Therapy

First, I would just like to say thank you to all of you who have expressed your condelances for our loss, and expressed your concern for my well being. I do appreciate how difficult a situation this has been, even for those only indirectly involved by the sheer misfortune of knowing me and/or my family. I understand the effort it takes to say something when it seems there is nothing to say. I just wanted to let all of you know that I greatly appreciate every word I received. Even the simple "I'm sorry" is something I am thankful for, and, in some cases, was the most meaningful thing I heard. I had forgotten, I think, how extremely lucky a person I am in life, even when it doesn't quite seem so. I am truly blessed to have friends and family such as you.

Now, some of you have also expressed concerns about my mental health. After re-reading my own two last posts, and not to mention realizing my tendency to just latch on to anyone who mentions the situation to me, and just chatter up a storm with them, all the while seeming to be perfectly calm about it all despite that wild look in my eyes, and probably scaring the crap out of them in the process, I can completely understand why. (Sorry, Lee, didn't mean to do that to you in Court!) I would just like to let you know that I am completely aware of my mental state, and have decided along the way that some therapy might do me good. Keep in mind, though, that I consider there to be lots of different kinds of therapy. Over the last several weeks I have indulged in attempted several types of therapy. I have several more I intend to try out as well. And while no one method has worked wonders for me, all have contributed to allowing me to keep little bits of my sanity. Hopefully you will see a return, (if not slow and extended, at least steady,) to my old self, and therefore my old blogging ways.

Let me share with you my exploration of the World of Therapies. The first therapy attempt was that of Retail Therapy. You know, this is where you go out and spend inordinate amounts of money on things you really don't need. I did spend a little money on things we did actually need...like groceries. But for the most part it was completely unneccesary items that did nothing more than make me feel happy. There were four new pairs of shoes (two for me and two for Sweetpea), because I made the mistake of going into Payless to look for ballet shoes for Sweetpea's Halloween costume right in the middle of BOGO. Usually I would have been more aware of this, and try to stay out of Payless during this event. But, with all that had been happening, I don't remember paying attention to any commercials for it, and didn't even notice the signs as I entered the store. Imagine my surprise and delight when the very helpful clerk informed me of the sale. Just ballet shoes turned into ballet shoes and black boots for Sweetpea, and black ankle boots and red and black Airwalks for me. Too cute! (BTW, I am completely aware of how much several people will make fun of me for the Airwalks. I don't care, I love them!)

My shoe splurge was followed by a trip to my favorite store to hate, Wal-mart. I did have a legitimate reason for going to Wal-Mart that day. I had groceries to buy, and several other household items, which I did purchase. And of course I needed a new shirt to go with my Airwalks... In addition to that, I had to buy Halloween treats for my niece and nephew. (My sister is so kind as to spoil my daughter at every possible holiday, I MUST return the favor! :-) ) Ok, so that wasn't so bad. Until I really stopped and looked around in the Halloween aisles. Then suddenly I realized I didn't have any treats for work. So into the basket went six more bags of candy (all of which I did actually have coupons for). Then I realized my friend might like a treat, too. So a couple little things for her went in the basket. Then I saw some really cute pumpkin tatoos. You use them to decorate the pumpkins instead of carving Jack-o-Lanterns. So into the basket for Sweetpea they went. Oh, here's a pic of the result of that therapy:
She did pretty well, don't you think? The Mr. Potato Head ears were a nice touch, I thought.

Then I realized we were supposed to have company for Halloween dinner and I had no indoor Halloweeny decorations to go with our Dinner in a Pumpkin dish. There were several adorable Halloween table cloths, so I thought that would be cute. I saw an equally cute haunted house tea light holder that I thought would be adorable as a centerpiece.

And of course I had to have the black and orange Halloween tea lights that went with it. No, the bags of white ones I have at home are not good enough. But then I noticed it was probably just a bit too small to use as a centerpiece by itself. So I looked around for something to add. Then I saw the artificial black roses. And I thought, hmmmm. A dozen black roses in a clear vase with black river stones in the bottom would be a perfect addition to the tea light holder. Orange ghosty table cloth - check. Haunted house - check. Black and orange tea lights - check. Dozen black roses - check. Tall, clear, slender vase - check. Black river stones - whoa, not so fast! They ended up being like $5 per bag and I was figuring about 3 bags for the vase. Ok, so there may be something called too much Retail Therapy. Instead I opted for vase marbles I already had at home. And the result:
Kinda cute, huh? Forgetting for just a minute that my Retail Therapy doubled my Wal-Mart expense, I didn't do too shabby. So ended that therapy session. (Kind of. Here and there I've bought a couple things along the way. :-) )

The next therapy I sampled was Assisted Flight of the Imagination Therapy. This is therapy where, by perusal of certain fanciful texts, the imagination is transported to exotic and far away places in the past, present and future... Ok, so it's reading a book. Hey, I needed an escape. So I re-read one of my favorite romance novels and spent a few days immersed in the romantic and fascinating medieval era (one of my favorite time periods). This therapy has provided a most favorable release for me, and I think I may continue on with this method.

Next I attempted Dexterity Completion Therapy. This is the therapy of finally finishing the million and one craft projects you have started over the last umpteen years. Ok, so this one wasn't so successful. I got some work done on the cross stitch I'm doing right now, and I got Sweetpea's headpiece together for her Halloween costume...and that about sums it up. However, I believe this form has its merits and future attempts at this therapy may be beneficial. (If for nothing else than finishing the cross stitch I promised my mom three months ago.)

Annoyance Therapy has been something I've returned to over and over again. Annoyance Therapy is applied by sinking your proverbial "claws" into whoever might be available (or just in the wrong place at the wrong time) and annoying the hell out of them by discussing every gruesome detail of the horrific situation you are currently going through. Unfortunately, participation by the opposite individual is completely involuntary, and prior participation of such individuals is not taken into account. Let me just say, I'd like to apologize to all past and future participants in my sessions of such therapy. Equally unfortunate is my apparent inability to stop myself from practicing such therapy, and I do feel quite sorry for my victims friends and family when I am driven to the practice.

The most recent test therapy has been Beautification Therapy. This is the practice of doing something to make yourself feel, if not look, pretty. It does wonders for the soul. In my case, I had my nails done:

This was something that Sweetpea was more than happy to also participate in, so after mine were done, I did hers, too:

No, I am not multi-talented. Mine were done in a salon, and hers are those sweet little girl press on nails you can get a Wal-Mart. We just also add a little super glue so they stay on for more than five minutes at a time. She always gets so excited to show everyone her pretty nails. Anyway, Beautification Therapy proved to be a success as well. I think it is something I will have to continue, especially since I've noticed over the last few months that my normally dark brown hair has taken on a silvery luster that was not quite so apparent before...

I'm also considering some Hands-On Therapy. *gasp!* Get your minds out of the gutter! I know what you're thinking, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves! I am, of course, referring to massages, wraps, body scrubs and other relaxation type therapies available in a spa. *Ahem* Anyway, I have a gift certificate my dear husband gave me for this last Valentine's for a massage that I need to use so it doesn't expire. I was saving it for a maternity massage as time went on, but maybe now a hot stone massage or aromatherapy massage might be in order...

And maybe, just maybe, when all is said and done, I might actually consider some professional therapy.