Crippie's Back!

Ohai!

Wow, I've been a terrible blogger recently. Ugh, what can I say... pain, achy-ness and fatigue definitely got the best of me. Anyways, I missed y'all. Figured I'd give y'all an update of what I've been up to for the past two weeks (with pictures of animals to make up for my suckiness)

- It's been a month since Mama Pig's passing. The pigs and the humans are adjusting. Frida definitely misses Mama Pig. I've seen quite the personality shift with her, she's turned into the little asshole she once was, nipping Nellie and Maggie, starting fights, using faces as step-stools, etc. That being said, she is bonding more with Nellie, when she's not biting her butt that is...

See, I'm being nice to Nellie

But I miss my mommy sometimes

- Angel has recently been scratching her ears and face quite a bit (ear infection) it got to a point where we had to put her in a "cone of shame". Whenever I saw her walking around, sleeping, or doing anything with her cone of shame I couldn't help but do my best "Up" impression, shouting "CONE OF SHAMMMMEEE". She's on the mend though, gettin' better every day.

CONE OF SHAMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CONE OF SHAMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEE

- Helen has spent every last waking moment of the past 2 weeks either sleeping, or barking at minorities on the TV (apparently Helen is a racist, don't know how she managed that one).

I might be cute but...

I'm probably dreaming racist dreams

- As for me, I've been trying to grin and bear whatever discomfort I've been having and am trying my best to be a social creature. I'm definitely getting better at it. I hang out with friends on the weekends sometimes, last weekend I went to a flea market with one of my friends. Got to hold a grenade, that was quite the experience. Said table looked like a scene from "The Walking Dead"... WEAPONS EVERYWHERE! If ever there is a zombie apocalypse... these people will be just fine.

I regret not buying the daggers...

- I've also driven to a few strange new places all by myself. I went to get gas in my car all by myself (which is kinda a big deal cause I hate some of those roads). Not to mention I drove on some roads with scary intersections! And I didn't have a panic attack! YAY ME! Granted I was probably screaming at other drivers more than I usually do, but whatever. I've been using the Google Maps App as a GPS, I rather enjoy it. It doesn't judge me when I miss a turn. Three cheers for progress! 

- My sciatica has been a bitch and a half recently. I've heard that exercise helps that whole problem. But the thing with exercise is that the whole "my body is riddled with tumors" thing makes it kinda painful and extremely challenging. I had to think of something I could do without injuring myself. Fun fact: Crippie is surprisingly good at Hula Hooping. I can walk while using a hula hoop, I can go up and down stairs, plus a few arm tricks. A couple of days ago I remembered that weighted hula hoops exist. I figured I could probably do that without hurting myself so I obtained one. I've been slowly starting to use it every day, just a little to start... but so far I haven't dislocated a hip or anything, so that's a plus. Even if this doesn't help the sciatica, a medication I take has made me gain a couple of pounds (nothing much, just 4 or 5 pounds) so I'll be nice to my hips and legs and try to remove that. I hate to sound like Regina George but...

So that's about it, the weather is starting to level out, and hopefully the exercise will make me feel better. Let's hope I can seriously get back to being a good little blogger.

Crippie's Tippie - If you can hula hoop, you should totally try a weighted one. It's fun AND it's exercise! 

PS - My grandma is on twitter now. Her name is @The_AltaKaka. LET'S GET HER SOME FOLLOWERS!!!

Drive Me Crazy

Ohai Everybody!

I hope everyone has been fairing well with all these lovely weather changes. I've been super achy and I somehow managed to hurt my arm a little while ago. It should be better by morning, but still... weird.

Today was my day off from work. I spent it working on my New Year's Resolution of working on my damn driving anxieties. I had to pick up someone at a place that I am REALLY not okay with driving to. Well, it had to be done so with my grandmother and a GPS by my side I drove. Let's just say the whole thing was an experience and I'm amazed I didn't freak out. I'm absolutely petrified of getting lost,  driving in some weird place where I have no idea where I am. So what happened when we went? We got lost, naturally. Yes, even with a GPS I managed to get my ass lost... AND I had to drive on some rather unsavory and confusing roads. So yeah... that was fun... NOT -_-

I'm kinda surprised I didn't have an anxiety attack honestly. I was swearing quite a bit and obsessively fidgeting... but all things considered that's not terrible. Had I been the only person in the car it would have been a different story. I probably would have pulled over and freaked out. I just tried to put my faith in my damn GPS. It took awhile and some crazy freaking roads, but we got to our destination, early as a matter of fact. On the way home the person I picked up gave proper direction, they also involved the occasional unsavory road, but I knew that SOMEONE knew where they were going, so that helped.

