Not Listening

Most of the topics for the writers workshop this week are good.  Here is a list of the topics she has for this week:

1.) In the book I’m reading, Girls of Tender Age,the main character is deeply affected by the murder of a childhood friend. Describe a tragedy you didn’t expect to be as deeply affect by as you are.

2.) Tell us about a day you were sure you wouldn’t get through.

3.) A time when you should have listened to your mother.

4.) Your pets least likable character trait.
 5.) 10 Reasons why you love your job. 


I had a really hard time choosing what one to write about but I finally decided I would write on #3.  There are a lot of times I should have listened to her.  I have the type of personality that if you tell me not to do something I am going to go right ahead and do it just to prove that I can.  For instance when I placed my daughter for adoption my grandma actually found the family and asked my worker to put the file in my stack of families but not to say anything to me.  I went through all the files and happened to bring them home and another family.  I didn’t find out this until after I had her and placed her with them.  My grandma knew that if she told me I wouldn’t pick them out of spite even if it was where she was supposed to be.


Also this happened when I got married.  I knew I should do it but I still went right ahead and did it because I knew they didn’t want me to do it.  I am not sure why I am like this but I always have been even as a child.  They have learned this about me and so they just keep their opinions to themselves anymore.  I guess most of it has to do with the fact that I am so damn stubborn I refuse to do it anyone elses(sp) way but mine.  If I had just listened to her I would have saved myself a whole lot of trouble and money!

Randon Dozen


1. Have you, or has someone close to you, ever won an award for anything? (I just came from my dad’s ceremony wherein he was given a medal of honor by the French government for service in France in WWII. Pictures to follow.)
I got a lot of awards when I was in high school but other than that I don’t think anyone I know has won anything.
2. Who is the nearest relative to you who has served in the US Military?
My grandpa, uncle, dad, and brother all have served or are still serving in the case of my little brother.  I would have joined as well if I hadn’t been diagnosed with MS at such a young age.
3. Share something that stirs the patriotic spirit in you.
Seeing people in uniform and attending a military event.
4. Where are you in the birth order in your family? Do you think your “placement” made a difference in your personality?
I am the oldest-It definitely made me feel like I need to be in charge of everything.
5. Name one trait you hope you carry that was evidenced in your parents or grandparents.
I would say stubbornness but I can tell you that I got a double dose of it-I used to think I was the most stubborn person in my family but my little brother takes the cake on that one.
6. If female, do you prefer wearing a skirt or pants? If male, shirt and tie or polo?
Pants for sure!  I don’t even own a skirt or dress for that matter.
7. Approximately how many times do you wake during the night? What do you do to go back to sleep?
I can’t even count and that is dependant on when and if I actually fall asleep.  I have horrible insomnia so I don’t sleep that much and I can go days and days on just a few hours of sleep.
8. Share a favorite movie quote.
“My tail isn’t bushy til 9!”
9. What is your favorite Fall candle scent?
I am not a huge fan of fall scents.
10. What is one Fall activity you’re looking forward to?
Football baby!!!!!
11. Tell us about a pleasant surprise that happened to you recently.
I haven’t really had anything that surprised me lately.
12. What was it like when you first met your in-laws-to-be?
When they came out for the wedding and they were actually his grandparents because lets just say he comes for a dead beat family and they didn’t come for the wedding.  I should have looked at them and called it all off!!!!!

Heat & MS

This week for my MS post I am going to post about a experience I had this weekend.  It was Governor’s day.  This is basically where the national guard units in Utah get inspected by the Governor.  They turn into into a family thing.  My Grandma and I decided that we were going to go and support my little brother.  He had to be there by 8 so we left the house about 7.  When we got there we had to park far away and hike down to where it was going to be held.  We went and got seats and had to wait until 10 for it to start.  At about 9 there was no more shade so I was sitting in the sun.  I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal though so I didn’t move and go and go stand where there was some shade.  After it was over and we found my brother we had the hike back to the car.  This is where the trouble started.  It was maybe a mile hike up hill in the heat.  By the time we made it to the car I was totally whipped out.  The heat made the MS 10 x worse than what is usually is.  I then spent rest of Saturday and all day Sunday in bed.  I am still warn out.

When people with MS are in the heat it causes what is called “pseudoexacerbation”.  This basically you seem to be getting sick but there isn’t any new damage being done to your nerves.  I seems like you are having a relapse but your body is just reacting to the heat.  When your body temperature returns to normal what you where feeling should go away.  Here are a few symtoms that people may feel when they get to hot. 

  • Decreased cognitive function
  • Numbness in the extremities
  • Fatigue
  • Blurred vision, known as Uhthoff’s sign
  • Tremor
  • Weakness

For some people this can be so sever that people have to move to cooler climates so that they aren’t constantly sick from the heat.  What people may feel varies from person to person though.  If you have any questions please let me know!
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This is the site I got the information for this post from: http://ms.about.com/od/signssymptoms/a/heat_intoleranc.htm

Queens MeMe


1. Name one thing you’d like to change about yourself
I wish I had higher self esteem.
2. If you wave a magic wand and be done with all the small petty nuisances in your life, what you would have “be gone” first?
My idiot husband!!!!
3. Do you collect and save your spare change in a jar?
I collect it in a bag so ya I do!  I save it up and then turn it in once I have a big bag full.
4. Change your world. What is our biggest concern as a global humanity?
Not taking care of the planet.  People waste so much stuff!
5. What would you have changed about your last relationship or the one you’re in now?
I would change the fact that I was even in a relationship with his dumb ass!
6. If you could reverse the course of history in a time machine, what would you do and how do you think the world would be different today?
I would make sure the Holocaust didn’t happen. That is the one thing that I wish I could change.
7. Who would you like to change into a toad?
My husband and once he was a toad I would run his dumb ass over!!!!
8. What is the first thing you change into when you get home from work?
I take a bath and get ready for bed!
9. If you could change places with anyone in the world for one day, who would that be?
Oprah-I would love to know what having that much money feels like.  I would also like to do good with some of her money!
10. Have you ever heard the expression “turn over a new leaf?” What is under your old one?
A lot of mistakes that I am trying to fix-Like marrying a total idiot!

