I’ve been chilling with the kitties quite a bit lately, as I’ve been so tired.  Mya is really a big goober.  Her favourite resting spot has always been on top of the cable box in the bedroom.  Well, little Boo has been crashing there too.  Mya gets a little jealous and smooshes next to her, forcing her to deal with this joyous image:

 

I guess Abby got her revenge on behalf of Boo, when she decided to use Mya as a back rest while she groomed herself:

I did have one joyous day last week.  My mother, friend and I went shopping in the States on our day off.  After wandering around the Boulevard Mall, we stopped in the Burlington Coat Factory.  We all saw this charming number and ran toward it, in hopes of being the first to claim it as our own.  My mother and I were devastated when Laura got there first:

Tee hee!

I was feeling fairly good this morning and took up a friend for an aerobatic flight.  He is a fellow pilot and plane owner, but has yet to try aerobatics.  We did quite a few maneuvers before the queasiness hit him.  It was a great flight and we both really enjoyed it.  He is interested in going up for a night flight next.  Speaking of which, I still have to take my mother for one.  She has yet to go up at night.

Today’s symptoms:  Felt fine this morning.  Started to feel the effects of being fluid-deprived soon after lunch.  I have a fairly bad headache tonight too.  Hopefully this new med will work and I’ll start feeling much better soon.

Sorry I haven’t posted in six days – how rude! 

I was able to go for another aerobatic flight this weekend.  My friend’s parents were down for a visit and I offered to do a little air show for them.  She lives close to the airport, so I was able to very safely do aerobatics almost right over the airport, which is where I usually do them.  I gave her a call on my cell before taking off, just to make sure they were ready.  I called the tower to let them know I was “commencing aerobatics,”  sent my friend a quick text “WEEEEEE!!!!” and off I went.  I did loops, rolls, snap rolls, Cuban 8′s and a few combinations.  She sent me a text as I was flying away.  This is a huge part of the reason why I love flying so much (my messages are green):

What a great flight and I’m glad I could give them a little treat during their visit.

Despite the nice weather, I haven’t been up since then.  I am flying over a charity golf tournament through work on Friday though.

Here’s a kitty update:  They’re all nuts.  Here was a sight I’ve never seen before.  I don’t know how they both fit under there:

I was texting a friend the other night and the alert on the phone scared a couple of kitties who were all tucked into bed.  Once I got them all back together, I snapped this pic – it was pitch black in the room:

Figures googly little Abby looks like she has headlights attached to her face!

So that’s about the excitement of my week.  I’m looking forward to a couple of flights this weekend, as the weather is supposed to be great.

Today’s symptoms:  I’m finally feeling better after almost a month long sinus infection.  It totally wiped me out.  I was actually getting nervous that the CCSVI surgery was no longer working for me, as I was more tired and fatigued than I had been in a long time.  I think it was just the infection though.  I was put on antibiotics and have been finished them for a few days now.  I felt much, much better this week than the last few.  My mind has been clearer too.  I was even able to create this amazing display with some mugs at Winners:

Cut me some slack – there was a very limited selection of letters!  Mr. Meek is all you’re going to get!

Today was a rather busy day.  I started the work day at 7:15, after a brisk walk to the office.  At 12:45, Chuck picked me up and took me to Artistic Impressions.  This is the tattoo parlour I went to a few months ago to get the tattoo of my plane plastered across my lower back.  Anyway, I was there when I was 18 and had a very small maple leaf tattooed on the back of my right shoulder.  Over the years, it faded a bit.  I decided to get it redone.  Chuck snapped this pic of me in the chair:

It only took about 20 minutes.  Here’s the final product:

I’m quite happy with it – it’s so nice and vibrant!

My little mother picked my up at the office again this afternoon and we headed over to the chiropractor for our monthly crack-a-lackin.  Sure felt good!  He commented on my crazy aerobatic fly-over during a charity golf tournament he attended last month.  He no longer thinks I’m nuts – he KNOWS it!

