Compare and contrast - Before and After

So this is what I do when school is out...with so much free time on my hands. Look to the left and look to the right...This past weekend we celebrated out first year weddign anniversary - in Vermont!!Fitz and Olivia have nothing on us :) Dennz and I had a ball...like thebomb.com...the hiking the biking, the green pastures it was super!!Pics and the story to follow...But in the meantime...we came to find out maples syrup is made in Vermont...Yani they have real maple tree- they even give a little tour - which we missed sigh...But anyway we found a maple farmer from whome we bought maple syrup from - Exhibit B...The one on the left duh (and I am not trying to bash Market B) it is store products in general...Look at what comes out of the tree and look at what we pick up at the local grocery store...It has got me thinking alot about food and GMO stuff and all this other processed sugars they put in food - no wonder if you compare someones pics when they were FOB and compared to now you can go like say what???So anyhu just a little pic of the before and after

Still Alice - of Alzheimers and Dementia

This blog post is dedicated to my aunt who is living with Alzheimers.A dedication to the laughter, the Christmas gifts - she used to go around making sure each family member got a Christmas gift and Oh what a dotting grandmother she is.The happier times we had growing up - you will always be Aunty Wanjiru.

There are only two diseases that make me sad. Well make that three - Alzheimers dementia, Multiple sclerosis , Huntingtons disease oh make that four and ALS. Actually let me take that back. Any disease that is neuro-debilitating makes me sad to my soul. These are disease that eat away at the neurons of our body. They are mostly auto- immune - the body for some weird reason is fighting off its own neurological system.The geek in me is fascinated by the science behind it all - a body destroying its own body? *sips tea*. But the human in me has a heart that breaks every time I hear stories of patients of their lives before Alzheimers. Here is a link you need to see its short I promise Still Alice.

 I read the book Still Alice and it moved me to tears - absolute tears. I have not even watched the movie..Today at work I walk in to a patients room. Her husband was holding her hand and he was watching TV.She was staring into oblivion - a blank stare on her face. He turned off the TV when I walked in and begun talking and talking and talking some more... He told me all about her. About them. He told me they met in college. Graduate school. She was studying for her Masters in English. She was a Literature professor.They lived in Brockton.They have a son and two daughters. I sit down and listen.He continues how they traveled the world together. I gulp down saliva as I look at the lady he is talking about. Can barely recognize where or who she is. He continues with a distant look in his eyes. We had good times together. He pulls her arm closer as he says, " But now I doubt she even recognizes me." I sigh. He continues to say he does not know anyone in her family who had Alzheimers. 

The reason neuro debilitative - jeez what a mouthful...neurodebilitative diseases sadden me is that you re like a mind stuck within a body that you do not recognize. You can hear, you can smell you can taste but you just cannot be able to connect the dots of all these senses. Where you look at a cat and say the word dog. Where you use a toothbrush to brush your hair. You pick up sphagetti with a knife. You look at your husband and call him brother Jim.You just cannot connect the dots. I have worked with patients with Alzheimers for a while and you see their frustration, you hear that voice crying out for help trapped in this body they have no control over.

So take time to be patient with your loved ones, love on them, hold their hand until they cannot hold yours any longer. Take in the emotions - even if they call you Mama Joe and yet you are sister Mary. For somewhere tucked behind all the confusion , forgetfulness and blank stares are memories and laughter and joy that no disease can take away...

" People will forget what you said and what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel. 

