We are right in the midst of celebration season here at the Boss’. Kicking things off on June 24 with our anniversary, we follow that up with Ben’s birthday on the 29th, Lindy on July 2nd, Grace on the 9th, and Emma on the 13th.

Ben is wrapping up his 16 game baseball season with his final game tomorrow night. Best I can tell, he likes it, though he knows less about the game than some of his teammates with access to ESPN.

Other news…

• Lindy and I are taking the Dave Ramsey course, Financial Peace University at our church….so far it’s been good.
• I bought a used go-cart for the kids, and presented it as a sort of group birthday present since so many of their birthdays are in the summer. They are loving it, but I’m not sure they respect it quite like they should. They need to learn that these things can do serious damage if misused…hopefully not learning the hard way.
• Ben had a birthday party with 4 of his buddies. Everyone seemed to get along well and they seemed to have a great time.
• We spent 4 days/3 nights camping in an 18 foot trailer. It was tight, but the kids had an absolute blast, so we’ll probably be doing that again.

Here’s a photo of Ben getting acquainted with the cart. It didn’t take him long before he was doing donuts complete with counter-steering action. Of course, it also wasn’t long before I was getting my hands dirty fixing the cart. I have a feeling this is going to be a learning experience.

Benny at bat…

Way back in May, Anna and Grace got a Barbie Jeep for their respective birthdays. Grace now considers herself an expert driver, and can’t understand why she is not being allowed to drive the go-cart.

Saturday I finally had a chance to install some wall shelves that I’ve been working on in my shop. They are pretty simple…just basic boxes that I tried to arrange in a unique configuration. The larger two horizontal boxes are MDF with poly on them, and the smaller boxes up high are birch veneer plywood, also sealed with poly. I’m pleased with how they turned out. I’d like to do something a little nicer than the cleat that is currently running along the bottom of the lowest box, but I haven’t decided exactly what. I’ve considered marker board, cork board, and steel…we’ll see what happens. I’m just happy to be able to start making use of the storage space.

A photo of Jack-Jack for good measure…

This is what we woke up to Sunday, June 8. Not a very nice surprise. I have no idea how old this white pine is, but most people seem to think somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 years. You have to feel kind of sad to see and old tree taken out like this. Just imagine all of the storms that this thing has weathered over the years. The main trunk is still standing, for now. We’ll see if it dies all together after this event, then decide how to remove the rest of it. Who knows…it could stand another 50 years the way it is right now.

A section of dead wood is visible when you peer all the way into the “hole” left from the fallen limb. It seems like the old tree was dying on the inside.

Dad is always eager to lend a hand when it comes to cutting things up. This picture was taken before he was drenched in sweat. It was a hot, sticky day to tackle such a big project.

A friendly neighbor came by with the perfect tool for the job. Thank goodness! The skid steer made the whole production much more manageable. We have one large piece left to move, but everyone ran for cover as more storms rolled in.

There are times when even a good idea goes bad. Such is the case with the "Relaxation Room" in my office building. The RR is a perk that was introduced at all Herman Miller locations over the last year or so. These rooms were originally small offices or conference rooms, but they’ve been made over into a relaxation room. What is a RR? Glad you asked. The RR in my building consists of a Eames Lounge chair, a small table with a CD player, and a locking door. The locking door is a big deal because every other conference room or community space in the building does not have a lockable door. A lockable door apparently represents a threat to the establishment and is to be avoided in modern office building design. Anyway, the one item conspicuously absent in the RR is a light switch. Yep. No light switch. I find it sad that my employer feels that we, the employees, can’t be trusted with a stinking light switch. We can be trusted with huge budgets and expense accounts up the ying yang, but not the ability to control our own lighting. (Don’t get me started on the time they took away the cans of bathroom disinfectant) Anyway, today I was feeling especially tired after fighting a cold for many days, and I dropped into the RR to grab a few winks. The lack of any lighting control, however, leaves one reclining in a fabulous Eames Lounge chair, under harsh fluorescent lights. I felt like I was trying to take a nap in a tanning bed, but without the cool goggle thingys. Of course, since a light switch is out of the question and would lead to company wide chaos, the room is equipped with a motion sensor to turn the lights on and off automatically. I was startled when, after lying there for about 20 minutes, the lights suddenly snapped off and the room went dark. Ah ha! I thought I had this thing all figured out…I just had to put up with bright lights initially, but now I can doze in peace in an appropriately dim room.

