No need to panic

So there have been a few cases of Corona Virus here in Australia. People have panicked and supermarket shelves here are running low on bottled water and toilet paper. Knives have been  pulled on people over a dispute on toilet paper. There have been stampedes. 

There is no need to panic. For starters, one- we have a very good health care system that can cope with helping anyone who succumbs to the virus and secondly, according to statistics, we have more of a chance of catching the common flu as we do of contracting and then dying of the Corona Virus.

I think the news is to blame, exaggerating and fear-mongering. It is no wonder there's panic in the ranks.  We won't be stock piling. But we will be following normal precautions by avoiding large crowds, airports and even shopping centres. We will shop online. And we will wash our hands frequently. It's just basic hygiene really.

With how I am feeling at the moment, with the fibro flare not over and constantly tired, staying home and shopping online will be the norm for us anyway. But in all honesty, we are not panicking.

My list of to do's today is basic:

1. Follow Thursday's List  
2. Do a 15 minute stint on FlyLady's Zone
3. Cook a stew in the slow cooker for dinner

More tea, Dear?

So whilst writing this post, I bought in some water and a cup of tea to take my morning medications. I was interrupted by a knock at the door which was the Woolworths delivery man with my online grocery delivery.

When I came back, I was horrified to see my little cat, Xena drinking happily from my tea cup! Knowing that the tea had already been spoilt for me, I stood back and let her finish drinking. Luckily, my phone was on my computer desk and I was able to take a picture of her lapping my tea.

She's a lover of Vegemite too. I found her a few weeks ago licking a plate that was stacked by the sink ready to be washed. She was really enjoying the saltiness of my Vegemite from my leftover breakfast toast. I guess she's a true Australian then! We love our Vegemite from the first tentative suck on a piece of toast our mothers offered us as babies. 

My sugars this morning were 10.1 which is better than 18.6 plus Ketones last night. I am avoiding sugar like the plague! I think I went wrong with eating a pear before going to bed last night...

I have a few things on my to do list today:

1. Make our bed
2. Clean my kitchen
3. Dust
4. Make another cup of tea to replace Xena's...
5. Cook a Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight:  not necessarily in that order :)

I think from now on I will have to make a cup of tea and pour it into Xena's drinking bowl with a piece of toast and Vegemite in her feed bowl. After all, in her mind she's not a cat: she's a human child who is very loved and spoilt. "More tea, Dear?"

Grateful for my servants

So today has seen a slight improvement in my sugars. They were 9.5 this morning which is a lot better than 11.6 yesterday. I have been very careful of sugars in what I ate and the results are pleasing.

Also I have less pain and I think the fibromyalgia flare may be abating. So today I have added a few things to my to do list- things that will be a lick and promise only: I have had to give up on my perfectionism.

1. Do a couple of loads of washing
2. Cook some minestrone soup in the slow cooker
3. Change our bed
4. Vacuum and sweep an area of the house
5. Order online groceries for tomorrow
6. Cook curried sausages with rice for dinner

I am determined to do at least some of these things today and I have enlisted the help of some of my servants. 

Top of the list is my Dyson stick vacuum because it's not heavy, does a great job of picking up Xena's white fur and does not hurt my back.

Second favourite servant of mine is my dryer which saves me a lot of spoons in hanging the washing out then bringing it back in.

Having said that, I am also grateful for my slow cooker, my front load washer, my microwave and my toaster. I don't know how people managed in the past without these. I am grateful for my servants. 

Not even on my worst day

So today is another day of pain, lethargy and lack of motivation. As soon as I finish this post, I am going to have a nana nap.

I once would have fought going back to bed, but these days I know I have to pace myself and rest or this fibromyalgia flare won't abate.

In accepting my fibromyalgia, I have had to cast my perfectionism aside and just concentrate on basic essentials like meals.

I refuse to give in to false guilt and that has been reinforced by my realising that as soon as I am able, my housework will be done. Besides, it will never ever get to look like these houses in the slideshow that I blogged about today- not even on my worst day. 

Today's to do list is:

1. Rest
2. Cook some devilled sausages, mash and veggies for dinner
3. Do the dishes

This is the least I can do to make sure that our home never looks like one of those.

A busy day

So yesterday our little township had its annual Festival. All along the strip of parkland outside our home, food tents, stalls selling all manner of things apart from homegrown produce and beauty products, lead happy customers to them.

The weather was perfect for the Festival and the townsfolk enjoyed rock bands, concerts and school bands until the evening. Horses pulled carts of people around the parkland borders. It was fun.

Chris and I had intended to go yesterday, but my fibromyalgia flare which seems never ending put me in bed. There was no way I could have even walked there inspite of it being just across the road. So whilst all this was taking place, I was sleeping the exhausted sleep of the flaring fibromite.

Chris took a short video from our front garden to show me some of the fun. I hated missing out.

Today's weather is 29C which is lovely. I got up, did breakfast, took my medications and fed Xena and that has wiped out my spoons for the day.

