What's New?

3 weeks ago I began my new part time job: that of resident manager of the building I live in. I handle rental inquiries and any problems the residents may have. It's a perfect fit as I am planning to return to school this fall.

I wasn't having much luck in finding employment in the PR field so decided to go back to being a student. As a life long learner anyway, this isn't such a stretch. My mom went to university in her thirties so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, except this apple is 10 years older than the tree was when she went back to school. I'm sure my mom won't like being referred to as a tree so I'll end the analogy.

I've been accepted by a local community college for the business administration program and I have to admit to being rather excited about it. This time around (attending a post secondary institution) I'll have none of that late teenage angst saddling my psyche and interfering with study. I'll not be trying to find myself, as I've done that and think I'm cool. I'll have no peer pressure to sucuumb to as there will be few peers, mostly young adults. In actuality, my peers will be the teachers.

In high school I tutored elementary age children whose first language was not English. They wanted to learn, to do better in school, but not for themselves. They were there because their parents deemed it necessary. That was sometimes hard for them because on those beautiful afternoons they wanted to be outside playing. It was hard on me as well because it was difficult to keep them focused. So I had to invent games that involved physical activity in combination with math and English. 15 years ago I was involved with a non profit literacy agency as a tutor and as a member of the board of directors. I enjoyed tutoring, mostly because my adult students really wanted to be there. They weren't learning because of their parents but because they wanted to improve their lives or their children's lives. I fed off that desire to learn.

There's something intrinsically exciting about learning a new concept or how to solve an algebraic equation (ok, for me it is exciting) or suddenly understanding something which has had you perplexed for a while. (The day I understand the concept of time travel the entire world will know as the biggest light bulb on the planet will be visible above my head.) So I am excited about attending a school where the students are young adults who want to learn something to better their lives or to enable them to become contributing members of society. I will feed off that desire.

My folks and the Wookie are excited for me, too. I'm just waiting for some final paper work to go through before everything is set. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Last week was Brain Awareness Week. Were you aware of that? On the Monday, I was at a local hospital as part of a "brain fair" with other organizations involved in brain health. Of course I was there as a representative of the MS Society, speaking with anyone interested in getting more information. Earlier in the day, the new MEG machine had been unveiled. That's magnetoencephalograph - a machine that can measure the magnetic fields around the brain produced by electrical activity in the brain. It's the only one in Canada and I got to take a peek at it (they were giving tours). It will be used for clinical and experimental applications and when combined with MRI pictures can give an even more accurate image of the brain. It's a very cool machine that doesn't require you to be immobile; you can read, watch videos, move your body (as long as you stay seated with your head hooked up and in the machine), and if you need to scratch your nose, no problem. Halifax is fast becoming what Montreal was in the 40s and 50s when the Montreal Neurological Institute was the brain centre of the world. We have some of the most amazing work going on here these days.

We had several days of spring like weather last week. I saw my first bugs of the season, including a very sleepy wasp that wasn't sure which way was up. An iris bloomed outside the front door which had me in a panic as they don't normally come out til May. I found out later, it's an "early" iris, so not one of the kind that we see around Mother's Day. but still, it was a pleasant addition to the scenery around the building. One of the residents has already begun to dig in her garden, which means that I won't be far behind. And the bike will come out of the bike barn a little more regularly. Sadly, I fell behind in the 52 WBC when I accepted the resident manager job as I had to move across the hall (into the model suite) and all that entailed. I also have had to deal with an aggravated sciatic nerve (I think). Since my diagnosis, about once a year or so I have some left hip pain. It arose when I was walking funny, trying to compensate for leaning when my right side was almost useless. Luckily I've only had a couple of sleepless nights. I was speaking with a friend last night who's currently on disability because of his sciatica.

Anyway, as you can tell, it's been a rather busy month. As I get into a new routine I'll be writing more regularly. There's lots to talk about.

S.

No News is Good News

Things have been relatively quiet for the past little while, thankfully. Most of the world is focused on Haiti right now, as it should be, so any complaints I may have are quite minimal. I thought I would share with you a couple of things:

One of my Christmas presents from one of my several friends named Kim. It's a Christmas Tree in a Box. Last year, Kim gave me a lovely ornament and I said I'd hang it on my bike (in the living room), as I didn't have room for a tree. So Kim found me a tree small enough to put on a coffee table and I assembled it on Christmas Eve.



