My insurance only covers mental health services if it entails a chemical dependency or a problem that puts me in the hospital. So, yeah, $$$$.

Sparky! That is excellent news. .. if you could get everyone on the street to make Ragu. ..

{{{Maria}}} - I, too, am hoping for a silver lining in the job you had to take.

Allyson - woo hoo for the fixed car!

And buffistas - you are bringing a tear to my eye for the sweetness and the smartness and - - hugs to everyone.

And I'm very glad that I haven't seen any, "Oh, you say you don't want kids now, but it's so different when they're your own."

Calli, I would take the above statement and change it to "Oh, you say you want kids now, but it's so different when they're your own" because this statement is equally and depressingly true.

I don't really have buyer's remorse anymore, though I certainly did when I was pregnant, and this isn't me invoking a sort of Freaky Friday situation, but sometimes I miss kidless life. Or as other people call it "having a life."

sometimes I miss kidless life. Or as other people call it "having a life."

Parenting always looked like a tough job, to me. And for all the US "think of the chiiiiiiiildren" talk, I don't think we're great at supporting those who take it on, as a society.

(((Maria)))

I'm glad Twitter fixed your car, Allyson.

My insurance only covers mental health services if it entails a chemical dependency or a problem that puts me in the hospital. So, yeah, $$$$.

Boooo.

Is it wrong that the reason I want to go into work today is that I have a brownie cupcake in my desk drawer?

I was even contemplating going in early, but the internet got in the way.

Maria, you have had a shitty year. Just because someone else's year was made of explosive diaherra doesn't make yours not a poop-based structure.

This needed repeating. And also made me laugh.

I think the next thing I need to figure out is whether I'm truly depressed, and if so, is it situational or clinical depression?

Really? It doesn't matter. If you are depressed, go see a doctor. Let them worry about which it is.

That's what we're here for, because you can't see you--you're inside you! But we can, and we see you, and you look awesome to us. This is a super hard time, but you can get through this. And we're here for you.

And what Liese said.

Stephanie, I'm so glad to hear that you are happy.

Sass! Come home!!!

(THANKS, SMONSTER, for the hookup)

Ahahaha, you are welcome!! G is so awesome. Sometimes I feel like he only comes back to NC... to convince people to move away from NC.

while I feel like it's accelerated my midlife crisis, I also feel like it's accelerated my eventual getting on the other side of it.

This gets back to what Jilli said, and what my experience has been, which is if you repress your feelings and try to "should" your way out of them, they just get nastier and bigger and eventually impossible to deny. Oh. I think I just figured out what to get you for your birthday, amyth.

Calli, not only do you not smell, but you are just chockfull of fabulousness. Better to be picky than date assholes, like my sister does.

I was stuck for a good long time, digging myself out of the depressive hole left over from my Peace Corps experience of "let me take everything you thought you know about yourself and TURN IT INSIDE OUT". But I don't have to tell y'all that, y'all heard my whinging for years and years. Getting unstuck was letting go of "I should have a stable office job," was finally ending the awful experiment that was my relationship with KBD, was moving to this beautiful and fucked up city. It involved a shitload of therapy, a number of antidepressants, and some extraordinary assistance from Buffistas (wake up calls, go to bed calls, breakup support, listening ears, and even Bev driving 1.5 hrs each way to do my dishes).

In conclusion, HOOKERS AND BLOW.

Missed this the first time around:

My insurance only covers mental health services if it entails a chemical dependency or a problem that puts me in the hospital. So, yeah, $$$$.

Calli, G operates on a sliding scale, pretty much. And amyth and I can testify to his fabness, as can a number of my friends. Let me or amyth know if you want his contact info.

G. is so great, and Calli, he may work with you on the $$$, if you're interested. He does sliding scale.

Calli, not only do you not smell, but you are just chockfull of fabulousness.

This.

Heh, smonster, I just figured out what I'm going to get you for your birthday the other day. EXCELLENT.

eta: sliding scale x-post!