In hindsight it was a mildly entertaining experience, but at the time I was freaking terrified! That being said, I'm proud of myself for driving to this demon location with it's freaking weird roads. It feels good to work on your resolutions. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Let's hope the progress doesn't end here :)

BTW, if anyone is curious, I used the "Waze" GPS app on my phone. It took me on some freaking weird ass roads, but it ultimately got me to my destination. I think I have to play around with it before I can fully trust it with on a solo trip somewhere.

Crippie's Tippie - Allow yourself extra time when driving to new places, helps factor in the whole "YOU CAN AND WILL GET LOST" thing

NHBPM - I Should Probably Do That...

Yo!

This is just not my year for NHPBM, I reckon missing the first 10 days kinda threw me off. Oh well. Did y'all have a lovely couple of days? I've been oddly busy and thus insanely tired. Today I had a lunch-in with my co-workers. While everyone was showing pictures of their children I whipped out my pictures of Frida dressed as a bumble bee. Needless to say she was a hit. I had a blast with my co-workers and I ate some delicious noms. Successful day was successful. I'm super tired but first... I MUST BLOG!!!

Tonight's NHPBM prompt is... If I could accomplish one thing in 2013 it would be...

Ok, first of all... am I the only one who cannot believe it's almost 2013? Now, if I could accomplish one thing in this rapidly approaching year it would be conquering my driving anxieties. As much as I hate to admit it, it's terribly limiting. I can only drive to a few select places by myself, and a few other places with someone else in the car. Otherwise I have a horrible feeling of being lost and not knowing what to do. Which lane do I go in? Did I miss a turn? What if a miss a turn? What if the GPS takes me on highway? What if I get lost, have a panic attack, and crash my car? Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, these feelings suck and they need to stop. Baby steps I guess. I'll start driving to random places with someone in the car. Then I'll drive to more random places with just my GPS. Mayybbbeeeee I'll hire a driving instructor for a day for highway practice (you don't wanna screw up highway practice). I guess I just have to think about all the awesome freedom and independence that comes from being able to drive where ever my little heart desires. One good thing about driving anxiety... by hardly driving anywhere I save soooooooooo much money on gas. I was able to get through the whole Hurricane Sandy mess without waiting in a gas line :3

So my fellow crippled comrades, any tips for overcoming anxiety for me?

Crippie's Tippie - When in doubt... baby step your situation out

GET BACK TO WORK

Hello Friends!

I hope y'all had dandy weekends. It was the last few days of my "vacation" so I got to enjoy it. My sister's birthday was on Friday so we went out for an awesome dinner with some relatives on Sunday. If any of my local readers of heard of a place called "Texas Roadhouse" I HIGHLY recommend it. The steaks were freaking amazing.

Moving on, today was my first day back at work! YAY ME! Now that I'm getting back into the swing of things I'm really starting to realize how much of a raging bitch Fanny was. I was in ZERO pain driving to work. I didn't even know that driving hurt before. But now that Fanny is gone driving felt so... normal. Definitely motivates me to drive more often. I opted not to use my crutch when I got to work. Figured the exercise would be good and walking is easier now. It was great to see all of my coworkers and I had a little "welcome back" sign on my desk. I jumped back into work and I found it slightly easier to focus. My scar would sometimes hurt for a second, but it wasn't bad and it quickly passed. I'm really happy to be back at work, reckon I'm one of those people that actually enjoys working.

Even though I was on a modified schedule today, I was tired when I got home. I pretty much just ate and watched several episodes of "Breaking Amish" on my computer. I don't care if it's probably highly fabricated... it's interesting AND ADDICTIVE!

I guess that's all for tonight folks. Tomorrow marks three weeks since my surgery. Guess I'll have to celebrate by posting cute animal pics.

Crippie's Tippie - Modified schedules are a beautiful thing.

Cripplefest 2012!!!!

HALLO!

CRIPPIE'S BACK EVERYBODY!!!!

Boy howdy did I have a ridiculously awesome week with all of my cripples. I got to see my buddies from all different parts of the country, and even the world (side note: I picked up a crazy Norwegian accent over the course of the week, apparently its annoying, ja?). For one week, I was normal, and it was fantastic. I stayed out late and hung out with friends, took goofy pictures, invented inside jokes, all that jazz. Not to mention the whole having discussions with doctors and fellow cripples so now I have a bunch of post ideas for future weeks... OBOI.

Apart from the obvious awesomeness of being a normal for a week, this week also kicked ass because... I DROVE ON A HIGHWAY AND A BUNCH OF OTHER PLACES THAT I'M REALLY NOT COMFORTABLE DRIVING!!! YAY ME!!! I reckon that necessity and getting to see your cripples is a fairly good motivator when it comes to getting on a highway. It'll take some more practice before I'm totally ok with driving on these scary ass roads, but it's def good to know that I am capable of driving on them!