I adore this tree. It's the perfect size and is easily assembled and disassembled. When the holidays are over, you just put it back in the box. And even though we now have a bike barn for our bikes and mine is out of the living room, I still don't have storage room for a big tree, so the Tree in a Box is just the thing!

On my daily walks or hikes, I have been taking an MP3 player with me. It was a Christmas gift from the Wookie. Now I can listen to all those audio-books I've been wanting to absorb. Since my first MS episode, I have had difficulty holding a hardcover book (or anything larger than a regular paperback) with my right hand. There are a whole slew of books, mostly non-fiction, that I've wanted to read but couldn't, when the audio-book idea came to mind. So I've been downloading and absorbing. And it's great! Plus, I've been listening to a few tunes and sometimes get a little dancing in on my walks. Sadly, no pictures of me dancing.

One morning was particularly calm as I trekked to the Bedford Waterfront. It was 7:30 in the morning but all the street lights and walkway lamps were still on and I stopped to sit at the end of the pier. The temperature was rather comfortable and had I planned for it, I could have had a picnic breakfast there.



I have also been observing several ducks on the waterfront. There are about 8 or 9 of these birds and they're rather shy. They dive under water if I get too close and come up 30 seconds later about 100 feet away. I can't seem to get close enough to determine what kind of bird they are, but I'm leaning towards golden eye. With any luck, one of these days I'll find out. My mission for this week I guess.

I had a job interview a week and a half ago, and although I didn't get the job, I can definitely say it was a good experience. It made me realize how much I depend on the written word to keep me on track. Note taking will be my secret weapon from now on. I certainly can't depend on my memory.

On the same day as my interview I brought some lemon loaf to the MS Clinic to mark my anniversary. 12 years now. If my MS was a human, it would just be entering that teenage angst, hormone pumping, pimple popping stage. I just hope it's better behaved than teenagers.

S.

Still Here

Greetings one and all. I hope Christmas was a good one for you and the food was plentiful and the annoying relatives minimal. I have been on a self imposed blogging holiday to concentrate on other things, like shopping, baking, parties, and the like.

I also needed to get a little distance from the whole CCSVI thing. Many people have been asking me about that "vein" thing and while doing follow up internet look ups on it (and speaking with MS professionals), I have even more questions of my own. I have spent much time explaining how it is supposed to work and why, and then I spend the same amount of time posing questions that remain to be answered. Most folks I speak with understand once I explain and they also understand why we can't leap into this without further research. More than once though, I have found myself wishing that CTV had spent some time talking to Dr. Freedman (of the Ottawa clinic) before airing that W5 documentary in order to get a more balanced look at what Dr. Zamboni has and has not done in his research. I suppose it's up to people like me to spread the word of cautious optimism.

I have continued to follow comments from people about this discovery and I am amazed at the amount of paranoia and conspiracy theory that abounds. I supposed it's o different than the conspiracy theory that surrounds cancer research. In case you aren't up on these theories, some folks speculate that there will never be a cure for cancer (or MS or whatever) in order to keep all those researchers and doctors and drug companies rolling in the dough received from drug treatment sales.....um, yeah.....

Anyway, I have managed to keep on walking 4-6 kilometres most days so am enjoying the exercise. I am also seriously considering joining the 52 WBC. That's the 52 Weeks of Biking Challenge, where you bike at least 30 minutes every week of the year. Kind of cold this time of year, and slippery at times, but I think for the weeks with nastier weather, I can pull out the mountain bike and stick to off road trails. Of course by April/May, I'm on the bike for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, so that's not a problem. There are hardier souls than I who ride to and from work every day no matter the weather, so I think I can do at least 30 minutes a week.

In the coming days I plan to tell you about the seal that has taken up residence not far from my home, the audio books I can now listen to thanks to a fantastic Christmas gift, courtesy of the Wookie, a job interview in the new year, and some fun stuff like the great lemon loaf I made at Christmas. A tradition I have just begun.

S.

More Odds and Sods

I've been out exploring a little more this week. Sunday found the Wookie and I going to check out the surf again just after Tropical Storm or Depression or whatever it was, Danny. It dumped almost 4 inches of rain on halifax and the winds and rainfall wreaked more havoc than the hurricane the weekend before. The waves were great the day after, and it gave us a chance to see Cow Bay and the giant moose that was made 50 years ago. It is only slightly larger than life size:



The waves at cow Bay last Sunday:



I have noticed a distinct lack of woolly bear caterpillars right now. In years past, I've noticed them in droves by the middle of August, but so far, I've only spotted a few, and they're quite small. Not sure if I'm just in the wrong places looking for them or if they were a little late this year because of all the rainy weather we had this summer.

