DH received a jar of home made strawberry jam (with rum) as a thank you from one of the neighbours yesterday. DH snowblows out a bunch of parking spots on the street after every storm. He was quite pleasantly surprised that someone positively acknowledged his actions (other than me of course).

So it's a big day today. DH's 51st birthday, house offers, Miss Poppy's (the dog) last day, and I'm walking 21 dogs today. Whew! I'm going to try to keep breathing and keep moving and get through all of this and still be standing tonite.

Dagmar

As someone who's such a regular on their futons that she's probably helped several professionals in that line of work buy new cars, I can tell you that a good therapist has helped keep me remarkably functional through some awful bouts of stress. I hope you get a good one right off. Otherwise it's a bit like dating till you find the right one. When I first got one, it took me a few sessions to figure out how to use my time with her most effectively. This will probably surprise you because of the way I post here, but at that time, I was not used to being so honest and forthcoming. That was something I learned, to allow myself to be vulnerable before others. But I had to do it in a completely safe atmosphere first. Therapy has offered me an objective reality check: If a behavior sounds extreme when I am describing it to the therapist, probably I ought to take a closer look at it. I've used therapy for rehearsal of difficult situations, for strategizing, for venting, for breaking down. When I'm most resistant to going is when I most need to go. Your experience will differ, I am sure, but that's how it worked for me. I try to bring the fearful and painful things to each session. The most time-wasting session are when I've got nothing and feel just neutral. Usually I'm burying something then that I don't want to look at. The therapist won't do all the work for you: You need to work the therapy sessions to get the most from them.

Morning all,

I'm a bit frustrated by the weather this morning. Dense fog kept us from heading out to do field work for a project that I'm in charge of, and due many other responsibilities, I have not idea when/if we can go out again anytime soon. It happens a lot this time of year. Grumble. I'm trying not to let general tiredness get to me today. Once again I'm a bit behind on sleep. In short, same old, same old here.

Steph, I guess I would rather be doing the activities even if they stress me out, too, at least some of them. In an ideal world I'd have more time to slow down and process and enjoy the experience in the moment. But I suppose I'm not the only person to have this problem.

Sorry you are experiencing so much right now. I hope you find a therapist you can connect with and find help from. Making an appointment sounds like a good first step. Did you ever hear back from the job interview/find out if they could offer you more money? (Did I miss it?)

Dagmar, it is nice when some one gives you a genuine thank-you, isn't it? Good luck getting through the day today.

Bill, I could use some mindful eating skills right now. Easier said than done.

Anyone have any new healthy slow cooker recipes to post???

Have a good day all.

Happy Birthday, Dagmar!!!

I'll have to look for some healthy slow cooker recipes. It'll give me something to do today!

We're getting closer to moving day! I've been making mental notes of what needs to be done, what should be moved first, etc. It's exhausting and we haven't even started! Today we're meeting with the guy doing the network wiring so we can tell him exactly where we need this, that and the other thing. I hope it all gets done to my tech guy's specifications as I don't want issues when we go to move our equipment. I really should have had my tech guy do this part, but DH chose the guy who is there to do phones and security (he owns a company that does all that kind of stuff and he did our house).

Megan-- I could have written this. I definitely destress in yoga-- sometimes I feel it carrying over to the rest of my life-- other times-- not so much. My endocrinologist changed my thyroid meds a couple of weeks ago because my levels were too high-- he asked if I was feeling anxious-- I almost laughed.... no more than usual!

Steph-- hugs to you. When do you see the therapist? Saef gave you great advice about finding a therapist you like. We found a family one that has been a godsend for my two daughters. When we originally went, we thought we were going for one daughter, and the other daughter broke down and opened up, and we realized she was having more issues! Now that they are both at college, my older dd still has phone sessions with him, and sees him when she's in town. My younger dd hasn't spoken to him, but knows he is there if/when she needs him.

Dagmar-- wow! You will be emotionally drained after today for sure! Good luck with everything and I'm so very sorry about the loss of the doggie. I'm glad you were able to give extra hugs and kisses yesterday.

I jinxed myself by saying I was a tad under my redline because I shot up 1.5 pounds overnight. Sigh.... weight lifting yesterday at the gym which I haven't done is several weeks due to my cold/cough so I'm hoping that is the culprit.

Dh leaves today for Belgium so I'm on my own for awhile again.....

Speaking of recipes, does anyone know of good ones using PB2? I bought some on a whim and now I'm not sure how to use it. Most of the recipes I have seen online involve PB2 and then a cup of oil, which kind of defeats the purpose, imo.

My weight is up today, it is 8:30 and I'm already starving. It's going to be a long day!