So yeah, it's pretty safe to say that Cripplefest was the highlight of my year. I saw my peeps, discussed cripple issues, made a bunch of new cripple friends, AND I drove on a damn highway. WINNING. Oh, also people managed to take a bunch of awkward photos of me, so without further ado I give you "Crippie Being Special"

Crippie's Tippie - Throw your own Cripplefest, they're freakin' awesome!

It's Hard Out Here For A Pig

Greetings

The Aggie Update - The chubster saw the vet yesterday. Apart from meeting a new friend (a little girl who gave her lots of rubs) Aggie received a clean bill of health! YAY AGGIE! I'm not doing a victory dance though. Aggie appears to be a little traumatized from the past week. She was taking her emotions out on Maggie and the two had to be separated. Once we got come from the vet I let Aggie recover on her own for a few hours. I planned on putting her and Maggie together that night following a salad introduction. They ate their salad together, but then started to squabble again. I then decided to let them hang out on neutral territory, the sofa. Unfortunately they had a full on brawl. I was able to pull them apart. While I was putting each of them in "time out" I noticed that Aggie had been bitten in the face, more specifically her mouth and nose. So, for those of you keep track at home, Aggie has managed to injure her eye, nose, and mouth all within a week. I cleaned the wounds and they weren't deep thankfully, BUT Aggie and Maggie cannot be housed together with their current temperaments. So for the time being Maggie has their cage, and Aggie has a playpen on the floor. 

I'm still in a total state of disbelief. Maggie and Aggie have been paired together since Maggie was about 4 weeks old (and she'll be 3 in February). While they've never been an affectionate pair, they tolerated each other. I can't believe that they would fight like this. Ugggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. The life of a pig owner, right? 

So, what am I gonna do? Alright, I know that Maggie and Aggie are capable of being nice... they've done so for two and a half years. I just need to get them to remember that they like each other. First, I'm gonna let them both cool down for a few days. Hopefully they'll forget that they were fighting. Next I'm gonna try a "Buddy Bath". A Buddy Bath is when you put some water in a tub, and put both the pigs in the tub. The pigs freak out, forget that they're fighting, lose whatever scents they had, and they bond about the whole experience. Essentially it should act as a reset button. Both Maggie and Aggie are good candidates for Buddy Baths because they both HATE water. I'll probs do that on Tuesday... *fingers crossed*.

In non-guinea pig related news, I drove to the gas station today :). It might not seem like a newsworthy event, but the local gas station is on a road that I'm not exactly comfortable with. But, I've been memorizing the road for a few months and today I finally drove there! Granted, my mom was in the car with me for support, but still... I DID IT! YAY CRIPPIE! It's only a matter of time before I get more and more comfortable driving to new places. My next task will be to drive to a completely new place with no practice runs. I need to find a place that would be worth the panic attacks. Any local readers have any suggestions of really kick-ass places? There's a guinea pig rescue in New Jersey... maybe the thought of piggies will help me get over some fears :D

Crippie's Tippie - The occasional guinea pig squabble or nip is not a huge deal, once blood is drawn however, separate the pigs.

Limping In The Rain

I should do Broadway puns more often...

The Aggie Update- Aggie is pissed at us. Emotionally she's in a sad place. People keep putting drops in her eyes that burn, people keep giving her medicine that she does care for anymore and probs causes minor tummy issues, AND to top it off... she's in heat... so she's just pissy in general. Aggie's always been a very emotional little pig. On the bright side her eye looks sooooooooooooooooo much better. It's almost back to normal. She has a follow up vet appointment on Friday, let's keep our fingers crossed for good news. Here's a few pictures of the patient so y'all can see her cute lil' face...

Woe is meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 

Her eye is looking good though, it's clear and mostly black. 

Aggie sleeping in a dramatic pose

Ain't she just the cutest damn thing ever? Anyways... yesterday was a rather weird day for me. I had a long day at work, but it a productive day. I wasn't achy or anything. Nothing felt out of the ordinary. Then while I was driving home, maybe a minute or two before arriving to my house, my damn ribs catch. For those of you who have hurt your ribs in some form or another know how much rib injuries hurt. So there I am driving, with the left side of my torso BURNING. I held my side with one hand, focused on the road, and got home. Once I got home I collapsed on the couch with a heat pack. While I was there Fanny decided to be all like "YOU'RE GONNA REMOVE ME... F$#% YOU... I'M GONNA IRRITATE YOUR ENTIRE LEG!". It's pretty safe to say that I was really uncomfortable. About five minutes later it began to pour. Once it started raining I got reallllllllyyyyy achy and stiff, to the point where I was not able to get off the damn couch. So, I stayed on the couch until it stopped raining. Eventually I migrated to my room and stayed with my glorious heat pack, NPH. While the pain wasn't as bad as it was earlier... there were a few rough patches throughout the night.

The whole incident was rather odd. Usually I feel achy for a day or so before rain. This whole thing was so sudden. My pain scale went from a 2 to a 8 within 15 minutes. The rain was also weird too, it went from "very light drizzle" to "torrential downpour" within minutes. I dunno... maybe that had something to do with it.

