This one I thought would take a fair amount of time based on how jammed packed this drawer was but again, it really only took about 10 minutes and like an hour because I did wash the sheets I decided to keep because they have that “been stuffed too long in a drawer” odor. Don’t lie, you know the smell.
I separated it in to 4 piles. Bedding, the two table clothes we own, dog blankets (for when Oreo goes to the Doggy hotel; she likes to take a blankie), and things to donate.
I threw everything we don’t use anymore into a garbage bag and will have my husband take it to my parents house so they can take it to their friend who owns a thrift shop so it can be re-used. The flat sheets were all in really good condition but we just don’t have any use for them and they take up prime real estate in that drawer.
Today I decided to tackle #8 on my de-cluttering list: My desk drawer. There are 30 goals (one for each day of June) but I don’t do them in any particular order.
Amazingly, I had more time today to get started on it but it’s 98* in California today and even though I am inside in the air conditioner, I needed to pick something that I could sit and do because my leg is a jerk in the heat. I am worried, that sooner than later, I’m going to run out of “easy” tasks and then I don’t know…Oh well, I don’t want to worry about it until I get there.
Sometimes it’s so cluttered the drawer doesn’t want to close
So anyway, back to the desk drawer. I have a little office area where I sit to do my stuff. I call it my “Sarah’s Head Space” area. I have a small desk fan to keep me cool. I kill time on the computer from here. I watch what’s happening in my neighborhood. I dance in my chair while I listen to my Ipod. It’s my realm of our house.
Look at that pile
It’s at the end of my kitchen. It’s was used as a dining room when my house was built in the ’40s but it basically only fits my small desk so I’m not sure how they ever ate in here back in the day. Since it’s in the kitchen, it ends up being a catch all of randomness. When I need space, I just shove more stuff in the desk drawer. Until today!
I guest-blogged this article for the National MS Society’s blog, MS Connections.
I hadn’t left my house in weeks. Out of an abundance of caution, I had self-quarantined before it became mandatory by my state.
Usually, I would have had my “Infusion Day bag” with me: phone charger, sweater and lunch. But this time, my infusion would be different than the last five times.
They changed the procedures – no one was allowed to be with me. No outside food. You had to switch from your outside mask you wore into the building into a hospital-grade mask instead. They were staggering patient arrival times to help keep the number of patients at the infusion center low. Infusions would now only be in the morning.
I had debated even coming to get my Ocrevus infusion in the time of COVID-19. I spoke with my neurologist, and we discussed the pros and cons.
Earlier in March, he had had me cancel two trips because it was early on in the pandemic and no one knew what was to come. When we discussed my infusion, we decided that based on my multiple sclerosis history, we should probably be more concerned with my MS than with me getting COVID-19, especially since I hadn’t been leaving my house.
My MS always plays nice… until it suddenly doesn’t. Then we need to switch to a more aggressive treatment. I’ve been on Ocrevus for two and a half years, and I really like it as far as my treatment options go.
As I went down the elevator, I found my heart beating a bit faster. Other than my husband and two kids, these nurses were going to be the first people I had interacted with in-person in six weeks. I was also worried about the coronavirus. Was it lurking somewhere in the infusion center? What if someone had coughed in the elevator before I got in? Didn’t they also say it may live on surfaces? My heart started pounding more.
I got set up in my private room. I gave my nurse the sign my kids had made the night before — thanking healthcare workers. They gushed over it and hung it up. The picture my children drew for healthcare workers They took my blood pressure, and it was sky high! Guess I was more nervous than I though. We waited an hour for it to come down naturally, with me taking deep breaths with my eyes closed. Still, he ended up having to call my neuro for some emergency pills to bring my blood pressure down so we could safely start my infusion. Other than that, it was uneventful. I mostly sleep when I get my infusion. This time, I wondered if the new procedures will still be in place when I come back in October.
