Maniacal Monday #19

So, I haven’t blogged in a few days and I guess I should write something given the dark nature of 2 of the 3 last posts.

1. I feel a whole lot better. I went to my doctor and asked for something to help me function. I’m really grateful that our doctor is a family doctor who knows me and my husband pretty well, and so I really didn’t have to go into too great a detail of what all was going on. I did let him know I was going to Al-Anon and wanted counseling for the additional issue(s) that got dredged up. He understood, and just asked if I needed something for the mental or mental and physical. I told him just mental, and he gave me an antidepressant which had me feeling stoned out of my mind for about 5 days before my body adjusted to it. He also told me to absolutely keep running and why. And he gave me referrals for counseling, and I have an appointment with a psychologist Wednesday.

2. Al-Anon. Now that I am “drugged up,” I can attend meetings without crying the whole time. Granted, it is ok to sit and cry through a whole meeting, but I prefer to have my meltdowns in the privacy of my shower. I’ve gone to a 3 different groups: a beginner’s group, and 2 regular groups. I really like the beginner’s group because of it’s focus on newcomers. Of the other 2 groups, one is pretty big, and one pretty small. I like the smaller group even though they spent a lot more time on me than my social anxiety was comfortable with. Regardless, I should have gone to Al-Anon years ago.

3. Running. Ugh. The marathon training is kicking my butt. I do fine with the short runs, but the long runs are a succession of fails. Quite discouraging. And I miss my running partner Karyn. 🙁

4. I am now officially chief administrator of a homeschool. And my daughter is a lot closer to having enough credits to graduate than I thought so that should be able to graduate at the end of this school year. The only thing my son passed last year was gym. :sigh: Looks like it will take summer school to ever get him back on track.

5. We have electricity again in the master bedroom & bathroom! After replacing all the switches and outlets, the culprit had to be a wire. There is a light in the attic, and I told the hubby that we need to check that before we start tearing out walls. That light was ok, but he traced the wire he could see on the attic side of our bedroom and found this:

The mouse tried to fit through the same hole as the wire through the 2×4 in the corner, got stuck, and proceeded to chew through the wire…and got fried. So we just had to replace a few feet of wire between outlets that (unfortunately) went around a corner, but yet (fortunately) was half in the attic so there was minimal wall damage around one outlet. This is the damaged wire that was inside the stud:

I cannot tell you how nice it was to sleep in my bed again. And have bright light in the bathroom. Because the lantern just wasn’t cutting it.

6. Mice. They are everywhere. KitKat will not stay in my daughter’s room anymore because she is stalking. I sat in the living room the other evening and watched a mouse running back and forth through the kitchen, but KitKat was perched in the laundry room where she couldn’t see it, and Gizmo wasn’t anywhere to be seen. :sigh: And the kittens keep themselves to the back of the house when they are let out.

7. Fleas. I don’t know which is worse. The mice or the fleas. It’s almost as if Gizmo is producing fleas. Winter can’t come quick enough. Just sayin’.

8. All our lawn equipment is back and fixed, and the hubby mowed the front before it got way too far out of control. The back is way out of control though.

9. The hubby finally got paid, and bought the boy a moped. (The blue one.)

photo(3)

And less than 24 hours later, I got a call from my son telling me “I crashed! I need help!” He got pretty scuffed up, but it could have been so much worse.

Elbow

Elbow

Knee from top

Knee from top

Knee from front

Knee from front

The faceplate is why his face didn’t look like his knee. One of his hands was pretty scuffed up too.

10. Diet. I really need to stop eating tater tots. Also, I found some gluten free wasabi peas at Harris Teeter. Only thing, some of the peas are so hard that it is like chewing up gravel.

And I think that is pretty much it.

8 Responses to 'Maniacal Monday #19'

  1. angelique says:

    Martha I am happy to hear you went to the doctor, keep running its good for you it helps keep you focused! For the mice try this strip with glue on it I forgot the name but it works. tater tots? Try the sweet potato ones they are soo much better for you! I am happy your daughter can graduate soon, let me know if you need anything

    • DragonLady says:

      He also gave me some breathing exercises to train my body to chill out instead of listening to the crazy in my brain. 😉 I can’t do the glue strips. I picked up some more traps today that are the ones that won’t allow the mice to eat the bait off without tripping it like those cheapos from Lowes.

      I need money. Lots and lots of money. Enough that I don’t have to work anymore. lol 🙂

  2. I just love you.
    Fleas are worse.
    A scooter – you know your kids are clumsy.
    I wish i could run with you.
    Warn me next time there are pictures of “scuffs”

    • DragonLady says:

      I love you too and you need to move back and run with me. 🙂
      I don’t know. Fleas don’t short out my electricity and poop and pee all over everything. But the mice don’t bite me…
      Neither scooter was my idea. Just sayin’.
      Again, move back and run with me. 🙂
      Sorry about the lack of warning. I meant to put one out but then got in a hurry and forgot.

  3. Opal says:

    Well Mrs. Lady, I’m still praying for you and your family. Praying that God gives you the strength to handle the challenges you’re facing.

    Regarding fleas, have you ever tried diatomaceous earth? I’ve used it quite effectively, when my Maltese had fleas before. You most likely will find it at a garden center. Natural and fairly effective… it attacks the critters exoskeleton. I’ve used it for red ants and a variety of other garden pests also. If you try it, make sure you get the food grade. I put it in our pets water and food.

    • DragonLady says:

      Thank you Opal! 🙂

      We tried diatomaceous earth 2 or 3 years ago on a really bad infestation in the family room/den, and it didn’t seem to have any effect. We ended up pulling out all the carpet down there (which we were going to do anyway) and laying down tile. I’ve used borax powder in the past when the infestation wasn’t too terribly bad.

  4. Petra says:

    Fleas are the devil. Oh man – Pippi got stuck on a glue strip we have in the basement for bugs. It wasn’t pretty but we both survived removing her foot. And seeing massive quantities of roaches and spiders on the glue strip is so gross. I don’t think I could deal with a mouse being on it.