Ragdoll Stitches: The Melting Library

Hello, dear readers!


So, in my mail today I got something I've been just dying to get my hands on: Candles! Not just ordinary candles, of course. These candles are from the Etsy shop The Melting Library, and the lovelies there create candles based off of books! *squeals of book lover joy*

So, why am I telling you this? As soon as I opened my mailbox today, it was as though I was sucked into my favorite book series. And that's only inside of the package! I knew this was going to make a great Ragdoll Stitches, so I raced home to open these babies up.

I bought the 'Lunar Chronicles Inspired Collection'

This is the selling page. the set goes for $12.00, and after shipping it came out to $16.16, which I think is a super cool total alone.

*UPDATE* So, The Melting Library is no longer selling this set unfortunately... I wouldn't let this dissuade you though, as they still have a bunch of book-themed candles that you might love :)

Okay, I'll start with packaging. So, these candles, though they look teeny in the photos compared to her other candles, aren't a normal tea-light size either. They are the perfect size for someone who doesn't avidly burn candles because of the fear of consequently burning her entire house down because she walked out of the room for a minute.... Who me? Nooo... But not to worry! Its nearly impossible! Well, at least by means of knocking these suckers over. These candles come in light weight bronzey-gold tins with SOLID bottoms. What do I mean by solid? Well, during what I would like to now refer to as my "Ah shit" test I did a series of knocks, taps, shoves, and what have you, to simulate the everyday accidents these candles might go through. And to my surprise, these candles are really solid! The bottoms are completely flat and have no tipping power if you just accidentally bump it. If you put the candle into the lid, you have a bit of extra resistance from the top label!

Now, on to what we're all really here for- What do they smell like?  Do they smell like what I think the characters would smell like? Do they smell as if the characters were standing right inside my room?


Let's begin with the main character.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello there, old readers and new readers!

I'm going to re-introduce myself today, as things have changed yet stayed the same throughout these past few years;

Hi. I'm Samantha, but I'd rather be called Sam. I've got the mouth of a sailor, and I have dirty blond hair that I might dye any colour of the rainbow next week. I have been through stitch after stitch to get to where I am and looking back at it, I wouldn't have it any other way. Past me would probably stab me for that, too.

I've had 3 cleft palette surgeries and 3 hip surgeries, and I have a rare connective tissue disorder called Marfans Syndrome which affects mainly my heart and eyes and height, but if its held together with connective tissue, its probably in danger too. I have severe manic depression, I have a new panic attack at least once a week, and I have pretty bad memory loss from all of the medications I take. I've also had to battle with addiction and won.




I love anything to do with art, I love to write and draw and paint, I also enjoy scrapbooking and memory-planner-keeping, because again, it helps me remember things that I otherwise might forget all together. I am a tactile learner, so I learn better if I can write, highlight, and draw notes, rather than listening and watching others teach me things. I enjoy watching random YouTube videos on planner decorating and I enjoy cooking things. Once I wanted to be a chef, but my body said "lolno" to me and refused to keep working one day, so now I don't really know what the hell I want to do with my life, but I'm sure it'll be great when I figure it out.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because this is my clusterfuck excuse of a blog, there is going to be some odd things on this blog, things to help you through life and things to make you laugh and things to help you understand the view out of my eyes.

I chose to make The Broken Ragdoll because I wanted to help people, and seeing as I can't be a nurse, or at least, my body doesn't want me to be a nurse, when I started this blog, I wanted to help people in the same situation. People that had labrum tears in their hips, that couldn't talk properly because of a lisp, or what ever it might be. I wanted to be someone in this vast ocean we call the internet to tell you that  you aren't alone in this. I was only 16 when I started the process of hip surgery, and figuring out what in the heck was wrong. You aren't alone. Born with a cleft palette? I feel you. When I was baby I had my first one, then at 12 and 13 I had 2 more extending surgeries and now I'm "textbook"- Things will get better. It takes time though.

So, from one ragdoll falling apart at the seams to another, much love,

The Broken Ragdoll.

The Stitch Sitch

Hello readers.