Soon after she dropped me off at the apartment, I gathered up my loot for a flight.  One of the flights I donated to charity this year was through Tender Wishes.  I flew over their golf tourney, then they auctioned off my flight.  Someone purchased it for his friend, who is getting married (I believe this weekend).  He used to be in Air Cadets, so has flown in gliders.  We had the flight booked for today at 5:00.  I left just before 4:30, which should have given me about 15 minutes to inspect the plane before my passenger arrived.  The traffic is so horrible in this city, especially now that a major road is closed down for the next four months for construction.  I didn’t arrive until just before 5:00.  Fortunately, the fuel guy was by earlier and filled my tanks.  After my inspection, we strapped ourselves in and climbed to 3000 feet to do some aerobatics over his family’s house just a few miles from the airport.  Fortunately, I was still in St. Catharines airspace and over mostly farmland, so doing the aerobatics for my passenger and his fans on the ground was no problem.  We did a few loops, rolls, snap rolls and a Cuban 8.  After the stomach-churning fun, we headed over to the Niagara Falls scenic circuit for a view of the Falls.  Once we left the circuit, I let him fly the plane for about 15 minutes.  We headed along the Lake Ontario shoreline, then I took over and landed us back at the airport.  He really enjoyed the flight.  I let his friends know when they met us at the plane, that he only puked twice and cried just a little.  Tee hee!  No accidents!  I made sure he knew that there is a really fine line between when you first start to feel a little queazy and how soon after you’ll actually be sick.  Fortunately, I haven’t crossed that line yet.

I feel so lucky to be able to give people the amazing experience of flight – and aerobatics, for the brave!

Today’s symptoms:  Feeling pretty good.  I usually have much more energy in the morning than I do in the afternoon.  I was quite happy that it was the reverse today, considering my flight!

 Anyway, I finally broke down yesterday and bought an iPhone.  Dang, I love it!  I’m not going to love it so much when I get my first monthly bill, but right now I love it!  I took a picture of my mother’s favourite TV commercial characters for Reitmans:

I took my dream photo about an hour ago.  I really, REALLY wanted a picture of all four kitties together.  It finally happened!  I had to edit the picture a little bit as the background was really bothering me.  Thank goodness for Photoshop!  Here is the original:

I took out the thing in the middle of the background, plus covered up the red shirt on my dresser:

Have you ever seen a cuter pic in your life?  I think not!

I just figured out how to create ringtones for my iPhone using any song in my library.  I took a 30 second part of the chorus from Lady Gaga’s Born This Way.  I’ve been calling myself all night to hear the ring!

The weather has been really yucko this weekend, so I haven’t flown.  I was able to take up a friend from work for about an hour on Friday.  He really loved the flight.  I was supposed to take a couple people up this morning, but the weather was just barely legal for flying (really poor visibility).  I have someone booked for a flight for tomorrow morning (he won the flight through a charity auction I donated to), but it looks like the weather is going to be the same.  We’ll see!

Today’s symptoms:  Feeling so much better today than I’ve felt in a week.  I’ve been dealing with yet another nasty sinus infection.  I finally broke down and went to my doctor to get a prescription for it, and it started to work.  Yea!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 8/7/2011 7:59 PM

 

Ah yes, one of my prize purchases from Oshkosh.  Anyway, we wandered around the displays at Tillsonburg.  We noticed this little Harvard and thought it would be the perfect size for my little mother:

Here are a couple of adult-sized ones:

The trip there was a nice way to spend a few hours.

We came home and let the children out on the balcony.  They sure love the heat:

Abby decided to stay inside:

I was able to go for another flight today.  I was asked to fly someone from

Sunken Ship Entertainment over Crimson Park in Niagara Falls to get some video footage.  This park was one of thirteen selected in the province to be part of a show through Sunken Ship, and have the park completely renovated.  Here is a description of what is involved.  Two small video cameras were secured onto Vyctor for some additional views:

 

We left around 2:00 and did quite a few circuits around Niagara Falls.  I sure hope he got the footage he needed.  We were in the scenic circuit, so we were limited to a minimum altitude of 3500 feet.  Thank goodness for zoom lenses!  The flight was a little bumpy due to the clouds overhead.  At least the visibility was decent.  I’m really glad I could help them out with this as it’s such a great thing they’re giving to the community.

