Really?!?!?...

Had the normal dentist appointment today. Got the scraping and cleaning and all was well with the teeth. I have some gum issues because of the tizanidine... It dries my mouth out so much I've had some bouts of some infections in my gums. Had to switch to another mouth wash besides Listerine because it turns out that one has alcohol in it - which further dries your mouth out....

now my mouth is sore... But, everything feels normal. Like it should after a dentist visit. I had an experience that I've never had before at a dentist office - they took my blood pressure after they took xrays. Seriously? What was the point? Anybody know? I have a friend at work and her hubby is a dentist so I'll be asking her about that... I just thought it was a bit odd.

When I had my root canal - no blood pressure check and they had to put me a bit under with the laughing gas... I understand all the other doc's visits getting the pressure cuff applied. This was a normal cleaning/check-up visit... I'm still a little stumped. I could care less... now, if they wanted to stick a needle in me I would've required full disclosure!!!!

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.....

Speaking of tizanidine... didn't help me out last night. I apparently held a bazaar where a whole heap of squirrels brought their friends, including some rabbits, cuz I was leaping and cavorting about a bunch last night. Not good - hopefully there won't be a repeat!!!

I am soooooo freakin' excited about heading north for the weekend! I am soooo going to just smother my little nephew!! Have a great weekend and I'm going to try and fit in last night's Idol before watching the results tonight - I love DVR!!

Holy Shnikeys!

Seriously, it's been a week since I've bored myself with my ramblings?? LOL

I know I started a post on a couple of those days but never got around to finishing it... Dang tv with all new shows!! I've never been such a tv junkie in my life but I'm dang sure there right now!

Have you seen that new one - Lie to Me? Oh, I like the main character. He's like Greg House working with people's brains instead of being an MD... I personally think that it's based on the Reid Technique and the Reid company in Chicago. I've been through a couple of their trainings and it's so amazing....and awesome!! I'm not as good as those people but it's always interesting to watch people... whether at work or at Starbucks.

I got another great swim in today... Wonderful!! And, I'm so stoked cuz I get to finally travel up to north Texas to FINALLY hold my newest newphew.. who is now almost 5 months old! At least I'll get some very animated smiles - and it won't be just because of gas!!!

YEAH!!! Get to spend time with the family and have fun! Always a great time!!

I have noticed that I'm dealing with a bit more spasticity issues though, since starting back swimming. I've added some stretching after I'm done swimming but my other half has informed me I've been chasing a lot of squirrels in my sleep. I don't feel this but she does and apparently it's been bad enough to shake the bed... not good.

We really can't just win with this damned disease, can we? I mean the war anyways... the daily battles we learn how to manuever and out-smart some of it. But it still throws a sniper in or a IED in the road every now and then just to make sure you know who's really winning. That's okay... a couple of months ago I'd have gotten a little bit piss and vinegar with it.

Now, I realize it pisses IT off more with a shrug and a laugh. I got a horrible cramp in my right foot today while doing my back kicks... made me swallow pool water (EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!) and went up my nose. It even caused the woman in the lane next to me to pause and watch me for a few seconds until she realized I was coming back up for air... I massaged it out and got my foot back pointing normal (rather than at my forehead - anybody else get those? Don't our toes know it's rude to point?!?!?!?)

I then got all the water out of the wrong orifices and finished my swim. Now, my foot's really sore and it's tried to point at me some more but I'll just keep stretching it... I think I'll modify the Dory song from Nemo .... Just keep stretching! Just keep stretching! (Great - now I've got Ellen's voice in my head singing... not horrible but a trite annoying!!!)

I hate calling in tired...

Course, that's not really what I called in. I blamed it on the flu that's going around. How do you explain to your supervisor that despite sleeping from 10 to 6 without waking up, that you have absolutely no energy to even begin to think about brushing your teeth - let alone getting dressed for work.

Sheesh - I hate the fucking fatigue. I feel like I just swam 100 miles and then decided to go for an ultra-marathon afterwards.... Yet, I didn't do crap. And, what I hate the most is that I had a great day yesterday. Woke up great - had a great time teaching at the academy - stopped at the store for dinner stuffs - and then had a good night! No issues. Well, I did have a freaky bit of what I think was an allergic reaction...

