Family Vacation

The Emery family just returned from a fantastic vacation in the beautiful mountains of New Mexico.  Amelia's family has several cabins in Cloudcroft and we took a 1,350 mile round trip through the southeastern part of NM this week.  We left on Friday, July 6th, which also happened to be our 16th anniversary.  We drove to Carlsbad and made our way to Sitting Bull Falls in the  Lincoln National Forrest.

Then we made our way to the cabins in Cloudcroft, where we helped Nana and Papa clean them out and prepare them for our week's habitation.

 

We made our way out to White Sands National Monument, south of Alamogordo and played in the dunes for a while.  Ele was leaping joy!

 We took advantage of our proximity to several hiking trails, exploring our bit of the mountain with the California Cousins.  This trail was just around the corner in Cloudcroft and took us up to a scenic lookout where we saw the remains of the famous wooden "S Trestle".

 Back at the cabins, Papa put his engineering ingenuity toward repairing/rebuilding the deck on the front cabin.  Everyone pitched in and helped.  By the end of the week, it was 90% finished. :)

 We took a drive up the mountain to the Sunspot observatory.  It is a huge telescope devoted to measuring and observing cosmic events relating to our Sun.  It was way cool!

 On our way back down the mountain, we stopped at a scenic overlook and took in the beauty of the Tularosa Basin.  What a view!

 We enjoyed all sorts of rustic cooking and camping fare, but this treat was wonderful, if a bit sticky: S'mores!  Made with huge-mongous marshmallows.

 We actually got to take two trips out to White Sands, our second was after the California Cousins arrived.  On our second trip, in addition to playing in the dunes, sliding down and drawing in the sand, we also played with "light writing" with my camera.  Below, you can see a stormcloud I drew with a flashlight.

Nene and Nana put up a hummingbird feeder and we had quite a show with several of these marvelous birds fighting for dominance and feeding rights.

 On Thursday, Amelia and I decided to treat the kids and cousin Zach to a horseback trailride.  It was magnificent, fun, and helped us understand what 'saddle sore' means.  It was my first time to do any significant horseback riding and I loved it (maybe as much as Mary Hannah did!)

 We took a second nature hike out to Bridal Veil falls, but were unlucky because part of the trail was closed and we never actually got to see the purported 45 foot falls, although we enjoyed the hike.

 On the way home on Friday, we traveled north to the Three Rivers Petroglyph site and the kids tried to count the reported 21,000 individual glyphs.  I think they only got up to around 500, but it was a commendable effort.

 After that, we drove up to Carizozo and saw the Vally of Fire, where ancient lava vents spewed molten rock up into the basin and created a huge field of what is now cooled lava.  The lava is non-porous and helps sustain a variety of desert wildlife, but is hard on shoes and will shred your footwear if you try to walk on it for long.  Still, it was fun to visit.

 All in all, it was a fantastic vacation where we got to see fun things, have some great experiences and make memories with family.

But the wonderful people pictured above were not the only ones who came on our vacation.  We had an uninvited guest: Diabetes.  I know I have talked about living with Type 1 in our family before, but during our vacation, as much as we tried to just enjoy a normal time, we had to make accommodations for our implacable foe.  On Sunday, Ethan went low in the morning while we were at church in Cloudcroft.  Over the course of the day, he had to check his BG 20 times and was low 17 of them.  We were constantly trying to stuff sugars in him and it got so bad that we almost had to use his glucagon shot.  The nearest medical facility was down the mountain 16 miles away (the trip takes 30-40 minutes because of the steep grade to get down the mountain).  We had to call the emergency pager system from our Pediatric Endocrinology team at OU children's medical center.  They were a big help and at about 4 am on Monday morning, we finally were able to rest and get back to 'normal'.  I remember when we were packing for our trip, a friend who was visiting commented to Amelia when she was packing the first couple bags about getting everything packed up.  Amelia told her that the first few bags were just the medical supplies we have to take.  With two Type 1 Diabetics, we had to have supplies for the entire week, as well as backups for everything.  Extra insulin pods for their pumps, extra Novalog, extra Lantus, extra syringes, extra juice boxes, extra sugar treats, extra alcohol wipes, extra test strips, extra ketone sticks... extra everything.  Enough for two kids for one week.  We don't get a break, even on vacation.  Most of the week, the kids' BG were okay, but everything we did required extra vigilance on our part... hiking?  Check BG before we leave, restock juice and skittles in case we have a low due to more exertion.  White sands?  Great fun, but we have to interrupt every so often and check to make sure we're in range.  I don't know whether it was the extra exertion or the altitude or what factors contributed, but it seemed that the kids were either too high or going low whenever we checked them.  I'm not complaining so much as explaining.  As you can see from the pictures above, we don't let it stop us, but it sure does slow us down.  Cousin Zach was sleeping in our cabin, but on Sunday night, when Ethan was fighting his lows and feeling pretty emotional (due to his BG and the situation), Zach got so freaked out at the scene, he ended up sleeping in another cabin because it scared him to see his cousin Ethan screaming and crying about hating diabetes and not wanting to have to get a shot of glucagon or have to do injections because we took his pump off him while he was going low, to try and bring his BG back up.  I can't help thinking that if we had our D.A.D already, it would have tipped us off to the lows and helped us combat them before they got critical and sent us on a roller-coaster ride of BGs that lasted almost 20 hours.  We continue to hope and pray for a cure so that maybe someday, our family vacation will not include that dastardly diabetes.

