Friends,
Parking Lot will be re-paved
Good news, bad news. The good news is that we will be getting our parking lot re-paved. The bad news is this is a big job and we will need to close two Fridays coming up.
We worked around it so we can be open on Wednesdays but in order to utilize the weekends, we will need to be closed Friday, May 19th and Friday, May 26th.
We will still be riding bikes at 7:00am on those Fridays if the weather cooperates.
We had Tom Holtackers scheduled for a discussion on emotional health on May 26th. This has been rescheduled to Friday, June 9th.
Alison’s Presentation on Hydration was awesome!
Alison gave an awesome and timely presentation on hydration as we ramp up for our day of endurance adventures and the weather warms up. Here’s a link to Alison’s pdf of slides used for her presentation. Click Here to download.
I loved how so many people engaged and asked questions. This is critical information; especially for those of us who live with MS. Proper hydration can reduce our MS symptoms.
Traci took Rich and Donna on a nice bike ride
It’s always fun to get people riding trikes. Traci took Rich and Donna for a couple nice rides through the industrial park. It was awesome seeing Donna pedaling by the time they got back and Rich was just as strong as he was when he left. Traci…well, she might have been a little tired by the time she was done.
So much fun!
Students are back!
Dr Becky Thomas, Dr Sarah Andreucci and their Physical Therapy Assistance students from Bryant Stratton College are back on Wednesdays. We have 16 students joining us this semester. This is an excellent opportunitity for the students to gain knowledge about people living with MS and get some hands on experience. It’s also beneficial for us living with MS to learn from the students and their leaders.
Parking Etiquette
We have more people coming who are using walkers, poles, canes, crutches, wheelchairs, etc. For us who are able to walk without assistance, let’s leave the blacktop parking for those who are challenged to walk or can’t walk and park on the gravel section.
We also have permission to park across the street in the Acuity Foam parking lot. Feel free to park there as well. Thanks for your cooperation!
Friday Morning Bike Rides
We had 26 people show up for our bike ride last Friday. It was a little clunky getting everyone on bikes but once we got going, we had a great ride despite a few mechanical issues. It’ll get smoother as we learn who is going to show up consistently and have the bikes adjusted for them. Thanks for being patient!
We have a 60% chance of rain on Friday. If it’s not raining at 7:00am, we will ride. Hopefully, we can beat those odds and get our ride in before it rains.
We’ll be meeting Friday mornings at 7:00am at Nettesheim Park in Pewaukee. It’s on the SE corner of Hwy SS and Oak Street. The GPS address is: N26W27495 Prospect Ave, Pewaukee, WI 53072. Come a little early so you can get your bike out of your car and be ready to ride as close to 7:00 as possible. We’ll ride until about 8:45. Let’s ride and have some fun!
For those who wish you could join us but can’t; please know we have you in our hearts on these rides. We’re riding with you and for you. I hope you too can join us someday. We really need to get this MS thing figured out. Let’s keep working on it together.
Rest, Recovery, Wellness and Safety
We are having biweekly workshops that focus on achieving our fitness goals and preventing injuries. They will be the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month from 11am – 12pm. Please join us for hands on activities and learn how to rest, recover, be well and stay safe.
Upcoming Topics:
This Friday May 12th – Linda Catterson will be doing a presentation on energy work leading up to an introduction to Therese from Eden of Energy in Minnesota who will be in town on the 19th. Be sure to make this presentation with Linda this Friday, you’ll learn how you can make yourself feel better.
Unfortunately, due to the driveway getting paved, we will be closed on the 19th. If you’d like to meet Therese, please make arrangements with Linda. Perhaps you can meet up somewhere else in the area. I’m sorry about not being open on the 19th. The new blacktop will be nice for the long run.
“Join Reiki Linda as she introduces Eden Energy Medicine (EEM) to the gym. EEM was developed by Donna Eden who was diagnosed with MS at the age of 16. After fifteen years, Donna decided to find her own way of dealing with her symptoms after doctors told her there was nothing else they could do. It took her two years, but she has been almost symptom free ever since!
Linda will lead the group through ten simple techniques designed to get your energy flowing. You will feel calm and refreshed after the class.
These techniques can be done from a sitting and/or standing position, and with one or both functional arm(s).”
Linda will not be doing Reiki during the time she’s presenting so please plan accordingly.
May 26th – Closed for paving parking lot
June 9th – Tom Holtackers will facilitate a discussion about emotional health – we can all use help with this. Living with MS is not easy.
June 23rd – To be determined
Future topics could include: emotional health, nutrition, yoga, tai chi, wellness topics, safe use of gym equipment for your body and more. What topics would you like to see? Please let Joan, Traci, Ricky or Dan know
Golf Outing June 30th – We need your help…and Golfers!
Do you golf? Would you consider golfing with us and for us? We have room for more golfers and would love to have you join us. There are brochures about it at the gym.
We also need help with silent auction items and creating baskets for the raffle at “Teed Off at MS”, ePlatinum Health’s annual golf scramble.
We are looking for donations of new items to create raffle baskets. Popular items have included: tickets to sports games; camping gear, picnic items, gift certificates to local shops and restaurants.
If you have a personal relationship with a local business, please ask them if they’d be willing to donate to benefit our gym.
Please either bring the items to the gym or let Rick Talbert know about it. We would appreciate your help with this…thank you in advance!