I have slow cooker recipes to put up, I've just gotten caught up in crazy since last week and haven't gotten them perfected yet. I'm working on them today.

So I've been searching for healthy slow cooker recipes and really dislike the fact that some "only" cook for 3 or 4 hours. Um, I thought the whole point was to put it in before work to have it ready when you get home from work. Who works only 4 hours?

In other news, we have our sign up at our new building! sign Our guys are all in the shop and are making a HUGE amount of noise and dust as they load the first truckload of stuff to take over.

I'm back from vacation. Got back at 5 AM, slept until 10, went outside and saw my car had been towed, so that was fun. Got to work and NO COFFEE ANYWHERE - at this point it was just farcical. Drinking coffee now and life seems manageable.

We had an amazing time. Garbo's Grill tacos were great, thanks michele for that recommendation. I had Key Lime pie every day and got too much sun - my fav winter lipstick now looks garish and strumpetlike.

alinnell That sign looks great! Do any slow cookers have self-timer options, where they start at X o'clock?

WardHog I love PB2 - I like to make peanut sauce for stir-fries with it. I mix it with water, a little soy sauce, a drop of chili oil or hot pepper flakes, and lots of lemon or lime juice. I also find stirring it into Greek yogurt is good.

michele Sorry you're off to a rough start today...may the rest of the week go better for you.

Megan I had a lovely time in your home state. I hope the fog and workload both lift soon and you can catch up on sleep, life is so much more manageable when you've gotten enough winks...

Dagmar Gracious neighbors you have, and now delicious jam. I am sorry to hear of the loss of your long-term labfriend.

Steph I hope you find a good therapist. I don't know any recs for our area but if I find any, I'll shoot you a PM. Hugs

Sheila Your week sounds like it started off great! Hope that continues.

bargoo Your neighbors sound a bit socially stunted. Who stands around expecting someone with a nosebleed to engage them 100% in conversation?

Bill Holy moly! 26 inches! My boyfriend is from northeast CT and his family were sending tons of "F U for being in sunny Key West" texts while we were in the Keys.

saef, thanks for the input. Honestly, I think I've avoided therapy because I know it will be hard. And all my problems seem either banal or embarrassing, so I am loathe to pay someone to listen to me talk about them. But I'm trying to make positive changes and I know change takes work.

krampus, I'm glad you had a good vacation. It sounds like you had a worse than usual first day back, though - sheesh!

Allison, lovely sign! I hope your new digs work out well.

Michele, your upward bounce was probably a result of weight lifting. But at least your cold is finally gone!

Dagmar, I hope you made it through what had to be an emotional and tiring day.

Megan, here's wishing you clear skies and more sleep.

I thought of you all today when I saw a slow cooker recipe magazine at the grocery store checkout.

Still no word on what I was hoping would be my new job. I got an email from the partner last week saying he was busy and hadn't been able to meet with the others to discuss my counteroffer (which really wasn't unreasonable!). He asked me to be patient but - AARGH.

I've got the State of the Union on and all I'm going to say is that I like Michele Obama's bangs. She is such a beautiful woman.

Allison, I like your sign and the neighborhood looks great, too.

Allison, great sign, and I like the name of the street. How cool to be on Entrepreneur Lane.

Dagmar, 21 dogs--that sounds exhausting. I'm so sorry about Miss Poppy. Losing our animal friends is so hard.

Megan, too bad about the fog. I know you want to get out there and get going.

Michele, weight lifting always make the scale go up for me.

Steph, I agree about Mrs. Obama. And her arms. . .those arms are what I'm working toward.

Krampus, bummer about the car being towed, but it sounds like you had a wonderful time in FL. And you got in plenty of fruit, I see!

Our regular TRX teacher was back after a week of substitutes, and I'm sore today. That's a good thing. Tomorrow is my last TRX class (our LiveStrong program ends) until I get a Medicare advantage or supplement plan that includes the Silver Sneakers program. That way I don't have to pay for a membership. My DH is going to join, though, because he needs the structure. I have a lot of home equipment, and I was exercising on my own up until the LiveStrong program started anyway. And now I know a lot more TRX exercises. So I should be okay for the (hopefully) short time before I change insurance.

And $100 (yes that's one hundred dollars) over asking too!

I feel like someone has lifted a 200 lb. rock off my chest. Fingers crossed everything proceeds smoothly until the end of March - closing - and then the adventure of buying my own first house ever begins!

Now DH and I can both start dieting in earnest . After the wine and cake on Saturday night.

Dagmar

Dagmar , congratulations on the house sale ! That went amazingly fast !