Month: November 2022

ALL-TIME Christmas Faves 2022: The Basics with a Little Bit of Background

I started compiling this post on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I was thinking about it and I am comfortable with my top 20 all-time favorite Christmas songs but for this one, I want to add a little bit of background:

I had my Mom snap this picture when we went to see St. Alphonsus just before it was set to be torn down:

This picture was important to me because that is the exact place where I made a very important decision!!!:

I had to crop the picture a little bit so the focal point came into view:


I imagine that we were running late for church because that is the ONLY reason we would have parked there but that is where our green station wagon was parked and I looked at that one-way sign as I climbed into the backseat of the car and heard what I had decided in that moment was my favorite Christmas song:

I have no problem telling everyone that that is my favorite Christmas song!!!

And now for the rest of the hits:

José Feliciano “Feliz Navidad”

That song is driving to my Abuela’s house in Southwest Detroit and stopping to get tamales at Nuevo León Tamalería.

GaylaPeevey “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”

I just love that song and I have the musical Christmas ornament to prove it!

Judy Garland “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

That probably was my favorite movie growing up when I was, like, six. How I used to love singing along with it and I absolutely loved Esther‘s red dress!!!

Karen Carpenter “Merry Christmas, Darling”

This song reminds my Mom telling me about the Christmas my Parents spent apart when my Dad was in Vietnam. I love her voice!!!

Mariah Carey “All I Want for Christmas is You”

This song is driving to my grandparents house (my Dad’s parents) also located in southwest Detroit. That is where my Parents met and grew up together. So I have even liked this song before I saw Love Actually!

Alabama “The Christmas Shoes”

I was actually in college and working and dfcu financial when I first heard this song when I was shopping for an outfit to wear to their holiday party. It always makes me cry!!!

Train “ shake up Christmas”

this song was instantly one of my favorites when it came out!!! We was already living in our house.

Bon Jovi “Please Come Home for Christmas”

There is just something about Jon Bon Jovi‘s voice!!!

Jon Secada “O Holy Night”

It was by accident that I found this version of this song but I absolutely love it! I can hear my cousin, Sal, singing it at the piano with his sister and his friend the year we spent Christmas in Texas.

Sarah McLachlan ”River”

This song will always remind me of Parker and my time working with him as my MRT therapist because this song was it on his holiday mix on his iPod.

u2 “Baby Please Come Home”

Bono’s voice makes everything better!!! 😍😍😍

CeeLo Green “Mary did You Know?”

I remember when I first heard this

Kelly Clarkson “Underneath the Tree”

Whenever I hear this song, it makes me feel good!

Band Aid “Do They Know its Christmas?”

and sometimes a stinky Link accidentally shows up…

Barenaked ladies “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”

Even though this song cut out in this recording, I love it!!!

Andy Williams “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

This song reminds me of watching Allen.

James Taylor “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

I am excited to watch The holiday this Christmas! This song reminds me of that movie!

Bing Crosby & David Bowie “The Little Drummer Boy”

I really have come to appreciate their voices in this song more! But I still remember singing ‘the Little drummer boy‘ at my school Christmas play. My brother, Dave, remembers too!

Bruce Springsteen ”Santa cause is coming to town”

I think this one has become one of my favorites through osmosis because it always reminds me of my cousinT, Shannon! She loves this Christmas song and I love Wham! We had that conversation when we were in high school and it’s still the same even though we are both in our 40s!!!

Tiring.

I had a virtual appointment with my nutritionist this afternoon. My Mom asked me how that went and I told her, ”Tiring.”

Having to see a nutritionist is tiring. It all is tiring! She complemented my speech today and I thanked her for that because I am working at it! So, here is the deal. I can no longer chew food. I meet with a nutritionist to give me tips on what I can eat and she wants to monitor my weight as well because I am losing it kind of rapidly I think.

I never would have thought that I would lose weight without trying! That’s what’s happening! I am not comfortable with it at all but I have told my Mom and I told Sarah today that, “Eating is no longer easy or enjoyable.”

