While I Agree With You All…

I am afraid I will not be posting about our holiday season. I thought it might be nice if you got some sentimental ramblings about togetherness and family from Ben this year. After all, you expect it from me. You know how mushy I can get. Ben agreed, but as you can see, it hasn’t happened yet. I’m beginning to think someone has a procrastination problem….

Things are good in our little corner of the world. My New Year’s resolution is to be more domestic, and Ben is helping me keep it. We made a menu plan together, and he has helped me cook dinner almost every night. We are sorting through closets and have collected quite a box for Goodwill. My Resolution is not a definite, just a change in mindset, I suppose. I want to find a balance between work and theatre and not leave my little family out of the mix.

One final note: HOOK ‘EM HORNS! Don’t worry Matt and Mom: I have planned my winnings into our menu plan. Ben’s excited. :)

Happy belated birthday, baby!

Sometimes, in the craziness of late December, a baby is born.

My mom is lucky enough to be one of those special people, as is my Benjamin.

Boy, am I a lucky girl. :)

I LOVE YOU POOKIE! I hope you had a wonderful spectacular stupendous radical day.

I’m running out of arms!

Love-bugs, aren’t they?

Thank you to everyone that came down for the party. We had a lovely time. I’ll post more photos later this week. Watch this space. I should warn you, they are mostly of people under 4 feet tall.

*hugs*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU…

Dear Mom,

I hope you have the happiest day imaginable. Know that I love you a bushel and a peck and hug around the neck. I promise not to be a party pooper, even though you always told me that every party needs one. Thank you for teaching me who put the bomp in the bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp. That knowledge has been invaluable, I promise. pinky swear.

I love you for all your silly songs. I love you for your strength. I love you for being the best mom ever. I don’t know where I would be or who I would be without you.

Love you always,

Rusty

More Riley Wonderfulness.

You all knew that this was going to happen, didn’t you?

Riley doesn’t really care for many people these days. She’s a momma’s girl, all the way. I was super excited that we got a few minutes of pseudo-happy baby time last night. Maybe next time we’ll even get a smile or two.

Oh Riley….

Ben and I got to spend some quality time with Riley Ray this evening. She entertained us until bedtime, and then we helped put up Christmas decorations. She’s still my favorite baby girl. (even if she likes Ben better.)

:)

Comments Back Up

Just a quick heads up…I re-enabled comments after writing a quick little spam filter. I wanted to wait until I have the new site completely finished, but it’s going to be a bit before that’s done (surprised, aren’t you?). So, have fun!

Thanksgiving: a week late…..

We spent Thanksgiving Day in Middletown. Thanks to Uncle Steve and Aunt Marilyn for a fabulous meal, complete with tilapia and stuffing cooked outside of the bird. I felt warm and fuzzy and FULL. Here’s a link to a few more pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rustyjoy/Thanksgiving08#

P.S. I loved my dress. :)

I had a neurologist appointment this morning…

and I was feeling quite anxious about it. I haven’t seen Dr. Reed in over a year, and I wasn’t looking forward to the experience. I don’t want bad news. I don’t want another MRI or spinal tap. The first few months of the MS was such a sad, overwhelming time. Why would I want to revisit it?

Ben went with me. I don’t think he understands how much I count on him when it comes to the MS. He helps me with my injections and drives me to my appointments, but it’s more than that. I can’t give up when I know that this is about more than me. He makes me strong.

The past few weeks have been rough physically and emotionally. The cold is getting to my left hand and knees. Ben and I have both been fighting a nasty cold. We’ve been struggling with new challenges in our relationship, but we keep going together. He makes me crazy, but I thank God for him every day.

The visit ended up going well. I got to do a few new timed tests: walking, putting pegs in holes, and a written cognitive test. My walking is fine; I didn’t fall over. My left hand works slower than my right hand. It was odd how much more I had to focus when using my “wonky” hand. I broke the record on my cognitive test. I haven’t lost my touch. (Thanks Brain Age! Best Christmas present ever!!)

I have to get a couple of blood tests done, and I have to start taking vitamin D daily. There have been studies linking MS with vitamin D deficiency. That makes sense, as MS occurs more frequently the farther away you get from the equator. Riley has to take vitamin D. We can start a club.

Rhonda made a comment at the end of the visit that made me feel good. She asked if I wanted to see the picture in my file from last year, and that I looked so much better. We both did. I declined. I know where I was last year: not a good place. I didn’t even realize that Ben was there in that bad place with me. We made it through that; We’re making it through now. I’m feeling really positive today.

*sigh*

I love you all.

Disabling Comments Temporarily

Alright, so the spam is getting past my filter waaaaaay too often, so I’m disabling comments for a bit until I get everything ready with the new site. Hang in there, we’ll be back shortly.

Cheers,

Ben