What a Weekend!!!

Wow what a weekend!!!  Well, for those of you that are wondering how the new meds are going.  Let me just say with mental health or any illness, there is lots of experimentation to see what is right for you and what works and what does not.  As I had mentioned earlier my Cymbalta was upped in dosage due to my lack of energy and the trazodone was taken away and replaced with Ambien.  I was supposed to take half of a pill.  I did that on Friday night.  I went to bed around 11 and woke up at about 3am. WHY! WHY! WHY! and that is exactly what my dog was thinking.  He looks over at me like "come on, a pooch is tryin to sleep over here."  You could tell that he was super irritated because I kept moving around, tossing, turning, talking out loud, and he was just like SHUT UP! LOL!!!!  I couldn't help but laugh.  I love my dog and he makes life so much more comical with his personality.  Ok, so half a pill probably needed to go to a full pill.  I was tired and really wanted to sleep and I tried for the next several hours but it was not easy.  I had a ball game to prepare for!!!

I want to say that Saturday Night with the Riverbandits was awesome!! I had lots of energy, as you can imagine, and we got a really good response from the community with the table that we had set up for the MJL Foundation for Depression and Suicide Awareness.  I was in full crown and sash and the energy was great.  Nobody told me it was country night!! lol  It was funny to see and hear the staff try to imitate country.  The one kid on staff even stated that he had been watching movies like Varsity Blues to get his accent for the night.  Heck, if he would have just hung out with me for a lil bit he would have been talking with a twang in no time. LOL!  I think the highlight of the night was the miniature monkeys riding on the backs of the border collies.  It does not get any better than that as far as entertainment.  My first pitch, well... it was not so great.  My crown is too big and when I went to throw I felt the crown get ready to fall and I had to catch the crown before I was worried about where that ball was going to go.  The ball went all lopsided and it did not make it to the plate this time.  (Can we just have a replay of my last throw? lol) We got quite a bit of donations from people wanting the stuffed puppies that we had and that was good.  The more money we can give to Vera French for the School based services the better.  I had my last share of junk food for a while.  Chili cheese fries, a strawberry smoothie, and cotton candy.  It was yummy.  Gosh I hope these next few months go by fast!!! Time to buckle down and get in gear for nationals!!!

Now this brings us to bedtime.  Time to gear up bright and early for the First Annual Charity Golf Scramble for the Family Enrichment Center.  This time I took a full dose of Ambien before I went to sleep.  Again, I sleep until 3am and then it was tossing, turning, and stretching the rest of the night and maybe some sleep here and there.  I was up and adam at 7 am. THIS IS SO WRONG IN SO MANY WAYS!!!  I have come to the conclusion that this medication is not working.  I thought Ambien was supposed to help you get a full night's rest?

Anyway, I arrive for the golf scramble.  Perfect weather.  Everyone was so nice!  I even got a compliementary massage which I needed so very badly.  With the anxiety comes muscle tension and this massage helped out tremendously! Thank you Family Enrichment Center!!!!  We had a nice turnout.  We had 9 teams and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  I got to take pics with each of the teams at the first hole and chat it up with board members.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect.  Later on Jay Kidwell from Channel 4 Sports shows up.  A really nice guy!  He did the 18th hole challenge with a golfer from each of the teams as they came in.  When it was time to announce winners and raffles Kevin Kullums, the director gave more insight on what the money was going towards.  They are in the process of building a building that will be for education and daycare services and afterschool programs so that the children in this at-risk community will have a safe place to go with a positive enviornment.  It feels good knowing that I was a part of helping to raise money for that.  They plan on breaking ground this fall.  I just may be in attendance for that ceremony!

Next Kevin introduced me and I talked about how I got to the quad cities and how I have been trying to get out in the community to help promote my platforms.  I feel better and better each time I tell my story.  Jay Kidwell came over and congratulated me and gave me some words of encouragement about my work in the community and wished me the best for nationals.  It really made my day that reputable people in the community are supporting me in the things that I do.  He told me about a benefit dinner for NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Health) that will take place in October and said he was sure they would love to have me.  I love how when I do appearances that they turn into bookings for more appearances! 

Well Monica, get ready for busy, busy projects ahead!!! It just keeps getting better and it's all for a good cause! I love it!  So thank you Kevin, Thank you Kathy, thank you Jay and all of the board of Family Enrichment Center for having me for your event.  If there is ever anything else I can help with just let me know!!!  It was an honor!