Birthday Wish

Yesterday was the day where I was in a complicated situation when this happens in daily life. Having car troubles after having that terrible rain that caused the roads, including my driveway to have a small swimming pool of water, and leading to the water to hurt the car and could not go to my classes yesterday and I began to catch a cold in the early afternoon but it did not get too bad before I went to take Jed to the vet at two thirty for his final checkup. By final I mean asking for x rays to see if the medication made any progress, but what I got from the vet was nothing good. I remember asking her is there any progress or hope for him she said no for the mass that is in him is only going to get worse. I had to have a moment alone to talk to my mom and told her everything she needed to know. Then she asked me to go and get information about euthanasia which made me want to break down a little in the room but I stuck to it and another vet gave me almost everything to know: How is it done, the cost, cremation (Me and my family were coming to a conclusion that cremation was the best way to go because of the snow and it being hard to dig in the backyard). The vets did give me some more medication for him to not feel much pain, so there is more antibiotics and now there is prednizone, I think that is how it is spelled, to help him feel a little less pain before we decide when the proper time is to euthanize him.  After I came home that is when my cold got worse that I had to wear a mask surgeons use during any type of surgery. But the only thing that made me think about the past few hours is how long he is going to last and when my mom and I are ready to say enough. I do remember when my mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday since it is on February 25th. I did tell her something, but less than a week later I texted her before I was off to my class and said that it will have to wait for I can be patient. I was to let her know if there was anything else but I said yes but have not come to a conclusion yet. I think the only birthday wish I want is for Jed to be here on my birthday. I understand the longer we wait the worse he is going to get but him passing away before or on my birthday is going to be hard. Then I realize how hard it would be no matter what.  I have had him for a long time.  Perhaps too long to not want to let go of a friend.  Jed is my best friend.  He has been my best friend the moment I went to meet him for the first time.  I think saying yes to my mom’s question if he was the one we wanted was one of the best decisions I had ever made.  I understand that if he goes my childhood would officially end for I was not yet a teenager when we got him.  He is a ball of fun, always lively and sometimes a rebel when it comes to being ordered around.  But if anyone asked me about him I would just say that he was a dog that just loved being loved.  I am just happy that he was not one of them dogs who did not get so lucky for he made an impact on the lives of my family.  To be honest I think Jed is a one of a kind.     

Struggle

So far this week has been a struggle.  Since Tuesday at one in the morning I heard my dog make this sound as if he has the terrible coughing when people have a strep throat.  It was a sound that can be heard from the other side of the house for it is only a one story place when I thought it was a dream for I was barely awake at that time.  It did not get serious until I got off work at ten that Tuesday when I went into work at six in the morning, arrived in the house to hear him coughing loud while my mom was weary.  She told me I was to deal with him that night for she had been up since one o' clock, maybe even more becasue of the two back surgeries she's had in less than a year that are still keeping her uncomfortable and awake during nights. 
After arriving home from school I took him in so my mom could get sleep for she was really, and I mean really exhausted becasue she told me she was so tired she could not even think straight.  His, I do not know if I should say couphings for they sounded as if something was stuck in his throat and can't for the life of him get it out was almost constant unless he lays down and not walking around a whole lot.  I did not know what to do other than keeping an eye on him and let him outside.  I did that before bed.  He would sleep in my room for the night and decided to sleep on the floor next to his little bed so I can stay alert.  But as I layed my blankets on the floor and about to grab my pillows, I see he wanted to sleep on my blankets instead.  After laying down my pillows he decided to take my spot where I am to sleep by laying on my pillows when I was telling him, "Oh no, your bed is over there."  He did lay in his bed but as I got comfortable under my blankets he got out of his bed and walked right up to me where his shoulder full of fur was in my face.  But his coupghings were getting pretty bad to where he was not comfortable where he layed.  He crawled back in his bed and slept though there was still coupghings in the middle of the night.
I let him out at six in the morning yesterday but I had to admit he was not doing so much coughing as he did the day before.  My mom and I thought he was getting better when there was no chance yesterday of taking him to the vet for there was employee training for them.  But I swear just hearing them make those coughs made my throat want to hurt, especially if it's constant.  The coughings remained and I tried to do what I did the day before by keeping an eye on him, but this time I had to be up by four this morning.  With schoolwork and him, I did not go to bed until eleven last night and when I did my alarm went off at four, but after hitting the snooze he awakens and did not stop coupghing.  I let him outside after I could not handle the couphing anymore and when I wanted to lay back down, he refused and so I was up from then on to be ready for work.  Once I cam home nothing had changed, luckily there is an appointment scheduled to see a vet tonight and I am really hoping it is not nothing serious.  I have my fingers crossed becasue these past two days have been really stressful all three of us.  

