This past weekend was fairly relaxing, as I rested quite a bit to recover from the trip to Montreal.  I had to go out Saturday morning, as I made arrangements with a friend from work to attend the big, honkin’ book sale at the Niagara Regional Exhibition grounds in Welland.  We got there around 10:00 and joined the large mass of folks already milling about.  My little mother asked me to pick her up some magazines, as she looks at them while running on the treadmill everyday.  I found 20 that I thought she would enjoy.  They were rather heavy, so I plopped them into a box and set it behind the cashier’s table.  We were there for over an hour and found quite a nice selection of books.  I purchased 12 and Kathie found herself 8 to buy.  When I dropped her off at her house, she invited me in to meet her kitties.  I had the pleasure of seeing five of her seven cats.  I also got to admire her extensive book collection.

I have been very busy at work so far this week.  I have Thursday off as my compressed day, so I hope to get a good chunk of work done again tomorrow.  Jan and I will be going to Costco on Thursday to get the snow tires put on Clem (her, formally my Toyota Tercel.)  I was hoping for some decent weather that day so we could fly around Niagara to admire the Fall colours.  It doesn’t look too promising though.  I think the weather is going to be el yuck-o for the rest of the week.

Symptoms for Today: I actually feel fairly good today.  I was shocked that I had the energy to do a full hour on my exercise bike after work!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 10/20/2009 8:38 PM

Chuck and I went to Montreal on Thursday and Friday.  Our flight was out of Toronto at 9:30 on Thursday morning.  It was a nice, peaceful flight with no screaming kids or crotchety adults.  It was a quick, 46 minutes in nice smooth and calm weather.   Here I am, proudly showing off the shoe that fell out of my carry-on during our flight.

The Fall colours were a bit further along in Montreal than here in Niagara:

We touched down in Montreal right on schedule.  Our plan was to check in at the hotel, then walk over to the bank where we would be having a lunch with some folks Chuck knows.
We stayed in the Queen Elizabeth the last time we were in Montreal.  I was quite happy to be back as it was a very nice hotel, right downtown.  Here is the view from our room on the 18th floor:

The walk over to the bank was not overly pleasant, as it was quite cold and windy.  Fortunately, it was only about 10 minutes away.  The lunch went very well – the company was excellent!  What a super nice group of people.  They informed us of the best shopping spots and some potential restaurants for dinner.  I wish I could have taken them shopping with me after lunch.  I don’t think they’re boss would have been too impressed with them taking off for the rest of the afternoon, although, he would have been welcome to join us too!  Everyone seemed to really enjoy their meal.  I’m not a big soup person but that’s what I ordered to try and warm up my innards.  I’m still dealing with some pretty bad dehydration, as the MS symptom I’ve been experiencing for the last week has not allowed me to keep in any fluids.  I started to crash pretty bad part way through our lunch outing.  I was really feeling out of it by the end.  After we bid our lovely lunch guest adieu, Chuck and I headed over to the underground mall.  It was too nippy to wander around outside.  At this point, I was feeling so exhausted and had a really bad headache, so shopping wasn’t all that appealing to me.  We still wandered around for a couple hours, but hardly went into any stores.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a Tim Horton’s and I slugged back a large coffee.  Once up in our room, Chuck asked me to think of what I wanted for dinner, as he took a nap.  I laid there for almost an hour, trying to figure out what I was craving.  I was feeling pretty lousy at this point, and the thought of going out to a restaurant wasn’t high on my priority list.  the only thing I was actually craving at this point was crackers.  I was thinking of how thrilled Chuck would be when he woke up and I told him I wanted to go buy a box of crackers for dinner!  We decided to go up one floor to the lounge, to check it out and ponder about where we would go to eat.  Apparently the 18th and 19th floors are “special” and they have access to the lounge, which has snacks and drinks available throughout the day.  When we got up there, it was like the angels descended down upon me.  At the serving table, there it was – a basket full of assorted crackers.  A single tear ran down my cheek as I looked up at Chuck.  Similarly, he had the same feelings when he looked at the plate next to the basket, which contained large blocks of assorted cheeses.  Yes, we were in Heaven.  They also had little mini tuna fish sandwiches, sliced bread, fruit, pickles and shots of yogurt.  Dinner was served – and with a great view:

