Today, I put up 5 quarts of blackberry jam. I've got a fridge full of blueberries, too, so I'm going to do some low-sugar jam with blueberries and blackberries for me and my diabetic pals. This afternoon, I had to go get the CPAP machine adjusted, so Sarah came along and watched the kids at McD's playland, whilest I got adjusted. Then, we took the kids swimming. Sarah, sweet bear that she is, watched the kids while I did 25 minutes of aquacizing. Afterwards, I felt pretty good.

I came and swam with the kids a little; Russell the sure sinker boy, usually, showed me a beautiful back float. You have to understand that I've spent years watching this skinny wisp of a kid sink like a stone, sob uncontrollably in frustration that he wasn't floating yet, and just doggedly trying over and over again. It's kind of like the Mt. Everest of swimming for Russell that he is able to float.

I reserved our last five minutes at the pool for me to be with Genny. Genny loves to try floating, but only in my arms. I can stick one hand between her shoulder blades and she'll let her legs dangle and contentedly lay out. The nanosecond that my hand moves, she's standing up in the pool (won't do it herself, but soooo close) begging me to do it again. Today, we were in the middle of doing this and this little girl I'd never seen before comes up to me and demands very loudly,"Who ARE you?!" I looked at her surprised and said,"Who are YOU?!" She says,"My name is Ariana BlahBlah and I'm her friend." (indicating Genny) I said,"Oh, I'm her Mommy and I'm playing with her right now."

A: "You can't do that! Mommies don't play." (What kind of mother do you have, kid?)
Genny excitedly: "I'm learning to float right now!"
Me:"Well, I'm helping her learn to float. Want to see?"
A: "No. I want to play with her. She needs to stop floating and come play with me."
Genny excitedly(floating):"Look, I'm floating!"
Me (shrugging): "Well, she's floating and playing with me, right now."
A: "Well, she should be playing with me."
Lifeguard:"Everyone out. It's 430."

Saved by the bell. Hey, Ariana, don't let that tidal wave splash your ass on the way out of the pool, okay? My last crummy five minutes and I've got to duke it out with Ariana to hang with my four year old social butterfly. Yesterday, she made friends with David in the checkout line in Walmart (Yes, I worship the dark lord of Cheap). They had invited each other to each other's houses. (Not on the first date, dammit.) I'm not sure if that says something about the gregarious nature of Genny or the length of the line, though.

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On health fronts...

So, the pulmonologist upped the pressure on my CPAP machine and with any luck at all, that'll do the trick. In a week, I do an overnight pulse oxygen test to see how it's working. The respiratory therapist and I went through the mask fitting and trying gamut. I think I've got a couple of new things to try when the insurance will let me. In the interim, I'm hoping to feel human tomorrow. The only thing I worry about is that rib stretching thing that happened before -- with the advent of the new machine, my ribs and back were KILLING me -- all that work and all in my sleep, dontcha know. And me, fresh out of vicodan.

On the new diabetic meds, my sugars just aren't as good and because they started to creep up, I had to increase the meds, and my GI tract isn't having a good time of it. The PA had warned me that this was a side effect. I may be adjourning to the porcelain goddess butt altar more frequently, but my ankles are not the least bit puffy. Hopefully, the GI unpleasantness will resolve quickly and I'll be my usual bouncy self and I'll get to keep my brand spanking new ankles. I may even be able to be seen in sandals again.

Either that or there may just be pigs flying out of my butt and I'll keep wearing socks.