So, I haven't really written about my struggles with having a cleft palate on here. Probably because I haven't had a ton of problems with it since I was... About 12? Well, huge problems, at least. So, today I'll write about it in a sort of lengthy story of wounds and reform.

In 2002 Disney came out with a movie called Lilo and Stitch, and like any seven year old I was in love with the movie.

As Disney does with all it's major hits, it exploits it. Sells plush toys and Nintendo video games, dolls, a ton of sequels and a TV show. But during this time, the biggest thing in the toy industry was talking toys. Toys you could talk to and they actually talked back. It was like we were talking to the future, it was insanity... Now-a-days it probably wouldn't make such an impression on a 7 year old kid since we now talk to our phones nearly daily, but back then? Hoo boy, it was like you had a window to the year 2022. So, Disney cashed in on this trend and created "Disney Lilo & Stitch Interactive Talking Aloha Stitch," and I lost my tiny mind.

This was the toy of crushed dreams.

Ragdoll Stitches: Welcome to Night Vale.

Helllo, dear readers.

I suppose I should give you an update on school: It sucks, but more so because of an unfortunate happening of events and a teacher that didn't do much more than scorn, instead of what professors are supposed to do and teach. But, I think it would be best if I didn't go into it. Bare bone basics you should know?:

1. Teacher kind of sucked but I can understand where its coming from. 
2. I still love cooking/
3. I have actually learned stuff from the classes
4. Anxiety and depression suck.

So, what shall I do instead of talk about school? Hm. Not sure. Maybe I could review something? Oooor... I don't know, I could go on a tangent about depression. This is sort of a medical blog... But, it's also about healing. Maybe that can be a thing I start, reviews on things that have helped me cope with everything. Ranging from books to electronics. Hm, suppose I could do that. Let's give it a shot, shall we?

Do What You Love

Hello my friends!

So, here's something I've noticed since I decided on what I wanted to do for a living.

When you have a chronic illness (My fingers kept trying to say 'chronicle', which I suppose in a way is something you could connect to chronic illness) and you want to do something that exerts a lot of energy, and in my case, standing, you are going to start hearing a lot of the same things.

"But you're going to be standing on your feet for hours and hours on end,"

"Aren't you worried about keeping up with everyone?"

"Is there a way you can use a stool or something to stay off your feet?"

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

I'm in the Clinic

Well, its already been a long week and its barely Tuesday.

So, I ended up contracting the common cold about last Friday, it started out with what I thought was an asthma attack- I wasn't breathing easily, my lungs felt tight, I started to cough really bad, to the point I wasn't able to catch my breath- and I quickly learned it wasn't just a simple asthma attack. The inhaler wasn't helping and I soon started in with the sneezing and such.

Colds and I aren't very good pals. Well, I mean, no one is very buddy buddy with colds, they're the worst part of cold weather.

No, not even your well-beloved over-sized hoodie can protect you from a cold.

I not only have torn labrums in my hips, that have only sort of been taken care of, I don't just have Marfan Syndrome that honestly does make me worry about my health, I now have fibromyalgia What is fibromyalgia? In my own words, I feel like I have the flu on a daily basis. Some days are better than others, I'll admit it. There are some days I'm more than willing to push my limits, go out and do things like a normal person. Maybe even move my mattress sometimes. 

But then there are the days where I feel like Death is right behind you just waiting for you to give up and go with him. 

Seriously, your pains are amplified. Think of every place you can bend your body. Every place where bone connects to bones.  Then the feeling of just complete inflamed pain, the pain after climbing a mountain, the pain when you've been working too hard. The feeling of someone smashing a hammer on your joints constantly. It's just... There's nothing quite like the pain of inflamed joints. And then imagine a thousand pins just lightly scraping your skin. Imagine your worst bruise when someone squeezes your hand just a little too hard. Yeah... Welcome to fibromyalgia. Ugh, it hurts so bad... 

Anyhow. Having all of these working against you is really going to start wearing you down, wearing down your heart and soul, it's exhausting just to live sometimes. 

But you have to keep going. You need to be able to show people that you are so much tougher than they believe. You need to have a goal. Something you can focus your energy on. Something you can look forward to. A goal.

That's one thing the clinic was really impressed by. I had a goal. I had a purpose. A passion. Something that makes me want to get better. 

