Christmas Rocked!

I just had one of the best Christmas’ ever!  Jan met me at the apartment after work around 4:45.  We lugged all of the pressies upstairs, did some organizing, then poured ourselves some drinks.  We typically have our turkey dinner on Christmas Day, but decided to do it Christmas Eve this year.  My mother always cooks a nice big meal, but this year we purchased individual turkey dinners from Antipastos, a restaurant and catering business here in St. Catharines.  They were frozen meals with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn and gravy.  We were shocked at how good everything was.  We wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again.

After noms, we decided to open a present each.  I already knew what one of mine was, since I ordered it online.  I’m so happy with how it turned out!

Jan opened her Samsung tablet I bought her.  I think she’s a little stressed about learning how to use it, but I tweaked it so it was fairly simple.

On Christmas morning, we both woke up fairly early.  Present opening started around 8:30 and didn’t finish until about 3:00!  We always go all out – it was so much fun!

The kitties enjoyed the treats Jan bought them:

They were all scampering around playing with ribbons too:

My friend at the airport did something awesome – he decorated Vyctor!

How cute is that????

I basically relaxed on Boxing Day.  I don’t think I left the apartment building.  Just got everything cleaned up and put away.

Had a great night last night.  My friend came over and we ordered a pizza and watched three movies, including the first in the Lord of the Rings series.  Loved it!  I think our night ended around 3:00am!  Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to go to work the next day.  Me on the other hand…. Actually, I didn’t do too bad today.  Kinda nodded off a few times later in the afternoon, but made it right through until 4:45.  He’s coming by again tomorrow and we’re going to watch the next movie in the series.  At least I won’t have to get up and go into work the next day!

Today’s symptoms: Really bad crushing pains in both hands today.  It literally feels like they’re being squeezed in a vice.  Not fun.  Still dealing with a headache, but it was more than tolerable today.  Looking forward to getting a good sleep tonight!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/28/2012 7:52 PM

Christmas!

Had a great Christmas – can’t believe it’s over.  I was at work on Christmas Eve until 4:30, at which time Lil’ Jan picked me up.  We headed over to my place, got into our comfy clothes and opened a few pressies.  We then cooked our turkey dinners from Antipastos.  Delicious, as usual.  Jan made an awesome dessert which had Cool Whip.  Abby loves Cool Whip so she came running over as soon as she smelled it (how she can smell Cool Whip is beyond me).

 

I called the other kittahs for a little lick but no one rushed over.  Pinky wasn’t even remotely interested:

Just like last year, we watched Home Alone after dinner.  Love that movie.

On Christmas morning, everyone had the pleasure of opening pressies, including my four little freaks.  Their grandma even got them each a little stocking:

Even shy little Abby came out to investigate:

Every year I buy Pinky a new catnip rainbow, which is her favourite toy.  She was pretty excited to sniff it out:

Jan and I happily sipped Bailey’s while opening our presents from each other.  We were both quite happy with our newly acquired loot.  Check out this awesome shower curtain and bath mat Jan got me:

After cleaning up, we watched a few shows, finished off our meals from the night before, and Janski headed home before it got dark.  She got me quite a few new tops, so I decided I would get rid of some of my old ones that I haven’t worn in a while.  I filled a garbage bag, then started cleaning/sorting other areas of my apartment.  Well, it kinda turned into an obsession and I was cleaning non-stop from before 5:00 to 10:30pm!  I still can’t believe how much stuff I cleared out.  I threw out a good chunk of stuff plus have a few bags of things to donate.  Spring cleaning done!

Yesterday I walked into my bedroom yesterday and got a rare photo of all four kitties sitting fairly close together:

Could they be any cuter?  I think not!

Flipping back to Christmas – I forgot to mention this in a previous blog.  My mother was in Florida a couple weeks ago, so I went by her house every few days to check on it and water her plants.  I was rather surprised to see that she didn’t put her Christmas tree up this year, so Mike and I decided to do it for her.  Thought it would be rather amusing to put it up in the middle of her bedroom:

We then took this pic and had it put onto a Christmas ornament (through Wal-Mart photo centre):

Now the memory will live forever!

Today’s symptoms:  For the last few nights, I’ve been sleeping quite a bit better.  Feeling pretty good with the extra sleep, just still dealing with bad daily headaches.  My fatigue level has been a bit more tolerable than normal, which has been very nice!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/27/2013 8:12 PM

Almost Christmas!

Didn’t have the greatest week and weekend, but it’s going to get better starting tomorrow (gosh darn it!)  A couple good things did happen though.  I gave Microsoft OneNote training to folks at my office on Monday, and in Hamilton on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, the weather was insane driving to Hamilton and the normally 40 minute drive took over an hour and a half.  However, once I got there and set up, everything was great.  Had a really nice class and I may be going back in the future to give more training.

