Rabbit, rabbit!!

These are some more of the pictures I took a month ago when I rode northwest in town...I'm gonna go out and do this again this weekend.


I just love all the different kinds of houses everywhere in town. These are so much more interesting to me than the cookie-cutter type houses in some parts of town where they're all 'uppity' snobs & such, you know?

And, holy cow, I'm actually kinda glad I can't walk anymore, because if I could, this house is so intriguing, I'd probably go knock on the door, and ask for a tour! (what? me? no, I have no shame...why do you ask?)

I had an appointment with my basic dr today, the one that's been my doctor since before I got ms, he was our dr back in, like '92...he's still my dr, I don't know for sure if he's still anybody else's. I do know that when he came in the room today, he asked how's Tom? I giggled, said he's good we're friends, we talk on the phone a cpl times a week, but, I don't have a boyfriend, don't want a boyfriend...good Lord...I have Truman, and he takes up all the spare time I've got.

I'm just going to put down what results I'm getting so far after my first iv of tysabri 7/6/09 here, just because I'm finally starting to feel like it's having an effect. I'm feeling stronger, but I've been doing physical therapy exercise twice a week with home health care, and I do all the exercises every day on my own too. And, well, I've smoked again, but about 5 cigarettes a day...and I'm okay with that, but I'll probably get some patches this weekend & see what that does. I know damn well not to ever smoke with one on...one of the women I worked with at GTE was outside on a smoke break with all of us once, and she showed us the patch she was wearing, said "It's not working" as she lit a smoke...then had to go lay down & go home because she was sick! And my appetite is really super good...heck, today before I left for my appt, I had 6 mini powdered donuts for breakfast, lunch was pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed veg, pineapple...then I went to my appt! I am eating instead of smoking, and that's great! I got weighed today, and I'm 90 lbs, which is not great, but, it's 2 lbs up from last week, and that's a good sign! And tonight I've had pizza, potato chips & dip, and 6 regular size glazed donuts...*muffled oink*

Other than those good physical signs, I'm walking a lot better with my walker, and I can stand alone without having to hold onto anything, or lean on anything; last week once when I brushed my teeth, I used my right hand...understand, I was so excited because I've been brushing my teeth with my left hand for the last 12 years! And when I saw the dr today, I touched my nose with my right finger! Yeah, I know, woopee, but...yeah, dammit, WHOOPEE! Dr told me over & over today how great I looked & when I left he was recording his report of the visit & I heard him saying how much better my ataxia was. Oh, & I told him Tif's gonna have a baby...he said 'You're not old enough to be a grandma!' I said I know, I tried to tell her... :-)

All right...that's it for the health report...my next iv is August 4th, and now I know I'll be pretty wiped out for a few days, but if this is how I end up, well, it's more than worth it.

Awright, Glen Beck's on...I missed the first half earlier today, cuz I was nappin', so...TTFN!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

...attorneys, apartments, appointments, oh my!

Truly, I haven't been this busy for years. Trouble is, when I used to be this busy, it was fun! Now it's not fun stuff I'm busy with, it's just 'stuff that I have to do' :-/ Seriously, nobody ever told me that being a grown-up and taking care of all your responsibilities was going to be so NOT FUN!! But, this week I can console myself with the fact that Bro is, at this very freaking moment, riding his motorcycle in the Smokey Mountains
with a bunch of his friends!! I am SO jealous! And I think the rest of his 'fam' is out in Arizona at their vacation condo! I'll never be able to find a husband that would be happy in a marriage like that, you know? Most of the ones I'm familiar with want their wife to be with them, not flying across the country without them. And that's what I want...a man who

is secure enough to not have to be "up my ass" all the time! There seem to be too few guys around my age who are happy enough with themselves to be alone very much...a sad state of affairs (what a word to use here, huh?) for men, who used to be the strong ones...I need to get Bro on the case, and have him fix me up with one of his friends! *giggle*

And I went out and got my application in at the apartments I'll probably be moving to this morning. Okay apartments, I just never ever would've envisioned myself doing this at this time of my life. I've gone through about 5 years of totally humbling experiences, and now it seems like I've only touched the tip of the iceberg. At least Truman's gonna be allowed to live there with me (good thing, or I would've been homeless, or moved into Bro's house!...except he lives about 15 miles out in the middle of the country!). How did we ever grow up with the same parents??

So for the last two days I've sat here and made appointments going into September, for God's sake! I have a stack of appointments written up and in a pile about an inch high already. And, yes, all the appointments have a bus appointment made~!

I heard them talking about the 'govt health care plan'...sorry, but the government can't run its own shit well, and, oh my God, now they think they'll be the best option to run my health plan?? Most insurance companies don't do that stellar of a job anyway, and that's ALL they do!!...and speaking of government health care...if they're all that big on doing something to help lots of Americans' health...I know of a whole hell of a lot of real people what deal with pain day in & day out with ms & other diseases. And marijuana is a positive medicine for pain, it's used by patients with cancer...a lot of patients use it, and the government still says no? It's used in Amsterdam...it's given as thc vapor in bags...and they are talking about having a end-of-life health coordinator, to meet with people at like age 70 or so, and discuss what they want done if this or that happens, sort of like a living will...what??? But yet, euthanasia is illegal...(no, not 'youth in Asia'!)...What happens if I want to die, but I can't kill myself? I need a pill...and it should not be against the law to be able to give me a pill so I can do it myself!! I dunno...I know our health care isn't in good shape...but it must be a helluva lot better than Europe's or Canada's, because people from there come here to have stuff done a lot of the time.

