"It's the End of the World as we Know It"

Well folks, that's it. It's done. Football season is over. And my beloved Vikings are going to be sitting at home watching the post-season with everyone else. They came so close and as disappointing as it was to know they lost, they did a lot better than expected two months ago. So hopefully that means they'll be able to build on this and make it into the play offs next year. I do have to say, should they make it to the Super Bowl, we will be throwing one hell of a party!

It's too late to think of a title

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I had the best kind, Mom's fabulous foods and the wonderful company of family. The non-blood related people, they're family too. J got me a beautiful pair of tanzanite earrings, which reminded me I still need to find a jeweler to reset my other pair. He also got me food storage set. I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going to fit everything in my Ki. I can't even call the space a kitchen, it's just not possible, one of these days I'll have to take a picture to add. Mom and Dad gave me a wonderful new bathrobe, among other things. The only problem with the robe, it's a very warm, soft, fuzzy fabric. And I live in FL. On the plus side, it's supposed to cool down next week, so maybe I'll get to use it then :)

On the crafting front I've still been busy. I finished the afghan for the silent auction. I didn't have any other projects planned, but I was trying to think of what to do with all the blue yarn I have left from J's afghan. If you remember, I bought 5 skeins the day after Thanksgiving as a precaution. Since I had run out of the blue and couldn't find the brand I was using, the Red Heart was a very very very close match, maybe a slight shade off. So as a pre-caution, I bought 5 of them, and didn't even use one to complete the afghan. I also have black left from it and the regular deep purple from the auction blanket. Those three colors are now in my current afghan project. They actually look very nice together, now, I just need to figure out what to do with it. I have an idea, but we'll see.

I'm adding to my addiction too. Oh wait, that was a yarn addiction. So maybe my new discoveries are enabling my yarn addiction. You be the judge. I've joined the forum at Crochetville and I love seeing all the fabulous completed projects. Today I got my invite to Ravelry and I really don't even know where to start. I've got lots to keep me busy and help the nights I work go by faster.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Well, day before anyway. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! However you spend Christmas, enjoy the day and those you are with.

J told me Saturday that since we have no plans tonight, we are going to a get together some friends of his are hosting. Since it's Christmas, I felt that a small hostess gift was needed. So I made the hotpads I got from Annie's Attic. Annie's Attic provides a free crochet pattern daily and these lightbulb hotpads were featured a few days ago. Of course, I may have been just looking for a reason to make them :-)

I really like how these turned out, except the green one is somehow bigger than the red. But oh well. It can be used for bigger items. It can kinda be seen, the green has silver thread mixed in and the red has gold.

Too funny not to share

I got this forwarded to me today and I have to share it. I have sincere empathy for those taking the calls 'cause I know I've gotten some fun ones too. Just not quite this funny.

More Craftiness

Picture this: I'm sitting at home working (I have a part time job taking inbound sales calls, thankfully the company offers this at home!) and as I am taking calls I'm working on the afghan I plan to auction in April. Suddenly, I get the bright idea that I want to give snowflakes to some of my co-workers. But hey, it's all good because I already have seven done. I only need about 20 total and I have about a week and a half to do them. And they don't take me long. As long as people aren't calling and throwing off my counting.

So, I got out my crochet thread, the little crochet hook (the one that always makes the one I normally work with feel huge after) and I started working. Oh yeah, and I also decided they needed to be sparkly and that would be done by adding beads. Have I mentioned that I've never done bead crochet before? It really wasn't that difficult.

Then, I got the bright idea that one co-worker wasn't going to get a snowflake. Instead, since this co-worker has had some stress recently, I thought I would make her something else. I found a pattern for a crochet reindeer at LionBrand. And I've spent a good portion of this week working on that. And, it's finally done! So I can go back to the 5 1/2 hour afghan that's already been longer than 5 1/2 hours. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is the reindeer and snowflakes.

I do have to say, I am very please with myself regarding the reindeer. It's the first crochet animal I've done and I think it turned out well. The biggest issue I had was attaching the pieces.

Sweeny Todd- a review with no spoilers

Last night J, my parents and I went to see Sweeny Todd starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall. I recommend seeing this movie. Overall, I really liked this movie. That said, it was just dark enough that I wouldn't want to buy the movie. But it was good. The actors were all amazing and were perfectly cast. Tim Burton did a fabulous job directing this. The contrasts between the happy times and sad times were beautifully done. The singing was done similar to Chicago, used as part of the diaglogue. The only complaint I really had regarding the singing was the character Joanna. She was a soprano (at least, to my tone deaf ears she was) and Timothy Burton (or whoever) had her in the higher pitches for most of her song.

On a side note, thanks to the Internet Movie Data Base, I currently am remembering Timothy Spall is the actor and I don't have to refer to him as the actor who played Peter Pettigrew in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. However, I think going forward I will never be able to stop picturing him as a rat.

