Tag Archives: Seattle

Home Sick After a Four Day Weekend

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World! Sadly, I am not going to work today due to the fact that I am sick. I am sick with flu-like symptoms. Mainly, I am just puking my brains out which is a slang phrase of vomiting. As much as I would rather be working today, I am glad I didn’t see my mom over Mother’s Day weekend as she has Covid which is not good for her since she has stage three lung cancer. Missing work today and not seeing my mom over the weekend is a good thing as I don’t want to get anyone sick or expose anyone to Covid.

On top of being sick, I had a severe case of insomnia. Having insomnia on top of being sick is never a good thing. I really dislike being sick as well as having insomnia but both at the same time sucks shit. I am hoping to get some sleep and start feeling better soon.

Since I am home sick, I plan on reading. The book I just started reading is “Don’t Open The Door” by Allison Brennan. I am just starting the second chapter but so far it is captivating. I really hope that it continues to keep my eye on continuing to read the book.

Another thing I hope to do is do some art work. I plan on coloring at least one if not two of my big coloring pictures. I also plan on doing some diamond art painting. Diamond art painting is a bit tedious but well worth the accomplished feeling when finished even though I just started doing the Diamond Art Painting over the weekend.

I, of course will be hanging out with my cat, Billie while I read. Of course I will be hanging out with my cat Billie as I do art while listening to some music. Billie my cat is such a cuddle bug however he is much more of a cuddle bug when I am reading or doing art work. He is definitely more of a snuggle bug when music is on.

On to a slightly different topic but very similar to topics I wrote in the above paragraphs. As I mentioned Billie is very much a lovey dovey cuddle bug. I know this sounds weird but I read to Billie for a multitude of reasons. One reason is I have dyslexia and reading out loud to my cat Billie helps with my self confidence. The second reason I read out loud to Billie is because I have a couple of speech impediments, one of which is that I stutter and the other is that when I say anything with an r it sounds like a w. So, many of my speech therapists throughout the years including my current speech therapist have suggest to read out loud especially to animals and if I didn’t have an animal to read to a stuffed animal.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog. 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 continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

A Mother’s Day Weekend Sadly Derailed by Covid

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Friday, World!!! Right now I am a little disappointed due the fact I cannot go see my mom in Olympia as if she is in the hospital for Covid reasons and is staying in the hospital precautionary reasons. due to my mom having Covid symptoms. Both my mom are disappointed by this but it is unavailable circumstance.

My mom is in the hospital due to the Coved manly due to the fact she had staged three lung cancer and is pecuartionary doe her safety. My mom appears to be in good specials despite being disappointment with my geeing my cat Billie.\

Maybe the nest time I see om I will take my Billie to introduce themeslef to gether.

I do not have much more to say in this blog post. I don’t want to think for reading my blog. Thank for reading my blog.

Hoping for Sleep

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is just barely past two o’clock in the morning Seattle time. I really wish I could get some sleep as I cannot miss any more work since I have missed so much. I’m sure I will get some sleep even if it is for another hour or two since I have had some sleep tonight.

Since I am unable to sleep I have decided to start one of the diamond art kits, I bought from Amazon. As of right now it appears to be a daunting yet fun task. I am looking forward to continuing to do diamond art and seeing what the end result looks like even though I already know what the picture is supposed to be. I hope to take pictures of the diamond art throughout this artistic process.

After getting somewhat frustrated and slightly overwhelmed with starting the diamond art kit, I am doing, I decided to read. I am reading a book on a tarot cards that is meant for beginners. I am happy that I am reading it as I am understanding tarot cards a lot more. I am hoping as I continue reading the book, I will be reading my own tarot cards soon. Hopefully sooner than later especially since I have three tarot decks to choose from. I most likely will choose my very first tarot deck which happens to be a cat deck.

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 very much 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 continuing to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Good Night and Peace Out, World!!!

Home Sick from Work but Staying Busy w/Billie’s Help

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! Right now, I normally would be at work. Sadly, I am at home sick. I am not sure why I am not feeling very well and I think part of it has to do with a slight case of depression. Depression that is most likely due to the amount of people I have known that have passed away in a short period of time.

