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13 Ways to Beat Stress
You will all be relieved to know that I’m doing much better lately. There is, of course, still worry, but I feel like I’m doing a bit better as far as the stress level goes. I had my first therapy session on Tuesday, and the therapist told me that she thinks I’m doing pretty well, and gave me a few tips to help me to cope. As a favor to any of my readers out there who might be stressed as well, I’ll make a Thursday 13 out of a combination of tips she had for me, and things I’m already doing, which she agreed would be helpful. Keep a…
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(Not Even) Wordless Wednesday
I totally ripped off this photo, because it’s just so darned cute, from SF Gate’s Day in Pictures feature. I went to SF Gate to find the link to a great homage to Jimmy Stewart, for any fans out there. He would have been 100 next Tuesday. I mean, come on, it’s Jimmy Stewart. If only I were 60 years older….hmmm. Anyway, if you’re a fan, click the link. It’s a great article, written about a great actor. Love that dreamy face.
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My Therapy
What if these last practically three months in hospitals and care facilities and confusion have taken too much of a toll on my mom? What if she’s too far gone down the road of depression, and no amount of encouragement, no words of love and support, no gifts or even medications, can bring her back to the point where she’s willing to fight the good fight, the fight that must be fought, and fought by her, to eat and move and get well again? What if she’s given up, without realizing that that’s what she’s done? And what if that struggle, that giving up by her mind and the not…
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Cadettes!
Maya has been a girl scout for several years now. She was first a Brownie, for one year I think, and then ‘bridged’ into a Jr. Girl Scout a few years ago. Never having been a girl scout myself, I was indifferent to her participation at first. Especially at the Brownie level, it seemed like a lot of crafts and kind of make-worky, and while I didn’t dislike it, I didn’t really see the benefit. Jr. Girl Scouts has been a whole ‘nother ball of wax, as they say. To watch these girls take charge of their meetings, their projects, and their awards, has been wonderful. They have worked really…
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The Amber Spyglass
Into this wilde Abyss, The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave, Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire, But all these in their pregnant causes mixt Confus’dly, and which thus must ever fight, Unless th’ Almighty Maker them ordain His dark materials to create more Worlds, Into this wilde Abyss the warie fiend Stood on the brink of Hell and look’d a while, Pondering his Voyage; for no narrow frith He had to cross. ~Milton’s Paradise Lost The Amber Spyglass is the third book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. It continues the story of Lyra and Will, two young adolescents with extraordinary powers. Lyra’s power…
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Burma
That tiny country (not really tiny, not really) in the middle of Asia, flavored by India and Thailand and the middle east… a tiny country (not really tiny, not really) now named Myanmar, torn apart and wrecked by a horrid combination of God’s wrath and man’s indifference. Burma, a tiny country (not really tiny, not really) full of suffering and sorrow and pain Burma, that tiny country (not really tiny, not really) if I knew how to pray, I would pray for you.
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Apparently, I’m Stressed
Seems like these last few months are taking their toll on me, and my mom’s latest setback has thrown my stress into full gear. She had a horrid reaction to the Prozac (duh), in that it made her paranoid. She thought she had been kidnapped, and that people were trying to kill her. That wouldn’t be horridly stressful, since I’ve seen this before (far too recently, with the Paxil), and I know the answer is to change the meds. Except that gosh, she hasn’t eaten more than a few bites of anything in a few months, and she isn’t motivated to get up and move like she needs to. Her…
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Chocolate Pudding Cookies
(sorry, my food photography skills are sorely lacking, so there’s no artsy aspect to this photo) The other day, Michelle at Scribbit had two chocolate cookie recipes on her blog, and invited folks to try them both and vote between them. I’m not a huge cookie fan, so I passed. But curiosity got the best of me, and I went back to see which cookies were winning. It was close. And then, in the comments, I found a recipe that was just different enough that it made me want to try it myself. What was intriguing? Well, instead of cocoa powder, the recipe called for chocolate pudding mix to make…
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Wordless Wednesday
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Weekend Wrap-Up
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbpzJRWz6rg[/youtube] Other than the stress related to my mom’s condition, this was a lovely weekend! Friday, Ted and his brother went out for a yummy dinner at Wente, while Maya and I had a nice evening doing some last minute birthday shopping and making plans for the birthday boy. Saturday, Ted’s parents invited everyone to their house, and we had a birthday BBQ for Ted. His mom is smart, and the majority of family functions are ‘pot luck’, meaning we all bring something, and no one has to cook or pay for everything. We feasted on pork ribs, lamb ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, fruit salad, the best potato…
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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
(photo via wiccked’s flickr photostream) I spent much of yesterday in Carmichael, CA, up near Sacramento, getting mom discharged from the hospital, and admitted into another extended care facility. The doctor said she is much better, physically, but he diagnosed her with major depression. I wouldn’t disagree with that diagnosis, as it would explain a lot in the way of her not eating and not wanting to get up and move around. Also, she had realized before her surgery that she had been suffering from some depression, which I’m sure the trauma of surgery and the life altering changes she has experienced since then have only made worse. The doctor…
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Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
Today is Ted’s birthday, and I hope it’s a wonderful day, and a wonderful weekend. He’s starting the celebrations with dinner, Friday, with his brother Steve. Then on Saturday, a bbq party with the rest of the family, including his mom’s famous potato salad, and yummy cake (white cake with fresh strawberries in the middle, and whipped cream frosting. Yum). Sunday is a RUSH concert, which he sees whenever they come around, but the fact that they’re here for his birthday ROCKS. 🙂 So it should be a lovely birthday, and I hope he has a LOT of fun. Happy Birthday, Honey! Love, p.s. Yay to Guam, who is voting…
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The Life Before Her Eyes
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_25i6ZHuk[/youtube] Warning: This review contains spoilers. We’ve all heard the expression that when someone dies, their life flashes before their eyes, right? I’ve always assumed that that meant the life lived up until now, that I would see the life I had lived up until that point, that I would see me as a child, me with my mom and my brother, me meeting my dad, falling in love with Ted, falling in love with Maya, and maybe some memorable times besides. But what if, instead of looking back, your last moments were spent looking forward? This, I believe, is the premise of the new film, The Life Before Her…
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Ugh.
My regular readers know that my mom has had health issues as of late. She had a heart attack in February, which landed her in the hospital, where she received heart bypass surgery (otherwise known as a ‘cabbage’, I hear). She spent some time in assisted living, getting strong enough to care for herself, to the point where she can move to California, and stay with her friend, Kate, regaining her strength. Well, she’s been doing ok, but not great. There was some misunderstanding between the cardiologist in Anchorage, and the doctor at the extended care facility, and she didn’t receive some of the heart medications she should have been…
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Herding Cats Challenge
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8[/youtube] I read about the Herding Cats reading challenge over at Dewey’s blog, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, and I had to join up, because not only do I love to read, I also used to work for EDS, when the ad above aired. So I thought, yeah, I’m on board. Here are the rules. 1. List 10 books you have read and love. LOVE. OK, at least really really like. 2. Pick 3 books you haven’t read before from the ‘favorite books lists’ of other challenge participants. Don’t worry, they’ve put together a wonderful master list, making it much easier than going through list after list after list.…