Today’s symptoms: Felt pretty good!  I’ve had a bit of a headache since about an hour ago.

 Before hitting the airport, we stopped at Denny’s for breakfast.  The restaurant next door had a Cessna 150 on the roof.  How cool:

Our two flights home were decent, kind of.  Our first was delayed about 30 minutes because they ended up putting us on a different plane, which had too much fuel for our load.  I offered to get off to compensate, but the Captain said that simply taking a celery stick off the plane wasn’t going to help much with the weight and balance.  Two people eventually agreed to leave, we shifted some folks around and off we went.  During our second flight which was from Detroit to Buffalo, someone poopied their pants not once but twice!  The smell was horrific.  Soon after the second discharge, I remembered I had some perfume in my purse.  Chuck and I put some under our noses, which helped a bit.  Other than that, the flight was fine.

I was so thrilled to see my girls when we walked in the door.  Their grandma took really good care of them – thanks again, Lil Jan!

Today’s symptoms:  I had a really bad headache today.  It was probably from all of the excitement over the last few days.  My joints and muscles were really aching too.  Oh well, tomorrow will be better!

We had another perfect day at Oshkosh yesterday.  We arrived at the Fond du Lac Airport to catch the 7:30am bus to Oshkosh.  We were a little surprised that most of the vendors didn’t start until 9:00.  Still, there was plenty to do.  We got in line at the breakfast booth in the food court.  A couple of guys behind me started reading my tattoo.  They asked where I flew out of and I said St. Catharines, Ontario.  I then said Canada, which was quite unnecessary.  He said they were from Oshawa, which is just across Lake Ontario.  It’s also where the guy who bought my first plane is from.  He asked if he could take a picture of my tattoo.  No problem!

After we ate, we wandered over to the Jeppesen tent to hopefully be one of the first 300 there to get a free hat.  We joined the line, but someone came out and said that the hats weren’t in yet and to come back later.  Quite a few people were annoyed, and rightly so.  We didn’t end up going back.

Here are a few shots from the day:

Check out the amazing paint job on this bad boy:

One week each year, Oshkosh is the busiest airport in the world, thus the busiest control tower:

M&M’s was one of the big sponsors:

It was a great day with plenty of things to see.

We took the owners of the cottage out for dinner last night.  It was such a nice time and Chuck and I really enjoyed the restaurant they suggested.  I’m so relieved that they’re willing to rent to us again, even after meeting us…..

We woke up to plenty of rain this morning.  Blah.  We didn’t end up going back to Oshkosh.  Still, we had a nice day.  After watching a few shows in the morning, we headed out to the mall in town.  We came back to the cabin and threw the frisbee around.  There was a guy doing touch and goes out on the lake, which was rather enjoyable to watch:

I was walking around the cabin after dinner and noticed a little toad (I believe named Gus) in the window well.  I cleared out the spider webs and reached down to rescue him.  I brought him inside to show Chuck and snapped this pic:

Little Gus is living the high life in the neighbour’s garden now.

It was a great day and we’re sad to be leaving tomorrow.  Even though we didn’t go to the aviation expo today, it doesn’t seem like a wasted day.  We have enjoyed our stay so much at this cottage, that it has made the trip better than I could have imagined.

Today’s symptoms:  Feeling pretty good, I’m just experiencing a fair amount of muscle and joint pain.  Still, I can’t believe how much I was able to do over the last few days.  It wouldn’t have been possible before the CCSVI surgery.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/27/2011 9:14 PM

We are so lucky to have the accommodations we have until we leave on Thursday.  We’re staying at a beautiful cabin on Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac, called Sunrise Paradise.  Holy cow – we are so impressed!  This place is amazing. 

I was so exhausted after our flights into Cleveland then Milwaukee, I had to take a nap while Chuckles went to the grocery store to buy some vittles for supper.  After our meal, I was still completely wiped out that I don’t really remember doing anything more than crawling into bed.  On a bright note, I had a great sleep and was ready for the great day ahead.

