Maritzia's · Thoughts

For anyone masochistic enough to be interested, here's the link to my NaNo profile which includes an exerpt of the novel so far: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/151099

Warning, it is very bad writing which has had zero editing. Don't blame me if your eyes bleed.

Ask me to take a picture of any aspect of my life that you’re interested in/curious about - it can be anything from the house I live in to my favorite shoes. Leave your choice here as a comment, and I will reciprocate by taking the pictures and posting them as an entry. That way you get to know a little bit about my life.

Yes, boys and girls, it is once again time for NaNoWriMo, otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month.  In case you haven't noticed, that's a link.  Be a good little boy or girl and follow the link (don't worry, it opens another page so you can keep reading here).  So, time to throw ourselves to the mercy of the muse and attempt to put 50,000 words to paper in 30 days.

Last year, I decided to do NaNoWriMo at the last minute (like on November 2nd), so I had no preperation at all.  I hadn't so much as an outline or a character list, just a vague idea for a story.  This year, I'm working at being a bit more prepared.  I have about 1/3 of the story outlined.  I've got about 1/2 the characters planned out.  I need to buckle down in the next couple of weeks and get more of the prep work done so I can hit the ground running on November 1st.

So, who else here is a crazy person and signing up for NaNoWriMo.  I finished last year on my first attempt, so this year I'm psyched!

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I have been incredibly busy.  One of the reasons I've been so busy is because the drug I'm taking for the fibromyalgia has been so incredibly effective (milnacipran, look it up).  And incredible isn't an understatement.  It's a wonder drug....honestly, it is.  I have so much more energy, and so much less pain.  Before I started on this clinical trial, I pretty much went to work and went home and vegged.  I had no energy for anything else and even just going grocery shopping over the weekend could mean that I didn't make it through the whole work week the next week.

So, I was at my regular appointment with my study coordinator today, and she mentioned that they are still looking for participants for the clinical trial.  I would have mentioned this here before, but I was erroneously under the assumption that the trial had closed to new participants...but it turned out that was just the double-blind portion of the trial.  The current trial is a 3 year open label trial.  You get study medications for free and they pay you for each study visit you make.  There are study centers across the country, so you don't have to live in a particular geographical region.  So, if you have fibromyalgia and are interested in participating in this study, go to http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00314249?order=14 to get more information.

Seriously, folks, we're talking serious wonder drug.

A couple of caveat's....be aware that you will have to wash off of all pain meds (except over the counter) and all antidepressants for two weeks prior to starting the trial.  That's one of the main reasons they are having trouble finding participants.  Not many people want to go off of their drugs, which I understand entirely.  You have to decide if the possibility of future improvement is worth the month or so of increased pain and fatigue until the new drug kicks in.  If you're able to do it, though, I do highly recommend trying to qualify for the trial.  The more people they can get for the trial, the sooner it gets approved by the FDA and the sooner the medication becomes widely available to folks with FMS throughout the country.

If you don't have FMS but know someone with it, forward the link to them

That is all.  You may continue with your daily web-browsing.

*sighs*

There, I'm better now.  I don't want to turn this into a whining journal.  I just needed to say that.

I found this on a friend’s Livejournal (you can blame

nightsinge

Be sure to click on the circle in the middle several times.  It changes each time.

http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html.

*sighs* Well, since I can't seem to post more than a sentence or two, you'll have to go to my main blog, http://maritzia.consecrated-life.org, to read my most recent post on the Barack Obama event in Seattle on Friday.

It's been that kind of week.  I've got my sleep patterns all messed up because of a couple of late meetings this week.  I didn't get home until 9 and was too wound up to go to sleep immediately, so was up until 11 or 12.  So, I'm seriously sleep deprived.

However, the campaign work is going very well.  I've been made the Secretary of the local campaign, Whatcom for Obama.  They seemed hesitant to ask me, because lets face it, not many people like to do administrative work.  But it's something I'm good at and I like to do it (I ought to since it's what I do for a living), so they were thrilled to have me agree to it.  That also means I'll be working with the steering committee for the local campaign as well.

Good news is Barack Obama is coming to Seattle on June 1st!  Anyone in the area that wants to go, tickets can be purchased at https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/seattlekickoff.  A bunch of us from Whatcom County are carpooling up there.  If you're a deep pockets kind of person, there's a more intimate gathering later in the evening.  I believe the minimum price for that is $500 (I'm going from memory, don't quote me on that).

In other news, my sister just got a new job.  She was really struggling with which direction to go and was watching for the Divine to make things clear.  Well, he did.  The second job that she really wanted decided to put hiring on hold indefinitely, so she's taking the first offer.  It's a great job, too, but requires her to move to a small town in Nevada from Texas.  Well, at least she's already used to the heat *laughs* and the town is close enough to Las Vegas that visiting will be much cheaper.

And now I must dash back off to work.  Much to do....much to do.