*Crickets crickets*

.....Before you read this post if you have not already watched the video that happened at a pool party in Mc Kinney Texas this past weekend it is here attached
McKinney Texas pool party police brutality...
So I do nursing home visits -  go to peoples homes assess their medical condition do their medications etc.I actually enjoy it and one of the main reasons - there is so much flexibility as a nurse to actually sit and LISTEN and meet your patients where they feel most empowered. Go through their family albums listen to their stories it is just awesome.
..So today I was at Mr. X home it was around noon. We chatted with the daughter she told me she was cop - she does training of other cops in the academy etc etc So like I said it was noon. So the noon news came on and his daughter was present.So they showed a segment of the video posted above of the pool party that turned ugly with the cop shoving the African American girl to the ground. So the lady goes like what a horrible thing that was, Immediately there was a heavy silence in the room like you could hear the proverbial crickets crickets. As she looked at me as she said those words. Both of us on eitherside of the spectrum. Here a cop and me the African American kid. Both of us with our own 2 cents on matters of race and police brutality which we would of course not care to share at that moment. I immediately killed the vibe and went like Mr. X how is your pain? You could feel the cloud lift from the room. The home visit was short lived from here. But anyway for me the whole video just made me wonder - while yes from what I heard the pool party had become unruly I ust winder was that force necessary? The girl in teh video looks barely 15. Liek the cop is holding her head pushign it down as he has both his knees on her back. Surely will she not be traumatized after this incident?
Its so ironical that McKinney Texas - where the incident happened is ranked THE BEST state to live in America - which begs the question ina country where the president is not above the law why does it feel like the boys in blue can use so much force and get "leaves of abscences from work until the dust settles?" These are my midnight musings ...

We did it!!!

So  I am so excited our first year anniversary is coming up in a few days...It so strange but I am actually more excited than I was for the wedding - (sssh dont tell the hubby). For some reason it is so exciting - I am like yay first year anniversary!!!Everyone at work and their mother knows this weekend I will be mteja.. And yes we are going " mashambani" as Dennis says lol...So we wanted somwhere low key that would not break the bank..You know, somwhere we would not feel the pressure of okay there are jet skiis, paragliding etc - that was great for the honey moon. But this one year anniversary we are very low key - of course I needed to throw in some Olivia and Fitz drama. so I chose Vermont. First it is three hours away - so bonding time pap!!Long rides with your partner are a great way to just talk and laugh in this technology laden world... So yes somwhere we could drive too that is not necessarily new york. And of course I am hoping Dennz can teach me how to milk a cow as he is always bragging how

he is bingwa of cow milking...Either way Vermont is chill - and thats what we want to just sit back reflect and thank God for the amazing year that has been,

Oh so the picture up here you see - I was on wedding wire - dont ask - actually giving our DJ a review and I stumbled upon that on my profile page today and went like oh em gee I remember when I used to look at that section and see 110 days until the wedding and here we are 361 days later..I would do June 14th all over again - the planning not somuch but the happiness the vows the first kiss at the altar, the first dance the bridal party our families I would do it all over again!!

So cheers to many more anniversaries many more celebrations and happier days ahead!!

Here is the song that I am absolutely in love with this anniversary week 

Ed Sheeran - thinking out loud

Kitabu Junkie

So I had started a blog called kitabu junkie...I wanted it to be primarily to blog about books like a book review blog...But as always I lost the log in URL and this and that...so anyhu I will squeeze in the books I read this summer here... I am calling it my facebook free summer and challenging myself to A book a week summer...So this week I am reading Untouchables by Narenda Jadhav....It is the story retold of an Indian family that was born into the lowest category of the caste system. Yani they were considered the scum on the ground by the higher castes.yani like poop...Heh we used to learn about these castes in Histo but until I read this book I had no idea how bad it was...Yani they could not even touch or come near anyone from a higher caste...So anyway this man is on a quest to get his family out of this lifestyle..he wants them to get an education etc so he defies the rules he is even beaten he runs away with his whole family...and that is where I am...

My first (well sorta) 5 k

So this past weekend we run well walked our first 5 k...I enjoyed lakini Dennz said I was slowing him down lol but he waited and waited - reminded me of a movie with the title Never leave your partner behind..on training some firemen on never leaving their partner behind...So anyhu here we are at the 3k mark taking a lemonade break and a ka selfie...yani how is it we look the same as we did in 2008...love this man for sheezy!!