Right where she loves to be!

Our white cat, Xena loves being near me. She always follows me around and sleeps with me as well. I guess she's her mother's girl.

She can be a bit jealous though. When Chris comes in to say goodnight and tuck me in and he always gets greeted with "nooooo!" from her. Especially when he kisses me. For that, she always gets up and comes to me, rubbing my hand or licking it.

Whenever we sit on the couch watching TV together, Xena jumps up and wiggles her way between us. We find it endearing and amusing.

Recently we got a new desk for my study nook and there's plenty of room for her favourite daytime sleep- her igloo. So knowing how close she loves to be- usually lying over my keyboard as I try to type- I put her igloo up on the desk in the corner, very close to me. She loves it!

We both love this house and feel really nurtured here. And so does Xena- and why not?- she's right where she loves to be! 

Giving the gift of time well spent

 

As most of you who follow my blogs know, Chris and I not enjoying the best of health. We both are currently battling heart failure, diabetes and obesity brought on by the inactivity that comes with pain and age.

Gradually as the maladies make themselves more known and felt, we are aware that we probably won't make it to our 80th year.

Lately we have written a will and talked to our adult children of our final wishes. Unable to bear being apart, we have decided that we both want to be buried together, and to this end, we are currently getting information about prepaid funerals and plots of land at our local cemetery.

We have discussed Do not rescusitate orders and made our wishes known to our children. They were hesitant to talk about these matters, but we assured them that we need to sort it out, afterwhich we won't talk about it.

My stents in my heart are 15 years old and I am told I need new ones inserted, but I have refused  them as the previous 2 angiograms injured me. I simply don't want to have more surgery.  

Chris and I have made the choice that there won't be any more harmful surgeries. If I have a bad heart attack I do not want to be rescusitated.

I am ready for Jesus to either take me in the Rapture or call me Home. Either way is OK. I'm just passing through!

Chris is in really bad health with his own heart failure. I am aware of how little time we may have and I don't want to waste it.

So I am on the computer about an hour instead of all day. I have culled most groups etc but have not culled my friends.

Chris promised me he will update if I go Home. We just cant bear any more hospitals and tests etc- especially when they have done me harm in the past.

I am trusting the LORD instead of man and for the one who is left behind, we are giving the gift of time well spent.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15

Silly season's begun already

 

This year because we finally have a larger home, I am hosting Christmas Day lunch. As always, I need to plan and pace myself because of my chronic fatigue, so I am looking into buying my foods and gifts early.

I know I am going to have a fibromyalgia flare by Boxing Day, but it will be worth it to have some good memories. Sometimes you just have to push yourself or you never do anything. I am looking forward to it! But to minimise any major flare after Christmas and leading up to it, I am planning already!

Last weekend our 10 year old granddaughter Taylah came and she loves Christmas and decorating, so we gave her the tree and decorations and told her if she wants, she can decorate it. She wanted to!

So except for Grandpa Chris holding her to place the star, she did it all by herself. We think she did a sterling job!

To be honest, if we weren't hosting lunch this year, we probably wouldn't be bothered with the tree but with family coming, it seemed worth the effort. So the tree is up albeit early. With both of us feeling under the weather, and with a little willing helper, it is cheerful and jolly. And good timing!

Taylah placed the solar lights so that the tree turns on at dusk and turns off at dawn. So there's no upkeep and even though the tree is minimalist by most standards, it still heralds in the festive season.

All we have left to do for decorating is putting the wreath on the front door, but it seems a little too soon to go public yet and let everyone know that at Hicks' House, the silly season's begun already!

It's coming together!

 

As I told you, I have been trying to get my home back after our move, and so I have also been decluttering. I have given away quite a few things that I found were only taking up space without bringing me joy.

It was hard to give away some things that were my mother's but I bit the bullet and did it. The recipient was so happy that it made me feel good to have been able to bless her!

I put into action Sarah's organic cleaning and threw out those clothes I don't like or fit in to any more, as I hung up clean clothes that had been sitting around for too long! I bought some storage boxes and put sorted underwear and night clothes in them.

That did create some dust but I didn't worry as I have a robotic vacuum. I highly recommend to all Sacrificial Home Keepers that they get a robotic vacuum- preferably one that mops as well as vacuums. They are coming down in price but I assure you, they are worth every cent!

