Enjoying The Day.

Maurice Uitrillo (son of Suzanne Valadon)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Utrillo

Woken up by the heat in the early hours luckily did not have to wake Richie for THC as right then he got up to go to the toilet.

Once I inhaled the vapour I could sleep again, so glad that I use a vaporiser, so much better for me to vaporise rather than smoke.

Feel so much better since I stopped smoking weed, also still pleased I stopped smoking tobacco.

It was only since I stopped using tobacco that I fully realised how addictive tobacco is, and how much I like many smokers were in denial about this fact.

As a smoker I did not like the idea, did not want to see myself as addicted to tobacco.

I did not need to seek out a dealer; just went to any newsagent, tobacco shop, pub, café, supermarket3 or petrol station and buy tobacco.

Remember not liking the idea of being an addict when I was a smoker, wanted to feel in control, but I was not, until I stopped cold in 1999.

My other attempts had not been successful; guess that when I tried previously l had not been convinced that I could succeed.

In 1999 I had no such doubts about myself, knew that I was serious and was giving up because I wanted to.

Many people have been impresses and asked whether I had read the Alan Carr book which I had not.

I did not need a self help book as I ‘wrote’ my own self help book, a living book, am sure self help books can be useful, just never found one that impressed me.

Tend to find them to be pure common sense and nothing magical or even out of the ordinary as is often implied.

Remember a previously unpleasant Member of Parliament Ann Widdicombe being asked if she would write a diet book after her huge weight loss.

No she said as it would be too short, it would just say:

‘’ Eat less and do more ’’

Brilliant never thought I could ever agree with Ann Widdicombe but on that occasion I did and had a good laugh too.

It is very warm today, am typing with my left hand as my right hand is not doing well in the heat#.

My right hand has folded up and can not be straightened to type well or operate the mouse so will stop here and find pictures and post and enjoy the day.

Feel Good Moments.

Suzanne Valadon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_Valadon

Looks like it will be another very warm day today, just heard that the BBC Radio 5 team will be going back home early from South Africa, now that England has gone out of the World Cup.

All very sad for the many people in England who supported the England team, hope that the Football Association will use this defeat to learn from it.

Who knows they may even do so this time, Richie thinks that they won't shame but would not be surprising if they refused to see the reality.

England should do what Germany did and rejuvenate their team with promising young players from the under 21 team.

Nice to be distracted by the World Cup from my MS and my situation, woke up this morning with my arms folded tightly together.

Aware immediately that I can not automatically stretch my arms, doing that will take more time and effort.

Have to think about it and then direct my thoughts to my arms and literally say to myself move your arms now.

Have to do this and at the same time try to move my arms enough to get them uncovered form my fleece blanket.

Eventually this works and I can get my arms out from under the thin fleece and hold on to the trapeze and stretch my arms.

It is strange to notice this happening more and more it reminds me of a story that I read in the 70’s in Reader’s Digest.

It was the story of a man suffering from Parkinson’s who said he would have to talk to himself to get any action.

So if he wanted to pick up a cup he would instruct his arm to stretch out and then pick up cup.

The first time nothing happened and he would have to repeat his instructions time and again.

When the arm finally reached out and picked up the cup it might spill the contents and he would start again.

It could often take him ages; sometimes hours to complete a task, what I remember being fascinated by, was him giving verbal instructions at the same time as physically moving

Funny how years later I am doing something similar, this morning I started having bleak thoughts when I woke and felt myself lying in bed like an Egyptian mummy.

Banished the thoughts of being entombed in my body with no gesture or movement possible anymore.

Instead directed my thoughts to moving my arms and succeeded which made me feel better right away.

Glad to confirm that my focus now is to maximise everything that makes me feel good about myself.

Much better use of my time right here and now, than getting stuck in potentially negative thinking based on predictions of the future.

Everyday I re-confirm my desire to live in the moment and enjoy everything that I can enjoy like sitting in the front room yesterday and watching the TV there for the first time since 2008.

It felt good, today I will be looking for more of those feel good moments.






(Cliburn)Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 Mvt III.

This clip is of van Cliburn playing part of the concerto. And this is a bit of history to go with it:

The first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 was an event designed to demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority during the Cold War, on the heels of their technological victory with the Sputnik launch in October 1957.

Cliburn's performance at the competition finale of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 earned him a standing ovation lasting eight minutes.

Glorious Summer Weather.

Modern Abstract Art.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_art

What a relief to hear Spike barking again not too long after I posted yesterday, he seeems to be more himself.

Guess it took him a few days to recover from lthe anaesthetic and the noise of the MRI machine, lI forgot about the noise until reminded by a caouple of people.

Am grateful to Stephany @ Soulful Sepulcher

http://bipolarsoupkitchen-stephany.blogspot.com/

And Muff @ Kaleidoscope Muff


http://kaleidoscopemuff.blogspot.com/

For reminding me that the MRI machine is extremely loud, it is as loud as putting your head in the speakers at a Metallica concert.

Forgot that it took me two or three days to recover from being tranquilised to have an MRI, the noise was horrendous despite headphones playing me classical music.

Also grateful for the comment that Hayley @ Multiple Sclerosis Affects Loved Ones Too!

http://hayleysexperience.blogspot.com/

Left where she says that her dog had a slipped disk which was repaired ten years ago and she is still moving well at the ripe old age of 16.

This gives us hope tlhat Spike’s problems can be solved, which would be really good, hate to see our Spike not being able to be himself.

Would be nice if people were to visit all three blogs as I am sure they all would appreciate your visits and comments.

Especially Hayley whose partner Tanja is in hospital after a nasty MS relapse as a result of having a cyst removed.

It is Tanja’s first big relapse since before early last year, it seems to have hit her very hard and Tanja is experiencing dreadful pain.

I hope the IV steroids she is now on help and she can go home to Hayley as soon as possible.

It is a stinky hot day here am going to finish this post now and find some pictures; and post this and enjoy this glorious summer day.

Hottest Day This Summer.

Rural Art.

A very warm day today on the radio, I heard them say that it is the hottest day of this summer, it certainly feels true today.

After my shower Richie put a short sleeved t-shirt on me, so I could cope better with the heat, which seems to have worked.

We are both trying to relax today; tomorrow we have to get in touch with our regular vet, as well as the orthopaedic vet.

The MRI showed that the spine was ok; it did show that two disks were damaged but did not give any clues as to why Spike is dragging one leg.

The search for answers will proceed this week; hopefully the investigations are not as horrible for our wee doggie as Thursday's MRI was.

Spike took 5 worrying minutes to start breathing independently again after the MRI and a couple of hours until he could walk again.

Recovering from the anaesthetic has taken him days, he only seems more or less recovered today.

We have noticed a few worrying things since Thursday, Spike suddenly does not seem to hear us, even when I offer him a biscuit or a treat.

Until Thursday he always barked with delight when he heard the two words biscuit or treats or tripe for dinner.

He always barked when Richie left and came back or when a dog barked outside or someone walked past our front door or he saw a dog walking by.

When Marleen barks to sound the alarm, Spike always barks back and runs to her to see what is happening, to find out where the action is.

Since Thursday he has done none of those things, he only barked once when Richie provoked him to do so earlier.

Was a relief to hear his voice as it has been quiet without Spike's bark; we are also concerned about him.

Hope that there are answers for our questions and our lovely little Spike can be restored to his former glory.

Staying optimistic and hoping for the best.

Gorgeous Sunny Day Today.

Henri-Edmond Cross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Edmond_Cross


Lovely and sunny right now but already getting cloudy think the sun will come and go as the clouds cover the sun.

It looks like it is going to be a good day today; sadly Nur has gone to catch his flight to the UK to start his new job in High Wycombe.

Hope it goes well there for him, we told him to come back if he needed too, hope things will work out for him over there.

It has been a pleasure having Nur stay with us these last three weeks, didn’t seem like any time at all, he could have stayed much longer.

Nice when someone comes to stay and they become part of it without any problems, having Nur here was like that.

It has been brilliant having him stay, good to spend some time with him and nice to see that not having seen him for five years did not in any way diminish our friendship

Nur is a thoroughly nice man, very sweet and as nutty as they come, we had such a laugh with him

The dogs seem to be slightly miffed with us for letting Nur leave, they will miss him heaps playing and petting them.

Spike especially, he seemed to remember him from 5 years ago which was nice to see, it was good for Nur too, as he is missing his dog that he had to leave in Texas.

Going to enjoy today planning to get outside later on after a shower and exercises on the Motomed and food.

Looking forward to enjoying this gorgeous day today with my darling Richie and our sweet dogs.





PS
Got this e-mail today thoughrt it might be of interest to people:

Dear Herrad,

My name is Cole and I'm working with a startup company called DiaVibe (www.DiaVibe.com). We've been following your blog and we're hoping that you could help us reach people living with MS. At DiaVibe we are developing a medical device to reduce the pain of needle injections, and want to involve potential users in the development process. We would like to work with you to get a better understanding of the pain felt by your readers who self-inject. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Cole Bonner
Founder, Diavibe
www.DiaVibe.com