My mom loves birds...

Childhood songs:

"There was a little bird and he had a yellow bill.
I lured him in on my windowsill.
I fed him with,
crumbs of bread...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Then I SMASHED his little head."

"Turkeys trotting down the lane
down the lane
down the lane
Turkeys trotting down the lane
Watch out Thanksgiving day.

Don't go near the house today
house today
house today
Don't go near the house today
Oh turkey, run away!"

Rearranged the office today. Got some stuff done. Painted another picture. Ran out of canvas. Also groomed my husband. See, he had this hair, at least an inch long, coming out of his forehead, near his eyebrows. I couldn't take it any longer. Bye, bye hair, just like Mom's birdies...

Oh yes, and the range arrived today. I don't know what I think about it. It's just so...clean, black and menacing--like it's waiting to mess up my cookies or something.

Oh yes, and husband got his berry pie last night from his mom. He's so spoiled.

Depression vs. Stress--What I learned from my EAP

I learned a lot from using my EAP tonight. I learned that all of my crying is more to do with STRESS than it is with DEPRESSION. This is good news, as I was afraid I was in need of medication or something.

How do you know you are stressed? My symptoms include:
-hunched shoulders
-neck, back pain
-lower energy
-trying to finish other people's sentences
-the urge or ability to cry often
-inability to focus
-taking on extra work
-working early, late hours

The good news is that I can change my life--the bad news is that I have to sit down and chat with my boss about it. I have fears of being looked as like I am a failure or that I'm a pansy. I also need to recognize that peoples' lives changing around me is a good thing--but that my want for changing is more just to avoid the stressors that I face. I need to deal with my current stressors in order to become more successful at what I do, not run away or add to them.

What is also helpful is that Mr.Catman has agreed that he has seen the symptoms too.

Also--getting the new range tomorrow evening. I'm hoping to see it all set up by the time I get home...happy, happy, joy, joy.

Ding, Dong the Range is Dead

It is broken. It's about 20 years old. We figure it's time to buy a new one. What do you think of this?


Photo Courtesy of HowStuffWorks.com

P.S. Best quote today: "Happy Wife, Happy Life."

A Catching Up Post

We're back from Italy. It was awesome. We went to Amalfi Coast, Ravello, Capri, Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, Naples, Florence, Rome.

We had a 1-day cooking class outside of Rome. Learned how to make pumpkin lasagna, gnocchi, veal scaloppini...deeelish.

Saw the most beautiful sights, ate delicious food (especially in Florence), enjoyed the world's best made wine, etc. Just breathed in a lot of life's adventures...

Since then, we've been back, trying to recooperate. I went to Omaha for a conference for 4 days and am now trying to catch up on all of the things that were put off for the past month and a half.

Stress is coming too often and am searching for things to relieve it. Perhaps slapping plants?

Don't know. Just know that stress is bad and makes me cry at no particular times. I have been keeping myself in outside of work, only because I feel completely volatile right now. As long as I can find an outlet for the stress, all is well.

We're going to my cousin's wedding next weekend. I hope that'll help me destress....

Had a wonderful day with Cristi and Bummie today. We just did some shopping, but we had a great time. Today is Cristi's birthday and Kevin and Di's anniverary. We think they're back from their vacation, but we're giving them some space. Hopefully, we'll all get to catch up soon.