Mental & Emotional Health

Wishing you all the best for this holiday weekend o please be careful but do enjoy yourself…

I am quite frequently amused by the skill level of my oldest son.  And, then, just recently he booted up a computer that wasn’t even plugged up.  Yea, electrical sockets, ergh.  And, he politely went to pbskids.org and commenced to playing a game. 

School starts back in early August and I am a bit apprehensive about his teacher because we don’t know who it will be.  And, there is one that I absolutely will not allow.  I hate to be that way, I hate to say things about other educators but this one teacher is vile.  She is poison and pathetic. 

And, so, we will commence to work on that 2 page list of supplies that we anticipate will be rolling out soon.  I know some of the parents get their child’s list for the next year before school ever got out so that they can buy things in small amounts over the course of the summer.  And, if you have 3 or 4 children, then absolutely, that would be necessary.

They only put out one list for each grade so that isn’t really that difficult to get a list early.  And, I’m telling you, these lists are no small feat.  I didn’t get the list like I said and we won’t buy supplies until the tax free shopping date anyway so no big deal.

I’m rambling, I’m tired so please forgive me.  This is probably a dumb question but those of you who homeschool do you basically spread your teaching out over the year?  I know learning never stops but I’m talking about the stuff that you required to “report” and the like, that’s what I was wondering about it.

First of all, let me tell you that I am not telling the whole story.  I am telling my side of the story and anyone who wants to combat that definitely has the right to do so.  I am upset about basically any and everything that happens these days.

I know there are far worse problems i in this world than having a broken leg and for far worse than wearing a 6 months and I am in no way saying that this is the case.  But, at the same time, it doesn’t I have to be happy that’s me instead of someone else.  I am agitated I am grump, I am ill, and I promise you , I do no have pms, that is a fact. 

But everyone around me seems to be out to get me except my very one children  They are so darn cute I could eat them if it was legal.   But, alas it isn’t legal.  Chances are I won’t be around much the rest of the day but you can always feel free to visit my other blogs…..push push…

Jerri Ann Reason - media site
Jerri Ann - my battle with EASports and the 30 day challenge
Mom~E~Centric - my personal site
TV Boyfriends - my most popular site
Mom is Teaching - where I hope to grow the most
Mental and Emotional Health- where I hope to lend a helping hand the most often
Media Critiques - where I make fun of people (you maybe)
Parenting Sites 411 - where I try to offer up good parenting links I find
Michelle Obama Watch - watching Michelle Obama become the most popular First Lady ever
Life in Reality - celebrity watch
TBTS The Real Truth - a scam that caught even me

And, my latest big endeavor with some bloggy buggies Blogalogues

I don’t know if one would refer to me as crazy, insane or just a plain ol’ blog hog…but I have a few blogs and I’m preparing to launch a group blog……anyone have any late night issues…I’m an incurable insomniac. You can always find me on twitter as jareason. As it is, I am attempting to bribe another woman named Jerri Ann into giving me that twitter name but so far, no luck. I’ll let you know if it pans out. And, I am also trying to buy the domain jerriann.com from the person who owns it as it has sat since 2004 with the same photo of “under constructin” type info on it. But, in the meantime…here’s where you can find me….

Jerri Ann Reason - media site
Jerri Ann - my battle wth EASports and the 30 day challenge
Mom~E~Centric - my personal site
TV Boyfriends - my most popular site
Mom is Teaching - where I hope to grow the most
Mental and Emotonal Health- where I hope to lend a helping hand the most often
Media Critiques - where I make fun of people (you maybe)
Parenting Stes 411 - where I try to offer up good parenting links I find
Michelle Obama Watch - watching Michelle Obama become the most popular First Lady ever
Life in Reality - celebrity watch
TBTS The Real Truth - a scam that caught even me

And, stay tuned for an upcoming group blog endeavor. Scarry? Yes, indeed!

Guest Poster for today, please welcome..

Bio: Callista is a mom of two girls in Ontario, Canada

I think it’s fairly well-known what Bipolar is, it’s been in the news more often and there are tons of books coming out about it. Bipolar is the newer term for what used to be called Manic Depression. It’s a mental illness that is actually more common than once thought. The very basic explanation for Bipolar is that the person’s moods swing from Depression (low) to Mania (high) instead of staying fairly stable (as a mentally healthy individual.) There is a special diagnostic criteria for Mania but some common symptoms include racing thoughts, racing speech, doing reckless things (like reckless sex or spending), needing minimal sleep and sometimes even psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions.

