My Life According to Def Leppard

Def Leppard is my all-time favorite band. Ever. But, somehow our paths never managed to cross, so I have waited over three decades to see a live performance. Still, I continued as a loyal fan, hopeful that one day we would meet. A while back, I posted a fun note on Facebook about My Life According to Def Leppard. I share here:

1. Are you male or female?
"21st Century Sha La La La Girl"

2. Describe yourself:
"Two Steps Behind"

3. How do you feel?
"Excitable"

4. Describe where you currently live:
"Hello America"

5. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
"Back in Your Face"

6. Your favorite form of transportation:
"Rocket"

7. Your best friend:
"Miss You in a Heartbeat"

8. Your favorite color is:
"White Lightning"

9. What's the weather like?
"High 'N' Dry"

10.  Favorite time of day:
"Only After Dark"

11. If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?
"Hysteria"

12. What is life to you?
"Unbelievable"

13. Your current relationship:
"Love and Affection"

14. Looking for:
"Truth?"

15. Wouldn't mind:
"All I Want is Everything"

16. Your fear:
"Billy's Got a Gun"

17. What is the best advice you have to give?
"Stand Up (Kick Love into Motion)

18. If you could change your name, you would change it to:
"Lady Strange"

19. Thought for the day:
"Rock, Rock ('Til You Drop)

20. How I would like to die:
"Turn to Dust"

21. My motto:
"Action! Not Words"

The answers remain the same, but one question still begs: Do you wanna get ROCKED...?!?
"Yeah!"

And I FINALLY did!!!

Thank you, Def Leppard, for performing an AMAZING concert (opened first by Tesla, then REO Speedwagon)!  The repercussions of immobility, nerve twitching, and full-body muscle throbbing today were worth EVERY moment I shared dancing and singing with you at Taco Bell Arena in Boise on Wednesday night!

Consider my Bucket List checked.

One Stitch at a Time

Sister Rose, an elderly lady I visit teach, recently inspired me with an altar cloth she hand-made for the Boise Temple. It was a cloth crocheted of delicate lace and fine workmanship. Her skill impulsively motivated me to challenge myself.

Years ago, while casted from knee to toes after reconstructive foot surgery, I was taught to crochet afghans with yarn to stave boredom of being confined to a velvet-upholstered recliner. I learned a few basic stitches and have since made several blankets from simple patterns, but never have I attempted anything as beautiful as the cloth Sister Rose created. As we sat in her living room, admiring the details of her masterpiece and discussing the Meridian Temple opening next year, I boldly exclaimed, "I want to make one!"

Wait. What did I say...?!? With excited conviction, I brought home a white skein of fine 20 thread--a weight I have never used before--and determined to make a sacred cloth for the House of the Lord.

Seriously. What was I thinking...?!?

I have humbly come to realize my crochet skills went unnoticed for too long and are extremely subpar. But, I also remember my patriarchal blessing mentions my hands being blessed; that they will do what they are told to do. This is especially interesting, considering my dwindling fine motor abilities due to Multiple Sclerosis. The Lord's promises are sure, and with Him all things are possible. He blessed me with a basic knowledge of the crochet realm, and I know through my consistent effort (armed with various sizes of steel needles, some You Tube instruction, and extreme patience), the Lord will bless my hands to sustain their ability.

For a righteous purpose, I practiced a beginning granny square. Now I am tackling my "forward chain-pull apart-forward chain" process of the unfamiliar and intricate lace pattern, taking it one stitch at a time...so, in time, I will be able to exclaim, "I made one!"

Not Always Family-friendly

While reading an interesting article on one man's battle with limitations from Multiple Sclerosis that I wanted to share, the foul language stopped me from posting it. Why use such crude words to get the point across in formal writing? Then, it hit me. I faced the honest truth that MS is not always family-friendly. When viewed from the inner crevices of a victim's mind, the effects of MS are often a corrupt, gruesome, and distorted excuse for being human.

*sigh*

A Color Full Experience

There is a colorful word in the English language that I have become markedly familiar with: experience.  Embracing the white end of positive, grazing the dark end of negative, and richoceting betwixt the colorful myriad which spans the distance extremes, my life has truly been a color full spectrum.