This morning we got up bright and early (well sorta – 7:45) and headed out to the Fond du Lac Airport to catch the bus to Oshkosh.  We arrived at Oshkosh just before 9:00.  We traded in our online tickets for our daily passes and headed into the crowd.  Here are a few pics:

During the week-log event, this is the busiest airport in the world.

I really wanted to see the Sikorsky X2 – the fastest helicopter on record.  Hey, I got my wish!

Chuck received a free T-Shirt from Sikorsky.  I think they gave it to him so he could mop up my drool.

I was very surprised when two people came up to me and asked if they could take a picture of my tattoo!  I normally don’t have it showing, since I don’t walk around with my lower back exposed.  However, in the spirit of the event, I had to show off my airplane:

We met up with a few people from home, including my aviation mechanic.  I didn’t even know he was attending.  Overall, it was an amazing day.  We lasted until about 1:30 when we climbed back on the bus to head back to our car at the Fond du Lac Airport.

We arrived back at the cottage completely knackered.  I knew I had to perk up, as the cottage owner was bringing his jet ski for us to use.  It was so nice of him to take his time to do this for us.  I’ve always wanted to ride one.  When he arrived, he took me for a spin while Chuck took some pics from the dock.  I forgot to ask him if I could post a pic of him on my blog, so I hope he doesn’t mind a shot of the back of his head on my blog for the world to see:

I had a total blast!  I thought he was kidding when we arrived back at the dock and he asked if I wanted to drive.  I was a little hesitant, but thought it would be fine with him on the back.  I scooched up front and asked him when he was climbing back on.  He just laughed and said “I’m not going!”  What the heck!  I almost chickened out but knew I would regret it forever.  After a quick lesson, I headed out into the wild blue yonder, all by my lonesome:

It wasn’t too long before I floored it.  What the heck – live it up:

I wasn’t going to try anything stupid and risk any damage to his machine.  I figure the worse that would happen was I would fall off and be gnawed on by a swarm of sturgeon at the bottom of the lake (nom nom nom).  Fortunately, I stayed on for the whole ride.  I made it up to 60 MPH – it was awesome!  I had the best time.  After a graceful dismount, the three of us chatted for a few minutes.  The two guys looked over and saw the little tear trickle down my cheek.  It was then that I was offered to go out for another ride.  We all found it rather amusing at how inept I was at donning my life vest:

I tried to explain that I PURPOSELY put the straps in the wrong order to 1) make the vest a tighter fit.  created and new fashion statement.  4) ok, no excuse – I’m a dork.  After correcting myself, I headed out for another spin.  When we got back to the cottage, Chuck and I had to use some steel wool to clean the bugs off of my teeth – I haven’t smiled that much in a long time!  I’m so glad no one could hear me yelling “WEEEEE!!!” over the sound of the motor.

Chuck and I are just going to chill for the rest of the night.  We did, however, run outside one last time to take a pic of the cute little ducklets frolicking about:

Aren’t they precious?

Today’s symptoms:  This has probably been one of the best days symptom-wise of my life!  I can’t believe how much I did today.  I’m now dealing with a bit of a headache, but that’s about it!  Of course, I’m very fatigued after the long day, but I think that would be true of anyone.  This may account for the grammatical errors in this blog.  Sorry – my bad.

 

I flew over two charity golf tournaments over the last couple of days.  The first one was for the MS Society, down in Port Colborne.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fly, due to the hazy conditions and low clouds.  Fortunately, the sky was perfectly clear over the golf course:

The conditions were much more clear today, but even hotter.  This one was in Fonthill by my old high school.  The charity was for the Wise Guys:

It was actually a relief to land as the heat was becoming unbearable.  I think I lost about seven pounds in water weight!