Yeah, well, I'm tired already...teach me to get up at 7 am & be busy all day.

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

~~~~ WHAT THE HELL??? ~~~~~

I just heard on the news that the government is suspending the "Cash For Clunkers" program to give people $4500 back on their trade-in for a car that uses less gas...that's suspended starting at midnight tonight July 30th.

They had to stop it because *gasp* they don't have enough money....

Oh my God...and these are the people that want to tell us how to use any kind of health care stuff...I weep for the future....

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Friday night!

I know, there's wires & light poles messing up the view of the sky, but still, it's a great color, isn't it?? A picture of this sky out in the middle of the country would be great too, but, I'm a city girl, and if it didn't have wires & stuff, I'd think it was boring, that's just how I am. I've just never ever been one of those people that always wanted to live 'out in the country'...nuh-uh, no-way. I remember once when I was about 10, Mom and I were driving up to Grandma's farm one Sunday afternoon and she pointed out a house out in the country near Upper Sandusky (which, for the uninitiated, is a few hundred miles south of Sandusky...go figure :/ ), and told me that when we lived in Massillon, & Dad transferred to Marion, she was wanting us to move there. I just about had a

heart attack right then, & said, but, Mom, it's in the middle of nowhere! lol! It was different going to Grandma's farm on Sundays. You know, it was light out, and, after all, we were visiting, not moving there! I did like when Boo & I would stay overnite at Grandma's...I was a total little wuss then, all my 'country cousins' called me sissified...But I had a

hard time falling asleep out there cuz it was too quiet...but I loved hearing the roosters in the morning! Nope...I'll never want to be on Survivor...I can live without cell phones, etc, but I at least want city water, cable, a landline phone, regular stuff like that!

I was busy the last few days, believe it or not! Been getting physical therapy twice a week here. Talking to lawyers, and making appointments for everything. I never thought about it before, how easy it was to make an appointment with someone and that was it. Now I not only have to make my appointments; since I don't drive, I have to call & schedule a bus appointment...I'm really thankful this city has this bus service! It truly takes a helluva lot of time to have ms! Sheesh!

So I'm still not smoking (yay!), and I'm definitely realizing the difference it's made in my appetite! I was at WalMart today shopping and loaded up on all kinds of good snack stuff like donuts, pineapple chunks, bananas, and Boost with protein...lots. She wants me to drink 3 a day...I'll do my best...

I was taking my scooter down an aisle to look for paper towels, and there was a girl with 2 kids, like 4 or 5 years old, getting a case of Mountain Dew off the end display, then I realized she also had a teeny baby in her arms too...so I kinda backed my scooter up to see if there was anything I could do to help her...then another girl came around the corner (it was a huge area, we weren't crowded or anything), and all of a sudden the girl with all the kids said quite loudly "Don't!" I looked at the second girl and said "Did she mean you or me?" That got rid of any tension, & she got her Mt Dew (yuck!!) in her cart, then I got to do the obligatory cooing over how cute & little her baby was...a month today. Oh, & she'd said Don't to her other kids...

Okay...I hafta go cuz Chris Rock "Bigger & Blacker" is on, and I'm in love with him!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

okay, no more smoking...

This is the best looking sky I've seen all summer!!

And this is just a parky kind of thing, it just looked peaceful.

And this is where I used to go across the tracks to my boyfriend's house when I was 15...and then be trying to come home after I was supposed to be home at night, you know? I learned one very , very, very important lesson when I was 15, and late getting home...Nothing in the world will make you as frustrated as standing at the railroad tracks, and knowing you're already late getting home, and you're going to be in trouble, but you can't do shit about it because there's a train going in front of you within arms length...and you're STUCK there! Even worse...the train is going slowly...very slowly...but not quite slow enough for you to have the guts to hurry & climb between the cars & cross the tracks. I pondered that many times, but, stayed chickenshit! Well...I stayed alive too...

Another movie was on this weekend that I sat and watched at 8 Saturday night..'My Cousin Vinny'! That was on TNT or A&E...and most of the day I watched '16 & pregnant' on MTV! Holy crappoli!! Sorry to say, but, our civilization is slowly sliding back into the primordial ooze...I know that Tif & I werent nearly that stupid when we were 16!! I've done some really stupid shit, but, come on! Guys are stupid too, but they're also cunning & opportunistic. No matter what the age! 'True Lies' is on right now too, but I'm writing on here & playing brainless games & listening to Big Brother! oops...did I accuse someone else of being stupid??

Alright, dear blogging "bosom buddies", can you answer me this? I know everyone has known somebody like this, so don't deny it!

Why do we all know that person who has shit on everyone, in some cases not just shit on them but also stood on top of them and ground it in...but, no matter what, everybody is still their friend? But you know that if you did a tenth of that to anybody, you might as well dig a hole & bury yourself in it?

