Comments on: Sometimes saying it doesn’t make it so

By: Aunt Patti

Aunt Patti — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:01:33 +0000

I like the idea of you advertising your mad photography skilz!

And on the road trip, can’t Mom take her CE classes online? Sure would save a lot of hassle factor! I know you’re her biggest support, but a long road trip sounds pretty arduous.

I’m very devastated by the number of people I know who are out of work and have been for a LONG while now! What’s most disturbing is how they never seem to get any response when answering ads! It’s rough all over and I don’t like it!

Hugs to all from AZ.

By: Io

Io — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:04:28 +0000

I’d give you advice but I’m pretty sure I just came off of my depressed quasi homi-sui-cidal phase myself.

By: faith

faith — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:47:40 +0000

Cali, you’ll probably want to throw something at me when I say this. But it really did help. After my failed IVF (which turned out to be my only IVF, thanks to endo-fucking-metriosis), I was almost suicidally depressed. My bishop at church had me fast for 24 hours (which you can’t do, obviously), and then close the fast with a prayer where I didn’t ask for anything, but just thanked God for all my blessings. It’s probably a miracle that I didn’t show him my middle finger when he told me to give that a try, but it made a huge difference. I was able to separate my pain from the good things in life, and see that there were still good things in my life. Obviously that didn’t make me forever blissed, but it got me through that horribly rough time.

And the other thing that really helped was keeping a gratitude journal. Just every day writing down a list of 3 to 5 things that made me happy or feel like life is worthwhile pretty quickly gave me something that I could go back and read through when life wasn’t feeling worthwhile.

It’s a tough time out there for job-hunters, and I work in collections (QA thank heavens), so I hear people every day who are suffering from this shitty economy. Your whole family are in my prayers, and you can e-mail me any time you need a shoulder.

love you!!

By: Eva

Eva — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:15:52 +0000

Oh, wow, hating the car seat, I don’t know anything about that. If he were older I’d say DVDs, or snacks, or toys, or drugs. But for a little baby I have no idea! Mine always slept in the car.

My dad’s in the same position with the job stuff so I know how miserable it is.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:58:07 +0000

I’m sorry you are having a rough time. It’s amazing how many talented, experienced people are out of work right now. Scary times. I will be praying for you guys.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:18:08 +0000

It’s a really, really hard time. So if you feel crappy in a crappy situation, I think that just makes sense. I’m really thankful that despite all of the terrible stuff on the job front you have your sweet, sweet W.

Also, seriously, how’s that book proposal coming? You could write one hell of a memoir. And then when the movie rights sell…

By: Carrie

Carrie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:02:52 +0000

What about getting one of those carseat toy things? They have some that attaches in between the handles to keep his attention?

I don’t know much about optimism, I’m a pessimist in general. Sorry.

By: timaree

timaree — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:01:50 +0000

Oh, sweetie. If you find the key to optimism during these times, please let me know. It just sickens me that there are no jobs for super-qualified people. My wife and I are in the same situation, and it’s just so hard to deal with the constant let-downs. I so hope something happens soon on the job front.

As for the car trip, I don’t think I have any advice, but it looks like you’ve got some good tips above. Good luck with it! xoxo

By: Strawberry

Strawberry — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:03:44 +0000

I like niobe’s advice and will add this- we found that if we crack open the window next to Miles, the loud constant noise lulls him to sleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. We also have bottles ready for the non-driver to give him if necessary, and toys/mirrors hanging from the car seat handle to distract him. Singing helps, too.