 

On Thursday, I taught OneNote at our office again.  I was done at 12:45 that day and went for my Tysabri infusion.  Blah!  Never a truly enjoyable experience but it’s all good as the drug has done me well over the last few years.  I was tested for antibodies for the JC virus, which can lead to progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), which is a fatal brain infection.  I’ve been negative for this virus since starting Tysabri, however, I got a not so great call from the MS clinic in Hamilton last week, stating I am now positive.  The test is indexed and my reading was quite low, so I can still keep getting my monthly infusions.  I will be tested for it again in six months and we’ll see if the numbers have changed.  Paws crossed it doesn’t go up because I really don’t want to go off Tysabri.  Anyway, at this infusion, I had to have more blood work done.  I brought my own heating pad to warm up the spot before the dreaded needle.  Worked quite well and was cute!

After the infusion, Mike and I went over to Antipastos to pick up the turkey dinners my mother and I will be having on Christmas Eve.  Had them from there last year too – very good!  Soon after we got back to my place, my little mother arrived.  We were all going to Betty’s Restaurant in Niagara Falls for the MS Society’s Christmas dinner.  Jan was rather excited that there were other folks her size there:

It was really nice to see everyone from the MS Niagara Chapter of Hope.  What a great venue – I hadn’t been to Betty’s in years.  They are famous for their fish and chips and their awesome lemon meringue pie:

I didn’t have enough room so I gave mine to Jan to take home.  All three of us had a great evening.  We were also glad the weather held off for the drive home.  They called for freezing rain that evening and night.

On Friday, I started to feel pretty punk.  I thought it was more than just the effects of the Tysabri, but I wasn’t sure.  Just felt lousy all over.  I made it through the full day of work though.  Felt much worse on Saturday.  Mike and I had plans but I ended up spending the whole day on the couch or in bed.  He was nice enough to stop by with a coffee and croissant though:

The kitties kept me company, when they weren’t being naughty:

And the naughty, such as Mya trying to get in the bag of Christmas pressies my mother brought over:

Then Boo trying to get into the cabinet:

I decided to check out the bridge traffic for Saturday.  It was over an hour wait going into the States on the Queenston Bridge:

Ugh, glad I wasn’t anywhere near that!

For the last few nights, my insomnia has returned, which really hasn’t helped with how I’ve been feeling.  From last night (and this morning), I took a pic of my clock about 20 minutes after I woke up:

I very rarely ever update anything on Facebook, but I decided to put something on the news feed:

I then finished a totally awesome book (the second part to Pillars of The Earth, which I mentioned in previous blogs):

Then I played some games on my iPad, took another chunk of my sleeping pill, and fell asleep soon after this:

Needless to say, I’m a wee bit tired today!  I will feel better tomorrow though – I’m not going to feel this yucky for Christmas Eve and Day!

Today’s symptoms:  Tons of bone crushing pains all over and a really bad headache.  My sinuses are bothering me again too, but I think they feel a little better today than they did yesterday.  At least that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/22/2013 7:16 PM

Can’t Wait Till Christmas!

I’ve been having a great week!  Went out for lunch at work with a group of friends on Tuesday.  It was my first time to Toi, a Vietnamese restaurant quite close to our office.  All I can say is “wow”.  The food and service was amazing.  I had the crispy grilled chicken which was probably the best chicken I’ve ever had.

We all really enjoyed our lunch and would certainly go there again.  Actually, when I got home, I mentioned the great grub to my cats.  Two of them tried to make a run for it out of the apartment.  Fortunately, they weren’t tall enough to reach the elevator buttons.

My friend and I got together for lunch later in the week.  We didn’t actually go anywhere for food, but stopped at the consignment shop just down the block.  I had dropped off a really nice red dress that no longer fits me (I guess I shrank a tad).  We looked through the rack of dresses, but didn’t see it.  I was kinda hoping it was sold.  It wasn’t but it sure made a nice window display!:

Abby seems to have developed a fixation with TV’s.  This has been her the last couple of days:

Speaking of weird cats, I inadvertently left a plastic bag on the couch.  Pinky found it within seconds:

I had an awesome day yesterday.  Went out for dinner and a movie in Oakville.  After noms at Boston Pizza, we saw the Cirque de Soleil 3D movie.  It was amazing!  I think it was the first 3D movie I’ve seen since I was a kid.  I’ve seen Cirque live before and I was just as blown away with the screen version.  It’s a must-see.

