Top Ten Reasons I haven't posted

In honor of David Letterman I decided to write my top ten reasons, or excuses why I haven't posted in months.

10. My husband accidentally spilled a glass of water on my laptop.

9. I now share a laptop with my daughter, which features a broken space bar, a dog chewed electical cord, held together with black electrical tape and a prayer.

8.The small computer repair company which is supposed to be fixing my laptop has recently changed it's name from wefixum to westoreum.

7. In this godforsaken US economy I don't have the ability to buy that new MAC I dream of.

6. The Internet is changing, grandparents and toddlers are friending me on facebook. I never wanted people I know in real life to read this blog because of my confessional style of writing.

5. Because of the confessional nature of my writing, at times I don't want anyone to read it.

4. Depression, the beast with 3 heads and no heart, has been occupying much of time.

3. I have an outside the house job now.

2. I have SEVEN dogs!

1. I was busy having an affair with David Letterman!

RIP

Wild Animals want to join my pack...

This groundhog stayed on my mailbox for over an hour. I almost had to sedate the dogs. Called animal control, the police, my husband, no one came. The guy at fish and wildlife told me to whack it with something. Nice, thoughtful wildlife official, what did he have in mind? A shovel. Eventually the groundhog just left. We will never know what he wanted.

Closed for the Season

Damn. I was so in the mood for a Monster Truck Ride.

Tips for Dealing With Depression

* Take part in at least one pleasurable activity each day

*Don't isolate yourself from family and friends. Find someone you can talk to. Hang out with happy positive people. Join a social or religious group. Take a class. Volunteer.

*Try not to worry about things you can't control.

*Identify and correct negative thoughts. Consider counseling/therapy to help correct negative views of self, the world and the future.

*Avoid turning to destructive habits such as compulsive eating, alcohol, or drugs, which will always leave you worse off in the end.

*Get a pet! Spend some time listening to or playing music.

*Exercise is a great treatment that is often as, or more, effective than medication. Consider starting with a 10 minute a day walk and gradually increasing to 30 minutes a day. An organized exercise class may be helpful as it has the added benefit of providing interaction with others.

*Good Nutrition is important, especially a diet with lots of omega-3's fatty acids such as those found in fish. A diet containing minimal amounts of starch and sugar prevents drops in blood sugar that can affect mood.

*Get regular and adequate sleep.

*At least 30 minutes of sunlight per day can boost your body's production of the feel-good hormone serotonin.

* A good daily multivitamin containing adequate folic acid, B-vitamins, magnesium, vitamin- D and zinc is important. (Low levels of vitamin D have been linked with depression in some studies)

*Studies suggest that St. John's Wort(600-900 mg daily divided in two doses; use with caution, as interacts with numerous medications) SAM-e (200-400 mg daily) omega-3 fatty acids (6-8 capsules daily), and 5-HTP (precursor to serotonin; take 50-150mg at bedtime) may help particularly for milder forms of depression.

*Realize that some creative people do their most innovative work when depressed, because feeling down forces us to grapple with the difficult realities of life. Remember: You may be living in the nightime now, but morning will come. You will get better!

www.depression.org
www.twloha.com
www.hopeline.com
www.nimh.nih.gov

Snow Day

Unexpected snow storm last night and during the day. Nice to have the family home with me all day. The dogs loved it, the snow really energizes their play.

By The Dog's Early Light

This sweet girl is the primary offender in the secret war on sleep that my dogs are conducting. She is crated in my bedroom along with two other dogs. The rest of the dogs just freestyle sleep around the bedroom.

If not crated, she would pee and poo the night away, but at least maybe we could sleep a little longer…

She has a deep rich bark that can penetrate even the deepest Ambien induced coma. She also uses her powerful footsies to rattle her cage in a most disturbing manner.

She’s a cattle dog and unfortunately, we have no cattle. Still she heeds the call of her breeding around 5ish. Just as those first pink streaks appear in the sky she begins the assault on our senses. She has to get to work damn it. The cows are on the move or something.