Month: May 2008

  • Thursday Thirteen #20

    (Since I've been through so much stress lately, I thought it might be helpful to think about those things that are the most stressful to me.  Actually, it only reaffirmed the fact that, despite my mature adult status, certain things truly drive me over the top!)

    Thirteen Things
    That
    "STRESS ME OUT"


    1.  Being in a crowd of people like at the state fair, Wal-Mart on a Saturday, the mall, etc.

    2.  REALLY concentrating hard to learn something new and STILL not getting it.  Or, thinking I understand and finding out I don't - not at all.

    3.  Running late in the morning when I'm supposed to be somewhere.  This only happens in the morning because I'm not a "morning person."  AND, it happens more often than I'd like to admit.

    4.  Watching my Suburban's "current miles per gallon"  reading and seeing it dip down to 10mpg.  I "coast" as much as possible without applying the brakes until the last minute (after coasting).  I try not to give the car unnecessary gas, when I know I'll have to apply the brakes to slow down for another car or a stop light.  I try to keep the reading at 15mpg and above, except for starting up from a stop.  Much of my "coasting" reads 43 - 65mpg - yay! for me.  BUT, with gas prices being what they are and the fact I drive a tank-size vehicle, I feel very panicky during windy days on the highway when the reading stays right at 10mpg or less!

    5.  I detest (absolutely despise) messing up a recipe.  I get so upset.  *I* like to eat good food and I enjoy "serving" people good food.  Usually the mess-up comes from my having done something stupid.

    6.  Tango (our cockatiel) screeching continuously while I'm trying to watch one of the few TV shows I enjoy watching, or when I'm on an important phone call.

    7.  My girls bickering all day, non-stop, or being tattle tales.

    8.  BEING OVERHEATED!!!  This one is capitalized because it's probably #1 on my list of things that really stress me out.  I get very claustrophobic feeling when I can't cool down.

    9.  When I'm in a hurry and have to go through an automated answering system to get to the correct person.  How many times have I pushed "1", then "3", and then "1", then "5", etc. only to end up at the wrong place - or, worse yet, be disconnected?  No "worse yet" would be getting a final recording of, "I'm sorry, our offices are closed."  Had I not had to push 92 million numbers to get to someone, and had they answered the call when I first dialed, they probably would have still been open!!!

    10.  Forgetting things I've just been told (like a number or name) or something I was supposed to do (like taking my "to do" list with me!).

    11.  Loosing patience with my children, especially with Luci and her fits or Annamarie and her inability to learn easily.  I KNOW I'm supposed to remain calm, but I have difficulty.  Frequently, I sound VERY calm on the outside, but my insides are protesting being patient.

    12.  The beat in rock music AND someone "singing" lyrics of which I'm not able to understand one single word.

    13.  Having a number of errands to run on the north and south sides of town and realizing, when I get back here (to the south side), that there was something REALLY important I forgot to do on the other side of town.  And . . . HAVING to go back because it HAS TO BE done!  That's a waste of gas AND my time.

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  • News and No Thursday Thirteen

    I find myself rushing around again this morning with no Thursday Thirteen prepared!  I miss my list of 13 thoughts or things and will try (later in the day) to come up with something.

    My doctor visit went fine, yesterday.  He actually thought I was doing VERY WELL under the stressful factors that are currently presenting themselves in my life.  I didn't tell him anything except for the "highlights," and I left the fact that I'm chauffeuring Stephanie to work (and watching JanaLyn while her mom's AT work) out of my saga drama.  I felt like I blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blahed him to death, but this is one of the most patient doctors I've met and he didn't make me feel like I was a bother. 

    He doubled the medicine I take at night to make me sleep soundly (an antidepressant) and he said the fact it was an antidepressant/anxiety type of drug should help me during the day.  HOWEVER, he agreed that there were extenuating circumstances (because of Luci) that spike my anxiety levels during the day and gave me a prescription for something that is to be used on those occasions only.  It's not Valium or Xanax, but something similar and a little "safer," according to him.  The most scary thing for me was my blood pressure reading.  It was 150/90.  My normal has always been 104/64.  BUT, he reassured me he didn't think I had high blood pressure problems, per se.  Just lots of stress and anxiety that made my blood pressure go up when the stressors peaked.  His plan is to treat the anxiety and see if that doesn't fix the blood pressure reading.  He felt my problem was more anxiety than depression, but explained that when a person has such a high level of anxiety, they can mentally shut down (to avoid the stress) and exhibit depressive-type feelings.  Interesting medical babble, but it made sense to me and certainly describes what I believe is happening to me.

    Today, I'm picking up Stephanie at 10:30ish to get her to work by 11am.  She is working until 2pm and I asked if I could go back to her apartment with the four girls to eat lunch and do homeschooling until it's time to pick her up.  With gas prices being high, and me driving a Suburban, I just can't justify the drive back to my house - then doing it again to pick her up 3 hours later.

    Another thing, the doctor (yesterday) agreed that Luci's condition (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) isn't treatable with medication.  He said behavior modification is the best treatment and that comes from good parenting.  Like the therapist said, he felt staying on top of Luci's behavior and giving her consequences was the best route.  I am going to ANOTHER medical doctor for a third opinion tomorrow.  I want to get HIS opinion on Luci being treated with medicine.  The therapist and my medical doctor believe she needs to learn to control herself without medication.  We'll see what tomorrow's M.D. says.  She has a May 29th appointment with her regular doctor (the one who prescribes tons of medicine for every ailment to everyone), and I'll discuss UN-medicating her, IF tomorrow's doctor is in agreement with my doctor and the girls' therapist.

    I think that's about all the news that's of any interest to anyone following my life!!!

    We had muffins, turkey sausage, and eggs for dinner last night.  Tonight it's chili dogs.  I've really not had time to cook much this past week.  We are trying to shave money off of the grocery bill.  I DID find out the Wal-Mart up by Stephanie's and the therapist's office charges more for things than the Wal-Mart down the highway from me!  I thought they priced things consistently with other Wal-Marts, but apparently things are priced competitively according to neighborhoods and how much money they think they can extract from a given socio-economic group.  I'm in the lower-end group according to my address, I guess!

    Bye!