Bipolar II isn’t listed in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 4) as of yet as it’s just recently been realized as something separate from Bipolar I. Bipolar II is also sometimes called soft Bipolar. Basically instead of full blown mania, the person only experiences a type of hypomania (a lesser version.) The symptoms are basically the same but they aren’t bad enough to require hospitalization, don’t include psychotic symptoms and can sometimes be beneficial. (For example cleaning the house top to bottom without being tired or being extra creative.)

However there is another side to both Bipolar’s but Bipolar II especially that is even less understood. Mania can be either Euphoric (happy, excited, elated, inflated self esteem etc..) or Dysphoric (irritable, angry, frustrated, anxious, erratic). The type talked about on TV and in books is almost always the Euphoric type. I suffer from Dysphoric Hypomania (as part of my Bipolar II.) So when I get hypomanic, I am extremely angry and frustrated, sometimes confused, anxious, paranoid and irritable. I snap at people. I also have rapid speech although I’ve talked fast all my life but it does get worse if I’m hypomanic.

Most people who end up with a Bipolar II Diagnosis were first diagnosed with something else. Often diagnosed with Major Depression because of the lack of severe manic episode, many are treated with anti-depressants or other medications which can make things worse. I don’t claim to be an expert on Bipolar, far from it. I’m still learning myself but I wanted to share what I’ve learned about specifically the Dysphoric state that mania can be in. If you have Major Depressive episodes and you also have problems with the symptoms I listed above (anger, frustration, anxiety, confusion, paranoia or irritability) then speak to your doctor. Ask about Bipolar II. You can’t get well if you dont’ have the right diagnosis.

For More Info:

Bipolar.com
Mood Introduction at Psych Central (LOTS of info)

Bio: Callista is a mom of two girls in Ontario, Canada. She blogs at http://callistasramblings.blogspot.com, http://smsbookreviews.blogspot.com and http://smsmentalhealth.blogspot.com When she’s not blogging or reading other blogs she’s reading books, twittering and taking care of my kids. She struggles with mental health amongst all this.

I’ve talked about this before, but my own physical health, this broken bone that I’ve been wearing a cast on for 3 months and its affects on my mental well-being.  But, here I am again…thinking these same thoughts.  The thoughts that if this doesn’t end soon, I’m going to go bizzerk. 

Add in the fact that I now have mono again and I’m dependent on my mom to handle most of the duties in my house.  It’s the laundry, the running of the kids to and from school.  I’m doing much of nothing other than sitting here writing posts.  Writing and writing, chatting, skyping, tweeting, tat’s what I”m doing. 

It takes a toll on you emotionally when you have to ask someone to do for you the small things.  And now, I’m trying to plan a trip.  A trip that’s not going to make my mother very happy because obviously if I can go on a trip, I can do for myself right? 

Not necessarily.  I need to do the trip so that I can continue to grow and network.  I need to do the trip so I can meet new people and network.  That’s the name of the game…network, network, network. 

What would you do?

This is not a political blog.  It is merely something that came to my attention tonight and I felt I need to say that I am amazed and I am grateful that a man, any man, any where would say this……….it’s prolific, PERIOD!

I’m paraphrasing here but what he said that was so powerful to me was this

“I believe that this is a moral issue….I believe that this is not an issue that women take lightly….I believe that women are in a better position to make decisions on this matter than congress …or the President of the United States….and at the same time….I want to see what we can do to prevent unwanted pregnancies especially in teenagers…..which is on the rise”

People, that is powerful stuff!  The man has the ego big enough to finally be open and say that regardless of what men say, they have no idea what pregnancy feels like or how to do with unwanted pregnancy.

Yea, I use the word crazy a lot.  I don’t always mean it to convey the meaning of mental health though.  As a matter of fact, I never mean it to convey that fact.  I use the word crazy to insinuate that someone is silly or being silly or doing something odd.  But not that their mental health is an issue.