Last April I posted some pictures of some land clearing that's going on for construction of access to one of the main highways in the area. I hiked up to the area again last weekend to observe the progress. All I can say is wow. I went into the offices of the Department of Transportation yesterday to take a look at the plans for the construction and was absolutely delighted with the reception I received from the chief engineer on the project and someone from the communications department. At first I thought they were there to escort me from the building, but they took me into a little boardroom and showed me the plans. Specifically I was interested in the infilling of the many little ponds and I was given details on which ones will be infilled and which ones will be left alone. And I discovered a new compensation policy put in place to help maintain green spaces and watersheds. Basically, for every acre of land disturbed by construction of roads by the DOT, they have to protect 3 acres. So for this particular project they will be giving assistance to the Sackville Rivers Association in a conservation area deemed by the SRA to be in need of protection or restoration. I paid a call to the SRA to find out what's going to be selected. They've been given up to 50 grand to develop a proposal for a project that may be worth up to 3 quarters of a million dollars. And they've selected a stretch of the Sackville river that runs behind a Department of National Defense rifle range in Bedford. Because it's on DND property it is seldom accessed and is probably in pretty rough shape. We'll be examining the area up close very soon to see what needs to be done.

In the meantime I joined a couple of the guys at the fish ladder where we removed two salmon from the trap and loaded them onto a Department of fisheries truck that was taking them to a hatchery:



I am seldom lucky enough to observe bats as by the time you realize what just went flying by, it's long gone. But the other evening while making my rounds, I came across a moth flitting around the back door of the building. I was waiting for it to land so I could get a closer look when something came from behind me and chased it off. The bat whizzed over me and attempted to catch the moth, but the moth zigged, the bat zagged, and the two of them flew by me a foot away from my head. I ended up standing there like a fool with a big grin on my face. The bat was close enough for me to get a good look and I found that exhilarating (I know, I need a life).

Which reminds me, one of my neighbours, Kathy, told me last night she's really enjoying reading the blog, laughing out loud at work, and living vicariously through me (?!?). Kathy, any time you want, you're welcome to join me on my hunting expeditions; I'll supply the net and the baggies for our specimens, you just have to show up and not go "Ewww".

S.

Little Bit of Everything

I've kind of taken it easy the past several days, now that the initial shock has worn off about the lay off. So it's time to get back into a routine of some sort, including the blog.

Someone wanted to know the final outcome with the Battle of the Maggots. Basically, we won. A few days after the initial attempts on their lives, Adena and her son in law, Ray, cleaned out the green bin in its entirety, disinfecting it. In the process of rinsing the pavement around the garbage bins, Ray noticed maggots coming out of a crack in the ground. They were rising with the water....Aha!! Darn things were leaving the green bin, crawling to the ground and hiding in cracks, only to come out at night looking for food. Lots of bleach and water later, they were pretty much gone. So far we've only seen a couple and that's normal. People are now wrapping their "flesh" type garbage in newspaper to cut down on the maggots, too.

In the months of June and July we had a grand total of about 20 days without rain. So it rained two thirds of the past two months. To say Nova Scotians are a grumpy lot is an understatement. So last Friday, the sunshine and humidity began in earnest. The Wookie says he won't complain because at least it's not raining.

From Adena:

A curious fellow died one day and found himself waiting in the long line of judgment.
As he stood there he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the pearly gates into Heaven.

Others though, were led over to Satan who threw them into the burning pit.

But every so often, instead of hurling a poor soul into the fire, Satan would toss a soul off to one side into a small pile.

Watching Satan do this several times, the fellow's curiosity got the best of him.

So he strolled over and asked Satan what he was doing.

"Excuse me, Mr. Prince of Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting in line for judgment, but I couldn't help wondering, why are you tossing those
people aside instead of flinging them into the Fires of Hell with the others?"

"Ah, those," Satan said with a groan. "They're all from Nova Scotia - they're still too wet to burn."

