The Elephant in the Room

After nearly 30 years in remission, I am experiencing a severe MS attack. It started a week ago with some vertigo feelings and unsteadiness progressing to very severe double vision. Pretty much a nightmare! I saw my neurologist the next day and he confirmed the diagnosis. I have an eye patch to help with the double vision and a cane to keep me from careening into walls, people, etc. The treatment is five days of methlprednisalone (Solu-medrol) at 1,000 mg per IV infusion. Heavy duty stuff. I have Valium to help control the shakiness and Ambien to counteract the insomnia. With treatment I can hope to feel better in 3 to 4 weeks. Without treatment it could be 6 to 8 weeks. Already, after 4 days I don't need to eye patch. My vision isn't perfect yet but no double vision. My right eye had developed a mind of its own - wandered all over the place. Pretty gross. I am pretty tired, but encouraged. We have many prayer warriors around the country and world and so many caring people, not to mention fine doctors and support staff. You know, when you have MS you always know it could show up at any time and this time, the old elephant put the hurt on me! God is control and I trust Him with my life. Thank you for your love and support as well! MJ

Happy Birthday to Me or Maybe 60 Won't Be So Bad After All!

I had a really nice birthday on Tuesday. Very low key - work, Bible Study and then off to the kid's for dinner and a pineapple upside down cake - yummy!!

The week-end before, we went to Leavenworth - a little Bavarian looking village on the slopes of the Cascades. It is very touristy, but we were after a week-end away and being touristy was alright with us! We had a great time until Bill needed to go to the emergency room in the middle of the night! The little town had a small 24 hour "emergency" room, but they didn't have an ultrasound machine, so off we went to Wenatchee. Gall bladder!

All in all, I think 60 is going to be OK!

Holiday Photos

I think the pics are pretty self explanatory! Unfortunately I always forget to post them in reverse order so Thanksgiving is at the end and Christmas at the beginning! Oh, well!

Good memories!

Catching Up

Wow, have I ever gotten behind! I'll try to catch up in readable chunks:

