Author: Jen Rios

Tune #56 & #57 Inspired by GMFB

This morning, toward the end of the first broadcast of GMFB, there was a new segment, “Name That Number” where Kay was asking so guys what a number she gave them meant. I don’t even remember the question and I don’t remember the whole answer but one of the options for the answer for the guys to choose talked about J Lo and her song, “Love Don’t Cost a Tthing.”

That song was my jam! It was my first time living away from my home by myself and my freshman year at WMU. I remember watching that video in my room all the time and it was back when I used to work out at the REC every morning. It was back when I used to be able to do that kind of stuff.

Well, Kay started singing it and it made me laugh and took me way back to 20 years ago. I haven’t stopped watching the video and singing the song in my head because it no longer is able to come out of my mouth. #MSsucks!!!

I was completely satisfied to hear this gem! But, at the end of the segment, and maybe as a tribute to the halftime performers, Shakira was the answer for the question. Hearing Kyle Brant sing it made me laugh so hard!

I chose the remix with Wyclef Jean because I really liked that one when I came out. I ended up tweeting the show and tagging both Kay and Kyle:

Just a few things about this tweet. I really wish you could edit then your posts like Facebook because I missed the, “M” in “them.” I also should have added a couple emoji‘s. 😍😍😍!!! would be nice I think. I also want you all to notice the lakes. Yep, it’s 23. And the retweets, I never get retweets for some thing I have posted that’s original. Kat even retweeted my post! So, I’m kind of a big deal… 😜

To be fair to both J Lo and Shakira, or maybe it’s to Kay and Kyle. I’ve listened to both songs repeatedly since this morning!

Tune #55 Inspired by GMFB

I swear that I have shared this song on my blog the floor but I searched through about 30 pages of posts in my, “Tunes” Tab on my blog and I searched all the way back to my “#1 Tune Inspired by GMFB” and I did not find it but I am still sick so I may have glossed over it unknowingly.

Today, on the segment titled, “Miami Dice.” the guys were rolling days to answer a question regarding the Super Bowl because it’s in Miami. when it was Nate‘s turn, he said it. I can’t believe that I haven’t posted about that before because I swear I have heard him or someone else say that and the show but he said, “Shake ‘em up, shake ‘em up, shake ‘em.” Who even added the, “7-11.”

so I had to search for a clean version of this song but I am finally found it:

Also, Kay was asking the questions and at the end of the segment, she was told to roll the dice. She stood on the left side of the screen and she rolled the dice with her left hand.

Now, I am also left-handed but I feel like a roll of the dice with my right hand Periodically. It may be years of not having any accommodations for left-handed people or the fact that my entire house growing up was nothing but a right handed people. Even today, Sean is right handed so my house is still nothing but right handed people. (my mom will stop by to take care of me and she also is red-handed) I’m really questioning it right now, “My kingdom for some dice!” That’s a Shakespearean reference by the way…

Growing Up

I made a doctor’s appointment for Sean this morning because he developed a cough last night. Correction: my Mom came over this morning, got me out of bed, and called the doctor to make the appointment because I was too sick.

There were no appointments available for Pediatrics today but because he is 18, my Mom was able to make an internal medicine appointment for him. He’s old enough to be seen in internal medicine which kind of blows my mind!

My mind was further blown because he drove himself to the appointment. I didn’t have to go with him and that was the first time in his life. I was too sick anyway! He texted me from the pharmacy as he waited for a prescription for his cough to be filled.

My face really hurt today because I am not well yet. I fell asleep reclined in my wheelchair and I was only awakened by my son covering me with a blanket before he went into his room. I saw him walking into his room as I drifted back to sleep. I think it’s a little bit crazy that my son is growing up but my son is growing up…

A Lenten Wreath

A Facebook friend of mine that I’ve known since preschool posted not too long ago that she still had her Christmas tree up. She didn’t apologize for it and said that her kids like it and it made them happy. I completely identified with her even though her kids are in grade school. My boy is 18 and a senior in high school but he has loved the tree since we got it.

I first got the tree in our first apartment and he was four years old. When she posted this, my tree was also still up! My Mom offered to take it down just after Christmas and because I don’t have a huge role in putting it up, I told her she could take it down whenever she wanted.

Upon hearing this, my son pleaded and told her that it had to be up for longer! My Mom agreed to two more weeks. She started taking it down at the beginning of the week. Now that there is sickness in my house, she had to stop. I told Sean that it looks like a wreath. If it stays up long enough, it could be a Lenten wreath!

So, it is officially no longer Christmas in my house but maybe it will be set up for Easter because it Lent isn’t that far away.

Tune #54 Inspired by GMFB

My Mom came over early this morning to get me out of bed and I was able to watch the first broadcast of GMFB. I still didn’t feel well but I enjoy watching the breakfast table as I wake up. I was able to see a segment called, “The Hype Scale.” Kay’s, “Hype Scale” was my favorite. The “Hype Scale” is a comparison of things they like the most (a 10) and things they loathe (a one or a zero). Kay doesn’t like smart watches but she really liked Sean Kingston. This song was is her most played song on Spotify:

Sean Kingston always reminds me of taking my oldest nephew shopping for his ninth or 10th birthday. He bought a Sean Kingston CD among other things. However, this song is this song that reminds me of him:

Now, whenever I hear a Sean Kingston song, I can think of both Kay and my nephew.

22 Days OR “Pop” OR Montage

I was only able to catch the rebroadcast of GMFB this morning because I was not feeling well enough to wake up early. During the rebroadcast, I did not see, “Throwdown Thursday.” Because and had nothing chis say about a segment that I did not see, I chose to write a blog post about something that I have been thinking about for a while.

