Jury Duty

So, it's time...to finally show up for jury duty. I was summoned last spring, but I have had it postponed twice, so I am finally fulfilling my civic duty. So, I spent most of today sitting around the court house, waiting. Finally, this afternoon, I was placed on a jury. I have to report at 9:00 tomorrow. I need to find a good book to take for all of the down time. Any recommendations?

Extreme sleep deprivation.....That's what friends are for

Last night, as I was helping DH get supper ready, I was chatting with a friend on the phone. We haven't seen each other for about a week, so I asked her to join me for a soda after her girls went to bed. Once she was able to get away, we headed to McDonald's for some fries, caffeine, and girl talk (I forgot my cell phone at home....keep this in mind, as it will be important later). I dearly love when she and I are able to get our kids together, but I think I cherish even more the times when we can hang out, just the two of us.

So, after the fries were gone, we headed back to her place. I wanted to see how she had rearranged some furniture, so rather than drop her off, I invited myself in. (Gotta love the kind of friend who lets you do that :) As we were chatting with her husband, her cell phone rang. It was DH. I was surprised, since he wouldn't normally "track me down" unless it was important. She handed the phone over, and he informed me that my other best friend was desperately trying to track me down. Apparently, she had taken the wrong insulin (she's diabetic) and was in some trouble. I ran out the door, flew over past my house to grab my cell phone, and booked it to her house.

The problem was that she had taken 16 units of fast acting insulin instead of the slow acting insulin that she takes every night before bed. Now, that may not seem like a big deal, but what it amounts to is taking 5 times the necessary amount of insulin. People with diabetes must use insulin to control their blood sugar. Without the insulin, their blood sugar will be too high, which causes damage to vital organs over time. However, the more immediate danger for those with diabetes is their blood sugar getting too low. If one's blood sugar gets too low, he or she could go into a coma, or worse, die. So, having too much insulin, especially the amount that my friend took, was extremely dangerous.

On the way to her house, I toggled between praying that she would be ok and planning my strategy. She had called the patient advisory nurse and gotten some instructions. Take blood sugar levels at least every 20 minutes, drink sugared liquids, have a friend close by to help monitor the situation, and call 911 if her readings went too low. The nurse had predicted that it would take at least four hours for the insulin to work its way out of her system. If we could control her blood sugar at home, fine. If she ended up needing to go to the hospital, then we'd be in a world of hurt. She has four boys, all of whom are disabled. What would I do with the boys if she went to the hospital? I don't know who could watch them, and I felt like I needed to be with her. So, urgent prayers went heavenward...please help me help her control the unavoidable drop in blood sugar.

When I arrived, it was 9:30 p.m. She was chugging Sprite, admitting that she had made a stupid mistake. So, we got comfortable, knowing that it was going to be a long night. The nurse called to check in, as she continued to do throughout the night. The next day was the fifth anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks, so there were several programs on tv. We watched the documentaries and talked about all of those deep subjects that come up when you see people facing the unfathomable as the victims did that day. All between taking blood sugar levels, pouring more Sprite, and a quick run to the convenience store for 7 up for her, and Pepsi for me.

The evening wore on, and her sugar levels fell. However, God was at work, because her levels never got down to a dangerous point. As her levels began to slowly increase again, the stress began to lift. As we both realized that it was 2:00 a.m. and we would both need to get ready for work in a very short time, we got a little slap-happy. Everything was funny...especially the sloshy feeling in her stomach from drinking large amounts of soda, and the resultant trips to the restroom. Her new nickname is Pee-didy slosh....think rapper. OK, not that funny, but at 2:00 a.m., it was hilarious!

FInally at 2:45 a.m, I headed home for a precious 3 hours of sleep. That day of work was hell...every single things my students did got on my nerves. But, since I didn't have any students to see in the afternoon, and because my boss is incredibly understanding, I headed home for a nap that afternoon.

It has taken me a few days to get over the sleep deprivation, but that is what friends are for.

Jake's 4th and final birthday party is finally over. I am so glad to check that one off of my to do list. As usual, the kids were loud, but well behaved. There were, all together, 3 girl pirates and 7 boy pirates running around. The treasure hunt was huge fun. And, I have to say, pirate karaoke was hilarious!

