I've had a busy weekend, full of ups and downs! Let's start from the beginning. Some time in the midst of last week, I used a different face wash than I would normally use. My face has had a horrible rash since about Thursday because of that. Even today, it's still swollen and painful. It itches slightly, but every time I touch it at all, it stings like the devil. Benadryl and cold compresses have been my friends. The moral of the story here is don't use new facial products when you have sensitive skin without making sure that the products are hypoallergenic first.
That said, this weekend, my dad and I headed over to Indiana. I saw JJ and gave him some of his belongings that happened to still be at the house here in Ohio. It was good to see him, but I'm still a little uncertain about the future. I guess time will tell.
I also went to church--our old church--for the first time in a long time. It was good to see everyone again. I got a ton of compliments about my hair. I would have thought the blue streak wouldn't have gone over so well with church folks, but it was apparently a really big hit. It was really nice to see everyone. It made me miss living in Indiana a bit, made me nostalgic. It would probably have been a lot better if I didn't feel like a leper with this giant red, swelling rash all over my face, but you take what you can get, right?
We also visited with my grandfather, who just got out of the hospital. He's been having some health issues lately. We were also told that if he doesn't start seeing some improvement with some of the issues he's been having, he may end up facing some surgery, which would not be good. He's improved slightly, however, so we'll take whatever blessings we can get. I know he feels a lot better being able to be at home, rather than cooped up in a hospital room with a roommate who can't be quiet. I suppose that would make me feel better, too.
More concerning, however, is that my great aunt Katy is in the hospital. She's been in the hospital for most of the week, but no one told our family about it. We managed to find out just before we left to come back to Ohio, so we went up to see her beforehand. She's such a fragile little woman, and I worry about her. I know that she's 92 years old, which means she's lived a pretty long life. She told us that she feels like she's toward the end of her life, and that makes me so sad. She also said, though, that she felt like she had a wonderful, long life and that she and our family are very lucky.
She's right; we are lucky. We have a mostly good family, no matter how often pettiness gets in the way. For the most part, we've got good lives and plenty of things to be grateful for. My father started to tear up in the hospital room as we were talking with her. It's very true that it will be so difficult when she passes away, but I'd rather look at it as a normal, natural part of life. I will miss her when she's gone, but she also seems very ready to go. She was calm, and she looked back on her life with a very large amount of gratitude. I'm just hoping that this wasn't the last time that I'll get to see Auntie Katy. She's done a lot for me, and I don't want her to go yet. I'm not ready to let go yet.
Coming home was both good and bad. I'm worried about the state of the things I left in Indiana. I'm glad to be comfortable and back in my own bed again. Yet, I still have a lot to do. I have more things to sort through, more things to find places for in my room. I sort of feel like I'll never be done, which is discouraging. I plan on taking my time, though. Today, I'll be mostly useless because of all the benadryl in my system, but I suppose it'll be okay. I need some time to rest and relax anyway, let my body start taking care of this rash. I'm hopeful that things will start to improve soon.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Beds Aren't Just For Sleeping
My sleep schedule is, once again, totally screwed up. I've been meaning to blog again for the last couple of days, but I get into this terrible habit of thinking about what to write while laying in bed. By the time I think of something worth actually writing about, I'm in the process of falling asleep. Naturally, when I wake up, I don't have any recollection of what I was thinking about beforehand.
Sleeping for me has been happening in oddly placed four to six hour segments. I'll sleep from midnight to around four A.M., but then I'll be awake until around noon. Then I'll sleep from noon until around five P.M. and be awake until midnight again. It's not really allowing me to be very well-rested, but it's also not really allowing me to get a whole hell of a lot done, either.
Of course, that's based on the notion that I've been productive lately. And, let's face it, that's just not the case. I've been watching a lot of anime lately, though. I forgot how much I loved Japanese and the Japanese culture. I forgot how enjoyable anime happens to be. I also forgot that after watching two series (start to finish) in five days that, afterwards, I have a propensity for spitting out Japanese phrases as though they make sense to those around me. (For those of you who don't know, I took four years of Japanese in high school. I loved it! So, while those phrases may make sense to me, most people in the Midwest don't really speak Japanese.) Anime also makes me crave Japanese foods and green tea.
In line with my recent attempts to be neither seen nor heard in my household, most of my anime viewing has been via Netflix streaming from my laptop in my room. I usually watch it while just laying in bed, which means I probably would look pretty strange to anyone who happened to just walk in. Especially since most of the time I'm also cuddling a large, stuffed penguin.
