Sweetest Day

Okay so let's start this off with spreading love to the world because I think that's one of the best things I can do today.  I want everyone who doesn't have a sweetie today to know that you don't need one to be loved. I love you and I don't even have to know who you are to do that.

I don't really have much else to put here for this post, unfortunately.

I've had an uneventful couple weeks here in BG and I'm prepping for NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth also known as NANOWRIMO. I've posted about this before. A year ago actually and I cheated on that one so I'm going to do it legitimately this time. I've got a good idea (which I'm keeping under wraps) and I'm sort of outlining it in my free time.

School is still going well and the weather is a little wet and dreary but nothing I can't handle. I own a good sturdy pair of boots for a reason.

Halloween is in two weeks and I am not personally preparing to put on any sort of costume apart from the regular one that I put on everyday. It has been suggested that I go as Katniss from the Hunger Games, but I think I'm just going to leave Halloween alone this year. Samhain is more important anyway and hopefully, I'll have someone to celebrate it with me.... we'll see what happens.

My brothers on the other hand are obviously going to pull out all the stops again.

Here's one going as the fabulous, Dr. Who...

and even though I don't really have a clue what this is here's the other brother doing his thing.....

I'm sure it will be an entertaining Halloween and I can't wait to see pictures since I can't be there to take the pictures myself. I hope to the gods that they have a great time.

I guess that's all I have for now so I'll have to be sure to post again later.

Bright Blessings to you all and have a beautiful sweetest day!

Island Vacation

Bueno, I'm back again.

How are things people? Hope you're doing great. It'd be a contrast to my migraines. Yeah, that's right, they're back and they're back with vengeance.

But that's not where I want to start.

I don't really want to tell you about the migraines at all to tell the truth. If I talk about them then they sound really terrible, which in reality, they are, but they will not control my life. I refuse to succumb to this. I'm stronger than that. I'm alive and that's all that matters to me. As soon as I'm not allowed to do the things I want to do, then I'll complain because I'll actually have something to complain about. Until then, I see no point reporting them.

So how about starting with my vacation?

Fall Break, that is.

Okay so October started with some fun. The night of the 3rd started my vacation with a trip to Toledo, funded by the French House, to see an opera named La Boheme (sorry that I didn't get the accent in there) which is actually in Italian. It was absolutely beautiful and I'd love to see more operas in the future. I wanted to cry and it didn't even matter if I completely understood the language or not. The acting was amazing and if it weren't for the high school students (who were very rude) I would have felt like I was transported back in time via the Tardis just to see this show... It was student night, which meant that students got in free and the French House paid for us to get there in a rental van driven by a graduate student in French.

La Boheme is actually the basis of a Broadway hit named Rent. Mom and I love this show and have seen it on dvd a few times. We love the song "Seasons of Love" from this show which I put on my cards to friends when graduation came around....
Anyway, point being, that because I'd seen Rent I could see bits and pieces where they had taken characters from and you can see that the story line is pretty much the same. I was however that the tango Maureen had been excluded.... it's another one of my favorite numbers in the Broadway version. It doesn't really matter though because this opera blew my mind. I was absolutely amazed at the things they were able to do and the spectacular acting that these people did. Kudos to them.

Also, Kudos to the pit orchestra. What amazing things you were able to do without microphones and I was sitting all the way up in the balcony...

Continuing from there, my aunt picked me up at the theatre and took me back to her place for the night. Totally cool because I didn't have plans to go anywhere for Fall Break until the Sunday before when she happened to text me and we made surprise plans, which I'll elaborate on in a minute.

Thursday morning I got up to breakfast of Canadian bacon and eggs thanks to my aunt who loves me and cooks some amazing food. It was like eating the first real breakfast I had in my life.... okay, exagerating but still, can they not make real breakfast/food on campus? Why do I have to pay extra for the crap you're making me eat now?

I digress.

Around noon, I curled up in my uncle's Saab with their dog Pupette at my feet, and we left Toledo on a quest. Not a quest to find something because we knew where we were going and what we would find there, but a quest to surprise my grandparents who didn't know that I would be coming to Kelly's Island for the weekend. So maybe mission is a better word.... Yeah, I like that. My mission (and I chose to accept it) was to show up uninvited to a sort of small family get together, thus taking my grandparents by surprise and watching their plans change from the lounging they thought they would do to lounging with me instead.

