Another week down...

Another week down, a short one at that with only 4 working days, but it felt like oh so much longer. Today was Friday so yippee for that and the drinks we had after work. I like to call our little klatch the Meeting of the Minds. Others in the group think that's rather funny and it is. We get together to debrief and empty our minds of all of our worries.

I am starting to work on my next big fund raising project for work. I have done two projects in the last three years with nothing going on last year because I was out of work due to MS. Year one was raising money for Malaria No More and donating bed nets to people in Africa. Year two was raising money for the John Dau Medical Clinic in Sudan. This year we are going to raise money for Heifer International. Check them out at www.heifer.org to learn all the ins and outs. In a nutshell, the donated money goes to purchase animals that are given to people around the world who raise them and then pass on the offspring and teach others how to raise the animals. It's a sustainability project that works internationally along with several projects within the United States.

Hey, a thought just occurred to me! I have started exercising again for half hour intervals. I'm no Buns of Steel here but I am walking and shaking my ample booty a bit. I have also stopped eating a lot of the foods that I used to be addicted to. I am breaking the binging habit. I'm not saying that I am eating healthy all of the time but I have cut way back on the amounts I am eating. Something is changing within me.

Also, therapy looks like it is going to wind down here within the next six months or so. I am no longer the angry and defiant woman that I used to be. A lot of the stuff that I used to carry around has been taken off my yoke. Actually, consider me yoke-less. I am no longer tethered to anything that has to be carried around all of the time. I have learned to let things goooooo. There is less stress in my life which is a great thing when you have MS. I still battle depression but that is well under control with meds. I'll still be taking them but cutting the strings of therapy loose from my life.

All right folks, it's about 9 p.m. which is my bedtime (laugh if you must) and I am not proofreading this so sorry for the lameo, rambling post!

Night.

Happy anniversary to me!

Today makes 13 infusions and one year of successful Tysabri treatment! Woo Woo!!

I lucked out and had school off thanks to Queen Isabella so I didn't have to take any more time off for this month. I did take Friday off as a whole day for a different medical appointment. I also had another med checkup today after my Tysabri.

It was a busy day, all in all.

How do I like the Tysabri? I love it. The worst part is having to take off time to have it infused. The best part is that it's once a month, four seconds worth of an IV stick, I get to watch good cable, and I feeeeeeeeeeel better.

I feel so much better than I did a year ago. Last year I had terribly weak and painful arms. I had horrid fatigue and issues with severe depression. I was losing my train of thought as I was teaching. I was, in a word, a mess.

Now I feel like I am living a different life. Tysabri has been in me for a year now working its magic. I am still tired and I need a lot of sleep but I go to bed early to get up early. I take my Provigil and that helps keep me puttering along during the day. I take my morning med menagerie and off to work I go with some pep in my step.

I am mostly on top of my paper work and my grades. More on top of things than usual, I'd say. I'm happy most of the time. I smile. I joke and laugh with the kids. I don't let things stress me out as much. I do have some issues with my eyesight lately but they are pretty much benign. I sometimes lose clarity and everything blurs together. If I work my eyeballs right then I can see enough to get by until all is clear again. This only lasts for a short while so it's not worth a call to the neuro yet. I'm keeping watch on it, tongue in cheek.

So happy anniversary to me and to Tysabri. It's been a wild ride.

Much ado about nothing

Yes, I have been away for a while. Yes, I have neglected ye olde blog. Yes, I have been keeping my head above water. The good news is that I just have not had anything to kvetch about so I have been keeping my distance from the blog.

Just today I received two messages asking me if all was right in my universe. The answer is a resounding yes. Work is going *much* better than last year at this time. Last year I was floundering and had been out sick a lot by this time. This year finds me doing much better health-wise. Little fatigue, less pain, and my brain is working at peak strength when I need it. I have a lovely little classroom and I am in love with my new SMART board. It's been down for two days and I was bereft without it.

But truly, I am doing so well it is rather astonishing. I do go to bed early because I love me some sleep. I am a gal who can hit the hay at 8:30 and then awake at 5:30. I do still need my Provigil to get me going along with the rest of my morning meds. Then I am off around 6:30 driving my short route to work.

I loved my birthday time. It's great to be 39 and on the right side of the dirt as I have mentioned before. I love a birthday and feel as if it is my own personal holiday. I must have had at least 40 or so happy birthday messages on Facebook on my special day. What a great way to feel like a star!

There is some news in my little part of the world that is not all sunshine and roses. I just found out that my younger sister will be deploying again, in January to Afghanistan. She'll turn 26 in a few weeks but she is looking forward to going. She is an engineer by training and a captain.

