5 Things Friday: 5 Reasons I Haven't Been Posting Much

It's been awhile once again. Life has been busy, probably busier than it should be. Here are some of the things that have been keeping me busy:

1. My mother, sister, and I launched a new fun project and business venture, The Daily Quipple. Each day features a cartoon (a quipple!) drawn by my fabulously talented sister, Traci. Our mission is to share a daily jolt of fun and/or inspiration with the world, so please check it out for some fun and inspiration! We also sell merchandise featuring the quipples. This project is fun and rewarding, but has added plenty of work to my workload. I do all the web stuff. Here are some of my favorite quipples so far:

     

2. The dreaded day of disclosure is done. I've been working up to for a while the idea of disclosing my MS to the two colleagues I work most closely with. It is at the point that they probably should know, and while I knew they would be great about it, I put off the telling for a long time. I put it off mostly because working at this job was like a beautiful haven where MS wasn't a part of the picture. Of course, I knew about it, and was still very much aware of its effect on me and my work, but the fact that no one else knew made me feel like the healthy, young, energetic professional they all saw me as. This was a really wonderful feeling, as the disease occupies far too much space in the majority of areas of my life. Anyway, I told them and they reacted just as I knew they would. I'm glad I told them, even though I cried during the telling. (For those who don't know me personally, this is a HUGE deal. I've gone 6-7 years without crying at all in the recent past, and I haven't cried in front of another person for much longer, and in front of a person outside my very small circle pretty much ever.)

3. Fall is my favorite season (except for its ridiculously short duration, at least here in the tundra) and luckily I have been able to spend some time enjoying the colors and temps.

                            

and luckily my favorite adventure buddy was with me!

4. Remember my 30x30 list? I'm feeling pretty bummed out that it is looking like a truly impossible feat to complete my ridiculously ambitious list by the time of my 30th birthday in around 4 months. I haven't even posted the list here or anywhere else yet, but trust me, it is an ambitious list for anybody to tackle in one year, much less a person with 3+ jobs and MS and other assorted health challenges. But who knows? Maybe I'll rally and fight like crazy to defy MS and life in general and finish the thing. My always wise mother suggests that I just extend the deadline until the end of my 30th year. That feels a little bit like cheating, though, and upsets my perfectionist and overachiever qualities. However, it looks like that might have to be the answer.

5. In addition to neglecting this blog, I'm also woefully behind on chats with friends (Heather and Gwen, I'm talking about you and hopefully will soon talk to you!) and behind on reading the several MS blogs I follow, so that's where I'm headed now!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

                            

5 Things Friday: On My Mind

5 things on my mind on this Friday afternoon:


1. I was recently tested for the JC virus again, at the 6th month point. Still negative, baby! So I'll be happily sticking with Tysabri for now. This gives me a lot of peace of mind, despite the concern that I could unknowingly contract JC at any time. I'll continue getting it checked every 6 months.

2. I'm an introvert, so I enjoyed the following video a few minutes ago. Some of my favorite quotes: "Solitude matters!" "Stop the madness for constant groupwork!" "The world needs you and it needs the things you carry."

 

3. I need to get my 30x30 list completely finalized and up on this blog, or maybe a 2nd linked blog. I have most of the list complete, and I've started crossing items off the list, especially on the trying 30 new foods list.

4. I am sooooooo behind on reading MS blogs, but I hope to find some time to catch up with you all soon!

5. It was my birthday last week, and I still have a few free meal/treat/drink coupons to use before they expire in the next day or two. Tonight, I'm thinking it's time to return to Noodles & Company after a long hiatus. I ate there right after getting the MS diagnosis 5-ish years ago, and that negative feeling has been connected with the place ever since. But it's time to move on. So bring on my free Indonesian Peanut Saute! Yum!

5 Things Friday: Coming Posts & My Week

 5 Posts I'm Planning to Write Soon

1. Targeted Advertising & MS

2. What You Do vs. Who You Are and how MS affects the situation

3. MS & fiction - reviews of novels wherein MS is a "character"

4. An account of my strangest and most annoying symptom

5. My awesome sister is going to write a guest post. (Right, Traci????)

glorious Colorado hike

 5 Things I Did This Week

1. Gave a commencement speech*, during which I started crying, which is weird for me as I cry maybe once every two years, not counting during movies

2. Went on a LONG hike in Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, CO - GORGEOUS!

3. Took lots of extra drugs and had a rotten night when the long hike made my pain super bad. (But it was SO worth it.)

4. Had a garage sale, which will also be happening tomorrow

5. Made delicious homemade garlic & red pepper hummus

* I'm not really that special to be asked to do this officially at any institution. But my sister is cool enough to ditch her own graduate school commencement ceremony to go hiking and hold her own ceremony wherein our mom was master of ceremonies and I was the speaker. I also received an honorary doctorate. The location was breathtaking and the whole experience was so much more personal and meaningful to all of us than a long, boring, official ceremony would have been. She also continued to wear her mortarboard and tassel and her Master's hood throughout the hike. A few people commented, but mostly they just gave her strange looks or averted their eyes. It was pretty great.

a big congratulations toTraci, Master of Music!!

5 Things Friday: Symptoms & More!

Who doesn't love a good list? This new series, 5 Things Friday, will just be various lists of 5 things. To make this seem cooler, I even made this:

Now that you're thoroughly convinced on the coolness factor, here we go! Since this is an MS blog, I'll start with an MS-related list. Since we are all not only our disease, I'll also throw in a more general about me kind of list.

Five MS Symptoms I've Experienced

1. numbness
2. assorted paraesthesia: tingling, itching, buzzing, etc.
3. bladder & bowel issues
4. foot drop
5. double vision

(unfortunately, this is not a comprehensive list, but a mere sampling)


Five of my Favorites

1. color: green (much to the dismay of my pink & yellow loving niece who tells me that I should not have green as my favorite color because "it's the color of POISON!")
2. movie: Life is Beautiful
3. music: In terms of genre, classical. If forced to choose favorite composer, probably Beethoven
4. book: I couldn't choose even if you tried to force me, so pleases don't try. It's hard to find a book that I don't like. I end up finding something to like/love in pretty much everything I read.
5. food: Thai. Mexican and Indian are runners up.

There you go. Now you know a few more things about me! Have a wonderful weekend!