August 03, 2017

Happy to be blogging

Well, thank you for not booing me off the stage with that last post, hahaha. As boring as it is to some people, I really enjoy talking about budgets and creative ideas for being thrifty.

I used to think we were living semi-frugally... until we started on our budget. Now I realize that there were so many places we could have cut expenses! (And we have since.) There are still more changes we could make, but since this is going to be a new lifestyle for us, we don't want to make it a miserable one ;)

In a way, it's like my weight loss in 2009. I knew that my changes were going to be for the long haul, so I didn't do or change anything I wasn't willing to do or change forever. I love dessert, so rather than cut it out of my diet completely, I just changed my portion sizes to be much smaller. I made small changes that added up to a large weight loss.

So, I'm hoping this is how our budget will work out. We've made lots of small changes that are livable and that we are content with. We didn't give up the things we really wanted and that we felt were worth the splurge money (like Netflix--it's obviously not a necessity, but we really like it, so we are choosing to spend the $9.99 per month on it).

Anyway, I spent a lot of time today working on my blog. I'm (slowly but surely) updating my pages. It won't be noticeable just yet, but hopefully soon. I'm going to be turning the page tabs (above my posts) into a drop down menu. Since I'm branching out a bit from focusing on weight loss, I would like to get everything more organized.

When I was going through depression for almost a year, I didn't enjoy blogging anymore. I didn't want to just up and quit, but I dreaded writing. I didn't want the things I said to be all doom and gloom; but that's how I was feeling, so trying to think of positive things to write was exhausting for me.

I've always been pretty candid when writing about tough stuff (gaining weight, anxiety, depression, etc.); but honestly, I always feel guilty for being depressed. I have a great life--a super supportive husband, fantastic kids, a loving family, a roof over my head, food on the table--so it's hard to accept that I could possibly be depressed. While I know that it's out of my control, but there are still a lot of people who believe that depression can be cured by positive thinking (even some people who love and care about me).

But I'm getting way off track... the point I'm getting to is that rather than writing about my depression day after day, and risk sounding like a spoiled housewife, I just chose to share much less (if anything) on my blog. Even I was tired of talking about it with my therapist and people I'm close to.

I know I keep writing about "before my bipolar diagnosis" and "after my bipolar diagnosis", but it really is one of the biggest turning points in my life thus far. As Rik said in the From Fat to Finish Line film, "People divide their lives into before they got married, and after they got married; before their child was born, and after their child was born...", etc. I think all of us have some moments like that--moments that become markers for comparison in the future.

I have a few of those markers, and my diagnosis is definitely one of those turning points. Eventually, I will stop bringing it up, I promise! haha. Now, I will finally get to my point(!) by saying that I have gotten excited about blogging again. Like I was in the beginning. I made over the look of my blog, and now I'm working on the organization of it. Even if it makes no difference to anybody but me, working on it makes me feel good!

Jerry has noticed and has been encouraging me. He said he misses how I used to be so excited about blogging. I've missed it, too! The excitement is back now, and I'm glad :)

Speaking of organization, I ought to just change my Wednesday Weigh-in to Thursday Weigh-in, because I haven't been keeping up with posting it on Wednesdays! I did take a picture when I got on the scale yesterday, but Jerry was off work, and I spent the day with him. Then, Renee and Dave came over last night, so I never really had the chance to sit and write.

So, yesterday's weight was 132.4. I can't remember how that compares to last week (I think maybe up a pound?), but I'm not really thinking of the week-to-week comparison anymore.



As long as my weight stays under 145, I'll be happy! And no, that number is not a typo ;)  My "healthy weight range" is 110-145 pounds (I put that in quotes because the BMI scale is kind of controversial as far as how accurate it is at measuring health).

I think it's quite obvious I'm never going to reach (or even aim for!) the low end of the range, so I'll be happy just to stay under the high end.

One more thing, and then I'm going to try to get to bed early tonight...

I'm proud of Noah for his reaction to a scary moment today, and just wanted to share. He was at my parents' house (less than a mile from my house) and he was playing with the boys who live next door to my parents (those boys are close to the same ages of Noah and Eli, so they play together often). Eli was at home with me.

The three boys were riding their bikes around the neighborhood (it's a small neighborhood) when one of the neighbor boys crashed his bike somehow (I'm not sure of the details yet). But when he went down, the handle bars of his bike became stuck, so that when he fell, his abdomen went right onto the handle bars, and punctured it pretty deeply.

He was lying on the ground, and when he lifted up his shirt, Noah could see it was very bad--Noah told me he could see "intestines", but I'm thinking it was probably muscle, if anything. Regardless, he needed medical attention right away. His brother rode home quickly to tell his parents what happened while Noah stayed and called 911.

