Monster Truck Show

Mike and I went to the Monster Truck show in Hamilton yesterday at the First Ontario Centre.  He had never been to this type of show before.  I used to go to them quite often as a kid.  We drove up there for around 1:00 as the show started at 2:00.  We wandered around Jackson Square for a bit to kill some time, then over to the event.  We had front row seats for the awesomeness.  It was great to see my favourite there – Grave Digger:

Great action with only one flipped vehicle:

There was a neat quad race as well:

We enjoyed it so much that we bought tickets for the event in St. Catharines at the end of May.  At least we’ll be able to just walk over to the Meridian Centre.

Back home, Mike decided to play a game on his phone.  Peanut helped:

He then decided to have a closer look at Mike’s face:

Meanwhile, Mya checked out my new Airplanes ottoman:

Boo looked on, totally enthralled:

Today’s symptoms: Felt pretty good today – maybe a little more drained than normal, but that was a long day yesterday.  Still dealing with these rotten bouts of insomnia.  I see my neurologist in a couple weeks for my annual MS check up, so I’ll see if he has any suggestions.

Faulty Towers Dinner Show

Mike and I both took a couple days off of work and headed to Toronto on Wednesday.  We decided to take the bus rather than drive.  The bus terminal is about two blocks from the apartment and booking through Megabus, we only paid $11 for two one way tickets there!  We bought tickets for the Faulty Towers dinner show at the Sony Centre for Wednesday night.

It was excellent with the shenanigans starting before we even got seated for dinner.  Mike got a couple insults thrown at him.  Then we had a peanut (not my gecko named Peanut!) thrown at us, which I gracefully caught.  Here’s Mike getting heckled by Manuel:

Then Basil and Sybil began their typical arguments while in front of us:

After a little show in the bar and waiting area, we were summoned to our tables.  It was a very interactive show, with the actors doing their thing around our dinner tables.  All three of them were spot-on with regards to their characters:

Manuel danced and sang up on our table at one point:

I cant’ remember if that was before he combed my hair with my fork, to which Basil told him to stop as there was no hope for me!  Tee hee!

Along with the show, the food was excellent:

We would both recommend going.  Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel for the night.  The next morning, we headed to Timmies for breakfast and then to Ripley’s Aquarium, which is next to the CN Tower.  We made it there just before about seven school buses came, so it was relatively quiet while we walked through the amazing exhibit.  Here are a few shots:

We got to pet the little…errr…..I forget what they’re called.  Brown, flat fishie dudes:

Of course, being a total whack job, I had to do all of the kid activities and things.  Like pose under this jellyfish dangler:

And crawl on my hands and knees through the kiddies tunnel, where I did this lovely pose for Mike:

Great couple of days!  Needless to say, I was totally wiped out today – I always seem to have to pay for these things but it’s worth it.  You gotta live!  Life it too short, just like my mother.

Today’s symptoms: Really pooped and lots of bad MS aches and pains.  I’ll feel better tomorrow though.

Blown To Guelph

The weather this weekend was great.  Mike and I had planned on flying to Guelph on Saturday, but I was feeling really lousy (weak and fatigued) that day.  Sunday was nice but very windy and gusty.  What the heck – I like a challenge.  We made it to Guelph in around 35 minutes.  The landing was quite interesting due to the rather small runway that was in use and dealing with the windage.  I had to come in a little faster than normal to fight the gusts which is rather interesting on a small runway.  Fortunately, the landing went well:

We taxied over to the restaurant.  Not surprising due to the high winds, we were the only ones that flew in.

Regardless, the restaurant was packed.  We even had to wait about ten minutes for a table.  No complaints – it’s great to see an airport restaurant so busy.  Soon after we ordered our food, we figured out why they were so crowded:

The food was delicious.  We would love to go back!

While heading out, we waited for a gyro-copter to do a touch and go:

We couldn’t believe they were out flying in those winds!  Good for them!

It was a nice flight on the way home, which was about fifteen minutes longer due to the headwind.  I let Mike fly for a bit while I took in the scenery, such as the slightly packed Ikea parking lot:

And the Skyway Bridge:

One of the best parts of the trip was how great I felt in the morning.  I haven’t had that much energy in a very long time.  It was so amazing – I would give ANYTHING to always feel like that.  Unfortunately, a few hours after our flight, I was back to my normal feeling self.  Blah.  Oh well, I’m least I had the break from feeling yucky!  We spent the rest of the day just chilling with the kitties.  Abby didn’t really want to be disturbed (she’s disturbed enough):

Boo spent some time in the tub:

I think she decided to hide out there after being smushed by Mya:

Pinky decided to look far less miserable than she normally does:

And Peanut did this adorable little pose:

I have the cutest family ever!  I proudly symbolize them on my car, which really needs a bath:

It rained quite a bit overnight on Sunday and into Monday morning.  That left this amazing double rainbow, which I took a panoramic shot of:

I wasn’t too stable with the horizontal sweep, which is why St. Catharines is looking a little wobbly across the horizon.  Oops!

