Category: Out & About

Health, Hope & Hops

Allyuh ever buy a ticket to go somewhere just because? U know nothing about it and have zero expectations and as u buying the ticket, u say, “well self. how bad can it be? I mean, it have alcohol so…jes buy the ticket.” And then u go and u have the time of your life? That was me with Health, Hope & Hops last year. Lol. It’s an annual fundraiser held by the MSCA.  I’d seen the emails for it before but never went. I don’t remember what made me decide to buy a ticket last year…actually….now I think about it, every year since i put them together, Claire the organiser, avidly works with Aunty P at the Men Who Can Cook event so I decided to go to support Claire. Besides, that meant that i was doing my part to ensure that the MSCA stayed in business – I need it. i bought my ticket.  Soon after, G told me that she was going to be here that week so we organised for her too.

“HH&H” is held at a brewery in downtown Atlanta on a Thursday night. It starts with a complimentary cocktail hour between 6 and 7 followed by a 4 course dinner that’s “MS healthy and prepared personally for the evening”. Each course is paired with either beer or wine. G got there right around 6 (cuz she wasn’t working that far away) and took advantage of the cocktail hour. By the time I got there at 6:45ish I was able to get a margarita that was the worst I’d drunk in my life so the evening really started on shaky ground -I eh go lie. There were a few opening remarks and then everything really began. We didn’t know what to expect, so we figured that based on the menu choices, we’d divide and conquer so that between us, we’d get a taste of everything.  Well. What we didn’t know was that everybody got everything on the menu and we didn’t get beer OR wine, we got beer AND wine with each course if u so chose – we chose. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the waiters weren’t stingy with anything.  Thinking back, neither of us can really pinpoint any ONE thing that made the night so good.  I guess it was a combination of the food, the people, the cause and last but not least, the ever flowing alcohol. It was a “school” night but we didn’t care…we were having a great time. At the end, I knew that I was never going to miss it again.

This year, it was held on April 19th and I roped in SD, Frit, K and Dom and OB got lucky because he happened to be here. Once again, it didn’t disappoint and Frit even went as far as to to say that it was “the best night he’d had in a long time”. There was a waiter there who seemed familiar to me and I asked him if he was there last year. His reply was yes and he went on to say that he always signs up to work the event because he always has such a good time doing it. G couldn’t be there this year, so I tortured her with pictures throughout the night. Once again, none of us can really pinpoint exactly what it was that made the evening so great, but everyone had a fantastic time.

Both years it was on the 2nd to last Thursday in April, so I’m thinking it’s almost safe to say that that’s when it’s held every year.  If you’re ever in Atlanta around that time and looking for a good time for a good cause, be sure to check it out. Health, Hope & Hops held by the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Atlanta and hosted by the staff at the 5 Seasons Brewery. And guess what? for everything you get out of the night, it is dirt cheap and sooooo worth it.

2017
2018-1 latecomer

Health, Hope & Hops

Allyuh ever buy a ticket to go somewhere just because? U know nothing about it and have zero expectations and as u buying the ticket, u say, “well self. how bad can it be? I mean, it have alcohol so…jes buy the ticket.” And then u go and u have the time of your life? That was me with Health, Hope & Hops last year. Lol. It’s an annual fundraiser held by the MSCA.  I’d seen the emails for it before but never went. I don’t remember what made me decide to buy a ticket last year…actually….now I think about it, every year since i put them together, Claire the organiser, avidly works with Aunty P at the Men Who Can Cook event so I decided to go to support Claire. Besides, that meant that i was doing my part to ensure that the MSCA stayed in business – I need it. i bought my ticket.  Soon after, G told me that she was going to be here that week so we organised for her too.