The day after, I always have a killer headache. Typically, I would have the house to myself with the kids at school and my husband at work. This time they were all home. I stayed in bed all day watching TV while they all did the same elsewhere in the house.
My kids are 9 and 10. They can pretty much entertain themselves these days, but if you’re someone with small kids or don’t have someone with you to help distract your kids, please cut yourself some slack while you rest.
Let them zone out on their third movie that day. They’re on their fifth hour of YouTube? Fantastic! Order take out for dinner, too. Whatever you need to do to get through this insane time that is COVID-19, do it. We’re all just trying to make it through the day right now.
IMAGE: A (Sarah) mandatory “Mirrored Elevator” Selfie.
I’m gonna be totally honest. I almost skipped today. I know, it’s the first day of MY self-induced challenge?! Why would I even think about doing that? The F word. Motha F-ing FATIGUE!!!
I slept like crap last night and woke up early. The kids started online Summer School today and man, these teachers have got it figured out now! They both had “class meetings” with over 40 kids on at a time! By noon, I was really hoping I could take a nap but I couldn’t because they had school work to do and both had other Zooms at 2pm.
So at 2:01, I looked at the list and found a task that I thought would take me roughly 5 minutes and it did! I decided to clean up the drawer in the bathroom where we keep our hair stuff- hair ties, hair brushes, combs, bobby pins, fancy hair pieces are all just thrown in there. It’s a mess. It hasn’t always been such a mess but my daughter has just discovered “doing hair” and so she rummages around a lot in there now too.
(I also realized that I might need to get creative in organizing around the house since I am not leaving at this time do to quarantine. Normally, I’d use it as an excuse to go to the dollar store to get cute little bins and trays.)
I gathered all the hair stuff (bobby pins, hair ties) and put them in a pink zippered bag I had laying around. I gathered all the “fancy” hair stuff (barrettes, sparkly bobby pins) and put it in a black zippered pouch. I threw out a bunch of combs and bobby pins that were past their prime and kept everything else in the basket that we have in the drawer to keep it organized – term used very loosely since we obviously haven’t been.
I feel better that it’s slightly less chaotic and that I followed through.
I’m going to take a nap now.
IMAGES: Messy Hair Stuff Drawer and Slightly More Organized Hair Stuff Drawer.
My kids start online summer school tomorrow for the month of June and theoretically, I should have some “free” time for a few hours each day!! I’ve noticed since we’re all on top of each other 24/7 for the last 70ish days that there is a ton of clutter all over my very small house and so I’ve decided to challenge myself to a June Tidy-Up.
I’ve mapped out 30 things (one for each day of June) that I want to work on around my house. Some are easy, some are hard. Some are things I have put off for a very long time. Some are because I can’t stand looking at it anymore. Some are because I have too much time on my hands right now and literally no where to go. Some will take minutes and some will take hours.
My plan is to pick 1 a day and hopefully tackle it in that day. I’ll post once a day with before and after pictures as proof. My list is below and in no particular order. I will pick one based on my energy level the morning of. It’s starting to get very warm in California and physically I get very slow and melty in the heat, my leg tends to stop being a team player and my mobility gets substantially worse.
The List (in no particular order) : Baking cabinet, cords in black box in hallway, sheets drawer, lower kitchen cabinet, pantry storage area, hallway top drawer, hallway bottom drawer, my desk drawer, L- top closet shelf, scrapbook box #1, scrapbook box #2, storage on top of fridge, nail polishes, bathroom hair stuff drawer, backyard toys, kids school box, hallway cabinet mess, under kitchen sink, my craft area, upper corner cabinet, clear photos in phone, clean out wallet, red hanging organizer, file misc paperwork in to folders, organize our closet, purge L’s close, purge J’s close, clear out old emails from inbox, craft box in garage, and under L’s bed.
Dude, just writing this out bums me out a bit but I think I am up for the challenge!! We shall see! Have you been cleaning and organizing during the quarantine?
IMAGE: A picture of my list of 30 De-Cluttering goals.
