25 things

[falcongrrl]

x-posted from Facebook...


1. The older I get, the more I realize how much I don't know about the world.

2. However, the older I get, the more I realize that it's okay for me to share my opinion; the world won't end if someone doesn't like it.

3. *That* said, I feel really cautious about writing this list of 25 things. What if I reveal something shocking that you don't like? Or what if it's all just boring and mundane?

4. I'm not conventionally attractive, but I'm getting to the place where I really like the way I look, belly and all.

5. Like Santa, I have a little round belly. It makes buying pants a real pain, and sometimes strangers think I'm pregnant. (I'm working on body acceptance, but I still *really hate that*.) I don't know if it shakes when I laugh like a bowl full of jelly, but I kinda think that would be neat.

6. I don't smoke a pipe or have long white hair. Just sayin'.

7. I don't color my hair. I'm kind of interested to see what the gray is going to look like when it comes. So far I just have the odd strand here or there that no one but me notices.

8. I take antidepressants. I know sometimes that's controversial. In my case, my maternal grandmother struggled with clinical depression for most of her life. So I think mine's genetic as well as hormonal (PPD ftw), and I'm really happy to have drugs that work (as well as a good therapist) to help it.

9. At my paternal grandmother's funeral get-together, her brother told me they all used to sit around and do crosswords together. So whenever I work on word puzzles I feel a small connection to my grandma.

10. I make crossword puzzles for Daniel as part of his spelling homework each week. Writing the clues for him is fun.

11. One of my favorite memories is canoeing the Wekiwa River with Daniel as a special treat for his birthday this past September.

12. Daniel shares the same birthday with my grandmother. The crossword puzzle one, not the depressed one.

13. I wonder if crossword puzzles help with depression.

14. These are getting silly.

15. I have a bump on my shoulder that looks suspiciously like a pimple. And I just have to say that I am *not* supposed to be getting pimples at 37, much less in weird places.

16. I'm 37. I have pimples. Please don't tell my sixteen-year-old self. She was pretty convinced there'd be an end.

17. High school was not the best time of my life. Neither was college, although it was a lot better than high school.

18. I'm hoping things really start to take off at 40.

19. I mean, look at Gandhi. Not that I'm planning to start a revolution or anything. (Though we all want to change the world.)

20. Ohmygosh, how many more of these can there be? Umm...I am wearing white socks. Well, mostly white. The bottoms are pretty dirty. I think I need to mop the floors.

21. I have this mopping thing that's like a vacuum but it scrubs your floors and then sucks the dirty water back up into itself. It's really awesome.

22. I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow.

23. Sweeping and mopping, in case that wasn't obvious.

24. I think I'm going to send out valentines this year in lieu of holiday cards. Because I totally missed the deadline on the whole winter holiday card thing, I'm pretty sure. (Not doing that tomorrow, though, just in case that's not clear.)

25. Writing this is one way of reaching out. I'm here, and so are you. That's a good thing.

Comments

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Awwww...

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

*purrr*

[pthalo]

Interesting :)

[beautyofgrey.livejournal.com]

Re #5: Mine shakes like a bowl full of jelly. It's rather hysterical, but it's me!

Re #15: I also still get pimples. Usually right in the middle of my nose, just as in high school. I still hope that it will end.

Re #16: Forgive me, I didn't realize you were 37. I have always perceived you as being in your late 20s (I should add that I have always perceived you as emotionally mature.) I hope you take this comment positively.

Re #21: That sounds pretty awesome. Color me envious!

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I always think everyone is my same age. And I definitely have a youngish-seeming personality (read: immature :-D), much to my mom's delight, though I probably can't pass for 22 the way she still keeps trying to make me. (I mean, the kids alone...)

It *is* awesome. When I actually become gainfully employed I should buy you one. Maybe I could sell them door-to-door and get free ones or something. They're not as easy as you might think - it's like vacuuming with a heavier vacuum - but it feels like such an accomplishment to empty out all that dirty water and realize that dirt is no longer on the floor. 'Cause with a regular mop I always feel like I'm dipping it back in and rubbing it on the floor, so then I have to keep changing out the water, and wringing it out is a pain.

Anyway, I am a fan. :-D

http://tinyurl.com/b8rvup

[ladymerri.livejournal.com]

I still get pimples too. It's so not fair. And I had one and one half really good years of high school (sophmore year to 1st half of Junior)and then one good year of college (sophmore year), though those still had their fair share of crap too. :) I should see a therapist and probably should be on anti depressants, but despite friends like you who have had good results, I still have this irrational fear of both. :P

I miss you!!! *hugs*

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I miss you too. *hugs*

[monkeyman.livejournal.com]

Unconventional is more fun, anyway. ;)

I keep reminding myself that Vonnegut didn't even really start writing until he was 40 or so ...

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

Thank you. And thank you. ;-)

[illuviel.livejournal.com]

16. I'm 38, and I do too. :P I should be better than this, as I deal with youthful-seeming people on a daily basis, but I'd thought you were quite possibly a decade younger than your actual age.

24. I've been thinking of doing this same thing. As I flaked on $winterholiday cards and also sent out nothing for $lunarnewyear, I think I shall join you in this endeavor.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I love that we're so close to the same age. And yes, $lunarnewyear was my back up plan, but then I missed that too. :-P

[rowyn]

I watched an interview with a very earnest psychologist who opposed drug treatment for mental health issues. My favorite part was the call he took from a woman on anti-depressants, where he said 'I don't want to take your drugs away from you'. I can understand his position against drugs, even as an 'in all cases' thing (which sounds absurdly extreme to me, to say that there are *no* mental problems that should be treated with drugs). But at the same time, I know several people who are a lot happier and better able to handle everyday life on medication. If it's working for you, I sure don't think it's *my* place to tell you to do anything differently. Or his. Or anyone's.

*hug*

Also, I totally should mop my floors. x.x

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

I honestly think there's a good chance I would have killed myself without having antidepressants as an option. It sounds melodramatic, but I mean it very factually. I think they may be overprescribed, and they definitely have a host of side effects. *shrug* I can really only speak to my personal experience and not anyone else's. And I know ECT is sometimes used instead of drug therapy, but that seems to carry its own risks and difficulties. (Just the idea of it creeps me out, but other people's mmv.)

[rowyn]

It doesn't sound melodramatic to me. Just accurate. *hug*

Also, I think it helps to know that options exist, even if you never use them. Just knowing that you have a choice is usually a good thing, whether or not it changes what you choose.

[shaido.livejournal.com]

Pimples don't stop. I'm 35 and I got one on my forehead, but I attribute it to the excessive heat here.

Crosswords and anything that takes your mind off of your troubles will help with Depression.