Criminal?

Oh dear….I’m so ashamed about what happened today, but I’ll share it with y’all regardless.  I knew I had to leave the office during the morning to do some field calls.  I figured I would park out front at the meter and run out at 9:00 and put a in couple bucks.  Usually, I pay $4.50 at the municipal lot across the street.  Well, I got gabbing to a co-worker about shopping in Erie, Pen. since we’re going there this weekend.  This guy goes there quite often with his family, so I wanted to get a few tips.  Well, I lost track of the time and it was 9:25 when I got back to my desk.  I ran out to may car to put money in the meter, and there was a dreaded ticket laid ever so neatly upon my windshield.  ARGH!  I’ve never had a ticket before!  I was so nervous it was going to go on my record.  I ran next door to City Hall and paid it within about 10 minutes.  The clerk asked how I was and I said I just got my first ticket ever!  She said “Congratulations!”  I told her it was actually kinda exciting – I felt like such a rebel…without a cause!  Err, I did have a cause, and that was to save money.  So I could have paid $4.50 across the street (stress-free!) but instead I paid a $9.00 parking ticket and $2.00 in the meter.  Lesson learned! 

Traveling during my field calls got a little messy.  I hit some serious bugage while out on the country roads.  It was SPLATACULAR!  Poor little guys.

Following up my last Words of Lizdom, which dealt with knowing and accepting your limitations, I think I did that tonight!  My boyfriend and I were going to fly to Edenvale (close to Collingwood) for a fly-in and car show.  Then we’re going to Erie to shop on Sunday and Monday.  I knew this was really going to be pushing it for me physically.  I made the decision to fly somewhere closer tomorrow (probably Brantford for breakfast) then I can be all ready for our Erie shopfest.  I feel disappointed that I can’t go to Edenvale, and also disappointed in myself.  I feel like I’m giving in.  I guess I am, but it is best for my health.  Before I made this decision, I read over my Words of Lizdom and told myself “Take heed, little blonde grasshopper!”  And that I did!

Symptoms for today:  Not as weak as the last few days.  Actually, it was a fairly decent day.  The field calls pooped me out.  I probably shouldn’t have done my exercises when I got home – duh!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/31/2009 8:08 PM

Words of Lizdom…Part Three

The lesson today is one I learned but do not always follow – I’m working on it though!  Know your limitations and accept them.
This is something I’ve been struggling with for most of my life.  Before I was diagnosed with MS and experiencing symptoms I didn’t understand, I chalked it up to just being lazy and weak.  Even when my body was screaming out for me to stop and rest, I just kept pushing and forcing myself to carry on.  If I gave into my physical symptoms and weaknesses, I considered myself to be lazy and incompetent.  Quite the self-punishing over-reaction, wouldn’t you say?  Now I know that my physical symptoms are due to MS, but my previous ways of thinking are often still there.  Fatigue is my most frequent and debilitating symptom – I KNOW this.  However, I often do not ACCEPT the limitations it places on me physically and sometimes emotionally and mentally.  I am determined not to let it defeat me and take over my life.  Even when the fatigue peaks and my body begs me to stop and rest, I am often defiant to give in and let the MS win.  Ok, so I’m half way through this lesson, and I am better than I was!  I am also very fortunate to have so many supportive and loving friends and family who help convince my mind that my body needs a break!  I try hard to hide my symptoms from those around me, but apparently everyone who knows me at all can see through my act of feelin’ fine!  I’m always so afraid of what other people will think of me if I give in and slow down or stop altogether.  They’ll think I’m weak and just making excuses.  A recent example is the difficult decision I made to cancel the meeting I had scheduled tonight.  It took me over two hours to get up my nerve and phone the woman running the meeting, to tell her I just couldn’t make it tonight because I had a really bad day fatigue and strength-wise.  I’m still going on about it in my head – all I can focus on is how she must be thinking how I let her down and I’m really not serious about the project the meeting was for.  I’m embarrassed and I feel like a disappointment.  People around me at work noticed how run-down and physically weak I was today, and also how upset I was this afternoon.  I told them that I made the selfish decision to cancel a meeting because I need to do what is best for me, and that was to rest and recuperate tonight.  They all said that I did the right thing and were happy to see that I finally gave in and did what was best for me health-wise.  I don’t see why the right thing feels so wrong!  Anyway, so this is where I am with regards to tonight’s Words of Lizdom.  I know my limitations but I am not quite at the point in my life where I am willing to accept them.  This is not helping me physically or mentally and is something I need to work on every day until I smarten up and get it right!  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Today’s symptoms:  Very fatigued and weak.  My jaw was hurting quite a bit too.  I’m feeling physically and mentally deflated due to my decision to cancel my meeting.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/28/2009 7:00 PM

