Time's humor

I was taking a pic recently & ended up capturing the wrong edge of the intended picture. Doesn't matter what or why, but I found the accident photo compelling. My eye in the pic is looking up, looking to see if I'm holding the cell camera right...which I wasn't, but my eye looks normal. Not so sad. Not filled with tears & dread-I was so focused I was too busy to look like my soul felt. I was playing with my hair. Let me explain-I found a subject a day chart on the net & thought I'd try it-& that day's was descent...however you wanted to cover or interpret it. My hair has changed so much since I got sick & I was thinking about the descent of my hair from well to sick, though my hair itself is really healthy. I don't style it, blow dry it, put any product in it-so it is totally boring & natural. Anyway, thinking about the last time I had it cut professionally-I can't remember.myears. A decade maybe. In a few hours I'll leap out for the first time in years to call a pain clinic. Evidently we are moving this summer, & I need to call them to see if they can take me, what I need to do to start the ball rolling-all the stuff that terrifies the one's who feel a good doctor is far more important than most anything else in life. I'm so scared-what if they aren't accepting new patients, or what if they are not a good fit? I've even had dreams of calling them with disastrous results. For me the unknown used to be so exciting. Move to a new country in 6 weeks without knowing anyone or speaking their language? Can I come now? Start grad school in my 30's with no money? Sign me up! Snorkel the great Barrier Reef even though I'm scared of fish & sharks? I only live once! I was pretty brave. Really fearless. Now making a phone call that signals me leaving my beloved doctors is much scarier than getting on a plane to commit to a country I can't pronounce most of their words. & away I go.

 

Time capsule-makeup day 1-#HAWMC/WEGO

We are to put together a time capsule about our specific health focuses, illnesses, stories to be opened in the year 2112. Of course I would provide news clippings of medicines that were used, treatments available, etc. All of the cold hard facts...but much more I would let my pictures, my old journals from when this illness really took hold, my personal story put a face on fibromyalgia. I would include my normal daily life. How I wrap into myself, iPod on & noise reducing headphones in-dad being my ears for listening for the nurse to call me back-what music I listened to in waiting rooms. The paintings I did when the pain got so bad I couldn't sleep. What movies & books I took lessons from in survival skills. Most important I would let my self portraits speak for themselves. They would be the face of what this does to a person, & I would include pics from before I got so sick as well, though I look mostly the same-but showing my life overseas, teaching, being a productive citizen of this country.

 

 

 

 

 

'my dream day' WEGO #HAWMC day 14

Wow. Easy but really hard. I was so lucky & worked so hard tutoring in my off hours to work, live, & travel all over the world. I love having these memories, but I assure you sometimes they are more painful now that I'm alone & housebound. I am making my day re-visiting 3 amazing places, with J, my closest friend.

First we wake up in the coolest B&B in Tirendentes, Brazil-a tiny mountain mining town. We spent 2-3 days there about 8 years ago, & it is easily one of my alltime favorite places on earth. We will walk around, & I will be able to walk more than 3 minutes-I'll be able to keep up with him, & we will see parts of the town we missed before. Here is a link to a pic that looks identical to one of mine, somewhere in boxes in the garage.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricardobevilaqua/2271628610/in/photostream/

We will then magic carpet over to the Great Ocean Road in Australia, & visit the glow worm forest where you feel as if you are floating with the stars around you.

 

Then, around midnight we will jump over a few hours north of Brisbane, Australia, & go to the Mon Repos sea turtle sanctuary, where mother turtles come & lay their eggs, & then other clutches of nests erupt-the baby turtles tunneling up through the sand, down the beach, & out to sea. I got to see both one might under a full moon, & it honestly changed my life. Here's an amazing video I found...

http://vimeo.com/14136833

 

Happy birthday Kris-you deserved to be my 41

I watched Modern Family a few nights ago-hilarious as always. One of the characters had a leap year birthday, & so in his lifetime he had 9 actual, Feb. 29th birthdays, & this was to be his 10th, although he was turning 40. As it ended up after disaster party plannings & fall throughs of people, places, & things, his partner realized he just wanted to be 10 for that night, not 40. Hilarious, poignant, & so sweet. They rode roller coasters until they got sick & loved every single vomit filled minute of it.

I've never been a big birthday person about myself, & for the first time ever I will admit why. I've been sick all my life. Not like now-professional status, but amateur sick. My brother died of cancer right before his 13th birthday, & a month & a half after my 9th. He was 11 days short of turning 13, & died an agonizing death. Cancer didn't kill him-he drowned from the vomit in his lungs from the cancer 'complications'. Complications my ass. That's how it was phrased but shit, I think a stronger word than complications is deserved.

I always have felt guilty that I lived & he died. Still do, & I doubt that will change. Perfect kid, great at sports, so smart he'd be off in Memphis having surgery or chemo, come back to classes & ace tests over material he knew nothing about. Sweet, loving, loved the kids who no one else liked, treated everyone with love & respect. That kind of kid. I still question God's judgement on taking him but leaving me, a amateur in training sick girl. That's why I've never relished my birthdays. Mom & dad-no one knows this, but as my life is so open now, thought I'd get it out.

 

 

Right before I took on my professional status ;)

 

Czech pub crawl days

 As my parents are getting us somewhat started in the moving process, every single day seems like there are new things of mine in the garage to discuss of 'can we give this away?' or boxes to sort through. Day before last one box held some very dear treasures. It was in a box of what seemed to be my lingerie drawer, & as I don't really have a need for much of that these days it had been in a box in the garage. When asked why two shirts & some others dear things were in said drawer, I smiled & answered that they were so special they deserved to be kept with lovely things. One was a beer shirt from a Czech company I worked for, & the other was my dear friend Henry's birthday pub crawl t-shirt. I cried when I read & saw all the things on it-a Scottish flag drawn by Stevie, Zoe the cat on one sleeve, Rob's 'Marnie is cool' heart drawing, my 'pivo/piva/piv'...the three forms of the p,urals of beer depending on how many you were ordering, with a little beer mug next to it. I miss those days so much, & the friends I still have now, even ten years on. 

 

 

 

Pic circles

 I first turned the camera on me & my struggles as a coping mechanism about 4 years ago. This pic was the very first I took, & when I saw it, was stunned to see what I had been feeling on the inside on the outside, so that others could see. Yesterday I opened an email, & saw that pic staring at my from this fantastic fibromyalgia & chronic pain group. After the past week, falling, etc, it was so great to see something come a bit full circle. 

 http://visitor.benchmarkemail.com/c/v?e=12CF96&c=2508E&l=1C6583F&email=0pQroMpw105javDeHn2WJRZvSxx3FN1CNyIeD9VsXLU%3D&relid=C6EC165