Marbles In My Mouth (or Speech Terror)

It's been a long week.

And a hot one to add to that.

I think it might even have reached 1,000,000 degrees.  Or at least in seemed that way as I ended up spending most of my week running between both of my daughters' schools.  One day, I think I drove back and forth 8 times.  That is CRAZY!

And most notably, both schools started to smell like puppies.   Which is random, I know, but it did.  Something about those younger school-aged children in the spring time.  They morph into an adorable puppy smell.

Which by week-end, was not so adorable.  It just added to the heat, lack of air-conditioning and overstimulated children ready to get out of school for summer.  To add a little bit more whine, I was also tired.  Yes, dog-tired.  Those puppies wear me out!

Together, as a mom chaperone and volunteer for the kids, we went on one walking field trip, attended one awards ceremony for student council leadership (proudly, my child fundraised for something besides t1d and did it superbly!), one after school party, one last book club, one last dance lesson, and drumroll......

Youngest daughter went on and completed 'her first non-chaperoned by mom' field trip to present a giant check to the recipient of the above said fundraiser for student council.  30ish text messages later and WE BOTH SURVIVED!

Do you know how big of smile we both had at the end of the day?!  Taking care of the diabetes monster is an AMAZING FEAT for a kid!

I still can't explain the overuse of text messages except for the fact that she might have been either a.) proudly showing off on her cell phone to classmates or b.) a little nervous to be on her own while at school and on a bus ride or c.) all of the above. 

In any case, she did it !  Now we both know that 5th grade middle school will not be the challenge that we both thought it would be at the beginning of the year.  She is maturing and ready for the next adventure of life without an aide at school.

And that oldest daughter of mine?  She had her end of year 6th grade party and sent me just two text messages.  The first gave me the details of her blood glucose, her food intake and her total carbs.  Because I know that she is growing up and craving more independence, I simply responded with a short text that read, "thank you and have a great time".  To my astonishment, I received a text back that said this, "Thanks for being a great mom and letting me go.  I love you sooooo much!" 

Maturity is a funny thing.  Just as we wonder if they ever will get there, we are then scared that they got there too fast.  It is nice to know that they are and always will be, our sweet girls.

I think I will always treasure both sets of text messages.  I can't be more proud of them both! 

Rounding out the week, was our 2013 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes Family Team Rally.  As you might remember, I agreed to co-chair the walk with my dear friend and fellow mom of two with T1d. 

So far, we have had lots of fun meeting our coaches and bonding with our mentors and leaders through JDRF.  I love my JDRF family and couldn't be luckier for having made deep friendships that will last beyond a cure.  They are wonderful.

One interesting part of being a Walk Co-Chair is that I am to present a written speech from time to time.  In my past life before type 1 diabetes, (I used to work in marketing and advertising) my job required me to speak in group settings often.  At the time, I was pretty good at it too.  I like talking and I like people, so the two naturally came together. 

Sadly, it has been years, people!  Seriously years! Can I admit that most mornings, I still can't function until I had at least one cup of coffee?  I need two if I am going to pull myself together enough to be dressed by the time the last kiddo heads off to school!  It's bad.  I blame it on the midnight and 3:00 a.m. blood sugar checks.

Since I am sleep-deprived which doesn't always bode well for speaking engagements, my brain is sometimes muddled more than I care to admit.  Ever have that feeling that you sound like you have a mouthful of marbles?

So what did I do?  I received my lovely speech from JDRF and then I thought about the reason that I was doing this... I want all of us moms and dads to get back to the way we once were before sleep suddenly disappeared!  Showered, awake, young and beautiful.  OK, so a girl can dream.  Showered and awake will suffice.

No, not really.  I actually want a CURE!  Well, and maybe a little make-over too.

At the JDRF Family Team Rally, I walked up to the podium and put my heart into saying all of the things that needed to be said about our walk efforts, encouraging more fundraising and stepping us closer to that CURE.

One day, we will get there.  We really will. 

As I talked, the nerves calmed, the marbles disappeared and I even made eye-contact with a few bright eyes in the audience. 

Youngest and oldest daughter. 

Sitting proudly, hanging on to every word and nodding their heads at their mama in encouragement.

For the puppies.  This is why we do what we do.