The handle on the toilet in the half-bath had been wonky for months, not quite catching right when pushed down. I took it upon myself to order a new flush handle assembly from Amazon and install it before the old handle stopped working entirely.
It was much easier than I’d expected, and having a fancy toilet handle that matches the other fixtures is icing on the cake.
I saw a therapist for the first time in my life this week — not because anything in particular is weighing on my mind, or anything tragic has happened, but just because my primary care physician (and the mental health community in general) assert that antidepressants work best in tandem with talk therapy.
After a few years of stalling, I finally did it. Even so, my opening argument of sorts was, “I feel like I shouldn’t be here.”
The first session was, as expected, a getting-to-know-you session, with a combination of brain-dump from me and required questions from her (e.g. “Are you in any legal trouble?”). As it happens, we found enough in common (including our love of Studio Ghibli and our dark senses of humor) that it wasn’t nearly as awkward as I expected. The outcome of our first one-hour session was a realization that journaling/blogging is an important factor in my mental health, and that I need to get back into the habit of getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head so I can recognize them and acknowledge them.
She also gave me some homework: a “Wellness Wheel” to fill out. I’m supposed to rank my satisfaction with each of eight areas of my life from 1 to 10. The instructions specifically say, “Go with your gut on this one,” so instead of first analyzing each one carefully with positives and negatives like I normally would, I’m just going to throw some numbers out there.
Me being who I am, though, I will present the results using an Excel graph instead of coloring in the worksheet she gave me.
| Category | Description | My Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Health | Eating well, exercising, quality sleep | 8 |
| Mental Health | Healthy mindset and emotions | 7 |
| Relationships | Feeling connected to others | 4 |
| Finances | Budgeting, saving money | 9 |
| Career | Satisfaction with work | 9 |
| Spirituality | Personal growth, seeking understanding | 7 |
| Home | Safe and comfortable living space | 7 |
Now for some details.
Continue readingJust dropped my kid off at summer camp knowing that he has a runny nose and a cough, just because it’s a field trip day. Hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in a little while.
Hi! My name is Connor. I am a kid and this is my video game blog. The topic today is Super Mario Odyssey! I started playing near the end of December. I have 38 hats, 37 suits/outfits, 50/52 captures, 34/43 souvenirs, 81/82 music, 721/1000 moons, in balloon world I am level 33 with 36146 total coins earned, and I’ve beaten the final boss 7 times. My Nintendo Switch friend code is [available from my Mom]. PLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE FRIEND ME!! So anyway… I will blog again next week Saturday morning. Friend me plz byyyyeeeeeeeeee!!!
P.S. PLEASE FRIEND ME!
I found the following in my Drafts folder from this past January:
I’ve been a student of Krav Maga since July 2019, six months after my son started karate. I’ve attended class consistently for a year and a half, even signing on to Zoom classes during the pandemic.
I’m much more flexible than I was at the beginning, especially in the hips — I’m this close to doing the side splits, and the last time I could do the splits was in ballet class when I was seven. From a self-defense perspective, I feel like I’m more likely to react appropriately to a physical threat than I was, considering that my fight-flight-freeze instinct used to be entirely to freeze.
I’ve been showing up, putting in the work a couple times a week, and paying for me and my son’s class memberships and gear purchases and belt testing fees. I’ve been having fun and learning stuff and getting tired and sweaty. I feel like this is all worthwhile.
But I don’t feel like I should be a brown belt.
Continue reading