LET DOWN AFTER THE HOLIDAYS????

I don't know about you all, but this day is just not working for me. I can not seem to get organized and get started doing anything constructive. I have a list a mile long of things that need to be done, plus it wouldn't hurt me to exercise more, and here I sit writing this. If anyone has any suggestions as to how you get over the holiday blues, please let me know.

I have done laundry, fed birds, took a walk and now all I want to do it sit. I am not sick, I am just feeling a bit sad and tired. Maybe it is because of all the mess the government has left us in. The fact the congress did not pass the bill to help us here in NJ with funds to clean up and rebuild, before they left for the day yesterday. After 365 days of discussion and the Senate passed it, they went home without doing it. That I think threw me a real curve because so many of my friends still need help to rebuild not only their homes but their lives. All those cute little boardwalk businesses are now gone in many of our little island towns and must be rebuilt again. That takes money and no one has any just now.

I do hope you all are having a great day since the sun is shining and the wind is blowing from the West, which is ok as long as it does not bring snow. That could put me over the edge. I am not a snow bunny.

I guess I will water the indoor plants and the greenhouse. Maybe I can find the energy to do that. Sure hope so. I am just not a gloom and doom person. I love to laugh and have fun and my laugh and fun buttons are not working. Hugs to all of you. JB

This message was edited Jan 2, 2013 2:48 PM

Awww, JB, here's hoping your laugh and fun buttons start working really soon!

Me too happy. I am really an old devil when I am up and running. My new pacemaker has given me a great boost but now the tell me I have an under active thyroid. Well, it better get moving because if that is what is making me so lazy, I am going to make it better really soon. Not a lazy type person.

after all the busyness o f December, it feels strange to be less busy.
I Feel like I just got done getting Xmas ready and its time to start de-xmassing.
Yep the news is so irritating, frustrating,etc.
Hope you wake up feeling a bit perkier though.

JB, Everyone has those days. I got upset over something last week and I swear I sat on the couch like a lump for 3 days and did nothing but watch the Hallmark Channel Christmas Movies. All better now, getting out and getting some fresh air sure does help me. Hope you will be back to your upbeat self soon. Both Ric and my DD Jen have an under active thyroid and it can effect a lot of things, weight, energy level and mood just to name a few so get that checked out as soon as you can.

The holidays were fun for me but really wore me out. I'm so happy to be able to move at a slower pace, sleep until the sun comes up, and sit quietly with a cup of coffee in the morning. Getting ready to sow outdoors and under lights really boosts my morale. The best part is that one of my neighbors has decided to join in on my projects and is GREAT company!

JB, An underactive thyroid can effect a whole bunch of things. I always said I felt like a steer; no drive, no interest, tired all the time, weight gain, and cold. I was always cold and could fall asleep while operating a key pad at work. As they start your treatment (thyroid replacement via a little pill called synthroid) the recovery can be a little slow. They will start low and bring you up to a normal value, this can take awhile, but I promise one day you'll get up and wonder what all the fuss was about. I always wished the opposite were true, start a little high and taper down, so you're up and running sooner. It will get better. Ric

You're so right about that, Ric. I was a new person after I was diagnosed and medicated.

Today has been a bit better except I feel sleepy and I am not sure my new eye drops are not doing that.
My blood work showed mt TSH is 3.90 and the high level is 3.70, so I am really not too high, and my doc wants me to wait four months and come back for more bloodwork. I think she thinks the pacemaker surgery and the other factors could have made my numbers go up. I was always in the 200 range just 6 months ago, but in those 6 months, my body had to make a lot of changes. When I was younger I had an overactive so, who knows? I just feel like I need a boost in the butt to get moving again. It is only two months since my surgery and they say 3 months at a minimum until you recover and can go back to normal, wearing a bra, etc. I am a lousy patient and push myself all the time.

I will certainly take all your comments into consideration as I go along. I have been finally able to take longer walks in the morning and up until the other day felt great and ready to go, then boom, the gloom and doom set in. Crappy feelings went with it so I am sure some sunshine and exercise will help. It was cold this morning. I have always had vertigo because of an inner ear problem from years ago. I am off balance but lately I almost feel dizzy, which could be the new eye drops also, plus, the inner ear. My kids are both EMTs so they keep an eye on the BP, which is really good except when I get anxious, then it goes up a little on the top number. LOL. I hate getting old. Not doing it very gracefully either.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I will keep you posted. I can not believe it is almost time to take cuttings from the Christmas Cactus and they are still blooming. I have such a great collection of colors I can not wait to propagate them this year. I have done well selling them on eBay amd Cubits. I do miss the DG Market Place. I sold a lot on there but I am dropping Plant Scout this year. Just too much money and the traffic has really diminished. I guess you are all seed people? I can not sprout and keep a seed alive no matter how hard I try. I always over water them and they come up, look good for a few weeks and boom, they die. I do much better with cuttings.