Yogurt is one of my favourite foods, so that combined with the crackers was just fine with me.  Actually, I had about three of the little yogurt shots, which were in shot glasses.  They were so good – I became quite sad when the staff personage came in and said she was taking the food away and would soon bring in the desserts.  I begged her not to take the remaining shots away, and out of pity, she allowed them to remain.  I’m sure she was quite happy to see that none of them went to waste!:

After our lavish meal, I wandered over to the internet computer to email my little mother.  After that, Chuck went online and I picked a book out of the lounge library to read.  It was called The Bachelor’s Cat and I read it in about half an hour.  After Chuck finished whatever he was doing online, we headed back to the room to call it a night.  We were shocked at the height of the bed.  We simultaneously made a comment about my mother.  We agreed that there was no way she would ever be able to get up on the bed.  Chuck took a picture of me demonstrating how my mother would look trying to climb up on the bed:

I think we both slept well.  For breakfast, we headed back up to the lounge for another session of free gnashing.  I ate a bunch of yummy strawberries and some yogurt, while Chuck had some pastries, cheese, eggs and French toast.  After breakfast, he headed out for a meeting.  I stayed in the room, listening to my music and reading my book.  It was so relaxing!  He came back a few hours later and we headed back out to the underground shopping.  We went in quite a few stores, but didn’t end up making any purchases.  Here I am in Lucky Brand Jeans:
 

Here’s Chuck waving at his “fans”:

We eventually went outside and down Saint Catherine Street, where most of the shops are.  Again, we went in plenty of stores, but all I bought were some sport bras and Chuck bought a Reuben sandwich from Reuben’s Deli.  He got it to go as it was time to head back to the airport for our 5:45 flight.  The cab ride to the airport was dreadful.  It was gridlock – start and stop, cutting in and out – I felt extremely car sick by the end of the drive.  At the airport, Chuck sat and ate the sandwich while I wandered into a few stores, trying to distract myself from the nausea.  There was quite a long line up for security.  When we got up to the front of the line, the officer made the announcement about having to separate your mascara, gels, etc.  I loudly told Chuck that he forgot to put his mascara in a separate bag!  His hair gel too!  It caused a few smiles, for a second anyway. 

Our plane was about 20 minutes late, but another good flight.  We made it back home safely just before 9:00 pm.  It was great to see the kitties and they seemed equally happy to see us (well, me anyway!)
So that was our wonderful trip to Montreal!  I think if I was feeling better, the trip would have been perfect!

Today’s symptoms:  I’m very drained from the trip – it was well worth it though!  I’m glad I’ll be seeing my doctor on Monday to see if she can help me with this MS related bladder issue. 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 10/17/2009 7:54 PM

On my way home from work today, the word “oligodendricytes” popped into my head.  What’s up with that?  Who thinks of things like that?  I found it equally disturbing that I knew what it was too!  I think the last time I heard this word was in one of my Science classes in university.
I think Chuck and I are going over to the States for a few hours tomorrow to do some shopping.  I’m not sure if we should wait until Sunday, as we have Thanksgiving dinner at my mother’s tomorrow night.  I’ve been having serious fatigue issues this week, mainly due to MS related bladder issues which are causing dehydration, thus the fatigue.  I’m having a hard time functioning for a whole day.  I guess I’ll have to wait and see how I’m feeling tomorrow.  I went back on the medication my neurologist gave me for this issue.  I haven’t had to take it for over six months, but it seems the problem hath come backeth!  I picked up my vaporizer from my mother’s house and I’ll put it on tonight – that might help a bit too.
I took a friend from work up flying yesterday morning.  It was great weather which made for good visibility and a smooth flight.  My passenger started to get a little nervous when we were entering the circuit to make our landing.  Since we descended to 1300 feet and slowed down a bit, the ride became a little rough.  I assured her that everything was normal and the plane was not going to drop out of the sky.  She really enjoying the flight and said she would go up again.  Actually, I took her up along with another co-worker about 2 years ago.  They both won the draw for the flight over the MS Walk sites in Niagara that year.  I didn’t have my own plane at the time, so I rented a Piper from the Flying Club.  The weather wasn’t too good that day and we could only fly over the Port Dalhousie Walk route, plus the clouds were too low to fly over the Falls.  During yesterday’s flight, Heather snapped a great picture of a helicopter in the Niagara Falls scenic circuit, flying about 500 feet below us:

