Just Plain Amy

Meant to post this last night, too. It's been 11 years and this beast returns to the same spot every time! #byme

20 years ago right now I was on a plane leaving everything I had known behind to take a chance on love in a different country. I was unusually certain it was the right choice. I made a mess of trying to pack & leave (Sorry fam!), but I got the paperwork right, and the man, too! #byme

Where I am now I have my wonderful husband, my D&D & board game groups, & I want this to be forever. (side note- every time I get too happy something crazy happens and it all changes, so I'll knock on wood & take an extra anxiety pill.) But the point is, I've got a life I don't want to leave. #byme

So thanks to Amy of 20 years ago who somehow didn't overthink the biggest upheaval I would ever go through. Thanks to my parents for supporting me running off to marry a man they hadn't actually met yet! Thanks to his parents for taking me in. And thanks to Marc for keeping me. No take-backs. #byme

Even huge events packed with people still feel sortof compact compared to similar in the states. I love the personal feeling of it all. Even though a lot of Brits are taken aback when a strange American starts chatting with them, they've nearly all been perfectly lovely once the shock fades #byme

I literally made my first friends back in Cambridge by going to places with things I liked & looking around for people who looked cool. I then introduced myself & literally said "I just got to the country, will you be my friend?" It WORKED. I miss my Cambs peeps. They helped so much. #byme

And I have made awesome friends here, & Marc's family have been SO wonderful to me, the places here are beautiful in a different way, there's so much HISTORY! I marvel at the view out my windows all the time. I can *walk* to a *CASTLE*. I hear concerts at the castle from my living room! #byme

I should be more concerned about doxxing, I'm sure, but it's too cool not to mention. I love so much about this historic little down. I love when I get to travel around & see more of the UK- I made it a point to do more of that this year, which I'll continue. This place is NEAT. #byme

Especially in Florida. That place really is the best of times & the worst of times. And with how things have been for a while now, I can hand-on-heart say I'd be arrested by now, or worse, if I was there. I wouldn't regret it. But I'm not in a hurry. So the United Kingdom is where I live #byme

There is SO much to love here! Yes, we have our own problems this side of the pond. But I have a job I can do from home, & I'm great at it! Marc has a creative job that he's great at! We OWN our home! We get to go fun places & do fun things & buy random stuff that makes us happy! Healthcare! #byme

Again, I'll talk about how in love I am in November. This is about the move. There are things, places, and people I miss so much from the states. A convenience, a variety, my family- both blood & found. The wild Florida weather & perfect beaches. Road trips hit different there. The food! #byme

It breaks my heart every time I miss something important- weddings, funerals, all the kids my cousins have had, all the times someone I love ended up in hospital. buuuut.... after 20 years? I still wouldn't move back. Because there are things I got away from that are so much worse. #byme

Things like tv shows that are absolutely everywhere for a decade so even if you don't watch it you get all the references... but it never made it overseas. I have that everywhere now. That feeling I had growing up that everyone knew something I didn't is real now, and all the time. #byme

No one in my life is making me feel like that intentionally, it's just a side-effect of being an immigrant, in my experience. People know as soon as I open my mouth that I'm an Other. It can be a little lonely sometimes. But when I'm with Marc I feel like I'm home. Wherever that is. #byme

How I was scrambling to say goodbye to everyone, possibly forever. How in spite of my volatile track record, this time it was different, honest! And it was. It was so much more than I ever even imagined. Marc is absolutely the best thing in my life. But I'll talk about that in a few weeks. #byme

For now I wanted to focus on that move. How excited I was. Felt like I was in a movie. Trying to adjust to a culture so like and unlike my own was real-life uncanny valley. It still is!! I feel like an alien observer all the time. But now when I go home, I feel it there, too. Time moved on. #byme

I left so much undone. My room was the scene of a very contained tornado. I think I left piles of comics I loved with friends because I ran out of time to get them back. I still have many boxes in storage at my parents, and collect some every time I go back. I don't get to go back enough. #byme

I was reading some old journal entries from that week, & it made me more emotional than I was at the time. Writing about mom avoiding me because she kept crying, & I wasn't letting myself think about it, because I wanted to keep crying. But I just knew it would be the best choice I ever made. #byme

So I've officially been diagnosed with hEDS! I'd been trying to get my GPs to take me seriously for YEARS every time I sprained something new and told them I thought there was something fishy going on, but they always wanted to just blame my weight. Once again, I was correct about my body. #byme

I'm really grateful I finally was able to get one of the GPs to listen to me long enough to realize I had a point, and to suggest I go private for the diagnosis, because the current NHS wait times for that are... *long*. Now I know, and can work on learning how to better manage myself. #byme

Also having fun finding lots of weird random symptoms that have always mystified me finally have an explanation!! Like the weird occasionally itchy lumps on my heels! bodies are freaking weird, yall. all thanks to @tinkersalvage.bsky.social for the guidance and support to push through. <3 #byme

my mail-in ballot for the Florida general elections has arrived! brain was too fried today, but planning on doing my due diligence tomorrow and filling in all the annoying bubbles I need to before sending it back snail-mail style. I have no access to a Fax machine, the only other option. 🙄 #byme

21 Sept

made bit of headway getting things ready for other important stuff, too. Plumber happy to come back for more maintenance, found what I need for passport renewal (only the photo is left now), did more working out. job is stressful as fuck. my mental reserves are strained. still. progress. #byme

