Liberace and the Mayor - the visual

From Thanksgiving. Photo credit to Caitlyn Greene. These are priceless as are the memories. You can see that Chance was really playing the piano. Tas was in it for the entertainment of it all. Each time they played a piece, they clapped for themselves. Too funny!

Go State!!!!

NC State finished off their season with a 28 to 27 victory over their longstanding rival Carolina - yippee! What is especially nice about this is that Heath and I were there on the 40 yard line with fantastic seats! We hosted the CIO of the Grove Park Inn and his son. Nice folks! We headed out to the game around 10:15 to tailgate. What we did not expect is for State to kick Carolina's butt! This made for a most enjoyable afternoon.

This weekend was a weekend of family and friends. We got to see Ladonna and Charles three days in a row including at the tailgate. Friday, we hosted all the O'Rourke boys plus families at our home for white bean chili and an outdoor fire. Today was a day to catch up and do lots of chores including planting irises that have been sitting in our yard for months waiting to be planted.

As for Chance's, he is doing just great. He had mostly numbers in range all weekend. I think we are all finally adjusting - especially me. I am reading a very interesting book called 'Sweet Kids'. The book is very interesting because it talks a lot about how diabetes used to be managed. I now understand why people are constantly asking me if I need to limit what Chance eats. This was the approach that docs used to take. Now, it is much more about letting diabetics eat healthy, eat the things they like, and then covering them with insulin. This way everyone is happy. Words of wisdom per the book:

"Parents' Job description: in feeding our children, we are responsible for just four things. Parents should:

1. Get the right foods on the table - put foods that are healthy and that we know our child will want to eat.

2. Make family meals frequent, peaceful and important - have regularly scheduled meals where everyone eats together and everyone can eat as much as they want. Children learn table manner by watching their parents. Mealtimes are not times to hash out harsh conflicts.

3. Eat what you want your children to eat - children learn eating habits by observation. If they see you eating broccoli, they're more likely to eat broccoli.

4. Set the rules, then stay in charge - mealtimes should be pleasant for everyone including the parent. Expectations should be set for how everyone behaves at the table. Kids will challenge the rules. Be firm and consistent."

As for Tas, he is a happy and chatty camper.

Liberace and the Mayor

If you take the time to think about all the good things in your life and the things you should be thankful for, you could probably come up with quite a long list. The issue is taking the time to think about it and then being thankful.

Thanksgiving is a mental health day among other things. I spent the day thinking about all the things I am thankful for. It was a nice list including our kids, Heath, our family, our friends, our home, our jobs, our healthcare providers, Gibson, love, peace, our health, our safety, to name a few. But I have to say the predominant thing I was most thankful for today was our kids. Children are little miracles. To watch them grow and develop their personalities is fascinating. Even with all the added complexity of Chance's diabetes, I am so thankful that Tas and Chance are our sons and that the universe has graced us with them.

We had a wonderful evening at Ladonna and Charles' house with all the family. The boys really brightened up the gathering with their laughter and playfulness. I am convinced that Chance is destined be an inventor or scientist. He loves to figure out how things work. Tas will do something where he can do the thing he loves most - interact with people. The boys played Charles' keyboard this evening and had a great time. Chance was meticulously pushing all the different buttons to make all these cool sounds. I think he could have muscial talent. Tas just laughed and pound on the keyboard. Liberace and the Mayor. Both were quite impressed with their newly found talent of making sounds with a large wooden box with keys.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and to all a good night!

Playdates Oh My!

What a terrific activity - playdates. We did 2 this weekend. Fun for the kids, great social interaction for the parents. The key is to do them with families that not only your kids like, but with who you like as well. We did a late afternoon Saturday playdate and then another on Sunday morning through lunch. Both were with families that we really enjoy spending time with. One of the perks of having kids is some of the nice parents we have met through SAS daycare. While the kids run around and play together, the parents can socialize. A win for everyone!

Chance is doing great. We spoke to his doctor this morning who thinks so. We are raising his lantus dose since his fasting numbers have gone up. That means his pancreas is not producing as much insulin. The doc said we just have to deal with this for another 6 months or so until Chance goes on a pump, which will make manging this much more precise. Our goal for now is to keep Chance from crashing. When he gets on the pump we'll focus more on the numbers.

The Palazzo!!!!!

For anyone heading to Vegas, I highly recommend staying at the Palazzo, the newest addition to the Las Vegas Sands (Venetian) property. WOW! I have marble stairs in my room leading to my living room and velvet L-shaped sofa. This would be considered an upscale apartment in NYC!

Having a productive and enjoyable business trip. I am attending and speaking at the G2E conference, which is the largest gaming conference with around 30,000 attendees from all over the globe. I met with lots of casino folks today even folks from Cape Town, South Africa - one of my favorite places. You have to see this conference to believe it. There is live music, show girls, the latest slots machines and table games, etc, etc. Also, did a press interview this morning and met with my co-panelists and moderator for my session tomorrow on tracking and rewarding non-gaming spend.

Although, I miss Heath and my punkins, this has been a nice break from all the activity at home. I will refer to a favorite quote and say that this trip has helped me reconnect with myself and two of the things I am passionate about - my work in the gaming industry and traveling.

"If moving through your life, you find yourself lost, go back to the last place where you knew who you were and what you were doing and start from there." Bernice Johnson Reagon

Sports and Vegas

I went to a parenting seminar this past week that talked about the importance of sports in our children's lives. How this teaches kids about consequences, failure, perseverance, and self worth at an early age. Not having played sports as a kid, I think I really missed something here. I will take this as a lesson for my own kids and encourage them at an early age to play sports. For me, I think I missed the opportunity to learn about being strong and not wanting to give up, even when the going gets tough. We had some ups and downs with Chance this weekend that have rattled me to the core including a 38 glucose reading yesterday afternoon.

I left for a business conference in Vegas today. Upon departure, Heath told me to focus on 4 things while away. 1 and 2: Get over worrying and feeling guilty about everything (in other words recover from being raised Catholic), 3. Be civil to him and the boys (like not swearing when the boys push my buttons), and 4. Toughen up about parenting and all the diabetes duties - this is closely related to 1 and 2.

I am taking this advice to heart and am thankful that I have a husband caring enough to give me this advice. I know it will be a progression, but if I am going to survive parenting and Chance's diabetes, then I do believe these are words to live by.

We took the boys to their first State game. Will post pics soon. They loved it! We tailgated with Aunt Lala and Uncle Cha! How fun!! After the game, my Dad and Rosemarie spent the night with us. What a treat!

Lastly, our close friends whom will remain nameless informed us that they are expecting. I do believe this is the best news I have heard all year. They are fantastic people and we are so excited to share the parenting experience with them as well as be a part of their child's life like they have been a part of our boys lives. We love them dearly and are so happy about this news!

The chatterbox and the honeymooner

Since Tas had his ear tube surgery, his vocabulary has really exploded. In the last day, he has said Heath, Cha (for Uncle Cha), Lala, book, Trader Joes and several other words. He is also linking multiple words together. He'll walk up to us and say Hi Mama or Hi Dada. Very cute! He also likes to stand on my chair behind me and play with my hair. Reminds me of when I used to do this to my parents and grandparents. He was also asking for Nana this morning, which is what they call my Mom.

Chance is in a "robust" honeymoon. The doc says this could last a month or up to two years. Either way, Chance won't go on a pump until the honeymoon is over. The honeymoon is the phase where the pancreas starts producing insulin again. His glucose numbers are lower but he is still requiring insulin especially to cover his carb intake. We'll have to take this one day at a time and really watch his glucose readings.

Tonight, had a girls night out while Heath a guys night at our place.