This year, Scott and I will be taking part in JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes, along with one-half million other walkers across the country, as we try to reach our goal of raising $105 million.
We have participated in the ADA's walk for many years, but this year decided to go with the JDRF walk because more of the money goes to actual research, and it is focused on Type 1 diabetes, which is what I have had for 22+ years.
Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes, is a devastating disease that affects millions of people - a large and growing percentage of them children. (I was diagnosed at age 6)
There is some good news, though. Scientists are predicting that we CAN expect to see a cure well within our lifetime! When I was diagnosed, I was told not to worry - there would be a cure by the time I reached my teenage years. Those have long since passed, and still we haven't found a cure. After quite a bit of reading, though, I'm more convinced than ever that the scientists are on to something - and with proper funding, I'm hopeful that a cure will be found, and hopefully soon!
Now, more than ever, you can make a crucial difference. Won't you please give to JDRF as generously as possible? Together, we can make the cure a reality! Donate to me here.
Or, donate to Scott here.
Thanks, and I look forward to sharing our fund raising accomplishments and hopefully pictures from the walk with you!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Belated Birthday Wishes
I've missed posting about THREE birthdays just in the past week! In chronological order, first, happy birthday to this blog! It started on Pi Day last year, and on Pi Day this year we had new flooring installed and went out to dinner - and had free Key Lime Pi(e) - Yum!
Next, happy birthday to our doggy, Corgan, who turned 3 on 3/15. On Saturday, he and his "brother", Cash and I went to Performance Dogs for some slightly soggy, but still fun lure chasing and off leash play. Corgan, as always, chased the lure until his muscles quivered. Cash preferred to chase other dogs. Both were exhausted at the end, and I think it was a good day overall. To celebrate his actual birthday, Corgan had a nasty upset stomach and required a trip to the vet that set us back a pretty penny. Poor guy. Luckily he's feeling better now.
Last but not least, Happy Birthday to Caitlin! What a year it's been since her last birthday - welcoming her not-so-little girl, Allison, into the world in July, and going from a part time working mom to a stay at home mom - fulfilling her deepest desire. Congrats to you, Cait, and I hope your birthday was fantastic (despite my belated post)!
And, just so I'm not late on this one, Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Next, happy birthday to our doggy, Corgan, who turned 3 on 3/15. On Saturday, he and his "brother", Cash and I went to Performance Dogs for some slightly soggy, but still fun lure chasing and off leash play. Corgan, as always, chased the lure until his muscles quivered. Cash preferred to chase other dogs. Both were exhausted at the end, and I think it was a good day overall. To celebrate his actual birthday, Corgan had a nasty upset stomach and required a trip to the vet that set us back a pretty penny. Poor guy. Luckily he's feeling better now.
Last but not least, Happy Birthday to Caitlin! What a year it's been since her last birthday - welcoming her not-so-little girl, Allison, into the world in July, and going from a part time working mom to a stay at home mom - fulfilling her deepest desire. Congrats to you, Cait, and I hope your birthday was fantastic (despite my belated post)!
And, just so I'm not late on this one, Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Monday, March 9, 2009
My First Post
My first foray into the blogging world was as a guest poster on Being A Dad Ain't Bad (language warning). They have an open forum blog for all dads or soon-to-be dads (as is my case), and I have the distinct honor of being their first guest blogger, which comes with a door prize of a gift basket from Hickory Farms that was on super clearance. Actually, it didn't come with any prizes. Maybe I'll log in to Blogger under a different name and suggest that they give door prizes to attract more guest articles.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
In other news...
The weather this weekend is GORGEOUS! Not to get all grandfathery on you to talk about the weather, but it's truly remarkable - 78*, just enough clouds to make it comfortable out, and not a rain drop in sight. It's perfect! And, by the way, there are still dirty piles of snow here and there, which is quite bizarre.
The crocus are up at church, and our daffodils and tulips are coming up in the front yard. Dare I say it...it's starting to feel a little teensy bit like spring! How exciting!
Also, we're having new flooring installed!! We've had disgusting carpet for the 3 1/2 years we've lived here, and now that the little one is coming (and my bonus check was deposited), we've decided now is the time. We're getting laminate in our main level that looks a lot like this and carpeting in the upstairs level (where the bedrooms are) that is a gray-based dark beige.
