Questions Bipolar Version #9

Nope. Not likely to be today either.

Hmmm 🤔

Too early in the morning for me, same question. Do you have your decorations up yet?

No, even though I wrote further above that I planned to put some things up. We got too busy and sidetracked today.

Do you have a particularly nostalgic holiday item you always display? Any holiday.

Mum has an old crèche she brings out every year. It’s nostalgic to her. From the 30’s or 40’s. For me I had about 11-12 12-15 inch angels that I put out every year. They were international from different countries. But I lost them in my move to Minnesota. I hope they have a good home wherever they are.

Do you have any special rituals or ceremonies you do for the winter holidays ( Hanukkah, Christmas, kwanza )

Not really. Our family has had some bad things that have changed our holiday celebrations year to year over the past several years. We will have a ham dinner with my brother and then another Christmas dinner of some kind at my sister's. We'll go to my sister's on Christmas day for gifts with the kids. Oh, and we went to the town Christmas party. So I guess some small traditions but not the same ones we used to have. It makes me sad.

Do you tend to wear the same types of clothes daily or do you change it up? (ie I wear hoodies nearly every day)

Pretty much the same thing daily. Mostly tie dye shirts and jeans or wide legged black sweat pants. I have several tie dye shirts in bright colors to black and white. In the winter on clod days I wear solid color long sleeved shirts under them. The more I wash them the softer they get. If I’m not wearing tie-dye I’m usually in black.

Did you go though an all black phase?

no.

I like my bright colors

today I look like the sun did a crap on the grass (best way I can explain myself)

and now I'm wondering does the sun crap. hmm. probably not the image you want to remember for the rest of the day

do you ever wear any bracelets, or rings, earrings, etc

I wear an opal ring when I am going out somewhere. Lately I've not worn i much thanks to the pandemic.

Do you have a gift you've purchased for someone else that you are excited to give them this year?

I haven't purchased a single thing, but I suppose Hubby and I better get something for his sister and maybe nephews. I haven't exchanged with my siblings or friends for years. I do usually buy something for my father. I might just order from Amazon US to have it sent directly to him. It would be too much of a hassle sending it from Europe.

When this pandemic is truly truly over, what do you most look forward to?

Not having to wear a mask. I don’t really mind, it’s just that it’s a hassle to remember. There’s no mandates where I am, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. So I wear mine everywhere.

It’s unusual not to have snow yet here. Has it snowed where you live yet? Do you get snow where you live?

yes their's been some snow. I hope we get a white christmas. it doesn't happen very often- since the snow is usually january/ febuary time.

are you buying gifts for a lot of people?

Where I am now in Czech Republic, it has already snowed a handful of days. It snowed today, too, but the accumulations haven't been that great. Where I grew up and lived most of my life, in New Jersey, it also snows in the winter, though not as frequently as in CZ. According to my sister, it hasn't yet snowed this year, but it can in December, though usually towards the end of the month. Snow accumulations can be quite great in both New Jersey and Czech Republic. New Jersey gets "Nor'easter" storms, throughout the year, including winter. I've seen as much as over 3 feet of snow a couple of times there in my life. Winds make for bad drifts, sometimes. Attached is a photo looking outside through one of my living room windows in New Jersey one winter. It was deep snow, but the wind drifts make it look even deeper.

What do you like to do in the snow to have fun? Or what did you like to do?

Last year my sister's family brought sleds up and we had a blast sledding down our hill with my nieces, sister and BIL. Even my mom went down the hill. It was so much fun.

Do you have joints that tell you when the weather is changing?

My ankle lets me know when things are changing.

Would you ever try out for a game show?

Probably not, unless it wasn't one watched by millions of people. I get a bit of stage fright. However, I am pretty good at trivia. Jeopardy is my favorite game show. My husband and I rarely miss it, though we watch them the next day, due to time differences. That sometimes sucks if we read the result (i.e. in the NY Times) before we watch the episode. There have been some star players lately that made the news.

What TV shows do you watch regularly?