I belong to a number of MS support groups on both Facebook and Twitter. I am more engaged with certain groups but given that I have had MS for 19 years now, I feel I have something of value to and to questions that get posed to the group. My experiences with the group I really engage in are usually wonderful so I didn’t think it would be a problem when I added my two cents to a question that was posed to a particular group that I usually didn’t comment on a lot. Well, that wasn’t the case in this particular instance.

The question was posed if we should wear medical alert bracelets saying that we have multiple sclerosis. I kind of thought it was a good idea and then I explained my situation. Last wild-card weekend, my knee, “Popped” out and would not. “Pop” back in. I ended up going to the ER via an ambulance because it hurt so much. I really thought they would just be able to, “Pop” it back in. I think it was because I was in so much pain that my speech was extremely affected.

I told each doctor who came into see me that I was not drunk or on drugs and that I was thinking clearly. I just had MS and was having problems speaking. I added that a medical alert device may have been helpful at that time. The responses I got to that included being told that knees do NOT pop out. Well, mine does! It has been doing that since my injury and subsequent surgery. I didn’t know what to say in response so I did not respond but I haven’t commented on anything since then in that particular group.

I really started thinking about this recently when I saw this video:

Toward the end of the video, he pops a person above back into place and that is exactly what my niece sounds like. So far, this January, my knee has popped out every day. That’s 22 days! It hasn’t popped out yet today but the day is not over yet.

I searched YouTube for videos of knees popping back into place and I found these:

My knee makes a popping noise multiple times a day and it is jarring when it does happen. It is usually when I transfer and I used to gasp and cry but now that it has been 2 1/2 years, I just kind of groan because it kind of startles me. My knee burns when it’s popped out and perhaps when it goes back in which hurts but ultimately, it feels better.

Now, with this last video, neither Sean nor my Mom yell like these kids dIdq but that’s what it look like the day I went to the ER. They ultimately could not help me and I missed some football and was only able to get home to watch the Saints get eliminated which really stunk!

When I got my taxes done, my knee popped out in the driveway while I was getting out of the car and my Mom had to pop it back in. Sean told me that I should put together a montage of my knee popping out because it does all of the time end it does sound kind of gross!


“Sickies”

Sean stayed home from school again today. He is sick. This morning, the left side of my throat hurt when I swallowed. I’ve always told Sean that he needs to stay healthy because if he gets sick, that means that I will get sick and then I said that I will die! I would say it but I didn’t really believe it until this morning when my throat hurt. When my Mom got here, I asked her to make this drink that is supposed to help. It has apple cider vinegar in it so it’s disgusting but my throat hurt.

Sean got out of his bed and my Mom asked who she was making it for first. I told her to make it for Sean and he drank it and thought it was really gross and I knew it would be. I just told him that I had to drink it too! My mom put together chicken soup for Sean and for lunch, I just drink the broth.

I told Sean that we are two, “Sickies.” Sean corrected me that he is a, “Sickie” and I am not. I told him that it is very possible that I can get really sick and even be hospitalized if I don’t nip this one in the bud. I told my Mom that we need a red X on our house or a skull and cross bones on the door because this house is sick. hopefully, we both will get over it soon but I can feel my head pounding right now.

Rob Lowe

So, I really thought about this since finding out which teams were in the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. It is, as Kay says it, Super Bowl Liv (Pronounced with a short I like, Liv Tyler). Sean watched both games with me and once I found out the Chiefs were in it, I wasn’t super happy. Sean told me that Patrick Mahomes is good enough to win him his fantasy football league Super Bowl so he was okay with it. I wasn’t so sure though.

When we watched the NFC championship, my son commented on Rob Lowe. He was wearing an NFL hat and NOT rooting for either team:

The 49ers won the game and it wasn’t close. So, it’s between the 49ers or the Chiefs. I have to pick one of them because the Detroit Lions aren’t you going to be in a Super Bowl anytime soon, even though Kyle went with them opposed to the Cincinnati Bengals to get the Lombardi trophy next year.

I really am not a Chiefs fan (even though Mahomes is pretty impressive) nor am I a 49ers fan. My Mom thinks Jimmy Garoppolo is really handsome though. She told me that a couple years ago when Kyle started talking about him. This year, she also saw a bunch of 49ers players reading to kindergarten classes and then we were told that they read one-on-one with 2nd to 4th graders. My Mom is convinced that they will win the Super Bowl because they read with kids. I told her that most teams do stuff like that but it didn’t matter because she thinks the 49ers will win because Jimmy Garoppolo is handsome.

For me though, Jimmy Garoppolo really isn’t my cup of tea and I’ve been watching the breakfast table to see who they’re going with. On Monday, the whole table was all about the Chiefs which didn’t really sit well with me. I am not sure who to go for though. Maurice Jones-Drew (sitting in for Nate) was talking at the breakfast table today that the 49ers have a really good defense and the Chiefs have a really good offense.

He added that it definitely will be a game which I am excited for. I usually make the decision for who I am going to jump on the bandwagon for early on in the playoffs but when the Saints were knocked out again, I didn’t know who to go for. Maybe I should wait until tomorrow’s Throwdown Thursday to decide which team I should hook my bandwagon to, or maybe I think I will be like Rob Lowe…

Dove Chocolate Commercial

I haven’t seen this commercial for a while and I just recently saw it again. It reminds me of a dear friend and former colleague of mine and I really like it. Recently, I have allowed myself to have one or two Dove dark chocolates. I eat them slowly and it takes four bites for me to eat in one piece. I can no longer read what’s inside of the wrapper because my eyes have gotten so bad.

Today, my Mom read my chocolate wrapper to me. It’s sad, “You got this!” See?:

That was a really nice reminder for me. I searched on YouTube for the commercial and I saw this one. I never saw the entire commercial but here it is: