Isabel announced at breakfast time this morning that "...there's a Hallowe'en party at school today Mummy, and I am going as a fairy...."
Eeeek! Nobody told me that!
Okaaaayyyyy.....Thinks. Quick SMS to friends and teacher....confirmed.
So Mummy springs into action. Outfit - ballet tutu and white t-shirt. The t-shirt with sparkly ballet shoes on is covered in chocolate ice cream from yesterday's playdate, and the pink strappy top with sparkles has pasta sauce on from the day before, so it'll have to be the plain white one. She has a set of fairy wings that Mummy bought on impulse in the supermarket on Monday - no idea why at the time, but now I do :) I must be psychic. So the fairy wings completed the outfit - beautiful!
Time to think about the magic wand. "Mummy, it has to be pink, with a sparkly star". OK, a chopstick, a piece of pink drawing paper and a load of sticky tape.....that makes the wand bit. An almost-empty box of Ritz biscuits - throw the biscuits in a tupperware box, cut a star shape out of the cardboard, cover it with silver foil and there's the sparkly star. More sticky tape and....Hey presto!
The finishing touch - her new "Cure Diabetes" ribbon sent over by Regina, which arrived yesterday. Perfect!
One very happy little pink and white fairy duly deposited at school an hour after the surprise announcement :)
Time to take Bob into work. Traffic terrible! Don't think I'll fit in my swim this morning. We were chatting about the increasing volume of traffic here and he told me a great little story....apparently, in Jakarta, the government has made it illegal to be driving in the CBD (Central Business District) with only one person in the car. So, in true Asian entrepreneurial style, the local guys have set up a "Car Buddy" system for people dropping off husbands/wives at work. They queue up at drop-off points and hop in people's cars after they have dropped off their passengers. The driver drives out of the CBD, drops off the Car Buddy with a few rupiah to cover the cost of a rickshaw back to the Car Buddy queue, and everyone's a winner.....apart from the government, which loses out on the hefty fines imposed on solo drivers. Brilliant!
Back home along River Valley and Havelock Road instead of the AYE, which was jammed.... 20 minutes spare to check in on FB and start this piece of writing off before Pilates. Meanwhile, a call from school just as my trainer arrives - Isabel's BG is 15.1 at 10:10am and the party has started! Chocolate wafers, watermelon and raisin bread being served up, and of course she wants all of it. So Jenny hops on the bus to head up to school for an extra unscheduled snacktime bolus. Thank goodness for Jenny :) I don't know what we would do without her.
Pilates class over now - my abs are in pieces! I'll finish this off, hop in the shower, head up to school for the lunchtime insulin and then rush back to do my invoicing and get packed up for our mini-break to Malaysia. Bob is coming home early to help me pack....bringing sushi for lunch :) Yummy!
What a morning! Happy Friday everyone :) See you on Monday!
Kerry xxx
Friday, 29 October 2010
Thursday, 28 October 2010
For my D-Mum friends....The Naked Pancreas
Reyna over at BetaBuddies started this "naked meme". I don't know how to make those words into links I'm afraid but I'm sure most of my D-Mum friends will know who I'm talking about and how to find her post :)
Here goes!
00:00 = 1:27
06:00 = 1:15 (for breakfast)
08:30 = 1:27
16:30 = 1:20 (for dinner)
19:00 = 1:27
Again, I don't know about Bob's - I think he just has one, and it seems to work OK!
Bob disconnects for swimming but leaves the pump connected for his morning walks. He doesn't normally find that activity brings him down a lot - just a little bit, sometimes.
Here goes!
1. What kind on insulin management mode do you use?
Isabel and Bob both use the Medtronic Paradigm pump (Isabel's on the 522, Bob is on the 722), with NovoRapid. Bob uses the QuickSet sites and Isabel now uses Silhouettes, which are MUCH easier :)
2. How often do you inject/change pump sites?
We change sites every 3 days, or sooner if the site falls off or gets kinked. This rarely happens for Bob so he does his every 3 days. It used to happen a lot for Isabel when she was using the QuickSet sites but is less of a problem now with the Silhouettes. We don't refill at the same time as the site change unless the pump happens to have run out.
3. What type (s) of insulin do you use?
NovoRapid for both of them.
NovoRapid for both of them.
4. What are your basal settings ?
Isabel has lots!
00:00 = 0.2
06:00 = 0.3
08:00 = 0.1
12:00 = 0.2
14:00 = 0.3
16:00 = 0.2
19:00 = 0.35
Bob only has two - one for the day and one for the night....and I have no idea what they are (neither would he, I think, without looking at the pump!)
5. What are your correction factors ?
Bear in mind this is mmol/l (1.0 mmol/l = 18)
Isabel only has one - it's 1:10 but I think that is too high. According to the maths she should be on about 1:7 but that is far too high. I'm thinking of changing it to 1:12 or even 1:13 as I often give her less than what the pump says. Sometimes, though, it's spot on. Usually instinct kicks in and tells me when to reduce the correction dose. Amazing how we Mums just know, isn't it. I don't know what Bob's correction factor is!!!
6. What are your meal ratios ?
Again, in mmol/l.
Isabel has lots, again! Here are hers....
00:00 = 1:27
06:00 = 1:15 (for breakfast)
08:30 = 1:27
16:30 = 1:20 (for dinner)
19:00 = 1:27
Again, I don't know about Bob's - I think he just has one, and it seems to work OK!
