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Getting Back in the Swing of Things: Getting To Know Each Other W/ODec 22 '03 (Updated Jan 01 '04) Write an essay on this topic.
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Hi Eps people. I haven't been around for about a month. I had a very bad medical emergency in which I almost died on Dec. 2nd and I have had to make lots of adjustments in my way of living and also I have just been so ticked off that I haven't been able to write. I've been sort of stewing...but I'm better now. It turns out that once I got health insurance, hospitals and doctors were magically able to take me seriously!!! Go figure. Before I had insurance they literally did not care if I lived or died. (This is one huge reason that I will be voting for Dennis Kucinich.) I have been so sick...for three whole years...going from bad to worse...and finally on Dec. 2nd I was feeling so sick that I wasn't even right in the head and my sense of self-preservation was gone. I was out of it. My friend Jools (Jaszi29) took me to the hospital. Normal people have a blood-sugar level of around 80...mine was 700. Yes, that is the correct number of zeroes. I was in the ER for less than 5 minutes and the doctors, nurses and paramedics were swarming! Turns out I am diabetic...I did not know this. Also turns out I have an auto-immune disease of the thyroid called Hashimoto's Disease and this accounts for the unbelievable joint pain with which I have been living. I actually suggested this to several doctors during the years I had no insurance and not a one of them would perform the needed blood tests. This is why I have been stewing. So a very bad thing (being sick and going to the hospital for a few days) turned out to be a good thing because now I can get well. I have to take insulin injections and pills, pills, pills and eat at certain times of the day and monitor carbs and stuff, but I WILL GET WELL! I ended up with a terrific doctor at one of the best Diabetes clinics in the Midwest which is located on Oneida Reservation. (Native Americans have the highest incidence of Diabetes and the Oneida Nation has created a wonderful clinic.) I will be able to walk again and have my old life back. I actually have a very interesting spiritual/metaphysical story concerning a spirit animal or two in the Badlands and the Oneida Nation here in Wisconsin for whom my husband works that ties in with this whole story of healing and well-being but that is for another time. Anyway, I'm back. I've missed you. Anyhoo...As a way of getting back into writing I thought I would participate in this Write-Off sponsored by SarahLovesAdam. Join in the fun. .......................................................... So here's the Write-Off Questions with my responses. Questions: -Birth date: March 18, 1952 -Height: 5'4" -Eye color: Blue -Hair color: At the moment it is my natural color which is a mousy brown that I detest. -What does your name mean: "Reaper" according to Name Your Baby by Lareina Rule. Hey, Don't fear the Reaper.Okay? -High school graduation year: 1971 -Favorite relatives: My kids and my husband don't count as relatives. To me relatives are the rest of the family. I do have my favorites. My nieces, Abby and Molly, my nephew, Ross. (Ross & Abby are twins.) Also, my cousin Rodger and his Dad, Ron, who isn't really my relative except through marriage...but that still counts. -Summer memory: Driving across the Badlands with Jools and seeing a gray wolf and being surrounded by the silence. -Favorite TV shows: Survivor, The Mole, The Amazing Race (Don't start with me. I'm entitled to my sick pleasures.) -What's on your mousepad: A view of Hogwarts School of Wizardry at night overlaid with the Hogwarts crest. -In the car- ac or windows: In my two wrecks, windows...the roll down kind not the push-button. In Jools' car, AC. -Do you believe in yourself: I believe in this particular incarnation off and on. I believe in my true self 100%. -Favorite game: Cranium (board game) Canasta (card game) -Favorite drink: Aquafina water, Canada Dry Ginger Ale -Favorite food: Pizza, potatoes, bread, chocolate, hummus, avocados, fresh peaches (all stuff I can only have in the most meager of moderation due to Diabetes.) -Favorite colors: Royal Purple, Forest Green, Black, Silver -Favorite cigarettes: The ones my loved ones will give up one day. -Favorite sounds: Water sounds like running brooks, waterfalls, lapping waves, rain falling, thunder storms -Favorite smell: Vanilla, freshly baked bread, gingerbread, pumpkin pie spice, lilacs, roses, lily-of-the-valley -Favorite thing to do on a weekend: Garden, spend time with my husband, road trip, catch a flick -Favorite soundtrack: South Pacific or Camelot or Damn Yankees or Oklahoma or Hair -Where do you see yourself in 10 years: Working on the Oneida Reservation in Child Care, still happily married, still traveling all around with Jools, walking, walking, walking for miles and miles...maybe in a bigger house with more room for animals and plants. -First thought in the morning: "Hungry...e-mail...it's freezing in here...still no snow!" -Do you get motion sickness: I'm the Dramamine Queen. I get sick on carnival rides, curving roads, ships and boats, airplanes, even swings on the playground. -Rollercoasters- deadly or exciting: Exciting -How many rings before you answer the phone: Four and then my answering machine picks up and I decide if I want to talk. -Are you a good friend: yes (If you're not a good friend, you're not much of a friend.) -Chocolate or Vanilla cake: Chocolate!! German Chocolate cake to be exact but the Wellesly Fudge Cake with Hungarian Fudge Frosting is quite good, too. Then again, a white bakery cake with white frosting and big colorful frosting flowers is powerfully and sinfully delicious, too. It's the kind of cake that you know is just plain wrong but you still go for the piece with the huge rose anyway!!! Is this any way for a diabetic to talk?!!! -What do you drive: Some kind of cruddy brownish mini-van with rust and many problems...year and make escape me...denial -Do you sleep with a stuffed animal: I used to when I was little but now I sleep with live animals, my cat Flora at all times with periodic nightly visits from my cats Loki, Rags, and Hazel. -Thunderstorms cool or scary: WAY COOL! -If you could meet one person in the World, who would it be: Living: Leonard Peltier No longer living: Crazy Horse or Sacajewea -What is your zodiac sign: Pisces -What do you wear to bed: Either a navy blue nightgown with white snowflakes on it or this really ugly black and white dress with huge holes in it that is incredibly soft and comfortable or purple fleece sleep pants with snowflakes on them and a T-shirt that usually doesn't match well with purple and snowflakes. -Do you eat stems of broccoli: Yes, but I like the little tree-tops better. -Guys- If a girl ever asked you for the shirt on your back, would you give it to her? N/A -Girls- Would you ever ask a guy for his shirt? Maybe I don't understand this question..why would I want someone else's shirt? Unless it was a cool shirt...then I would ask where they got it...I'd rather pick out my own shirts...some guy shirts are cool...I like flannel shirts...but if someone is wearing a shirt, chances are they like their shirt so I wouldn't want to impose. -If you could have any occupation when you get older, what would it be: Work in an AIDS hospice or with other terminally ill patients. Work with animal rescue. Own my own tea garden and serve wonderful teas and foods, conduct poetry readings and do Tarot readings. -If you could dye your hair one color, what would it be: Red, the fiery the better -If you could have a tattoo, what and where would it be: A red dragon wrapping around my ankle (a smallish one) or possibly a red haired mermaid (not sure where that one should go.) -Favorite brand of gum: An old-fashioned kind called Teaberry. I also like Cinnamon Dentyne. -What is your favorite quote: An it harm none, do as thou will. -Have you ever been in love: Yes. I'm constantly in love with something. As far as relationships go, I have been fortunate to be in love a few times. I'm currently in love with my husband, my children, my best friend, some of my relatives, my cats, my gardens, and planet Earth. -What's on your walls in your room: Botticelli's La Primavera, several Pre-Raphaelite paintings, a photo collage of each of my four sons, a collage of people I admire, a ceramic triskelion, a ceramic fleur-de-lis, a ceramic Green Man, a bas-relief of St. Cecilia by Donatello, a ceramic bas-relief of Sekhmet the Egyptian lion-headed Goddess. -Is the glass half-empty or half-full: Half-full if it contains something I don't like but half-empty is it contains something I do like. -Which do you prefer- Cool Ranch or Nacho Cheese Doritos: Nacho Cheese -Favorite flavor Snapple: Pink Lemonade -Which one, Coke or Pepsi: Coke but Canada Dry Ginger Ale is by far the