I'll worry about her of course but I am so proud of her. She loves what she does and she is good at it. Thank goodness that we have an all-volunteer army so that there is no need for a draft.

I do hope we get ourselves out of the quagmires that are Afghanistan and Iraq sooner rather than later but until we do, thank goodness for all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and women, and Marines.

Anything new in your world?

Birthday blogging

Today is my 39th birthday. Can I get a woot woot?

What did I do today? Did I have a raucous good time? Not so much, but I am totally okay with that. I like my quiet little life. It beats the miserable one I had when I was married to the wasband.

Yesterday we had my birthday lunch at work. I had requested homemade meatballs and sauce on sub rolls and a homemade almond chocolate cheesecake. Yummo! After that I received a flower and teddy bear delivery from my sister. Then at the end of the day I drove home and read some more Dan Brown and took a little nap.

Today was quiet again but busy with little errands. I started out the day doing laundry which I desperately needed to do for days, got my hair cut, returned overdue library books, went to the bank, off to Burger King for a cherry icee, and then on to the grocery store. I put the groceries away on the table and once again hit the bed with Dan Brown. (Sounds naughty, doesn't it?)

After the nap I checked Facebook and read lots of happy birthday wishes. (Thanks everyone!) I put away the clean laundry, changed the bedding, shredded some mail, and vacuumed the living room. Talked to my best pals today too. My what a busy girl I have been...

Tomorrow is more of my birthday extravaganza as my parents are coming over with some gifts. Then we are off to see "The Informant" and on to the local Chinese buffet. Can you picture some delicious crab rangoon and coconut shrimp? Double yummo.

I don't need a big party or lots of gifts. I just need to be on the right side of the dirt.

So sorry ...

I'm so sorry but if you can believe it, I forgot all about the blog recently. I have been so busy and somewhat productive with school and that has been taking over my life.

This past weekend I slept my Saturday away and woke up when most people were getting ready for dinner. I know, you can hate me for being so lazy but I have no one counting on me for anything so I can cuddle up with my Dan Brown novel, my little Franklin the wonder cat and my comfy bed.

Sunday was a pleasant day with me sleeping until 10:30 a.m. and then thrusting myself into the shower so I could meet up with my parents for a fun lunch out. We went to Rudy's which is closing for the season soon and offers up all sorts of yummies like fish sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, fries and such. It's right on the shore of Lake Ontario and you just *have* to go at least once during the summer. You just have to watch out for the sneaky and subversive seagulls that are just waiting to steal your food away.

Yep, I totally had no cares in this world about ye olde blog and writing something profound, or more likely, more drivel. I hope you accept my apology. I didn't mean to ignore all of you!

Weebs (who will be turning 39 this weekend!)

Tidbits

School is going smashingly well. I adore my little fifth graders and the year is off to a great start. I know I have been neglecting ye olde blog and its readers but I beg your forgiveness.

I have a Tysabri treatment tomorrow and next month will be one year on Ty. I really think this stuff is working for me. Yippee.

A *huge* shout out to B.J.M. who bought and brought me the new Dan Brown novel. Another yippee!

Wishing everyone a fab September,
Weebs

School bites

I have survived the meetings and the last minute set up of my classroom. I have made it through the first day and now the second. Yahoo. Today we actually did some learning and I did some teaching.

I am getting used to the SMART board in my room which is a fantastic piece of technology. My neighbor teacher has been kind enough to show me lots of things that I needed to know to use it. Today we played with freeflour.com during our snack time and the kiddos loved it. It's a game much like freerice.com except this one asks Social Studies questions and for each question correct a spoonful a flour is donated to people in need. In ten spoonfuls there is enough flour to make a bun. We played long enough to make two buns. Tomorrow we'll play freerice.com.

My class has only been there for two days but this seems like a group that I could really enjoy. What a difference from last year both in kiddos and in myself. I was actually enjoying what I was doing with them today. I feel much better than I did at this time last year. What a difference a year makes.

< than 48 hours

Anyone remember that the symbol < means less than in math? If you do then good for you. I have less than 48 hours before I really start teaching again. Yikes! I was so nervous last night but I did a tiny amount of prep work today so I am feeling a little calmer.

I typed up a new class list, a new schedule, a word search with everyone's name on it, and printed out our classroom rules. I still need to go through the September folders to see what else might be useful for the first day and first week.

I am also calmer because I had a nice nap today after getting out to the grocery store and buying a little bag of delicious Paula Reds. Yummo. I also got some milk so I can have my cereal, blueberry muffin shredded mini-wheats, for breakfast.

