Month: March 2021

3’s a Charm

Last week, my Mom told me that she would watch Laws of Attraction with me and I was totally cool with it! We watched it and she got tired and took a nap halfway through. So the next day, she asked if we could watch it so she could see the rest of it. Of course I didn’t mind at all! I love that movie! We watched that movie three days in a row and each day she missed part of it but I got to hear this song all three times it was a win for me! Makes me think of Marilyn’s wedding! 😍😍😍

It’s Been a Year

I have always loved this song since I was a little girl!:

Even though what I am going to write has nothing to do with this song, I just wanted a reason to post it! Today marks a year that my Mom has been sheltering in place with me in my house.

This song is a far cry from my Mom coming into my house before I was awake to strip my bed to wash the sheets. I was still asleep when she walked into my room that I had to take my mouthguard out as she was getting ready to take the sheets off of my bed. She helped me into my chair where I fell asleep and Sean woke up confused about me sleeping in the living room in my wheelchair.

My Mom and I never had the mother-daughter angst when I was a child/teen and I lived with her and my Dad until I was 23 and Sean was three. I lead a very small life anyway and my day is pretty much scripted. I’ve written before about the fact that being quarantined and sheltered in place hasn’t really changed my life.

Maybe things will change pretty soon and I will finally be able to get my eyebrows waxed and a haircut but it hasn’t been that bad with my Mom here! There are so many things that I can no longer do for myself and my Mom steps right in to help and doesn’t make me feel guilty about it!

Great Friends AND Great Music!

A Facebook friend of mine and former colleague posted a picture of a song she heard while she was driving and it made me laugh! But before I share that song I have to go back about 11 days to a friend I’ve had since I was a little girl.

She was my neighbor, actually, she lived across the street 15 houses down, an empty lot, and a big backyard away! Our older brothers were in Boy Scouts together. We went to school together and she was one year older than me. We played basketball and softball together, we’re in plays together, and before that, we were Girl Scouts together! She texted me a song that she heard that reminded her of being in high school with me!:

I’ve shared this song before on my blog but remember jammin’ to it with her as well! We had so many great times together growing up and living so close to each other!

But then, yesterday, a friend and former colleague posted a song that also reminded her of me. We were hired in the same year and we were members of the same, “Freshman class“ (how I referred to people hired in at the same time to teach at the school). We had a pretty strong, “Freshman class!” There were five of us hired in that year and sadly, none of us are still at the school.

We were hired in at the same time I had just moved in to my first apartment. I recently reminded her that she gave me a set of extra cups that she had. I was just thinking about her driving with me to our first school kick off luncheon for the staff that was downtown at Cobo Hall. They had really big balloon arrangements that looked really cool and the last speaker told us that it was okay to take the balloon arrangement home if we wanted to.

Sean was three years old then and he really liked balloons, helium balloons. So she helped me to make cram the big balloon cluster into my car. It was crazy and I remember laughing but when my Mom brought Sean to our apartment, they opened the door and when Sean saw the balloons in our living room and his eyes got really big and he said, “Ba-woons!” And that made it completely worth the struggle to cram them into my car! She posted this picture on Facebook:

This song came out the first year we taught and we both got to work at about 6 o’clock in the morning back then.

So, both of these songs I have shared on my blog before and the memories of these friends are decades apart but they remind me that I have great friends and great music that reminds me of them!!!

Yesterday was the 4th Friday of Lent

AND my birthday!!! I enjoyed my FAVORITE Christmas cookies from my aunt Lola as I watched Jesus Christ Suerstar and had a large glass of milk! As I watched it, I thought about Caiaphas’s hat. That is so cool and I thought about The fact that if I was still, “High school Jenny” I totally would have rocked it! We’re talking about the person who had Cookie Monster purses and bow biters for her school shoes that I used in wore every day!

But, thinking about the events of yesterday, and being my 39th birthday, I am too old for that now! I bought Cheeseheads for me and Sean that we DID wear while we’re watching the Packers when I was 28 but 39 is a little too old!!!

I told my Mom that I feel 39 this morning but I think that feeling comes from having MS for 20+ years. Sean brought my mint chocolate chip ice cream cake that I was excited to eat and he also brought Red Robin which he ate in the kitchen and I ate in my bedroom.

He also brought me presents that he showcased from the couch as I sat at the edge of the room in the doorway. He did a great job and choosing my presents!!! But before he showed me that, I realized yesterday that I have been low carbing it for a very long time! So, yesterday with the cookies, milk, and my guacamole burger and just a few fries. It proved to be too much! For all of my low carbing peeps, you know what happened! My birthday ice cream cake is still in the freezer and perhaps today I might have a sliver! We will have to see!!!

My, “Birthday Eve” Gift

Today is my, “Birthday Eve” and I received an excellent gift today!!! Today, my Mom washed my legs. This is an extremely long process because she takes off my compression sock which I wear all day every day and will hand wash it and then she will wash my leg. She dries my compression sock in my bedroom by blowing a fan on it. By the time she is finished washing my leg, the compression sock is dry. We do this because I only have one pair of compression socks. That is because they are pretty pricey!

This is a pretty long process and while this is taking place, we will pray or sometimes listen to music as we talk and laugh. We finished praying today and she put on a playlist I made for her for a surprise birthday party that we never ended up having. She smiles and looks surprised as she says, “Oh, I like this song!”

I would have to tell her when she first started saying that that she is going to like ALL of the songs because the playlist was made for her!

