Another week gone...since last Weds.

Hello again...

I'm a little bit farther in my "work" at home, but my Mom is now moved into a new apartment in assisted living. Her former "roomie" was just not working out. We had LOTS to "pare down" especially her closet since her new closet is much smaller. We started ahead of the move and then afterwards exchanged dressers for FIT in the new room (There is more "tall room" than width, so she now has more room to get to her closet.)

On top of just needing to clean and do the regular stuff that's been WAITING through my mental illness this past summer, We're preparing to move to NC next July. I've been a KEEPER all my life! I've moved some things to the Salvation Army and we are giving away some things. Selling is just not worth what people WANT to spend and the Sal appreciates STUFF. This also works a lot FASTER than trying to SELL!

AND...I'm sorting through TONS of pictures from my mother's albums. One of my sisters spent two "sessions" with me while her husband helped mine finish the seams in our garage. (Another sister helped start this project when she visited PA in August from Florida.).We've been in this house for over 11 yrs. and it's TIME to get ready to "put it on the market" in the spring. (I'm going to scan the pictures that I want to return to my Mom and to my aunt who took many of them years ago. Also planning to make CD's to share with my sisters and brother.) My aunt immigrated (She was almost 19 yrs. old.)from Panama in the spring before my birth in July of 1949. She happened to go on a day trip to Pittsburgh with a friend (Charlotte, who lives just down the street from my mother-in-law now!)the day I was born and wasn't available to help with my two older sisters. She's been and will ALWAYS be my favorite Aunt. I've learned a lot about my family in this process. SO...I continue to sort before I'm able to scan and share with my family and so we'll all have pictures of our past!

Meanwhile I'm trying to get a GRIP on my bi-polar. I'm up to 200 mg of Lamictal (the generic is Lomotrigine) and HOPEFULLY won't have to go up much higher. (I had a bit of a "melt-down" on Monday, but those days are fewer now.) It feels SO GOOD to do even ONE thing each day and NOW I'm able to do more. However I AM challenged with all I've got ahead of me. I've let things go for a LONG time. Even before my new meds, I wasn't very good at accomplishing much at all. I'm now noticing that I can pull-off more and I'm not so apt to just LAY THINGS DOWN, but rather take care of stuff AS I GO! I used to be SO bent on organization and now I'd like to return to a BIT of that. I was TOO "bent" in the past when my kidlets were growing up. However, I am PROUD of my ability to function for 34 years on JUST anti-depressants when I NEEDED mood-stabilizers to work on BOTH parts of the BI polar! I DO feel I was a good mother, but I DO have plenty behind me...that usually I'm able to let stay in the past. I am hoping to POINT people to the RIGHT help and to create some understanding for anyone with a friend or relative who suffers from ANY type of mental disability.

Well...gonna go attack the bank statement and then my husband and I are volunteering for the second time at the 2nd Harvest Foodbank in Erie, PA...a JOB we've wanted to do in his retirement. He's only partially retired, but we wanted to get started on this now. We will be full timers next summer in North Carolina, so we're creating our resumes! HA HA! The TV tells us lately to GIVE some volunteer time, but I've always wanted to do that. In the past I did some work at our hospital as an escort, taking patients to their hospital rooms upon admission. I was preganant with our second daughter at the time and I worked on Sunday afternoons. It was GOOD to give, since not many volunteers are available on the weekends. My husband enjoyed the peaceful Sundays at home with our then 2 yr. old daughter. So...Do something nice for someone today...even if just for a few minutes. Our gift of time is only 1 and 1/2 hrs. a week, but like the starfish story "IT MATTERS!". (Starfish wash up onto beaches and if tossed back into the water have a chance to survive. When watching someone do this...they were asked WHY...since there were SO MANY starfish to "toss" The TOSSER said, "It mattered to that one!" I try to remember this when I do what I consider JUST a little to help!)

Thank you once again for reading Alane Says...I appreciate that!