A week of Lyme Disease Awareness events

Phew! What a week is the week that was! I tried to post updates, but that didn't happen. So here is a short summary.
Actually, it started late in April, with a meeting at the Brampton City Council to receive the official proclamation of Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Friend and staunch supporter Joe went with me.

Tweeted by the Mayor, Susan Fennell, while addressing Council. 

Formal picture taking afterwards

On May 2, This story was printed in the Brampton Guardian on May 2, 2013. Lead-in for Lyme Awareness. Dogs can get treated in Canada for Lyme, humans not .... http://www.bramptonguardian.com/print/1602126

Jenni, who designed our tick, and I in 2012

The story was picked up all around North America, in some two dozen or more publications and online news webs.

May 3-5 was filled with a Lyme Disease awareness table at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario. Three days, talking to hundreds of people, handing out brochures, collecting signatures and helping people to know that the disease is out there. What was very scary, is that of the about 500 people who stopped to talk, only about 20 didn't know about the disease. All the rest either had Lyme themselves and struggled to get a diagnosis or treatment, or they had a very close family member with Lyme disease. This is a huge change from two years ago, when maybe one in four people I talked to, knew about Lyme disease.

CanLyme table at the RBG Home Show

May 6 - a meeting with a group of lady friends, all supportive of the struggles we Lymies experience. There were 8 of us, and all of us wearing Lyme ribbons for awareness!

Green Ribbon supporters

May 7 - CARP, the organization for Canadians as we age, is a group I've belonged to for some years. Yes, I'm over 50! They had a meeting in Brampton to start a new chapter and Moses Znaimer was going to be there. I attended - fully intending to get the ear of whoever was willing to listen. Got talking to Susan Eng, Vice President for Advocacy at CARP. I'll follow up for sure. (Blog post) 

I'm sure more things happened on May 8 and 9, but then on May 10, we went off to Whitby to listen to Dr. Ernie Murakami and to spend the night at the house of LymeSavers president, Kevin and his family. There were about 120 people who came to listen, ask questions, give feedback and share stories. 

The LymedOut blogger in person! 

Dr. Ernie, sports fan, watching hockey in a Blue Jays jersey

Then of course, the next morning started with my husband finding the huge tick on a dog, and us removing it. That post is on this blog if you haven't seen it. The ticks are out there! Please be aware! 

May 11 was cold and windy --- but the LymeSavers were out in force for the first event of the new charity!

Pictures will follow. 

Dinner in Toronto, then off to the CN Tower to see the green lights, as you have seen on this blog. 

Sunday - Mother's Day here -- I spent resting and enjoying a dinner later as prepared by my family! Thanks, guys, all of you! I only asked for ice cream and we went out to enjoy a bit of 31 flavours. 

And today --- just before diving into the Brampton Lyme Disease Awareness Day and the green lights on the Falls, I've just had confirmation that Calgary's Langevin bridge will turn green! The lights will be on from midnight on Friday to sunrise, and again from dark on Saturday to midnight. Hope Lymies in Calgary can be out in force! 

Calgary's Langevin Bridge will go green! 

Their Facebook page will post about the green lights on the bridge, and I believe there will be Twitter messages as well. I've asked them to include the #lymeprotest and #lymeaction on Twitter for us to pick up and send on. 

All in all, an exciting week!

See you on Friday at the green lights on Niagara Falls, and on Saturday in Brampton for the second Lyme Awareness Day!

Green lights for Lyme on CN Tower

Finally the day arrived: May 11 - the day when Toronto's famous landmark, the CN Tower, would go green for Lyme Disease Awareness!

It was cold and breezy and with lots of construction around the tower, it was an adventure to get ourselves down to the assigned spot. But Lymies are nothing if not determined. About 30 of us walked, drove, shuttled and subwayed ourselves to the foot of the tower.

We were disappointed, though, when the green wasn't solid as promised, but mixed with blue. It was very hard to take proper pictures, showing green from bottom to top! We figured the blue was mixed in for the Maple Leafs or Blue Jays (sports teams, for those who, like me, don't really know sports).

But that didn't put a damper on us. We laughed, made fun, hugged, swung glow sticks, bopped each other with blow-up flags, bounced and jumped to stay warm and generally had fun!

Pictures are uploaded to an online album but will be shared here too. Oh and I just had an email that another Canadian icon will go green on Saturday ... more info to follow as soon as it is confirmed! It is in another province, and we hope pictures will follow!

So -- a group of us arrived at the CN Tower before sundown, which was after 8 pm. We had to traipse and walk and encounter detours, climb over construction, watch out for walls and generally walk way more than we bargained for! But we met under the Canadian flag as planned, thanks to Mary who scouted out the place before the time.

As darkness approached, we could see the colour starting to show on the tower.

But it kept getting blue in there as well, which made it very difficult to get pictures!

Nice one with green at top and bottom, and just a little blue in the middle, as the lights were changing.

Arno behind the camera, trying to capture some pictures while the tower was green.

