23 Skidoo!

Boy howdy do I love titles like this :D

Everybody have a good weekend and Monday? I hope so. I've been very busy for the past few days. No one in my family was feeling particularly well enough for dinner Sunday. Side note: one perk of being a cripple is that my pain medications help counter the effects of a stomach bug... YAY CODINE! I was feeling well enough to run some errands though. I obtained a new heat pack because the one I obtained prior kinda sucks. It doesn't have a timer, and if the cover falls off I could get a wicked burn. Oh well, I keep Daniel Radcliffe in my office now. That way I'm warm and pain free throughout the day! This time I opted to invest in a better quality heat pack. I call it Glenn, because it better not freaking die (just like the character in The Walking Dead).

Today was my last day as a 23 year old, and I spent my day being an adult... working! It was a long 10 hour day, but a productive one. Once I got home I decided to be the mature adult than I am and watched (and yelled at) the cast of Teen Mom 2. What can I say, it's my guilty pleasure. Whenever I feel like I'm some kind of crippled failure I just tell myself "Cheer up Crippie, things might not be perfect, but at least you're not on Teen Mom". Schadenfreude at it's finest right there.

I'm pretty damn excited about tomorrow, even though I'll be working for most of the day it'll still be fun. I will say though, I prefer working on my birthday versa going to school and doing homework on my birthday. I reckon I enjoy the ability to say "I'M DONE WITH WORK... LET'S EAT COPIOUS AMOUNT OF CAKE"!!!

Apart from the anniversary of my birth, tomorrow marks the 23rd anniversary of me being diagnosed with MHE. Come to think it of... wow... some of my birthdays have suuuuccccckkkkkeeeeddddd. I try not to look at this as a negative thing. Was a defining moment in my life... sure. But who's to say whether or not being a cripple is good thing or bad thing. It has definitely shaped me into the person I am today, and I don't think I'm a raging asshole or anything. So I'm gonna see this as a good thing.

Alrighty, I gotta go hit the hay. I've got a day full of adult, 24 year old things to do tomorrow. So I need some sleep!

Crippie's Tippie - Make sure your heat pack has a timer on it. Otherwise it could kinda be a fire hazard.

NHBPM - Crippie Gives Thanks

It's Turkey Lurkey Time!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!! I hope my American readers had a wonderful day filled with equally wonderful food. I spent my day hanging out with relatives and nomming on turkey. It was a very successful day, the turkey wasn't dry and pooches didn't kill anyone in an attempt to get said yummy turkey (Helen did try to kill to some strangers outside, but that's another story).

Today's NHBPM prompt is pretty straight forward... Thanks Post. Write about what you're thankful for.

This'll be fun! Gotta say I really do love these types of holidays, or any type of occasion where people take a moment and realize all the good things around them. I try my best to do this every single day. I know my life is faaaaaaaaarrrrrr from perfect, and there are times when things flat out suck... but I remember all of the good things around me, and that my problems could be sooooooooooooo much worse. It helps put things into perspective and ultimately cheers me up. I know far too many people that are surrounded by wonderful things, they just fail to see it. So here's a brief (and pretty) list of things that I am thankful for, not just today... but every day.

 

 

Seriously, I'm beyond blessed to have readers like you guys in my life :)

Here are some other things that I'm very thankful for, but didn't make doodles for...

Having a job that I love | Being able to walk | NO MORE FANNY!!! | Awesome music & movies to distract me when I'm sad | The Sims | Nail Polish | The Walking Dead | Graphic Design | Generators | Chocolate | Norwegians | Heat Packs that don't break | Pain medicine | Good doctors | Damn near everything :D

Crippie's Tippie - If you're down in the dumps, take a step back and realize that your life could suck so much more then it does presently 

Out And About

Aloha!

I sincerely hope that none of my readers had a case of the Mondays today. My Monday was certainly not dreary.

Let's start off by saying that I've pretty much been in my room for a week. I was starting to feel a little bit like this...

But today I was finally well enough to get out of the house! YAY CRIPPIE! I ventured out and ran some errands with my mom. We obtained a new heat pack to replace my beloved NPH. I have decided to name this one Daniel Radcliffe, because... well... he's yummy. The journey to get the heat pack was a rather small one and I was kinda sore afterwards, but our next destination was to get food for the pets and the thought of seeing some piggies perked me up. So off to the pet store we went. Oh my lawd did they have some cuties! I finally got to see a texel (curly haired pig) in the fur. Holy crap was it adorable!