I find that quite rude.  Although I do believe that people with mental incapacities might have been the reason for the root of that word, it simply isn’t a very nice word to use when you are discussing the mental health of someone in this day and time.

I do as much as I can do here to make sure that everyone that reads here gets a clear picture of what it is like to lead a life that requires medication to keep a chemical balance in the body.  It doesn’t mean I’m crazy (although I am quite silly a lot), it does mean that some people call me crazy.

But, I’ve been called worse.  The point is, there are people out there who actually agree with me and that mental health is way more important than the use of a simple little word.  Don’t believe me?  Go read for yourself. 

Some of the little sites out there are not very impressive to me.  You know, I really don’t care what my Twitter Grade is but just in case you care, lol, I went to Twitter Grader to see what kind of grade I have right now, but again…who’s really paying attention, right?

But, hey, the first time I ever checked it, my grade was like 70 something.  Now, I have to tell you that I am not a twitter whore.  I am the poster child for twitter because I obviously can’t walk and tweet at the same time or I wouldn’t be sporting this big ugly boot on my broken ankle.  And, I am also considered somewhat of a Twitter idiot because when I tried to DM my phone number to some folks last weekend, it went out live for the whole Twitter world to see. 

But, just for the sake of prosperity (I have no idea what that means but it sounds good), I thought I’d check it again before I run off on a tangent about my personal websites.  And, lo and behold, all that twittering I did at Blissdom (while sitting by the way, not walking – I may or may not have been driving, but I wasn’t walking and tweeting, I can’t do it), my grade rose to a 98.4.  Which seems awesome right?  Yea, so awesome that it means out of 1,259,151 twitters, I am 19,082…er..ok, never mind.

All of that was so mesmerizing that I had to jump in on the bandwagon when I saw this Typealyzer which is going to tell you about my website.  And, I have such a low self-esteem that I checked it out to see if I liked what it had to say before I decided to share it with you.  Sorry, just the plain ol’ truth, sometimes it ain’t purdy.

But, you know what, I like what it said about me, so you gonna get it….right here….and now…

I mean, check out the image they gave me…. She looks good doesn’t she?  I mean, I wish I looked like that for real..

And, here’s what they say about this website…

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.
The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

That part in red….absolute truth without one nano-second of doubt.

Go check your own blog out and see what you come up with….and tell me, whether you like it or believe it or not…

I was fortunate enough to attend Blissdom last weekend and one of the first group of ladies that I met was overwhelming at the best.  I mean, there were only like 3, then 7, than 14 and at that point, I gave up.  Well, 2 of the ladies had these awesome little organizers that caused me to froth at that mouth.  And, when I found out that they had received them from a brand spanking new company that asked them to help promote them, I knew I had to have one. 

I mean, look at this beauty…

Yes, I know that it is a bit shiny with my flash and all that, and of course, putting it on my laptop was pure laziness (but I do have a broken foot, remember).  Either way, the Card Cubby is nothing if not pure excitement…….

And, that’s a really bad photo of the inside of it, but as you can tell, it has indexed cards so you can put your cards in the right place alphabetically.

And, here’s the cool part, the other side, the side that I never did get a picture of without it being all shiny has a place to put your own business card and is really big enough to put several in it so you can use that spot for storage. 

My phone fits in it, my credit cards (or I should say debit cards) fit in it and it is simply just as awesome as it looked like it might be when I was admiring it from afar. 

And, the most important part of it all…..they are truly inexpensive….I’ve been perusing the site to see what else they might have that I want to purchase.  So, you too, go now and check them out and if you like compact little carry-it-alls, this is a must have!

I read on a professional blog somewhere that one of the best ways to build readership is to network.  Network, network, network.  I just returned from Blissdom and I’m excited by all the social networking information that I was able to allow to seep into my little brain portal. 

I met some bloggers that I thought were big time glass house bloggers making tons of money.  And, they weren’t.  I met some bloggers that were more down to earth than any one I’ve ever met and they were 6 figure earners. 

But, the common theme is network network network.  Then, last night in a big twitter party called #gno (girls night out), I happened to mention my goal of commenting on at least 50 blogs a day.  It isn’t easy and if you have a lot of other things going on in your life, I suggest your start with a lower goal than 50.  I started with 30 and worked my way to 50.