We watch wheel of fortune every night. Jeopardy is on here mid afternoon so that makes it hard but I think Mayim Bailik is an excellent quiz host. Ken Jennings is ok, but little blossom all grown up is better.

Mostly I own T shirts and hoodies so last night I bought a dressy shirt to wear to a Christmas musical. How often do you buy clothes?

Hi Nammu,
I haven't bought any clothes in the last two years. Maybe more.
One of my manic episodes provided clothes 'till the day I die.
Which will be soon. I'm turning 72 tomorrow.
So I have very few soups left. Hahaha!!!.

Who was your favorite teacher?.

One of my college psych professors. He changed my life through kindness and helped me see I might have talent for working in a psych setting. We're still in touch 23 years later.

Do you wear a mask in therapy and if so do you think it makes therapy harder?

With my current therapist in Czech Republic? No, but I think if covid numbers go up even more, I will choose to. My first therapist here did require the mask. It was required by the country back then. In any case, the mask did make it harder, but safety comes first.

What time of the year is usually your hardest, and why?

It used to be winter because of the long, dark, cold days and nights and I'm terrified to drive in snow. Now I live in a southern climate and don't have to worry about it so I'm not sure. It'll be interesting to see how my mood is this first year.

What is your favorite Christmas movie? If you don't celebrate then what is your favorite movie?

I have to say that movie where the mum is always saying the kid will shoot his eye out if he gets the BB gun. Lots of good memories. I shot the lit lightbulb in the basement out! Heh heh. Just googled the name, A Christmas story. I’ve only seen it maybe 3 times but it’s my favorite.

Mum has a favorite ceramic Christmas tree. She’s had it since the 70’s. Do you have any old favorite ornaments or decorations?

@Nammu, I always liked A Christmas Story, too, and remember it well. I mentioned that movie just the other day to my husband, and specifically the "shoot your eye out" bit. I also found the wife's hatred of the sexy "leg lamp" hilarious. I've had a thing or two of my husband's I felt similarly about. LOL!

And how coincidental! My favorite Christmas decoration is a ceramic tree that MY mother also made in a ceramics class. I think it was already in the shape, but she assembled and painted it. It was always my parrots' Christmas tree. I unpacked it a week ago. My husband ordered a new bulb for it. We have a convertor plug (from US to European). Attached is a photo I just snapped.

What do you do to keep your life feeling as "normal" as possible?

Oh how cool! Love your tree.

Hmmm 🤔 I’d say I stay as normal as possible by keeping to a rough schedule. I have a night time routine, watch Stephen Colbert, ( sometimes Seth Meyers) go to bed, take meds, eat cheese, read, turn light out. I usually wake before the sun but stay in bed until it gets light. Have my glass of chai. Those are the things that stay the same week after week. What varies is in between the morning and evening. Since I rarely go anywhere the mask wearing is limited. Also helping the normal feeling is feeding the cat, getting our meals on wheels, wheel of fortune at 6:30pm Monday- Saturday on Sunday mum has here TV feed of a Lutheran service then her radio feed of her church. Yeah I’d say the many routines we have help establish a sense of normalcy. It might seem boring but I’m doing very well with this. I have my art classes I sign up for when they have them, my aqua classes I haven’t been attending lately, the real reason is I’m a bit worried about the covid because they are now so big and nobody masks up. But my books ground me. The library is a god send. Wow! My life is very normal now! Who would have guessed!

Speaking of all these routines, …. If you could choose to do anything for a day what would it be?

Sit on the beach in the summer watching my nieces play in the waves

Do you wear glasses? How old were you when you got your first pair?

Yes, I do. I've been nearsighted with astigmatism since my early teens. I think my mom finally took me to get my first pair around 15 years old. I hated wearing them, though. I didn't regularly until my late 20s, when Hubby helped me find nicer-looking styles. Nowadays, in middle-age, I also need multifocal lenses inorder to read stuff up close while wearing them.

At what age did you start taking medications daily? Doesn't matter what for.

Age 21...

Name one thing you would change about yourself if you could