-jeff

Need for Intuition

The Apple App Store has an offering called NFI (Need for Intuition).

The developers just revamped it an offered some new levels and I'm attempting to do a walkthrough of the ones I've figured out. Warning: there are spoilers for the levels.

First: I like this app because, without offering instructions, relies on one's intuition to figure out how to use Apple's innovative features of the iPhone to solve problems. So far, I've had to use touch, multi-touch, tapping, shaking, turning over, listening for sound and swiping in various combination to unlock the levels.

The game's latest version includes the ability to make more than one profile so that multiple users can play on the same device. It also added checkpoints so that you don't have to repeat each level in sequence to get to where you left off. Yay. That was getting annoying in the first version.

So... here are the solutions to the levels I've seen so far:

Level 1: Press the green button.
Solution: Duh. Press the green button.

Level 2: Press the green button redux
Solution: Press the green button while it is lit.

Level 3: Press the green button trifecta
Solution: Press the green button while it is lit, before it cycles.

Level 4: Foggy Mirror.
Solution: Use swipe motions to "wipe" the condensation off the mirror, revealing a Blue man next to the word: ElevatoR

Level 5: Matchbook
Solution: Use tap and hold to control the match and "strike" it on the rough element of the matchbook, causing it to ignite.

Level 6: Slingshot
Solution: Use tap and slide to "pull back" the slingshot and then release it to fire a bullet at the bird.

Level 7: Road Hazard
Solution: Tap the horn on the steering wheel repeatedly to cause the deer to move.

Level 8: Zippo
Solution: Use your finger to flick open the top of the zippo lighter. Then swipe your finger from left to right over the ignition wheel to light it.

Level 9: Toast
Solution: Use a swipe motion to move the glass on the left to the right and then use a swipe motion to move the glass on the right to the left, causing them to "clink" together.

Level 10: Champagne
Solution: Shake the iPhone until the bottle uncorks itself from the pressure buildup. Note: You may have to do this vigorously and it may take reorienting the device so that the cork is pointed up.

Level 11: Hourglass
Solution: Turn the device over so that the empty portion of the hourglass is on bottom and allow the sand to run into the empty portion.

Level 12: Fingerprint
Solution: Place your finger on the inkpad and leave it there for a few seconds. Then, pick up your finger and place it in the box on the paper to make your fingerprint.

Level 13: Combination
Solution: Note: Must have the sound on for this part. Carefully slide each part of the combination by using finger swipes until you hear a click. Once the number clicks, leave it alone and move on to the next one. When you have correctly identified the combination, the case will open. Note: The correct combination changes from game to game, so you'll have to use the technique to discover it each time.

Level 14: Snoring
Note: This amused me because you have to turn the volume up on level 13 in order to complete it, and then this level has a really annoying snoring sound the whole time, so it made me laugh, but my wife, who was trying to sleep when I got to this level threatened me if I didn't make it stop.
Solution: You must use multi-touch to cover both nostrils and the mouth for a few seconds to make him stop snoring.

Level 15: UFO
Solution: Use a swiping motion to move the targeting bracket over the UFO, then tap the camera icon in the bottom right to take a picture of it.

Level 16: Canoe race
Solution: Slide your finger along either side of the canoe to advance it along to the finish line. Alternate which side of the canoe you are swiping to avoid running into the bouys. This may take some practice to accomplish successfully.

Level 17: Tantrum
Solution: Shake your iPhone until the baby gets a tissue and stops crying. Otherwise, you'll get sneezed on! Ewww...

Level 18: Drowning.
Solution: Hold the iPhone upright and use a motion like you are casting a fishing rod to "throw" the life preserver to the drowning man. Careful, if you do it too lightly, you'll fall short and he'll drown. Do it too hard and you'll toss it past him. This level may take a few tries.

Level 19: Balloons
Solution: Not sure, my app keeps crashing every time I try this level.

Fun fun, I'll post more as I figure them out.


-jeff

Feeling like doing a survey....

