Grant me the strength to get through the hardest of times.

Just from the title, I'm assuming you know this will not be a happy post.

It isn't.

So here we go, rewind a few years back to November, 2012.
My parents, our pets and I made a long trip. Approximately 1600 miles, from Florida to Massachusetts. Longest trip of my life. A family member called my city's police station to let them know to inform us that my uncle was not doing well. When my mother spoke to the police, their tones and words made it seem like he had already passed. We were so frantic to get to his side, that we packed Florida clothes, for a New England winter. Fast forward past the twenty-seven hour drive up the East Coast, we showed up at the hospital that my uncle was in. Suffering from hereditary heart diease, Kawaski's Disease, and a few more issues, no one thought he would make it the night. Well he did, the doctors had only given him a death sentence of six months to live. Hurdle #1. So we accepted it, moved our family and our belongings all the way from Florida to Massachusetts and settled down for what we knew was going to be a rough road. My uncle blessed us with 3 years past his original sentence of 6 months. 3 years of crying, laughter, funny moments and stressful runs to the hospitals. Well as I mentioned in one of my last entries, we are due to get an apartment within the next week. My uncle was going between two rehab facilities, due to his health issues. Dealing with loss of use in his legs, the doctors had suggested steroids to gain that use back. My uncle did end up walking short distances again, with the help of the steroids. But he also ballooned from his regular 140 pounds to 240 pounds.

I lost my uncle on April 21st, 2016 at 4:22pm. He had went in the day before for an appointment at the hospital, got into the waiting room to wait for his appointment, said he didn't feel well.. and collapsed. He never regained consiciousness again. His heart gave out, along with his kidneys.


I just wanted you all to know that I am avoiding no one. Between work, the loss, the stress of the bills and everything on my mind, my plate is full.

Review: Steering the Stars

Steering the Stars by Autumn Doughton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I definitely loved Steering the Stars, I also had read This Sky, which prompted me to use one of my Kindle Unlimited Spots for Steering the Stars. Autumn thrilled me with both books and Erica Cope added to the pages of awesome.
Granted this book only has under 500 pages, but it made me cry, laugh and sing... not all at once, but this novel did bring up all of those emotions for me. I loved the story and chemistry between Caroline and Hannah, Owen, Miles, Henry and this novel shows no matter what, best friends are best friends for a reason. Friendship will always stand the test of time, no matter what anyone says!

View all my reviews

Wow. It's been almost 2 years since my last post! I'M BACK!

Yes, I'm still alive! I promise!

So in simple, I pretty much went missing in action from everything. (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart and of course, this blog. And I'm feeling particularly guilty but there is a completely reasonable explanation for it.

So if you have a Deviantart account, you can read the whole thing here
-->>> http://penguinnpita.deviantart.com/journal/Things-will-get-better-556907895

If you do not have a Deviantart account, I will explain in the lower paragraphs. Be warned, this will be a long blog post but I'll try to break it up with some humor and some pictures! Hopefully, that will make up for the long post.


so, let's get started, shall we?

Hey everyone!

I'm still alive and trying to be more active on DA now.

Forgive me that I haven't been around. I will explain everything but I'm warning you... this may be a lot of text.

Ready? Here we go.

So we were in the house we had been renting since 2013, my family having moved up to Massachusetts from the lovely state of Florida in November 2012 to take care of my uncle who is a grade 4 heart patient. He had been through the loss of his wife, heart bypass surgery, a dozen heart attacks and of course, extreme daily stress to simply survive. When we met up with him on his birthday, November 10th, 2012, he wasn't doing well at all, he was surviving but losing all will to live. So we assured him that we would help him recover and he wouldn't have to live on his own ever again. This was the start of a journey I never expected to make us homeless, struggling to survive. And we're still doing it to this day, August 29th, 2015. My uncle had heard about a house for rent not far from where he was staying at the time. A friend of his former employer. The house was a place for us to rest and at least make food for ourselves, we took it because we had no other option and honestly I wish we hadn't. The house was infested with fleas, insects, mold and hazardous materials in the well water. Simply trying to survive, we put up with it for a year, asked the landlord to correct things, a cleaner water source, the mold removed and to be battled against to protect us. A normal, caring landlord would have happily done this to keep it's tenants happy to be at the location. Long story short, she blew us off, deathly sick and wanted all of her rent money, no matter what was wrong. I was attempting to finish for my diploma at a local high school, as I had to drop out in my senior year due to my uncle's medical condition. So began a court battle to get her to fix things around the house. She fixed the windows and cleaned out all the crap from the cellar, but didn't resolve any issues that we stressed were essential to our everyday life, water, clean walls and installation. We didn't care about the windows in the giant spectrum of things.

