!?Seriously?!

August already, holy cow! What a week....but I'll get around to that later. First off, I had a wonderful experience doing my first speaking event in Orlando, FL for Gilenya on Wednesday, August 3, 2011. I thought I was going to Kissimmee, but turns out, nope it was in Orlando. I did my talk at a Uno Chicago Bar and Grill. I must say, it wasn't the greatest set up due to the overwhelming echoing of noise and hard to talk that loud over the noise, but I managed. I had about 20-25 people or so that came to the event, which I was truly happy about. I'm sure I forgot a lot of speaking points, but did the best I could considering I had an attendee interrupt me right in the middle of my speech. Yup, you read correctly, totally interrupted me in the middle of my speech. I very politely told the lady, "I have MS and with MS one tends to lose their train of thought very easily; therefore, I am going to continue with my story and will answer questions when I'm done." Other than that, I think I did well for my first time.

The Monday before I flew down to Orlando, our family went up to Turkey Run State Park and hiked the entire day on some very rugged trails. I timed our hiking adventure to be approximately five hours, with a lunch break and a few tiny breaks in-between. I figured we hiked at least 4 1/2 hours straight. Seriously don't know how many miles we put on our poor feet, but let’s just say when we were finally back to our destination I was D-O-N-E! I am so very proud to have been able to participate in such a wonderful experience with my family though. My husband and kids couldn't believe how well I held up. Heck, I couldn't believe how well I held up. Here are a few photos from that day:

As you can see above (sorry about the sideways photo, can't figure out how to flip it), I held steady and fast and did a lot of hiking trails in a beautiful park.

Upon arriving home from our wonderful day of hiking and pure exhaustion, we discover our mailbox post has been hit by a vehicle and our mailbox post split in two and our mailbox thrown more than 14 feet from the original standing post (my son Kyle just had to measure it), luckily with the mail still inside. Of course, no one bothered to stop and leave an apology or a number where they could be reached to pay for the damage they had done. All I know, is from the tire marks left behind, I'm sure they had quite a bit of damage to their vehicle and all I can say is....I hope it cost you a lot more to fix your bleepty bleepty bleep car, than it did for us to replace and paint our post.

After the mailbox post incident, we discovered our dishwasher was leaking and left water damage to our floor and a little bit of damage on the inside cabinets where the diswasher sat in-between. We went shopping for a new dishwasher and I finally decided on one. Then after purchasing it, I find out it will be more than a week before we can pick it up. I must say, when you have to start handwashing all of your dishes, you truly appreciate that dishwasher like you never did before.

On the bright side, the mailbox post cost less than $25. Wish I could say that about the dishwasher. Ever noticed how it always seems to happen like that though? Once one major applicance goes, they all start to follow? We just replaced our washer and dryer in March. Our refridgerator is over 16 years old and I know it is just a matter of time. I'm hoping it'll last at least a few more years, because we need a little money buffer time now.

Oh, one more thing.....yes, see what happens when I don't have an "it can only happen to me category" for a while, they all seem to come at once. Although, this isn't the "me" category, it does deal with my sweet beautiful daughter. Cassie has a congenital birth defect in which she is missing her permanent top bi-lateral incisor teeth (the ones right next to your two front teeth). To have that happen, especially to my sweet girl is heartbreaking to me, but orthodontics and cosmetic dental surgery has come a long way. Long story short, she is slower than molasses when it comes to losing her baby teeth; therefore, she had to have four top baby teeth pulled to get her ready for her next phase of orthodontic work. So now, she is walking around with four missing teeth, on the top no less, and will get a retainer with four fake teeth exactly ONE day before school starts back up. Because I don't want that retainer to count towards our orthodontic deductible, I have to pay out of pocket for that sucker (really glad we have a health savings account). The orthodontist knows Cassie will be with him FOREVER, so he cut us a break. I suppose having a good long standing relationship with the orthodontist (my son is in braces as well) came in handy on this one.