We were watching Chuck (because we had DVR'd it to watch House first - gotta love tv!) and my stomach started itching... and itching and itching... and then my entire torso felt like it was being stung by a million ants at the same time... and then it went into my arms and I was literally dunked into a hot bath --- which I barely felt... after about 20 minutes in the tub it finally calmed down and I was able to sit without drawing blood by scratching myself. The only thing I could figure would be an allergic reaction to what I ate... but it was leftover meatloaf.

Seriously, what's wrong with that?!?!?! I took a benedryl last night with all my other meds and I was out. First I thought I was still just a little dopey this morning from all the meds but that was not it. I was wiped. I didn't even have the strength to pee. Thank goodness I don't have bladder control issues yet otherwise it would have been an even less prettier site...

I think this is one of the things I hate the most about this fucking disease. i know it's just a bad day and I'll wake up feeling great tomorrow. I'll get up and go to work and everybody will ask if I'm okay and I say I am... and I'll tell my supervisor that I just had a really rough day. Luckily my bosses understand ( as much as they can) about some of my "unseen" symptoms and they don't hold it too much against me... I just don't like letting the ohters at my office down by having to do my job when I'm not there... ya know? That pride thingy - it gets me in trouble!!!

Sigh - so I'm just laying back on the couch with the tv on, catching up on my latest book... and just want to be able to go to sleep for a few more hours. But, because I have slept most of the day my body just wants to be brain dead but not asleep right now... I guess since I'm letting it control me anyways today I'll just let it!....

Nada on the brain...

I'm just home from work, catching up on a couple of shows DVR'd over the weekend. There's nothing pressing on the brain (right now at lease - LOL!) and I'm just hanging.

I'm going to be in the pool again tomorrow morning - YIPPEE! Great day at work today. Got to go to the academy and throw candy at the cadets.... always fun! I've got some real good friends that are assigned out there so that's fun to hang out and catch up...

Had a fabulous weekend - grilled steaks and stayed in sweatpants for the 14th - that was a blast! That's like being able to wear sweats for Thanksgiving dinner - awesome!! Although, I'll go without back surgery again to be able to wear sweatpants to that dinner again... We'll be able to host one of the holiday dinners at our house this year after we get all the painting done. Can't wait for that!!

Um, searching for other shiny things... Oh, my insurance company changed specialty pharmacies and so had to go through the business of getting all my information on file with the new one. Going to have to get my prescription faxed to the new company... No biggie just a hassle, ya knows? Course, again I'll send a thankful prayer up to the sky for my insurance...

Is February over yet? It seemed like it was here before we knew it but now it's going on and on and on... and yet it's the shortest month!! It's a busy month for the other half so I think that's the reason I want it to be over - so the stress level can go down. No biggie on it but you never want to see your other half stressed.

Okey dokeys... now that I've made the internet go even slower due to the totally nothingness of this post.... : ] Catch ya on the dark side!!

Happy VD! (almost)...

No matter how old I am - that shit's still funny!!!

I'm very excited about tomorrow night. We bought the steaks tonight and will be grilling them up good! And, after watching food network the other night I decided to buy some peaches and I'm going to through those on the grill as well - and then top it off with some homemade whipped cream and presto-yummo!! I'm very excited!

I'm almost done with doctor's appointments for THIS month!! LOL Until the dentist in a couple of weeks... Does that count? I think so, especially since a friend's husband is a dentist! I had that wonderful annual woman's exam today - ugh! But, all the plumbing is in good order. At least the MS hasn't affected that..... I like this doc though. When she found out about the MS she asked me for my neuro's name so that she could touch base with him and find out if there were any particular issues she needed to look out for... WOWsers!

After our first meeting she told me to let my neuro worry about the MS, let her worry about my plumbing, and go live life. Pretty good words, huh? She's younger and still has the good attitude about really wanting to establish a trust factor with her patients. Seems to be a rare commodity, especially reading some of the other bloggers out there.

We signed the contract today with the people who are going to paint the house. So, now that means the packing has to start. We stole some boxes from Kroger today! Might have to "shop" a lot in the next couple of weeks to get more boxes. It's going to be interesting going through some of the nooks and crannies of the house.... You know how some things just get thrown into spaces when you combine two households? Where, when in the combination of two people's stuff - well, some just gets thrown into closets, doesn't it??

