The weather was rainy today and it is getting colder. Snow is expected in Northern MN tonight and tomorrow. The question remains when will winter end and spring start in MN this year?

9 days till camp. Do I even have to hunt down shorts and cool tops? Or will I be lucky if it is sweatshirt weather? I don't know what to expect. I do know that it will be fun no matter what. I look forward to going and to being with MS friends. One friend called me today. Tonya will be one of my roomates. Judy will be the other. Both get along well with Emma. Tonya and I tend to talk at night about the day and we hope Judy won't mind our whispers in the darkness. I have been roomates with both of them but this is the first time with three in the room. I think it will be great fun.

Camp is fun because of the activities and the people. There I feel "normal" if that makes sense. Other campers deal with fatigue, weak limbs, and the other symptoms I deal with daily. Many of us use scooters there (I will too) to get from here to there and to save energy.

But it is NOT a pity party. Brave people show up at camp. Many have disabililities that are much more severe than I do. We all tend to share positive attitude. I tend to come away inspired by those I have met.No matter how MS has changed there body it seems we all cope. Camp is full of people with smiles, and the air echos with laughter. 80 people and countless staff and volunteers, facing an unpredictable illness, dealing with stress of that but not being afraid to enjoy relationships. We have such fun.

If there are people with bad attitudes with MS they must stay home. At camp we pack up our many medications, our depends or catheters, our walkers, canes, scooters, or wheel chairs, and other medical equipment and go to enjoy the experience. Some individuals even need lifts to get out of bed and almost total care. Imagine how much all of enjoy the outdoors, the activities, the socialization, and the positive atmosphere. Some live at home, some in nursing homes but all come to enjoy the week.

The week gives our care givers a week off. NOt Emma she goes with. Greg will be busy with work this year but for a week he doesn't have to give me a ride or be around to help me out. It is a good respite for caregivers. this is normally my only outing to a lake in the summer. I am not signed up for fishing this year though, probably good as it might be cold.

We have been home all day, doing laundry, picking up, and also reading. Book club is Monday and I have a lot to finish reading. We are having Rosa over for a few hours tonight while Sophia goes to violin and out with Mommy and Mikey. That will be fun for Sophia to have some time alone and also fun for us to have Rosa.

The Run and Romp for Helping Paws is tomorrow. Sounds like it will be wet and cold. I have warm clothes ready to wear. Hope you have a good weekend.

Emma and Mary

Today was very rainy and of course wet. We went out to go to water exercise. Otherwise we were home the rest of the day. I don't know why but I feeel super tired today. Emma is right beside me taking it easy also. Is it the overcast weather? Perhaps.

Sounds like it is going to be wet and cold for the Run and Romp on Saturday. Thanks to all who helped us raise money for that event. It will take place rain or shine. Up north the correct term might be rain or snow. We are waiting for normal temps to come here and stay here.

Camp is coming and I hope the weather is not wet all week and not too cool. We will make it fun in any case. I will write more tomorrow. Emma and I just had such a quiet day today.

Last night all my children were here for a dinner of grilled hamburgers. It was fun and nice enough to be outside. We will see my granddaughters again Friday afternoon and evening and Saturday the whole family again. You know how much I love seeing family. Emma too.

Have a nice day Friday - Mary and Emma

11 days till MS Camp

Yeah another sunny and gorgous day. I hope camp is a great weather week. we are suppose to have cooler weather and wetter conditions the rest of this week. Let's get that over with and go back to great weather.

There are more photos on the puppy blog http://tigaslitter.blogspot.com/
The puppies are just a bit over two weeks old. I like that Judy takes photos. I have pictures of when Emma was little and cherish those.

We enjoyed being outdoors but Emma went in for naptime. She wanted to head in and I followed her to the bedroom. She is eating fine but did vomit last night. She got some tinfoil with some meat drippings I think. Fun to wake up in the night and step into UGH what is that. She is fine though. After we both napped she eagerly went with me outside. She has a bit of a sore on her ear. She likes to rub her ear on the ground and must have scraped it. It seems to be healing nicely. I try to keep a close eye on her. Okay obviously Greg and I did not see her get the foil in the kitchen.

