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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by twinleaf on June 20, 2007, at 3:20:20
1. My husband, who has stood by me through all my ups and downs, and has been my best friend. It will soon be 30 years, and he is still tall, slim, dark and sexy!
2. My older son, who now has a PhD in physics and is a "post-doc" at Princeton. doing research on electromagnetometers, which can be used to study the accuracy of physics theories, such as string theory, but can also have other applications, such as making a new, more sensitive generation of fMRI's for brain research. He and his new wife, also a physicist, have bought a pretty little house there. There were lots of changes when he got married, some of which were hard for us, but the strong connection with him is still there. And my daughter-in-law, who was a bit cautious and wary of us at first, has been steadily becoming warmer and more trusting- now much more like a daughter. And we know she is the prettiest physicist around (she's lovely, but there isn't too much competition, as yet!)
3. My younger son- still quite young and very cuddly and loving. He's not at all scientific, like the older one, but loves to read, draw and paint, ski, snowboard and play hockey- kind of a more mainstream boy.
4. My work. I have only done it part-time since the birth of the older son, but I do love the teaching and consulting- the teaching especially. It's really the only time I'm "me", separate from "them", and that is such a good feeling!
5. Hiking in the mountains- here and in Europe, and once each in New Zealand, Turkey and Iceland. The boys both started doing it with us when they were five, and they can both now leave us so far behind that it's really embarrassing! (My most thrilling, and terrifying, memory from the past is climbing a 12,000-foot Swiss alp, and being able to look over the snow and glaciers into four countries.)
6. Along with the hiking, we've learned about mountain flowers and orchids, and love to photograph them. We've just switched over to digital, so that we can download them onto a small computer in the evenings, complete with names, locations and GPS readings- so that we can find them again if they are especially rare or beautiful.
7. Friends-I'm a bit less busy now, and find myself especially wanting to connect more with the friends from my childhood. None of us live near each other, but we do plan visits now, which we didn't very much earlier. Among the friends my husband and I have made together, three of the women have died, quite young, (all of breast cancer), so we have sort of adopted the husbands, who seem so lost. We try to take them on walks, flower trips, to dinner and concerts. Their wives all died quite recently, so they aren't interested in dating, at the moment anyway- and perhaps never will be. But strangely, we don't have any friends who are widows anyway.
8. My horse. He is gorgeous and adorable; we do dressage, and are preparing a wonderful musical freestyle, in which he does various movements in time to the music, which is a group of Spanish flamenco dances. Really fun! (and can be done by all ages, unlike jumping)
9. Our springer spaniel. She is gorgeous, too, but a handful. She's eight, but needs to go out and really run twice a day. Running with her is our daily exercise.
10. Finding my new analyst. I feel so lucky to have found him! In just a short time, he has helped so much about the rupture with the old one, helping me preserve what was good, and not blaming myself for what went wrong. These relationships are so mysterious- I'm not even sure what we have been talking about, but I'm feeling a lot better. The meds are down to 300 mg of Lithium, plus 5 mcg Cytomel three times a day- far less than I've had to take since I developed MDD when my mother died. I'm not bipolar, but the low-dose Lithium is very helpful, I think- and free of side effects
I realy apologize for the enormous length of this post -just can't seem to write short ones!.
Posted by Worry Girl on June 20, 2007, at 11:05:21
In reply to Never done a 10 - so here goes...LONG, posted by twinleaf on June 20, 2007, at 3:20:20
1. Sleeping in during the summer. No alarm clock gets me off to a great start.
2. Got to visit with my long-time best friend for a week.
3. I am still relaxed from the long road trip I just returned from.
4. I am taking dancing lessons and to my surprise, I actually have a little bit of natural rhythm
5. My husband and I are getting along better than we have since we first got married.
6. I still have not lost weight, but my clothes fit a bit looser and I look a bit more toned.
7. For a few months I get to wake up to a hot day.
8. I can finally play "Moonlight Sonata" by memory perfectly.
9. Fizzy bath balls from Lush
10. There is so much more to life that is available to me.
Posted by gardenergirl on June 20, 2007, at 15:22:58
In reply to My 10, posted by Worry Girl on June 20, 2007, at 11:05:21
Haven't done one of these in ages....
1. The humidity is down, at least for today.
2. My dear husband, who is willing to dig out a ginormous (about a square yard and 4-8 inches thick!) slab of shale buried in one of my flowerbeds. No wonder plants would go there to die. Ooh, ooh. Do ya think Jimmy Hoffa might be buried under that slab? ;)
3. My cute fluffernutter pooch, who seems to be doing better health-wise, even though she ate the installation instructions for the new drapery rod.
4. My new comforter, which is warm, lovely, and lump-free.
5. Compost, humus, and peat moss.
6. Diet coke.
7. My columbines, which are still going strong even now. And wowsa, now I know why they are called "McKana's Giants". They are huge this year.
8. Neroli, Melissa, Lavender, Roman Chamomile and other essential oils.
9. Aveeno colloidal oatmeal bath, darn those midges or fleas or whatever!
10. Life and all the opportunities for learning, growth, loving, and just living.
Yea! I did it!
....and there was great rejoicing... uehhhhhhhhhhn
Thanks for the inspiration twinleaf and worrygirl. And congrats on your first, tl.
gg
Posted by Annierose on June 21, 2007, at 6:22:27
In reply to Never done a 10 - so here goes...LONG, posted by twinleaf on June 20, 2007, at 3:20:20
Sounds like you are in a good place right now. And that's amazing considering all that you have been through with the fallout from your first therapist.
Congratulations on so many wonderful good things in your life. Your sons are lucky to have such a cool and smart mom.
Posted by scratchpad on June 21, 2007, at 6:52:58
In reply to Never done a 10 - so here goes...LONG, posted by twinleaf on June 20, 2007, at 3:20:20
1. Cleaning the shore line and getting a thank you email from our mayor when I asked her a question. OK, so she doesn't realize I'm not a registered voter, but still!
2. Getting a perm so my hair doesn't play dead on all our hot humid days. Cat is not sure about this new member of the household.
3. Painting my toenails, seashell pink (of course).
4. Deciding that one of the volunteer jobs was not the right one for me, and saying so. Was a time when I would have suffered through it and go along with the anxiety and panic attacks it induced. This time, at the first hint of discomfort, I listened to my body and acted on what it was telling me.
5. Feeling better through a nasty bout of depression.
6. Getting phone calls, emails, and letters from my friends. They all mean so much to me!
7. Giving my cat kisses on her fluffy white belly without getting scratched.
8. Not killing any of my potted garden plants so far this year (a first!).
9. Still having Babble here after its difficult time.
10. Planning my next vacation.
Scratchpad
Posted by twinleaf on June 21, 2007, at 9:27:59
In reply to Re: Never done a 10 - so here goes...LONG » twinleaf, posted by Annierose on June 21, 2007, at 6:22:27
Thanks, Annierose! I thought my heart was permanently broken after what happened with the old analyst, and I'm amazed, too, that just going to a new good one, who really listens, and is (quietly) really caring and respectful can be so helpful and healing. We're just concentrating on recovering from that, right now; I know there will be harder times ahead when we get into the issues that brought me to the first one in the first place!
I loved your recent post about the closet, and how your T was able to turn it into a wonderful, healing moment of connectedness.
This is the end of the thread.
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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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