Lucky for me, this episode was short lived. My rib stopped hurting within an hour or so, soooo much better than when my rib caught for two and a half weeks. It's day's like yesterday that remind me how much I hate Fanny. I cannot wait for September 18. I'm hoping this is disdain for her will make me less nervous when surgery time comes. I've never hated a tumor as much as I hate Fanny, and I've had some real asshole tumors. Maybe I'll get through this surgery without getting sick beforehand like I usually do. I realllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hope that I can psych myself into not getting sick come surgery day.

Before Crippie heads to bed I have one more picture to share with you. Maggie wants you all to know that it's hard being her. Whenever Aggie gets pissy she takes out her frustrations on Maggie. Poor Maggie keeps getting nipped in the butt.

MAGGIE BUTT!!!!

Crippie's Tippie - If you're ever driving while you get really bad pain episode, pull over if it's reallllyyyyyy bad and you can't focus on the road. If you can focus, slow down a little and put all your attention on the road. Concentrate only on driving. Think about nothing else. It distracts you from the pain.

A Grand Day For Driving

Yo!

Happy July everybody!!! I hope everyone had a lovely Sunday. My day went very well. I saw a local production of "A Grand Night For Singing", which is a revue of Rogers & Hammerstein songs. The production was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of it. I also have to mention that I DROVE TO AND FROM THE THEATRE!!! YAY CRIPPIE!!! I know it might not seem like a huge deal but I had never driven on those roads before. I managed the to drive both ways without a panic attack and with only minor swearing! Granted, they're were people in the car with me, so that helped my anxiety of not knowing where I was... although it heightened my anxiety about killing everyone in the car in a fiery blaze. Maybe after a few more trips to this location I'll be comfortable enough to drive there by myself!

While I am making strides in lessening my driving anxiety, there is still a loooooooooooot of room for improvement. I'm trying to figure out the best way lessen my anxieties. Technically I know how to drive on highways and all that jazz... so it's not like I need to take lessons. Maybe I should just go driving with a GPS one day and see where that takes me. I drove today because I was forced to do so. Perhaps necessity will drive me to suck it up and drive to new places? Do any of my awesome readers have any tippies for driving anxiety?

I asked Nellie what she thought about my driving situation, her response was this...

"Why yes I would love some watermelon! Wait... that wasn't what you asked me? Oh well, everything sounds like 'would you like watermelon' to me. Speaking of which, I really want watermelon"

All of the piggies have been in "GIVE ME SOME DAMN WATERMELON" mode for the past couple of days. We kinda have to be careful. If someone in the house opens the fridge at 2am for some late night nosh, one of the pigs *coughAGGIEcough* starts screaming bloody murder. That one pig triggers all of the pigs to start screaming. As much as it breaks their little hearts, we cannot give them watermelon whenever they want it. If we did that they'd be conditioned to scream whenever they "need" watermelon, which is always ;). 

Crippie's Tippie - Necessity is the mother of learning how to suck it up

Random Crippie Things

Ohai

The Mama Pig Update - Today we tried the "feed her like she's never been fed before" method. This resulted in several things, 1) Very happy pigs 2) very very happy pigs 3) the cutest food comas I've ever seen in my life 4) a looooooooooooooot of poopies from Mama Pig. She still needed help going so she is still not cured, but I see today as a good step. We are wondering how much peeing and pooping she does on her own, so tomorrow we are gonna let Mama Pig have some "alone time" on the upper level of the cage. Let's hope that she can wee and poop on her own *fingers crossed*

Moving on, Crippie realized she forgot to post a picture of the gingerness! How on Earth could I make such a foolish mistake?!?!?! Well, here ya have it folks, Crippie's new ginger color.

I had to sign sooooooooooooooooooooo many forms for the whole "soul selling" process, but I think the end result was totally worth it!

In other news, it's 3am and Crippie is still awake. So forgive if the rest of this post is weird and not cohesive.

We're still waiting for my damn MRI to be approved. I guess Crippie is gonna have to make some calls tomorrow. Crippie did come up with a somewhat catchy chant if they turn it down again... 1-2-3-4-5 GIVE CRIPPIE HER MRI 6-7-8-9-10 DO NOT MAKE ME ASK AGAIN. I dunno... I like it.

