It Didn't Get Much Better

 Got to bed early-ish and had a bit of a cuddle with OH when she says, "Can you hear that?" - yes I could, scratching from somewhere in the room.  So got the Red Torch and started to check around the room.  It was difficult to hear where it was coming from but I thought the Eaves space but couldn't see anything in there and the mouse traps hadn't set off and as the noise had stopped.  I settled back down to sleep but 10 minutes later there it was again and so downstairs I went, got my big white bright torch and checked again.  I then placed a series of mouse traps around the room and in the Eaves.

30 minutes later snap!!  Yep got it, a mouse.  There was another but it didn't take the bait and appears to have disappeared now but the traps are out, it's that time of year.  Now I know that you probably don't like traps but these humane traps are anything but and I've found dead mice in them and, of course, you are not allowed to displace animals etc.  The traps are probably the best as it's over and hopefully no distress.

So I cleared that up this morning but we must have lost 2 or 3 hours sleep.  Hopefully we can make up for that tonight unless some more come in which is always possible I suppose.  We tend to get a batch at a time. 

Unfortunately my mood just got worse overnight and I wasn't great this morning.  I've done some work this morning and feel a bit better but not any way am I out of the woods.  I need to face some truths and I'm not ready for that just yet.  

Mind you I cancelled my two dentists appointments this morning for this week as I just felt that I couldn't face them.  Unlike me but I thought I'd get claustrophobia.   

 

Good Grief - What A Bad Day

 Not a dark black day just a total despairing sick in my throat day - close to tears all day long and a feeling of utter helplessness.  I see all the reasons but they were there yesterday and the day before and I didn't have these thoughts.

I cannot fix what I want to fix and I am waiting for a delivery but that's not it either, the problem will be there tomorrow.  All my usual tactics are not operating either.  It really is just ridiculous.  I do not feel like doing anything but want to do something and when I start I dislike it and stop as it can wait and I lose the enthusiasm for it.

It is annoying but very upsetting as today I cannot see the way out of it.  I am going to try and work through it if I can.  It is very difficult today, one of the strangest days as it isn't black or desperate like earlier in the year.  

No doubt I need to sort things out here but it isn't going to be easy and I just need a strategy to deal with it.  What a yukky day.  I've asked the OH to bring in a  bag of sweets on her way home as that might give me a sugar hit and cheer me up.  I hope so, I need out of this mindset ASAP.  

The Slip Ups Along The Way

 Pointless. meaningless and whatever else my mind came up with this morning! I was delighted that I slept through until around 6 this morning but trying to get back to sleep was difficult.  The cause was things like my current claustrophobia which isn't rational I know.  It wasn't actually suffering it but imaging a situation where I might and how to get out of that particular imagined scenario.

Then other stuff came flying in and despite me knowing that there was no substance in them my mind took over and that was it.  OH got up and I decided to get up and come downstairs!  That's annoying as I managed to get back to sleep previously this week.

Whilst I am better than I was, these little relapses just cause more anxiety even though I know there is little substance about them,

Back to the drawing board as they say.

Why The Bloody Big Hole?

 Suddenly (well the last 6 months maybe) there's nothing to get up for, nothing in terms of purpose and an empty space in my body / head where it used to be full.  It is very strange and I am dealing with it in perhaps the totally wrong way I guess?

I don't want to do anything.  Does that make sense?  Nothing truly interests me anymore.  I don't like my "stuff" I don't feel up to reading.  I listen to music but sporadically not all the time like I used to.  Not much excites me either.  I do things to keep occupied, today I fixed the silicone sealant in the wet room and di a bit of maintenance on the sink whilst I was there.  Some mould treatment for an area I spotted will happen tomorrow or another day when the treatment arrives.

I really cannot be arsed to do things.  I promised myself I'd go for some walks and I've only partly done that.  I stopped drinking, I don't know, end of August I guess.  sticking to that.  Do I miss it?  Yes I do but I've lost at least an inch if not a lot more off my waist so why go back to it.  I looked when I went shopping and I just didn't fancy it and neither do I fancy a glass of wine yet I have bottles of the stuff here.