“HH&H” is held at a brewery in downtown Atlanta on a Thursday night. It starts with a complimentary cocktail hour between 6 and 7 followed by a 4 course dinner that’s “MS healthy and prepared personally for the evening”. Each course is paired with either beer or wine. G got there right around 6 (cuz she wasn’t working that far away) and took advantage of the cocktail hour. By the time I got there at 6:45ish I was able to get a margarita that was the worst I’d drunk in my life so the evening really started on shaky ground -I eh go lie. There were a few opening remarks and then everything really began. We didn’t know what to expect, so we figured that based on the menu choices, we’d divide and conquer so that between us, we’d get a taste of everything.  Well. What we didn’t know was that everybody got everything on the menu and we didn’t get beer OR wine, we got beer AND wine with each course if u so chose – we chose. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the waiters weren’t stingy with anything.  Thinking back, neither of us can really pinpoint any ONE thing that made the night so good.  I guess it was a combination of the food, the people, the cause and last but not least, the ever flowing alcohol. It was a “school” night but we didn’t care…we were having a great time. At the end, I knew that I was never going to miss it again.

This year, it was held on April 19th and I roped in SD, Frit, K and Dom and OB got lucky because he happened to be here. Once again, it didn’t disappoint and Frit even went as far as to to say that it was “the best night he’d had in a long time”. There was a waiter there who seemed familiar to me and I asked him if he was there last year. His reply was yes and he went on to say that he always signs up to work the event because he always has such a good time doing it. G couldn’t be there this year, so I tortured her with pictures throughout the night. Once again, none of us can really pinpoint exactly what it was that made the evening so great, but everyone had a fantastic time.

Both years it was on the 2nd to last Thursday in April, so I’m thinking it’s almost safe to say that that’s when it’s held every year.  If you’re ever in Atlanta around that time and looking for a good time for a good cause, be sure to check it out. Health, Hope & Hops held by the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Atlanta and hosted by the staff at the 5 Seasons Brewery. And guess what? for everything you get out of the night, it is dirt cheap and sooooo worth it.

2017
2018-1 latecomer

My New Challenge

I’ve been M.I.A.  forgive me; I had a visitor.  Allyuh know how it is, when people come from out of state/out of the country. Was a short trip for Obs so was pace right thru. Things are back to normal now, so back to our regularly scheduled program.

a few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a coworker and she told me that she really loves rock climbing.  Some time during the conversation, my disability came up and she said that the facility to which she and her son go has a “disabilities night” if u will. They shut down the facility to able bodied folk (I think) and the disabled can go climb as much as they want.

a little background for u: Sometime within the last 10 years or so a facility called Stone Summit opened in the area where I lived. Discovering that it was a rock climbing facility, I was intrigued but back then I wasn’t into working out one bit (Steups. Ballys gym got 3 years of membership fees from me and if I went 10 times, I went plenty). Anyhoo, as intrigued as I was about the rock climbing, I did nothing about it.  Fast forward to April 2018…

speaking to the chick piqued my interest once again and once she told me about their offer to the disabled, I decided to call Stone Summit (I still live close by). I called and found out that they do not shut down the place for the disabled but there is a group that goes in every Wednesday to climb and that group is specifically “dedicated to providing adaptive adventure opportunities to anyone with a physical disability.” The atlanta chapter offers climbing and cycling.  All I had to do was go to their website to find the information I needed. I emailed the contact and discovered that yes every Wednesday from 7-9, for a $10 fee, I ccould go climb. I just had to complete a few forms and give them the details of my disability. Of course, I was concerned about this bothersome left side of my body but the chick to whom I was speaking said that in some situations, they’d have someone climb with me to help.

What the hell did I have to lose? I knew that if I didn’t go, I’d be mad at myself…I went 2 weeks ago. Did I know what to expect? Nope. Was I nervous? Not at all.  I’ve discovered that I’ve become quite trusting in these kind of situations. Maybe it’s because I have to be? In certain situations, I need help – I cannot deny that. It’s better to get the help than not and who better to help me than someone who deals with the situation all the time. I got there, introductions were made, I was told how things go and I “gearsed up” – my harness and shoes (there are special rock climbing shoes). Since it was my first time I was given the option of climbing the less intimidating wall – I took it.

So right now I’m using the word “climb” very loosely. They actually put me in a pulley rope system they have designed – remember it’s adaptive climbing. So it was a combination of my physically climbing and their using the pulley to get me up (I cyah lie, it was mostly pulley). I only went that one time cuz remember Obs was here for a short time and we had things going on. I had a blast, I actually went up twice and am looking forward to going again. Going forward, I’d like to start climbing more and using the pulley less (that’s my goal). Additionally, there weren’t enuf volunteers that night for someone to climb with me, so hopefully the next time I go, someone will be there who can “be my left side” so to speak. They can place these limbs or at least help to get them where they need to be. I’m heading there tonight, so stay tuned!