They made me go through two doctors visits, a pain psychiatrist and a physical therapist. And they were both super interesting to me, the psych observed the fact that I really needed help with my sleeping habits, as well as methods to control my pain (I'll tell you if I find some that work.) The PT suggested that I find a therapist that could do water therapy with me (Exciting!) and suggested that since I already sit normally with my legs crossed to try a different sitting position to stretch out my hips on a daily basis. 

Tips!

If your seeing a PT, plan to wear sweat pants in to the clinic. No one is going to care that you're in sweat pants, they've got their own things going on. And bring extra clothes if you want to change afterwards. Maybe you'll get really sweaty, ick. No one wants to be sweaty all day. 

If you see a pain psychologist, be prepared. There is no shame in seeing a psychologist. If I could change one misconception about it is that "only crazy people go to psychologists". I really... I hate that so much because it is just SO wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going go a psychologist. If you need the help, you should never be afraid to go and see one. They are there to help you! They only want to help you! Seriously people, it's not that big of a deal. But anyways, be prepared to answer a lot of questions, and for the love of God, don't hold anything back, it's only going to hurt you in the end. I am saying this from experience guys. Don't hold anything back. 

So! That's that. I am in the pain clinic at Standford, under Dr. Tawfik's care, I am going to probably be put on a new medication, and I am probably going to go to a new PT and pain psych so, that should be... Fun. Ugh, I'm exhausted, I am going to go to bed now, Death is staying the night and watching over me Q_Q... I'll update the post if I feel better tomorrow. Goodnight all, and in case of an apocalypse, Good Luck. 

-The Broken Ragdoll

UPDATE: I am feeling slightly better today, thankfully. Don't feel like Death is standing behind me any more. Ws

Theme Park Dinner; "Forgotten Chicken"

Hello again all you lovely readers!

So, have you ever done that nuts one-day trip to a theme park with family or friends and came home  starving?

You wanted to get in as much time together as you can, have as much fun as possible, but you've neglected your stomach. You didn't want to puke all over your friend, anyways! But now, the inevitable happens- You get home, you're starving, you've only ate cotton candy and corndogs all day, and your stomach is now trying to eat itself in an attempt to get some sort of sustenance, but you didn't plan anything to eat when you got home.

ENTERING THE ARENA IN THIS CORNER: FORGOTTEN CHICKEN!

IN THE OTHER CORNER: STARVING AMUSEMENT PARK VICTIM!


So! Today, we will be making a great dinner for just this occasion: Forgotten Chicken. Its delicious, it can be left in the oven all day or it can be sped up. I am borrowing this from Darling Doodles. I found this a good while back, and I have to say its one of my favorite meals to just throw together. There isn't too much prep, and you don't have to be super fussy over it. So, with that, lets get started!!

INGREDIENTS:

Boneless Chicken Breasts- You can do this with a full package, or if your like my mom and I, just make enough for you and whoever else.

2 Cups Minute Rice

1 Package Onion Soup Mix

Can of Cream of Celery soup

Can of Cream of Chicken soup

1 can of Water

DIRECTIONS:

1.) Mix together the "Cream Of" soups, the can of water, and the *uncooked* 2 cups of Minute Rice, Then pour it all into the buttered casserole dish of your wildest desires. Mmmm look at that mush.

2.) Lay those floppy wiggly chicken breasts on top of the rice mush, and then sprinkle that onion soup mix like your makin' it rain. Cover it with tin foil. Cover that casserole dish like its going out of style.

3.) Here's where the "Forgotten" chicken comes in. Put the oven on a low temperature, around 250-275 and forget it for THREE HOURS! Okay, maybe three hours isn't long enough to go to a theme park and back for most (Its possible, just a pain in the butt usually) but you can easily go to a movie, or to the store, or even Church, and be home with plenty of time to be fed this beautiful meal! The speedier way to cook this meal is at 350-375 for about an hour and a half.

4,) Peel back that silver sparkling foil. If its moist in the middle and perfect, but the outside edges are golden, its ready to be devoured <3



WELL, I hope you try this out and enjoy it :)

Have a good dinner!

-The Broken Ragdoll