Tag Archives: Collecting

YIPPEE, I’m On Vacation!!

Posted on by Gertie

     It’s Friday and I would normally be complaining that its my Monday but I am not because I am officially on vacation as of today. Yes, I did work today and it felt like the never ending shift. It always seems that your last day of work before vacation takes forever and a day to finally get over with.

     One thing I plan on doing on my vacation is watching the World Cup. I of course am rooting for my home country of the U.S.A. Tomorrow (Saturday) I am going to watch the Germany/Ghana match. I am rooting for Germany in this particular match because I have a little German in me. On Sunday, my boyfriend and I are going to host a World Cup party at his place when The U.S.A plays Portugal. Of course I will be rooting for the U.S. I will also watch the U.S vs. Germany game on Thursday. I will be rooting for the U.S. Realistically, I’m not sure if the U.S can even beat Portugal much less Germany but will be rooting my heart out for the U.S. I was quite surprised that we (the U.S) beat Ghana especially since Ghana beat us the last two times.

     Another thing I plan on doing is cleaning my apartment. It’s not up to my standards. I will be doing other chores as well. I plan on cleaning my apartment and doing my laundry as well as my other household chore tomorrow when my boyfriend is at work. Plus I just want to get my chores out of the way so I can relax and enjoy my vacation.

     I also plan on going to a baseball game. Baseball is one of my favorite games. My all time favorite baseball teams are The Angles and The Dodgers. Even though I no longer live in California I still follow the Angels and Dodgers and whenever they come and play the team I reside in, I always root for the L.A teams. Even though the Angels and the Dodgers are not going to be in the city I reside in this next week I still plan on going to a baseball game. Yes, I will be rooting for the team in which I currently reside in. I am forever an Angel fan. Yes, I am forever a Dodger fan as well.

    Besides watching some World Cup matches, cleaning my apartment and maybe going to a Mariners game I plan on reading. Of course I will be reading A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. I am enjoying the book. I told one of my paternal Uncles that I am reading A Tale of Two Cites and he was shocked that I am reading it. I think he shocked because I usually read Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mystery books because they are easier for me to read due to having dyslexia. Sometimes I like shocking people with the things I read. Just wish that reading A Tale of Two Cities wasn’t a shock to my uncle.

    I will also be working on my cross-stitching. I love cross-stitching. It can be frustrating at times but is extremely relaxing. Cross-stitching is one of my favorite hobbies. I enjoy it immensely. Every time I finish a cross-stitching project, I feel a sense of accomplishment.

    Speaking of sense of accomplishment, doing a jigsaw puzzles do that for me as well. My boyfriend and I will be working on jigsaw puzzles this next week. I am hoping that we can get two or three puzzles of 750 pieces or more this week. I’m sure he and I can do it. Doing jigsaw puzzle is another hobby I enjoy doing and its something I enjoy doing with my boyfriend.

    I also hope to catch up on what’s going on with Wonder Woman since I am so far behind at the moment. I really do enjoy collecting and reading comic books especially Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a good role model to little girls even though she is only a superhero and not a real person.

    Another thing I a plan on doing is contacting National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Also known as NAMI. I’m going to see if I can get involved with there peer to peer group as well as get information on in Our Own Voice. I am really hoping that they get me the information I ask for because the last time I did they never sent it to me. 

Since this blog entry is getting a little long I am going to end it for now. I hope I didn’t bore you all. Have a good Friday evening all.

Blogging With Burned Fingers

Posted on by Gertie

     Well its another Wednesday and unfortunately was unable to go to my volunteer job today. I was unable to go because I accidently burned three fingers last night cleaning my stove. The attending physician that saw me last night in the ER called me to see how my fingers were. I told her that they hurt like hell but seem to be doing well. Even the nurse that took care of me last night called to see how my fingers are doing and I told her the same thing I told the doctor. Speaking of doctors I made an appointment to see my doctor tomorrow for a follow from the ER visit regarding my burned fingers.