Here’s a pic of the American Falls:

And us after landing back at Niagara District Airport:

I’m hoping for some decent weather (and health symptoms!) on Sunday so I can go for another flight.

Today’s symptoms:  Not a good day – pretty severe fatigue, really bad headache and my jaw is worse than it’s been in a while.  I think it will be better tomorrow after I chow down on some Thanksgiving dinner – Gobble, Gobble!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 10/9/2009 7:51 PM

What a great day!  I attended the annual RAA (Recreational Aircraft Association) meeting at the Brampton Airport today.  I just found out about it on Thursday night, so I was a little rushed with regards to planning.  I was hoping to fly there, but the weather was having some issues.  My mother joined me and we headed out just after 8:00 am.  I checked Map Quest last night and remembered to select “exclude toll roads”.  Unfortunately, I forgot to select this same feature on my GPS this morning.  I almost had a heart attack when the GPS woman said “Take ramp left for 407″.  Ugh!  I stayed right to avoid the toll highway, which forced me onto the 403 back into Hamilton.  Great – I was now going back to where I just came from!  I got off the highway and told my GPS to get me back on route.  I had a few choice words for her when she told me to get onto the 407.  Hello!  I’m too cheap for such a luxury!  I didn’t want to be late for the meeting so ended up driving back to the dreaded toll highway.  It was kinda nice to be driving along side such privileged people!  I smiled and did the Queen wave at some of them – they “waved” back with just one finger….

Anyway, Jan and I made it to the Airport with plenty of time to spare.  We were thrilled to see the complimentary coffee and cookies waiting for us.  We waited about 10 minutes before helping ourselves, as we didn’t want to look too greedy or anxious.  We weren’t planning on staying for the lunch, but we decided to contribute the requested $5.00, considering we ate about half of their cookies.  Good thing I didn’t fly because I would have had to work out a new weight and balance for our added cookie-induced weight!
It was a great turn out and excellent meeting.  The president even invited me to say a few words about my charitable cause for the MS Society!  He also passed out my MS brochures to everyone.  They really were a great bunch of folks and I felt so comfortable at the meeting (despite the fact that there were only three females, two of which were my little mother and I!)
We made it home at a decent hour, after stopping to pick up a few groceries.  Thank you, my wonderful mother, for joining me today.  I am forever grateful!  I am so lucky to have such a perfect, cute little mother.  (Tee Hee!  I had to stop typing for a few minutes – when this thought came to my mind I started laughing so hard, I had tears running down my face!)

Today’s symptoms:  Actually feeling pretty good today.  Yesterday was the complete opposite, as I had to leave work early due to pretty bad fatigue, muscle and joint aches and a yucky headache.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 10/3/2009 5:12 PM

We had a training session at work today with regards to conflict and communication.  The instructor used “The Alligator River Story”, from the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution.  Here’s the story:

This story is about a woman named Abigail, who is desperate and in love. She wants the chance to be reunited with her lover, Gregory. The only thing that separates the two is an alligator filled river. When her friend, Ivan, refuses to help her across, she is then faced with a boat captain’s offer. In order for Captain Sinbad to help Abigail across the river she would first have to sleep with him. She then went to a friend named Vana to explain the dilemma.  Vana did not want to be involved at all in this situation.  At first, Abigail refuses but then decides to take the boat captain’s offer. Once Abigail is reunited with her lover, Gregory, she confesses her wrong doing. Gregory gives Abigail the boot in disgust and she is left heartbroken. She then tells her other friend, Slug, about what had happened. Being the compassionate friend, Slug beats Gregory brutally while Abigail watches…..laughing.