It was hard to get a good shot of it because of the cage, but you can see the walking wig. It's also hard to tell in this photo but this piggie is being stored in an insanely small cage with horrible bedding, no hay, and crap pellets. My local petsmart treats their pigs better than this (THATS SAYING SOMETHING)! It's disgusting, utterly disgusting. I'm tempted to go back one day and tell the owner to use some damn carefresh at least. On the bright side, all of the pigs are in separate cages so at least there won't be any accidental babies. If any of my local readers go to this local pet shop (email me if you want to be sure of which one) mention to the owner that the pigs, rats, hamsters, bunnies, gerbils, etc need better bedding. This my friends is why I strongly advise against buying a pet from a pet store.

Apart from that general anger towards the pet store, my outing was very successful. I got a heat pack and the dogs got some food (I don't buy products for the piggies there, because, well, they suck), I got to see some insanely cute pigs, not to mention I was not in my bedroom for the entire day. It's funny, to a lot of people this day could have been ordinary, even lackluster. But for me it was pretty exciting. Even if I wasn't recovering from surgery a venture to the pet store would have made for a fun day. Me thinks this could mean something negative about my life, but I'm gonna take this as I good thing (SHOCKER). I see the good in the mundane (and potentially negative) aspects of life. I figure this is the life I've got... so I might as well enjoy it.

Crippie's Tippie - Don't let negative situations overtake the positive ones

Happy Father's Day!

Ohai!

Crippie wants to wish all of the dads out there a very happy father's day. My dad spent his special day working on our lawn and seeing my sister's show... which, BTW you can still see next week people!

I would write a whole big speech about how awesome my dad is, but seeing as how he doesn't understand what a "blog" or for that matter "the internet" are... so he'd never see it. Crippie will say that my dad is really freaking awesome. He works insanely hard to support us and he will do anything and everything for us. My dad hates to see me in any form of discomfort and he does everything in his power to make my life as painless as possible. He's also a very good daddy to all the animals, supplying them with all the treats their little hearts could desire.

Crippie is truly blessed to have the wonderful family that she has. We're not perfect by any means... but we're pretty awesome as whole. I'm so incredible grateful for everything my parents have done for me. I know probably sound like a broken record sometimes with all this "be thankful for what you have" stuff, but it's true... especially when it comes to your family. There are people out there who do not appreciate their families, and that makes me kinda sad. Sure, some people have every right to hate their relatives... but a lot of people don't. Our families won't always be around, how's about we recognize how much we love our families while they are still here.

Sorry it's a such a short post tonight, Crippie is getting tired. To make up for it... here are some pictures of Angel passed out on my sofa.

Crippie's Tippie - Realize what you have WHILE you have it!

Keep On Waiting.......

Ohai

The Mama Pig Update - Annnnnnnnnnnddd we're back to square one. I returned home from work today to find blood in the trio's cage. After inspecting all the pigs I discovered that it was Mama Pig. After watching her for a little bit I came to the conclusion that she has another UTI. *Sigh* We're gonna attempt to flush out the infection. Crippie has been giving Mama Pig about 2 cc's of water every 3 hours or so. I'm also giving her the chinese herb Shilintong, which should act as an anti-inflamitory. If she doesn't get better we'll take her to a vet. Mama Pig probably is genetically predisposed to bladder issues. She passed this trait on to Nellie, Frida, and Emma. So they will all periodically get UTI's. So yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, Mama Pig requests ninja healing vibes. She's ever so tired of being sick.

Moving on to MRI news, my doctor has reviewed my film and he will let us know what's going on tomorrow. While this is kinda annoying that he couldn't have just called us with the results, this is ultimately a good thing. If my ortho was concerned about a tumor being cancerous he would have called us today. He also said that I don't need a second MRI... YAY CRIPPIE!!! This also means that my ortho could clearly see my pelvis in my first MRI and that he should hopefully know why I was having problems sitting! Crippie is super curious to find out what's going on with that. The whole sitting issue has improved quite a bit with my total pillow buddy. I now only use that at work, cause that's where I sit the longest. Crippie eagerly awaits these results. Thanks for keeping your fingers crossed guys, it's been working thus far!