Better get busy again. Have some volunteer work to do for the Horse Park of New Jersey. That is the one place I have not given up helping. They do a great job with kids and I have been a Life Member for many years. I was one of the first volunteers they had and I still do all their bank deposits and membership correspondence. Have a great day and thanks again. JB

You just have to hang in there and take one day at a time. Find something to motivate you each day.

I am more of a cutting person, seeds take soooooo long. I just received a light setup for christmas so I will try some seeds this years but for right now it is just helping to baby some cuttings along.

Hope you continue to feel better JB. I enjoyed my purchase from you in the past and wish there could be more. I do grow plants from seed. Some of them get winter sown outdoors which is a really easy, carefree way to get them going. There are a few sure fire tricks to keep the ones indoors from dying after sprouting. A drop of peroxide in the water or camomile tea really help with some of the problems. Bottom watering with a spray of water over the top once in a while helps also.

I'd love to be successful with propagating from cuttings, especially all my flowering shrubs and rose bushes. If you would like some cuttings this spring, just let me know.

Some cuttings go well for me, but others not so much. I'm not as meticulous as I should be - though even when I do it "by the book" I have mixed success (I am mostly trying woody plants, because I want to plant a lot of shrubs in our backyard this year and of course I can't afford nursery prices for a lot of plants).

Let me know what you'd like to try. I can send for postage:

sand cherry
smoke bush
kousa dogwood
red crab apple
beauty berry
wisteria
russian sage
various hosta
josee lilac
old fashioned lilac
mock orange
orange quince
limelight hydrangea
pieris passion
red, white, lilac and pink crape myrtel
pink delight and miss molly butterfly bush (and some ordinary blue ones)
spirea
variegated weigela,
caryopteris sunshine blue
double blooms on red rose of sharon
lots of rose bushes


probably more that I can't think of right now.

This message was edited Jan 4, 2013 2:00 PM

Wow, Roses! Thank you! Please don't send anything now -- my understanding is that this isn't a good time to try to root cuttings. But I might well take you up on this in the early summer!

I can grow cuttings from tropical plants but very few of our outdoor plants here in the Mid Atlantic area. I do well with begonias, but the household plant varieties. I can not even start African Violets from leaves. Why not, I do not know.
One of my friends sent me some golden vacary (think that is the name) cuttings and I did manage to keep them alive and plant them. But, I took cuttings from those bushes after they matured and they all died before they rooted. Go figure!!!!

I do very well with the black and regular pussy willows...I have loads of black from one bush I bought years ago. I have sold dozens of them also.

Went to Chiropractor today and my back and neck were really out , so after he adjusted them I felt much better and now if my DIL would stop complaining about my son (after 20 years of marriage) I would be good. LOL I just can not get involved. Nottagoodthingtodo. She is a sweetie and she has no one to complain to other than me, so, here I am.

It is getting late. I just finished lunch because I had to put away all my groceries and feed my small flock of birds. They always get some special fresh veggies when I go to the store, also the dog had to have some carrots and some carrots and squash also. Spoiled gang. It is cold, windy and feels like snow here today. They keep saying the sun will be out at noon. They need to fix their clocks. Thanks again for your comments. JB

It's a pretty nice day here -- not too cold. I think I can make it to March! I love those occasional warm days we get in March when the feel of spring is in the air, and the birds start heading home....

I wasn't meaning to send anything now, Happy. Please remind me again in late spring when the softwood cuttings are strong enough.

I think that I know what you feel!! Feeling the same way.Good luck! What sometimes helps for me is to read the hundreds of garden catalogs,over a cup of coffee or your favorite tea! You are not alone!!

I am getting so many catalogs just now it is crazy. I guess that would help, except just now I need to get my tax info together so I can see if I am going to be able to afford anything after they are paid. The business did well this year but I could never make a living from it. I price my plants so people can afford them and enjoy them, not to make money. I enjoy sharing, but just cannot afford to give them all away when I need the tax rightoff of a business. the way this congress is going I may be out of business anyhow. LOL

I watch CNN instead of the Phila. channels because all they do is kill each other in Philly. Good grief, if they are not running over people and not stopping, they are having drive by shootings....just like Camden,NJ. HA. But, I am not sure I can take much more of our political crap they are having in D.C. just now. Oh, that is right, we may not talk current events or politics on here. Sorry. Bad me. JB

We feel the same way about the Philly news channels. It's a wonder that anyone would want to get on the police force there.