Since I am home sick, I am keeping myself busy. I am staying busy by doing various types of art work. The first type of art work that I am doing is coloring. I am coloring the posters that I showed you via pictures in my last two blog posts. The other type of art work I am doing is something called diamond art. I’m not sure how to explain it but it looks like a lot of fun that will take a lot of time as well as a lot of patients. I am looking forward to this new art adventure with diamond art as well as my continued love of the art of coloring. I also hope to be able to take photos of the diamond art to post them here on my blog as well as my continued progress of coloring the posters to show you how well they progressing.

Besides doing two types of art, I have been reading. Specifically, I have been reading the second edition of “Tarot for Beginners.” As of right now it is an easy read. A book that a fifth grader can comprehend which is a good thing for me because it makes it easier for me to comprehend. The best part is I haven’t picked up to read in roughly a month and am able to read it without having to reread what I have already read. I am hoping that reading this book will help me continue with my journey of mental health recovery as well as another coping skill. I hope that after reading this book that I can share what I have learned with you my reader as well as some of the spreads I do on myself as well as other people’s spread if they give permission of course.

Now it is time to get going so I can cuddle with my cat, Billie and read. Before I end this post I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. If it weren’t for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Another piece of a poster being colored

Posted on by Gertie

This piece has taken about three months to work on and is easier than some other posters. I am going to be giving this poster to my mom as she likes this type of stuff. I love my mom so much. I tend to do my best art work during sleepless nights.

A Middle of the Night New Challenge to Coloring This

Posted on by Gertie
A giant color picture I just started due to not being able to sleep. Not much is colored but I did color some. It is going to take awhile and hope to update you all as it progresses.

Good Morning, World!!! Or maybe I could say, Happy Middle of the Night to those of us who are currently able to sleep. Many times coloring helps me with both my anxiety and my insomnia. I am not sure if I am going to work on more tonight or not as I am hoping my anxiety meds and sleeping meds will kick in and help tonight. I just hope I get enough sleep to get into work tomorrow. I really love my job and don’t want to miss too much of being out. But I least coloring helps me grounding and a form or coping skills from. I hope everyone has a great time doing will help to keep your self from burnout.

Thank you for following my blog and hope that I can continue with his a comple of coloring picture come along.

A Challenging few Weeks w/New & Refreshed Lessons Learned Along the Way

Posted on by Gertie

Happy Caturday Saturday. It has been quite a couple of weeks of being challenging for me for various reasons and many of them I have had to deal with some eighth deaths in a matter of a two week period. Some of the folks I have never met but really admired in the animal welfare community especially locally here in the Seattle area who touched the life of many humans and cats. Sadly this person took her own life and wish I would have been given to meet her in person. She will be greatly missed especially in the animal welfare community.

On the continuation of discussing death. I can’t really discuss much about it due to HiPAA law but many of the client I work with overdose on drugs and alcohol. Sadly some pass away to drug and/or alcohol overdoses and It is challenging to deal with. Thankfully I have the support of my colleagues with this especially when people have been trying to get off drugs so they don’t have to have a stigma with an addiction.

Dealing with so many deaths is the last couple of weeks I have been reaching out to my support system such as my friends, family and my colleagues as well as my therapist. I am just beyond grateful that I have supportive people in my life to be there for me. Not many people have a good support system and I have a great support system.

Now on to what I do to help with my self care. One way I do self care is due at least two mindful meditations daily; once in the morning and another one before bed time. I am also trying to put in third mindful mediation in the middle of a work day to help me refocus during work. Another way I have been doing self care is spending time with my cat as well as walking two times a day; once in the morning and once the evening. Of course another self care act is going to volunteer at PAWS Cat City a least once a week. Of course working at my job helps as well. I have been reading a lot of books that I find helpful to help with my recovery journey. I also have been doing some art work and hope to show sometime soon.

As this post comes to an end just know there is always hope along the way. I want to thank you for reading my blog. If it was not for you reading and/or following my blog, I most likely would be continuing to writing my blog. Again thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out World!!!!

Long Time, No Blog

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! Long time, no blog. It has been a while since I blogged and a great deal has happened. Lets start with the beginning of this month. I had my birthday and overall it was a good one. It is hard to believe that I am forty-four years old. I never imagined that I would still be alive in my mid-forties because I thought I would die by suicide. I am beyond grateful to have found recovery and continue to be in active long term recovery.