We had to list the characters in order of most to least respectful.  We then had to compare our list with other’s in the group.  Mine was WAY off of the norm.  Here’s my version of this story, aptly renamed “Desperate Housewives of Alligator River”:

Abigail and Vana have been close friends for many years, but there was always competitive tension between them – more so from Abigail than Vana.  While out clubbing, Vana noticed Gregory and decided to go for him.  This made Abigail jealous, even though she thought nothing of Gregory.  However, the thought of her remaining single while Vana hooked up with someone, really ticked off Abigail.  She swooped into the conversation between Vana and Gregory, just seconds after it started.  She flirted and showed some boob, thus sweeping Gregory off his abnormally small feet.  Vana was quite annoyed by this.  Anyway, after a few dates with her new beau Gregory, Abigail became bored with him.  She had to think of a way to break it off.  She knew the ferry captain, Sinbad, was the town mimbo (male bimbo), so she repeated her tactics from her first meeting with Gregory with Sinbad.  They got it on as the boat made it’s way to the other side of the river.  She told Gregory what she had just done, and he dumped her, as expected.  She told her friend Slug what just occurred.  He was a rather violent individual, which Abigail was using to her advantage.  Slug crossed the river and beat up Gregory, to the sadistic delight of Abigail (thus the laughing at the end of the story).

I actually told the group my version of the story, justifying why most of my answers were different than the other’s.  The instructor asked me if I wanted to take over the training.  I graciously declined.

Today’s symptoms:  I felt really icky most of the day.  My fatigue was really intense, my muscles were burning and my joints were aching.  I’ve had a bad headache since this morning. 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 9/29/2009 7:15 PM

Chuck and I visited Fort Erie yesterday.  I donated the “grand prize” for the South Niagara Life Centre fund raising event this weekend.  I was asked to meet them at the Fort Erie Library to draw the name for a flight around Niagara.  Unfortunately, the woman who’s name I drew had just left the event, so I guess I won’t meet her until our flight.  The great news is they raised over $14,000!  This will be matched dollar for dollar by two generous donators.  It was perfect weather, which was nice for the walk they did. 
After the draw, Chuck and I went to Rosehill Auction.  It was our first time there.  I must say, it would be a great place to visit if you’re in the market for any major appliance or larger furniture.  It was insanely packed and crowded, also hard to navigate due to the large volume of merchandise in the store.  We didn’t get too much out of our visit as we weren’t looking for anything in particular.  Still, it was nice to check it out.
For the past six to eight months, I have been using my Lateral Thigh Trainer (from the As Seen on TV store).  What a great piece of equipment.  Unfortunately, it’s starting to wear out and it’s creaking and cracking.  Like most people, I can’t stand it when my exercise equipment starts to get noisy.  I have been using it for 20 – 60 minutes a day and I only paid $40.00 for it, so I got my money out of it.  I decided to look for new stepper-type machines.  I did tons of research online, but most of them seem to have the same noise issues after months of use.  My mother and I went to Sears today and I decided to try out the recumbent bikes.  I used to use one at the YMCA all the time and forgot how much I liked them.  I ended up purchasing the Free Spirit Recumbent Cycle.  I hope I can tolerate the dreadful noises my Lateral Thigh Trainer is making for a few more days.  They didn’t have the cycle in stock so I can’t get one until Wednesday or Thursday.  I will do a product review after a few days of use – stay tuned!

As you can probably surmise from the title of this blog, I didn’t get to fly this weekend.  I was going to fly to Brampton to visit a friend today, but the weather wasn’t co-operating.  Hopefully things clear up a bit later in the week so I can take an hour or two of vacation and hit the skies.