Since I'm pretty sure that Fanny will be removed Crippie can't help but think of funny things to do with the tumor. I know I want a photograph on Fanny once she's out, but Crippie thinks it would be rather amusing to keep her in a jar. Crippie could glue google-y eyes on it! It would be like "my pet rock"... ONLY MORE AWESOME! If y'all think that this is just bizarre and creepy, this is just how Crippie eases herself into situations like this. I have to laugh about how I'll have a huge scar on my ass... and knowing my luck it will keloid. It will be like cripple tramp stamp! I can also picture the recovery process like the hospital scene from Forrest Gump... lying on my tummy eating ice cream.

Again, might seem weird that Crippie thinks like this, but finding the humor in situations like this makes them soooooooooooooooooooooooo much more bearable.

 Crippie's Tippie - Humor is the greatest medicine. If you don't laugh about something, you'll cry

Any News Is Good News

Greetings

The Mama Pig Update - Mama Pig seems to be stable during the days. She's got a spark in her eyes and is very spritely. Nighttime is still an issue though. She was very gassy while I was monitoring her tonight. I guess it's good that she's able to pass it, but it shouldn't be there in the first place. I'm tempted to give her more anti-gas medicine tomorrow... maybe. On the bright side she was still very perky while I was monitoring her. She had lots of treats and took a few poops. Maybe I'll take her out for a drive over the weekend to scare some crap outta her. Overall, not much change with the poops, but she is getting perkier... which is very reassuring.

Eight hours from now Crippie will be in that nifty MRI machine. Crippie can't say that she's worried though. I'm definitely curious as to what this "sound" that everyone keeps telling me about will be like and if I can tolerate it. My only concern would be if  I'd have to sit on a hard surface with no cushioning, purely because Fanny the Ass Tumor is freakin' huge and it hurts when I have to lie down on anything hard. I also wonder what the MRI technician will say when he/she sees my scan. When Crippie had a body scan done a few years back the technician was like "WTF". The guy was not expecting to see my skeleton in that condition to say the least :D

People have asked me if I'm worried about the results of these MRI's. Honestly, Crippie isn't worried. Something is wrong with my hips, that's pretty obvious. Since there is no "GREAT NEWS, YOUR MRI SHOWS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU" scenario... Crippie has braced herself and accepted that something is wrong, something will more than likely be found on the MRI, and I will need surgery to correct it. Even though Crippie is pretty sure that the results of this MRI will be "Ohaiiii, that giant tumor on your ass is irritating your sciatic nerve... it needs to come out". There are other possibilities, like other sneaky tumors causing the problem, but I don't think that's the case. In this instance, any new that tells me what's going on is good news.

That's not to say there couldn't be bad news here, Fanny's somewhat rapid growth makes her a special, higher risk tumor. With MHE, there is always a chance that your tumors could become cancerous. I've had special high-risk tumors before and thankfully I've had them removed before they had the chance to become bone cancer. Worst case scenario of this MRI is that I find out that Fanny is malignant. If that's the case surgery would be muuuuuucccccchhhhhhhh sooner rather than later. Although *knock on wood* I doubt that Fanny is cancerous, she doesn't cause me any real pain.

At the end of the day... my hip freakin' hurts, I want it to stop hurting. I don't care if it means having my 11th surgery and a scar on my ass. I'm not worried about having surgery. I don't care about the week or two of pain. I want my damn hip to stop hurting all the time. This is why Crippie is not nervous, Crippie is busy focusing on getting rid of the pain. Keep your fingers crossed for me my fellow crippled comrades!

Crippie's Tippie - Might seem obvious, but dress appropriately for an MRI, absolutely no metal. Crippie is wearing leggings, a tunic, and shoes with no metal.

10 Awesome Things

Ohaiiiiiii


Yup, another "The Prince of Egypt" song. This one is about the 10 Plagues. It actually makes for a decent segue to today's HAWMC blog prompt! 10 Things I Couldn’t Live Without. Write a list of the 10 things you need (or love) most. Alrighty, here goes nothin...

1) My Family

- I think this one is pretty obvious, my family is my rock and I love them very much.

2) My Pets

- My pets help me stay sane, they love me regardless of what I can or cannot do. Also, they're freakin' adorable.

