It's only money.

http://yoursantafedentist.com/2011/07/05/why-dental-treatment-is-so-expensive/

Yesterday (Thursday) was dentist day at my house (coincidentially, and more humorously, Glennon of the Momastery blog had her kids at the dentist yesterday too).  I scheduled all four of us to come in as successive appointments.  My three-year-old had his teeth looked at for the first time. No cavities. My husband never has cavities. I have decay on two teeth: one will require a crown replacement, the other they can do as a filling, they think. So there's a few thousand dollars to find.

Withdrawal

It was like the song of the whos in How The Grinch Stole Christmas, "it started in low, then it started to grow."  A visit from my father-in-law interrupted our usual Sunday routine of going out for breakfast (and chai) before starting the day.  Instead, we all ate some kind of snack at home while my husband did his best to facilitate my actually putting away the pile of Christmas decorations that were heaped upon the table-like top of our piano.  For some reason, instead of being pleased with his help and getting those finally put away, I was more annoyed at his father for coming down and making me deal with the fact that it was nearly March and I hadn't gotten them put away yet.  Don't even ask about the tree.  It's still in the basement.  Every week I say, maybe this week we'll get that down, and then we (I) don't.  We decided Pop-pop was just not going to be allowed down in there.

Date Night: Gluttony & Levity

KrispyKreme

Short and sweet tonight.  My son's preschool had "Parents' Night Out," when some of the teachers babysit kids for the evening en masse.  My husband and I use these as our date nights.  There's maybe one a month or so.  We usually go see a movie, but there was nothing we really wanted to see tonight, so we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory at the Annapolis (MD) Mall.  For the most part, the food was OK, but worth neither the price nor the 50 minute wait.  Our two person table was crammed into an row filled with as many tables as possible, which was not even remotely romantic.

The one thing that was worth the rest of the inconvenience was my desert.My husband stuck to his diet and did not eat the bread at the table or have desert.  He's such a good boy.  I ate the bread AND had desert: a butter pecan milkshake made with vanilla ice cream, caramel, and pecans.  It was amazing.  I also laughed more tonight than I had in a really long time, which I think was pretty good therapy.  Unfortunately, I probably consumed enough calories to last the whole weekend. 

At some point soon I am going to have to bite the bullet and get back to eating sensibly and exercising, about which I am decidedly unenthusiastic.  I'm fine  once I get started, but I have the worst problem committing to giving up the carbs I love: soda, ice cream, Chic-fil-A sauce, bread and butter.  Pasta I'm over.  Conquered that one since my husband gave it up.   Oh, and pancakes.  And donuts.  I love me a glazed donut or three.  Especially on Saturday mornings.  On Saturday mornings I get to sleep in and my husband and kids bring me some glazed donuts and a tall, no water, 4-pump, Starbucks Chai Tea Latte.  They open my door, leave their offering, and retreat before I eat them as well.  If they do, all is well.  If they do not, there is suffering.  I love Saturdays.  I live for Saturdays.  Tomorrow is Saturday.  It is good to be the Mommy.  At least, it has its moments.

How sick is sick enough?

http://www.pandemic-flu-guide.com/stomach-flu-symptoms.html

I wish it would just happen.  I wish I could simply face the porcelain god and give my offering.

Instead, I have spent the majority of today lying on my left side and feeling progressively less well.  I don't know if I ate something that disagreed with me for lunch, or if the drainage from the cold that just will not release its grip on my sinuses has finally gotten to my stomach, or if I have picked up the stomach flu  that made my son's Sunday night so miserable.  In any case, I pretty much bailed on the entire day today.

"We are, each of us, a multitude."

I had my Women's Cognitive Therapy Group tonight.  We listened to a pretty standard type of guided meditation used in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy that had us check in with all the different parts of our body to see where we were holding any anxiety or stress.  If you have not tried one of these, they can be very relaxing... they can also be difficult to do because it requires you to slow down and methodically check in on each area of your body.  I find it difficult and often inconvenient to do this I'm upset about something or feeling anxious.  Sometimes as I try to do it, I feel like a car with it's wheels spinning, trying to go 80mph, with the brakes on.  It's hard to slow your mind when it wants to race around.  But with practice, this becomes a skill that you can eventually use to invoke calmness almost instantly, at any time.

I didn't have trouble easing into this one tonight though, because I had one of those "lost" days today,

TOOLBOX: Seeing a Psychiatrist or Psychologist is No Big Deal.

http://psychology23.blogspot.com/2008/11/vii-psychology-today.html

 
Now for the 2nd in our "No Big Deal" series:  What is it like to see to a psychiatrist or go to psychotherapy/"talk" therapy/"counseling" appointment?  

All together now, "It's No Big Deal."





