Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Pig...

Ello!

I hope y'all had a nice weekend. The weather was craptacular here, so I spent the weekend with Glenn the heatpack. Today was also kinda sad because it marked the one year anniversary of my guinea pig Emma's passing :(

I still can't believe it's been an entire year since my little Fuzz Ball left us. It certainly doesn't feel like it's been a year.

Emma was a freakishly cute pig, and she thought that she could use that cuteness to get away with being a little demon pig. She found ways to make enemies with Maggie, Aggie, Frida, AND her own mother! Not to mention how she'd boss around poor little Nellie, constantly stealing her treats and grabbing lettuce out of her mouth! Even though she hated a vast majority of the other pigs, she LOVED her humans. She'd snuggle for hours with you. What can I say, she was a smart girl... she knew to love the things that gave her salad, and hate the things that she'd have to potentially share said salad with.

Her grave marker is about 8 times longer than she was

I like to think that Emma is somewhere with unlimited salad and lots of comfy things to pee on, watching over her sisters, mother, and those two random ones that were super weird. 

We love you Emma Rose and we miss your terribly. RIP Fuzz Ball <3

Crippie's Tippie - If your pet is sick, take 'em to a vet

ARE YOU BLIND!

Yo!

Funny story for y'all today...

Today was a day of doctor's appointments. I saw my pain doctor today. It went well but that's not the main story today. Angel and Helen went to the vet (they're fine, they just had check-ups and shots). It was an all day event. Right before I went into my doctor's appointment we received a call from the vet's office about the dogs. I answered the phone. The conversation went as follows...

Vet Person - Hi... um... we have some concerns about Angel and Helen
Crippie - Uh oh, what's wrong
Vet Person in a very nervous tone - Um... well... with Helen... we.... um... the doctor believes something is wrong with her eyes... he doesn't think she can see anything
Crippie - Well yeah... she's blind.
Vet Person - Oh... um... has she seen a specialist?
Crippie - Yeah, she has detached retinas. She's completely blind.
Vet Person - Oh... ok

Helen is blind eh?

So it looks like someone forgot to add the whole "HELEN IS FREAKING BLIND" thing to her record. LOL FAIL. Needless to say we've been joking about this event for the remainder of the day. Everyone is saying I should have told the vet person "BUT SHE COULD SEE THIS MORNING!" just to mess with her. We're also pretending to be devastated by this tragic turn of events in Helen's life. Helen is coping with this in the only way she knows how to, by sleeping, eating treats, and cuddling with her humans. She's so brave ;)

It's hard to be Helen

Seriously though, if you look at Helen's eyes it's really obvious that she cannot see. You can see through them when the light is right. 

Needless to say, today was thoroughly entertaining. Something tells me we're gonna be saying "OH MY GOD HELEN IS BLIND" at random times for the next few days

Crippie's Tippie - OH MY GOD HELEN IS BLIND!!!!!! 

Crippie's Actual Tippie - Sometimes it's better to laugh at the stupidity of others rather than getting mad at them

Resolutions and What Not

Hi Everybody!

I'm totally late on all of these New Year's posts... but whatever. While I didn't exactly accomplish all of my resolutions last year, I didn't fail miserably either. So here's my resolutions for 2013...

FREAKING DRIVING

Seriously, I need to get over this driving thing yesterday. It's really frustrating. Time for this buttercup to suck it up and drive to some places.

DESIGN ALL THE THINGS! 

I'd love to expand my freelance horizons. I'm still working on setting up an online shop. Crippie's gotta hustle and make some money ;)

BLOG REGULARLY AGAIN, FOR REALZ

I have every intention of getting back to blogging every day. I'd also like to spruce up the place a little. I was thinking of doing theme days like "Music Monday". I dunno... what do you guys think? Anything you wanna see? And I plan to add a crap ton of adorable animal pictures :D

SOCIAL LIFE! FIND ONE!

Pretty much self explanatory... a social life would be loverly

That's pretty much it... I don't think I'm being unrealistic... we'll find out. In the meantime, I need to get to bed!

Crippie's Tippie - Be realistic when setting goals, otherwise you'll just feel like a failure

2012 Re(handi)cap!

Hi Everybody!