7. What do you do for activity and/or PE?
Isabel doesn't really do PE at school - they have outdoor play from 10:30-11:00 after her snack, and this usually brings her down just a little bit. She leaves the pump connected for that, unless they are doing water play. Swimming always brings her down unless she is over 15 or so to begin with, in which case she needs a bolus. Today, for example, she started her swimming lesson at 10.5 and finished it at 7.0. We disconnect for swimming and ballet classes but not for ad hoc activity like walking, playground time, riding her bike, etc. But we do disconnect for playing on the beach - can't have the pump getting full of sand! And usually she is in and out of the sea, paddling, so it's safer to disconnect. Next year when she starts "big school" and does swimming lessons and PE there, we will have to work out how to manage it. Bob disconnects for swimming but leaves the pump connected for his morning walks. He doesn't normally find that activity brings him down a lot - just a little bit, sometimes.
8. How do you manage Pizza, Macaroni and Cheese, or any other "difficult to manage" foods?
For Isabel, we do a dual wave bolus for as long a period as possible. At dinnertime (5pm) the maximum I can give in terms of the time is over 1.5 hours - she needs to be in the bath at 6.30pm so I can get her in bed at 7pm. At lunchtime, we do it over two hours, perhaps. But a lot of the time it's guesswork. High-fat and high-protein foods don't always send her up if she has been very active. Pizza at lunchtime before an afternoon on the beach, for example, doesn't need a long dual wave as the activity keeps her down even if the pump is disconnected.
Bob does normal boluses for everything and never counts his carbs - he is too used to the old jab habit and guessing his insulin doses based on the size of the whole meal, so he sticks with that. It seems to work for him - his BG has been more stable since going on the pump, so he takes the approach "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"!
9. How do you prefer to manage your logs/data?
I keep a notebook, for Isabel. I write EVERYTHING down! We have the option to download the data from the meter and the pump into nice software packages but to be honest they are more hassle than they are worth. I have a small notebook and use a double page spread per day; on the left side I have 4 columns, for Time, BG, Carbs and Bolus; on the right side, reading across, are relevant comments for that particular measurement or the food that goes with the bolus, etc. Night time readings go on the bottom of the previous day; each day's page starts with her pre-breakfast reading.
Needless to say, Bob writes nothing down - you'll be getting the idea by now....diabetes management for him is a case of muddling along and forgetting about it, most of the time, but it seems to work for him so why not?! I hope one day we can get to that point with Isabel - it doesn't impinge on his life or our family life at all really, and I love that.
I am a bit anal about this for Isabel, I must say - but it works for me! It was the same when the kids were babies. For each of them I had a large notebook - left side was feeds (time, length of time, number of fl oz, right or left side for the 6wks I breastfed them, whether or not they fed well, etc.). Right side was naps (time, length of time, good sleep, whether they went down OK, etc.). I still have both notebooks....saving them for when we have baby no. 3 so I know what to do :)
Well, there it is - my contribution to Naked Pancreas blog day. Better get back to work now!
Kerry xxx
Just stuff.....
This isn't about anything in particular. I just thought that I haven't posted anything for several days (been snowed under with work) and we're going away tomorrow for the weekend, so I won't get a chance to post anything now until next week!
The last 10 days or so have been a mixed bag. The two main things that happened last week were Bob's trip to New York at the exact same time that the smog started drifting over from Indonesia. We were living under a blanket of disgusting, stinking, yellowish smoke for a week! For those who aren't familiar with this, what happens is that farmers in Indonesia (this time it was Sumatra and Borneo) light bush fires to clear the land for cultivation. This is illegal but they do it anyway - apparently they get away with it by bribing the authorities. As a result, Singapore and Malaysia are covered in the smoke from the fires - respiratory problems soar, kids and the elderly have to be kept inside, the sun disappears for as long as it lasts. Ugh - NOT nice at all.
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201010/3046764.htm?desktop
This year was particularly bad - I don't remember it being this bad since the year Isabel was born (2006). That year was one of the worst on record - I remember lying in bed, in the hospital, in the middle of labour, watching the local news - the PSI (pollution index) was creeping up...and up...and up.... I'm convinced this is why she has asthma. So last week, we were all wheezing away and by Thursday I was keeping the kids inside as much as possible. Not nice! Friday was terrible. It was better on Saturday - the day Bob got home - and by Sunday we'd had a couple of good storms and it had cleared again :) More good storms this week and we are back down to normal PSI levels. Thank goodness.