May 30th is World MS Day! A day to celebrate all the MSfit’s all over the World!! (I paraphrased that but seriously, who is bringing the cupcakes?!)
2020’s theme is #msconnections.
When I was diagnosed in 2012, I immediately started looking for people that understood what I was going through from my hospital bed. Before I was discharged from the hospital, my cousin had sent me the number to her old boss who had been living with MS for years so I had someone to talk to. She became my MS mentor. My first connection to living with MS. She was my very first MS Friend. The time and information she shared with me was invaulble- answering questions, easing fears, just taking the time to talk and listen to me. (I love you KM!)
I started following people on social media who were posting about MS related content. I still follow a lot of those same people that I followed in the beginning. Every so often, I search a tag and see who else I can find. So many people pop up all the time.
I tried different ways to get connected more and more in the world of MS. I volunteered at my local office of my MS Society chapter, mostly sending mailers out to people on information they requested. I formed a team and joined Walk MS. I visited support groups.
Now almost 8 years later, it’s my name and number that are being passed onto newly diagnosed patients. I have worked on a few different projects with the National MS Society sharing my story. I am a MS Advocate hoping to create change on local and national levels for people living with MS. I created this blog to make even more connections with people living and thriving with MS.
What are ways that you connect to others or organizations?
Happy World MS Day!!
IMAGE: A picture of Sarah with a World MS Day Banner.
Honestly, this is the question, I almost always reply to in a lie.
As it stands, I am not generally much of a liar. I am a pretty open book when it comes to my life- good, bad & ugly. Words mean so much to me. My word is my bond. I don’t just throw words around in an argument to be mean or make a point. I try very hard to HEAR what people are saying when they speak.
I have mentioned before that I recently started therapy again to work out some issues that have crept back into my life. Who knows why they suddenly reappeared but they did and I am trying to be proactive in addressing them. It has come up in my sessions, that if you ask me “How are you doing?” I almost always say, “Fine.” and quickly change the subject. Why would I do that? Especially when I am usually being asked by people who know me and know my story; know I live with Multiple Sclerosis. Why would I down play whatever I am going through to people who care about me?
I am a very strong person who has made it through some very tough spots in life. I hate when people call me a “Survivor” I’d rather be known as a “Thriver”- whatever gets thrown at me, I figure it out and thrive in the chaos of it. So again, why do I lie about whatever is going on with me? What within me has made me start lying (albeit a tiny, small lie that hurts no one) about the general question of “How are you doing?”
After some discussions spent on this with my lovely therapist, I came to realize, I don’t ever want anyone to perceive me as weak- physically or emotionally. Physically, MS has taken away a good chunk of my mobility. Over the years, I have realized, people either don’t “see” you because your Disabled or they do see you and it makes them uncomfortable, so they ignore you. This really irks me.
We talked about ways I could have people “see” ME more clearly and one of the results of those conversations was this Blog. I already advocate for MS Patients in a few different ways and I love doing so but this blog can be more about me- Sarah. A 37 year old woman who lives in Southern California with her husband and 2 kids, a dog and 2 betta fish (in different tanks). I enjoy banana flavored things but not actually banana’s themselves. I am is crafty but I also want to learn Hand Lettering. I hate cooking but am totally cool with doing the dishes (A perfect combo because husband loves to cook for me.) My favorite color is bright blue. I am starting a weird collection of fun glasses (probably to be “seen” more as a person if you want to get deep about it.) Oh yeah, I also live & thrive with MS. I am is not embarrassed by this fact, I just want to be recognized for who else I am.
I also want to work on being more BRAVE. I guess maybe that’s my word for 2020. To be brave, I think one of the first things I need to do is stop lying about how I am doing. If I am having a shitty day, I need to say so. If I am so exhausted because it’s hot, I need to say so. If I am having an excellent day, I need to say so. And on days I just don’t know how to respond because it’s too much, I just need to say, I am trying to be brave today.
