They like to sit together. Apparently they are buddies at school, and combatants at home.

The painting section of their classroom.

Crappy Cell Phone Pics of the Week

Trying to convince Carson to get out of the car with his balloon.

Same with Kate. They LOVE balloons but are nervous about losing them outside.

This is how they fell asleep on the couch Thursday night. Yes, that’s Kate half on and half off the couch.

Ready for Labor Day!

Seriously. Am I reading that correctly? Yuck!

1. Knowing that — even under the best management — it will shave 10-15 years off my life span.
2. Constantly monitoring how I am feeling — am I thirsty? are my feet feeling numb? is this really a headache or a sign that my blood sugar is low? etc.
3. Having to use my stomach as a pin cushion. I inject 3-4 shots into my stomach per day.
4. Even though the injections don’t hurt, every once in a while something goes wrong and I end up with huge black bruises on my stomach.
5. Along with the injections, I have to take two massive horse pills to help my body process the insulin I inject.
6. Having to always remember to bring my insulin and a needle every time I leave the house — even if I am just running up to the grocery store.
7. Being slightly paranoid and worried that the twins will break one of my viles of insulin or get into my needles.
8. It’s more difficult to lose weight when you are insulin.
9. Always thinking about the temperature of my insulin. If I go to the beach or on a long car trip (especially in summer), I have to make sure my insulin is in a bag of ice or cooler.
10. Dealing with freaked out Homeland Security folks at security checkpoints in the airports. They get weird when they see all of my needles and viles of a “clear liquid” when I fly.
11. Constantly worrying about my feet. Monitoring numbness and stiffness.
12. Praying that I don’t accidentally get cut when I get pedicures.
13. Always wearing shoes — even in the house — because I can’t risk stepping on something that could cut my feet.
14. Being terrified about losing my health insurance.
15. Not being able to drink a big, icy Coke every once in a while.
16. Fighting with my insurance company every month when I use more insulin than they think I should. I take what my doctor says I should take, which is not the same as the non-M.D.s at my insurance company.
17. Remembering what life was like only 4 years ago when I wasn’t a diabetic (gestational diabetes that stuck around).

What’s Good About Being a Diabetic…not much except…

1. The twins don’t freak out when they have to get shots because they see me giving myself shots all the time. They don’t see shots as a scary, painful thing.
2. I’ve developed a stronger sense of urgency about my life.

The reason for this post…I had to go to the Emergency Room at 3:30 AM Tuesday because I unexpectedly ran out of insulin and didn’t realize it until after the pharmacy was closed. I think it scared my mom more than it scared me. They gave me a shot of insulin to last me until 8 AM when the pharmacy opened. (And, no, I couldn’t go to a 24 hour pharmacy because I have a special relationship with my pharmacist. He hooks me up with insulin a few days before my insurance agrees to pay for it. This relationship saves me $400 per month.) Anyway, I missed two injections and my sugar readings were scary high. I’ve never had numbers that high before, and apparently I was acting and feeling drunk.

No crappy cell phone pics this week. I already posted my gross closet mold pics.

My mom is the Queen of Lotions and Potions…translation: she loves make-up and skin care stuff. It’s an addiction, really, and I’ve been teasing her for as long I can remember. She is constantly ordering new products and nagging me to try them. 9 out of 10 times I just roll my eyes, but occasionally she introduces something to me that I actually love.

That was the case with Laura Geller’s Eye Spackle. I LOVE this stuff. It’s called a “eyeshadow primer,” but basically it keeps your eye make-up on and perfect all day. Even in hot, humid, miserable Houston summers.

According to her site, it costs $24 for .08 ounces. My small .08 jar has lasted me months and months, and I am not even close to being out of it. A little goes a very long way. I take my middle finger and just dab the tiniest amount on my finger, and then I pat it on my eye lids. I do it from my lash line up to my just under my eye brows. Then you put on your eyeliner and shadow like you normally would. I’ve noticed that my make-up glides on much better when I’m wearing the spackle. Recently, I realized that I could also dab a small amount on my bottom lash line before putting on my bottom liner. It stays in place all day! No more liner drifting into those fine lines and making you look like either a raccoon or someone who had slept in her makeup after a rough night.