Last weekend the Wookie and I house sat and cat sat for some friends just outside of the city. We stayed at their house, BBQed, swam in the ppol, enjoyed the local wildlife in the pond behind the house, and had a few friends over Sunday afternoon. I also got too much Vitamin D and as a result am now the incredible peeling woman. We also played with the cats and were very amused by them, too, as they're still kittens. We spoted a bat on the front step Sunday morning, a little brown bat, half the size of my fist. It was trembling, possibly after having fallen from the eave of the house. After a few minutes he took wing. Of course I didn't have my camera.

The "Career Path" adventure continues. I have begun the process as outlined by the HR company I was hooked up with to help with the "transition" period. I'm not quite excited about the whole thing, but I am starting to feel better about it. When I was first diagnosed, I looked at it as a new adventure in my life. I'm hoping I will soon feel the same way about job hunting.

So far, I haven't noticed any difference in my fatigue level or MS symptoms as a result of the stress of the past two weeks. I'm trying to keep a level head, so to speak, which is difficult when you're a little lop-sided to begin with.

And to reward those of you who have stuck it out this far a few photos from the past month:

A moth disguised as a dead, rolled up leaf, stuck to the back door about a month ago. Probably a more effective defense in the fall or on the forest floor.


A muskrat in the pond behind our friends' house. The Wookie insists it's a beaver. I say muskrat.


An unidentified bug I found next to Sandy Lake on a hike a month ago. It's very similar to the antlion family.


Driving home after a hike one evening I came across this bunny sitting quietly in a front yard, totally unconcerned about the dog that lives there.

More Pics

As promised, more pics from the end of last week:


This one will give you a sense of the fog. Nice and quiet on the pond, but on the other side of the pond is the beach and roaring waves.


There were a number of snails on the beach, of course, but the fun thing was looking at their tracks:



A piece of coral washed onto the beach with a few tiny clam shells stuck inside it. I'm not sure if the clams fixed themselves to the coral and it grew around them or is they just got washed inside it. Probably the former. I used the coral to draw a two inch line on the rock it's sitting on to give a sense of size. Coral is composed of calcium carbonate, found in a number of living organisms and rock:



The sea:

Brains and Lichens

I’d not seen the movie Underworld or its sequel but had the tv on the other day when an ad came on for another sequel in the franchise. I wasn’t watching at the time so just heard the announcer on the trailer reading his script. The music playing in the background was very dark and moody, out of the corner of my eye I captured a bit of the dark and moody look of the movie and got the impression of sci fi. And as often happens, I heard different words than what was being said. I heard Underworld: Rise of the Lichens.

So, of course, I stopped what I was doing and immediately thought “Rise of the Lichens? What the heck is that about? Plant life taking over the world or something?” and then something else got my attention, probably a piece of lint, and I forgot about it. Later on in the evening as I was actively watching TV and paying attention, the ad came on again and I caught the true title of the movie: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

Ahhhh…that makes more sense. Lycans are werewolves or some such creature. Lyc is the root of lycanthrope and means wolf.
But the whole misunderstanding made me laugh out loud as I envisioned reindeer food propagating and covering the entire planet. There’s a definite parody in that title, Rise of the Lichens. According to Wikipedia there is an ongoing problem of lichen overgrowth on Mount Rushmore that requires regular cleaning by mountaineering employees. So it could happen.

I was also extremely amused when I left my brain on the dresser in my room. I turned out the light and it glowed in the dark. Cool. I had forgotten it did that. So now I’ve left it there to give me that little smile when the light goes out. (It's a hard plastic model of a brain with a brain eraser inside)

I have a couple of brains that I keep on my "medical" bookshelf. It is the final frontier(I keep saying that) and I know it holds all the secrets of the universe. I also have a little paperweight from the 25th Canadian Neurological Association (or some such group) meeting in 1973. There's a coin in the hard plastic weight with the Association name on one side and a brain on the other. I picked it up at a flea market or yard sale and because of the "brain" on it, I had to add it to my collection of weird and wonderful medical related stuff. I have a little Merck man from the 60s who bears a striking resemblance to Oscar (of Academy Award fame) that was actually an advertising gimmick for docs and pharmacists to display to advertise a certain medication. As a kid I had one of those really cool see-through anatomy models of a pregnant woman. Not sure whatever happened to her.