Yet, when it comes to job hunting as an antiquated neurological scribble, the one repetitive requirement where none of mine applies in the current work force: experience.

And the color quickly fades into the background of irony...

An Interesting Connection: Bell's Palsy Tied to Multiple Sclerosis ?

For me, there has been a curious correlation between Bell's Palsy and Multiple Sclerosis. I recall biting into a Carl's Jr. hamburger...the tang of the special sauce...the immediate tingling across my lips...the burning in my tongue...the lingering taste of metal. Later, an excruciating pain shot through my right ear and across my jawline, as if someone stabbed my eardrum with a javelin. The following morning, while brushing my teeth, the side of my mouth completely froze. I could not rinse or spit; my eye refused to close; the right side of my face paralyzed from forehead to shoulder top. Oddly, the stabbing pain simultaneously dimmed as the paralysis spiked. Diagnosis: Bell's Palsy.

An urgent care visit left me with an explanation that severe inflammation was apparently compressing the cranial nerve which controls facial muscle functions. The steroid therapy would hopefully help tame the symptoms, which could last anywhere from weeks to months. Within three weeks, the paralysis ended and I was able to retire my sexy, black pirate eye patch.

That was roughly 14 years ago. Looking back, I realize the tingling down my cheeks and around my lips and the burning in my tongue that I experience now each day appears to be a magnified extension of my initial episode. The symptoms never truly subsided, only progressed.

In the linked study below on Peripheral (Seventh) Nerve Palsy, "Fukazawa and colleagues reported facial palsy as first symptom of MS in 4.7% of 107 patients with MS." Hmmm. So, it is not too radical for me to question if Bell's Palsy was my first (unidentified) symptom of Multiple Sclerosis.

An interestingly mysterious connection...

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/443681

Day 6: On Wings of Reflection

My time spent along the East Coast in New York City is now a pleasant memory. I hopped a plane out of LaGuardia this morning and routed through St. Paul/Minneapolis to land back in Boise, just in time for dinner. My legs are still in tact, but the aches from the zillion miles of walking are beginning to pique and lend way to mobility complications. A series of migraine auras, which inevitably lead to grinding heaches, has randomly ensued.

On wings of reflection, the two things I loved about visiting New York:
1) The collision of fiction with reality; being able to stand in landmarks made famous through books, movies, sit-coms, and other forms of media.
2) My familiarity with the insomnia of a city that never sleeps.

On wings of reflection, a few things I noticed about New Yorkers:
1) No one Bluetooths; they only use dangling ear buds and talk through the mouth piece.
2) Everyone eats fries with miniscule pitchforks, instead of their fingers.
3) Despite the diverse population, everyone I encountered was beyond friendly. That was an unexpected bonus.

On wings of reflection, it is now back to the reality of being a West Coast gal...who has Multiple Sclerosis.

Day 5: Silent Noise

I am grateful for tender mercies of the Sabbath Day. A day of rest can help silence the noise of chronic burning, tingling, throbbing pains, and prepare me to face the week ahead.

The Brooklyn Bridge is such a massive structure and masterful work of intricate art. I caught myself soaking in the landscape and history as I walked through its breezy majesty that I only captured one quick photo, but my mind is flooded with memories.

Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange, Federal Hall where George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States, and Trinity Church were points of interest and quick touring.

The World Trade Center. The Memorial and the 9/11 Museum were powerful reminders that America will not bow to terrorism. Photographs were not allowed to be taken throughout the majority of the exhibit, but the walls were filled with quotes, recordings, artifacts, and video of the 2,977 unsung heroes that existed on that horrific day. One such man was simply Bandana. He put a red bandana over his mouth to prevent smoke inhilation, took some people to safety, then went back in the failing building to find others needing rescue. When his body was later found, survivors confirmed it was the same man who saved them. The silent noise in that museum was completely humbling. It puts my complaints about Multiple Sclerosis into perspective.

The Staten Island Ferry paced at a good clip through the harbor, and offered some beautiful views of the city scape and Lady Liberty.

I searched high and low through Little Italy to find spumoni ice cream, but had to settle for the world's most delicious cannoli at Ferrara. I'll take that.