I really like being able to see her get lost in a song with a faraway look in her eyes. Well, I saw that today! As this song started, she smiled broadly and I saw her dimple. My Mom has very deep dimples which I wished that I had for all of my life. Sean has one though! This is the song we heard:

She recalled a story of my Dad calling her over to the living room to hear this song. She was in the kitchen making dinner or something. I vividly remember that day! I was sitting in the living room as well as my Dad sat in his recliner and listened to the song. My Mom shook her head and waved her hand at my Dad and went back to the kitchen.

I also clearly remember this day with fondness! As she got the broad smile on her face, I looked at her and saw her dimple dimple deepen and she said, “I was talking to my sister” and then she abruptly stopped. Based on that look in her eye and the song that was playing I told her that I am not old enough to hear whatever she was talking about with my aunt!

We just let this song finish and I was so happy to be reminded of that memory and to see my Mom’s smile and tomorrow is my birthday! I think that was an excellent, “Birthday Eve” gift!!!

This is Why!!!

I have never used bleach in either of my apartments or in my house. I wasn’t really sure why I didn’t at first but when I thought about it, I remember growing up with bleach stained clothes. My Mom would get bleach on things when they were in the basement to be washed. When I got my own place, that was NEVER going to be an option!

Sean played Dearborn Lions football and one of their uniforms was white! His practice pants were white! So, of course I HAD to get them as white as they could get but I would NOT allow myself to use bleach because of what it has done to clothes when I was growing up. I definitely should have bought stock in Shout! but it was my mission to get the white pants as close to white as I could!

Fast forward to my Mom sheltering in place with me and moving into my house. When this whole pandemic hit, and before she moved in, I got bleach on my GMFB shirt! That definitely hurt because I LOVE that shirt and I still wore it until it got too big for me, bleach and all!

But, today, it all came full circle! My Mom has been living with me for almost a year and she uses bleach (everyone does now) except for me and looking down at my arm just before my Mom transferred me back to my wheelchair, I was completely reminded of my reasons why I DO NOT!!! This is my Michigan hoodie and this is why!:

I love this sweatshirt and now there is bleach on it!

Random Tune in my Facebook Feed #5 OR Gauges

I came across this song in my Facebook feed at 1:54 this morning! Sleep, as usual, was evading me at that point. I saw what song it was and I clicked on it and thought to myself, “That’s Kevin‘s favorite band.” I met Kevin my freshman year of college. I haven’t seen him in 20 years!:

As I watched the video, I noticed the gauges in his ears. I noticed that particularly because I actually helped Kevin change his gauges in his ears to the next larger size.

I remember during my freshman year of college that gauges in your ears for guys and girls was really cool! I never did it though because I saw myself as a professional teacher one day. I opted for a cartilage piercing instead.

So, Kevin asked me to change his gauges and I figured that was easy enough so I agreed. What I did not know is what it exactly entailed! Let me just cut the suspense and tell you that it is really gross!

So, Kevin had gauges in his ears and he had a slightly larger pair in a little baggie in his hand and told me that I just needed to put them in. Because they were in his ears, he couldn’t do it by himself. He explained to me what I was going to do and I was just going to push they bottom of the gauge into the hole and then pop the top of the gauge into the hole so it was snug. But, they were slightly larger than the holes that were already in his ears. This meant that I had to really force them into the hole with my fingers. I never thought I wouldn’t be able to control my hands but I was grateful I could do it back then. That is, until I actually did it!

I used my fingertips to force the top of the gauge into his ear but that slightly larger size was difficult to put into his ear! But, here’s the grossest part, the holes in his ears bled as a forced the larger gauge into them! I think we were sitting on the floor in my room as I pushed them into his ears because my wall mate, Marissa, had class.

His ears bled as I stretched out the holes! I was not prepared for that! His earlobes were bright red and I asked him if it hurt. He said it did a little but a few days later they looked like they did when I met him. That was absolutely disgusting and I will never put gauges into someone’s ears again!

This all happened 20 years ago but I still remember it! It was really gross!

“Birthday Month” Day 8

I have learned in the past 20 years that, “Birthday Month” or not, you can still feel like garbage on any given day once you have MS. Yesterday, was one of those days for me. I was tired of being tired. I told my Mom that and I cried just a little bit.

I decided to watch one of my FAVORITE movies to make myself feel better. 20 years ago, I always thought that Edward was my favorite and his proposal at the end was the absolute best! But, as I’ve gotten older, I love the Colonel Brandon and Marianne story. His actions and the reasons for them make me love him even more:

I could not share this video without sharing this song. I remember that, “11 year old Jenny” bought this single on tape from Musicland!:

The jury is still out on how I will feel today because I woke up late. I think I will watch The Quiet Man again today. I hope to feel better once I am up and running for the day. It’s “Cheese day” today so that’s something to look forward to!

“Birthday Month” Day 6

Yesterday was, “Birthday Month” Day 6. Going along with my Irish themed movies, I watched Far and Away last night. I hadn’t seen it since Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married and I felt like I was watching it for the first time last night. It fit in with my LOVE of Irish accents and greenery so I dug it. But I’m feeling rather, “MS-y” today. I may have to watch my tried-and-true movie that I watch when I don’t feel well, Sense and Sensibility.

I ABSOLUTELY have NO problem watching the same five movies over and over again until Saint Patrick’s Day but I am open to any suggestions! My movies are: The Quiet Man, Laws of Attraction, Leap Year, Darby O’Gill and the Little People, and Far and Away. Since my birthday month falls during Lent, I watch Jesus Christ Suerstar on Fridays but my criterion are: Irish accents, greenery, and I would love traditional Irish dancing and castles if possible. Anyone have any suggestions?