Remedial Stress Handling

One of the difficult things about writing a public blog is that you really have no choice but to censor yourself when discussing matters that involve other people. 

I wish I could go into more detail about this but I'm afraid that my approach to writing is generally that once you write about someone, that person will probably stumble upon it...and my goal in writing is not to offend or to hurt.  Suffice it to say I had a pretty rough week, and I'm still trying to determine the best way to deal with all the stress, anxiety, frustration, fear, and sadness that I've been feeling. Sometimes it feels like it's crushing me and threatening to completely engulf my mind.

My darling husband is on yet another camping trip for work (this time in Aroostook County, 6 hours away and no cell reception for miles) so I'm alone in my thoughts until later tonight.  As I'm sure the case is for many of you, being alone is just about the worst thing then you're already your own worst enemy, so I'm trying out some new de-stressing techniques.  Since I'm a pretty high-strung person I'm not particularly well-versed in the ways of effectively handling stress, so it's been a bit of a trial and error experience.

Here are some things that have helped make my day a little brighter during my recent foray into remedial stress handling:

1. A comfort lunch fit for a gluten-free 7-year-old...an American cheese sandwich with local organic strawberries on the side:

2. Slathering obscene amounts of aloe on my itchy sunburn in preparation for my first thigh tattoo session this weekend:

3. A brand-new coloring book and a box of 64 crayons:

4. Taking my adorable little slice of dog out to the field for a romp with her BFFs:

5. Writing a letter to my husband about how awesome he is.

6. Old "Twilight Zone" episodes on Netflix:

7. Cranking music in the car and singing my lungs out (especially to this, this, and this)

8. A brand-new planner with which to fill in all our upcoming activities:

9. A glass of "homemade" lavender lemonade and maybe a vodka cranberry or two later:

10. A date with myself sans telephone at the only restaurant in town that has gluten-free food our favorite restaurant while reading one of my favorite books of all time:

11. A Modcloth dress (the one mentioned in yesterday's post) that fit like a freaking glove. I won't subject you to pictures of it just yet.

12. This desktop background courtesy of Kyla Roma.

What do you do to relieve stress?