Ok, back to cats.  I like to call this Mya pic Myla Monroe:

Abby being her typical googly self:

As soon as the weather turns nice and I open the door to the screened-in balcony, this is usually the view from inside:

Can’t leave them out there too long though or they get sunburned.  Go figure!

Today’s symptoms: Didn’t feel too good today.  Finally slept a little better last night but the fatigue and weakness are still with me.  How rude!

Aerobatics – Hammerhead and Dancing!

Ok, just in case you ever thought I was normal, check out the first video on the Videos page of my website:

http://site.lizzymcfly.com/Videos.html

A screen shot of the video.  Yup, I’m whacked.  Doing a hammerhead (aerobatic maneuver):

Check out the background of the video – went straight up until the plane couldn’t climb anymore and then I flipped it over and we came back down to the joyous earth.  Good times!  And I think it was J. Lo singing On The Floor.

Today’s symptoms: Felt really good today.  So glad I was able to go up and do aerobatics.  Haven’t done them in a couple months.  I was actually able to do them for around an hour.  Felt good the entire time.  What a blast!

Hat Shopping

I have taken a clip of the Cogeco interview I did the other week.  I posted it on my website here:  Cogeco Interview for the Walk for MS.  I really wish I could have posted the entire interview, which I did with Jennifer from the MS Society, but it was just too big.  She did a fantastic job talking about the Walk coming up on May 3rd.

This weekend, Mike and I went hat shopping.  We really had time a hard time finding what we were looking for.  We’ve actually been looking for over a week.  However, we found the perfect hat at the hobby shop downtown St. Catharines.  Here’s how it looks:

Nice, eh?  It came with a little cane and umbrella too.  We need to set up a photo shoot with all the props.  Stay tuned!

We walked by Beechwood donuts on the way to the hobby shop.  It’s this new donut shop downtown, which is doing a killer business.  They typically sell out before the end of the day.  I actually went there during my lunch break last week and picked one up for Mike – chocolate peanut butter.

I’m not a big donut person, but did have some.  Really good!  The nice thing was when I went, there was no line.  Unlike when we walked by it on Saturday:

I counted and there were about 50 people in line (including inside).  Crazy.

On Sunday, we flew down to Tillsonburg for breakfast.  We met up with a couple friends from my work.  One is a pilot and her parents own a plane and the other is dating a pilot.  So three planes flew in to meet up for great food and conversation.  Heading back, we saw a pretty big brush fire in a field.  Of course, I had to head over to check it out:

Great flight that day.  The weather was perfect and both St. Catharines and Tillsonburg were very busy.

Here’s a good one – my kittah Pinky is a tad….errrr…..miserable looking.  She just has one of those faces.  Kinda ironic that she decided to sit on my Grumpy Cat pillow:

Then there’s Mya who’s now into selfies:

Yup, my cats are weird.  And so are these pics Mike’s dad sent us:

Back to normalcy, we had an awesome Recreational Aircraft Association meeting last night at the St. Catharines airport.  We had the Base Manager of National Helicopters give a chat about being a chopper pilot and working for National.  It was a great presentation and our members had tons of questions.

I was going to ask if I could borrow his model as I think it’s a good size for Peanut.  You know, when we do the photo shoot.  We could get him a little headset and everything.

Today’s symptoms: Didn’t feel too bad despite the busy day yesterday with the meeting.  Did go through a weird sensory issue early this afternoon, where I felt like my chair is leaning back and my hands feel huge.  Like I said – weird!  It’s very rare that it happens and it usually lasts only an hour or two.  It’s quite distracting though and makes it hard to work. 

Cogeco Rocks!

I was really happy to see the recent Cogeco interview I did, along with Jennifer from the MS Society.  It went really well – the interviewer Carrie Zeffiro, was awesome.  It will be airing on the “What’s New?” segment on the Cogeco (Niagara) station on: Sat. April 11 at 6PM, Sun. April 12 at 1PM, Wed. April 15 at 6PM, Sat. April 18 at 6PM and Sun. April 19 at 1PM.

To celebrate the interview, I decided to make Mike a gourmet meal that night….you know, the kind like from those extremely high end, classy restaurants.  It’s “poulet au wheat thin avec a mustard, relish and sautéed tomato glaze, au jus from maple tree and key lime confectionary topped in nerd crumble”.

Just call me ElizaRamsey!  As you can see, Mike thoroughly enjoyed it:

Actually, I can’t tell if he’s analyzing the gloriousness of the food or trying not to hurl.  You want some, Abby?

I’ll take that look as a no.

Today’s symptoms: Actually felt pretty decent.  I slept more last night than I did in the last two nights combined!  Hopefully this is the end of my current bout of insomnia.

Elizabunny

Hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend!  The weather was nice on Saturday and I was feeling pretty good, so Mike and I flew to Brantford for breakfast.

As we were coming back into St. Catharines, Mike decided to take a pic of the two dorks in the cockpit:

As my mother would say, “Good grief!”

After we got back home, we made some key lime squares to bring to his parent’s house for Easter dinner Sunday night.  We decided to add a special “touch” to the dish:

The ironic thing is that stupid moi forgot to bring them with us on Sunday!  Duh!  Probably a good thing as I tried them today and they didn’t come out of the pan very well.  Must have been the extra weight of the kittah that walked over it.