I love the weather here usually - yes, it's hot and humid, and yes, I miss the changing seasons, but I don't miss the cold and damp European (English!) weather in the slightest! I know there are beautiful days to be had - cold, crisp autumn and winter days when you can see your breath and the mist drifts gently over the fields in the early morning, and gorgeous sunny days in summer when the air is fresh and the birds are singing....but let's face it, those are fairly few and far between really! I am not one of those people that likes dressing up in warm clothes and boots and braving the cold winds and driving rain just to get the kids out. I'm happy to live in flip-flops and strappy tops and know that if we go out in the rain, we get wet but not cold! (Not until we come into an a/c building, anyway!) I love the epic tropical thunderstorms that we get here - so spectacular. I love being warm in bed at night without having to snuggle under a thick duvet. I love never having cold toes and getting chilblains! Bring it on! Last week was very tough and I think a lot of people here felt it emotionally as well as physically - the extreme heat, oppressive atmosphere and foul smell in the air were very difficult to deal with. But it's over now - these things never last long, and we have the doors open again and are breathing freely :)
I guess this is a good analogy for life - the smog lasted a week and we are now back to sunny weather. Life's rough patches last a while but things always improve. I must try and remember that. And despite the smog we had a good week - OK, Bob was away and we all missed him, but the kids and I did some fun things :)
So, what's happened this week? Well, it's been a good one in many ways - very productive (LOADS of work coming in for me, which is always good) and I've done three good runs - seeing some improvement in my fitness, FINALLY! Isabel's numbers have been awesome apart from when I underdosed her the other day for her lunchtime banana (why do I always, invariably, get bananas wrong?!) and Bob seems to be getting over his jetlag :) I was very frustrated yesterday evening when I somehow accidentally lost about $300-worth of TV programmes and movies that we'd downloaded over the last few days. ARGH! But I'm sure we'll get it sorted out :)
Tomorrow we are off to Malaysia for 3 days and 2 nights at Rider's Lodge - the kids are SOOOOO excited! It's a country house hotel where they specialise in riding lessons and rides in the jungle for kids. We have booked an hour-long lesson for the kids and a 30-minute ride out into the jungle. Who knows, I might even try it myself :) Bob isn't keen to have a go, but I'm thinking it might help to shift some of the lingering flab off my thighs and my bum....and it's great for the core muscles too. Could this be a new fitness addiction? But where will I find the time?!!!
There will be a Hallowe'en costume parade on Saturday night with trick-or-treating, so we have the kids' costumes all ready. Josh will be a wizard and Isabel wants to be a witch, with her face painted green like the Wicked Witch Of The West. She has just discovered the Wizard of Oz movie :)
Watch this space next week for a rundown of our weekend's fun and frolics!
Finally....a little quote from Isabel, who just got in from school, flung her arms around me and said "Mummy I love you SOOOOOOO much....I love you AAAAAAALL the way to America"! So sweet!
Kerry xxx
The last 10 days or so have been a mixed bag. The two main things that happened last week were Bob's trip to New York at the exact same time that the smog started drifting over from Indonesia. We were living under a blanket of disgusting, stinking, yellowish smoke for a week! For those who aren't familiar with this, what happens is that farmers in Indonesia (this time it was Sumatra and Borneo) light bush fires to clear the land for cultivation. This is illegal but they do it anyway - apparently they get away with it by bribing the authorities. As a result, Singapore and Malaysia are covered in the smoke from the fires - respiratory problems soar, kids and the elderly have to be kept inside, the sun disappears for as long as it lasts. Ugh - NOT nice at all.
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201010/3046764.htm?desktop
This year was particularly bad - I don't remember it being this bad since the year Isabel was born (2006). That year was one of the worst on record - I remember lying in bed, in the hospital, in the middle of labour, watching the local news - the PSI (pollution index) was creeping up...and up...and up.... I'm convinced this is why she has asthma. So last week, we were all wheezing away and by Thursday I was keeping the kids inside as much as possible. Not nice! Friday was terrible. It was better on Saturday - the day Bob got home - and by Sunday we'd had a couple of good storms and it had cleared again :) More good storms this week and we are back down to normal PSI levels. Thank goodness.
I love the weather here usually - yes, it's hot and humid, and yes, I miss the changing seasons, but I don't miss the cold and damp European (English!) weather in the slightest! I know there are beautiful days to be had - cold, crisp autumn and winter days when you can see your breath and the mist drifts gently over the fields in the early morning, and gorgeous sunny days in summer when the air is fresh and the birds are singing....but let's face it, those are fairly few and far between really! I am not one of those people that likes dressing up in warm clothes and boots and braving the cold winds and driving rain just to get the kids out. I'm happy to live in flip-flops and strappy tops and know that if we go out in the rain, we get wet but not cold! (Not until we come into an a/c building, anyway!) I love the epic tropical thunderstorms that we get here - so spectacular. I love being warm in bed at night without having to snuggle under a thick duvet. I love never having cold toes and getting chilblains! Bring it on! Last week was very tough and I think a lot of people here felt it emotionally as well as physically - the extreme heat, oppressive atmosphere and foul smell in the air were very difficult to deal with. But it's over now - these things never last long, and we have the doors open again and are breathing freely :)
I guess this is a good analogy for life - the smog lasted a week and we are now back to sunny weather. Life's rough patches last a while but things always improve. I must try and remember that. And despite the smog we had a good week - OK, Bob was away and we all missed him, but the kids and I did some fun things :)
So, what's happened this week? Well, it's been a good one in many ways - very productive (LOADS of work coming in for me, which is always good) and I've done three good runs - seeing some improvement in my fitness, FINALLY! Isabel's numbers have been awesome apart from when I underdosed her the other day for her lunchtime banana (why do I always, invariably, get bananas wrong?!) and Bob seems to be getting over his jetlag :) I was very frustrated yesterday evening when I somehow accidentally lost about $300-worth of TV programmes and movies that we'd downloaded over the last few days. ARGH! But I'm sure we'll get it sorted out :)
Tomorrow we are off to Malaysia for 3 days and 2 nights at Rider's Lodge - the kids are SOOOOO excited! It's a country house hotel where they specialise in riding lessons and rides in the jungle for kids. We have booked an hour-long lesson for the kids and a 30-minute ride out into the jungle. Who knows, I might even try it myself :) Bob isn't keen to have a go, but I'm thinking it might help to shift some of the lingering flab off my thighs and my bum....and it's great for the core muscles too. Could this be a new fitness addiction? But where will I find the time?!!!
