This and That

First of all, I want to say a big fat thank you to everybody who commented on Tuesday's post. I should have said it yesterday, but I started yesterday's post early, before I got all the comments on Tuesday's post.

Anyway, thank you! That was a hard post to write, and I appreciate your support. And I want to send an extra dose of love to those who are battling depression. IT WILL GET BETTER. And I hope you get the help you need soon. DO NOT GIVE UP.

Tuesday's post was one of those reminders of why blogging really can make a difference. I love it when you guys tell me, "I don't know you, but I feel like you're my friend," or, "I'm so glad I found your blog." Oh and by the way, I appreciate the readership of those who do know me, too. As I've said before, sometimes it takes the written word on the impersonal Internet to really get to know somebody you thought you already knew in real life.

So I'm glad that my blog, no matter how small and unpopular, can make a tiny difference in people's lives. But I have to admit that in spite of all my warm fuzzies, I still obsess over the pageview stats for my blog. I had this goal to get to 1,000 pageviews per day by the end of 2011, but it's mid-March already and I only get 100 on a good day. I guess I'll have to have something really controversial happen to me so I can write a post about it and go viral.

In other news, who loves the sunshine?! Everyone does! I really marvel at how much sunshine and daylight improve people's moods. Yesterday we got the kind of pure, bright sunshine and warmth that I don't think we've seen in several months. It made me instantly happy and energetic. I was the patient mom I wanted to be. I took advantage of teachable moments when they arose and gently reprimanded when necessary. And we got so much done! We went to the gym, the library, Target, and the park.

And so I resume my annual March delusions of maybe the weather will be like this from here on out.

Anyway all that outdoor excitement tired me out, and so last night when I was supposed to be working on memorizing my lines for the show I'm in, I watched two episodes of Hoarding: Buried Alive instead. Now, is this a different show than Hoarders on some other channel? Why are there two shows about hoarding? And, more importantly, why do I get sucked in to these shows? I know the obvious conclusion to the show is going to be that the house gets cleaned out, and yet I keep watching through the whole episode so I can find out what happens at the end. I tell myself that my interest in this show stems from my interest in psychology, but really I think I like watching it because I can taunt my husband about how his collecting interests are just a few steps away from hoarding like the people on the show. And the worst is that I always watch the hoarding shows live, which means I have to wait through commercials, and I should DVR it, but it's just too embarrassing to record Hoarders.

And on the last night's episode, this woman refused to tear down a shrine she built to her dog, which included a small plate with a piece of the woman's own birthday cake under cellophane. She said the dog died before the her birthday and she wanted to share some cake with him. Uh-huh. And on another note about that same show: I know opening up your craphole of a house to TV cameras might indicate that you don't have the same level of shame as the rest of us, but please replace your missing front teeth before you go on national TV. Maybe you have some dentures lying around in those piles of yours.

Okay, off to fight the good fight for another day!