Geez, it has been a year apparently, since I last wrote in here. With, of course, the exception of the post I put up earlier today. Life has been rather busy for us over the past several months.
In June we moved into our new place and love it! No drunk neighbors, no neighbor partying all night and keeping us awake all hours of the night. No junk and garbage all over the yard. And landlords that actually not only care about their rental property, but who also care about their tenants. Repairs are done quickly and more are in the works because they want to make the place look nice. So happy about this! These types of landlords are a rarity in my experience as a renter.
Shortly after moving in it rained a lot! Torrential downpours that didn’t seem to want to end. The old roof gave out in the one spare room upstairs, the roof sagged and started leaking in the closet. Luckily, not much was ruined. Due to mold concerns and not knowing the extent of the damage to the roof inside, our landlord moved us into the empty unit adjacent to ours. We remained there until repairs were done, damage was assessed, and mold was removed.
At the end of September, or beginning of October, we moved back into our place. The repairs were completed in the room that had been leaking so we were given the go-ahead to move home. Of course, that involved scrubbing the place down first and shampooing the carpets to ensure we had gotten rid of any mold spores so that it didn’t affect my health. Once our stuff was moved back in the unit that we had been staying in next door had to be cleaned. Then the process of unpacking began. We moved three times in about as many months. One doesn’t realize how much stuff they have until they start moving. I’m not a pack rat, by any means either and am constantly donating stuff or having garage sales in an attempt to downsize. Yet, I still have too much stuff, ugh. I have no desire to move again anytime soon!
It’s been a bit of a rough go since moving into our new place. I was determined to get unpacked, organized, and all settled in as quickly as possible. I wanted to make our home look nice so I started painting the upstairs bedrooms and the hallway. However, my back had other ideas and decided that it wasn’t going to cooperate. I threw my back out and was laid up for about a month. I was confined to the sofa and couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even walk. It was so bad that I had to crawl even to the bathroom.
I have suffered chronic back pain for years, but this last time really made me realize that it is time to have the pain addressed. I think the years of abuse have really messed up my back, and neck, which has caused pain in my hips and knees. I have left it because I was always either busy, or couldn’t afford it. At the moment I can’t really use either excuse. I’m still not working, so time isn’t an issue. I plan to see a chiropractor soon because Kyle has good coverage through his union at work. I’m hoping to return to the work force at some point, but with the pain I can’t (and Kyle won’t let me because of the pain). It’s time to get some answers.
At the moment I am laid up because I tore all the ligaments in my left foot on January 2. The cat ran between my legs and I tried to jump to the side and out of her way because I didn’t want to step on her. When I jumped I rolled my ankle. It felt like it twisted all the way around. I heard crunching and snapping sounds and was convinced it was broken. Luckily, it wasn’t broken but oh boy is it sore. I had to use crutches for the first week and couldn’t put any pressure on it at all. It was swollen so bad that I couldn’t move my toes or my ankle. The last couple days I have managed to get rid of the crutches and am able to walk a bit more on it. I’m still trying to take it easy though because it swells up quickly and aches badly. My whole foot is bruised, across my toes, on my heel, top of my foot, my ankle and on the inside of my foot. The only part not bruised is the bottom of my foot. So, once again I have been confined to the sofa because I haven’t been able to go down the stairs.
I finally got my photography page, The Tilted Tripod, (https://www.facebook.com/TJsTheTiltedTripod/), launched just before Christmas! I started the page well over a year ago but was too chicken to make it public. I thought my pictures might not be good enough. My camera isn’t as nice, or as new, or as good as all the other photographers out there so I was scared to let people see my pictures. The same old fears that stopped me from launching the photography page I started back in 2006 or 2007. I’m learning to step out of my comfort zone a bit. It was tough because all these other photographers have fancy expensive cameras and I can’t afford to buy a new one.
I started to save for a new camera, but when mom and dad needed help I used the money for that instead. Kyle and I bought them firewood to get them through winter and groceries to get them them over a bit of a rough patch. Since mom’s blackout I have gone down once a month, for about a week at a time, to help them out with whatever they need. They’re too proud to admit they need help, and hate anyone knowing their personal stuff. I’m all the help they really have.
