This past week was much more uplifting on the political front. The speeches made at the DNC were amazing and I loved that I didn’t hear any shit flinging of the Republican party. In fact, Clinton was even respectful. What they did say of the Republican policies and intentions was not positive – because how could it be?! – but much more truth-based than anything the Republicans had to say about the Democrats. In fact, the Republicans did some serious smearing and I think it reflects very poorly on a party that’s (at this point) religious based. I expect better of people who make such a big deal about the righteousness of their beliefs. Which ought to include a lot more truth telling and a lot less vicious smearing.
I’m still terrified about the outcome of the elections. I listened to the speeches of Michell Obama, Bill Clinton, and President Obama and all three of them were so articulate and intelligent and inspiring- it made me proud to be an American for a few minutes.
While all the politics have been consuming my attention I have also been canning like a woman on fire and I have to tell you – I’m a person you will want to be friends with during an apocalypse.
All this standing up non-stop for 9 days in a row has got my hip hurting so bad I’ve been limping around for days in terrible pain. This is not going to serve me well in the above mentioned apocalypse. So this hip pain is a worry but while I was bitching about it in my head (and now out loud to you) it occurred to me to mention that one thing I haven’t seen a hint of since the big move is the rosacea. This leads me to suspect that it had one main trigger:
EXTREME AND DIABOLICAL STRESS
I’m still drinking, getting way too much sunshine (though I’m learning to lather myself in sunscreen before leaving the house), it was gone before I reduced my dairy intake (so clearly it wasn’t dairy related), etc etc. The one thing that changed when we moved was that my stress and depression levels dropped radically. My face was clear within a week of moving here.
It’s nice to not look like I have some hideous skin disease.
About the perpetual sunshine… it is NOT nice. We’ve had maybe one cloudy day here in two months. It’s been consistently above 75 degrees for two months with 90% of those days being above 80 degrees. So yeah, not loving the California weather. The sunshine here is aggressive and mean.
It’s the price to pay and I’m paying it happily most days. But I do think I should be allowed to express my feelings about the weather once in a while even though it’s a totally acceptable and fair price to live in a place I’m so happy to be living in.
The next trick will be to find a natural EFFECTIVE sunscreen that goes up to 100% protection. I love Alba sunscreen and I read a report on sunscreens rated for cancer causing ingredients and Alba was in the top 3 cleanest and safest sunscreens to use. I couldn’t find it in any of the big stores so I need to go visit our local health food store. I’m hoping to find big coverage.
We’re on week 3 of Max’s Middle School adventure and I haven’t heard a peep from his teachers or counseling office. He doesn’t seem to be getting in trouble. He tells me he’s not blurting things out in class out of turn and when I ask him why he shrugs his shoulders. I’m not sure what to make of it. Part of me knows this is just because he’s still new. He’s started calling home during breaks to complain of stomach aches so I know he’s stressed.
The weird thing is that if he doesn’t act out in class then Kaiser won’t test him for ADD. They only test if both parent and teacher evaluations show a need for the testing. If Kaiser were to look in his school files for the previous two years they wouldn’t question it – but it has to be from the teachers he has now. So part of me wishes he would act out because if we don’t get the testing done and he doesn’t get a 504 plan in place I just know things will suddenly plummet and get really bad and we won’t have that support ready for him. That’s what happened two years ago. I regretted that I somehow hadn’t gotten his 504 activated and then we couldn’t get it going last year when things were spinning out of control.
Yet – I also want him to just be okay. And I want him to be okay in school. I want him to succeed. I want to believe it will stay like this and he won’t need any extra help. I guess I just have to keep taking steps forward. There are other things I have to do in order to set him up for testing and one of them is that he get a regular physical and that he get two tests done through his school to determine if he has learning disabilities or sensory issues (duh). So I’ll proceed with the steps I’m supposed to take and try not to worry.
It’s 12:30 pm and my canning madness must continue. I’m feeling happy and well adjusted these days. The only thing that I’m deeply unhappy about is my physical self which I already spilled about last week (and thank you for your moral support on that – I didn’t answer the comments but meant to!). But considering all the things that I could have to deal with in life – having problems with my body that I can actually do something about (even though it will take upwards of forever and a ton of work) is really pretty lucky.
A special note to my Oregon friends: I’m missing you all a lot. You stay in my thoughts and I wish I could just pop out to see you.
My pickling cucumbers are waiting to get sauced. Have a great Sunday!