3 Things I am LOVING this week...

ElfYourself.com. You gotta go there. You upload pics- heads of people you know and yourself of course and they turn into dancing elves. So funny, so fun and addicting. I have made 13 dances- so far. I made my mom get up out of bed last night to look at the one I did with her, my uncle, brother and I. We laughed and laughed. She woke up my brother and made him watch. And we giggled all together; them in Texas and me in Missouri -over phone lines and the internet. And that’s what this season should be all about right? Laughing together and I guess eating cookies. It’s also the season for frightful weather outside. So my next favorite thing this week is spray de-icer. That stuff rocks. Just spray and go. No more hacking away with frozen fingers. Just spray and the ice and snow turn pink -then go away. Last but not least, I made instant potatoes -from a box- for the first time EVER this week, twice actually. Potato flakes! Wow. I do not really cook. It does nothing for me, it takes too long. Not this box of potato yummyness. Fast, easy. And the packet of country gravy is also easy, also tasty. Hmmm. I just might make them again!

Craigslist Rocks!

Have you bought or sold anything on craigslist yet? I highly recommend it. It is a little strange at first. Total strangers e-mail you- not the strange part since total strangers e-mail me at work every day. The strange part is that total strangers come to your house or meet you in public parking lots or you go these strangers houses. Then there is a transaction. Money for stuff. Yesterday I met a total stranger in the Walgreen's parking lot, he was the husband of a total stranger I e-mailed about buying some vintage jewelry. He did look like Santa, she was right. We stood in the freezing cold looking at the jewelry and I paid him in cash. It did feel strange, and I've done this before. Lots of times. I may have an addiction. Maybe. One night last summer I had work in St. Louis and hunted the St. Louis area craigslist ads the night before. I found many things I might need to have. I e-mailed several total strangers and after my day of work before my two hour drive home I made three stops in pouring rain. I bought the stuff in the total strangers' strange houses oogled by their strange kids and strange dogs. It was great. I bought my roommate an amazing Japanese fan for her Japanese themed bedroom- a great housewarming, Thank you Craigslist!

Co-dependency!?

So I just finished a 12-week course on How to Conquer Co-Dependency. I didn't really know what that scary/therapyie word really meant. The class definition is basically "the compulsion to fix everyone and everything." Wow, Hmm yeah I do that. Geez! So what have I learned? Lots. A couple things of note. I am not responsible for other people's feelings. I can't make people happy, keep them from being angry. I also spend WAY too much time trying to figure out what people are thinking. The ONLY way to know what another person is thinking is to ask them. That seems simple enough! The thing about co-dependency is that it starts out "good." Wanting to help someone, wanting to protect others feelings, but it gets out of hand. Needing others approval to feel good about yourself is unhealthy. Taking care of other people while neglecting ones own physical and emotional needs is unhealthy. All of these things just seemed so natural to me but they produced a ton of frustration and anxiety in me. I am choosing to not be co-dependent, or at least try and recognize the behavior and make some changes. I can already feel a difference, it's little things. I can say things I am thinking now because I don't have to worry about what feelings my feelings may bring up in the other person I am talking to, hmm. I can say no to doing something that is not my responsibility instead of doing it out of false obligation and then resenting the person who asked me! Cool. So, Hi I'm Andrea, I am a recovering Co-dependent.

Birth of a Blog

Well a couple people in my life have been telling me I should write a blog. So I have been thinking about it. I have been journaling for myself for 10 years. I love doing that not only for the venting factor at the time of writing, but also I find a lot of value in re-reading. Comparing and contrasing where I am today versus a year ago, two years ago. I find patterns in myself. I learn things about myself. Sometimes I have even read things from my journal to people in my life because it expresses a revelation in such a great way. So I think this blog will be a little like the journaling but it's for others to read, for you to read-if you want.