Last month I felt a cold coming on so one night I put some Vick's vapo-rub under my nose to aid in breathing. It's the cream stuff rather than the petroleum jelly based stuff. Anyway, the next morning I put a little more on my face and went to work. 3 hours later I was in the bathroom and discovered I had a white moustache from not completely rubbing the cream in and NOBODY told me! I was walking around work for 3 hours and not a soul told me I had a moustache. Were they just being polite? Did they think I was doing a milk commercial? Did they just not notice?

You already know that I'm easily amused. This is just more evidence.

S.

A Burden Shared is a Burden Halved

For those of you not familiar with the Carnival of MS Bloggers, please check it out (click on the Carnival button to the right or here). Herrad is the only entry this week. And it's a great one.

Many of us worry about how we may become, or have become, burdens on loved ones. It's why some of us paste smiles to our faces, or never say no to requests, or never ask for help. Forgive me for saying this, but that's a stupid way to live (and I'm as guilty as the next person for not saying no sometimes).

Saying to someone "I'm really not feeling great today, go easy on me" or saying "No, I can't bake cookies for the fair this week" or having your children clean up the kitchen after supper are not bad things at all.

Think how you feel when you've helped somebody. Good, right? Well, give others a chance to feel good, too. Ask for help with the chores, the cookies, or whatever. By allowing yourself to be helped, you are essentially helping someone else.

And there's a difference between making an observation and complaining. In Herrad's case, she says that she does not want to burden everyone with the progression of her MS, but I truly feel she is only making observations of her condition, not burdening her readers. As much as we don't like to face reality sometimes, this is Herrad's reality and the reality for countless others. It must be faced.

It's the reason I speak at every opportunity given to me to raise funds for research and support services. Herrad's reality may some day be mine. And if I don't face that reality, who will?

Whoops

OK, so I thought I had the video thing figured out but didn't. Will work on getting it to the blog soon....stay tuned.

S.

11 Years On

Now that the Christmas season is over, I can take a bit of a breather. It was fun, but so busy I didn't know some days from others.

I may actually put away the decorations this week (though I only took down the Halloween lights December 24th). My neighbour and I will be doing some purging this month as it's easier to get rid of stuff with an uninterested party aiding you. I hope to find a space to set up my bike besides the living room, though it did serve as a Christmas tree of sorts.

I have a slew of appointments to make for this month: eye doc, dentist, family doc...just regular annual or semiannual checkups but I will have my MS anniversary checkup soon, too. Oh, yeah, happy anniversary to me! This week marks 11 years with MS, though in retrospect, I may have had symptoms 5 years before that. I'll be making chocolate cake of some sort this week to share with the staff at the clinic, and like last year there will be pictures. Stay tuned!

And basketball begins this week. Here's a great shot of the owner of the Rainmen taken by the Wookie at one of the exhibition games recently:


We'll be attending the games with our friends Kathy and Jane, which in itself is a hoot. These gals have the same sense of humour we do, poor things.

S.

Busy as a....

It's been an incredibly busy week. It started Monday morning with a talk for the Occupational Therapy students at Dalhousie Univerity. I've been doing this talk for a few years now and thoroughly enjoy sharing my experiences with MS with these kids. (OK, they're not kids)

Monday evening I did some voice work for a video to introduce folks to a new kind of insulin pump. I managed to get in some Christmas shopping and a few chores over the next couple of days, attend a wake for a friend's mother, and yesterday did a TV interview for a feature (about End MS) to run on the regional supper hour news program. It'll air next week.

The EndMS campaign has been under way in Canada since September, but only recently launched in Nova Scotia. So, as the EndMS spokesperson for Halifax (actually, the person-with-MS spokesperson), media are directed to me for interviews. The journalist who interviewed me was actually an intern at my station a few years ago.

The next few weeks will see us in high gear for public appearances and work related events; this time of year is busy for us. And the Wookie is still traveling for work, but next week will be going further afield.

The weekend will be busy as well with a couple of work related events tomorrow and then our staff Christmas party on Sunday. Posting will no doubt be light for the next few weeks, though I hope to have pictures to show off my new dress for the party.

S.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

During the two World Wars supply and fighting ships had safety in numbers as they headed east across the Atlantic. The gathered in the Bedford Basin (the northen most part of the Halifax Harbour) and then sailed east. These convoys filled basin, as observed in the picture above from the Archives of Canada. The picture was taken looking south. The narrowest part of the harbour is visible in the picture, the site of the Halifax Explosion. And in the top of the picture is MacNab's Island.

