I'm a Driver, I'm a Winner; Things Are Gonna Change, I Can Feel It.

HAPPY 2012!!

Since the Rose Parade aired today, instead of on the first, I feel that I'm not technically late with my first blog of 2012! What's that you say? An excuse?? Maybe... But seriously, it doesn't feel like a new year until those pretty floats are on my screen and I'm watching Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards tell me that they hold the parade on a Monday instead of yesterday, a Sunday, because the horses used to get spooked by the church bells on Sundays. There's also a legend that the parade has an agreement with God not to hold it on a Sunday and in return, it will never rain on the parade; but a few years ago it sure poured on poor Stephanie Edwards when they put her on the street. Thankfully, people threw a fit and she's hosting again. I'm glad, I hated seeing her in that pouring rain!

So, anyhoo, I figure today starts the actual new year. Plus, it's a leap year. An extra day, right? And I have a bit of a cold. I debated heavily about getting out from under the covers at all. But 80* on January 2nd will make you want to. (Seriously, what on Earth is up with this weather?!?!)

Now down to business:
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!! I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sid did too. Santa left him some bones under the tree. Check out the pic of him waiting for Santa!

And family members sent him a ton too! I got some wonderful gifts too, just as I always do. My Nana is better than Santa. Sorry, Santa. Speaking of which, those two amazing gift givers ran into each other this year:

Santa at the MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana was amazing! My Nana is 89 and when I saw that Santa happened to have no kids in line (I know, how often does that happen?) I asked him to come take a picture with her. She called me a stinker, but I know she secretly loved it. I even had the picture put on a coffee mug. One of my favorite moments ever! All in all, a great Christmas. Next year I am not making cookies as gifts though. Waaay too much stress!! I think I'll do the crocheted ornaments again, but I'm starting now! No rushing throughout December! They turned out pretty well. It's definitely a case of the more I do it, the better I am. If I haven't crocheted in a few months, it takes awhile to get back to it. Here's a pic:

I have made some resolutions for the new year. I hate calling them that though. Let's call them guidelines. And no, I'm not sharing them all with you. Sorry. Some are personal, some are just downright nerdy, and I kinda believe that I'll be more likely to keep them if I have less pressure on me to do so. I know, usually it's the other way around, but not for me.

That being said, I will share THREE with you (aren't you lucky!) ;-)
1) Blog More!-
     There's no reason to blog as infrequently as I do, except for pure laziness and the fact that I do not do enough interesting things to blog about... which brings us to
2) Do More Interesting Things!-
     Maybe I'll meet some cool people AND I'll have better things to blog about. Less abstract ideas; more, here's the cool thing that happened to me yesterday!
3) Get Healthier-
     This includes a multitude of things, from working out more, varying my workouts, eating better, reading up and doing more research about MS, to even finally getting a wisdom tooth pulled (ugh). This is a never-ending resolution and I'm okay with that.

So, that's all I'm sharing with you. I will get on it. Starting today! I did already do a new blog entry, didn't I? Go me! 1 down! Kinda. As I said, they're more guidelines for the year, not "resolutions".

And so I leave you with this, Happy New Year's to all and welcome to my new readers! How awesome was it to come back after a month's hiatus to new readers! And when I check my stats, I see that people from all over the world have checked out my blog. I am truly humbled! I hope to do you all proud! As always, if you want to hear about anything in particular, let me know!!

I'm Didn't Disappear... I Just Have MS

I know, I know... long time, no blog. I've just been busy with the holidays. And as anyone with MS will tell you, a little bit of stress to a normal healthy person, can shut us down completely. So, while I love my blog and have the best of intentions when it comes to keeping it updated, it is kinda the first thing to fall by the wayside when life gets busy.

I'm finally done with this semester of school. Hallelujah! I'm registered for the winter semester and finally got my last pre-req class.Thanksgiving and all the delicious food and wonderful family time has come and gone, and now Christmas looms on the horizon. I have a lot of crochet projects up my sleeve for Christmas gifts and that's taking up a lot of my time.

I also had my blood drawn and found out that my triglycerides are super high. Yep, bummer. My diet's not bad, but there goes my favorite fountain sodas. Oh wells. I also am trying to get my butt on the treadmill and elliptical machine in the apartment gym more often. Yoga doesn't get the heart pumping enough. I hate jogging and that damn, evil elliptical, but I'm trying my best! It can be hard with the MS since I'm not supposed to overheat. So, I have to get my heart pumping, but not too much. Make sense?