I know, I'm so evil you can hardly contain yourself....

I was okay until we got on the ferry at Marblehead. Then my nerves got going and I had all sorts of butterflies going on.

Did I forget to mention that the weather was absolutely gorgeous??? Because it was.

Anyway,

We arrive at the island house, which is totally impressive by the way, and my uncle let's me out so that I can walk up to the front steps and surprise my grandparents who are inside. I was supposed to just knock and have them be all surprised but when I knocked, they didn't hear/see me so my uncle had to go inside and tell them to go see if there was something on the front porch.

So my grandpa comes to the door and I could see the smile just spread across his face. That made my day. Then grandma jumps up off the couch to hug me, her smile priceless as well.

From there I got the grand tour of the island house which I'd never been to before. I'd actually not been to the island itself for about 13 years give or take a few months so everything was like a bright and shiny new adventure to go on.

From the tour, I was convinced to go kayaking....okay convinced is the wrong word....maybe enticed is better...I went kayaking in the sunshine either way. It's amazing what a little open water, some sunshine, a light breeze and no plans for the next three days can do for the soul. I felt like I was meditating without having the intent of meditating. My soul was just singing away and I wasn't worried about anything. Not even getting wet was a problem even though the water was a bit chilly.

Before dinner, while grandpa cooked delicious steak slabs on the grill, I was in a hammock with the sun setting in the distance, the sky in various shades of pink and purple, reflected in the rippling water... book in hand (well kindle but still). It was a perfect feeling of relaxation that I wish I could have more of in my life. I could not have asked for anything more from that weekend after that moment.

The next morning (Friday) I woke up to the rain, but I slept like a rock. I felt like I was floating as I fell asleep and it was the most glorious thing I've felt in a very long time. I spent the morning relaxing in a comfy chair then I was mustered up to go out and brave the weather to look at the shops and places around the island.

Let's see, I'll just list some places we went to. I think that's the most efficient way to do this.
The campground, the glacial grooves, the store across from the campground, down Titus road, some old stone houses, the general store up town, the old quarry, the grey of the water in the rain, and the colors of the leaves as they decided fall was actually the time of year it was...

I even got my Klondike bar as tradition would have grandpa and I do while on the island. I came during the summer when I was little though so I'm not sure it was quite as satisfying as back then but I was a happy camper either way. I mean give any girl chocolate and she'll love you for at least five minutes more than before.... no that is not dating advice, it's just an observation. We girls make no sense.

After ice-cream, we stopped at The Kelly's Island Winery, owned and operated by a friend of mine's family who went to Spain with me. Isa, if you're reading this, I miss you again but I'm glad that I got to see you and your dad! I'll have to get out there more often so we can actually hang out.

For dinner that night we went uptown again to The Village Pump for their perch special. Basically fish and chips... it was good though and Scot ordered a bottle of wine for the table so of course I had a good time.

Then to end the night I curled up by the fireplace with my writing until I couldn't keep my eyes open much longer.

For those of you not keeping track of the days, that was day two. Just Friday. I have two more days to tell you about so you've officially made it to the half-way point.

Saturday I got up to grandpa's famous breakfast minus the fried potatoes. My family must not think that I get enough protein in my diet or something.... Anyway, after breakfast we got around and went on a hike around  the point (Long Point) where the house is. We walked the shore for most of the journey and there were a bunch of cool little rocks that reminded me of Maine and the tidal pools trip I took when I was there. I even made a fairy house out of some of them just to demonstrate to grandpa what they were.

The breeze was chilly but the sun was bright and made me feel like a small child for a while. I was jumping from rock to rock and climbing around, wishing I could go climbing despite Ohio being a little flat...

To get back we cut through the trees and everything was still pretty green and watching us from all angles as I decided to explore one of the old house foundations from the pioneer days of the island's history. If it weren't so damp, I probably would have decided that it was a great writing spot, hidden away from the world, surrounded by stones with so many stories to tell.... It would have been amazing for inspiration.

When we got back to the house, I showered and got comfortable to curl up by the fireplace with a nice warm cedar fire burning, to do some homework and wait for people to show up. My aunt and uncle were having a small get together for dinner that night with some pretty interesting people, including a couple who flew in from New Orleans...