I'm pretty sure that I spend much more time in bed than your average human being--unless, I suppose, you're comparing me to maybe John and Yoko. I'm not usually sleeping in it. I'm reading, blogging, watching anime, watching Netflix (since my TV is still not hooked up...because I'm usually too lazy to get out of bed when the laptop is right there...), surfing the internet, or whatever else. Eventually, yes, I might give in and sleep. Most of the time, though, I'm actually doing something.
I guess probably the worst part about this crazy sleep schedule is that nights can be really lonely. No one's awake in our house--not that I'd really be downstairs or in the way--and hardly anyone is online. It's pretty much just me and Netflix. I've been visiting this website, CompassionPit, which allows you to vent your problems to other people or to listen to other people who need to vent theirs anonymously. I recently connected with a young lady on there going through a bad break up, and we were able to kill a few hours together chatting.
I suppose I really should change my sleep schedule back to normal, but I guess the bottom line is that my life isn't really all that normal right now. Why modify my sleep schedule when my life is so out of whack? I mean, I know that there are people out there who will tell me that I just need to get back to a normal cycle because that will help normalize my life, but the fact of the matter is that that's just not true. My life isn't going to be normal because there's nothing normal about me right now. I suppose sleep weirdness stays until life weirdness goes.
Sleeping for me has been happening in oddly placed four to six hour segments. I'll sleep from midnight to around four A.M., but then I'll be awake until around noon. Then I'll sleep from noon until around five P.M. and be awake until midnight again. It's not really allowing me to be very well-rested, but it's also not really allowing me to get a whole hell of a lot done, either.
Of course, that's based on the notion that I've been productive lately. And, let's face it, that's just not the case. I've been watching a lot of anime lately, though. I forgot how much I loved Japanese and the Japanese culture. I forgot how enjoyable anime happens to be. I also forgot that after watching two series (start to finish) in five days that, afterwards, I have a propensity for spitting out Japanese phrases as though they make sense to those around me. (For those of you who don't know, I took four years of Japanese in high school. I loved it! So, while those phrases may make sense to me, most people in the Midwest don't really speak Japanese.) Anime also makes me crave Japanese foods and green tea.
In line with my recent attempts to be neither seen nor heard in my household, most of my anime viewing has been via Netflix streaming from my laptop in my room. I usually watch it while just laying in bed, which means I probably would look pretty strange to anyone who happened to just walk in. Especially since most of the time I'm also cuddling a large, stuffed penguin.
 |
| Yeah, that's right. This is how we do anime nights. |
I guess probably the worst part about this crazy sleep schedule is that nights can be really lonely. No one's awake in our house--not that I'd really be downstairs or in the way--and hardly anyone is online. It's pretty much just me and Netflix. I've been visiting this website, CompassionPit, which allows you to vent your problems to other people or to listen to other people who need to vent theirs anonymously. I recently connected with a young lady on there going through a bad break up, and we were able to kill a few hours together chatting.
I suppose I really should change my sleep schedule back to normal, but I guess the bottom line is that my life isn't really all that normal right now. Why modify my sleep schedule when my life is so out of whack? I mean, I know that there are people out there who will tell me that I just need to get back to a normal cycle because that will help normalize my life, but the fact of the matter is that that's just not true. My life isn't going to be normal because there's nothing normal about me right now. I suppose sleep weirdness stays until life weirdness goes.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Internets and Disenchantment
After being without internet for several days, having the internet back at my fingertips is kind of a blessing. I suppose I didn't really realize how dependent I was on the web for entertainment until I didn't have it around for a few days. I'm not incapable of surviving, but trivial knowledge was much harder to come by. (We found ourselves saying, "Well, I'd get online and google it, but..." a lot!) Our internet and phone service was down and we were missing several cable channels (and by several, I mean something like half) because of a service problem in our area.
I will say one thing, however. I was reluctant to purchase my Android phone because I was certain I'd never use it that often, and I was sure that many of its features would be wasted on me. I no longer fear that with my phone. My phone was the only internet connection in the house while it was down, and I was never more glad to have gotten an Android phone than I was these last few days. My phone kept me connected to Facebook and Twitter. While I didn't peruse those things with the same eye that I would have had I been sitting at my laptop, it was nice to have the ability to be on the social network despite the at-home technical malfunctions.
Upon having the world at my leisurely access again, I started looking a little more at Vancouver and UBC. I'm not going to lie, I'm afraid that I'm not going to have the money to go there like I want. I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to afford school there at all, let alone housing and transportation and incidentals. Of course, I'm devastated at that prospect because I want to be in Vancouver more than I've ever wanted anything, really. I need to figure out this money situation, and I need to do it now so that I can save up for grad school. I need a car and a job, and I needed them yesterday.