• Memorial Service for 4 Fallen Officers: We were able to get into the Tacoma Dome for the service which really surprised us! We were happy to get within a few blocks and stand outside along the curb watching the processional! It was the most moving event I think I have ever been privileged to observe. I have never felt so safe, yet so vulnerable. I watched the service for Officer Tim Brenton in Seattle and it was pretty powerful, but actually being there was something far different. There were not as many civilians as we expected - I think the media scared everyone away - but to see the whole Dome filled with officers was absolutely overwhelming. The Canadian Royal Mounted Police in their red dress uniforms really stood out. There must have been a thousand of them! Police from every part of the state and country were there. The silence was unbelievable! The most touching part was when the children of one of the officers spoke and afterwards there was a spontaneous standing ovation! Then when they did the last radio call - gone but not forgotten, taps, Amazing Grace on the bagpipes, the 21 bell salute and you could hear the officers around you sniffling, we both lost it! Glad I packed a lot of tissues in my purse! And now we will have another service this coming Tuesday for another officer who gave his life in the line of duty. That makes 8 officers shot, with 6 dying and 2 wounded just here in Western Washington. We are all a little shell shocked and grieving the loss. I placed four electric candles with blue bulbs in the windows and expected to take them down today, but will leave them up until after next Tuesday's service. Thank you seems inadequate to express how we feel about our law enforcement officers and those in any rescue profession, including our military. Very humbled. May God guide, guard and protect each and every one!
• Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: fast forward a few weeks and we have a very special privilege - having my almost 95 year old mother-in-law here for Christmas! She was able to spend the night and spend Christmas Day with us as well. It was nice to be able to take her with us to our Christmas Eve Service and then over to relatives she hadn't seen for a long time! She had a ball! We had a very low key Christmas this year. Bill and I only exchanged stockings. I ordered a calendar online for Mom with pictures and birthdates and the kids got her a high powered flashlight. We decided to give the money we would have spent on the adults to a charity. I think we will purchase some goats through World Vision for families in need in Africa. We keyed down our giving to the grandkids as well, but I think everyone had a really good time!
• New Year's Eve: Can you believe it is now 2010!? We went to church for a few hours and played games and snacked on everyone's left over holiday goodies! Good way to get rid of the candy that everyone gifts you! It was fun and we didn't plan to stay up, but the neighborhood was so noisy there was no point in trying to sleep, so we saw the old year out and new one in! Last year was a sad one and we said good-bye to too many friends.
• Pre-holiday illnesses: We got a call the week before Christmas from Bill's brother saying that his mom had been in the ER that morning! She had the stomach flu and had gotten very dehydrated. Turns out about 50% of the people in her retirement home had it! I took her to the doctor the next day and she was pretty weak. Scary at that age! She recovered fully and we were thankful she was able to come for Christmas! Then the rest of the kids and grandkids got it! The three adults had it all in one night! So they were a little subdued on Christmas still! So far Bill and I escaped it! Although I thought I was coming down with it but it was really just....
• A Bad Trip: I have officially entered the Little Old Lady Who Mixes Up Her Pills category and I am not happy about it! Sunday night I thought I was coming down with the flu - lightheaded and queasy rather suddenly. Then my toes went numb. Then my fingers. Then I started to shake uncontrollably! OK, not the flu - call 911! I ended up with numbness and partial paralysis and unable to speak for a short while. Convulsive movements, confusion, all manner of very bad reactions. A CT scan, X-ray, UA, bloodwork were all performed and no one knew what was wrong. Not a stroke, not my heart although my blood pressure was sky high and pulse was racing. After 5 or 6 hours in the ER, I slowly began to improve - gaining speech and losing some of the numbness. Then the shaking began to ease and I felt much better, although extremely tired. It wasn't until I was getting dressed to go home that it hit me like a lightning bolt! I was pretty sure I had mixed up medications - an antidepressant for over the counter Advil. I probably took about 1,000 mg too much of the antidepressant. BINGO! I asked the doc when he came back in for the discharge and he talked to the pharmacist. They thought yeah, it could have been, but weren't convinced. When we got home, I checked and sure enough, that is what happened. I looked it up online and yes, the symptoms concurred. Boy, did I feel foolish! I was scared, Bill was scared and John and Brian came to the hospital and they were scared! Lesson learned and I now have Advil in its original container in my purse - brand name, no generic brand, as that is what got me confused. The generic Advil tablet llooked very much like my antidepressant and when not together....... I saw my doc for follow up the next day, and while pretty loopy, there was no permanent damage. It just had to work itself out of my system. Good grief!

So, that should get us up to date for now! I will post some pics next time. This should be enough for now! I'm just happy to be here! Happy New Year!!

Senseless Killings

In Memory...

We are reeling here in the Pacific Northwest with the death of four police officers this past Sunday. Thankfully the perpetrator is off the streets and is not a threat. There will be a huge memorial service on Tuesday and we will try to attend if possible. This has shaken our area to the core. Just last month another officer in Seattle was executed also and his partner grazed by a bullet. One of the things we are doing to show our support is have 4 blue (electric) candles in the window. I also have a blue lightbulb for the porch outside. They will stay up through the holidays. Nine children will not have their dad or mom there for Christmas. It boggles the mind how someone could be so deranged. And his family and friends hid him and purposefully interfered with the investigation. Even the prospect of $125,000 in reward money did not sway them.

All we can do is pray for the families, friends and law enforcement community. May God grant them peace and comfort. Life will never be the same for them. Give your loved ones an extra hug today! Life is precious!

