All posts by Little M.S. Runner

Forty-something, married with two kids and two dogs. Trying hard to live every day to the fullest with multiple sclerosis, impaired vision, and deafness. Couldn't make it without my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Health

Dehydration is dangerous

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I had an interesting conversation with my cousin yesterday about water. We humans don’t drink nearly enough water. I would guess that most people walk around severely dehydrated, and don’t even know it. Why don’t they know it? Because no one told them that our bodies need it, and lots of it,  in order to function properly. Or maybe they know, but don’t care. They feel fine, or only have minor issues that they can’t directly link to dehydration. Well, I have good, smart doctors who tell me that I need to drink water, and that it can heal a lot of my issues. And it’s true! I’ve been really intentional the last few weeks about drinking plenty of water and it’s paying off. I lost weight, my blood pressure is back to a healthier range, and I’ve been far less irritable (just ask my husband).

So, it’s jungle hot in Michigan these last few days, and my poor impatiens in my front porch planter are thirsty flowers. But in the heat and sun, they are even more so. They need it to live. I water them every day, but today they were looking really sorry. They were shriveling up and threatening to quit on me. So I showered them with a couple pails of water to see what they do.

That’s how I felt today. I didn’t drink enough water yesterday as I was away from home – at my big brother’s wedding! Yay! – and I had a feeling I would pay for it. I did. I woke at 6 am this morning with a massive headache that would not let up. I was shriveled up and threatened to quit, but instead I got right up and chugged some water, packed the kids’ lunches for zoo camp, and of course went back to bed. But nap #1 did not bring relief. It took a lot more water, another nap, and finally I resorted to a dose of naproxen sodium (out of desperation). It is just past 4 pm and I am finally feeling human again.

I checked on my flowers, and they are perking up too. We’re all kinds of perky around here! Drink your water, folks! Stay hydrated!!

Cochlear implant, Deafness, Hearing Loss, Memories, Miracles do happen, Music

Bilateral hearing rocks!

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This is exciting news. I didn’t know what to expect with the second cochlear implant, but I was told it’s different for everyone, and that quite a lot is possible. I had zero hope of ever hearing pitches normally again.
But guess what happened tonight? I was talking with my husband, telling him good night, and when I got to the bathroom to brush my teeth I looked at my reflection in the mirror and it occurred to me that I had just been hearing my own voice. MY VOICE. Which I hadn’t heard in almost two years. And you know what? I think I’ve been hearing real voices all day! It’s as if some thing in my brain just clicked. I’m so excited to hear more tomorrow, when I will actually be paying attention. To my son’s voice. To my daughter’s voice. And I’ll be hearing what they hear. Right?
I’m just in shock, I can’t find the words. I’m listening to my old ipod, with my favorite songs from before when I was a hearing person. Tool, Cibo Matto, Rusted Root, Over the Rhine, while still quite tinny, the notes are all there. The notes I remember. In my ears. And I’m not sleeping. This isn’t just in my dreams. It’s as good as real.
No words here. Just tears of joy. Indescribable joy.

Food

Frittata for the win!

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Tonight I made a frittata for dinner. If you don’t know what that is (I didn’t, until my sister described it to me) it’s basically an omelet, but without the tricky flipping. It’s eggs, milk, cheese, meat and veggies if you want ’em. It cooks in a pan, and is then finished off in the oven (or just put a lid on it and keep it on  the stove), and it kind of ends up looking like a breakfast pizza (incidentally, two of my favorite things… breakfast and pizza). I usually just use what I have on hand, so today’s frittata had sautéed red pepper and green onion, and ham and cheddar cheese. Simple, delicious, and fairly healthy!

This happened to be my third attempt at a frittata, but it was the first time I did it without incident (i.e. I didn’t scorch my hand pulling the pan out of the oven). It was also the first time I made it for my family to eat, so I was a tad nervous, since they all tend to be their own brand of picky eaters. Guess what? They all loved it! They weren’t necessarily begging for seconds, and Luke didn’t care for the red peppers, but the fact that no complaints were made (Luke was happy to pick out the peppers and continue eating) and my husband went back for seconds are both good signs of a winner in my book.

I just wish I had taken a picture for you 😦 Maybe next time!

Decluttering, Domestic Engineer, Kids, Photos

Lunch coolers

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We had six thermal lunch bags. Two for me, two for Luke, and two for Natalie.Mine are the black & white paisley-ish and the red toile patterned, Natalie’s are the colored polka-dots and the pink with the butterfly, and Luke’s are the plain black and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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Now we have three. One for each of us. We decided to keep the red toile, pink butterfly, and plain black.
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My kids use lunch bags for school occasionally, and they may more often at the new school come September. I don’t have a job to go to anymore, so I don’t use mine much. However, it is nice to have one in case we go to the park, or on a long drive. I like having healthy snacks available. I thought keeping one for each of us was reasonable.