Tomorrow is meetings and last minute room preparations. Wednesday is the really early real deal with students and everything.

Argggggggggggh! (Charlie Brown yell there to get the nervousness out.)

The last hurrah

It's almost time to start work for real. Meetings start on Tuesday and kiddos come on Wednesday of next week. There's no turning back now!

I worked on my room on Thursday by myself, unpacking lots of boxes. Then on Friday I worked with a coworker/friend from 9-2:30 and we got the room into school-worthy shape. The new room looks great and clean. My SMART board isn't hooked up to the projector so I haven't been able to play with it yet. I really hope I can do some of that on Tuesday.

If I say so myself, the room is really ready for kids to come in. I have a few things left to do like put up some fabric on a small bulletin board and putting name tags on desks and the classroom door. I do not have any major bulletin boards in the room and none outside my room. That means a lot less upkeep for me. I guess the end room does have some advantages!

I have done the shopping at Wal-Mart and purchased a lot of crayons, scissors, white board markers, pens, and writing paper. I have purchased no folders or notebooks yet. I'll see what the kids need when they get there and go out and buy them after. I did buy a football for the kids and a new kickball. I also bought two Rubik's cubes and a go fish game. I am on the lookout for more Sudoku and word search books. I already have lots of books for free reading and silent reading in the room.

My eating has been fairly decent until today when I sabotaged myself by not eating breakfast and then going shopping at Wal-Mart during lunch time while I was buying food for back to school. That was a not so smart move. I came home and fell face first into Combos and Ho-Hos.

I think I may go to the fruit stand tomorrow and buy some more apples and corn. I need my fiber! I have also discovered that I like an apple called Paula Red. I am breaking out of my Macintosh rut.

So this is my last hurrah, the last weekend before work really starts. I hope all the teachers out there are enjoying this long weekend, especially those who have been back to work already.

Wish me luck!

The big comfy bed and other tidbits...

I had a lovely time on Tuesday checking out the Hobby Lobby craft store. I even purchased some things for school: fabric for bulletin boards, border for the boards, some Rubik's cubes to stump the early finishers, a little teacher's plaque for my room, and two new display boards in light blue and purple. It just happened that everything I bought was for school; it certainly wasn't intentional.

After that we went to lunch and my friend paid the tab (How nice!) while I forced her to take some money for the tip. We had these great sandwiches at the Chicago Grill. They had turkey, bacon, and melted swiss on them and they were divine. The weather was also fully cooperative as it was a perfect time for me and my MS: 70s, sunny, and with a gentle breeze.


**Off topic ( not that there was one)**

Is anyone else besides me excited for Dan Brown's new novel to come out? September 14th or 15th I think is when it's expected to hit the shelves. I believe it's entitled "The Lost Symbol". I am so psyched that I may just run right out, or at least try and walk quickly, to the local bookstore to pick it up.


**Returning to my previous train of thought**

So Tuesday was a nice day with actual face time with a friend. I came home and took a nap with the wonder cat joining me on the big comfy bed. I kid you not when I type the big comfy bed because that is what I actually call it. It's a queen size bed for me and one feline. When I first got hired at the job I currently have I went out and bought two pieces of furniture- a couch and a bed.

When I had first left my wasband I had no furniture except a kitchen table and some chairs. I also had a computer, a TV, my clothes and some other whatnots that were actually mine. Other than that, I had nada. I first slept on the floor and watched TV with my kitchen chair. Thankfully, my trusty friend BJM and her sister-in-law helped move my pathetic amount of belongings and they brought me stuff to use like a couch and a bed. I will be forever grateful to them for that.

But when I knew I was going to be paid a real salary instead of the paltry Catholic school wages I was making, I had to go buy me some furniture. I picked out a couch rather quickly. I sat on all the ones I liked, bypassing the butt ugly one my wasband had bought, and found one that was girly and comfortable. The sleigh bed frame came second in my purchases. Then it was mattress time. I tried out mattresses for about 45 minutes narrowing the crop down to the final and winning mattress. I'd just walk from one to the others and push on them and then climb up on them and lay down. I feel that I have picked out the right one for me, not too hard or soft, and it has served me well for nine years now.

When I say I love my bed, I mean it. I spend a lot of time sleeping, reading, and napping on it. If my bed was a man, I'd marry him. I know he'd be a perfect fit.

PS: I simply must go to work tomorrow to unpack and start to organize my classroom. I was a total lollygagger today and slept and read until almost 1 p.m. I must get my body up when the alarm goes off. I'll let you know how that goes.