Wordless Wednesday - Whoa

Confirmed

On Sunday my daughter Gillian made her Confirmation at our church.

Her and 4 other girls have been going to classes for the past two years to learn more about Lutheran theology, grow closer to God, and closer together. 

On Sunday each one of them stood up in front of the church and made a public declaration of their faith to our congregation. I always love this stuff since kids never cease to amaze me. And this time was no different. 

Each of these 13 and 14 year olds spoke so eloquently and with such conviction it made me wonder if these kids were really as young and they say they were. 

As Gillian went up to the lectern to give her speech I was ready in the first pew to record it with my iPhone. I pressed record several times and for some reason it would not work. I figured there must be a reason I am not supposed to record this so I just set my phone down and listened. 

Proud is a word I find myself using often about my kids. Gillian's speech was honest, touching, and really funny. She did a great job and honestly all of them did. I am so proud of her.

I snapped a couple of pictures from church and lunch afterwards. These moments in life pass by so quickly and it's tough to stop and pay attention to it all. But we have to. We must. This is the stuff and the memories that matter. Not work. Not bills. 

Being there to support our kids and lift them up are the things that help shape people to want to go out into the world and support others. Lift others up and encourage.

I have always said that my job as a parent is to raise my kids to be functioning members of society. People who will be kind, compassionate, bright, selfless, and confident. So far, I think we have done a pretty good job.

Final Stretch

With only a few weeks left of my son's high school career a lot has been going on.

Last weekend before I left for Indianapolis (more on that soon) was his senior prom. He went with a group of friends and his date is also just a friend.

The prom was held in Hollywood at the Plaza Hotel and he said he had a great time. I took a boat load of pictures like dads do.

The crazy thing is he got the tux rental for free. Well, not entirely for free but the guys at the tux shop asked him if he would spend a couple of hours helping check in tuxedos on Sunday afternoon in exchange for any style of tux he wanted to rent. He did this last year and they remembered him being a good worker.

The manager asked him to turn in an application so George may have scored a job too. w00t!

George has been in band since 6th grade when he played his first solo ever. Check it out.

His last band concert was last week and this is a solo he played during his Jazz Band performance.

He has come a long way. Now he plays drums, ukulele, bass guitar, lead guitar, piano, and anything else he can get his hands on. He has served as Drum Major of the marching band for the last two years and has truly shown his ability to lead by being his band directors right hand man.

Well, last night was his very last band banquet. It was awesome to see so many kids I remember from back at that 6th grade concert still part of the music program. I know I would have never made it through high school or my diabetes diagnosis without my band family. They really were my first community.

At the very end of the banquet the band director gives out 3 very prestigious awards for music. The highest honor is the John Philip Sousa Award. 

The John Philip Sousa Band Award is the pinnacle of achievement for high school band students. Created in 1955, the award honors the top student in a high-school band and recognizes superior musicianship and outstanding dedication. It was developed with the cooperation of Helen Sousa Albert and Priscilla Sousa, daughters of the famous composer and bandmaster.

I have always been proud of my son. Who he is, how he treats others, his compassion, his heart, his mind, his respect for others, his self esteem, and his integrity. All of who he is makes me proud.

But the level of pride I had last night as his band director called his name as the winner of this award increased beyond anything I thought I would feel.

Looking back at his love of music and his dedication to it was all awarded in that plaque. The Organ, Djembe, Guitar, Bass, Record Player, CD's, Cassettes, LP's, Amplifiers, Saxophone, music stand, harmonica, ukulele, drum set, baritone, flute, clarinet, iTunes, musicals, keyboard, DJ equipment, and accordion all helped.

Music has shaped my life since I was a kid. I am so thankful that tradition of music will continue with my kids. 

This makes me want to sing!

Wordless Wednesday - Tired

D-Blog Week Day 5: What They Should Know

Today let’s borrow a topic from a #dsma chat held last September.  The tweet asked “What is one thing you would tell someone that doesn’t have diabetes about living with diabetes?”.  Let’s do a little advocating and post what we wish people knew about diabetes.  Have more than one thing you wish people knew?  Go ahead and tell us everything.

Diabetes is awesome! 

I mean think about it? You get to control what you body used to do AUTOMATICALLY?! I don't about you but the thought of letting my body do things on its own seems really scary and oh so lazy. If I could pump my own heart I totally would because I would be IN CONTROL and make SURE it was done right! So awesome.

Diabetes makes it easy to cook!

Since you have to stick an awesome needle in your finger every day, like SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, your fingers get so awesomely calloused to if you have to grab something out of a hot pan when you are cooking and maybe don't have tongs nearby, NO PROBLEM! You can just grab whatever you want because your calloused fingers don't feel the heat as much. AWESOME!

Diabetes makes you totally tech savvy!

You get to walk about with all these cool medical devices on you all the time! They read all the blood you get out of your fingers with one of these machines! Some people never get to see blood but you'll get to all the time! LUCKY RIGHT?! That's like being able to see the backstage at a concert. So cool.

If you have diabetes you get to meet lots of cool people!

You will so many new doctors and all the cool lab techs who will take your blood to test it for other stuff! Yeah, and you'll meet eye doctors, foot doctors, educators!!? I mean, you learn stuff. You can be smarter! Like a GENIUS!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!

Diabetes makes you feel rich!

When I am opening up my wallet all the time, paying for stuff, or using my credit card, it makes me feel so awesomely RICH! Like Beverly Hills rich! And when you have more bills you get more mail!! remember being a kid and being so excited to get mail? Well, diabetes helps you get even more! SO AWESOME!!

If could get diabetes again I totally would! DOUBLE DIABETES?!?! The thought makes me want to check my blood again. SO AWESOME!!!! 

So in closing you should know that diabetes is the best thing ever since Sea Monkeys and Nutella. Not together of course, but like separate. I mean, Nutella is good but if you threw a Sea Monkey in it I think I would gross out. Eww.