I'm not trying to be bitter about my life, but I'm pretty sure that no one ever told me when I was a child that the entirety of my adult life would be spent struggling to make ends even come near meeting, let alone focusing on fulfilling my dreams. If someone would have just told me that I would be miserable no matter how hard I tried, I might not feel quite so cheated right now. But then, I don't suppose that any amount of preparation--proper or otherwise--could really prepare a person for the harsh realities of life.
It's just that, as a child, people always tell you that you can be whatever you want to be. They don't tell you that you'll never be able to afford to be what you want to be. They don't tell you that, even if you do pull off the money to be what you want to be, it's not going to be what you thought it would be and you'll end up disillusioned. No one prepares you for the let down. They build you up with all of these magnificent possibilities, but they don't tell you how impossible those are to achieve. They don't tell you about the let-down.
I realize that I'm being terribly pessimistic because I'm not sure I'm going to get what I want. It's just that I'm a little crestfallen right now. I'm still going to strive for what I want. I'm still going to do my best to make it happen. I'm just feeling the burden of how incredibly difficult that's going to be right now. I need advice. How do you make the world cough up the life that you want? Ah, why couldn't I just get a trust fund and have everything handed to me?! Woe to the unfairness of life!
Don't mind my whining. Give me a few days. It'll pass. I just need to find my motivation again. I need to find the desire to dust myself off and give it all that I have. And I need to face the dark reality that I'm going to be doing that without anyone else's support, fiscally or otherwise. It's going to be scary and difficult and I might not like it at all, but that's how it's going to be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go ponder the hysterical and radical magnitude of the fact that Lindsey Lohan has enough money to do drugs until the cows come home, but I can't afford to go to school to better myself. Good one, Jesus!
I will say one thing, however. I was reluctant to purchase my Android phone because I was certain I'd never use it that often, and I was sure that many of its features would be wasted on me. I no longer fear that with my phone. My phone was the only internet connection in the house while it was down, and I was never more glad to have gotten an Android phone than I was these last few days. My phone kept me connected to Facebook and Twitter. While I didn't peruse those things with the same eye that I would have had I been sitting at my laptop, it was nice to have the ability to be on the social network despite the at-home technical malfunctions.
Upon having the world at my leisurely access again, I started looking a little more at Vancouver and UBC. I'm not going to lie, I'm afraid that I'm not going to have the money to go there like I want. I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to afford school there at all, let alone housing and transportation and incidentals. Of course, I'm devastated at that prospect because I want to be in Vancouver more than I've ever wanted anything, really. I need to figure out this money situation, and I need to do it now so that I can save up for grad school. I need a car and a job, and I needed them yesterday.
I'm not trying to be bitter about my life, but I'm pretty sure that no one ever told me when I was a child that the entirety of my adult life would be spent struggling to make ends even come near meeting, let alone focusing on fulfilling my dreams. If someone would have just told me that I would be miserable no matter how hard I tried, I might not feel quite so cheated right now. But then, I don't suppose that any amount of preparation--proper or otherwise--could really prepare a person for the harsh realities of life.
It's just that, as a child, people always tell you that you can be whatever you want to be. They don't tell you that you'll never be able to afford to be what you want to be. They don't tell you that, even if you do pull off the money to be what you want to be, it's not going to be what you thought it would be and you'll end up disillusioned. No one prepares you for the let down. They build you up with all of these magnificent possibilities, but they don't tell you how impossible those are to achieve. They don't tell you about the let-down.
I realize that I'm being terribly pessimistic because I'm not sure I'm going to get what I want. It's just that I'm a little crestfallen right now. I'm still going to strive for what I want. I'm still going to do my best to make it happen. I'm just feeling the burden of how incredibly difficult that's going to be right now. I need advice. How do you make the world cough up the life that you want? Ah, why couldn't I just get a trust fund and have everything handed to me?! Woe to the unfairness of life!
Don't mind my whining. Give me a few days. It'll pass. I just need to find my motivation again. I need to find the desire to dust myself off and give it all that I have. And I need to face the dark reality that I'm going to be doing that without anyone else's support, fiscally or otherwise. It's going to be scary and difficult and I might not like it at all, but that's how it's going to be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go ponder the hysterical and radical magnitude of the fact that Lindsey Lohan has enough money to do drugs until the cows come home, but I can't afford to go to school to better myself. Good one, Jesus!
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