I'll post pictures of my new dishwasher (got a pretty fancy one) and my daughters beautiful new smile in the next post. In the meantime, have a good few weeks and thanks for reading my rants. God Bless!

What Happened to July?

Holy cow, July is almost over. We have been so busy that time is truly flying by. Well, I should say that I've been so busy, time is flying by. The kids are bored out of their minds and are driving me crazy. Since starting my intern/extern at a local family practice, I can't really do much and the kids are stuck at home while I'm working. They (kids) have way too much time on their hands and I think their new favorite pastime is pestering the crap out of one another. I must say that because of their boredom they have been organizing their rooms and certain areas of the house, which to me is like hitting the lottery.

The kids’ Grandma Donna gave us her piano last week and they both are very excited about having it in the home. I am excited that they are excited, but now the noise level has increased in the home and I feel like I want to give it back. It has been neat to listen to them tinker around on it and make somewhat of a tune. Cassie has taken a few lessons and knows how to read some notes, but Kyle hasn’t taken any, but knows how to chord, so he can really play around it quite well. I will be anxious to see if they both keep up with it. The piano will be tuned next week and may need a little fixing up, but here is a picture of it:

As most know that live in the Midwest, July and August tend to be the hottest, stickiest months of the entire year and trust me, it hasn’t failed. This past week alone has broken a few records with the highs almost hitting 100 degrees. With the humidity, crappy air quality, and high temps and heat index today, Indiana may potentially reach 120 degrees. I can’t help but feel so bad for all those without air conditioning and those that work out in these elements.

Heat and Multiple Sclerosis don’t mix well at all and the humidity on top of that just makes me turn into a limp wet noodle. I am now somewhat adjusting, if one can really truly adjust to this kind of heat, but it hasn’t been an easy few weeks. The office I am working at, their air conditioning wasn’t working very well last week, so I had a fairly miserable work week. When I went in on Monday, the owner of the building had a guy there to fix it and by mid-day it was about 69 degrees in the office…….ahhhh!

I got my first speaking gig in Kissimmee, Florida to talk about my experience with MS and Gilenya (the drug I did the study for and am currently taking). I am nervous, but also very excited about telling my story. I will fly to Orlando on August 3rd and fly home August 4th. Since this is a short trip, I'll be traveling solo this time. I’ll be sure to blog about it afterwards.

I don’t really have any “it can only happen to me categories” this month so far. I can tell you that I did learn that I HAVE to get bifocals, which I’m not too happy about. I just turned 37 and already need a bifocal. (To be honest, I have needed them for a few years now, but didn’t like them). The Dr. told me I truly can’t put it off any longer. So we’ll see how a no-line bifocal goes. I haven’t ordered them yet because I cannot find any frames I really like. Just can't get use to the retro look, which by the way, doesn't look good on me! I finally did like one frame, but asked if the office could order a different color. I'll await those frames and will go from there.

Really?

It has been a crazy two weeks. I picked up my daughter from Girl Scout Camp on Friday June 17th that she had been away at for two weeks. It was very hard to leave her there for that long, but she had a wonderful time taking care of the horse’s everyday and can't wait to go back. I also had my sisters' two girls on Thurs, Friday, Monday and Tuesday for a few hours each of those days (the older niece, almost 13 spent the night Monday for Cassie's birthday). I am very thankful to have older children that can help out with my four year old chatter box niece that never stops for a minute. I truly had forgotten how much those little boogers wear you out.

Lots of shopping on Saturday for Father's day dinner and for Cassie's birthday dinner, the day after Father's Day (June 20th). All the cooking I did on Sunday and Monday was ridiculous I must say, although it was awesome food and an awesome chocolate, chocolate chip cheesecake, but holy cow am I ever tired. Oh did I mention that I still had classes and tests to prepare for as well? So yes, I am tired. But here is a picture of my now 11 year old who thinks she is 25 on her birthday.

