Monthly Archives: September 2023

An Unexpected Day Off

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World from Seattle!!! Well, it is still morning in Seattle. I am taking the day off unless my supervisor says it is okay to do notes from home as I take care of my grandpa. I doubt my supervisor will say yes but it is always worth asking. I might do a handful of notes even if my supervisor says no because I don’t want to get behind on them.

On another note, I get to spend time with my grandpa but sadly not as long as I would have liked to as my two uncles and I are splitting up in shifts to take care of my grandpa. I love my grandpa so much and I admit I am a spoiled brat from my grandpa as I am an only grandchild on my dads side of the family. I love spending time with my 93 year old grandpa especially since he and my grandma helped my dad raise me. I miss my grandma so very much. I am extremely grateful that at the age of 44 that I still have a grandparent alive.

Of course after helping my grandpa out, I will be hanging out with a friend who will be treating me to lunch at my favorite restaurant of Red Robin here in the Seattle area. I love Red Robin and I always get the same thing which is a Whisky Rive Barbeque Burger with extra cheddar cheese and onion strings. I also love me some endless fries with campfire sauce. Another plus side to spending time with a very good friend.

When I get home from helping my grandpa and having lunch with my friend, I will be hanging out with my cat as well as spending time with a neighbor who happens to be a great friend. My friend and I will be working on some crafting as well as some art work. My goals for the crafting and art work are learning to do some latch work as I am struggling with it. I am doing okay with the cross stitching stuff. As far as the Diamond Art I am learning how to do this and making sure I have the proper equipment for it to make sure I do it correctly. Sometimes having the correct supplies such I have the proper supplies to hold what is needed to not lose what I need to create the artwork. As far as coloring, it is the easiest thing for me to do. I love to color and sometimes my cat, Billie tries to color with me.

Billie is doing great and sleep soundly at the moment. I love my cat so very much. I am grateful for his unconditional love he gives me. Animals give unconditional love and that is why I love them so much.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do 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 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. Peace Out, World!!!

A Mixture of Middle of the Night Emotions & Ideas

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World from Seattle and it is still the middle of the middle of the night here in Seattle. In fact as I write this blog, my cat Billie is purring on my lap. I am technically on crisis coverage till eight in the morning Seattle time and will complete my crisis coverage.

On that note there is a family emergency regarding my grandpa and thankfully my uncle is taking care of it till I am off of crisis coverage at eight o’clock this morning Seattle time. I did let the appropriate people know at work about it however I totally remembered I can deal with my family emergency while finishing up my much needed notes. I will send the email about catching up on notes while helping my grandpa once I know my supervisors are awake and aware of the situation regarding my grandpa. Either way I most like will do my notes, I just want to be able to get paid for them but like I mentioned before I want to make sure the supervisors are made aware that I will being finishing my crisis coverage shift and missing my regular shift and will bring up the idea of seeing if I can get paid catching up on notes while dealing my grandpa’s emergency. I am so grateful that my uncle is currently dealing with my grandpa’s emergency as I am crisis coverage for work right now.

Right now, I am struggling with some intense emotions regarding my mental health challenges. Specifically my depression and PTSD which both suck shit.Since doing mindfulness meditation appears to help my mental health symptom help a great deal, it is one of the skills I go to first. The next thing I plan on doing is doing something creative. I plan on doing both arts at crafts. The art I plan on doing is art work by coloring and doing diamond art. When it comes to diamond art I will have to sort some stuff out which is cool. As far as crafting goes, I will be doing some cross stitching. I love being able to use my self care to help with my recovery.

I just hope when I email my supervisors again later that they will allow me to work on my notes and still get paid for it as help my grandpa with his emergency. My work is not one hundred okay with me right now but that is okay as I know I am doing the best I can. At least they treat me with respect.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. If it was not for you reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Struggling Through My Work Day With Self Care

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World from the wonderful city of Seattle. As I am starting this particular blog post, I am technically on my regular work shift and I am supposed to be working from home doing notes. I did do some notes but still need to work on them. Sadly, I have been dissociating which suck shit. To make matters slightly worse I am on crisis coverage till eight in the morning till tomorrow. I am knocking on wood that I don’t get any crisis calls especially since I had to take some of my anti-anxiety meds to help. Having taking mdeds for anxiety while on shift is not always a good thing.

On a plus not only I ordered some Taco Bell via Grub Hub to help make sure I have something in my stomach to help make good decisions for clients that I help can to the best of my ability. In fact my Taco Bell from Grubhub just arrived. Be back in a few minutes to add more to this blog post.

The food helped a great deal and am grateful for the food. I am now on to doing some mindfulness meditation to help for the work day as well as being a crisis coverage. I really hope I don’t get any crisis calls tonight.

