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Troblems

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Blog Entries posted by Troblems

  1. Troblems

    29 Years Ago Today

    By Troblems,

    29 years ago today the most important person in my life was born. My husband's birthday is today, which means we've almost been married for a year. This time last year we were scrabbling to organize a wedding we didn't want, and while it was stressful, I'm glad we got to spend it with the people we love.
     
    I'm the luckiest woman alive. I get to live with my best friend, my glorious lover, my husband, my world.
     
    Happiest of birthdays to him, and may his birthday night be ...unmentionable. :comeatus:
  2. Troblems

    Family Pressures

    By Troblems,

    Chick problems within, you have been warned.


     
    For those who are reading and don't know, I got married last August. This night before my wedding my step mother-in-law, who is extremely blunt, said to me that my biological clock is ticking. I'm aware of this. I turned 29 last month, and with all of my medical issues, I've been repeatedly told by doctors as well. Apparently, once I turn 30 my ovaries will fall out or something.
     
    My father-in-law has also hinted that he thought we were already trying to have kids. My response was we've been practicing. My mother-in-law (yes, I have two) told my mom during a very tearful conversation that she couldn't wait until I had Evelyn (our chosen name for a daughter). My mom I know is excited about it.
     
    However hearing all this from all sides makes my body want to suck my fallopian tubes up into my stomach. I feel like a giant panda, getting poked a prodded, people taking my rectal temperature, and watching me through glass to see if the mood strikes me. Panda porn anyone, because apparently that works for them.
     
    I shouldn't be whining, because I have a lot going for me right now. I just wish I didn't feel so much like some sick science project.
  3. Troblems

    My bedroom

    By Troblems,

    Hoping to see knickers were you? Naughty.
     
    Anyways, I painted about half of it. You can see where I stopped at the top, because I am a tiny person. All it needs now is the floor (yes, that is concrete), to be wired, and furniture. Yay!
  4. Troblems
    I'm having kind of a lousy day, but I came across this, and thought it might be fun to share.
     
    I'm working on a young adult novel at the moment, and read popular books from the genre as research...Including...yes...Twilight.
     
    And then to torture myself more, I watched the first two movies.
     
    Apparently there's a whole youtube channel devoted to this guys work, but he does lip readings of movies. He recently released one for Twilight 3 or whatever the hell it's called.
     


  5. Troblems

    Solar Pillar

    By Troblems,

    I'm visiting some relatives right now in Southern California, and we couldn't have picked a better (or worse) time to come down. It's beautiful right now, with all the plants in bloom. Particularly the fruit trees that aforementioned relatives own. I ate peaches fresh off the tree for dinner. They were amazing. Also, allergies.
     
    Anyways, I got a picture of a solar pillar, which is an amazing atmospheric phenomenon, and apparently fairly rare. Unfortunately, I only had my phone on me, so it doesn't capture the full majesty, but it does a decent job.
     


     
    Also, puppy. Because he was adorable when he was that tiny, and because he didn't get to come on this road trip. I miss him.

  6. Troblems

    Lucky

    By Troblems,

    My husband is pretty stressed right now. We're broke, and that's causing him a lot of anxiety. His business isn't going great either. People seem to have a lot of "helpful ideas" for him that are anything but. He's also kind of freaked out because my birthday is coming up, and he likes to do nice things for me. I appreciate that, but even more I appreciate him. Stuff is nice. Things are great, but I care far more about his mental wellbeing than another pony toy, new clothes, new arrows for my bow...whatever. He's not home right now, but when he does get back I need to remind him of that. Remind him that we're safe, and warm, and we have enough food to eat. Our electricity, rent and water bills are all paid, and that we won't get kicked out of our house. We have people around us that love us, and while we don't have everyone around us that we love, they too are off fulfilling their lives.
     
    Stuff may be a little rough right now, but we have each other, and that is what truly matters, and that we genuinely are lucky to have what we do, because when it really comes down to it, we're rich in far better ways than what money would be able to buy us, and I'm grateful for that.
     
