Trading Spaces...

I am moving out of Steph and Justin's within the next four months and I have started looking around for a place to live. I am super unwilling to move into a rental house with lots of other girls. I refuse to even entertain the thought of sharing a room or living in campus housing. I don't have a problem with 18-22 year old girls, I just don't want to live with them. Sorry.

My DREAM is to find a nice house for rent, which sounds crazy but in this part of the world it is actually pretty easy to locate two or three bedroom houses, or basement apartments which are the same size as the upper level of the house, for under $900. My greediness would like two bedrooms so that I can have an office/library/guest room. Or for a sister or older niece to move into if they want. I don't feel the same about living with a 20 year old niece or sister. But I have found a couple of nice 1 bedroom rentals as well. As a matter of fact my very favorite place (at this moment) is technically a one bedroom but it has a smaller extra room with tons of built in shelving. It could be my home office and library! And it is only two blocks from Steph's house and a block from my new favorite restaurant. The library will still be in walking distance, as a matter of fact it would be closer! Plus free cable and internet.

I just feel too old to have to deal with roommates. Landlords are hard enough. I want to be in charge of how my house looks. I want to not worry about if the smells of my weird foods are annoying other people. I want the AC at 68 and I want to watch Say Yes to the Dress or The Vampire Diaries without being judged! Hey, I am 28 years old, I have a lot of health problems, and I just want a nice place to hide away, you know?

Anyway... that is the dream for now.

Manipulate Dink

Whenever I type in my url for this site it looks like manipulate dink to me instead of manipulated ink. Oh, well.

I had a good birthday yesterday. Lots of birthday wishes. This is was only my second birthday away from Tucson (the first time was my 24th birthday when I was up in Olympia visiting Bethy) so I was a little worried I would be bummed, especially being sick and all, but it was actually just right.

I failed at having a first draft done by August 23rd. I failed miserably. And, though it is really only valid for the past month or so, I totally blame the kidney infection. Everyone knows that a writer's kryptonite is a kidney infection. Keep up, people! I still love my story and I am still excited to see how Remie gets from point A to point B (and C, D, E, F... all the way back to A. Lots of plot twists in this tale).

I really, really, REALLY need to better about "working" on my first draft and on my articles. I am so lazy. I think I might start posting my favorite lines from what I have written each week in an effort to feel accountable. Might.

Also, the word might annoys me. It sounds like my-nt, at least when I pronounce it. What is that you say? There is a simple solution? Just stop pronouncing that way? Thanks a lot Catherine Obvious! (Ha, sadly, I go the phrase "Catherine Obvious" from a really dumb Nickolodeon show that i, embarrassingly, really like).

Its like when Mom says pellow instead of pillow or melk instead of milk. It is not like when my Gramma Nye says warsh instead of wash or when I say crick instead of creek. Those ones are too cool for school, my friends.

In fine, I need to write more.

Infected Organs...

I have a kidney infection.
It hurts.
I hate pain killers. They make me all loopy.
Great birthday week, eh?
Man, I whine A LOT.

Family Feud

It BITES when two of your sisters are super angry with each other. Like, cage match angry. It is especially hard when you have a bit of an honest streak, like me, and you can't help but see both sides AND think that they are both being immature, even though their reasons for being upset are valid. It just sucks and I hope that they can work it out sooner rather than later. I love you BOTH. Now get over it please.

Also, I just spellchecked this post and I had not misspellings. Fancy!

