Putting myself out there

Today I took a huge step! I started a profile on "my diet" on facebook and I posted my stats to my facebook profile! Crazy? Maybe! Here is my figuring...I had to be held accountable. This was the best way to do it. Do I wish I could have not included my exact weight and only just the weight loss pounds, sure! But that wasn't an option and this is the best way to be honest with myself, being honest with everyone. So we will see what comes of it. I sure hope I only receive support and not snickers.

Things that make me cry

Today I got a message on Facebook from an old friend. We really haven't spoke in years, only because we just don't cross paths. But with Facebook being so popular, it is easy to cross cyber paths, which really makes happy. So I wanted to share her message. She will remain anonymous as I didn't tell her I was going to blog about her message.

Hi Michelle,

I just wanted you to know something...I read your messages that you post everyday about the daily struggles you have with Westin's health. I don't usually comment on them, but I read them ALL. For what it's worth, I just really wanted to tell you how amazing I think you are! You are a daily inspiration to me as a mother and a woman! I feel very thankful and lucky to have a healthy child, I won't even pretend to know what you go through. I just think that Westin couldn't have been more lucky than to have you for a mother. You are a warrior for your children and an inspiration to a newer mother like me! ...

Sorry for the randomness of this note, but I just had to let you know!

This made me cry. I wish I could send this to every mom I know. (That is why I am posting it here) As a mom, we don't get much credit, at least not so directly. I post my daily struggles with homeschooling, parenting, marriage, and especially diabetes and other random health issues, on facebook in hopes of educating those that don't choose to ignore my status updates. (I am sure there are some out there that just wish I would shut up already!) It is working. People are paying attention. I hope that will mean that one less child will die from a delayed diagnosis. I hope this means that a teacher in a school will show more compassion to the struggles of the student with diabetes. I hope that it will mean that my son's future employer (ok, I really hope that he follows in our footsteps and creates his own income) will see that he is perfectly capable of performing the desired tasks but will also allow for him to take care of his health. I hope it educates a police officer about diabetes so that he can help a struggling driver rather than assume he is drunk and disorderly. I think you can see where I am going with this.

I cried tears of gratitude for the very nice words. But I also cried tears of sadness, for the life that my son knows. He was diagnoses at 2 years old. He doesn't know life without diabetes. He doesn't know what it is like to just be care-free.

So thank you to the writer of this very thoughtful note. I REALLY appreciated it. It was the mother's day card I always hoped to get one day from my son when he is a parent and realizes all I have done for him. Thank you.

It's been a LONG time...oops!

I was reminded on facebook that I have a blog...oops! I think I kind of mini blog on facebook and forget about this one.

So we are finally feeling some heat here in Michigan. The first time since probably June. Mind you, today is great but I think it will get hotter this week. I could be wrong...it happens ;) I got in the pool today and gave it a little TLC in anticipation. We just have a little pool, about 30" deep, 10' round. It is the smallest they make with a pump. With a 3 year old, it is perfect. He is confident in it. It is easy to maintain. I can still float in my floaty and get my vitamin D. All is well.

So with summer usually comes with our best chance of making money for the year. I can say that it might be the case this year but only because the rest of the year has sucked too. So it isn't worth mentioning. We are here. We are fed. We are clothed. We might be becoming a bit delusional though. We actually considered trading our only vehicle for a big motor home that was in rough shape. Thank goodness we regained our bearings.

Yesterday we started back to dabbling in a little school work. Today we did nothing...great start! One thing I forgot about when I decided to start back yesterday is that we have a nephew in town for a while and he tends to be at our house...not too conducive to school. Ah, I am easy going so we will just delay. It was a nice thought though.

Speaking of homeschool, we have our theme for the year. We do good with a yearly theme. Last year we were doing ancient history. Not my cup of tea but we were trying to follow The Well Trained Mind. This year we are going back on our own, kind of. I love The Well Trained Mind, but I have to grab on to whatever Westin is interested if I have any chance of him really participating. So this year will be the second world war! I am kind of excited. Something I can actually get interested in. So I think my only real purchase will be our next level of Math U See. I will probably find some fun workbook for Wieland at Sam's and call it good. He turns 4 this month so I guess we will see if he has much interest yet. I really want to let him lead me. Very unconventional for most, I know. I am an unconventional girl.

I should probably elaborate on my laid back style. I always secretly wanted to be an unschooler. I just never thought Westin showed enough interest in anything. So I have kind of come up to meet him. He will be mildly structure. Close enough. I was recently searching for this great website I read a few years ago and I want to share it here, so I always know where to find it. This website changed my life. I never looked at homeschooling the same again!

I will try not to wait so long to post again.

