Terraria’s best weapons

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I like playing Terraria. There are different weapon classes, melee, ranged, magic, and summoner. I will choose the best weapon for each class.

The strongest weapon and melee weapon is the Zenith. It does not do the most Damage Per Second (DPS) though. It has a base damage of 200, and it can deal thousands of DPS.

The strongest ranged weapon is a tie between the S.D.M.G and the Celebration Mk2 and the Phantasm. They deal around 150 damage and have about 600 DPS.

The strongest summon is the Terraprisma. It has a base damage of 200, and it can deal 1000 DPS.

The strongest weapon is the magic weapon the Nebula Blaze. It can do over 10,000 DPS on bosses and crowds.

Therefore, the Nebula Blaze is the strongest weapon.

Medical stuff

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Rawson had his adenoids removed in September last year. Apparently all the doctor had to do to see that they were enlarged was ask Rawson to open his mouth and say AHHH.

Last week, Makayla had a brain scan done on her brain. Officially it’s called an EEG but I like brain scan. The results said her brain was fine, doing normal brain things.

My favorite books

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I was asked recently about what my favorite book is, or what book I would recommend to someone looking for something to read. Well fortunately, I’ve made a note of, and rated, every book I’ve ever read in my entire life (currently up to 44!), so it was a simple task to find which books I rated most highly!

There were 11 books that I gave a five-star rating. Many of them are quite different from one another, so I’ll break them up into categories.

Children’s book

Red: A Crayon’s Story, by Michael Hall

This short children’s book is about a blue crayon that was mislabeled in a red crayon wrapper, and no matter how hard he tries or how much his friends help, he just can’t draw the color red like he’s supposed to. It made me cry.

Technical

Code, by Charles Petzold

I wrote a review for this book here.

Science

The Magic of Reality, by Richard Dawkins

I wrote a review for this book here.

Satire

The Book of Zelph, by Josh Anderson

Ok, this is a super duper strange one… The idea is that, similarly to how the Book of Mormon is “another testament of Jesus Christ”, the Book of Zelph is “another testament of the Book of Mormon”. I don’t recommend actually reading it, but it meant a lot to me at the time I read it. A review of it is here.

Comedy

Moon People, by Dale M. Courtney

Have you ever watched a movie that was so bad, it was good? This is the book version of that concept. I wrote a review for this book here.

Novel

Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

Notable for being the very first novel I read that wasn’t required reading for school. I loved, loved, LOVED this book. I loved it so much that when I finished it I refused to read any other books, because I didn’t want to leave the world and characters of this book behind. I’d say the movie is quite a faithful adaptation, with the book just being a lot “more” of everything, especially the science and morality stuff. I read it again in recent years and loved it just as much.

Other notable favorites

Dawn Wind, by Rosemary Sutcliff

This book was recommended to me by my sister in law, Nicole. It had a very profound effect on me that’s kind of hard to explain. I went into the book blind. I had absolutely no idea where the story was going. When I finished reading the last page and closed the book I still had no idea what I read. The best way I usually describe it is “the most beautiful love story that isn’t even a love story”.

The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

I love the movie. The book is equally amazing (they were both written by the same man). But there’s a slight difference in the main themes of the two stories that makes them very different and very interesting. In my opinion, the main theme of the movie is true love, whereas the book is about how (spoilers!) life isn’t fair. And don’t be confused like I was… the abridged version is the only version!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

This book terrified me in the most incredible way! Seriously, the climax left me completely shaken the entire day I read it, and I didn’t calm down until a few chapters later. It’s about growing up and stuff. I’m not really sure how to describe it. The author wraps his fingers around the part of my soul that is the most helpless and weak and vulnerable and he twists it and crushes it until I feel like I’m suffocating. It’s an experience.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

This is Angela’s favorite book, so I read it when she recommended it to me. It was a fascinating read. My favorite thing about the story is how it teeters on the edge of being reality and metaphor.