Kyle and I went to Quesnel at Christmas to spend it with mom and dad. It was a pretty quite Christmas. Not even much exchanged in the way of gifts this year.( Kyle and I told everyone we didn’t want gifts. We understand that money is tight.) Ryan had to stay here in Prince George to work. Christopher came up for Christmas dinner, he was the only grandchild that was there this year.
Ryan and Chris are doing really well. Ryan is still working full time as a Residential Care Worker. He looks after people with mental and physical disabilities. He also still works a part time job. His hours with the part time job really tend to pick up around the holidays and he barely sleeps or is home. Chris was promoted to Manager at his job just before Christmas and given a raise in pay. I’m so proud of my boys! They are so hard working, mature, responsible, sweet, kind hearted and loving. Perfect gentleman. Chris came up the weekend I hurt my foot and helped out around the house while I was laid up. Him, Ryan and Kyle were a huge help. They did laundry, dishes, gathered garbage, and tidied up around here. They have also cooked me meals and brought me whatever I needed. I’m pretty lucky to have three great guys in my life!
I have been working on my photos a lot recently and getting them out there. I have even entered several photo contests. Another scary thing for me that involved me stepping out of my comfort zone. The site that I have been entering my pictures on is peer reviewed and voted on by fellow photographers. My pictures have received tons of photos and i have moved up the ranks very quickly from a Newbie to now what is called a Veteran, after a few short weeks. There are several levels and in order to achieve a new level each time, you need to earn points. Points are earned when your pictures are voted on. The last two contests I entered I ended up Ranked #94, and more recently #22, in my category. Not too bad considering there is thousands and thousands of photographers on the site. I still have a long way to go, but in the meantime I will just have fun.
I’m taking a photography course through the mail in the hopes that I get some pointers and tips. Even though I have enjoyed taking pictures since I was about 8 or 9 I have never really been taught anything about photography. I have never taken a course. Everything I know I have learned on my own, just through the process of taking the pictures themselves. I’m constantly honing and developing my skills and I’m hoping that this course will help me grow as a photographer. So far it is going well, but I am only in the early stages. Right now I am learning about cameras and equipment. I’m looking forward to the rest of the course that teaches me more.
As I mentioned earlier, I have really been wanting a new camera. My camera is an old point and shoot and the colors are pretty blah when they first get downloaded. I have to do a lot of editing to get the colors as vibrant as they should be. This gets me down when I see how easy it is for fellow photographers when they post their photos. They don’t have to do as much work to their photos as I do. Their cameras are all brand new, top of the line, and cost thousands of dollars. I can’t afford that. Years ago I had an Olympus camera that has several lenses and attachments for it. I bought some new lenses about a year ago for it, but it then died on me. I was very upset when it conked out on me. I was thinking of getting it refurbished in the hopes that it would work like it did when it was new. The other night I stumbled onto a refurbished Olympus camera that is the exact same thing as mine at the low cost of $130! I ordered it immediately! (Thanks to Ryan for letting me use his credit card.) I’m hoping that this camera works as good as my old one because it used to take great photos when I first got it. It just made sense to me. If I can’t afford a brand new one, then at least invest in this one. A camera that I am familiar with; that took great pictures; that I have tons of lenses and attachments for. Fingers crossed that it works out for me! I’m pretty excited!
I have been getting back into writing and journaling as well. Something that I find very therapeutic. One day I’m hoping to get myself organized enough to write a book. I have several ideas rattling around that I have started working on, but never finished. This is something I don’t really tell too many people that I do, or that I dream of writing a book. I always have so much on my mind that I need to write it down in order to get it out of my head. (As you can probably tell from this letter that is going on and on. Tee hee.) I even write down a lot of my dreams when I remember them. Oh boy, some really stand out in my mind when I wake up in the morning.
Finally managed to hobble around on my foot enough to get my Christmas tree down the other day. I can’t believe that it was still up! The boys won’t touch it because I am far too particular about how things get packed up. They need to be organized properly. I’m over the Christmas thing at this point and want to reclaim my house.
That’s about all I can think of for now. Hopefully that catches you up to speed on my end.
tarajohnson513 