State of life, the Amy, and everything...
Dec. 15th, 2008 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sublimatedangelLife is still generally good, but very very stressful.
The main thing I'm dealing with at the moment is whacked-out-on-hormones diabetes. I've hit the point in my pregnancy where blood sugar stops being predictable and well-behaved and instead dons a supervillain costume and cackles evilly at my vain attempts to thwart it. So, I'm up to doing the finger pricking blood tests six times a day again, with new, exciting urine testing added to my routine as well, and will likely be beginning my lovely insulin regime tomorrow. Really, the holidays were exciting enough - I didn't think I needed additional chaos in my life, but that will teach me. Still, I'm trying to blindly assure myself that the people know what they're doing and this is for the best.
December is always a little precarious anyhow; Nate and I are both prone to depression and moodiness due to bad memories and associations, and that means we have to be careful about how much we can lean on each other so that neither of us break. Add in the usual stresses for this time of year... yeah. It's a balancing act, and harder this year because of hormones and health stresses.
Life isn't all bad, though. In fact, there's been a lot of joy throughout the last month that I just haven't had a spare moment to jot down. The ornament exchange with my side of the family was just as wonderfully insane as always. My cousin Jinelle hosted and did tons of awesome extra stuff - will be interesting to see if it raises the bar for future hosts or not. There were a bazillion little ones running around, and just lots of love and laughter and time with people I don't get to see all that often.
Alex is old enough this year to join in on lots of the holiday merrymaking. He got to decorate his very own gingerbread house in preschool, and they're learning to sing Jingle Bells. Many cute crafty things coming home with him. He was able to help decorate our Christmas tree, and seemed to really enjoy it. He's having a hard time with the fact that every time he asks, it's still not time to open presents yet.... I may have to whisk them out of sight until Christmas or close to it. We went to see the lights at Crippsmas place; smaller display than I remember, which is a little sad, but I'm just happy to see that the community has come together (with the help of some local businesses) to keep it going. Alex isn't really old enough to understand charity, but he's been enjoying being the one to give money to people. Anyhow, he was able to identify a lot of the characters and had a lot of fun.
My mom is back from her scarily-on-her-own trip up to Oregon to see my uncle Bobby, so that's some worry eliminated. After nearly giving me a heart attack, it looks like her hip is, in fact, *not* broken, so that's awesome too. That's... about as good as it gets, I think. Her situation, as always, isn't straightforward and provides its own challenges, but I think we've all adjusted to the way things are now.
Nate's work is having a little get together holiday thing, which I am looking forward to. Nothing uber fancy, but still :) I like excuses to go out. I have been softening them up by sending him to work with assorted baked goods, so I think they like me! Yay for bribery, and for baking. Plus it's just down the street from Trudi, so she's going to watch the little one while we're out. Yay for free babysitting! We've honestly been pretty blessed in that respect. We gave Mike & Shannon a gift card to a restaurant they love and an offer to babysit; I was amazed to hear that they've only been out on two dates since Chloe was born. I'd have offered sooner if I'd known. Anyhow, just a reminder to us to be thankful for all the good we have in our lives.
More as I get the time, dear friends. Much love to all of you, even those to whom I'm not a good friend at the moment.
The main thing I'm dealing with at the moment is whacked-out-on-hormones diabetes. I've hit the point in my pregnancy where blood sugar stops being predictable and well-behaved and instead dons a supervillain costume and cackles evilly at my vain attempts to thwart it. So, I'm up to doing the finger pricking blood tests six times a day again, with new, exciting urine testing added to my routine as well, and will likely be beginning my lovely insulin regime tomorrow. Really, the holidays were exciting enough - I didn't think I needed additional chaos in my life, but that will teach me. Still, I'm trying to blindly assure myself that the people know what they're doing and this is for the best.
December is always a little precarious anyhow; Nate and I are both prone to depression and moodiness due to bad memories and associations, and that means we have to be careful about how much we can lean on each other so that neither of us break. Add in the usual stresses for this time of year... yeah. It's a balancing act, and harder this year because of hormones and health stresses.