There will be a Hallowe'en costume parade on Saturday night with trick-or-treating, so we have the kids' costumes all ready. Josh will be a wizard and Isabel wants to be a witch, with her face painted green like the Wicked Witch Of The West. She has just discovered the Wizard of Oz movie :)
Watch this space next week for a rundown of our weekend's fun and frolics!
Finally....a little quote from Isabel, who just got in from school, flung her arms around me and said "Mummy I love you SOOOOOOO much....I love you AAAAAAALL the way to America"! So sweet!
Kerry xxx
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
A subject that has been preying on my mind for some time now....
I was going to blog about something fun like music (I've downloaded a lot of new music recently and am loving it!) But this just got in the way...
Taxation. It's a fact of life and cannot be escaped. Lots of eminent people have said lots of very profound things about taxation. Have a look at www.quotegarden.com/taxes.html if you don't believe me.
Benjamin Franklin said "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes". We all know that one. Almost right, Mr Franklin - I could add a couple of other things (chocolate, for example, and the fact that men will always leave the toilet seat up) - but death and taxes are indeed 100% certain. No doubt about it. If you want to avoid death - you can't. If you want to avoid paying your taxes - well, I suppose you could go and camp out in the jungle somewhere in deepest, darkest Papua New Guinea or the Amazon rainforest, but the Revenue would catch up with you sooner or later. Or you'd succumb to a fatal tropical disease or insect bite, effectively proving Mr Franklin right.
Moving on....
Alfred E. Neumann said "Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the income tax form than it does to make the income." Now, this one I can identify with. This one strikes a chord with me at the moment. Hence my blog today. My tax situation has been worrying me for the last few weeks and it all came to a head last night, when I tried to fill in my forms. To cut a long story short, I thought I had been doing it right for the last 4 years but it turns out I have been getting it all wrong, very wrong. The good news is that I am likely to be due a big tax rebate from the UK. The bad news is that, to get it, I have to fill in the mother of all complicated forms about my residence status - twice - and submit said forms, plus my tax return for 2009-2010, by October 31. And the other big bit of bad news is too scary to post up on the public Internet (this is Singapore, you know).
ARGH!
The UK tax return itself isn't that complicated. Or at least, when I thought I was doing it right, it wasn't that complicated. Now, it has suddenly increased in complexity simply due to the fact that I am not resident in the UK. Or am I? What is the definition of resident? Or ordinarily resident? Or domiciled? There is a difference between all these three, apparently, and you can be one or more at the same time, or at different times, and status can change. There are Notes pages, of course, for all of these forms, which are supposed to explain each question and clarify each box to be ticked. But after reading through the Notes and various of the documents that they reference, I am more confused than ever.
The temptation to quietly lower my head and go back to what I was doing before is immense. But taxes, and the tax system, are a funny thing. I feel duty-bound to Get It Right. I know that many people do spend their lives trying to avoid paying their taxes, but most of us are law-abiding people and as much as we moan and whinge about taxation, we recognise that it is a necessity in today's world and we trust that it is fairly applied in the country where we are supposed to pay it (whether or not we can work out where that might be). And we pay up - if not enthusiastically, then at least willingly, or with a degree of resignation.
Well, I'll get it sorted out. A friend pointed out to me last night, when I was in tears over filling in these forms, that the morning would bring perspective. Yes, I needed to hear that - I needed to put it in perspective. There are worse things than getting your tax returns wrong. I think that, as long as I am honest about it, and demonstrate that I am doing my best to get it right and comply with whatever tax laws are in force, in both countries, and that I am willing to pay up as required, nobody is going to boot me out of the country, extradite me to the UK for tax evasion (hardly - I've overpaid over there!) or sling me into Changi (I hope not, anyway). In the meantime, I've got far more important things to occupy my mind.
I'll finish with another couple of quotes - a different outlook and perhaps a more positive one....
"A person doesn't know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on it." - Author unknown.
"I am thankful for the taxes I pay because it means I'm employed." - Nancie J Carmody.
I particularly like that last one. I love my job, I really do love it. We as a family need it, and I need it to keep me sane. I am so thankful that I have it and that I am good at it (even though I say so myself). I don't want to give it up. So I'll be thankful, and pay my taxes!
Taxation. It's a fact of life and cannot be escaped. Lots of eminent people have said lots of very profound things about taxation. Have a look at www.quotegarden.com/taxes.html if you don't believe me.
Benjamin Franklin said "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes". We all know that one. Almost right, Mr Franklin - I could add a couple of other things (chocolate, for example, and the fact that men will always leave the toilet seat up) - but death and taxes are indeed 100% certain. No doubt about it. If you want to avoid death - you can't. If you want to avoid paying your taxes - well, I suppose you could go and camp out in the jungle somewhere in deepest, darkest Papua New Guinea or the Amazon rainforest, but the Revenue would catch up with you sooner or later. Or you'd succumb to a fatal tropical disease or insect bite, effectively proving Mr Franklin right.
