Another weekend over and out

Here it is Sunday night, the next week looming ahead of me. The last week of October. Where, oh where, does the time go? I was talking with some friends this afternoon. My friend Liz said, "It feels like what used to be full minutes are now only 45 seconds." I feel the same way.

We had a good weekend. The boys had soccer games on Saturday morning. Joseph and Brigham had a Halloween piano recital and party, and had to leave at half-time. But actually their game started late. They were supposed to have pictures taken before the game-- our boys got there 45 minutes before their game for this purpose, but everything was already behind schedule, and at 10:25 their game finally started, without ever getting around to pictures. So the boys played for 5 minutes, and then had to leave for the recital, and they missed the team pictures. Oh well. Last year they missed the Halloween recital for a soccer game, and they really wanted to play in the recital this year.

Mosey is coming along in his soccer. The first couple of games he hasn't been too engaged. He just doesn't care enough about kicking the ball to want to try to break through the throng of little kids following the ball around the field. But last week and this week we asked him how many times he was going to kick the ball, and that seemed to motivate him. So yesterday he would kick the ball, and then come running across the field to the sideline to yell, "Mom, did you see me kick the ball?!" "Yes, Mosey, that was great, now run back over to try to kick it again!" He is cute. There are a couple of little boys on his team that are very good, so I think the score ended up being 7 or 8 to 1, or even worse. Good thing they don't keep score for these little kids, it would be pretty discouraging to the other kids. As it is, I'm not sure Mosey even cares that much if his team wins, he's just excited when he gets to kick the ball.

Yesterday evening we drove to the Stake Center to audition for a Stake talent show in a couple of weeks. Brigham learned (by ear! two hands!) "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet," and I played an accompanying part on the violin and Ben played along on the 3 chords he knows on the guitar. :-) Mosey beat his homemade oatmeal container drum. We tried mightily to get Joseph to play chords on the piano as well, but he was having NONE OF THAT. If they accept us (I have not the slightest idea what our chances are), I'm going to really try to convince him to join us. I think he would really enjoy performing, if he would give it a chance.

Earlier in the afternoon I talked with a woman from California (I think) who has been accepted into the HALT-MS trial in Houston, although has not gotten insurance approval yet. She had a bunch of questions and it was good to talk to her. It was kind of weird going through all of that stuff again in my mind, though. I think it is good that more than a year has passed. This time last year I'm not sure I would have responded in exactly the same way to some of her questions.
I am a little hesitant to really offer advice anyway, because each person's experience will be different from anyone else's. The things I found most intolerable about the stem cell transplant might not be a big problem for someone else.
My sister sent me a link to a really great NY Times article on MD Anderson (where I had my transplant), and in one place the author wrote, "Anti-nausea drugs have all but eliminated the constant vomiting that once accompanied chemotherapy." Well, not for me. The difficult recovery I had would have been much easier if I hadn't been so sick.
I'm very glad I had the transplant, and I would still make the same decision. However, I'm not sure I would ever choose to go through that experience again.
It was interesting to hear the concerns and worries this woman has pre-transplant. I was worried about those same things. But now looking back, those were not the things I should have been worried about. There were other things that ended up being way worse. I didn't tell her that, though, because like many things, there are some aspects of the transplant experience that are best left unknown before-hand.
Physically, she is a lot better off than I am. Her EDSS score is a lot lower than mine. I wonder how that will affect her experience. I knew going into it that I didn't have much of a choice. If my MS continued to progress as it was, I would be in extremely bad shape. But she's had MS for 10 years and has not experienced a rapid progression. I hope that in the dark days of the transplant process she doesn't have deep regrets.
Anyway, I hope she gets insurance approval soon. I feel bad that it has been so difficult for Dr. Hutton and Dr. Popat to get patients for this study.

