I have been so stressed the last month or so. Too much drama going on with my family. (Seems that there is drama everywhere these days) If it's not one thing it's another. I havent been sleeping well at all. I try and keep busy and not think too much about it. I don't smoke anymore and the good thing is I tried to take a puff or 2 last week to see if it would calm me down,,, but all it did was make me feel sick. I'm not a big drinker but do have to admit, I drank 1 or 2,,,, hum it might have even been 3 glasses of Arbor Mist while soaking in the spa for about an hour. Boy was I ralaxed after that. I came in and fell right off to sleep and it was the best sleep I have gotten in more then a month.

When I am stressed out I usually take the call a friend option.
Sometimes it's nice to have someone talk you into the fact that
you are still sane regardless of what is going on in your life.

Stressing
 

I to have been watching a lot of the weather channel , as we have a daughter and her family in MS in the direct path and although I have spoken with her several times today I still worry. We too will be effected by the storm, but I have a basement to seek refuge. I spent the day making sure all the cretes are cleaned up and everyone is going to have to sleep in one tonight :( in case we have to make a quick escape from the weather. I have to know where everyone is (I have 7 yorkies) so I can grab and run if I have too !!!! The rest of the day was spent washing clothes and just preparing for the storm. But I usually find the best way to relieve stress or the blues I just get on the floor with all my little prizes and it doesn't take me long before they have picked me up, or have me laughing. or just plain wet from all the kisses....lol

Don't mean to answer for her, but I looked it up on Google maps and she's like 700+ miles away from New Orleans. Hopefully that is far enough away? I wonder how many people are up watching the weather tonight... I really hope it turns out better than what it sounds like they will be getting!

I keep checking our local news and CNN, gosh i really feel for people living in that area, i hope it turns out better than what they are expecting!!

Stress STRESSES me out. :D

I've probably been stressed for a while now and didn't know it - and I think I've developed medical conditions from it because my hair is REALLY falling out and headaches ets....but I sure don't know what to do about it - I can NEVER shut off my mind - wish I could -

My way of coping is to joke about every little thing - I'm sure it annoys my husband.....but for day to day life - I try to stay clear of the subjects in my life that are not going well (my husband's illness) but I don't think this is the way to cope.

My little yorkie girls are the best medication I can think of

When I feel stressed, I "try" to remember that He (God) is in control of all things & while He may not choose to calm the storm around me, He can calm me in the middle of the storm!!

Oh gosh, I am in Arkansas and way out of harms way. I just worry about everybody else in it's path and nature's fury. Thanks for your concern though. :D

I too have been very worried about everyone there. I am still in bed with Luig, have taken 4 advils for my headache from watching all the coverage. I have clients who live in Gulf Shores Alabama, and very worried about them, and Carters mom, and everyone else. So I have been flipping thru all the news channels and praying for everyone. Now they are saying that the Ohio Valley and Kentucky and Tennesee are going to have torrential rain fron this storm, just like with Ivan. We had close to 13 inches of rain after Ivan. So I have my kettle corn ready to eat- b/c I eat then sleep when I get stressed out!!!!

Working out and playing with Mollie are my best ways to get rid of stress.

Physical exercise is the only thing that can help me with stress. Walks and playing with Kacee help a lot, too.

Physical activities like going to the gym help me w/ stress.
Talking w/ friends helps me w/ stress as well.

Ok....the general consensus is

1. eating...(a lot)
2. drinking...(a lot)
3. playing with yorkies (woohoo!)



Francie

Schatzie's mom, funny you should mention stress. Here's a blow by blow of my Monday: (Read at your own risk! LOL!)