Yeah, yeah, I know, the meek will inherit the earth and all that shit...but I'm really not meek at all...I'm too nice, that's all. Cain's gonna rise up someday, I'm just sayin'...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

still fighting...

Today I had to go see my neuro. She's exactly who I need, I guess...she'll kick my ass if I don't do what she says (like quit smoking..."everytime you think about having a cigarette, do some of these leg exercises, or you'll end up wasting away in a nursing home!" Dear God. Okay...I don't have a clue where I'll end up, but I damn sure don't want it to be there!

She's running all kinds of blood tests, and the one I think I really need is the thyroid...I haven't studied up on that yet, but when she saw I'm still around 90 lbs, & I'm not hungry, but I do eat at least 3 times a day, just cuz I know I have to put weight back on! And I'm always a little cold, but I always just think that's because I'm so thin! I dunno. And after she came out with that little 'nursing home' zinger, she hugged me & says "I'm so glad you feel better, I was scared!" :-/

I met a really neat guy in the lobby at the clinic. He looked at my scooter & asked how many MPG's it gets. I laughed & said I think it depends on how fast I go. He was neat to talk to, he's an area supervisor for Speedway, & he's in charge of the whole midwest area (WI, MI, OH, KY...), and we talked about how you either love working retail or you hate it, there's no in between. True! I loved it, but hated when I got the 9 to 5 Monday through Friday office job at the phone company...*puke!*

I do need to get out & get some Ensure...Maybe I'm weird, but I actually like those, especially the strawberry flavor...as long as they're refrigerated! She wants me to drink 3 a day, + eat all my regular food. And she's going to try to get a person that needs Avonex (the once a week shots I used to be on). They cost about $2,000.00 a month without insurance, and I'm sitting here with about a 4 month supply in my refrigerator. And I already paid my co-pay for it. I got my last delivery of it right before Biogen called and we started working on getting Tysabri. How's that for ironic? Of course, I may want to keep a month, just in case I decide Ty's not working for me, after I give it six months.

Okay...gotta go love all over my man, Truman.

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

700th post!

#700! Wow...I never ever woulda thought I'd take it this far! You people all know me...I'm a quitter! You know...me & Fluffy, one & the same! lol! And that's my personal bumper sticker from Facebook, the little Dorothy-looking girl up there. It was just a random pick, I just got lucky...Joe got one that said "I still love you, no matter how many times you try to kill me." I LIKE that one too! This came from an email...

>>Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning the devil says, "OH CRAP, SHE'S UP"

I didn't fall asleep last night till about 5:30 am (wait...that would be this morning!). But it was for a very good reason...I 'remoted' back & forth between two very good movies..."Clueless" & "Valley Girl"! Valley Girl was when I first found my true love...Nicholas Cage!! I knew he was gonna grow up to be a knockout-looking guy!

Other than that, I haven't been doing a lot of anything. Just kinda trying to stay around here & get my strength back from that iv that knocked all my strength out! I know it's not going to give me any good recovery effects for 2 or 3 months, I'm just disappointed, cuz I feel a little worse right now. But it'll get there, I won't give up. I've made sure to call & let my neuro know that I still feel weak & tired after a week, & I told the Biogen people that Friday, too, and they take that report & send it to the government drug people too, so I'm keeping everyone up to date on it. I dunno...I hope I feel better soon.

I got an email from my friend Chester, up by Fostoria tonight. She's gonna come down sometime this summer or early September, maybe for the popcorn festival. We talked about the time about 20 years ago, when Bro lived way out in the country in an old farmhouse that looked haunted, and he & his wife were having a party outside...he had a trough in his yard that was full of ice & cans of beer, a big picnic table loaded with food...and a sign at the edge of the cornfield that said "shiter" & pointed into the cornfield! hahahaha!! & now he's a bigtime businessman with employees & all! & a different big house in the country & a condo in Arizona that they use when they want to get away. Neat!

Well, I'm done...BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

July 6 & 7...

I actually worked here in tne office for a month after I graduated. I left by a true mutual agreemnent, we even said it. "I don't like you, you don't like me, so maybe I should go now, before we start fighting." Easiest way to quit...bar none!

Wee-haaa! I got my first tysabri infusion today!! And I didn't die from it, either! (As far as I know...maybe I'm a ghost...). Naw, it went really smooth. I met the dr in charge of the infusion room (he's really cute, too!). I guess he's a rheumatoid arthritis specialist.

All these pictures were taken that day I went out all over on my scooter a few weeks ago! My friends and I walked all over town before we could drive...Mostly it was Kim & me! I even remember sneaking out of my house one night when she was staying overnight, and I decided I was bored and wanted to walk across town to my boyfriend's house. It was about 1 am, and she stayed there & was pissed at me for leaving..but, leave I did! Turned out that Mom did wake up, & shake Kim awake, sternly demanding where I was. But, of course, Kim dudn't know (wink, wink). So Mom called Kevin M's house & sent his mom out back to see if I was there. Of course I was, but I hid when I heard her...then I ran home (about a mile across town!!). And I wasn't even 16 yet! Rather amazing that they let me have a license and gave me Mom's old car! I was so rotten that I knew all the teenagers's tricks, so Tif got away with far fewer than I did!

