Around Here...

Another July is coming to a close and I can't believe how time goes by more and more quickly as I get older.  I was warned it would happen, but didn't really grasp it until I started to live it.  Kyle and I have been married through six summers and have known each other for seven.  In some ways I can't believe we've been together as long as that, yet in others I can't remember life without him. 

Enjoying family time at our niece and nephew's going away party. 

I haven't blogged as much as I would like lately, nor have I journaled or worked on Project Life much.  Creativity certainly has its ebbs and flows.  When I notice the ebbs in my endeavors to record life's bits and pieces, I panic at the thought of those moments that might never get documented or will slip by without further reflection.  I try to let it go and remember that it's better to get some of it than none at all.  Perfectionism rears its ugly head and I want it all done expertly, but I'm prone to being all too human and thus imperfect.   Life has a way of requiring my full attention sometimes and in those times I'm too busy participating to remember to take a few minutes to record and document.  I have to remind myself that it's all okay!

I'm just going to wrap up some lose ends and update both my blog and Project Life with a bulletted list of where the summer has taken us and what's coming up in the Fall.

•  Today marks the 4th week that I have been off of all my psychiatric medications.  Withdrawal symptoms are slowly tapering, but I anticipate at least 2 to 4 more weeks of some symptoms.  I see my psychiatrist Thursday.  I will seek some medication to help me sleep, but wish to remain mood disorder medication free as long as it is wise. I would particularly like to see what I feel like off of meds and withdrawal symptom free for a few days to weeks to determine a baseline.  I know Dr. K. will push for me to try Abilify again, and I am taking Kyle with me to the doc to give me the strength to say no for now.  I have no idea when/if I will return to psychiatric medications, but for now, I'm really excited to have made it so far in what turned out to be an extremely hard process.  It will remain difficult, but it's also brought me some gifts that I couldn't have expected.
• August marks the 2nd year anniversary of the depression and bipolar support group that I organize and run here in Cheyenne.  I continue to be fulfilled by the stories of courage and strength that I hear from other people with depression and bipolar disorder.  I have obtained non-profit status and recently mailed in our first grant application which would give us some office space.  I also got our website up and running.  Check us out at www.dbsacheyenne.org.  I'm totally new to the website design process, so it's nothing special, but at least it gives us a home on the web and a place for all our information.  I have big plans for DBSA in the future, and can't wait to get started on them just as soon as I get my own health a little better managed
• Kyle's summer has been very busy with work related projects at WYDOT.  We try to remember that this is a good thing - job security and all!  Many new highway projects are planned for Wyoming, and that means lots of title work, negotiations and travel for Kyle.  He has spent a couple of weeks up in Afton and Thayne, Wyoming.  Such beautiful country!  I love the pictures he sends me when he's on the road.  He'll be going to Denver for a class at the end of August.  He's nearly completed all the coursework to get his International Right of Way Association certification - a big accomplishment.  We're hoping the fall will give him a bit of a slower pace at work and time to get some projects done around the house - not the projects I have for him, but one's that he's actually looking forward to accomplishing.  I'll save mine for Spring!  He also has a big birthday coming up in November.  I'll have to see what I can plan for such a special guy...
• With Kyle's working and my being under the weather most of June and July we didn't get out and about as much as we wanted this summer.  My biggest hope was to get to the Renaissance Festival in Colorado, but it just didn't happen.  We'll go in June next year, for sure!  We still plan to get to a Rockies game, most likely in September.  Last year we went for my birthday in September, and it was perfect!  I love the weather in September, and I love going down to Denver on a weekday when Kyle can get away so we avoid the crowds.  We did make it to Elitch Gardens for my Sis-in-Law's birthday.  We surprised her and it was the perfect day. I even faced my fears and went on the Tower of Doom with my nephew.  We also plan to go to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in Denver at Christmastime.  Their tour schedule comes out August 1st, so I can't wait to see when we'll be catching their amazing show.  
• Mostly I'm looking forward to peace and quiet this Fall.  I am looking forward to putting out my fall decor around the house and making some new crafty items.  Last Fall our entire upstairs was demolished as we awaited new flooring and from September 9th until the week before Thanksgiving we had the entire upstairs packed up, pushed aside and otherwise destroyed.  It will be fun to celebrate the change in seasons this year since I didn't have the chance last year.  It's also a good time to reflect on how much I love our floors now that they are finished.

So that's about all the news from around here.  I know that summer's hardly over, but somehow it always seems that once August hits, school is just around the corner, and then it's Fall to me the moment September arrives.  Must be the leftover teacher in me.  It's always a bit bittersweet when a school year arrives and I'm neither teacher nor student.  I so loved starting a new school year as a student, both in grade school and in college.  I miss college so much in August.  And though I don't necessarily miss working in schools as much as attending them, there is also something special about the start of a fresh new year of school from that perspective as well.  

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and savor the bits and pieces!

That's me on the left, waving goodbye to Kyle in case I fall to my doom...