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Foggy Grogginess

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Whenever my health fails with mast cell issues, a whole slew of extra medications and emergency medications are needed on top of the immense assortment of everyday medications I must consume daily in order to stay here among the living. These emergency medications, however, bring on a grogginess and foggy state which is difficult to effectively and accurately describe. I feel like I am walking around in a different dimension than the rest of the population on our tiny rock in our vast, ever-expanding universe. I feel like this dimension is cold, damp, rather dark... like an underground tunnel... except at this stage of recovery, there is no brilliant light shining at the end of this tunnel... just shadows... silence... almost like a vacuum void of all things we understand as life. As can be expected, my brain  is significantly impacted  with an imposed suppression of cognitive ability due to the grogginess brought on by these drugs (albeit life-saving drugs, for me). My mind bou

As Expected, My Health Deteriorated Last Night

When I was writing about my health last night (my previous blog post), I knew my health was not headed in the direction I had hoped. I suspected it might be a long night... and, although it was not as miserable as it often gets, it was indeed a long night spent in the bathroom feeling rather miserable. The nausea continued to worsen as I was typing last night. My breathing didn't get worse, but it did not improve much with epinephrine sprayed into my lungs. That provided only temporary relief allowing me to get some much needed oxygen into my body by opening up my constricted lungs if only briefly each time.   Eventually my intestines started gurgling... a sure sign that I must find a bathroom quickly and that I must take some extra emergency medications as soon as possible (it is difficult to do when you are sick as a dog). The gurgling intestines definitely created a need to spend some time in the bathroom through the night last night... oh, fun times! My episode and post-e

Timing of Poor Health Sometimes Falls Between Events

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A nice night out with friends for Christmas... Even when my health is relatively well, I am always a bit concerned about the timing of my poor health. I don't actually worry about it because, after all, I can't control my health, but it does concern me enough to wonder about rescheduling and contingency plans. Realistically speaking, just because my health is relatively well at any given moment does not mean my health will continue to be relatively well. If anything, Mastocytosis has taught me to accept and expect unpredictability. Although, to be honest, long before Mastocytosis reared its ugly head, I had already come to terms with unpredictability due to my spinal injuries. "Unpredictability... accept it, expect it, embrace it!" From November until the end of January, we have been quite busy physically and our schedules quite hectic. There were a number of events we were looking forward to and we, as always, were hoping my health would cooperate with this he

An Alter Ego for Kenzie

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Miss Mackenzie at the head of our table at The Munich Haus. While we were all out to dinner on Saturday night of our long train show weekend, our little Mackenzie created a new identity for herself... an alter ego... and, in the process, she invited us in for a more intimate glimpse of her own developing personality... During our more formal dinner out at a German Festhaus (I will write more about this dinner and Festhaus later), the 33 month old Kenzie asked to be taken to the potty. This polite and responsible request alone deserves some positive reinforcement but this is not the subject of this blog entry. The subject of this blog entry is about a little girl's imagination while in a land far from home and while in a rather noisy and unfamiliar cultural restaurant with her family... Liza quickly ushered Kenzie to the ladies room. While in the ladies room, a woman was taken with Miss Mackenzie's presence, behavior and personality and asked Kenzie for her name. Kenzie

Hopper the Roo

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Whenever we wander from home for our long weekend excursions, we always meet some friendly and sometimes very interesting people. The train show in Springfield, Massachusetts has never been an exception and this year was no different. While we were enjoying our first night in Springfield for the train show, the grandchildren made new friends with a local Dish Network Satellite installer. This gentleman enjoyed Lukey's and Kenzie's animated antics while they entertained us in the lounge during our pizza dinner. Seeing the kids reminded him that he had some little Dish Network promotional gifts out in his truck in the form of stuffed animals. He was kind enough to run out to his truck to retrieve his last two "Hoppers" to gift to the kids. Both Kenzie and Lukey were given their own Hopper the Kangaroo by this kind Dish installer. These gifts were definitely appreciated by both of the kids... and that is evident here in the photos!