Now, I need to upload pictures from ALL of the parties to scrap. But, at the rate that my Disney album is going, I may scrap this birthday when he starts high school! Maybe I should publish this post and hit the scrap table?

Party Number 2

Today was the second of Jake's 4 birthday parties this year. 4 parties?!?! Am I crazy? No, I am not one of those parents. Jake's definition of a party is getting presents and comsuming sugar. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we were not able to have all of the grandparents here for one party. So, last weekend we had a "party" with DH's parents when we dropped the boys off. That was party number 1.

Today was party number 2 with my parents. They came in for the day. After a lunch of homemade pizza, he opened his gifts. Check out Jake and his new toy....

And he's off.....

Darn, he's cute!

Then, after sweating in the humidity watching Jake try out his new skateboard, we headed back in to the air conditioning for some cake. This year's theme is pirates, so here is the treasure chest cake...

A little lopsided, but it definately meets the requirements of lots of sugar! It was really yummy!

My student hat...

is fitting quite comfortably tonight. I drove to Normal for my first Masters class of the semester. After going over the syllabus and the projects for the semester, he dismissed us. That was about an hour into class. Now, that might not seem like a big deal to you. But, since it is supposed to be a three hour class, I was so excited to get out early. Not having to drive the hour and fifteen minutes home so late was definately a plus. So, I drove home, stopped at Baskin Robbins, and have been surfing the net since. Ahhhhhhh, relaxation!

(Remember, the boys are gone at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and DH is there, too. He left tonight to pick them up, and they will all head home tomorrow. So, not only did I get out of class early, but I came home to an EMPTY HOUSE!!!!)

Do you hear that????

Kid-free silence! We dropped the boys off at my in-laws, since I have to head back to work tomorrow. Yep, I am dusting off my teacher hat to see if it still fits. Since the boys don't start school for another week, DH's parents are watching them until Wednesday. So, I get a kid-free night!

A night I deserve, by the way. Yesterday's party was a great success. My boys have the nicest friends. There were three little ones, 1st-3rd grade. Then, there were five big ones, 4th-5th grade. The little guys had a ball with action figures and Pokemon cards, while the big ones played basketball, soccer and football. It was such fun watching my boys having so much fun. There aren't many things I enjoy more than seeing my boys truly happy.

Then, we headed to Josh's little league picnic. The boys had a good time. Jake spent much of his night riding a scooter around the park, baseball hat on backwards, no shirt on. Maybe doesn't sound that entertaining to you, but if you saw how skinny my kids are, you'd laugh out loud at how ridiculous they look with no shirt on.

I am signing off to clean up the kitchen and get ready for my 1st day of school. Wish me luck!!

What Have I Done?!?!?!

It started innocently enough....I forgot to RSVP for my son's friend's birthday party. DH thought it would be nice to have the friend over before going back to school, since son #1 (Josh) had to miss the party. OK, fine. Then came the idea...why don't we invite over a few more friends? A few friends turned into a few more, then all of a sudden, we are having seven boys over for lunch and play tomorrow. With our two, that makes 9. Nine boys, from 1st to 5th grade. I must be insane!

So, I am spending today cleaning the house and cracking the whip so the boys will clean the basement. That basement may be essential tomorrow, since there is rain forcasted for tomorrow.

If you have a good thought or prayer to send my way, I would appreciate it. I'm gonna need all the help I can get!

It's official...

I am officially a Graduate Student in the Special Education Department at Illinois State University. I received my acceptance letter today, and registered for my fall class. I really enjoyed my summer classes...I am such a nerd....I love learning! But, when I realize how much I will have to do...you know....all of those hats I will have to wear. I just hope I can balance them all without them all tumbling down.

If you give a mommy a utensil bar....

(in the style of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie )

If you give mommy a utensil bar,

she will hang utensils on it,

which will clean out the utensil crock,

which will need to be washed. Once that crock is washed, she will clean out a drawer to fill it up again,

which will empty out a drawer that will have to be wiped out. Once it is wiped out, it will have to be filled...

with spices from the cabinet. Since the cabinet is empty, she may as well wipe it out, too. That empty space in the cabinet will remind her that she wanted to get the canisters off of the counter.