Storytelling

I do not know why but I have such a fascination with stories, especially if it is fiction for as long as I can remember, or longer than I can remember.  Since I was a kid I may have not known it myself but I would usually daydream in school about being somewhere else or in a fantasy world.  At home I was usually alone and my stuffed animals would be my characters from a story or stories in my head.  But I never thought of it as maybe an idea to writing it down on paper rather than just being in my thoughts until I was in high school. 
In high school, it came when I had freshman English and one of the stories the class read was The Scarlet Ibis.  It was the short story I got really interested in and perhaps the best short story I have read so far.  It was one of those bittersweet plots that really took an affect on me that I really don ot remember any more of the short stories.  But a novel read in the same class was The Island of Dr. Moreau, now that novel I understood the idea of where the plot was leading to.  I understood the antagonists to think that if there is no law…then what?  They were animals created by Moreau and if they are still animals, then why must they not stand on all fours.  And the interesting situation is where all the animals created are following orders.  Not because they respect the doctor, but because of not wanting to deal with pain.  One, that will soon be an antagonist, will fight back and be an animal for that is life and law.  That story did intrigue me though I am not a reader who would be in the world of vivisection.
Other stories I read in high school that would make a big impact on me is, of course, The Great Gatsby.  Just the world of the Jazz Age really gave me that spark, and Nick really getting to know who he is and realize he is not someone who wants fame and fortune.  All he wanted was the love of his life.  Also Of Mice and Men, I remember being finished with that book before each chapter would be discussed in class.  I just could not put it down for I wanted to know what would happen to Lennie after he accidently killed Curley’s wife.  I felt sympathy for him, for he was always vulnerable to everyone around him.  Another bittersweet story like The Scarlet Ibis but it was meant to be for it seemed like an easy death rather than to be in the hands of Curley.  The Things They Carried was a collection of stories I remembered reading and it was neat to have a college class that had the book in an American fiction class.  I got to know more than what I learned in high school.  Last novel I can recall is The Secret Life of Bees, I do like the story for it had a good plot.
It really was not just those stories I read in high school for there were a few that I read in college that gave me a liking to them.  One I could not put down like I did with Of Mice and Men is The Remains Of The Day, now that story became one of my favorites.  Up there as favorites is Judith Guest's Ordinary People.  The story makes me want to realize that life is worth living in spite of horrible things, for it is a part of life. 
There are a couple stories I am working on now but it is taking a lot of time to put the pieces together.  The only flaw that is holding me back, is how I write.  My writing use to not make sense throughout my twelve years of school.  Yet this is a reason why I am in college, to get better .  And I will keep going for stories are worth telling.   
 

Half Hour of Laughter

I never thought I would get so into the television show The Big Bang Theory at first, but now I am totally wrong which is a good thing.  I did not really get into the show for good until the third season but I saw a rerun, but it was my mom who got into the show before and considered it her new favorite show.  The episode is when Sheldon learns how to drive for his roomate and friends are tired of him asking for permission becasue he is just flat out annoying.  And I knew Howard was not going to let him take a ride on his scooter again after that incident.  To the point where I was laughing uncontrollably was when his friends decide to give him a test run, but in the apartment on a driving simulator.  Boy did Sheldon do horribly.  I mean, he just could not handle that car trying to not hit other cars or pedestrians.  Hilarious how Sheldon acted like he really was driving and hitting a wall hard and goes forward where his face about planted on the screen.  The finale of the Penny, only female character on the show before the arrival of Bernadette and Amy, promising Sheldon she would hit him in the face with a pillow since there is no real life aribag.  In the end, she did, and Sheldon was grateful for the hit. 
The episode was a start of getting the idea that this show is going to be a good one, and later on the show got my attenton even more, especially the word that came out of Sheldon's mouth as he is fighting Leonard for he does not want to get out of the ball pit.  My mom and I would spend our Thursday nights at eight o' clock watching the half hour episodes and we could not help but laugh. 
 

Sheldon has become the favorite of the television series and the actor who plays him in every episode, but the next character who came near the end of the fourth season grabbed my attention.  Her name is Amy Ferrah Fowler.  I could have just said Amy but the full name just sounds smooth and comes right off the tongue, or something like that.  At first she was more similar to Sheldon but that was the point of her being the match on the dating website.  Near the end of the fourth season when it is a girl’s night out with Sheldon tagging along because someone stepped into his territory and did not know how to make that person go away.  Amy was the highlight of that night and Sheldon up there with Amy made the episode even better.  I remember thinking about how much I hope they keep her on the show rather than just be a special guest and then leave like some of the characters that have come and gone.  Now with it being the seventh season, she never leaves since she appeared and I was glad because she might be right up there with Sheldon as being a favorite, or should I say “Shamy.”  And Amy just gets funnier as the seasons keep going but my favorite episode of her was her getting upset at Sheldon until he buys her a tiara.  Her being ecstatic was pure golden.