3) My Friends

- It's pretty safe to say that my friends are awesome and they support me when things get difficult.

4) My Job

- My job gives me a reason to get out of the house, interact with people, discuss zombies, design things, and makes some money. What's not to love! 

5) My computer

- At times it seems like my entire world is on my computer, especially when it's hard for me to move or to do anything

6) This blog

- Crippie enjoys sharing parts of her life with y'all, the piggies also enjoy the "fame"

7) NPH

- Well, NPH is the greatest actor of all time, but I also mean my heat pack. It's helped my pain levels dramatically.

8) My imagination

- There are times when certain aspects of my life flat out suck, when this happens I use my imagination to take me somewhere else. I don't know what I would be like if I couldn't do that.

9) Graphic design in general

- Looking at pretty things makes me happy. 

10) Funny pictures on the internet

- Sometimes a meme or a kitteh is all that is needed to brighten my days

YAY, Crippie successfully completed the list without coming up with stupid answers!!!!

Crippie's Tippie - Making lists like this help remind you of all the awesome things in your life

LOL... You Can't Do That!

Top of the Mornin' To Ya!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE! Crippie was talking in her impressive Irish accent all day, even though Crippie is exactly 0% Irish. I hope all of my readers had a safe and happy holiday. Crippie has actually had a very good couple of days... kinda shocking actually. Why? Because holidays like St. Pattie's day focus on parties and drinking. Days like this remind Crippie she can't do those things. For those just joining us, Crippie's medications and alcohol do not mix. Crippie also has some... "social anxiety" issues I guess, so parties are not fun at all.
Normally I don't think about my total inability to do certain activities until that activity is shoved in my face. So what does Crippie do when faced with these super depressing scenarios? First, even when being reminded of my inabilities I don't dwell on them. Maybe I'm just really used to not doing things, but I usually just go "Oh well... that sucks" and continue on with my business. Second, I look on the bright side of it. Tomorrow I can guarantee that I will see at least one facebook status along the lines of "omg I was so wasted last night I literally puked emerald green" when I see this status I will laugh and say something like "LOL SUCKS FOR YOU BITCH!" Sometimes you gotta realize that there are positive aspects of not being able to do something, it might not seem good at that moment but the good exists. Last but not least I remember that I can do things that others can't. I know I've had opportunities and experiences that others would have loved to have, so it makes sense that I feel both ends of the spectrum.
Wanna hear a perfect example of this? Crippie went to see a local production of "Cats" today with her family and a family friend. Crippie's family is full of "theatre nerds". We all love the theatre, and several of my relatives act, sing, dance, all that jazz (snaps to anyone who got that joke). Apart from the fact that my crippledness keeps me from dancing Crippie is a terrrrrriiiiiiibbbbbbbbbblllllllllleeeeeeeeeee singer. To put it in perspective I make Rebecca Black sound friggin awesome. Let's just say that these factors have kept Crippie off the stage. Seeing this show could've made Crippie all sad and full of self pity, but then I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture. I said "Ya know what, you may never be able to be in a show like Cats, but seeing as how this show has no damn plot and how awful the songs are... that's probably a good thing." Ultimately Crippie had a awesome time with her family and friends watching a really good production of a really horrible show. Sounds so much better than getting wasted at a pub!
And sorry if Crippie offended any of her readers by saying Cats was a horrible show, but it really is! Seriously, if any of my readers actually like that show and understand it's plot, please post it in the comment section. I really have no idea what that show was about...

In other news Crippie is super excited for tomorrow. I'm not gonna tell you why though, I guess you're just gonna have to tune in tomorrow ;) Also, speaking of partying... Nellie partied a little too hard today, I guess she really got into the holiday spirit

Crippie's Tippie - I probably say this a lot, but oh well. FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE. You will seem like a Debbie Downer if constantly focus on the bad in your life and refuse to see the good.

Back On Track

Greetings!

