Finally Made It To London

Mike and I have been trying for almost two months now to fly to London for breakfast.  I’m very happy to report that the stars aligned on Saturday and a jaunt was finally a go.  Around 10:00, we barreled down the runway into a roughly 20 knot headwind.

This was Donkay’s second flight and the first one to a different location.  It took about an hour and twenty minutes to get there.  It’s usually about an hour but we had the headwind to contend with.  When we arrived in London airspace, the tower had us do a 360 degree circle, to accommodate the Dash-8 that was on final for landing.

Once we got Vyctor all bundled up, we headed into the Katana Kafe for breakfast.

I rarely order them when out at a restaurant, but was having a bit of a hankering for pancakes.  Mike ordered himself a skillet:

We had the joys of seeing some other interesting aircraft taxi and hover by while we were nomming:

Vyc had some orange company – briefly, anyway:

We had a great breakfast and then flight home.  The trip to London was totally worth the rather extended wait!

I was able to see more orange that evening, whilst enjoying the view during my shower.  This is certainly one thing I am going to miss if/when I move:

I really appreciate the architect of my building for deciding to put a window in the shower!

Today’s symptoms: I haven’t been sleeping too well the last couple of nights, so I’m a bit more weary, achy and blah than usual.  I already gave myself a pep talk for sleeping well tonight, so I expect to feel much better tomorrow.  I’m hoping this bad headache takes a hike too!

Inaugural Flight

Great news!  The weather finally cooperated and I was feeling well, so I was take Donkay on his inaugural flight!  It was just him and I.  Here were go, rolling down the taxiway on the way out to runway 24:

Fortunately, there was a nice clear spot over the Niagara District Airport, so I informed the tower that we would be heading up for some aerobatics.  It was the first time I had done them in over a month, so it was a nice rust remover.

I’m thrilled to report, UK Donkay loved it:

It appears Vyctor was happy to get out as well.

For weeks now, he’s been plugged in over night (oil sump warmer) on Friday’s, in preparation for great weather Saturday.  I think we’ve prepared on Friday to fly to London for breakfast at least six or seven times now.  Then we’ve woken up to aviation weather like this:

I’m VFR (Visual Flight Rules) only so can’t (and have no desire) to fly through clouds and low visibility.  It’s never a good sign when this is all that is listed:

We had a great time and hopefully are able to get up again soon:

Mike was out with his friends that day, so the kitties and I just chilled:

I had this cuteness sitting over my shoulder for a bit:

I forget what Boo and Pinky were up to that afternoon.  Probably scheming.

Today’s symptoms: I had a good day today.  This week appears to be going nicely, symptom-wise.  Of course, experiencing the usual pains and had the MS Hug a couple times, plus a worse-than-usual headache.  But everything else seems to be fairly stable.  I greatly appreciate times like this.

Yesterday Was Awesome

I was hoping to wake up to  nice clear skies and roads yesterday, as I had to drive to Toronto that morning.  My hopes and dreams were shattered when I looked out the window to snow-covered roads and hearing about car accidents on the radio.  Mike and I left at 7:00am to reports of two lanes of the QEW closed due to a jack-knifed tractor trailer.  The going was slow and most people were driving for the conditions.  Although we did see one car on it’s roof and another in the ditch.  I was hoping to be there by 9:30, since the event started at 10:00.  We managed to find a parking garage and then ran over to the building.  Poor Lola Corolla got a tad soiled on the drive in:

We met up with the event organizer and some other folks helping out.  Everyone was so nice and welcoming.  The were two really good speakers before me and then I presented for 35 minutes.  The group was great – very attentive and receptive.  It was days like that where I would give anything to just be giving presentations full time. I’m actually getting ready to give another one at my office, but this one will be a Lunch and Learn on decluttering (physically and digitally).  I think it’s for next month (I should probably look into that!)  The ones I gave prior were on Safe Online Shopping and Technophobia.

We had a much better drive home than we did on the way up.  On the way back, we accidentally stopped at the AvWorld store.  I feel kinda guilty about it, since I didn’t really need it, but I sorta bought this shirt:

It will look nice with my orange hoodie I often wear when I’m flying (the pilot should always coordinate with their plane!)  I really wish the weather would clear and I’m feeling decent so I can go for a flight.  I miss little Vyctor:

I didn’t have a very good day at work and ended up taking the afternoon off.  I was just so weary after the awesome day I had yesterday.  I don’t think it would have been so bad, if not for the stressful drive up.  Regardless, it was worth it.

Abby and the rest of the kitties were all quite cuddly today, so that made things much more enjoyable:

Even Peanut came out for a bit.  Boo is really eyeing her brother.  She ended up sniffing him once and walking away:

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Today’s symptoms: My typical MS symptoms weren’t much worse than normal, despite being so weary today.  Headache is it’s “usual” as well.  I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight and feel much better tomorrow.  Woot!

Come From Away

Mike and I had the pleasure of going to the Come From Away theatrical performance at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto.  We live close to the bus station, so we walked over and hopped on the 10:00 bus to Toronto.  So much less stressful than driving.  We lucked out and got the front seat on the way up:

We dropped our stuff off at the Hotel Victoria, which we had been to previously.  Then after freshening up, we sauntered over to the theatre:

I highly recommend this show.  Everything about it was great, including the upbeat music and humour.  I’m so glad they shared such a truly Canadian story.

At one of our Recreational Aircraft Association meetings, I showed the group this eye opening documentary about what the pilots of all aircraft in North America that day, the Air Traffic Control people, and folks such as those portrayed in this performance during 9/11.  It’s called Cleared for Chaos.  I found it to be a perfect program to watch for a better understanding of what people went through in Gander, Newfoundland.  Truly makes me proud to be a Canadian!

I’m also proud to be the mother of these little cuties.  Peanut was quite intent on venturing out of his tank the other day.  He was in a very crawly mood:

Up my neck a few times:

Meanwhile, Abby kept an eye on the crickets.  I’ve had these same crickets from either October or November!  I can’t believe how old they are, and the males haven’t stopped chirping constantly.

I’m really excited about tomorrow.  I’m giving my motivational/mental health talk to a government office in Toronto.  I’ve never been to this office before and am really looking forward to the day.  The weather looks like it’s going to be horrible.  It’s already snowing and we’re supposed to get a mix of snow and freezing rain all night and into tomorrow.  Yikes!  I want to be there for 9:30am…..maybe we should leave now (the night before 9:10pm)!

Today’s symptoms: This is the first day I felt really good in almost two weeks.  I was dealing with a joyous bladder infection, which I used to get almost constantly.  First one in about a year, so I’m not complaining!  I caught it early and only had to be on antibiotics for a week.  Sweet!  Other than that, things have been their usual up and down.  One day I’m feeling quite good, with below average (for me, it’s my worst symptom) levels of fatigue.  My headaches have been bad though.  I’m so hopeful for feeling great for my presentation tomorrow.  Paws crossed!