A boring home life

It's Tuesday morning here. I have just finished putting the groceries I got online away. It's so convenient for Chris and I seeing as we both are unwell

I have done a  load of washing and am thinking about doing some lunch. Toasted cheese and tomato sangers sounds good and easy.  

My kitchen needs to be cleaned but I am out of spoons as I didn't sleep well last night. The weather is changing as it's autumn here and we can experience all seasons in one day. It plays havoc with my fibromyalgia. It's making me feel miserable.

I am thinking of taking a nana nap before I do the kitchen. But before that I will take some Panadol Osteo   to help relieve my fibro pain. Pacing and resting are not an option with fibromyalgia: it's a necessity. 

After I clean the kitchen I will cook chow mein and rice for dinner and if I have enough spoons I will fold the day's clean clothes and put them away.

It's a boring day here and I am glad. When you think of what's happening in the world, I can truly gratefully say that God has blessed me with a good but boring home life! 

It's gonna be a PJ's day.

 

The rain is pouring down but it's not cold just pleasantly warm after the last few days of summer heat. Xena is still asleep on my bed.

Chris is watching TV and I have got the breakfast dishes soaking in hot soapy water. The house is tidy and cosy. Life is good.

I woke up early and left Chris to sleep. I heard the birds calling each other and watched as my beloved magpies came down searching for some left over sausage among the rice dish I put out for them last night.

Carefully opening the sliding door that opens to the garden where they congregate waiting for me to feed them, they sat only inches away from me. Gradually they are coming closer to feeding from my hand. 

The washing machine is churning away at the load of clothes I am washing. I try to do a load a day so as not to use up all my spoons in one hit, folding them and putting them away. 

People with fibromyalgia would understand the need to pace oneself in order to achieve some completion of household tasks. There's so much job satisfaction in even doing one load of washing and putting it away. 

I have some steak thawing for dinner tonight. I am planning on cooking a vegetable intensive beef stew.

With the cooler weather and rain, the menu begs for a stew...

I still haven't changed out of my pajamas and it's 1pm but I don't really care. We aren't going anywhere and I am feeling pretty laid back and a tad achy. It's the change in weather.

It was a pretty slow but pleasant morning with Chris making me some breakfast and a cup of tea. The panadol is kicking in helping me with the aches and pains of fibromyalgia that's reacting to the weather change, but I am glad to report that it's not a fibro flare per se.

So in spite of aches and pains, I am feeling pretty good today, but even so, it's gonna be a PJ's day. 

Ya gotta laugh

                                             

I got some of things I wanted to do done, but alas, it came with a cost. I have another flare of fibromyalgia.

I can hardly move and hurt everywhere. It doesn't help that we have thunderstorms on the horizon  either. So today I have only washed my dishes and I will cook dinner. It's all I can manage.

All our bedding is washed and dried and when our cleaner comes Monday, she will put more clean sheets on. I just did the minkie blankets and our doonas.

I must say that drying the minkie blankets in the dryer has given them a slightly grey tinge, but they are still soft and smell great. Most importantly, they are clean.

My plan for the remainder of the day is to cook bangers and mash for dinner. I will take some Tramadol because my knees are hurting as well as the usual fibro pain.

Xena was outside for a bit and was attacked by a horrible Siamese cat who stalks her. I ran to help her and damaged both my sore knees. I am in too much pain to get down the steps and walk to the back garden to pick up my slipper that I threw at it. 

That Siamese cat didn't want to budge and would not leave the back garden. He's stubborn and has worn out his welcome. Much like my meniscus pain in my worn out knees: joking.  Ya gotta laugh. 

Not falling off the vine

 

Since turning 70 last May, I have noticed a rapid decline in our health. Heart issues are worsening, pains are hurting, fibromyalgia is making spoons are scarce and my mood is darkening.

We both are enjoying the peace in our home that has been jealously guarded and nurtured. Quite simply, we cannot cope with other's dramas.So much so that we have become reclusive.

The days when we don't have to leave our home are cherished days. And even though we make a point to get dressed each morning, we are not adverse to having a couple of Pajama Days occasionally.

In short, we are wearing out. Physically, mentally and emotionally, we are spent. I can say that we aren't spiritually spent because we pray and worship a lot. It does help.

I have been posting a little spasmodically because of excessive fatigue, and I have decided that from tomorrow onward, I will post in a diary form recording bloods, blood pressure and so on. Plus anything else the LORD puts on my heart.

