Mental Health Awareness Month: Make This Emotional Support Kale Smoothie

In mid-April, I saw my PCP where I learned that my cholesterol levels and my blood pressure were high. Not run to the ER type high, but definitely higher than normal for me. The number one culprit is likely stress and anxiety. My load is heavy and has no sign of resolving soon. Sometimes, I’m […]

Mental Health Awareness Month: I wanted therapy in my teens, but that wasn’t okay

CN: bipolar disorder, therapy, medication, family dynamics Don’t fret – I’m not going to write 31 posts about involuntary civil commitments. My first accurate diagnosis was Bipolar Disorder. Originally, I was type II because I experienced hypomanic episodes rather than full blow mania. When I had a truly terrifying experience in 2010/2011, I was rediagnosed […]

Mental Health Awareness Month: Reviewing My 302 Petition and Warrant

Today begins Mental Health Awareness Month. To celebrate, I spent 90 minutes going over the 302 petition and warrant that turned my life upside down in 2023. Line by line, clause by clause. With my therapist. I was hyper aware of her concern as her image hovered in the bottom corner of my screen. We […]

Is it weird that I used a Popsicle mold as a jigger for my bourbon?

She gets up and pours herself a strong one  My friend Sarah and I are dabbling lightly in the libations lifestyle. In January, I had a cocktail at City Theatre when I saw a play and it was nice – bourbon and other stuff. I said “huh, I guess I like bourbon.” This led me […]

Impious and irreverent ‘sweary’ calendars are good for your mental health

I like calendars – being oriented to date and time are good mental health practices. I like calendars with attitude. And cats. In 2025, I had three wall calendars and one daily tear away calendar. The tear away was filled with women’s quotes, but in a bland way that focused on traditional messages. But I […]

If you smile through your fear and sorrow

I went to the dentist last week, abuzz with anxiety. This weirdly ended up okay because I just had one cavity and everything else was fixable. Except one bad tooth that has to be uninstalled. Second chances are always important. The dental cleaning weakened the bad tooth and it really hurt. I called an oral […]

Things You Might Learn and Experience Processing Your Trauma

Today, I saw my trauma therapist. I’ve been working with her for eight years, through her transferring to three practices and countless psychiatrists. She’s working PT now so I also have a primary care therapist so my time with Brittany is spent on trauma work. After I told her I wrote a post about our […]

This is My Birthday Week – 55 Here I Am!

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 is my 55th birthday. Woo hoo. Manifesting My Destiny My annual plan is to order myself a small cake from the Giant Eagle bakery (even though I’m very disappointed with their customer service right now – they make great cake.) Then I load up my all time favorite movie ‘When Harry […]

Happy birthday to me. Next week, I’ll turn 55.

Content Notes: childhood sexual violence, grooming, birthdays, anxiety, cats I have birthday issues. Not a real surprise to long-time readers. Or my friends. Or anyone who knows me. I used to think it was simple anxiety. But through my trauma processing work and therapy in general, I’ve sort of had a breakthrough. Birthdays are about […]

My Eyes are Pink and Painful

I was 54 years old before I contracted double pink eye – conjunctivitis in both eyes. And it sucks. Woke up this morning with nasal congestion and that weird weepy need to depressurize feeling in my left eye. I thought it was sinuses. Blew my nose, drank a hot beverage and it was no better. […]