What a difference a car makes

Things here have been a bit more active than usual. The mere existence of a second car around the MysticSpiral homestead has Sprout in a frenzy of "What will we do next?!?!" That said, the fact that we have the option to leave whenever we wish has her a little more content to linger around the house playing in nothing but her underwear. (What is it about young children that prompts them to be nudists?) We are planning to enroll Sprout in preschool in the fall, but may put her into preschool day camp for a couple of weeks in July and/or August to start getting her used to the idea. We have been taking a break from swim lessons because it was just too hard to work out the schedule for 4-day-a-week swim lessons with just one car.

But it's not just about Sprout's activities and options. I also have a chance now to do things that I felt I couldn't when we were a single car family. I'm indulging some activist impulses that were dishearteningly problematic as a single car family when K's schedule can sometimes change with no notice. I'm also getting back to water aerobics and, hopefully starting this week, middle-eastern dance.

I worked some on the promised finger puppet tutorial while I was in Cincinnati. I've got pictures on the data card on my camera. I've got notes for the actual text handwritten in the spiral bound notebook that I usually take with me everywhere. Most of the notes were written sitting in the car in the driveway the day we bought Rosie. (I had foolishly neglected to check whether I had my complete key ring and instead only had the ring with the Y keyfobs and the locker key. I got to spend a couple hours hanging out in the car getting to know her since I was locked out of the house.) Unfortunately, I'm experiencing computer problems and at the moment my system lacks image editing software or any kind of word processing program. I could probably write the tutorial up in WordPad, if I had to, but I'd rather not.

I have an appointment with my prescribing psychiatrist in just over a week to discuss the addition we made to my meds last month. All in all, I'd have to say that the change has been positive. I feel much more engaged in my own life now than I have in quite a while. Since I mentioned activism earlier, I feel the need to mention something that touches on both my need to promote the causes nearest to me and my own illness.

Like it or not, there is a stigma associated with depression. One part of the reason that I have chosen to be so candid here about my mental health issues. Depression is an illness. It is not a defect. It is not something to be ashamed of. That said, there are many people who refuse treatment for their depression because the cannot see beyond the stigma of mental illness. "What if my employer / landlord / parents / children / competitors / etc find out?!?" This is one of the reasons that the Kristin Brooks Hope Center and its national 1-800-SUICIDE hotline are so important. As an privately funded service, they are not required to report, or even collect, any personal information on anyone who calls. They rely on the support and donations of people just like us to keep providing confidential services to those who need them.