Update on the Family

It seems like so much changes from month to month with my kids, especially with Rachael.  The only thing that doesn't change with her is she is still dancing.  She isn't dancing as many hours as she was now that she is a full time college student.  She is in a new chapter of her dance career though.  She isn't in VIR this year since that is a high school thing.  At Tapestry, they started a new things this year that is almost VIR, except it is for adults.  It's called Tapestry, Too.  She started that this year.  She was almost guaranteed a spot for that considering Brenna is the director for Tapestry, Too and Brenna has been Rachael's tap teacher for years.  In addition to Tapestry, Too, she is taking some technique classes at Tapestry and a choreography class through ACC as part of her degree plan.  She is also taking 2 other classes at ACC (for those reading this who are not in Austin, ACC stands for Austin Community College), Literature and College Mathematics.  After she finishes these classes, she will only have 1 science class and 1 speech class and all her "basics" will be complete.  She will only have her Major classes left.  She has her acceptance letter to Texas state.  Now, she just has to find out what she needs to do to get into the Dance program, which should be no problem.  We don't see her around the house much these days between school, dance, working, church and her social life.  She's a busy girl.

Andrew is not very busy at all.  The only extra-curricular activity he has right now is Boy Scouts.  The cooking school he was going to shut down in the fall.  They decided to retire and couldn't find anyone to buy it, so they just shut down.  I was disappointed.  I haven't been able to find anything comparable for Andrew to take that works with our schedule and is in south Austin.  He still is interested in cooking.  He doesn't cook much at home though.  I have discovered that Young Chef taught him how to do portions of a recipe, but never really taught him how to follow a recipe from beginning to end and make an entire meal.  He helps me cook a lot, but I have to help him a lot too.  He is now learning how to make more things and he will soon be able to make things on his own.  He still likes to bake a lot.  Given his choice to do anything, he would play video games all day and that is what I want to change more than anything.

Jeremy is still my little handful.  He is so smart and so full of energy.  He loves to play outside with his friends, he LOVES Legos, riding his scooter, jumping on the trampoline, reading, making up stories, creating movies/plays, and playing video games with his brother.  He has an incredible imagination and comes up with great stories.  He really wants to film a movie for cub scouts.  He started Tae Kwon Do in September and he really loves that.  He got his yellow belt right before Christmas.  He is doing great.  We are having a few problems with school work and some behavior.  He is having a lot of trouble dealing with me being in a wheel chair.  I think he is worried sub consciously that I am going to die since his grandma died only a few years after she had to go into a wheel chair.  We took him to a therapist recently and we will see if she can help him work through these problems.  He is such a sweet kid and everyone who meets him loves him.

Stan is still working at Tokyo Electron.  He is doing more woodworking and is geocaching a lot.  He was called to serve as  Bishop of the Austin ward in January, so that is keeping him really, really busy.  He is gone a lot, which is hard on the entire family, but we are blessed by his service.  I'll post another time with all of Stan's wood working things.  He has made some amazing puzzles and toys.  He is going to help my cub scouts make some things in a few weeks.  That should be fun.

Till next time!

Adjusting to a new life

The last 3 weeks have been full of adjustments for me.  I posted all about my flare during my last post.  I really thought things would be much better now.  Usually, my function has more than 50% returned by the time I finish the oral steroids.  This time, nothing.  My right leg has been paralyzed for almost 3 weeks now.  My whole life has changed in the last 3 weeks.  I can't do things the same way I used to.  I have to be careful about where I park or I can't get back into my van because there isn't enough room for the wheel chair ramp.  I can't go to the grocery store by myself.  I can't go to the fabric store by myself.  That is the hard one for me.  I love going to the fabric store and picking out the fabric for my next project and getting all the notions.  Joann's, the fabric store I visit most, is hard for me to get around at all.  It's a small, cramped store and my wheel chair doesn't even fit down all the isles.  I have to take one of my kids with me.  Rachael likes to go, but Andrew just complains and Jeremy isn't big  enough to be much help.  I can't  go over to friends house very easily because I can't always get into their house.  I can't just run into 7-11 for a drink.  I've been  really trying to just take things one  day at a time.  I've been trying to do as much as I can to keep some of my  independence.  I know when my mother in law had to go into a wheel chair, she had a hard time too.  She and I are both very independent people.

Tonight, I just about had a total break down.  I usually use the walker to get from the car to the house and just drag my leg.  This evening, I had a few bags of groceries plus my dinner and  no one else was home, so I thought I would take the wheel chair in so I could get everything in.  Big mistake.  I picked up a new wheel chair tonight, and it doesn't "off road" as well  as the one I've been borrowing.  Trying to get up on the side walk, I  got stuck.  The front wheel was against the side walk side ways and the power wheel was off the ground.  I tried to stand up and pull  it up, but it didn't work.  I called every person I could think of that lived anywhere close to me.  I don't know a lot of my neighbors very well.  We mostly just say 'HI" in passing.  I don't have any of their phone numbers except  my next door neighbor on the right and she was pulling out as I pulled in.  No one I called was home.  I had to walk and drag my leg over to the neighbors on the left.  No one answered at first.  I got all the way back home and they came out-they had been taking a nap.  He was able to get  the wheel chair unstuck and back into the van.  One of my closest friends, and the person I called first, called me back as I was coming into the house.  I broke down and cried hysterically.  I still start to cry every time I think of it.  Just that small ordeal totally exhausted me.  My leg is in spasms from the extra activity.  I just hate this.  I have known since I was first diagnosed with MS that I had a higher chance of ending up in a wheel chair.  I just didn't think it would happen so soon.  I thought I would have 10 or 12 years before a wheel chair was necessary and I thought it would be a little more gradual.  I'm still holding onto a little  bit of hope that I will get some function back.  It may just be denial though.

