18 August 2011

     Happy 16th Anniversary to my husband & me!  I found my prince/knight in shining armor, in the here and now.  I am so blessed.
     I have made a decision - one I should have thought about and done ages ago.  I am putting a reminder on my outlook calendar, to update this blog once a month!  I am fortunate to have an iPhone that allows me to check my emails without getting on my computer.  About a month ago I also got an iPad that allows me to read my eBooks and play my games without getting on the computer.  I am getting on my computer less and less. 
     Spending more time doing bead work and also trying to make cards and calendars.  So much better than wasting time on the computer.  Hopefully good for maintaining my fine finger motion and helping cognitive issues.
     Earlier this month Kent & I made a quick trip to Utah.  Our first stop was to see Paisley, the daughter of our one and only "Spoiled baby brat", more commonly known as Doug Fowels

Doug & Kaeli's beautiful daughter Paisley.

  It was wonderful to see Doug, Kaeli & Paisley.  Just a shame that time was so short.

     We then started making our way north and stopped to meet friends (the Gull Family) for lunch.  Again it was wonderful to see everyone but just too short a visit.

     Of course when we went through Manti, we detoured to get get some good photos of the Manti Temple.

     In case we hadn't already crammed enough into the day, we stopped by John & Chelsie Cornu's to see them, Bridger and the latest addition, Braxon.  Kent was sure to call John's mom Bonnie out in Oregon and rub in the fact that we got to see Braxon in person before she did!

Chelsie's sister, John with Bridger & Braxon and Chelsie

     Once we got to Provo, it was time to meet lots of friends for dinner at the Brick Oven.  It is becoming a tradition for us when we travel to Utah, to let all our friends in the Provo area know when we are going to be there and to ask them to have dinner with us at the Brick Oven,  This allows us to at least briefly see many of our friends that we normally wouldn't have time to visit.

Our friends Dr Chad, Natalie, Sakura & Seth had just moved from Wilmington to the Provo area the month before.  It was nice to see them.

John & Chelsie and the Brick Oven with us

     What was the main purpose of our trip?  It was to visit with the grand babies and to be there for Taylor being blessed at church.  We reserved all day Saturday and Sunday to be with Mike, Jess, Austin, Mason & Taylor Beau.

     Saturday morning Jess and I left the "boys" and headed out to do a couple of errands and some shopping at the craft store.  We majorly lucked out as Roberts was having a 50% off sale and so we got ourselves a bundle of stuff for $150.00  It was awesome and I was stoked with all we managed to get for our money.
    In the afternoon we all drove to Park City to visit Salt Lake Olympic Park.

Mike, Mason & Austin

Kent posing Taylor Beau for his ski shot!

Definitely a new take on "water skiing"!

     After church on Sunday and an open house at Mike & Jess' it was most definitely time for a nap.  Austin decided the best place to nap was on me!!  A 4 year old on your shoulder for an hour or so gets very heavy over time!

     We got to have an awesome grilled steak dinner at Mike & Jess' before it was time to head off to Salt Lake City for the night, so we could be up early and at the airport for the flight home in the morning.

     The trip was awesome but far too quick.  It was wonderful to see all the friends we were able to visit with but unfortunately there were still many we didn't get to see.  Thanks to everyone who made our trip so special.

Mount Timanogos Temple, just a mile from Mike & Jess' house

     On an MS note to this trip - because I have bladder issues due to my MS, I was concerned about leaks etc with all the traveling.  I broke down and bought some adult 'underwear' for the trip.  Was very surprised that they were not at all bulky and not at all noticeable under my carpi's.  I wore them everyday of the trip and as you would have it, because I was prepared I didn't experience one leak or urgency on the trip!!  Did learn first hand though, that this is something easy to do for trips etc and will definitely do it again in the future.

In Home Care Seen "As Chance to be Independent Again"

 For many, a home is "where you are not in prison. Where you don't have to have somebody to tell you what you can do, when you can do it and how you can do it". Being able to be cared for at "home" is much more preferable to many than being placed in a nursing home.

For Rosa Hendrix, who was interviewed by NPR, she said that not being in a nursing home "makes you feel so much better and know that you are somebody".

Rosa was placed, temporarily, in a nursing home for therapy after a bad fall, in which, she injured her leg. However, her temporary stay lasted much longer than planned when her therapy took longer than first expected. "Her Social Security check, which paid the rent on her subsidized apartment, was diverted to pay for the nursing home room. As a result, she lost her apartment and then had no home to go back to, nor family to help her".

An NPR study found out that, unfortunately, Rosa's story is all to common for many of those living in nursing homes.



