This includes a special message for certain relatives in the Bay Area!

Celebrating(?) an Anniversary

I am observing the one-year anniversary of what I've come to call my "Intervention Week." It was about one year ago that I experienced several interventions.

• It began with a meeting Lois & I were invited to attend at church one evening. When I got there, it turned out that besides our pastor, it also included the District President, District Education Executive, & my Board President. [There may have been others. Please excuse my faulty memory.] I was confronted w/the need for a medical leave of absence because of my deteriorating ability to perform my responsibilities as head administrator at my Lutheran High School.
• The following morning at school I experienced another intervention. My Board President & members of my admin-office staff met w/me. If I remember correctly, the way it was put to me was pretty much along the lines of, "You will be going on a medical leave of absence & it would be better for you if you cooperate rather than if you fight it.
• I had to leave early, because I was scheduled to have my first appointment with my mental health therapist that morning, which I had scheduled via Care Allies. [I had taken this step mostly independently with encouragement from Lois. I knew things had been going badly. I wasn't ready to concede just how badly.]
• The time I had in the car (the therapist's office is not in Norfolk), both there & back, combined with my time with her, combined with much thought & prayer, led me to see that there was no point in fighting where things were going.
• When I got back to the office, I acquiesced, & I spent the rest of the day & the weekend trying to get things in order for someone else. Considering the degree of disorder in my office, it was somewhat of a hopeless task.
• The following Monday [if my memory serves me correctly, which is always an adventure], my Board President came to school to make sure I was following thru. I worked on a letter to be read to the faculty. We had a brief meeting w/the faculty & staff after school. The letter was read to them. I answered a few questions. It was not the easiest mtg for me, but others struggled through it, as well.
• After demonstrating the necessity, I did convince my Board President that I needed one more day in the office to get things in shape before I left. I spent the rest of the day, into the evening, & the rest of the next day in the office, getting things in shape as best I could. That was my last official day at work.

Many things have happened in the year since I literally "left office" [although it wasn't my last trip to the office, but that's another story]. It has taken me a long time to understand how difficult it must have been for those who worked closely with me to summon up the courage--because I think I understand now that it must have taken a lot of courage--to confront me, to intervene like they did & basically confront me with the cold, hard truth:  I was NOT capable to performing my responsibilities as head administrator of our Lutheran High School. I was burned out. I was severely stressed. I was deeply depressed. I had passed the stage of treading water & was barely keeping my nose above water. 

I had already been diagnosed with clinical depression & a general anxiety disorder. Eventually chronic depression was added to the list, along with a few other mental health issues.

At the time I didn't appreciate what they did for me, but what they did for me was a life-changing experience for the better, & you won't convince me that God didn't use these friends to intervene at a time in my life when I was unable AND unwilling to take action on my own behalf. I give thanks for what they did for me, & am truly sorry that it took their intervention to force me into a much-needed change of direction, not only for my sake but for the sake of my school.

I had already been diagnosed with clinical depression some years before, & a general anxiety disorder more recently. Eventually chronic depression was added to the list, along with a few other mental health issues. I've made progress. 

Celebrating(!) Another Anniversary

October 31, 2015, was the 45th Anniversary of my first date with Lois. That's right! Forty-five years of dating bliss! What a blessing she has been in my life! What a hardship I have been in her life this past year * & the months leading up to it. She is a saint. *
* She might suggest there have been other months & years when I have been a hardship to her. **
** I will neither confirm nor deny this.

Ways to Boost Your Brain Power 

Excerpt from "Feel Good Every Day." Walgreen's advertising insert from Parade Magazine 10/4/15. "5. Brush your teeth with your other hand. Using your non-dominant side to tackle a daily task or two is a great way to challenge your brain to act in new ways. If you're a righty, switching to your left hand can sharpen your cognitive function by spurring your brain cells to produce growth-stimulating molecules." [I've used both hands to brush my hair for years & look where it's gotten me. I supposed I could use my left hand to shave, but I already donate blood in the conventional sense.]

Cause(s) for Anxiety? Depression? Concern? *

• "You Wash, I'll Dry. There are 16 million thunderstorms on Earth every year. In Jan. 2010 a man in Sydney, Australia, was struck by lightning while he was doing the dishes at the kitchen sink. During the same storm, lightning entered another home through an open window & set curtains on fire."
• "Have You Ever Heard the Rain? If you happen to be scuba diving during a rainstorm (definitely not a good idea!), the sound of the raindrops on the ocean's surface could drive you mad. Small raindrops produce a surprisingly loud sound when they hit the purface of the water--first a 'plink,' followed by a sharp ping like the ringing of a high-pitched bell. Large raindrops create more of a 'plunk' sound, followed by a softer ping."
• "The Sound We All Hate. Fingernails scraping a chalkboard. Just the mention of it probably makes you cringe, but you've probably ever stopped to wonder why. Now you'll know:  This action produces sound frequencies similar to those of a chimpanzee's warning call. So the sense of distress we feel when the fingernails scrape could be a sign that our fundamental primate danger sensors have been triggered."
• "Red Means Stop. In the U.S., someone runs a red light at an intersection once every 20 minutes."
• "Don't Eat That! Peach pits, apricot pits, & apple seeds contain the poison cyanide."

* SOURCE:  Weird But True--200 Astounding, Outrageous, & Totally Off the Wall Facts, by Leslie Elman. Fall River Press, 2010. 

More Cause(s) for Anxiety? Depression? Concern?

> Nebraska Cornhuskers lost to Purdue on Saturday, 45-55. 

Excerpt from Omaha World Herald (10/26):  Antioxidants may boost cancer cells, study suggests." [Wait . . . what?]

Tagline from Drudge Report (10/31/15):  "Cats are neurotic--& probably trying to kill you, say researchers . . . " [We owned cats most of the 5 years we lived in Chicago, prior to moving to Lincoln. We owned cats the entire 13 years we lived in Lincoln, prior to our 5 years in Hawaii. We owned cats many years in Norfolk before we finally gave our youngest daughter an ultimatum--take the cats with you when you move out, or we'll find a "cat sanctuary" for them, if you catch my drift. Maybe my mental health issues can be traced to cats?!]

NO LONGER a cause for anxiety

The KC Royals came from behind AGAIN, tied the game to put it into extra innings, & beat the mets 7-2, winning Game 5 of the World Series & capturing their first World Championship since 1985, 4 games to 1. * Yes, I am a Royals fan. 

• No, I did not watch the games. 
• No, I did not enjoy the way they came from behind to win most of these games. 
• It fills me with great anxiety. 
• I really, really enjoy blow-outs.
• I occasionally checked "kc royals update" on-line for scores, then waited until the next morning for you tube highlights and/or newspaper stories. 

Anyway, the first thing Lois said to me this morning after the alarm went off was, "Royals won last night in extra innings." If I was a thoughtful husband, I would have responded with concern re:  how late she must have stayed up to find that out, because when I turned out my light, Royals were behind 1-0, late in the game. Instead, my selfish first thought was, "Thank goodness! I don't have to wait until the next morning to find out if the Royals had to come from behind & win again."
* Please note, certain relatives in "the state that shall not be named," Lois did not message or text you, very, very late last night, nor did we text or message you very, very early this morning, to FLAUNT our World Series championship at you THIS year. **

** There is no team like the KANSAS CITY ROYALS ***

*** It's my blog, so we won't talk about the Cornhuskers.