It has been a while since I filled one of these out, so I thought I would just goof off a bit:

Welcome to the new 2010 edition of getting to know your family and friends. Here is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who sent it to you.

Some of you may get this several times; that means you have lots of friends. The easiest way to do it is to hit 'forward' so you can change the answers or copy and paste. Have fun and be truthful!

1. What is your occupation right now? Currently, I'm working as a Case Manager for a State Funded program called STAR (Services to At-Risk youth and families). It involves going into homes and schools to do Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with adolescents and their primary caregiver(s). I really like the job, but not so much the required paperwork. I am also seeing clients in private practice at Texas Family Institute. Again, I love being a therapist. And, I've got the photography sideline that keeps me from getting overwhelmed.

2. What color are your socks right now? Black. Boring, huh? I have some socks that are more entertaining, but not enough pairs of them to wear them in rotation. For instance, my friend Beja gave me some red dress socks with black toe and heel, with little white Jolly Rogers on them. Love them.

3. What are you listening to right now? Ugh... a mix of odd noises. Down the hall, the kids have a CD player with children's tunes that they like to listen to as they go to sleep. In the living room, Amelia is watching IQ, a movie that she knows by heart. Of course, there is the clickety-click of the keys as I type... Music wise? Well, I've been collecting albums of Reliant K.

4. What was the last thing you ate? We had dinner at a friend's house and they served Mesquite smoked chicken. It was Delish!

5. Can you drive a stick shift? My first car, Bob (1983 Honda Accord) had a manual transmission. Before I had Bob, I had to learn to drive my Dad's 1987 CJ-7 Jeep. I love shifting and miss our cars that had stick shifts. :(

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? I think I called Amelia to let her know that I needed to stay with Mary Hannah at a Girl Scout Cookie sales booth instead of just dropping her off. One of the other adults who was supervising had to run an errand so I stuck around and sold a truckload of cookies.

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I'm not going to mention whose note I copied this from, but suffice it to say that I haven't spoken to or interacted with this person in a while, it just happened to be in my "note feed" when I went looking for a survey to fill out.

8. How old are you today? I'm 33 as of today. Interestingly, we had Eleanor's (my youngest daughter) birthday party today. She turns 5 years old next week.

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Probably football. I'm not a big sports person, so I don't have any favorites (teams, sports). Football is the one that I watch most often when I watch something. I can't remember ever watching an complete event of another sport on TV, now that I think about it.

10. What is your favorite drink? I've gotten to know several drinks recently. A friend gave me a two-cup coffee maker for a graduation present and I've been using it to brew single cups of Tea, Chai Spice Tea. Then I put in some vanilla chai creamer for a double chai kick. It is great. My favorite juice is grape juice. Given a choice of soft drinks, I prefer Vanilla Coke. I'm not a big fan of much alcohol, but when I do imbibe, I like fruity drinks where you can't really taste the alcohol much.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Not permanently. I've done some youth events where we played around with spray in color, but it all washes out.

12. Favorite food? Potatoes. Bake 'em, Fry 'em, Put 'em in a stew. Seriously, I'm a big fan. My favorite is probably the way they prepare them in Europe, particularly in Belgium, where I used to live. Pommes Frites mit Curry Katsup. My absolute fave.

13. What is the last movie you watched? In the theater? Avatar in 3D, or, as Amelia and I jokingly dubbed it: Fern-hontas, by Gully (A mash up of Pocahontas and Fern Gully, two movies with almost identical plots)

14. Favorite day of the year? I don't know that I have a favorite day. I have favorite times: When I have time to relax and travel or be with friends and family. So holiday times are nice (except when they involve a lot of stress and planning)

15. How do you vent anger? I don't get very angry and when I do, I'm generally just grumpy at people for a while... Amelia says that I usually talk about it in a generally annoying therapeutic way.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? I remember that I had a lot of Star Wars toys for a while as a young child. Don't recall a particular favorite... perhaps I should ask Mom or Dad if they remember one specifically. For a while, I did carry around a stuffed Ewok doll.

17. What is your favorite season? I like colder weather, generally, but I also appreciate springtime.

18. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries, I think. For a while in Germany, we lived in a house that was adjacent to a cherry orchard.

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? If the email requires a response, sure. Most of the emails I send do get replied to. However, I'm a bigger fan of having people comment on my statuses and notes (hint, hint). :)

20. Who is the most likely to respond? No idea. In fact, I'm not a fan of this question in every survey. Fill the survey out for the survey's sake, people. Don't try to predict who will validate your efforts by returning the survey.