Crippie almost had a panic attack driving home from work today! I was driving home and it was raining, all of the sudden I see that road is completely blocked off and I needed to take a "detour". The detour wasn't properly labeled as a detour and Crippie didn't know that area so natural I started freaking out. I didn't know what to do. Crippie has a bit of a delayed reaction time (possible side effect of MHE) and the thought of turning around and taking an alternate road didn't appear in my head for a good 5 minutes. So Crippie was just driving the detour, swearing like nobody's business and trying to follow the cars. That was the one thing I knew to do, follow the cars. The cars kept going into driveways and staying there, ya know... cause that's where they friggin lived. So after some more swearing I FINALLY had the moment of clarity to turn around in a driveway and take the alternative route home. I then had a mini anxiety attack about finding a good driveway. That was short lived because a really good driveway appeared fairly quickly. Crippie managed to pull herself together and take the damn alternative route. I was still freaking out because this was such a major change in my routine and I was trying to think of what to do if there was another closed road. Luckily Crippie did not encounter any more closed roads and I made it home in one piece... half and hour later than usually but in one piece nonetheless. Crippie is very proud of herself, mainly because I kinda stayed calm and I eventually figured out what had to be done.

Depending on how the weather is tomorrow (later today... whatever) Crippie is planning on visiting Andrew and Charlie. Yup, they're still up for adoption at my local humane society. Crippie is toying with the idea of fostering them one day. I dunno, for now Crippie is gonna continue with the shelter visits and hope that someone will adopt them. ALSO... If you are reading this, are considering adopting them, and are local to me... Crippie will gladly help you get them settled in and give you any "piggie pointers" if you need them. Just message me.

Ah the ramblings of a person who really should be going to sleep, very entertaining.

Crippie's Tippie - Have more than one route for your everyday destinations

It's A Sunshine Day!

Hi Y'all

I don't know about you guys, but the weather today was AWESOME by Crippie. Mother Nature might be a bitch most of the time but this 70 degree day was totally awesome. Crippie actually got a lot accomplished today!
Since the weather was so awesome we decided to the dogs to the park! We didn't realize how windy it was so it was short lived trip to the park. The dogs had a blast in their quick 10 outing, I reckon that's all that matters.
After that Crippie drove to the pet store. Seemingly not a big deal, but I haven't driven there in years. It was almost like driving to a new place, and I didn't have a panic attack... YAY ME! Mini cripple rant... while at the pet store I could help but look at the guinea pigs... PET STORE OWNERS... TAKE CARE OF YOUR PETS. The piggies had no hay, crap bedding, were not properly taken care of, and most importantly SICK. I feel so horrible for those poor babies. I wish there was something I could do for them. If any of my readers are looking to obtain guinea pigs be very wary of pet stores, try your best to rescue a pig.
Once we finished our errands Crippie had her appointment with the pain management doctor. Since the heat pack has helped my pain levels for the time being we started forming a plan for what to do when I eventually get worse. She doesn't want me to immediately jump into an anti-depressant as a treatment, but there are some transitional medications that she would put me on. Crippie's doctor also suggested injections for pain relief. The thought of needles does not appeal to Crippie AT ALL. Have any of my readers tried shots for pain? Did they work? Were they really painful?
Annnnnnndddd after that we took a drive to the location of a potential freelance client. It was a completely foreign area to me and I was not comfortable driving there. So, Crippie and her mom are going to make some practice runs over the weekend until I am okay driving there.
Whew, what a busy day. Once I got home I fell asleep for a few hours. Crippie also rested with her piggies.

Frida Being Snuggly, she was making up for peeing on me earlier -_-

Mama Pig's Tushie!

Crippie's Tippie - When dealing with a lifelong condition, having a plan for when things get worse will make your life slightly easier and less stressful when that time comes

Frida's Tippie - Depending on where you live there are lots guinea pigs in shelters that need good homes.


P.S. Ever since a tumor split one of my finger nails I've been wearing nail polish to cover it. I recently found a "nail polish of the month club" if you will. If you want to check it out, it's HERE. If you join, use the code COLOR2012 and get your first month's order for a penny! You can always cancel after your first free month ;)

Resolutions & Such

Happy 2012 Y'all!

It's that time of year again, that time when Crippie makes a few resolutions that she probably won't be able to keep. I'm hoping that writing them here on "the interwebz" will help me remember/fulfill them

CRIPPIE'S 2012 GOALS & STUFF

LEARN WEB DESIGN- Crippie knows some verrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy basic html/coding things, but I suck at it. I'd like to relearn CSS and all that fun stuff. When I do learn this stuff, I wanna redesign the blog with all kinds of shnazzy things. 

GET MORE FREELANCE CLIENTS- Crippie needs to expand her design horizons. I'm also thinking of setting up an online shop for my designs, sell prints, t-shirts, things of that nature. I was also thinking of mayyybbbeeeeee starting a design blog... but I dunno.

CLEAN MY GOD DAMNED ROOM- Crippie's room is a kinda messy and rather cluttered. I've decided that I'm gonna treat my room like a studio apartment, cause I'm probably not gonna be going anywhere for a few years. 

LESSEN DRIVING ANXIETY- The whole driving anxiety thing is getting better... but I still have trouble going to new places by myself. I also NEED to learn how to drive on damn highway. 

