Thanksgiving...and Shopping Part 1

  ...A wonderful combination.

   My Thanksgiving started out just as it has for the past few years with the exception this year I didn't have to run all over the country town in the pouring rain looking for a news paper thanks to a friend from school who happens to deliver papers. (Thank you)


   I enjoyed my first cup of coffee snuggled up nice and warm (and dry) on the couch making my way, for the first of many times, through the sale ads while the boys, who are both home from school slept snuggled in their beds, the cable guy watched old car shows on TV, and the dogs jockeyed for position on the couch.


   We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner. Enjoyed, for the most part, spending time with my family. It always amazes me how so many people from the same family can be so different. That being said I am thankful I have a family to spend Thanksgiving with. There are so many people in the world that are alone in the world, and don't have family they can rely on and depend on. And for that I am thankful.


   After spending what seemed like an eternity hours cleaning up the kitchen and washing piles of dishes that seemed to never end(which in itself is weird since we ate on plastic!) we came home to settle in for another one of the best things about Thanksgiving dinner....that's right the post dinner NAP!


   I started working on my game plan for the big day other wise known as Black Friday...


  

  

It's Almost Here!

The day, well one of the days,I look forward to all year long.


No it's not my birthday


It's not the last day of the semester (which by the way cant get here soon enough)


It's not the first day of spring break


It's not even Christmas,YET.


It's almost BLACK FRIDAY!!


Anyone that knows me knows I love to shop but even more than that I love to get a good deal when I shop. There's somethin about gettin the ads Thanksgiving morning and plotting my route. Making my list and checking it twice! Getting up before the chickens and making my way to my first stop long before the sun comes up.


Last year I signed up to get email alerts about all the sale ads before they were posted so this year I kind of have an idea of whats coming on the *big day. I thought this was the most amazing thing, this year they went even bigger. They are sending tweets about big sales going on prior to black Friday. AND if that's not good enough....


There's an actual black Friday AP!


*Ad day (Thanksgiving)


Yes this year will be a little more alot more difficult because of my non-stop and ever changing MS symptoms but I'm determined to not let it slow me down...much.


The boys have been pre warned I need a list by Thanksgiving or you get socks and underwear for Christmas which means more money for me to spend on myself!


Its almost as exciting for me as Christmas day....almost...


Happy Shopping!

Just A Quick Update

   I just wanted to do a quick update.


   My mom was admitted to the hospital Friday night after spending most of the day in the ER. Lucky for her the trip to the ER was a quick one seeing she works in the hospital.


   The ER docs thought she was having a heart attack and once she was stabilized and they started testing they found that it wasn't a heart attack...yet. Her blood pressure was dangerously high and her heart rate dangerously low.


   She is having a cardiac catheterization sometime today, we have been told that all of the testing will take two days to complete and then the cardiologist would know where to go from there.

I'm So Ready...

...For a break!


   I need for this semester to be over, not because I'm like every other college student in America, but because I'm Tired.


   My body is tired, my brain is in a fog, and I have been sick for almost a month. I need a break.


   I HATE  MS!


   I hate what its doing to my body. I hate what its doing to my mind. I hate how its effecting not only me but the rest of my family. Alot of my previous symptoms are starting to show up again. The headache, the burning in my neck, the tightness in my shoulders and neck. I'm just waiting to wake up one morning and realize I'm numb again. Or worse.


   BUT the reality is I'm not getting a break any time soon. I still have to make it till December and get through finals with no major disasters.


   Pray I can hold on that long...

Election Crazed

   Well its that time of year again.


    The temperature is dropping, the leaves are dying changing color, and the freaking political signs are everywhere. Hopefully after today they will all disappear as quickly as they appeared. (with the exception of one local candidate who's signs were already taken down but more on that later)



   Do you get involved in politics (local or nationally)? Do you keep up with whats going on in the world as far as politics goes? Are you republican,democrat, conservative, liberal....or do you just not care?


   I have to be honest, until recently I would have said I just don't care. But theres alot of things that have happened to change my opinion about politics entirely.


   I think too much emphasis is put on voting for this person or that person just because of the party they represent. People don't take the time to do the research about the candidates running for office they just assume that because that person is a member of X party they must be the one to vote for. Its not like it takes a long time to do. If you can spend 2 hours on facebook a day you surly could spend 30 minutes googling the candidates and reading their platforms. I mean the computer is already on for goodness sake!

   I live in a predominately republican town. (yes I said that as if it were something nasty and distasteful if you were wondering) Most of the population of this town would be considered either upper middle class or upper class but there are a few of us here that are just middle class folks trying to make a living and fighting for whats right. I do love it here. It has the small town feel but is large enough to have a Wal-mart! HA There are times though, like election time, when I wish I lived anywhere but here.


   I get so tired of hearing about how the world is going to fall apart because we have a democratic president, or how the Democrats are trying are trying to take away their rights (and by their rights I'm talking about the affluent peoples rights). I just want to scream! I want to pull my hair out and yell at these people to turn the channel on the TV to something other than Fox news for a few min and get another view of the situation.