Life isn't all bad, though. In fact, there's been a lot of joy throughout the last month that I just haven't had a spare moment to jot down. The ornament exchange with my side of the family was just as wonderfully insane as always. My cousin Jinelle hosted and did tons of awesome extra stuff - will be interesting to see if it raises the bar for future hosts or not. There were a bazillion little ones running around, and just lots of love and laughter and time with people I don't get to see all that often.
Alex is old enough this year to join in on lots of the holiday merrymaking. He got to decorate his very own gingerbread house in preschool, and they're learning to sing Jingle Bells. Many cute crafty things coming home with him. He was able to help decorate our Christmas tree, and seemed to really enjoy it. He's having a hard time with the fact that every time he asks, it's still not time to open presents yet.... I may have to whisk them out of sight until Christmas or close to it. We went to see the lights at Crippsmas place; smaller display than I remember, which is a little sad, but I'm just happy to see that the community has come together (with the help of some local businesses) to keep it going. Alex isn't really old enough to understand charity, but he's been enjoying being the one to give money to people. Anyhow, he was able to identify a lot of the characters and had a lot of fun.
My mom is back from her scarily-on-her-own trip up to Oregon to see my uncle Bobby, so that's some worry eliminated. After nearly giving me a heart attack, it looks like her hip is, in fact, *not* broken, so that's awesome too. That's... about as good as it gets, I think. Her situation, as always, isn't straightforward and provides its own challenges, but I think we've all adjusted to the way things are now.
Nate's work is having a little get together holiday thing, which I am looking forward to. Nothing uber fancy, but still :) I like excuses to go out. I have been softening them up by sending him to work with assorted baked goods, so I think they like me! Yay for bribery, and for baking. Plus it's just down the street from Trudi, so she's going to watch the little one while we're out. Yay for free babysitting! We've honestly been pretty blessed in that respect. We gave Mike & Shannon a gift card to a restaurant they love and an offer to babysit; I was amazed to hear that they've only been out on two dates since Chloe was born. I'd have offered sooner if I'd known. Anyhow, just a reminder to us to be thankful for all the good we have in our lives.
More as I get the time, dear friends. Much love to all of you, even those to whom I'm not a good friend at the moment.
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-16 04:00 am (UTC)I remember when my dad first got diabetes and he had to do the finger pricking numerous times during the day. It's such a hard thing to deal with and constantly watching the amount of sugar you consume, gah! I wish you luck with it, especially during the holiday season. I forget - is your diabetes just during gestation or did it turn permanent after Alex?
I'm sorry to hear that the holidays are hard for you and Nate :( I find it's either one extreme or the other for people this time of year - really happy or really stressed. I hope you guys can make it through ok. You've made it this far :) My thoughts are with you <3
Glad to hear about the fun festivities! Ornament exchange, huh? I've never heard of that, but it sounds like fun! Alex bringing home crafts from school... so cute!!
I'm glad you've been relieved of the stress of your mom's trip and her hip. As I always say in regards to your mom, I really hope she is doing well and my thoughts are with you and your family. I really admire how strong you are with everything going on. Really.
Much love to you as well, dear! You're always a good friend :)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-26 05:46 pm (UTC)My diabetes is permanent now :( Unfortunately, pregnancy hormones make it harder to control than normal - which I knew going into this, but it still kinda sucks, ya know? All worth it, of course. Yeah, holidays are a big mix of happy and sad for us... usually the happy outweighs the bad stuff, and this year hasn't been too bad.
*hugs you tight* Thanks so much for your kind words & thoughts! And again, hope you had a very merry Christmas.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-16 04:07 am (UTC)Very clever, bribing the hubby's co-workers. Food *always* works.
May you have lots of joy and little stress.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-16 06:53 am (UTC)Remember that, if you need some additional support, an ear to listen or a virtual shoulder to cry on, I am always here. I know that it may seem like I have too much of my own on my plate, but I ALWAYS am okay with listening and giving time to others when they need it.
You've always been there for me. I would be more than honored to return the love. I hope you know that.
I think I may plan a trip down sometime at the end of January. Nothing firm as of yet, but if I can get my truck (and computer) fixed first I will certainly try. A road trip may be good for me.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-16 03:13 pm (UTC)I hope you feel better soon hun. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 08:01 pm (UTC)