Chris - Happy Birthday to your mom. I love your mom. She's awesome. I hope Scott takes everything well. I will pray for his healing. And yes, snow is a 4-letter word for a reason. Sending hugs. I hope after the doctor's visit you are able to have a good weekend.
LindaS - a lump in your clavicle? well, that's no good. I hope it goes away quickly. Well, get yourself happy and have a great weekend.
Elisa - sounds like you need to get yourself a 4-wheel drive. Get yourself some booming business to get yourself one. That just stinks to be reliant on other people. Stay safe and warm.
LindaP - enjoy your snow day...again!! you stay safe and warm too. dang. All this snow is unreal. Wow!!
Andrea/Nyx - okay lady. so I wanted to tell you a little bit about me and anxiety and how my medication helped me out. First of all, I never knew I had anxiety. I always thought anxiety was normal and everyone else just handled things better than I did. Finding out I had anxiety was half the battle in itself because then I could single it out and know what was going on. I never had anxiety attacks but would just be really uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that my kids couldn't touch me or make too much noise. Some days I couldn't have the radio too loud. If the house got too messy I would be completely overwhelmed. If things did not go as planned I would start crying and have a melt down. So, I started seeing this counselor who told me I had anxiety and then referred me to a nurse practitioner in her office for med management. She put me on Effexor. Effexor is two medications mixed into one...welbutrin and celexa (i think) type meds mixed together. It is supposed to take 4-6 weeks to notice a difference. About 4 weeks later I had a big day. It was the day of my dad's 50th surprise birthday party. It was a crazy day. My aunt flew into town the night before and was making me insane and I had to be around her all day long. The day started at 6:30 and I had to drive an hour in rush hour traffic to school for a 4 hour class. My dad had been in a bad mood all week because he was laying hard wood floors in their house but we needed him to go into work. We had everything worked out ahead of time for him to show up to the surprise party but because of his bad mood I knew that plan wouldn't work so I had to get ahold of the guy who was going to invite him out to tell him to say nothing. My dad's boss took the hit for us and forced him to come in to work for a meeting that wasn't even going to happen and my dad was angry. It was a mess. So, my mom was so busy at work getting ready to put in a new software system for their accounting system so even though this was her shindig I was putting it on and had taken care of everything. I went to my parents house to get some things my mom had left for me there and realized that I left my clothes at home an hour away. I am inbetween sizes of my mom and sister so I couldn't borrow anything so I had to buy something. So off to Target I went. If you ever need to buy an outfit at the last minute...don't go to Target. After everything was said and done and my DH knew I wouldn't kill him his comment to me was "Rave much?" in reference to my outfit. I just didn't have much time and there wasn't much that went together. My aunt continued to make me crazy. Then traffic was horrible. Then I had to call my dad in hopes that he would show up at his own surprise party, but had to find my aunt who disappeared at the party store. On the way to the party I get a call from my sister who is all upset because her loser boyfriend is causing them to be late and she's afraid they may not be there on time, while my dad is rushing my mom so that they may be early. I'm waiting for my DH to show up in the middle of Seattle on the bus so that we don't have two cars there. Then DH calls me on the phone. Normally this is a time when I would start yelling saying why aren't you doing something to make this easier! (even though there is nothing he can do). But I didn't. I was calm, and I knew everything was going to be okay. I knew that whether or not it all worked out the way it was supposed to my dad would know we loved him and that we had worked hard to put it together and everyone would have a good time regardless. I just wasn't worried. I wasn't numb by any means. I was sad for sisters stress, I thought my dad's annoyance was funny and I was ready to chop off my aunt's head and send her off with my mom and dad as soon as possible, but I was okay. My head was not spinning and I was ready to throw my dad an awesome 50th surprise birthday party and he was going to love it. So, on the drive there DH called me and it clicked in my head how calm I was and I told him...Effexor Rocks...and he said "you are really, really calm, aren't you?" And I have been taking it ever since. If I miss it for a day I'm okay, two days I'll be alright. But 3 days and you can tell I haven't been taking it and I can tell I haven't been taking my meds. Life is just easier. I'm not numb and by no means a zombie but I am able to enjoy my kids, my husband, or whatever else I think should be enjoyable in my life. I can just sit back and relax a little bit more and let life happen. Everyone is different. Different meds do different things for different people. Effexor is my wonder drug. Zoloft, Celexa, Prozac or whatever works for other people. Just depends on your issues and your chemistry. If something doesn't work make sure you say something and try something different. You might consider seeing a counselor or a nurse practitioner that does counseling. A nurse practitioner (at least in washington state) that specializes in psychology can prescribe medication in that field. That may be something to look into. Well, I think I just wrote you a book. This is just something that is so important to me. Good luck.
