Monthly Archives: December 2021

Grateful to be Home

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I am back home in Seattle. I got back home from Olympia yesterday. I am so glad to be home. Billie is back home with me as of yesterday evening. My apartment was colder than it was outside when I arrived home. When I got home it was 22degrees Fahrenheit outside and inside my apartment it was 19degrees Fahrenheit. The weather in the Seattle area sucks shite right now. Snow and ice are no fun.

I had a great Christmas with both sides of my family. I just wish I could of seen my brother when I was down in Olympia visiting my mom’s side of the family. My brother is in Oregon visiting his dad for the holidays. Best part of the holidays was that there was barely any family drama.

I’m so happy to be on vacation as I was able to get my Covid-19 vaccine booster shot today. The only responsibility I have till Sunday morning is taking care of Billie. I am so happy can just lay back and do nothing. Not sure what I am going to do the rest of my vacay as I want to see how my body responds to the Covid-19 booster shot.

I do not have much more to talk about in this particular blog post. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it weren’t for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Happy New Years and Peace Out, World!!!

Intro to Poetry; Day 4: Journey

Posted on by Gertie

Untitled Poem

by Gertie

Life is meant to be a journey;

a journey that is meant to be full of

love and support.

Love and support many people

sadly don’t have.

Some don’t have the

love and support

due to mental health and/or addiction.

That’s where peers come

in;

to give hope

as well as love and support.

Peer Support is key to

ones journey to

recovery.

Everyday Inspiration; Day 4: A Story in a Single Image

Posted on by Gertie
Billie’s first night home giving me a hug as he lays on my lap and chest.

Todays, “assignment” was to tell a story of an image. WordPress gave four images to choose from in which didn’t inspire me to write. So, I picked one that would. I picked one of my cat Billie Dean’s first evening at home with me. He is laying on me sleeping and it looks like he is giving me a hug.

Billie inspires me every single day especially when the symptoms of my depression increase. He inspires me to keep going. He is an inspiration because, he helps me stay focused on what I need to do to stay in Recovery. I love my cat and I love being in recovery. So that is why Billie is an inspiration.

Intro to Poetry; Day 3: Friend

Posted on by Gertie

Billie Dean the Kat

by Gertie

Billie Dean the Kat is a cat.

A cat that is not only a family member

but my best friend.

Some say cats are only pets or animals but

cats are both family and friends.

That is why my cat, Billie is my

friend.

Everyday Inspiration; Day 3: One-Word Inspiration

Posted on by Gertie

Choice

Choice is the word I chose to be my inspiration to write about. Choice is a loaded word. For me choice is the reason why I am here today. I made the choice to be in active recovery. I made the choice to continue living in Seattle where I have an awesome job helping others with their recovery journey and an amazing volunteer job where I help cats get their furrever homes.

To me being able to make my own choices helps me keep hope alive in my own self. It helps me keep the hope alive in myself because helps make the decisions or choices to stay in recovery. Staying in recovery is what is important to me. It’s important to me because I want to help others with their recovery. It’s important to me because I want to be here for my cat, Billie. It’s important to me because I want to make sure other cats get their furrever home. So the choice to stay in recovery is what keeps me alive. That’s why I chose the work choice. Life is nothing but choices.

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Enjoy vacation
  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Walk around Capital Lake (in Olympia, Washington) while listening to music
  • Do art work while listening to a philosophy podcast
  • Read a book I got for Christmas

Monday

  • Enjoy vacation
  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Walk around Capital Lake (in Olympia, Washington) while listening to music
  • Do art work while listening to a philosophy podcast
  • Read a book I got for Christmas
  • Pack to go back home to Seattle on Tuesday

Tuesday

  • Enjoy vacation
  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Travel by train back home to Seattle, Washington while listening to music
  • Arrive home and unpack
  • Get meds from pharmacy
  • Watch a movie

Wednesday

  • Enjoy vacation
  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Get Covid-19 vaccine booster
  • Billie, my cat arrives home from my grandpa’s as grandpa watched him when I was in Olympia
  • Cuddle with my cat Billie while watching a movie

Thursday

  • Enjoy vacation
  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Do art work while listening to philosophy podcast
  • Read a book I got for Christmas

Friday

  • Enjoy vacation
  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Go for a walk around Greenlake (in Seattle, Washington) while listening to music
  • Read book I got for Christmas
  • Do art work while listening to a philosophy podcast
  • Bring in the New Year cuddling with my cat Billie while watching a movie

Saturday

  • Happy New Year’s (2022)
  • Enjoy vacation
  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Walk around Greenlake (in Seattle, Washington) while listening to music
  • Watch movies all day while cuddling with my cat, Billie

It’s Been a Great Christmas

Posted on by Gertie

Merry Christmas, World!!! It is still Christmas in my corner of the world known as Olympia, Washington. I am currently in Olympia as I spent part of today, Christmas, visiting with my mom and two uncles. My brother sadly was not present as he is visiting his dad today. I missed having my brother around but I’m grateful he is having a fun time with his dad.

Speaking of dads, my dad is visiting my grandpa and my two uncles who live about twenty miles north of Seattle. I spent Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family because that when we celebrate Christmas as one of my uncles was born on Christmas. When my uncle was born on Christmas Day, my grandparents made the decision to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and keep Christmas Day a special day for my uncle and just celebrate him as it is his birthday. In fact my uncles and grandpa are taking care of my cat Billie as I am in Olympia.

Going back to today, I had a great time with my mom’s side of the family. We had an awesome dinner and Denny’s. I was also able to walk around Capital Lake this evening with a friend who lives here in Olympia. In fact it started snowing here in Olympia as my friend and I were walking.

Going back to yesterday, Christmas Eve, I had a great time with my dad’s side of the family celebrating Christmas. We had an awesome dinner of lasagna. I know it’s not the “typical” Christmas dinner but it doesn’t matter just as long as I am spending it with my loved ones.

I do not have much more to say in this particular post except that miss my cat and can’t wait to see him when I get home in a couple of days. I would also like to thank you for reading my blog. It is really appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Merry Christmas and Peace Out, World!!!

Everyday Inspiration; Day 2: Write a List

Posted on by Gertie

Things I’ve Learned

  • I learned coping skills to deal with the symptoms of my mental health diagnoses
  • I learned Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skill which helped save my life
  • I learned the meaning of recovery and how to be in recovery with the help of others
  • I learned how to be resilient
  • I learned how to hope for better things in my life
  • I learned how to play the flute
  • I am learning to play the harmonica
  • I am learning about philosophy by listening to a podcast about philosophy