Small steps for sure, especially for those who are healthy, but climbing a mountain to us chronically ill. I am inordinately pleased with what I have accomplished so far! It's coming together, here a little, there a little!

Worth every cent!

 

I have enjoyed using my Roomba robotic vacuum so much that I have bought another robotic vacuum that also mops the floors.

Our home has lots of tiles on the floor and it takes a good deal of spoons to keep them clean. These two robotic vacuums saves me on energy and pain.

There's been little energy and a lot of pain these last few weeks. My blood pressure is still high even with me resting more. It's a bit of a puzzle really as emotionally I am good-or as good as someone with constant fibromyalgia pain can be. So I am not stressed.

I am enjoying our new home and it is finally decorated and things unpacked. I have also been decluttering and have given away quite a few things that I found were only taking up space without bringing me joy.

Anyway, I highly recommend all Sacrificial Home Keepers get a robotic vacuum- preferably one that mops as well as vacuums. They are coming down in price but I assure you, they are worth every cent!

I am beyond tired!

 

After a good day yesterday, I ended up flat on my back. Actually that is in bed. My doctor said my BP was too high at 187/87 and he put me on more meds. I planned to do some organising of my wardrobe but it was not to be.

Half an hour after taking my BP medication, I found I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I went to bed. Woke up a couple of hours later just in time to cook dinner. Dinner wasn't very exciting- a steak sandwich.

Tonight I had to take my usual dose of BP tablets and I am just about to go to bed. It's so frustrating! But with chronic illness, it is what it is!

I have to go back to him in two weeks. He is going to discuss giving me Endep for my fibromyalgia pain.

Unable to sit for long, I have culled a lot of FB groups and deleted my Twitter account. I want to reserve whatever spoons I have to look after Chris and our home. I need to spend more time with him and not on the computer.

This dance with chronic illness has it lead all the way. It steps on your toes and cramps your style. It holds you captive. I just want a break from it. I am beyond tired! 

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.

This new quest

So I am just coming back to life after our move. My fibromyalgia is still there of course and so is my tiredness. I am trying to live with constant angina, but I have a new drive to get my house organised and decluttered.

All our boxes are unpacked and stuff is in its place, but there's a need to sort through that stuff and cull it.

Added to that is the desire to keep our new home nice. So I have my hands full, but no spoons.

I am trying to take control of my home- or rather, keep it controlled, but it's going to be a spasmodic deal. It all depends on spoons.

Like I did at the previous house, I have enlisted the help of a cleaner once a fortnight. She changes our beds, cleans the bathrooms and toilets and vacuums and mops the floors.

It sounds like that would be enough, but it still needs cleaning between visits. Thank goodness for my irobot Roomba.  It does a great job in between and I run it twice a day. We've called it Sadie!

To be honest, even without those jobs that the cleaner does, it. is. more. than. enough!

I am going to post pictures of my journey to claim back my house. Mainly for my own records, but you can join me here if you like.

I am going to try my best on this new quest.

 

Having patience with yourself.

  

Lately, I have realised that one of the reasons for my high blood pressure is probably in the way I stress about not being able to do what I want due to fibromyalgia.

Although I know that I am not to blame for being ill, I sometimes find myself berating myself and feeling cross that I am a lame duck. It really gets to me at times.

Often I succumb to false guilt, the guilt that comes from matters that are not in my control, and it is easy to go to the Pit of Despair. You do not want to go there.

On rare occasions, I burst into tears and it is then that Chris usually comes to my rescue, pointing out that it's not my fault, that whatever needs to be done can wait or he promises that he will do it...

It made me think that sometimes I am my own worst enemy. By self-condemnation, I am making a sad situation worse for myself.

When I realised that it was my thinking that makes me get so down sometimes, I smiled at the irony: usually I am trying to validate my tiredness and pain to "normals"- those who do not live with chronic pain and no spoons. Now the "normals" are validating me.

So today, after cleaning my kitchen and making lunch, I am going to "the beach" again. I am going to relax and only get up again when it is time to cook tea.

I am going to start to speak to myself as I would speak to someone else who was ill and blaming themselves: lovingly and kindly. Which just doesn't come naturally to me. I have patience with everyone except myself.

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!