Tom called tonight & wanted to know how the tysabri went today. I told him I don't really notice anything getting better right now, but it may take a few months...cross your fingers for me!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Tuesday night, June 30...I'll just go ahead & say it now...rabbit, rabbit!!

Keep this in mind, okay? All these pictures were taken in town, even this barn is about 4 blocks away from my house! Almost in the center of town! My friend H lived almost across the street from this when we were in grade school! So, yeah, this town has lots of stuff that's different about it!...especially the people?? heehee!

And this enormous house full of apartments is right around the corner from where I grew up. When I was 15, the guy I was dating lived here in the upstairs apartment on the right of this picture...He was 18 & graduated at the time & I probly f*'d up when I broke up with him...oh well, live & learn...anyway, I remember C was having a party, and they had a keg of beer & it was on the roof, with the spigot coming in the window! But, yes, my mom & dad both knew that I was seeing Creg, and they liked him a lot!

I had homemade lasagna & a salad from my favorite pizza place tonight, and a fruit salad...that's the best...strawberries, pineapple, grapes, and cantaloupe...I'm not really that big of a fan of cantaloupe. I only started eating it when I was a produce manager in Fostoria, and I started ordering Pandora melons, which look like a cantaloupe on steroids, ya know? And once I smelled one, it was like sugar!! Nothing like a "cantaloupe" from Califonia, at all!

I know there's been all kinds of bad news from Hollywood this month, but, I've also heard a lot of really good news, not from famous people, just other things, like babies abandoned at birth and being found alive! Honestly, usually the Nancy Grace show has nothing but hopeless stories...but in this past month, she's had the story about a little girl from Crestline, OH (maybe a half hour from here) who was taken from here by her mom & her moms boyfriend (who is a level 3 sex offender). They found the 3 of them in California, at a commune-type place! I just heard on the local news that there've been 2 different babies abandoned in Columbus, in 2 or 3 weeks, and they've both been found safe & healthy, & have already been adopted!! Just think about it, though...how many of that type of stories ever end up well?

Okay, just thinking...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Sunny everywhere in town today!

What a beautiful summer day! Made to order for going out for a few hours and taking pictures of neat and interesting things, things that you see every day, but just overlook, because, for the most part, you're on your way to something else!! So I guess, in some way, this ms crap is kind of a blessing...I've just had to learn how to make it work

for me, or make myself work with it! The top picture up there is one of the big older houses that are all over town. The bottom picture is, well, where the one way street from the right turns into a 2-way street...I grew up about 2 blocks to the right of this. And that big building in the background on the right? Well, when I was in grade school, that used to be a vacant lot that my friends and I always got together in for evening softball games! But the library was built when I was about 10...and that, to me, was great! Yeah, the empty lot was a nice place to play, but, gimme a book anytime! Actually, I got pretty down on softball after I was pitching, and, someone hit a line drive at me, and I just wasn't thinking when I saw the ball coming straight at me. What should I do? Well, I should've dropped and laid down so it wouldn't hit me. Uh-huh...should've. Instead, I turned my back on it! What a goon! Remember, I was under 10...seriously...I'm amazed that I didn't get a huge hump on my back after that! Nonetheless, I kept playing softball in my early teens (after my back stopped hurting), I was on the city softball league for years, I loved playing softball! I would only play pitcher or first base, and I guess I must've been good at those positions, cuz they never said no. First base was my favorite!

Wow...once I open up memories, I'm kinda like a beer that's just been shaken up and opened, huh?

I didn't even leave to go out riding around until about 2 or 3, but that was okay...I didn't want to get 'overheated', which isnt good for ms...but I had fun. Definitely needed to do this! Usually, I go east and south in town...today I purposely went west and then went north, across the railroad tracks. Which brought up all kinds of old memories. When Tif was 16, she'd take her car and go out in the evenings, and the first time she came home late, she tried to say it was because she got caught by a train. I said, well, if you were across the tracks in any direction, that's not where you were supposed to be anyway! lol!

But since I'm old I can go anywhere I want to...nyahhh, nyahh, nyahh!

So I did go different places, and saw different things & houses & flowers & people...I'll put some more pix up soon. When I was downtown close to an overpass (graffiti-laden), I went past a guy who was picking up cans, & he said something about how he wouldnt be picking them up if he couldn't turn them in for money...I said, "Oh yes you would! They look like crap laying around don't they?" And he just kinda nodded & smiled...I think he just dismissed me as a crazy nutjob...that's okay...he's not the first, and I'm sure he won't be the last...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

