The Holidays and Other Good Things

For the past couple of weeks, things have been going much better. My son is stable and settled into his apartment. He has food, and we were able to procure all the things that make life comfortable. We realize that this can and will change, and we will just have to deal with it. He has been over to visit and also came to spend Christmas day with us. He was on his best behavior and we were grateful.

Early evening on Christmas day our daughter, grandson, and her boyfriend and his daughter came for dessert. They arrived fresh from an argument and it took all my self control to ignore the undercurrent of tension. They had spent the day visiting with his father and then his mother (they are divorced). It became obvious that the visiting was not all pleasant. We all managed to get past it and the kids had a blast opening presents and eating the cookies we had made the previous weekend. Not a Norman Rockwell kind of holiday, but we are not a "Norman Rockwell" kind of family either.

We had a couple of really bad shows. As in not profitable. Then we had a few that were better, and one that was good. So all in all, things are improving. We have been juried into two more shows, and we will just keep on keeping on with the hopes that the economy will pick back up.

I purchased the Spark Activity Tracker about two months ago, but things were so hectic and wacked out with our son that I was not ready to try it out. Earlier this week I linked it to the Spark program and have been using it ever since. It does make me more mindful of the need to get moving and it is encouraging to see all the lights lit after one of our walks.

Last but by no means least, I signed up with some new Spark groups. Much to my surprise and delight, I have made some very supportive friends. At a time when I needed it most, people reached out to let me know that they either had a family member that also suffers from mental illness , were there if I needed to talk, and cheered me on when I met a goal. They will never know how much their kindness means to me. I was feeling alone and very, very tired and sad. Still tired, but not sad. Thanks to all of you, I am working on getting myself back on track and slowing down on my emotional eating. Happy New Year!