Okay... I'm going to log off for now and go give 100% of my attention to catch up on my tv shows. Again...

HAPPY VD!!!!

YA YA'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....

Unite!! Ever seen the movie or read the book by Rebecca Wells - Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood? I love it! I am a child of a Southern woman... a very, VERY Southern woman. She, too, had her ya-ya's that she surrounded herself with through life... They weren't always of the female persuasion but a couple of them were female impersonators so that counts, right??

I had a hard time reading that book when it came out... I kept picking it up and then throwing it across the room or trying to stuff it into my garbage disposal... Then the big cheese of brain decides to write about the anniversary of her mother's death. Sucks! I barely got through that post and just realized that I might not make it through my own...

I'm not going to go into details but I did my own "check on welfare" on my mother 2 days after Christmas and what I found was horrible. One thought I remember having that day, though, was that I was so glad my big brothers were not there... What is it about being the female in the family? Why are our big strong boys always such babies? My big brothers are such strong, manly, GREAT specimens of men... awesome brothers, phenomenal fathers, and have their moments of being wonderful husbands!! (based on my sis-in-laws info!! LOL)

And, regardless of orientation... what is it about the girls friendships with each other? Ever see that Friends episode where Chandler and Ross decide they should have a "female" relationship and share everything? Hysterical!!!! And totally true - and I've known my fair share of gay men as well and the "boy" relationship still applies!! Only those of us of the female persuasions seem to be able to share that ya-ya sisterhood... I'm sure there are exceptions out there... just not in my world.

So, getting back to our ya-yas (seems like I'm just creating another Oprah word for va-j-j doesn't it?? or entering a realm in our internet relationship that should not be shared in a public forum!!!!) I love my ya-ya's... They are great women with infinite spirit! We don't really have names although one of us has an alter ego that comes out with enough wine... That spirit has a name!! And, I've been called a few names under certain "spirits" HAHAHAHAAHHA

What brought about all this rambling about Ya-Yas? Just went strolling down memory road for a bit... It's some of y'alls (in the sense of other bloggers) fault... Want to find out your Ya-Ya name? Go here to find out to magical name.. Go there then let me know what your name came to be in a comment!!! Mine is:

EMPRESS GLIMMERING MOON

I haven't figured out how that relates to me... Is it the MS that makes me a Moon person now? Yet, even in the moon I have such a shining personality? That's funny! And, I'm no empress, lemme tell you.... here's the google definition that came up: The woman ruler of an empire / the wife or widower of an emperor. Now, my other half is ruler of our household so that might apply.....

Now, about my swim today... Awesome!! And, full clearance from the doc!!! i apprently have a little twist in my spine that's been there for a while and is a little bit of nuisance but I'm already used to it. Yeah swimming!!!!

New Comedian....

for your enjoyment. A friend sent me a link to this clip of him.. Here's that segment which is dead on right!!

So, his name is Louis CK and he's funny. He's big into appreciation... for what we have and how we've evolved into cell phones from rotary phones. His bit about not being friends with people that had 0s in their phone numbers cuz it sucked to pull that dial all the way around... HIGH-larious!

I'm appreciative of another great day at the pool! I did a couple of laps where I got a side-stitch! I've never been so appreciative of that feeling. I had a little bit of pain afterwards but not the bad kind... the really good kind! And, I got home and my kickboard and new gym bag had arrived. I splurged a little bit but I was doing a forward-reward and I'm very happy with my purchases. If I'm able to go 6 months of regular swimming I'm going to reward myself again... but I don't want to get too hasty!

I realized that my blog might turn into a little bit of a workout log for me... Maybe not always but I'm feeling so much better simply just after these few workouts. I've always been an active person. With the non-functioning right leg that has just recently been finally fixed (don't need to go into that again hopefully! - final check-up Thurs!!!) I've gone the longest ever in my life without a more permanent workout routine.... I am determined to get in better health. Between the last rounds of IV steroids and lack of activity I've gained over 40 pounds in the last 2 years.