Moving on....
Alfred E. Neumann said "Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the income tax form than it does to make the income." Now, this one I can identify with. This one strikes a chord with me at the moment. Hence my blog today. My tax situation has been worrying me for the last few weeks and it all came to a head last night, when I tried to fill in my forms. To cut a long story short, I thought I had been doing it right for the last 4 years but it turns out I have been getting it all wrong, very wrong. The good news is that I am likely to be due a big tax rebate from the UK. The bad news is that, to get it, I have to fill in the mother of all complicated forms about my residence status - twice - and submit said forms, plus my tax return for 2009-2010, by October 31. And the other big bit of bad news is too scary to post up on the public Internet (this is Singapore, you know).
ARGH!
The UK tax return itself isn't that complicated. Or at least, when I thought I was doing it right, it wasn't that complicated. Now, it has suddenly increased in complexity simply due to the fact that I am not resident in the UK. Or am I? What is the definition of resident? Or ordinarily resident? Or domiciled? There is a difference between all these three, apparently, and you can be one or more at the same time, or at different times, and status can change. There are Notes pages, of course, for all of these forms, which are supposed to explain each question and clarify each box to be ticked. But after reading through the Notes and various of the documents that they reference, I am more confused than ever.
The temptation to quietly lower my head and go back to what I was doing before is immense. But taxes, and the tax system, are a funny thing. I feel duty-bound to Get It Right. I know that many people do spend their lives trying to avoid paying their taxes, but most of us are law-abiding people and as much as we moan and whinge about taxation, we recognise that it is a necessity in today's world and we trust that it is fairly applied in the country where we are supposed to pay it (whether or not we can work out where that might be). And we pay up - if not enthusiastically, then at least willingly, or with a degree of resignation.
Well, I'll get it sorted out. A friend pointed out to me last night, when I was in tears over filling in these forms, that the morning would bring perspective. Yes, I needed to hear that - I needed to put it in perspective. There are worse things than getting your tax returns wrong. I think that, as long as I am honest about it, and demonstrate that I am doing my best to get it right and comply with whatever tax laws are in force, in both countries, and that I am willing to pay up as required, nobody is going to boot me out of the country, extradite me to the UK for tax evasion (hardly - I've overpaid over there!) or sling me into Changi (I hope not, anyway). In the meantime, I've got far more important things to occupy my mind.
I'll finish with another couple of quotes - a different outlook and perhaps a more positive one....
"A person doesn't know how much he has to be thankful for until he has to pay taxes on it." - Author unknown.
"I am thankful for the taxes I pay because it means I'm employed." - Nancie J Carmody.
I particularly like that last one. I love my job, I really do love it. We as a family need it, and I need it to keep me sane. I am so thankful that I have it and that I am good at it (even though I say so myself). I don't want to give it up. So I'll be thankful, and pay my taxes!
Friday, 15 October 2010
UN Day
Today was the UN Day parade at Dover Court School - Joshua's school. Now, I don't mind admitting I'd been feeling ever so slightly negative about it until today - trying VERY hard not to (as I don't like feeling negative about anything) but it has been sort of getting in the way of things.
First of all, parents are requested to help out - you can do as much or as little as you like (and being English, with us being the biggest contingent, you can get away with doing very little) but I did feel guilty about doing practically nothing to help out with coming up with ideas, baking cupcakes and jam tarts, contributing boiled sweets, items for the display, etc. My excuses - I work full-time, pretty much; I train; I am sleep-deprived for various reasons and I just don't have the time. Sometimes I have to drop everything and head off to sort Isabel out, or cancel things because of work. I didn't want to commit to helping out and then have to let people down when I get a sudden piece of work in that I can't afford to turn down. So I didn't. But I felt pretty bad about it; every time a letter came home asking for help, I decided I should email the England coordinators and offer to help....but I never got around to it.
Then, there was the requirement to dress Joshua in red and white. I dug out his old rugby shirt from last year's UN Day parade, used a lot of stain remover on it (he's worn it a lot this year) and prayed it wasn't too small for him (he grew a lot over the summer!) It wasn't - JUST! But his white rugby shorts had disappeared (quite possibly in the bin - too small? Too dirty? Anyway, they were nowhere to be found....) and he didn't have a red and/or white hat. Of course, I didn't remember to do anything about said shorts and hat until yesterday....so off we went into town as soon as he got back from school, hunting for white shorts. Fortunately white shorts aren't as rare here as they might be in other, more temperate (and muddy) regions of the world, and Takashimaya had several choices, as well as a red and white Levi's baseball cap, with which Joshua immediately fell head over heels in love. (He wore it to bed last night....) Mission accomplished there!
But the slight negativity remained - the parade took up the whole morning so I couldn't go out on the bike to EC Park; I missed my Pilates class; Joshua finished school early after the parade as it is half-term next week so I had the prospect of him hanging around for the early afternoon period until Isabel finished school, and I had a 3pm deadline so I would have to work while he was hanging around - not a good thought.