21. Who is least likely to respond? See answer above.

22. Living situation? Finally in a rental house with just the four others in my immediate family. We're loving it.

23. When was the last time you cried? I'm actually a sympathetic crier and find myself tearing up sometimes with my clients when they are processing something difficult. For my own emotional release, I think the last time I cried was thinking about my kiddos and diabetes and the unfairness of it all.

24. What is on the floor of your closet right now? Unopened boxes of organizational apparatus, a lock box with personal papers. It is probably the least cluttered room of my house.

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? I don't know that I'll tag anyone for this note when FB finally imports it from my blog.

26. What did you do last night? Hung out with the family. My last client was at 4pm and then I came home and had dinner and cleaned house a little and just hung out. Great friday night.

27. What are you most afraid of? People finding out how insecure I am. I sometimes feel like I'm just a breath away from people seeing me as a failure. Mostly, I know that this is not very true, but sometimes it sneaks up on me and tries to get me to buy into the lie.

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? I heart hamburgers... all varieties.

29. Favorite dog breed? Mid-sized ones that are friendly without being threatening.

30. Favorite day of the week? Thursday

31. How many states have you lived in? I've resided in more than a few, but the ones I have memories of living in: Texas, Oklahoma, Florida. When I was very young, my parents lived in several others with us kids, but I don't have many memories of those stays. However, I have lived in several countries as well, with my father being in the USAF. Athens, Greece; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Klein Brogel, Belgium have all been places that I've called home.

32. Diamonds or pearls? I like all the Pokemon sets :) (You have Ethan to thank for this silly response)

33. What is your favorite flower? Don't really have a favorite to look or smell, but my favorite to say is "Chrysanthemum"

34. Favorite place traveled? Germany. I would love to go back to central Europe and travel more.

35. What do you do for fun? I like to play with photographs, play board and role playing games, spend time with friends and family, cook, read, goof off on the internet, watch movies...

36. Dream job? Playtester for a game company

37. if you could travel in time what would you do? Visit different time periods, strictly to observe.

38. Have you met your “soul mate”? Jesus! :)

39. Most bizarre thing you’ve done? I decided to be the person that God created me to be. This is bizarre mainly because I think that many people never do it, so it makes me special.

40. Favorite thing about yourself? I like to think that I try to see the best and believe the best about a person, even if I don't particularly like them or enjoy their company.

End of survey. -jeff

Guy's weekend update

Hello, dear readers. This weekend I'm visiting with several of my good friends. We're eating unhealthy foods, staying up way too late and engaging in one of the geeky-est things we do: role-playing games.

By the numbers:

Miles driven: 182
Ounces of liquids consumed: 66
Oreos eaten: 1 package (not sure how many in there) The others may have a had a few.
Hours slept: 5
Dark Side Force Hssiss (lizard like thing) slain: 5
Times a "natural 20" was rolled: 2
Odd and disturbing children's books read: 1 (see below)

Jay came across a book that he checked out from the post library and he saved it just for me. Enjoy the story time! More later.

4 year old soccer

Where else can you hear phrases such as, "Stewart! Get your head out of the net!" and "It is not time to sit down and pick yellow flowers! Get up and go kick the soccer ball!" ? That's right, it is time for 4 year old soccer!

It is important to stay hydrated. In fact, it is possible to consume your body weight in water and still be thirsty. Soccer is thirsty business. Oh, word to the wise... bring a cooler.

In practice, you get to kick the ball toward the goal without a crowd of other 4 year olds running along side. During the actual game, it is much the same, except you also have 20 sets of parents yelling at you while you do it.

The rules of the game are simple, kick the ball down the field and try to kick it into the net. The actual mechanics are somewhat more difficult to master when your shin guards are 5 sizes bigger than your shins. Another complicating factor that Ethan discovered: when you aren't in practice, if you kick the ball to someone else, they don't kick it back, they go off down the field to score a goal. Live and learn.
Team Name: Cobras
Team Spirit: Monkeys
The photographer actually managed to get them all looking the same direction and smiling. I was impressed.


Lining them up to shoot them


Haley only had a handful of smiles to hand out.


I took a few pics of Ethan at home before the game. This is a little game called: Why are we paying $20 bucks for a picture of our 4 year old in his soccer uniform when Daddy can take professional quality photos in the front yard for $0.12?

I call this one... "The look"

And we're all having a great time. At least those who know what to do.. namely dribble the ball down the field and score.

In Soccer, pile ups like this rarely happen, so I'm told. On the other hand, they've got a pretty good start of a rugby game. In Australia, in the middle of barfights, rugby games break out.



Um, this is to prove that I did operate with dual media that day, I just haven't gotten around to posting the 10 useable minutes of video footage. One of these days, I'll figure out iMovie. I miss Premiere Pro.


GOAL! (Did anyone keep track of the score?)
Good game, good game, good game... Now lets have snacks!