Symptoms for today: I slept in until around 9:00 today.  Mind you, I was up from 6:00 – 7:20 with extremely hyper kitties that would not stop running around and jumping on the bed like a pair of kids!  My mother and I lasted several hours at the PEN Centre, and I didn’t poop out until around 4:00!  Yea!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 9/27/2009 7:29 PM

Something has been bothering me for a few months now.  They have been converting the Tim Hortons counters, which has also changed the way people line up.  The Timmy’s near the Seaway Mall in Welland has been causing a fair bit of grief.  Everyone lines up at the one cashier, and the line goes past the seats along the wall.  Unlike other stores, they do not have one of those “Please line up here” dividing ropes, which they really need to invest in.  The vast majority of people realize that you line up behind the one register, then the next person in line goes to one of two available cashiers.  They know not to start a new line behind the other register.  Well, my mother and I went to that Tim Hortons today and I stayed in line while she sat at the table we typically sit at.  There were close to ten people in line by the time I went up to the register.  Just before my turn, a woman rudely walked over to the other cashier, bypassing the whole line process.  I was going to say something, but the family who was just leaving the register I was approaching, were in my way.  I looked back at the people behind me and they rolled their eyes in annoyance.  I was slightly irked at this time.  Then, while I was placing my order, this jerk male walks right over to the other clerk and starts ordering – like the woman before him, bypassed the line.  The woman behind me and I both said there was a line.  He said “Too bad, no one was here”.  A few of us starting telling him to get back in line, but he kept arguing and then placed his order.  The cashier should have told him to get in line, but she didn’t.  This was my breaking point.  I walked past him with my order, while looking back at the huge line – everyone was really ticked.  I placed the tray down at our table and walked back toward him to grab some napkins.  It was at this point Lizzy passed her breaking point.  I said rather loudly “You know, you just butt in front of all those people in line – that was really rude.”  He said “That’s too bad, no one was there.”  I started YELLING “That’s really nice, did you not see the line?  I guess you’re better than everyone else, so you don’t have to wait in line!”   At this point, EVERYONE in the store stopped and was watching.  After my first LOUD line to him, a few people started clapping.  I couldn’t stop at that point.  He said “I can’t stand in line, I’m disabled!”  I said “Well I have MS, so I guess I get to go straight to the head of lines too!”  He said “So what!”  While I was walking away, he mentioned again that he was disabled and I said “Yeah, mentally!”   By the time I got back to my seat, I was shaking.  The two women in the seat next us said “That was great!” and “It’s about time someone stood up to people like that who think they’re better than everyone!”  They also mentioned that they saw the first woman who butted and they were really mad about it.  It took me a few minutes to calm down and stop shaking.  About 10 minutes after I sat down, the jerk I just yelled at got up to leave.  He did this big, exaggerated limp, which wasn’t there at all earlier.  What a wanker!  I still can’t believe I confronted him like that though.  I guess I had some pent up frustration in me that finally escaped!  Yea me!

Today’s symptoms: I’m fairly drained after my emotional “incident” today.  Earlier this evening, I developed a really bad headache.  I’m going to take a couple Tylenol and go to bed very soon.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 9/20/2009 9:02 PM

It appears I’m still struggling with this sicky-poo illness I developed three weeks ago.  Starting Thursday afternoon, I was hit with almost debilitating fatigue, which fortunately is a bit better today.  I made the decision yesterday that I would feel totally fine today. I am now amending that goal to tomorrow.  Yup, all better tomorrow, folks! Ain’t nothing gonna stop me now!

Update on my youngest hairless cat – she’s totally insane!  While she and her sister were eating in the kitchen this morning, I started brushing my teeth in the bathroom.  I figured I had enough time to finish before they did (especially Abby!) but I was wrong.  Just as I bent over to rinse my mouth, Abby pounced on my back.  She sat there ever so neatly, licking her chops and cleaning her face.  I had to remain in the hunched position while walking into the bedroom to let her (force her) to dismount on the bed.  You would think I would have learned my lesson, but I walked over to my laptop sitting on the dresser, and bent over just slightly to check my email.  I instantly had a six pound hairless ball of silliness on my back again.  I managed to put on my socks and pants while she was up there, but figured I should remove her again before I walked to work.  I know our dress code is somewhat slack, but that would be pushing it!

I wrote this blog (draft) while sitting in a meeting at work.  The chicky who sits in the pod next to me also sat next to me in the meeting.  She requested that I mention this in my blog.  Here’s your moment of fame, Kathie!  By the way, the word “absolutely” was used over thirty times during the first hour of our meeting!  What the heck?!

Today’s symptoms:  Still very weak and tired.  A bit better today than yesterday, so I can’t complain!  I started getting a symptom that I haven’t had in months – when I yawn, I get this weird electrical sensation running down the backs of my legs.  Hmmm…..

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 9/17/2009 8:03 PM

Chuck and I headed out to the Niagara District Airport at around 9:00 on Saturday morning.  The clouds were rather low that morning and it was a bit hazy, but it was still fly-able.  We packed up the plane and started our little trek to Binghamton, New York.  His brother lives there and I had yet to meet him until this weekend.  The clouds lifted once we were a little past Buffalo and it was an incredible flight through the Finger Lakes area. 

We arrived at the Binghamton Airport in less than two hours. 

We had called Customs the day before, as they had to send someone out to the airport (they’re normally only there on weekdays).  Until we met with the Customs Officer, we were not allowed to leave the plane.  Forty-five minutes after sitting there, Chuck’s bladder finally got to its breaking point and he ran into the terminal building.  I’m glad he did because his brother and spouse were inside waiting for us.  We felt so bad for making them wait, but they understood the situation.  Chuck told the dispatcher inside that we had been waiting for the Customs Officer for about 45 minutes, and she called to see if anyone was on their way.  She was able to get in touch with the Officer, who was on her way, and let Chuck know that I was allowed to leave the plane.  We unloaded our baggage and the Officer showed up about 10 minutes later.  She was very apologetic about being late – I hope she takes that into consideration when she sends us the bill for her coming out to the airport!
Our first stop was Brozetti’s Pizza in Johnson City.  While waiting for the pizza to be made, we wandered around the area.  Terry and Peter were amazing tour guides with a wealth of knowledge of the area.  After about 20 minutes, we picked up our grub and went back to Terry and Peter’s home, which was SO nice!  Before the tour of the home, we ate our pizza (which was excellent!) and had some of the raspberry and sweet cherry pie we brought with us from the St. Catharines Market.  Yum-O!  Following lunch, we had a tour of their very large and beautiful home. 

We continued with our tour of the area, which was a trip down memory lane for Chuck.  We also stopped at the house of a friend and former next door neighbour of Peter and Terry.  It was a really nice visit and many good stories were told.
We headed to The Outback Steakhouse in Vestal for suppies.  Our waitress was super nice and friendly plus the food was excellent.  That plus the great company made for a nice dinner!

Back at the house, we watched an old family video, then it was off to get ready for bed.  It was at this point that I realized that the bar of soap in their downstairs bathroom matched the carpet runner in the hall.  Talk about coordination!
 

The next morning we went to the Park Diner in Binghamton for breakfast.  Check out the photo gallery on their website – what an amazine view!  After breakfast we went to see the New York State Inebriate Asylum. 

I’m sure when Terry and Peter saw me scale the chain link fence in front of the building, in order to take a picture, they probably figured that I had been to an asylum before, if you know what I mean!

Back to the airport, got some fuel, and put our bags in the plane.  We bid Peter and Terry a fond farewell.  We really did have a great visit and hope to see them again soon!  The flight back was very nice and we arrived within 10 minutes of our estimated time of arrival that we gave to Customs.  They cleared us over the phone and we were on the road home.  What a great weekend!  Thanks again, Terry and Peter!