Admiral Harry DeWolfe was born in Bedford and went on to become one of Canada's greatest naval officers for his role during World War 2. There is a park on the Bedford waterfront named after him. I often walk along the waterfront, including this past Sunday morning as the sun was coming up. It was cool and calm.




I walked up the hill from the park (I hate hills) and was rewarded with a spectacular view of the basin and harbour, the bridges in the distance, and absolute peace.



S.

Chocolate

I have one of the busiest weeks planned this week and it started yesterday. I was co-hosting a fundraiser for the a local senior's home. What's interesting about this particular home is that it is not just one building. It has a number of buildings in the neighbourhood. Some are for independent living, some have a few services available for the residents and some are "this" close to full service. In the main building is a hair salon, a drug store, a pub (of sorts) and a gym. There are regular activities in the various "meeting rooms" and concerts for the residents and there seems to be a continuous stream of cubs and brownies going in to entertain the older folks.


Most of the people living in these residences are elderly. But there are a few younger disabled people in there, too. I know a couple of women my age, with MS, who are residents of one of these homes. If I end up in one of these residences at least I know they'll take pretty good care of me.

The fundraiser was an afternoon of sampling chocolate in all forms - in cake, mousse (no sign of Sarah Palin), petits fours, ice cream, icings, as a dip, covering cookies, with meringues...When asked if I would co-host this event my response was OH YEAH. Because they feed me at these things. I have no shame. I'll work for my supper. Ahhhhh....I only gained a half pound.

It was definitely fun. And I didn't have to make supper last night. I had chocolate.

Red Faced

My recent fall (actually, more like tipping) with my bike led to a certain amount of embarrassment, which the Wookie and I discussed the other night. In 3 years I can't recall the Wookie ever being embarrassed about anything, the man is so even-keeled, but he mentioned the fall the two of us took on our 3rd or 4th date. Of course, because it was mortifying (for me), it bears repeating here.

A local non-profit organization shows movies on the wall of a very large building on the city waterfront in the summertime on Friday nights. People bring lawn chairs, blankets, munchies etc., make a donation and watch a movie. Kind of like a Drive-in but more a walk in. My station is usually a sponsor of one of the movies and I was going to be the "presenter" this particular night. It was the Blues Brothers (I love that movie) and invited the Wookie to come with me. I had another event to attend the next day so we weren't going to stay for the whole movie, but the organizers gave us front row seats to use anyway.

At the appointed time I got up front and welcomed everyone to the show. I pulled on a fedora and shades and did my little shtick, getting a few people up front to sing the Rawhide theme for prizes and then sat down next to the Wookie. The few chairs provided by the organizer were plastic lawn chairs that resembled Adirondack chairs. About 45 minutes into the movie I shifted in my seat and the next thing I know, with a loud crack both the Wookie and I are on our backs looking at the stars instead of the movie, our feet in the air. I don't know how, but both chairs broke at the same time.

I didn't move for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what just happened,when suddenly there were a dozen faces hovering over mine, people asking if we're ok. I started to giggle as did the Wookie and then most everyone else. People helped us up, we all picked up the debris from the broken chairs, and then sat off to the side for a few minutes. We had to leave anyway, so I found the organizer, thanked him for his hospitality, apologized for breaking the chairs, and we left.

Thank the gods, it was dark, because with my embarrassment I'm sure my face could probably have been used as a search light.

S.

Odds and Sods

So here I am...been on the busy side this week and it's not over yet. Work is go go go as it's the height of vacation season and we're a little short staffed so am working all weekend. My reward is next Tuesday to Friday off. Yay! I am planning a number of things while on a mini vacation that I know I will not accomplish. I've been trying to get laundry done but the gods are conspiring against me. I have a brand new floor steam cleaner that I'm anxious to try out and the dust bunnies are threatening to take over if I don't do something about them soon. As well I have a few more insects to mount and display. And I still have to get to my thank you notes.

On a bright note, I received a very generous donation from my employer for my efforts with the Bike Tour. I was surprised and pleased of course. They offer donations in kind to various charities that mostly involve air time for the non profit sector so an actual substantial monetary contribution was very welcome. I suspect the COO was the one responsible and I've always loved Dave anyway, but that just makes me love him even more.