The ambulance arrived, and they took him (along with his mom) to the hospital (where he was then transferred to children's hospital because of the severity of it). I haven't gotten an update yet about whether he needs surgery or what exactly his injuries were--but thankfully, he is going to be fine!

I'm just so proud of Noah (and honestly a little surprised) that he reacted so calmly and quickly called 911. I underestimated his reaction in a stressful situation like that. He waited there for the ambulance to come. All three of the boys did great!


16 comments:

  1. Maybe a fun thing to do with your kids would be take a first aid class. Sounds like Noah already knew the right thing to do in that situation, but knowing first aid/cpr can be great. I don't know how old you have to be to be cpr certified with the Red Cross, but I feel like they probably have classes for younger kids too even if they aren't old enough to be officially certified.

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  2. Glad that you are enjoying blogging again. Even without the emotional/mental stuff that you had going on, sometimes it's reinvigorating to take a little break. I have had a blog since 2010, and the last two years I just wasn't into it. I only posted 27 times in all of 2016! haha I was actually thinking about whether I wanted to continue it. Then I just started writing again, and now for this year I have already surpassed my number of posts for last year and I am only ten posts away from beating the year before that. lol Guess I'm back! And like you, I'm enjoying it again. :)

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  3. I for one, am really happy that you have been blogging more, and that this trend will most likely continue! It has been great to hear you sounding so positive and happy, your mood really comes through in your writing. The budget blog was great, I'm not really a numbers person but I am a housewife who is always looking for money saving tips and tricks. Thrift stores, consignment shops, yard sales, and more than anything else, Craigslist! I've furnished most of our house on Craigslist, the deals can't be beat. Glad to have you back in the groove, I missed ya!

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  4. I'm glad you're enjoying blogging again!

    I fully get the notion of being tired of talking/thinking about your depression, but I hate that you felt guilty! (Not that anything you feel when you're depressed makes any kind of sense.) I recently went through a pretty severe depression a few months ago, and I stumbled across a quote that helped a bit; "telling someone they shouldn't be depressed because they have plenty to be happy about is like telling them they shouldn't be happy because they have plenty to be upset about." There was just something in that idea that made me realize our feelings don't always match our situations, and sometimes we just have to work through it. I'm glad you were able to get a proper diagnosis and start feeling better! I look forward to more posts!

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    1. LoVE that quote about feeling depressed vs. happy!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. As a person who has depression and has been on medication for the past seven years, there are still days that I struggle. I too have people in my life that wonder how I can be depressed as I have a wonderful life, but they don't always understand depression doesn't only affect those who have a troubled life. I have always hated taking medication and felt like a failure for having to be on anti-depressants. My therapist explained to me that my brain simply does not make enough serotonin and so I need extra. When I am feeling down I Say to myself, "my brain doesn't work like everyone else's.". That's okay, I just need to give it what it needs.

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    1. I agree...many times I have felt "weak" when I have depressed thoughts, and when I use to take medication...and when my mother specifically doesn't understand that ....MY brain doesn't work like hers....ugh. So true.

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  6. Thanks Katie....always enjoy reading your posts...even if I am days late at times. ;-)

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  7. I love that you're enjoying your blog again! I just got caught up on your posts, since we recently moved and have a lot of projects around the house, but always love reading your posts! And - I'm a numbers person, so I love a good budget :D

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  8. Speaking of Frugality, have you ever read the blog, Frugalwoods.com? It is a favorite of mine.

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  9. Glad your enjoying written and blogging again. I am super frugal and am always looking for ways to be more!

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  10. Noah did an amazing job. I've only had to call 911 once, as an adult, and I was a wreck about it. It's a big deal and I'm sure he will never forget making that call. And I'm so glad he'll be able to look back and know he handled it well and will be able to handle himself well in other scary situations in the future. Way to go, Noah!

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  11. Oh my gosh! I am so surprised and proud of Noah! I can't even picture that from someone so little! Good job buddy! We are all so proud of you! Mom and dad did a good job and it really shows!!! You took good care of your friend!

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  12. Katie, you are a great inspiration to me when it comes to blogging and I won't miss your post for anything. I also decided to give some more attention to writing these days. About your last post, it was a wake up call for my household. After reading we decided to do more planning even with our "unstable" income because if it helped you guys then we can be helped too. Thank you for writing about other things apart from runs, it had helped me a lot.

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  13. I'm glad you're back and happy to be blogging, Katie. I was a little sad (but understood) when you said you were going to blog less, that you just didn't enjoy it anymore. And I enjoyed the entry on budgeting! I've never been good at budgeting so learning how others have been successful at it is so helpful!!

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  14. Since Noah was the last thing you talked about, I'm going to comment on that and say "WOW"! Great job Noah for knowing what to do! You and Jerry are doing such a great job with your family. I wish I had been reading your blog when my kids were little because I just love how you handle certain situations and some of the fun things you do with them!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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