Next week is finals week at school and I will start my intern/externship at a local family practice on July 5th. I did my meet and greet yesterday and it went very well, but I was disappointed in how small and confined the office is. It will be a bit of an adjustment for sure; I am a tiny bit claustrophobic, so hopefully it won't take me too long to adjust. Excited about getting started!!

Last but not least, in the it can only happen to me category: I got a random call from Kroger on Thursday about a salad recall from Dole that I had purchased from their store on Saturday. It can be (the salad) potentially contaminated with Listeria. I ate this salad on Sunday and a little more on Monday. I truly didn't think much of it because I didn't know anything about listeria. Tuesday evening I started feeling horrible. Bad headache, stomach pains, nausea and overall I truly feel like crud. I kept chalking my feeling poorly to allergies and the crazy up and down weather patterns. I decided maybe I better read up on listeria and I do have a lot of the listed symptoms. People who are at risk are pregnant women, newborns, elderly and THOSE WITH SUPPRESSED IMMUNE SYSTEMS. I'm still hoping that it is just allergies and the weather changes that have made me feel badly the last few days, but after reading up on listeria symptoms, uhhh....not so sure now. Of course this couldn't come at a worse time (not that there is any good time to be sick). I have finals on Tuesday, June 28th and of course I may potentially have been contaminated with listeria. If so, hurry up and run your course so I can get back to studying!

Back To Blogging

Okay, so I must admit...I'm a slacker. I feel like my time is so limited anymore, that I just don't have or better yet take the time to just sit and blog about the nonsense that goes on in my life. Is it really nonsense, chaos, or just plain bad karma or luck. Anyway you look at it, I suppose all of those things could be wrapped all together and tied neatly with a bow. Like I've said in the past though, I'd rather laugh at those crazy life circumstances, otherwise I'd either be crying all the time, in jail for killing someone or possibly in a ward somewhere for the mentally insane. Even though I do tend to get more curve balls thrown my way than the average Joe, I still feel as though I truly am a very lucky and blessed person.

To be honest I don't know when I even last blogged, so I will just start off with what has been going on new with my EVER so chaotic busy life since 2011. I am now taking the "real drug"; the newly (I still say new because late September of 2010 wasn't that long ago) approved first line of oral treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. Although I still like the name Fingolimod much better, I have to learn to like saying the brand name they gave it, which is Gilenya, especially since I may potentially be going out and about and speaking to others living with MS about my personal experience with this drug. If I do get to go out and share my story, I'll be sure to post about it.

Lets see...this year I can proudly say I have OFFICIALLY been RELAPSE FREE for an entire year since my first MS symptom in May of 1998. I cannot belive it, but it is the truth. I will be graduating this October...good Lord willing and the creek don't rise...with my Associates degree in Medical Assisting, which I am very proud of. Starting July 5th I will do my extern/intership and I am praying that I get placed somewhere I can truly learn what I went to school for and potentially get offered a job.

I have so much more I could tell, but then I would start to lose my two follower's attention so I better keep it brief..hehe! Like I've ended my posts/blogs in the past....in the it can only happen to me category this week:

I am at school this past Thursday going to the restroom. I am trying to get some toilet paper and it is one of those neverending big rolls, how did they spin all that toilet paper onto one roll kind of rolls, and it would only allow me to roll off two squares of toilet paper. (I don't know about you...but I need more than two squares of ONE-PLY toilet paper to take care of business, regardless of what business it is). So, I pull as hard as I can, while sitting on the toilet and the dang roll falls out of its container onto the floor and went fly-rolling out from under the stall into the stall across from me. Of course, wouldn't you know that NOT A SINGLE PERSON was in the bathroom, which I now must admit, kind of glad about that. I started laughing so hard at the scene, if someone had either been in the bathroom with me or just walked in and seen that, that I could hardly breath. I did manage to reach under on the other side to grab a few more squares of toilet paper, so I could go back to class without damp underpants, whew! And I'll have you know that I did pick up that neverending roll of toilet paper and managed to securely put it back in place. I sure hope the next one to use that particular stall did not have the same unfortunate circumstance happen to them.