Ahhh! Muffin top strikes again.

I love the fall and Halloween, but putting those jeans on is horribly depressing. Muffin top, okay, who the heck came up with that term. I don't even eat muffins! I've been going to the gym all summer and watching, most of the time, what I eat, but it's not as I had hoped. It be just lovely one fall afternoon to slip on my jeans and zip them up with out thinking *#@&!

I know I'm 50 now and things are different but I'm going to the gym every day now, rather then three a weak, and watching my weight watcher points in hopes of being able to wear a snug top with my jeans. (I want my matabolisum back!)

I know this is small stuff and has nothing to do with my legs, but it's helpful to bitch. (Now if I've offended anyone with that word, sorry. Hell, you should hear me with my girl friends, and I found out at a wedding this weekend that my cousin-in-laws are loose lipped too! It's just fun to let it all hang out sometimes.)

9:05 p.m.

Flat Rock Speedway - ZOOM!!!!!

It's been a while since I've written in my blog, often times life gets in the way. Besides, the weather has been beautiful and I've been playing around with my stamping/card making stuff too. So, besides the things that I should do, I have too many other things that I want to do.

Anyways on the 5th of September we went to Flat Rock Speed Way. What is that? Well, it's about one of the most fun places to be, if you don't mind a sore fanny from a hard seat and really loud cars. zoom, zoom, zoom!!

Flat Rock Speedway is a race track for stock cars. Stock cars are cars in the sense that they were once an actual model. Their former identity can be seen if you look closely. However what is really seen are the enhancements for safety in the frame and within the vehicle, leaving room for only the driver wearing fire retardent clothing. Sheets of metal advertising the sponsors are attached to the framework, perhaps by a staple gun. The sheets of metal stay on during the races, yet after a collision, I've seen a good deal of brute force put things right.

Once the cars started their time trials my blood started flowing. The weariness I felt during the long drive had vanished. After the time trials were finished they began to prepare for the first race. I went down to the black top walk way in front of the stands, where I kept my distance from the fence as required. I walked down as the tightly packed swarm of cars circled the track. Once seeing the white flag I turned and to headed back. I slowed and stopped, hearing the engines surging as they approached the green flag. I made sure that I was far enough from the flag so that the cars would be tearing into the race as they passed me. I looked over and saw the fag flapping madly in the air and heard the rumble of the engines as they swiftly headed toward me. As they swept past me my rib cage vibrated with their roar. An involentary smile spread across my face as I felt that surge of excitement that has always been there at Flat Rock.

As they thundered past I could imagine the tension and concentration in each driver. These are not professionals in the sense of NASCAR, but guys working hard, racing hard, and playing hard I'm sure. In the pit were flat bed trailers and the necessary people, much of the the friends and family were up in the stands. At times words could be heard from one group to another. It was a definite indication of dissatisfaction which would then lead to more colorful speeches. This last race was entertaining without any complications. Years ago the County Sheriff ran up into the stands to preserve the peace. This time I didn't see any Sheriff only security guards, oh and beer.

When I was a young my family went a few times each summer. Back then it was a dirt track and the the cars seemed bigger and bulkier. That's the way I remember it. My dad was dead familiar with the racing. He had known a man who raced back then. So, we always cheered for him. Dad had done some racing, for fun not competition. I have found some interesting pictures of my dad sitting in a car giving the camera the bird with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve. That was Dad, cars, motorcycles, and airplanes. The colorful information was withheld until my later years. I wish I had heard more.

What is Spastic Paraplegia

I'm afraid that I'm rather limited in my ability to define the disease. I know what's going on but to describe it and sound somewhat intelligent is not easy for me. The best I can tell you is that it's a royal pain in the ass. I figure that's rather insufficient so I'm going to do try a little harder. I will resort to copying off the web sight.

HSP (hereditary spastic paraplegia) and PLS (primary lateral sclerosis) are caused by degeneration of the upper motor neurons. Upper motor neurons are the nerve cells that control voluntary movement. They are located on the motor cortex of the brain and carry messages to the brain stem and spinal cord. They connect to other nerves called "lower motor neurons:, which carry the messages out to the muscles to tell them to move.

When there is degeneration in the upper motor neurons, messages cannot adequately reach the lower motor neurons and their messages to the corresponding muscles are impaired. This causes the muscles to be weak and muscle tone to be increased, resulting in stiffness or spasticity.

In both HSP and PLS, nerve degeneration occurs in the lower part of the spinal cord, resulting in weakness and spasticity in the lower body. In PLS, degeneration also occurs in higher regions in the spinal cord and brainstem, causing weakness and spasticity in the arms, slurred speech and difficulty swallowing. This can also happen to a smaller degree in HSP.

Since the HSP and PLS share the same lower body symptoms the true diagnosis is usually discovered over time as symptoms develope.

Dr. Fink has called my case ASP (apparently sparatic paraplegia), since I couldnt' find anyone in the family who had a problem. My cousin Maggie had been a nurse in England and she once came across a patient prepared for surgery and SP was on her chart. I suppose they just called it that. It's all the same really.

All this information, and more, can be found at http://www.sp-foundation.org/. *("And now for something completely different.")

*Monty Python

4:15 p.m.