I hold history in my hands

A few months back, my parents gave me the diary of my great aunt. She's the one who reunited me with my parents. She kept this diary updated daily for five years! Well, minus a few months in that fifth year. Her diary spans the almost 5 years between January 1, 1936 and September 1, 1940. She was just a sophomore in high school when she started this diary. She recorded not only her own personal history, but she captures the history of our country in the midst of the Great Depression. I feel honored to have it, and I have cherished the privilege granted me to read it. My great aunt was my grandmother's sister. Her husband was my grandfather's brother. It's quite a cute story, how these two sisters met two brothers and how everyone fell in love and eventually married. This diary highlights that story, up to just about a month after my grandma and grandpa had my uncle, their first child, which itself is another very interesting story. I've learned things about my grandmother, grandfather, and great aunt and uncle that I would have never known had it not been for this diary. I've developed an even deeper appreciation and respect for each of these people who helped shape and form my life. I have found a better understanding of them, and a realization that they truly understood me much more than I ever knew.
Everyone has a story to tell. I encourage you to dig out your family heirlooms and look for that diary of your deceased relative. You may just be shocked at what you find. I was.

one of my favorite entries, which I think just captures my aunt's persona perfectly:

December 31, 1939 - Well diary, another year and you and I are still friends. So much has happened this year. One thing, I fell in love, I'm sure! Come on 1940, I'm ready!

To be a mushroom

I almost wished I didn't know about the Retinitis Pigmentosa. It seems like it would be easier if I just thought my eyes were getting bad, and not have to know, with each flash of light I see or with each floater, each eye twitchy thing, that my retinas are dying a slow, but certain death.
I find myself rubbing my eyes when I'm reading, because they tire so easily. And as I rub my eyes, I find myself wondering if they will get tired faster and faster the more this progresses. Of course, on the flip side of that is the fact that I would probably not be making travel plans if I didn't know about it, so there's that.

I've been sick with a nasty chest funk and sinus funk for two weeks now, and honestly, I haven't felt up to writing at all since I've been sick. I'm finally starting to feel better now, so hopefully I'll be able to concentrate and get some writing done soon.
Meanwhile, I'll be over here, sipping on home made chicken noodle soup and jamming to some Pandora mixes while I try to eradicate my house of the sickly germs that seem to have set up camp. See you soon!

Workouts and Camel Toes

Getting back to my blogging is like losing weight. Slow, and difficult to navigate.
Wii fit mocks me. It tells me how many days it's been since my last workout, and asks if I've been too busy to workout. It is right here with me. It sees me sitting on my ass in front of the tv. It knows I have not been too busy, rather too lazy. I'm relatively sure it has heard me coughing and hacking this past week and a half, and hasn't bothered to offer up a single "Gesundheit". I mean, that's just rude. And it seizes every opportunity afforded it to get a dig in at my expense.
Like when it asks me to step on the balance board, then says, in an almost pained voice, "Oh!"
Little Wii-bastard! I'm grateful blogger doesn't say, "Fortune Cookies, I see you've been too busy sitting on your ass watching Oprah and playing around on Facebook to blog this week." I'd be in need of a new laptop in very short order if that were the case.

So where to start?
Observations!
Observations that you probably care absolutely nothing about, but gimme a break, here. I'm trying to warm my blogging-ability back up again.

1. When my sofa is naked, the dogs do not hesitate to jump up there and sprawl out, scratch the seats, and leave their hair and drool slathered all over it.
2. When I carefully cover the sofa with a blanket to protect it from puppy claws and drool and hair, they stand at attention in front of it and wait for permission to jump up there.
3. Vodka makes football almost tolerable!

OH! How could I forget to tell you about this?!
Ok. So my Sally dog...she's special. We've established that, right? I mean, the multiple rounds of obedience school, the eating of 9 leashes and 6 collars in 1 year...The need for special food because of her ear allergies.
Yeah. Special.
So The Wifester and I have joked about, forgive me for being crude here but for lack of a better term, her "camel toe".
Her little female anatomy has just looked odd from the beginning, and honestly, she looks like she has a "camel toe" issue going on. Anyways, recently, she has been scooting her little but across the floor from time to time, and having worked in the veterinary field, I know that to be a sign that their anal gland needs to be expressed.
No biggie.
So Saturday we take her and the Sunny-dog to the vet to get their yearly shots, and to have Sally's anal gland checked out. Turns out her gland was fine, it's not her butt that's bothering her. It's that damned camel toe!
The vet says she has abnormally shaped anatomy. Essentially, she has an inverted vagina, which makes tinkle drippings get trapped in the skin fold around her labia, causing irritation.
Now, here's the kicker. Do you know how I'm supposed to remedy this? Per the vet, I have to use baby wipes and clean her friggin' camel toe after she pees!
No shit!
So now, not only do I have that spastic dog that the whole neighborhood knows to be "The Wild One", now I have to be that woman who wipes her dog's crotch after she goes potty. 
Great.

Screw You Retinitis Pigmentosa!

because I can still do this

My friend, SuzBop, asked me to do a painting of her two daughters, but to make one a mermaid and the other a fairy.
I think it's just about done. I hope she likes it!

Renewed Dedication

So I've been very lackadaisical about blogging for the past year. Save for the sporadic posts here and there, and a chime in with a kiss and a promise to keep up better. Sorry about that.
The good news is that I finished school! That was the biggest hindrance to my writing time and creative flow. I'm so relieved to have finally accomplished that task, I can't even tell you!
I don't even care too much that I'm going to lose my sight and never fully be able to utilize the skills I learned. I mean, I care, but learning them was worth the time and effort. And I can still do what I can do until that day comes. Besides, it really has more to do with a self-satisfying sense of accomplishment. Does that sound awful? After all of my enthusiastic starts, only to be eclipsed by my seemingly inevitable lack of follow through, I'm just super stoked to actually have completed the course work and earned a for real and for true, accredited degree.

Anywhoodle, what I'm saying here is that I miss you! I miss my blog! And I miss blogging on my blog. I'm making some changes now, and coming back to my blogging self is one that I am committed to. I have to admit, blogging is a sort of therapy for me. It's cathartic. It's stress relieving. It's mood altering.

Another change I have committed to has been exercise. I know, I know...but this time I have stuck to it since Thanksgiving! That's a record for me. I'll keep you posted on the progress. I already notice clothes fitting much better. I got into a denim skirt that I haven't been able to wear in over a year! I figure if I'm gonna go blind, and deal with epilepsy, the least I can do for those around me and for the eventual guide dog is to get below the obese level, preferably below the moderately overweight level, and hopefully into a weight zone that is much easier to be dealt with by those around me when I'm incapacitated. Wish me luck!