Otherwise, things are going really well. I wanted to do a Thanksgiving blog about what I'm thankful for, but instead my brother came down and visited and we played Super Mario Bros. Galaxy on the Wii and saw The Muppets. So good. So worth it. But here's what I'm thankful for:
My family and friends- they are awesome and so supportive
My pets
My Dr.'s and the office staff who help me all the time. Like, ALL the time
My health, as crappy as it can be, it could be worse
Chocolate
Books
This blog, where I can vent my feelings and hopefully reach someone else who is going through the same thing
I'm thankful for many, many other things, but I'll stop there.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a wonderful December. It's the last month of 2011. Let's make it rock! :)

11/11/11... Make a Wish!

Happy 11/11/11. Oh, special day, huh? I missed the 11:11 a.m. wishing point, so now I have to try to make it to 11:11 p.m. Try being the operative word here. I don't know what is up with me, if it's the daylight savings time or what, but I have been lagging every day. I was joking earlier that my next blog was going to be called, "How I spent My Friday Watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reruns on the Couch in my Snuggie". It's sadly only half a joke, because that's all I've had the energy to do lately.

I did get to the dermatologist's on Tuesday. I have Perleche. My lips keep cracking in the corner and no matter how much Carmex or Vaseline I put on them, they aren't healing. Apparently, I drool at night. I also grind my teeth. But the drool leads to the cracked lips. Oh yeah. I feel super hot today. Boys will be lining up for a drooling, teeth grinding, cracked lip, exhausted girlfriend. Yay! I got a medication for it, but I will not be going back to that dermatologist. I saw the PA (physician's assistant) who was a complete idiot. She had no idea what Multiple Sclerosis was or even how to spell it. Really? And she's a PA? Give me a break.

I did make it in to my PCP's office for the blood work I've been putting off. I was supposed to be completely fasting, but I cheated and added creamer to my coffee. I couldn't help it. I hate black coffee. Ugh, so gross.

Now I have to organize some recipes and my crochet and knit patterns. It's a poor Christmas, so people are getting cookies and crocheted or knitted ornaments. There's a bonanza of free patterns out there. So awesome. Also, I found free recipes for doggie treats! Yay for homemade doggie treats for the animals! So, I must go.

Don't forget to make a wish at 11:11. I hope yours comes true.

Love and peace. Also, Happy Veteran's Day and thank you to all of our veterans who keep us safe out there. Like my Papa Bill. He was a pilot in the Navy and one of the best people who ever lived on this planet. He used to unscrew my belly button and tell me my arms and legs were going to fall off. I miss him every day. This photo is of him in 1938 at age 20 on Terminal Island in Long Beach.

The Post-It Note Is A Thing Of Beauty

I'm sorry, I had to take a week off from blogging. I was sick and couldn't bring myself to find the extra energy. Blogging is somewhat like exercise from me. If I miss too many days of it, it feels like I have to start all over again. Anyhoo, I had my flu shot a week ago last Friday, I was hoping that I would not get the flu because of it, but I did. I think my immune system was also hindered by the weird weather we've been having. Hot during the day, cold at night. It seems like a lot of people have the flu. It's hot and the Santa Ana's are blowing today, but it's supposed to be rainy only in the 50's by Friday. Go figure.

Being sick and laying in bed and doing absolutely nothing productive did lead me to my newest blog idea though....

The beauty of the Post-It note. I cannot express in enough words how much I love these things.

Really. I love, love, LOVE Post-It notes!! I'm one of those people that always thinks of things I have to do the next day, right as I'm falling asleep.

Lying in bed, nodding off watching something like Family Guy, I always think to myself, "Oh yeah, you need to go to the bank tomorrow, and the grocery store because we're out of bread (or whatever I'm out of). Also you need to call so-and-so about that appointment and make sure you call to have the maintenance guy fix the sink." With the Post-It notes, I can keep them on my nightstand, along with a pen, and jot down all these random thoughts that pop in my head late at night.