    Today is also my mom's birthday, and while she won't read this, happy birthday to her. <3
  7. Troblems
    Found an iguana on the road, it had been run over a few times. It may be paralyzed, or it's just really cold, so cold its not moving it's back legs...Or rather his back legs. Turns out finding out the sex of an iguana is just one more free service I offer. Anyways, he's on the way to the humane society. If he's paralyzed, he may have to be fostered, in which case he would come to live with us. If not, he'd go up for adoption, assuming he's not so badly injured he has to be put down. His tail is pretty mangled, but that will just grow back. I'm really hoping he's going to be okay though. I feel like Calvin with his raccoon.
  8. Troblems

    Stop Staring.

    By Troblems,

    I don't generally so blatantly rant, but this has been an issue with me lately, so I'm going to bitch. Fair warning, don't read it if you don't want to hear me whine.
     
    I have a physical disability. Sometimes, it's worse than others, but basically because of a severe laxity of the collagens in my body, I'm double jointed in every mobile joint. If the joint moves, mine goes beyond what would be considered the normal range of motion. This makes the joints unstable, and easily dislocate. The actual disorder I have is Elher-Danlos Syndrome (EDS for short) either type 3, or hypermobility type. It also makes me extremely clumsy. It hurts, it sucks, and at this point I'm used to it.
     
    Right now I have three joints that are particularly bothering me. My right thumb, right hip, and left shoulder. The worst of the three is my hip. Now, I would normally wear a thumb brace all the time, but because my hip is bothering me more than my thumb, I have forgone the thumb brace in favor of a cane, because I cannot use the thumb brace and cane together.
     
    Which brings me to the actual point of my rant. I'm 28, but because of the whole collagens being lax, I look like I'm in my early 20s. I usually look about 10 years younger than I actually am. Anyways, I look to be in my early 20s, and I'm using a cane with a heavy limp. I walk funny right now. Not because I want to, but because it hurts. And people stare. A lot. I hate it. I am aware that people are curious as to why a perfectly normal looking 20 something is walking the way I do and using a disability placard to park. People are curious, and if anyone asked, I would gladly tell them what was going on. I'm very open with my condition. I write a blog about it. I try to raise awareness in any way possible.
     
    But nobody asks. Ever. Instead they stare. Because I am who I am, I generally stare back at them, to make them uncomfortable, because what they are doing is damned rude.
     
    I work a full time job. I am not on disability, although I do qualify. Sometimes, I am able to function at a higher level than other times, so I don't always have to use a cane, but I always have some sort of brace. My thumb doesn't heal. It never will.
     
    Again, this is a rant, so take this any way you wish, but honestly, love, tolerate, and don't stare at the gimp girl. She's carrying a three foot long metal implement that could "accidentally" get tangled in your legs and trip you, because you're too busy staring to notice. Ooops, so sorry about that.
  9. Troblems

    A little about myself

    By Troblems,

    So it seems people are slightly curious about me. I recently joined the staff for the forums, and yes, I haven't been here all that long. However, there was an opening, I applied, and got one of two open spots, mostly (but not completely!) based on one of my past job at a major gaming company.
     
    I live in California, and yes, I am older than a lot of the people that frequent the forum at 28 years of age. I'm also recently married to a wonderful man whom I met on the internet. He isn't a brony, but he's very supportive of my interest in it. (He buys me pony toys!) I have a 9 month old puppy, some kittens and a rabbit.

     
    I had a medical disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Basically it means I'm double jointed in all of my joints, and while it makes for great party tricks, it really blows. I don't have much strength because my joints just bend parts the normal stopping point making them really unstable. The bigger downside though, is pain. Also, I metabolize pain meds really fast, which is extremely unfortunate. Dental work is a bitch because they have to give me Novocaine every 20 minutes.
     