shots

I finally got my act together and got a regular primary care physician. Like I need another doctor. I guess this is #4 for me.
I got my first set of immunizations yesterday! Four shots in the arm. I imagine it was rather less traumatic than the first time I got these shots when I was a baby. :-)
The doctor was somewhat confused at first. She asked if I were traveling abroad, and I had to explain the whole stem cell transplant/ M.S. thing, and even then she was a little baffled about how to proceed. I guess I'm her first post-stem cell transplant patient. Dr. Hutton gave me an immunization schedule when I saw him in July, and eventually we figured it out.
I ought to have started these a couple of months ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to make another doctor's appointment. I was moaning to Ben a few days ago about how I wish I never had to walk into another doctor's office again for the rest of my life. Can't I just do phone consultations? :-) I can give myself my own shots, can't they just phone them in to the pharmacy and I'll pick them up myself? (I'm kidding) (sort of)
I have to go back to my Austin neurologist next week for prescription refills. I haven't seen him since I think February or March, so it's been a while, but I still don't want to go. I like Dr. Tallman, he's a good doctor and a very nice guy. I'm just really sick of doctors.
I mostly want to coast along right now and try as much as possible not to think about myself in any medical terms at all. But I've got this appointment next week, then in another couple of months I have to go in for another set of immunizations. After that, I think I'm free until next July!! (Barring anything unforeseen, of course, knock on wood).

how to train your son in the gentlemanly arts

Brigham was so sweet today. We went to piano lessons this afternoon and Joseph and Mosey hopped out of the car and scampered inside (Joseph was first for lessons today). I was getting my purse and crutches together when I heard Brigham say from the back seat, "Can I help you get inside, mom?"
Can you believe that? It was so cute. I told him he was the most gentlemanly little boy I know. He got out of the car, closed the sliding door, and walked over to my side of the car. After I got out, he closed the door behind me and then held my arm as I made my way into the house. It's actually not terribly helpful to have him holding onto my arm, but there was no way I was going to tell him that! It was seriously so sweet. (In about 15-20 years there's going to be one lucky girl who gets to marry this boy who's getting quite an education in how to be a gentleman...)
You know, I'd never, ever, not in any way, ever choose to have M.S. But if I didn't have M.S. I never would have had this sweet little experience with my boy this afternoon.
And that's something.

Ouch

The boys had conflicting soccer games again today, so Ben took Mosey to his game and I took the big boys to theirs. At their last game, Joseph and Brigham's team won 5:1. Today it was pretty much the inverse of that score... So sad! The other team was really good and they had 3 very tall, very good players who made some spectacular goals, so it was no shame to lose to them. But it is never fun to lose a game, and I think this is only the 2nd (or 3rd?) loss they've ever experienced. Joseph seemed to let it roll off his back pretty fast, but Brigham (my ultra-competitive boy) was very upset. Oh, the tears!!
Brigham is extremely sensitive about anything possibly being his fault. I don't necessarily blame him (no pun intended) because he is pretty conscientious and tries hard not to do anything wrong. But he can get a little obsessive over it sometimes. I think nearly all the times we've had to get after Brigham are when he is blaming someone else for something that was probably his fault. And whenever I give a general instruction like, "Please keep the legos off the kitchen floor," he'll immediately say, "It wasn't ME, mom!" Yes, Brigham, I know it wasn't you, I wasn't blaming anyone, just giving general advice...
Anyway, the goal keeper on the boys' team was understandably not having a very good time, and apparently he blamed Brigham for somehow being responsible for 3 of the goals. Which was of course ridiculous because Brigham was not playing defense and I'm sure had nothing to do with it. And it could be that the other boy didn't even really blame Brigham, but that's how Brigham took it. So there were many, many tears about that.
As sad as it was, however, I'm glad for them to get these smaller experiences of disappointment. Joseph started telling me how the other team "cheated a lot" and one of the boys was grabbing his hands, but I tried to shut that down and tell them that losing is no fun, and it's ok to feel sad, but it is no shame to lose to a better team.
Joseph was over it quickly, and after a cherry icee from Burger King, Brigham was feeling better, too. I hope all their disappointments in life will be equally easily resolved.

And I hope they win next week.

Wolf Mosey?