Still, he was so excited this morning that I couldn't maintain my little peeves and off he went on the bus in his red and white, very much looking forward to the parade and the day in general. I started to feel better about it....fitted in a quick high-res workout on the cycletrainer (felt better still), dropped Bob at work and drove to school with Peter Cincotti playing loudly on the car stereo, feeling far more positive :)
Well, it was awesome. When I saw the effort that some families had gone to - particularly those nationalities with only one or two families in the school - I felt humbled and wished I'd done more to help the England contingent. (Although, realistically, I still don't think I would have wanted to commit and then possibly have to let people down - so perhaps I did the right thing.) It was amazing to see so many nationalities represented in the school and it was so great to see how everyone had worked together to make this an incredible and fun learning experience for the children. Joshua's face in the parade said it all. He was so happy, proud and excited - he had a great time! And he learned a lot, through the whole experience of preparation for today at school and then through the experience of the parade itself and the tour round the "countries" afterwards with his little "passport", getting "visa" stamps from each country, sampling the food, looking at the displays.... It was a resounding success and I felt very privileged to be able to send him (and Isabel, next year) to such a great school.
Then, in the car on the way to lunch afterwards, he gave me a 10-minute monologue on how much he loves school, how he thinks Dover Court is the best school in Singapore AND in the world, how he is proud to go there (yes, he actually said that!) and how he can't wait for Isabel to join him there. That made me VERY happy indeed, and I told him so :) He was delighted, of course.
Then we had a lovely lunch (well, he did - inhaled his $4 chicken rice....I didn't need lunch after sampling the food in all the Asian "countries") and when we got home, I found him something constructive, and related to today's theme (in a way) to do. He wrote his first letter to his penpal that he's been linked up with through the email exchange, packed up the gift, picked out some photos to print out and put in the package, and headed off into town with Jenny to post it "all the way to America, Mummy. Is that the same as the United States where we went today where they had the baseball and the popcorn machine?" Sweet!
And I met my deadline :)
So, all in all, a very positive experience all round. Lesson learned - there was no need for me to feel at all negative about it! I just wish that, in the "big world", all the countries represented (and others) could find a way to work together and achieve great things, like the countries at DC did this morning. But it's a start - if our kids can experience days like today, and remember them, and learn from them - then there's a chance they'll grow up and be willing and able to make changes for the better.
Another good day over - and now it's the weekend (well, nearly!) Time to turn this thing off, go and check Isabel, and head off to bed. I'm planning to join the ANZA beginners' ride tomorrow - not too early, out at 7.15, but I could do with a good night's sleep beforehand.
Goodnight, sweet dreams and good numbers to all my D-Mums and their D-kiddos!
First of all, parents are requested to help out - you can do as much or as little as you like (and being English, with us being the biggest contingent, you can get away with doing very little) but I did feel guilty about doing practically nothing to help out with coming up with ideas, baking cupcakes and jam tarts, contributing boiled sweets, items for the display, etc. My excuses - I work full-time, pretty much; I train; I am sleep-deprived for various reasons and I just don't have the time. Sometimes I have to drop everything and head off to sort Isabel out, or cancel things because of work. I didn't want to commit to helping out and then have to let people down when I get a sudden piece of work in that I can't afford to turn down. So I didn't. But I felt pretty bad about it; every time a letter came home asking for help, I decided I should email the England coordinators and offer to help....but I never got around to it.
Then, there was the requirement to dress Joshua in red and white. I dug out his old rugby shirt from last year's UN Day parade, used a lot of stain remover on it (he's worn it a lot this year) and prayed it wasn't too small for him (he grew a lot over the summer!) It wasn't - JUST! But his white rugby shorts had disappeared (quite possibly in the bin - too small? Too dirty? Anyway, they were nowhere to be found....) and he didn't have a red and/or white hat. Of course, I didn't remember to do anything about said shorts and hat until yesterday....so off we went into town as soon as he got back from school, hunting for white shorts. Fortunately white shorts aren't as rare here as they might be in other, more temperate (and muddy) regions of the world, and Takashimaya had several choices, as well as a red and white Levi's baseball cap, with which Joshua immediately fell head over heels in love. (He wore it to bed last night....) Mission accomplished there!
But the slight negativity remained - the parade took up the whole morning so I couldn't go out on the bike to EC Park; I missed my Pilates class; Joshua finished school early after the parade as it is half-term next week so I had the prospect of him hanging around for the early afternoon period until Isabel finished school, and I had a 3pm deadline so I would have to work while he was hanging around - not a good thought.
Still, he was so excited this morning that I couldn't maintain my little peeves and off he went on the bus in his red and white, very much looking forward to the parade and the day in general. I started to feel better about it....fitted in a quick high-res workout on the cycletrainer (felt better still), dropped Bob at work and drove to school with Peter Cincotti playing loudly on the car stereo, feeling far more positive :)
Well, it was awesome. When I saw the effort that some families had gone to - particularly those nationalities with only one or two families in the school - I felt humbled and wished I'd done more to help the England contingent. (Although, realistically, I still don't think I would have wanted to commit and then possibly have to let people down - so perhaps I did the right thing.) It was amazing to see so many nationalities represented in the school and it was so great to see how everyone had worked together to make this an incredible and fun learning experience for the children. Joshua's face in the parade said it all. He was so happy, proud and excited - he had a great time! And he learned a lot, through the whole experience of preparation for today at school and then through the experience of the parade itself and the tour round the "countries" afterwards with his little "passport", getting "visa" stamps from each country, sampling the food, looking at the displays.... It was a resounding success and I felt very privileged to be able to send him (and Isabel, next year) to such a great school.