Today’s symptoms:  I’m still congested from this cold I deveoped a week and a half ago.  I also still have the sinus headache, but it’s getting better (that’s all that matters!)  I’m pooped from the trip but it was well worth it!  I’m glad I have the day off tomorrow (Labour Day) to recover.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 9/6/2009 7:04 PM

I had a rather odd morning.  While sitting at my desk at work, I noticed this amazingly fresh, clean smell around me.  I just couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.  Over a two hour period, I smelled my hair, shirt, telephone, headphones to my iPod, the three drawers of my cabinet, chair, pen, stapler and a few documents.  The smell stayed the same wonderful intensity the entire time – actually, for the entire day!  After about two hours of investigative sniffing, I finally figured out the source of the scent – it was my new deodorant!  It’s Men’s Speed Stick – Ocean Surf.  We got a big ol’ box of them from Costco.  Yes, my pits were alive with the glorious aroma that lingered all day long.  How PITyful that I didn’t find this wonderful product sooner?  The smell is as intense as a PIT-bull.  I wonder if it will be as pleasant while I’m in the cockPIT of my plane tomorrow?  If so, I will be the ePITome of everyone around me!   Tis a PITy that more people don’t go out and buy some.
I had another strange thing happen at work.  We have this new log in screen that pops up as soon as we log on to our main computer system.  I thought it was for the program for our time sheets, so that was the password I was using.  Well, three tries later and I received the message “you have been temporarily locked out of the system.”  Ok, that’s fine – everything still seemed to work on my computer.  Then I looked over at my time sheet icon and it vanished!  How rude is that?  Big deal, I put in the wrong password a few times, does that mean I need to be punished by having my icon taken away?  It’s like a little icon Nazi!  I wonder if I’ll be allowed my icon back next week, since I obviously couldn’t do my time sheet today!

I’m off to bed now.  We have a fun weekend planned – we’re flying to Binghamton, New York tomorrow to visit Chuck’s brother.  We’ll be flying back early on Sunday.  I shall post pictures of our flight over the Finger Lakes then!

Today’s symptoms:  Still a little drained from my sinus/cold thing.  Other than that, not too bad. 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 9/4/2009 9:04 PM

I think there’s something going around because my friend at work was getting sick on Friday, both her kids were sick and I came down with something as well.  It’s nothing major, just some sinus issues, sore throat, ear aches and a headache.  I was in bed most of the day today.  I feel like such a lazy lump.  At least I got a few things done today, such as almost completing the corporate tax presentation for the training I’ll be giving next month.  I know, you’re all wondering how you can get in on such an exciting and interesting topic.  I’m afraid the only privileged folks to partake will be my fellow tax-peeps at CRA.  Perhaps one of them will sneak a camera into the training session and post the video on utube….
I did a fair bit of reading today.  Chuck and I went to the Book Depot on Saturday and purchased about $80 worth of books.  Most of which were on airplanes.  I’m trying to learn more about the mechanics of my Cessna 150.  I also started reading another series of a romantic comedy by Emily Giffin.  I just finished “Something Borrowed”.  My friend at work loaned it to me, and I purchased the next book “Something Blue” from the Book Depot for about $3.  I could literally spend hours in that store.

I’m hoping to feel a bit better tomorrow.  I rarely take sick time from work and hope I can put in a full day – who would want to miss a glorious Monday?  Blech!

I think I noticed some sinus issues during my flight after work on Thursday.  Actually, it was a really nice flight.  I flew over to Dunnville then along the Lake Erie shoreline over to Fort Erie, then back to St. Catharines.  Nothing too exciting, but a good time anyway.

Today’s Symptoms:  Feeling yucky with this cold – weak and achy.