The Lost World, by Michael Chrichton

This is the sequel to Jurassic Park. This is also the second book I ever read. I actually don’t really remember much about it, other than the author did an incredible job of writing a sequel that worked as a followup to both the movie and the original novel. I probably gave it five-stars simply because it’s a sequel to my favorite book.

…apparently I gave the novel Waterworld, a book based on the best movie ever made, only a two-star rating.

Stupid plumbers

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On Saturday we attended the Connecticut Renaissance Fair. It was our sixth year attending. It was so much fun!

The weather was glorious. Makayla was a little princess. I wore my tunic of course.

I was greeted at the entrance by the Royal Plumbers, who gave me a warm wet handshake (after just finishing working on the royal chamber pots). They offered me some of the treasures they found while doing their job, but I politely declined.

After that, we strolled around to see the different vendors, being careful not to be caught breaking any rules by the local Sheriff. Makayla got her face painted like a rainbow leopard. It matched great with her rainbow baby dragon on her shoulder.

We had a personal invitation by one of the princesses to a tea party. We joined them for cookies, apple juice, and harp playing. We also met a prince there who was trying to chat with Rawson, but Rawson was kind of a stubborn little quiet punk to the prince. This is important for later…

We bought some ice cream from our dragon friend who was dragging his ice cream cart around the fair. I originally asked if it was hard to pull the cart, but he corrected me, he’s not pulling it, he’s dragging it. After all, it’s draggin’ ice cream.

Next we watched one of our favorite performers, Shelli Buttons, and her acrobatics. Rawson, the little heckler, was conversing with her all while she was performing on aerial silks. She’s a lot of fun. Makayla liked her so much she returned to watch her again.

Next we got our favorite Renaissance Fair food, a giant pickle! They’re soooo good. We shared it, but Makayla ate most of it.

Next we watched a new act, a fire performer. The kids loved this one, so we actually returned to watch it again later, with front row seats!

We ate the lunch we brought while we waited for the Royal Parade to start. I got tricked into giving the stupid plumbers a wet high five, and Makayla got glitter bombed by a cheeky woodland fairy.

We had some extra money so Rawson asked for another ice cream. Makayla, on the other hand, chose another giant pickle. She ate it all by herself. On our way out of the fair she asked for a third pickle, but I had to cut her off.

After that we watched some jousting and caught the last half of the Lords of Adventure. They had me laughing so hard.

We ended up watching a group of children play Smite the Knight, where they enter a ring and use swords to duel against a performer. We had so much fun watching them that Rawson and Makayla were excited to try it themselves.

Rawson stepped into the ring and was up against… the prince! (Yes, THAT prince from the beginning.) The prince remembered Rawson. It was personal.

On our way out, we caught the last half of a magician. I love magicians, and of course the kids were entranced as well. So we stayed for that, even though Rawson had big important video games to go home and play.

It was a perfect trip to the fair! We had fun and I laughed a LOT. I look forward to attending again next year. I’ve been so many times now I can spell “Renaissance Fair” without even needing to look it up!

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A Peek into the Life of Angela

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I’ve been thinking for a good long time about writing a post about my health but I haven’t because, while I want people to know and understand the reality of how this affects my life and my family, I don’t want to feel like I’m just seeking attention or looking for pity. Also, it’s kind of a heavy topic, it feels like everything is constantly changing, and there is still so much I don’t know. Even though I’m generally a pretty private person when it comes to my struggles as I worry about burdening others I feel that, in general, greater understanding empowers people to support and help one another, and this is particularly important in the rare invisible disease community I have found myself in. With that in mind, here goes!

