Recently, I took a screening for depression. Don’t know why. I knew what the results would be. If you think you too may be suffering, you can go here and take the screening offered by the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

Your answers indicate the possibility of depression. We encourage you to discuss these results with your health care provider since only a qualified professional can diagnosis depression. Print this page (using the print icon on your Internet tool bar) and discuss your results with your doctor or mental health professional. Treatment works. You can feel better. This screening is not a substitute for professional care. DBSA does not endorse or recommend the use of any specific treatment for mood disorders.

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A review of Charlaine Harris’ new Southern Vampire novel “Deadlocked.” It was released yesterday. I started reading in the late afternoon and just finished up. As you can tell from my review, I was disappointed with the book. The word on the internet is that there is only one more book in this series. I haven’t heard that Charlaine Harris has said this herself, but I do think it’s true. The series is certainly winding down. I would recommend reading the series, if these kinds of books interest you. But know that the series starts off good and slowly dwindles. Also, the books are MUCH different than the HBO series True Blood.

Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Disappointing. As the last few books have been. But I was glad to see some (although brief) interactions with Pam and Bubba. She even mentioned Quinn some. Honestly though, do we need pages of Sookie running errands and cleaning? And I’m really starting to hate Harrison’s writing. She’s not straight forward and that doesn’t normally bother me. But what does drive me crazy is Sookie finding a solution to one of her many problems and then 5 pages later, the reader is finally informed randomly. At this point, I’ll be glad when this once loved series is over.

View all my reviews

I didn’t mention this on Goodreads, because I don’t like to include spoilers, and if it matters, I’d stop reading if I were you…….

Okay, if you’re still with me, I’ll assume you want to know more about the book. Harris is CLEARLY setting up Sookie and Sam to be together at the end of the series. She’s made a  partner in Merlotte’s. She takes time out of her busy schedule to point out how nice he tries to keep his property behind the bar. Twice! And of course, she saves him with the cluviel dor, which is only possible if she loves him. When he asks her how it was possible, she ends the book saying that’s a delicate conversation for another time.

Now…I like Sam. I wanted them to be together at the beginning. I thought they would make the most sense out of any of Sookie’s beau’s. Even though, I definitely like Eric as well.  Eric is steamy, sexy and just plain yummy, whereas Sam is the boy (shapeshifter) next door. Though technically, Bill is the vampire that lives next door. Oh well. My point is that if Sam was the end result all along, and you know Harris is going to say that he was, then clearly, the last few books have merely been filler books. And I HATE when authors or writers agree to more books or more seasons of a show, simply because they are popular and it means more money. That RUINS the real story. It drags on a story that could have ended brilliantly, only 3 or 4 books ago.

It is what it is, I suppose. I’m sure some people have read Deadlocked and the previous books and enjoyed them just fine. On the surface, there’s nothing really wrong with the books. But the story has become stale. And I’m not sure there’s anything worse.

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One thing I hate about our new house – neighbors. Though to be fair, the neighbors we had at the rental in town were much, much worse in several ways. To the right, and behind we have family. Across the street is family. Most often, this isn’t a problem.

But I don’t like family that thinks they can just show up on my doorstep unannounced at any time. Dude, when I get home from work, I like to be comfy. That means the bra comes off. I don’t want to be entertaining anybody when that’s the case. I feel awkward. And I don’t like feeling awkward in my own home.

Another reason I don’t want you showing up all of a sudden is that my house isn’t always spik & span. Shoot me, I’m not the world’s greatest housekeeper. And I don’t want you to see the unmade bed or the dirty dishes that need loaded in the dishwasher.

BTW, not my house. So don’t show up out of the blue.

To the left of us is a neighbor that isn’t a relative. None of these houses are super close. But close enough that I can hear the freakin’ rooster EVERY single morning. It starts at 5am and continues until after 7am.

I don’t know how they can stand it. The thing is driving me crazy.

So tonight I went out and bought ear plugs. I’m wearing them now & it’s super weird. There’s a little pressure but its not too bad. But I’m totally freaked I’ll lose the things down my ear canal while I sleep. Irrational? Maybe. But if they help me sleep through the night, I’ll be forever grateful.

If only I could wear them when family shows up at my door without calling first…

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I do a LOT of browsing on Pinterest. Too much some days. I’m not one of those crazy people that have over 10,000 pins, but I do have close to 4000. Not everyone understands Pinterest. I was talking to two coworkers last week and while they both have an account, neither has done much with the site. I explained how it can be useful. You can collect recipes to try, which they both agreed was a good idea. I suggested a board for household cleaning tips & tricks, or a DIY board. I also mentioned my Harry Potter and Turquoise boards. I said that I pin things related to topics that make me happy. Then I can browse those boards when I need a pick-me-up. This didn’t go over quite as well. But then, neither of them suffer from depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. So I understand that it wouldn’t make sense to them.

While inspirational boards don’t appeal to them, I know that many people who use Pinterest do have a board dedicated to quotes and prints that inspire them to think more positively. To live life to its fullest. To dream big. To love unconditionally. I thought I’d share a few prints that I’ve found on Pinterest that inspire me to do those things and more. Each image is linked back to my pin and from there you should be able to find the original source. Hopefully. I try very hard to follow proper pinning etiquette. =)

More images after the break!

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.”

- Mother Teresa

I did a lot of thinking and talking about depression this past week. And it’s left me in a funk. Usually, I try to push it to the back of my mind. It’s never gone. I always feel the effects of it. But I’ve struggled to maintain a somewhat normal life around it.

This facade is easy to shatter though. And last week was one of those times. A few days ago, I wrote a post about low self-esteem. It bothers me that the post has gotten the most hits of any on my blog. I don’t care how popular this blog is. Stats mean very little to me. But I do check them from time to time and I’m not sure I like what I’m seeing. What bothers me are the search results that are bringing people here. In a way, it’s comforting to know that there are other people who struggle with similar issues. But it’s disheartening to see search after search for low self-esteem, how to get rid of low self-esteem, what causes low self-esteem….

I hate that so many of us suffer from these issues. What are we doing (or not doing) to our children that results in a struggle with low self-esteem, anxiety disorders and depression? And how can we fix it? I still don’t have any real answers. I know that it’s important to have a support system. To be surrounded by people who love you. And even if it’s really difficult, to push yourself to try new things, to get out there, even when you feel completely out of your element. Know that you are not alone in the struggle, that many people are feeling just as insecure as you are. My best advice: Find someone you can talk to about the hard times. Breath deep and take life one step at a time. Remember that you can start each day anew.

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Though I’m extremely disappointed with the news this week that Instagram was bought by Facebook, I thought I’d share some of my recent photos. These are from Easter weekend. This first photo is the flowers I found on my desk when I went into work on Monday morning. So pretty!

I made this card about 2 weeks ago. It was for my mother-in-law’s birthday. I used the Simon Says Stamp April 2012 Card Kit. I love the stamp set in the kit. The stamp set and the kits themselves are designed and put together by Kristina Werner for Simon Says Stamp. Can’t wait for the May kit to be shipped.

The last photo is a craft I made for my niece’s Easter present. It was the free image of the week in the Silhouette store last week. I thought it was so cute. I filled the little pouches with Starburst Jelly Beans.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue to use Instagram, once Facebook takes over. I currently have my account linked to my Twitter profile, but not to my Facebook account. I want nothing to do with Facebook. If they make it impossible to use Instagram without connecting to Facebook, I won’t use it. So only time will tell. For now though, I love Instagram.

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