This happens to be the 60th anniversay of the MS Society in Canada and they are kicking off a new campaign very soon, End MS. A big media launch is expected in September and as I am usually the "go-to" person for media, at least for the Atlantic Division of the MS Society, they've asked me to be the End MS spokesperson for Halifax.

On the bug front, a co-worker asked me to identify a bug he came across this week and I was happy to oblige. He brought it in for me the next day and as it is a great specimen it will make it to the wall of fame in my apartment (and to the blog in the very near future).

The heat and humidity this past week has been almost unbearable (at least for me). I've been coming home from work and then crashing for a 1-2 hour nap before supper, which then makes me kind of cranky and unable to put two sentences together. And because of my workload this week, recovery from last weekend's bike tour, and the heat, I've been unable to ride my bike. But next week I'll be able to get out for rides early in the morning...yay!

Went to see Mongol the other night at the theatre. Haven't been able to get to a movie in ages but actually planned for this one as I knew the Wookie really waned to see it, and so did I. It's about the early life of Ghengis Khan and the visuals were stunning. We so very rarely get to see the countryside of Eurasia and it really is gorgeous scenery. I didn't find it particulary violent. The only thing about the movie that bothered me was the use of breeds of horses that weren't around in 1200 AD. If you don't know too much about horses it won't bother you. There was history, action, and a love story all wrapped around and I recommend it.

Next week I'll have time to blog a little more. I am researching a couple of things to blog about so will have time to get my thoughts together. See you soon!

S.

Curiouser and Curiouser

Here's a picture of Helga, the East German shot putter. OK, it's me as Alice from Alice in Wonderland, as I promised to show you a couple of weeks ago. See the long blonde hair? Not mine. But it was a fundraiser for the VON, and I'll do almost anything to raise a buck for charity.

My neurologist and his wife happened to wander into the party and they smiled politely as I made my way to them. It wasn't until I opened my mouth and spoke that they recognized me.
Which leads me to believe that I may still have a career as a spy. You know, if the radio thing doesn't pan out.

S.

Pot Pourri (Not Pot....Pot as in Poe)

Tonight John and I went to see the Halifax Rainmen (finally) play at the Metro Centre. They were scheduled to play a team last night and tonight, but that team unbelievably didn't show. This is the ABA, a pro sports organization! The Rainmen scrambled to find another team on short notice and the Atlanta Vision stepped up to the plate...er, court. I was chatting with the Rainmen's head coach, Rick Lewis yesterday about what happened and he said he's unsure, but that his team is always in a visiting city at least a day in advance of a game to avoid possible travel issues (and we have lots of them these days and especially in winter). Rick said they feel it's vital that they be where they're supposed to be for the paying fans of the game. They could have shrugged off the no-shows, but instead they worked hard at getting another team.

At the game we had excellent seats, sitting right behind the Atlanta Vision. At the half time we even chatted with the Vision's coach and thanked him for making the trip on such short notice. There were two university students sitting right behind us who were very vocal supporters of the Rainmen and razzed the Vision every chance they got, When the coach was talking to us they also thanked him for the effort in getting to Halifax and apologized if they were bugging his team too much with their cheering and chanting. The coach laughed and said no, it's good to see the team support. By the way, the Vision had to play in borrowed "Team Canada" T-shirts as the only piece of luggage that got lost was the one with the team jerseys. They had numbers in masking tape on their backs.

I have to say that both these teams and their coaches showed true class. I really enjoyed the family atmosphere and even the two guys behind us were fun. I asked them a lot of questions about some of the fun stuff going on during time outs and half time. They were loud but polite. John and I are definitely going to more games next season.

A couple of days ago, John and I took a drive on one of my training routes just to see how the road was shaping up. We saw a couple of funny things. The first was this.

Now, a dead squirrel on its own isn't funny, but every time we come across some unfortunate creature like this we say "Stupid place to take a nap". It works for raccoons, deer, coyote....and if it's in the middle of the road, I move it to the side.

The other funny thing is this. Two "Smart Cars", tiny little things.



Again, on their own, not funny, but it's the commentary that goes with it:"One for each foot".

At the lecture I attended after work today and before the basketball game (yes, full day), I learned about some of the work being done in Halifax on Parkinson's research. There really wasn't time to go into depth about neurogenesis sadly, so I have little to report on that front. I'll do a little digging and report back at a later time.