The Brick

What a wonderfully productive day, despite being grounded again.  My boyfriend and I toddled to Tim Hortons for some brekkie, then over to Michaels Craft Store.  I decided I needed some stamps (the kind with an ink pad) to spruce up my life.  I bought a package of mini stamps – twenty-six in total.  Everything from a kitty paw, snowman, kissing lips to a dancing frog and smiling bunny.  I will be able to stamp my outgoing correspondence, notes to coworkers and my coworkers themselves!  I’m sure they will really appreciate it.  After Michaels, we went next door to The Brick.  We decided to replace the dresser we got for free, left by the previous tenant.  We ended up purchasing an armoire.  Oh la la!  I can’t wait until it arrives so I can organize my extensive hoodie collection.  I’ll leave a corner of a shelf for my boyfriend, too.  Tres chic!
I have to take my precious little Abby (younger Sphynx) to the vet tomorrow.  It looks like her right eye is clouded over a bit.  I hope it’s nothing serious – she’s too cute to be sick!

Today’s symptoms: A little weary but not too bad fatigue-wise.  I’ve had a fairly bad headache all day.  Some sharp pains in my forearms as well.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/26/2009 8:38 PM

Readaholic

A friend at work recently introduced me to the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella.  I just purchased the fourth book in the series yesterday and finished it tonight.  Very entertaining – I greatly recommend the books [ Shopaholic website ]  I see the movie was recently released on DVD, so I’ll have to see if it’s as good as the books.  I just purchased the fifth from www.bookcloseouts.com  The books are all around 80% off.  Also, rather than pay for shipping, you can have your order delivered to the Book Depot on Welland Avenue in St. Catharines for pick up!  The store is insanely huge – if you love books, you can easily spend hours in there.

I don’t have any flights planned this weekend due to the icky weather.  It looks like the whole week is going to be like this. 
I visited my little mother today and we wandered around the Seaway Mall.  My shopping adventure ended in one pair of socks from the Zellers Clearance store, totaling 68 cents!  I know you’re probably thinking I went a little overboard, but let me explain!  One of my favourite pair of socks (grey with little white scottie dogs and ribbons) developed a fatal hole in the heel.  A single tear trickled down my cheeck as I gently lowered them into the rubbish bin.  “Farewell, my friends!”  Thou shalt be missed!”  I swear that I could hear Taps playing softly in the background….

Today’s symptoms:  I’ve been pushing myself a little hard lately and it caught up with my pathetic little bod today around 1:00.  I drove home from my mother’s and spent the rest of the day in bed, reading my book and snuggling with my kitties.  I have also had a bad headache for much of the day.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/25/2009 7:43 PM

Je Suis Pooped!

I’ve had a rough few days, mainly with pretty intense exhaustion.  I went home a couple hours early today and I just wasn’t able to concentrate.  It was still a rather productive day.  I hope to go out on the road tomorrow and do some field calls. 
It’s my mother’s birthday on Thursday.  It’s my compressed day off so I’m forcing her to spend the day with me.  We were going to fly to St. Jacobs (there’s an airport in Elmira) and take a cab into town.  Unfortunately, the weather isn’t working out too well for flying this week.  We’ll probably just head over the River and do some shopping.  Speaking of shopping, y’all must check out the iPod Touch.  http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/  Wow!  I can’t believe what this little device is capable of.  It certainly surpassed my expectations.  There are tons of applications such as games, books, utilities, etc.  I’ve downloaded tons of little pilot apps that have airport info, aviation weather updates and aircraft recognition guides – all for free.  I’m also trying to teach myself French, so I found a bunch of free tutor programs.  I can’t do it any justice on here.

Something creepy just happened.  I was thinking of what else to put into tonight’s blog.  While fishing for ideas, I thought of mentioning how the Goldfish crackers in the States are not as good as the ones from Canada.  Moments after this thought, my boyfriend said “Why don’t you mention how the Goldfish crackers in the States aren’t as good as the ones in Canada.”  Ok, now I’m wide awake and weirded out.  Help.

Today’s symptoms: Very weak right arm and overall fatigue.  I just feel totally drained – it will get better though!  It must!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/21/2009 8:46 PM

Buttons and Things

What a wonderful day off.  My mother and I headed out to the airport around 8:30.  We were hoping to make it out to Stratford for around 10:00.  I couldn’t believe how slow we were climbing due to the high humidity.  It was a very smooth flight though.  We arrived at Stratford Airport at exactly 10:00.  I called Stratford Unicom just before landing and the dispatcher asked me if I would like her to call me a cab.  I parked the plane and the cab was waiting for us as soon as we walked into the terminal building.  The dispatcher greeted us and made us feel very welcomed.  http://www.geocities.com/pcfc69/page6.html  We had the cab drop us off at the Tim Horton’s downtown.  We were in desperate need of a java and goodie.  It was such a nice town, with great shops in a relatively small area.  We wandered around for a few hours before starting to get a little pooped.  Back at the Airport, my sleepiness took over, as shown here:

Ah yes, the two blondes take a little nappy together.  I hope I’m still welcome at Stratford Airport, despite my obvious silliness.  Jan and I would love to go back in the Fall.

