SAD...

I have been having the Winter Blues very badly this year, worse than most years...so I've done some quick research on the Internet--the phrase that makes all MDs cringe--about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD--how appropriate), and I really think I might have it. All of the symptoms fit me to a 'T' and I've felt this way for years. Here are some symptoms: irritability, impatience, depression, weight gain, lack of energy, etc; pretty typical stuff for the Winter Blues/Cabin Fever. In Logan, my roomies and I would go tanning a few times a week and I think that would help, but I'm too nervous about getting cancer to risk tanning anymore.

Anyway, I've been very blue and my sweet husband knows something is wrong. Even Tess will timidly ask me several times a day, "Mom, are you OK?" with a worried look on her face. (Probably because lately I've been "pyscho mama," who can flip out at the drop of a hat...) I'm not ready to check myself into the psych ward or anything, but I'm just sick of feeling crappy! So, I read about the therapy for SAD and it all says that Light Therapy helps. I told Bryan all about it, and look what he rigged up for me yesterday:

That's a 500 Watt light bulb, and a space heater, on an inflatable lounge chair, with a magazine and a cold drink. (He and Tess set it up for me as a surprise, in the laundry room so that it would heat up really fast in such a small space.) When he showed me this, I cried. Really. Then I immediately stripped down to my undies and lay there reading until I was sweating. It was so great.

I learned 2 things from this: #1-if you cry at the thought of sitting in a warm, bright environment, you just might have SAD, and #2-if you have a family that will do this for you, you just might be a very, very lucky lady.