~~~~~addendum~~~~~~

I purposely didn't write anything about the three deaths of famous people this week, just because everybody else has written so eloquently about it, I thought there was just nothing else I could possibly add to it. But now, at around 8pm Sunday night, June 28, 2009, I just heard a report that Billy Mays died. Yes, Billy Mays, the "pitchman"! That wouldn't make as much of an impact on me if I hadn't just sat here a couple weeks ago and watched the tv show "Pitchman" with him and Anthony Sullivan, and it explained how they choose what products to endorse, and how, and everything! RIP, Billy, I admire you!

LibbY!

...two streets over, it's sunny...

Well, I don't know for sure what this nonsense was all about...my little Truman playing with a doll??

Does everybody remember the Huggabunch dolls? Oh, as I was typing that, I remembered! Tiff & ordered 'The Huggabunch Movie' from ebay, cuz she LOVED that movie when she was little. And the Huggabunch doll came with it! Seriously, this was obviously a looooong time ago, because Truman looks positively svelte in this picture! And my cane is over in the corner, so I was still walking. Well, I'm still walking, but with a walker, cuz a cane is NO help with my balance. Hard to imagine that balance used to be my strong point in gymnastics. The balance beam was my favorite thing! Guess I was smart to not be a gymnast as a career...would have been as much of a disaster as my having been a pianist...or a sketch artist...

Well, everybody, I got screwed out of getting the tysabri today. Surprise, surprise. The infusion girl called right after I got out of the shower today, and they're still having to get a pre-certifiction from the insurance company. But we talked to the ins co, & they said it's in a 'pending' status, but they told "infusion girl" that that means the nurses at Blue Cross already okayed it, it just needs their supervisor to okay it, but to go ahead & schedule it as soon as they have a spot for me, cuz once it's pending, it's on the way. Sooooo...teach me to get my hopes up about shit, won't it?...nahhhh...I'll get it, now on Monday July 6, scheduled the city bus for then too, & canc today's...so I'm ready. Tom asked tonight "But what if it gets turned down?" and I told him I'd just have to throw myself on the mercy of Biogen, I guess.

Okay...I'm done, but I do have some jokes to finish with...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


From: Bin Laden, Osama [mailto:osama@taliban.com]Sent: Monday, November 19, 2001 8:17 AMTo: CavematesSubject: The Cave
Hi guys. We've all been putting in long hours but we've really come together as a group and I love that. Big thanks to Omar for putting up the poster that says "There is no I in team" as well as the one that says "Hang In There, Baby." That cat is hilarious. However, while we are fighting a jihad, we can't forget to take care of the cave. And frankly I have a few concerns.
First of all, while it's good to be concerned about cruise missiles, we should be even more concerned about the scorpions in our cave. Hey, you don't want to be stung and neither do I, so we need to sweep the cave daily. I've posted a sign-up sheet near the main cave opening.
Second, it's not often I make a video address but when I do, I'm trying to scare the most powerful country on earth, okay? That means that while we're taping, please do not ride your razor scooter in the background. Just while we're taping. Thanks.
Third point, and this is a touchy one. As you know, by edict, we're not supposed to shave our beards. But I need everyone to just think hygiene, especially after mealtime. We're all in this together.
Fourth: food. I bought a box of Cheez-Its recently, clearly wrote "Osama" on the front, and put it on the top shelf. Today, my Cheez-Its were gone. Consideration. That's all I'm saying.
Finally, we've heard that there may be American soldiers in disguise trying to infiltrate our ranks. I want to set up patrols to look for them. First patrol will be Omar, Muhammed, Abdul, Akbar, and Richard.
Love you lots.
Osama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday I had a flat tire. So I eased my car over to the shoulder of the road, carefully got out of the car and opened the trunk. I took out 2 cardboard men, unfolded them and stoodThem at the rear of my car facing oncoming traffic. They look so Life like you wouldn't believe it! They are in trench coats, exposing their nude bodies and private parts to the approaching drivers. I started to change my tire, and to my surprise, cars started slowing down looking at my life like men. And of course, traffic started backing up. Everybody was tooting their horns and waving like crazy It wasn't long before a Mountie pulled up behind me. He got out of his car and started walking towards me. I could tell he was not a happy camper! "What's going on here?" "My car has a flat tire," I said calmly. "Well, what the hell are those obscene cardboard men doingHere by the road?" I couldn't believe that he didn't know. So I told Him, "Hello-o-o-o, those are my emergency flashers."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOW THE FIGHT STARTED
I rear-ended a car this morning. So there we are alongside the road and slowly the driver gets out of the car . . . and you know how you just-get-sooo-stressed and life-stuff seems to get funny?
Yeah, well, I could NOT believe it . . . the guy was a DWARF!
He storms over to my car, looks up at me and says, "I AM NOT HAPPY!"
So, I look down at him and say, *"Oh Yeah, well, which one are you then?"*
. . . and that's when the fight started!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Monday, Monday...

...and I start the first Tysabri infusion Wednesday, June 24th! Which I'm hoping is a good luck day...especially since that's H's birthday (my hairstylist friend from 3rd grade). And this is a perfect time to start it, since I'm kind of having a relapse at the moment...no, it won't fix it immediately, but at least I'll know I'm doing something!!