I discovered a very interesting artist at one of the shops, and I’m interested in purchasing a print or two.  His name is Michael Sowa and you can check out some of his works here: Michael Sowa    We had a tail wind on the way home so the trip was about 20 minutes shorter.  Unfortunately, the white, fluffy clouds were rolling in which made the ride a tad bumpy.  Once we landed back in St. Catharines, Jan asked me if I turned off all the “buttons and things.”  I’m proud to see how much she has picked up on the technical garble of aviation!

Today’s symptoms:  My little nap on the floor of the terminal building at the Stratford Airport perked me up enough for our flight back.  Now I’m so tired I could…..sleep.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/16/2009 7:14 PM

Hot Diggity-Dog!

I had a rather interesting day yesterday while out on field calls for work.  I’m always very observant of my surroundings during field calls, especially when looking for dogs.  The first house I went to was out in the boonies so I was extra vigilant during my search of the area for dogs.  There were none that I could see, until I reached out to ring the doorbell.  Just then, a great big dog stood up from behind the bench next to me.  This dog made me very nervous as it didn’t seem overly happy.  We spent over a minute turning around in circles while he sniffed me.  I made sure not to make eye contact and always held my brief case between us.  Finally a woman came to the door and a wave of relief came over me.  However, it was rather short-lived as she wasn’t too happy either!  The next house I went to had three big bow-wows inside.  The kid who answered the door held the black lab-looking dog back while the other two stayed in the background.  At this point, I was desperately hoping for another type of pet to greet me at the next house….something like a hamster or guppy fish.  I pulled up to the third house and parked across the street.  I heard a woman in the yard, as well as another big dog!  I figured since she was out there, the dog was either tied up or she was holding it back.  No such luck!  No sooner did I open my car door then I saw a big ol’ rottweiler running toward me.  I quickly closed my door and asked if he was a nice dog.  She said yes.  I asked if he was a nice dog toward civil servants and she said yes.  I told her I was putting my trust and life in her words and stepped out of my car.  The dog was actually a big sweety and practically licked me to death.  No one answered at the next two houses I went to but the final residence had a slew of big, drooly dogs.  The person I was visiting wasn’t too happy to see me so after I dropped off some correspondence, I didn’t linger!

I did field calls again today and only came across one dinky little dog.  He looked like something the cat coughed up.
I have the day off tomorrow and my mother and I are flying to Stratford.  http://www.welcometostratford.com/  I phoned the airport today and the female who answered said she would call us a cab once we had the airport in sight, so it would be there when we landed.  How nice and accommodating!

I would like to apologize to my faithful viewers for not providing another segment of Words of Lizdom, as I promised this past weekend.  I was actually a little bummed out and did not feel inspired enough to write something truly uplifting and positive.  Stay tuned, it will happen soon!

Today’s symptoms: I’m actually feeling pretty darn good today.  The fatigue started setting in around 3:30.  No major muscle aches, but I’ve had a headache for most of the day.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/15/2009 6:05 PM

Heating Up

It got a little toasty today.  So far the summer has been quite nice with very few hot days.  I have a heat intolerance (due to the MS) so I’m not a big summer person!  I am really hoping for decent weather tomorrow as I have two flights planned.  It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.  I’m willing to fly in a bit of rain, depending on the visibility.  I think I’ll refrain from going up with the forecasted risk of thunderstorms.   Since I won’t be flying, I’ll probably head over to the Cat Quarters and play with the kitties.

I just noticed I haven’t posted Words of Lizdom in a few weeks.  I shall worketh on that this weekendeth!  Stay tuned!