  People complain about the new insurance bill....my question to them is...have you read it? I mean really read it or are you just going off what you heard on the nightly news, because we all know how reliable the news can be. They would never skew the view one direction or the other and would never let their personal opinions get involved.(If you believe that I have some ocean front property for sale.) Granted its not all great but their are parts of it that are. The way I look at it is if I were buying a car and its the first year of the new design the manufacturer possibly hasn't worked out all the kinks and bugs yet, but once the cars on the road and up and running the kinks show themselves so they can be worked out. I don't think this insurance bill is getting a fare shake here but that doesn't mean I totally agree with it either....


   What would this country be like if we actually took into consideration what was good for everyone instead of whats best for ME.  Start asking how we can help everyone do better instead of worrying about how I can keep my money,my power my control...


   I get angry and frustrated about elections because anymore it has turned into a popularity contest instead of who the people think is capable of doing the best job.


   To all the people who say the world is going to fall apart because we have a democratic president or for those saying oh no what are we going to do if the republicans take over congress....

     This economic mess was started long before Obama took office and you cant dig out of a hole this big over night. It took years to make the hole its not going to miraculously fix itself overnight just because someone different moves into the big house on the hill.

    Take a few minuets out of your day and do a little research before you make a decision based on party lines.

Summer Vacation

   Thought I would share some pictures from our *family vacation to Branson Mo. this summer. We had a great time, well most of us had a great time, poor Ryan was just a little over a month out from major shoulder surgery so he didn't have as much fun as some of the others.

   *The entire family. My parents, brother,sister-in-law, and nephew, my husband,myself, and my 2 boys

Josh havin fun on the go carts

  

Chris on the go carts

Darin (my little brother)

My Dad

Little Daniel

 



The sharks were crazy



It was scary watching them swim at us

Little D playin video games at the aquarium FREE

One of the few times Ryan smiled all week hangin with his G-momma (AKA my mom)

My little bro gettin his butt kicked at a video game

  



Bumper boats was SO much fun because it was SO hot that day



He looks so sad, I'm sorry Rynie

All in all we had a great time. We went to a couple of shows and spent some time shopping. Lots of eating but what  can you expect with 2 teenage boys! We road the ducks and enjoyed just hanging out and spending time together before Josh and Ryan left for school the next weekend and Chris left town for work.

I love you all!

Treasure every second you can with your family.

DENIED

   I can honestly say I don't think I have ever been so pissed off  aggravated,upset, disappointed (insert adjective here)!!!!


   If you have been keeping up with my blog you know since my diagnosis I have been fighting to get some kind of medical assistance. After lost paper work, wasted time on appointments, and months of waiting for a medical review board to meet to decide if I'm "disabled" enough to qualify for medicaid I finally got the letter in the mail I have been waiting for.


   Only it wasn't the news I was expecting. It was a big fat DENIED. Oh they were at least nice enough to acknowledge that after reviewing my medical records that I do indeed have MS, and that they understand I "may not be able to do the same work I had done in the past" I was still physically able to do "some type of work" therefore I don't meet the criteria of being disabled.


   So you tell me at what point in my day I am supposed to get said job that will pay enough to cover the cost of my medical care and my meds?


   I'm already taking the max dose of Amanadine which is supposed to help me not be so exhausted.That lasts all of about 4 hours then I HAVE to have a nap or I cant function. By cant function I don't mean "ya know a nap would be good about now" I mean I cant make a decision, I cant concentrate, I don't drive well because my reflexes are slowed, walking becomes even more difficult not only from the dizziness, but from the loss of balance and coordination and in extreme cases I have even been out somewhere and wondered how I got home because I don't remember it.


   My hands shake all the time, I have muscle spasms that cause me to drop stuff, numbness, trouble with balance, and that's all in the "good" part of the day. Not to mention my immune system that is now shot since starting my injection. I have had 2 cold/sinus infections in less than a month, and a tiny scratch, so tiny in fact, I didn't even know it was there until it got infected!


   (Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the injections. I was warned before hand that a very real possibility would be that my immune system would be effected. That's really the whole idea to keep my immune system from attacking my nerves but the draw back is it also makes me susceptible to every infection on Gods green earth.)


   So friends...You tell me what employer is going to hire someone with my non-disability when they could hire someone without all the drama, and if I did manage to find this seemingly perfect employer what are the chances of it paying enough to A) cover insurance (keeping in mind I have a pre-existing condition so the already sky high premiums that I already cant afford will be even higher) and B) Making enough money to cover co-pays and deductibles C) me being physically able to safely work enough hours to keep a job without hurting myself or someone else?


   I realize I'm not the only person even diagnosed with Ms and that some people with MS continue to lead seemingly normal lives. Unfortunately even before my diagnosis I was having trouble dealing with day to day life I just didn't have a name for what was going on, and my symptoms continue to deteriorate instead of stabilizing.


   So I would just like to say thanks. Thanks to this so called review board, that has neither talked to me or seen me in person, for making a decision that effects my life so drastically by reading about me in a couple of medical files that are several months old.