So she will put the canisters in the empty cabinet, but they will have to be washed first.

Then, she will be interrupted to fix dinner, for which she needs a spoon to stir. She will reach for one from her new utensil bar,

And remember where all of this work began!


So, anyone want to guess how I spent my afternoon and evening???

Update on allowances

Well, we had our first shopping trip since the boys started getting an allowance. Naturally, I forgot to have them bring along their spending money. In fact, I had completely forgotten about the allowance thing (hey, give me a break...I've been sick, but that is a whole other post...)

We were at the mall. While we were eating, Jake announces that he wants to go on the carousel. First, I responded with my usual "No." Then, later in the meal, Josh said he wanted a quarter for a piece of gum. Before I could respond, he said, "I wish I had my allowance with me". Then, the lightbulb went off. I told both boys that I would loan them the money to do what they want, as long as they paid me back as soon as we got home. Josh accepted his borrowed quarter and headed to the gumball machine. I asked Jake if he wanted to borrow a dollar for the carousel. He thought for a moment, then decided against it. An AHA! moment.

After we had walked through the mall a little bit, Jake saw a vending machine with Pokemon figures in it. He decided to borrow a dollar for that. He was pleased with his purchase, and promptly paid me back when we got home. It will take some time, but I think they both will consider their purchases wisely.

So, the next day, as we headed out to run errands with DH, both boys grabbed their wallets on the way out the door. Amazing how fast they learn.

Allowances

Oh, all of the decisions that parents must make. DH and I have decided to start the boys on an allowance. There were several reasons behind this....1. To teach them fiscal responsibility. 2. To help them learn the value of money and saving. 3. To stop the constant "Can I have ______" when we go to the store. So, we sat them down after dinner and explained the concept. They will receive $2.00 each week, payable on Sundays. They are required to save 25% of their allowance and any birthday money they receive. The other 75% is theirs to spend as they see fit. So, how long till they are begging me to take them shopping?!?!?

As we were discussing this, I could see the light in Son #2's eyes widen and twinkle. You see, he's all about money. He's always wanting to know how he can get more. Much more materialistic than his brother. I'll bet he's the first to make a foolish purchanse. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Superman Returns....

WOW! Great movie! We were in Chicago with some friends, and took the boys to go see it. Normally, this is not the kind of movie I would go see, but since our little group was almost all male (7:2 ratio), my opinion was irrelevant. We saw the movie on an IMAX screen with 3-D glasses. Very cool! Plus, the hottie who played Superman was quite a piece of eye candy. Definately recommend this movie.

Hotter than......

Fill in the blank with whatever expletive suits you. The point is that it is HOT! We just arrived home from a trip to Chicago, then Iowa, to a house that was 91 degrees! Yuck! My poor AC will be working overtime tonight.

Remembering the hard times....

I am a frequent lurker on a message board called "Scrapbook Addict". I was just reading a post about how one member was getting ready to start scrapping about her father's death, and how difficult it has been for her. As I was responding to her post, this story popped into my head, and I just had to share....

Grandma T was my husband's paternal grandmother. She was awesome! She passed away a few years ago, when the boys were 3 and 4 years old. She had recently had part of her leg amputated due to circulatory problems, and never made it out of the hospital. She was 90. She spent several days in ICU, then was transferred to "Comfort Care", a hospice-like environment at the hospital where she was made comfortable till the end. DH (darling husband), the boys, and I did make it up to see her before she passed. When it was just the adults in the room, she would moan for the Lord to take her home. When my little boys entered the room, however, she was calm, quiet, and had little conversations with them. Son #1, who was 4, stood by her bedside and stroked her hand. He arranged a little beanie dog from her bedside table on her chest, to keep her company. Grandma told him he should take that dog home since she wouldn't be needing it much longer. He's nine years old now, and still has that dog.

When it came time for Grandma T's visitation and funeral, the whole family was there, except for DH's father, who was still in the hospital (another long story for another day). That made it harder on our end, just knowing he wasn't there for his own mother's funeral. No matter how sad these situations can be, you can always count on little kids to lighten the mood a little, and usually do or say something completely inappropriate. Many are the mothers who cringe at taking their little ones to the funeral home for fear of what they will do or say. My boys were in for a long night at the visitation, since we had to be there the entire time. We wre prepared with toys, juice, food, etc. We took each boy to the casket to see Grandma before the visitation began. Son #2, the three year old, was pretty unaffected. Son #1, however, was sobbing. Took him a long time to get ahold of himself. Since I had not dealt with kids this age and the topic of death before, I just hoped that the differences between my boys was age-appropriate and normal.