I don't see any "purpose" in life now as it (my working life that is) was how I defined myself I suppose.  The tasks that I could do overwhelm me at the moment yet I can do a little each day to chip away at them I suppose.  I'm happy just to give it all away if I'm honest.  In fact I have a few boxes going soon of stuff I no longer use or want.

I suppose I'll get through this but it needs some effort and enthusiasm which I just do not have right now.  

I do feel like there is a huge hole in my body, hollowed out mentally and physically.  

Better - Small Steps - Slow Improvements

 Things cannot get done in double fast time and I was able to sleep well again last night which is great.  I haven't had a beer for well over a month now and I've lost weight, not where I want to, but the belly is always the last to show it.  I need to lose a lot more but already my trousers and clothes are loose, my watch slides up and down my wrist and so on.

Did giving up drinking affect me?  Maybe, I am not sure, it's not as if I crave for a beer although I do miss the habit I have to say.  There was a certain enjoyment but you cannot regularly drink beer and not put on weight.  Liquid Bread they call it and it pretty much is that.

Sleeping through or just not needing to get up is good.  I get the urge to get up but switch back off so I am pleased with that I have to say.  Steady progress.....

When The Mundane Makes Headlines

 Mundane for you but quite good for me.  A full night's sleep for me.  The first time in ages I have had a full night's seep. up just once and straight back to sleep and disturbed at 6 but managed to continue through to the alarm.

Not interesting to you perhaps but this is good news.  I spent a lot of time last night going through some Eckhart Tolle videos and that helped me settle out some of the head anxiety problems I've been having these past 2 years for it is about that sort of time that all the nastiness on the company took off and additionally the ugly meeting last year.  

That's all gone now, the business was officially wound up a few days ago and so nothing exists anymore.  Great news.

Once you empty your mind and stop worrying about what might happen you can start to get through it - the main thing is still to identify the voice in your head and to deal with it.  More in that later. 

Highs And Lows, My Topsy Turvy Times

 I surely am having a topsy turvy sort of time at the moment as I go from being OK to being in the lowest of places.  I catch myself and work on bringing myself back to equilibrium but for how long?  Sometimes days, sometimes hours and occasionally just a few moment.

It isn't easy at the moment as I never know which "ME" is going to turn up given any particular situation.  Currently I have a small project I am working on and whilst I am doing that I am OK.  When I come away from that I am find that I am straying back into the catastrophe that is my mind as it whirls about and tries to make sense of it all.  It is reminiscent of my past experiences and where that led.  I know this feeling and when I get it things change.  I am resisting that but perhaps need to accept that this is just my intuition telling me to tackle a build up of things.

Trying to steer clear of social media as best I can albeit with varying levels of success. 

The Teeter - On The Edge

 I had a good day yesterday and my Mattock had arrived and a new manhole cover and so I was able to change that cover and then tackle some of the lumps in our garden.

The Mattock is a 5 lb one and you quickly notice how heavy it is but it does make reasonably light work of the lumps and bumps in "the lawn" let's call it for now.  It may well return to being a lawn when I've finished. 

I probably did around 45 minutes work and called it a day as I could feel that I'd stared to get an ache.  Always listen to your body and finally I did just that this time.  Often I do too much and regret it.

Why on the edge?  Well it is strange, I am getting better sleep and my 1.5 Tog duvet has arrived which is just warm enough at this time of year for me.  I have a winter duvet but I am beginning to overheat and find myself getting very hot so this will be a good interim solution. I woke even with this a little warm and suddenly my mind filled up with hundreds of "things to do" it's overwhelming and of course not everything can be done at once or needs to.  Just my mind and it's annoying that it does this to me.

Overnight there was a lot of noise in the garden - it sounded very loud and was either Badgers, Foxes or perhaps Hedgehogs.  Screeching, snuffling and sort of barking, probably investigating the newly turned over earth?  

I've brought myself back under some semblance of control but it is a little fight between overload or just live as it is each day.  The claustrophobia comes and goes as does the overwhelming weight of all the things my mind thinks I have to do!   