Working is somewhat helpful with the PTSD, Depression and Anxiety but other stuff helps like mindfulness meditation and something creative such as art work by coloring and doing diamond work. I love being able to do creative things regarding my recovery and work.

I am have some issues at work but I am dealing with them with the help of my union and my therapist. I think it is now some time to read a comic book or two to help calm my mind down.

Thank you fore reading bly blog..

Still No Sleep for Me

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World from my corner of the world known as Seattle, Washington. Tonight I am on crisis coverage for work but thankfully, most if not all the calls happened earlier in the evening as well as earlier in the middle of the night. It is still the middle of the night here in Seattle and I am unable to sleep. If I can get to sleep it’s a light sleep or a sleep that wakes me up from a nightmare where I am crying, paralyzed from the body memories and scared shitless.

Honestly, part of me is glad I am on crisis coverage tonight for work but I am also thrilled that the calls have subsided a lot so I can refocus. Now lets hope I am not sticking my foot in my mouth and I get a shit ton of calls from clients and/or social workers from hospitals.

On a good note that is not too surprising Billie has been keeping company and giving me his undivided attention and of course his unconditional love. I love my Billie so very much and how he knows when I need the extra attention and love even when I can tell when he would rather have his own space. My cat truly knows how to take care of me and I hope he knows how much I truly love him. He is my best friend and yes animals can be best friends.

Speaking of friends, a friend introduced me to Diamond Art after she finished a piece for a mutual friend of ours. So, I ordered a bunch for myself and honestly got really frustrated and throughout the first two I started and gave up. Part of the reason is that I didn’t read the instructions and did not ask my friend questions. So, for the last week or so I have read the instructions and have been doing diamond art. I am finding it fun, frustrating, time consuming and a lot of progress. Which I can all correlate to not just my recovery but the recovery of other people. So, I decided to thank my friend tonight in the middle of the night on social media, specifically Facebook. My friend responded back asking if I would want to meet in the community room of our apartment building for a short while so she could give me some pointers on diamond art. I learned a lot from the education my friend gave me about Diamond Art. I love learning new things especially when it comes to creativity. I am great that this neighbor has become a great friend. After spending an hour together we came back upstairs to our own apartments.

When I got back to my apartment I was and am still feeling like harm by hitting a brick wall but I will not act on the urges of self harm especially since I am about to do a mindfulness meditation practice with my cat Billie in my lap as I do it through the Calm App.

On that note, I am going to hopefully get some sort of sleep after I am done writing this particular blog post. I don’t have much more to say except I am tired a fucking hell. I also 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 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. Peace Out, World!!!

Not the Best Night for Sleep for Me

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World from Seattle. It is the middle of the night here in Seattle, Washington and I have not received much sleep tonight. Partly because I am on crisis coverage for work on the team I work on. There have been a handful of clients calling in crisis needing to talk and I totally understand. Life can and is challenging at times.

In fact life is challenging for me at the moment due to me dealing with my own type of crisis due to a recent trauma which is the other part of why I am unable to sleep. I am unable to sleep due to insomnia as well as PTSD symptoms such as nightmares which doesn’t help my depression whatsoever.

On that note since I have not been able to sleep due to being on crisis coverage or dealing with my own shit, I have been doing quite a bit. Lets start with the obvious of me spending time with my kitty cat, Billie. Not only do I love Billie but Billie provides unconditional love as well as helps me with mindfulness meditation practices.

Not only does Billie help me with mindfulness meditation practice, Billie also reminds me to do mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App. I do several mindfulness meditations with the Calm App as well as with Billie and other ways I have learned to do mindfulness meditation practice.

Besides doing mindfulness meditation practices, I have been doing some art as well as some crafts. I have been doing art work by coloring as well as diamond art. The crafts I have been doing happen to be latch hook and cross stitching. Both diamond art and latch hook, I am finally sort of kind of getting the hang of it. I am really enjoying being able to do various types of arts and crafts.

I am also learning something else besides new types of arts and crafts. I am learning about Tarot and Tarot Cards by reading about it in a couple of books. Specifically books for beginners. I also have three sets of Tarot Cards as well as a Tarot Workbook. I also have three or four Tarot Card journals to put in my Tarot Card readings; specifically on myself and once I get comfortable with other people’s readings.

Since I mentioned journals and workbooks I got a couple of new journals I will start writing in. One of which will help me get myself out of my comfort zone. I also have several recovery workbooks, that I have had over the years and have never started and/or finished. So, It is my plan to not just work on the journal stuff along with the tarot stuff but the recovery workbook stuff as I feel like most everything I have mentioned has and will help me with my recovery. That includes working yesterday as well as being crisis coverage till eight in the morning Seattle time today (Monday).

Good thing I don’t have to work later today (Monday) like I normally do but I had three doctors appointments that were all sadly cancelled last Thursday and Friday. I do have a “fourth” appointment which is a follow up appointment due to a recent emergency room visit from self harming myself by hitting a brick wall. My hand still hurts like hell and the bruise is nastier than hell but at least the swelling is going down.

