Tag Archives: Self Care

9 – Years Anniversary of Blogging

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! Today is a big day for me as today marks nine years since I started creating my blog. Little did I know I would be blogging this long despite sometimes having periods of time of not blogging. Just know I do my best to blog as often as I am able to do so.

I love to blog about my own struggles and triumphs of my mental health challenges and how I am able to learn for the triumphs and struggles. It gives me a sense of hope and strength when I am able to do work through my own personal journey of my recovery as everyone’s journey to their recovery looks different to everyone. I really hope I give some form of education to people along with hope when I share bits and pieces of my story as not everyone will connect with some peoples recovery story or journey to recovery as it looks different to everyone.

For me some of the self care I do for myself is do mindfulness meditation at least twice daily. Once in the morning and once in the evening before bed.Another thing is to take two daily walks; once in the morning and cones in the evening. I also take meds for my mental health stuff as well as see my therapist every other week. Most importantly, I have my cat. A cat that loves me unconditionally.

I do not have much more to say except thank you for reading my blog. I grateful for your readership. I hope you have a great week ahead of you. Peace Out, World!!!

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Brief Update of Work & My Cat Billie

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! I have not blogged in a few weeks. I wanted to update you on both my job as well as my beloved cat, Billie. Let’s start with my job. Work is going quite well for the most part. Sadly, the team I am on lost five clients to death in less than three weeks. I can’t disclose how they died due to HIPAA laws but all five deaths hit the team quite hard. One of the clients hit me harder than the others due to them “trusting” me more than my other team members but all client deaths are difficult.

One way, I have been doing self care is spending time with my cat which includes his biannual vet appointment. Sadly, they couldn’t due the fecal test because I forgot to bring his poop. And even more sad is that Billie was not being cooperative with getting his urine check and the vet attempted this test first instead of getting blood work first as Billie is more cooperative with blood work stuff. Vet admitted to her “error” but I understand. Even though Billie is cool with getting blood drawn, the vet decided to wait to when I get the other test done which will be the next visit as she and the other vet (who are both co-owners) want the least about of fear for the animals which I appreciate as a cat parent. Billie’s vet clinic is awesome.

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 continue writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!

Had a Self Care Nap

Posted on by Gertie

Good Early Afternoon, World!!! I just woke from a nap and feel refreshed from the nap. Now, I am going to get something to eat but I’m not sure what type of food. I am thinking either a Subway sandwich or Asian food. I will figure it out when I am more awake.

Of course I am going to do some self care stuff like reading as the book I am reading is very intriguing. Of course Billie my cat will be snuggling by my side as I read. I hope to tell you about the book, I am reading once I am done reading it.

I am also hoping to go for a walk while doing a mindfulness meditation practice to help with the symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD. I really need to start this on a more regular basis as it help with my mental health.

I don’t have much more to say in this blog. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from the end of things that you read on my blog. If it was not for you the reader, reading my blog, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Out of Work Sick (again); Possibly Anxiety Related

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I am out sick again today because I am vomiting again. At least I know the vomiting is from the symptoms of my Anxiety, PTSD and Depression. I am really hoping that I can go back to work tomorrow. In fact I am slightly fearful that I could get fired for missing so many days but I am part of a union so since I have not been discussed about missing so many days of work I don’t think I will get fired. Plus my supervisors are pretty awesome.

Even though I fear getting in trouble for missing a lot of days, I am grateful that my supervisors promote self care. My self care today is of course cuddling with my beloved cat, Billie. Billie appears to be helping a great deal with my anxiety and depression which is helping the lessening of the vomiting. This is why I think the vomiting is anxiety, PTSD and depression related because I don’t have the normal symptoms that come with vomiting such as a fever or stomach upset or nausea.

Another way I plan on doing self care today is reading an awesome book called “Don’t Open The Door.” I really like the book and the author is Allison Brennan. Once I am done with this book, I hope to read another book she has written. I love reading books by authors that catch my attention right from the first two or three chapters. Of course when reading, my cat Billie cuddles with me which is a great form of self care.

Of course besides cuddling with my cat Billie as I read, I will be doing some art work. I of course will be coloring two giant posters. I will also start doing Diamond art. The Diamond art will be a bit more complicated to do but well worth it as I have had friends with Diamond art and they came out beautifully. It will take a lot of patients doing the diamond art but I think it will be well worth it.

Since this is a day of safe care to help reduce the anxiety provoked vomiting , I hope to go back to work tomorrow. I love my job and enjoy it immensely, Self care is necessary for both mental health and physical health. Just grateful for doing self care.

I do not have much more to say in this particular post. I do want to thank you for reading my post. It is greatly appreciated from the end of things that you read on 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 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!!!!

What Day is Today?….It’s Hump Day

Posted on by Gertie

As I stated in my last blog post I was having some high anxiety over money that the bank did. I learned it was mostly not my fault. The bank manager will be helping with setting a budget for my monthly bills. He really didn’t have to do this but he did. I will be doing monthly budgets within one month and then do a check in to see how things are going. The branch manager at the bank I go to is beyond awesome. So the money situation should be fixed for now.