These are the pictures of my friend's house in southern Michigan. When I was 12 years old, she and her first husband lived across the street from me here in town. Then they had a baby boy, and I fell in love with babysitting for him! He's the second from right, next to his mom & Tif! Anyway, I babysat for him for years, til they had their baby girl & moved to Michigan! And we lost touch for years! Until I finally used my brain, & remembered what town her mom lived in up there. So (this is how long ago it was...I called information & asked for her mom's phone number! No major internet going on then! Tif was only 16.) They had her mom's #, so I called it, and she remembered me, & my friend just happened to be over there then, too! So, we had a good ol' cry-fest, since it had been SO long since we talked!! She invited me up the weekend before Labor Day...I couldn't drive, of course the only outgoing person that would go with me (as my date, I guess!) was Tif, and it was the best time ever!! She had a big dinner party to introduce me to her friends and her current husband. That was really neat! She went to college after they moved there...so she's all "Go Michigan!", and Tif & I are "O-H-I-O!!" haha! But now she's a big time software salesperson for a famous company, and I'm SO happy for her!

Oh, I have one more bit of good news to share...I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!! Feb 4th is the due date!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

just take me back...back to the rocking horse...back to where it all began...

Yeah, more pictures from Mom & Dad's house. This top one is of the part of the kitchen that had a desk-type thing built in...would be good for a computer, but they didn't have one, never wanted one. Mom had her typewriter set up here for writing letters that she mailed, and she did Christmas cards here.

This is the sunken living room. It's really big, we used to do Christmas Eve here. But, I guess since I never lived here, I just don't have a special 'feeling' about it, you know? It was always fun, more so when I was single and Tif was a little'un!

And I know this is a meaningless picture to most, but, this was my first reading light that Mom put above my bed when I was about 4 or 5, and got so hooked on reading so much that it was a necessity. And she kept it here in the spare room!

My title to this post comes from the song "Back To The Rocking Horse" by Poison. This is the first time I've actually listened to any Poison music since I found out Kevin took his butterball young girlfriend to one of their concerts (seriously...maybe she was in kindergarten when they were popular...). And yes, that's bitterness talking, cuz he would never go anywhere with me when we were married, my friends used to think it was weird that I had to go anywhere with them by myself, cuz he didn't want to meet anyone "If I don't know them now, I don't need to know them". In my next life, that'll NEVER happen! I can't be with an antisocial guy. How did I lose myself enough to let that shit happen?? I'm pretty embarrassed about that. But there were not major problems when we were married, we got along & had (shhh amazing sex) a lot of things in common, but I could drive, didn't have anything wrong, could go anywhere with all my friends that I wanted to, you know? The only friends he wanted was his family, and that's it. I had a hell of a hard time finding anybody to go to a strip club with him for our 10th anniversary. Cuz that was what I wanted to give him for our 10th, since he didn't have a bachelor party! Pfft! Live & learn.

After my first divorce at 19, I developed such a good 'self-preservation' instinct, that I would NEVER fall in love again. And I hung onto that for years, til I was 25. At the store I worked at up north, I was friends with everyone, dated some, but never took anything seriously! And, hey, thinking about it now, maybe that's why guys always wanted to be my friend, I was one they'd talk to if something was pissing them off, whether it was work or their 'significant other'. I remember, back in the good old politically incorrect 80's, all the fun & laughing in life. Nothing was serious enough to get pissed off at, unless it involved a kid (mine in particular!). I remember one time one of the beer drivers wanted me to go out with him. He told another girl that worked there, and she told me, and I said "I don't want to go on a date with him! I like him too much. I don't want to care about him too much! Sheesh! You're trying to kill me, arentcha?"

We just had TOO much fun up there!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Sunday night...still waiting for HOT weather!

My 'yittle Tif'...

See? I'm not always a heartless bitch! (only when it behooves me...) Naaahhhh...I just got done watching "The Pursuit Of Happyness", and, wow, that movie had me sad, happy, crying, just everything! I got one line out of it that had me bawling like an idiot...about how when you're in school & get a good grade on a test, you feel great, and think about all the stuff you could do...and now you think about it, and you haven't done ANY of it!! That's just about the saddest thing in the world. I'd feel that way if I didn't have Tif...even though having a baby wasn't even close to being on my 'to do' list.

Enough of that...the picture she's standing in front of my car...yes, that's right...MY car! That was the best car in the world, a 1983 Mazda RX-7! I used to look out the window & dream about having that car, because the guy that owned it lived downstairs from me. If I'dve known he was going to sell it, I'dve tried to buy it directly from him. As it was, I just happened to run across it when I was looking for a new car (new to me!) in 1988. And guess what kind of car I was trading in for it. A Yugo! Which I had bought after my Honda Civic got totalled...which was NOT my fault...an old lady ran a stop sign when I was in Tiffin, coming home from my boyfriend's mom & dad's house.(yeah, mine & mousie's boyfriend, that worked at our store in another town!). That lady, she was just...wow...unbelievable. She had plowed through her stop sign and rammed my car at 35+mph while I had no stop sign & was going 25. She hit my right front side, & I wasn't wearing a seatbelt (of course not! It wasn't a LAW then!). So I flew sideways, & bonked off the passenger window, breaking the rearview mirror off with my head on my way over. By the time an ambulance was there, they were putting a collar on me & everything...meanwhile, the lady had rushed up beside me & was giving me hell for this wreck...as in "How DARE you?? My husband just died last week!!" Holy crap! So they got me to the emergency room, & I had them call John to come and get me. Then we went back to his mom & dad's, and I had a beer through a straw, cuz I couldn't move my head!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

middle of the weirdest week ever...

