Signs of Depression in Adolescents

My sister that lives in California just sent this to me and I think it's something we should be aware of:

'An 11th grader committed suicide on the train tracks. They published warning signs for students, and are asking you to turn people in if you suspect anything. Here's part of the email:


Possible signs of depression in adolescents from Adolescent Counseling Services:
Depression in adolescents may be disguised as, or presented as, eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, drug/alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, risk-taking behavior such as reckless driving, unprotected sex, and carelessness when walking across busy streets, on bridges or cliffs. There may be social isolation, running away, constant disobedience, getting into trouble with the law, physical or sexual assaults against others, obnoxious behavior, failure to care about appearance/hygiene, no sense of self or of values/morals, difficulty cultivating relationships, inability to establish/stick with occupational/educational goals.
• Physical symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, stomachaches, neck aches, arms or legs hurt due to muscle tension, digestive disorder (ruling out other medical causes)
• Persistent unhappiness, negativity, irritability
• Uncontrollable anger or outbursts of rage
• Overly self-critical, unwarranted guilt, low self-esteem
• Inability to concentrate, think straight, remember, or make decisions, possibly resulting in refusal to study in school or an inability (due to depression or attention deficit disorder) to do schoolwork
• Slowed or hesitant speech or body movements or restlessness (anxiety)
• Loss of interest in once pleasurable activities
• Low energy, chronic fatigue, sluggishness
• Change in appetite, noticeable weight loss or weight gain, or abnormal eating patterns
• Chronic worry, excessive fear
• Preoccupation with death themes in literature, music, drawings, speaking of death repeatedly, fascination with guns/knives.
• Suicidal thoughts, plans, or attempts

Keep in mind that not everyone with depression will show all symptoms or have them to the same degree. If a person has four or more of the symptoms above, for more than two weeks, consult a doctor or mental health professional. '

And the winner is

Well, today I was at a fundraising luncheon at K's school, bought a $20 raffle ticket and ended up winning a 37 inch flat screen TV! Lucky day or what? M's already set it up, it fits perfectly in the cabinet where the old TV was. My good deed for the day was checking under our luncheon table as we were leaving to make sure nothing was forgotten, and I found 2 picture frames which will be delivered to a grandma that was sitting beside me.

K's hopping around on one leg, a heel sprain at gym class? I may be calling the doctor tomorrow. Our new bath cabinets are being delivered then and the custom shower doors were installed yesterday...it's already looking like someone else's nice bathroom.

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Fail Blog

Apparently the latest expression among a lot of kids these days is 'FML'. It was spawned from the following website. Check it out, you can even join in if you feel the need!

FMyLife 'My life sucks but I don't give a f***'

Here's one of the posts:
'Today, I ran for my school's elections for President. I thought I was popular enough to win. I lost, by 61 votes, my grade is only 62 people. I was the only one to vote for myself. FML'


Another thing L's been doing lately to unwind is to search youtube for 'fail blog'. Here is a funny one Here is another. You can also visit the fail blog website

The 'Amazing Race' is down to the final three pairs of contestants. The one million dollar winner will be declared this weekend. One of the contestants is a mom and her deaf son. Last episode, she said she thought she was doing the race for him, and now she realizes she's doing it for herself, she's having so much fun.


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So the dream has ended

It's a gorgeous, summery day today and everything seems to be blossoming. We've started barbecuing since yesterday. I heard the McDonald's at the mall will be undergoing renovations to the tune of $100,000. I think all the McDonald's are doing this as there is this other one where I noticed a tasteful new fireplace complete with glass mosaic tile surround. I suppose each franchise owner has to pay for their own renovations? The good news is they have started serving their delicious iced coffees again.

I picked up a giant Mother's Day card with sound for M's mother. A shop assistant helped me choose it, as I just tend to go for the dry, unsentimental stuff. She likes big, flamboyant, expensive cards so I think it will go over well.

The 'best job in the world' non-finalist, (according to the news story below)
'Mitch Moffitt from Hamilton, who submitted a terrific music video production number about why he wanted the job - has responded to his loss with yet another new and elaborate song:'

so the dream has ended

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Quick Tips

I thought you might find the following excerpt interesting:

© Copyright 2009 by Hellen Buttigieg, We Organize U. Reprinted with permission from the We Organize U Newsletter. Visit http://www.weorganizeu.com

'Quick Tips on Organizing Your Life:

What do you want to be when you grow up?
If you've been struggling to find your life purpose but haven't made much progress, use the time you spend searching to get to know yourself better instead. I've worked with hundreds of clients to help them transition to a new career and my experience has shown that if you know who you are, your ideal job will find you. A great way to begin activating your inner wisdom is to write in a journal. Commit to doing this every day for a month and see what happens. It may also be helpful to work with a life coach to take you through exercises that may help you discover hidden aspects of yourself.'

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It could've been a life changing moment

So I left the house last night around 8.45pm to get L from her training course. I debated which route I was going to take. It was dark and pouring rain, wipers at full speed, but not a lot of traffic. I'm heading south in the rightmost of 3-lanes
when all of a sudden there was a loud 'whump!', I'd run over something. I noticed almost immediately that the front left tire pressure indicator had gone on, but kept going. My instinct was to try to get as close as possible to L's location although my heart was thumping and I began wonder what exactly I'd hit, hoping it wasn't something live. I didn't hear any sirens.

After turning west, and driving for about a block, I decided I better pull over somewhere and at least check the state of the tire. I found a small plaza and parked the car. Sure enough, the tire was flat. At this moment, L called to see where I was and I updated her with my location. Then M called to see what we were up to. He seemed to be more worried about the tire and how anyone could drive a flat so far without thinking to stop. I had to mention 'safety first' and that at least I was ok (some Men)! Then I called CAA (roadside assistance) and told them I had a flat tire and my location. He took some other details (make and year of car, its colour), gave me an approximate time of their arrival (within 45 minutes) and asked if I needed them to call family or anyone to notify them of the incident. Thank goodness for a charged cellphone and my CAA card.

I would say I waited about 20 minutes if that, and the CAA truck arrived. A lovely young man stepped out and told me that I didn't have to show my card and that I could wait in my car to avoid getting further wet. I declined and stood around while he jacked the car up, used the lock nut and had the spare tire put on within 5 minutes. Apparently the actual tire had a slash in it and seems unrecoverable. Remarkably and happily, the rim was not damaged. The young man thought I might've run over a pothole or something small that would be difficult to see on a night like this. He was careful to store the other tire where the spare was and consciously avoided dirtying the rest of the trunk contents. Meanwhile M and L had arrived to check on things. My only regret was that I forgot to tip the young man. His last words were, 'be sure not to drive over 80kms on your spare!'.

This morning I woke up thinking it could've been a life changing moment. I may not have lived to see May 1, or my 50th birthday, or my son return from his Montreal trip, or see him start high school. (Maybe I'm still in a bit of shock, but I feel like giving thanks to God) Everyday we leave home assuming we'll return safely to continue all the little things we do that seem so necessary. We take a lot for granted.

It's a lovely day today and I did a couple hours of gardening, getting the beds cleaned up. I also went for a walk and bought a small 'state of the art' looking wind up radio for emergency. They had 4 kinds varying in price from $40 to $165. I got the least expensive one and it says it also can charge a cell phone. Thanks for the idea, Barbara.


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