We had another beautiful sunset that night too. It was like a painting out there with the water and the trees.

Sunday morning was chilly. I had breakfast with grandma who stayed back from church that morning then I got around and went to the shops with my aunt who had come Saturday late morning. I broke down and got some really awesome postcards for a dollar and decided that was all I was allowed to get. Hooray for self control!

We even stopped in at the island's cute little museum and went through it. I would have never guessed that there was such a rich and unique history of the island. Most of the stuff inside this place I'd never even imagined existing in the first place. For example an ice boat. Google it if you must to find out what it is but this thing blew my mind a bit.

On the way back to the house from the museum, we discovered this very unusual car. It's apparently called an "Art Car"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatcar/
Here's a website that has where they're taking the art car. It's kinda awesome to me that I got to see this car on the island. I mean really what are the chances?

For lunch, we had shrimp which had been brought up by the couple for New Orleans. It was spectacular. I've not had shrimp like that since living in Spain. Seriously, it was good.

Then my aunt, Pupette and I caught the 4pm ferry back to Marblehead and back to BG for the end of my wonderful island vacation.

This week as predicted was hard to get through. Between school and new migraines, I'm handling things the best I can. I don't have any plans for this weekend but I don't want to make any. I just want to relax and work on catching up on the things that I missed because my head was exploding... Maybe I'll rent a movie just to relax tonight or tomorrow night. We'll see what happens.

Hasta Pronto Chicos!

Blessed Be

Life's an adventure.

Hey guys!

I know I keep starting like that and I should probably come up with something a bit more original but I don't think I really care enough to figure out how to address a bunch of people who may or may not be reading these posts from my life. So you'll have to deal with it or stop reading.

Wow, that was blunt. I've been on a sort of streak with bluntly, brutally honest lately. It's probably a turn-off to all those potential guys I'm potentially going to meet in my life but right now I'm perfectly cheery. To prove this point, take last week.

After a weekend of moping and watching trashy television shows, I decided to have a good week, and guess what. I did.

I had BWW with a friend on Monday after taking part of my day to go for a bike ride up to Kroger and Goodwill just for myself. I even stopped to have lunch while I was out, just because I could. I have to admit though that I was a little freaked out leaving my bike outside the shops without a lock so I finally broke down and bought one of those so that the next time I decide to head somewhere, I won't have to worry so much. I think I may go Wednesday this week but let me tell you about last week before I elaborate on all of that.

Tuesday, I had a date. It didn't go as well as I had hoped it would but I can't complain. I got to meet someone new and actually act my age for once. I feel like I haven't been able to act like myself in awhile for some reason and now that I don't care how people take me or leave me, the world seems like a new place. But anyway, back to the guy. He was cute but he wasn't my type and chivalry was dead to him, aka I paid the $2.50 I owed for my beer. I'm not mad though. Trial and error. He would make a good friend and I'm glad that I got to meet him because he made me laugh.

Speaking of laughs.....

Wait! Thursday, I have to mention that I went to a jazz concert on Thursday before we get to Friday. I went to the college of musical arts and watched what they called "Jazz Spotlight". It was pretty cool and the guest player was seriously into his music. His name was Sean Jones, and he's a trumpet player. If you like jazz at all you should look him up. Apparently, he has a few albums and I'd say they're worth listening to if they're anything like how he played at this concert.

Okay, now Friday...
I went on another date with a different guy who is an absolute riot. I couldn't stop laughing at the way we carried on a conversation. No one would understand what we were talking about if they walked up to us.... it was like I didn't need to put up my guard at all because I was more focused on what he was going to say next. Pros: laughing, cheddar bacon french fries, he paid, he smelled amazing, dreamy blue eyes, he drives a mustang.
Cons: he was late, he didn't stay long, he's not as tall as I hoped.

Saturday, I was bored and a little stupid. I had slept till noon because I didn't feel like getting up, then did some research for a paper I was going to write but never did.... I was even going to go to a ritual but I decided that I like being a loner much better than joining a group. I know what I believe and when I get my own place I'll expand my practicing but I don't need someone telling me what to do when it comes to my spirituality. I already have enough people telling me how to act in society and professors breathing down my neck for this assignment or another....