Can we say circular problem? I gain weight and lose fitness in my stomach and my back gets weaker... I'm getting these hot flashes lately that I know are probably due to my elevated cholesterol levels. Do I know because I had my HDL/LDL tested lately? No, I know this because of too much goofy knowledge in my brain and my bff being a doc... I'm eating better and now getting back to exercise. I'm eating oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning and a lot of yummy fruit!

I'm loving all my endorphin hi's lately with the swimming! I've never understood taking or smoking stuff to get that feeling - yeah, a mountain bike is not cheap but it's a helluva rush in the head going around those corners (of course into a few trees for me) but such a rush!!

I am a little lamb...

That is following the herd!! But I'm also leading a double life - anybody else? This part of me.. my blog and all my rantings and ravings is only known to my partner and me. Nobody else. Not even my best friend in the whole world with whom I discuss everything... and when I say everything, I mean positions everything!!! You know those kinds of friends.... : ] They're wonderful!!

Anyways, I'm also a member of that ever growing population that is called Facebook. But, that's the known part of my world... and this world can't be mixed with that world. The unknown cannot know the known - that would set the balance of the universe off... Lead to ice flows and global warming... Which many of my posts would also qualify as contributing to that as well - being that it's all a bunch of hot air!!!!

I think I should feel something about having 2 separate lives on the internet - one public and one not. I don't, though. I like having this part of me, my blog, be my personal PRIVATE forum for letting my thoughts and wonderings about anything and everything - related to MS and not - be known. I don't care if no one else reads this.... I have my lifetime follower and catches up every couple of posts and she knows that this is an outlet for me to whine about having MS when she just can't hear one more word... (Which isn't true because I got a keeper and doesn't care how much I need to vent about MS).

So, the reason for my baa baa black sheep post this time around is to share something that started over the FB... you may even know something about it... the 25 things about me... I don't mind sharing with y'all but I don't like sharing y'all with anyone else.... makes total sense, huh??

1. My related family and my chosen family mean the world to me - and I love them dearly! And I'm lucky enough to be loved a ton in return!

2. Ummm, I'm a blonde Libra which means I want balance but forget how to get there sometimes!

3. I lived for almost 3 years in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia with my mom/step-dad and was conversational in Arabic for a couple of years...

4. I never lived in one place for more than 4 years until my current stay in/around H-town since 1998

5. I'm not "sleeping with the enemy" level of organization in my pantry but you can see the labels and read the stuff just by standing in the doorway (and in the fridge too!)

6. I'm such a geek that everybody at work (and some friends) know to contact me about grammar situations... and I admit I still know how to diagram a sentence

7. I have MS - I try very hard to not let it have me....

8. I've lost count how many pairs of crutches I've owned in my life... I always was and will be the "accidental athlete"

9. I still don't know how I quite ended up in my career but I'm extremely happy I did - being blue is wonderful!

10. I used to have an African Gray Parrot named Toco, a Silver Crested Cockatoo named Cotton, and various other dogs and cats throughout my life... I'm currently the godmother my friend's cockatoo! We have Emma, Venus, & Bobbie now.

11. All the men in my family are over 6'2" - yet I'm the tallest woman at 5'6"!

12. My favorite food is Alaskan king crab legs - YUMMERS!

13. My IPOD is full and I still have over 200 CD's I still haven't added to my Itunes collection

SIGH - This is harder than I thought!

14. I used to go fishing with my Granny all the time growing up, when I spent summers in Arkansas with all my grandparents - and I've rediscovered my love of reeling one in!

15. My dad's parents, Nana & Grandad, have been married for over 60 years! And my mom's dad, Papa, was lucky enough to spend over 30 years with my Granny before he passed away.

16. I love dolphins!!

17. One of my favorite books of all time is "Oh the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss - life lessons in rhyme!

18. My all-time, hands-down favorite song is The Chair by George Strait... and country is still my kind of music!

19. The dreams my partner and I share are reachable and we work daily on them...

20. I can relate almost anything in my life, and others, to a Friends episode... and a couple of my volleyball teammates referred to me as Phoebe numerous times (deservedly so)

21. My big brothers mean the world to me - and I love when they call me "lil sis" - they are my heroes!

22. I still have all 4 of my wisdom teeth - with room to spare... shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me with how big my mouth is!!

