aisforamy

I really haven't been updating much, other than silly memes or links. I have been busy now that the school year has started (I think I said this before), and will probably BE busy for the foreseeable future.

Today, I went to the school and sent out two separate flyers to parents about an upcoming PTO meeting and a Pizza Hut fund raising night, when we encourage everyone to clog their arteries in the name of better educational tools. I also went and visited one of the ladies from church I was supposed to, and mailed a shipment of cell phones to the recycling place for a fund raiser from last year. I set up four more fund raising events with restaurants for the next couple of months, as we try to have two per month...one pizza, and one actual go-to-a-place-and-sit-down with a waitress and stuff kind of place. It's served us well in the past.

Tonight was Curriculum Night at the school, where parents came without their children to see the classrooms, and to get a good idea of what their children would be learning. It was nice to get the info and meet the teachers and stuff, even though I already know most of them. I signed up two new families for the PTO, and sold a couple of t-shirts, so that was nice, too!

Tomorrow is another insanely busy day, where I am going to go visit a woman from church, pick up Lai and do some running around, pick up the kids, take the turtle to the vet, hang out at home for a bit with Lai and maybe watch a movie, and at some point, go grocery shopping. Also? My tweezers have gone mysteriously missing, and I need to get another pair.

Robert also has his first cello lesson tomorrow, and he's really excited about it. The cello was delivered yesterday, and he just sat and admired it for a while. I hope he takes to it, because sometimes I worry that the poor boy takes after my father, who was tone deaf.

I also have about a bazillion loads of laundry to catch up on, but that is nothing new.

Not getting enough sleep, but have been having a great time with my RP, both at Milliways and at my new game over on GJ. PSSSST--why haven't you all joined yet? It's awesome!

And tonight me and Lai did the happydance, because I figured out how to put tags in the sidebar at the new game's main page, and Lai figured out how to make them show up in indiviual posts. Now all we have to do is find out why we can't edit entries at all, and we will be GOLDEN.

Other than that, life continues apace...things are good, if a little hectic. Hope everyone out there is doing well!

Link of the day: http://algebraoflife.blogspot.com/2007/02/unlocks-your-car-using-tennis-ball.html

I don't know if this really works, but if it does? Sweeeet.

I am going to the doctor in the morning, to see if I can't pinpoint the cause of my pain. I suspect it is MS related, but I think it would be easier to check for arthritis or whatever first, before we go for the MRIs and stuff. I can't wait for treatment any longer, since I can barely move my left arm without searing pain, and a lot of my other joints are aching.

To be honest, I can't even remember the name of the neurologist I was seeing before, and didn't feel any big connection with her. I have done some research online to find a neuro covered by my plan, and will ask my doctor about my choice while I am there tomorrow. I need someone I have some sort of rapport with, and looked for the ones most recommended by my plan (meaning that they have actually been checked out). I won't go to Dr. Killian again, since he is the one who completely botched my spinal tap when I was first presenting symptoms. (He did it in his office exam room and had the wrong sized needle, and tool THIRTEEN tries to get a sample that he said he was not happy with because there was blood in it.) After the last time I saw him, I was so traumatized, that I didn't go to another neuro until I had another major episode.

Anyway, I am not sure whether to hope it is arthritis or MS or something else all together. Either one would suck, and I don't know how they would treat either one.

Also, my fatigue is out of control, even with the Adderall that I've been taking. I have extreme trouble staying awake during the day, no matter how well I sleep the night before. I often nap for two or three hours and feel drugged all the time. Another unfortunate symptom of MS that gets worse with the heat. I got excited today, because this is the third day in a row that I didn't take a nap at all, then felt depressed, because it's sad that that is a major accomplishment for me.

After my appointment, I may be sitting around waiting for x-rays or something...I don't know. I am hoping it's a simple fix, and that I don't have to have a huge dose of Solumedrol and course of Prednisone to try and get it under control...steroids have the worst effect on me.

Anyway, that is enough whining.

I had a great time in Tennessee! I wish I had had a few more days there, though I missed my family.