Today’s Symptoms:  I was quite pooped by about 1:30, but then perked up a tad.  Overall, it was a decent day!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/10/2009 8:22 PM

Short and Sweet…

…just like my mother…well, the “short” part anyway!  She means well though….sometimes….
It was an OK day today.  My mother had her car in the shop since yesterday, as the air conditioner wasn’t working.  Jim, the mechanic, phoned around and managed to get a used part which was drastically less than a new one.  It’s my mother’s birthday later this month (she’s turning the big 4-0!  Plus a few years experience…)  My boyfriend called the mechanic this morning and gave him his credit card to foot (or paw) the bill.  He said to tell my mother that it was a birthday present from her grandkids (my two cats).  The mechanic’s wife went out and got my little mother a birthday card with two cats on it, and put my cat’s names and a sweet birthday note inside.  It was so nice of her!  My mother was totally shocked when she was dropped off to pick up her car and pay the bill.  It’s things like this that make the drive all the way to out Wainfleet well worth it!  Need a great mechanic?  Go see Dakin Automotive – (905) 899-0199; 81982 Regional Rd 27, Wainfleet, On, L0S 1V0.

Today’s symptoms: Very bad exhaustion set in around 2:00.  I feel horrible about dozing off during training at work today.  I tried so hard to fight it but couldn’t stay awake.  I’m going to apologize to the instructor tomorrow. 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/8/2009 8:23 PM

Flightacular Weekend!

I came to the conclusion on Friday night that driving somewhere for breakfast the next morning just wasn’t going to cut it.  I checked online for airports with restaurants and decided Brampton would be a nice little flight.  My boyfriend and I took off from St. Catharines around 9:30 Saturday morning and headed out to Brampton.  It was a rather rough flight due to the gusty winds and clouds.  However, we made it to Brampton with most of the plane in tact.  We met up with one of his employees from the area and had a really nice breakfast at the airport restaurant.  http://bramfly.ca/7_restaurant.html  I was surprised at how busy the airport was.  The flight back to St. Catharines wasn’t quite as bumpy, but wouldn’t be considered smooth either. 

I flew again today as it was a coworker’s son’s birthday.  Every time he sees a plane fly over his house, he asks if it’s me.  Well, today his mother could say “yes!”  I did a fly-over and got a few nice pictures.  It’s kinda hard to fly the plane and take decent zoomed-in pictures at the same time.  I’m looking forward to hearing about what her son thought about his own personal air show! On the way back to the airport, I took some pictures of my mother’s house.  I also snapped a few around Fonthill and Welland – check out my updated “Odessa” photo gallery!  I flew over the cemetery (as per my previous blog entry) and was able to locate my plot from 2000 feet above! 

So that was my joyous weekend.  I’m hoping for nice weather next weekend as there are several fly-ins around Southern Ontario.  I will also be flying over the CRA family BBQ/picnic on Saturday. 

Symptoms for Today:  Despite my long weekend, my main complaint was my headache.  I think it is my new friend as it really seems to like me.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/5/2009 7:39 PM

Happy Belated Canada Day!

I’m so ashamed that I missed adding a blog entry on Canada Day.  My boyfriend and I decided at the last moment to head over the river for some shopping.  We hit the bridge around 9:00 am and scooted our way through the Nexus lane.  The first stop was TOPS for some groceries.  For the last few years, I have been bringing back jars of Mrs. Richardson Caramel Sauce to my peeps at work.  It has to be the best sauce around.  However, for about a year now I can’t seem to find the caramel anywhere – only the fudge variety.  I can’t tell you how many stores I have looked in, but to no avail!  I have recently come to the conclusion that the only way we will acquire our beloved sauce is to order a case online.  We’re desperate, so it’s worth a try! 

Anyway, we bought a few groceries then headed to the Galleria Mall.  I think we were both shocked over how little we purchased.  We picked out a few candles at Yankee Candle (they were less than half price), some items at the Bath and Body shop, and he bought a couple pair of shorts.  That’s it!  It was a nice day though.  After arriving back in Canada, we went to a friend’s back-yard-Canada-Day-Extravaganza!  We weren’t able to stay too long as Chuck pooped out.  I don’t think he was able to handle trying on multiple pairs of shorts.  Usually when he shops, he plucks the item off the shelf and makes the purchase without trying it on.  I’m glad I made him try on the shorts because the first pair made him look like a frumpzilla!  Since I made him donate all of his old, 18th century shorts, it was only fitting that I made sure his new shorts were….well…fitting!  It was so nice to see him dress like he was living in the year 2009.

I was too pooped after my shopping excursion to even write a blog entry yesterday.  How sad is that?  With the holiday mid-week, today actually felt like Monday.  It’s kinda nice that tomorrow is Friday.  I’m hoping for some decent weather this weekend as I have a few flights planned.  The one on Sunday will consist of a fly-over for a co-worker’s son’s birthday.  Every time he sees a plane fly over his house, he asks his mother if it is her friend Elizabeth.  He is going to be thrilled when he sees me fly over just for him and his friends. 

Today’s symptoms:  I’m feeling pretty good today after my long day shopping.  My headache is still aching and my jaw is throbbin’ but that’s about it!  My fatigue is average today.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/2/2009 8:40 PM