Onyxcougar's Update Thread

[OnyxCougar]

Hello Dwellars!

Wolf asked me to post a thread to update everyone on my whereabouts the last few years, so here goes. Up front warning: it's boring, so feel free to skip it. :p

Let's see..

I've been in NC for a little over 5 years now, after moving from Vegas, where I lived for 7 years.

I'm with the same cable company, and I've gone from lowly CSR to E-Commerce to Escalations Supervisor to HSI/Digital Telpehy Tech Support Team Leader to (finally) Billing Analyst and Software support rep for the whole state.

I've been married to Arimoose for over 5 years now, and while the going has been rough at times, that's to be expected, I suppose. In March this will be the longest running marriage/relationship I've ever had. My therapist tells me I have committment issues, but that's before I stopped going to her.

Actually, I did go on Zoloft for awhile last year, and it helped, but then I went to the Czech Republic (more on that later) and didn't pick up my prescription when I got back. I've been mulling the idea over of late, but it kills my sex drive (which I didn't think was possible) so I'm hesitant to go back on it.

My oldest son, (the one whose father murdered my fiancee for those of you keeping track) is now 21. I kicked him out at 17. He had gone from living with my ex to living with his best friend to moving in with those fucks that killed Steven in Texas. I was beside myself when he told me. I honestly expected them to kill him too. He called infrequently while he was there, and said that their version of events was far different than the version that I got from the police. I told him of course it was and impressed upon him that if he wanted to know, to look at the police report. Whatever happened, he seemed to realize that they were not the kind of people he wanted to model his life after, and he asked if he could come back and live with me. I said yes, and he transferred his job to a local outlet, and started paying rent. Things have been going really really well. It seems that he has realized that I'm not out to get him, and that I just *might* know what I'm talking about. Wonder of wonders. He proposed to his girlfriend of 2 months on Dec 31. I'm a little concerned about the speed at which he's moving, but I'm told that they aren't going to actually get married until Spring of 2010, so if that holds true, I will be a happy camper. He's moved in with her and all seems to be going well.

My middle child, (the Aspie) has finally gotten into a pilot program that is run by UNC-CH in our county called TEACCH. TEACCH tested him, confirmed what I have been telling doctors for years, and that made him eligible for a test program in the school district here. Basically, it's a fully monitored program for High Functioning Autistic/Aspberger's kids. They go to the HFA class in the morning for homeroom, and the teachers check for homework, organization, school uniform compliance, etc. Then they go to their regular classes, and the teachers make sure the HFA teachers have the list of homework. The HFA students can eat with the rest of the kids or in the HFA class during lunch, and then resume classes. At the end of the day, the Freshmen and Sophmores get an actual classtime in the HFA room, where the teachers work with them on homework, tutoring, organization, and IEP goals, including social training and life skills, and proctor testing if the student needs special testing requirements. They then get them on the HFA bus or take them out to get picked up by parentals. It's an AWESOME program, and once the student is in, he's in for the remainder of their school time in the county, so it's not like he has to resubmit every year. There is one of each level of school (elementary, middle and high school) participating, so the only real downfall is that no matter what school you are zoned for, you go to the pilot school. This creates, in some cases, 2.5 hour bus rides twice a day. A small price to pay, and my son loves to read anyway, so he just reads on the bus. He'll be 16 in Feb.

My youngest is going to be 12 in March. Her daddy is the one in the Air Force, who is finally retiring after 20 years. I think he retires in April. He has recently found Jesus again (I didn't know he was lost!) and is so devout as to make me look like an atheist. He is Apostolic Pentacostal, goes to church at least 3 -4 times a week, and therefore my daughter has been experiencing some life changes. Like, she can't wear pants unless she's doing chores. She also apparently "spoke in tongues", but I have serious doubts as to that being authentic, for a number of reasons, not least of which is my opinion on the whole speaking in tongues thing to begin with. But she's growing up fast, and I talk to her on the phone at least once a month. When she's 14 she gets to choose where she lives, and I have a strong suspicion where that's going to be: Where she can wear pants when she wants.

As for me, on Dec 7 2007, I got into a car accident (on my way to pick up my Zoloft script). I got T-boned on the passenger side, which pushed my Chevy Aveo into a ditch across the road, which made the car roll. I rolled 1 1/2 times, finally ending up upside down in the front yard of some guy's house. The experience itself is strange. It was all at the same time a mixture of slow mo and fast forward. I remember saying "Oh, shit," thinking that the car had hit my back end and I was sliding, then the car started rolling. I heard a male voice very clearly saying, "Cover your head with your arms and duck down in case the roof collapses." So I did. I closed my eyes and continued to feel the car rolling, and my hands were in fists above my head as I tried to duck down in the seatbelt as to not get decapitated. He said, "That's right, say covered and down." and finally the car came to a halt.

I opened my eyes and was looking at the roof. Glass was everywhere. I took a breath as I was hanging by the seatbelt and wiggled my toes and my fingers. My leg hurt, but I didn't think it was broken. I could still feel all my parts. I popped the seatbelt and looked around. I heard someone running over and saying "Call 911." He asked me if I could get out of the car. I asked him if he could open the doors, he said no, crawl out before the car catches on fire. Well, that certainly gave me some haste. I combat crawled out of the driver side window and turned over, laying on the grass, again checking my parts. I decided to get up. My right leg hurt most. The rest is pretty much a blur, I remember taking pictures of my car, calling my husband at work and starting with "First, I'm ok...but...." He drove me to the hospital and I called the insurance company and my job on the way. (I'm not going to be in next week...)

The ER took me right in, I was hypertensive, which is a medical term for "blood pressure so high her eyeballs are about to pop out". As I stripped down, I discovered why my leg hurt: while I was bracing myself during the rolling, I had pushed outward with that leg against the center dashboard, and had basically a first degree denim burn right below my knee. There is still an indent there today. They collared me and did xrays, CT scans, and other stuff. Gave me morphine for pain (which I have discovered I don't enjoy...at all....in fact, I was telling them to get it out of me because it made me feel bad. I can't even describe it well...dizzy, semi naseus but not, disconnected. The nurses said that's a good thing, because if I don't like morphine I wouldn't like street drugs either.) They discharged me 6 hours later. I had a perfect bruise in the shape of a seat belt across my chest and belly, and I still have a sort of indent across my abdomen where the seatbealt held me in the car. Other than bumps, bruises, and an indented leg, I was shaken, but fine. I did have some cuts on my hands and arms that would have been my face if I hadn't covered up. Other than that, I was fine. I was one more "proof" to me that there is someone looking out for me. I believe it was Jesus or a guardian angel that spoke to me. The doctors took a look at the pictures of the car I took on my cell phone and were amazed I made it out of that alive, let alone relatively unscathed. They called it a Christmas miracle, and I agree.