"Crippie's Corner" is officially a year old! I can't believe how much this blog has blossomed in it's first year. For teh lolz, here's my FIRST POST EVER. I can't believe how much progress and change can occur in a single year, I eagerly await what the next few years have in store for Crippie!
This whole "first birthday/anniversary/thing" has definitely given Crippie a much needed kick in the butt. As some of you might remember, in January I posted a list of resolutions that I want/need to complete. At first I was doing rather well at working on them. I starting learning blog design, I made some designs that will turn into prints and t-shirts (I will share them with y'all once they're ready... I swear), and I was kinda cleaning my room a little. Then all of the sudden Emma got sick. She became my main priority and distracted me from everything else. When she died all my motivation for completing my resolutions went with her. Instead of thinking about design and making progress with my life I thought about Emma's last few hours. I was constantly questioning whether or not I did the right things, if I could've done something different. I still wonder sometimes if there was anything I could have done to help her. Crippie knows that most of this lethargy and doubt are part of the grieving process and I am slowly but surely recovering from her loss, but it's been a rough couple of weeks.
That being said, my blog birthday-thingie has reminded me of everything good that happened within the past year. All of these good things happened because I worked really hard to make them happen. I can't just sit around and play The Sims whenever I have free time (silver lining of this, I have made a lot of progress in my game) I have to spend my time working on my designs, figuring out all blog design, and cleaning my damn room. Stagnation gets you nowhere. While this little break was necessary in order to process all the crap that was happening, it's time to move on.

To lighten to mood of this post, here's Helen pretending to be a muppet

Crippie's Tippie - It's alright to kinda veg out for a while... but recognize when you have to get up and move forward

Make A Wish!

Howdy!

Crippie was just looking through some photos on the computer when she found pictures from what was probably the most awesome day of her life, the day Crippie had a wish granted from the Make A Wish Foundation. The Make a Wish foundation is a beyond awesome charity that grants wishes for seriously ill kids.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 17 (just realized that was FIVE YEARS AGO... *cries*). My aunt was visiting for the weekend and my friend has just come over to take Crippie out to lunch for some reason. We were all sitting around talking when all of the sudden my mom said "Hey Crippie... there's limo outside!" And sure enough there was a huge ass limo outside with two people from the Make A Wish foundation.

Crippie, my mom, dad, sister, aunt, grandma, grandpa, friend, friend's mom, and a lady from Make A Wish piled into the limo and it set off for some unknown destination (they wouldn't tell Crippie) While in the limo I got to open some presents. I got The Sims 2 and some nice cardstock for the notecards I was making, not to mention a shnazzy hat!

We had a dandy hour long limo ride to the mystery location. We had a toast with sparkling apple juice.

Eventually we reached our location, "The River Grill" a restaurant that I had never ever heard of before. Crippie's friends and family were treated to an awesome lunch outside with the Hudson River as our view, how freakin' fabulous is that! Crippie really enjoyed her steak and my dad and grandpa were realllllyyyy enjoying looking at the boats that kept passing.

After lunch we returned to Crippie's house, only to find another person from the foundation there AND presents on my doorstep! I opened them to find a laptop, design software, camera, and printer. HOLY MOLY. We then went and had a delicious chocolate cake. Awesome day was awesome! 

That really was one of, if not the best day of my life. Not because of the things I got, but because up until that point my disability had only caused craptacular things to happen. This was the one time when something truly amazing happened because of it. The "special" treatment I got was actually special! It helped me cement my belief that good things can come out of even the worst situations.

Crippie's Tippie- The Make A Wish Foundation is one of the greatest charities around

NHBPM- Let It Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Ohai,

Well, it looks like today's NHBPM prompt is not quite as chipper as yesterday's... oh well. Today's prompt is... Let It Be. What’s something that bothers you or weighs on you? Let it go. Talk out the letting go process and how you’re going to be better to yourself for it.


Okay... <StartCrippleRant>
Alright, occasionally when I check out other blogs (I like pretty blogs... SUPPORT THE PRETTY BLOGS) and see posts where they are discussing things in their lives like buying an apartment, living in some big city, getting married, whatever it might be... it makes me feel... well... bad. I start thinking things like "I could've done that if I wasn't a cripple". I guess seeing random normals thriving makes me feel sickly. It's not that I'm unhappy with my life or anything, but being reminded of what I'm missing hurts. It's not an all consuming pain though, I feel happiness for the normal in their time of good fortune, it can just get me down from time to time.
As far as the letting go process, I try to be as rational as possible and think the following things...
-ENOUGH WITH THE "WHAT IFS"- There is no point in thinking this, stop wasting your time and emotions
-It is what it is - I can't change the situation so I might as well accept it
-There is someone out there reading my blog thinking "wow, Crippie is so lucky" she's overcoming her disability. She got a job, fantastic". Stop being a dick and be grateful for where you are in your life, could it be better, of course, but it could be a whoolllleeee lot worse.
</CrippleRant>

So yeah, there are times when negative feelings weigh me down, but ultimately I remember that a negative attitude will get me nowhere. I try to focus on the positives in my life and just accept the rest.