Enjoy…

here i am being carried to the wall. had i walked this, we’d just now be getting there
being “pulleyed in”
starting my climb
almost there

 

It's Not Easy Being Me

The Trini way to say this is “it eh easy being me nah” smh…I tell u! Any time I have to stay in a hotel by myself, my biggest concern is “will I be able to climb onto/get off of the bed”. The beds tend to be so frigging high that I may not be able to do so.  Well, I went down to Florida last weekend and my plan was that I’d ask for a cot to be placed in my room cuz surely I’d be able to use the cot if I couldn’t use the bed (I refused to think about whether or not the cot would be too low and still cause problems). So at check-in, I told the fella my concerns and he told me that because I was in a “roll-in room”, the beds were actually not as high as the normal beds (a roll-in room is one with a flat shower that someone in a chair can easily roll in to bathe. I need that because climbing into a tub will not end well for me). He told me to check it out and if I couldn’t get in the bed, he would gladly send a cot up. I got to the room and wouldn’t u know it, I could get in/out easily – no probs…woohoo! Another of my needs (remember I’m high maintenance now), is a stable chair; there’s just no telling what can happen with my using a chair on wheels to do everything I need to do, so why tempt fate? They brought up a chair for me.

I was in a room with 2 beds and I told them to put the chair between the 2 beds…I was set. The second night I was there, it was time to go and sleep and I started climbing into the bed. I guess I misjudged something but the next thing I knew was that I was falling off the bed – I actually remember the night before saying to myself,”oooh Stacey, yuh kinda close to the edge here. Do not fall off this bed.” And so here I was the next night falling off the damn bed. It was fine…I didn’t hit anything or hurt anywhere so was no problem and I landed on my behind. The easiest way for me to get up from the ground is to be on my stomach and push myself up so all I had to do was flip over and restart the process. Well guess what? Allyuh believe that the blasted chair (that I asked them to bring in for me to make my stay easier) made the space between the beds so small that I didn’t have enuf room to easily flip over to get up – damned if u do, damned if u don’t. I couldn’t believe it…steups (of course I had visions of not being able to get up and all sorts of things). I had to do all kinda “manouvre-ings” to get out that space but I did it. It also didn’t take me as long as it could have but geez man is allahdat i hadda go thru?!?

All good things must come to an end so GHK took me to the airport to fly back.  Whenever I fly, I hang my handbag and my carry-on knapsack on the handlebars of my scooter and I hook my luggage on the arm of the scooter and roll it behind me. We pulled up by the curb, I got out and was already sitting on Bumblebee while she got my handbag and knapsack out the car to hang them onto Bumblebee.

Little background here: Soca Scooter’s controls are in front the handlebars (closer to me) so I have gotten in the habit of turning him off whenever we are stopped because it is very easy to hit the controls by mistake and take off unexpectedly (that happens a few times and u learn very quickly to always turn him off). Bumblebee’s controls are behind the handlebars and so his taking off by mistake is less probable so usually, I don’t turn him off (forgive the bad quality of pictures)

Soca Scooter – controls in
Bumblebee – controls out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…back to Florida.
I guess I was maccoing something because at some point, something triggered somewhere in my brain (actually it might have been GHK’s voice that I swear I was hearing in the distance calling my name) and I realised that I was moving. Waitaminute! What the??? Luckily my reflexes kicked into action (thankfully the MS has left those alone) and I was able to avoid driving off the curb because that’s exactly where I was heading. Thing is, I didn’t understand why the hell I was moving and it actually took me a few more seconds to figure out that maybe I should just turn it off. By the time I’d stopped – luckily minus drama of running over anything or anyone (in the airport on the way down, I’d rolled over a little boy’s foot but he didn’t react so I kept it moving) – I discovered that when she hung the bag over the handlebars, it also went over the controls and, well, Bumblebee was on so off we went! There was a porter standing there watching everything unfold and he must have figured we were crazy because of what happened as well as the fact that of course, after it all ended and everything (and everybody) was okay, we started laughing up a storm.

never a dull moment when I’m involved but then I guess if things ran smoothly, life will be lil boring huh?  Hol’ it dong till next week!

