Nothing is Impossible

I apologize for the visual look of this post. I have spent alot of time trying to include spacing with no luck.

"There is a place in you where there is a perfect place.

There is a place in you where nothing is impossible."

A Course in Miracles

I think this quote comes under the heading of learning to have confidence in yourself. I was fairly confident prior to my diagnosis of Fibro and Chronic Fatigue. At that time, my confidence went in the toilet!

I know for sure (I sound like Oprah!!!) that my God and my family love me unconditionally. After that, how I fit in this world is shaken. I know I will be ok...I'm still "in there." I'm sensitive to how I will accomplish every day tasks; how I interact with others; what and when I eat. Should I drive or does my Fibro Fog cause distractions? The list is endless.

I'm working on regaining my self confidence. Learning who I am, because I feel different. This is a very personal journey. I can feel my progress. When my pain level increases, my confidence is shaky. I question my decisions and responses. Sometimes it's two steps forward, one backward. I'm gaining, but only baby steps.

My goal is to continue working on my confidence so it will allow me to try anything again. Well, almost "anything."

I wonder if other Fibro/Chronic Fatigue sufferers write "To Do" lists. They help me see my accomplishment.

Holiday Thoughts and Living with Young Children

I don't know how women with Fibromyalgia function if they have little ones. My FM came to stay after my children were grown and I thank God daily.

May you have blessed days during this holiday season. Take care of you or you won't be able to take care of your little ones. Ask for help even when you think you don't need it. Find a friend or family member who will take your kids periodically so you can rest. An older child can watch the younger one so you can take a nap.

When you cook a meal, double it so you have another meal, that includes salad. If your kids are older, ask them to help with the meal. Making the salad, peeling spuds, and setting the table are a few things they can accomplish. Stop and read to your children, you both get to sit down. While you are sitting, talk about your decorations, Christmas tree, etc. That prolongs your sitting time and you will enjoy what the kids have to say. Older kids can do laundry. The little ones should be taking their own dirty clothes to your designated spot. Heck, you can fold while you are sitting.

If your kids are older, they can wrap the younger ones Christmas gifts and bake the holiday cookies. I know it is something you have always done, but let go of wanting everything to look perfect and LET them! They can all vacum and dust. No it may not be perfect..it's ok. My friend Kristen's son, Alex, loves to vacum. While he is vacuming, she is dusting. He of course being small, wanted to dust too. :D So, Alex dusts the mop boards while she does the furniture.Young children can also make their own beds and put away their clothes. There again, it will not be perfect, but as they grown it does get better. My kids folded the wash clothes and worked up to bath towels. I always redid them..stupid me!! Only redo if they won't fit on the shelf. Here again, they will get better. Depending on their age, little ones can put the silverware away from the dishwasher. My hope is that you can relinquish some of what you do and give them pride in helping.

Stepping Stones

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass--it's about learning to dance in the rain." Pat Stepp

I'm back! It's been since November 10th since my last post, nearly a month. I've missed being here. My computer has been in the shop and I were told it died. So I purchased a new one. Decided to try a Netbook. Interesting...will take awhile to get used to the keyboard. As a friend told me..they are missing keys! Feels like it as the keyboard is small. Because I have typed for 42 years, I know that I will get used to the feel.

During the last month we traveled to Wallowa so Dwain could go on a hunting trip with grandson, Patrick and Patrick's Dad. Patrick got a 5 point buck with a 25" horn spread. As his Dad said, "It was a buck of a lifetime." While they were hunting, I stayed with Heather and grandson, Joshua. We were able to stay through Thanksgiving and enjoy a few of the boys' basketball games. My computer was in the shop while we were gone. I tried to use Dwain's but could not figure out how to get to my Dashboard to post. I said I've been a typist, not a computer engineer.