FIND SOME FORM OF SOCIAL LIFE- Crippie doesn't have much of a life outside of work, home, internet, and pets. Let's hope I can find some things outside of the house to occupy my time.

So that's about it, I don't think I'm being particularly unrealistic. I hope all my freakishly awesome readers had a lovely New Year's Eve/Day. Crippie didn't go to any parties or anything, I watched the ball drop with my family, dogs, and piggies. Frida was really happy because she got to watch Lady Gaga perform. Btw, if anyone thinks I'm kidding about that Lady Gaga thing I'm not. Frida LOVES Lady Gaga, she will just flatten out and purr listening to her music. Her favorite song is Poker Face but she also enjoys Bad Romance and Born This Way. Some of Crippie's relatives came over on New Year's day. We watched "Cyberbully" and had some pretty awesome food. All in all I'd say this weekend was purdy good.

Also, Emma is responding to the medicine! The tumor in her tummy hasn't changed yet, but even if it doesn't change I'm not terribly worried. 

Completely random question for people who watched "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve"... Did Ryan Seacrest look weird to you? Everyone in my house was trying to figure out whether or not he had plastic surgery done. 

Crippie's Tippie- Attempt to keep your resolutions and make this year really freakin' awesome. Not much of a tippie but I can't think of anything else.

Well... Now What?

Happy December!

After 30 days of having prompts I have to get used to coming up with my own topics again! I figured I'd jus do a quick Crippie update on everything that's goin' on my life since I really haven't posted about it in a month.
Work- Work is going pretty well. I'm working between 30-60 hours a week at the moment. While it is very tiring thankfully that tiredness doesn't kick in until after I've driven home. Once I get home I have enough energy to play with the pets and eat dinner, that's about it.
Driving- Having a set of wheels is purdy damn awesome. I'm having fewer driving related anxiety attacks, which is good. Although I'm having more anxiety about running out of gas (I'm not quite comfortable with driving to the gas station by myself yet), but that will go away eventually.
Arthritis- As far I'm aware my arthritis hasn't been causing any issues. My hips are ok and I can move my fingers for the time being. Not bad considering I'm on a lesser dose of anti-inflammatory drugs.
MHE- My MHE hasn't been terrible. There are some tumors in my ribcage that have been catching on things recently... not cool. It's not the worst rib flare-up I've had so I really can't complain.

I do have a plan of revenge for my stupid freakin' ribcage. Sunday is Crippie's birthday (23... YAY ME). Crippie's college roomie is coming out for the weekend and we are both getting tattoos. Guess where I'm getting mine... yup, ribcage. That'll show those stupid tumors that I don't care if they catch on something or not. I'll post more about that on Monday (with pictures, no worries).

So that's about it, definitely have some interesting stuff going on right now :).  

Crippie's Tippie- Heating blankets work wonders when the winter achies come around.

NHBPM- Dear Slightly Younger Crippie

Greetings

NHBPM Continues! I'm not completely freaked out about blogging every day... yet. Anyway... today's topic is...
Dear 18 year old me. Write a letter to yourself when you were 18. Be sure to tell yourself what to do more of, what to do less of, and what you have to look forward to in the next few (or several) years.


So here goes nothing... 

Sup? I'm writing you four years in the future to tell you that you are a going to be a... gasp... BLOGGER. Whod've thunk it, right? Moving on you are about to royally screw something up that you really shouldn't have... your first driving test. Don't let that whole "oh my God the guy giving me the test is talking on his phone thing" psych you out, just take your time and breathe. Either that or reaaaaallllyyyyy fail that sucker, none of this failing because of one mistake crap, FAIL FOR A BUNCH OF MISTAKES, go big or go home Crippie! Once you get your license you need to drive, get some experience on the road so your anxiety won't be so bad, go on the highways. PLEASE LEARN TO DRIVE ON HIGHWAYS. 
Please try to be more social Crippie, while you do have some very nice friends who don't have a whole lot of them. Try not to let your crippledness interfere with your social life. 
Speaking of crippledness, I suggest you get your ass into pain management ASAP. You might actually avoid that surgery on your hip if you treat it properly. Try to avoid that hip surgery if at all possible, it didn't do squat. 
Also, you should spend as much time with your grandfathers and your aunt as possible, you don't have all that much time left with them.
Getting all the sad crap out of the way, you are doing something very right. Your planning and concern for the future pay off greatly. Taking all those AP courses in high school have left you with enough room to enjoy your college experience without being overwhelmed and you are gonna have time for a kick ass senior project. You know your little habit of staying quiet and then surprising people with a kick-ass project... you are gonna do that soooooooooooooooooooooooo many times during college, especially your last semester. 
The next 4 years are going to be full of lots of challenges, lots of ups, lots of downs. But you will get through them with flying colors.

