Atlanta Carnival in Review

well...who woulda thunk it...atlanta carnival turned out to be GREAT!!  i must say, i was hoping for a good time but my expectations were low and the weekend turned out to be a fantastic one.... now of course, the story.  it just wouldn't be normal if i didn't have at least one story to tell - and guess what, we can't directly blame the MS altho it was its fault.

i think i mentioned that we were in a band - i don't remember the last time that i was even remotely interested in Atlanta carnival, far less for playing in a band but this year since K was involved, we decided to go for it.  You all know that the last few times i've been in a band i've been on the truck (see Miami and DC) but since i've discovered the scooter, i decided to get a scooter for the road.  well!  i won't go into a whole lot of detail about the trials of our getting the scooter into the car but suffice it to say that we were a little late actually meeting the band because of it.

so we rolling down the road and all is well - quite frankly i think the scooter was one of the biggest hits of the road- i don't have pics yet but i will post as soon as i get them.  anyhoo, so at some point i don't remember who i was messing with and doing, but i hear G saying, "foot/foot" but u have to understand music was blasting - i had no idea what she was saying.  i figured out after that i was stopped on top her right foot!!  oops...so i rolled off, but she was limping a little for a while after that!! 
Again, rolling along minding my own business, when she jumps in front of me and it destoys her left foot!  in fact she has big cut where it hit her.  so...u know it! more limping again. 

so after i'm not sure how long - the route was long (not sure how long we were out there but it was a long time) and the sun was HOT!  i loved it and got burned; i'm nice and chocolate right now, but remember heat does a number on MS patients.  what happens to me is that my limbs get real, real heavy, so needless to say driving the scooter wasn't as easy as when i started so G took over.  I mean we're used to that right?  HAH!  well yes, but...

well!  at some point, we were bending a corner on a slight hill and the next thing i knew is that we were doing my normal - eating concrete!  DOWN WE WENT (scooter in tow)!!  LOL!!!  i remember sneaking a peek and feeling so happy because she was also down on the ground; it's always just me that i was happy i had company this time :-)  of course the difference was that as soon as she hit the gound, she was up but my ass stayed there - the MS+HOT pitch= Stacey not moving an inch!  no biggie tho because alot of people saw and came to our/my rescue including an EMT who was parked in his ambulance right behind us!  in fact after checking to make sure that we were alright he said, "well u picked the perfect place to fall - right in front of us".  G has 2 bruises on her thigh from the fall (i have nothing; I'm used to it) and needless to say, she could barely walk by the time we got home.

GREAT/HAPPY/GOOD times...all in all the weekend went really well and as much as we partied and as much as i did, i had no problems whatsoever - now, on to the next one!

Today's Ole Talk

so a weird thing has started happening (not MS specific but definitely related to the MS - i think).

all of a sudden, i've become somewhat popular - all kinda people talk to me and say hi.  some of my friends have taken to calling me the Godmother of the Stax Mafia - steups.  I keep telling G that i'm the only chick with the cane wherever we go so i might stand out.  if i go somewhere on a regular basis (like where i get my eyebrows done), the people there are going to remember me eventually - they may not know my name, but...

I went to do my toes the other day and honestly, i don't go to this place very very often, but the greeting i got from one of the chicks there took me by surprise.  I mean it's really nice to be remembered but i certainly didn't expect what i got.  in fact, at one point, i said to myself, "wait a min...is she waving at me?"

People who i used to say hi to or nod my head at (or who i din;t even talk to) in our Trini community at are coming up to me and kissing me and talking - it's cool, but a lil odd still.  it's really nice how accommodating people can be [not referring to the inner circle here (they do a whole lot for me] - but just people in general wherever i go - sometimes i'm still surprised.

Anyhoo, so last week Monday or Tuesday i bit the bullet and spoke to my manager about installing Voice Activated Software on my laptop.  i couldn't ignore the fact that sometimes by the end of a day, i can barely type anymore.  I don't always have days of all typing, but typing is a big part of my job - i spend the entire day in Outlook (that's for sure) and those days when i work late, my left hand is almost useless.  today, she sent me paperwork to be completed by my doctor to get that ball rolling.  i'm thinking that it'll be interesting to say the least because a lot of times it's not till i start typing that i actually know what i'm going to say...i'm sure that using it will take some getting used to.

Alright, that's it for today - back to your regular scheduled programme.

