Life, The Challenges & Silver Linings

Good Morning, World!!! Its been a tough week for my family. My grandma is going into hospice care and we are attempting the best we can to keep it together for her. My grandma is a strong woman. She keeps giving me “talks” to make sure I go to my job interviews next week.

I am looking forward the possibility of going back to work. I’ve been missing being able to go to work. I really think being able to go to work helps with my mental health or at least the structure that goes with it. Being out of work has you think how much structure one must have to be able to not get so depressed or at least that is how it is for me. Work also gives me the social aspect of life. So for me work helps a great deal with a multiple of things in my life.

Life brings the bad and the good. Sometimes at the same time like at the moment. As life continues I am looking at the silver lining in things. Its difficult at time however it is possible. Yes, I am being realistic about my grandma however I know she wants me to look at the silver lining.

Thank you the reading. Have a great weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Photography 1: Day 1; Home

Good Afternoon, World!!! Today is the first day of the Photography; Developing Your Eye Day One. Today’s topic is home. Home can mean different things to different people. When I think of home I think of the neighborhoods I live or have lived in. Specifically, the neighborhood I grew up in as well the one I currently live in. If I had photo’s of the neighborhood grew up in I would be sharing them with you but I don’t so I can’t.

When we think of home we all think of the neighborhood we live in. That’s why I’ve decided to share photo’s of my current neighborhood. Each photo will have a description of what that specific place means to me and/or the neighborhood below the photo.

IMG_0168This King County Metro bus travels through my neighborhood every 20 minutes or so. It goes to one of my favorite places to hang out which is the Ballard Locks.

IMG_0166This is one of the many bikes that clutters Seattle’s neighborhood’s including mine. You can rent for money to ride to get where you are going. The down fall is you have to have a smart phone to do so and not everyone has one. I’ve never rented one and don’t plan to. They litter the sidewalks and have usually fallen on the ground. This one is in rare form and actually in an upright position.

IMG_0172Good ole Seattle traffic. You can see that it has been raining in this picture as I shot it looking towards downtown which you can sort of see. This is one of the many reasons people ride their bikes and/or take public transportation.

IMG_0170Good ole Seattle Fire Department. In fact this is the engine Junior works on. Lights and sirens were going at the time of the picture. Something one gets to living in the city and near a fire station.

IMG_0164Another joy of living in the city is the never ending construction!!! (Can you hear me being sarcastic?) You can see one of the many cranes Seattle has. Last time I checked Seattle had the most cranes working in the using at the moment.

IMG_0169The iconic Blue Moon Tavern. It opened in April of 1934 and back then it was state law that all bars had to be at least a mile away for college campuses. Not sure if it’s still state law but this is an iconic bar.

IMG_0157Washington’s own pharmacy. Its a family run local drug store chain. Bartell’s has several stores around the Puget Sound area. This is the particular Bartell’s in my neighborhood and is where I get my meds at.

Now that you have had a tour of my neighborhood, I hope you feel at home. Thanks for reading. Have a great day and go enjoy your neighborhood. It’s an extension of your home. Peace Out, World!!!

Small Freak Out + Reality Check = DBT Skills

Good Afternoon, World!! I was starting to freak out about my grandma still being in the hospital. Actually, I was freaking out when nobody was answering their phone and told by a nurse on the phone that my grandma’s nurse was dealing with an emergency. So, I thanked the nurse and called my great aunt. She gave me the reality check I needed and told me my grandma was okay. She then informed to do things that help me and asked me to tell her what I was going to do.

I informed my great aunt that I would blog about what I was going to do while listening to music. Than I would do some art and read. My great aunt suggest I play my flute. Or at least my grandma’s favorite song I know on the flute to feel close to my grandma till I talk to her on the phone.

So, I’m now doing my plan to help me get through a rough moment. Thank you for putting up with me. Have a wonderful day. Peace Out, World!!!

 

Happy February

Good Morning, World!!! Its a typical drizzly morning in Seattle. I woke up early so I could have a fresh hot breakfast on the table when he get home from a long 24-hour shift as a firefighter. I made him banana pancakes and scrambled eggs with hot chocolate. Junior was thrilled that I made him breakfast and even more thrilled that I didn’t burn the house down when I made him breakfast.

After breakfast Junior and I had quite the intimate moment. We made love to our favorite music. More or less we had sex to our “love songs” play list. Music that turns both of us on and has our love making time last a tad bit longer. It was very pleasurable  moment for the both of us.