As you may have noticed, it was a full moon Saturday, and I decided I was going to go out and go dancing. Problem was, no one wanted to go with me. The universe was pushing me to go but I was nervous to go alone. I had to actually stop thinking about it before I got up the gumption to leave the house. I went to the most tame place I could think of and was feeling a little silly when I got there but I was quickly picked up by a lovely group of girls whose names I can't remember.

Before I was picked up by the girls though, there was this bouncer who took it upon himself to talk to me and figure out why I was alone. He was like a burst of chivalrous light, and he didn't look half bad either. Okay, he was really cute, I'll admit it. It didn't take me long after the girls brightened my night that I joined the crowd and started to dance, because that was what I went there for. That's when my superman decided to come back by and put a bead necklace over my head "for perking up"... I melted.
After he walked away, I found a pen and a napkin and wrote "Call me sometime" on it with my number and my name, then like a silly middle school kid, I had someone deliver it for me.

I watched him smile when he got it but I wasn't sure if he was just being nice or what so I went on dancing and every time he caught me looking, he smiled....

This morning, I got a text from him.

I feel like a child with a shiny new toy. Nothing like this has ever happened to me because I've never had the courage to let my hair down and be myself. It doesn't hurt that I'm kinda adorable too.
This self-confidence has come out of nowhere and I'm not planning to let it go without a long hard fight. I like being me without caring what people think.

So, moving on....
That paper I did research for was done this morning in under 4 hours. Four pages, single spaced, 1000+ words with a works cited page. That, and you know it was pure genius because I wrote it. (kidding).

My roommate, her boyfriend and I went out for pizza and cookies tonight. They're a riot. It's funny to see how much they feed off each other, but in a good way. He sort-of makes google-eyes at her too which is pretty cute. Ah to be young.... lol.

This week is short as far as classes. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday then we get Thursday and Friday off for fall break. I won't write my plans out here but they should be fun.
Wednesday evening I'm headed to an opera with the french house. It's titled La boheme and I'm really excited about it since it will be my first opera experience....

Wish me luck on my Roman Life midterm this week.

Otherwise, have a great week everyone!
I'll update soon hopefully.

Bright Blessings!

Moving On

Well,

This is my first step.

I know you probably are wondering what I'm talking about but let me go before I explain.

This is my first step. I'm starting fresh. I won't say that I didn't need him, and I won't say that it doesn't hurt but I'm not going to make this worse than it needs to be. This is me being the bigger person. The witch with the knowledge that putting negativity and hate into the world is like throwing a knife in a crowded room.

I wear a ring where one day maybe a wedding ring will sit, my mom bought it for me and on it reads "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." I've been wearing it for awhile but I think I'm finally taking it to heart. I'm finally taking the step. I just needed to be shoved on my face so that I would know that I could get up on my own two feet and be better for it.

That being said, I have no idea where I'm going, but that's the adventure of it. I'm on my own again. I'm running around marveling at all the things my eyes missed somehow before. I'm watching the rain with a new fascination and I can smell the wet earth and know of the magic it holds, ready and waiting for me give it love. The trees will soon turn colors and I can hardly wait to dance among the colors, not caring what anyone has to say about it.

This is a new chapter.

I know I've said this before but this one is different. I'm fighting for this new beginning. I'm fighting against the pain I feel inside, fighting to feel alive. I'm going to make it on this path. I trust the Goddess and I'm not afraid to say that.

I don't care if you accept me for who I am or not. I'm done with that silliness. I am not some child you can lie to and show a pretty thing just to make me stop questioning for the truth. I am a woman. I hold my head high and I stand on my own two feet, even when I'm trembling all over. I'm done hiding and pretending. I'm done telling you that I'm okay when I'm not. I'm done being weak and stepped on.

This is the woman I am. This is the power of a witch and I'm proud of it.

And now that I've given this declaration to the world, you are free to do with it as you wish. I refuse hatred, but if you must hate me I want you to know that I will NEVER hate you. We must each make our own decisions and that is all anyone can ask for.

Happy Autumn my friends!

Now, to explain,

I'm not sure that I owe anyone an explanation but as I'm pouring myself out into this blog, I might as well.