Then, in the car on the way to lunch afterwards, he gave me a 10-minute monologue on how much he loves school, how he thinks Dover Court is the best school in Singapore AND in the world, how he is proud to go there (yes, he actually said that!) and how he can't wait for Isabel to join him there. That made me VERY happy indeed, and I told him so :) He was delighted, of course.
Then we had a lovely lunch (well, he did - inhaled his $4 chicken rice....I didn't need lunch after sampling the food in all the Asian "countries") and when we got home, I found him something constructive, and related to today's theme (in a way) to do. He wrote his first letter to his penpal that he's been linked up with through the email exchange, packed up the gift, picked out some photos to print out and put in the package, and headed off into town with Jenny to post it "all the way to America, Mummy. Is that the same as the United States where we went today where they had the baseball and the popcorn machine?" Sweet!
And I met my deadline :)
So, all in all, a very positive experience all round. Lesson learned - there was no need for me to feel at all negative about it! I just wish that, in the "big world", all the countries represented (and others) could find a way to work together and achieve great things, like the countries at DC did this morning. But it's a start - if our kids can experience days like today, and remember them, and learn from them - then there's a chance they'll grow up and be willing and able to make changes for the better.
Another good day over - and now it's the weekend (well, nearly!) Time to turn this thing off, go and check Isabel, and head off to bed. I'm planning to join the ANZA beginners' ride tomorrow - not too early, out at 7.15, but I could do with a good night's sleep beforehand.
Goodnight, sweet dreams and good numbers to all my D-Mums and their D-kiddos!
Thursday, 14 October 2010
My first time! How was it for you?
I asked the question on FB yesterday - shall I or shan't I? Start blogging, that is. Everyone is doing it (well, lots of people, anyway) but I wasn't sure if anyone would want to read my ramblings. And I don't use that word lightly! Well, the answer was a resounding YES :) So, here goes. It's my first time, so bear with me!
Before I go any further, I would like to stress that this is NOT going to be a blog about our life with diabetes. Diabetes will get a mention, of course - it's part of our life. But it's not the sum total of our life - or even a very big part of it. We respect it and control it, and sometimes it drives me nuts. But I don't hate it - it has brought us many blessings and made us stronger as a family. Our family life is about so much more than dealing with diabetes. In the words of Sir Steve Redgrave...."Diabetes has to live with me, not I with it". It tags along and we deal with it on our terms. End of.
Actually I meant to start yesterday - and that would have been a good day to start. (But the day ran away with me, and I didn't get time!) What a day, though. That mine rescue in Chile was amazing. I followed the news updates all morning while I was working, and got all teary. I can't imagine how those guys must have felt after 10 weeks stuck underground, wondering if they were going to die, how much longer they were going to be there.....to be brought up ALIVE and reunited with their families must have been incredible. I should think it was a life-changing experience for all of them. Some of them said they were blessed, lucky, etc. - I didn't hear any one of them say anything bitter, resentful or otherwise negative. What a lesson to learn. Their spirit, their courage and their bravery are inspirational. I'd like to remember 13 October 2010 as a special day - I hope the world does too. That rescue was a triumph.
Apart from that, yesterday was a good day for many reasons! I found much to laugh at yesterday :) The fact that the UK is the 4th most-admired country in the world, for one - coming in behind.....wait for it.....FRANCE! That made me chuckle. Apparently we are 13th at making people feel welcome. I'd like to know who was surveyed, to produce these results. Locals? Tourists? Immigrants? Residents of other countries who've never visited? Which countries - which continents? Note to self - must Google this survey and look into it further. Interesting!
Then, I listened to the Baseballs album that I'd downloaded on Tuesday....giggled at the fact that this is a GERMAN band that has done a rockabilly cover of "Three Lions", which was the England football song for the European Championships in 1996 and recalls England's World Cup win over GERMANY in 1966. Brilliant!
What else happened yesterday? Well, a good friend who's expecting triplets had her 20-week scan (at 23 weeks) and it was all good news :) SO happy for her! Also, after missing out on my morning workout for a number of reasons I managed to make it to the gym after the kids were in bed, instead of collapsing in a crumpled heap like I often do at the end of the day. Work went well - 2 pieces in before the deadline. Friends came round to play in the afternoon and the kids had a lot of fun :)
So, on to today. It is looking good so far. I ran 5.5km this morning - an improvement on the two 5km runs earlier this week and last week. My legs are improving, I think - although this morning's run was HARD! I was so tired - clock-watching all the way. But I did it :) The kids went off to school happy and Isabel's BG is stable - she's had a good few days, actually, since we did a big tweak last week after a long chat with Dr Lee, and the new Silhouette sites. I dropped Bob at work and we had a completely clear run both ways - I was home by 9am :) Lots to do today - got to go and get more insulin, white shorts for Joshua for his UN Day Parade tomorrow, and some other bits and pieces. Then it's back here for lunch, then Isabel's swimming lesson and an afternoon by the pool, then the dinner/bath/bed routine, then an evening of work. Should be a good day!
Listening to the new track by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow right now on the radio. Gotta love it - might have to pop into the iTunes store and download that one :)
So, how are my ramblings so far?