Today is Sunday and I have just done the least I can do to keep our home manageable. With the fatigue being bad and no spoons, I took a nana nap and it turned into a grandma nap. Three hours.

But I woke up and felt a bit better and managed to fold some clothes that had spent their new clean life in the laundry basket...

Anyway, I had a comforting thought which I will share: there's an old saying that the aged say... "I am so ripe that I am falling off the vine!" Not very comforting. 

But the next thought was comforting- physically, yes I am- but spiritually, not so. Instead I am grafted into the Vine- Jesus and He sustains me and gets me through this painful path called life...

So, with His help, I am definitely not falling off the vine! 

Ordinary is good!

It's Tuesday morning here. I have just finished putting the groceries I got online away. It's so convenient for Chris and I seeing as we both are unwell

I have done a couple of loads of washing and am thinking about doing some lunch. Toasted cheese and tomato sangers sounds good and easy.  

My kitchen needs to be cleaned but I am out of spoons as I didn't sleep well last night. The weather is changing as it's autumn here and we can experience all seasons in one day. It plays havoc with my fibromyalgia. It's making me feel miserable.

I am thinking of taking a nana nap before I do the kitchen. But before that I will take some Panadol Osteo   to help relieve my fibro pain. Pacing and resting are not an option with fibromyalgia: it's a necessity. 

After I clean the kitchen I will cook chow mein and rice for dinner and if I have enough spoons I will fold the day's clean clothes and put them away.

It's an ordinary day here and I am glad. When you think of what's happening in the world, I can truly gratefully say that God has blessed me with a day that's ordinary and good! 

Just living is a physical ordeal.

 

Lately I have been finding it difficult to be joyful. My fibromyalgia doesn't get better, my knees are paining me, my angina's worse and I have had bouts of asthma.

Sitting for long periods hurts my back, and my eyes and face and general skin is dry, but I need to keep the house warm as the cold winter temperatures aggravate everything.

I have tried returning to a more realistic sleeping schedule, but I find even if I go to bed at a reasonable hour, I still wake up a couple of hours later. Then I can't get back to sleep for another 4 or so hours. 

I am tired, people. Tired of all this pain. Trying to keep it all together. Trying to live a "normal" life. I mean taking a shower without assistance or cooking a meal from scratch or hanging out some washing should all be within the bounds of normality for a homemaker. Not so for me.

I wear tiredness like a heavy saggy wet cloak, and I never wake up refreshed. My circadian rhythm is all out of whack and I can't restore it. Through no choice of my own, I have become a night owl.

With Chris being ill with his heart failure, he doesn't sleep well either and sleeps sitting up. He starts off in bed, but graduates to his recliner armchair.

The fluid in his lungs makes him feel like he is drowning, so that necessitates sitting up to sleep. It. is. what. it. is... But I watch him struggling for breath and I feel that I am losing him by degrees...

I have thought about trying to be upbeat and falsely present myself as someone who is coping with all this, but if I did it would be a lie.

So apart from a nana nap later, I am planning to spend some time in prayer and worship. Hopefully, that will give me the strength to emotionally and spiritually rise above the physical ordeal just living creates.

It's going to be a PJ's day

 

The rain is pouring down.  Xena is still asleep on my bed.  Chris is watching TV and I have got the breakfast dishes  in the dishwasher. The house is tidy and cosy. Life is good.

I woke up early and left Chris to sleep. I heard the birds calling each other and watched as my beloved Kingfishers came down searching for some left over sausage among the rice dish I put out for them last night.

Carefully opening the sliding door that opens onto the decking where they congregate waiting for me to feed them, they sat only inches away from me. Gradually they are coming closer to feeding from my hand. 

The washing machine is churning away at the load of clothes I am washing. I try to do a load a day so as not to use up all my spoons in one hit, folding them and putting them away. 

People with fibromyalgia would understand the need to pace oneself in order to achieve some completion of household tasks. There's so much job satisfaction in even doing one load of washing and putting it away. 

I have some steak thawing for dinner tonight. I am planning on cooking a vegetable intensive beef stew. With the cooler weather and rain, the menu begs for a stew...

I still haven't changed out of my pajamas and it's 1pm but I don't really care. We aren't going anywhere and I am feeling pretty laid back and a tad achy. It's the change in weather.

It was a pretty slow but pleasant morning with Chris making me some breakfast and a cup of tea. The panadol is kicking in helping me with the aches and pains of fibromyalgia that's reacting to the weather change, but I am glad to report that it's not a fibro flare per se.