Are all my readers getting used to writing 2013 on everything yet? I'm still working on it ;)

Tonight I figured I'd take a look back and remember 2012...

JANUARY

- I lost my Emma. I still can't believe it's almost been a year since she left. 

FEBRUARY

- Nellie, Frida, and Mama Pig became a trio! 

- My heated blanket almost caught fire, beginning my quest for a proper heat pack

MARCH

- Thanks to my trusty heat pack NPH, I had a fairly good month pain wise... for once

APRIL

- I volunteered at a local animal shelter and watched two piggies

- Fanny the ass tumor begins her final assault, it's a terrible month pain wise and I have trouble sitting down

MAY

- Mama Pig got sick and we had a few very close calls. It took about the entire month for her to get better

- I had my first MRI... had to wait for a long ass time to get results

JUNE

- Finally got the damn results. It confirmed that Fanny was a massive tumor irritating my sciatic nerve. The decision on whether or not to have her removed was left completely to me... I decided to remove that mofo.

JULY

- Aggie injured her eye, said injury caused some very serious aggression issues and she had to be separated from Maggie

- CRIPPLEFEST! Single greatest week of my year right there. Hang out with ALL the cripples!

AUGUST 

- Maggie moved in with Nellie, Frida, and Mama Pig... the Quartet was born

- We had a crap ton of people over at my house for my mother & grandmother's birthdays

- I made a pilgrimage to Bethel Woods! 

- Holy crap Fanny was causing me SO MUCH PAIN

SEPTEMBER

- FANNY WAS REMOVED... PRAISE THE LAWD! 

- My friend and I hosted a Scentsy Fundraiser. We raised over 300 dollars for the MHE Coalition and we obtained 20 stuffed animals to send to children having operations! 

OCTOBER

- I returned to work after recovering from surgery and was pleasantly surprised by how much pain I was not in

- Hurricane Sandy... no power for 10 days... nuff said 

NOVEMBER

- We got our power back, we spent the rest of the month being thankful

DECEMBER

- I turned 24!!!

- I took a vacation and went to Tennessee, as my prior post shows... it was awesome

So there ya have it folks, Crippie's year in a nutshell. Here's to hoping that 2013 brings more adventures!

Crippie's Tippie - Do you suck at remembering all the important/special things that happen in the year? Write 'em down somewhere, whether it be a journal or a blog. It's also good to have a physical record.

Crippie Crosses the Mason Dixon Line

CRIPPIE IS BACK EVERYONE!!!

And I swear NOW I will get back to regular posting. I had every intention of blogging during my vacation... but alas... no WiFi. Oh well. I hope y'all had an excellent New Years weekend. My week was certainly eventful. Ready for some pictures?

Friday - I spent 17 hours in the back seat of a car driving to Nashville. 

Saturday - Pretty much chilled with the family. Did some grocery shopping. BTW, I walked around the grocery without a cane! Big step right there! 

Sunday - I got to hang out with one of my cripple buddies! We walked around downtown Nashville (I used a cane because I know my limits) and had a jolly ol' time. I tried a bacon soda (not bad) and my cripple and I tried on some snazzy cowboy boots, only to find out that the tumors in our ankles, legs, and feet make boots like that really painful. So we took pictures to prove that we actually tried on said boots and took them off as fast as possible. But we had a great time and it was nice to be with a fellow cripple.

Monday - NEW YEAR'S EVE! My sister and I went to Franklin and walked around. I also went sans cane for that :) Later on the whole family met for lunch. I had some nomerful wings. After all the lunchness we went on a quick run to Costco. I actually managed to walk around Costco without a cane. I don't think I've ever done that before... super stores are crazy places. As for the actual New Year's Eve festivities I hung out at my aunt's house. We had lots of nosh and I got to watch Kathy Griffin's attempts at molesting Anderson Cooper. I also partook in a champagne toast for the New Year. It took lots of effort and lots of people laughing at my alcohol face... but I finished the damn glass of booze. 

Tuesday - More sight seeing. Went to a big ass mall... I needed to use a wheelchair for that, but it was probably for the best. While there my sister and I spotted this super special sign.