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 8/30/2009 6:18 PM

It finally happened – the accident that I have been predicting for over a year.  Geesh, what took it so long?  The other night, I had something in my hand to take out to the recycling bin on the balcony.  We usually keep the screen door open, as our balcony is all screened in.  Anyway, I opened the sliding glass door, and stepped up over the door tracks…at least that’s what I tried to do.  Of course, the screen door was closed.  It was completely invisible since the screen is new and it was dark inside and outside the apartment.  If it wasn’t for that darn step up, I would have gracefully bounced off the screen.  The step threw off my balance.  Then, I was startled when the screen came in contact with my face.  I must have tripped on the step while walking into the screen because I ended up turning to my left during the initial contact.  This caused me to fall into the corner of the wall, smacking my hip and arm.  My fall to the earth was in slow motion, until I landed in a heap on the ground.  It was also very loud!  The clatter of the screen plus the ricochet of bone against the wall seemed almost deafening!  Mind you, my boyfriend’s wails of laughter were equally as loud.  He turned around to see me sprawled on the floor, paired with sounds he heard over the previous few seconds, it was clear to him what just happened.  As per the title of this email, I knew this would happen sooner or later.  I’m surprised it took over a year!

I sent an email out to my “Freecycle” Yahoo group.  This group is for people to post items they no longer want or need, that can be picked up.  You can also request items.  I asked for bedding such as sheets and blankets, for the animal hospital and cat quarters I volunteer for.  I had a really nice woman (Jennifer – Managed By Mom.com) quickly respond to my plea.  Her friend provides her with sheets from Niagara Lodge & Suites at 7720 Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls.  Some of the sheets are too stained to be used again, so she is passing them on to be used for the cats!  She will have sheets for pick up on a regular basis.  These will be used during surgeries on the feral/homeless cats, as well as for bedding and cleaning needs in the Cat Quarters .  We are so appreciative of both Jennifer and Niagara Lodge & Suites – thank you again!

Today’s symptoms: I actually felt pretty good today.  My energy was decent and I even had enough to meet up with a couple friends for dinner after work!  Yea!

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 8/25/2009 7:56 PM

I’m surprised how much some of my tastes have changed over the years.  I used to go through reading spurts – I would be a readoholic for a few months, then wouldn’t pick up a book for months to years.  Well, I’m back into it again and I can’t believe the types of books I’ve been reading.  I just finished Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series [ Sophie’s Website ], including her book Remember Me.  I was always into Fantasy, such as Robert Jordan and his Wheel of Time series [ Book Listing ].  Actually, I’m shocked to see this author passed away in 2007.  I just discovered this now while looking for a link to add to this blog!  Anyway, I’ve always been a fan of Stephen King too, at least with his older books.  I never thought I would be into Romantic Comedy such as with the Shopaholic series.  This weekend I also read Luanne Rice’s Beach Girls and am looking forward to reading her other books.  What the heck is up with that?  Today I’m going to start Karen Harper’s Below The Surface , which is a Romantic Suspense.  What the heck is going on?  This is really hard for me to admit to, but over the last year or so I’ve also started liking purses!  I’m turning all girly!!!  What’s next, looking forward to buying shoes?  Wearing lipstick?  I don’t know how I feel about this new self, but I guess we’ll see where it takes me.
On Friday, I took an hour of vacation time and flew over the Willodell Golf Course.  At work, we had our annual Mike and Angie Golf Tourney, to raise money for cancer.  I donated an hour long flight for the silent auction.  I thought I would raise people’s interest level in this by doing a fly-over.  I took some neat pictures of the shot-gun start:

I did a couple low-and-overs at 1000 feet and tipped my wings at those who waved at me.  I’m anxious to hear how much the flight went for at the auction and how much we raised overall!

I’m just getting ready to head out to my little mother’s house.  We always go out on Sunday.

Today’s Symptoms:  Gee, this is my first morning blog.  I typically feel better in the morning and start to get fatigued and develop other symptoms as the day goes on.  Right now I feel pretty good! 

Posted by Lizzy McFly at 8/23/2009 7:34 AM