Hopefully a little longer in the garden and I can feel a little better again?  In general, I am getting better but more work is needed for sure.

Apparently - I Am A Lot Better

 Other Half said so yesterday- I was a bit more like my old self and I have to say I'm slowly getting there I suppose.  I do need to keep working at it but I am sleeping a bit better and only slipping into overthinking every now and then.  I bring myself up short with that and can mainly (although not entirely) manage that now. 

It was an interesting day yesterday OH went to London and I sort of pottered around sorting things out waiting for two deliveries that didn't turn up, Again.  Evri and Hermes.  I wonder why people use them.  I have a series of emails from them all around the same time of day which suggest they ran into trouble delivering to me whereas Amazon, DPD etc have very rarely had such issues.  So it sort of slowed me down doing what I wanted to do but I was able to do some research and get other bits achieved.

Anyway a little more continued improvement is required and picking up any of these thought streams that lead to anxiety and send me off.  

A Constructive Day Left Me Feeling A Bit Better

 I spent a long day in the garden and in the adjacent plot of land that holds the Septic Tank.  I finally closed off the air brick areas of the house using rodent mesh after removing the "nest" that was in one.  I managed to get stung by some Nettles right at the end even after wearing gauntlet gloves - a part of a leaf somehow managed to get me!  

Apart from that it was a glorious Autumn day and very warm.  It took my mind off of the worries I have and so a good night's sleep albeit up around an hour earlier than normal.

The delivery company managed, yet again to say they were delivering but at 17:10 as they do every time, were "unable to make the delivery" - this particular company has done this on every occasion they have been used, the same message at the same time.  Hopefully they will deliver today.

Something more mundane is I need to replace the manhole cover on the Septic Tank which is rusting away on the edge.  Not too difficult I'd say and not too expensive.

In terms of head problems I'd say I am down at around 25% of the worst type and my mind still attempts to round on me and beat its own self up.  Quite why it is so destructive I have no idea.  There you go though and I need to "snap out of this" as soon as I can.  I cannot go on like this and it makes no sense. 

Where Did Uplifting, Fun, Enjoyment Go?

 In this country, a nation lost their sh1t in around 2016 I'd suggest.  Brexit.  You'd have thought that a majority vote would have settled it and actually it divided a nation.  People you thought you knew turned into ugly nightmarish, yelling, abusive and illogical.  Apparently if you voted for it you were a bigot, ill informed, stupid yada yada yada.

I worked in Europe and stayed at the MEP and NATO Hotels and can give you some details about where your money went and so on  That isn't the only example.  However, I'm wrong no matter what I say because, you know, I'm a racist or something!

Since then people have been ugly and intolerant and I lost a number of acquaintances or rather chose not to continue knowing them.  The whole country runs along who yells loudest and the good old discussion no longer happens.  The TV debates are rigged and favour a specific opinion type.  The standard answer to a difficult question is either one of these yelled or spat out:

1. Bigot!
2. Racist
3. Some sort of bile filled abuse
4. I'm telling my mummy about you!

You probably get the picture.

I currently need uplifting as I dip in and out of being either depressed or coping with depression.  I used to enjoy Facebook, it used to be fun and silly and you could catch up with your friends and what they were up to but today I went onto it and it was to say the least mildly depressing.  People's opinions about the state of the UK/USA/World and so on.  Stories as we gaze on watching the UK spiral down into the toilet and so on.

So I am breaking the habit on that and I think I should on TV (albeit I hardly watch it - Monday being an exception when I watch two programmes 'Only Connect' and 'University Challenge') and then there is YouTube and that can be a bit too much given that I follow some channels, they too are now all doom and gloom so I should also carefully monitor that too.

I need a plan to get out of my current situation too and moving my attention to sources of doom, gloom and so on, really shouldn't be on that set of actions! 

Surprising How Much Attention You Give Your Devices

 Saturday night was pretty horrific for me trying to get to sleep and my head just filled up with things to be done, regrets things were not done and anger and resentment, confusion and a complete melt down.  Apart from that everything was fine LOL.