I have dealt with regular joint pain and headaches most of my life but I spent a good portion of my life just ignoring it and/or being told by doctors that it was no big deal. About 4 and a half years ago through a combination of worsening symptoms, being tired of ignoring it, and not knowing if anything could be done to help, I started talking to my doctors about my symptoms. After seeing several doctors I was diagnosed, in the fall of 2015, with hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), a genetic condition in which my body makes improperly formed connective tissue. Given that connective tissue is found in every part of the body this can basically affect my health in any way. (If you’re interested in more general information about EDS this website has some good information https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/).

EDS is rare, not very treatable (although there are some things that can be done to manage it), and has a tendency to cause worsening symptoms as people age due to damage accumulation and amplifying the normal aging process. As such, it can be difficult to predict or explain how it impacts the day to day life of my family and I. The best I can come up with right now is to list a few of the things that have impacted me the most recently.

  1. I barely remember the the two month period spanning mid February to mid April of this year. At the time I was dealing with an arrhythmia that was suddenly and inexplicably worse than it had been in the past. As a result my sleep was often interrupted and I spend about 14 hours a day in bed just to get the energy to drag myself through the essentials of getting my kids off to school, picking them up from the bus stop, making dinner for my family, and finishing up my last couple of college classes for my Bachelors degree. I still have no idea how I managed to still get good grades in those classes because I was that out of it.
  2. One day in May I woke up with my knee hurting so much that walking was difficult, stairs were nearly impossible, and getting in and out of the car had me in tears.
  3. I’ve had increasing problems with lower back pain throughout 2018. This has made anything involving sitting increasingly difficult including travel and church worship.
  4. A little over a week ago I hurt my knee while driving home from the grocery store. Not only has this meant that my ability to drive has been limited this week but there have been many, many times that the pain from that injury has been so bad that was stuck in bed or on the couch because I could not do anything. To make it even more frustrating, when I went to urgent care to get my knee checked they said the only thing they could do for me was give me pain medication because I have EDS so I needed to see my primary care doctor. I finally got in to see my doctor who ordered an x-ray 6 days after the incident and I still haven’t received the results so I’m left guessing what will help or hurt it more.

These examples are few and on the severe end of my current experiences. Even so, my health often keeps me from doing things with family and friends that I want to do. It makes it difficult for me to make plans because I never know when I’ll have a particularly bad day. It limits the things I feel I can even consider doing. Often the headaches, pain, and/or exhaustion make it difficult for me to think clearly and make my memory super crappy. I sometimes struggle with feeling like a bad wife and/or mother because of all of the things that I expect myself to do for my family that just aren’t possible for me. One time recently I even had to retreat to my bedroom when we had friends over because laughing was making my headache too much worse.

All of these physical things bring on emotional struggles as well. When I am super exhausted from heart rhythm issues or insomnia caused by pain or medication I can spend an afternoon sitting and chatting with my best friends and still feel isolated and alone because I don’t have the energy to fully engage with them. When I spend day after day leaving all of the housework to David I feel the depression that comes with not feeling useful and anxiety that he will get burned out on taking care of me. Even when I have a good day it is always a struggle to hold the anxiety that a bad day is coming at bay. Whenever I make plans there is always a part of me mentally preparing to let those I make them with down due to whatever new issue might come up. When new problems do arise, or when a doctor tells me they found nothing treatable, or when an injury doesn’t follow my typical recovery process it can be very difficult not to let those disappointments depress me.

In summary, pain, exhaustion, uncertainty, and the struggle to accept things as they are and cope with the accompanying emotions are my daily realities. I am greatly blessed in many areas of my life including:

  • Having a super supportive husband.
  • Having a number of good friends who listen to me, strengthen me, and help in any way they can.
  • The ability to afford medical care.
  • And a testimony that because of my Savior, Jesus Christ, I will never be alone in my struggles.

Even so, my life, and that of my family, is greatly impacted by many health issues beyond my control. It is my hope that in sharing this with all of you you will not only understand me better but also be reminded of the importance of being kind and patient with everyone we meet because we so often have no idea the struggles hidden in their lives.