Anyway, I love it and put my stamp of approval on it…whatever that’s worth.

Has anyone else tried this stuff?

[This is not an ad and I am not paid for my endorsement -- though perhaps I should. Hint, Hint Ms. Geller!]  :)

Oh and last night I did some research on mold and it’s effects on humans. Turns out that the first sign of an infection from mold is extreme fatigue. Uh, hello?! I’ve been bitching for weeks about how tired I am. I’m not sure I can completely write off my fatigue as mold related. I guess I would rather blame it on mold instead of just simply getting older and more pathetic.

Demo starts tomorrow at 8 AM. It should make working from home on a big project super fun!

• This morning I had to see a podiatrist about the glass stuck in my left foot. I absolutely hate having my feet touched. So, this was like pure torture. Anyway, he said it looked like I had a very long sliver of glass…possibly up to an inch long. He got out his knife and took off the skin (no numbing shit!), poked, pressed, scraped, and was only able to get out about 20% of it. He wants me to soak my foot in epson salt at night and come back in a week. He said that since I am a severe diabetic, it’s best to see if we can draw it out naturally before he is forced to hack and cut on me. That being said, he went ahead and reserved a surgery room just in case. So, on September 1st I will be going to have that done. Lovely. Something to look forward to, eh? Right now I have my foot wrapped and I can barely walk.
• The repairmen finally showed up this morning — after they stood me up twice since Thursday. The major water issues in the house are from the new A/C unit that was put in back in mid-July. The morons forgot to hook up the drip pan. This means that for the past 5 weeks or so, I’ve had water dripping down the inside of the walls from the attic. Mold is everywhere. The wood floors are ruined and buckled. The master bedroom and closet are being gutted tomorrow. All of the floor will be pulled up and replaced. It’s a big huge mess. We’ve been busy packing up the bedroom and closet, and moving things out to the garage…and doing all of this on my gimpy, hurting-like-hell foot. We may end up staying at a hotel for a few days because I don’t want the twins around all of this stuff.
• Because of the above bullets, I am so behind at work. I think I am going to have to send the twins to visit their dad in Austin just so I can have some time to catch up.
• I still haven’t been grocery shopping because of all this stuff going on. Now I don’t think I am since we will likely be in a hotel for a bit.
• I took the twins up to T*rget to get them bean bags for their bedroom. I also had Kate’s new ballet clothes in the cart. Anyway, I get up to check out and they tell me my card was denied. Now I know that’s impossible. I know exactly what I have in that account. So I called my bank right then and there, and they tell me they froze my account because of questionable spending. Apparently, I was red-flagged because of the various spending I did all over Texas over the weekend (gas in San Antonio, food in Driftwood, shopping in Austin, dinner in Giddings, etc.). They felt that wasn’t my normal spending pattern. I never got a phone call from my bank on this matter, and they told me it would be up to 12 hours before I could have access to my own damn money. I was PISSED. I was also embarrassed. I ended up walking out of the store with nothing but two screaming kids. I’m not so sure I am in favor of Fraud Protection if that means I have to tell my freakin’ bank about every weekend getaway I take. I should at least get a phone call before they freeze my account. Something!

Anyway, here are some photos I took of the twins last week. They are now 3 1/2 years old.

 This is so super good. My mom and the twins also ate it up and wanted more.

1 (24 oz) pkg. frozen beef ravioli

2 T. butter

1 pkg. fresh sliced mushrooms

3 green onions, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 t. dried Italian seasoning

1 can mild Rotel, drained

2 T. fresh basil, chopped

1 c. whipping cream

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt & pepper, to taste

Prepare ravioli in Dutch oven according to package direction; drain and keep warm. Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, green onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning; saute for 6 minutes. Stir in Rotel basil and cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in salt, cheese, and ravioli; tossing to coat.

Serves 4