Speaking of recovery, lets talk about one thing that has helped me throughout my recovery and life; music. I received an Amy Grant concert ticket for Christmas. The concert happened on March 14th and I absolutely had the time of my life. The concert was sold out and was located at the Admiral Theater in Bremerton, Washington. I took the day of and the day after the concert off. I even stayed in a hotel the night of the Amy Grant concert. On that note, after the concert I waited by Amy Grant’s buses to get an autograph and/or picture but sadly I didn’t. I didn’t because I was too shocked by the fact Amy Grant talked with me for about ten minutes and asked to give me a belated birthday hug and of course I said hi. Not sure how the subject of birthdays came up but it did. I am just shocked as hell that I received a hug from Amy Grant. As much as I am beyond stoked about attending the Amy Grant concert and getting a hug from her, I am thrilled that my work let me take two days off for it.

Now that I am on the subject of work, I am still loving and enjoying work. The team I am on is awesome and my colleagues rock. Of course I have some tough days but I am grateful to have a job that I love as well as enjoy. I just don’t like being away from home so long because I miss my cat when I am at work and my cat misses me.

Since we are now on the subject of my cat, Billie lets talk about him. Billie is doing well. He is still a cuddle bug and loves to tell me how is day was when I come home from anywhere especially work. I love my cat so much.

I do not have much more to say. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not continue to write my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Twenty to thirty minute walk while listening to a podcast
  • Work
  • Start learning to latch hook crafting project
  • Read as I cuddle with my cat, Billie

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Twenty to thirty minute walk while listening to a podcast
  • Work
  • Learn to do latch hook crafting project
  • Read as I cuddle with my cat, Billie

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Twenty to thirty minute walk while listening to a podcast
  • Work
  • Learn to do latch hook crafting project
  • Read as I cuddle with my cat, Billie

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Twenty to thirty minute walk while listening to a podcast
  • Work
  • Learn to do latch hook crafting project
  • Read as I cuddle with my cat, Billie

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Twenty to thirty minute walk while listening to a podcast
  • Work
  • Learn to do latch hook crafting project
  • Read as I cuddle with my cat, Billie

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Twenty to thirty minute walk while listening to a podcast
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Learn to do a latch hook crafting project
  • Read as I cuddle with my cat, Billie

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice
  • Twenty to thirty minute walk while listening to a podcast
  • Spend time with my grandpa
  • Learn to do a latch hook crafting project
  • Read as I cuddle with my cat, Billie

Weekly Check-In

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! It is officially that time of week where I do my weekly check in. This past week has been a pretty good week. My current work schedule changed and I now work Sunday through Thursday. I have mixed feelings about it but once I get used to it, I know it will work to not just my benefit but the benefit of the clients I serve. I really like my job. I am, however, wondering if I am doing a good job as well as if I am a good fit for the team I am on. I know I am being self conscious about how I do at work. My supervisor says it’s “imposter syndrome.”

I may not be sure if what my boss says about the imposter syndrome thing, I know that I am doing well overall in regards to my mental health challenges. I, saw my therapist on Tuesday. It went well. She also emailed my psychiatric nurse practitioner stating how well I am doing mental health wise.

Speaking of my psychiatric nurse practitioner, I saw her yesterday. She too thinks I am doing well. So well that if I continue doing as well as I am doing, she is going to reduce my antidepressant to a lower dose. A lower dose that will make it, the lowest that it could go that will work effectively. I am excited about this.

One of the things that has been helping with my mental health challenges is volunteering at PAWS Cat City. Due to my work schedule changing, the day, I volunteer changed as well. I now volunteer on Friday mornings. I miss volunteering on Sunday mornings but I will get use to Friday mornings.

In between, working, volunteering and attending appointments, I have been reading. I have been reading a book on tarot cards. I am wanting to learn how to read tarot cards so it can help me with my recovery. I also hope that one day I can help others with their recovery with learning how to read tarot cards. I am slowly learning about tarot cards and am finding it fascinating.

I do not have much more to say about my week. Peace Out, World!!!