Holy Lord! I just heard on tv that Chastity Bono (hereafter known as 'Chazz') is having a sex change operation!! I don't know about you, fellow netters, but all I can do is remember the sweet little baby of Sonny & Cher's that they introduced to all of us back in the mid 70's, and she was just the cutest little baby girl you could ever imagine!

Remember the Sonny & Cher show?

This top picture is from the den at the end of the hallway at Mom & Dad's house, the next picture is of the master bedroom, and the bottom is the spare bedroom....that's Tif in the picture...but 25 years ago, that's me! Odd, huh? Seriously, the first time I downloaded this picture, I had to stop for a second and

shake my head and think "what year was THIS taken??" lololol!

Life is taking some really strange turns lately...for the most part, unless I'm missing something terribly here, it seems like it's going in the right way...but I'm scared to say that, lest I jinx it! I called Boo tonight & told her everything that's up. I kinda think when I called her, I was closer to a panic attack than I've ever been, and I'm just not like that! I usually thrive on stress! I'm really glad she was there, she made me laugh, and then it was okay. Actually, she said the exact thing I was thinking about...on the previews for the movie "Up", that old man IS my dad!! Exactly! The way he walks, or sits, his mannerisms...the first person that said that to me is Tif...& she said Kev said it to her. Then Boo said that to me tonight!! Wow!

Yesterday I had 2 appointments, one to the west, 2 hours later I had a bus taking me east. And after the first one, my scooter battery died! So when the bus came to pick me up at that one, she had to come & push me & the scooter onto the bus, then, (she's so nice!) swung by here on the way to get my hair cut, and pushed me & the scooter up my ramp (remember, I only weigh about 90 lbs!) so I could get the scooter inside here and switch & take my motorized wheelchair (hate that thing, but, got no choice sometimes...), & she took me back to H's salon for my haircut & color! And I got to see pictures of H's mom & dad, and her dreamy brother at one of her daughters' graduation party! Although, 'Jeff' looked much different. Not old, just different! He used to be blond, now his hair's really dark! He lives in Ft Lauderdale now! People actually live there? I thought they only partied there! Huh! Learn something new every day. And we talked about nosejobs, because she was the first person I knew that had one...see, she had no choice, because she was 10 and at the golf course with 'Jeff' & her dad, and she was sitting behind them when her big brother was tee-ing off, & his club caught the end of her nose on the upswing. OWEEE!! I think she was surprised how well I remembered that! And I thought mine was painful having a local anesthetic...but I also got valiums before the shots...

I actually love my physical therapy lady. As much as she pushes me! (she always reminds me- "P T stands for pain & torture, you know?") lololol...she did say something that made me feel great today...that it's nothing short of a miracle that I still am able to walk, even with a walker, since I've had ms since 1994. Hopefully, it's going to do nothing but improve when I start on tysabri...June 24th! But, I know, I'm not counting on it 100%!

I talked to the manager of the tanning salon yesterday, and asked her about the lady she takes care of sometimes. Because she had ms, but then got diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease too! I feel awful for her. She said she's going downhill really fast, they already had to put a feeding tube in. She's only the fourth person in the United States with those two diseases at the same time.

All right, sorry, didn't mean to be a 'downer'. I'm going to go read the funny book I'm in the middle of, "The Egg & I" by Betty McDonald, the author of the "Mrs Piggle Wiggle" books! Remember those?

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Sunday night of an eventful weekend...

Tif and Mr Tif took me over to Mom & Dad's house this afternoon, basically so I could take a last look and make sure that I got everything I was supposed to, since the house is just getting ready to go on the market (& I think Bro wanted to make sure I got all my stuff before G ended up with it. This picture is the dining room, and the middle is the fireplace in the family room, and the top one is the other side of the family room, looking out on the backyard and their screened-in porch that Tif & Mom used to sleep in when it was warm in the summer. I'm sure I'll have more pictures up in the future, I took 30 today!

I was just watching the TLC show about tall people...one said he was sick of everyone asking "How's the weather up there?" Well, tell ya what. Good thing I'm not tall, cuz the first thing I'd do is spit on them, and say "It's raining." I know, I know, I'm just sick & wrong...

Kim called last night, that's just different! She didn't know Kev moved out 2 years ago, and moved in with his girlfriend & her 3 kids. She could hardly believe I still had that scrapbook from French class! Today I also found the report card from 8th grade that I got my first C on! I also found a box of old glasses from McDonald's...each one has a McDonald's character on it...Grimace, Ronald, The Hamburglar...lol!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Friday night after my first physical therapy...

This is a picture of me, Kim, & my oldest niece(Bro's first), in about 1979-80! (yes, it was from Olan Mills!)...And keep in mind, I didn't have my nose job until 1985, so, no smart-ass comments, thankyouverymuch!! We were in the ninth grade here, and she and her family had just moved out in the county, so she went to a different school...and that's leading up to the whole reason for this post and the pictures...