Wednesday - We went to the Carnton Plantation, which was used as a field hospital during the Battle of Franklin. It was extremely interesting to see, especially considering you can still see blood stains on the floors. Carnton Plantation is also allegedly haunted... and I completely believe that. While in the "operating room" I got rather queazy. I NEVER GET QUEAZY! This is the person who asks for pictures of her tumors! The room didn't faze me at all. Once I left the room I felt better... and then when I went back into the room I felt sick again. Weird, right? 

Later on I got to spend a lot of time with my relatives while have a very delicious dinner :3

Thursday - 16 hours in the back of a car. But I'm back in New York, safe and sound. 

I certainly had a blast over the past week, now it's time to get back into the swing of things! HAPPY 2013 EVERYBODY!

Crippie's Tippie - Make sure you have lots of really awesome pain medications when you're traveling. You'll need 'em.

Crippie Reviews Les Mis!

Happy Holidays Y'all!

I hope everyone has been having an awesome Christmas week. I spent Christmas Day in the manner that any Jew would... at the movies. I saw Les Miserables with my family. Figured I might as well give a review for you guys.

First off... I've seen the show on Broadway, and my family is mainly comprised of theatre nerds. Now on to the review!

Holy crap this movie was long. 2 hours and 40 minutes to be exact... but it was a long ass show too, so it kinda comes with the territory. That being said I LOVED the movie. It stayed pretty damn true to show, which I approve of. I think the story transitioned to the screen relatively well... it was a little confusing at times... but then again so was the show. Most of the acting was incredible. Hugh Jackman was a convincing Jean Valjean, even though he couldn't hit all of the notes in "Bring Him Home" it was still passable. Amanda Seyfried and Samantha Barks played the parts Cosette and Eponine well... even though there really was never a whole lot to their characters. Oh well, Eponine didn't screw up "On My Own" so that's all that really matters. Eddie Redmayne was rather adorable as Marius, and he freaking nailed "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" (one of my favorite songs from the show). Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter played the Thenardier's in a delightful fashion. When I saw the show I thought those characters were really stupid and very forced comic relief. "Master of the House" was a surprisingly entertaining number in the movie, one I didn't particularly care for in the show. Of course Anne Hathaway was fan-freaking-tastic as Fantine. She added so much depth and realism to the part, it's amazing. When I saw the show I wasn't all that impressed with Fantine's character. I was like "ok, she's a prostitute... and now she's sad". Her performance was definitely a highlight. Also, the kids who played young Cosette and Gavroche were surprisingly good. Child actors can be hit and miss, but these guys sang and acted very well. Also, all of the student revolutionaries were adorable and I want to cuddle them all.

As far as acting goes, as awesome as everyone else was... RUSSELL CROWE SUCKED SO FREAKING MUCH! His voice was just not suited for Javert. Not at all. Most of his songs were terrible. Also, it appears that he cannot act and sing at the same time. Which is a problem. On the bright side, he didn't completely mess up "Confrontation" (my favorite song from the show). Hey Russell, take a cue from and NPH and put a little feeling into the role.

One of the great things about the movie versa the show is that in the movie the actors were allowed to make the songs more "realistic" and less "pretty". Definitely brought more emotion into the story as a whole (EXCEPT FOR RUSSELL CROWE DAMN IT). The thing was visually stunning also. Lots of interesting shots and camera angles. Not to mention the pretty typography whenever they had a time change.

Overall, if you enjoy musical theatre and Les Mis in general... GO SEE IT! TOTALLY WORTH IT! If thought the movie was about the French Revolution and some whores, well... then you might wanna skip it. My dad saw it was us and he HATED IT... SO MUCH. He had no idea what was going on, or what the point of it was. He may forgive us eventually for making him go ;)

In the meantime I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week. I'll be spending tomorrow in a car, going on a road trip to see some family and a few cripples! I should be able to post while I'm away.

Crippie's Tippie - If you don't like musicals... don't see Les Mis... YOU WILL HATE IT

Apocalypse Now... Or Later... Or Whatever

We did it everyone! We survived the end of world!!! TAKE THAT MAYANS!

Also, holy crap I suck at posting regularly 0.0... woooooooooooooooow. I swear that I'll be back to posting regularly in 2013. And I'll definitely be able to keep this promise because now we all know that 2013 will happen.