My sugars were 11.4 this morning and I feel quite off. My eyes are blurry and my toes are burning and stinging. I am getting quite worried. My diabetes is out of control.

I have brought the minced steak out of the freezer and will be doing some spaghetti bolognaise for dinner.  That's it. Nothing much going on today, yet my body feels like it's been a busy day.

Not lazy: smart

Anyone with chronic illness that makes you fatigued like fibromyalgia, will know that part of accepting the new normal is planning to do the most you can with the least amount of spoons. That applies to all housework chores and social activities. 

Lately, Chris and I have been ordering our groceries online. This has so many benefits and is worth the $15 delivery fee. It makes ordering the shopping easier by having a list of previous shops to copy from. Wonderful when concentrating is hard when one has brain fog from fibro or medications...

The delivery guy will even bring it into the kitchen and place it on the kitchen bench. It is then just a matter of putting it all away. So much better than handling it at the checkout, loading it into the boot of the car, bringing it all in.

As a Sacrificial Home Keeper, I have streamlined the inside activities, and now I have streamlined the outside activities. 

With paying for delivery, some may say shopping online for groceries is lazy: I say no: it's actually very smart. Designed with the Sacrificial Home Keeper in mind. I am very grateful for it.

Today's list is simple as I am still under the weather:

1. Do dishes
2. Fold clothes in dryer
3. Make our bed
4. Cook lamb stew in slow cooker for dinner

Be fruitful and multiply!

This morning when I came to open the drapes, I was greeted by this beautiful sight! Pink and grey galahs, King parrots, rosellas and magpies were all vying for top tier of our bird feeder!

We saw that they all had chicks with them, proving that our back garden and that of our neighbours was good breeding ground. The pic doesn't do them and their colours justice. They are beautiful!

I am having a better day painwise, but not many spoons. Still, I will take less pain anyday.

The weather is rather cold today with the whole of next week forecast to be low 15-20C and raining.

On my limited to do list is:

1. Cook a chow mein for dinner
2. Clean the kitchen
3. Sort our pills for the chemist run tomorrow

I just smiled as I realised the birds are being fruitful and multiplying! Just as He ordained. I am glad! 

Done and dusted

So as you know, I spent nearly all of yesterday in bed, recovering from a fibromyalgia flare. When I crawled back to bed last night, I fell asleep dreaming of waking with spoons and planning what I would do in the morning.

When I woke up this morning, I felt just like this picture portrays: today is going to be more of the same.

So on today's to do list is:

1. Rest and medication
2. Prepare a salad to go with tonight's frozen lasagna

I know if I don't rest up that this flare will drag on. My home needs some attention, but I can hardly lift my head.  I want this flare to be like my house: done and dusted.

Fibro is as painful as diseases that can be seen

Today has been a complete fizzer as far as productivity is concerned. I have achieved nothing except cook a slow cooker meal for tonight. In fact, I have been in bed most of today. Fortunately, Chris is very understanding, but doctors over here- not so much.

I have to say that in general I haven't found any real help via my GP's or rheumatologists here in Australia regarding my fibromyalgia. I am on the disability pension because I can't concentrate enough to hold down a job (not mentioning pain because there are some days when it is manageable), but in general the doctors over here seem to think it's something one puts on to get out of work! (If they only knew how we want to be able to work- especially in our homes!)

There was however, one GP who wrote me out a referral to go to a pain management clinic. I haven't been because I do not want to mentally put myself in the chronic invalid basket. If I try not to focus too much on myself and the symptoms it seems to help me mentally at least.  So I am trying self-help. Which truly isn't very helpful!

I have seen a rheumatologist recently who openly admitted to me that rheumies are practically useless in helping with fibromyalgia. I nodded my head in agreement!

I have found more compassion for my heart problems than my fibromyalgia. I wonder if it is because that is something that they can see with an ECG or angiogram? Or is it just the Aussie "Stop your whinging,  Mate!" mentality of some over here? Whatever, I would dearly love people to understand that fibromyalgia is a medical problem every bit as painful as diseases that can be seen.

As the stomach churns

 

Today has gotten off to a good start. Although my fibromyalgia muscle pain is really bad, I can live with it. What I can't live with is lack of spoons, but today I awoke with a bit of energy. It is like winning the lottery!

So far today, I have taken my bloods- 10.2!, done a load of washing, made bacon and eggs for breakfast, made our bed and taken the pork chops out to thaw for dinner tonight.

On my to do list today is:

1. Declutter my computer desk
2. Go to Officeworks for a FOR SALE sign for selling our fifth wheeler
3. Fold the clothes from the wash this morning
4. Prepare a pork sweet curry in the slow cooker for dinner

It was a good day until I noticed Xena our cat had vomited on the carpet. There is one thing I cannot stand and that is cat poop or vomit. Chris has cleaned it up for me and sprayed it with Glen 20. There's no evidence of it now.  

I am so grateful to him for doing that for me: I have enough problem keeping my medications down in the morning without cleaning cat vomit. In the mornings my chapter in my life's book is called As The Stomach Churns....