On a lighter note... ANGEL'S "BIRTHDAY" IS TOMORROW!!! We have decided to go with a deli platter of people food for her. I'm gonna try and get that on video.

Crippie's Tippie - When I am in a particularly bad mood I literally start singing "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life"... it usually helps me feel better.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J 

NHBPM- I'm Pretty Sure I Can

Whuzzup! 

I've been singing that "Imma Tumor Song" in my head AAALLLLL DAY LONG. I'm pretty sure i was singing it in my dreams last night... yeah, my username is Special McSpecial for a reason. Lucky for you guys tonight's prompt doesn't involve songs that will get stuck in your head for the remainder of the day. Today's cue is... Little Engine Post. Write a list post with 10-15 lines that start each with “I think I can...” Write 5 lines at the end that start with “I know I can.”

Let's being shall we?

- I think I can drive on roads that I'm not completely familiar with without someone else in the car

- I think I can teach some of my guinea pigs how to do tricks (I would say all but I'm realistic) 

- I think I can obtain a bunch of freelance clients 

- I think I can work a 40+ hour week and not feel completely tired

- I think I can learn to play the song "I'll Fly Away" on my mandolin (seriously, that's the only song I want to learn to how to play... CRAP I'M SINGING IT MY HEAD NOW... NNNNNOOOOOO) 

- I think I can get the song "I'll Fly Away" out of my head

- I think I can gain more independence over the next year or so 

- I think I can learn how to cook (I can make a mean fried egg, but that's about it)

- I think I can design and illustrate a bunch of books 

- I think I can come up with ten "I think I can phrases"

- I KNOW I can finish NHBPM without missing a day

- I KNOW I can lift a giant ass branch when it falls on my property after a storm (long story) 

- I KNOW I can overcome my driving anxiety

- I KNOW I can push myself to do things I didn't think were possible

- I KNOW I can come up with one last "I know I can phrase".

Crippie's Tippie- If this whole concept of "I think I can" seems stupid to you... break your your goal into smaller goals. Ex. I can work for five hours *five hours passes* I can work for 10 hours, etc. 

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J 

Life's Not As Bad As It Seems

Ohai!

I hope all my lovely readers had a lovely weekend. My weekend was pretty good, did some work, played with the pets, and um... oh yeah I GOT A CAR!!! Well, Crippie started the process of obtaining a car, I should actually have the car in a week. I'll post about it as soon as I get those keys in my crippled lil' hands.
So today after starting the whole car process I got to thinking "wow, this time last year I was afraid to drive on my own" once I starting thinking that a whole bunch of "wows". I thought about how it's been over six months since I've had surgery and how *knock on wood* I haven't had any major complications since my last surgery. I thought about how even though there are times when I have been in pain is thankfully manageable. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that my life is going pretty damn well right now. It's funny because for the past few weeks I haven't been feeling like that at all... far from it actually. Sure there are some really craptacular things going on my life now both disability related and not, but that's not what I am focusing on. I am focusing on the strides I have made in the past year, the milestones I have achieved so many things in the past couple of months. I cannot let the bad things shadow the good.
I am also making sure that I take advantage and appreciate the time of "good" health that I am having. I am well aware that this time of good health is only temporary and that sooner or later something will creep up and bite me in the ass, but in the meantime I'm enjoying my health while I have it.

Crippie's Tippie- Heated blankets and throws can be your best friend on an achy day.

PS. One of the reasons I have been sad is that one of my close relatives is very sick, so if my readers could send some healing ninja vibes to Crippie's Auntie I'd greatly appreciate it. 

Words of Wisdom from Russell Brand... Wait... What?

Salutations

Sorry for lack of blogging *Begs for mercy*, Crippie's household has been very hectic for the last couple of days. Nothing serious... we're just busy here.

