Recovering From Depression

Thanks for all the emails, my favorite people. I am still alive. I just went back to work.

That's right! I'm back at work and doing fine. I have a feeling I'll be on my Effexor for awhile, but life is looking so much better. I'm just trying not to push myself too much in the next few weeks, so I've been cutting back on the blogging. I haven't read many blogs other than MOMocrats and D.C. Metro Moms in the last few weeks.

Please forgive me but I'm now deprived of my daily afternoon nap and I'm just able to sit on the couch and veg, or maybe mindlessly edit a few photos before I collapse into bed. Once I (and my kids) are back into the usual schedule, I'm sure I'll be back trolling blogs in the evening. Until then, please don't forget me!

I still have dirt to dish about the D.C. Blogger Happy Hour last Friday in Rosslyn. Lots of fun people were there, including a co-worker of Amie's that I won't link because he blogs anonymously and presumably would like to keep it that way. (He's not in the group photo.)



I think Devra won for best quote of the night. It was a toss up between these two:

"What do you want me to put in my mouth?" and
"You must be watching the wrong sort of porn."

Ah, that Devra. I love her to death. And not just because she's the only person on the planet shorter than me.

Of course, I have photos for you!

www.flickr.com Lawyer Mama's Blogger Happy Hour - March 08 photoset

Clearly, a good time was had by all.

I'm not at all bitter that everyone left by 11pm, forcing me to go back to my hotel and take pictures of my feet. (Don't worry, I left them out of the photo set.) On the plus side, I got to watch that adorable movie, Juno, and raid the mini bar. Of course, it made me cry. (The movie and the mini bar. Who leaves chocolate out of a mini bar?)

D.C. Moms Gone Wild

Updated to add: KC did indeed have her baby. Go see!

I can't thank you all enough for your wonderfully supportive comments, emails, and the great conversations about my blog post yesterday. It helps so much to know I'm not alone and that what I'm going through is so common.

I began to regret posting on my way to D.C. because I came a little late to the realization that everyone would probably read it before they came to the D.C. Metro Moms party. But I was so touched by the wonderful things you said to me, Nancy, Joanne, Amie, and Julie. I'm now seriously regretting living three hours away from D.C.

Now on to the fun topic!

I had the pleasure of attending the D.C. Metro Moms Bloglaunch party last night at Le Chat Noir in D.C. It was hosted by Graco and Yahoo and damn, do they know how to throw a party.

It was a lot of fun. I got to meet most of the ladies from D.C. Metro Moms that I hadn't met before, reconnect with some old friends like Pundit Mom, Mamma Loves, Mom Ma'am Me, Gunfighter (our token guy), Devra of Parentopia, Kimberly from Petroville, and Sarah minus her Goon Squad. I also finally got to meet Julie from Suburban Ecomom, Andrea from Andrea's Recipes, the unforgettable Susan (aka WhyMommy) from Toddler Planet, and many other ladies that I so look forward to getting to know better.

Considering there was an open bar, the party was actually pretty tame. Although there was a wonderful moment between Susan and Gunfighter, who had never met before. We were all wearing name tags, but the restaurant was dark and they were difficult to read. Well, GF was checking out Susan's name tag and jokingly said, "Pardon me, I'm not trying to stare at your chest."

Susan then informed GF that he could stare away and she'd be perfectly happy to show them to anyone who wanted a peek since they would only be around for 2 more weeks. (Our lovely Susan has IBC, a rare and deadly form of breast cancer. She's doing great though and after surviving chemo, is scheduled for her double mastectomy in 2 weeks.)

GF was a bit flustered and I swear he was bright red, even though I couldn't really tell in the dark. Susan clued GF in on the situation and he looked awfully relieved. I think he thought Susan had gotten an early start at the bar up until that point. I've never seen anyone so relieved to hear it was just breast cancer before!

The Graco people at the party were wonderful. Lindsay has just launched Graco's new blog and I can tell that she'll fit in to the blogging world instantly. There was also an awfully cute Graco guy named Paull from Australia. I was tempted to just follow him around the entire evening so I could listen to his accent but I thought he might be a bit creeped out. He was nice enough to record a little video blog shout out for me though and I'll post it later if I can clean it up a bit. (It was dark and very LOUD.)

Paull was taking pictures and some video for Graco and they have a Flickr group set up for the photos. When Paull had the video camera out, I told Susan it was her chance to take the girls out for one last spin, but she didn't go for it. Clearly she wasn't drinking enough. I think if we'd gotten a few more drinks in her, Lindsay and Paull could have sold the video to Girls Gone Wild. Mommy Bloggers Gone Wild? Is there a market for post-partem boobs? Wait, I don't want to know. There are some real freaks out there.

The very nice Graco people also gave one of their brand spanking new Sweetpeace soothing centers to one of our mom bloggers who may or may not have just had her second baby. (Large hint there. If she'd post on her damn blog already, we'd know!) The Sweetpeace is the mac daddy of swings. Actually, it's hard to call it a swing. That's sort of like comparing a Yugo to a Porsche.

On to the pictures:

www.flickr.com More photos in Graco Get-Togethers

Ooh, I also must mention something that will make you green with envy. Pundit Mom invited me to stay with her and her family for the evening, so I got to meet Mr. Pundit Mom and Pundit Girl. Pundit Girl blew me away with her poise and intelligence and she read me some of her poems. She's so self possessed and affectionate and just plain nice. I wanted to take her home with me. Ms. and Mr. Pundit Mom are doing a great job.

I had so much fun with my fellow D.C. Metro Mom bloggers. I'm just a bit disappointed that there wasn't enough time to talk everyone for as long as I wanted to. I guess that means we'll just have to do it again soon.

D.C. Happy Hour Update

The D.C. Happy Hour was a rousing success. Not everyone could make it and I was sad to have missed a few people, but I'm sure we'll be doing this again. It was too damn much fun not to.

Oh, and all of you who were there? I'm happy to host a party down here too. It's warm, we're near a beach, and I have a pool. Just please, please bring your suits. I shudder to think what this crew might do with too much alcohol and private access to water.

I have pictures for you. If you want to see my whole Flicker Set, click HERE.

I'll hit the highlights.

1. Mama Loves' office has an insanely nice view and it's huge. If I'm ever homeless, I'm just going to move in there.


2. I'm going to kidnap Kris from I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Wino. She's so friggin hilarious, I need her to amuse me 24 hours a day. She can even bring her cats. Minus the worms.


3. I only had 1 martini. Gunfighter tried to order me another one. Thank God he doesn't know me better or he might have succeeded. As it was I was already dragging my ass around all day today. Um, yeah, I had a few many beers too.


4. Amie & Kris let me feel them up. We need to do our own Hot & Bothered video.
   


5. Fried pickles are surprisingly tasty.
   


6. Mama Loves let us sign her cast with glitter pens! What else would you expect from a drag queen?
   


7. The people with kids outlasted all the young, childless people. In the end it was just me, Not Exactly A Princess, Gunfighter & Mama Loves frantically driving to Silver Diner for breakfast food.


8. You know how in college you'd end up at IHOP at 2 am after the bars closed? Well, you know you're old when you're getting pancakes at 11pm and you look and sound like death.


9. My throat still hurts from screaming in the bar.
   


10. I'm too old for this shit.


11. We had a great time.


12. I can't wait to do it again!
    

Not Exactly A Princess & Lawyer Mama

Gunfighter & Mama Loves

Me & Chrissy (She's known me since I was 13! I can't piss her off. She knows too much.)

Jenn & Jess

I sign Mama Loves' cast while Gunfighter wonders what the hell he's doing with these drunk wackadoos.