My Life with Multiple Sclerosis 113021

Good Morning from the Celebrity Suite of the Wyndemere Condominiums on Turtle Creek. Today is Tuesday, November 30.

Happy Birthday to:

Marci Coleman

David Cherry

Kurt Anderson

Holiday Countdown:

22 Days until Winter Solstice

25 Days until Christmas

27 Days until Kwanzaa

32 Days until 2022

Today is National Mason Jar Day!

On November 30th, National Mason Jar Day commemorates an ingenious invention that’s been bringing families together for generations.

Simply by opening a jar of fruit preserves or spicy salsa, we enjoy the flavors of summer in the midst of winter. For those who love to pickle, the Mason jar rescues fruits and veggies from the garden. From green beans to watermelon, we make them sweet or spicy!

While food preservation has existed for centuries, John Landis Mason from New Jersey made home canning safe. His patent for an “Improvement in screw-neck bottles” issued a revolutionary design.

Happy National Mason Jar Day!

It’s going to be a warm, mostly sunny day in Dallas today - a nice way to end November and usher in December tomorrow but really not the holiday weather I expected.  

I started my acute round of plasma exchange yesterday, but I think I need the heavy duty high-octane steroids as well.  I sent a message to my neurologist this morning so I am waiting to hear from her.  Oh well, it is what it is - I just need to get this MS shiz under control.  It has been running rampant throughout my body for over a year now and I am a little over it.

I have a day full of meetings so I better start getting ready!

Anyhoozle, I hope you all have a wonderful day and whatever you do today and every day, do it with kindness in your heart. The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one!  And as always:

...wear a mask

...be kind and compassionate to one another

...dance/sing/laugh it out. It might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

Peace, Love and Blessings to you all.  -AJ

A Day in the Life of Multiple Sclerosis 112921

Good Morning from the Celebrity Suite of the Wyndemere Condominiums on Turtle Creek. Today is Monday, November 29.

Happy Birthday to:

Alan Roybal

Jim Halloran

Patti Larkin Gray

Holiday Countdown:

23 Days until Winter Solstice

26 Days until Christmas

28 Days until Kwanzaa

33 Days until 2022

It’s Cyber Monday!  Cyber Monday is the Internet’s answer to Black Friday deals. The official observance takes place the Monday after Thanksgiving.

While Internet-based companies traditionally offered their best holiday shopping on Cyber Monday to compete with Black Friday deals in brick and mortar stores, things have been changing. However, in more recent years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals tend to run together.

In 2014, Monday after Thanksgiving online sales continued to trend upward with 15.4% increase in revenue from 2013 sales, making it the biggest, online shopping day in history. In 2014 Americans spent an average of $124 per order on Cyber Monday.

Social media also ramps up advertising opportunities, bringing potential shoppers to retailers’ online stores. Cyber shopping is expected to be up again this year with a predicted 3 billion in sales.  Some of the most popular online purchases are likely to be tech items, especially wearable technology as well as traditional small appliances, clothing, gift cards, and digital media.

Happy Cyber Monday.  Are You shopping today? I am not (mainly because pay day isn’t until tomorrow - LOL).

It’s Monday and it’s time to kick off another sunny, 70 degree work week.  I have had some much-needed downtime away from work. I only have four days to work this week and two next week and I am done until 01/03/22.

I have a busy morning - four meetings before noon and I start my acute round of PLEX (plasma exchange) this afternoon as well.

I have three days of PLEX this week and two days next week. The thought is that this should get me through the holidays and my trip home without having to have PLEX while I am there.  It has worked the last two times I have had it done (gone three weeks without having to have it), so in theory, it should work this time too.  Eyes, toes and fingers crossed….and some prayers if you can spare them.

Hopefully, I can pick up my new medicine today - supply chain issues.  In theory, it should help with my neuropathy.  Apparently, I am also going to be very ‘perky’ for a while though I was also told that I will not feel any affects or notice anything for a week or two.

Anyhoozle, I hope you all have a wonderful day and whatever you do today and every day, do it with kindness in your heart. The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one!  And as always:

...wear a mask

...be kind and compassionate to one another

...dance/sing/laugh it out. It might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

Peace, Love and Blessings to you all.  -AJ 

A Day in the Life of Multiple Sclerosis 112821

Good Morning from the Celebrity Suite of the Wyndemere Condominiums on Turtle Creek. Today is Sunday, November 28.

No birthdays on my calendar today.