Crippie's Tippie- Invent a time machine so letters like this would actually be useful! Or you can find the Tardis... whatever works for you.


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

Crippie Has A Set of Wheels!

Hi Everybody!

I hope everyone has been having a lovely week. My week has been pretty good, mainly because I got my first set of wheels! Well, technically my wheelchair was my first set of wheels but this is the first vehicle I need a license to operate. This is probably one of the biggest steps towards independence I've ever made and let me tell you it feels freakin' awesome. For someone who often has to rely on other people, having the ability to just do what I want to is incredible.
Some people have asked me "Did being a cripple effect your car choice?" My answer: You bet your ass it did. I opted to lease a car so I could get a better car with better gas mileage first of all... so I essentially could pick any car that fit my price range and personal tastes when it comes to cars. Once I picked out cars that I liked in general I had to factor in my crippledness. I had to pick a car that was high enough off the ground that I could get in and out without putting any additional wear and tear on my hip sockets. The pedals needed to be in a place that was comfortable for me to use both of my legs while driving (many of my car choices didn't pass this test). I also needed to be able to use all of the features of the car on my own, a folding seat is nice but if I am too weak to fold it down it's useless. In other words it took a lot of effort and lots of visits to dealerships to narrow my choices. Ultimately I went with a Chevy Cruze. It fit my normal person requirements but it best fit my cripple needs. It's at a nice height (bonus points for the trunk being higher up too), the pedals are well positioned, and it has some bonus cripple perks...
-Chunky steering wheel so I can still get a good hold of the wheel when my arthritis flares up.
-Supportive seats for fewer back problems
-A back-up sensor, since I can't turn my head very well it adds extra security

So without further adieu I give you... Penelope Cruze (10 points to the people who get the name, it took my relatives a good long while to laugh)

I cannot explain how happy I am to have made my first real "grown-up purchase". I missed a lot of milestones in my childhood and teenage years (as a post by a 22 year old discussing their first car ever might indicate) and reaching proper adult milestones like graduating college, getting a job, and buying a car give me hope that I will catch-up. Hell, I reached three major milestones within 6 months... not too shabby right?

Crippie's Tippie- Do lots and lots of research before obtaining a car, I didn't think about the height of the car until I read it in an article. 

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. 

Crippie Discusses Her Day

Oh Hai!

AND THE AWARD FOR MOST INTERESTING POST TITLE GOES TO ME!

Moving right along, today I went to a meeting with a potential freelance client. It went rather well if I do say so myself. Apart from possibly getting freelance work... I DROVE THERE! I drove the 45 minute drive without flipping out! Granted, my mother was in the car with me (she had a meeting too) BUT I DROVE! Considering I get rather anxious driving longish drives to places that I have never been before, I am very proud of myself.

This whole getting insanely excited about a seemingly small event is a technique I use to help myself overcome this whole driving anxiety thing. It puts extra emphasis on the progress I am making and helps build my confidence, thus helping the anxiety go away. 

Another thing that made this drive soooooooo much better was that I used a GPS. My grandma recently obtained a GPS so I borrowed it today. OH MY GOD WHAT A DIFFERENCE. I am terrible with directions and I have had anxiety attacks about getting lost, missing turns, fun stuff like that. Having the GPS took away so much anxiety. I could just concentrate on the road and not have to worry about getting lost. BTW, the GPS I used is a Garmin Nuvi 1450. I highly recommend it. It's easy to use and works really well, and there is a "avoid highways" setting that makes me happy. Seriously, my grandma uses it without difficultly, THAT says something. 

Crippie's Tippie- Celebrate the living daylights out of the small victories in life. Not only is it really fun, it makes you feel really awesome.

Driving Miss Crippie

Shalom!

YAY I managed to post in a timely matter *pats self on back*!!!

So as mentioned here, I am in the process of acquiring transportation so I can function in the workforce. Apart from the general issue of paying for a damn car (CARS, INSURANCE, AND GAS... Y U SO EXPENSIVE) I'm in the process of "re-learning" to drive if you will. Several surgeries on my legs and hips have kept me out of the driver's seat for a few years. You see, in order to drive I have to be comfortable behind the wheel of a car. Along with the physical pain that driving occasionally brings I also have a bit of anxiety about driving.

Me thinks the reason behind my anxiety is a mild case of OCD. I have a tendency to worry about wrecking the car and killing all the passengers in the car. Sometimes this fear keeps me from driving. This could be considered a very huge issue, seeing as how driving is necessary to find a job given my current location. While I consider this an issue, I don't consider it a huge issue. As a matter of fact, compared to all the other issues I have, anxiety is the least of my worries.

Now comes the true question, "Well, how the hell are you gonna drive?" The way I see things is that my form of anxiety can be treated rather easily. What I have to do is force myself to drive. I go into "Lieutenant Crippie Mode" Here is Crippie's thought process...

