Just an update

My family, well, specifically my dad, got some really crappy news yesterday. It seems he has had a case of ischemic optical neuropathy, commonly called a stroke of the optic nerve. It has left him 60% blind in his left eye. There was a brief moment of severe pain, and POOF, his vision was gone. Right now the remaining vision in that eye is really fuzzy, but it hopefully will get better over the coming months. Unfortunately though, there is nothing they can do to recover what was lost. There is a slim chance that it can get worse, but not likely.

I had never heard of this happening, but after doing some research last night, I found out that it is the leading cause of blindness in people over 55. There is no way of predicting who it will hit, no way to prevent it, and no way of treating it. It is just one of those things you have to hope doesn't happen to you as you get older.

We are lucky because it could just as easily have taken 100% of his vision in the one eye, and there was the chance of it hitting both eyes within days of each other. I think he is past that concern, at least hopefully he is. I am sure that in time he will get used to it and probably not really even notice the loss. But it still sucks.

In other news, I took Baci to the vet this past week. We yet again doubled her dose of amitriptyline, so she is now on 40 mg per day. I think that is more than what the average adult human takes, so let's hope that it takes this time!

To end on a happy note, it looks very promising that Eric will be home in the next couple of weeks. YEAH!!! We have made our plans for Valentine's Day, and I so hope that we get to keep them....

I think that is it for now. For those of you who pray, please keep my dad in your prayers. Thanks.

It'll be here before you know it!

Anybody thought about Valentine’s Day yet? If you haven’t, here is your warning that you have less than a month until the day is upon us! For some single people, this time of year can just about bring on panic attacks. You are left to wonder if you will have someone in time, or are you going to be sitting around with other single friends throwing an Anti-Valentine’s Day party.

This year is only slightly different from past years for me. Yet again, I am left wondering if I will have someone on Valentine’s Day. This time it is not a matter of will I have someone; instead it a matter of I don’t know whether he will be home from Iraq in time. :(

Yes people, you heard that right! I may actually have a date for Valentine’s Day!

I don’t want to get my hopes up—Valentine’s Day has never really been my holiday. Even when I have had boyfriends in the past, the day has pretty much sucked for me. So, I am afraid if I get my hopes up and actually begin to think that this is my year, then something will happen and Eric won’t get to come home in time. But, I am not going to be pessimistic about it either. Whether he is here with me or not, I know that he wants to be. But it’ll be so much better if he is!

But, rather than go into sad stories of really bad Valentine’s Days, I am going to tell you about the best Valentine’s Day I have ever had. And funny enough, I was single.

IT INVOLVED ME, EIGHT MEN, AND TWO OTHER WOMEN!!!

Okay, now that I have your attention…. :)

This was a few years back, while I was still living with my parents. I woke up that morning for work and was sick as a dog. I went in to tell my parents that I was calling off work and going back to bed, but they insisted that I had to go to work. I finally gave in and went, thinking that I had the worst parents ever put on the earth. Almost the whole day had gone by, only one hour of work left to survive, and I still hadn’t figured out why it was so important to be there that day. Little did I know, but I was about to find out.

I had gone across the hall to another office and was returning to mine when I passed the elevators. One opened and there stood eight men, all dressed alike. Immediately I started kind of laughing to myself, because I knew that someone was about to get very embarrassed. One of them said, “Here’s a young lady that looks like she knows where she is going,” and turned to me. He asked me if I could tell him where Labor was. I told him to follow me; that was exactly where I was heading. Then he said, “Great! Could you tell me where to find Crystal?” At that point, I went dumb for a second and just stared at him. Surely he had not just asked where I was! I managed to say, “Umm, that’s me actually,” and they all laughed at their good fortune of having run into me in the hall. Next thing I knew, they were following me into my office, where many of my coworkers were already beginning to gather. The office had known all day why I had to be at work, so they were there to watch the show.

The men were from the Kanawha Kordsmen, a group of men who sing in Barbershop Quartets. But wait! I said there were eight of them, not four! Yes, I was so special that I got TWO groups of quartets! I guess technically that would be a Barbershop octet, but anyways.

The men asked me if I knew who had sent them, to which I had to reply that I didn’t have a clue. I guessed my parents, but nope, that wasn’t the culprit. Finally they let me know that it was my two best friends, Christy and Tricia. The two of them decided that even if I was single, they wanted me to know just how special I was. Isn’t that so incredibly sweet of them?

The Kordsmen then sang four or five songs to me, gave me a rose, some candy, a card, and then took a picture of me with them. Their voices were so amazing! My face was the darkest shade of red, but I loved every minute of it! My coworkers loved it too, and it was the talk of the office for a good while after that. Until the day that I had to move my office home, that picture hung on my wall. Now it is packed away for safe-keeping, but I will never forget that day. I am truly blessed to have found such great friends! If you are ever looking for a unique gift to send someone, this is perfect.

Now, a note to you sick-minded people: Shame on you for thinking what you were thinking!!! ;)

Thank God it's over!

This New Year's Eve will go down in my book as the worst one I've had.

First, let me say thanks to the people who came to my party. We had a great time, and I am glad each of you made it. However nice the party was though, it was tainted for me because of the late cancellations. Still, for a short while last night, I thought that the party going well had redeemed my night. Little did I know that fate had other plans for me.

Shortly after midnight, my guests helped me to put away the food and clean up the bar. Then we said our goodbyes, and Kathy and I decided to head to Charleston to see what was going on.

We ended up at Banana Joes, a dance club for those of you not familiar with it, surrounded by incredibly intoxicated people. Not that I wasn't somewhat drunk myself, but I still had my sense about me. Maybe I should have had a few more drinks and things wouldn't have seemed so bad.... Anyways, I digress. Almost immediately after we got there Kathy ran into a guy she knew in high school. We all talked for a few minutes, then Kathy told me that they were going to run out to her truck for a minute, but that they would be right back. To me, "right back" means a minute or two. To her, it means I will come back over an hour later and get you right before the bar kicks you out because they are closing.

Yes, she left me there, alone, fighting off incredibly drunk men for over an hour. I had come to the conclusion that she had left me and was getting ready to call my mom (the only person I figured I stood a chance of finding sober) to come pick me up, when the two of them came walking back in. The bar had already called last call for alcohol ten minutes earlier and they were playing their last song. Needless to say, I was ticked. She asked all cheery, "Hey, how are you?" To which I replied, "I'm pissed," and proceeded to let her know that I didn't appreciate being treated that way. It is going to be a while before I am willing to trust her to not do that to me again, if ever.

Take that end to the evening, couple it with a party tainted from so many guests canceling out at the last minute, and you can see why it was not a fun evening for me. If last night is an omen to how 2005 is going to treat me, I am afraid to see what the rest of the year has in store for me.