I've Been a Very Busy Bee

Ok, make that a busy crafty critter! I finally finished J's blanket. It's only been in the works for the last 9 months or more. But in between that, I had a baby blanket come up. And a hat. And I decided I wanted a covering for my toilet tank and I wanted to make it so it would semi-match the shower curtain. And I had to finish J's blanket as I was just itching to start my new project, a crochet afghan with a nice big hook. This one will be available to bid on and will hopefully be done very quickly. Since I've been so busy, I thought I'd share the fruits (ok, yarns) of my labor with everyone.



1st view of J's afghan.





This has a better view of the edging. J says it looks to him like confetti and was done with all three colors together.






The covering I made for my toilet tank. My shower curtain is a navy blue with an suns, moons and stars in an antique gold type color.





Someone I know was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She was told that the type she had was a rare type, but if one is going to get this nasty disease, the kind she had was the best type to get. As a precaution, she is going through chemo-therapy. She's not sure if her hair will fall out or not, so I thought I would make her a hat just in case. This is the first time I've ever made one, and it turned out pretty good.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

But the Fire is so Delightful. Oh wait, that's not the weather, at least not here. And the only fire that could be a possibility for me is from my candles. The weather is actually very nice right now. It's cooled down, which means people don't laugh at me for being stubborn and having my AC off when it's 80 out. In my defense, the humidity has been lower, so it hasn't really been that bad having the AC off either. The nights have gotten cooler, the other morning I woke up to high 40's.

While I've been enjoying the weather, I've also been very very busy. Working two jobs and trying to fit sleep in does tend to do that to a person. But in between all of that, I've also managed to set up a website for my silent auction. This site is called Ride to Erase MS and will allow people to preview items that will be available for bidding on. Right now there's no items, I'm sad to say. But I'm working on it! I started a crochet blanket that I'm going to auction off and will hopefully have that finished soon since I'm using one of my awesome new, huge hooks.

I think the best news about that right now, though, comes from Tuesday's hockey game. My work often offers subsidized tickets to events and a few months ago we were offered tickets to 2 Tampa Bay Lightning games for less than the face value of 1 of those games. This past Tuesday was the second game and, since the tickets were from work, it's a good chance that each of the parties in our section contained at least one person from my company. Now, since my company has many many people on payroll for this campus alone, I think the chances that I actually know the person are less than .01 percent. Anyway, during one of the intermissions, J happened to look up and noticed a staff member on the catwalk trying to get someone's attention. Turned out the person he was trying to get to notice him was a lady sitting in the row in front of us. She said that was her son, and our conversation evolved. As part of my begging and pleading for auction items, I have a letter all printed out for the Lightning, I just haven't sent it yet. Even better, this woman's son works on the entertainment crew and she passed my letter onto him. He's going to see what he can do to hook me up. I just love connections!

Allright poppets, I'm going to stop rambling now while I can still make sense. I think J may have shared his cold with me. But I'm not sure since it doesn't feel like a cold and I have no idea what it does feel like except maybe a little bit of everything. I've already slept two hours this afternoon and I need to eat something and make a phone call so I can go back to sleep. Enjoy your weather wherever you are!

Location? Check!

As part of my fundraising efforts for the MS150 Bike Ride, I decided to do a silent auction. J, having owned a motorcycle for 5 or so years and having several friends that are bikers, suggested having it at Plant City's Bike Fest. Plant City does this the first Saturday of every month. They usually have a bike contest, different vendors and a band. The people watching is amazing too!

So anyway, J had this brillant idea to have it at Plant City's Bike Fest. I got the okay from the chamber president today and I can officially start collection auction items. I've never planned a silent auction before, but I'm very excited to be doing this. I'm hoping this will help to raise lots of money for the MS Society!

I may or may not have an addiction...

to yarn. Is it my fault I could get such a good deal on them today? After all, they come in such pretty colors and such soft textures. Who could resist? And it is all my fault since I wasn't paying enough attention to what I had availible and I ran out of the blue I was using right smack in the middle of a section on J's blanket. So of course, since I had coupons for Joanne, I had to go get more blue today. It bothered me that I didn't pay attention and I ran out.