High Maintenance

I have had a migraine for about a week and a half. If you have never had a migraine for that long then you have no clue how it hurts. If you have, then my heart goes out to you. Having a pain issue sucks. It has caused a lot of problems in my life. I have lots of trials that I could have been happy without. But it has forced me to learn who I am and who I want to be. It has forced me to realize that those two "me's" aren't always in synch with one another. It has taught me who my true friends are because there are those that just can't accept an illness that hasn't got any visual precursers, unless you count how dismal I look as I try to deal with the pain. I am a high maintenance friend, I suppose. I won't always be able to follow through with plans, no matter how much I want to. In the summer my pain gets worse. I am affected by the heat. I understand if these are things that just don't fit into your lives. But please don't mistake my understanding for an apology. I am not my illness but it is something that I have to deal with and something that you will have to accept in order to be in my life. I just don't have the energy to pedal around it anymore. I have fibromyalgia. I am in pain. A lot of the time. I am trying to live without daily prescription pain killers. That is a choice I have made that makes me physically uncomfortable but it is the right choice for me overall. This doesn't mean that I will never take pain killers again. If I need a shot for pain in the ER and if I need a few pain killers to help my body recuperate then I will take them. Pain pills have a place and a purpose. I just don't want to be on them every minute of every day. I realize this is a rant but I am in a lot of pain and I am sick and tired of feeling guilty about it or that I am inconveniencing others. I am just going to take care of myself from now on. If you get it, great. If not, well I can direct you toward some great reading material and fibro sources so you can understand better. I don't have the energy to explain it any further.

And We're Back...

WOW! A one week trip to Tucson is NOT ENOUGH TIME. I didn't get to see Taylor or Dylan. I missed Heather and Karina and I only saw Casie for about two minutes. Myke and Bry had to take an emergency trip to Reno which cut short my Turner-time. It was great to see my family but I didn't get to be with them nearly enough.

Baby news...

Mariah - FREAKING AWESOME! She is so smart and so sassy and she thinks she is the Momma of all the cousins because she is the oldest. She is a mini-Jen so, obviously, she is marked for greatness.

Ryleigh - Ry-bug was as crazy and pretty as ever. I didn't get to see her as much because she had to leave town but every time she called me 'Auntie Jen' my heart-broke a little. She is a very good cuddler and she can be so sweet...

Isabelle - Bisa is intensely gorgeous. She looks like a little beach pixie. She has those crazy huge cat eyes and her teeny button nose. Combine those with her long sun-bleached hair and she should probably have mermaid fins and a rock to sing on.

Wynter - Wynnie-bug was the smallest and the most reserved of the Tucson babies. She has the most adorable corkscrew curls that dangle at the base of her baby neck and she has Becca's gigantic eyes. She makes hilarious old man faces and talks in such a sweet, little husky voice that you just want to kiss her little cheeks constantly.

Jett - Baby Airplane has basically done a personality 180 since I left. He was smiling almost constantly and he let someone besides Mykel hold him. He was adorable and walking all over the place!

Braydon - Baby Beto was SOOO happy. He is a chunk and his hair is still as black and as full as the day he was born. I got him to smile when he saw me by making funny faces but Jeremy is definitely his favorite person in the world. Beto was not afraid of people and he let us hold him right away, unlike Wynter who took almost the whole trip to warm up to me.

Everyone Else...

I got to do some vegging with Mykel, but not nearly as much as we had planned on. We watched some Vampire Diaries she had TiVoed (sweet!). I got to see Jackie and Joey's new house which is AMAZING. Plus Jackie bought me El Molinito's so I owe her my first born child. Worth it. I got to hang out with Rachel and Sims with the added bonus of seeing Lani and Cruz. Rachel got me some Eegees so that was awesome too. I got a little crackfish time in with Cassafrass. I stayed with Michelle and we had late night conversations and watched Zombieland and Four Christmases both of which were surprisingly funny. And, of course, I got to see the rest of my family... Mom and Dad were hard to pin down, Tab was good about tagging along wherever we went, I saw Nick, Chris and Jeremy here and there. Becca was around and Ang came home on Thursday. I got to see both Grammas and Uncle Robert. It still felt too rushed, though. A few hours with your loved ones is just not satisfying. I cried A LOT on the last day, especially around Mariah who just tugs at my heartstrings.

I am glad I got to go. It is worth all the achiness I now feel from the humidity and the long drive. I will be in bed A LOT this week but I wouldn't trade it for a year of healthy weeks. I will never, ever take ten months to go home for a visit again. Three months is my max. I don't even think I will make that long.