Catch-up Day

Some homework was on the agenda for today. I read about the early settlements of the US and what the people's lives were like. It's interesting stuff, but makes for really dense reading.

I finally got around to cleaning my fish tank. It really needed it. Today was a weird day weather wise; overcast and threatening to rain earlier, and now sunshine and no clouds. So a water fight was off the table. I did manage to get myself pretty wet, not even trying. The tank looks much better now, and so far none of my fish have died from the shock. That's always a good thing!

My cat has been meowing all day because she has been locked down in my room. We (I should say my parents) are in the final stages of varnishing the new windows. All the screens were off, and somehow I think she knew escape was close by. I have been spending as much time as I can with her, to keep her from getting too lonely. (Cats are so high maintenance! But I love them.)

Tonight for dinner, my mom is grilling some salmon:

veggies:

and sweet potatoes (which were already on the grill by the time I got the camera out).

On the salmon packaging I found this great-looking recipe for fruit salsa. We had a ripe mango, so I decided to go for it. It was fun to make, because I got to use green onions and cilantro from the garden. Anyway, it turned out great!  Do you have a favorite recipe? Or things you grow that you like to eat?

A Day for Baking

I am feeling a little better today. I have had a stomach bug/cold for about a week now, and today is the first day I have felt semi-decent. In fact, I felt good enough to make zucchini bread to satisfy my craving for it. Normally I would have wandered around the house complaining that I was hungry. I wanted to make pumpkin bread, but I think I used all the canned pumpkin up the last time I made pumpkin muffins. Anyway, here is a picture of my yummy bread. (I'm sorry if it's a little bit mean to post them, but they're very pretty. Normally they sink in and look all weird.)

 Hmmmm.....actually, you needn't be too jealous; I overdid them a bit. I was playing with my hair, trying to get it to behave, when the timer went off. That'll teach me to leave my hair alone!

In amongst all the craziness this weekend (kidding I am doing absolutely nothing), I think I will paint my nails. Right now my toes are green.

 The nail polish pretty much died by the time I got to my right foot, so that didn't work out so well. Any suggestions?

Music

I think I've mentioned in a couple places that I love music and it's really important to me. I don't really have favorite artist; just lots of individual songs. My iPod puts me to sleep almost every night, so I thought I'd share with you some of my top played songs.











What are your favorite artists/songs?

On to Happier Things....

I am lucky to live in an area with lots of wildlife. We have had a few bears in our yard the past month. Yesterday we had a mother deer and twin fawns. I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but I assure you, they were very cute.

Last night my mom made vegetable chicken soup and platanos (plantains) for dinner. We have been passing a stomach bug around for a while (I am still convinced the cat gave it to us), and so last night was my turn to feel a little off. Normally we all really like hot, spicy food of any kind, but my mom kindly left out the green chiles. She did put some on the table, and was quite amusing when she put a few too many in her soup.

Here is a picture of the platanos. I like them plain and simple, so she just cut them up and stuck them in the oven.

Our cat, Smokey, has been a very unhappy cat lately. It is mostly my fault, because I let her outside when she is normally a totally indoor cat. Anyway, she has been driving us all nuts with her constant meowing. We try yelling at her and shaking the can at her (a tin can filled with pennies, it makes a loud noise that she hates). I don't know what changed, but last night she was eager to play and finally, finally, shut up. I think we tired her out, don't you?

Do you have pets? Any tricks of the trade for getting them to behave? (Does that rhyme?)

What My Illness Is

I'm going to address this now, just to get it out of they way. I do have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. I have been in and out of school (mostly out) for almost two years. The good news is that, for teens, these sort of things tend to last between one and three years, and then disappear.

Fibromyalgia, a definition-
A syndrome characterized by chronic pain in the muscles and soft tissues surrounding joints, fatigue, and tenderness at specific sites in the body

Chronic fatigue, a definition-
A condition of prolonged and severe tiredness or weariness that is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other conditions.

What they mean for me-
I have a headache every day. We recently found a medication that dulls it a little. Have you ever had construction done outside your house? With a jackhammer going all day? You are always aware of it, although it is easier to tune out if you are watching tv or reading a good book. But sometimes, it sounds like they are trying to break down your front door (my skull). Every day.

I have a constant stomach ache that gets worse when I eat. This has been relieved somewhat by some supplements/enzymes. Just imagine a bad stomach ache (not nausea) that never goes away.

I have joint and muscle pain. If you have every sprained an ankle or something, you have some idea of what this is like. No, I really can't pick up that book, and no, I can't open that jar. I would say it is like arthritis, but I'm guessing most of you are a few decades away from getting there. But if you are there, I sympathize.

Fatigue is usually my biggest adversary. I'm just tired. All the time. Every day, I have a struggle about whether I should sit down while I am brushing my teeth. (And if I am being good, this happens twice a day.) On the one hand, it would be great to get off my feet and lean against the wall for the minute or two while I clean my teeth. On the other hand, do you know how much effort it takes to stand up, especially while trying to not spew tooth paste everywhere?

Basically just imagine having the flu or a bad cold constantly.

I want you to understand what I'm going through and why I am the way I am. But I don't want pity, because while it is a nice thought, it doesn't do anything. It just reminds me, that, yes, I am sick, and yes, I can't do most of the things I used to. Hugs help. Hugs are the best.

If you want to learn more, start by Google-ing it. If you still want more, let me know.

Tristan, Claire, and Jason

Meet Tristan, Claire, and Jason. These three fine creatures are my fish. They live in my room, on the top of my dresser. My cat is vagualy interested in them, but they rarely do anything exciting enough to keep her attention.

They fascinate me. Just swimming around for hours and hours. They are really quite amusing when I feed them. I only feed them three times a week, because, in the words of my local PetCo worker, "a hungry fish is a happy fish". I know they aren't very smart, so I put the food right on top of where they are swimming. They have caught on that when I open the top it is feeding time, however, they immediately swim over to the other side of the tank. I end up putting about twice as much food in as they eat, because it takes them a loooong time to figure out where the food is.

I end up cleaning the tank a lot because of this. I have some snails that are supposed to do the cleaning for me, but they just clean the same spot over, and over, and over. Cleaning it can be sort of enjoyable if it is nice out. Last time I cleaned it, I almost convinced my mom to come out and have a water fight with me. (With clean water.) But then she said we could go to the new Harry Potter, and that trumps all, even a water fight.

I apoligize for the poor quality of the pictures. My fish apparently don't like being photographed. And this computer doesn't have any picture editing software, that I know of. But, it gives you the general idea.

Quotes

I think one of the best ways of getting to know a person is hearing their favorite quotes. It can tell you a lot about what is important to them. I tend to chose more serious, 'the meaning of life' quotes, but have no fear; I do have a sense of humor.

• "Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today" James Dean
• "To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world" Brandi Snyder
  
• "Dance as if nobody's watching"
• "The most important things in life aren't things" Anthony J. D'Angelo
• "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take are breath away"

and the one I try to remember every day and live by:

• "It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection" The Bhagavad Gita

I could go on, maybe not for forever, but for awhile. However, I will stop there.
What are your favorite quotes?

Hello and Welcome

This is my second official blog, although my first attempt had a grand total of three posts. Here, I plan on writing about anything and everything that pops into my head.

Some things to know about me:

• I am a sophmore in high school
• I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, but that is not going to be the focus of this blog
  
• I am a Harry Potter geek
• I live with my two parents and my cat
• I am on the liberal side of things
• I love to travel
• I love to read-fiction
• Music of all kinds is one of my best friends
  

I think that's the most important things, and the rest you will find out soon enough.