Maybe I should have rephrased it

As you may know, I have a cleaner come for a couple of hours each Thursday, thanks to my Aged Care Home Package.

She does a really good job and after she leaves, I feel really happy. 

Everything is in order and looks great and the effect it has on my spirits is wonderful. As I have said before, housework is spiritual.

After she is gone I do a few small tasks that make me happy. I change our tablecloth, organise my benchtops in the kitchen and add a new cleaning product/deodorant block to the toilets.

If I have enough spoons on the day, I will sweep down the front porch, but if not, it waits until the next day.

It's so nice to walk around my house on Thursdays and it spurs me on to cook something special. It's always nice to cook when the kitchen looks inviting...

And something funny that happened yesterday.. which was when my cleaner came... as she was leaving I said to her, "After you go, I am always very happy!" She laughed and replied, "Oh, so you are glad when I finally go?" lol... I was embarrassed..

But it was all good, she thanked me for appreciating her efforts and we laughed again and she took her leave. 

Fortunately, she has been told I like her work before and was feigning offence, but thinking about it, maybe I should have rephrased it!

I am my own doctor

 

So we have recieved more bad news from our doctor with a change of medications which, as it turns out, hosts a long list of dangerous side effects.

Our 3 monthly blood tests for diabetes and cholesterol etc came back showing a rapid rise in our sugars and cholesterol.

Our doctor is not pleased that we have stopped taking our statins, agreeing that the brain needs the cholesterol but saying with our chronic heart disease and failure that we should take them as the benefits far out the risks... and she wasn't swayed that both of our mothers died of alzheimers.

So I am sitting here praying and reflecting on what to do and we have decided to resume taking our previous medications that came with less side effects.

I am not happy that she changed our medications without informing us that they come with a host of possible dangers... as I said a few years ago, sometimes you have to be your own doctor.

Setting things to rights

So today is Monday and unlike some people who hate Mondays, I quite like them. I see Monday as the first day of the week and it is a day to put things to rights.

Sundays are our sabbath and we only do those things that are truly necessary. After all, it's supposed to be a day of rest.

We chill out and watch online services and listen to worship music and nap. But with Monday comes the need to plan to incorporate those tasks that went undone yesterday. 

I usually have washing to do and at least one load of clean clothes to fold. I try to get caught up with that plus any dishes that need washing get put into the dishwasher.

For me the tasks that take the most time and are frequent flyers are washing folding and dishes.

Provided I am not in a fibromyalgia flare and have enough spoons, (and this is always unknown and erratic), I will tackle these today.

As I said, I follow Sylvia's Lists and I will loosely follow this for Monday..  

There's always a feeling of satisfaction when/if I can do these tasks on Monday's... but still, come to think of it... I always feel happy any day when I am setting things to rights..

I'm bringing FlyLady with me!

 

As I have mentioned before, I loosely follow FlyLady and Sylvia's Lists to keep my home in order between weekly visits of a cleaner through my Aged Care Home Package.

So for two hours on a Thursday, the cleaner changes our beds, cleans our stove top and benchtops, cleans our bathrooms and toilets and vacuums and mops the floors. She dusts when necessary.

Each day after that I follow Sylvia's Lists and then when the cleaner comes, I get her to do one task in the zone FlyLady is in at that time. Eventually those detailed lists get done too.

I have been following these cleaning schedules for years and our home can be company in 30 minutes.. and with our first house inspection being a resounding success last week, we can see it's working.

As I said, it's a successful plan and I am definitely bringing FlyLady with me! 

I love being a Sacrificial Home Body!

 

I am nearly 72 and I find that there is true contentment in staying home.

Keeping the home clean and attractive is time and energy well spent and I find that it gives me a great sense of peace.

Housework is spiritual and for me keeping my home in order is good for my sense of accomplishment and peace. A messy or dirty home depresses me no end.

I have been blessed to be able to stay home for twenty years as my many illnesses saw me needing rest. But for me it has been no hardship.

After my first marriage ended, I felt lost. I missed being a wife who could stay at home but life dictated that I provide for myself and so I went to work until I met and married Chris 27 years ago.

He was happy to look after me and as illness came to stay encouraged me to stay home. He also was happy to come home to a nice meal after the work day ended.

I believe that chosing to be a stay at home wife is God ordained and is still a goal that can be achieved with careful planning and management.

This is one definition of what a housewife is:

Housewife:

A married woman who stays home.

This is a lifelong vocation.
It is an old-fashioned term,
and something to be proud of.

Not a "domestic engineer."
Not a "home manager."

An old fashioned housewife,
who keeps the home,
and abides there.

- Mrs. White of Legacy of Home.

I don't know how I managed to work with all my illnesses and I daily praise God for making it possible for me to stay home.

May He do so for you too if that is what you seek... as for me, I love being a Sacrificial Home Body! 

We rarely get any validation

 

Those of us who suffer from fibromyalgia often have little sympathy or even care from a lot of people.

Most people haven't even heard of it and most who even have, often believe it is not a serious syndrome to suffer from.

They don't realise that fibro is in fact all encompassing to the afflicted person and has the potential to dictate how we live.

Not only does fibromyalgia dictate our physical life, but our social, mental and even spiritual life. The person who states that it does not have a great impact on their life has not experienced a full blown fibromyalgia flare.

It is a sad syndrome as it has very few visible symptoms and people imply that we are faking it.

The only thing we fake is feeling better than what we do. We rarely get any validation.