So, here’s where I issue this challenge:

Look at your feed reader, choose a number of blogs that you can realistically read and comment on at least 5 days a week, and then set that goal.  It’s important to remember that just because you miss one day doesn’t make it a failed experiment.  It’s like weight loss, just pick up the next day and start over.

If you are up to the challenge, sign up with Mr. Linky so I can make sure you are in my feed reader.*

*I must say that I normally choose blogs for comments by the finding blogs that have less than 10 comments when I read the post.  That doesn’t mean you have to do that as well, you can pick and choose as you please, it just makes it nice for those of us who do not get many comments to see them there.  Casey from Moosh in Indy said it best when she said, “I take each comment and suck on it”.  Yea, what she said.

Let me tell you about someone who can help you with your thoughts and make you laugh at the same time.  Her name is Jen Lancaster and she is the author of three books thus far and one on the way.  I heard her speak ad lib on Saturday and then I heard her give a prepared speech.  And, what I learned is, the woman knows what she knows and she knows how to make you understand that where you’ve been is what makes you who you are. 

You know, when you hear someone speak (Hi, Jen Lancaster) on a panel or even on television, it is easy to fall deeply in love with them even if you have no clue who they are. But, when that person is someone you can approach and they greet you with, "Just keep talking" because they love your redneck southern accent, it is another story entirely. As I asked Jen to sign all 3 of her books that I had just bought, yes I bought all 3 of them, she was adorable. Later when I ran into her, again, she stood and talked or listened (as it is with most folks I know) to me for a good part of 40 minutes. When my camera arrived via my delivery man husband, I asked her for a photo while she was in the midst of making a plate of food. Some people really are just rude enough to ask for anything (oops!). She didn’t hesitate…not one second. Her books, in case you aren’t familiar and holy cow, how could you not be familiar…..are..Such a Pretty Fat One, Bright Lights, Big Ass and Bitter is the New Black. I thought about photo shopping this picture, but then, you know what, I don’t think Jen minded that I was an over-weight person lest she wouldn’t have written Bright Lights, Big Ass, right? Here I give you, me and my new hero!

You go girl!

Ok, so I am at this thing call Blissdom.  As if you haven’t heard me talk about it incessantly for a month…just know what, yea today around 2, I arrived at the hotel and made it to my room.  I took nap and then…then…aahhhh I headed to dinner with an invitation fro Linda from LindaSPPreppy.

People, this is what my blackened Mahi Mahi with some crazed cheese sauce looked like and to be perfectly it was feakin’ awesome! 

I know, it looks like a desert doesn’t it.  I met some great women already, I’ll name a few because you know, name dropping is so cool…first I told you that Linda invited me to dinner….so that’s one,

Then, there was Robin, Melanie, Sugar Jones, Jyl, Carissa, Rocks in my Dryer, and that’s just to name a few.  And, the biggee. right off the bat, I got to meet…..Ali …..wooohoo

Wait a few more Plus Size Mommy, Mrs Flinger and… and…ok, I’m sleepy

Oh and this is Lori from A Cowboy’s Wife, she has a food blog, so erm….she is making a picture of her food that probably looks 300 times better than mine, for more reasons than one.

Consider yourself warned:  No More Name Dropping because, geez, how could I mention everyone when I can’t even keep up with everyone when I am in the same room with them….just so you know.

That’s what the room looked like before I trashed it.

And, does anyone know who these men are in my room?

Ok, so, I said no name dropping.  Then, I started looking through the business cards that I received just TODAY alone.  And, that made it impossible to at least pass this opportunity. This isn’t all of the people I met today and I didn’t meet all of these people.  Got it.  So, here goes…

Kangarooboo

Comfedoutkaiser

Good for the Kids

Victoria or Vdog

Organic by Nature

Laughing Rat Studio

Kaiser Alex 

Eden Fantasts

Malia Live Laugh Love

Lisa C Boyd

Melanie at Blogging Basics 101 and Bloggy Giveaways and Don’t Try This at Home

Robin

Lori at A Cowboys Wife, My Wooden Spoon, Cowgirl Critiques

Jyl

Linda

So, if I get hugged, licked or bit and they don’t leave me a card, then I might forget to add them.  I’ll try to do a business card roll each night, how about that.

