[stevem53]

Hi Everyone..A nice warm welcome to our new community members..Hope you stay and join us regularly!

It was a fairly uneventful week except for a drastic change in the weather..I know that many of you folks around the country are seeing stormy weather.....and snow..Well it got right windy here yesterday and had to move my boat upriver a bit into the lee..It gusted up to 55 mph last night..and rained..supposed to get some snow on Monday..Im not ready for that..Im never ready for snow..It just complicates this business of parkie-ness

My brother goes in for his biopsy on Wednesday, and hopefully it will be normal..He has been asking me questions about the procedure and I try to answer him the best I can so he doesnt worry too much..He is taking it fairly well..which is good

I spent the day at my girlfriends house today and celebrated her B-day which is tomorrow..We went out to eat at this place called the Texas Road House..The food is great..I had these grilled shrimp that were seasoned with I dont know what..but they were fabulous!..Best I ever had..The place is packed everytime we go there, and its usually an hour wait, so we went to Target and did some X-mas shopping

As I mentioned last week..I have definately progressed..Huh..What else is new?.. ..Those shrimp I had were on skewer sticks..wooden ones..the shrimp get stuck to it..What a job getting those things off the stick without food flying.. ..Then my fork gets stuck on the stick..every single time.. ..You folks know the deal..

How is everyone doing this week?

[jeanb]

Steve,

I did laugh about you, the shrimp, and flying food (& for me that would include a flying fork). That happens to me too. I've decided they should let me use my fingers, give me a trough with my food in it, and provide a wet washcloth so I can wipe off my fingers and face periodically...

In local Phoenix news, the Grinch stole Christmas here. Really - some BAD GUYS stole the Salvation Army truck that had toys from their 'Christmas angel' donation program. All the toys gone! Luckily some local businesses donated the $$ to cover the cost of the toys and clothing gifts.

I created and maintain the website of a local artist - a potter. A while back he offered to make me something - so we asked for a tiled backspash for our cooktop. Well we just got it - YIKES!! It's a masterpiece tiled mosaic. We love it. But here's the rub ... i'm a messy cook! I figure i'd better give up cooking on the rear burners. Better yet, give up cooking forever... now there is a thought...

Here is the backsplash...

Cheers to everyone!

[rosebud]

I loved the backsplash! don't worry...its pretty tough stuff and will not burn or be easily damaged. I looked at his website. He is incredible. Obviously found his path in life. I had a brother-in-law who went to Thunderbird and they are pretty much headed for the suit and tie district of the big cities of America and beyond. It's amazing that he found his way to this art which is at the opposite end of the spectrum. I learned how to work with clay and have made a few ceramic pieces in my day and its wonderful to see somebody really make a living doing that kind of work. I decided I was not cut out for the life of a starving artist and alas...took another path which spit me out (with a little disability policy to ease the pain) and am back to creating again. I regret all the years I could have been doing what I loved best, but did not seem practical. And now I'm back at it. I feel like a beginner and in many ways I am. I'm working with colored pencils now which is quite a different medium but I am very excited about the fact that I have the opportunity to work at something I love. I guess some of us just have to take the long road to where ever it is were going. Hope you all have a good week.

[jeanb]

Rosebud,

You follow your dream!! I began doing Jim's website years ago - when he was struggling and hoping to do his art full time. My website design and maintenance has always been gratis. I am so very glad that he has become successful!! He is a great guy.

It was Jim's idea that we collaborate and sell cards to fund-raise for PD. He said "let's raise money for a cure." And he donated some of his designs for the cards.

So Rosebud, pursue your art and your dream however you can.

Best wishes!

[jeanb]

I kind of 'hi-jacked' this week's welcome. Let me put it back on track.

It's cold in Phoenix, but cold is relative when you live in the desert southwest. When the temps get down to 35 (low of 35, high of 65...), we break out out long johns and crank up the heat. After living here for a while, you forget what cold really is (that is, until you catch a snowy football game on TV, and then you remember all too well)...

Tomrrow is a Stem Cell Committee meeting at the State Capitol. I'll be attending, and Margy, a friend and PAN coordinator is on the committee. Unfortunately I dont expect them to change their stance from last year -- heads in the sand ... totally against scnt ... but I'll be there to give my 2 cents anyway.

I've been on Azilect about 4 months now and am doing fine. It's allowed me to cut back on stalevo by 30% and back on Mirapex by 90%! So i'm detoxed (again) from Mirapex - no longer obsessive-compulsive working on photoshop and creating cards for any and everyone ... and I'm very grateful that my obsessive-compulsive behavior did not include raiding the bank account in some way!

To all of you considering DBS - Mike-TTF and others - good luck to you. I have a friend here that had the surgery done early - at stage 2, and she is very happy with her decision. She's still only on mirapex .25 3x, and very happy to have avoided taking the pathway to ever-increasing meds. I guess I'm not ready for that step yet, but some day, I may be.

Best wishes to everyone ...

[Todd]

You know, I'm sure glad Steve does this every week but I have to ask...where is everyone? Some updates would be nice, so come on people...

