*hangs welcome PrincessCrystal sign in a corner*

In reply to CuteSue (msg # 1):

Thanks, I have missed you guys so much. it is great to be back with you all.

If any one wants an update on the last year or so please let me know and I will try my best to catch you all up to speed.

Please feel free.   I'd love to hear it.   :)

Thanks,

Well lets see.

A year ago this last august my car died and so we had to get a new one and junk the one we had. I fell in love with the new car we got which was a 1999 Pontiac grand prix. it was so good. Had to do work on it to make it look nice and run good.

In June my dad ended up in the hospital a few days before our trip to PA and so we ended up being delayed by a day and I missed out on a day of information on my family history. then in August 2013 My dad started having other problems wrong with him and we did not know what to do, they told us there was fluid on the brain at that time. September came and my dad was starting to improve. they took him to a specialist and finally found out that back in June he had had a stroke but they did not tell us this till October. He has been getting better and has his final therapy session on friday.

In July I became and aunt again to a bouncing baby boy. That now makes 9 boys and 2 girls counting my Stepson who has recently started thinking of me as his mother. (he is 11)

In November I took a co-worker home from work then went back to get my husband. After entering the building they paged Dept 100 to the Employee parkinglot (dept 100 means fire) we could not figure out why that was done until one of the managers called my husband on the work phone and told him my car was on fire. I raced out of the building to find the front of my car engulfed in flames. needless to say I am now borrowing my dads car (since he cant drive) until my husband and I get a new car.

and that brings us up to today where I will be going to the beauty salon in a little bit to get my hair cut so that I may donate it. 2 years worth of growth it is now 12 inches long. My oldest niece is going with me to select the hair style since it is her 8th birthday I am donating my hair in her name.

*hugs for the bad stuff*

*huggles for the good stuff*

and hopefully you will get a new car soon, and your father turn out awesome, you are awesome aunt and ooooh, for being accepted as mother to your stepson

also, welcome back :)

Thanks Sue, It means alot.

Wow.  That's some year.

Kudos on donating your hair.  I had a friend who did that, though he had cut his hair and never sold but kept it in a bag until it went...

I donated my hair once, too.   It was a lot of time to invest in hair, but i was glad to help out.


You had a rough year, Crystal, and I hope you get better in the coming months.

Thanks Guys. I am hoping things get better this year as well. I am also glad to have friends to share these things with.

We're here when ever you want to vent.   :)

thanks Nuric

*smiles*  no problem, ma'am.

*Sits patting a sofa*

You can sit here anytime, we'll listen if you need it, ooor if you need a distraction I can get you a movie

free willy is good, oooor stardust, or my recent favorite, cloud atlas

Cloud Atlas was pretty good, though it seemed like five mildly interesting stories that were forced to be strung together.

LOVED Stardust, especially the shapechanging.   :)

I havent seen Stardust, whats that one about?

It's based on the Neil Gaiman book (though his Scientology connections make me worry).    It's one of his better ones.

A young man in a small English village that is built next to an ancient stone wall supposedly next to Faery (though no one believes that nonsense), finds out that his mother is actually from the OTHER  side of the wall.
He's also trying to prove his love to the local 'hot, rich girl', who says she'll only marry him if he retrieves a fallen star that fell beyond the Wall.

He goes after it, and wacky hijinks ensue.     :)

It's actually very funny, amazingly detailed and well written.   I loved the book, and the movie was amazing, too.

oooooh, there is a book?

I need to read more Neil Gaiman, so far I've read one, the book about Adam the son of the devil

Good Omens?

I don't remember the name, I loved it, but I read it cause Terry Pratchett, him I adore, I love watching Hogfather the mini-movies made for tv :) and reading the story of course, the rest of them I haven't been able to find

I'm surprised they made that into a tv movie.  It's very much unlike 'traditional' stories.   I loved it, too.

Neil Gaiman isn't nearly as wacky, but he's just as good.

The book 'American Gods' is one of my favorites, too, but Stardust is also excellent.

neat

*Adds Neil Gaiman to her reading list*

I need to stop interneting and read more to make my to read list smaller...

I just don't want to, internet has the ability to check things out, as in I read something I haven't heard of before, then I have to google it, and poof 4 hours later I am: Wasn't I reading a book?

I used to read all the time, but between my work getting stricter about "non work" reading material and all my time on rpol, I'm lucky to read two or three books a year.

Oh

I read one book last year

I used to read 6 books a week, it was ridiculous...

but then work swamped me, and now work is kaputt...