I have to be honest though, and disclose the fact that I have several more thermal bags and boxes down in the basement. I have used them all on occasion, for camping trips mostly. We camp once a year, so it might not seem worth it, until you get rid of them and six months later you are packing for that camping trip and asking yourself where you are going to pack the hot dogs and string cheese and drink boxes. Because these need to be kept cool, but don’t fit real well in the cooler with all the water and Gatorade bottles. So really, it’s justified, right? Am I right??

I’m afraid I am far from done.

Cochlear implant, Music

CIs and pitch differences

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My son has been humming a song by Fall Out Boy for the last week or so (called ‘Centuries’ I believe), and to my ears it sounds just like a song I used to hear on the radio when I was in high school. I couldn’t remember what it was called, but I kept humming it for Luke to ask him if it was the same as his song. Well, he couldn’t really tell me one way or the other, so we decided to look it up online. A quick internet search of “do do do do dododo 90’s” brought us to Tom’s Diner by Suzanne Vega, and I knew as soon as saw the title that it was the one. I let Luke listen to it (as I sat nearby, reminiscing), and he confirmed that the beat was the same, but the melody was not. So it’s mainly the pitches that are entirely different. Luke and I both agreed it was rather interesting, somewhat amusing, that to my CI ears, his song sounded just like my song. Interesting, indeed.

Decluttering, Domestic Engineer, Photos

The Secretary Hutch

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It’s only been a little over a week since the offer was accepted on the house we are purchasing, but since that day I have been mildly obsessed with where I will put my “office”. In our current house, it is at the end of our large kitchen (pictured below, don’t judge!) and though it tends to become a clutter magnet, the location does work well. Because I spend a lot of time in the kitchen anyway.

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 However, the layout in the new house is quite different, and there is no obvious space for an office area. I feel like I need to have a plan. Not that I need a plan before we move in, just that I need a plan so I can sleep better at night.

We have a very old secretary desk/hutch that we inherited from a family member years ago. It’s sturdy, well-built, and I think could work for my office space. I like the functionality of it because I can bring down the platform while I work, then put it back up when I’m done. And the three drawers underneath can serve as storage for paper and other supplies. It’s just not the cutest. So I was looking online to see what options are out there for new secretary desks. Ouch. For anything decent, it’s quite expensive. So I’m starting to think we could make this one work.

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For today I’m  just going to try and clean it out. Let’s see what we have here…

{Twenty minute intermission}

Okay, I’d be lying if I said I made any real progress. But I did discover a few things of interest.

1) I found my Riverdance CD, which just last week I had been wishing I could find because I think it may be music that would sound good to my bilateral CI ears.

2) I found the Puzzler!! I made for holding puzzles in progress (I used to be crafty). It’s really just a giant cardboard tube with a long piece of felt attached. So you assemble the puzzle on the felt, then when you need the table space for doing “important” things like eating, you just roll it up, and it saves it for later. In theory. It’s been at least a decade since I’ve used it, and I don’t remember how well it worked. I’ll be getting rid of this for sure, but maybe as a gift to my puzzle-loving sister 😉

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3) I have 22 VHS videos in the bottom drawer. I purged my VHS movies ages ago, but these are all home movie types. I’m actually not sure what’s on all of them, and several belong to my husband, so this may be a joint project to continue later. I know that we also have many more tapes, along with our camcorder, hidden in our daughter’s closet. So yes, a project for another day. Archiving outdated technology is something I know nothing about.

And yes, I confess I am procrastinating. But I did make progress on the pull-down desk part! See??

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Ok, that’s enough for today. The little people need my attention…

Decluttering, Food, Memories

Cookbooks galore

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Declutter project #1 – Cookbooks!! This should be an easy one. I barely used cookbooks when I could see well, and with the loss of vision I have dropped off the cookbook wagon. There is a wagon, isn’t there?

Out of all these cookbooks shown below (list to follow for those who care), we only use one: The Mrs. Field’s Cookie Book (image #2). We use it on a regular basis, and mostly just for one recipe, chocolate chip cookies. However, my son has developed a love for baking, and he has tried a few different cookie recipes from the book on his own. Just yesterday he made peanut butter cookies. So yummy, and so worth keeping the book. As he gets older I expect him to get a bit more adventurous and try some of the fancier cookies. Because Momma loves cookies.