The Weekend Gone and the One Coming

woohoo!  Stacey behaved and did what she was supposed to do. on Saturday.  

Cooler fete was Saturday and the only thing i did for the entire day was go to the barber at 9:00 the morning, so when i got to it, i had all my spoons left :-)  and more left over at the "end" when the cops showed up.  i'm to the point that i may give up cooler fete because it's just not worth my time anymore.  I am seriously convinved that there is a cop in the Dekalb County Police Department whose sole purpose in life is to find the cooler fete flyer every year so that they can come and fcuk it up for all of us.  This year the party was in the middle of NOWHERE and they STILL showed up and shut it down - steups!

this weekend is atlanta carnival and for the first time in a long long time, we will be on the road with a band.  truth be told, i think that as far as carnivals go, atlanta's is crap, but this year i'm willing to give it a chance (we'll see if i'm plesantly surprised).  K is involved with a band so my spot on the truck is booked, but i decided to rent a scooter again so i can be on the road - having MS is an expensive gig! 

is pace right thru from Friday to Sunday.  serious spoon juggling/management to do, so we'll see how things go...

 

Cooler Fete Cometh

saturday is cooler fete.  Of course i have to do my toes, cut my hair, do my eyebrows and i swear there's something else.  I'm not going to act like i did last year tho.  I will keep in mind that i have bout 3 (okay maybe 5) spoons to work with and will split up all my "shit to do" so that i have most of my spoons left by the end of the nite in the party - i've said it before, i'll say it again - it's the 1 fete in Atlanta gearing up for Atlanta carnival later this month that i actually look forward to every year.

Can't/refuse to miss it; i already missed out on another good fete 2 weeks ago because i messed up during the day of.

Things I Hate to Do

since living with this wretched disease, i have developed a dislike of doing some normal, regular, run of the mill things. 

i absolutely DREAD when i have to get on an elevator when there are 3 or 4 in a row. 

• picture it:  i approach the elevator bank and press the button.  problem is, the buttons are close to the end of the row of elevators and when i press the call button, the elevator at the opposite end is the one that gets there - UGH!!  i NEVER make it to the elevator before the doors close for it to start moving.  of course, i'll have to wait for that one to leave before pressing the button again in the hopes that one closer to me will open.  in fact, 2 days ago, it was the one right in front of me (i can't remember what was going on) and i had to re-press the button to get the doors to stay open. when we were in Vegas, it was happening even when i was on the scooter, but luckily someone else soon came who was able to hold the doors for me. 

i move so slowly that i hate having to come out of a car if it's raining - not torrrential rain, a slight drizzle.

• i lived at home until i was 19 and i NEVER owned an umbrella.  what do they say about old habits?  i still don't own an umbrella so if i have to get out the car and it's raining and i'm by  myself,  i'm screwed.  i take so long to get out (and walk of course) that by the time i get where i'm going, i'm soaked!  You'd think that i'd buy an umbrella eh?  haven't yet!

i prefer not (i wouldn't say hate) to get in a car on the non drivers side

• my left leg is weaker, so 6/10 times, i need help to get into the car unless i get in behind the driver. 

i hate getting to a door and realizing that it is a "Pull to Open" and there's no handicap thing to open it automatically

• opening doors while being a lil unsteady and walking with a cane is jes not an easy thing (for me) to accopmplish

anyway, i'm off my soapbox for today...back to ur regualarly scheduled program...

My Dream Day

how will my "dream day" be spent...hmmmm...

I will have to thank God for that day - that's for sure!  Can you imagine?  :-)  i think i'll stay up for 24 hrs that day.

after that...well, i will run EVERYWHERE - LOL.  U know how lil children have all dat energy and we just don't understand where they get it from?  well that'll be me on that day.  LOL - there'll be no stopping me.  Of course it goes without saying that my canes will definitely have a day off to rest and rejuvinate.

i think i'll hold my pee until the end of the day - okay,so maybe that's not the best idea, but i definitely won't be going to pee jes because there's an usable, available restroom.

hopefully it's a saturday and there'll be some fete for me to go to.  If not, i will find somewhere and go and "wine an touch meh toe"...oh, if it's a weekday, i'll be calling in that day - fo sho!

It'll be a day FREE of pills and the life alert bracelet (even tho every now and again i have those days anyway).

I think i might run up and down the steps a few times just for the hell of it...what else, what else...I'll be in my glee that's for sure - lol...oh well. 

a gal can dream...