So in spite of aches and pains, I am feeling pretty good today, but even so, it's gonna be a PJ's day.

I find that very relaxing

 

If ever a picture epitomises you and your home and lifestyle, it's this one. A lady dressed sensibly and warmly with knitted socks looks out of the window watching the birds feed from the bird feeder. 

Her cats also watch, but with ulterior motives, mentally stalking them as prey. She has a cuppa in her hand and seems wholely relaxed.

Like our home, she has a blanket over her armchair, protecting it from the cats and adding a homely touch.

I would love to visit her home as I feel like we would be kindred spirits...

Anyway, today is the first day off the Prednisolone. I tried to halve the tablets but they crumbled. So I will be going off them cold turkey. I was only on them for four days...

My polymyalgia is improving but I still have a headache. I have just taken some paracetamol for that.

The Roombas have been run, I have pulled my bed up, done breakfast, bloods and meds and a load of washing which is now in the dryer. The weather is lovely today and I really should have hung it outside. But the PMR and fibromyalgia says otherwise, so I will have to listen to my body and just go with the flow.

I have a couple of pork chops on the kitchen bench thawing for tea tonight. I will serve mashed potatoes and a salad with them.

I am going to take the rest of the day easy as I have to pace myself.. fibro is raising its ugly head again.

Meanwhile, I will sit on the couch and let the fresh air fan me as I lay in the sunshine on my couch for a bit.

From my view on the couch, I can watch the clouds and I find that very relaxing...

It still is that for me!

 

Yep, it's still Safeway for me!  With fibromyalgia brain fog and old age, tell me the new name of a place or person I knew, and it is lost forever... they will forever be the name I first called them!

So I had a phone consult today and the doctor wants to wean me off prednisolone after only four days.. it hasnt really done it's job quite yet, so I am going to spin it out for a few more days ...

Today I have washed some minkie blankets off our beds, ran and then emptied the Roombas, cleaned the toilets and ordered online medicines and groceries.I  did some rounds of crochet in between tasks..

Chris loves bangers and mash so that's what I will be doing for tea tonight..

The Prednisolone fills me with fake energy, but I don't care... I will milk this Polymyalgia rheumatica situation for all it's worth!  I know I won't be long on the meds so I may as well turn the antsy feelings for my good...and get the benefit of some pseudo spoons!  

For those who don't know... in Australia Safeway Supermarkets took on the name Woolworths many moons ago: but as I said, it still is that for me!

A spoon is a spoon!

 

So my polymyalgia rheumatica has kicked in again, and coupled with a fibromyalgia flare, the pain is just excruciating.

I have decided the pain warrants some Prednisolone so I took 25mg of it these last two mornings. It makes me feel a bit antsy but I can now bend my neck, lift my arms to brush my hair, and the pain around my temples and headache has gone, along with the TMJ.

It is risky taking Prenisolone, but I had to weigh up the pros and cons and decided that I simply couldnt bear the pain any longer. 

A happy consequence of it is the fake energy has made me channel it into housekeeping and my house hasnt looked better! 

Today I have run the Roombas, washed the clothes and cleaned my kitchen. I am going to do sausages in the slow cooker for dinner tonight.

The steroids are elevating my blood sugars as I am diabetic. It's making me feel drowsy. I can see a nana nap in my future if the Pred will allow me to sleep.

I really dont care where I get my energy from these days: fake energy from steroids is good. After all, a spoon is a spoon!

She's a Diva!

 

I have changed my blood pressure tablets around and take the stronger of the two Physiotens at night and it has helped me sleep better again.

Consequently, I awoke with a few more spoons this morning and I paced myself and managed to catch up on some home chores I was behind in.

It's now evening and I am winding down for the day. 

I managed to fold and put away a weeks' worth of washing which was weighing on my mind. I always meant to get around to it, but fibromyalgia reduced spoons saw to it that I didn't.

Although spent and exhausted at the moment, I have a feeling of accomplishment. I like it. So tomorrow, God willing, I am going to iron my few articles such as our pillowcases and sort out my medicines.

It's going to be cold tonight, so I have already put our electric blankets on. Our cat, Xena has found the warm patch already and is asleep on my bed. It will be interesting  to see if she objects to me slipping in beside her when I retire tonight. She actually tells Chris no when he comes in to say goodnight.

They say cats aren't very expressive, but Xena is! She's also very bossy and fussy. We love her to bits, even if she's a diva! 

The spirit is willing

 

So I decided to take a bath today. No mean feat when one is chronically ill or disabled. It turned out to be a big mistake.

