Below are the most recent 4 friends' journal entries.

Monday, December 21st, 2009
frodo_esque	1:10p	A Time For Giving To An LJ Friend in Need I have an LJ friend who is going through one of the toughest times I can imagine, and in the spirit of the season, I wanted to make a post calling for others to help in some way to ease her suffering. Her name is patientbear , and she is a chronically ill woman sequestered to a moving chair who is only 50 years old and suffering from a host of ailments, the most recently diagnosed being brain atrophy.  She says, "I didn't need the MRI to tell me I have a brain problem. I knew it already, I just hadn't had the "official" reason. I have known for 10 years that my memory and thinking process was damaged somehow, but have always attributed it to fibromyalgia's "brain fog." It may well have been brain fog, some of it. But I know that there's a bigger problem brewing. For the past year, my memory (already bad, mind you) has been getting progressively worse, each month losing a bit more and lately it is much worse." She has lived with chronic pain for a large majority of her life, and I cannot imagine having to deal with the loss of one's memory on top of that.  Her husband suffers from his own ailments, and complicating matters further is that that two of them are struggling very hard to make ends meet financially. It wasn't always like this though, patientbear was once a gifted grief counselor who gave her time kindness to help those dealing with the loss of a loved one.  Her disability unfortunately stole her profession away and left her home bound. This is where I hope some of you may be able to help. I can't imagine having to balance chronic illnesses, plus the loss of ones memory, and have to deal with money problems on top of that.  Her and her husband are terrified, and while they have not actively reached out for help, I feel it is my duty as their friend to rally as much help aa possible. If you have some money to give during this holiday season, please consider donating to this lovely couple.  Payments can be made through PayPal to this email address: kathryn (at) booksandstitches dot com Current Mood: peaceful (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 20th, 2009
frodo_esque	9:16a	Lazy Be My Name... I'm sitting here on my couch, a brighter-than-usual sun beaming in through the windows as it reflects off the foot of snow that's accumulated yesterday, and I can't be arsed to move.  I still have to buy ingredients for 3 dozen cookies I need to bake by 2pm today in order to attend a 3pm "Christmas Cookie Party" taking place in Foggy Bottom-- about a 30 minute ride on metro. The metro is currently shut down at above ground stations, which includes mine-- which, if i were really pushed to go, wouldn't be a huge impediment since I could drive to the nearest underground station (~5 miles) and park there. However, that would mean I'll have to get up off the couch. For a minute I'm wondering if something's wrong with me-- why don't i want to get up and be social?  For that matter, why am I so tired?  And then I think back to the past week and take inventory of the long work hours which were followed by social dinners and happy hours I attended almost every evening, and some of this makes sense.  My body needs rest.  I feel guilty though, this would be the perfect chance for me to meet new people in the city, and I RSVP'ed 'yes' almost a month ago--to flake now would be rude wouldn't it? If only I could be arsed to get off my couch.  I'm going to try to jump into the shower and see how that makes me feel... ETA: Post shower did motivate me to do a load of laundry and sweet dead ladybugs from my windowsill, but still didn't motivate me to get cookie-making supplies.  Gave the hostess an excuse about the lack of Metro to my area holding me back,, and she replied happily saying she totally understood.  She says she's curious who WILL make it because even though the Metro is running in the city, they've been extremely unreliable and slow.  Her entire neighborhood looks like a ghost town-- so that made me feel better. =) Current Mood: lazy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
frodo_esque	1:02p	Annoyances (File this under "If this is all I have to worry about I'm lucky") and a Question ( AY-NOY-YING ) ( Sugar Crash ) (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 14th, 2009
frodo_esque	1:53p	Note to Self: Get Back on the Exercise Train I have allowed far too much time to pass without exercise, and pictures from this weekend indicate that it's time to get back in gear, especially before the holiday weight really piles on. The goodies desk at work has been particularly busy as of late with an assortment of lovely chocolates and sweets, and this weekend I have a few holiday parties to go to including a "Cookie Swap" party (everyone brings 2-3 dozen cookies to share, and as of now, there are 20 people signed up, each bringing a unique cookie type. That's a whole lotta cookie, and it's definitely going on the goodie desk at work the next day, but how can one not sample?? Ahh...) I'm starting to date again and am going to ATL in January, so that's good motivation to push me forward despite the temptation not to wake up early in the morning in the winter. Yesterday I began to miss the feeling I get when I exercise regularly, the boost of overall wellness you get not only from the sense of accomplishment, but also the day long adrenaline rush. Not to mention the fact that my dress pants are getting a bit snug and there's something to be said for a flat tummy. Okay, a flat-TER tummy. So self, go to sleep early in the evenings for a change, work out in the morning and feel the burn. (4 Comments |Comment on this)