Ning for Dummies by Manny Hernandez, a review by a current user and group owner

Recently I was privilege to receive a copy of Ning for Dummies to preview and review on my blog. I joined my first Ning group a few years ago. The group was Tudiabetes.com and it was created by Manny Hernandez, the author of Ning for Dummies. He had an amazing fire and was very successful in growing his Ning group to what is now 9,000 members! Manny has always been very helpful in answering questions I have had for other support groups I am involved with, later leading to the creation of my own Ning group. It was Manny himself that made Ning so appealing to me. He has always been so generous with his knowledge so I was obviously excited to see him author this book.

Ning provides users to create their own social networks like facebook and myspace. It is a great place to form a support group.


As a current user and Ning group owner, I immediately skipped right to page 209, Promoting Your Network, as that is where we (the other creators of http://www.homeschoolkalamazoo.ning.com/) are at in our Ning journey. Our small homeschool group as hit some lulls in the membership department. Even as an experienced Ning user and group creator I was able to pick up some great tips. Manny provides great ideas for customizing your group to fit your needs and great management tools. I think he has covered all the basis. Ning for Dummies makes a great book for those looking to start an online group and can even be useful for those who have already created a group.

My 13th Anniversary

Today marks 13 years! I almost can't believe that we made it this long. There were some very turbulent years. Years I didn't want to be in this marriage. Probably the first 7 or so ;) Seriously, I wasn't committed to my marriage in any shape or form. I had a bad attitude and that poisons everything. My husband, either crazy or really in love with me, stuck with me. I could probably thank diabetes for helping to keep us together. What other choice did we have? I always questioned whether I could do it alone. Homeschooling sealed the deal. I found something that I loved doing and felt like I was really doing what was right for my child, now children. It also kept me out of trouble. For once in my adult life I was content. I wasn't thinking about my future plans. I now live for today and am satisfied and happy. What a relief!

Here's to the rest of our slow paced life! Cheers! (The pic includes my grandparents, Otis and Mary Hermenitt.)

Good Friday Wrap-Up

Well, Westin's swallowing problems have held steady this week. When I ask how his swallowing is on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being perfect, he gives it an 8. That works for me. I imagine we will continue on the dairy free diet for another week and maybe stop the proventil to see if that changes. I will give the gastro a call on Tuesday.

The vacation is still in the works but Jason seems to think that my idea is a bit too much. He thinks we should get our feet wet a little closer to home. So if I had to pick a place a little closer to home than say Arizona, I think it would be South Dakota. I have so many fond memories of South Dakota from my trip as a kid. Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, etc. It is a great place. The only reason we wouldn't do that trip is if we are granted a scholarship to the childrenwithdiabetes.com Friends for Life Conference in Walt Disney World, Florida. That would be a dream come true and it would be "the vacation" this summer. It is in July and is a huge diabetes conference. I have always wanted to go but the timing has always been hard as it is a busy time of year for business.

Speaking of business, the shop is officially closed and cleaned out. We have a mess at home to sort out but I think it will free us up to do more of what we would like to do...live life! Jason will be returning to working out of a trailer and just part time. The goal is to make enough to live off of but to have time to explore other interest and eventually get out of the business all together or at least manage it from afar. We will see where it takes us. I guess I should start a master calendar with all of our dr appointments and such so we can plan ahead a little farther. Maybe we could squeeze in both the trip to South Dakota and FFL if we were chosen? I really just strive for great learning and teaching opportunities with my boys and myself. :)

Friday Wrap Up

This has been one hell of a week! Last Saturday at about 1pm Westin came out of his room thinking he was having a low blood sugar. He checked and he was 73. Not low per say but treatable. I was doing dishes so I gave him a juice box and went back to the sink. A few moments later he walked out to me, sat the juice box down on the counter and tapped me on the arm. I turned to look at him to find he was in the midst of a partial seizure affecting his left side of his face. I was amazed that he could walk out to me and stand there while he was having it. It makes sense though as it was just a part of his brain seizing.

So then on Sunday his difficulty swallowing returned in a big way. It had kind of started days earlier but Sunday it was bad enough that he was upset by it. I called the gastro on call and got a script for flovent called in. So my kid with asthma has to use another inhaler, but this time he has to swallow it.

After playing back the last few months, since we stopped the prevacid, trying to figure out what caused the change in swallowing, we have decided either allergies or milk. So we stopped all dairy. Well, Westin stopped all dairy. I have also added a antihistamine to help with the extra post nasal drip due to the time of the year. Believe me, he is on plenty of allergy meds already. But he did complain about thick mucus and drainage. I read somewhere online that the post nasal drip could contribute to increased stomach acid, which could be causing the esophilic esophagitis (sp?). So I am going after both options at once. If we see some relief we will stop the flovent and see if we continue to see relief. If we do then we will re-add dairy and see what happens. Ugh, playing guinea pig with your kid is not fun!

Then on top of all of this he has had this tremor in his lip when he eats. I have to wonder if it is a residual effect from the seizure? It seems to be slowly going away.

So, this week can be written off as for the dogs. We did ZERO school work as I couldn't concentrate and neither could Westin. I am so glad he isn't in school. That would be a nightmare.