So off to Joanne I went, around 11 this morning. Another problem that I had, I didn't keep the wrapping for the last batch I bought, so I couldn't remember what brand it was. Although I was fairly certain it was Caron since I remember it being in clear plastic (not all yarns are in plastic, most usually have paper around the middle with the name and other information), I knew it was the pound size and I frequently see those in Caron brand. If it was, Joann no longer carries that. But I was able to find a very very close match. If it's not an exact match, it's pretty dang close! But while I was at Joanne, I also picked up the yarn for my next project, 2 new crochet hooks and a garland of poinsettas for the wall candle holder. Here's my Joanne's foray:

This afternoon J and I went to see Enchanted (very cute, btw) and stopped at Michael's before the movie. Wednesday I stopped there after work to pick up an item and noticed a clearance bin of novelty yarns for $1 each. These are the yarns that look like fur or feathers and usually start at $5. I was kicking myself for not getting them, even though I have no idea what/how I would use them. But they were $1!!! So, as I said, J and I stopped so I could do some more shopping for yarn. I still have no idea what I'm going to do with them. But they were soooo pretty! And only $1!!!! So here's the batch I got from Michaels:

So let's recap, shall we.

Joanne's:

9 skeins of yarn

2 crochet hooks

1 poinsetta garland

Michaels:

30 skeins (rolls?) novelty yarn

Yep, I'd have to say I did pretty darn good. Now, I just have to figure out what to do with all those pretty fuzzy ones! Any ideas?

American Gangster - the movie

I've been meaning to do a review of this movie for the few people who read ;-) Fair warning, if you don't want any information on this movie other than it was good, then don't read further.


Last chance....



Are you still here? Okay. J and I met up with a friend of his and her fiancee to see this movie last Sunday. The movie is based on the true life story of Frank Lucas, a narcotics dealer located in New York in the late 60's and early to mid 70's. Frank was the driver and collector gangster Bumpy Something-or- other for 15 years leading up to Bumpy's death of a heart attack of all things. The movie opens with Frank making a collection which involves shooting something. It was a rather gory and surprising opening to a movie. In fact, the first several minutes (10, 15, 30?) was along this same vein. But it was also educational in a way. It was rather surprising to see Frank go to the heroine re-packager (I'm really not sure what to call her) and all the little female worker bees were either in their underwear or naked. Apparently that was so they wouldn't steal any of the merchandise.

Denzel Washington was fabulous in this role. It's a little strange to see him playing the part of the bad guy, as it's not something seen all that often with him. As I was watching, it struck me how introspective he made his character. You could see him watching and not missing a single detail of what went on around him and filing it away for later use.

I haven't really seen much with Russell Crowe, so I was pleasently surprised at his portrayal of the detective. It was very well executed and very believable. My favorite character portrayal, however, had to have been done by Cuba Gooding Jr. He played another drug dealer and played him in a flamboyent, pimp style. Sadly, there wasn't enough of him in the movie.

Over all I thought this movie was very well done. Yes there were several moments where I hid my eyes because of the violence, but given the subject of the movie, I can understand why it was needed. As I was watching, I kept thinking of the documentary Urban Cowboys which chronicles the rise of the drug business in Miami during the same time period. It's amazing the different ways people manage to get drugs into the country, something that is still happening today. I do recommend this movie, but keep in mind, it's not for the faint of heart or stomach.

I love long weekends!

W0rking for a bank, I get Monday off in observance of my birthday. Okay, it's not for my birthday, I'm not that special. It's the observance of Veteran's Day. And because I still have lots of time off, I need to use it or lose it. So I took Friday off for a nice long four day weekend.

My plan was sleep in, get up and go for a bike ride which would eventually end up at work. I can hear you all now. Why work? Because that's where the gym I joined is at, right in the middle of work. And the gym found a new Yoga instructer, so Friday was to be the first day of the new Yoga class since the middle of September. I've missed Yoga. I love how it stretches all of my muscles and how some days I even have soreness in some surprising muscles, like the day we did a backwards arm raise and the muscles between my shoulder blades were very sore.

After waking up, I returned mom's phone call and found she needed a ride to her doctor appointment. I can't even remember all the times she has scrapped her plans or gone into work on little to no sleep because of medical situations, so without hesitation I headed to mom and dad's. One doctor appointment and 3-4 hours in the ER later, mom is sent home the official diagnosis of "I'm very very sure it's chest wall pain" which can encompass anything. On the plus side, all of the tests came back negative, so I guess we can live with a diagnosis of chest wall pain and a promise that it'll go away in a few weeks.

After putting mom into bed and waiting for dad to get her prescription's filled, I headed home as I needed to work my part time job at 7. Now, let me back up and provide some background information to my few readers before I continue. I bought my car in 2003, at the time it was technically a year old. Recently my car has decided it wants to very roughly idle while stopped and in gear. So roughly that I would physically be moved as well. J, after riding and contemplating, was thinking it's a vacuum leak and the biggest problem with that is actually locating where the leak is. Unfortunatly, that's not something he has had time to do just yet.

Last night I was heading home on the freeway a good hour plus before I had to log in for work. I didn't get very far when my Service Engine Soon light came on. Now, never having had this light come on before, I had a mild panic and called J. Which didn't do a whole lot of good since he was currently in a work truck heading to Riveria Beach with a bunch of co-workers and he was at least an hour away. But my hope was that if I could describe the clicking sound I was hearing (which I still can't and still have no idea where it was coming from) he could let me know if my car was safe to continue home or not. I pulled off the freeway and J called a friend of his who knows cars and used to work for his dad's auto shop. S came and plugged in a little computer, 5 minutes later he was telling me the problem is something called an EGR (Dad says it's part of the emissions system), could cost me around $130 and was totally safe to drive home. Not only that, but fixing the EGR will most likely take care of the rough idle. I was very relieved to know it wasn't something that would cost many many $$$'s.

It was how cold?

I want to share a couple of weather related things that made me chuckle this past week. First off, friends and family tease me for getting cold so easily, especially since I lived roughly 22 years in Minnesota (or as I refer to it, the Arctic Circle). But I have always gotten cold easily and never liked the cold. That being said, here's what made me chuckle.

First, NBC's Today Show had three anchors spend time at the Ends of the Earth, one being at the North Pole (okay, Greenland), one at the equater and the third at the Antarctica. The anchor at the North Pole earlier this week was stating it's cold there, at the time about 10 degrees farenhiet. The Antarctic anchor yesterday or today was saying the weather there is about thirty below zero farenheit. And my reaction to both of them? Is that it? It's only that cold? Psshhawww, that ain't nuttin'!

My second observation was driving into work this morning. Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Depression whatever Noel was good for one thing around here, it lowered our humidity drastically. The weather has been so nice that the AC got turned off and windows are open! Taking Ciera out this morning, I was chilled and hugging my arms. But I decided not to grab a jacket to go to work as my car was right outside my apartment building and the walk into work from the parking garage isn't all that long, maybe a block if that. While on the drive in this morning, the dj's stated the weather was getting a little cooler rather than warming at that point and the temp was 47. My thought was hmmm, maybe I should have brought a jacket. Going into the building at work, I noticed the heat, yes you read that right, the HEAT was on. Not only that, but the registers are in the ceiling, so I wonder if they're aware heat rises. And I couldn't tell you how many people were bundled into sweaters and jackets and here was me, the original freeze baby, in a tee shirt. Go figure.

He makes my heart flutter

Have I mentioned lately how much I love and adore my wonderful boyfriend? If I haven't before, let me shout it from the rooftops, hire a skywriter, take out an ad. John is so fabulously wonderfully fantastic. Not only does he not listen to me when I'm whining that I can't pedal anymore and there's no way I'll make it up that hill (which, here is Florida is usually smaller than those of Minnesota), he often times will actually push me when needed. He always knows when I need that little extra oomph and is excellent at ignoring me when I say I'm not tired. He takes such fabulous care of me. John has even signed up to ride the MS 150 with me. He's going to be there as my support and will probably be riding beside me as we cross the finish line, with a hand on my back giving me that extra Oomph! So John, thank you for being in my life and loving me so much.

What a busy weekend!

John and I both took Friday off from work and went to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. We had a lot of fun eating our way through the different countries and trying new things. Friday was John's birthday, so he decided he wanted to see if guest relations does anything for birthdays. They gave him a birthday button and a hat.

John decided to inform them that my birthday is in a week, so I ended up with a button of my own.

The most entertaining part of the day however had to be the free Jon Secada concert. I don't know what it was about the show, but I was giggling throughout. It seemed to me he was trying to hard and instead came across as insincere. I told John he reminded me of Ricky Martin, and John said he's the original Ricky Martin. Video from the show is located in my photobucket account found here for those of you who really want to see what had me giggling. There is no sound as my camera isn't new enough to have that.

Regarding the food, we had some really yummy items from Morroco. We had a chicken item called Bastilla which was shredded chicken in phylo dough. It was a little sweet and tasted almost like it had cinnamon included in it. We also had a Kefta, which was a beef type meat (lamb? beef?) in a pita. And of course lots and lots of yummy wine!

Yesterday I bought a new bicycle. It's a comfort bike and I was almost in tears while test driving. With the MS, even though my hands seem the most affected, my thigh muscles also make sure I remember I have MS when I bike. I was riding on a 18 speed Magna mountain bike from Target. Mom and I used to go bike riding and I would never have a problem being in my higher gears, usually 8th and up. Since the onset of MS, I've been lucky if I could be in 4th gear without my legs getting very very tired. It's similar to lifting weights and getting to the end when you don't think your muscles will let you complete what you're doing because they're so tired. Except that would happen like five to fifteen minutes into my ride. It was definitely lowering to experience that. Now, with my fabulous new bike, I don't have that problem. John and I went out today and I was able to ride in 18th and 21st gear. I had a huge smile on my face for most of the day. Oh, I do adore my fabulous new bike!