Where do you get the skills to relax, feel good, enjoy life?  Or, are you like me, running in circles all the time?  Yes, I know, I’m honing my skills for the ones out there who are out of control, but when I was approached about this give away, how could I turn it down?  So, there’s a give away on my Mom~E~Centric blog for the items you see below as well as a list of other places you can find the contest to get more entries.

If you like football and wanna join in the fun, go to my blog on Mom~E~Centric and you can enter to win a huge Super Bowl Party Package from Pepsi

And, then, let’s see, there’s the fact that I am going to Blissdom ‘09 in Nashville…..anyone miss that?

I’ve never been to a blog conference and I can’t wait to meet all my bloggy friends.  Are you going?  If so, let me know so we can hook up while we are there!

Ok, I still have one work in progress so you will have to continue to hold your breath and wait on it (as if anyone cares enough about what I do to hold their breath).

Finally, I’m sure that most of you know that I am not a big fashion guru, nor do I try to make many fashion statements, however, I saw this ring on my cousin’s wife’s hand at the wedding a month ago and I emailed to ask her where she got it because people, I.HAVE.TO.HAVE.ONE.OF.THESE.  So, be on the look out, if you know where I can find one, please, let me know….

That’s one view…..

Here’s another

And, here’s what they look like on the finger, except this person has 3 of them, I only want one for one finger….

So, if you know where I can find one, please, shoot me an email or leave a comment here because I’m dying to find one.

If you haven’t had enough of me today, check me out over at 24/7 Moms…

Stolen directly from Mother Goose Mouse is the following paragraph…

"I know that yesterday I was supposed to be all introspective, being the last day of the old year, and today I’m supposed to be looking forward to the new year ahead - setting goals and making resolutions - but honestly, I’m just glad for the status quo.  If, at the end of 2009, I’m still in the same place I was at the end of 2008, I’ll count myself lucky."

And, so, I spent the majority of the day trying to figure out exactly how to put into words what my brain is churning around, fermenting, maturing, and finally distinctively juggling around in honesty.

So, I figured, the best place to start was with some quotes.  I’ve been compiling them on and off all day..they are in this post but not necessarily in any order. 

What I want to talk about is blogging.  Yes, blogging.  What is blogging?  What does it mean to say, "I’m a blogger" or "She/He is a blogger?"  Is that a negative set of phrases?  To me it isn’t.  Well, wait, to me it hasn’t been in the past.  But, I have a few thoughts on what it means to be a blogger and some quotes to go with it.  I saved this post for January 2nd because I didn’t want it to muddy up my page for New Year’s Day.

“I believe the term “blog” means more than an online journal. I believe a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume.” (Michael Arrington)

This next quote probably sums up each and everything I want to say, but you know me,  have to add my 2 cents in with it.  The quote goes like this:

“Breathe. Know that the Internet has no eraser.” (Liz Strauss)

So, what exactly does that mean.  I’ll tell you what it means, it means, that once the words are put out there, you can never take them back.  You can never right a wrong and you can never deny your authorship.  So, naturally, common sense has to be employed lest bloggy-drama exist and persist and no one is happy. 

Where am I going with this, well, a couple of places.  One is to say, I’ve been guilty of expecting the eraser to work on the Internet.  And I found out the hard way that it doesn’t.  I’ll leave that as it is. 

The second part is this, just because it is my blog, does that give me the right to write whatever I want and then say, "well if you don’t want to read it, don’t come to this URL"?  I mean, is it ok for me to tell you that the sky is purple and the grass is orange, knowing full well that this is not true.  But, if you call me on it, do I have the right to be pissed because…you didn’t have to read it if you didn’t want to or do should it be the other way around, the person doing the misrepresentation is the one who should be angry?

That’s correct, I didn’t have to read it if I didn’t want to.  But, what if I happen to be the Sun or the Grass and a blogger has just posted this false information about me.  Do my rights then start to have meaning?

I’ve always lived by the thoughts that "your rights end where mine begin".  And, your right to blog about the sky being purple when I am the sky and I am clearly not purple really leads me back to that.  Your right to write that statement ends where my right to correct the information begins.

Is anyone still reading this?

To be continued….part two coming up soon…