I’m so relieved we had decent weather this morning.  I haven’t flown in about three weeks.  I headed over to the airport around 10:30.  As the fuel dude was fueling my plane, a group of about seven people wandered up on the observation deck.  There was at least one kid (can’t remember if I noticed more than one).  Before hopping in my plane, I walked over and asked if they wanted to see a little airshow.  They said yes so I headed up above the airport and did a bunch of loops, rolls, snap rolls, combos and spins.  I did a low and over before landing.  I wanted to speak with them and ask if they enjoyed the show before heading out for the rest of my flight.  They thought it was quite neat!  The one man had a huge zoom lens on his camera and said he took a bunch of pics – can’t wait to see them!

I headed back out and flew over my friend’s house which is currently being built.  It’s rather neat to see how it’s progressing.  There’s a roof now!

Back at home, I finished wrapping pressies (which I thought I was done already but apparently wasn’t).  Now I’m sitting here debating whether or not I want to work out on my exercise bike.  I’m kinda pooped so will likely just stay on my couch like a blonde blob.

After work tomorrow, Jan is coming over and we’re going to have a few drinks and eat our Christmas dinner.  She’s going to stay the night then we’ll spend most of Tuesday opening about 347 presents.  I can’t wait!

Today’s symptoms: I felt very good today.  Actually my fatigue level has been less than normal over the last few days.  Still have the headache, but it’s getting a bit better.  Also, still lots of sharp aches and pains in my hands and forearms, but they’re livable.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/23/2012 5:32 PM

 

 

Busy, Busy!

Yup, I’m totally behind on my blog again.  I’ve been really busy over the last couple of weeks.  On my day off last Thursday, I decided to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping.  I first had an appointment with my GP in Fonthill, after which I drove two minutes to my little mother’s house.  We visited for a bit (and ate some pie!) then I drove to the St. Catharines Airport.  There, I dropped off a gift basket for my aviation mechanic.  It was nice to see him, another friend and of course, Vyctor:

 

 

He’s so cute.  I really hope I can go for a flight soon – it’s been about three weeks since my last one!

After that visit, I drove over to my friend’s hangar to stick something (for her birthday) to her hangar door.  I left the airport, and drove to the States to pick up a package.  Thankfully with Nexus, there was no wait on the Whirlpool Bridge.  Back in Canada, I drove to the Fairview Mall and hit about half a dozen stores.  Then to Costco, Shopper’s Drug Mart, my local pharmacy, a book store, and a few more places.  It was about five hours of running around, but I got everything accomplished that I wanted to do.  I was totally poop-o-la when I got home, but it was a great feeling to have everything done.  When I arrived home (after making a couple trips from my car) I got all of my loot inside.  I asked Pinky what she thought of my fulfilling day and she just gave this odd little look:

My friend came over the next night and we ordered some food and wrapped pressies.  It’s kinda an annual tradition with us.  Here’s some of Jan’s gifts I wrapped:

This weekend was great.  Jan and I went over to Buffalo to pick up a shirt I ordered while we were in Rochester.  We ended up spending a few hours in the mall and made some sweet purchases.  That night, I went out to dinner then over to the nearby mall to pick up a few more things.

Yesterday was long overdue.  I went out to see a movie in Oakville.  I haven’t seen a movie in the theatre in over ten years!  We watched Flight with Denzel Washington.  We both really enjoyed it.  Afterwards, we went to Wild Wings next door and I had some great noms.  I haven’t had wings in around ten years.

Very good!  It was a great day and despite getting home after 10:00pm, I was still able to get up and start work at 7:15 and made it through the day.

Product warning: That new Sensodine toothpaste in the can has some issues.  I had been using it for a couple months, and it was getting down to the end.  The other morning I went to brush my teeth, only to find my toothpaste exploded:

Yuck!  How rude!

I’ve had an amazing week.  My spirits are high – life is awesome!

Today’s symptoms: Had a very good day today.  Fatigue level was much lower than normal, and only a few (although pretty intense) aches and pains in my hands.  I’ve still be dealing with a bad headache for the last few weeks.  I’ll be sure to mention it to my neurologist when I see him tomorrow.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/17/2012 6:07 PM

Wedding!

No, not mine!  Mike and I went to the wedding of one of my coworkers on Saturday.   I was very lucky in that his mother French braided my hair, as it’s not something I’ve ever been able to do myself.  She did an amazing job:

 

It was a really nice ceremony followed by amazing food.  It was family style, which I really like for a wedding.  Then they had a photo shoot with props.  They took three pictures and you had about five seconds to change props and poses:

What a blast!  You could go back as many times as you wanted to.  It was an awesome night.  I’m so happy for the newly married couple!