Legislation such as SB 574 have made in-home care easier on the recipient and caregiver alike. SB 574 provides a tax credit to individuals providing in-home care to senior and disabled relatives.
Also, HB 887 which allows a caregiver to use their ownl personal land, zoned as a single-family lot, to care for a mentally or physically impaired person has greatly eased the process of providing in-home care.

For more of the story check out the link to NPR: "A Chance To Be Independent Again"

I have copied this from the MS Activist blog in the hopes that it will reach more people.  Thanks Anne

May 21st 2001

The "Rapture" that was prophesied to happen today, didn't happen!!  Oh well, the world is supposed to come to end in Dec 2012, so there is still time.  (Can you hear the tongue in cheek tone of my voice?!)

The Wilmington Walk MS came and went on April 30th and it was a great success.  As an individual, with help of family and friends, I raised over $1,400.00  MS Moments, the 10 member group made up of some of us in the local support group, raised over $8,000.00  We did much better than some of the much larger groups.  The Wilmington Walk MS exceeded the goal of $75,000.00  Success all around.  The weather was wonderful for us and instead of actually walking I got to spend the day, with Kent helping me, to be a behind the scenes worker.  It was a wonderful day.

The last two weeks at work have been insane.  The HP printer died and needed a new fuser.  The day the new fuser arrived and I installed it, the Dell printer died!!  Took a couple days for the tech to come with the parts and he spent about 3 hours working on it, only to find the part we really needed hadn't been sent.  We are still without the Dell printer, waiting for more parts and the return of the tech.

In case that wasn't stressing me enough, My computer decided to do a complete crash!!  Can you tell we had a May Fri 13th followed 4 days later by a full moon?    As a result of the computer crash I had to move to another desk and another computer.  Decided I liked sitting at the different desk better and so moved all my work area "stuff" to the new area.  Good news is that IT at the main office was able to retrieve all from my hard drive and remotely install on the new computer.  I am back in business.  Now we just wait for my old hard drive to be repaired and returned so I can install it on the general use desk.  I actually took diazapam a couple of nights through all this to help the body deal with the stress and not end up dealing with an MS exacerbation as well.

My cats have been wonderful stress relievers too.  Coming home for lunch and spending that time outside with them is very soothing.  Hoping the weather doesn't get just too hot for me to be outside at noon time for a while yet.  Also de-stress with them when I first get home from work in the evening.

Today I finally got my MS license plate in the mail.  It has been a long and frustrating wait.  5 minutes after getting the plate it was on the back of my vehicle.  I appreciate all the hard work Abby did to make this happen and I am happy and almost what you would call proud to now have it on my vehicle at last.

April 18th 2011

Again I am going to claim computer fatigue from work as my excuse for not blogging more often.  Think I have been fighting mild depression as well.

A good bit has happened since I was last on here.

Back in March, thanks to being 50, I got to have my first colonoscopy.  Since I was a certified endo tech for 10 years, the thought of the test itself did not bother me.  It was the prep I was most concerned about!!  The day before of only hard candy and clear liquids was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  I got to do the "Movi-prep" as apposed to the "Colyte" prep.  The Movi-prep is done in two stages and although it certainly does not taste good, it was not as difficult to get down as I thought it would be and the resulting movement was not as violent as anticipated.  The test itself?  Can't tell you as I sort of remember them just beginning to insert the colonoscope and next I knew they had removed it and I was off to the recovery area!  The wonder of today's drugs!!  Good exam with no findings made the experience even better.

It was yearly mammogram time too, so I got to go have that done as well.  Equipment is changing there as well  I remember my first mammogram at age 36 and how uncomfortable it was.  Now it is just an inconvenience. 

I have several friends that although about 50 or older, they have yet to have had a mammogram because they fear the "pain" they think it will cause.  I try to remind them that the pain of finding breast cancer when it's too late, would be even more painful.  I am not getting through to them.  Very frustrating.

My cat  "Flossie" was bitten by what we believe to be a snake and passed away shortly thereafter.  I was more than a little upset and for the first few days was thinking No More Cats.  That feeling didn't last long!!  I decided I needed another kitten and soon,  I began to check for kittens at the various no-kill shelters and was told over and over again that unless I signed a form, saying the cat(s) would be 100% indoor cat(s) then I was not eligible to have one!  They would allow these cats to remain in small pen/cages then go to someone who would allow them to go outside.  No wonder the shelters are over-flowing! 

After much debating I contacted PAWS of Hertford Co., even though they are almost 5 hours away from me.  I knew about them through a friend who had gotten a couple of dogs from them.  I contacted them, told them my situation and that looks etc were not my concern but personality.  At first I was drawn towards a group of three siblings but was drawn towards another pair of siblings by the volunteers.  These guys had been brought to them at 2 months and had been with them for 6 months.  The more I heard about them, the more I loved them and wanted them.  What is so awesome is the Catherine and her husband drove the 2 kittens to Kinston for me to pick them up.  Kent and I got up early and headed up to Deep Run to visit with his mom for a couple of hours.  We then headed up to Kinston to get the kittens.

