Monthly Archives: June 2011

Grandparenting The Way Dad Did

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Dad and my son (3 years old)

Today, Sunday, is dad’s birthday. I am going to try to not be as weepy as I was last Sunday – Father’s Day. With that in mind, I decided to share a memory, and what I did Saturday morning that brought that memory up.

I was living with my parents when my son was born, and I started college a couple of weeks after that. Most of the time, mom was home to watch him when I had to leave. However, she did work at a vet clinic, so there were times when dad got home before she did. Things always seemed to go well when dad was watching my son, so I never once suspected that dad might have been “nervous” about anything.

When my son was no longer an infant, dad told me he always got a little nervous when he was alone with the baby and he was sleeping in his crib. As a result, dad would frequently check on him. However, if the light was dim in the bedroom, he had a difficult time determining if my son was breathing. So what he would do is jiggle the crib until my son moved. Once he did that, dad would be satisfied – until the next time he had to check on the sleeping baby.

My granddaughter is spending the weekend with me and mom, and like any grandparent I check on her frequently when she is sleeping. Yesterday, during one of my “visits” to her room, she was so still that I could not be sure if she was breathing. Guess what I did? Yes, I jiggled the crib until she moved. As soon as I left her room, I realized I had just done what dad used to do to his sleeping grandson. It must be a grandparent thing.

It did make me smile when I thought about the hard time I gave dad for doing something so silly, and realized that I had done the same thing.

 

Busy, Busy, Busy

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I have had a very busy week. This session of the school semester is winding down, and I had a couple of big projects due. I worked a lot at my writing job. I had an appointment with my counselor, group, and an appointment with my psychiatrist. I went to the diabetes clinic – part of the free clinic I go to – on Thursday. Also, I have not been feeling well.

The class that I had to take for my first session of the Summer semester was something called “Skills for Success”. It has turned out to be something completely different than I thought it was going to be. I had to assess my learning style, figure out if I had external or internal locus of control, determine if I was a lifelong learner (and figure out what I needed to do to become one), and develop critical thinking skills. I have learned a lot about myself from the class assignments.

Because the time zone for the class is different than mine, I have until 2 in the morning my time to turn assignments in. I have never been late or even pushed that deadline, until Tuesday. I had not felt well all day, and when I sat down to do an assignment I fell asleep. I woke up about an hour or so before the deadline had passed. Unfortunately, my head must have been on the “W”. When I woke up, the screen was full of “W’s” and all the work I had done was gone. I took a screen shot…

I retyped everything, and it looked like I was going to make the deadline, and then…I fell asleep again! I did finally get the assignment turned in, about an hour late. The instructor could have deducted points from it since it was late. That is school policy. However, he chose not to.

Things went really well at the mental health center. I have qualified for another six month of services, and the psychiatrist is pleased with how I am doing. I do not have to see her again until the end of September. She did ask me to bring her some pictures from Alaska.

For the last few weeks my feet have been swelling…

For the last few days, I have felt totally exhausted, no matter how much sleep I get. When I went to the diabetes clinic I mentioned it the doctor. He did a routine test, and told me that I have kidney damage. He said that would explain the swelling, and could be why I have been feeling so run down. However, he has order some tests for my kidneys, as well as a thyroid test. I have had several thyroid tests over the last few years, it is common when you have a mental health issue, so my gut tells me that is not the problem, but I could be wrong.

This is how the doctor at the free clinic wrote the prescription for my depression medication…

Fatherless Father's Day

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For several weeks, I have been trying to figure out what I should write for a Father’s Day post. Part of me wanted to express the deep sadness I feel, and another part was trying to figure out a way to keep it more uplifting. On any given day, one option would seem better than the other.  It is the night before Father’s day, and I am no closer to a decision.

What I am feeling is an ache in my heart. I had been looking forward to spending this Father’s Day with dad, but he left this world before the day got here. Sometimes the knowledge that he is not here with me physically anymore is an ache that is almost too much to bear.  However, there are days when the good memories chase away that ache.

I have shed a lot of tears this week. In fact, I had a melt- down in Wal-mart just the other day. I was not prepared for the huge Father’s Day display that greeted me when I walked in the door. What started off as a few tears, quickly turned into me bawling my eyes out. I must have looked pretty darn pitiful because a random Wal-mart lady gave me a hug.

Something my mom said to me helped me realize that my tears are not me wallowing in self pity. I cry because I miss my dad. I wish he were still here.

 

Summer Storm in Talking Rock

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Yesterday evening, we had a doozy of a small storm. It did not last very long, but it knocked our power out for nine hours. I had just completed a writing assignment for The Content Authority and I had to turn it in. That meant I had to drive to town and find a local hotspot to send it off. I picked Burger King.

I think there must at that a lot of people without power, because shortly after I showed up at Burger King, a ton of people walked in the door. It got so crazy that the manager actually closed dining room. He literally went and locked the doors to keep anyone else from coming in. The problem with that though was when he locked the doors he was actually locking all the dining room customers inside the building. So whenever anyone went to leave they had to unlock the door and had no way of locking it behind them. People kept pouring in.