Chris helped me get into the bath as it's pretty high. I no longer have my bath lift  so that made things a bit harder again.

It was so difficult to make my knees bend enough to sit down in the water, but when I finally was in, the water was so soothing. I lay there for about 40 minutes, just luxuriating in it.

The loofah did a marvellous job of exfoliating my body and once again, I was so glad to actually be able to bathe.  Then came the hardest part: getting out.

I tried every way to get out without kneeling on my sore knees, but in the end, I had to. There was no other way. It hurt like crazy!

Today my knees are aching and it is with sadness that I realised-(not for the first time) that it will have to be showers from now on for me.

I have no painkillers here so I am just taking paracetamol... which is pretty much useless for strong pain.

So I have made a short list today for chores I want to do.

I have put away the online groceries that came this morning.

I have done a load of washing that is in the dryer.

I have a slow crocker full of pork sweet and sour rice for dinner tonight.

After all these years of chronic illness, mainly fibromyalgia and shuermanns disease, I think I have worked out how many spoons I can save during a bad day.

As it is written," The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!" Matthew 26:41  Indeed it is! 

Here a little.

 

So today I woke with no spoons and I felt like I had been hit by a bus. But I really want to start this journey of reclaiming my house, so I bit the bullet and took my first step.

As the kitchen is always the first area that calls for attention, I decided to start there. I had cleaned up last night and only had a few dishes to take out of the dishwasher.All I had to clean up was the breakfast and morning tea dishes.

Fibromyalgia flares see that I simply can't do mornings, and as you can see, I couldn't raise a gallop until nearly lunchtime. All I had managed to do was pull up our beds, put a load of washing in and run my irobot, Sadie.

So by the time I had done the kitchen, it was time for a nana nap as my angina was playing up and I was finding just breathing enough.

So I had a nana nap which lasted a few hours, and I came out again but I still had no spoons to speak of.

My plan was to wipe down the kitchen benches or counter tops and start preparing dinner, but I had to leave it for the moment. Chris made me a cup of tea, we discussed what we would eat tonight and I sat down to talk to you.

I realise most people would say that I haven't accomplished a lot, but believe me, when you wake with no spoons at all, it is a lot. I know the benches need wiping down, but basically the kitchen's clean and I can start on cooking dinner as soon as I recoup.

I don't allow myself to suffer from "false guilt" anymore and I don't allow myself to be dictated to by my OCD perfectionist healthy woman of the past. She doesn't exist anymore. 

Everything we do is kudos to us Sacrificial Home Keepers. We push ourselves to achieve little by the standards of "normals", but to us, we have run a marathon.

So in a minute after I post this post, I will be cooking sweet and sour pork and rice. And then I will pray for enough spoons to see me sort the kitchen out- I hate getting up to a dirty kitchen and if I can do it before bed, it will be a gift from my previous self to my future self.

Tonight is bin night, so I will help Chris gather the rubbish and put the bins out. Come to think of it, they go out more often than we do these days! But it is what it is! With no spoons for both of us, staying home is a pleasure.

Anyway, I have at least achieved something today- working. pacing. resting. planning. It all adds up with here a little, there a little in the daily life of this Australian Sacrificial Home Keeper.

It's a pain!

 

So the day has started off without any appreciable spoons. However, I have purposed to do some chores in the house regardless. Simply because they have to be done.

With the last two days slack on housework, there are dishes and washing and some other chores that are shouting to be done.

My sugars are still 10.4 this morning in spite of taking the new diabetes medications for a week. So I accept that I am never going to feel really well. Fibromyalgia and angina coupled with back pain also seem to do that. 

So I am going to just concentrate today on the most crucial homemaking tasks: having clean dishes and cups and some clean clothes and towels.. No lists today, this is all I can manage.

So today's list of to do's are:

1. Soak and wash dishes and put away after air drying
2. Catch up on the washing and put it away after the dryer has finished
3. Cook some lamb stew in the slow cooker for dinner

Granted it's not much to do, but my body feels like it's trying to climb Mt Everest. But enough procrastination: I must push on. No fairy godmother is coming- I'm it!  

It's mundane. It's frustrating. It's tiring! But it is what it is!  It's chronic illness! And it's a pain!

Cats have never been very considerate

This morning I hit the floor running. Xena woke me with imminent chucks and I shooed her off my bed, but not before she soiled both my minkie blankets. 

