Tag Archives: Work

Brief Naps In Between Awakenings Due to Various Reasons

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I am having trouble sleeping for a variety of reasons. The two main reasons are due to Migraines and PTSD on top of having insomnia. All three suck equally as much, I just wish it wasn’t happening at the same time because I really want to be able to go to work tomorrow. At least I don’t have to be at work till 12:00 noon. I really love my job but I have missed a lot of it due to being sick or due to disability reasons. I just don’t want to miss another day of work especially since I am not past my sixth month probationary period even though I do most of my work on time especially my notes.

Since I have been having trouble sleeping due to PTSD, Insomnia and migraines, I have been cuddling with my cat, Billie as well as doing some art work. I have been doing some coloring which is a pretty semi easy part as it has some challenging aspects to it. As far as the Diamond art goes it appears to be simple but is more challenging than expected especially when you are just learning how to do it. I am enjoying the Diamond art despite being challenging at first.

Of course the art is helping with me being able to go back to sleep despite how short the sleep can be. Any amount of sleep is very appreciative on my end. Billie, my cat is quite helpful with my sleep.I think I am going to attempt to go back to sleep. I hope everyone has a good Monday ahead of you and enjoy your three day weekend.

Before ending this post if my insomnia, migraines and PTSD continue, I am going to ask if I can work a partial day from home and hope to use flex time for the rest of the day. Worst case scenario I call in sick which is most likely unlikely. But it is better to ask than not to ask because if I ask, I am more likely to get the answer I like than if I don’t ask. Well I do not have much more to say so thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated that you do read my blog. 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!!

Still Feeling Sick & Staying Home From Work

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Or at least it is still morning here in Seattle. I am worried that I could lose my job due to missing so many days due to being sick. I would hope that they would at least give me a talk about missing so much work before letting me go. On the good hand, I am a part of a union and it is hard to get fired from my employer. The only thing the union can’t do in the first six months which is our probationary period is to help make sure we don’t get fired. Once the six months of the probationary period is up, the union can make sure we don’t get fired. So, yes I am a wee bit concerned but I think they have to go through all the union contract stuff before firing me.

One of the things to help me feel better due to sickness as well as less worried about anxiety missing too much work, plan on listening to music as I do some art work while my cat, Billie cuddles with me. I’m mostly going to listen to my Childhood Memories playlist which is 241 songs and just over fifteen hours long. While listening to music, I will be doing some art work. I plan on starting to do some diamond art work. The diamond art work is that of a treble clef which I find ironic that it’s the first one I chose to pick while listening to music.

If listening to music and/or doing diamond art work, I plan on reading a book called “Written In Time” by Jerry and Sharon Ahern. I really hope it is a good book. So far from the first twenty or so pages I have read, it has been a good book.

I wish I could write more about the book and the diamond art but my cat Billie is wanting to cuddle and play at the same time so I am ending this particular blog post for now. I do want to thank you for reading my blog. If it was not for you the reader, I would not be writing my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart 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!!!

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!!!

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!!!

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