This morning really didn’t start off too good.  I got ready for work and went to grab my purse on the way out the door, only to find it wasn’t there.  We were out at a restaurant the night before, but I was sure I had it with me on the drive home.  I was really mad at myself for being so careless, assuming I left it in the car.  You can imagine my shock when I walked down to the car, only to see my purse wasn’t there.  OK, now I was about to freak out.  I ran back up to the apartment and looked everywhere.  I then hysterically called Chuck and said my purse is gone.  He said he would drive over to the restaurant and see if anyone was there to let him in.  It was doubtful since it was so early in the morning.  In the meantime, I frantically ran around the apartment, looking in every nook and cranny.  I then decided to share my grief with my mother – probably not the kindest thing to do since there was nothing she could do to help me.  By the time Chuck arrived at the apartment, I was leaning over the sink in the bathroom, gagging up my stomach.  He went to our other apartment across the hall, only to find my purse on the chair.  When he walked in with it, I opened my arms and ran toward him, grabbing my purse and hugging it to death.  I think I kissed it a few times too.  What a relief!  I stupidly had my passport and Nexus card in my purse.  So if it was gone, we wouldn’t be able to go to Oshkosh, WI next week.  I would have ruined everything!  After I calmed down a bit, I remembered that I as soon as I got home last night, I grabbed the key for the other apartment so I could go over and water my plants.  Yes, I took my purse with me.  Chuck and my mother found it highly amusing!  Fortunately, I feel the same way – it just took me a little longer to get to that stage.

The little kitties are enjoying our heat wave.  Check out these shots of little Mya and Boo all snuggled together:

Today’s symptoms:  A little more tired than usual due to the stress of my emotional break-down this morning.  I have a fairly bad headache, but I have a feeling the weather is playing a big role in it.  I’m looking forward to sleeping well tonight.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/20/2011 7:06 PM

I am now a member of their association, which is kinda nice.  After our meal, we socialized for a bit, then had to head back to St. Catharines.  I had to be there by 8:00pm, so they could put my plane back in the hangar for the night.  It was so cute – when we announced that we had to be on our way, everyone got in formation and we all marched out to my plane for a proper send off.  They gathered around while we started up:

It was a quick flight home, just in time to shove little Vyctor back in the hangar for the night.

Weather-wise, it was even hotter today.  I visited with my mother, but stayed cool in the mall.  It seemed to be a different story back home.  Poor Pinky was hardly conscious from the heat.  Mind you, crawling under the pillow sham didn’t seem to help her cause:

This seems to be her favourite pose:

Her and her weird little sister decided to crawl into one of my shopping bags, after I emptied its contents:

Even the dude in the background is admiring their new digs.

Service endorsement:  I just had my wheel chocks powder-coated at Bird’s Performance Coatings in Port Colborne.  Wow, I was so impressed by their work!  I had spray painted them last year, but the paint has been chipping off.  What a mess.  These guys did an amazing job.  I wish I could have my entire plane powder-coated!  Probably wouldn’t work too well though, since they have to put the item in an oven.  I was able to show them off last night in Welland, to the Air Force Association folks.

Today’s symptoms:  Felt pretty good, despite the heat.  Most people with MS have an intolerance to heat – it has a tendency to suck all of our energy out of us and bring on some of our symptoms.  My hands and arms are aching, I have a bit of a headache, but that’s about it!

 

Unfortunately, the pictures I took of the golf tourney weren’t all that great.  But, I heard that they all really enjoyed the show!

I flew again on Monday night.  The winds were quite strong but I decided to fly to my Recreational Aircraft Association meeting.  The flight there took about 15 minutes (into the wind) and home was about 6!  It was a good turn out, but I was the only one to fly in.  Fortunately, there was a tie-down spot back at the St. Catharines airport for when I flew back and had to leave my plane outside in the wind overnight.

The weather has been really hot over the last few days.  It cooled down a tad today, but it’s supposed to go back up over the weekend.  The kitties have been taking in the heat out on the balcony:

Not sure where little Abby ran off to when I was taking the pictures.

I have the day off tomorrow so my little mother and I are heading over the river to do some shopping.  I need some more shorts to show off my pale, spindly legs.  I think Jan is in the market for some tops.