On the plus side, I set up a veterinarian appointment for my precious cat, Billie Dean. I love Billie so very much. I love him to the moon and back. Billie doesn’t mind going just as long as there are treats for him. He also loves the extra love he gets from everyone. They treat him very well there and that makes me happy.

Something else that makes me happy is I got some art and crafty stuff from Amazon. I would really like to start them now but I really need to create a schedule so I can clean my apartment the way it needs to be not just for me but for my precious cat, Billie as well. I am planning on purging some things in my life and of course getting more creative stuff within reason of course.

Of course, I will be doing some workbooks for my own recovery so when I present a group on a certain workbook, I can let clients know that I did do the workbooks. I hope what I am planning on doing works well for me, my cat, my current home and my job.

I do not have much more to say. Thank you for reading my blog. I am grateful for you because you read my blog. Peace Out, World!!

Weekly Plans

Posted on by Gertie

Sunday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Daily walk while listening to a podcast
  • Blog
  • Volunteer at PAWS Cat City
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie Dean as I read

Monday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Daily walk while listening to a podcast
  • Blog
  • Work
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie Dean as I read

Tuesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Daily walk while listening to a podcast
  • Blog
  • Work
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie Dean as I read

Wednesday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Daily walk while listening to a podcast
  • Blog
  • Work
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie Dean as I read

Thursday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Daily walk while listening to a podcast
  • Blog
  • Work
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie Dean as I read

Friday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Daily walk while listening to a podcast
  • Blog
  • Errands and household chores
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie Dean as I read

Saturday

  • Mindfulness meditation practice with the Calm App
  • Daily walk while listening to a podcast
  • Blog
  • Spend time cuddling with my cat, Billie Dean as I read or watch movies

Plans to Get Back in the Swing of Things Regarding Blogging

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I know I have done this quite often and have either never started or have started but not finished but I am going to attempt to get back in the swing of blogging on a more regular basis. There are many ways I can do this and hope to follow through with what I plan on doing to get back in the swing of things in regards to blogging.

In fact, I have already started two different ways of getting back in the swing of things regarding blog. The first thing I’ve been doing is Weekly Plans every Sunday morning. Weekly Plans happen to be the plans I have for the week. The second thing I have been doing is Weekly Check-Ins every Saturday evening. Weekly Check-Ins on Saturday evening is just doing a check in about how the week went especially if I don’t blog at all during the week.

A thing that I am thinking about doing is doing a book review after reading a book. I thought about maybe blogging after every chapter but then I feel like that both reading and blogging would end up becoming a chore and I don’t want that. I don’t want that because reading and blogging is a form of self care for me. So, that means I decided to do a book review after each book I read. I’m thinking about maybe doing some form of review as I read a book but it won’t be after each chapter.

So the next idea I have is something that I worry about actually doing and completing. I am planning on doing free courses that WordPress offers through Blogging University. I plan on doing Finding Everyday Inspiration first as it is the longest course I am doing. It is twenty days and I am not sure when I am going to start this. I hope to start it within the next week or two. The next course I am planning on doing is Developing Your Eye I and it is a ten day course. After doing the course Developing Your Eye I, I plan on doing Intro to Poetry. It is also a ten day course. After doing Intro to Poetry, I plan on doing Developing Your Eye II. It too, is a ten day course. I want to do these four course to not only help me get back in the swing of blogging but to help you stay interested in reading my blog.

Hell, the whole reason, I am wanting to do everything I have mentioned is to keep you the reader interested in continuing to read my blog. I know it might be somewhat selfish on my end to be doing this so I don’t lose any readers. Not only that, I know what it is like to read a blog on the regular basis and then the blogger just stops or has big gaps which has me not having any interest in that blog.

Before ending this blog post, I do plan on continue to blog about everyday stuff. Everyday stuff such as something similar to this post or post regarding my sleep or work and other such stuff.

Well, that is all I have to say in this particular blog post. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. I greatly appreciate you reading my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. Peace Out, World!!!

Just Another Relaxing Day

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! Today has been another relaxing day. I started off today like every Sunday and that is by volunteering at PAWS Cat City. I, of course enjoyed my shift as always. I, sadly am going to have to change the day I volunteer at Cat City due to a change in my work schedule. I have one more Sunday morning shift which is next Sunday, then I will be doing the Friday morning shift starting February 24th. I like the Sunday morning crew as they are awesome.

After my shift at Cat City, I went and bought myself some orange chicken from an Asian restaurant in my neighborhood. I really enjoy this particular restaurant’s orange chicken. I brought home the food and ate it. Billie wanted some of the chicken but I didn’t share with him since it wasn’t plain chicken.

When I was done eating my lunch, I took out my cat tarot cards. I didn’t do a reading but I did start reading the guide that was included with the deck. I am wanting to start doing tarot cards as a form of self care and hope that I can incorporate reading tarot cards into my daily routine.

Something I did in regards to trying to understand tarot cards better is buying a book from Amazon for beginners in tarot cards like me. I am not a big fan of Amazon but I really want to learn more about tarot cards so I can understand what the tarot cards are telling me. I hope the book I am buying is going to be helpful.

I do not have anything else to discuss 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!!!