I started a Neil Gaiman book I got from the library, and even with an extension I couldn't get around to reading more than a few chapters before I had to take it back.

When I have my laptop, reading just seems to take second place.

I started a Neil Gaiman book I got from the library, and even with an extension I couldn't get around to reading more than a few chapters before I had to take it back.

When I have my laptop, reading just seems to take second place.

I read every book in the local library, and well, it'll take them a few years to get enough books for me to not read from one end of the library to the other, so I am waiting

It should take about 10 years, it is a tiny library and people steal a lot

I'm sorry to hear that.   Is it possible for that library to get books from other libraries?

or you could try to buy cheap used books on Amazon or something?

I'm moving to a new town with a whole new fresh library to read through

it is exciting

:)

*grins*   Yes, I've gotten to play in several libraries in the last 20 years of moving.  It's a good thing, certainly.
The one here is pretty good, especially for a small library.   And it's literally half a Kilometer away.

My most recent "new" author has been Terry Goodkind. I love his books. The Omen Machine is the most recent of his books that I read

I'll admit that I've never gotten around to reading him, I'm afraid, though I know he's popular.

He may be popular but I NEVER knew anything about him until one of my co-workers introduced me to his books. If you like Fantasy books then they are the ones you need to read.

Authors/Books I have read
Beverly Lewis (I own All) (Amish romance)
C. S. Lewis (Chronicles Of Narnia)
Janette Oke (Christian Romance)
Barbara Chamberlain (Mystery/Murder)
Terry Goodkind (Fantasy)
Left Behind Series
Harry Potter
The Mortal Instruments
Lurlene McDaniel (Cancer Children)

That is just the adult stuff. I have read a ton of Childrens books including Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys.

oooh, I have to say I love browsing young adult and children section, I have to say, I have read the twilight series...

I do not recommend it for anyone with more brains than hormones, the abuse of the english language is horrifying...

anyway, I see I need to add to my book of authors I need to look into, and Amish books I've read one, as well, they are not sold in europe at all, we don't have amish here, but I do not remember what book I read, it was about a widow with a young son, and everyone and their sons wanted to marry her so she wouldn't be alone and so...

Might have been one of a kind, but I can read harlequin if I want to read about people'a honor and married thingies over here :)

but yesh, I slavishly read the Harry Potter, and I even read the latest she wrote, the none Harry Potter, the casual vacancy

I loved it too

I usually avoid religious books, as it's not my thing, but I've read a number of authors over the years.


Kelly Armstrong,
R.A. Salvatore
David Eddings
Terry Pratchett, of course
Tad Williams
I've also ready the Hunger Games series, though that might be more sci fi.

I tend to read a bit of fluff, like novels in the Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms series.

fluff is good to read, books that is funny for the sake of being funny, is good way to wind down

I mean, tv used to be mindless fun, but nowadays it's just mindless...

Some of it is still pretty good.  There are some wonderful shows on if you know where to look.

But with so many channels you're going to get a lot of chaff with the wheat.  :)

well, we have 10 channels, they all show only and utter crap...

I think my country bought in the cheapest weirdest they could think off...

There's still good ways to get good television from the internet, but it can be tricky.

shall we put it like this

"I know"

*Hides under bed*

NSA didn't see that? did they?

*smiles*   I'm sure that they already know.    I just hope they learned a bit about bei g a more entertaining person.

yesh, and they should remove licensing blocks, so it was possible to watch american movie on european machines

as it is now, there is a coding difference and it's weird

I'm afraid we're a bit spoiled here, with so much access to entertainment.     I hope you find something.

I always do

the internet is filled with possibilities

*muahahahahaa*

Now I'm very frightened.   :)

good

so, I was planning to bake cookies today, but there is no eggs...

and it's cold outside, and I'm sick

aaaaaaaaaah, I wanted coookies!!!!

I'm sorry you can't make cookies.

We use something called "Ener G Egg Replacer", which is kind of like a vegetarian powdered egg, used for baking.   We never have to worry about having eggs in the house.

http://www.ener-g.com/egg-replacer.html

interesting

I can even eat that, I have this weird allergy against milk and corn

and most gluten free stuff is make from corn

not that the egg-replacer would be gluten free, but I think it said gluten free

but I am getting better, tonight I coughed so much I couldn't sleep, but now, I haven't coughed in quite some time, weeeee

I'm glad you're feeling at least a little better.

We're still dealing with lots of illness know it.

