This Month: January 2017, part 1

I had thought I was just going to go ahead with monthly my-life-lately-not-necessarily-about-ms posts, as opposed to the weekly ones I did last year. But then a few of my nearest and dearest have been hassling me letting me know they are missing the weekly updates. So, this is a compromise. Twice a month, you'll get a little glimpse into my life. I also hope to get out at least weekly MS-specific posts. This next week, you'll get one of the last two symptom series posts. These last two are the hardest to write, so I've been procrastinating.

The view from here:

Technically this was December 31, 2016.
Playing my horn at a wedding in a stadium!

My niece has a habit of adding items to my calendar on random dates.
This is the first thing I had on my agenda for the new year. ;-)

2017 is Year of The Rooster

Middle of the night light snow showers. 

Too cold to step out the front door to get a shot.

It just won't stop. Toooooo much snow.

Tysabri time.
2nd time ever I've gotten a private room at this infusion center. SO MUCH BETTER.

There was a 4-hour gap this time between the doc appt and the infusion. Coffee + book time!

Interstate sunset gazing.

Moon over the frozen lake.

Winter sky.

Made frittatas for the first time in a long time.

Tea in this sweet bookish mug, a gift from a friend who gets me. A riend who no
longer has a good excuse for not writing a guest post for this blog. ;-)

While drinking that cup of tea, this was my first play in a round of Words With Friends. :-)

Another too-cold-to-go-outside-for-the-shot sunset shot.

This ad on my Instagram feed cracked me up.
When I sweat, it is always with Kayla.

Discovering a big old leak in your basement just before midnight is always fun.

Quasi MS-related story related to the leak: As I said, this was late at night. I did not want to have to call the maintenance guy. I go out of my way to not call the maintenance guy, like I've actually fixed plumbing issues myself by buying the part and watching YouTube videos to not have to call the maintenance guy. Something like this, though, was obviously beyond my abilities. So instead of calling the maintenance guy, I texted my brother a bunch of pictures, videos, and questions. Is this dangerous? Is there any compelling reason this couldn't wait until morning? And so on. He told me, it was *probably* not dangerous, but he couldn't really tell from my pictures and videos how close the electrical wires were to the leak. He told me definitely not to touch anything, though. He said that this was pretty urgent, as it would mean a massive water bill and it could potentially damage the ceiling/floor.

In my gymnastical efforts to not call the maintenance guy (he was probably sleeping, after all) I asked my bro if I could just turn off the water and wait until morning. Yes, he said. And then he tried to explain what the shut-off valve would look like and where it might be. Only one room in the basement has any light at all, so my search involved using my phone flashlight. It did not go well. At all. I finally reached a point where I had to contact the maintenance guy but I realllllly didn't want to. My bro kept texting me annoying things like "You better be calling him now." and Even if he's sleeping." and "I know you don't want to but do it anyway." and "Call him right now or else." I wrote back, "Ha, you know me too well."

At this point, I sent the maintenance guy a text. Bro said fine, but if he doesn't answer in a few minutes, I had to call.  A few minutes passed, so bro started harassing me to make the call again. Naturally, this reignited my efforts to find the water shut-off valve. I started sending my bro pics of random things I thought might be the shut-off valve. No luck. Finally, I discovered a new valve and turned it. The water stopped. It was a sweet victory. My bro said I was off the hook for calling that night and "I guess having to call someone really motivates you." And now, finally to the MS-relevant portion of this rambling tale. Bro texted, "Save your spoons for something more important than the maintenance guy." I recognize that he makes a good point, but I doubt that will change my future avoiding-calling-the-maintenance-guy behavior. But this #spoonie loves that he said that. :-)