My mother joined us to the dinner.  Soon after we arrived, Mike’s dad showed me the flight simulator program he has.  I played for a bit, using an Extra (aerobatic airplane) and the St. Catharines airport landscape.  I figured this would be the only time I could legally fly under the St. Catharines Skyway bridge.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the program, but the very low Homer Bridge was.  I flew under it twice:

It was quite a feeling of accomplishment, especially since I didn’t crash.

Another great moment of the night was meeting Mike’s new niece, Piper.  This is his sister’s fourth kid (two boys and two girls).  She was passed around to everyone, including my mother, who then passed her over to Mike.  It kinda looks like she’s saying “Noooooo!!!!!  Don’t pass me to that dude!”  But the pass-off went great and Mike got to hold his niece (who wasn’t much bigger than my mother.  Tee hee):

What a great night with wonderful conversation and delightful noms!

Speaking of noms, as I mentioned in my last blog, I have to sort out the new hypoallergenic dry cat food from the stuff I usually feed my goobers, as it’s making Pinky sick.  I’m happy to report, Mike and I finally got all of the new food picked out of the old stuff, kibble by kibble:

If the food wasn’t so expensive, I wouldn’t have worried about it, but at around $60 a bag…

After sorting the food, Mike and I went to the pet store and bought some more crickets for little Peanut:

Once home, I washed out his tank while Mike babysat.  Ugh, this is what I walked out to:

Ugh!  Although, I guess I really shouldn’t be saying anything.  This is what I did the day before:

Oh how we torment the kitties sometimes!  Like during their baths.  Even though Mya is the oldest and supposed to be a role model, she is a total screecher during her bath.  As you can see, she wasn’t impressed:

Boo has been a bit of a klutz lately.  She fell off the bed twice in the last few days and just a couple hours ago, she rolled over in her sleep.  This is how she ended up:

Then she had the nerve to look at me like I did it to her!  Geesh!

Today’s symptoms: Very tired and weak today.  Also, been dealing with the infamous MS hug starting yesterday.  I haven’t been sleeping well lately which isn’t helping with things.  Paws crossed things change tonight!

Cogeco Interview – MS Walk

I haven’t had too much to report lately.  Mike and I were all excited to fly to Waterloo on Sunday for breakfast, which would have been great to blog about.  We were all ready to rock in my freshly fueled plane – everything checked out great.  After making sure the area was clear, I turned the key, waiting for the prop to spring into life.  Meh.  There was just a little moan from the electric system.  Yup – battery el’dead-o.  Bummer.  We could have had the plane jump started, but what if I couldn’t get it restarted after we landed and tried to take off again in Waterloo?  Not worth the risk.  Grounded!  We ended up going to a local restaurant for breakfast instead.  Not quite as fun but still yummy.  I think one of the best parts was how a piece of my scrambled eggs looked like my gecko:

It felt bad to eat it but I managed.  Striking resemblance, eh?

I asked Abby if she thought the two images were similar.  She was so impressed, she actually applauded:

She then asked for a close-up view of little Peanut.  Since they’re buds, I obliged:

No lizards were harmed during the making of these pictures.

The annual Walk for MS is coming up on May 3rd.  I was asked by the organizer of the Niagara Walks (St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland) if I would join her on Cogeco TV to promote the event.  I have been interviewed by them a few times before – my favourite being the video on the homepage of my website.  We met at the studio for 4:00 today and were interviewed soon after.  I think it’s going to air for two weeks, the Cogeco News station, starting next Wednesday.  I’ll have to record it and post it – stay tuned.

I’m going to see if I can get on air with the best radio station in Niagara – 105.7 EZ Rock.  I’ve been interviewed by them a few times in the past to promote the Walk.  I would love to go again.

I mentioned less than a year ago that little Pinky was getting sick almost every day.  I recently attempted to put Abby on a hypo-allergenic dry food, as she’s been having digestion troubles since I’ve had her (she’s over 5).  My vet decided we try this food.  I’ve had the kitties on it before, and during the last time, Pinky was sick.  I didn’t think it was that food that was causing it.  We had her to the vet multiple times, including the emergency clinic.  They couldn’t figure out the issue.  Soon after switching the food recently for Abby, Pinky started getting sick again.  I’m starting to think it was that hypo-allo food.  So, since I’ve mixed it in with their regular food, and both are very expensive, Mike and I started separating the food, so it wouldn’t go to waste (although I guess I could donate it).  Wow, hours of fun:

The kitties helped:

She’s been off of it for a couple days and was still sick today, so we’re going to hold off on sorting until we’re sure whether or not it’s the food that’s causing it.  Man, I love my kitties just a tad too much.  But how can I not – I mean, look at this face:

Close up:

Precious.  I have four absolutely precious hairless freaks.  My life is perfect.

Today’s symptoms: Didn’t feel too bad today.  Had a rough couple days where I had really bad sinus headaches, plus bad fatigue after not sleeping well.  Today is good other than the crushing pains in my hands. Yuck and ouch.