Positivity

Lately, I've been reading a lot of positive psychology books, some about kiddos, some about adults, as I reevaluate what I'm doing with my life. And, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to try my best to simply eschew putting anything more into the public domain that could be classified as gripes, complaints, rants, or negativity.  That said, we've had some great family time over the last 5 days, as Mira's flu virus (and now mine) have caused us to slow our pace.  It has reaffirmed for me that I'd like to slow our pace much more often than is the case now.  The job situation is still uncertain, but perhaps stabilizing.  I am thinking of MSW school, or potentially a credential in mediation.  At first, these were just back up plans if I got laid off, but they seem to be taking on a life of their own and I am feeling more and more like I'd really like to do both or either even if there are no layoffs.  . . .will keep folks posted--kind of thrilling and scary to think about going back to school.  Sweet photos of our weekend in are posted above!

Mysterious butterfly organ

Clockwise: Mira meets a friend at daycare, the Team of Three, "Seriously, guys. . .squash again?," Triangle Frenzy.

Last week I got test results back saying that my thyroid was way out of whack. My mom, who is an R.N., said something like, "Wow! I've seen a few thyroid tests that were worse, but not many!" Anyway, my shrink said that this could be the whole enchilada of what's been wrong with my brain and spirit since pregnancy. By my lights, if it's not the whole enchilada, it's at least all of the important parts.

Since starting on my thyroid supplement last week:

• My concentration is better;
• I've had spontaneous, happy thoughts (pretty telling how bad off I was that this didn't happen before, no? It was really noticeable, though, the first time I had a happy thought again. . .it hadn't happened in so long.)
• My hip stopped hurting;
• I'm not totally exhausted all the time;
• I am enjoying things and have a sense of humor again;
• I am able to just roll with things a little better.

Honestly, I can't think of any other situation where I'd be so totally thrilled to find out that I have a chronic condition that probably needs medication for the rest of my life. But, this is one! It is particularly nice to know somehow that it was not just my psyche. It was making me sad that Mira's arrival had spawned this crisis for me. Somehow, having something more concrete to point to as the root cause is so reassuring and alleviates all of that--when it was just postpartum depression, it felt like such a deep hole to climb out of.

In other news, Mira is "the star of daycare" according to staff there and seems to be really exceptionally happy lately. She has her first tooth coming in and is scooching all over the place in a sort of army-sniper baby crawl, using mostly her elbows, leaving the rest to dangle behind. It's amazing how fast she is! She is exploring getting up on her knees, but doesn't quite have it yet. She's also saying, "Mamamamama! (yay!), lalalala, nananana, dadaaddda, bababab!" And, we have had our first experience of seeing her artwork on the wall at school--they have them "painting." (I'd love to be a fly on the wall). Still, I was so proud to see M's blobby first art! So far, she's done a study in brown and one in blue.

In still other news, Peter and I had a real-live date tonight. We went to the zoo for a "Wildlife on the Rocks" talk that was way more entertaining and fascinating than either of us anticipated. It was wonderful to have adult time together--we'll have to not wait another 8 months before that happens again!