Hey everybody. I did something very difficult today. I e-mailed my Japanese host mother telling her about my depression and how it may have affected my time in Japan when I was living with her. I hope she understands. She lived in the US for a long time so I was able to write her in English, thankfully, but I'm still nervous to know what she thinks. She's a very important person to me and I hope she'll understand that many of the problems I experienced in Japan (uncontrollable crying, difficult emotions, sleeping too much...) were most likely because of depression.

I was going to wait until I could talk to her in person, but I decided I really wanted her to know now. I hope this all works out!

Good morning all, it is Friday and that means that I shouldn't have to work. Right??? So here I sit and read 3FC.

Sweetpea, I took a dog training class with one of my huskies many moons ago and the man taught me to meet my dog with my knee when she tried to jump on me. Basically kneeing her in the chest. It definitely worked for her and all others but Kodiak (my stubborn mule doggie). Give it a try. See we are twins.

Leenie, I've very happy your MIL is doing better. I'll still keep her in my thoughts. sorry you have to work at work.

Lessthan, glad you enjoyed the movie, I've never heard of it. What's it about?

desert Dreamer, I'm glad you're back on the wagon. food wise, I keep trying to get back on but the spokes in the wheels keep grabbing my feet and dragging me under. So I'll keep trying and one day I'll be back on board too.

Take care.
Marie

good afternoon gang!

I have been beyond BUSY this week. Don't know if I'm coming or going. I haven't had a chance to read the daily threads but wanted to say HI and let everyone know that I'm here and I'm fine - just too dang busy!

I'll catch up when I can.

hope all is well

hugs,
Cathy

hey all

i slept a lot last night altho i still feel slightly headachy and dizzy. slept 6-8pm then 1am-3am 4 -830am and 9-1030am so lots of sleep 10 hours. i desperately needed it!!!

lessthan - that's good that you wrote but i would like to make you aware that there are big cultural differences and a lot of asians have very low awareness of mental health issues and find them embarrassing to discuss. just thought i would let you know...

marie thanks for that tip. i got the same tip from another msg board and used it yday and today. it requires a bit of athleticism!!! yday i did it a couple of times when she jumped on my front and gave her a nudge with my knee when she persevered and she ran around and jumped on my back so that didn't work. this morning seemed to go better but she jumps high. she's not as big as a huskie but she is very agile. she leaps up as high as my face sometimes. today she jumped up in front of me and from the sides so i had to keep turning to get my knee up and didn't always get there quick enough but she seemed to calm down quicker. however she also started calmer. i said nothing to her and didn't look at her. just kept focusing on getting my knee between her and my body. i will keep trying ...

it seems to work best so far and it will be a huge relief as i honestly have wanted to slap her silly LOL

Good Morning Chicklets,

Whats everyone doing this beautiful Saturday?

I'm okay, sosdd.... how are you ?

Time to back track and read up on y'all.

HUGS !!!!

sunday morning here and i am off for the 5.6km "fun" walk. see you all soon (tired and sore)

leenie what is sosdd

Hi Guys. How's everyone holding up today? Great, I hope.

Sweet Pea, I hope your walk went great today! How's the med thing working out so far? It sounds like you've gotten in some sleep, wonderful news!!! Look forward to hearing about your walk later today. Be well!

Leenie, how's your weekend so far? I hope to see you around more this week, miss ya.

Marie, yeah getting back on that food wagon is alot harder for me than the exercise one that is for sure. It feels good to be in control of my eating again. I wish there was a way to take out the part of my brain that makes me wanna binge. No such luck tho', is there?

lessthan, any word back from your Japanese friend? I hope that she was able to understand what you were trying to convey to her and she will be happy with your progress so far.

Cathy, hope you've found some down time today. Sounds like work has kept you ultra busy the last few days. Wanted to thank you for the great links you posted regarding thyroid issues, they were so informative. I've been trying to get my mom to get hers checked as she was diagnosed with bipolar about 6 years ago. She seems to have issues with all her medications, they work for awhile and then she's gotta find something else when they quit. Am considering having mine done again if I can't get things resolved with medications and the weight doesnt come off. Luckily my dr is extremely supportive and will pretty much do what I ask. Will let ya know the outcome of med changes in the coming week. Thanks again for all your wisdom and for caring enough to share it with us.

Well ladies, time for me to get something accomplished around here. Make today a great day!

Hey everybody. I haven't heard back yet from my Japanese host mother, but I'm not too worried. She lived in the US for many years so I think if anyone over there would understand, it would be her She's a very busy person so it'll probably be awhile before I hear back from her.

Today has been really good! I went out for lunch with my parents, and then I had to work. I'm a lifeguard at our local pool, but nobody comes during the winter. I'm not really sure why they even keep it open. I swam laps for about a lil' over an hour and it felt great! It's good to get some variety in my working out.

I've decided that I want to buy a new bike today. I need one for college (I'm going to a HUGE school so a bike's a must!!), and I also was thinking it'd be a nice way to not only get back into shape but to save money on gas. I rode my bike all the time in Japan and loved it so maybe I can get back into that here in the US. The ride isn't as exciting, though. Small towns are pretty dull.

Have a great day!

good afternoon gang!

no down time today, but I did get in 3 miles this morning while washing clothes and then picked up around the house. We had a wedding this afternoon that we went to and then we stayed and helped clean up, so we are just getting home and I need to work on my lesson for tomorrow.