Crippie's Anxiety- I don't wanna drive
Lieutenant Crippie- DO YOU WANT A JOB
Crippie's Anxiety- Well... of course
Lieutenant Crippie- THEN SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP
Crippie's Anxiety- But... what if I wreck?
Lieutenant Crippie- Then you'll wreck... what if you never get a job?
Crippie's Anxierty- Then I won't be a functioning member of society
Lieutenant Crippie- WHAT DO NORMAL PEOPLE DO?
Crippie's Anxiety- NORMAL PEOPLE DRIVE TO WORK
Lieutenant Crippie- CAN YOU DRIVE?!?!?
Crippie's Anxiety- SIR YES SIR
Lieutenant Crippie- THEN GO OUT THERE AND BE NORMAL!!!

Yes I actually do that in my head... what... it helps. Here are a few other things I do to avoid having a panic attack whilst driving...
1- Listen to music- For some reason the soundtrack to "Assassins" always calms me down.
2- Channel your anxiety into other places- When I'm driving I keep my pocketbook on my lap and I keep the AC from blowing in my face. It just makes me feel more secure.
3- Try to Rationalize- I constantly try to remind myself that the chances of me wrecking are slim, this isn't always successful, but it doesn't hurt to remind yourself of it.

Crippie's Tippie- If you suffer from anxiety that you cannot get rid of and impacts your quality of life... see someone about it. There is no reason for you to suffer in silence.

Disability & The Work Force

Greetings,

I've been a college graduate for a few months now, and unfortunately I'm still unemployed. This isn't an uncommon problem for people with disabilities. Along with the general sucky-ness of the job market, having a disability puts further strain on my search...
--- No really long commutes. I have chronic fatigue so driving home late at night after a long days work could be kinda dangerous.
--- No subways. Thanks to my RSD my legs are vibration sensitive (in other words my legs hurt when a floor shakes). Sadly, this kinda eliminates the possibility for me to work in the city, which is pretty much every graphic designers dream. The money I'm saving by not having a NYC apartment makes me feel slightly better about this.
---Nothing involving significant amounts of physical labor. I think that one speaks for itself.

While I would just like to find ANY JOB, unlike my "normal" friends I do not have to the luxury of being able to find a "teenage job" like a waitress for the time being. I had a dandy conversation with my grandmother about this subject.

Grannie- How's the job hunt coming?
Crippie- I'm applying to everything I see
Grannie- You should find a small job in the meantime, like a waitress
Crippie- But I can't walk....
Grannie- Retail?
Crippie- Can't lift heavy objects and I can't stand for more than 10 minutes without it hurting
Grannie- hhhhmmmmm
Crippie- yyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Grannie- yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So in the meantime I have been looking locally for any jobs that I might even sorta qualify for. Also, the program that paid for my driving lessons, part of my education, etc has a job placement office. I didn't want to use their help, but it looks like I need it. I have an intake appointment on Wednesday with them. I'll let you guys know how that goes.

Also, I'm trying to see what I can do on the interwebz as far as making money and finding freelance clients. I'm going to be writing articles for blogcritics.org about whatever my little heart desires. At the moment I feel like writing reviews for "pretty books" :D.

Additionally, I've been getting more comfortable with styling my blog and adding HTML/CSS goodies. If anyone out in the blog-o-sphere would like a blogger redesign, HIT CRIPPIE UP. I designed my blog and I am also currently working on THIS blog's design as well. I'll do anything from a badge, banner, to the whole damn blog!

So yeah, expect several job related posts in the next coming weeks/months. Wish Crippie luck!

Crippie's Tippie For Pre-Work Force Crippies- Go to school and become educated in something that a) you enjoy doing and b) you can physically do. Desk jobs seem to do nicely.
Crippie's Tippie For Work Force Age Crippies- There are places and programs that help you find jobs.

Driving & Disabilities

Ohai,

Sorry I haven't posted in forever, I was busy GRADUATING COLLEGE! Yup, on the 20th of May I walked at my graduation and obtained my fake diploma. Now that I have my BFA in Graphic Design I have to find a job. Before I find a job I have to find a way of getting to said job.

This brings me to a question that a fair amount of people have asked me recently. Can cripples drive? The answer is simple, with the proper instruction and equipment, yeah sure. I have my driver's license. My driving instructor specialized in teaching people with disabilities. I can more or less drive like a "normal" person plus or minus a few accommodations. I use both of my feet when I drive (left foot on the break, right on the gas) because I can't move my right leg fast enough to use the breaks, and I use more mirrors because my neck is very stiff. As my driving teacher said "I've taught 88 year old who can turn their necks more than you can!". I have fond memories of driving lessons....

And here's some proof that I can actually drive.

Crippie's Tippie: If you're having physical trouble driving, be creative... my driving teacher didn't think of me using two feet to drive, my dad did.