Battling the Storm Without Letting it Take Control

The storm continues to rage on but I am dealing with it much better today. For those of you who didn't read yesterday's post, I had a bad day; a "bipolar day" as I call them, and today it continues. Yesterday I threw myself into the first step of my Spring cleaning, which was completely gutting out Kaleb's bedroom and the work was a good distraction. Several hours after I began, his room was done and I was feeling a little more in control. 

Last night my sleep was plagued by nightmares. This happens often when I am in a bad place mentally. I never remember them but I awake gripped with fear, breathless, and trembling. Last night when I awoke I quickly sprang to me feet, rushed to Kaleb's room and climbed into his big, warm bed. Cuddling my son I slowly fell back to sleep and the nightmares were gone. 

Today I awoke feeling much like I did yesterday. My head hurts from the chaos that is my thoughts and feelings- frustration, irritability, anger, sadness, anxiousness, rage. I wish I could turn it off, just flick a switch and the madness would just shut off. But it isn't that easy so instead I keep trudging on, keep battling the storm, throwing myself into anything that will distract me and get me through this day. 

My Mom and I are still working on our total home makeover project in small steps and on a tight budget. I recently posted the porch/entryway makeover, laundry room makeover is completed and will be posted soon, and the hallway makeover is almost complete! Next step is the bathroom and we started it just last night. 

I turned to the best place for inspiration- Pinterest- looking for bright, bold bathroom ideas with black and white accents....

This huge mirror was above the dresser in my parents bedroom but Mom took it down when she moved a different dresser into her room. 

It is getting a coat of black paint and will hang above the black speckled faux granite counter top in our bathroom. 

I also finished a couple of dollar store crafts that I was working on....

The finished product....

My new favourite color is burgundy. I am loving it and considering having the burgundy/ brown/ tan colour scheme for our kitchen and living room makeovef with a primitive feel. I've been filling an album on Pinterest with TONS of gorgeous primitive ideas. 

So, there are plenty of things to do to distract me, plenty of things to occupy my thoughts so they do not focus on the negative. I'm trying! I'll never stop trying! Today might not be the day when everything is better, and tomorrow might or might not be, but the day will come. 

Until next time....

Just Another Manic Monday

Happy Monday!!! 

Oh who am I kidding?! There is nothing happy about Mondays! 

As per every Monday morning, getting my kids to exit their comfy, warm beds this morning to venture out into -10 (feels -17) temperatures to go to school was harder than trying to get them out of the womb many years ago! Then, as if the house is not chaotic enough, my mom and I also had to get up early to make the nearly 1 hour drive to do some grocery shopping before the snow storm is due to hit us today! 

2 of my ABSOLUTE favourite things.....grocery shopping and snow! You do catch the sarcasm there right?

So we managed to tackle the grocery shopping and even got a quick stop in at Dollarama and Goodwill and picked up a few things....

We made it home before the snow storm started thankfully but it's real nasty out there now so it looks like the kids will have a snow day tomorrow, or at least a snow morning which means, woohoo, I don't have to wake them at 7AM! 

I've already begun working on some of the projects that started with today's purchases, and have 1 nearly finished. 

Sneak peak anyone?

I am loving the distressed burgundy box! 

Primitive is my latest love and I couldn't wait to start at this project!!

Well, thankfully, another Monday is nearly over and I am going to finish it off with a little more crafting. I promise to post the finished project as soon it's done. 

Until next time....

Nice to Meet You!

Welcome to the chaotic world of the Mad Crafting Mama!

Crafting is actually somewhat of a new concept to me, and is one that I came upon somewhat accidentally as an outlet for my energy during a "manic" phase of what has been diagnosed as bipolar disorder. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning. 

Last Spring I started to experience extreme anxiety, followed by mood swings that swung either into a deeply depressed state or to an energetic, motivated, highly optimistic state. It was not the first time I had experienced it. In fact, I could recall as far back as junior high having similar feelings and mood swings. However, this time was different and I knew I needed to see someone. I won't bore you with the details of sleepless nights, hours and hours of crying alone in the dark, or feelings of total and utter despair. Fast forward several weeks later....after having seen a psychiatrist, starting on a cocktail of meds that aimed to keep me "balanced", and beginning to feel somewhat normal again. It was Summer, the kids were out of school, and the fun could begin.

 It started with a tiny piece of driftwood that I found on the beach. It was an odd shape, smooth, light and pretty. Instinctively, the wheels in the brain started turning and I knew I could make something out of it. I hadn't crafted in years, and when I had, it was nothing fancy! But I just knew I had to make something out of this little piece of wood. I was super excited to start (I would later realise this extreme motivation was part of the manic stage) and collected more and more pieces of driftwood on the beach that day-little pieces and big- and I could hardly wait to get home and get started. To make a long story short, the next few weeks consisted on several trips to the beach to collect more and more driftwood,  as well as to the craft store to buy more and more paint, hot glue and magnets, and by the time it was all said and done I had painted more than 300 pieces of driftwood and turned them into fridge magnets! 

Weeks later when my "manic" phase passed the driftwood was forgotten, which for anyone who is familiar with bipolar disorder, this is not unusual. As fast as I had become completely engrossed in it, I dropped it just as quickly. However, the phase had introduced me to a new part of myself that I would come to truly enjoy- the crafter- and I moved on to different projects, mainly working with wood. 

While this introduces you to the crafter in me, you have now also met the bipolar me. The illness is one that I have had to struggle with over the months since my diagnosis, but every day I try with everything in me to not let it consume me. I have bipolar, but it doesn't have me. 

                                                         Until Next Time....