Danielle - I'm glad the thyroid info was of interest to you. Please let me know if and when you run the tests and what the results are. I have been working on thyroid stuff all week. Two moms had the right tests run on their teens and got the results this week and found the thyroid problem, so I stayed busy with lots of conversations on that, but I love doing this stuff. Feels like everything we have been thru is for a reason...ya know?

Hey <3 - someday you are gonna have to tell us about your username - why did you pick <3? swimming some laps sounds good. I haven't been a pool in so long.

Hey April - boy that must be a lot of cleaning. Enjoy your visit tomorrow!

Hey Leenie - did you catch up on the posts? I didn't even try bec I got so far behind.

Hey Sweetpea - how did the 5.k walk go? was it fun? hope you are not too sore

ok gang, I gotta get off of here. hope everybody has a great weekend.

hugs,
cathy

I learned something today. Walking is boring. It was a 5.6km walk and dead boring. I found it hard for lots of reasons. There wasn’t much to look at, I was walking on my own, it’s twice as far as I’ve walked recently and I was sore before I started. I always knew I walked slowly but so many people past me I became increasingly depressed as the walk progressed. By the end I was completely over walking. I’ve decided that dancing is much more fun. It costs more but it’s something I enjoy.

SweetPea, I love to walk but with my dogs and/or DH. I would hate to walk alone. That would be boring. Very boring. I love dancing though too. But DH has 2 left feet. He trips me and when we took a dance class we found the reason he can't dance is that he has no rhythm. Hence, we gave up. Walking works for us both.

Cathy, today I'm going to order the 5 milke WATP. Talked to DH and he thought that variety would be good and keep me motivated. So I will go to Leslie's site and buy it. Yesterday I did the 1 and the 2 mile walk that I have and it took 50 minutes whereas it takes you only 32 minutes. I look forward to that.

Went shopping on the other side of the mountain yesterday. Had a good time and got away from the soap opera that I live in. That was a good thing.

I talked with DS2 who on Friday graduated from Air Force Basic Training. Tonight he leaves San Antonio for Mississippi where he'll be until November. He's excited to start this next stage.

Well, I'm going to knit and sew today. Sounds like a good way to relax.
Marie

good afternon chickadees

Marie - you are gonna love the new dvd. It took mine about 2 weeks to come in. Let me know how you like it!
How did your son say that Basics went with the Air Force. My DS2's good friend is there now and also heading to San Antonio next and then to Mississippi. I think he had culture shock when he got there but seems to be doing better now. It must be pretty tough tho.

Sweetpea - so sorry you did not like walking. at least you know now. I love walking but I always walk along - have no idea if I would like walking with other people. I use to walk at the mall during my lunch hour and sometimes friends would meet me to walk and I didn't really care for that bec I had to wait on them or they would want to stop and look at something and when I make up my mind to walk - well I need to walk ;-) What kind of dancing do you like to do?

Where is the rest of our gang today?

hugs,
Cathy

hey there
monday here! i feel ok after the walk. i slept really well last night so my muscles are no sorer than normal (i usually have sore muscles / aches)

i was tempted to nap yday but didn't. i lay down but didn't sleep so last night i was super tired after getting up at 5am and then bed at 11pm. amazingly the bed is pretty much ok this morning. usually i am so restless taht the blankets are a mess and the sheet is pulled out of the end of the bed. what a miracle. you know if i woke like this every morning i might actually have a life!!! altho i can feel the tiredness behind it. i am not fully refreshed but a heck of a lot better than usual

i love ballroom and latin dancing, disco (hehe), salsa that sort of thing. i love just "freestyling". i learned ballet and modern dance as a kid/teen and i was never so keen on ballet. with the ballroom i like the faster dances like the quickstep more than the slow ones. but as i get more advanced i will probably enjoy them more!

marie walking with the dogs is great when they are well behaved but the puppy is bad news. she was ok in the country but there are too many exciting things for her to look at in town. too much stimulation. i have her on a halti but i have to stop every few steps as she tries to pull it off or roll on the ground. if i manage to keep her walking she tries to nudge me or the other dog to get the halti off. having said that she is better with the halti than a normal collar but it is still tiresome. i have learned to just stop and hold the lead so she can't get the halti off and then keep her walking. also to say nothing. when i was telling her no each time she tried to get it off i went to pat the other dog and she cringed thinking she was the one in trouble *sigh* such a sensitive girl

marie - i didn't know you live in a soap opera lol cute. i still think we're twins. esp with the bipolar tendency! hmmm i love shopping but the shops here are a bit boring. when i go to akl (2 hrs away) i go slightly crazy!

i'd like to write a sitcom that has a bipolar or depressed or anxious person as a central character. any thoughts?

off to the post office to collect a painting my mother's cousin has sent me. hmmm bet it is lovely

Hey everybody!!

Cathy - I picked my name because my friends and I would always say "I <3 you" over the net, in a friendly way, and I thought it was cute

Today I had to lifeguard again, and therefore, I swam! Some people were there to swim today, though, so I couldn't swim as long. It felt good, again

My host mom e-mailed today, too. She understood my problems and it was good to hear from her again! She told me that my host sister graduated from high school on Friday so I'm going to send a graduation card.

Sweet Pea - Have you seen the show "Monk"? I'm not sure how much American TV you have in New Zealand, if any at all, but it's a show about a detective who is OCD and is afraid of just about everything but then he somehow gets the bravery to catch the bad guys and save the day. It's really cute! Maybe something like that, where the main character overcomes their internal issues to solve external conflicts or to help others? It's a thought. Good luck <333