Today’s symptoms:  I’m dealing with a sinus issue again.  I hardly slept last night and ended up leaving work an hour and forty-five minutes early today.  Hopefully I’ll feel better for our shopping excursion tomorrow.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 7/13/2011 8:12 PM

 

I really don’t know if I believe what it says on the tail:

Fred and I spoke with the folks at the avionics shop, then went to the restaurant for some toast, coffee and a chat.  The traffic was fairly light while we were there, but at least we were able to watch few planes going in and out.

Back to the shop, I was very happy with my bill.  They were able to fix my transponder, which saved me from buying a new one (around $2500!)  Fred and I had a nice flight back, although the sun still had not burned off all of the yucky haze.

I drove down to the pet store in Niagara Falls to take advantage of the sale they had.  My kitties eat Royal Canin, which is quite expensive.  I need all the sales I can get!  Speaking of kitties, check out little Boo and Pinky on the cable receiver:

Mya has been sleeping in their favourite spot the last few days, so I guess they had to find somewhere else to go.  Mind you, the cable receiver is Abby’s favourite spot.  Everyone is getting displaced!

Today’s symptoms: Felt great!  My energy level was high and the only pain I was dealing with was a headache that started later in the day.

 

I know I promised myself that once I had the CCSVI surgery and started feeling better, that I would start taking more vacation time.  Well, it hasn’t happened yet.  Grrr….  I did convince myself to take the afternoon off on Thursday so I could hit the skies and work on my aerobatics.  I took two herbal Gravol (pure ginger, nothing else) and wore my electronic anti-nausea bracelet.  The combo worked like a charm.  I was doing aerobatics for about an hour!  I worked on my snap-rolls (they still need work) and taught myself the Cuban 8.  I may go up again tomorrow for aerobatics as well as a scenic flight around Niagara.  Speaking of flight, I flew again on Friday night.  I took up someone from the St. Catharines Tower (I won’t mention his name for fear of his coworkers finding out and heckling him!)  We took off around 9:30pm and headed over Niagara-On-The-Lake, then Welland and over Niagara Falls for the fireworks.  We both tried to take pictures with my camera, but I’m pretty sure I had it on the wrong setting.  The fireworks came out looking rather pyschedelic:

Crazy!  It was a great flight.  He was quite impressed with what the new runways lights look like.  He was a little concerned over my presumed lack of hearing though.  At one point he said “Gay pride parade” and I thought he said “Deep fried brie.”  Then he said how bears were coming to his neighbourhood.  I was really concerned that they would track him down and eat him (nom nom nom!)  Fortunately, he said “a fair” rather than “bears.”  What a relief!

Chuck and I were going to fly to Stratford on Saturday.  I called for a weather briefing and found out we were expecting thunderstorms and general poopy weather for the afternoon.  Needless to say, we didn’t go.  We headed over to the States instead, where we both bought new shoes to wear to the aviation expo in Oshkosh later this month.  I can’t even imagine how many miles we’re going to end up walking each day.

The weather was perfect today and the kitties were enjoying laying in the sun:

Abby enters the scene:

She soon left and wandered out onto the balcony:

Mya and Pinky remained together for about an hour:

Today’s symptoms:  I’m feeling great today!  My energy level is high and I don’t have a headache.  Life is good!

 

I was supposed to take someone up for a flight on Saturday night.  We were going to fly over the Smithville fireworks (Poultry Festival!), but the weather wasn’t too good.  The clouds were fairly low and the wind was a blowin’.  I really didn’t want to leave my plane outside the hangar overnight, since no one would be at the Flying Club to open the doors once I returned.  So, we’ll have to wait until a nice night in the weeks to come, to fly over the Friday night fireworks at Niagara Falls.

Today was great – I visited with Jan and hit the Seaway Mall, then back to her place to do some things around her house.  I’m kinda glad I was away from the apartment for much of the day – there’s a bunch of rowdy dorks blaring their wretched, head-banging “music” just down the road.  Real bunch of winners!

Now I’m just watching Airplane Repo and enjoying the company of my kitties.  Speaking of which, Abby just decided to rub her nose all over my nice clean window:

After a big ol’ yawn, she jumped down, leaving only a couple new nose smears:

Today’s symptoms: I feel great today!  My energy is high, I have only a very slight headache, and I haven’t experienced any aches or pains.

Nothing too exciting has happened for the first half of the week.  The weather has been yuck-o, so no flying for moi.  (Notice the French flare of this blog post!)  Today was my short day (whereas every day for my mother is a short day, since she’s so tiny!) and I was done at 1:45.  I went to the market and bought a big ol’ bag of kettle corn for the tower folks at the airport.  I drove out there for a visit and dropped off their noms (nom nom nom).  A storm came in while I was there and I got to see how their system indicates lightning strikes.  It was rather neat!  After a natter, I ran out into the rain and headed over the Lower Bridge in Niagara Falls (Nexus only) to pick up my package in our mailbox in the States.  I was in the US for about three minutes total – I love Nexus! Once home, I did some stuff around the apartment, then I got out the waffle maker I bought Chuck for Father’s Day.  I did exactly what it said in the rather simple instructions.  It’s supposed to be a non-stick surface – yeah, right!  Does this look non-stick to vouz?

 

I was going to take it back, after I cleaned it.  However, I’m going to give it another go with some PAM spray.  If that doesn’t do the trick, then back it goes!  Enough of that silliness!

I’ll be leaving work a little early tomorrow for an appointment with my neurologist.  I have a feeling he may order another MRI to see if the Tysabri infusions are helping to shrink the two honkin’ lesions on my brain, which formed in December of 2010.  The average size of an MS lesion is around 1 mm.  I go big or go home – check out these bad boys!

One of these caused my right foot to become very weak, so that I had to walk with a cane.  This happened just before Christmas last year.  I sure home these monthly IV infusions are shrinking the lesions and preventing any new ones from forming.

Today’s symptoms: Feeling the best I’ve felt all week!  I’ve had a fairly bad headache for a few days, plus some stabbing pains in my hands and arms.  My energy level was great today!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 6/23/2011 7:56 PM

I flew this weekend as well.  My night rating lapsed (you have to do five take-offs and landing in six months), so I took advantage of the perfect weather last night.  I took off around 8:45, with the sun setting at exactly 8:59.  Night in aviation is 30 minutes after sunset, so I flew around Niagara waiting for darkness to fall.  I did three touch and go’s at Grimsby Airpark, then five more in St. Catharines.  Our new runways lights are just so neat!  I did have something a little creepy happen though.  Just as I was touching down during my second landing, all runway lights turned off.  They are on a timer and you click your microphone button a few times to turn them back on.  Mind you, there is a delay of a couple seconds before they light up, so it was a little weird flying toward the runway in complete blackness during that time.  I took a video (had my camera stick-tacked to my dash).  I have to get the video section back up on my website to post the lovely footage.  Other than that minor incident, it was a great flight and I look forward to doing another one at night soon.

A friend of mine from work and her daughter came over to visit my hairless kitties.  After a few minutes, all four of them came out and were very social.  My friend and her daughter brought my little goobers some new toys – and they love them!  Here’s what our living room looks like right now:

I was shocked to find Mya sleeping on the couch with Boo and Pinky.  This is where they sleep every night, while Mya and Abby sleep in the bed with me.  Mind you, Boo and Pinky are more than welcome to join us!

I kinda wish there was more of Pinky than her little butt in the picture.

Little Mya was quite content:

Today’s symptoms:  Not too much to report!  My energy level was quite good today, considering my hour and a half night flight last night!  My only issue over the last few days has been the sharp and sometimes very intense pains in my arms and hands.

I have the day off tomorrow.  My mother and I are flying to Brantford to have my transponder looked at.  Actually, it’s the one I’m borrowing from the avionics shop to try to determine if the problem is with my transponder or the wiring in my plane.  Unfortunately, the indicator light (lets me know if it’s working or not) on the loaner is not working.  I’ll be flying again tomorrow night to my RAA meeting.  We typically have our summer meetings at the Welland Airport.

The last time I flew was on Friday for our annual social golf tournament at work.  It was at a course in Niagara Falls:

Here’s a shot of the apron outside of the Flying Club, whilst on my way in to land:

After landing, I went over to Chuck’s office to check out the items up for auction on Saturday.  I decided to test out one of the bathtubs when I arrived:

I just wanted to share with you a discovery I made this weekend.  If you make pistachio pudding with milk that is at its expiration date, the pudding will turn blue once the milk goes past that date:

Eeewwww!

Today’s symptoms:  My energy has been quite good, but I’ve had a bad headache all day.  Quite a few aches and pains in my hands and arms too.

 

 

Abby being her googly, typical self:

Pinkster and Boo enjoying the new throws I bought for them:

Fortunately (since I have an MS related heat intolerance) it has cooled off quite a bit.  We’re supposed to get a storm tomorrow, but hopefully it won’t hit until later in the afternoon.  Our office is having our annual social golf game.  I plan on flying over and snapping a few pics.

I had the day off today and my little mother drove to St. Catharines to join me at the lab for blood work.  On top of the monthly IV’s, I’ve also been getting monthly blood work.  I’m starting to get track marks on my arms!  After that, we wandered around the PEN Centre.  I was able to find some tops to wear at

Oshkosh (world’s largest aviation expo) at the end of July.  Chuck and I are going and we’re both very excited!While typing this blog, I looked over at cute, little Abby sleeping ever so peacefully.  I like how her chin is pushed forward, making the line of her mouth lose its downward slope:

She’s so precious!

Today’s symptoms:  I felt quite good today.  My energy was great.  The only MS issue that was bothersome was the sharp pains in my hands and arms.

NHL hockey legend Marcel Dionne had a golf tournament this weekend for a local charity.  Since he’s done so much for me and my MS cause, I offered to do a fly over of the event for him.  The weather was amazing – perfect for golf and flying. 

The shotgun start was around 1:00

I was able to see a few people waving at me so I tipped my wings.

If I didn’t have to go back to work, I would have flown around the Niagara Falls scenic circuit, as it was just so clear.  Here’s a zoomed in shot of Niagara Falls while on my way back to land in St. Catharines:

The weather wasn’t too pleasant yesterday so I didn’t go for a flight.  I considered going this afternoon, but my visit with my mother lasted longer than I expected.  It was great though – I didn’t get home until after 4:00.  Before the CCSVI surgery, I would have never lasted that long!  Yea!

I came home to a rather cute sight today.  Mya and Abby were being their sweet and peaceful selves:

On another bright note, all four kitties are getting along very well.  They still typically stay in their teams of two, but are all interacting with each other more and more every day.

I’m so glad that all four naked ladies are getting along!

Today’s symptoms: Although I didn’t sleep great last night, I felt really good today.  I visited with my mother from around 11:00 to 4:00, and really haven’t started to slow down until 7:00 ish.  I’ve had quite a few sharp pains in my upper arms today.

“Hello little Boo.  How was your day?  Hey, where’s your sister, Pinky?”

“What do you mean you don’t know?  What’s that under your front left paw?”

“What kind of look is that?  Do you think this is funny?”

“Stop laughing!  This is serious!  Pull back the blanket so I can see what you have hidden under there!”

“Oh my Gosh!  It’s Pinky!  Boo, did you kill your sister and try to hide her under the blanket?”

“Don’t pull that little innocent face with me!  You’re in big trouble, missy!  Go to your room!  No treats for you tonight!”

“Well you should have thought of that before doing what you did today!  Now get!”

Fortunately, Pinky was fine, just a little smooshed.  Boo apologized to her and everything is back to normal…for now….

I was supposed to fly to the Downsview fly-in today, but couldn’t go due to the yucky weather.  Blah.  On a bright note, I did get to see the Lancaster fly over while on its way back to Hamilton:

Today’s symptoms:  Still dealing with a sinus issue, so I had a pretty bad headache for most of the day.  Quite a few aches and pains in my arms and hands too.  At least my fatigue wasn’t bad.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 5/28/2011 7:55 PM