11. Name one thing that can cause you to immediately change your mood.
My cats.  If I am having a bad day they can always make me feel better and put a smile on my face.
12. What have you recently (or ever) had a change of heart about? And why?
Getting married.  I wish I never would have gotten married.  I don’t have the personality to be married that is for sure!
13. When is the last time you changed the oil in your car?
Like 5 months ago and I am going to change it on the 1st of October because that is my next day off of work!

A Friends Prespective

HELLO, MY NAME IS MISTI AND I WAS ASKED BY MARGARET TO WRITE A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT HOW I SEE HER MS AFFECT HER DAY TO DAY LIFE.  I HAVE KNOWN MARGARET FOR SOME TIME NOW AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU WHEN I FIRST MET HER I HAD NO IDEA THAT SHE EVEN HAD MS UNTIL SHE OPENED UP TO ME AND TOLD ME ALL ABOUT IT. I HARDLY KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT MS AND WHAT AFFECTS IT HAD ON PEOPLE. IN THE PAST I KNEW A COUPLE OF PEOPLE THAT HAD BEEN AFFECTED BY MS BUT I NEVER KNEW THEM PERSONALLY SO I WAS NOT FULLY EDUCATED ON THE MATTER. MARGARET WOULD TELL ME HOW TIRED SHE WAS AND HOW SHE WAS HAVING A HARD TIME DOING SIMPLE THINGS. AT FIRST I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHERE SHE WAS COMING FROM AND HOW IT REALLY MADE HER SO TIRED. BUT WITHIN A COUPLE OF MONTHS OF REALLY GETTING TO KNOW HER AND SPENDING ALOT OF TIME WITH HER I COULD DEF SEE WHERE SHE WAS COMING FROM AND HAD A WHOLE NEW OUTLOOK ON IT ALL AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING. I TRULY FELT BAD AFTER BECAUSE OF THE WAY I FIRST WAS THINKING. IN MY MIND I COULD NOT SEE HOW SHE WAS SO TIRED AND HOW SHE NEVER WOULD DO ANYTHING AFTER WORK OR HARDLY EVEN GO OUT ON THE WEEKENDS. BUT AS TIME WENT ON AND I GOT CLOSER TO HER AND WHEN HER AND I WOULD GO OUT I WOULD SEE HOW MUCH IT TOOK FROM HER AND HOW MUCH IT DRAINED HER. THE SIMPLEST THINGS AND THAT REALLY SADDENED ME TO NO END. SOMETIMES HER AND  I WOULD GO OUT ON A FRI NIGHT AFTER WORK AND THAT WAS THE HARDEST FOR HER BECAUSE OF BEING AT WORK ALL WEEK LONG. SO THE REST OF THE WEEKEND SHE WOULD BE DOWN AND TIRED TRYING TO CATCH UP SO SHE COULD MAKE IT THORUGH THE NEW WORK WEEK. I NO LONGER GOT UPSET IF SHE DID NOT WANT TO DO ANYTHING INSTEAD I STARTED TO FEEL SO VERY BAD FOR HER AND WISHED THAT SHE FELT WELL ENOUGH TO GO OUT. ITS NOT THAT SHE DOES NOT WANT TO DO THINGS SHE HAS NO STRENGTH NOR ENERGY TO DO SO. SHE IS SO YOUNG AND ALL SHE CAN DO IS DO WHAT SHE CAN TO GET TO WORK AND THEN THE WEEKENDS LAY LOW SO SHE CAN DO IT ALL AGAIN THE NEXT WORK WEEK. I HAVE TO GIVE HER TONS OF CREDIT SHE SURE DOES TRY AND SHE SURE DOES TRY AND PLEASE EVERYONE EVEN IF THAT MAKES HER SICK. HER AND I HAVE A UNDERSTANDING NOW AND I TRY TO HELP HER OUT AS MUCH AS I CAN. IT MAKES ME VERY SAD TO SEE HER GO THROUGH SO MUCH AND HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS. I HAVE EVEN WENT TO SOME OF HER INFUISIONS WITH HER AND AFTER THEM SHE IS REALLY SICK. IT BREAKS MY HEART AND I LOVE HER WITH ALL OF MY HEART. SHE IS A WONDERFUL WOMAN THAT IS SWEET AND TRYS TO HAVE THE STRENGTH AND ENERGY, BUT CANNOT BECAUSE OF HER MS. I WISH THAT MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE MORE OPEN MINDED AND GET TO KNOW HER FIRST BEFORE THEY JUDGE HER. PEOPLE SHOULD NOT ASSUME THINGS BEFORE THEY KNOW THE FACTS!!!!!!!!