7:15 a.m. - Rushed to get checks written so I can get the bills in the mail before I forget.
7:45 a.m. - I can't get on the internet!! Again! I've been dealing with this on and off since last Thursday when we had a storm knock out our electricity. Spent 30 min. on the phone with tech support, ran some tests and he suggested a different modem. Gotta undo this one and run it in to the ISP office and get a new one. Took my son to school.
8:30 a.m. - See a flea (I think) on the kitchen counter. Bo's been scratching some and it's been about 3 months since their last applic so I put some Frontline Plus on Bo. Can't put it on Woody (see 9:30 a.m.).
9:00 a.m. - Called Woody the Schnauzer's vet to see if she could see him today. He's cut his back.
9:30 a.m. - Ran Woody to the vet. He's cut his back (again!) rubbing on my daughter's bed. He has severe allergy probs. He can't scratch there so he rubs on the furniture. Well, this time he picked the wrong piece of furniture. He cut himself on her bedrail, originally last Wed. Unbelievably, he did it again Thurs. Don't know if he's into self-mutilation or just stupid!! I watched it and doctored it all weekend. Yesterday, I noticed that it had developed a baseball circumference size lump under the cut! Thus, the vet appt. She said he has a hematoma, which is a serious bruise that collects blood and fluid and swells. She gave him an antibiotic shot, a steroid shot for his skin and two prescripts to take home. The vet and I decided that we will have to keep him on steroids possibly indefinitely (low dose). She's treated him all his life. The steroids have been unavoidable. He's also developing cataracts and he's just a mess. It'll shorten his life, but all we can do at this point is try our best to get him comfortable. He's miserable. She and I are at our wit's end with his problems. We have dealt with this for 7 years! His system is just not strong enough anymore to stay healthy. I cried. Not a good way to start the day. Ran Woody home and picked up the old modem.
10:30 a.m. - Ran to the post office and talked to a friend there about grade school-related drama.
11:00 a.m. - Exchanged the old modem for a new one. While in town, I talked with a friend and got some disappointing news about one of my son's teachers. Long uninteresting story. It really bummed me out though. Ducked in Dollar General Store to pick up a few things. Spent $51!!!! Huh??? Who spends $51 at DG??? Note to self: Use more restraint when shopping a discount stores!!
12:30 p.m. - Hooked up the new modem...nothing...I still can't connect to the internet! Placed another long distance call to tech support. He walked me through configuring the new modem. Success! Spent the next hour downloading some security updates and running all my internet spyware, blah, blah software to try to get as clean as possible.
1:30 p.m. - My sister calls. She has to make a 5 hour trip tomorrow to see a specialist about her fibromyalgia. And she's really not expecting any answers. Her blood work is bad again and she feels bad. I'm really bummed now cause I live 2 1/2 hours away and can't do a thing to help!
3:30 p.m. - My daughter makes a quick trip home from college (only about 40 minutes away) to pick up some things. The place on her stomach where she was bit by a tick is still not healed and it's been 2 weeks. I called her pediatrician and he will see her tomorrow to check it out. I'm vaguely concerned. I just want it checked out. There's no rash or anything.
4:00 p.m. - Fixed supper for my daughter. Hey, every second together is precious now! My son wouldn't eat. He ate too many Bugles while watching TV *sigh*.
5:00 p.m. - Took the dogs out and stepped in dog poop. I was wearing my favorite sandals! Par for the course today...unbelieveable!! I just wiped the shoes off and threw them and the rug I stepped in on in the garage. I'll deal with them tomorrow...
8:30 p.m. - My daughter's roommate's mom calls and we commiserate about the girls' boyfriends. Neither of them are good enough for our daughters. We dislike them so much we can't even joke about it. Her daughter was less than truthful about how much she'd seen her BF this weekend. Just mom stuff.
9:15 p.m. - My son forgot the book he needed to do his homework and it's only the second week of school! Gonna be a looonnnng year!
10:00 - 11:** p.m. - Spent way too long telling you guys all this, lol!!!

I got absolutely nothing done all day long that I needed to do. I watched the hurricane coverage off and on, and it stressed me out. And thru it all, my hubby's out of town on a business trip in Colorado! Lucky him.
So, you ask, how do I handle stress?? Well, my son does make me laugh, a lot!! I talked to a friend on the phone who cheered me up. I ate 2 granola bars and a couple of mini Nestle Crunch bars and some potato chips, in addition to supper, of course. Every time my mind would veer toward my daughter's BF or her DR appt, I forced myself to think of something else. I surfed the net. That calms me down. I brushed Bo. I love to do that & he just goes to his 'happy place' till I'm done. Bo always makes me happy, even when he's being mischievous. I don't drink, or smoke (asthma). But believe me, sometimes I wish I did! And at the end of a day like today I try to remind myself that God really is in control. He does have wonderful plans for me. It seems strange but it really is a comfort. Then I ask Him to turn down the heat a little, lol!! Tomorrow is bound to be better. ...man, I wish I hadn't eaten all that junk!