Change and More Change

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The month of September always brings change in our house. The kids typically start school the last couple days of August and so we start the month looking for new routines and rhythms in our life.

First Day of First and Third Grade

Since the kids’ school mostly keeps the same children and teachers together for two years the beginning of this school year has brought on less change than normal on that front. This has, however, done nothing to reduce the overall feeling of change that has pervaded our household this month. The change gap has just been filled by some other big, exciting, and somewhat difficult changes.

Since having the opportunity in May to spend a week driving around an automatic rental car, I’ve been working hard to get myself used to the idea of replacing my beloved micro-van with something a little more physically friendly to my health situation. I spent much of the summer trying to convince myself that this wasn’t necessary and trying to come to terms with the fact that it actually was. Then I finished off August by hurting my knee driving home from the grocery store (more on that in the next post) which was the push I needed to get serious about this. Consequently in a couple of days we will be trading in the Silver Bullet (as the kids and I like to call it) and picking up a new, red Subaru Outback with only two pedals, a power back hatch, and heated front seats. While I’m still sad to see the Mazda go, I’m hopeful that this move will regain me some of the freedom and independence that has been slipping away recently.

This is a stock photo but I’m sure it will look exactly the same. 😛

The other big change in the Couzelis household is that, starting tomorrow, we will officially become a two income family. I’m super nervous about how this will go after so many years being home full time and with all the health struggles I’ve had this year, but I’m also excited to take another step on the road to becoming a middle school math teacher by working about half-time in a middle school as a teacher’s aid.

My Badge Photo

So, for once, when people ask what’s new with us, I actually have an answer. Also, I hope the changes start coming a little slower so I can keep up!

Karate

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Rawson has been studying Kajukenbo karate at a local martial arts studio.

The studio is so close, we can even walk to it. We can also walk to Dunkin Donuts, but karate is much healthier.

It all started when he read a book about karate in school, and became super excited to try it out. It took a looooong time for Rawson to warm up to the idea of attending class. We went to class every Saturday for four weeks before he got up the courage to step into the dojo and join the other student.

The Grand Master instructor is very nice and great with the children. Here he is instructing Rawson how to violently punch his opponent after throwing him powerfully to the ground.

In early Summer, Rawson and I drove to a special annual meetup with all of the students in the area for a Saturday of outdoor training. He had a lot of fun as the littlest student.

Rawson throwing down.

Rawson getting thrown down.

Rawson has learned a lot, both physically and mentally. He really enjoys it. And he looks super cool.

Glasses

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Makayla got her first pair of glasses in April.

We found out she needed glasses when she couldn’t read the hymn number posted in church.

That tooth finally grew in, just in time for another one to fall out.

Ballet

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Makayla has been taking dance classes for two years. She started in a little dance class held at one of our local school buildings.

After that ended, she enrolled in a local dance studio, where she practiced every Wednesday evening for the entire school year.

This also means Rawson and I had many Wednesday night father-son dates throughout the school year. We went on runs, played video games, and spent a lot of time at the library.

At the end of the season, Makayla had the opportunity to perform in a large dance recital on stage at our local theater, in front of hundreds of people.

Angela spent a lot of time and work helping her get ready.

Makayla performed and the Guarde Theater in New London on June 4, 2018. After all of the children enter the stage, Makayla is the dancer furthest to the right. She danced to Kettentanz: Strauss, Eisele und Beisele Sprünge, Opus 202.

It was a great and fun experience. She’ll be starting another season of ballet dance class this year. She’s so excited!

A train ride with Rawson

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I had the pleasure of being a chaperone and joining Rawson on a field trip to the train station. We took a bus with his class to Old Saybrook Station, then rode the train along the coast back to his school in New London.

Rawson loves trains. He also loves airplanes, jets, trucks, cars, space ships, Legos, Lego space ships, computers, paper crafts, string crafts, coloring crafts, tape, and more tape.

And rocks. So many rocks.