Testing a Lionel GP-7

Today is a rather lousy health day for me so I am stuck in the house trying to find something interesting to do which will not make my health any worse. Since I have some model railroading trains sitting out and about after our annual train show in Springfield, I decided I would see why one of our Lionel GP-7's will not move in forward or reverse. When I power it up, everything seems to work just fine including the sound. When I try to put it in forward or reverse, I can hear the twin motors whirring away so I know the motors run but the gears are not engaging. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the little gear that is supposed to be on the end of the motor driveshaft has broken off each motor. These gears were cheapo plastic gears that were somehow affixed to the smooth metal driveshaft (I have one of the broken gears in the bottom of the styrofoam box for the locomotive). It clearly was a poor design and I knew I would not be able to fix this problem without replacing a f

Lukey and the Scary Conductor

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Mortamore Grim the Conductor... he vibrates and shakes from side to side... The kids really enjoyed most of their first train show in Springfield this year. I believe their biggest issue was the same as my biggest issue... fighting fatigue. Overall, they both really loved the show and I'm sure they will jump at the chance of joining us again next year. They loved all the trains... Kenzie loved the people figures, city scenes, people figures and even some of the trains... Lukey loved the trains, in general, but the bigger, the better... they both enjoyed everything associated with Maggie the Clown... they loved driving the trains... they loved the Thomas the Train play area... they loved the Lionel trains play area... Kenzie loved all the railroading gifts and trinkets... but, one thing scared the bejesus out of Lukey... Mortamore Grim the Conductor . Old Mortamore Grim is simply a lifesize mannequin of a conductor who is a bit shakey like a weak, old man. This mannequin

Lukey the Railroad Engineer

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Watching all the G scale trains from his bucket pedestal... On Saturday of the train show down in Springfield, we came across a huge operating layout of G scale trains. There must have been at least a dozen trains running in all directions. For those unfamiliar with model railroad scales... G scale trains are twice the size of the standard Lionel trains.  Lukey immediately got up on his five gallon bucket so he could see better. He had his locomotive whistle in his mouth while he pointed out different trains. One of the men showing these trains noticed Lukey and came over to talk with him. Within a minute or two, Lukey was asked if he wanted to drive one of the trains.  Lukey's eyes enlarged as he started looking around and getting antsy to get off his five gallon bucket... In the driver's seat... Grammy walked him beyond the cordoned off area where all the controls were located for driving all these huge trains... Lukey sat on the lap of one of the engineers and wa

Disgustingly Offensive Scents

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I love scents. The human sense of "smell" actually is one of the most amazing senses. Just a brief whiff of a certain scent will immediately evoke very vivid memories.  Just a brief whiff of a delicious meal will get your salivary glands working in overdrive and cause your stomach to start bellowing for food. Scents will bring back fond memories instantly. With the good comes the bad as well. Just as many scents will evoke positive memories and emotional responses, some scents are truly revolting and offensive. Some of these offensive scents will linger in our nostrils for days. Heck, I can still vividly remember horrendous stenches from decades ago! I truly love all sorts of cooking scents... garlic, rosemary, citrus, basil, etc. I love many sweet but subtle perfumes. I love many smooth after-shave lotions and colognes. There are a few scents, however, which I find incredibly offensive, disgusting and revolting. The scent which seems to be getting ever more popular by

Maggie the Clown

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Sheila's dad, Will, is quite tall but looks like a  young kid next to Maggie!   It's funny...  I can actually see the little boy in Will  in this photo! I suppose  there is a little  boy  in each of us which shines through at these shows... Most people don't like being called a clown... but Maggie the Clown does! She seems to thrive on being a clown and entertaining kids. There is no doubt that Maggie is good at what she does and she enjoys doing it! In all the years we have been attending the annual Amherst Railway Society train show, Maggie the Clown has been an active participant in keeping the young kids entertained all through the weekend. Maggie personally greeted Lukey and Kenzie shortly after they arrived at the show... she introduced herself and invited them to her show... offered them balloons... and we learned a bit more about Maggie this year... Maggie the Clown actually lives on a train! She is a clown with the Ringling Brothers Circus and, as many