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These books are going bye-bye:

  1. DeWitt Community Cookbook (Girl Scout Troop 183)
  2. Favorite Recipes of Hartford United Methodist Church
  3. The Four Ingredient Cookbooks (Three Cookbooks in One!) – this has a crap-ton of simple, yet dated recipes. Who eats “company beef”? It doesn’t even sound good.
  4. Saving Dinner – This includes meal plans and shopping lists, and I actually got quite a bit of use out of it in the early years of marriage, before the kids came of course 😉 It introduced me to meal planning, which I still do, only now I use the internet with websites such as Cozi, Allrecipes, etc..
  5. The  George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine Cookbook – I don’t even think we have the grill anymore. I’ll find out soon enough when my decluttering project moves to the kitchen cupboards!
  6. The Color Book of Cheesecakes – is this mine? Where did this come from??
  7. Betty Crocker’s New Dinner for Two Cookbook (1971) – clearly an antique. Could I donate this to the historical museum?
  8. Classic Cooking with Coca-Cola – I used to be a collector of all things Coke, more on that later…
  9. Coca-Cola Cool Recipes – again, remains of the collection
  10. Campbell’s Simply Delicious Recipes – I used this a lot, and it has some great tasting, easy recipes, all of which you can find online now.
  11. Easy Cooking with Brand Names – I have no comment here. It’s pretty, but I don’t think I ever used it. It’s just a nice looking book.
  12. Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook – Everything You Need to Know to Cook (1996) – this was a wedding gift, I believe. I must have used it once or twice, because I have a post-it note flagging the page with the banana bread recipe: “stick butter, buttermilk”. Crap, now I opened it to read the note and felt an overwhelming nostalgia that’s urging me to keep it. The struggle is real, folks. Must… let… it… go!
  13. Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook – I think this one actually belongs to my sister. Yup, there’s a note just inside the cover. Definitely not mine, and definitely doesn’t fit in my kitchen. It’s huge!!

That’s my list, and I wrote far more than I anticipated. I have other things to do, like feeding the children. It’s time for lunch!!

Decluttering, Domestic Engineer, Housekeeping

Type A Confessions

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I’ve kind of been on a mission to de-clutter my home, one tiny area at a time. I’ve written about involving the kids recently, but it’s been going on for much longer than that. And now that we are buying a house, it’s time to kick it up a notch.

As a woman with a type-A personality, my problem is not so much with figuring out where to start as it is with learning where and when to END. Because once I get started, I get so thrilled with the progress I’m making and I fear that if I stop when the timer goes off, that I’ll never get the motivation or time to start again. Have I mentioned I’m home all summer with two young children and a dog? The dog is the least of my worries, actually. She doesn’t interrupt me every 3 minutes to ask a question. Or tell me something, or show me something she made. Yes, I love my kids, and I know one day I’ll look back fondly at these pestering moments. I’m just saying they infringe on my inner need to GET THINGS DONE.

So I’m looking for balance. For a realistic plan to accomplish my de-cluttering goals. How can I be sure I’m doing the best I can, with what I’ve got, to get this place ready to pack up and move? I’ve started by listing the areas that need attention, and I think I’m just going to make it a daily ritual. Each day I’ll just work on the area I feel most like doing that day. Which totally goes against my planner mentality, but attempting to plan it all down to the last detail just seems too overwhelming. And unrealistic, as I need to be flexible enough to work around whatever is going on that day here at the house. Will the kids be at Grandpa’s today, playing outside, or playing video games? What kind of moods will they be in? Are they cranky & defiant or are they cooperative and willing to play together without screaming bloody murder every 30 seconds? Because some days they require closer supervision, and that affects the type of work I can get done that day.

I’m guessing if you are still reading, either you share in this type-A personality or you have run out of good reading material. Either way, I thank you 🙂 I think I’m done with this subject for now. Oh, wait, no. I just had an idea; let me know what you think of this… what if every day I blogged (briefly, I promise) about what I have de-cluttered that day. Some days I could even make it interesting. It would be a sort of accountability to keep motivated, and if I come across some interesting junk, it might be fun to write about it before I ditch it. In a way it may be easier to let go of certain things, because if some things had a story, I could post a picture, write the story, and be able to preserve the memory. Because you know that’s why we hoarders like to keep things – it’s the memory attached to the thing – and it’s often super hard to let go. Yes, that’s what I will do. This will be my pre-moving project, to rid our lives of unnecessary clutter, and to share it here on the blog. Who’s with me?!?

Family, Holidays, Multiple Sclerosis, Photos

Independence Day 2015

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wpid-20150704_220508.jpgI had a weekend to remember. Yes, it was the Fourth of July, which has always been a favorite of mine, but this one was my best yet. The kids played, the husband caught up on yard work and relaxed, and I enjoyed being a part of it all.

