Snow!

Sometimes I really think the snow is beautiful! When it hangs on the trees in the twightlight or under a full moon on a crisp cold night. I love this time of year. I love summer too, but I think I would really miss the seasons if I wasn't here.

MS or Avonex?

Geese, When I get home in the morning after working a 12 hour night shift, I cannot get my *ss out of the car. I seem to be good as long as I keep moving but the ride home takes about 45 minutes and I swear I need a crane to pull me out. I just don't have the strength. Some days are better than others, but I have to say this morning was a rough one. I can't pin it down, MS or 2 hours into my weekly Avonex dose. I must sleep through fever and chills because I wake up soaked. It's still worth it in my head as it really only seems to be one day of misery. I'm always at my worst on Sunday morning and that is shot day. One of our care partners is in nursing school and today she'll start her first day as a nurse intern, which gives them more responsibility and nursing duties. A nurse intern is in their last semester of nursing school, so I talked her through her first ever IM this morning. On me! It was cute. Every time I said, "Ok, go!" She'd try and squeal and not do it. Ended up being a 15 minute project by the time she finally hit me with it. I had to giggle. A bit torturous for me as I'd rather get it over with, but I love to teach, especially what I know, so I thought it was a good opportunity for her. She did a fine job. Better to give your first IM on my fat *ss arm than some really skin and bones elderly person that no longer has muscle and when you give it you hit the bone. Oh what an awful experience that is. That was my first IM. Our teacher hauled us off to a nursing home to give weekly vitamin shots and those poor old folks. Now giving an IM to someone who no longer has muscle so to speak is an art. This is why I'm in pediatric critical care.

Another Day

Well we got rid of the blasted ugly tree today. It looks as though the house has been taken over by pine needles as we did it just before we had to leave in a snow storm to take the kids to OHare, Chicago (about a 90 mile drive). But Christmas is put away for another year. I still have a huge clean-up. That won't happen until next week as I must work tomorrow night and Monday night and then my normal Friday/Saturday. Also must take back less than year old Insignia digital TV to Best Buy for fixing as picture has gone to hell. I get stiffer towards the end of the week. Not sure if it's in my head, or I feel better after recovering from Avonex hangover and go crazy with chores, walking a damn mall for 5 hours with adult children the day after Christmas as they have money burning holes in their pockets or what. I really considered a try at downhill skiing on Christmas Eve, but instead took pictures of others and fetched coffee. Since we have new snow, I do want to go sledding this week. I was impressed with my husband as we haven't skied in 7 years and he did very well. I'm never good. Stay only on bunny hill and stop via "*ss". Down to one child in house now until the 16th when she returns to University. Kids made us a beautiful picture collage of the five of together on the 26th when we had a horse and carriage ride in downtown Milwaukee. They framed it beautifully. Now just to figure out where to hang it. Anyway, now I'm just rambling on. Hope all had a wonderful Holiday!

Obsessive Border Collie

This is Spot, our obsessive Border Collie. I was just shootin' in some balls and he chased around the pool table trying to get only the white ball. Pretty hilarious! I can only say that this is a mad house. Merry Christmas all!

First Full Dose

Now I know what you're all talkin' about. I shivered all day. Could , pardon what I'm about to share, "poop" though a screen and never hit a wire, and ache, spasm, ache. And yesterday, inspite of all my Ibuprofen and Alieve, the avonex hangover. Oh well, not enough torture to make me stop.

Glorious Ugly Tree

So here it is in all it's grand ugliness! Crooked! 13 miserable feet tall and bent as hell! I have no idea what Stephen and I were thinking. We wanted something smaller and manageable. I look at it and I do not know how we got it in the house. I sawed the thing down. No wonder the owner of the tree farm looked at us like we were crazy when he offered the 11 foot pre-cut tree and we declined saying, "No,no,no that's much too big and this thing barely fit in the baler! I've decided when it comes down, I shall saw it in pieces and pitch them out of the window!

I Ache And I Still Have To Cut A Tree!

Good grief, I ache today and I still have much to do before Friday evening. Steve and I have to go cut down our Christmas tree, which means, I do the cutting with a hand saw and we load it up on a sled and drag it back to the barn and have shaken and tied and loaded in the truck and then we drive it home and drag up the stairs and piss and moan over whether it's straight and then I decorate. We also have major shopping to do and I don't mean Christmas shopping, just stuff we need before kids all arrive home. I have two of three bathrooms to clean yet and the 30 x 20 extension, which includes the litter pans and before I get started, medicate one of the horses. That means I have to wrestle a 1100 pound creature for eye drops and icky medicine she has squirted in her mouth and that's before they get fed, including feeding the goats that turns into a round up. Yesterday I cleaned the loft (my office and media room), stairwell and wall library, the formal sitting room with fireplace, spiral stairs down to first floor which is like the basement as this is a converted barn and in the "basement" is the apartment that needed a touch up, several loads of laundry and Steve and I put up 60 foot of Christmas lights, Oh and I topped up the the water troughs outside. I think I over did it a bit. My legs are so achy in spite of ibuprofen.

Unbelievable!

I don't know what insurance ya' all have out there, but I have United Health and for the most part it's pretty good, but I've noticed something. Whenever anyone in this house gets a CT scan or an MRI, I receive a little something in the mail from Ingenix. It's got a case number on it and a series of seven questions asking whether this was an accident and was a police report made and do I have an attorney. So I'm guessing it's their way of looking for some one else to pay. So today I take the option of calling them rather than fill out the form and mailing it. They automatically assume I've injured my back in which I respond, "No, this was part of diagnosing MS." She replies,"So how did you get this?" I said, "If you can figure out how anyone gets Multiple Sclerosis, then you would make a million, no one knows how you get MS." She says, "Oh, Uh, well we just say you hurt your back or neck. OK, Have a nice day and thank-you." WTF! Even if it's just investigation in the medical field, you should have some kind of knowledge of it before you are hired. But of course, the 800 number was referred to overseas workers for this company who barely speak English much less understand it! If I had balls they'd be frosted! Damn that pisses me off! Anyone else have the pleasure of this experience?

This Half Dose

This weeks half dose was better. Completely premedicated with Ibuprofen and Alieve. No headache at all. Just that wave of nausea 2 hours after dose. Weird. We're in the middle of a Winter ice storm now. Yippee! And I have the same old outdoor chores to do. Satelite is in and out. Sucks! Sometimes I just want to watch TV.

Ahhhh......Winter Has Arrived

Guess what I got to do this morning........Yes.....That's it! Shovel! We had a marvelous six inches of snow last night on top of the ice from Saturday on top of the three inches of snow on Sunday! Now I'm freezing after spending forty minutes outside, chasing horses, feeding them and feeding goats and screaming at Spot the Border Collie to back off as it's much fun to attack the snow and shovel as I attempt to shovel it. I don't like my husband to shovel besides of which he's sick from last night's crab cakes he ate at The Cheesecake Factory. Horses are pissy because I locked them out of the pasture this morning and managed to humiliate Misty with a red blanket. That's why they're running around. I say quit it and eat your breakfast! Now I'm frozen to my core. I've found a good combo for my Avonex hangover on Sunday to Monday. I take Alieve and Ibuprofen and I can keep the headache at bay. Still have it on Sunday after the shot, but It keeps it from showing up on Monday as well.