superior soft drink. -Which kind of milk is your favorite: Whole milk with the more fat content the better...I'd drink straight cream if I didn't know it would kill me. I do, however, know that milk will kill me, so I don't drink it very often. Personally, I think it is completely absurd that we artificially inseminate cows so they will give birth and lactate and then we take the baby calves from their mothers and then milk the cows and drink the milk that is intended for the baby calves. How sick is that?!! Some of us even choose to dry up our own milk and feed our babies this calf milk instead. It's strange. I am not judging anyone's personal choices because, well, that's personal but I do think the whole milk issue is a strange one. -If you were to kill someone, which method would you use? I've actually thought about this in my more twisted moments. It's too shameful to say but non-swimmers should not go out in a boat with me if they intend to make me angry. -Are you a righty, lefty, or ambidextrous: Righty -Do you type with your fingers on the right keys: No, but I type with both hands. It gets the job done. I got a "B" in typing class in high school but I quickly gave up all that constricting discipline as soon as I got out of that class. -When you meet a person of the opposite sex, you notice their: Manner of speech and their intellect, followed by their hair -What's under your bed: dust, probably some cat hair, too -What's the best number in the World: 9, it's so mystical -What is your dream car: Subaru Outback -Who is your biggest crush right now: Crush as in fantasy...Orlando Bloom as Legolas -Nickname: My friend Tom calls me Bean which is a nickname I've had since I was a teenager. My friend Jools sometimes calls me Terrie-Terrs. My brother Bill and my sister Barb call me Terr. My Craft name is Fennel. A few people on Eps call me Tree which I like a lot. -School: Last school attended...University of Wisconsin - Fond du Lac -Bacon Bits Or croutons: Croutons...big crunchy ones like at Olive Garden -Favorite Salad Dressing: Blue Cheese, Raspberry vinaigrette, creamy Italian -Do you Drink: No, because my husband is a recovered alcoholic and he doesn't drink, no because I act like a nitwit when I'm drunk (very rash)...but yes, occasionally if someone offers me a bit of Bailey's Irish Cream...I might nip a bit if my husband is not around. -What type of Shampoo/Conditioner: Pantene -Have you ever been skinny dipping: Many, many times (It's my swimwear of choice.) -Do you make fun of people: No. I sometimes make bad remarks about people but it's not "fun". -Have you ever been convicted of a crime: Yes -One pillow or two: One, a neck pillow -Pets: 13 cats (There is a 14th one that has been peering in through my window the last week or so since the temperatures have dropped.) I don't know how strays seem to know about my house. Is there like a kitty underground? Apparently the word is out. My cats' names are as follows: The boys: Loki, Hazel, Holly, Latte, Sage-Puff, Curry, Rags, Heron The girls: Flora, Firefly, Lily, Daisy, Sunny -Favorite Movies: Chocolat, Practical Magic, What Dreams May Come, Camelot, all three Lord of the Rings, Matrix (only the first one), Gettysburg, Gone with the Wind...lots more -Favorite type of music: Rhythm and Blues, Soul -Hobbies: Gardening, reading, Epinions, traveling -Word or Phrase you overuse: Christ! (I don't really think it's fair for me to use this word as an expletive since I'm not even a Christian. It is a very bad habit I have that I am trying to break.) -Toothpaste: Tom's of Maine, Fennel flavored -Piercing or tattoos: Right ear pierced three times. Left ear pierced two times. One tattoo of a fleur-de-lis on my front right shoulder and one tattoo of a peace symbol surrounded by a wreath of flowers on my back behind my left shoulder. -Do you get along with your parents: Sometimes -Favorite beer: I'm not overly fond of beer but I like shorty Bud in a bottle because it's really cold, Rolling Rock because it tastes like clean water, dark beers for flavor -Favorite song at the moment: Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel - Peter, Paul and Mary -Most humiliating moment: Getting fired by a despicable pathetic little man and then allowing this scabrous worm to see me cry. -Favorite Holiday: Halloween but I LOVE all holidays in Wiccan and Christian tradition. That's all, folks. Join in SarahLovesAdam's Write-Off.  |
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