Anywhooo, I was browsing SNL clips on hulu.com and I came across a most interesting little clip that I almost found inspiring... shockingly it came from Russell Brand's monologue.



For those who didn't watch the monologue (I don't blame you if you didn't... it's kinda long). The part I found most interesting was when he was discussing his marriage. He began talking about an issue that could be considered very annoying by most people's standards... but then he thinks about how lovely it is to be able to have that kind of problem compared to the serious police related issues he used to have.

I actually have a newfound respect for this fella (even though this was filmed in February and I've seen this episode before, I just never listened to the monologue). Sometimes I do wonder if people really know how fortunate they are, even when they are having difficulties. I occasionally volunteer at a certain location which I will not disclose, whilst there I often encounter a woman who complains about everything under the sun that's going on with her and her families lives. There are times when I want to tell her to shut her trap (now that I've seen Russell Brand talk I'm writing in British, I think it colours up the blog, piss off if you don't like it). I mean, sure some of her "problems" are certainly annoying little inconveniences, but she is lucky to be able to have those problems.

Crippie's Tippie- Take a moment and think about all the good things in your life, take another moment to reflect on the bad things... chances are you can turn most of those bad things into a good thing.

P.S. I don't think the media should treat Russell Brand like some crazy person, he does have a certain wisdom to him.

How To Deal With Crap

Bonjour!

After two silly posts I figured I should do a serious one. I was asked a very difficult question yesterday by someone who's child has special needs. "How do you deal with being physically unable to do what you want to do?" I am fairly good at staying optimistic regardless of what is going on, but this has to be the hardest situation for me. My general outlook of "misfortune is temporary and everything will be alright in the end" really doesn't apply to something that is not temporary and will remain craptacular forever.

One of the hardest things about being a cripple is facing the reality that sometimes being a cripple holds you back. My disabilities have prevented me from going to various places, experiencing many "normal" moments, and have made aspects of my life very challenging. I'll admit there have been times when seeing pictures of people I know doing a variety of "normal" activities have made me cry. I try my best not to do that, simply because sitting and crying over someone's facebook picture accomplishes nothing. So here's what I do to deal with the crap.

1) Face the fact that life is not fair- The sooner you get over the "why me's" the better. There is no good reason for aspects of your life to suck, it just does. In some how, some way life sucks for everyone.

2) Accept the fact that the feeling of being held back will happen- Accepting it makes the feeling less harsh.

3) Make jokes about your situation- As one of my professors said "If ya don't laugh about it, you'll cry".

4) Find a proper outlet for your frustrations- I draw and paint to help me cope with the frustrations, soooo much better for you than crying over facebook photos.

A painting I made when I was 17, sums up some of my negative feelings.

5) Find people in similarly craptacular situations- You get the feeling you're not alone, support, and the ability to bitch about the situation to someone who knows what you are talking about.

I know it's hard, but we cannot let the occasional disappointment get the better of us. Don't let the negative aspects of your life outweigh the positives. I know we can do it.

Crippie's Tippie- Be thankful for anything and everything you can do, chances are there is someone out there who wishes they could do what you do.

Happy Songs!

Hola!

I really cannot believe how well this blog hop is going. It's great to see how many people are getting involved. The amount of blogs about parents with one or more children with Autism blows my mind. Autism is a growing epidemic and we really need to figure out what the eff it causing it. Seriously, 1 in 155 (last time I checked) is an INSANE statistic. Essentially everyone knows someone with Autism. To find out more about Autism, click HERE. 

On to other topics, one trick I use to preserve my optimism/sanity is happy, uplifting music. Whenever things seem to be going down the crapper I play my "happy playlist" and it actually does make me feel better. I've heard and believe things like "angry people listen to angry music", so when I want to be happy I listen to happy music. 

Thanks to the wonders of basic web design skills I can bring you playlists on my blog! If you guys like 'em I can make more when I find more songs I deem Crippie worthy. If you have any happy songs you want to recommend for future playlists, post a comment! Also I figured out how to make a badge for Crippie's Corner that you can post on your own blogs. I must say, I am enjoying "pimping out" this blog if you will. 

Crippie's Tippie- Check out "The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease Research". Parkinson's Disease is a terrible illness that took my grandfather away almost two years ago. He would have been 82 today. Happy birthday Pop Pop, love ya lots.