Artificially Sweetened

Monday Minute

January 25, 2010 at 9:29 am | In I really couldn't come up with a category for this | 3 Comments

Best vanity plate I’ve seen in a while:

RNRACHIT

Really???

Adoption is NOT always the answer

January 23, 2010 at 11:36 am | In AdoptThis!, On the road again... | 7 Comments

I am getting really fed up with the media coverage of Haiti that implies that international adoption is the best thing for Haiti since, oh I don’t know, clean water.

A really good post that gets into why this is not so is here – and the author’s earlier post here. I am really pissed to hear that APs and PAPs are attacking her for what she has said.

My feelings about the whole wet hot mess are very nicely summarized by PEAR here. Yes – if you were already matched with a child pre-quake and the Haitian govt has already found that the child is clear for int’l adoption and all you are waiting on is USCIS paperwork, then USCIS should make that happen ASAP. If a child is not already cleared – then we all need to do everything we can to make sure that that child has a safe place to live, good food to eat, and help connecting with their family of origin FIRST before they get placed. Even kids who were already in an orphanage may have families looking for them. International adoption is NOT the best way to deal with kids and disaster relief.

Oh, and um – we just had our profile sent out to a possible expectant mom. Please keep her in your thoughts – that she is supported and given good resources as she makes her decision about what is best for her and her family - be that parenting or adoption.

/soapbox

ETA: Another excellent link -

The Dangerous Desire to Adopt Haitian Babies

We interrupt this unintentional blogging hiatus

January 19, 2010 at 9:05 pm | In On the road again... | 6 Comments

to say that we are OFFICIALLY HOMESTUDY READY for #2.

And now we wait.

p.s. And this is where I am supposed to “network” – the very word of which makes me a little queasy in the back of my mouth – and say that if you are an educator/social workie/medical/barista/works with people who might be pregnant and not interested in parenting type of person, and you would feel comfortable letting someone know that you know someone who wants to adopt… um, drop me an email or something and I will tell you more. Okay thxbai.

Be careful what you ask

November 12, 2009 at 10:02 am | In M'ijo | 5 Comments

Me, somewhat anxiously: What’s that in your mouth P’ito?

He, opening wide and displaying a lovely yellow thing on his tongue: It’s a booger, Mama!

Me: Well, I guess that’s not a choking hazard…

Apropos of absolutely nothing

November 6, 2009 at 1:32 pm | In I really couldn't come up with a category for this | 4 Comments

There seems to be something that draws unusual vanity plates to the block in front of my work. Seen in the past few months.

PLZVOTE

S1NG 1T

HDSHRNKR

SENILE1

And on a tow truck nearby: NEXT WEEK

Spotted closer to home: SIDE JOB2 – makes me wonder – what is side job 1? And did side job2 pay for the car? I assume that’s the story behind the car I see parked in our neighborhood with the vanity plate PKRMONEY.

What is the best vanity plate you’ve seen?

What would you put on a vanity plate if you had one? (Or, what is on your vanity plate, if you’ve got one?)

One very small example of why we need healthcare reform

November 3, 2009 at 4:30 pm | In AdoptThis!, The Sweet Life | 7 Comments

About a month ago, I checked online to see when my supplies were coming from Minimed.

Everything looked fine, except for the test strips, which said “cash pricing” $360

Every other time I’ve ordered them from MM, they have been covered by insurance.

I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with a representative from MM who finally assured me that yes, they were covered.

Guess what happened next?

Test strips arrive, I start using them and… then

Bill. For $360. I call Minimed back (another 30 minutes on hold) only to be told that at some point this year (in the middle of the year) my insurance coverage had changed and Minimed was no longer covered as a supplier of perscription supplies, only durable medical equipment. Ergo, use a different supplier for test strips.

I estimate that I’ve devoted about an hour and a half of time I should be working, not counting the time spent blogging about this (ahem), to fixing this problem, and it isn’t really fixed yet. I have to get a new script for strips (phone maze at the endos office, at least another hour), send it in to the appropriate mail order source, wait for the strips to come, and then*return* the strips I have not used from MM (paying out of pocket for the others).

The impact that dealing with this crap has on our national productivity cannot be underestimated.

Oh, and further aggravation: I just got a phone call from the adoption agency. The social worker who is going to do our homestudy is concerned that I have diabetes and wants a letter from my endo stating that I am healthy enough to parent, before she will do the homestudy visits. I am overdue for an appointment, and if we have to wait for that in order to get our homestudy done, I am going to scream. The reason she wants a letter from the endo is that we saw her to take about our options for this adoption, and I had a low – just your average run of the mill, stuff a glucose tab in my face low – while I was in her office. This translated to “and she said that you had an ‘attack’ in her office, so she was concerned about your health.”

ETA: 2 phone messages left, over 2 days, still no endo appt scheduled.

To daycare with love

October 14, 2009 at 9:11 pm | In M'ijo | 9 Comments

How do you thank someone…

who has taught your son to hold his p*nis and aim it successfully in the potty?

That’s a lot to learn

But what can I give you in return?

CSA FAIL or I may never eat lettuce again

October 7, 2009 at 10:47 pm | In I really couldn't come up with a category for this, Ya Gotta Eat | 8 Comments

I had a lovely salad earlier, composed of lettuce and peppers from our CSA. A few minutes ago I was taking the rest of the unused but washed lettuce out of the salad spinner to put in the fridge and I popped a little handful of lettuce into my mouth.

It had an unusually crunchy texture, followed by a nasty taste. I spat it out and this is what I saw (after the break, for the weak of stomach or heart)

Continue reading CSA FAIL or I may never eat lettuce again…

Memo to self

September 30, 2009 at 3:06 pm | In M'ijo, The Sweet Life | 2 Comments

When you are wondering why it feels like your blood sugar is sky high at 4pm, please ask yourself whether you actually bolused for lunch or whether you just thought about bolusing for lunch.

And just because