Enterprise car rental company is on my s**t list, though, for making me wait over an hour for a car that I reserved three weeks in advance, and making me wait even longer to meet the fabulous lai_lore, who is indeed fabulous. This was made even longer by the fact that I missed my exit, and drove nearly to Kentucky before I found a place to turn around and retrace my route. I got lost a lot while I was there.

Fun and long car trips were had, and the Memphis Zoo and pandas and fish and elephant butts here seen and photographed. And PLANS were made…oh yes…and not just for world domination!

I went from Nashville to Memphis and back, and then I went from Nashville to Knoxville and back, so I went through four tanks of gas in about two and a half days. Whee! Sadly, there was not enough time to visit Graceland, but with great friends living in TN, I will surely have another chance some day.

BUT! I got to see FIREFLIES (or lightning bugs, if that is what they are called where you live)!! We don’t have them in Arizona, and I never realize how much I miss them, until I see them again on visits back east.

My friend, Arwen, in Knoxville has a lovely little family, with an absolutely beautiful and charming daughter. I spent a great day with them, and wished I could have stayed for more, but I just ran out of time. My next trip will need to be better planned.

My flight home was delayed by more than an hour, and was full of seven people in wheelchairs that had to be pre-boarded, and about twenty kids under the age of five that needed similar treatment. It was a hot, noisy flight, and I was one of the last to get on the plane, so ended up beside a woman with a two year old in her lap, and a four year old beside me. It wasn’t bad, except that the boy needed to be entertained for the whole trip, and kept climbing over me to use the bathroom. He listened to my iPod for a while, and colored in my notebook, and ate some of my granola bar…he was cute, but it got old after a while. He just wasn’t interested with all of the stuff that they brought for him to play with, and the poor woman was effectively trapped by the other kid sleeping in her arms.

I was more than ready to get off that plane. I got my luggage and met my husband and kids out on the curb (where they had been circling the terminal for an hour) and we went to dinner.

At home, souvenirs were distributed and argued over, and my dog went nuts to see me again. All in all a satisfying end to my little vacation.

I stayed home today and relaxed and napped and RPed for the first time in what seems like AGES. It was great!

I hope everyone else is doing well! **hugs to all**

SO!

Yesterday, my kids’ school had a book fair, which was buy one, get one free! Oh, my God, you guys! I spent early a hundred dollars!! They had software, too, so I got TWO of the SIMS complete collection, a CIV CITY Rome (You can build Rome and protect, beautify, farm, and fill it with people and culture! It looks awesome!!), and a collection of games with Boggle, Hangman, Upwords, etc. I also got a few books. *sheepish*

My son’s little play went well…well, it was adorable, at least. They all forgot their lines at least once, the props were a little wobbly, and the music cues were off. It was very entertaining, and the kids put a lot of work into it. I am going to buy the DVD they’re making from it, so I can burn copies for my family.

Last night (early this morning) at 1:30, my dog needed to go out, so I let her out back, and waited by the door for her to do her business, so I could lock the back door and go back to bed. Well, on the way back into the house, she decided to stop and investigate the hole beneath our shed where a stray cat had had kittens. Oy. The mother cat attacked Sadie and chased her all over the yard. She wouldn’t back off until I came and scared her off, and took the dog inside.

The commotion woke my husband (and probably a couple of neighbors), and he went to investigate, and the mama cat came after him, too. My husband doesn’t put up with that crap, and stuck the hose in the hole they’ve been living in, and turned it on. His reasoning is that the cat could have rabies, or something, and if it will attack the dog and a full grown adult, it could seriously hurt one of our kids.

Evidently the rabbit we used to have living under there dug a hell of a burrow, because it took over an hour to fill it up. My husband said that the mother came bolting out and took off running at one point, and he saw at least one kitten after he’d blocked up the main entrance hole, so there must be a back way out of there. I hope the kittens didn’t drown, and that the mother came and took them away somewhere else, but they are wild cats, so they likely wouldn’t have been able to be anyone’s pets. If I thought that the kittens could have been salvaged, I might have made an attempt to nurse them myself until they were old enough for homes, but I don’t think the mother would have allowed it.