She also soiled the carpet in my bedroom. I have the blankets in the wash as we speak. The carpets have been cleaned and sprayed with Glen 20. 

I love her dearly, but often tell myself there will be no more cats when she passes. She's 12 now. We will have to wait and see on that one!  

So far since that, I have folded and put away 3 loads of clean washing, made lunch and cleaned my kitchen.

Tonight I am doing frozen dinners as we had a big lunch. Apart from that, I will be resting as my fibromyalgia is still flaring.

Now Xena is peacefully sleeping in her igloo. It would have been so much more Mummy friendly to have sicked up in that. A simple matter of washing out a little mattress. Still, cats have never been very considerate have they?

Between my nana naps!

 

Today is Saturday morning here. I have had a busy week with doctors appointments and physio for my daughter who is doing really well. 

My son had a possible cancer in his bowels, but the first test was a false alarm and to be honest, it made me anxious. I didn't realise how anxious until he was cleared. 

This son was born with a forceps injury to his eye- it looks normal but he has very little sight in it. He has developed a pterygium or sun damage in his good eye and has surgery next Friday to remove the growth because it is growing across his eye and may interfere with his vision. I will be glad when it's done and his eye has recovered. 

All this has given me the Mother of all Flares. My fibromyalgia is killing me at the moment and I am taking frequent naps to cope with it. I have a few housework chores to do and some folding up of clean washing. I will do it- in between my nana naps! 

For me, it's spoons!

It's Sunday morning here. I have brought in the online groceries and checked them off and put them away. 

I will soon be taking Chris's bloods and doing breakfast. Breakfast will be eggs and bacon and a cup of tea. Lunch will be ham and salad sandwiches. For dinner, I am doing a vegetable intensive beef stew. Fresh fruit for desert.

There's a hamper of clean clothes to fold and then I will be up to date with washing. Later I plan to make some coleslaw, if spoons permit. 

That's about it for today, except for cooking dinner. I don't want to put myself into another fibromyalgia flare or I won't have spoons to help my daughter tomorrow. As I always say: most jugglers juggle balls, for me it's spoons! 

Bushed but satisfied.

Today we have no physio or doctor appointments so we can stay home. I am ploughing through 3 loads of washing and I have to clean my kitchen. 

I am cooking a pork stew in the slow cooker. Chris is feeling unwell and is sleeping a lot. I would be if I could with my fibromyalgia flaring, but I am waiting for the cleaner to come.

I have finally found a cleaner who can fit both DD Dianne and my homes in for a clean once a fortnight. They are doing hers at 2pm and ours at 4pm today. 

Although my Roomba is doing a great job, it needs someone to get into the corners it misses so I will ask the cleaner to do that. Basically it's my floors and bathrooms that need cleaning today with the beds changed starting next Wednesday week. 

We only have Chris's "man cave" to sort out now- the rest is done and the place looks nice. We are totally bushed, but it a satisfying feeling to look around and see it all come together.

A big part of my life

It's 11.30 Saturday morning here and already we have been to have blood tests, come back and had breakfast and I have done a load of washing, folded clothes and stacked the dishwasher. 

They weren't able to get blood from me today so I have to come back Monday. This in spite of drinking water beforehand. 

Chris is sleeping and I am thinking of having a nana nap as I have no spoons left. So tonight I will be cooking pork chops with mashed potato and salad. I may serve a fruit salad for dessert.

The fibromyalgia is flaring and I am aching all over. I haven't recovered from the move yet. In spite of knowing I could/should do some more around the house, I know that I need to rest or tomorrow will be a repeat of today. Pacing and resting are now a big part of my life since fibro.

I am too tired to shout!

Today is Monday morning. I have to do some washing and restack the dishwasher. I have run Sadie the Roomba and am about to do bloods, meds and breakfast. 

Later on at 11 a man is coming to do some flatpacks of furniture for us. I am hopeless at this and Chris can't do it anymore. It's a coffee table and TV lowline unit. It's $40 an hour but we had to factor that in when we bought them. It is what it is! 

At 2.30 we have to pick Dianne up and take her to a doctor's appointment. Then I have to go to the chemist and get her meds made up. 

It's supposed to rain for the next 10 days and the rain has been consistently heavy and constant. I think we are going to need an ark soon.  It is making my fibromyalgia worse, and I am pushing myself to get Di to doctors and physio. 

I will neverthless be busy with doctors and physio for the rest of the week and possibly next two weeks or more. I am glad Di's knee has been done though. It's all over bar the shouting! With no spoons at all, I am too tired to shout!