We had a little sauce pan that we used for about 3 or 4 years but then I noticed it started flaking little black bits into whatever we were preparing. So I went on the Target app from my couch and ordered a new one. When it came, it was SUPER TINY! So I went online and ordered another one. It was too big. It would have been a hassle to try to return them, so now it’s like the Goldilocks of sauce pans. I have 2 that work just fine but not really in the size I want.
Then the next week I did the same thing when ordering gift bags for my Girl Scout troop. I saw these adorable unicorn bags which I knew would be perfect! When they showed up they were the size of my hand. (I still kept those because they’re good size for badges and patches.) When I went to re-order gift bags, I was REALLY smart and read the dimensions before I ordered and what do you know.. I’m not that great at measurements as it turns out becasue they were also too small.
I have never been a fan of online shopping. I like to wander the aisles of Target and my local grocery stores to find all the the things I do and do not need to purchase. I get tired pretty fast from too much walking or standing though so I mostly stick to whatever department I need to be visiting. Much to my husbands exasperation, I never use a list. In fact, since he has started doing the grocery shopping, I am not very helpful in writing out items we need unless I do it the second I think about it or it’s gone forever (like so many other things in my MSfit brain…)
I’m assuming I buy as much stuff now being stuck at home as I do when I’m actually in the store but it’s hard to say with the amount of delivery boxes we have being delivered day in and day out to the porch.
I haven’t been in a store to see the one way aisle directions or the frantic stocking up on essentials. I was really surprised when my husband starting bringing home our groceries in plastic bags again because we voted in California to switch to cloth bags (Ironically a lot of the those cloth bags I did order online with cute pictures of my family printed on the front.)
I use the Target app to earn cash back but it hasn’t been very much lately. I don’t really shop too much on Amazon if I can avoid it. I do use the Ibotta app to earn cash back on our groceries. (Referral code: 55onra. Full disclosure, I may earn a referral bonus if you use my link to join. Since joining, I have earned over $700 cash back on items I was buying anyway.) Do you prefer online shopping or do you like to be in-store? What are your tips and tricks?
My 2 odd size pots and a xtralarge mug for my dad’s Father’s day present. I assumed it was normal size,
I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in July of 2012. I went to get out of bed to get my son and I face planted on the floor. It didn’t feel like I had a left leg anymore. I couldn’t feel it at all. I could mark my physical symptoms back to Memorial day of that year a few months earlier. We were having a BBQ and my leg was asleep the whole time. It only lasted a few days and once it went away, I figured I must have pulled a muscle or something. I had been having a ton of cognitive issues at work; thinking I had replied to an email or placed an order for things when I really hadn’t. I excused a lot of it based on working full time and having a 1 & 2 year old at home.
I didn’t know much about Multiple Sclerosis when I was diagnosed with it. I went to the Emergency Room on a Sunday. They ruled out a stroke first because my left side was being effected. I remember the ER was really crowded but every time they’d get a result, I would be whisked to the front of the next line. I was alone in the hospital when the neurologist on staff came into tell me (My husband had went home to get our kids from my sister who had been watching them all day and my best friend had finally went home after sitting with me all day.) He told me at 6:53pm. I remember the time because the only thing I remember hearing was the clicking on the clock and I just stared at the time. Both the day nurse that had been with me all day at the hospital and the nurse coming on at 7pm sat with me while I cried. I tried to take this all in and the only question I could think to ask was if it MS could kill me or not. When he said no, I decided that that meant I was going to try to spend every day living in the moment from there on out. He also told me that they just weren’t sure if I’d walk again or not because I could no longer feel my left leg; they would start steroids immediately and tomorrow I’d start intense physical therapy but we would just have to see if the feeling ever returned. In the mean time I was going to have to learn to walk with a walker and to not overexert myself, use a wheelchair. I spent 8 months learning to walk again. Today I use a walker or as I like to say, “I rawk the walker!”