21 Sept

oh- updates. Saw my GP, confirmed some of what Rheumatologist sent me for, was appropriately horrified at the previous results that hadn't been disclosed to me or followed up on, and got a successful referral back to Gynecology. Waiting on next appointment on the medical merry-go-round. ugh. #byme

9 Sept

The specialist was great, my score on the scale is high enough to qualify, but because of all my comorbities she's gunna have me do some bloodwork first and really dig into my autoimmune nonsense to ensure it's not just being caused by something over there instead. Either way I was believed! #byme

9 Sept

the bar is so low lol. #byme

8 Sept

I got to fulfill a lifelong dream and see Bon Jovi in concert. The past couple of weeks have been so good that I'm definitely on a joy comedown now. Used up ALL my happy chemicals. Tomorrow I finally get to see a rheumatologist about my crap tendons. Fingers crossed something comes of it. #byme

5 Aug

I'm always spoiled, but Marc goes above and beyond for my birthday month. Currently looking through American import websites picking out treats from my homeland. Why do they never have Little Debbie?! Someone tell the Brits about her!!!! #byme

28 July

where did July go?!

5 July

When I want Marc's attention there are signs... #byme

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23 June

my Florida blood is keeping me going through this heat wave, but I feel terrible for my husband who's already a human radiator. He's melting, and there's nothing more I can do for him. I occasionally spitz him with cool water like a plant. #byme

13 June

Good news! Was able to get an xray today. nothing broken. GP said if that was the case we'd look at an MRI for soft tissue stuff, but that takes time. At least I have guidance on what levels of using it I can do in the mean time. It was only like 4 hours out of my day. Could've been worse. #byme

11 June

Knee's still a bit of a concern, so finally going to ask the GP if they'll scan it for me tomorrow. If they try to just send me to physio again I'll tell them to kick rocks. I already do physio. Knee's got a dent in it. #byme

11 June

I did it today, actually! Had my first workout in a month this past Monday, and met with my friend/trainer today. Felt fantastic to be at it again. He found ways to work around the knee so I was still sweating buckets. I'm really enjoying sparring way more than I expected to. #byme

7 June

Foot's been holding up far better than my knee I smashed 3 weeks ago. That's still giving me enough grief when I try to workout or go on walks that I might have to break down and call the GP about it. They'll say physio, but it isn't enough. I want a scan, but not to wait in A&E for HOURS.😭 #byme

31 May

the UK Games Expo was amazing again this year. Home to our own bed both sad that Manic May is over, and also relieved. My body is shattered in nearly frightening ways. I will be in bed for the next couple of days, at *least.* WORTH IT. Already making plans for next year! #byme

31 May

We fully thought I might've fractured a foot at one point. Dreading returning to my workouts on Thursday- but without them I wouldn't have survived the month at all. They're working! I've genuinely missed them, and my friend who trains me. But ooooh how it will hurt. Maybe I return next week🤔 #byme

26 May

Twenty years ago today Marc asked me to marry him. We'd gone to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to see Titus Andronicus for his birthday. He was so nervous he knelt in a puddle. I was so concerned for his wet knee I didn't hear anything he said. We were meant to be. Best choice I've ever made! #byme

26 May

Our seats got upgraded (unrelated to ring!), 12 people in standing feinted, and my exact reply was apparently, "Of course I will, stupid, now get up - you're messing up your trousers!" I am mortified by this. He loves it. The time has FLOWN BY, and somehow I love him even more today. #byme

20 May

I expected to get further through Fun Month before my body threw a wobbly, but this week has been a wash, and I'm admitting I'm sick. I gotta be better by Friday. Saturday at the VERY least. Got fun things to do, damnit! #byme

16 May

🤷🏼‍♀️

Rock-A-Bi Amy@amurana.bsky.social

So traditionally, I livestream my #Eurovision reactions. I adore it, genuinely. But them *still* including Israel can't be ignored, and their "no politics" excuse doesn't hold up when they understood enough to ban Russia. I'm skipping it. #byme

15 May

And of course, I also managed to injure myself in new ways on the trip, because would it be me if I didn't? Worth it. Still worth it all. Would do it again in a heartbeat! going to stay in bed as much of the weekend as I can, but I've got some cleaning to do before D&D Sunday. #byme

15 May

Another successful #concert! Colm is the nicest guy, very funny and personable, and spent ages meeting, signing, and taking photos with people after. Want to see him again immediately! Also loved the opener, Fox of Isembard's Wheel, and got a photo with him, too. Fantastic evening! #byme

13 May

The next trip, tomorrow, is to Nottingham to see Colm R McGuiness in #concert! Haven't seen either before, so fingers crossed this standing room gig is less painful so I can look around before we come home Friday. I can't pick just 1 song I need to hear, I made a whole tumblr post of them! #byme

13 May

The time between the previous adventure and the next was Not restful, as pain kept me from sleeping well for the first few days, work was work, and our fridge died. Inconvenient, but we handled it! Going into next trip more depleted than I hoped, but just as excited! #byme

10 May

Trip was excellent, I'm even more broken physically than I expected to be, but as we literally ran into Alex the afternoon of the gig, it was all worth it. When my brain works again I might post pics or something, but I said that after the SailorMoon/Hiddles weekend in London and still haven't #byme

6 May

Time for another adventure! Tomorrow off to Manchester for Friday's bbno$ concert. I am VERY HYPED. I'm not even thinking about the fact that it's a standing only gig and it's going to cripple me. Not at all. It's WORTH IT. #music #byme #concert