All the pictures in here are of my (well,our!)French scrapbook. We both took
French in ninth grade, and both our teachers assigned for us to do a notebook on anything French we could find. So, me being me, you know, all studious and everything, I got right to work on it *giggle* , I even have a couple of envelopes from my pen pal in France! HowEVer...if you look at the last picture, you'll notice the name on this scrapbook...and it's not mine!! *deep dark confession here*

My French classes' scrapbooks were due about 2 weeks before Kim's, so we figured she had helped put this together, well, you know...the true meaning of 'duplicity', if you will. Big difference...you see she only got an A-, & I got an A+...but you can't see my name & grade, that article on the right page is glued over it!! I was a horrible child...but I had more fun than most! I'm sitting here laughing my ass off right now!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

hmmmph...50's again...it's JUNE??

Well, I'm glad I closed the window last night! It was 52 when I got up today! It's June, for heaven's sake!!

Anyway...I have been SO friggin' busy for the last 2 days, I can't believe it!Yesterday I took the bus out to the clinic for a dr appt. While I was there, I went down and met the girl that's going to be in charge of my infusion, and we set up a date & time for me to get it. Since we had to pick a time that she, the biogen rep (who's coming from another state), and I can all be there for my first one...(wow...I never imagined having an audience for 'my first time'...I should charge !)!...and I had to make sure I could reserve the bus to pick me up at home and take me out there and take me home 3 hours later...but now I have a certain date, anyway!! June 24!! Woohoo! So I was there for about 2 hours yesterday, appt with one dr, then went to the infusion room for all that stuff, then back to the other building to see my ms dr's assistant & find out about physical therapy I'll be getting, ran into the dr in the hallway & we talked for a minute...then over to the other side of the clinic where the bus would pick me up...ran into a nurse that used to do my avonex shots years ago (no, I never ever 'self-injected'! if I was the type of person who could inject myself, I'dve probably o.d.'d years ago! I am FAR too much of a pussy to inject myself with anything, good for me or not! lol! I caught up on all the gossip at the nurses station...etc......then I got home around 4! Just in time to take a nap for a while, then wake up & do some Glenn Beck worship! HA! Then today at around 2, the head of home health at the hospital showed up with all the papers to go over for the physical therapy. He's nice, we sat here and talked for a while, he had to admire Truman...right after he left, the phone rang, and it was the guy who was gonna do my pt! I was surprised, said I wasn't supposed to start til tomorrow, but all he needed to do was evaluate what I can & can't do...so I said, yeah, come on over, we can get that done now. He did, and that took about an hour, and Bro showed up right then and brought some things over from Mom & Dad's house...like my safety patrol badge up at the top, from 4th & 5th grade!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Rabbit, rabbit!!

Happy June!! It rained last night, and now it's kinda like the world is clean...smells like it anyway!
I'm still waiting for the tysabri! Now it's starting to be a little ridiculous, you know? When I was at the dr's last week, I went down to the lab to get (a lot) of blood taken to check everything, liver function and all, and my Biogen rep called me Friday

afternoon and said that they had been in town training the iv nurses Wednesday, only they had all decided with my dr to train the nurses at the clinic where my dr is, not over at the hospital...which is fine, the hospital is only like 4 blocks from the clinic, which is where most drs offices are, and there's an outpatient hospital there too...confusing, I know, but

honestly, I don't give a shit where I get this iv, for heaven's sake! For all I care, I could just go over to the other side of town, and find a friendly neighborhood junkie to do this!! This drug better be worth it! Sheesh!

I must have heard something on tv about modeling while I was asleep, cuz I woke up thinking about when Tif was asked by Barbizon to go there when she was in beauty school doing hair. She'd gotten an 'invitation' to go to a modeling interview there one Sunday. It was exciting that she'd gotten asked to go by a 'scout' who saw her doing hair, so we went down to Cincinnati that day. There were about 300 people there, trying to get in this school, so, hell yes, it was exciting! It was an all day thing, with a bunch of Barbizon people doing interviews with each person, and they had a 'catwalk' for each person to walk down before their interview, so they could be 'evaluated'. Shit, I was excited, and it wasn't even me! I couldn't even imagine how exciting it would be to be 20 years old, and asked to be there by them! When it was her turn, before she got up to walk, I made sure to give her big big ol' hug and I love you, and I reminded her to not be nervous (which, I don't really think she was anyway), and "Remember...act like Paris Hilton...". So that went really well, then we had an interview with 2 people, and that lasted for probably 2 hours! And they called her the next day, and said that she had passed, and they wanted her to go there! HowEVer...it was expensive...it's a college, and there is tuition and all...suffice it to say, we couldn't even think about sending her there, and, after she thought about it, and after all the disappointment and stuff, she understood that we just didn't have that kind of money, and she said anyway, she'd really rather stay in the State Beauty Academy, and finish her hair license, she didn't want to leave town (yay! but I wouldn't have stopped her). And, looking back, now, this is the right thing for her...see, she met her husband when she was at a salon doing hair (Fantastic Sam's)...and he happened to come in there and she cut his hair! She thought he was all cute and all, then the next day, his friend who had been with him when she did his hair came in, and he said that his friend had a big crush on her, would she give him her phone number so he could give it to his friend? So...that's just neat, how I can look back at something we had wanted really bad briefly, and see how it went just perfect the way it turned out!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!