I wrote this in my blog because last night I watched a new episode since there has not been a new one for almost three weeks.  I thought it was nice to see two stars being from the first ever Star Wars film and Sheldon getting along with James Earl Jones since he got his tweet about what restaurant he was eating at.  It is funny for he has never met Mr. Jones.  I enjoyed seeing the two sing karaoke and the song coming from The Lion King and Sheldon says, “Take it away Mufasa.”  Then James Earl Jones sings and I laughed for nearly five minutes.     

 

 

  

The Cold

I have to admit this weather this season has gotten really cold, probably the highest being zero degrees.  I nearly froze today before coming to my college class today when I was outside next to my car at a gas station.  I was glad to at least get out of my driveway today, becasue yesterday I was in a rut to get out of the snow when there was still the ice underneath it.  Man did I show aggression for I thought I was going to be late for my noon class, but I did get lucky.  How lucky, is actually entering the classroom at twelve o' clock sharp and just before the instructor took attndance.  But I knew that it was going to get much worse with the temperature dropping and worst of all the wind causing it to be colder than it is, and the drifting.  The drifting of snow is one thing, other than the wind, I know I do not look forward to see happen, especially after the places that are snow plowed all of a sudden are once againi covered up in snow. 
At the gas station I felt numbness when needing to pump my tires for my front left tire looked as if it were getting flat.  I do not know why but it is just that tire that seems to lose more air than the other three for the rest of them looked fine.  But I have been told before the car was given to me that tire does seem to do that.  But being out there for only ten minutes with the cold air and the wind making it much colder made parts of my limbs go numb.  My face was hurting for it was too cold that I might have soon had frost bite if I did not hurry.  When that was over I was actually moaning and thinking how much this weather bites becasue the cold can be a biter.  My gas was nearly empty so I had to take care of that as well yet there was a short moment when I did not want to get out of my car.  Yet I had to do what I had to do to get to school so I could get the information I needed and drive home safe and sound before getting ready for my shift at work.  I believe there is going to be more snow on the way this week, so let's just see how this goes becasue it is already bad enough to have heard on the news about the accident in Michigan City, Indiana.  Hope everyone drives safe, depending on how bad the snow participation will be.    

Introduction

Hello, allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Shannon Figley, as it is already seen for my address.  I describe myself as someone who is not too bright, which is fine by me for it is a fact, ordinary, generous, sometimes too nice, and the one trait I get from almost everyone I have met in my life is that I can be quiet.  I swear teachers I have had from kindergarten to my senior year of high school at first joke about me being a troublemaker, but in their honest opinion they will say that I was quiet.  And I can be the kind of a person who can be enjoyable and have a good laugh with family, friends, and classmates at school for I think laughter is the best medicine.    

I was born in the Buckeye State but I only lived there until I was six and moved next door to the corner of Indiana.  I have lived in Angola since first grade and still living there today, and always lived in a middle class environment.      

I am an undergraduate at IPFW.  My major for a bachelor's degree is English writing, especially for creative writing. Why I choose this path is that I always been fascinated by storytelling.  I was not really big in this in the early ages of my childhood for I can’t remember a time I was read a book to my parents before bedtime.  But as I grew up and by the time high school came around, to where students decide the choice they want to go after high school I was intrigued by stories I have read in each of my English classes.  So I thought of becoming a storyteller.  The reason I came into college is to be a better writer and actually make complete sense of what I want to come forth to each page.  I also like Fine Arts as well.  I have been into drawing and painting for so long and remember having a wonderful art teacher in high school who gave me the talent I never thought would go beyond what I am capable of.  Including my two English teachers from high school as well, because of them I would not know where I wanted to go though I am pretty sure it would have stayed in this category. 

I am also somewhat a film freak.  I love to go to the movies, even when I am by myself.  I can go to a movie theater where there are no one else and still enjoy a great film.  I would think almost every day if I want to use the creative writing to make it into the world of film.  I have always had a passion for this sort of thing, so why not give it a chance.  Another thing about me is that I have a liking to TV shows like The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family for comedy, and for drama I am into Law and Order (both the regular and SVU) or whatever my mom watches for she usually picks good shows.  I never thought I would get into Law and Order but things can change once I get older. 

I am also an animal person, adopting dogs and cats, and have a dog who is a mutt but he is a dog that is always lively and wanting to play.  But there is a time when we are asked what is our favorite animal, and mine has always been horses.  I do not know why but something about those magnificent creatures captured my attention.      

I am not much of an outgoing person for I spend most of my dedication to school and work for now, and during my spare is usually at home writing stories.  I seem to be at peace when writing stories for it takes me away from reality and into a world where nothing is impossible.  Although I do not lose most of my time into a non-reality world for I must enjoy the life I have and those who are in my life.