So many things, so little time

There hasn't been a whole lot going on around here lately. I've been busy working and getting back to working out after two weeks of many scheduled lunchtime events at work. What's wrong with them, don't they know that's my workout time? John and I are still working on getting ready for the MS150 in April. Not only are we trying to increase our biking, but we're also making plans for fundraising events.

This has actually made for some difficult to fall asleep nights. Not because of stress and worry, not yet anyway. We're just starting to hash out some ideas of what to do and what steps need to be taken. Which means my mind doesn't want to shut off at night and keeps thinking over what we've already discussed as well as coming up with more ideas and thoughts. I'm excited not only to raise more funds, but also to put together the events themselves. Of course, that may change further down the road :-)

We seem to have settled on three events to take place between now and April. John is in a bowling league at a local bowling alley and had the wonderful idea of a bowl-a-thon. I'm hoping to have that in December sometime, maybe January. We're also discussing a car wash. A local restuarant supported a couple in a car wash last month to help her raise funds for the 3 day breast walk. Not only did the restuarant allow them to use their corner of the parking lot, they also donated 10% of proceeds for all sales during that time. I'm hoping to do the same for our car wash. The final event we're planning is a silent auction. We've decided to speak with the Plant City chamber of commerce and see if they'll donate booth space so we can hold it at Plant City's monthly bike fest. That will probably take place in March or April to give us time to collect donations. So it looks as if I'm going to be plenty busy in the next few months!

"Make New Friends, But Keep the Old"

I can understand the excitment my friend Courtenay has for her young married couples group through Church. Last night John and I went to a bowling event put on by the Mid-Florida Chapter of the National MS Society. This event was for 20 and 30 year olds diagnosed with MS and a guest. It was a lot of fun to just go, hang out nad meet other people my age in the same boat as me. Although, the topic of MS didn't really come up a whole lot and it was a very small part of any discussions.

We met a very nice couple, Peter and Ellen. Ellen just moved down here to FL in March from Wisconsin. The poor girl is even a Packers fan, says she has been her entire life. But we can forgive her that :) Ellen and Peter live in a city over from John and I and we have lots in common, including an enjoyment for motorcycles.

I am really looking forward to more gatherings with this group. It's funny, we've all come together because of this one common pain in the rear. But it's only a very very small part of who we are. None of us are letting this mess with our lives. And for us, that's the way it should be.

Sinbad!

I work for Citi, formerly known as Citigroup, the company that is known more for their credit cards. Although they are also a bank, and provide tons of other financial services. This is a job I kinda fell into, thanks to a former co-worker. And while my job occasionally gets repetitive and a little borning, the benefits and perks are amazing! My MS drug is $1700 a month. Under my former employer insurance, my co-pay was $100/month or $250 for 3 months on mail order!! Now, my co-pay is a fabulous and wonderful $16.70 a month. Also, I was recently able to purchase tickets for 2 dates to the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games for a very very low price. Granted, they're third level seats, but hey, that just means it's a lot easier to see the ice :-) . I also had the privilage of purchasing discount tickets to see Comedian and Actor Sinbad.

John and I went to the show last night and I am so glad I decided I wanted to go and see him. If you ever get a chance, get the tickets and go! He was so funny that John was wiping away tears of laughter. Sinbad never swore or used raunchy jokes. He did talk about sex, but that is a part of life and that is what he bases his comedy on. I think for me, the funniest was when he was telling a couple how they can get their 31 year old to move out (he's been living with them for 3 years after being in the military).

Sinbad told this couple their son would need therapy for awhile, but it would get him to move out and never want to move back home. He told them they just need to start walking around naked and having sex throughout the house. He even suggested that when they walk into the kitchen in the morning and son is eating breakfast, ask him if he's almost done as they'd like to use the table.

If you weren't able to tell from above, he was big on audience participation. He gave one couple a little bit of grief when they walked in late. There was a family with three 3 boys sitting in one of the front rows. Two of the boys were 14 (either twins or one was an invited friend) and the other boy was 12. Sinbad was giving them life and dating advice but making it funny. He was telling them to enjoy being kids and to take their time with dating. He even asked the female audience members to ask questions about the things men do. That was when the ONLY curse word of the show came up, and it wasn't said by him. It was said by one of the women asking questions. The audience kinda did a gasp of shock/shame on you type of sound. But Sinbad was able to joke about what she said and lighten it up.

Sinbad was on stage for over an hour and a half. I was really wanting an intermission as I not only had to use the restroom, but I wanted some water from all the laughing. And the last thing I wanted to do was miss a moment of his show. Not only was Sinbad terrific, but my dinner was amazing as well! John and went to this place in Clearwater called Johnny's Italian Restuarant. It apparently requires patience as we would have had a 20 minute wait. Instead we ate at the bar due to time constraints.