Saturday we went up to “The Lake” with Grandpa, for dinner and fireworks. The Lake (which probably has a name, but I don’t know it) is actually man-made, with permanent campsites set up all around it. Grandpa’s friends have campers/cabins up there, so we go every year. It’s actually pretty cool. The people travel within the park by walking, biking, or driving golf carts. And you have to be 16 to drive a golf cart, but you are NOT required to have a driver’s license. I think. Anyway, golf carts don’t go very fast so they let me drive one! All the way around the lake! I was too nervous to do it alone so I had Mike riding shotgun, while the kids rode in the back. And it was wonderful. I haven’t driven in close to 2 years, and I really miss the independence of it, so this was a gift to me. To be in the driver’s seat, pushing the pedal, steering the wheel, with the wind in my hair and the sunshine on my face. In short, it made my day.

Actually, that’s not true. Although, if that’s all it was, it would have definitely made my day. But there’s more.

Natalie and I were at the camp playground, swinging on the swings, when Luke came running up to us and shouted, “They accepted it! They accepted our offer!” See, we had just put an offer on a new house and were still waiting to hear from the seller. Yup. We’re buying a new house, y’all. There are still some details to take care of, but my understanding is that it’s all normal stuff and shouldn’t cause any issues. We bought our current home from my mother-in-law, easy peasy, so this home buying process is new to us. However, we have been praying A LOT through every step of the way, and that has really made all the difference.

I’m excited about this house. We all are. It has a beautiful yard, with a deck, gazebo (great for shade!), a shed, and a firepit. The house is two-story, but the bedrooms and laundry are all on the same floor. If I have an MS relapse in the future and have trouble walking, there are bathrooms on every floor, so I’ll always be able to relieve myself. The stairs were definitely an issue we considered. We really thought hard and prayed about the stairs, because I do have MS, and there is always that possibility that one day my legs won’t work. But I really felt God telling me to trust Him, and not to make this decision out of fear. Mike agreed, so we went for it. The house is located in a fantastic school district, a great neighborhood, is still in the range of Spec-Tran (my ride service), and we discovered that some friends I used to volunteer with live just down the road! So I believe all of those positive attributes outweigh the “what-if” factor of my MS. This is going to be a good change for our family. A big change, but a good one.

Now we just need to sell the house we’re in, which will be another new adventure for us!

Decluttering, Domestic Engineer, Housekeeping, Kids

Conquering the hoarding addiction?

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Oh boy. We’ve been having a fun summer break so far, but it hasn’t been all play. I’m enforcing the “No Screentime Until” rules, most days, and it’s working fairly well. Luke has embraced it, because he is my child, and loves following a list. Natalie, on the other hand, moans and groans at it. Every. Single. Time. But I do realize she is only 5 years old, so I have lower expectations for her. The success with Luke more than makes up for it.

Here’s the thing… I am a recovering hoarder and I’m fairly certain that the tendency for hoarding is genetic. I have unfortunately passed this on to my children, and I am on a mission to reverse the effects and teach my kids early on to overcome it. So far this summer we’ve accomplished some MAJOR de-cluttering in this house. It’s been primarily in the kids’ rooms, but I’ve done my share in other areas too.

Last week we took everything out of Luke’s room and dumped it all on the living room rug. Then we cleaned his room and rearranged some furniture (at his request). Then Luke went through everything that was out in the living room, deciding what he wanted to keep and what he wanted to get rid of, keeping in mind that he could only keep what would fit comfortably back in his room. This was a huge job, folks, but he loved seeing the transformation in his room. And now he has easy access to the toys he uses most, and it’s so much easier for him to keep his room clean. He recognizes this new reality very clearly, which I think at age 8 is no small miracle.

The process worked so well for Luke,  a couple days later I tried it with Natalie. Did I mention she’s 5? Yeah, it didn’t go nearly as well with her, because as soon as she spotted a toy she hadn’t seen in awhile, she immediately wanted to play with it. So while she played, I sorted through her things, trashing obvious junk and sorting the rest into categories. She does well with categories, and does a decent job of keeping similar things together. I still have a few tubs/baskets of Natalie’s things to sort and organize, but we will get to it. Eventually. I’m just happy right now to be able to walk through her room to kiss her goodnight.

When all was said and done, we were able to donate a trunk full of toys to the kids’ pre-school, and several bags of clothing and assorted toys to the local recycling service (to be re-used). I am so proud of both of the kids, but especially Luke. He and I are so similar in so many ways, so I understand his struggles with keeping his room neat and parting with cherished items. I still remember my bedroom from high school days – it was a disaster – and I do not want him growing up with the same terrible habits.

I am 37 and have yet to really conquer my hoarding habits. I have come a long way, yes, but I still feel like I’m managing. They say an addict is always an addict, even if they’ve managed to stay clean (figuratively AND literally, in this case). The temptation and draw is always there. But these kids, they are still young, and they are still forming habits. Now is the time to instill the good habits, so that they grow up to be adults who will naturally pick up after themselves and say no to buying things they don’t need or have space for. Sound too neurotic? Maybe. But this is important, people! I am doing this for their future roommates and spouses! Someday, someone will thank me!!