I am trying to remember my first counseling appointment.  I think I actually saw a psychiatrist (a psychologist with a M.D. who can prescribe medication) first, back in 1997.  Then I saw a University-employed psychologist for talk therapy.  Additionally, I did group therapy at the University (usually a small group that meets with a psychologist-leader all together).  After that I graduated and wasn't seeing anyone for a while, then I went back to seeing a (new) psychologist.  Then I moved here, got off medication and was on my  own for several years.  I saw a psychologist while I was pregnant just in case I got post-partum depression, which I did.  I then came to be a patient of my current psychiatrist (a M.D. and Ph.D. who specializes in women's mental health).  I switched to a new psychologist and also joined a women's Cognitive Therapy group that meets twice a month.  So my experience with this adds up to: two psychiatrists and five psychologists.

TOOLBOX: Psychological Counseling, YES please.

Image from Psychology Today

I wish I had known when I was in crisis in 1997 or so that seeking psychological counseling and even care from a psychiatrist is really just not that big of a deal.  I was all wracked with guilt and shame at concept of not being able to cope well enough with my life,  of needing help.  I saw it as an admission of failure and inadequacy of the mind, of weakness.  I have a friend I am leaning on to seek counseling right now and I'm pretty sure she is viewing the prospect in the same light.  So I thought, maybe others might need to know what I was telling her.  Now, not every person who seeks counseling is in crisis and not every person is in the grips of major depression or anxiety, but I am going mainly from my own experience, and I was a mess.

NUTSHELL: NPR Fresh AIr Interview: Risks & Rewards of Yoga

Have you ever done yoga?  A few years ago I started out doing "Gentle Yoga" at my gym and found it to be really relaxing and a nice refuge, especially since my gym had free childcare for two hours.  There was a very interesting interview on Fresh Air (NPR: WHYY Philadelphia) today with the author of a book on what research has been able to find out about what yoga does to your body and how it affects your mood.  It's definitely worth a listen if you have about 40 minutes.  If not, you can check the link above to read more about what was said, or here is what stuck with me:

• There are many flavors of yoga.  Find out exactly what kind of class you are joining.
  
• Start slow.  Don't think that after six weeks you should be able to do every pose.  Don't let your instructor tell you otherwise.
  
• Avoid poses that put extra strain on your neck, like the "plow" and others that bend your head far forward.  You can rupture or damage the little blood vessels in the topmost vertebrae and then pop a clot to your brain, which can be devastating or fatal.
  
• Yoga relaxes your body, especially if you do the proper breathing (slow) with it.  This can lower your metabolism.  BUT, since you get so much more relaxed, you may find yourself able to avoid giving into cravings and this is the reason you might lose weight, not cardio calorie burn.
  
• Little to no certification is required to teach yoga.  This can be abused, so you might want to ask what your teacher's background is. 
  
• There are many yoga instructors that are doing good work in trying to make yoga safer for all practitioners.  For example, by placing supports behind the shoulders or neck to make the more difficult/dangerous positions safer.
  
• Yoga is most beneficial when done daily, even for as little as 10 minutes a day.  The working of the muscles and increase in blood flow to the spine helps reduce dessication of your vertebral disks, which is what leads to a lot of back problems as you age, and is also the reason people seem to shrink with age.
  
• Yoga can increase sexual response and satisfaction.  Who knew?!
  
• Because yoga relaxes the body, it works on the parasympathetic nervous system (As he described it, the sympathetic nervous system revs you up for fight or flight, the parasympathetic system is like the "brake" and pulls you back into a relaxed state.).  Because of this, it can really affect your mood and bring you into a calmer, more relaxed and present state, which is great for counteracting stress and anxiety.
  
• Anything, taken to extreme, can be dangerous.  Use common sense.

Get Off My Chest - Part 2

Image: Masterfile.com

2.  To my high school field hockey coach:  I know this is pathetic, but I have been needing to get this off my chest for about half my life.  Consequently, I remember details of events that should have long been forgotten because I have been wanting to rebuke you these past 20 years.  If you even remember me, which I doubt, you might guess what I'm going to rant on here.  More likely, you have no idea what a hand you played in who I am today and this is going to be a bit of a sideswipe. 

Wheatgrass Juice Shots

http://www.floridaherbhouse.com/
wheatgrass_juice_powder/wheatgrassjuicepowder1.htm

WOW are there a lot of "Mommy blogs" out there!  I had no idea!  If I tried to read even a significant number of them that are mainly about depression or post-partum depression I'd have little time for anything else.  Here are a few that I've bookmarked for future reading:

Postpartum Progress
Life UneXpected
The Reluctant Mom's Blog
Depressed (but not unhappy) Mormon Mommy
PPD Survivor

Just a quick note for tonight.  My kids are hooked on Smoothie King.  We have one located here in the Waugh Chapel shopping center in Crofton, MD (USA).  I've had a couple of different smoothies and they were both great.  Today for some reason I decided I'd try something they offer, a 1 oz. shot of wheatgrass juice.  Anyone try this before?