Bipolar Questions Version 5

I love both coffee and tea. Its a tie between a iced chai tea latte or a caramel macchiato for me.

On a side note, I have been blessed to be able to be both a morning and night person though I prefer nights.

What's your go to order at a coffee shop, Starbucks or Dunkin?

(mine's a iced decaf caramel macchiato light ice)

Double shot soy mocha, no foam (no whip either!)

Which herbal tea is your favorite?

I don't do herbal tea, I consider it sacrilege. I'm a Jasmine type guy.

What is your favorite European country and why?

That is a very difficult question to answer. I have been to many European countries. Many have their own unique wonderful charm and appeal. I will thank Czech Republic, a beautiful country, for being the homeland of my husband. I recognize southern Portugal as one of my favorite vacation destinations ever. France is marvelous in so many parts and I love the French language and culture. Vive la France! The Netherlands is a very fun place. Italy has marvelous big and small cities with amazing art and architecture and spirited people. Poland has a special place in my heart and was the country where I saw the most amazing sunrise ever. Ireland is where I felt most part of and was the dream destination of my very Irish-looking mother (we went there together). The other countries I didn't mention, that I visited, don't deserve snubs at all.

Q: Where have you been (could be very specific spot) where you felt most at home outside of your house?

A: I was a camp counselor the in mountains of PA. I loved everything about the area. I would have loved to go back to the area after grad school but I only found one job sort of near there and I didn't really want it. It was too rural to have many jobs popping up. Someday I'll make it back.

Q: Do you sleepwalk?

in order to sleepwalk, I'd need to sleep, so no.... which I suppose is a good thing, I've heard some stories about sleepwalking

do you sleep with the window open?

Nope. I live upstairs in an apartment building and the windows don't open.

Would you sat that you have a temper?

Unfortunately, yes, I do have a bit of a temper. I think the worst of it is related to bipolar hypomanic/manic irritability, but even when stable I can be a bit prone to anger. The odd thing is that I am generally a very positive and upbeat person. More so than most people I know. I am a person of contrasts. Of course I have never physically harmed anyone (other than maybe myself or non living object, to a degree), but what comes from my mouth can be bad. Not abusive, just frustration type anger.

Q: Do you have any kind of craft-type hobby? Or did you? If so, what did/do you do?

I like to sew although I don't do it much in my very small house. I used to knit but haven't in a while.

Are you ready for Christmas?

Nope I am still waiting to get paid to get my last two gifts for my siblings.

Does the holidays stress you out alot or cause you to have a episode?

The holidays do stress me out as I work in a retail business. But the usual holiday stresses I don't bother with anymore (gifts, baking, travelling etc), so it's pretty much like any other day. (I did put some lights around my room and a no lights no ornament fake tabletop tree. Might leave the lights. Still have my Halloween ones up, lol.)

Do you feel post-holiday let-down or do you feel relief?

Last year, I felt let down, mostly because of not seeing parts of my family, such as my kids. This year, I have more contact with at least one child, and that cheers me up a lot.

Do you like to cook or bake and if so, what things do you most enjoy making?

I enjoy both when I don't feel rushed. Mostly I like to cook new things. I try to incorporate one new recipe each week. It helps keep weekly dinners fun.

For baking, my favorite thing to make is a cake my grandmother always made. She used to make it for my birthday every year and also at Christmas. I was very honored when she asked me to come over one day and learn how to make it. I carefully recorded all the steps and shared the method with my cousins so they could make it too. My Grandma died that next summer. I'm so grateful for that special memory of her. My kids and I make the cake for my family at Christmas now.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

I had to think hard about this. There was (can't say is, nowadays) my blood family's holiday traditions, and now there are the traditions that my Czech husband and I follow, for just the two of us. This may sound a bit menial, but I really love how my husband and I dress up for dinner on Christmas Eve. It's just the two of us on Christmas Eve, but it's become the most significant day of the holidays for me. My family never really dressed up for Christmas day. In fact, very often we would go outside in the woods. Those were special times, too, but that stopped the year my mother died. As a young child, I loved going with my father and siblings to my paternal grandparents' woods to get the tree. They had a large wooded area filled with pine trees. It was romantic and smelled wonderful. They eventually sold those woods, so that tradition ended.

I also liked involving our pet parrots in the Christmas gift opening. Our old Pacific Parrotlet LOVED helping us open the gifts. He'd rip at the paper with great joy and was disappointed when the gift opening was over. Our most recent parrot was a little scared of it, but he'd cuddle against me looking. This year we have no bird "child". That loss will be greatly noticed.

Q: If there is anything you wish you could change about the holiday season, or your tradition(s), what would it be?

I wish we would get rid of gifts. For me Christmas is about family and getting together. Gifts don’t mean that much to me.

Q: what are you hoping will happen in 2020?

A few things: ongoing stability, peace, joy and weight loss.

Q: Do you make resolutions for the new year?

no.

I never have

best part of 2019 for you?

The best part 2019 was my commitment to get better, healthier, stronger through my awareness of the majesty of life. I went out and found the good.

What melancholy feeling or memory drives you to improve?

I tend to dwell on my failures. At school, at my job, etc. I'm not so sure it drives me to improve though. If anything, those thoughts drag me down.

What was your biggest success this year?

I quit smoking coldturkey i hope i wont smoke again what is your new year plans

Stop eating sweets.

What's your least favorite med side effect?

dryness of mouth

when your mouth feels like a ****ing desert

what was your favourite part of christmas day

Going to an authentic Szechuan restaurant. We did celebrate the holiday at lunch and Christmas Eve dinner, but I preferred the Chinese restaurant with hubby.

Q: What are you looking forward to in 2020?

Going to see if I can scrape together enough money for a scuba trip somewhere. Maybe the Pacific. Possibly the Solomons or Papua New Guinea. Maybe Indonesia. Not sure. Diving is one of my 4 Happiest Places (it, being in falling snow (I am a fairly adept skier, but I don't own any gear anymore and it is outrageously expensive), animals, and my kids).

What is your favorite type of Asian cuisine (mine is Thai)?

bpcyclist, my neighbor just got back from Papua New Guinea. She did some scuba diving there and bird watching (she is an avid bird watcher). She loved it and her photos and stories of the trip were wonderful! I hope you go.

I'll let someone else continue the thread by answering your question below. I will say that various types of Chinese food are my favorite, but I love all food, including the cuisines of most Asian nations. I lived in Taiwan for several months, a couple times, and spent weeks each in China PRC, Hong Kong, and Thailand in the past.