Spencer Walsh.

"Hey!  I just saw him!!!"


"Seriously.  It's him.  I know it."


"That's the kid.  The boyfriend.  I know it's him."


"I'm not kidding.  IT'S HIM!!!!"
_______________

At this point, I stopped and stared at Mr. Rose.

We were navigating the crowd, trying to secure a spot to watch the tree lighting ceremony at a local outlet mall.  He kept looking back over his shoulder and grabbing my elbow.

Let's face it.  Hot chocolate is popular at an event like this.  My mind was replaying the blood sugar mayhem we've been dealing with for the past week.  I was trying to decide how to manage Sugar's insulin while wearing a calm demeanor, and seriously had no idea what he was talking about.


"Who?  Where?  What are you talking about?"

"The boyfriend.  It's him."

Confession Time:  Mr. Rose LOVES the Disney show Good Luck Charlie.

There.

I said it.

He's strong, brave, and passionate about the Seattle Seahawks.  He can put a broken helicopter back together using a soda can and duct tape, plays a mean game of softball, and would lay down his life to protect his family.

He's honorable...and lovable.  He's my husband, and he totally enjoys watching Good Luck Charlie with his daughters.

Well, apPARently, he spied Shane Harper.  Shane plays Spencer Walsh, the high school crush of one of the leading actresses.

So, yeah.

Mr. Rose spotted Shane Harper...and I didn't believe him.

I glanced back to appease him, and then pressed onward.  The good spots were going fast, and we needed to settle in somewhere.

Meanwhile, you might imagine the squeals from our girls...

"YOU SAW HIM?"  "WHERE?"  "WHERE IS HE?"  "DADDY, WHERE IS SPENCER?"

We stopped to survey a spot...

And then the emcee announced that SHANE HARPER would be taking the stage to sing a few tunes.

Oh.  My.  Gosh.

My husband recognized Spencer.

Stinkin' blurry camera.  SANTA??  HELLO??????  Are you listening?

His sound was awesomesauce.  Sugar and Tiara were mesmerized and dancing around while Tink watched from her daddy's shoulders.  I was thinking that I could totally listen to his music during my shifts.

Of course, the night wouldn't be complete without a moment with the big man himself.  I'm pretty sure the girls were slightly more excited about meeting Shane, but please don't tell Santa I said that.

Oh, and for the record, blood sugars are completely WHACK over here.  In case you have this vision of a cutsie little family casually sipping hot chocolate in the glow of Christmas lights, allow me a moment to share the truth with you...

Okay.  Maybe the cutsie-fam-Christmas-lights image is accurate, but my point is this that we have days like this too.  Even days that should otherwise seem perfect look like this sometimes. If you're in a rut (like we are right now), please remind yourself that you aren't alone.

You aren't a failure.

Managing type 1 diabetes is a 24 hour/7 day a week job.

It never sleeps.

It never takes a break.

It's never predictable.

And it really doesn't care if Christmas lights are starting to glow or that hot chocolate is part of a winter evening tradition.

But try not to miss them...the moments you'll look back on as memories.  Sometimes there's nothing you can do, except everything you've already tried.

These ruts come, but they haven't stuck around forever yet.

We may have lost this weekend's (ehum, WEEK'S) battle for control, but ultimately, we'll win the war.

Ten years from now, Sugar will remember the time her silly daddy recognized Spencer Walsh in front of a Christmas tree.  She'll have no idea what her blood sugars were doing at the time.

And that's just the way it should be.