A little update about asthma

It has been a tough month. I had a virus aka flu-like thing that wiped me out for days and landed me on a course of prednisone for my asthma. Not being able to breath sucks. Wheezing continuously sucks. Realizing your usual course of meds aren’t working sucks. While pred is a wonder drug for […]

Five Reasons I Am Proud of Myself This Week

Apple Pie

It has been a difficult month for me. Let’s just leave it at this – some very unpleasant ‘stuff’ from my childhood has been stirred up and I’ve been struggling to respond appropriately. At the same time, the crazy weather has my asthma in full assault mode so I’m having to take medication to breathe […]

The Tough Times

The Tough Times

I’ve been having a hard time of late. There are some serious issues associated with my childhood and my still-living relatives that have surfaced and are somewhat torturing me. I have bad dreams, I feel pretty sad and I don’t feel like there’s any resolution to be had. Tough times. I’m not sleeping well so […]

Northside Food Pantry Launches Food Drive Blitz To Meet Holiday Needs

The food pantry hosted by Northside Common Ministries on Brighton Road is the largest pantry in Western Pennsylvania. Each month, they distribute food to over 1,000 families and households in the Northside zip codes. The pantry is set up in a ‘shopping model’ which allows clients to select the items they prefer from whatever is […]

Crockpot Tuesdays

I’m writing this post on a Tuesday about crockpots, but there is no reason to assume I’ll return to the topic on a Tuesday in the future. Fair warning. 🙂 A consequence of living with anxiety and bipolar disorder is that cooking often falls to the side. Eating can be a challenge. Sometimes, it is […]

The First Time I Called 911

CN: Discussion of suicide Write about a defining moment in your life when you were forced to grow up in an instant (or a series of instants). My mother has always lived with depression and a host of other ailments, many resulting from a childhood bout of encephalitis that destroyed her short-term memory. She was […]

The Ritual of Our Morning Commute

Daily Blogging Prompt

Think about your day. Select one of your daily rituals and explain it to us: why do you do what you do? How did you come to adopt this ritual? What happens on days when you can’t perform it? There are so many rituals that I want to have, but not many that I consistently […]

Occupational Therapy is a Pain in The Hands

Homeless donation

Last week, I started occupational therapy – I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. I also have a semi-permanent tremor as a side effect of medication that I take. The intersection of hand weakness and hand tremors makes for good times, let me tell you. While surgery can help the carpal tunnel, it can’t […]

Eight Ways I Get My Day Off To a Good Start

NaBloPoMo

What are some of your best tips for getting your day off to a good start? First on the list is a consistent sleep schedule. My goal is to be in bed by 11 PM and wake up at 7 or 7:30 every day, seven days a week. If I cheat and either stay up […]

Aging With Grace

Kennywood

If there were a real Fountain of Youth, would you drink the water? The vast majority of my blogging of late has been the AMPLIFY posts and updates related to various incidents of violence and murder. To give myself some balance, I’m going to return to the tried and true method of blogging daily with […]