I will finish with a little 'vignette' of life in Singapore. I heard an interesting story this morning, about a major local bank and their move to one of the many new buildings currently under construction in the CBD. The bank has bought real estate on many floors, including the 5th floor, on which they planned to put one of the biggest departments (including a big server room, workstations, trading floor, etc.) The head of this major department has apparently put his foot down and refused to move to the 5th floor of this new building, which isn't even built yet (it's about 9 storeys high right now), because it's "bad feng shui". He has insisted on having the 38th floor - which isn't one of the floors that the bank has bought! He was told that the 38th floor wouldn't take the server room as the plans don't include reinforced flooring at that level. He said "that's not my problem: bad feng shui on the 5th floor, I want the 38th floor". The upshot is that the bank is in heated discussion with the construction firm and the developers and the real estate company to a) buy the 38th floor and b) get the plans changed so it will be built with reinforced flooring. Wow. This just shows you the influence that superstition and feng shui holds over people here in Asia. It's serious.
Bye for now - I have to go and run a bunch of errands!!!
Before I go any further, I would like to stress that this is NOT going to be a blog about our life with diabetes. Diabetes will get a mention, of course - it's part of our life. But it's not the sum total of our life - or even a very big part of it. We respect it and control it, and sometimes it drives me nuts. But I don't hate it - it has brought us many blessings and made us stronger as a family. Our family life is about so much more than dealing with diabetes. In the words of Sir Steve Redgrave...."Diabetes has to live with me, not I with it". It tags along and we deal with it on our terms. End of.
Actually I meant to start yesterday - and that would have been a good day to start. (But the day ran away with me, and I didn't get time!) What a day, though. That mine rescue in Chile was amazing. I followed the news updates all morning while I was working, and got all teary. I can't imagine how those guys must have felt after 10 weeks stuck underground, wondering if they were going to die, how much longer they were going to be there.....to be brought up ALIVE and reunited with their families must have been incredible. I should think it was a life-changing experience for all of them. Some of them said they were blessed, lucky, etc. - I didn't hear any one of them say anything bitter, resentful or otherwise negative. What a lesson to learn. Their spirit, their courage and their bravery are inspirational. I'd like to remember 13 October 2010 as a special day - I hope the world does too. That rescue was a triumph.
Apart from that, yesterday was a good day for many reasons! I found much to laugh at yesterday :) The fact that the UK is the 4th most-admired country in the world, for one - coming in behind.....wait for it.....FRANCE! That made me chuckle. Apparently we are 13th at making people feel welcome. I'd like to know who was surveyed, to produce these results. Locals? Tourists? Immigrants? Residents of other countries who've never visited? Which countries - which continents? Note to self - must Google this survey and look into it further. Interesting!
Then, I listened to the Baseballs album that I'd downloaded on Tuesday....giggled at the fact that this is a GERMAN band that has done a rockabilly cover of "Three Lions", which was the England football song for the European Championships in 1996 and recalls England's World Cup win over GERMANY in 1966. Brilliant!
What else happened yesterday? Well, a good friend who's expecting triplets had her 20-week scan (at 23 weeks) and it was all good news :) SO happy for her! Also, after missing out on my morning workout for a number of reasons I managed to make it to the gym after the kids were in bed, instead of collapsing in a crumpled heap like I often do at the end of the day. Work went well - 2 pieces in before the deadline. Friends came round to play in the afternoon and the kids had a lot of fun :)
So, on to today. It is looking good so far. I ran 5.5km this morning - an improvement on the two 5km runs earlier this week and last week. My legs are improving, I think - although this morning's run was HARD! I was so tired - clock-watching all the way. But I did it :) The kids went off to school happy and Isabel's BG is stable - she's had a good few days, actually, since we did a big tweak last week after a long chat with Dr Lee, and the new Silhouette sites. I dropped Bob at work and we had a completely clear run both ways - I was home by 9am :) Lots to do today - got to go and get more insulin, white shorts for Joshua for his UN Day Parade tomorrow, and some other bits and pieces. Then it's back here for lunch, then Isabel's swimming lesson and an afternoon by the pool, then the dinner/bath/bed routine, then an evening of work. Should be a good day!
Listening to the new track by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow right now on the radio. Gotta love it - might have to pop into the iTunes store and download that one :)
So, how are my ramblings so far?
I will finish with a little 'vignette' of life in Singapore. I heard an interesting story this morning, about a major local bank and their move to one of the many new buildings currently under construction in the CBD. The bank has bought real estate on many floors, including the 5th floor, on which they planned to put one of the biggest departments (including a big server room, workstations, trading floor, etc.) The head of this major department has apparently put his foot down and refused to move to the 5th floor of this new building, which isn't even built yet (it's about 9 storeys high right now), because it's "bad feng shui". He has insisted on having the 38th floor - which isn't one of the floors that the bank has bought! He was told that the 38th floor wouldn't take the server room as the plans don't include reinforced flooring at that level. He said "that's not my problem: bad feng shui on the 5th floor, I want the 38th floor". The upshot is that the bank is in heated discussion with the construction firm and the developers and the real estate company to a) buy the 38th floor and b) get the plans changed so it will be built with reinforced flooring. Wow. This just shows you the influence that superstition and feng shui holds over people here in Asia. It's serious.
Bye for now - I have to go and run a bunch of errands!!!
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