Then I had to scratch my nose.

This presented me with a choice…scratch my nose and and be forced to put up with the bright lights for another 20 motionless minutes, or lay there in agony trying to forget my itchy nose…in which case, I wouldn’t be able to nap anyway.

I decided that I had to itch my nose, or I’d be miserable regardless, so I very slowly moved my hand to my face and took care of the itch. Since the lights didn’t go on, I decided to push my luck and seek a slightly more comfortable position. Still no lights. Curiosity got the best of me and I started moving about in a "Mr. Roboto" fashion to determine just how far I could push the motion sensing envelope. I was astounded at how far I could move without the motion sensor shining a light on my activities. It got to the point that I was flapping my arms and legs about as if I were doing a Tae-Bo routine.

I surely wasn’t going to be able to sleep now! My nap time effectively ruined, I got up and walked out of the room, the light finally coming when I reached the doorway.

I hope that our Relaxation Rooms are not equipped with close circuit cameras. If so, look for me doing the robot on YouTube someday soon.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that I work for  a company that is looking for ways to take care of their people. Believe me, I know how lucky I am to be able to grab a nap at work. Lots of people can’t even imagine that sort of flexibility. I just think it would be nice to have a teeny bit of control over my environment every now and then.

I haven’t posted any updates on the diabetes front in quite a while, so that is the task that I’ve assigned myself for today.

Managing Ben’s diabetes continues to be tricky. Partly this is a function of him just being a kid. He’s growing, so his insulin/carbohydrate ratio is always going to be in flux. And occasionally he will misbehave and have a snack without telling us, and without covering the carbs himself. Still, we are stumped by what seem to be bizarre stretches of very high BG levels. At his last checkup, his A1C was running around 9.5…higher than what we want it, but lower that the previous appointment. Currently, his 14 day BG average is around 200 mg/dl. That would equate to a A1C of roughly 8.5. We’d be thrilled if he were below 9 at his July appointment.

On a related note, Grace’s favorite thing to do lately is to pretend to check her BG. She carries an empty container of Ben’s test strips around, and is popping the container open every few minutes and squeezing an imaginary drop of blood onto an invisible test strip, which has been carefully inserted into her invisible meter. She will then happily announce a result. For some reason, she usually picks a number in the 300’s. 369, 358, 338, etc. I’m not sure what her fascination is with these particular numbers, but that’s what she chooses. We’ll say to her, "Gracie, that’s pretty high honey, are you sure you aren’t in the 100’s?" "No, I’m 358." She will sometimes announce that she feels "shaky", and that she needs to check herself. She breaks open the empty tube of test strips and begins the process all over again. At first I would tell her that she shouldn’t pretend to have diabetes…that it’s no fun…that it’s not something to joke about. I’ve given up on that though. I figure it gives her a connection to her brother’s diabetes, and helps her relate to what he goes through on a daily basis. Better than having a kid who doesn’t care at all about what is going on around her.

Common Sense isn’t really all that common anymore, is it? Here’s a perfect example. I posted a link to this the other day in my ‘Shared Items’ panel on the right. It’s the story of a dad who took his son to a Detroit Tigers game and bought him a Mikes Hard Lemonade, by mistake. Dad had never heard of hard lemonade, and the sign simply said, "Mikes Lemonade - $7". Instead of this being a simple case of, "Oops, my bad. Didn’t know there was such a thing as hard lemonade", the boy is taken from his father and put in protective custody. The commentary in the video below is definitely worth watching.

Netawanda is the name of the place that I went last week. It’s a cabin, an island, and so much more. Check out the pics.

Even looking at the pictures, it’s hard to appreciate the remoteness of this location. Little Deer Lake, where the island is located, is about three miles long, and half a mile wide, at its widest point. There are no other inhabited structures on or around the lake. Once you’re on the island, you’re truly on your own. I’ll write more about this experience in the future, I’m sure, but for now, enjoy the pictures.