The bread wasn't really anything special, but their oil dip mixture was very yummy! So much so that I asked for some to bring home. John ordered tortellini alfredo with shrimp. The alfredo really could have used more cheese. I ordered the stuffed shells in bolognaise. I probably could have done without the bolognaise, but the shells were sooooo yummy! I highly highly recommend this place to all interested.

Before I go, I want to remind you that I am riding in the MS150 this coming April. If you haven't already done so, please visit my participant page and consider donating to this wonderful cause.

I'm "Dewing" It! Riding to Erase MS!

As many know, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) December 2006. Dad received an official diagnosis of MS in 1987 after having been diagnosed with a form of MS in the 1970's. I decided to sign up for the National MS Society's Mid-Florida MS150. This is a 150 mile bike ride that takes place over two days. I would greatly appreciate any support and donations that could be provided. The National MS Society not only sponsors MS research, but also provides programs for those afflicted, they advocate for legislative changes and even help people to live their lives to the fullest. Sometimes that means a wheelchair, sometimes it means a service animal or even minor changes in the home. But they can't do it without us. So please help! Please donate by visiting my participant page here. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have regarding this. And thank you so much for your time and donation.

Almost Famous!

Ok, only within work. My company is big on making sure diversity is recognized and celebrated. And as October is National Disability Awareness month (who knew?!), the editor of our weekly paper requested people share their disability stories. Having recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and also growing up with it as Dad was diagnosed in the 70's, I had a story to share. Below is my story as it appeared in our weekly paper (keep in mind, it's a short paper):

When Val Dewing woke up one Friday morning last November, she knew something was different. Parts of her hands and feet were numb. By the end of the weekend, three-fourths of her body felt numb or tingled.
“It was as if my body was ‘asleep’,” the Global Anti-Money Laundering Unit investigator recalled. Val chose to share her story as part of National Disability Awareness Month.
Doctors ordered a battery of tests, many to rule out possible causes. Val underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a spinal tap, blood tests and a visual evoke response exam.
In the end, the diagnosis was Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a chronic, unpredictable neurological disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS consists of the brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves. Surrounding and protecting the nerve fibers of the CNS is a fatty tissue called myelin, which helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses.
“My white blood cells become overactive and attack the myelin,” said Val. “It leaves scar tissue behind and depending on the extent of the damage, the nerve messages stutter or don’t go anywhere. There is no cure yet.”
Val takes medication to reduce flare-ups and during the day usually experiences very minor tingling and sometimes hyper sensitivity. She said her work has not been affected.
“I like to crochet,” she said, “but sometimes after only one row the sensation makes my hands very sore. But I refuse to put it down. As long as I can do the things I enjoy, I’m going to do it.”
Val said her prognosis is wide open. “It may never get worse,” she said.
According the National MS Society, the majority of people with the disease do not become severely disabled. It is not contagious, is not directly inherited and most people with the disease have a normal or near-normal life expectancy.
Val’s father was diagnosed with a form of MS 30 years ago. “He experiences it mostly in his feet and legs. Once in a while he needs to use a cane.”
Val feels the MS in her legs sometimes, too. She exercises, often using the Wellness Center’s stationary bikes during the week and riding her own bicycle at home on weekends. “We often ride 8 to 14 miles a day,” she said. “But sometimes it feels as if someone wrapped saran wrap around my legs.”
Val is training for the MS 150, a two-day, 150-mile cycling fundraiser in central Florida.

Disability Awareness
Asked what point about disabilities she would like people to be aware of, Val mentioned disabled parking. “Just because you don’t see something wrong, doesn’t mean there isn’t,” she said. “Many people with chronic, severe pain, for example, say ‘This is just a small part of who I am. I’m not going to let it control me.’ And you may not see the pain they are in.”
Val does not have a disabled parking sticker. “I’m not going to get one until I need it,” she said. “But please leave the disabled parking for those who do.”
If you would like to learn more about the MS 150 or have other questions, please contact Val Dewing via email or call 604-6343. n

It's Boris and Natasha!

Okay, it's really Boris and Tasha. But she'd officially be Natasha if she had papers, other than those the SPCA provided anyway. Boris is a skin and bones kitten that was found hanging around outside my apartment complex yesterday. John saw him in the morning and Boris followed John to my door. My neighbor has seen him wandering around as well. I saw him when I was heading over to John's. I saw this little guy, walked up to him and picked him up. He's very friendly and started purring right away.
I went back to my car to get my purse and keys, and Ciera since I couldn't exactly leave her in the car for 5 minutes. He shrank back a little from Ciera since she was very curious as to what I had and she knew it wasn't her kitty. Ciera and I brought Boris in and I set him down by Tasha's food. Even though there was a happy, curious dog nearby, Boris still ate, further emphasizing how hungry the poor little guy was. I had to head to John's so I could get my car window fixed (an entirely different story). Boris was placed in the bathroom with food, water and kitty litter. Currently Tasha is not a fan of Boris. She suddenly has a new feline she has to share her home and dog with. But I'm convinced he'll win her over. After all, he's just a baby and a cute one at that!