The boy that made me so happy, who I thought was more, has left the picture. He told me that I deserved better and I'm going to say that he may be right. I don't plan to dwell on it. I'm moving on.

I've made it through a week of pain an anguish now and I'm done. I don't deserve to fall back into my personal pit of despair because of this and thanks to time, rain, friends, tissues, and copious amounts of chocolate, I'm going to be okay.

I really mean that this time.

I know that the gods are guiding me. I know that my path will unfold and that I will have more challenges but I know that even when I fall, I can overcome the pain, because that is what I'm doing now.

So here's to Kurt. Here's to the guy who made me grow up. To the guy who will forever hold a tiny sliver of me, because that's all I'm allowing. May you live a beautiful long life, meet the girl who will give you everything you deserve, have a beautiful family and most importantly, may you be happy. I hold no grudge against you.

Thank you to my friends for having my back and catching me as I fell. You seemed to come out of the walls when I needed you, even though I had no idea how important you were to me. I promise that I'm only a phone call away whenever the time comes that I get the honor of holding you up. I love you all.

Thank you to the rain, for washing me clean. For letting me let go. For drowning out the sound of my sorrow. I could not have asked for more perfect timing.

Thank you to my roommate for making sure I was still alive through this whole ordeal. I know I must have looked a mess but you never said so. You were always there with a compliment and whatever I could have possibly needed. Even when I didn't really need it. You're an amazing girl and I'm so glad I get to share this year with you.

To my mom, I'm sorry for snapping at you when I was falling apart. I hope you know that I never meant to hurt you. I love you with all that I am and I wish I could have been there to cry on your shoulder. Thank you for checking on me and sending me beautiful messages that keep my chin up when I'm feeling like I've been hit by a semi-truck. Thank you for always being there.

And on that beautiful note,

Blessed Be my friends, may autumn bring you an abundance of joy and warmth as we flow slowly toward the winter and the end of this very long year. May your hearth stay full of warmth and friendship.

Making it to Adulthood...

Hey all you funky party people! Are you having fun?

I know I am. Life is peachy and I feel incredibly loved. 

This is me, blogging from my new computer and loving that I can do so much on it already without having it be silly and need to reboot every five minutes.

This is bound to be a longer post, so buckle in and keep your eyes on the page. Things are going to be very interesting and I'm going to have to say all the things on my mind. It may or may not be in any specific order either because this is a test to see who's following along or lagging behind.

So anyway, I've been through exactly four weeks of school now and with mild amounts of success mixed with frustrations and setbacks that make pretty much no sense most of the time. I'm doing alright actually. Now that I have this beautiful new computer which I am using at Deb and Tony's right now, I feel like life is going to be just the more peachy and enjoyable.

I have been pretty much (knock on wood) migraine free for the past four weeks except that I took some of my meds yesterday and had to take things slower than I usually do for a Thursday. Yeah, I think I've mentioned before that Tuesday's and Thursday's are my busy days and that I really don't do a whole lot of anything when Wednesday's and Friday's roll around. (Yes, I know that I need a job but finding one is easier said than done.) 

On the topic of meds, I was at the neurologist in Ann Arbor on Monday (9/10). The doctor told me that the Chiari malformation is not the cause of my head pain. She showed me pictures of my brain, and she explained everything so I am going to have to agree with her that there is nothing wrong with my brain at all, except maybe the scattered part sometimes that makes me think of things like my amazing stories.

I'm thinking that you probably want to know anything I'm willing to tell you about my birthday too. What if I said that I'm not willing to tell you anything. What happens on your twenty first, stays......okay that doesn't make any sense. I'll just suck it up and fill you in on the amazing week I had.

Labor day weekend, I was in Hicksville with Deb and Tony and my cousins. I had a great time like I always do when I'm here and Tony made a really great meal of duck with a mushroom risotto and an asian salad whose name I can't remember for the life of me. My boyfriend even showed up on Sunday to partake in the wonders that are Tony's cooking. Plus, the wine and the company were great so I can't imagine why anyone would dislike repeating that night.

The week of my birthday was from Tuesday on, absolute, pure to the core, chaos. Between classes and friends and other commitments, I was seriously swamped in things that were going on in my life.