I told Abby about our fun night and this was her response:

Nice – thanks for the enthusiasm.  Meanwhile, little Boo was getting rather snuggly with Donkay:

Kinda ironic since earlier in the day, she was chewing on the head of this innocent bear:

It’s the duality of Boo!

Meanwhile, one of Mike’s cats was being his typical, goofy, semi-clueless looking self:

I finally received my air to air photo done up in Barrie in October.  Turned out pretty nice:

I’m thinking of getting it printed on canvas for my wall.

I had to give OneNote training at work today and have to drive to Hamilton tomorrow to teach it there.  Kinda looking forward to it!  One more class on Thursday.

Today’s symptoms: Didn’t feel too bad.  Had some pretty bad muscle pains in my neck and back, plus yucky headache.  Fatigue level wasn’t too bad though!

 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/16/2013 8:29 PM

Slightly Sickola

Had a pretty decent weekend.  Mike and I went over the river to pick up a package my mother had ordered.  We hit Tops and got some yummy noms.  After that we headed to Jan’s to drop off her item, then back to my place.  We were greeted by some bright-eyed and non-bushy tailed kittahs:

 

Unfortunately, I woke up rather sickola on Sunday.  Seems like I picked up a bit of a stomach bug as I was sick all morning.  Early in the afternoon, Mike and I were both rather hungry, but I really didn’t have the energy or desire to make anything.  I did, however, go all out and make a big bowl of instant mashed potatoes.  I didn’t even have the drive to put it on plates so out to the couch I went with our lunch in hand:

Grab a spoon and dig in!  Rather gourmet, don’t ya think?

Abby seemed to feel like me that day, as she spent most of the day like this:

Mind you, it could just be because she’s a cat.

We watched Hunger Games in the afternoon and called it an early night.

I had my aviation medical today and I’m happy to report I’m all good to go until next time.  It was my first time with this doctor, as my previous aviation medical doc retired recently.  He was very nice and I’ll certainly have no issues going back to him for my future renewals.  I just hope my token works in the exit machine-thing next time, as I was kinda trapped in the parking lot after my appointment.

Today’s symptoms:  Still not feeling great since my little weekend sickola spell.  However, I feel a little better today than yesterday.  I plan on feeling even better tomorrow.  Hoping to take some vacation time in the afternoon.  Nothing big and exciting to report on the MS front – same ol’ symptoms, different day.  It’s all good though!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/10/2013 6:32 PM

MS Sucks

Ok, I’m very rarely negative in my blogs, so I’m going to keep this little vent short and sweet.  I have never experienced full body pain like what I’ve been dealing with for the last two days.  Wowsa!  Feels like my whole bod is being crushed in a big, yucky vice.  Had to go home from work early yesterday and went in late today.  Not sure if this is a bit of a flare-up or what, but it must stop immediately!  Geesh!  My fatigue has been much worse than normal too.  I actually fell asleep multiple times at a meeting yesterday, and there were only six of us sitting across the table from each other.  I’m sure people noticed.  The amusing part was staggering back to my desk and trying to read the notes I took for the minutes.  Looks like I’ll be doing some creative writing!  Should be entertaining, at least!

 Ok, on a happy note, life is still awesome.  On Sunday, Mike and I went to breakfast with some of our Recreational Aircraft Association folks.  I thought Donkay would like to join us.  He whispered something into Sandy’s ear at one point:

And was launched across the table on more than one occasion.  Hey, it’s an aviation group and flying is a good thing!

I felt like fries for breakkie so asked for a basket.  Wow, a basket is right:

At least I had dinner the next night as well.  I think Dave had some leftovers too.  He decided to order the fish and chips (it was after 11:00, so not exactly breakkie).  Check out this enormous mound of noms:

I think he ordered the breaded whale.  The food at Iggy’s Pub and Grub in Fonthill is great – I definitely recommend it.

After noms, we headed over to Leon’s so Mike could check out some furniture for his new place.  He passed out on the bed he decided to buy.  I covered him with a flyer to make him look a little more presentable to the public:

Geesh!

I was a total nut during the two and a half hours we were there.  I kinda felt bad for Chuck, who was helping us out.  I asked him for a reinforced bed frame to support my morbid obesity, called him “Chucky Boy” at one point, and had a really hard time not making faces while the kid wandering around us was horking and hacking all over everything.  I even got him to pose with me for a pic:

Tormenting people is fun!  The best part was Mike’s the one who spent all the money yet I was given this adorable Leons toy van!

Yup, life is good!

I think the plan tonight is to get in my jammies and crawl into bed to read.  I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow.  I kinda have to – we’re having our RAA Christmas dinner at the Mandarin tomorrow evening.  Slurp!

Today’s symptoms:  see above! 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 12/3/2013 7:48 PM