As this pandemic has continued and I have had so much time to sit and think, I have really tried to figure out the definition of how I want to be recognized as a person living with MS. I live in this weird bubble, where I have MS, people who know me know I have MS and I am not ashamed by it, but I don’t want the only thing that you see me for is my MS. I am so much more than just my Multiple Sclerosis.
On the other hand, as it turns out, I am really good at sharing my journey of living with this disease and advocating for patients and myself. I have met amazing people, I have gotten involved in so many ways with the National MS Society and have found an organization who puts so much money, energy and focus into people living day to day with MS. I have found that I am a person that’s name comes up as a great resource for newly diagnosed people to get in touch with. I raise awareness for the disease by sharing my story and not shying away from it. As a child growing up in southern California, I always wanted to “be discovered and become famous”, maybe Multiple Sclerosis is what I become famous for in my little bubble. Maybe this is the role I play to change the world. And maybe this is exactly the way it’s supposed to be…
Image: Sarah getting her first Ocrevus infusion in October 2018. She is laughing because she is a big baby when it comes to needles.
With California starting to re-open this summer, I find myself trying to figure how I am supposed to navigate it. In early March, my family (myself, my husband and kids, my parents and brother, and my sister and her husband and kids) started paying a lot more attention to this developing story that was Covid-19. There were a bunch of cruise ships just waiting in the pacific ocean with infected passengers that needed to be treated and California was trying to figure out where to send them. My family made a plan. My parents and sister would stock up on some essential items while they were out running errands– OTC pain relievers, canned goods, toilet paper, dog food, etc for all 3 of our houses just in case down the road we would be quarantined. I wasn’t going into crowded places anymore. It may have sounded extreme but worse case, we figured if nothing more happened, we would be stocked up on items we would use eventually anyway. As it turned out, when the panic buying hit, we were stocked up (we actually used the last roll of our original mega multi-pack of toilet paper last week so my husband finally had to pick some more up.)
My very, real reality is that I am only as safe as the people around me take this pandemic. I am grateful to live in California where our government took action quick and early. The curve was flattened. There is science that backs this up. So now with them saying it is safe to slowly venture out, I am not sure how I handle that. Once again, I find myself in the position of what do I do now, with no real answers? Things are starting to re-open because California feels it’s safe to do so. Does that mean, I start going grocery shopping again, wandering around Target, is it safe for me to go to a drive thru? Even if I wear a mask and gloves, am I protected? Once people stop wearing masks and gloves, do I continue to do so?
I had my Ocrevus infusion at the end of April. Ocrevus is an immunosupressive drug to treat my Multiple Sclerosis. I go twice a year. It blows up my immune system and then I go back six months later for it to be blown up again for the cells that have started to re-grow to be blown up. It means my immune system is very weak. A cold can turn into pneumonia. A scab on my finger takes weeks to heal up. So I ask again, how do I figure out how I re-enter society now that it is supposedly safe to start doing so?
I think for now the only thing I can do now is just wait it out and see what happens as healthy people start to re-emerge; are they getting sick, is there an uptick in cases now? We had plans to go to Hawaii in July. We had to cancel that. My kids are on summer break now. We literally have no plans until they go back (maybe) to school in person in August with many, many changes in place to keep students and staff safe.
So my extroverted, needs human interaction self, will just stay put longer. I honestly thought I’d go crazy this whole time being stuck inside but I really haven’t. There have been hard days. We go for a drive at least once a week and just getting out of the house helps. I’ve been doing alot of deep thinking. I’ve been selling clutter I’ve wanted to sell for awhile, I’ve been organizing things and I started this blog. I’m hopeful I’ll get interaction on here with people going through similar situations. Do you have a game plan for when your state says it’s safe to go back out?
Picture Image: My sweet friend Laurie, dropped off this dish towel she found at Hobby Lobby yesterday. She said she saw it and automatically thought of me. I laughed so hard when I opened it. Because this little piggy, did stay home…since March 12th to be exact.
MSfit Momma 
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