I gave my oral for my thesis and it couldn't have gone any better. Only two more weeks and my educational career as a student will come to a close. Besides focusing on the speaking business and my documentary film, I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. Lots of life issues to be resolved I guess. I am in the running to speak at graduation so we'll see if that pans out. I haven't told anyone about the possibility as I want it to be a surprise if it happens. Would really like to do it though...

We had one day of rain and I thought that winter had arrived but we're back up in the 80's again. Such is life in Southern California! Sunglasses and shorts year around!

Started the fight with my insurance company to go out of network to see a MDS since my insurance doesn't offer one that's not a 2 hour drive from my home. I just refuse to do that kind of a drive in LA traffic. Not fun. So hopefully I can get this resolved. My wife's GP said she'd work with whatever doctor I'm seeing and write the prescriptions for me, so that was pretty cool.

Other than that, I'm just putting right along and looking forward to the holiday season. It's my favorite time of year. My personal tradition is to watch the following movies and shows each year without fail (I have them all on DVD):

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original cartoon, not the Jim Carrey version-yuk!)

Miracle on 34th Street (the original black and white version with a very young Natalie Wood)

A Charlie Brown Christmas (The Linus speech is legendary!)

Frosty (the Rankin & Bass cartoon)

Rudolph (the claymation one with Burl Ives)

It's A Wonderful Life (Jimmy Stewart rocks!)

A Christmas Carol (the black and white version from 1951 with Alastair Sim - amazing!)

For me, no holiday is complete until I've watched them all. And this year I get to do it all on my new 42" HD plasma! Woohoo!

Have a great week everyone...

Todd
PDTalks.com

[Stitcher]

My "voice of reason" is not available this week...yikes!!

Last week was 58 hours at my daughters...grandchildren...because my counterpart grandma robin was sick all week..she does Tue and Thu.

The weekend was long hours standing at a cash register for a non-profit fundraiser.

If I had known these two long periods of time would have been back to back I would have run for the hills.

My two closest non-PD friends are in very difficult situations this month. They couldn't be more different!! One is an artisan of loom woven clothing...for 26 yrs now. The other is a vice president with a national insurance company.

This week...my weaver friend's mother has pneumonia...age 85...and my not rally out of it. Such a sad situation. She just lost her 52 yrs old sister a couple of months ago, and her father is slow fading...late-stage PD. It is so sad for me to see him. I won't describe him to you...too sad.

My VP friend had cancer surgery yesterday. She sounded good on the phone just now.

So, this is not going to be the best holiday season, but they are both wonderful, strong, resilient people. I know they will be back to themselves one day down the road.

They are both believers, as I am that even if the day is gloomy and rainy,
the sunnysmall.gif is still shining, we just can't see it.

Me, I have the whole day at home today.
I am just recovering from bronchitius over Thanksgiving weekend...still have my sexy deep voice.
My home that hasn't been cleaned in about two weeks.
98% of my clothes need to see the washing machine today.
I can hardly move due to fatigue.
The cat had begun to wonder if I had moved away and was never coming back.
Have Pipeline web work that needs to get done.
I am moving just after Christmas.
And, my son informed me that he (32 yrs) will be in Baghdad by April.
I will stop there...goodness...these are the times I dislike living alone the most.

[RLSmi]

Steve, Jean, Joy, Todd, Carolyn, I don't always check in each week, but Todd made me feel guilty for being so lazy this week.

I am preparing for the big "R" event! (R=Retirement) The university is giving me a big reception tomorrow to celebrate my 38 years of service. My last day as a regular faculty member is December 31. I will continue on an emeritus (gratis) basis since I still have some research to finish up. I hope to get more active in advocacy next year.

Steve, has the new owner of your big boat not taken posession yet, or is the boat you moved up the river your small one? We are definitely into the cold weather season here in northwest Louisiana; at or below freezing every night for the last week. Clear, sunny skies allow warm-up to 50s during the day.

Has anyone heard from Robert in Longview, Texas? (I forget his forum name) He retired last year while he was on the original BT. Also, I miss hearing from Jaye. Are you out there? I don't ever go to the old MGH BT any more. Maybe they are there.

Hang in there, everyone!

Robert

[stevem53]

Robert..The boat is still here..We are waiting on the transfer of the Coast Guard Documentation

[wendy s]

I really like this weekly update, so here's my share of it. My dad came over for supper on Sun. -he moves so slowly you wonder if he'll ever get in the door, but he does it with a smile and a joke. That's what I wish for - that I'll keep my sense of humour.

It warmed up so much here to just below freezing and now you can hardly get through the streets - that nice fluffy snow is now heavy slush. We all wish it would stay about 5 below at the warmest.

My husband asked me last night if we were ready for Christmas!! No! I've been busy making quilted placemats for a friend out of some fabric that had her name on it, and have ignored the fact that I'm supposed to buy gifts, decorate, bake etc. Maybe this year I'll be one of those people who waltz out on Dec. 24th, and do it all.