So I went to work, having worked at Dunkin Donuts for a year. I loved that job, but it ended because of the new manager that replaced the original. Then I began working at a gas station about five minutes from the house. It was easy to get back and forth and a low impact job, but my boss had saw we were suffering and happily worked things out with me, so I had money to keep going, that we had heat all the winter of 2014. I worked all the hours that I could, basically becoming assistant manager, and one of the best workers. March 14th, 2015, my 21st birthday was the last time I could remember being safe, happy and not struggling. That was the month that I started my own business for the Company ItWorks. The company and my team-mates renewed a fire to survive and change things. I still run this business, everyday from the laptop and my cell phone before my keyboard killed over two weeks ago. I started my business as a birthday gift to myself.

But then April came and everything turned upside down. We were forced out on April 2nd, 2015, becoming homeless and having to grab the belongings we could pack into two vehicles, our three fur babies and ourselves, forced out in the middle of the night. Our local friend and her significant other had saw our situation since it started, had offered her home as a place of refuge, us cleaning for her and small tasks. My uncle again fell ill, and had fallen three times since we had gotten out of that horrible house that had poisoned us. He lost all control of his legs and is in rehab now to regain some of the ability to control his legs again. But he has a lung infection. We're praying every day that he can gain some of his strength back, but having reasonable goals as he is only running on 15% of his heart, dealing with Kawasaki's disease on the daily basis as well. Said friend has been such a blessing to us. She loaned us the money to buy a 85' motor home, regaining some level of normalcy. We're paying her back in increments and everything is starting to fall back into place now, but it's still hard, you know? Remember, I'm only 21, I have two disabled parents, a Vietnam veteran who has been the best father I could ever ask for. We swear that he is half robot though, because he has had two broken knees, a broken neck and is a heart patient himself. He's the rock of the family though. My mother has lyme disease, chronic fatigue, a weak immune system, and fibromalygia. She had worked all of her life, having lost my grandmother at the age of 19, my grandfather being an alcoholic, and my uncle, her other brother making some horrible decisions. I gotta give it to her, she's so strong even though her body won't let her be physically strong. My uncle is a disabled Navy veteran, a hard worker for all of his life. It shocked me having seen them at their strongest and now at their weakest. I'm trying to do all I can, but sometimes I wonder if I'm strong enough. I've had grand mal seizures, brain bleeds and was born premature. No I'm not pitying myself, I am strong. But I have physical limits too, right?

This turned out to be more of a vent thing, but I just wanted you lovelies to be up to speed to what's happened so far to us and why I'm relatively quiet. I love each and every one of you. You are awesome, remember that.

So what's going to happen now? We're trying to clean up the RV, make it homey and up to date. Me? I'm studying for my GED, making sure my family is happy and safe, working from the laptop, and this coming month, will be opening PenguinnxCrafts on Etsy and possibly RedBubble for business. I will be stocking up loom knit items, knit items, crochet items and more. So keep looking for that when I release it! I will be also re-vamping my blog, so I will be adding the link for that in the near future as well

Be patient with me, as I'm recovering from a bad case of stomach flu and dealing with severe acid reflux, I will be sending lovely notes, comments and such to each of you.

Links!!

-Check em out! No pressure, just positive vibes! Note me with any questions you may have, I always have time for questions! 

 Personal Facebook: www.facebook.com/cottonxcandyx…

Business Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/peloquinrewir…


So I posted that on Deviantart back on August 29th, 2015. Today is March 27th, 2016. Easter. Happy Easter ladies and gentlemen!

Anyways,

Okay so some good news! We're getting an apartment! Expected move in date is two days after our eviction date from our old house, which we were evicted from back in April 2015. The family had a sobering chuckle about that. I am currently learning HTML and CSS coding, finishing up for my GED, studying for my license and trying to find a job. I still plan on opening my own shop online for my crafts. Question. Would you use Bigcartel, Etsy, Wix or other? Suggestions are absolutely welcome in the comments or even a message! I welcome either! What works best for you?