Mosey's been in fine form tonight. He decided to talk exclusively in a (very loud) growl all evening. He was pretending to be a wolf. He declared that Joseph was a rat, and when Joseph protested, he growled/yelled, "YES YOU ARE, YOU ARE THE BIGGEST RAT I'VE EVER SEEN!!!" It was very funny.
Later, Joseph was teasing me that after they go to bed, I stay up till 2:00 in the morning playing computer games and eating ice cream (I only wish!). When I said I've never done that in my life (well, at least, not since I was a teenager), Mosey growled/yelled, "YES YOU DO, I WAS SPYING ON YOU LAST NIGHT. I WAS UP TILL MIDNIGHT BECAUSE ACTUALLY I'M NOCTURNAL!!!" I think he may just be right.
His sleeping has never been good. I've been moaning about his lack of sleeping since he was a baby. He really doesn't seem to need as much sleep as his brothers, I guess. He really struggles falling asleep. Of course it doesn't help that he sneaks out of his room, annoys his brothers, rolls around and around when he *is* in bed, and otherwise doesn't appear to make any attempt at actually sleeping. I don't know.
I've resorted to giving him Benadryl at bed time. Is that bad? Tonight will be the second night. It seemed to help last night. I just can't have him messing around upstairs until 10:30 PM!!!
He's reading this post over my shoulder, and his response just now was (in his growl/yell), "BLAHHHH!!!!" That's what he thinks about that!

(I love this picture of Mosey. It was obviously a snapshot taken with no thought as to location or background, but I so rarely get a natural smile out of him, so I don't care.)

The pits

Joseph took Mister on a walk yesterday morning. When he returned, he came in the front door and called out, "Mom, a strange dog followed me home!" I yelled for Ben to go check out the situation. The poor dog was starving (so skinny, his ribs were sticking out), dirty, and looked as if he had either been in a fight, or hit by a car (deep cuts on his chest/front legs). He had a collar, but no tags. We took him in the backyard and fed him (he's had 3 HUGE bowls of food since yesterday morning-- about what Mister eats in a whole week). We called animal control to report a found dog, and I took a couple of pictures and posted them on Craigslist (did you know there is a lost and found section on that site?). Later in the afternoon, I did some research and we discovered he is most likely a pit bull. :-(
Not only are we NOT looking for another dog, we are most definitely NOT looking for a pit bull. Ben and I both don't understand why people continue to breed that particular dog. They are responsible for like 70% of all dog-related fatalities. It's not necessarily that they are more aggressive than other dogs, but their jaws are very powerful and their instinct is to bite and never let go. They were originally bred to fight bulls!!! If you pester another dog enough, they might growl and snap at you, but if you pester a pit bull and he snaps at you, you could be severely maimed. It's not their fault, it's just how they were bred. A pit bull can have a very nice temperament (and apparently they usually are loyal and affectionate), but one bad moment (as all dogs have), and you could have big trouble.
I emailed 8 different rescue organizations in this area, but all of them replied and said there is no space. So Ben called animal control and someone will come pick him up sometime tomorrow.
It is very sad. He is actually a very, very friendly dog. If he weren't a pit bull, he would probably be quite adoptable. Poor thing had the bad luck to be born a pit bull. He will undoubtedly be euthanized after 72 hours in the shelter. Who wants to adopt an abandoned pit bull?
At least we're giving him a couple of days of plenty of food, a warm place to sleep, and some affection and attention.
So sad, though.

Update: Two women officers came and got him. It was so sad, he was really, really excited to see them. He ran up to them with his tail wagging like crazy. They slipped a leash over his head and he jumped up on one of them, licking her, his tail going like a helicopter rotor. They told me they'd scan him for a chip. I hope he has one. The boys were pretty sad to see him go. Poor thing.

Hair

I got a haircut today. I can never quite do it the way the hair stylist does, so I thought I'd better take a picture while it looks good. Plus I really needed an updated profile picture (the one up before was a few years old). Ben snapped this out in front of our house this evening. I really don't like being in front of the camera!
The boys got haircuts a few days ago, too, but they wanted to take some crazy hair pictures before it all got cut off. I don't know why they are all smiling with their mouths closed!
Joseph likes the bouffant look.


Spiked! Brigham kept re-wetting his hair and then standing on the table to look in the living room mirror to comb his hair straight up again.


Mosey's hair isn't that crazy. Let's hope this is as crazy as he ever cares to get with his hair!

Conference memories

Some memorable moments from this last weekend's conference:
--Listening to my boys belt out "How Firm a Foundation" (my favorite hymn) during the Sunday morning session. The Primary has been learning this hymn the past few months getting ready for the primary program.
--Playing conference BINGO with peanut MnMs and seeing my boys actually pay attention to the talks!
--Halloween decorating party during Priesthood session (only 4 more years till the big boys go).
--Elder Holland's Sunday afternoon talk. I don't think I need to add anything more than that, do I?

Halloween season upon us again!