The carpet is being installed NEXT WEEKEND! Holy cow! And the laminate may very well be the weekend after that! I'm SO excited about this - it's something we've been wanting to do since we moved in, and we've finally got the resources to do it =D. We're also using a local flooring store and are happy to be supporting the local economy and a family-run business. It makes us feel good :).
The crocus are up at church, and our daffodils and tulips are coming up in the front yard. Dare I say it...it's starting to feel a little teensy bit like spring! How exciting!
Also, we're having new flooring installed!! We've had disgusting carpet for the 3 1/2 years we've lived here, and now that the little one is coming (and my bonus check was deposited), we've decided now is the time. We're getting laminate in our main level that looks a lot like this and carpeting in the upstairs level (where the bedrooms are) that is a gray-based dark beige.
The carpet is being installed NEXT WEEKEND! Holy cow! And the laminate may very well be the weekend after that! I'm SO excited about this - it's something we've been wanting to do since we moved in, and we've finally got the resources to do it =D. We're also using a local flooring store and are happy to be supporting the local economy and a family-run business. It makes us feel good :).
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Hallelujah! - wait, scratch that.
I was all geared up yesterday to write a "Hallelujah the headaches are gone!" post, but alas, they're back. The had stopped the day I wrote the last post, and showed up again last night. I came prepared to work today, bearing my Tylenol plus Codeine in the event that it worsens through the day.
I've noticed something here at work. Whenever I have a headache, someone inevitably burns toast in the toaster. Why is this interesting, you may ask? It's interesting because the smell of burnt toast makes my headaches worse (and if I didn't have one already, often GIVES me a headache). I wonder what I've done wrong that is making the universe want to punish me.
I've noticed something here at work. Whenever I have a headache, someone inevitably burns toast in the toaster. Why is this interesting, you may ask? It's interesting because the smell of burnt toast makes my headaches worse (and if I didn't have one already, often GIVES me a headache). I wonder what I've done wrong that is making the universe want to punish me.
Monday, February 23, 2009
What a pain
I told you a while back that I'd be sharing details about diabetes and pregnancy. So far, my conclusion is - it's not so bad. Lots of monitoring and doctors appointments, but really, not much different than what I was doing before.
What has changed, however, is that I've had headaches off and on (mostly on) since 2/8/09. At first, I assumed Tylenol was all I could take. Then I called my OB and the midwife there told me I could also take Excedrin Migraine, which usually kills a headache in about 20 minutes. Well, not this headache. After a 2-day migraine, I took the midwife's advice and went to my primary care doc. He says it's likely hormonal and could last a few weeks, or it could hang out til the baby comes, at which point, I'm guessing headaches will be caused by lack of sleep rather than hormones. He prescribed me some Class C drugs and sent me on my merry way. I'm trying to avoid taking the drugs, but have succumbed to the headache a few times and taken Tylenol with Codeine. Today, so far (KNOCK ON WOOD!!) no headache. Yesterday, it kicked in during church. Other days, I wake up with it and go to bed with it and wake up with it the next morning, too. Ah, the joys of pregnancy. :) I can't really complain too much, though, because I had almost no nausea in my first trimester and I'd say it's been an easy pregnancy so far. Thank God for that!
PS - check out Anthony's post over at Being a Dad Ain't Bad for the dad's side of the pregnancy headache coin.
PPS - speaking of the dad's side, Scott has decided to share this blog with me, so he will hopefully be posting here soon, too! :)
What has changed, however, is that I've had headaches off and on (mostly on) since 2/8/09. At first, I assumed Tylenol was all I could take. Then I called my OB and the midwife there told me I could also take Excedrin Migraine, which usually kills a headache in about 20 minutes. Well, not this headache. After a 2-day migraine, I took the midwife's advice and went to my primary care doc. He says it's likely hormonal and could last a few weeks, or it could hang out til the baby comes, at which point, I'm guessing headaches will be caused by lack of sleep rather than hormones. He prescribed me some Class C drugs and sent me on my merry way. I'm trying to avoid taking the drugs, but have succumbed to the headache a few times and taken Tylenol with Codeine. Today, so far (KNOCK ON WOOD!!) no headache. Yesterday, it kicked in during church. Other days, I wake up with it and go to bed with it and wake up with it the next morning, too. Ah, the joys of pregnancy. :) I can't really complain too much, though, because I had almost no nausea in my first trimester and I'd say it's been an easy pregnancy so far. Thank God for that!
