Moving forward

The neighborhood has been quiet again, but I still can't sleep nights. This is nothing new, as not feeling safe is a known quantity in my "issues." I used to think that the loss of all the "feel good" hormones when Galen weaned himself was responsible for my sudden and dramatic rise in depression, but in hindsight I'm thinking it was at least partially due to the fact that Galen's presence in my life makes feeling safe so much more important than it used to be - I have something more valuable than my own life to protect.

As I say that, I'm thinking of someone who decided I wasn't worthy of her friendship because I refuse to judge all Muslims based on the actions of a few fundamentalists who have committed terrorist acts, and I'm not afraid to point out when I thin others are making that same mistake. I'm sure she would think my previous paragraph makes me a hypocrite, because it seems to follow her line of reasoning - I'm apparently going to enlighten my way into a pipe bomb. Well, it's different, and I feel sorry for her and any others who can't see why it's different. I don't feel safe, but I can't point fingers at a group of people who make me feel this way because it's not an identifiable group of people that make me feel this way. I can, however, point a gun at a specific individual who makes me feel this way after they've broken down my front door. The line between the two isn't fine, it's blatant and compelling.

Not much else going on. I need to start taking sleep medication again - at least for a few days - because my insomnia is pretty bad again. I hate taking it because I end up kind of out-of-it for about half the following day.

Galen's doing great with homeschooling. He's reading six-letter words already. He is, however, getting bored with kindergarten math, although learning to actually write the numerals slowed him down for a while. The only thing holding this kid back is his fine motor skills, and that's becoming a non-issue as well. I wonder how long that will last? I've decided to worry about where this is going when it gets there, however. I have a feeling we'll eventually hit a point where the next step requires a developmental leap he hasn't made yet.

We're going to renew our zoo membership again - $60 covers Galen and I for as many visits as we want for the entire year, plus it gives me two guest passes and two tickets to Zoolights (these four tickets at non-member rates cost the same as the membership). We try to go to Zoolights every year, so those are nice to have. Galen's not free anymore, so we'll still need to buy one ticket, but I'll get a member discount on that as well.

Well, Richard's home so we need to get dinner sorted out. Then it's "Thomas and Spencer" at Galen's request (not sure which Thomas movie he's actually wanting to see, but I think he means "Hero of the Rails") and some quality mathematics time for mommy.