     Since I didn’t go to my volunteer job today, I continued reading A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. I am really surprised that I am enjoying the book. I have to admit that I am a little disappointed with the school district that I graduated from because they didn’t require the students in Special Ed English to read the classics like the rest of the students. I was a mainstreamed Special Ed student. That means that most of my classes were regular classes. The only Special Ed class I was in was English because of my dyslexia and other “reading issues.” Don’t get me started on the lack of education I got from the school district I graduated from. The school district I spent most of my school years in was absolutely great but the school district I ended up graduating in was lacking quite a bit. Getting back on topic of reading, I am really enjoy A Tale of Two Cities.

     I also read some comic books. I read four Wonder Woman comics, two Superman comics, two Batman comics, two Spiderman comics and three X-Men comic. . I love comic books. Just like reading “normal” books, reading comics distracts me from a lot of things. It distracts me from the every day stress of life and at times distracts me from the symptoms of my mental illness. I collect all sort of comic books but I mainly collect Wonder Woman. I am a big Wonder Woman fan. I don’t discriminate between the comic book universes because both universes have there great characters.

     After I am done blogging for the evening my boyfriend and I are going to watch documentaries on homelessness. If you have been reading my blog you know that I volunteer at a homeless shelter and that I am passionate about ending homelessness. I really missed going to my volunteer job today at the homeless shelter. I can relate a great deal to most of the clients in the shelter because most of them have a mental illness. Plus at one point in time I was homeless. Thankfully it was only a short amount of time. Yes, I have my favorite clients even though we are not suppose to. A lot of the clients do seek out mental health help as well as help with addictions from alcohol and/or drugs. Unfortunately, some don’t get treatment. Getting treatment or not getting treatment is an entire different blog entry in itself.

     I better get going. My fingers are hurting like hell at the moment. I wasn’t expecting to blog so much today. Word to the wise make sure your burner is completely off when you clean your stove. I really thought I turned the burner of all the way last night when I started cleaning the stove. Well, I need to get going.

     Have a great Wednesday evening everyone. Now it’s time spend time with my boyfriend. Peace out and enjoy the rest of your Wednesday.

Therapy, Recovery, and Wonder Woman

Posted on by Gertie

     Hey! It’s Thursday and that means its the day I go see my therapist and I did. In fact I will start seeing her on Mondays again this Monday after I get off work. I have been seeing my therapist for 5 1/2 years now at a local community mental health clinic. Diana, my therapist has been the longest clinician I’ve had and that has helped a great deal in my recovery process. I’m grateful that she has not given up on me or my recovery process. In fact, Diana was the one who told me the summer of 2013 that I no longer meet the criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). She officially took it off my chart. It took a lot of work to get it off my chart with her help. Of course I’ve had clinicians in the past who have helped a great deal with me with my recovery process.

     Diana, of course is not my therapist real name. I’ve given her a pseudonym for her privacy as well as the privacy of her past, current and future clients. I did ask if it was okay if I could give her a pseudonym for my blog and said yes. In fact we came up with pseudonym together. We chose the name Diana of Diana Prince because I am a huge Wonder Woman fan. Diana Prince is Wonder Woman’s human name. It was the name we both agreed on. I liked it because Diana (Wonder Woman) is a woman of strength and I see my therapist as a woman of strength. I would tell you why she liked it but I am not sure if I would have her permission to do so and most importantly I want to protect her privacy and her other clients.

     Speaking of Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) I finally got the last five issues. I finally had the money to buy them. I am so behind on my reading and collection of Wonder Woman. I have to figure out the other issue I need to buy. Reading and collecting Wonder Woman comic books has helped me a great deal with my recovery process. It’s one of my many Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills that I use on the daily basis.

     Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an entire blog entry in itself. I do have to say if it wasn’t for DBT I would not be currently employed nor would I be a recovered Borderline. DBT has given me the skills I need to live a life worth living. DBT has been a major part of my recovery and will continue to be part of my recovery. I hope to explain more about DBT later. I need get going to use my DBT Skills by fixing me and my boyfriend something to eat.

     I guess I will end this blog entry for now and hope to do another blog entry tomorrow. Until then go out and have fun in this world of ours. Peace out and have fun.