I don't know about you guys, but I had a blast today. I just love the absurdity of days like today, and they get even better when you throw in the possibility of raining fire. So what did I do to celebrate the end of days? Apart from working, I celebrated in my own little ways. I tried to rapture-bomb my family, but that backfired in my face as they thought I was just being a slob and leaving clothes out. Oh well. Last night I did some nail art involving people burning in hell... that went over really well. Seriously, people got a kick outta my damnation manicure. I also wore my The Walking Dead shirt to work (again). Hey, I figured if it was going to become a reality I might as well look the part

Yup, that's how Crippie spent her apocalypse. What about you guys? Do anything fun? Tomorrow some of my coworkers and I are gonna have I little "trolololololololol we survived" party. And by that I mean we'll consume lots of cookies while we work on stuff.

Before I leave y'all tonight, I wanna show you guys a song about a different apocalyptic threat from a few years back. Once you've survived one apocalypse you've survived 'em all... ya know? 

Crippie's Tippie - When people are freaking out about the end of the world... just grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show

No Pain, No Cane

Yo!

I hope all my Jewish readers had a super fun last night of Hanukkah on Saturday. My last night of Hanukkah was rather enjoyable. I got rest, eat lots of food, hang out with the family, and I actually finished reading the first Walking Dead compendium (8 books right there). First book I've read and finished in a good few years... and I finished it in less than a week. YAY ME!

I figured since tomorrow marks the 3 month anniversary of Fanny's removal I'd give y'all an update of how my health is goin'.

Since having Fanny removed my leg feels sooooooo much better. Not only that, I now find it easier to move that leg in general. I still have a limp and my gait is kinda off but my leg doesn't drag anywhere near as bad as it used to. It's been such a vast improvement that I no longer walk with a cane! Granted, I keep it in my trunk in the event of an emergency, but I've been doing really well without it. I've even gone on some long-ish schleps without it, I get a little more tired but I think it's worth it.

My new scar is kinda a bitch sometimes. There are moments when it just stings like a mofo. I'm trying to put lotion on the area to help the skin stretch. It seems to be helping a little. The scar itself is healing pretty well. It's raised off the skin a millimeters, but it's thin so it doesn't look that bad. The scar is currently a fabulous shade of purple, it'll probably lighten over the next few month... but for now it really is a nifty shade of purple.

*Knocks on wood* While I still have my usual frequent aches and pains no new problems have brought to my attention, which is nice. It's nice to have a "normal-ish" existence for little while.

A few days ago I started taking a new medication for an unrelated hormonal imbalance. Luckily I haven't had too many side effects from that yet. Apparently it makes you sick to your stomach at first. There was one night where I wasn't feeling too hot, but otherwise I've been good. Also, I have not been a hormonal wreck, which is nice for everyone else around me ;)

And even though this isn't exactly news, I've got a funny health story from today. So, I was at work and the heat was out due to some electrical issues. One of my co-workers brought in a little space heater to keep us warm. While I was working a co-worker with whom I share a desk with asked if she could turn the space heater off, as it was getting reaaaaalllllyyyyy hot. My reaction? I didn't even know that the space heater was under my desk, right by my legs. Thanks to nerve damage from several surgeries I have issues sensing temperature below my knees. I literally did not feel anything. Not even a breeze! Yup, I'm special. I usually forget about the whole temperature thing, unless I'm stepping into a pool or hot tub or something. It seems like a pleasant temperature then as soon as my knees touch the water I'm like "HOLY CRAP".

So yeah, that's about it. Do any of your disabilities cause any irregularities that amuse your co-workers? Cause mine are pretty impressed with me legs right now :D

Crippie's Tippie - If you're like me and have problems feeling temperatures, be careful. Just because something doesn't feel hot or cold to you that doesn't mean you get a burn and or frostbite. 