It’s Not Easy Being Me

The Trini way to say this is “it eh easy being me nah” smh…I tell u! Any time I have to stay in a hotel by myself, my biggest concern is “will I be able to climb onto/get off of the bed”. The beds tend to be so frigging high that I may not be able to do so.  Well, I went down to Florida last weekend and my plan was that I’d ask for a cot to be placed in my room cuz surely I’d be able to use the cot if I couldn’t use the bed (I refused to think about whether or not the cot would be too low and still cause problems). So at check-in, I told the fella my concerns and he told me that because I was in a “roll-in room”, the beds were actually not as high as the normal beds (a roll-in room is one with a flat shower that someone in a chair can easily roll in to bathe. I need that because climbing into a tub will not end well for me). He told me to check it out and if I couldn’t get in the bed, he would gladly send a cot up. I got to the room and wouldn’t u know it, I could get in/out easily – no probs…woohoo! Another of my needs (remember I’m high maintenance now), is a stable chair; there’s just no telling what can happen with my using a chair on wheels to do everything I need to do, so why tempt fate? They brought up a chair for me.

I was in a room with 2 beds and I told them to put the chair between the 2 beds…I was set. The second night I was there, it was time to go and sleep and I started climbing into the bed. I guess I misjudged something but the next thing I knew was that I was falling off the bed – I actually remember the night before saying to myself,”oooh Stacey, yuh kinda close to the edge here. Do not fall off this bed.” And so here I was the next night falling off the damn bed. It was fine…I didn’t hit anything or hurt anywhere so was no problem and I landed on my behind. The easiest way for me to get up from the ground is to be on my stomach and push myself up so all I had to do was flip over and restart the process. Well guess what? Allyuh believe that the blasted chair (that I asked them to bring in for me to make my stay easier) made the space between the beds so small that I didn’t have enuf room to easily flip over to get up – damned if u do, damned if u don’t. I couldn’t believe it…steups (of course I had visions of not being able to get up and all sorts of things). I had to do all kinda “manouvre-ings” to get out that space but I did it. It also didn’t take me as long as it could have but geez man is allahdat i hadda go thru?!?

All good things must come to an end so GHK took me to the airport to fly back.  Whenever I fly, I hang my handbag and my carry-on knapsack on the handlebars of my scooter and I hook my luggage on the arm of the scooter and roll it behind me. We pulled up by the curb, I got out and was already sitting on Bumblebee while she got my handbag and knapsack out the car to hang them onto Bumblebee.

Little background here: Soca Scooter’s controls are in front the handlebars (closer to me) so I have gotten in the habit of turning him off whenever we are stopped because it is very easy to hit the controls by mistake and take off unexpectedly (that happens a few times and u learn very quickly to always turn him off). Bumblebee’s controls are behind the handlebars and so his taking off by mistake is less probable so usually, I don’t turn him off (forgive the bad quality of pictures)

Soca Scooter – controls in
Bumblebee – controls out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…back to Florida.
I guess I was maccoing something because at some point, something triggered somewhere in my brain (actually it might have been GHK’s voice that I swear I was hearing in the distance calling my name) and I realised that I was moving. Waitaminute! What the??? Luckily my reflexes kicked into action (thankfully the MS has left those alone) and I was able to avoid driving off the curb because that’s exactly where I was heading. Thing is, I didn’t understand why the hell I was moving and it actually took me a few more seconds to figure out that maybe I should just turn it off. By the time I’d stopped – luckily minus drama of running over anything or anyone (in the airport on the way down, I’d rolled over a little boy’s foot but he didn’t react so I kept it moving) – I discovered that when she hung the bag over the handlebars, it also went over the controls and, well, Bumblebee was on so off we went! There was a porter standing there watching everything unfold and he must have figured we were crazy because of what happened as well as the fact that of course, after it all ended and everything (and everybody) was okay, we started laughing up a storm.

never a dull moment when I’m involved but then I guess if things ran smoothly, life will be lil boring huh?  Hol’ it dong till next week!

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