A Very Busy Week: Pictorial Review

This past week has been full and way fun. I thought you all might enjoy some pictures of the various activities:

Last week we attended our town's second annual Fall for All festival. Crafts and kid's activities, pumpkins, costume contests, bonfire, and food make up the festivities, plus a hay ride to FarmHaven, where you can pet a llama, play in the straw, tour a real log cabin, feed cows, and go through a corn maze. We love FarmHaven.

This is the baby llama. The farmer said he doesn't have a name yet, so I have named him Paco. The farmer doesn't like the name, apparently, as he just smiles indulgently every time I suggest it, but I think he looks like a Paco, don't you?

I got to spend a few days snuggling and gabbing with my favorite twin pixie nieces. I like to nuzzle their bellies and nibble the sweet meat behind their necks. They indulge me, mainly because they're too small to fight me off. Haha!

Tuesday night was pumpkin carving night. The Boy made another El Gapo - he just cannot carve mouths, it always looks like plastic surgery gone wrong. His is the one on the far left, mine is in the middle (it's supposed to be a skull, and it kind of looks like it in the dark when it's lit up) and the Girl's is the right one.

Friday was my Girl's 9th birthday. My favorite little surprise has grown up to be quite the lovely lady.

A very talented friend took pictures of the kiddles yesterday at Dinsmore Homestead in Burlington. It was an absolutely gorgeous place and the pictures are amazing. I wandered around taking pictures of the grounds during the shoot. I really need to mess with the settings on my camera, though - I haven't figured out how to balance the light well on a very bright day. It all comes out looking whitewashed.

Last night some of the family came over to sing happy birthday to the girl. Another very talented friend made the cake, starring the Girl's favorite animal - the flamingo! Gorgeous.

Tomorrow is Halloween, and I need to spend today prodding the Girl to write thank you notes and finishing her costume. I'm kind of wiped from the last weekend, so I'm glad for a day at home. Happy Sunday!

I thought I was supposed to change up the banner from time to time, but I have received many a complaint about the missing kitty butts. They are back, and I apologize for removing them. I do love my kittehs. OOh, let's find a kitteh funny to share:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Lovely October-ness

I've spoken before about October being my favorite month.

Kentucky in October is amazing - the world is drenched in technicolor autumn-ness.

The temperatures have dropped - it's dipping below 50 at night, and I don't want to turn on the heat yet when I know the temperature will rise again.

It's more fun to burrow under blankets, wrap yourself in cats, and drink tea and hot cocoa with marshmallow fluff.

A Rough Time of It.

Sigh of relief.

That is what I am uttering right now, because I have not had a panic attack in a few days.

Because I am a completely open book, mental issues are simply not much the stigma these days, and I already overshare on a relatively public forum, I have never been shy about sharing my experiences with mental illness here. I have mentioned before that I suffer from depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which I have mostly been controlling with medication for 8 years. Quite bluntly, as anyone dealing with this sort of thing knows, it sucks. Because an anxiety attack feels icky. Because if you're not shaking like a leaf, nauseous and sweaty, then you're on the verge of sobbing uncontrollably for no conceivable reason. Because there's always a chance your meds might decide to stop working, or your insurance will stop covering the medication, or some stress will be too much for your current dose. And you feel like "this is a mental issue. I should be able to handle this with some deep breathing and meditation." But I can't.

This past week, something happened and I started panicking on Saturday morning. And kept it up for awhile. I was able to mostly breathe through the attacks, but as someone who has gotten used to controlling the symptoms with medication, I was not dealing well. I lost 12 lbs in one week, because, let's face it, it's difficult to eat when you're nauseous. I talked to the doctor Monday and he said he didn't think it was a med issue, but he changed his mind on Wednesday and upped my dosage a bit. I feel better now. I feel, however, like each time I have another attack, it's a wake-up call that I need to take more control of my own mental health. The meds work great, and I'm thankful, but habitual meditation, better eating and exercize habits, and finally getting off my butt and seeing a psychologist will probably help even more. Something to think about.

Another thing that kills me about this particular disorder is how completely self-centered it makes me. Let's face it, I have to be pretty egotistical to think a bunch of people want to read a blog about me anyway, but when I'm dealing with this? I have friends who were having surgery this past week, and all I could think about was breathing through anxiety attacks and when would they finally stop? Which made me feel a bit like a jerk.

So many people are dealing with mental illness of some sort in their lives. If you suffer from any sort, I hope you realize you are not alone, and take the initiative and get the help you need.

On a lighter note, here is an amusing and apt quote from Rita Mae Brown:

"The statistics on insanity are that one out of every four Americans are suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're ok, then it's you."