Illnesses sucks, they mess up ones life

and hopefully all the illnesses you are dealing with will get better too

Things are a little better here, but with the weather going back and forth between warm and cold, more illness is inevitable.

(Though I'm thankful for the warm days on occasion)

oh

we're used to being in a hot sauna and then jump out into the snow, so that is rarely the problem

over here, people forget that one needs to keep being dressed in winter clothes, when it's sunny out, as you know, as soon as sun sets, it's cold as balls

I've heard of the sauna tradition.   :)     a hold over from viking days, I've been told.

We still have people doing that here in Minnesota and Wisconsin, where many Norwegian immigrants settled.

I think they're crazy, too.   *smiles*

well

I didn't use to think they were crazy, but then I moved here, and now I KNOW they crazy

and I'm a crazy Finn...

you see, you have heard of swimming in iced over lakes, one just uses an axe to bash up a hole big enough to swim in? yesh, we do that, we have a sauna by the lake, sit in it to get warm, then jump into a hole in the ice, and then back to sauna

in Norway, they have no sauna, and no place to get undressed, so they undress in the sand on the beach, or on the ice, leave their clothes in a pile, swim in icy-water, then get up and get dressed again

let me tell you a fact about this, swimming in iced over water makes everything go absolutely numb, and your skin is wet.

trying to get dressed with numb fingers and wet skin, is just not possible...

so they crazy

Well, I'm from Maine originally, and swimming in the ocean up there, except for selected spots, means getting numb from the cold as well.  So I understand a little.
Of course, that's during the summer, when the air is at least warm.   *smiles*

Breaking through ice to swim is pretty loony, though I've heard that a sauna to ice water is a very good way to get clean and stay healthy.

it is, you shock the system into weirdness

and it keeps your immune system in tip top shape

or then it will just shut down completely

people that has never swam in ice-cold water, is not recommended to dive in, they might shock their body into paralyze it's breathing-apparatus

so, swimming with head above water is best

Yes, it's certainly something to ease into.  I've heard it's good for firming up the muscles, too.

well, cold water makes your muscles cramp up from the shock, and then move to keep your body warm enough to not go into shock

So it should help yes

I think I heard that the muscles contracting to stay warm was actually good exercise.

Though that might be a minimal thing.

it is, but anything that makes your muscles move is good exercise

the shock treatment moves all of the muscles, as when you run you only move the ones in your legs

So that's why it's full-body muscles spasmic work-out :)

That's why it's good to move your arms when you run or walk, too.   Though I always feel silly when I move my arms when I walk.

yes, it feels silly

but if one carried small weights, you can feel the muscles working

less silly then

*laughs*   I still feel silly with the weights.   That's why I usually walk at night, to be away from prying eyes.

walking in the night, when there is no cars or other humans

is really relaxing, one can really look around at odd things, without bothering anyone if one stops suddenly to stare at something

Yes, I enjoy walking at night.  It's like being the only person in the world.  :)

I wish I could walk at night but it is to cold here to do much of anything right now. From the looks of things i won't be doing much but sitting on the computer when I am not at work. it looks more and more like my husband and I are going to get a divorce. I don't know what went wrong but for some reason I am not IN love with him any more. Any suggestions.

I'm very sorry to hear it, my friend.  *hugs*

A good friend of mine at work is getting a divorce as well.   Her husband and her fell out of love, too.
It's a hard thing, but possibly for the best if you aren't meant to be together.

I'd like to help, though, if you want to save your marriage.

What made you fall out of love?   Have you talked about it?

its a lot of this, part of it being that I can't have kids and I really want to give him another son or even a daughter. we constantly argue over stupid things, and he has slept in the living room since I got sick over 2 months ago.

love is something you can't force, sad to hear that it isn't working out, but not being able to conceive is a little sad, you are disappointed now.

Which means you are looking for a reason to fight, and everything is just wrong and annoying.

You should just find the first place you met, was it first dinner or something, go there, re-make your first date, see if you can talk your relationship over, really talk, discuss every single detail of what has happened, what will happen and this without interruption, so no cell-phones

if this, doesn't make you feel love for each other again, it might just be that you have fallen out of love with each other, which is a sad thing, but it happens.

and hopefully you will get healthy again soon

Honestly, he sounds more focused on his needs and wants and doesn't seem to care much about yours.

I'd try to get him to remember why you fell in love in the first place, and if that doesn't work then you both might be better off not being together.

Personally, I think not being able to have children is a silly thing to hold against someone, but it might be something insurmountable if he's obsessed with it.