Boris


Tasha and Ciera

Do it for the Heart!

All pictures have been added to Photobucket. After having been home a week, I'm ready for another vacation. Of course, it might have to do with the fact it took me two and a half days to realize I have Columbus Day off or to figure out the pink streamers in the courtyard at work.

The gym at work had signs on the door saying they are closed Monday Oct 8th on observance of Columbus Day. I kept looking at it wondering why they got off and what made them so special. Yeah, on Thursday it hit me that I get it off too. Gotta love working for a bank!

As for the streamers, I was wondering if someone had a party while I was gone and didn't bother to clean up. It wasn't until I saw them at another location tied into a pink ribbon that it occurred to me, pink ribbons for breast cancer. Duh!

On another note, a friend and co-worker is participating in the Tampabay Heart Walk. If you know of anyone who has suffered from heart related issues, or if you would like to participate, please help by sponsoring Nancy Perry. If the link doesn't work, please Google Tampabay Heart Walk and on the left side of the page is is the location to search for a participant.

Vacation's Over :(

I'm home now. Vacation is all over. Like the last ten years, the last week just flew by. It feels like there wasn't enough time to do all that I wanted and see all that I wanted. But I did, and had a wonderful time. It was so good to see old friends and meet new ones. And in true Minnesotan fashion, it was wonderful getting together over a good meal. There's nothing quite like getting a chance to enjoy that food at all the childhood haunts. I'm just greatful we got to eat at Totino's as they were supposed to be closed by the end of September and not yet opened in their new location.

The reunion provided a good time for all. I heard that Fridley lost the homecoming game. The class of '97 alumni had already deserted the game for the local watering hole, or formerly known as DiMaggio's. I'm glad we attended the game as there were a few people we got to see Friday that weren't able to make Saturday's official event. The reunion event itself was interesting. It was, to use the word again, interesting to see who had changed and who hadn't. There were several people that looked different and many were very thankful for the name tags that were provided. It was really nice to see some old friends from High School and meet the important people in their lives. Some significant others I almost felt like I already knew. Now, the only question that remains is, will the next ten years go as quickly and how can I slow them down?

Oh, and all pictures will shortly be added to my photobucket album shortly. Keep checking for updates if you're interested!

Time flies when having fun

It's hard to believe it's already Friday. In just two more days vacation will be done and we'll be flying back to sunny Florida. This has definitely been a busy and enjoyable trip. Last Saturday our hotel in Grand Marais was on the shores of Lake Superior. Even though it seriously cooled down that night, we still slept with the windows open and it was wonderful to fall asleep to the sounds of the water lapping at the shore. Our return to the Twin Cities on Monday was the start of a very hectic and happy week.

I've gotten to enjoy all the foods I haven't had in almost four years. The good stuff that Florida doesn't have, Tasty Pizza, Bruegger's, LeAnn Chin, Totino's. Today is real chow mein. Yummm! I've also gotten to see several good friends and even new friends. I met Kirsty's fiancee and they are a very good fit together. I'm very happy for her and very happy she found such a wonderful person to compliment her life. I got to re-connect with an old friend and met her new significant other. It was almost like being at dinner with two John's as he and Dave have a very similar sense of humor. Dinner with the Foxes was a wonderful family affair. I even got to meet their baby (okay, she's almost 2!) granddaughter, Anna. She is a very cute, energetic little girl who has her adults all wrapped around her little finger. She's going to keep her daddy hopping when she gets older. But right now, she has her daddy bopping, to Veggie Tales that is :-)

Lots of shopping has been had. After all, there's no sales tax on clothes here, and I do love the clearance racks. Plus I got to get some cheese and Polish sausage. Yummy! Tonight is the start of the Fridley Reunion events, starting with tailgating for the homecoming game. It'll be nice to see some of my former teachers there. Tomorrow after the Apple Orchard we're going to the actual reunion at Grandma's in Dinky Town. It should be an interesting and good time. Okay, we're outta here for now. We need to get ready so that we can head out for lunch soon. Catch ya'll later!

Greetings from Minnesota

Hey everyone! Greetings from Minnesota! John and I flew up here at the crack of dawn on Saturday and we're in the middle of a wonderful vacation. No, I truly mean that. Ok, it didn't start out all that great. Mostly because for some reason that we haven't yet figured out, neither one of us got much sleep the night before. And our flight left at 7am, which meant we had to be at the airport by 5:30 or 6. I think it's safe to say we both averaged around 2-3 hours of sleep.

