Quaggas and Happy Lights: Updated

Remember that one time I told the truth? Sadly, things aren't looking much different here on this side of January. I'm afraid they've taken a turn for the worse. Much worse.

On gloomy days I find it difficult to perform even the most basic of tasks, like say, oh, feeding my children.

After school yesterday Jensie walked in the door and demanded "Hey, mom! What's for dinner?"

Before waiting for me to respond she rolled her eyes and added sarcastically "Oh wait, let me guess. You don't know because we have no food and you have no money."

She was only half right. It's true that we're low on groceries and even lower on funds. (Let the countdown to payday begin!) But in a lot of ways it just boils down to plain old fashioned depression. I don't feel like doing anything--cooking included.

The good news though, as I am only just finding out, is that there is hope.

The other day Nate called and I asked him excitedly "Nate, did you know there are therapeutic lamps and vitamins that help people with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder--I have self-diagnosed myself as one such person)?"

(I also have AAD, Army Affective Disorder, again self-diagnosed, which sadly is not as easy to treat with bright lights and cheap gimmicks.)

"Oh yeah," he said, "I've read about that."

My first thought was obviously. Because really, what hasn't he read about?

Here's another example: today I told him "Asher has to take something that begins with the letter Q to school for show-and-tell, and I don't want to do anything with queens or quilts--too obvious. Any ideas?"

"How about a quagga?" He replied.

"What the heck is a quagga?" I queried.

"Oh it's a horse. Kind of like a zebra really. They recently went extinct. I was just reading about them."

(image)

Wow.

Anyway...

My second thought (we're back to SAD now) was Why the heck didn't you tell me about it?

Friends. Friends who are suffering the moody blues in the worst imaginable way. Friends, whose spirits rose when the sun peeked out behind the clouds on Saturday morning, only to have your hopes dashed by the return of a gray endless sky Sunday night...there is hope. Better, there are lamps! Lamps I tell you. And they give you bright sunshiny light almost-as-good-as-the-real-thing right in your very own kitchen. Or living room. Or closet. The possibilities are endless. They are "happy lights." You can buy them at Costco or here.

There are also vitamins. Sunshine Vitamins. Rich in vitamin D. Three kinds of D I think. Sure to perk you up after a winter of deficiency. You can buy those at Costco too! (Now do you see why I so missed Costco while we lived way down South?)

And I'm pretty sure they work. People I trust have PROMISED me they work. I haven't been able to try them myself just yet, because, as Jensie is quick to point out and I have already mentioned, I have no money. But you can bet that first thing Friday morning "go to Costco" will be #1 on the to-do list.

'Til Friday my friends, be strong.

_________________________________________________

Update: Happy-Lites and Go-Lites are all sold out at the Orem Costco, but can both be found in mass quantities at the store in Lehi. And the Happy-Lites are only $49.99. (They cost twice as much on Amazon.)