I was soon reassured that my 3 year old was pretty typical after watching DH's cousin's little girl. She is exactly one week older than son #2. She walked up and loudly announced, "Grandma is in a box!" She seemed very proud of her statement. Seems that her mother wanted to help her understand the things she would see at the funeral home. When she told her that Grandma would be in a casket, she naturally asked, "What's a casket?" Her mother responed, "Well, it's kind of like a box made out of wood." Thus, Grandma was in a box.

The kids managed to help lighten the mood a bit. As the night wore on, I don't know who was more exhausted, the kids or the grown-ups. Since no one had eaten dinner, we foolishly decided to head to a little restaurant in Grandma's small hometown. It was about 10:30 at night. DH's cousin had wisely decided to forgo the gathering and take their little one home to bed. We, however, were not so smart. The boys were almost slap-happy. They were wound-up, over tired, and up way past their bed time. Son #1 was seated at one end of the long, banquet style table, away from me. Son #2 was across from me. Son #1 happily scarfed down a huge order of pancakes....maple syrup and all. Son #2 was munching on crackers, not happy with his meal. I rested my head against the back of my chair and closed my eyes. It had been such a long, exhausting day, and I was dreading what would happen tomorrow at the funeral. My kids would be cranky, DH was a pall bearer, so he'd be no help. Just as I thought I might actually fall asleep right there in the restaurant, I heard a strange wheezing sound. I opened my eyes and tried to re-focus. When my vision cleared, all I saw was son #2 clawing at his mouth, face turning red. Everyone else at the table was deep in conversation, oblivious to the fact that my son was CHOKING! I flew from my chair, ran around the table and grabbed up my little one. I put one foot on the chair and dropped him across my knee, allowing my thigh to hit his tummy. The piece of cracker flew from his mouth, and he drew in a huge breath. I hugged him, kissed him, then pulled him back to I could see how he was handling the situation. Big smile, asking for more milk. No harm, no foul. And no one else even looked up from their conversation--they were completely unaware of what had just happened.

More on this story later....son #2 and the pancakes......

I hate caps!

OK, so I don't really hate caps. I just hate wearing caps. Actually, I hate wearing anything on my head...hats, caps, headbands, etc. They mess up my hair, and even have been known to lead to a migraine. So, I almost never wear caps. Only if it is freezing, or pouring down rain will I relent and pull up the hood on my coat. So, you may be wondering why my blog is called "Caps for Sale". Let me explain....I wear many caps, or hats. I have a mommy hat, a wife hat, a daughter hat, a teacher hat, a student hat, a friend hat, a daughter-in-law hat and an "auntie" hat. Somewhere, I have a me hat, but I can't seem to find it right now. Most of the time, I am wearing many hats at once. It reminds me of the children's book Caps for Sale. Do you know this book? On the front, there is a picture of a cap peddler with all of his caps stacked neatly on his head, one on top of another. Selling these caps must be exhausting, because he decides to take a rest under a tree, with all of his caps still on his head. While he naps, a bunch of obnoxious monkeys steal his caps. He wakes up and can't figure out where his caps went. Then, he looks up in the tree to see them on the monkeys' heads. More on those ornery monkeys later.In my next few entries, I would like to tell you a little more about each of my hats. For now, I'll just tell you about my mommy hat. Sometimes it is my favorite hat; other times it is the one that causes the biggest headaches. I am mommy to two of the smartest, cutest, most wonderful boys ever born. No, I am not even the slightest bit biased. Son #1 is 9 and a sports nut. He loves anything to do with a ball, and will even resort to watching golf on TV for lack of any other sport. Son #2 is 7 and a half, and is quite busy planning his upcoming birthday. He enjoys cartoons, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon trading cards, and several creative ventures. You'll get to know them more as time goes on.Well, I am going to try to take off all of these hats and get some rest. Thanks for reading!