23. I love mudbugs but I WILL NOT suck their heads!!

24. I love all football - college and pro and I love my Cowboys!!!

25. I am thankful for everyday on this Earth to spend with my loved ones close!

Laa LAaa LLAAAaaaa LAAAAAAA...

Like my warm up for my voice?!?!? Got it back the next day... still can't take a super deep breath without coughing and apparently cannot laugh hard without coughing - my supervisor cracked me up today and I started hacking away again. My supervisor told me I was not allowed to lose my voice again because it creeped her out! Funny stuffs!!

My chest was sore yesterday and that luckily went away today. Sheesh - you know that first visit with the Copaxone nurse where they warn you about all the side effects. You get the big bumps and the burning but that tapers down a little bit and gets tolerable. They warn you about the "heart attack" feeling that could pop up a couple of years into injections... but can you really warn someone about that? Can my words about my stomach turning upside down in my lungs and collapsing into my caregiver's arms really portray to someone else what the possibility of the attack? Nope, not really. Not just because words can't really convey the horribleness of that feeling - but because just like with almost everything with this disease it attacks each of us uniquely.

We share a lot of the same things - I'd read about others not being able to breathe and passing out and hurting to breathe for a bit after and all that stuff but some people felt like their whole bodies were on fire and then some people felt like their eyes were going to pop out of their heads, and the list would continue for a few paragraphs if I continued... Gotta love this dammed disease!!! harf harf harf harf

Did I ever say how great the house is since we've made 99% of the Ike repairs??!?! (Shiny thing!) Oh, it is so freakin awesome. The new carpets and flooring is wonderful. The roof looks great, and the gutters turned out to be a perfect match for the house, and the fence is wonderful!! Now, all we have to fix is some sheetrock in the small hallway where water came through the roof vent. And, since that sheetrock would then be totally different from the rest of the house.... we decided to see what it would take to get an interior make-over... It ain't cheap to get pretty.... but we're going to see. Our new leadership wants us all to do our part, right? Well, based on some bonus and tax-returns we can do our part by making sure a contractor has at least one more job.... ?? Is that really un-imaginative reasoning? Maybe but I really don't want another hurricane to enable anymore home makeovers... I'd have rather not gone through that!!!

Back again in the pool tomorrow! Got my kickboard onthe way so I can get some good exercising in... along with my follow-up MRI. Can't wait to get in the box... NOT!

A lot of crap on my mind...

Okay....

I don't have a voice. It decided it didn't like me and it's apparently taking a vacation. It started last night with about 40 seconds left in the Super Bowl. My Steelers decided to give me a heart attack and apparently my voice was the casualty. We had several people over for the big game who were not big football fans but they were big time into the game because they had $$ in their work. We took a spin on the old football squares tradition - we bought little gifts (and not gag either) and gave them away at the times that $ would be won... One of our friends won 3 freakin' times.... Everybody else said we rigged it!!!

Today's been interesting without a voice - My boss kept commenting that my "sexy" voice was freaking her out and she did not like me not talking... And I always thought that my work would be appreciative of me not having a voice!!! I know some of them appreciated it!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

I got back in the pool over the weekend and IT FELT FUCKING GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited. I only did a little bit - but it didn't hurt and I felt good afterwards. I can't wait to get back there, which is tomorrow morning!! YIPPPEEEE!! No legs spasms, no hurting back.... Nada.

I did, unfortunately last night, experience that horrible side effect from Copaxone that causes you to stop breathing and your body to go horribly wrong - I felt like my stomach was turning upside/down and inside out at the same time my lungs were filled with fluid and could not get anything in or out - I could not feel anything outside of my lungs burning... I passed out for the briefest moment .... My partner swears I did okay but I thought I was going to die... OMFG!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how she stayed so calm and cool... I know I heard her voice through all the haze and pain.... course, I was not happy when she would not let me lie down for the 20 minutes afterwards considering I could not catch my breath.... It still hurts to take a full, deep breath. I'm wondering if that's why I haven't gotten my voice back yet... I know I'm supposed to call the honchos with my meds but I can't very well talk to them without a voice, can I? I'll call them later...