It will be a good night to grill. Sophia is coming over, Anna is here, Dan is stopping by after work. I think Mike, Tia and Rosa are also coming over. We will keep it simple but enjoy the weather. IT is clouding up but I think will stay dry today (hope so anyway).

Anna came to visit and also is the chief popper scooper. Yeah for that help. I was going to hire one of those companies to help with the spring clean up and she offered to help. She likes Emma so having her here also means Emma gets more time playing. She is my oldest and so very dear to me.

My kitchen needs some tending to so I will go get ready. I can't wait for camp. I hope we get nice weather. Emma is doing fine.

Emma and Mary

Today Emma and I went to water exercise. We enjoyed the nice weather and sunshine. Outdoor play in the backyard was fun. We took a nap. We went shopping for new shoes for me and then had dinner out with Greg (fun and relaxing). The day seemed to fly by quickly.

I don't have a lot to say tonight as I am tired out. I promise to write more tomorrow. We had a good day. Mary and Emma

12 days till MS Camp

Today Emma and I went to the MS Society. We took Metro Mobility both ways with no problem. On the way down though Emma chose not to look out the window in her normal manner. Instead she had her head on my chest and I cuddled with her. Sometimes she chooses this position when I ride in the car in the back seat with her also. She is so sweet.

At the MS Society we helped with a project related to MS Camp preparations. I was pleased that Emma went to bed right under the desk while I worked. I really enjoyed helping out for a few hours. We also went to lunch nearby. Then back to finish what we could on the project. We were there only about three hours as I had to go by Metro Mobility's availability. That's okay as that was enough to tire me out.

We walked about a block to lunch. Wow that was great for me to handle that distance with a cane. I have to admit when we are in the city Emma really wants to sniff her way down the street. She got really distracted till I realized she needed to go potty which was part of the issue. I do think she enjoys the smells of the city, we went by a grassy area where I bet other dogs had been...so unfortunately she was not at her best walking with me part of the time. I guess we need more practice in that scenario. Well you can't be perfect all the time.

At home we were outside a long time. It got up to 78 i believe where I live. Emma found a shady spot and we enjoyed outdoors. Tonight we have had rain, thunder, and lightening. The gentle rain tonight sounds so soothing. Our gardens and grass need this mositure.

The person I went to see at the MS office was Jeannie Zank whose duties include camp director. Now I am really excited for camp. I help assemble materials for the cabin leaders. There is a lot of detail that goes into organizing a camp for 160 campers, numerous volunteers and the variety of health needs. I am so excited to see the names of the people in my cabin. It should be awesome. I think the count is 13 days till camp.
Emma and I will have a good time for sure.

I think there will be 1 or 2 other service dogs there at camp. I hope we get some nice days like today.

It was good to get out of the house though I had to take a nap of course when I got home.
I talked with other staff I know down there and they were so welcoming and kind. The MN MS Society is just wonderful.

Tomorrow is our water exercise day. I need to get going reading more of the book club book also. Emma had a good day. We had fun outdoors. The rain though confused her. Here is what happened.

Awhile after dinner she came to me and I could tell she had to go to the bathroom and quickly. So I took her outside. I stood inside the patio door as it was raining. She goes outside to go to the bathroom and it thunders and lightening very loud. She raced back in without going.

We went back into the living room and she was frantic. She just had to go to the bathroom rain or not. Luckily the thunder stopped. So this time I had to walk with her and encourage her to go out in the rain with me so she could quickly go to the bathroom. We both got wet but I had a more comfortable dog. She was so demonstrative with her eyes and body language when she had to go but didn't know what to do due to the rain.

Now it is calm so her last trip out for the night should be fine. Then we will cuddle together.

Hope you are doing okay - Emma and Mary