Winter's Artisty by Courtney Critchfield

The Christmas before last I gave my youngest daughter, Courtney, a digital camera. She's always enjoyed taking photos of her friends and various activities she did. It wasn't an expensive camera by any means. Just something for her to take pictures with. But as the days, weeks and months went by something wonderful began to happen. Courtney began to discover that she has a love for photography. Beautiful things began coming out the other side of the camera after she peered threw the viewfinder.

 

She would go on these amazing journeys with her friends. What some people would drive past and look at as junk cluttering up the mountains where we live, Courtney began to view as art.

Things I had driven past many times and never noticed, or looked at with disgust, came home in photographs that now make me smile every time I drive by them.

It is true, as they say, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or the person behind the camera. 

 

 

It wouldn't be fair to share the photography without sharing the photographer. So please let me introduce you to my lovely daughter, Courtney.

All of the above photos are ©Courtney Critchfield 2008.

Until next time, I am...

Her very proud Earth Mother

The Funniest Thing I've Heard In A Long Time

I kept seeing posts on Facebook to call this Nestle's Crunch Hotline number and listen to the options. I finally had to try it. Well it's the funniest thing I've heard in forever. If you don't want to try it yourself listen to this You Tube video of what happens when you call. If you want to be adventurous and try it yourself, here's what you're supposed to do:

Call the Nestle Crunch Hotline 800-295-0051. When asked if you want English or Spanish, just wait *quietly* for about 10 seconds and you will smile. Promise! Keep going and press 4 it gets even better....must be very quiet, no background noise. Try pressing different numbers and see what happens. Good for a laugh every time!

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Happy New Year!

Here we are at the first day of 2010. It seems all I've been hearing about lately is blogs. I tried to start one several months ago but never got too far with that venture. But it seems that the first day of a new year should be a good time to jump into such a venture with both feet running. So here we are. Welcome to my new blog!

I suppose that one of the first things I should do is talk a little about myself. I'm not really too good at that sometimes but I'll give it a whirl. For the past three years I've been going through a lot of difficulties with my health. I was diagnosed with a rare brain disorder three years ago and if it hasn't been one thing since then it's been ten. 

Here's a photo of me with my "intracranial pressure monitor" in place, just for those doubting Thomas types who might want to say yeah, yeah, yeah...she's had brain surgery, uh huh.... This was just the first one.

I finally sat down with my neurologist at my last visit and had him give me a full diagnosis so that I know what to put on all the paperwork I am constantly having to fill out for one thing and another.


In addition to the brain disorder, pseudotumor cerebri, which is sometimes also called intracranial hypertension, I also have fibromyalgia, polymalgia, depression, sleep disorder, chronic back pain, pernicious anemia and folic acid deficiency, and chronic and progressive headache disorder. I take a multitude of medications to manage all of those things as well as monthly B12 shots. I've had three brain surgeries and now have a ventriculoperitoneal shunt in my brain that drains cerebralspinal fluid from my brain into my stomach via a tube that runs from my head under the skin down the side of my head, down my chest and into my stomach to relieve pressure in my head.  

This is me after my shunt implacement surgery. Yeah, I was feeling a little cranky.

Excess pressure in my head caused by this disorder made me lose the vision in my right eye completely. However, I was able to regain some vision in that eye after placement of my shunt though it will never be clear again because the damage to the optic nerve is permanent, but at least I can see something with that eye even if it is just a bit of blur. 

I have a severe headache and back pain most days of my life now which sometimes can be controlled with medication and sometimes not. I have very little energy and spend more of my time resting than I ever thought I would have to at this age. I did nothing to cause this - it just happens to some people. And believe me when I say that if there was some way to get rid of it I would certainly give it up in a heartbeat and take back life as I once knew it.

Despite all of that I try to see things from the brighter side as much as possible. I believe that laughter is good medicine. I enjoy making people smile. I hope that through this blog I will be able to bring some smiles to those who read it and perhaps share some tidbits of information that you'll find worth reading.


Thanks for being here and sharing this time with me. Have a wonderful day and a fantastic year.


Until next time...

Earth Mother

                                                           ©Courtney Critchfield 2009