Joys and Woes of 20-One Oh (part 2)

October was supposed to be one of my funnest months. Some of you know it's my birthday month, but the highlight was a trip to San Francisco to see some California friends and see Joe McIntyre and Emanuel Kiriakou perform. The day of the show, I spent the morning wandering the mall when I started feeling sick. Then I started vomiting, and it just wouldn't stop. One of the security officers called an ambulance, and I was taken to the hospital. I became a bit disoriented and started stuttering - worse than I ever had before. I was also having tremors. The whole experience was terrifying for me. The hospital couldn't determine anything more than a stomach virus. After some medication, I was feeling better. I might have had a seizure, but they never did an EEG to find out. My husband felt helpless because I was so far away, but I was able to stay in contact with my local friends, so I was a bit less scared, and I was able to attend the show. By the time I did arrive, the place was full. I had reserved handicapped seating, but it was first come, first serve, so all they could do was give me a chair at the back of the arena. The trip really made me think twice about traveling alone.

Working for myself seemed more of a reality now that I was somewhat disabled. I was learning more and more about the music industry and the importance of promotion and publicity. I revamped my website and advertised my company as "acquiring excellence in education and music through research and promotion". In November, I sponsored my first show. It was so exciting to see my company's name on the show's flyer. I hope to step it up in 2011 by actually planning a show and following it through to fruition. I'm actually doing that right now, but I don't want to divulge any details just yet. :)

Because of my uncertain health, I was working on an application for disability. My husband wanted to wait just a bit though to talk to my neurologist to get his thoughts. I still wasn't driving, and while I didn't think I was having seizures, I was still having foggy moments and feelings of being drugged. I saw the doctor at the beginning of November, and he told me he thought I would be okay to work. I missed my final appointment with the disability determination people and began to search for a job more dilligently. The first week in December, it paid off. I got hired by a call center about an hour's drive away. The salary would be minimum wage, but I needed to work. My unemployment benefits ended in November, and Phil's part time work wouldn't be enough to cover our bills. Phil took me driving a few times before I actually started to work, and then I was on my own. He couldn't arrange his schedule enough to accomodate my schedule, so I had to do it myself. The bus stop was more than a quarter of a mile away from the building, and it was just too far for me to walk. I had one scary night so far where I just wasn't feeling right, but I called Phil and then stopped five times on the way home whenever I felt a panic moment coming on.

I guess the last thing is our christmas with Phil's daughter. We knew she'd be spending the actual day with her mom, and it made sense. She has two younger siblings, and christmas would be much more special spending it with them. So two weeks before christmas, we took her out to eat and brought her all her presents. We got her some clothing, some fun socks, a pair of fuzzy slippers, and a toy hamster that she had been eyeing in the store. We also made her a stocking and filled it with candy. She loved it and actually was quite overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we got her. We really hadn't spent that much money given our financial situation, but we wanted to do something, and we were glad we had.

In my next blog, I'll talk about my favorite music of 2010.