I had what can mildly be called a panic/anxiety attack I guess.  I got dressed and went down stairs and paced about a bit, tried to sit down and after a period of maybe fifteen minutes felt well enough to go back to bed where I managed to sleep through.  Sleep was fitful on Sunday but I was a lot better, my well leafed, dog eared "A New World" by Eckart Tolle saw to that and I read it for around 30 minutes before going to bed and was able to drop off and woke twice and got up 15 minutes before the alarm and so I am pleased about that.

I'm not pleased that I need to repair something but, once again, I'm told not to do it now, to do it later.  Part of the reason I am getting stressed is that nothing gets done, jobs get stopped part way through and so on.

I have tried to keep away from social media and glancing at my phone every couple of minutes. It is quite difficult not to do something as habit forming as checking it and you'd be surprised.  Try and work out how many times you do it.  I've cut back and I am trying to only do a few periods during the day.  I think it may be helping albeit Saturday's melt down was caused by other problems other than Social Media!

I kept away from this blog for 3 days.  That too is a conscious effort to disconnect from it for a while.

Give It A Rest

I think that is the best thing for now.  I can only imagine it is getting boring for you and things are moving in the right direction:

• Stopped drinking (I nearly wrote stopped smoking but that was 21+ years ago)
• Sleeping better
• Slowly day-by-day approach
• Returned to proper eating and little or no cheating - lost a stone in the last three weeks I'd say
• Pulling Away from too much screen time on the PC and Phone / Tablet

I am not my good old cheery self but these incremental small steps are helping.

Writing about small increments is sort of OK but for now, I think I should only report on exceptions rather than this low noise low interest stuff.  

See you when I'm older!

Rebuild Continues Albeit Slowly

 Well OH is a lot better thank goodness and a day of recovery and sleeping sorted things out.  I was pretty tired and so getting to sleep was OK but this morning was difficult but OH told me to come back to bed and try and sleep which I guess I did as I woke with the alarm.  

Putting myself back together again is proving difficult but it is a slow process and the mood swings are big for sure.  I wonder if it is a combination of many things but surely one of them are the clowns who think they are in charge of the country and the pathetic and childish way they attempt to govern.  It appears that they do not see the financial problems hurtling down the track and are spending money like a kid in a sweet or toy store!

They are socialists after all and missing that part of their mind that controls how to tackle problems and govern for all the people.  They really don't have a clue and like all politicians, lie or mumble past questions in their answers.

Worry shouldn't be on the cards and I should know better than that but there it is.  If you can see problems coming and are powerless to do anything about them other than to prepare for it then I guess that's some of the head poo that is contributing to my current frame of mind.

Little steps.  

Horrendous Day And Night Too

 I was in a very dark mood yesterday, very dark indeed.  I think it all started OK but just deteriorated into a bad series of just not knowing what to do with myself.  It was just awful, a series of angry episodes, then sad, then manic resulting in me walking up and down the garden path to get some air or try and overcome them.  

It wasn't helped by the OK announcing that her son and grandson were coming for dinner either as I'd got food out but there wasn't enough for 4 of us so I did it for 3 and sorted myself out later - as they also ate earlier than I normally do.

Then at 3 this morning I heard OH call out and got to her in time for her to pass out on me - it looks like food poisoning and after an hour or so of helping her through it all she managed to get back to bed and is sleeping.  It was very frightening as I was able to keep her from falling but you know how difficult it is to hold on to someone in a dead faint.  Anyway, I managed to get her tidied up and sorted out.  It isn't nice at all especially for her of course.  She had to do that for me some years ago.  I'm certain that I had a contaminated salad (twice) I think a mouse dropping first time and bird dropping the second time.  I was seriously not well, so much so that we needed an Ambulance and a Paramedic for me.  

It was close last night I have to say especially if she had passed out a few more times than just the once.  So I got little sleep for maybe and hour and a half but eventually manage some and I am awake around an hour before 'normal'.

Concentrating on her will mean that I won't have time to dwell on anything that is troubling me.