Friday Farewell

Well, we knew it was coming. We didn't want to have to go there, but our dear old Maggie dog had some sort of mini stroke or something last Thursday night. We knew there was something very wrong with her when she stood out in the rain and just stood there, sort of looking blank. She didn't want to lay down or come in. When I finally got her in, she paced and paced and wanted back out. We knew the time had come. So, Friday afternoon we took her to the vet for the last time. She was treated with tenderness and great care and died in our arms. Boy, do we miss her! It is so quiet without her. Lots of tears. Even the cat knew something was wrong Thursday night and wanted to be with her - inside or out, and Pippi is an inside cat! Very strange! We figure we have had her 10 or 11 years and she must have been 12 or 13 or so. She was a loyal, faithful companion who brought a lot of joy to our lives! Mags,we will miss you!

How we acquired her is a funny story in itself. We had been out "antique-ing" and went into a shop in Port Orchard. Behind the counter was this beautiful dog with the most gorgeous eyes! She "smiled" at us and we kept on looking around. Bill came up to the counter to ask a question and she went nuts! Whining and wagging her tail and very focused on him! We asked about her and the proprietor told us she was a stray that she called in out of the pouring down rain! She had had her about two weeks and she would go home with her to other dogs and cats. She wanted to find a good home for her. Well, we thought she was very nice and very pretty and wasn't it funny how she responded to Bill? We went to get a bite to eat and very carefully ignored the subject. Finally, I said "I could see her running around our yard." We weren't sure we were ready for a dog again, having had to put down our 11 year old lab mix just a few years previous. We could go back and talk to her though, couldn't we? That couldn't hurt! Now she wanted to know all kinds of things about us - did we have a fenced yard? had we ever had a dog before, etc. And don't you know, she thought maybe the dog would be a good shop dog. (Not!) She would put us on a list. List? Hmmm. Meanwhile, the dog is going crazy and jumped up in the window and was barking at us as we left! We got to the car and Bill said he just had to go back and see if he could talk her into us taking her. The dog was pretty adamant after all! I couldn't go back in! A few minutes later he came out with this beautiful dog on a leash! Evidently there was someone else who had seen this reaction and Bill asked the proprietor if she also saw it? Well, how could you miss it?! She came home with us that very afternoon! Then came the problem of knowing what to call her. Goldie? Sadie? She didn't respond. Hmm. We had friends over who were going to be getting a purebred German shepard and were looking at names in a few dog naming books. (who knew?) We went through a long list of names and nada. No response. Our friends left and the dog was asleep at Bill's feet. He got to "Maggie" and she sat up and looked at him like it took him long enough to figure it out! The vet figured she was 2 or 3 and part shephard and part Rhodesian Ridgeback. Sweetest dog! Beautiful amber eyes and a great personality. Very social, and in fact she learned to jump the fence pretty early on. She just wanted to go visiting! Evidently she had never seen snow, but beach and sand were familiar and the first time we brought home a pizza, she was all over it! She loved to go for walks with Bill down to a neighborhood coffee shop where she was loved by all! Monday nights are shop night where Bill and Brian work on cars in the garage. All you had to do was ask if she wanted to go to the garage and she was at the door! So many memories! It is actually healing to write about her. Thanks for bearing with me if you have made it this far! If you have ever had to do this, you know the pain and loss. You tell yourself it is only a dog after all, but oh, they are such a part of the family! Will we ever have another dog? I won't say never, but it sure isn't on our radar for any time soon! That's what we said about Mocha, too though, and look what happened!!

Yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 small can pumpkin
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
4 cups flour
1 lg. bag chocolate chips

Cream the shortening, butter and sugar. Add pumpkin and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients together and add to the pumpkin mixture. Add the chocolate chips and mix well.
Bake in 350 oven for 10-12 minutes or until barely golden. Do NOT overbake!

This makes about 5 dozen cookies, depending on how large you make them. They do not spread so you can crowd quite a few on a cookie sheet. Also, you read it right! There are no eggs! I also shake a little nutmeg and ginger in with the cinnamon and have used mini chips - its all good!! The texture is more cake like and they are not overly sweet, but are right up there on the yummy list!