My father in law brought by a cat trap this morning, and we are going to try to catch the mother and her mate (who also hangs around, I guess). We can take them to the city dump/landfill and let them loose there, to live happily on mice, roaches, lizards and the like. I don’t know if they still do, but the landfill workers used to encourage this, when people would call to ask if they needed cats down there.

School is out after next Thursday. I am going to be the room mother for the last day of school party in my son’s first grade class. It is going to have a pirate theme, so I am going to be busy making eye patches out of fun foam or felt, or whatever, and finding fun little trinkets for “booty” and getting games ready. I also promised snow cones, so it should be a lot of fun.
That’s pretty much all the rambling I have for now. Hope everyone is doing well!

( Meme survey thing )

I just saw a commercial for that Axe men’s body spray. It showed hordes of women in bikinis coming from all directions, in a stampede: from the ocean, over rocks, through the sand. All of them had fierce competitive expressions on their faces as they ran, and the camera cut to a young, good looking man standing on the beach with the Axe body spray, turning in circles, while spraying a constant stream of the stuff, his expression blissful. Drawing back, you can see that all of those women are coming to get him. The slogan comes onto the screen: “Spray more, get more.”

Now, we all know that this is a ridiculous scene, and kind of amusing in an absurd way. But don’t you think that they would sell a lot more product by changing out the good-looking man for a plain, or even overweight one? There are a lot more of them in the world than the male model type, who hardly need some body spray to attract hordes of women. Just sayin’.


Other than that, things are all right on the homefront. LJ is still being a pain in the butt, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, because (hopefully) I will be getting DSL in my new laptop in about a week. Keep your fingers crossed, because we are trying the self-installation route. Then comes the fun of transferring everything over to the new computer for the old.

I won't be around too much tomorrow, as it is my turn to host family dinner, and the boys have a birthday party to attend. Busy day! Now I have to decide what I'm going to make. I am thinking about chicken burritos...that's easy, right?


Link of the day I'm not sure if I've posted this one before. Watch the whole thing, cause it's fun! er...warnings for video game violence. http://amd.co.at:8083/pong.swf

I met my mother in law 18 years ago today--about three months before I met my (future) husband. It was at the Tempe New Year's Eve Block Party, where she jumped out of a crowd to surprise one of the people I was there with. They introduced me to her, and she said, "My son hasn't met you, yet."

She was absolutely certain of this, and she was right. I forgot all about it until the end of March, when I showed up with Kris at his house and his mother and I stared at each other and laughed. She told me that she knew I'd turn up sooner or later. Kris and I didn't marry until 1993, but we have basically been together since March of 1989. It makes me feel old to see it written out like that.

In retrospect, 2006 turned out to be not so bad. Sure, at the beginning of the year I started out newly on my feet again after being dependent on a walker to get around for a long time. I had surgery in February so that I didn't have to wear an ostomy pouch anymore...but that was a blessing. It meant freedom from being sick all the time. I also had surgery to have my gall bladder removed this past summer - but again, I am much healthier now.

This year I have been president of the PTO and accomplished things that I have been proud of, and worked hard for.

I made new friends, and renewed an old friendship or two, I got new pets in the form of turtles and a doggie. I volunteered in my community as much as I could, and accepted help when I couldn't do things for myself--something that has always been difficult for me.

I got to go on vacation to California, and again to Mexico with my family, I read several books strictly for the pleasure of it, and I used my creativity to make others happy.

This coming year, I hope to continue to improve my health. I hope to remember to take my medications faithfully, and have my blood draws done on time each month. I hope to avoid any hospital stays. I hope to lose a bit of weight and be more physically active.

I hope to get my muse back, and to do some writing other than RP.

I hope my MS does not take anything more from me this year than I have already lost.

I will try to act as though what I do makes a difference, and strive to treat everyone around me how I would like to be treated.