After our intimate moment, Junior decided he is going to take a nap. As he is napping, I decided to blog. After blogging I tend to read. As many of you know I love reading and am enjoying the science fiction book I am reading.

I should get going as I want to get to reading my book. Have a great day everyone. Enjoy your lovely February and Peace Out, World!!!

A Day of Information

Good Morning, World!!! Today is a going to be a day of “information” for those of us that live in the United States. What I mean by that is that this evening is the State of the Union address. I rarely watch them because its the same bullshit every year.

Something that won’t be the same bullshit for me today is that I will be having a phone interview. I’ve never had a phone interview before and hope that I do well on the interview. It’s for a peer specialist job. I am looking forward to the future and have hope.

Having hope is a major deal for everyone especially for those who are in recovery. Recovery is something that is really important for me. Being in recovery no matter how tough it may be is well worth it. It means I’m living a life worth living.

Thank you for reading. Peace, Out World!!!

Poetry; Day Five: Imperfect

Untitled Poem

by Gertie

Looking at the their arms.

Arms that look like railroad tracks.

Arms that aren’t suppose to look like a railroad track but do.

Sadly the scars have others stare.

Fortunately, the scars have help with being an advocate

An advocate for those who have no voice.

A Strange Request at a Piano Bar

As part of a local carnival it is tradition to have a Piano Bar. A tradition nobody can comprehend how it came about to be a tradition as having a Piano Bar can make it quite awkward at times.

It becomes awkward at times because a juvenile or two would be having fun at the carnival yet let themselves into the piano bar despite being underage to have alcohol. The juveniles would go into the bar wearing mask asking for an oxidation of an alcoholic drink that included an apple flavoring. On occassion the underage juveniles would be able to get the drink.

This casued a great deal of controversy as when the juneviles would get drunk they would start twirling around and ended up getting a sprained ankle as they would fall into a sassafras tree. This was controversy due to the fact that nobody wanted to be responsible for a juvenile being drunk and injured.

11 O’clock New Turned Off & Back To Reading

Hello, World!!! I was watching the eleven o’clock news and realized I needed to turn it off. I’m getting sick and tired of hearing about President Trump and how much of a jerk he is. I don’t understand why he thinks everything is fake news. Granted the news can hold some things back or misinform however if all news sources but one are “fake” then something is not right with President Trump. I have a few friends who call Trump, President Cheetohead and I have to agree I can Mr. Trump that on occasion.

If it wasn’t for all the negative news about Trump I wouldn’t have turned of the news as I’m getting tired of his derogatory comments. I turned off the news and started reading Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. I am really enjoying this book. It appears that I’m going to be reading the next book in the trilogy which is called Mad Ship. I am so grateful that when the new becomes triggering that I can turn it off and do something else like reading.

Thank you for reading. Its greatly appreciated. Have a good night and I hope you sleep well. Peace out, World!!!

Tough Day = Doing Things I Enjoy

Good Afternoon, World!!! I’ve been having a tough day. That means I’m doing my best to do the things that I enjoy doing. Things that bring me joy.

As many of you know art brings me joy. Its not just creating art that brings me joy its being able to give it away to individuals that mean something to me as a person. I just finish a painting for me case manager. My case manager hasn’t given up on me when she could have transferred me to another clinician but hasn’t done so. That’s why I am giving her a piece of my art.

Another thing that brings me joy is reading. I enjoy it because it helps me focus on something else other than being stuck in my own head. That’s why I love reading so much. Being able to be absorbed in a book is helpful to one’s imagination and not focus on what the realities of the world.

While creating art for my case manager and reading to get out of my head, I listened to music. I  love being able to enjoy music as I am being able to do things that bring me joy. Doing things that bring me joy is quite helpful for me and my head space.

Thank you for reading my blog. Its much appreciated!!! Peace Out, World !!!

Poetry; Day Four: Journey

The Journey of Recovery

by Gertie

Recovery is a path.

A path that is journey.

A journey that has valley’s as deep as Death Valley.

Peeks so high that its like you are looking down from the peek of Mount Everest.

The journey isn’t always deep or high its sometimes flat and boring or even like a rollercoaster that goes upside and backwards.

The journey of recovery isn’t meant to be flat and easy but its well worth it.

It’s worth it to have a life worth living, whatever that looks like to you.