I do not have much more to discuss in this particular blog post. I am sorry it is such a long post. I do 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 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. I hope everyone has a great Monday ahead as I have the day off even though I am going to see my doctor. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Walk
  • Mindfulness Meditation practice via the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read a book about Tarot and Tarot Cards
  • Do an art or craft project
  • Cuddle time with my cat Billie (like I do every chance I get)

Monday

  • Walk
  • Mindfulness Medication practice with the Calm Ap
  • Dermatology appointment
  • Mammogram appointment
  • Follow up appointment with regular doctor after self harm act last Wednesday that included an emergency room visit.
  • Dinner with a friend
  • An art or craft project
  • Cuddle time with my cat, Billie (like I do every chance I can get)

Tuesday

  • Walk
  • Mindfulness Meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read a book about Tarot and Tarot Cards
  • An art or craft project
  • Cuddle time with my cat, Billie (like I do every chance I am able to get)

Wednesday

  • Walk
  • Mindfulness Meditation with the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read a book on Tarot and Tarot Cards
  • An art or craft project
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie (like I do every chance I can get)

Thursday

  • Walk
  • Mindfulness Meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Work
  • Read a book on Tarot and Tarot Cards
  • An art or craft project
  • Cuddle time with my cat, Billie (like I do every chance I can get)

Friday

  • Walk
  • Mindfulness Meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Chores (specifically cleaning my apartment with the help from someone my apartment management referred me to and it is free help)
  • Read a book about Tarot and Tarot Cards
  • Dinner with a friend
  • An art or craft project
  • Cuddle time with my cat, Billie (like I do every chance I can get)

Saturday

  • Walk
  • Mindfulness Meditation practice with the Calm App.
  • Go to the U-District farmers market with a friend and have a wonderful breakfast sandwich from a local vendor.
  • Do an art or craft project
  • Read a book on Tarot and Tarot Cards
  • Dinner with a friend
  • Cuddle with my cat, Billie (like I do every chance I get)

Weekly Check In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World from Seattle, Washington!!! This week has been quite a week for me emotion wise especially when it comes to depression and PTSD related to recent traumas that triggered past traumas. Traumas that were brought up in therapy which will be discussed later in this blog post.

Anyway, I went to work last Sunday and did crisis coverage. I continued to due crisis coverage on Sunday night despite vomiting most of the night. Thankfully, I only received one crisis call that just needed some resources. Due to vomiting most of Sunday night, I didn’t go to work on Monday. I did go to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. I struggled both days with PTSD related shit which sucked. I missed work on Thursday due to being in the emergency room most of Wednesday night.

I was in the emergency room of a local hospital most of Wednesday night due to self harm reasons which is why I missed work on Thursday. The self harm act was that of me punching a brick wall several times. Thankfully, I didn’t break anything. All I ended up with was a very bruised and swollen hand. I am also thankful that I was not suicidal in anyway and was able make a solid safety plan. I was also able to have a telephone check in with my therapist later in the afternoon for about a half an hour.

As Friday goes, I dissociated a lot due to reasons I’d rather not discuss but I did inform my therapist what happened via email and during our session on Friday. Therapy was fucking hard yesterday (Friday). We discussed what happened yesterday morning and why I was dissociating a lot. I also shared a lot of scary shit as far as trauma goes that I experienced as a child. Shit that has been brought up by the recent trauma of being raped. My therapist showed a lot of compassion and empathy. She also allowed me a lot of space to share that hard shit which meant our session lasted an hour and a half instead of an hour.

As far as today has gone, I haven’t done much to report. I did go to the U-District Farmers Market and got an awesome breakfast sandwich which I have been doing every Saturday for the last four or five Saturdays now. I think I am going to make it a weekly thing for me every Saturday since the U-District is every Saturday year round.

As far as what I have been for myself self care wise this week since it has been quite challenging has varied. I of course have been spending some time with my beloved cat, Billie. I have also been doing daily mindfulness meditation practices. In fact, last week, I have been doing at least four a day. I have been using the Calm App for at least two of the daily mindfulness meditation practices while other practices have been on my own or with others. I also have been doing a lot of art work. I have been doing various forms of art work such as coloring and diamond art. I also have been doing various types of crafts which include latch hook and cross stitching. I also have been doing a lot of reading books. Reading has been quite helpful with dealing with my PTSD.

That’s it for my weekly check in. Have a great weekend!!! Peace Out, World!!!

The Uncertainty and Plans of the Day

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World from Seattle. Right now, I should be at work in the morning meeting but sadly I am not. If you read my last blog post you know that I self harmed by hitting a brick wall in the emergency stair well of my apartment building. Thankfully, nothing is broken but my hand hurts like fucking hell but that is my own fault.