I have a few new jobs lined up.  I"m excited about them.  I've been asked by an old high school friend to make a few ruck sack style back packs.  I made a prototype for myself to make  sure I had the pattern correct (I made the pattern myself from a photo).  Now, I am working on hers.  It's a nice, big back pack and carries a ton of stuff.  There are also lots of pockets.  Jeremy's occupational therapist wants one too now.  I am also going to be making a quilt for one of the other VIR moms.  I may let the things in my  Etsy store expire and just make things custom for friends and family who request things.

Jeremy has decided he wants to learn to sew.  He wants to make a book bag for his cousin.  We did some embroidery together on it and now we have started sewing it together.  I'm going to be doing  some sewing with my cub scouts next year when they are Webelos.  This will be good practice for me to teach boys how to sew.  I hope the other boys are as excited as he is.

Etsy

I have an Etsy store now.  I'm super excited about this.  I started making bags about 6 months ago and I've been hooked on it ever since.  I've made probably 30 bags since I've started.  I've given away lots as gifts.  I've had several people tell me I need to start selling them, so that is what I am doing.  Here is what I have in there right now, and  there are several more things I need to put in there soon.

 The top one is a purse with a magnetic snap and a pouch pocket inside.  The second 2 are little girl's dance bags.  These are the kind of bags Rachael would have loved when she was a little girl.  It's big enough to hold tap shoes and ballet shoes plus a few other small things.  The last one is the Schelpp bag.  I've made lots of these type bags.  Here is the link to my store-   http://www.etsy.com/shop/poppymomgifts?ref=pr_shop  .  My store is called Poppy Mom Gifts.  I do take requests, so feel free to contact me about making a bag.  I also make throw size quilts, but won't be selling those on Etsy.  I make those on an individual request, so if you want a quilt, contact me and we can discuss it.  Feel free to pass this along to all your friends.

Now that the business part of my post is done, onto life.  Life has actually been pretty stressful lately.  My health is just giving me lots of trouble.  In December, I had a really bad MS flare that left my right foot completely paralyzed and my right leg fairly weak.    I was just starting to feel like I had gotten my energy back when I was hit with some really bad migraines that started off with pain behind my right eye.  I dismissed them as just migraines, until my vision started getting blurry in my right eye.  After connecting the dots, I made an appointment with the ophthalmologist to have this evaluated.  I was correct in my assumption; I have optic neuritis.  It is a common problem in MS patients.  This is about the 5th time I have had it.  I elected not to treat this one though.  I saw the neuro the next week and we decided that my current MS management isn't working, so we are going to change things up a bit.  I'm going to stop my weekly Avonex injections and start daily Copaxone injections.  I'm actually looking forward to the change.  The Avonex makes me feel like I have the flu for 24 hours each week.  I won't have those side effects with the Copaxone.  I'm just hoping it works and continues to work for longer that the Avonex did.  There is a new oral medication out now, but I want it to be on the market for longer before I start taking it.  I want to see what kind of side effects show up in real life and if there are any problems with it.

This weekend, we had our packs Pinewood Derby and Blue and Gold banquet.  We had some trouble with Jeremy's car, but it still did well.  The wheels were having trouble staying on the day of the race, but he still got 2nd place over all.  His car looked really cool this year.  I have pictures on my camera, but I haven't downloaded them yet.  I"ll get that done soon.  Jeremy also got his Bear awarded this weekend.  Of my 5 Bears, all but one got his Bear.  The one that didn't started the year late because of sports.  We are working on getting his done by May.  I really have such a great group of Cub Scouts.  They have lots of energy, but I love them.  This coming weekend, a bunch of the scouts are going to the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco for a camp out.  Andrew is going to go with them this time.

If you are interested in seeing Rachael dance, and you live in the Austin area, this weekend is your chance.  Rachael has a preview dance show on Saturday at 6:30 at Tapestry.  Admission is free with donations accepted at the door.  There is also a silent auction, in which I have donated several bags, a quilt and Stan has made several wooden puzzles.  I love watching Rachael dance.  I can't believe this is her last year in VIR.  It's not her last year dancing by any means, but no more recitals for us after May.  She is going to be majoring in dance at Texas State, so there will be other shows in her future.  I'm just not ready to have an adult child.  I don't know that you are ever ready.

Everyone have a great weekend!