    On to the more fun stuff:
    Coke over Pepsi
    2 down feather pillows to sleep on
    I wish I had been alive and able to enjoy one Queen concert
    My fave band is AFI
    I like Opera and Classical music
    I listen to a lot of David Bowie
    I am currently playing FFXIV
    My nose is pierced
    I have two tattoos, one of FF Tactics healing moogle summon, the other of a hibiscus flower.
    I'm currently writing a series of high fantasy books
    I also work for my husbands company
    My favorite colors are wine and teal
    My hand is currently in a brace because my thumb keeps dislocating. It hurts.
    I am currently reading Wayfarer Redemption
    Favorite movie is Big Fish, but I'll watch anything with Ewan McGregor
     
    Anyways, if you want to know anything about me, just ask rather than talking at me, talk to me. I'm pretty approachable.
    Now here's a picture of my wedding decorations because <3 Zidane and Garnet.

  10. Troblems
    I think I’m funny, just humor me with the title.
     I’m pretty private, but I’m all about technology, especially med tech, so I decided to share this because it’s cool. Plus most people on the forums won’t encounter one unless it’s attached to an older relative.
     I have a heart issue. I’m fine, it’s related to something else I’ve got, but I’ve got an enlarged aorta, and my blood tends to pool in my legs when I stand, causing serious dizziness and lightheadedness. So to make sure it’s not something more serious my ass was sent home with a heart monitor. 
    This is the entire setup, minus some cords. Also, the dog spit isn’t strictly necessary. I have two monitors that last about 12 hours each, I was told that I can’t go more than 30ft away from the phone, meaning it’s connected via Bluetooth. If I’m disconnected from the meter too long, they call me first, then they call an ambulance to my immediate location, which is a little frightening, but I get most people who have these aren’t in their 30s. Anyway so far it’s comfortable enough. It sucks to drive with it on because it sits directly where my seatbelt goes. Sleeping may be a different story. Also, having two cell phones is causing a disturbance in the force, as I need to wear pants in my own house, to keep the second phone attached to me. It’s not okay.
  11. Troblems

    Goin' camping!

    By Troblems,

    It's my two year wedding anniversary today! Yay! So, Husband, @, Brother In Law, Brother In Law's girlfriend who is far too good for Brother in Law and I are all going out (further) into the wood to make some gluten free smores, get eaten by bugs, and do other...camping things. Only overnight, but I'm excited!
     
    But why camping? Well, camping is a hell of a lot cheaper than a hotel. I actually was the one who suggested that we go sleep in the theoretical wild, and I suppose since it's only 10 minutes down the road, we really could have pitched a tent in the backyard, I probably would have come inside to sleep eventually. This way I have to abandon everyone at the campsite if I want to go home.
  12. Troblems
    Can you tell I've been listening to too much Blue October recently?
     
    I've talked before about medical issues I've had in the past, and while I've never been afraid of needles (too many piercings and tattoos as proof), I'm terrified of having IVs done. Having had large quantities of blood replaced in my body by outside sources has made me extremely squeamish when it comes to having my veins punctured, even just having blood drawn was horrifying. So much so that I've had PTSD nightmares many a time, waking up shivering and in tears.
     
    With another major issue (under active thyroid) going on recently with an easy fix (one pill a day) but in need of regular adjustments to keep me feeling normal-ish, I've had to get regular blood tests. I've had 3 in the last 6 months, and the first one was terrible. I ended up needing anti-anxiety meds, and basically came home a zombie, zonked out on drugs and in tears. The second one was a bit better. No drugs, and a bit of humorous exchange between myself and the tech.
     
    The third one, which I had today (aside from the purple inner arm) went really well. She even had to stick me a couple of times to find the vein. I even drove on the way there and back.
     
    This wasn't all about giving myself a pat on the back, but rather two other things: 1. I feel slightly foolish that I made such a big deal out of getting blood drawn. 2. Things are often far worse in your head than how they actually are in life.
     
    Basically, I say to myself: Suck it up buttercup.
  13. Troblems

    Washing Minky

    By Troblems,

    I make plushes, and I love it, but I don't see myself as being an artist. To me, I'm using someone else's pattern, and while it's hugely edited from the original pattern, the credit still belongs to someone else. I see sewing from someone else's pattern to be more along the logical than artistic side, as I am following someone else's directions to put together an end product. I guess that's why I've gotten really good at putting Ikea furniture together.
     
