Below are the 5 most recent journal entries recorded in effexor_diaries' LiveJournal:

Monday, May 7th, 2007
11:41 am	Volunteering part deux Darn it, this is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for, but they want senior citizens. :P http://www.volunteermatch.org/results/opp_detail.jsp?oppid=185076 Well, I'll keep watching this site and see what else comes up. Current Mood: volunteer-ey (Comment on this)
11:11 am	Volunteering I've been thinking lately that I want to get involved in some kind of volunteer work related to drug addiction prevention, or somehow helping people who suffer from addiction. I'm not even sure where to look for something like that, but Nicki Jaine sent me a link once to a website where you could look up volunteer/not-for-profit stuff by the variety of work you wanted to do. Maybe I can start there. I miss my work at the Bloomfield animal shelter too. The volunteer vocal work/reading to the blind and illiterate thing is fun, but it's like one day a month for 2 hours -- I want to do more, and I want to specifically help people who've suffered from problems like the ones I've had to deal with, and of course I always want to help animals. Current Mood: altruistic (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 14th, 2006
4:21 pm	Goals Just want to jot these down here in a more effective format, sort of a checklist for my own organization and somewhere to look to remind myself of this stuff. 1) Anger management; need to find info on classes/groups/counselling. I called some place in Ridgewood for some more information, I'll have to wait and see what they say. Also, will ask Cusano about this on Weds. Controlling my emotions in general is a big problem and one which is the source of a lot of my other problems. 2) lose 40lbs by the holidays, eat right and keep up the exercise -- keep the weight off 3) No more drinking. This one is easy 4) talk to Cusano about sex drive issues, see if he can suggest anything; There must be something that can be done about this. Also discuss sleep schedule and sleep apnea issues. 5) Work on being less selfish and LISTENING more, particularly to my wife and daughter. Not everything in the world is about me, nor should it be; I need to learn to be more sensitive to others' needs and to work on putting others first when it's needed. I CAN be a good listener when someone is a clear, open communicator, but not everyone is like that, nor can be, and I need to be more attuned to that. I need to work on being more forgiving and patient. 6) Indulge in my personal interests and hobbies more. I miss things like makeup and special effects, art, listening to music/records, biking, origami, languages and cooking inventive and interesting foods, making sushi, etc. I particularly like cooking with Caileen, so I want to do more of that, she's a fun and really good helper and likes doing things together. Things I'd like to work on in the near future: Halloween decorations/costume, etc.; devoting more time to the animal shelter, working with the cats; some local Montclair/Bloomfield/Newark photography and exploration of historical sites, monuments and landmarks. I love the area where we live and there's still a lot of it I haven't explored yet. Cook borscht. Make pizza with Caileen again; Make sushi with Caileen; I'd like to be more involved in the local neighborhood association too, and they need the help. 7) Spend more quality time with Caileen. (see above) This one is easy too. 8) Keep up with household chores and responsibilities; I've been doing pretty well at this already since deciding that I had been slipping considerably. 9) Keep a tighter grip on finances and start saving again 10) Remind myself of and remember my wedding vows every day. They're a good mantra. 11) See more of my NYC friends. The city's not THAT far. It's really no excuse, it just involves proper planning. Get to know some of my Jersey friends a little better, too. 12) Try to develop a better acceptance and tolerance of work and not take the stress home with me. Work HAS been a little better lately, although it IS still a major source of stress, especially when any sort of major crisis arises. I'm working pretty hard at this, and have already recieved some compliments from my co-workers about seeming more "relaxed, in control and pleasant", so I must be doing something right. 13) No more fighting or yelling if Caileen's around. Period. Current Mood: motivated (Comment on this)
Friday, March 31st, 2006
4:00 pm	Today, I am simply glad to be alive I recounted the details of last night's accident in my non-crazymeds journal, so I don't need to re-do it here. I WAS very upset last night, and I DID freak out and yell and feel rather self-destructive for a while, but I should think all of those feelings would be kind of "normal" under the circumstances. I almost died in a serious car accident and watched the car catch on fire and explode right before my eyes. Pretty unesttling. Today, even though things are far from certain and we still need a car and there are a bunch of unresolved issues as far as getting to and from work next week, insurance, etc. I am feeling mostly OK and calm. I'm just happy to be walking around, honestly, and glad that I'm going home soon and will see Sarabeth in a few hours. I miss her. Current Mood: tired (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 17th, 2006
10:43 am	Blah Feeling kind of overwhelmed and blue today, even at 75mg, though still nothing as severe as when on no medication. I think it's just the fact that I had a busy weekend and now I'm back at work and don't feel like I've really had any rest. Unfortunately, medication can't fix that. Still have a mild bit of GI symptoms, but that's getting stabilized on the 75mg dose, thankfully. I had a really bad bout of insomnia on Saturday night, which may have also contributed to my feelings of imbalance today. The last two nights, Sunday and Monday, though, I have slept without much difficulty. Hopefully that's a trend that will continue. I had a weird dream last night about using an inhaler, like for asthma medication, but it was filled with pink powdered Allegra. Probably spurred on by Sarabeth's having to take Benadryl to visit the dogs on Monday. I've never had a dream about taking medicine before though, which is odd. In other news, I think I'm addicted to Jasmine tea. Yummy. Current Mood: kind of blah today (1 Comment |Comment on this)