OTHER: I am attempting to learn more about drawing because I have the talent of drawing stick figures. Traditional or Digital? What tools work best for you? I am not financially able to buy a tablet yet, so leave me suggestions on what to use! Photoshop, Corel or Gimp? HALP.


^This was posted on Deviantart on March 8th, 2016. An almost full week before my 22nd birthday.  (March 14th).

I also became a promoter for ItWorks! I actually passed my one year anniversary. Now, with ItWorks, you earn what you work for.  There's options for bonuses, monthly checks and free product! Now I'm feeling even more guilty. My business isn't doing as good as I would like it to be. -slaps self on the wrist; Back to business as they say. I have to put in more time, talk about it with everyone I met or see and stop feeling shy.

I also have interests as noted above in crafting and selling the products I make. Painting, yarn crafts, beaded items and possibly digital artwork! This shoulds like a really big list, but I promised that it will not all come at once. I'm still learning a few of these crafts and it will take time and supplies to learn. As also mentioned above, we may be getting an apartment! After a year of living with friends, my family and I (Mom, Dad, Uncle, two cats and a dog) are ready for our own space. We do still have the RV and it is still unknown at this time if the apartment will be permanent.


This is a short but long update, but I am being told to sign off so we can go celebrate Easter with the friends in the afternoon. I will be posting this week, stay tuned!

-Your lovable but stressed Rambling Caffeine Addict.

So things are cooling off quick.

Here in New England, the temperatures for October are set to go down to the mid 40's or lower. Winter is definitely coming.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Game of Thrones is one of my favorites, go Stark! 

Once Upon a Time is back this fall as well, incorporating the Frozen characters Kristoff, Anna and Elsa. Shh. the Frozen giant snow monster made it's appearance too. 

Captain Swan all the way, by the way. 

Because Killian Jones is the best. 

The Walking Dead comes back to AMC on October 12th at 9pm as well. Excited for that. 

Now that October is in our midsts, I figured it was due time for an update. There will be more updates about crafting and writing regularly starting October 3rd. 

Right now, I'm reading On Writing by Stephen King. It's refreshing as the NaNoWriMo season is heading towards us quick. A exact month until that marathon begins. 

Follow me on Twitter at paula_pita for more updates. 

So. I won Camp Nanowrimo 2014

Yes.. I won. 
I was around 200 words over my set goal and I nearly cried. 

Before November, however, I've been doing a lot of crocheting and baking and even some cooking.

Like Apple Pie. I'm in the autumn mood set already, and in New England, it's apple picking season. So be prepared to see a lot of things apple related, apple pies, apple jam.. maybe even some apple jelly. MAKE ALL THINGS APPLE. No lie... I cut up 13 cups of apples... and the two pies only took 4 cups together. So many apples.


There will be regular updates on this blog, from here on out, providing nothing happens to my family.. or we run out of things to make or do. 

I might also try to make my own pumpkin spice coffee... because caffeine <3

Don't kill me, guilt monkey.

I promise to catch up on the prompts that I promised for yesterday technically, because where I am, it's 2:05am.

We had to run errands early in the morning and I was up until 4:30pm, just sitting around. It became me trying to keep my eyes open, so I wandered to my domain and proceeded to nap until 8:30pm. Plus I tend to do my best writing at night when everyone in the house is relatively quiet. Night owl over here.

Okay. so Camp NaNoWriMo. I am now participating, attempting 25k words in 11 days. I'm insane, thank you for noticing. Just like now... I should be boosting my pitiful word count from 506 to well beyond 5k. But here I am... updating the blog.

So.

the first prompt ever of this blog will be... RAINY DAY.

This works for my novel.. because well... it rains in Seattle... and that's the location I'm working on in the novel.

You can pick the time length, myself personally a half hour. I'll check back in at 3am.

Love for now.
~Your Rambling Caffeine Addict.

who... should really stop staring at the NaNo forums now and write.


Alright, it's now 3am. I brought my word count up to 615. Something is better than nothing, right?
Next prompt will be up shortly.

Sorry about the lag today, everyone! My morning was super busy and I actually fell asleep around 4pm, waking up approximately at 8:45pm.

We'll start in twenty minutes.