Despite an injured hand there is some uncertainty of the day ahead as well as some plans for the day. I am really not one hundred percent sure on what I am going to do today. The only thing I have planned for today is to go to the grocery store and buy some food. Or at least enough food to last me till tomorrow when I get paid as I don’t have much money at the moment. Another thing that is planned today is spending it with my cat, Billie. I also plan to do multiple mindfulness meditation practices through the Calm App as well as just sitting quietly with my cat in my lap.

The uncertainty of the days is how I am going to spend most of my day as I usually work on Thursdays. I mean I can make plans but I really don’t want to do much of anything but get some food, spend time with my cat and do mindfulness meditation practices. I guess the uncertainty of the day ahead of keeping myself busy with some of the usual stuff I keep myself busy with. That stuff is doing art work such as coloring and diamond art. I also plan on doing some dot to dot which I find surprisingly relaxing. I also plan on reading a couple of books. One is a fiction novel that I am really enjoying and having a challenging time finishing due to the fact that my concentration is poor due to depression and recent trauma. I also plan on reading a book on Tarot Cards for beginners. I am hoping to learn more about Tarot to help myself with my recovery and hopefully help friends with decisions they make regarding their lives.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do 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 wasn’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. Peace Out, World!!!

A Bit Of A Set Back

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World from Seattle in the middle of the night. I am tired as hell because I have been in the emergency room due to self harm. I punched a brick wall in the emergency stair well of my apartment building. Thankfully, nothing is broken and my hand is just extremely bruised and swollen. I am now home from the emergency room. I am NOT suicidal nor was I when I was self harmed. The doctors and the social worker were cool and supportive as well as appeared to understand why I self harmed. I self harmed because the PTSD symptoms from the recent sexual assault were bad which triggered other PTSD symptoms from other traumas I experienced throughout my life. I did a safety plan with the doctors and social worker.

Now that I am home and not at all ready to go to bed despite being tired I plan on doing my safety plan. I of course spent time with my cat, Billie who is currently curled up in my lap purring as I think he is happy for me to be home. In fact my hand is hurting as I type this blog but I can deal with it especially since I received some powerful pain medicine. Plus, my cat, Billie is helping me not focus on the pain.

I think if I can tolerate the pain in my hand, I will try to do some art work. Specifically, I will color. I will also attempt to do some diamond art as well. Not only that I will do some dot to dots if my pain doesn’t get too bad. It’s cool that they have adult dot to dots.

I think I will also attempt to do some crafts. One craft I will attempt to do but might not be able to do so if my hand hurts too badly is cross stitching. I love to cross stitch. Another craft I can do and learning how to do it is latch hook. I don’t really need to use my bad hand to latch hook.

Of course I will be listening to music if I am doing any art work or crafting. Music helps me be creative and also helps me deal with my emotions.

If crafting or art work is something that I cannot do due to my self harm injury of punching a brick wall I can always read. Reading helps me refocus if I am reading non fiction and it also helps me get out of my own reality if I am reading fiction.

I of course will be getting some sleep tonight. I just don’t know when at the moment. Due to the current lack of sleep, I did text and email my supervisors that I will not be into work later today. I am sure they won’t be too happy about it but the doctors and social worker think I should let my hand heal a little bit especially since Thursdays are my Fridays and my weekends are Fridays and Saturdays. I love my job and wish I could go to work later today but since part of my job is writing (typing) notes, it is best to give my hand a rest even though I am typing this blog post.

Before I go to sleep I plan on doing a mindfulness meditation with the Calm App. The Calm App is amazing and I appreciate being able to use it to help me with my everyday life as well as my recovery with my mental health challenges.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I do 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 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. Peace Out, World!!!

Needing to Focus on Self Care

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World from Seattle as my cat, Billie lays on my lap purring. I am not going to discuss work in this particular blog post as I need to focus on self care as my depression and recent trauma is acting up which brings up past traumas.

So, when I got home from work I took a shower and then had dinner. After dinner, I spent time doing a mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App. Of course, I spent some much needed time being loved by my cat and loving on my cat, Billie. I love my cat so much.

I also spent time doing some art work. Specifically, the art work I am doing is coloring as I listen to music. Specifically music from my recovery playlist. One of these days I need to take a picture of what I have been coloring to share with you my reader as I am sure you would appreciate them.

After coloring I decided to read the book The Sorority Murder. So far it is a good book and it helps me a great deal with not dealing with the reality of my depression and recent trauma that has brought up past traumas. Yes, it is a small break from the reality of depression and traumas but it’s a needed break from reality.

I don’t have much more to say in this particular blog except, I am going to cuddle with my cat, Billie as I read. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. If it wasn’t for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you the reader, read my blog. Again, thank from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!!