Without my lovely Post-It notes, I would totally wake up and completely forget all those things that run through my mind at 11:00 P.M. I would be lazy and read all day and never get to the grocery store. The sink would never get fixed. Post-It notes are my To-Do list. right by my bed, so as soon as I wake up, I know what I need to do that day.

Between the MS and the fact that I take Topamax for migraines, my brain is not quite what it used to be. Which is sad, because my brain is awesome. Did you know the nickname for Topamax is "Stupidmax"? Fun!!! But my Post-It notes help keep my life together when everything feels like it could unravel at any minute. So, I just had to give a shout out to my colorful, square paper that helps so much.

I've finally kicked the flu (knock wood). So maybe my brain will start functioning at full speed again soon and I will have a better blog next time than an ode to the Post-It.

As for the new med, the N-acetyl glucosamine, I've been on it for about a week and a half now, so I have no news to really report yet. No bad side effects, not feeling any change. But then again, I was fighting the flu, so I will report back again later.

As always, much love, and don't blow away on this blustery day!!

Testing, Testing...

I was made aware of an article in the Orange County Register by my Dr. about the effect of N-acetyl-glucosamine on Multiple Sclerosis in a study at UCI. It seems to help slow the disease down a bit. Okay, they tested it on mice, but it worked on them. I ordered mine online and it arrived today. I had to go online because this is not your basic over the counter vitamin, but it was easy enough to get, even if it took awhile to ship. I started it today, I'll let you know how I feel.
Here's a link to the UCI study:
http://today.uci.edu/news/2011/09/nr_ms_110930.php

Happy Monday! I have school tonight and a full day of cleaning tomorrow (sobbing quietly), so I'll be hard to reach. Much love!

I Love Lazy Sundays

I wake up, make some coffee, check my emails and things, and do my Sunday crossword puzzle from the L.A. Times. Okay, I don't actually complete all of it, but I ALMOST can!!

The weather here has been a drag. It's been cold at hot and in the high 80's during the day. Leading to me to feel like I'm fighting off a cold. I just my flu shot on Friday. I anyone gets one, make sure to do it in the hand you do not write with. It feel like you got socked in the arm for a couple of days after.

Yesterday was one of those rare days were I wanted to chill and I was actually able to. And time went so nice and slowly. Usually when you're having a nice day like that, the time just speeds by.

I've been adjusting to a new schedule, so my posts have been less frequent. It'll be back to normal soon. Until then, take care and I hope you are enjoying this lovely lazy Sunday too!

The Secret Life of Sid... Punk Rock Dog!

Our pets are like angels with four furry little paws instead of wings.
No, I haven't gone and gotten all religious on you, I don't believe in religion. But I do believe in something higher than us who created this universe. I call it God and I believe one is the amazing things this creator did was give us animals. When you are having the bluest of blue days, who else can heal you like a dog or cat? Or whichever pet you chose to have? I once had a Gecko. It was awesome.
Have you checked out my fellow blogger Rabid's post on K.A.T yet? Do so and then check back in. The link is on the previous blog post.
OK, you're back? Interesting stuff, huh? Now where was I?
Ah yes, my amazing dog Sid. When I got sick 6 years ago, the best thing I did was go to the pound and adopt my Sid. Part Daschund and Corgi, I truly believe he has helped me heal as much as any of my medications. Who else makes me get up when I'd rather loaf around and be lazy to take him on a walk? Who else is my constant companion and waits on the couch until I get home? Who else looks at me with eyes full of unconditional love?  I love my dog more than words can say. He is my baby.

That's him after a trip to the groomer's. Look at that smile. All sweet and innocent looking, that is until...

His alter ego shows up! Sid the punk rocker! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Sid is actually Sid Vicious. He even has a grin where he shows a tooth like Billy Idol. He sneaks out at night to play poker with those bad dogs up the street. Usually mild mannered, Sid the punk rock dog has no time for bitches. And by that I mean female dogs of course. He loves only the music and the open road...

Mock me all you want for dressing up my dog, but I love him and it makes us happy. OK, it makes me happy. And he gets a treat for it. So it evens out in the end. Sid, mild mannered dog by day, punk rock super star by night, is the best thing that ever happened to me. I like to think we saved each other.
Have a wonderful Sunday and I hope you enjoyed the preview of Sid's Halloween costume!

"His ears were often the first thing to catch my tears."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, referring to her cocker spaniel, Flush