Category Archives: Uncategorized

In one of my recent sessions with Veronica, I mentioned to her my “body pain memory”. Since my assault, whenever it flares up in my memory and things get tough, I have right-sided neck/shoulder/upper back pain that relates to an injury from that night. I have also had weird pelvic stuff that interferes with normalContinue reading “Be Your Own Damn Hero”

Spoiler alert: I fell off the wagon this week My dog Finn’s portrait is tattooed on my arm. For anyone who doesn’t know, I have always said that he is the dog that saved my life. Finn was born on August 15, 2007 although I didn’t know it at the time. On that particular day,Continue reading “Thoughts on good dogs, bad relationships, and falling off the wagon”

My mom tells me that when I was a kid, she sometimes felt like people must’ve thought she was the worst mom in the world. For the record, she wasn’t. She was and still is amazing. In fact, she is referring to the way in which she approached injuries and upsets on my part. SheContinue reading “Today was hard”

My intention when I started this blog was to give you an update after the first week as to how the spending was going. Ideally, I was going to report a huge success. I feared that perhaps it would be an epic failure. In the end, one week became a fortnight because all blogging ceasedContinue reading “The First Fortnight”

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better Maya Angelou This past year in therapy, I have learned about the window of tolerance. By definition, its the zone of arousal in which a person is able to function most effectively. We can interpret what’s going on aroundContinue reading “Liar Liar,Pants on Fire”

LESSONS IN FALLING DOWN AND GETTING BACK UP When I was a kid, my dad coached hockey and my brother Jack played. I wore hockey skates at a time where girls just didn’t really do that but I refused to wear figure skates. I wanted to be like my dad and Jack. They were myContinue reading “Tough Love and Spending Rules”

Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be as wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. YouContinue reading “I tried to draw my debt monster as a weight on my shoulder. It ended up eating my face”

Hi! I’m Mel. A (mostly) great mom, caretaker/human mom of a 12 year old sweet, feisty border terrier, fiercely loyal friend, midwife, rape survivor and chronic over-spender. Retail therapy has been my go-to “drug” of choice for 14 years. Join me for a year of mindful spending. A year in my shoes… without buying anyContinue reading “Welcome”