So ok remember I said my dad had a stroke last June? Well he ended up in the hospital again, this time we almost lost him. They still won't tell me much other then his sodium level was all cockeyed. And they needed to get fixed. He's ok now just working on getting his strength back so he can come home again. If you're on Facebook I posted up the video I took of him walking. Just look for Charity C. Ledesma.

I hope he gets better soon.   You have my sympathies.

*Hugs hard and for a long time*

I hope you'll get him home soon, and make sure to be there, to enjoy his company as much as possible

and hopefully you will get something to keep all the parts of his body functioning properly and the balance of everything in check

*hugs more*

Thanks guys, mom told me they are setting the date at this coming Friday if things keep going like they are. I know the two dogs my folks have are gonna jump all over him when he gets home. (Their small dogs)

good, bigger dogs would otherwise need to be kept back till he sat down, or risk making him fall

also, yay!!!!!

*hugs everyone*

I'm very happy to hear it as well.   Good luck with your Welcome Home festivities.

Exciting news, dad is doing better then thought and gets to come home Tuesday rather then Friday.

Fantastic!  Please keep us posted.  I'm glad he's doing better.

Fantastic news!!!!

*hugs everyone*

So ok on top of everything else that is wrong with my life I had to have x rays on my back today. They don't know what is wrong and I won't know the results till tomorrow.

My game that I reopened got bombarded with RTJs and jumped from about 250 posts to almost 1000.

i'm so sorry to hear about your health problems.  THat's always horrible.   *hugs*

I hope your game can help keep your spirits up, though.

*hugs*

an x-ray is good, that will help the doctors give you the correct help

I've had back-pain since I was born, or that is what my mom thinks, I just slept a lot as a child and in third grade they understood it was back-pains...

anyway, there is no cure, there is nothing shown on x-rays, no one knows why I'm in constant pain, it just is that way

had an x-ray when I was 22, nothing, and yes, they really waited that wrong, as a young person can't have pain in back, not possible

anyway, yay for the game!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so here goes, I have lumbar disc disease, it means some of the discs in my spine are swollen, I have to do physical therapy. BUT if that don't work, the next step is an MRI. I also have a 10lb weight limit.

One of my coworkers just had back surgery.   It's looking good for her, but anything involving the back is scary.   I hope it works out.

whatever they say, try to not do surgery, try to do medication, physical therapy or why not acupuncture

because back surgery should always be last resort, it might damage further, or worse still, never heal

I do corsets on really bad days and physical therapy to make sure I strengthen the right muscles and walk right

She tried everything else first.   She was very nervous about the surgery and put it off as long as she could.

Of course, during her recovery she fell and broke her ankle, but that's another story.

Ok. Found out that it has to do with my sciatic nerve. So basically I have sciatica. SUCKS, I had to call off work Saturday, I hurt so bad that I couldn't move. I start physical therapy this week, I'm hoping it will work.

Good luck, my friend.  I hope it all goes well for you.

there is nothing bad with taking a little pain-medication

as long as you make sure you're free from it when you go to the physical therapist person, so he/she knows what to have you do, stretches and massages, without damaging anything further

Yes, physical therapy can be a horrible experience, but it's doing a lot of work for us, so it's going to be hard.    Totally worth it, though.

I've been to 8 different physical therapists

because I refuse to be a guinea pig, so I demand a new one when they start doing weird shit

and if a physical therapist suggest chinese comb massage, run, run far and run fast!!!

I can't find images, but it was basically large rocks made to look like combs, that was used to "comb" the back... and never again, I'd rather cripple myself permanently, it hurt something awful...

I know a few people who are physical therapists, but I'm not aware of what they might do that's "unconventional".   Yes, with the back I know it's not a good idea to get too creative.

Updates updates updates.

Ok, my dad walked the Mackinaw bridge last year, 3.82 miles of a 5 mile bridge. Yippy.

I have sciatica, depression and anxiety on top of asthma and diabetes.

Wednesday I Had an anxiety attack at work. It hit so hard that I think I scared the manager. I was mopping, got the whole front of the store done. Got up front by the register and the pain hit with such force that it brought me to my knees. Right there in front of the manager and a few customers. I don't take meds for it cause the last October they gave me meds for my anxiety and I almost committed suicide. That's when they diagnosed me with depression.

I hope you're doing better now, Crystal.

Still dealing with anxiety attacks but not as bad as they had been.

I'm happy things are improving, at least.   :)

Rough stuff. I hope things continue to improve.