I wrote a few weeks ago about Brigham designing a type of perpetual motion machine. Well, this week I was reading a book (Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku, one of the founders of string theory), and came across a description of one of the first perpetual motion machines designed in Bavaria in the 8th century. Guess what? It's the exact same model that Brigham designed and drew and showed me a few weeks ago. Ha! Isn't that amazing? I couldn't explain to Brigham why it wouldn't work, but now I know. Friction in the inner bearings of the wheel gradually bring it to a stop. Maybe Brigham will follow in the illustrious footsteps of his grandfather and two uncles in his physics interests.
We're doing biology this semester, and human biology to be specific for the next few weeks. It's been very fun teaching the boys. They drew a poster of "undie-Mosey" (because I traced the outline of his head and torso while he was in his undies), highlighting the digestive tract. They each labeled certain parts and wrote a description of what its function is. Mosey labeled the very end of the digestive tract, and underneath "rectum," wrote "stores poop." Funny, huh? They are very matter-of-fact about bodily functions, which makes teaching this stuff to them way easier than it would be (I imagine) in a typical public school classroom.
Joseph and Brigham had their 2nd soccer game this morning. They've had 2 games rained out now. Our stake had a special fast for rain this past September, and 4 days after the fast, central Texas had its first widespread rainfall since August 2007. And since then it has rained, and rained, and rained. My brother Benjamin and Ben's two brothers came to visit us right before then, when Austin was brown and parched. It's so green and beautiful now!
Anyway, their game today did not get rained out (although it rained all afternoon), and they won 5-1. They won their first game 3-1. Their coach used to be a semi-pro soccer player, and is really good. Brigham scored the last goal of the game and both boys were pretty elated when they got home. I didn't go see it because Mosey woke up this morning and promptly threw up all over the kitchen floor. Mosey gets these stomach bugs periodically where he will throw up 3 or 4 times, and be sick for a few hours, and then get completely over it. So he missed his game and I stayed home with him. Mosey's not totally enamored with soccer yet. He doesn't have the competitive spirit in him, although I expect that will come.
Conference was nice today. I edited all of my brother Christian's senior pictures during the talks. Now I only have 2 months of my own photos to edit. :-) (this may not seem like much to you, but you have no idea how many pictures I take).
Wearing the proud maroon and gold of my Alma Mater, La Canada High School (we were the Spartans which I always thought was funny because LCHS was quite an academically-oriented high school, and if the Spartans were known for anything, it was for their intellectual prowess, right?!) :


My sister made him this shirt a couple of years ago, because Christian really is a Renaissance man. He taught himself Greek as an elementary student, went to the junior Olympics in jumproping, sang in the Los Angeles Children's Choir (he has an incredibly amazing voice), and is at BYU on full scholarship (don't you DARE lose that scholarship, Christian!). AND, he's dang good-looking, to boot. I'm just a little bit proud of him. :-)


Mosey has been sooooooo excited for Halloween. He's been begging to put up Halloween decorations, but I told him not until October. So Ben brought in the halloween boxes from the garage and while he was at Priesthood meeting tonight, the boys and I put on the soundtrack to Nightmare Before Christmas and decorated the house for Halloween. I've got 4 ghosts and a jack-o-lantern staring down at me from on top of my desk. It was fun to listen to the boys reminiscing about the decorations we have made and acquired over the years. This is why I bother with decorations, these things are what make up childhood memories.
I'm trying to stick to my guns about the homemade costumes this year. It's hard because Brigham really wants to be Darth Vader, and I'm not going to put together a homemade Darth Vader costume. Mosey wants to be Luke Skywalker, which is fine. I am trying to convince them all to choose a character from the Redwall books (we're on book 5 now, these are such perfect books for my boys' ages and interests). It would be so fun and cute! I think I've got Joseph convinced, but not the other two. Oh well. I am NOT doing Party City costumes this year, though.
Let's see, what else?
The boys have been spending a lot of time building with blocks. They go through cycles with their toys. The blocks had been put away for a while, but now they're out again.
These pictures are unedited point-and-shoot snapshots, don't judge. :-)
Here's a joint-venture creation: (yes, this is the playroom, and yes it really was this messy)


The finished product, shortly before they destroyed it (Joseph isn't wearing makeup, he was eating a strawberry popsicle and decided to paint his face with it):


And another one later that night by Brigham. It's quite a lot taller than himself:


That's it, folks!