Canadian flag waving in the corner.

The group gathering at the tower, wrapped and layered against the cold!

Kevin and I -- moving as Arno tried to get a shot. I think it is kind of cool, though, with the tower green and the moving heads in front!

Cari and Kevin in front of the tower.

Cold people chatting. Yes, it is Canada, but this was the middle of May and we didn't expect temps that low! In fact, the next day there was snow in the air.

Mary, Debra and I in front of the green tower.

Grandma and grandkids in front of the green tower, holding signs that said .....

... I was only 5 years old when my Nannie got sick; and I have never seen my Nannie well, but I would really like to!

Bob seems to be a little chilly .... he wasn't wearing enough layers!

Our photographer for the group shot, Arno, on his back on the ground, taking the picture upside-down! Some kind soul thought to keep him warm with a green blankie .....

Now we are getting ready for the green lights on Niagara Falls on Friday, May 17! People are driving over from the USA, driving down from all over Ontario, and flying out from BC and Nova Scotia. 

Remember to those who are driving to Niagara Falls, there is paid parking all over the place and you can buy a pass for the WeGo buses (formerly Peoplemovers). Parking is usually free by the Floral Clock and the buses should pick up there too. LINK: WeGo

Meeting place for the green lights on the Falls: Table Rock at the Horseshoe Falls. First block of green lights is at 9:00 pm for 15 minutes.  See you there!

Original post on this blog about the green CN Tower: Tower will go green!

Decluttering, Gratitude and Cards

 Quick Lyme update: Things were really going well lately and I'm trying to get off the medication. However, on Sunday there was a reminder by getting the tummy to rebel and chase me to my knees just as we were ready to leave the house! Spent some time there; not even water would stay down. Body went into shock, chills and shivers and the whole lot, so back to huddle under the soft blanket second-born son gave me for Christmas. We were planning all sorts of fun things for Sunday, which of course didn't happen. Bleh!

Tonight Jess and I will be doing a presentation in Vaughan to a group of women. Usually after such an event, we walk away with contacts, future helpers and others to carry out the message and the information to warn their own loved ones about this disease.

Decluttering

How are you doing with decluttering and maybe trying the 40 Bag Challenge as posted before? I've done several sections in the home; maybe recycled or threw out about 7 or 8 bags out so far, plus various items like a wheeled chair, set of 12 cups and saucers, and so on. Oh and my cleaning cabinet looks a whole lot better after sorting all those bottles and containers, combining some that were the same, or disposing of some that were not used completely. I much prefer to use natural cleaners and fresheners and have found several hints all over the web!

A lemon and rock salt freshener has been put to use already and seems to take on the cat litter boxes with gusto. I've used an empty cat food container, washed off the label and stuck on a note about what it now contains plus the date. A tissue or two keeps the lemon upright in the container. The freshener is supposed to be effective for about two months. Of course it is affordable enough to make more, even if it only lasts a month or so!

The original idea comes from Abundance on a Dime: Six Natural & Cheap Ways to Freshen Up Your Home

As for cleaning up and throwing out, this is what the cleaning cabinet now looks like after a whole bunch of things went out of there! 
Several empty spray bottles will find a new home with someone else and first-born son is still using Febreze for his car, after the previous owner's dogs had a stinky mishap on the carpeting .... The empty plastic container in the foreground contains cleaning rags which were created by pulling an old sheet into squares. Wonderful for all sorts of jobs and just to toss into the washing machine!

Cards

One of the things that I've been trying to do better, is to send out cards to friends. Christmas cards go out every year, but I meant other cards - thank you or gratitude cards, birthday cards, sympathy cards, friendship cards --- Work always seemed to get in the way and I'd be too tired to go to the store or forget to create and mail one in time. Then, in September 2012, I discovered an online gem! I've been using them since then. Yes, it can be a pyramid scheme but I'm not interested in that - only in the ease of creating and sending out cards. Even at midnight if I remember that so-and-so would need a card, I can pull up the laptop, create the card, tell when it should be sent, and be done with it. Voila!

The cards are great quality and everyone who received one, commented on the fact that it was personalized with their name printed right inside. I guess I've sent out over 150 folded cards and postcards since September, to locations all over the world. It is so easy and I think it is cheaper than driving to a store, picking out a card and sending it off. Using your own pictures or graphics make the card a little more expensive, but still not that much, and it is so much fun! Creating campaigns to group friends or family together, make it a cinch to add another recipient to an already created card. And no, I don't get anything for passing on this information!

How does it work (cards)?

World Wide Lyme Disease awareness, May 2013

We're still busy with the plans for WorldWideLyme (Canada) protest in May.  The specific plans will be announced according to availability of volunteers and the like, but you can look on Facebook (even if you're not a member) to see which countries are already part of the movement. Here is the original page: WorldWideLymeProtest  

If you would like to do something in your area, or be part of a group planning some awareness event, please post to the Facegroup page if you're a member, or a comment at the bottom of this post in the "Comments" link, please! 

Be well, be happy, be strong.