    No matter what though, crafting something like a plush takes a lot of practice, a good seam ripper, and lot of patience, and a lot of extra fabric, because you are going to fuck up. There's no two ways about it. You will screw up.
     
    I'm currently working on a Rarity Plush, and that means working with fabric. White fabric to be exact. This is my second attempt at her, because I had a different pattern before that was too imprecise for my liking, I ended up scraping the damned thing. My first try at her was...admirable, however someone who is not me cut the pieces, making the issues with the pattern worse than they already were, because the person who did it didn't follow the pattern well enough. This caused me a huge amount of stress that led me to 1. Scraping the plush. 2. Getting a new pattern because it simply wasn't up to my standards.
     
    I'm usually a big picture kind of girl, not much for tiny details. However, people expect Rarity to look a certain way, and so making a plush of her that looked weird wasn't something I was willing to do. As I worked on the first version, I started to notice something. The "fur" of the minky was starting to bunch together. Then she started looking grimy. If you weren't staring at it for hours on end, it wasn't terribly noticeable. However when compared to the fabric that was uncut, it was obvious that there was some grody build up.
     
    I wrote a blog entry last week about using baking soda to refresh the fur of minky, but apparently that only works once, so I decided to do some science and wash the plush. She turned out beautifully, but because minky is synthetic material made from polyester, it can be a bit scary to wash.
     
    Now, I washed her pre-stuffed. Drying stuffed animals that have been stuffed can lead to mildew issues because it takes so long to dry. Jeric, don't click the spoiler.

     
     
    Now down to the actual method:

    To wash a plush, unstuff if you have the knowhow Toss your plush into either a mesh bag or pillowcase and tie off (sheets work if the plush is too big) Use gentle soap. Woolite works well, but I used some hippie dippie, good for the environment laundry soap as it had no scent and was on hand. Do not use fabric softener Wash on coldest setting on delicate with the spin cycle off if you are able to If you had the spin cycle off, gently press out excess water

     

    To dry, I put her in on delicate again. My washer is one of those fancy shmancy dryers that senses how dry stuff is. I set it to "Damp Dry". That did nothing I put it on time dry for 8 minutes on the lowest heat and slowest spin. That made her damp, but no longer soaking. Keep in mind she was completely unstuffed, so if your plush is stuffed, 8 minutes won't do it. She was inside the pillow case up until this point Removed from pillow case, I used the clippy style hangers and left her to dry in a cool, dark room I used a comb to fluff her up a bit, but she's much less grimy now.

     

    Overall, I'm quite pleased with using minky. It's a pain in the ass to sew because it tends to "walk", or slide against itself so that the pieces are no longer lined up correctly. I don't normally sew with pins because I feel it takes me longer, but using pins EVERYWHERE EVER helps.
     

    Different pins, but you get the idea.
     
    However, once it's together, it stretches enough that you can stuff the crap out of it without giving too much way. It can be cleaned in several ways that work well, if you know what you're doing, and it feels nice. Once you get used to it, you can become quite spoiled sewing with minky.
  14. Troblems
    So last year about this time I wrote a blog post about myself. I s'pose it's time for an update.
     
    Thanks to a suggestion from Wingnut's awesome roommate, I've begun making plushies. It's been a slow start, and a long process, but I'm starting to get good. Right now there are only two pieces, but the third is almost finished. I'm really excited about it. I started sewing when I was a kid, because my family was poor. Like really, really poor. The only way that my brother and I would be able to have Halloween costumes was if I made them, so I did just that. I still have some of the remnants from Holloweens past that still fit. I never really grew, so most of my middle school clothes in general still fit.
     
    I eat a 90% gluten free diet because my husband is celiac. It sucks, because it turns out wheat is really good at doing a lot of stuff, but sacrifices for the ones you love, yo. I haven't noticed any health benefits. I've gotten really good at creative cooking. Luckily meat is gluten free, because I love me a good steak. Medium rare.
     
    I still have a true and loving relationship with my husband. I feel so mind blowingly lucky to have found someone to care for who cares about me back. Someone I can spend time with talking about games, science, books, philosophy, and sometimes absolutely nothing. I don't think I could ever express how genuinely, profoundly meaningful I find my life with him is.
     