PS - check out Anthony's post over at Being a Dad Ain't Bad for the dad's side of the pregnancy headache coin.
PPS - speaking of the dad's side, Scott has decided to share this blog with me, so he will hopefully be posting here soon, too! :)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The customer is always right?
Recently I've had 2 exceptional experiences with customer service. One good, one bad. The first was with Amazon.com. For Christmas, I ordered Scott a tripod for our digital SLR camera. He used the tripod a bit (maybe 3-6 times/month) and never did anything with it that would damage the integrity of the tripod. Then last week, one of the leg locks just broke. No real reason for it, it just malfunctioned and we couldn't get it to function again. So I emailed Amazon explaining the situation and how although it had been longer than their 30 day return policy, I didn't feel it was our "fault" and there was something wrong with the product. They agreed with me (!!) and sent me a label to mail back the broken tripod, and the next day we received a brand new replacement tripod. Easy peasy. I am a satisfied customer, happy with my experience, and with a working product. Great!
Then, today, we tried to return a baby heart listening device thing that we got from Burlington Coat Factory. We had the receipt with us, and had bought the thing with a credit card. Since the purchase, though, we've replaced the credit card with a new one because our old number had been on a list of numbers that were stolen. We didn't feel safe with that, so we replaced the card. Logical, right? Well, apparently Burlington doesn't think so. In order to return the item, you must have the exact card you used to purchase it. Nevermind that you're standing there with two other cards that go to the same account - that doesn't matter. What matters is that the numbers match (mind you, those numbers could have been fraudulently used, had we kept them, but who cares?). So, after explaining all of this to the customer service representative, she says her only option is to give us a Burlington gift card, which she says is "the same as cash". Sure, in Burlington it is, but if I want to use it at, say, Giant, I'm screwed. I say as much. She doesn't care - rules are rules. So I ask to speak to the manager. Who also doesn't care and agrees - who cares if the customer is satisfied or not? Rules are rules. If I want, I can come back Monday through Friday between 10 and 5 to have them call the corporate office. Which would be fine, except, you know, I have a job and so does Scott. So, we take the gift card, feel totally screwed and our requests ignored, and feel like "customer service" is a joke. It's really "corporate service" where they happen to have to interact with customers. I'm currently trying to sell the gift card and plan to never shop at Burlington again. Not that we ever really did - it was on a whim that that we went there in the first place. But still, I don't want to deal with a company who cares so little for their customers' needs. I'm ordering everything from Amazon from now on.
Then, today, we tried to return a baby heart listening device thing that we got from Burlington Coat Factory. We had the receipt with us, and had bought the thing with a credit card. Since the purchase, though, we've replaced the credit card with a new one because our old number had been on a list of numbers that were stolen. We didn't feel safe with that, so we replaced the card. Logical, right? Well, apparently Burlington doesn't think so. In order to return the item, you must have the exact card you used to purchase it. Nevermind that you're standing there with two other cards that go to the same account - that doesn't matter. What matters is that the numbers match (mind you, those numbers could have been fraudulently used, had we kept them, but who cares?). So, after explaining all of this to the customer service representative, she says her only option is to give us a Burlington gift card, which she says is "the same as cash". Sure, in Burlington it is, but if I want to use it at, say, Giant, I'm screwed. I say as much. She doesn't care - rules are rules. So I ask to speak to the manager. Who also doesn't care and agrees - who cares if the customer is satisfied or not? Rules are rules. If I want, I can come back Monday through Friday between 10 and 5 to have them call the corporate office. Which would be fine, except, you know, I have a job and so does Scott. So, we take the gift card, feel totally screwed and our requests ignored, and feel like "customer service" is a joke. It's really "corporate service" where they happen to have to interact with customers. I'm currently trying to sell the gift card and plan to never shop at Burlington again. Not that we ever really did - it was on a whim that that we went there in the first place. But still, I don't want to deal with a company who cares so little for their customers' needs. I'm ordering everything from Amazon from now on.
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