Sarah sent me additional recipes for rolled oats so I have more variety in my diet but I really don’t care about variety. This is all so tiring!!!

Recovered

Well, I think I am recovered enough to recount my last out of the house event. I went to the neuro ophthalmologist. I had seen him three times before and Thursday was my fourth. She has lots of pictures of my eyes from different machines so he wants me to come in in the new year to get new scans done.

I have heard his name from the beginning days of my diagnosis. I have seen him downtown in the main hospital. He knows his stuff! On Thursday, he had a fellow working with him. I didn’t catch his name but I was comfortable with him because I am very familiar with Arabic accents having grown up and Dearborn my entire life.

He sat down in front of me to look at my eyes. With that machine that I am very familiar with using. As he told me to look over his left shoulder, I realized how good he smelled! I couldn’t name the scent but it was pleasing!

He left and as we waited for Dr. Skarf and him to come back into the room, I told my Mom that he smelled really good! Once Dr. skarf’s came in, he pulled up my chart and I was able to see over his shoulder my eyeball. I’m not sure if it was the right or the left but there was pea sized dot in the middle of my eye.

I am not looking forward to the new scans that he will order because I remember getting scans done before and my left eye had a gray shadow in terms of what I am able to see. I remember being alarmed at that but he told me then that there are some people who have complete parts of their eye black because they cannot see.

I wonder what my scans will look like 21 years into this disease. I already have a few doctors appointments scheduled for the new year. I think I will schedule him in February or March.

It seems to be taking at least the entire weekend to come back from leaving the house and that concerns me a little bit when I think about it…

Our 2nd Apartment Soundtrack

I was playing a game on my phone the other day with my Apple Music playing and a random song came on and made me think of our second apartment. I can see myself sitting on the bench at the end of my bed (which I no longer have) tying my shoes. It was summertime:

But then I heard this song and I was reminded of when Sean probably was six. Maybe five? It was Christmas time and he asked me why Santa does not bring good kid’s Moms things. Well, you know that I HAD TO buy something for myself and this was the first thing I bought:

These songs are out of order but they definitely are songs from our second apartment soundtrack!!!

Another Rationed Pillage

I thought rationing my vitamins was a thing of the past because this month, I ordered two bottles of each of the monthly pills I buy. I order my vitamins from my chiropractor‘s office on Wednesday once I get paid and they usually arrive on Saturday just in time for me to Pillage.

I spoke to a new receptionist and I had to give her my phone number twice and she was having difficulty putting my order together. I told her that it was no problem and she can call me back when she gets The order total and finished and that she is doing a great job!

Marina called me back later in the day and she told me that she probably would get the vitamins out on Thursday. So on Saturday, my package has not arrived yet. I’m cool with rationing it though! I don’t LOVE doing that but hopefully I can fill parts of my pillbox during the week…


*Leia still doesn’t like my lack dropping pills.

A Scheduler

I had a scheduled virtual appointment with my speech pathologist today. It was a great session! She said that I am doing a wonderful job with my speech!

Hearing that made me so happy because I am really working on it! I have another appointment scheduled next month with her. I am just a scheduler. I always have been but now, that’s pretty much what I do.

I have been thinking about getting my college transcripts because I do not remember what classes I took and when. When I think about my time in college, it makes me tired because I cannot believe that I did it how I did.

I told my Mom just today about the course schedule being released toward the end of the semester and I used to grab three copies of them! I would pour over the course offerings and it was like a Jenga puzzle. Everything had to fit in and I was on a time schedule! I did not graduate until Sean was three. My favorite picture:

He was eight when I got my masters degree.

I have been thinking about this because I have scheduled a doctor appointment each month since April and I have my ophthalmologist this month and then I have another appointment next month!

I have so many doctors and so much going on with me and my disease progression now having had MS for almost 22 years.. So, things have changed from scheduling college classes to scheduling doctors appointments because my health needs lots of doctors! It’s exhausting but it is good that I am a scheduler…