We landed in Minneapolis around 11am CST and immediately headed to the Twins game. It felt like I had not spent the last 3 1/2 years attending a Twins game in a different State. It felt soooo good to be at the Dome surrounded by all the Twins fans. Granted, when I see them playing the Devil Rays, I'm still pretty much surrounded by Twins fans, but now all the music cheers and the wave (has that ever been done at a Devil Rays game?) is for the Twins as the home team. It was also my last chance to see the Twinks play at the Dome. I know, they probably won't be in their new stadium for a few years. But I don't see me making another game at the Dome anytime soon.

Right after the game John and I then headed north to Grand Marais. The drive went fairly quickly. We spend about an hour in Duluth playing around on Canal Park before continuing the drive. Traffic was pretty light which allowed us to make good time. I was disappointed that the leaves weren't as colorful as I thought they'd be. But the drive back to the Twin Cities definitely made up for it.

Sunday we drove up to Canada. John's never been to Minnesota or Canada and he wanted to go. The clerk at our hotel in Grand Marais suggested driving to a waterfall (for the life of me I can't remember the name, but it started with a K). So we planned on doing so. However, at the end of 130 in Canada (highway?), we had a T intersection and no further directions. We ended up in Thunder Bay, had lunch and then headed back to the border. A stretch stop at the Ontario visitor's center showed us that there were a set of falls right there. The visitor center is on Pigeon River. We had a nice short (about an hour round trip with rest break for pictures) hike to High Falls. We spent Sunday night in Two Harbors.

This morning after breakfast we headed up to Gooseberry Falls. After we did the tour of Glensheen Mansion in Duluth before heading back to the Twin Cities. The fall colors were amazing on the drive back. It partially makes me wonder why I ever decided to move to Florida. The trip North was relatively unchanged. It felt like I had never left. At times it also felt like I was back in high school. And although I've greatly enjoyed the trip north, I know in a very short time it's going to be beyond freezing and I will be nice and warm in sunny Florida.

I've uploaded pictures to my Photobucket account. I tried to get them semi in order. It didn't quite work out the way I planned. The titles all have a D#. The D stands for Day with D1 being Saturday Sept 22. Etc. The number after the decimal indicates the general order of the photos. For example, D2.o are the initial pictures of Sunday morning in Grand Marais. D2.1 would be the photos on the way to Canada, etc.

More pictures to follow as the week progresses. It's going to be a full, enjoyable week. I'll be visiting with old friends and the week will end with my ten year high school reunion. Wow! Where has the time gone!

"You had some of the best times You'll never remember with me..."

"Alcohol" If you've ever heard Brad Paisley, you've probably heard this song. And now I have it running through your head. He he he. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so mean. And that's really not the purpose of my writing this tonight. I'm writing to share with you something enjoyable, if you like wine that is.

The first is a Riesling by Juliustrum. It's a Riesling Spatlese (insert two dots above the a) lieblich from Rheinhessen Germany. This was a very crisp tasting, semi-sweet wine. Very good. It was bottled and shipped by Winzergenossenschaft Westhofen. For those in Florida, John and I pretty sure we bought this at Sweet Bay since we didn't see it at Publix. Of course, it's been hanging around here for a few months, so I don't really remember.

The second I want to share is Florida Orange Groves and Winery. While in Key West last October we went into this store because Mom wanted some Key Lime pie. We didn't find the pie, but found some incredible wines based off fruits other than grapes. They have peach, pineapple, watermelon, a sangria among many many others. On our trip John and I bought the Peach and Hurricane Category 5 (the sangria). After trying the peach, I looked at the label hoping to find contact information so I could have some shipped in the future if I wanted. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found out the wine is made a few cities over from me! So I have made it my mission to share this wonderful wine since it truly is delightful. If you decide to try some, enjoy!

No longer a Blogging Virgin

Welcome to Through the Priszm. I've never done the blogging thing before. I never really felt like I had much to share that people would be interested in, other than friends and family of course. I decided to start one to share the different things that John and I see.

Let me do a short, sweet introduction. My name is Val, although many also know me as Priszm. John is my very fabulous, wonderful boyfriend. We live in the land of perpetual summer. Well, okay, in reality it's about ten and a half months of summer and occasional "cold." Otherwise known as Florida. Don't be fooled though, Florida does get cold. It's a different feel than that of Minnesota, where I grew up. But I digress.

As there is a distinct lack of sub-zero temperatures and snow, John and I have been increasing our outdoor activities. This usually takes place in the form of bike riding and lately we've started the Couch to 5K training program. While outside we've had the pleasure to slow down and enjoy nature, enjoy and exclaim over the wonders that are found. I've decided I'm going to try and remember to bring my camera with to capture the sights that we see and share with you, so you will be looking Through the Priszm with me!