Mary is so dizzy. she fell a few times but didn't get hurt. I am at her side. She isn't going anywhere till it gets better. She can't even sit without getting worse.
She also has a bad headache. We called the doctor.
Nurse Emma

One symptom with MS is being dizzy. I mean really dizzy. Today i woke up to the world spinning. i grabbed on to my husband feeling like I would fall off the bed. Off and on I have had trouble all day. Mostly if I bend down or something like that. Obviously I am not driving today.

Emma has been super. We went to book club and out to lunch. I feel fortunate to go out to lunch and this time it was a nicer restaurant (not fast food). I had left over fruit to bring home. I am so dizzy in another sense that I put it in the microwave to warm before eating it at home. What was I thinking?? Ha ha. How silly of me. Imagine my surprise when I realized what I had done without thinking.

I remember when I was little my dad had a humerous book from his growing up years. It was about a man who got mixed up. i remember one time he scratched his pancakes and poured syrup on his head. This book would make us laugh and laugh. Well now I can be that mixed up at times. I still try to laugh at myself.

I go to Helping Paws again tomorrow night. I am hoping my husband can drive me - if not well I didn't have four kids for nothing!! It is unlikely that metro mobility would have an openning for me late in the day. It is important so I will figure it out.

Did I tell you we got the main lights up in the bathroom. Yes the hanging swag lights from the 80's are happily gone. My daughter is hoping to start painting the room on Friday - hurray.

Emma and I are headed outside. Logan's a friend of our's and his mom Suzan says she is making her backyard to be a dog's disney land. It is fun to hear her ideas. On her site one of the photos was of a play fire hydrant and I think she has a pool. I don't have a pool for Emma yet - I will have to get into the swing of things here. Emma did walk through a sprinkler the other day when it was warm. She seemed to like it.

Emma loves the fenced yard, the combination of sun and shade, and fetching things. It amazes me that sometimes even when it seems warm to me, she will choose to lay in the sun. It cracks me up that sometimes she will venture to the top of our wooden playground. There are stairs she can get up and a platform there. She will lay there and watch the world go by. She likes it even more when Sophia is over to play with her.

Emma and I hope you are enjoying summer weather. On warm days - hope you find some shade and all days time to relax.
Mary and Emma

If you want to follow one of the new puppies in training go to this site - -
http://hpmaeve.blogspot.com/
They have a wonderful combination of pictures and commentary.

Sometimes I wonder if I should change my site address so I could use more pictures? You are so kind to read all my words. Would it be too much work to keep up with pictures? i actually tried to create a blogspot blog but couldn't figure it out. I would need a tutor.

In my creative writing with classroom students I had this slogan - We paint pictures with words!! I am not sure if my words do that or not. I just don't want to bore you.

I will give it all some thought.

Congratulations to Suzan and Logan for passing the test and becoming an Official Service Dog Team. I hear everyone celebrated with steak. Way to go to both of you. Enjoy the demonstration you are doing tomorrow!

We rested a good part of the day due to yesterday's wedding and going to bed late. I get wiped out. But things perked up. I finished the book for bookclub The Madonna's of Leningrad (I liked it), went to Target with Becky and then my family went out to dinner to celebrate Mike's new job that starts tomorrow. He has been in school training and yeah landed a job. Congratulations to him also.

Rosa and Sophia of course were part of the party. Gosh it was fun to see them both. All my kids (I included Tia and Justin in that statement) at one time. 9 of us including Sophia - plus the baby. Emma of course was well behaved. We had an awesome time. We can't do this often but gosh it is fun once in awhile to treat them all. I think everyone knew that money is tight for us - a lot of us ordered water both because it was a warm day and to keep the cost down ha ha. We laughed and talked and had such a good time.

Yesterday, we were struck by how many of our college friends are able to travel and live a wealthier life style than we do. Of course we made that choice when Greg decided to work for the church as a career and then my medical costs and not working. It is fun to hear of their travels. One couple just spent two weeks in Italy. I guess our investment has to be our health costs, and our family. Tonight I was thinking I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Sometime I hope I can scrape up the money for at least Greg to travel to Europe but not sure that will happen for me with my health issues. In any case, I am pleased to have grandchildren, four beautiful chiildren and my son's wife and Becky's special boyfriend of several years. I shouldn't compare with others - I have been richly blessed.

Emma has been very snuggly today. She was a bit quieter than normal. Even outside she was content to be at my side, but did not run as much. Maybe she was hot? It was 84. In any case we had a good day. We had to take several cars due to both the number of people, and people coming from various locations. I asked is their room for Emma as we were driving two extra, i was thrilled to hear the reply "it wouldn't be the whole family without Emma". What a nice evening we had.

Where does time go? Was it really 29 years ago when I got married? when I attended so many of my friends weddings? Yes, we went to the wedding Saturday of the daughter of a friend of ours. A whole group of us have known each other since college, some of them since high school!! We remember when the bride was born - how the years fly by. We had fun reconnecting with friends!! It was really fun.

When I walked up to the church with Emma, the bride's mother looked stunned. We thought she knew I had a service dog. I also thought she looked a bit skeptical. Emma showed off superb behavior so we showed everyone that yes a service dog can attend a wedding. The bride was tickled to see Emma and vey welcoming. At the reception, several people did not even notice the dog under the table till we stood up to leave. One gentleman proclaimed "that is unbelievable, was that dog here all this time?" Yes, indeed she was very well behaved. I was proud of her like always

One of our old friend's was very curious about my prognosis with Multiple Sclerosis. When I told her it will likely get worse but we are unsure how much, when, she looked alarmed. She is very organized and needs her life planned and predictable. One of the realities of MS is that it is unpredictable.

Today we will need a day of rest. It is suppose to be very hot outside also. We wil have to get outside to play before it gets too warm for me. I am tired but we had such a nice day. Emma I am so proud of you.
Wishing you a good day.
Mary and Emma