Never Again

Hi Guys

I praying that all of you and your families are safe and sound tonight, and if you are not my heart goes out to you and to all the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting <3

As most of you know, today sucked beyond all reason. 27 people, 20 innocent children aged 10 and under are gone. I was sitting at work and I happened to look at the news around 10-ish or so. The headline read something along the lines of "Shots fired in elementary school, gunman dead, several injured". My first reaction was "grreeeeeaaaattt... yet ANOTHER dumbass tried to kill himself and take several others with him, at least he didn't kill anyone". Over the next hour and a half or so the story changed. First it was two dead, then three, then "students among the wounded", eventually the headline of "reports that 18 students were killed" started popping up. I just sat at my desk with my hand over my mouth. I kept thinking "it's just a report... nothing is confirmed... nothing is confirmed... they have to be wrong". At this point the anxiety started to set in. I was thinking "This person got the idea to shoot up the school because someone just shot up a mall, what if someone decides to barge into my office and shoot people? Which desk should I hide under? Could I even get under a desk in time?" Naturally today there were a bunch of strangers in my office for various reasons, and every time someone would look into our door I'd think "Oh my God he's gonna kill us". The fear and panic died down after a few hours, but the sadness didn't, especially when the news confirmed that 20 children did not survive. At this point all I can do is wonder why did this happen?

I know we all have our theories and opinions about gun control and how more or less of it could have prevented this disaster, but I think the problem lies somewhere else. Why did this happen? The same reason why the recent mall shooting, the Aurora movie theatre shooting, Columbine, Virginia Tech, the Nickel Mines shootings, etc. happened. Because the shooters were out of their damn minds. How many of them were receiving proper mental health care? None. These people were seriously ill. They would requires countless sessions with some really freaking awesome therapists, God only knows how many expensive medications, and more than likely many stays in psychiatric hospitals. That's what they need, but that is rarely what they get. If you don't have insurance this would cost and INSANE amount of money, and if you are lucky and have insurance it will still cost an INSANE amount of money. If you can't afford to be properly treated, you won't be. This situation creates people like today's asshole. As soon as he was identified people said he was "not right" or "mentally ill". This kid should have been in a psych ward today, not an elementary school.

As Bob Dylan once said "how many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died?" How many shootings do we have to endure before we fix this problem? When will we recognize that mental health is a very serious issue? When will we realize that everyone needs proper access to the medical care, that it doesn't only effect that one sick person, that they can take dozens down with them? Please, we cannot let this happen again. We cannot let these children die in vain... we just can't.

Crippie's Tippie - If you know anyone that you believe could pose a threat to themselves or others, please do not turn a blind eye towards them. Get them help, immediately. 

One of "Those" People

Happy 6th night of Hanukkah y'all!

I hope everyone is continuing to enjoy this holiday season. I've been kinda lazy about the whole holiday thing this year. I get home from work, I eat dinner, and then I pass out. Not much room for lighting Hanukkah candles. I should be conscious enough to light 'em tomorrow... hopefully.

Now on to tonight's question, it's not really a jew-ey question but a LOT of people ask it. "Are you one of those people who buys presents for your guinea pigs?" The answer... HELL YEAH I AM. I actually bought the animals pressies before obtaining gifts for my human family members. What did the pigs get this year? Mainly things that they needed. Mama Pig got vitamins (which she LOVES), Aggie got a mirror so she can kinda be social (she doesn't care about the mirror), and the rest got some shnazzy beds. It looks like a dog bed for a really tiny dog (a chihuahua could probably sleep in one comfortably). Nellie, Mama, and Maggie adore their new bed and they have having issues sharing it. Someone *coughNELLIEcough* has realized that if you burrow underneath the bed you will knock out whoever is currently in it. Maybe they'll learn to share one say... *sigh* As for the puppies, Angel and Helen got a special bag of treats that they enjoy immensely.

Nellie says "Dis is mai bed. I has a comfy. If Mama of Maggie tries to get mai bed I will keeel them" 

Angel says "I eated my pressie, now I sad cuz I has no more pressies"

In cripple news, I'm beginning the whole fighting for my disability claim thing. They said they didn't have enough information... which is complete bull crap. I got everything I needed from work and now I'm getting everything needed on the medical side. Let's hope no mistakes are made this time.

Jew-ey's Tippie - If you're gonna obtain a present for you pet... but super practical about what you get 'em. Only things they need or without question will love very much. Otherwise you look like a crazy person.