    After being married for a year and a bit, it still catches me off guard occasionally that I am. When people call and ask for Mrs LongGermanName, it usually takes me a while to realize I am being addressed. But to be perfectly honest, it doesn't feel any different than when we were dating, except that we got a lot of gifts for signing a binding legal contract. That still baffles me.
     
    Non-graphic health stuff:
     
     
     
    In the year that I've been on staff, I've moved up several times. I started as what is now the "MLP Forums Staff", except I was green instead of pink:
     

     
    Pink is way cooler. Kinda jelly. Anyways, I was promoted at the same time as Dawn Rider. Not long after, the RP head at the time parted ways with the site and I assumed his spot in practice. Title came later. I'm now head of Roleplay, along with the Support section. Support is basically a fancy term for Global mods without a particular focus. I also work with the Commissions section, processing payments and resolving the issues that occasionally crop up.
     
    The staff of MlpForums get a bad wrap. I think this is true of any forum, although there are some pretty poorly run forums out there, don't get me wrong. We get accused of being elitist, only using the forums to bring down punishments, etc. Here's the thing though. We all work, or go to school, and we all have lives. The time we do have to be on the forums is usually dedicated to answering reports, support tickets, general questions, PMs, emails, you name it. Recently I've tried responding to threads more often as I have time, just to be more accessible to the member base in general. I try, but I can't always do it. That doesn't mean we're trying to segregate ourselves. It just means that we're busy.
     
    Also, I'm an introvert. I don't initiate conversations that aren't specifically forum related. That isn't because I don't want to talk to people, but because deep down, I'm really friggen awkward. It's part of the reason why my profile is set to private. Seriously, nobody can kill a conversation quite like I can. I still have the sense of humor of an 8 year old. I find fart jokes to be overwhelmingly funny. I regularly engage in belching contests. It's infantile, and I'm okay with that. I'm also a bit of a troll, although I try to keep that in check on the forums, although if you dig a bit, you should be able to find some of my more artful trolling posts.
     
    I guess in general, I'm trying to communicate that the staff are people, too. It can be difficult to imagine a person on the other end, especially when giving out (or getting) warnings. We aren't untouchable beings. We're fallible. We make mistakes. And we don't moderate MlpForums for the power of it. It's because we love this community, and genuinely care about the people in it.
  15. Troblems

    House

    By Troblems,

    My husband and I are having our house worked on. About 1/3 of it is being redone, and while I'm incredibly excited about it, there's one part that I absolutely hate.

    This. Room. Is. Too. Big. I call it the extrovert room, and while it also encompasses the kitchen, it's just a monster of a room. And so to mollify me, I get to choose the colors. Sort of. Keeping others in mind, I chose three blues that looked fairly light. The fourth I was thinking would be the master bedroom color, but I think we're going with purple instead.

    Obviously the house is in rough condition right now. So far two rooms (kitchen and the "smoking room" which was where the previous owners smoked cigarettes) and the previous front entry way have all been demolished to make space for a bathroom, laundry room, master bedroom and great room (combo of kitchen and living room). Luckily we have a beautiful table that can fit 16 people (literally) to fill the great room.


    So there is the paint in the sun and in the light. The lightest blue is pretty close to grey, so I think that'll go on three of the four walls. One of the blues I think is too...Little boy colored, so that's out. I think the wall with the sliding doors will get the second darkest.

    Luckily it doesn't all look like crap right now. The new front doors look phenomenal. Not a great shot because the outside looks bad since we're doing shingles on the front of the house.

    And finally my favorite part of the house, the deck. It's finished, and it looks amazing. I think the glass panels really make it pop, because we live in such a nice area, you really don't want to see the deck. You want to see nature, damn it.
    So that's the quick tour of the construction of my house. Maybe once it's finished I'll dislike that room less. Once it has kitcheny stuff, and comfy couches, and the built in book storage so that the room doesn't look and feel so much like a cave. Either way I'm grateful for the updates. There was no insulation before we started, and the walls were stripped to the studs to make way for it. Now it's nice and cool in there, on a 90 degree day like today.
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