 

I took a short video of the storm. I thought I would share it with you.

Look at Me Now

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To date, my college experience has been awesome. The staff and faculty are extremely kind and helpful, and I continue to make good grades. I am getting to know the other students, and I’m learning how to be better organized. The assignments I have had so far have really pushed me to look at myself in a different way. I think my favorite assignment so far was the one where I had to decide if I was a lifelong learner or not and what things I needed to do to become a lifelong learner.

The other day, while doing some research for assignment I discovered something. I could get a student ID! Apparently, the college does not routinely send out student IDs to the online students, however, a student can request one. So I did. It has arrived in the mail. Yay!

I am looking forward to taking my student ID and getting a student discount somewhere.

 

Faces, Faces, and Even More Faces

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The response to my I Need Your Face blog post was wonderful. I did try to thank everyone – who sent me their face – individually, however, I am sure that I forgot a few. If you did not get a thank you from me, please know I do appreciate your submission.

I have something very special in mind for all the faces I received, and I will be e-mailing each person who sent me face the details before anyone else gets them. I will be spending the rest of my week working on The Many Faces of Mental Illness project.

I am so excited, because I think it is going to turn out beautifully!

School, Alaska, and a Job

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I have had so much going on lately, and I just do not know where to start. Life has been good, there have been a few tears, and a whole lot of blessings.

 

School

 

School has been going really well. There’s a whole lot for me to learn, but I think I have done well so far. Right now, my GPA is a perfect 4.0. This is actually what it looks like:

Current Points: 228 / 228  =  100%

Next week I have a huge test, it is worth 132 points. I got all my class work done early this week, so I hope to be spending quite a bit of time studying the materials that will be on the test. The first session of the semester is almost over. There are only about three and half weeks left – maybe a smidge less. Next session I will be taking two classes. Those will be review classes. I take my first psychology class in the first session of next semester.

 

Alaska Cruise

 

Originally, the plan had been for us to drive from Georgia to Seattle in get on the cruise ship and drive back home when the cruise is over. I was not completely thrilled with this idea, however, I was not going to say a word against it because, after all, the endpoint would be the cruise. I had actually even started looking at the map so maybe I could put to a vote in to stop at some places I had never been before. Things have changed. I am so glad they have changed. It turns out the cost for a round-trip ticket from Georgia to Seattle and back is fairly inexpensive for some reason. It actually would turn out cheaper for us to fly that would be to drive. So now we’re going to fly to Seattle. Yay! I’m sure that I would have found a way to enjoy the drive, but flying gets us there much faster.

 

The Content Authority

 

Several weeks ago, I filled out an application for The Content Authority. What they do is hire writers to copy-write. Clients will submit work orders to The Content Authority. Those work orders contain key words, and instructions for a set of well written paragraphs. Most of the time these paragraph should be persuasive paragraphs. Generally, the client uses what has been written for them to create webpages, and/or sell a product. It is not very exciting work, but it seems like most of the people who do it enjoy what they’re doing. A couple months ago, I found out that The Content Authority has finally reviewed my application and sample writing and decided I might be a good fit for them.

I get paid by the word, and right now the pay is extremely low. However, I do have the opportunity to work my way up and get paid more. I have already completed my first job assignment, the editors have approved it, and now I’m just waiting for the customer to pick up. I made a whole total of $2.01 for that first assignment. It is $2.01 that I did not have before.

I honestly can’t think of too many times when I’ve had such a great week. Even though the weather is hot, I have enjoyed sitting on the back patio.

I Still Need Your Face

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I am looking for Faces! Your Face! For a project I am working on.

The original post about this project can be found here:

I Need Your Face

The response I have gotten so far has out weighed any expectations I had. I am overwhelmed, touched and blessed by all of you who have submitted a photograph. So many of you have taken the time to share a little of your story with me. Thank you for doing that. You are all so inspiring!

The cut off to send me your face for this round of the project will be Monday, June 13, 2011.

Did you notice I said “this round of the project”? Ya’ll have inspired me to create something a little different than what I intended, something I believe is even better than what I had originally imagined. I am currently setting all the details in place, and will make an announcement when it is all ready.

In the meantime…send me your face! Tell your friends to send me their faces. Men, women, young, and old, lets show the world what the Faces of Mental Illness really look like!

 

I Need Your Face

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Last night, I read a post on WEGO heath, titled The Faces of Mental Illness. It was short, and to the point…

There is no one face of mental illness

and ended with this question…

I think it is important to show the world that all kinds of faces can be associated with mental illness. How about you?

I did not take me long to decide on my answer…

Yes!

I have thought of how I can do my part to show the world the many faces of mental illness. I am literally going to show the faces.

I need your face! and your face! and yours too!

Please send me a picture of you (or your family member with a mental illness), your name (indicate if you want your name shown), and a little statement granting me permission to use your picture on my blog. I will create a blog post using the pictures. The title of the post will be The Many Faces of Mental Illness.

 

Come on and join me! Let’s show the world The Many Faces of Mental Illness!


my email is melissalynnshell@gmail dot com