Well, I've been quite neglectful of my little blog lately, haven't I?  I tend to go in fits and spurts with my writing, as I do in many things.  It's always been a character trait of mine, and one that annoyed my mother no end.  I've found, though, in my reading, that those who are NF's in the Myers-Briggs tend to work in this way and tend to work best in this manner.  ST's, though, of which my mother was an extreme, tend to work hard at one thing until it is finished and then move on to something else.  Hence my workstyle driving her crazy.  I spent a good deal of my life thinking I was quite lazy and had no internal drive or ambition until I started reading about the Myers Briggs types.  Now I know that is the way I work best and try to honor that, although it can lead to serious procrastination if you don't watch it, which is why my blog here has been unattended since February *laughs*.

So, what have I been up to you ask?  Well, the short answer is working!  The job has been very busy.  We had our big fund raiser at the end of April, so I was working a lot of overtime for about 6 weeks before.  The week of the fundraiser, I probably spent about 60 hours at work.  And, of course, given my generally low energy levels, once I got home I pretty much did nothing else.  For me, writing takes energy, and I just haven't had it to spare these last 2 months.  But, the fundraiser and all the work after is done (well, most of it, but what is left isn't urgent and can be done over time), so I have more energy to devote to other pursuits.  So, on with the writing.

First of all, for all those who have asked after my brother-in-law, I very much appreciate the concern.  He had his surgery on February 13th and came through it quite well.  His recovery was slow but steady and he is now back at work full time and doing well.   The doctor has been caustiously optimistic, but thinks they got all of the cancer and there is no spread.  He is stopping just short of saying it is benign, because...well...doctors are in general cautious people.  But he believes there is unlikely to be a recurrence.  Cliff required no radiation or chemo and has now been referred to the Cancer Clinic for regular followups over the next few years.  Thanks again to all who showed concern and sent energy to Cliff for his surgery and recovery.

When ever I spend so much time working, I like to spend most of my off time with Mark, so we've been watching a lot of DVD's over the last couple of months.  It's something we can do together that requires no real energy on my part.  So, we went back and watched Farscape again (one of our favorites).  We also got into Lost.  We've watched it twice and are eagerly waiting for Season 3 to come out on DVD.  Of course, we watched Battlestar Galactica while it was on.  The 3rd season started a bit slow, but really picked up again in quality towards the end.  Now we are watching the first season of Law and Order.  It's a show we have both always enjoyed, but I didn't start watching it until later in the production, so I've actually not seen any of season 1.

I've also been back on my reading kick.  I picked up a number of books when I went to help my sister after her surgery.  I've read The Known World, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Wicked, and I've reread all the Harry Potter series in anticipation of the final novel coming out in July!  I'm so excited!

I'm now reading Sacred Contracts by Carolyn Myss.  I'm 3 chapters in, and I have to tell you that this book resonates with me and my beliefs like nothing has in a very long time.   You'll probably be reading more about it as I go through, because it is something that is really calling out to me.

On the writing front, I got a notice of a pagan short story competition with a June something deadline.  I've got a story wandering around in my head, and I need to see if I can convince it to inhabit paper.  I have no real anticipations that it will be good enough to win or even print, but having something like a contest always spurs me to write, since it's something I tend to be lazy about.  So, don't let me get lazy!  Stay on my back until I get it written and submitted.

Let's see...what else have I been up to....Oh, of course, how could I forget!  I've joined a campaign.  I figure now that I have more energy, it's time to put my money where my mouth is politically.  I am officially endorsing and campaigning for Barack Obama and have joined the local campaign here in Bellingham.

Well, that's about all that's been going on with me.  Anyone else doing anything interesting?

That is, one that I put together myself.  I included casting a circle and everything.  This was a healing ritual for my brother-in-law.  I was charging a crystal to send to him to aid his healing after surgery, but also to send general healing energy to him for his surgery on Tuesday.  (If you read this, Cliff, I'm be sending more energy to you during surgery Tuesday.)

Wow, I really had no idea how tiring something like this can be.  I felt very up and energized during the ritual and immediately after.  But now that I've released the energy raised (it still takes me a while to release energy.  I need more practice at that), I'm just drained.  Although, my hands are still tingling.  I don't know if that's just the remains of the energy or the nerves are just still all excited from the energy I was trying to pour into the crystal.  Those of you who are experienced ritualists, how long does it normally take for those sensations to pass?  It's been about half an hour since I released the energy.  I know in the past when I've raised energy, it's taken a long time for my hands to stop being all tingly.  You know, almost how they feel when circulation was cut off and then restored, or when you go from a really cold temperature outside to a very warm house.  That's what it feels like.

Anyway, my first ritual.  I'm still learning not to feel self-conscious out in my yard where the whole world can see me, but once I get into the ritual, that falls away.  I'd love, though, to have a big place in the middle of nowhere, where my rituals are private except for my family and the animals.  *laughs* Having come from the south, I always expect cross burners to turn up in my yard if the wrong person sees me.

And now I'm rambling because, yeah, did I mention I'm really tired?