Holy Week

All right. I have to admit that Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. Easter definitely took second place. Still does, even with all the chocolate.

Don't get me wrong. I love Easter, with its wonderful message of renewal. And Jesus' promises manifested in his own Resurrection? Both sublime and overwhelmingly joyful.

But the season has so many problems for me now.

--I am allergic to palms, so the troubles start early. Here we go again. No mass for Palm Sunday. Well, this year I looked forward to the Reconciliation service instead. Always on the last Saturday before Easter. I walked to the church, some fifteen minutes. Only to find that this year, because our churches are shrinking, the service was celebrated at one of our sister parishes. And I returned home on foot, way too late to drive to the other parish.

No big deal. God knows I tried.

--I am allegic to candle smoke. Well, it makes me asthmatic, anyway. That cancels the Easter Vigil, where EVERYONE lights a candle during the service. Too bad, but there is still the Sunday Morning Service.

--I am allergic to many perfumes and colognes. Took me years to find some I can wear. Easter Sunday everyone and their family comes to Mass. The place is packed and I cannot breathe without reacting to some person's signature fragrance. No Mass on Easter Sunday. You haven't lived life to the fullest, until you've seen the look on some poor parishoner's face when they smell the Albuterol inhaler.

--And one last health-related, more specifically MS-related, issue. Up into the attic to find the Easter weaths and decorations. Where the heck are they all? Where is the Easter plaque? Now, I know me well. It is up there somewhere, probably right under my nose the whole time, just like the lady at Conklin and Rorick said.

Never mind, we'll buy something else. Takes forever though, because Husband RJ is not Catholic, so everything needs to be rather generic. A nice little suncatcher that says something sweet and generic about God and creation: "God touches the earth with beauty." Another sweet little generic sentiment for after Easter: "Life is but a journey" done in black ink on blond maple.

The rest of the decorations turn up after a thorough search. All are duly hung in their proper spots. The new items are paraded past Husband RJ, who pronounces them appropriate, and prepped and hung.

Voila! Easter may now arrive!

Actually, I'm getting quite good at the rebound.

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Little Pond

Finally! (With update)

Back to tired lower legs. Maybe now the thighs will settle down.

Ellie and I went to the strand along the river, staying inside the city for a change. We caught the last little bit of sunshine. No more until sunday. I didn't even take this shot of opalescent sky on purpose.

Okay, I'm still spazzy. So sue me.

Update Sunday 1PM EDT: A terrible night with Restless Leg Syndrome keeping me busy and costing some four hours sleep total. Feeling a nap coming on soon, but the sun is making an appearance and Ellie and I want to visit the River.

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Little Pond

I stopped posting for a very good reason.

Status unchanged. Still wobbly and still spazzing in the thighs.

Nothing much changed here, except a blizzard and the coming Spring.

Lately, I've been off in my fantasy world, being Josephine Lindorm. My snickering workmates finally read the stuff, and want to be part of it. Since there are three other gamers at work, I am incorporating them into a future chapter. They get to pick the character, the names, weapons, etc. It's all Final Fantasy, but a story outside the game.

In my fantasy, I am not only healthy, but self healing. I not only walk long distances, I float when things get hairy. Not only do I see perfectly, my eyes stream light during battle. Not stuck in the house all day, but instead travelling long distances alone.

Pathetic. It's what happens when geeks grow old.

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Little Pond

Quick Update

Yeah, my legs are still like jelly. When I walked with Ellie, the struggle to stay upright in the snow masked the problem. Now that she's returned to Golden Glow, I go out alone, using a walking stick to keep balance.

And my thighs are shaky and spazzing. Never had this problem before. Even now I can feel the twitching, while I'm typing. It's disturbing, and was even more so at work this week.

Monday night I will be alone and "in charge" at work. It's sort of a mini-vacation, if all goes well. The push and pull between the Ad Graphics and Composing Room is getting tiresome. The one tries to pile me with work to validate my presence (and thereby avoiding layoff, we hope) and the other wants to hang on, not losing the department to consolidation. I sympathize and appreciate both efforts, but it is wearying.

Lay me off, already. The overwork and idleness, push-me pull-you is getting on my nerves.

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Little Pond

MidWinter Blahs

...are the rule, now. Everyone around me is grouchy and/or telling me about their physical complaints. Like I have none, or like I will want to hear their organ recital...

I feel great. Mostly recovered from the Copaxone hiatus. Getting outdoors with the HuggaMutt and doing some strenuous walking.

The snow facilitates the strenuous part. I carry a cell phone, so fear of falling isn't it. Still, it's essential to keep the CuddleBum off leash as much as is legal, because she will get underfoot or pull me off-balance.

A fellow dog-owner told me it's because we are two-legged, and the dogs have four wheel drive.

He's exactly right.

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Little Pond

Grumpy this morning

I had a horrible nightmare just before I woke this morning.

In the dream I had a new neurologist. The woman surprised me with a pair of leg braces. She didn't consult with me about it, it was just her policy. I helplessly obeyed.

Now, I know (or used to know) braces very well. My youngest brother wore them for Legges-Perthes, a disease more commonly known as hip dysplasia, and even more commonly known today as a disease in pets. My brother wore a long brace on one leg and a ridiculously built-up shoe on the other.

Furthermore, I worked for a short while in a company that made orthotics, or braces for humans, and prosthetics. At that time we saw plenty of children and teenagers forced to wear similar (or even worse) braces. It still pains me to remember my little brother stuck in those things, and in awful pain when he was not.

The braces in my dream were regular leg braces for people who could not properly lock their knees while walking. It is no coincidence that this is one of my worrisome tendencies. My dream-self checked for drop-foot bracing, but there was none. Another problem I have (at times like now, when I am stressed) is not being able to pick up the front of my foot. It causes some of the most spectacular crashes when I am out with Ellie. She can recognize the sound of such a "trip," and scoots away, with tail tucked under her bum.

My dream self noted with satisfaction that I did not yet need a drop-foot brace. She strapped the braces into place and tried to stand up.

That's when I woke up, rolled out of the side of the bed, and went downstairs as fast as I could.

I grabbed the railing very tightly on the way down.

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Little Pond

Snow clogged arbor.

If you were a local, dear Reader, you would know that this is an arbor that doesn't produce grapes for either eating or fermenting.

Grape vines are ruthlessly pruned down to a few very bare branches in the wine making world.

We will regret out laziness. The supporting structure is bowing under the weight of the snow.

But RJ and I can no longer drink much wine or even eat the grapes. Our only regret will be the repairs that are forthcoming.

Under all this snow is ice. On the roads and walkways.

Itty bitty baby steps will be the norm for Ellie and my walk this morning.

Update 9 AM: There is only about a foot of snow. But the frigid temps are cancelling all sorts of stuff.

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Little Pond