Holiday Countdown:

24 Days until Winter Solstice

27 Days until Christmas

29 Days until Kwanzaa

34 Days until 2022

 

Today is the first day of Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah and known as the Festival of Lights).  It is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. 

Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days. According to the Hebrew calendar, it starts on the 25th day of Kislev, which may occur from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

Happy Hanukkah (Chanukah)!

Today is also the first Sunday of Advent and we light the first of four candles - he candle of hope.  

Advent is observed by Christian denominations worldwide to mark the start of the spiritual period of preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day and the beginning of a new Christian year.  Advent season marks the start of a new year for Christian churches.  A new year is always an opportunity for growth, restoration, and renewal.  

One of the major celebrations of Advent is the birth and Second Coming of Christ. This is a hopeful time in the lives of Christians that paints a better future for the world.

The Advent season is also a time for personal reflection. It gives Christians an opportunity to renew their faith and solidify their relationship with God.

While yesterday was cold and rainy, it was full of fun and surprises.  First, some friends came over and decorated my condo with poinsettia’s, and trees and lots of holiday decor.  Knowing that I do not usually decorate for the holiday season, some elves stopped by my casa and put up some holiday decorations, flowers, kitchen towels - against my will.

Also, if you don't have friends like mine.....I strongly encourage you to get some. They are a blessing and often do things because they are amazing people and know you have had a rough year and want you to know they care about you.

Next, I had lunch with some former co-workers and friends - several of whom I do not get to see as often as I would like.

I am not moving around as well as I would like.  I think the cold weather has a little to do with it.  But I need to call my Neuro and see what she says to do - if there is anything that can be done.  I really do not want to add another pill to my growing daily regimen, but I guess if it helps, then so be it. However, I do not think there is a pill for this.

Also, and this was not any of my friends, but someone else:

It is eye-opening, not only for me, but for anyone else who has not seen me walk with a roller or seen me sit in my roller.  Please just remember:

• I know it may be uncomfortable at first.  It is shocking for me too.  I can’t believe this is how I have to get around now.  The important thing is I can get around but I am still adjusting to it as well.

• If I am sitting in my roller, you don’t have to bend down to talk to me or speak loudly.  I can hear just fine.  I am not 500 years old.  It is really hard NOT to laugh when someone does that.  However, it has happened and I really do understand.

• Do not say, ”it could be worse - you could be in a wheelchair.”  Odds are, I may throw my drink at you.  Oh, who am I kidding,?  I’m not going to waste a cocktail.

Oh well - I need to get moving.  I have church later this morning and I need to prepare for the week.  My acute round of plasma exchange starts tomorrow (three times this week) so I need to get some work done today.

Come join us for church this morning at 11am at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church (or online on Facebook Live).  All are welcome at OLUMC. 

Anyhoozle, I hope you all have a wonderful day and whatever you do today and every day, do it with kindness in your heart. The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one!  And as always:

...wear a mask

...be kind and compassionate to one another

...dance/sing/laugh it out. It might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

Peace, Love and Blessings to you all.  -AJ

#strengthpatiencepeacefatih

#hopelovejoygrace

#wisdomknowledgeacceptance

#understandingforgivenessmercy

#wearamask

#lovethyneighbor

#laughitout 

#danceitout

#singitout 

#AndyStrong

A Day in the Life of Multiple Sclerosis 112721

Good Morning from the Celebrity Suite of the Wyndemere Condominiums on Turtle Creek. Today is Saturday, November 27.

No birthdays on my calendar today.

Holiday Countdown:

01 Days until Hanukkah

25 Days until Winter Solstice

28 Days until Christmas

30 Days until Kwanzaa

35 Days until 2022

Today is Small Business Saturday. This reminds us of the prime shopping opportunities right in our own communities. Not only do the small businesses where we work, live, and play offer numerous gift-giving possibilities, they are hands-on and ready to complete your shopping list with quality, thoughtful gifts. 

Every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Shop Small movement energizes small business owners to prepare for customers in every way possible. That includes the traditional brick-and-mortar customer and the online shopper. The single-day event continues to grow each year.  That means business owners are ready for you to shop their stores TODAY!

Small businesses feed our communities. They keep our main streets thriving and employ nearly half of the American workforce. Supporting small businesses means you’re supporting your local economy, local business, tax base, schools, and infrastructure. Your holiday shopping will put food on the tables of people you know. 

You will be doing your community some good, and you will also be finding quality gifts. Small businesses take pride in their work. They’ve worked hard for their dream, and it shows in the craftsmanship. 

Happy Small Business Saturday!

It’s a cold, cloudy and soon to be rainy day in Dallas today. I have a little light-cleaning to do and some laundry. I am going to lunch with some friends that I don’t see nearly enough (that I used work with) and I cannot wait.

That’s about it for me. Then home to chill (and probably take a nap).

And I was right about the Great British Baking Show winner - don’t worry - I am not going to spoil it if you haven’t seen it. Although, I may have if you read my post yesterday. Oh well…

My arms and legs (just from my knees to my ankles) are both pretty numb and tingly today. I think the weather has a little to do with it. Even standing is becoming more difficult. I've already gotten my walk in this morning. I think I am closer to a wheelchair than I want to admit. One day at a time....that's how I have too handle this new path I am on. If I had to do this alone, I do not think that I could. My friends will never know how much I truly appreciate them. I try not to ask for too much assistance - partially because I am stubborn as hell, but also because I never want to inconvenience them or take advantage of them.

What’s on your schedule today?

Anyhoozle, I hope you all have a wonderful day and whatever you do today and every day, do it with kindness in your heart. The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one! And as always:

...wear a mask

...be kind and compassionate to one another

...dance/sing/laugh it out. It might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

Peace, Love and Blessings to you all. -AJ

A Day in the Life of Multiple Sclerosis 112621

Good Morning from the Celebrity Suite of the Wyndemere Condominiums on Turtle Creek. Today is Friday, November 26.

No birthdays on my calendar today.

Holiday Countdown:

02 Days until Hanukkah

26 Days until Winter Solstice

29 Days until Christmas

31 Days until Kwanzaa

36 Days until 2022

Black Friday is here. In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving has become known as Black Friday and is considered the official kick-off for holiday shopping. Retailers across the country slash prices, offer doorbuster deals on popular big-ticket items, and often open in the wee hours of the morning to extend early bird specials. Dedicated and thrifty shoppers line up outside the stores to be the first to grab that special deal or this season’s popular and hard-to-find gift.  

I have absolutely no intentions of participating in Black Friday. I plan to do my Holiday shopping the way God intended: online and away from crazy people. I would rather celebrate the real national day it is: NATIONAL CAKE DAY!

On November 26th, National Cake Day delivers a scrumptious treat for everyone to enjoy! Slide over pie, this day cake takes center stage as the dessert of choice. On most birthdays, the cake is topped with candles no matter their age. Showers, weddings, retirements and anniversaries, cake serves up a slice or two. Add ice cream, and you have America’s top favorite desserts in the same dish!

Happy National Cake Day!

It’s going to be a partly-to-mostly cloudy and chilly day in Dallas today. Rain is going to creep in tomorrow. I have a few things to get done today and I am having lunch with some coworkers (no shop talk) but that’s about it.

I had a great Friendsgiving yesterday and I am still full. But I really didn’t gorge myself. All the food we had was quite tasty and I felt very blessed to be around such wonderful friends and have such an abundance of delicious food.

The Great British Baking Show Finale is out now so I fully intend to watch that this evening. I think the winner will be either Chigs or Crystelle but now that I have said that, put pen to paper (so-to-speak), Giuseppe is probably going to win. I guess I will find out later on today.

What’s on your schedule today. Are you shopping?

Anyhoozle, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving day and whatever you do today and every day, do it with kindness in your heart. The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one! And as always:

...wear a mask

...be kind and compassionate to one another

...dance/sing/laugh it out. It might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

Peace, Love and Blessings to you all. -AJ

A Day in the Life of Multiple Sclerosis 1124/2521

Good Morning from the Celebrity Suite of the Wyndemere Condominiums on Turtle Creek. Today is Wednesday, November 24.

Happy Birthday to:

David Anthony

Holiday Countdown:

01 Days until Thanksgiving

04 Days until Hanukkah

28 Days until Winter Solstice

31 Days until Christmas

33 Days until Kwanzaa

38 Days until 2022

The day before gathering around the turkey, gather around the nearest jukebox to celebrate National Jukebox Day! As Americans flock to their hometowns for Thanksgiving, many will head out to neighborhood bars and restaurants. They will catch up with friends and family and celebrate by playing great songs on their local jukebox.

These days we have TouchTunes. In 2011, TouchTunes revolutionized in-venue entertainment with the launch of a multi-application platform designed to appeal a tech-savvy audience. Users could choose from hundreds of thousands of songs available.

TouchTunes is the largest interactive music, and entertainment network in over 65,000 bars and restaurants nationwide. The day before Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest bar night of the year as families and friends gather to reconnect over drinks and load up the jukebox with their favorite songs.

Coincidentally, the inaugural celebration of National Jukebox Day landed on November 23, 2017, the anniversary of the date the first coin-operated phonograph was installed by Louis Glass in the Palais Royal Saloon bar in San Francisco back in 1889.

Happy National Jukebox Day!

It’s going to be a cloudy, rainy and chilly day in Big D today. I will be heading to the UT Southwestern Spa and Resort (hospital) for my plasma exchange and to get the dressing changed on my port in a few hours. I am having it done today instead of my usual Friday since the aphaeresis clinic is closed tomorrow and Friday. (The nerve of them closing for the holidays - LOL).

Then it’s home to crash. I will probably sleep most of the afternoon - but what a great day to sleep on the couch - cloudy, rainy and cold outside with something completely ridiculous and thoughtless playing on the television.

I have nothing to prepare for tomorrow. Just a quick stop after PLEX to pick up my dishes and send them home with tomorrow’s host. I am attending a Friendsgiving tomorrow - about 6 or 7 of us. Everyone is making (and by making, I mean ordering and picking up) a dish or two to share.

Normally, we would be getting up tomorrow morning and heading to the Turkey Trot downtown with 30,000 of my closest Dallas friends - and then off to a local watering hole for a Thanksgiving Day cocktail and a shot (that second one still has possibilities - hell, I may even wear my Turkey Trot jersey and my medal from two years ago - LOL).

I know everything and everyone is trying so hard to get back to normal but it’s just not there yet - at least I don’t think so. And I am not about to force it or rush it.

Anyhoozle, I hope you all have a wonderful day and whatever you do today and every day, do it with kindness in your heart. The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one! And as always:

...wear a mask

...be kind and compassionate to one another

...dance/sing/laugh it out. It might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

Peace, Love and Blessings to you all. -AJ

Good Morning from the Celebrity Suite of the Wyndemere Condominiums on Turtle Creek. Today is Thursday, November 25 - Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Birthday to:

Derrick Ricketts

Lance King

Holiday Countdown:

03 Days until Hanukkah

27 Days until Winter Solstice

30 Days until Christmas

32 Days until Kwanzaa

37 Days until 2022

Thanksgiving Day is observed each year in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. The observance is a time when families and friends gather and give thanks for many reasons, each often as different as each person who gathers around the table.

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that many acknowledge today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. However, it wasn’t until 1863, amid the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

It is going to be a sunny, chilly day in Big D on this Thanksgiving Day and I have so much to be thankful for.

On this Thanksgiving Day…

I am thankful for my parents, my family and my friends who are family.

I am thankful for Roger R Carbajal, Shannon Brown, Timothy Thomas, Brandon Brown, Christopher Longoria, Rick Thompson, Sallie Ann Plaxico, Carol Margo Stanners, Michael Little - ExP Realty, LLC., Michele Gough, Stephen Kent Soliz, Jan Ross and so many more people that help me every day in so many ways.

I am thankful for my church family - both here and in York, SC.

I am thankful for the kindness and love shown to me from all of them.

I am thankful for thoughtful doctors guiding me on my journey with multiple sclerosis.

I am thankful to be the recipient of kindness from complete strangers. Experiencing and receiving a kind gesture from a complete stranger - whether it is something as simple as holding a door open or helping me up / down a few stairs or to my car - it is eye-opening (to say the least) to be on the other side.

I am thankful for my (new-ish) home, my job, my coworkers and colleagues, the Dallas Titans, Judy Kuhn, grocery delivery, my discovery of ranch water and so much more.

And finally, I am thankful for each one of you. If you are reading this, I am thankful that you let me vent and spill my thoughts out every single day as I travel down this not-so-easy road that I have been chosen and blessed to travel. It has not been easy but it has allowed me to see all of the blessings around me that I never recognized as blessings before. And spilling my thoughts has been very therapeutic for me as well.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and no matter what you celebrate, I wish you all a SPECTACULAR Holiday Season!

Anyhoozle, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving day and whatever you do today and every day, do it with kindness in your heart. The world is full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one! And as always:

...wear a mask

...be kind and compassionate to one another

...dance/sing/laugh it out. It might not help but it sure as hell couldn't hurt.

Peace, Love and Blessings to you all. -AJ