled on The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. I know it and I figure, everyone in the bar will know it.

And they did.

It was so much fun!

The funniest part was the strangers that were taking pictures of me probably figuring I am some star that graced the Lounge with the gift of song. I have no clue but I saw several cameras flashing and no one I knew behind them. It was funny.

As soon as I was done, the singer asked me to sing another. I told him, “dude I don’t want to step on your toes.” And he said, “This is great. I get to take a break and I still get paid.” So I sang “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger.

Everyone dug that too!

It turned out to be a very memorable night! And no hangover!

w00t!

You Tube Tuesday #63

Imogen Heap is one of my favorite artists. I love her voice but especially the way she creates music. I hope you enjoy her unique style. It is almost more fun watching her perform then it is hearing her music.

Enjoy!

Back to Life

I am here alive and feel much more like my ninja self than I did last week. I still have a deep cough that is slightly annoying but the pain in my chest and the feeling like I inhaled a small farm animal is gone thank goodness.

I know I have said this before but feeling good really feels good. I realize how much I take for granted when I feel like crap. It’s amazing how it takes feeling awful to really understand feeling great and what a blessing that is!

This morning on my way into work I got a call from my wife that she is going home sick.

I need one of these so we don’t play the “Pass around the sickness” game.

Awake for a Quick Post

Thank you all for worrying about me. I went to urgent care last night and they did not find anything significant.

I am on antibiotics, Anti-inflammitories, cough medicine, and some stomach medicine because all those drugs are going to make me sick! Lame in a way but whatev.

I am going back to sleep now so I can get up and weigh in tomorrow at WW.

Thanks again guys, you make me feel loved! :)

Breathless

There’s this pain that is stabbing me right in the middle of back. And it goes all the way into the front of my chest. With each breath is seems to sting just like the first time. Over and over.

My eyes feel droopy. I probably look just like Droopy at least that is how I feel. I keep thinking about my pillow. My covers. Nyquil and rest and yet, here I am at work. Staring at a computer screen with no idea how I got here.

There is a fog surrounding my brain today. I don’t know what to say when I answer the phones. I am not sure how to help anyone that calls. I am so sleepy and foggy. The back and chest thing is driving me nuts.

It makes me want to stop breathing. I can tell my breathing is shallow because of the pain. Maybe that explains the fogginess. Its lack of oxygen! Who knows.

I remember back when I smoked and how I would still have a cigarette even when feeling like this. I can’t even imagine doing that now.

I should go home.

I should stop breathing.

Sick Sucks

I am the coughster. The hacker. The sicky sick sicko. And I feel like crap.

I had a great weekend at the retreat and met some very cool people but I got sick. I have been coughing and hacking for two days now and I am sick of being sick.

My basal rate was adjusted to help keep my BG in control for the most part. I just want to sleep. My eyes are puffy and my nose is red from blowing it like mad.

I am a mucus monster. A Nasally ninja. A Snot Soldier.

I must be sick because I am trying to come up with other funny names for being sick.

Being sick is so draining on so many levels. It makes me want to ignore my diabetes but I know that is not an option. If anything, I find I check my BG more when I am sick since my levels get crazy high when I am sick.

How do you cope with being a Booger Burglar?

LOL – Oh man, when I laugh it hurts!

You Tube Tuesday #62

Oh, I wish this was real. So awesome!

Enjoy.

Mission Accomplished!

I will let you know more about the weekend I had later this week. I wanted to show you the mission report that the whole family ended up doing! It was awesome!



The time we put into this mission was packed with intensity. You can see that on my daughters face. That brush on the right is Georgie helping out.



And here it is. Ahh the ringing of the bells is so inviting. So, beautiful! :)



Is that a dove perched on the fountain? How splendid! There are two graves just to the right of the baptismal font.



And here is a "birds eye" view.



Okay, I admit that this is where I went over board. The inside of this mission has pictures of "The Stations of the Cross" on the walls. Not to mention a picture of the actual altar at the front!



And we even put in a baptismal font!

All and all it was a great experience. All of us working on it together made for fun nights. We laughed a lot and got really messy.

I can't wait for the next project! Science Fair here we come!