Typing gets easier

I got a new toy for Christmas. It will help me to keep this blog (and others) updated. My typing has slowed down so much and I make so many errors that it's gotten very frustrating. I'm now using 'Dragon Naturally Speaking'. It was quick and easy to set up, and it's recognizing my speech quite accurately. It makes me wonder why I didn't get it sooner.

Now that I can type whatever I want, I don't know what to say.  :-)

So I'll just say; have a blessed New Year!

Be it resolved .....

One of the strange things about PD is that even though it takes and takes and takes from quality of life; it doesn't kill you. I've decided the grieving period is over. It's time to move on with the abilities that haven't been taken.

I've resolved for 2010 to think of myself as a normal person with some irritating problems, and not dwell on what PD may take tomorrow.

Finally ready to pray

I'm finally ready to be prayed over at church - we're scheduled for 10:30am this Sunday. This will be a perfect time as our pastor and his wife will be speaking about Broken Dreams. They are a wonderful couple and I can't wait to hear what God, through them, has to say to me.

Learn how to cope with the major disappointments that slip into our lives!

Here's the info on this weekend's services at HPAC;

BROKEN DREAMS

November 21-22

On the weekend of November 21-22 our lead pastor, Garth Leno, and his wife Patty will be sharing their journey as parents of a daughter with severe disabilities.  Jamie was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago with a rare disorder which has affected her in profound ways.  So we’d like to invite friends, family, and neighbours to join us for an intimate journey of the soul.  While the Leno’s “broken dream” relates directly to their daughter who is handicapped by Rett Syndrome, we recognize that many people in our world today are living with broken dreams of different kinds.  We believe that our weekend services on November 21-22 will be a great source of encouragement and hope for anyone who is struggling to understand why God allows stuff like this to happen.

Many people who might be interested in this message of hope are already involved in a faith community on Sunday morning.  So we’d like to invite them to come for the service on Saturday evening, November 21, at 6:00 PM. 

Many of us know families or individuals who are struggling with learning disabilities, cancer, autism, divorce, cerebral palsy, or the premature death of a loved one.   Most of us know people who are living with a broken dream of some kind.  We believe this particular weekend ministry will be a source of great hope and encouragement to them, and everyone is welcome. 

So please invite friends and family to join you at HPAC on Saturday November 21 at 6:00pm or Sunday November 22 at 9 or 11am.

Exercise, exercise, exercise

I went back to work on a 6 month contract, AND I'm trying to complete some programming projects that I picked up while I was laid off - so I've gone from a lazy summer to a crazy-busy fall.

My frequency of exercise had gotten so bad (infrequent) that I even started to notice symptoms getting significantly worse. There were times at work when my hand would shake so much I would need to put it back down on my lap and concentrate on relaxing before 'trying again' to type.

I knew I needed to get back on the bike. I've been more consistent in the last few days than I have for the previous month, and I can definitely feel the difference.

A great friend at church has offered to help me commit to getting up in the morning on time to exercise. It's such a blessing to have good people 'in my corner'.

I've been asked - do you bike indoors or outdoors? It's indoors - this is my bike;

With my balance, it's best to be low to the ground. It's also a big timesaver as I don't have to get dressed or even put shoes on to get started - and I don't need a helmet  :-)

Here's my biking chart from runningahead.com. Notice the big gaps. I'm targeting consistency as well as pace for the next while.

Typos

I'm goig to try typing without correcting and see what comes up. I'm finding I spend alot of my time lately sjust fixing my mistakes or typos. Hmm, of course it's not happening now that I'm determined to have you see the "rwaw" datea. Maybe another time I can put on a real show with all the double hits and taranaspostions etc. I just wanted to put "down on paper" the reason for someof my frustratioiin. Right now, it's actuaally not so bad thoough. Strange,eh?

Corrected below;

I'm going to try typing without correcting and see what comes up. I'm finding I spend a lot of my time lately just fixing my mistakes or typos. Hmm, of course it's not happening now that I'm determined to have you see the "raw" data. Maybe another time I can put on a real show with all the double hits and transpositions etc. I just wanted to put "down on paper" the reason for some of my frustration. Right now, it's actually not so bad though. Strange,eh?

Exercise gaps

It seems even unemployed people get busier in the fall. I biked today, but the last time was a full week ago. In some ways it feels like starting over, but I did have some good 'sprints' and ended up with a respectable pace.
Tomorrow I have an interview in Waterloo, and Friday a meeting in Troy so those two days I won't be biking either  :-(

CoQ10 Screening

Today was my "screening" visit for a CoEnzymeQ10 study I hope to be participating in. Basically it involved handing over some blood and urine (mine), and answering some questions. Some of the cognitive questions are really indicative of where PD has the potential to take someone (along the dimentia route). Questions like; what city are we in? what day is it? (actually, that was a tough one - I never know what day it is). My brain was working pretty well today so I got 31 correct answers (out of 31 questions - woohoo!).
If there's anything drastically wrong with my blood or urine, I could still be excluded from the study - but then would be working on fixing some other health problem :-)
To stay in the study, I can't start any symptom relief medication (the study lasts for 16 months) - so I'll have to get more comfortable with this shaking, and get my exercise level up to higher levels so that "runners high" can kick in more often. Dropping out of the study would be a big waste, as I would still be included as one of the 600 study participants but my results wouldn't be used.