I made up a lab that I missed when I went to the neurologist this past Monday, on my birthday from 7 to 9 pm which was not my idea of having fun but my roommate (who is an absolute doll) made my day worth it by keeping my spirits high. Then I got these lovely roses in the mail from Sara and Ian. They were and still are absolutely beautiful. So that made me smile even more. To add to that, all these wonderful friends of mine wrote me on my facebook wall to tell me Happy Birthday because they were thinking of me. I felt so very loved. It was great.

So as you may have guessed, I did not go out at midnight to drink on my birthday or whatever it would have been that I would do to celebrate being of legal drinking age. I was responsible enough to wait until Thursday night to have drinks with Anne at Trotter's with dinner, which of course was a great time! I then proceeded to go back and sleep in my dorm room so that I could get up just before noon on Friday in order to partake in the free massages over at the counseling center's open house.

Then of course my friends stepped in to make my day even better, and taking me to get a pedicure. So I have purple toenails and soft beautiful feet.... yeah that was probably more than you wanted to know but I don't think I care... (insert evil laugh here)

Okay so back to Friday before I get distracted again..... I've been writing this blog now for like 3 hours or something. It's slightly ridiculous.

Ahhhh! 

Back to Friday!

Yes, ummm... okay, so for those of you out of the loop, I have a boyfriend but that's all I have to say about that because I'm trying to get all of this down before it leaves my head for good.

So Friday night, my boyfriend took me to Columbus for dinner because he's an amazing guy and it was a really up-scale place with some really good whiskey, scotch, bourbon, etc. and the food was good too! The place is called Barrel 44 on High Street and I really had a great time. I would suggest this place to anyone with any sort of taste-buds because it is definitely worth the drive.

Saturday, I went to Black Swamp Arts Festival up town Bowling Green and walked around there, looking at all the art and thinking about past years of going  there and thinking that it's been way too long since I've seen some of my friends from high school. Oh, the reminiscing that is happening right now and that was happening then. It's so hard to believe that this is my 3rd year being in college.

Saturday night, Carmen and Eric took me out and we had a good time until they had to leave and I hung out with a friend until around midnight. Carmen made me an amazing necklace by the way. I haven't taken it off since she gave it to me and I don't plan on taking it off anytime soon.

So yeah, now we've come full circle and we're back to Monday because I didn't do anything exciting on Sunday at all unless of course you count homework and sleep on your list of top thrill activities..... then of course it was an amazing day too.

This week has been uneventful and I'm pretty happy that I get some down time. Sunday, I'm hoping to see my boyfriend and spend some time with him. Maybe we'll go for a picnic but that's only if the weather doesn't tear up those plans and decide to rain on my parade of joyful flower picking, tree hugging and rolling in the grass one last time before the leaves start to fall. Then, I'll have to break out my hoodies....

So my friends we've come to the end of this one. I know that I promised a long one and that this isn't so very long as I thought it would be but I mean you could ask me anything you really want to know that I don't have up here for your reading pleasures...

That means you'll have to leave a comment or something. Until then I'm running this show and you can't do a single thing about it.

As always,

Blessed Be!

Keep Calm and Carry On!

Well, here goes my whirlwind blogging again. I know that some people have actually been reading this so it has boistered my spirits about writing it at all.

Where to start is the hard part.

I think I'll just go back a week because nothing interesting happened before that. I was literally going crazy from being stuck in the house all the time but the weekend of August 11 and 12 was an interesting one.

Friday night my dad's parents arrived to stay with us for the weekend and I went shopping with my little brother's girlfriend, Hannah-Mae. It was absolutely pouring out but I think we still managed to have a pretty good time. I got a new back pack at Wal-Mart for under $10 and that made me happy enough.

Saturday, I went along for the show that was taking my brother's senior pictures. He's a funny kid and his pictures turned out pretty good but it took us the good portion of the day to get it that far. Unfortunately, through it all, I had a migraine, or whatever we want to call it now. Pain, is all I could think about.

Sunday came around and my head pounded away but I made it through. Thankfully we didn't do much on Sunday except hang out around the house so I read my book and slept mostly.

Tuesday sent me to the hospital because it hurt so bad butthat in itself was an adventure. They got the pain to go away for the most part and tried to knock me out with a butt load of drugs but I was wide awake and trying hard not to freak out becasue we know how much I "love" the hospital.

