Winter Camp Continues

   

     My brother, the tenth child, and his wife invited us for New Year’s dinner. They made a beautiful turkey dinner and the “ Cake Boss”, made two cakes. In a previous blog, I had mentioned how our mother would buy new PJ’s for us each Christmas. Well, my brother got me a pair from La Vie en Rose to help keep me warm. It was nice spending the evening with them, a good way to start 2012.

     It was time to set up base camp now that the wedding was over. I went to the fourth older sister’s to do this. There the bedroom and guest bathroom and everything I need were on the same floor. I would only have to go upstairs once a day to get a shower. The MSA makes it hard for me to get up the stairs, they can be very challenging for me. I notice my balance is getting worse and being tired does not help.

     The baby of the girls was going away in a few days and I wanted to spend some time with her before this.  We went to her house to play crib. She has two boys; it was her little guy who spoke during the wedding. The next day, we spent more family time together and went back to the baby sister’s to play some board games. 

     The next person on the list has her own campground, Lakeview Treasure. It was so peaceful out there. It was like a postcard because it had snowed and there were no tracks in the snow as far as the eye could see. We took a tour of the grounds and my sister showed me all the work they had done. After the tour, we then went and sat by the woodstove and chatted. While I was visiting, this sister gave me a fur coat, because I am always cold. That would not be the case any longer.  That night I received something special, a lobster. It was pretty big but I ate the whole thing by myself. I took a photo and mailed it to my husband. He was having eggs and toast and he took a photo and mailed in back. We had a good laugh over this. This sister also gave me a coffee table book all about Fleetwood Mac, who we went to see in concert a couple of years ago. She has one son; he rolled his truck while I was there. He was not hurt thank goodness, just gave himself and us a good a good scare.  I was spoiled for a few days while there with lots of comfort food and waited on hand and foot. We took a drive to the spot where we swam a lot as kids. We had 10 acres on the Atlantic in Cape Breton, a beautiful spot, which had become so eroded over the years.

     We all decided to go to Karaoke that night. First time for everything, and this was a first for me. There were at least 13 of us. What a blast we had. I watched as each sister besides me, got up to show her talent. I left there at 1:30, some of the other’s did not get home until 3:30. I guess we are going back next week and going to try and round up everyone. What a hoot we had, I suggested they have a few autographs but...

     Went back to base camp for a couple of days. My baby sister and her two kids came to visit. There is nothing better for the spirit than being around young kids. My older sister’s friend has a 4x4, it is like dune buggy, and the two little kids were going in this. While they were waiting, they made one of the nicest snowmen I had ever seen.

The kid’s had a blast and so did I.

     One of my nephews works at Boston Pizza, so we all went there to support him. I am sure they must have cried when they saw us coming. Another symptom of MSA is having trouble swallowing and choking. I already had a couple of incidents where I could not breath, and choked so, I have to be careful what I order. I do not want to scare anyone. I cannot cut my own food so that is always an issue all those things we just do, without thinking were becoming necessary to think of in order to do for me. Going to restaurants is becoming more challenging because I may choke on the food and getting to the bathroom is becoming difficult. But, I made it through this visit.

We are having a blast at Winter Camp and getting lots of family time which is so important. I have another busy week ahead. I continue getting the Royal Treatment!