Day of Endurance Journey – Progress – Let’s share!
It’s time to record our progress again 😊. This Sunday, May 14th concludes another two-week period. They go by fast!
Each two-week period, let’s record our longest distance or time of each event we’re working toward for the “Day of Endurance”. Along with that, let’s share a few words about how we felt after our long event for the two-week period leading up to the day of endurance on August 26th. That’s it!
Each two-week period, let’s try to do just a little more than the last two-week period and record (share) it again.
Let’s enjoy our journey…together!
COVID
We had one person test positive for COVID this past week. Bummer! It’s still around so let’s not let our guard down and do what we need to do to stay safe.
To all who have reported their positive testing to me…thank you for letting me know and for being socially responsible and staying away until your symptoms are all cleared up. If you do come down with it, it’s important we let people know that you have been in close contact with so they can watch for symptoms and help stop the spread.
We’ve all been dealing with COVID long enough and are very well educated on it by now. I’m not telling you what to do but I’d highly encourage you to wear a mask again if you haven’t had it recently. Let’s make good choices and be safe.
Please stay home if you have any symptoms or know you’ve been exposed to someone with the virus. Please don’t come until your symptoms go away. Let’s also give each other some space when talking to one another and continue wiping the machines down before and after you use them with disinfectant. Again…let’s be socially responsible and stay safe!
Let’s get together!
We’ll be getting together again from 9:00am – noon on Wednesday and Friday mornings at the gym. I hope you’ll join us!
Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
Prayer Group We’ll be having our prayer group Wednesday @ 11:00am.
I just love the way we share, pray and laugh together while we witness prayers being answered weekly. It’s truly amazing!
Thanks goes to God and to everyone that joins us. Let’s get together to share, listen, talk, give thanks, and pray however God leads us.
MS Just Keep Caring – Our Caregivers support group will be the first and third Friday of each month from 10:00 – 10:30am. The next one would be Friday, May 19th but we will be closed for parking lot paving so we will not be having it then. We’ll pick it back up on Friday, June 2nd. If you’re a caregiver of someone you love with MS, please join us and share your experience of caring for your loved one. This has been very helpful for many. Thanks to all who participate!
Our Facebook page is private. That means you’ll need to join if you want access to all our fun and progress. We’re now up to 378 members. That’s up 14 from last week…awesome! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709
Our Facebook page is very active and fun. Lots of people are doing more and sharing their journey on Facebook. Feel free to join, post and share your experiences and comments.
There were some awesome pictures, videos and comments shared again this past week. Thank you to all who are sharing!
Thai Massage with Ricky Heldt
Ricky will be here Wednesday and Friday doing Thai Massage. Ricky says he is comfortable to work with you even if you’re not wearing a mask. Ricky will continue to wear one to protect you.
Many continue making great progress with chronic pain relief, range of motion, walking better and a new sense of hope when Ricky works with them. Please keep in mind that consistency is key. Not only with Ricky…with exercise too. We need consistency to realize the benefits long term. We want you to have long term benefits and relief.
Ricky has a sign up sheet based on first come first serve. You can pick the time slot that works for you. I highly encourage you to take advantage of Ricky’s Thai Massages each day and sign up for your time slot as soon as you get there.
Reiki with Linda Linda will be here on Fridays doing Reiki. Many people say Linda’s Reiki work is “magical”. We’re thankful for Linda sharing her gifts and talents to us. Feel free to let Linda know you’d like to do Reiki with her. She also has a sign up sheet.
Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert
We’ll be having our inspirational humor zoom call with Adam again next Tuesday. Adam is a gift to all of us. Thanks to all who joined us today!
Please join us if you can.
Tuesdays @ 1:30PM
Here’s the link to join us…I hope you do!
Join Zoom Meeting with this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9431389152?pwd=bWlYbFNaazVnM1M1cWxWMitlODdXUT09
Meeting ID: 943 138 9152
Passcode: 3qP2hu
Phone: 1-312-626-6799
Let’s reach out
I encourage you to share a smile and encouragement with someone. Perhaps you could call someone that you have not talked with for a while just to say hi and see how they are doing. We all could use a little extra love and encouragement.
MS is tough. Let us have faith, remain calm, be flexible, help each other and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices.
Let’s keep moving and smiling 😊
In God We Trust…we are in good hands.
Dan
P.S. This past week Larry, Cal and I went for a walk with our cameras at Nashotah Park. It didn’t take Cal long to spot a lady bug in a pine tree
As Larry and I were walking along, Cal dropped back and saw some nice light in the trees to use as a background.
We had a beautiful morning to be out there. Larry stayed pretty focused.
We came across a big dead log that looked like a playground for some critters
Of course, Cal thought it would be a fun place to play. We can’t forget how to play, can we Cal?
Larry spotted a couple wood ducks and got a nice shot
Larry was having fun too!
Cal spotted a little finch chirping away
The red-winged blackbirds were singing too
Larry spotted some turkey vultures on top of a tree. They don’t have the cutest faces.
The sandhill cranes are beautiful birds
We even found what I believe is a green crane.
As you can see, we had a beautiful walk together and some great conversations as well.
For those of you who can’t get out and enjoy nature due your challenges with MS…my heart is with you. You are with me every time I’m out there. I enjoy being out there and I also enjoy sharing with you. I know how hard it is not to be able to get out and enjoy nature. Let’s enjoy nature and God’s beauty together this way.