I got home afterward and slept through pretty much all of Wednesday. I got up so that dad could take me to renew my licence at the secretary of state in Clare. Someone gets a new licence in 2 and a half weeks..... and no one is excited about that at all......(sarcasm, just incase you missed it).

Thursday I had a doctor's appointment so that she could tell me what I already knew and give me more drugs so that hopefully, I'll be able to make it through this semester. I'm still waiting on word from any kind of neurologist at this point but when and if that happens I'm sure I'll just get more drugs and I'm really totally happy about this whole thing if you couldn't tell.

Sigh...

I just have to stop that rant before it goes much further.

So anyway, Mom and I left home Saturday morning driving to Jackson where we stopped to see Chris Temple and  his buddies play that night. The music was great, like always, the food was good, but the people were a tad scary. If it weren't for the man in a kilt who decided to sit near mom and me, I probably would have been more inclined to stay for the entire show.

But no such luck has ever happened to me. Lyel just had to strike up a conversation with me and create a bubble of awkwardness that encompassed a five mile radius. He proceeded to tell me how he was a prison guard and had been in the marines where he got to travel a bit. That his wife had "set him free" three years ago and he was doing what his therapist told him to do by going out and having a good time......

I was thoughoughly creeped out.

We stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast that night since all the hotels were booked for the silly races at Michigan International Speedway. It was a homey sort of place built out of a converted barn and the owner lady was very sweet.

We had quiche for breakfast and blueberry coffee cake while the owner lady talked to us and we were seranaded by music that made me think of sitting out by the pool at my aunt and uncle's place.

We arrived at the French House, BGSU, around noon and slowly unpacked everything from the truck into my third floor room. Mom left me to unack after a tearful goodbye and I continued to trudge through unpacking all of my junk.

Then SURPRISE!

Aunt Jodie called and took me out for ice-cream. It was probably good for me not having my mind on all the things I needed to do before I went to bed that night.

We had a house dinner at 7 that lasted for a good long while because we were all talking and getting to know eachother and catching up on all of the things that happened over our summers.

I only have 2 classes on Mondays. So today I had Music 1900 (Learn to play guitar), and my Biology Lab where we learned to use a compound microscope....if it weren't for the great professor who was continuously making jokes, I might have pounded my head against the table.

Tomorrow I have the lecture for my Biology class, culture of Mexico and the Caribbean, peace and conflict studies, and roman studies. My international communtications class is taught online so I have to log on to that and make sure everything is okay but I don't think I'll have too much trouble with my classes this semester.  I'm more worried about my health than my classes actually. I don't want to have to think about the things I do so much but I guess a little more effort in my life's affairs won't kill me in the long run ...

I think that's all I've got for now. With a broken camera, I can't show you how I've set up my room or the view out of my window but you'll have to trust me that it's decent for being a dorm room.

So until next post,

Blessed Be

Medical Update

Okay People, I know that you're probably wondering about what things are going on since the last post. The results of the MRI were in yesterday and more testing and such is required so I have been referred to a neurologist which we will probably have to travel to Ann Arbor to see.

The diagnosis is this thing called a Chiari Malformation.

So to copy and paste from Wikipedia, here's more information.

Arnold–Chiari malformation, or often simply Chiari malformation, is a malformation of the brain. It consists of a downward displacement of the cerebellar tonsils through the foramen magnum (the opening at the base of the skull), sometimes causing non-communicating ^[1] hydrocephalus as a result of obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) outflow.^[2] The cerebrospinal fluid outflow is caused by phase difference in outflow and influx of blood in the vasculature of the brain. It can cause headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness in the head and face, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, nausea, impaired coordination, and, in severe cases, paralysis.^[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold%E2%80%93Chiari_malformation

The malformation I have is very small according to my doctor so it could be that I really do just have migraines but they want to be safe and do some more testing and gather more data about it with the specialist in these sort of things.

I know that this isn't exactly good news but it's not bad news either. I'm not going to die of this. It isn't exactly life threatening but it will be a test of my endurance.

So wish me luck.

I'll try to keep everyone in the loop as best as I can with this but I can't promise anything.

Positive thoughts = positive actions

Blessed Be