Peace is the small female and a black and white tuxedo.  Spirit is definitely the big brother and although a tuxedo, his fur is a dark gray that is almost white when you brush it the wrong way and he has faint tiger striping in the gray.  The first week I took them to work everyday and the following weekend they spent their first full day/night on the back deck and fenced-in area.  They are a hoot and extremely affectionate.

After 2-1/2 weeks, they know how to get out of the fenced-in area but already know to come when I whistle for them and seem content to spend the majority of their time on the deck and fenced-in area.  They are great in that they are forcing me to spend some time each day outside.  I usually eat my lunch outside and play with them.  A great mid-day stress reliever on a work day too!

It's mid-April and I am still wondering where my MS licence plate is.

28th February 2011

On my work email I had changed my 'signature' to include under my name and information, the Walk MS logo and the words "I have MS and am walking April 30th"

I had hoped that it would maybe encourage a few donations to the walk of $10-$20.  Little did I know!  A client in Portsmouth, VA - Full Throttle Maine - donated $465 on Friday.  Debbie donated the amount that would have me reach my goal of $1,000.00  As a small business and in the current economy, I know what a big sacrifice this is. 

I called Debbie as soon as I saw the donation and both of us cried on the phone.  What an awesome way to end my work week.  I got a huge donation from people I have never met but only spoken to on the phone and exchanged work related emails with.  There are still people out there with big hearts. 

Now I have pushed my fundraising goal to $1,500.00 as I encourage others to support the walk.  I am excited thinking I can do this. Thanks to all my family and friends that are helping to make this all happen.

On another note - Saturday, Kent and I spent the majority of the day out and about shopping.  Did we buy anything exciting?  Nope.  We just were out buying things to replenish household supplies that we had allowed to get too low.  We headed out about 10am and it was 3pm when we got home.  Then it was time to unload and put away all that we had gotten.  I was so glad I was having a good day as I managed to do it all without falling apart.  Just tired after getting it all done.  Maybe that is why on Sunday I fell asleep on the sofa at 5pm and woke up at 9pm just in time to get up, undress and crawl into bed!!

23rd February 2011

Now that I have had a week to calm myself and think about it, I am now ready to say something about the WalkMS kick-off rally held downtown last Thursday night.  The meeting itself was fine but the location was NOT good from my point of view.  Before even going, I was not happy with it being held at a bar, but I decided to grin and bare it for the sake of the walk.  But to have it downtown at the bottom of Market Street at night - not good.  After leaving the meeting and walking the 1/2 block to my car, I was approached by 2 different males in their early 20s.  Why was the meeting downtown at night when problems with 20 somethings hanging out on the streets are well known?  If there should be anymore evening meetings downtown I will most definitely not be attending.

I sent a message to Abby earlier today and word is that people are beginning to get their licence plates.  I should be getting mine any day now.  I will post it when I get it.

I have been going crazy with my bead work lately and I restrung my MS bracelet(s) the other night.  While at it, I decided to make a pair of matching earrings and an orange beaded watchband to wear during MS week next month and at the WalkMS.

I have reached the $500 mark for the Walk MS but still working on reaching the $1,000 mark.

13 February 2011

Look how long it has been since I have posted anything! 

We were so busy with the Christmas holidays and my health and energy held up great.  We had a wonderful time being Santa to lots of friends and acquaintances.  Nothing BIG but it was such a blast to be able to surprise all these different people with something they were not expecting.  Wonderful feeling.

The week after Christmas, Kent had a cough and we spent the week trying to stay at opposite ends of the house so that I wouldn't get sick too.  Then the after Christmas blues hit me full force.  I usually feel a little of a let down after the excitement of Christmas but this year Christmas was such a high and then I seemed to do a real crash.  I knew this blog was sitting here and waiting for me but I had that "I can't be bothered" attitude.  It was hard to shake.

A couple of things have helped me to get over these blues and one of them as been getting involved with the Walk MS.  I have set myself a goal of $1,000 and have already gotten over $500.

I had my Neurology check-up last week and it seems that I have reached the peak of recovery from the hard hit of the March 2010 exacerbation.  My fatigue level is higher and stamina is lower but I can live with that since Kent says he can live with it.  Why does Kent have to do with it?  Kent has a lot to do with it!!  Because Kent continually picks up the slack and does it without complaint.  Because of this I do not have to stress myself struggling to push myself to the limit and don't have to feel guilty about what I can't do.

Yes, Kent is my Valentine in a BIG way.

my final thought for today --- where oh where is my MS licence plate?  It's the middle of February and it's still not here!