While packing the truck to return to the coast, I feel backwards, landing soundly on my butt, which propelled my head backwards to the frozen, gravel driveway. It bounced (must be made of rubber) and hit the ground twice. Of course when you fall, your whole body tenses. Because I have FM, the pain of tightening the muscles is more intense and lasts for days. My neck muscles hurt so bad that to turn my head left and right was miserable. My rib cage felt like I had done 100 sit ups. My hips were miserable too. Tensing my arm muscles causes me to loose the strength in my arms. I don't have alot of arm strength to begin with. Had to be careful for fear I would drop things. My head had a hard achy feeling for several days. Not sure I didn't have a concussion. It was definitely bruised to the touch. Noticed that when I lay down or rest my head against my recliner or car seat, it would hurt worse, so often kept my head to the right or left, depending on my need. Trying to go to sleep was ok until I rolled over in my sleep..OUCH! Now been five days since the fall and started noticing feeling better yesterday. So sure it will progressively improve.

So will continue to dance in the rain, while waiting for my storms to pass. Or is that, I will continue to step on stones, one at a time?

Christmas is Coming the Goose is Getting Fat!

Just a quickie tonight. It's late and way past my bedtime.

I read a new blog tonight at http://dogmomdiva.blogspot.com.
Check it out when you have time.

Christmas has been on my mind for a week. I even purchased fun yarn for projects. I hope my hands will allow me to complete what my mind wants to do! While on Barbara's blog, I noticed she had a countdown clock 'til Christmas. I HAD TO HAVE IT!!!!! Take a look...

Off to visit my granddaughter Lyla tomorrow...I'm a happy Grandma!!

In the Meantime

"When you have a good heart,.life does not turn its back on you."
Iyanla Vanzant from her book, In The Meantime.


F - Friendly
I - Interesting
B - Bold
R - Reliable
O - One
M - MOM
Y - Yacker
A - Amicable
L - Listener
G - Grandma
I - Independent
A - Angel (This might be a stretch)


Can you use the word Fibromyalgia and list one-word, POSITIVE description of yourself? I thought this would be an easy exercise, but discovered it was not. 1) We don't always think of positive descriptions for ourselves and 2) I found the vowels more difficult than the consonants.

Give it a try...

How's Your Attitude?

"...we must admit that we spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the things that can't be changed in life than we do giving the attention to the one thing that we can, our choice of attitude." Charles R. Swindoll

I have three kids. The two oldest are twins. Shortly after they were born, I joined a Mothers of Twins support group. Several months down the road, I attended my first convention. I got up at 3 am to be at the convention on time. I was exhausted. While at the luncheon, I looked around the room of approximately 300 MOMs (Mothers of Multiples). The thought entered my head, "I have twins who are small and I got up early. I wish they understood how tired I am." Immediately, a second thought, "they are Mothers of twins too and most of them got up early." We were in the same boat..all exhausted." What a relief to know that everyone of those ladies UNDERSTOOD ME! I sat up to the table with a new attitude. Sometimes all it takes is internal conversation with ones self to figure out life's situations.

I watch my attitude daily. On pity party days, depression hovers. I work hard to lose the depression. While Fibromyalgia pain is my constant companion, I try to watch how words flow from my mouth. Because of the pain, it is easy to have a strong attitude, which others don't appreciate, I'm sure.

Always think about your tone of words. Keep a sunny attitude.

It's Friday!

You would think that being retired, I wouldn't get excited about "Friday." NOT! The weekend still brings that little twinge of excitement.

Lots of rain and high winds yesterday. Today we had thunder, lightening, hail and a few brakes in the rain.

Still battling the flu virus. My voice is almost gone from all the "junk" on my vocal cords. My wind pipe makes strange sounds as I breathe. It even wakes me up at night. My body feels like its been sunburned on the outside and painful inside. Took my additional dose of Neurontin again today. Sure hope my insurance company will refill when I run out. They are particular about refilling prescriptions within a certain time period from the last refill. I did push myself to do a load of laundry because I was out of underwear!

Day 3

Day 3 of a flu virus. Had a low grade fever this morning, but gone by this afternoon. This virus gave me an irritating cough, but hard to hack the junk up, headache and aches. It has increased my Fibromyalgia pain, including skin sensitivity..feels like sunburn. Resembles a nasty flare. My brain finally clicked on, so I increased my Neurotin. Unfortunately Dwain started with the same thing today. This is the first virus I've had in years. I've been lucky.

Flu Bug

Yesterday the cough progressed from a tickle cough to a hard cough from my chest. By dinner time I had a fever and aches. Today as been miserable. We had to cancel our visit to see Adam and family and a lunch/visit with our friends the Olsons.

Coughing

This morning I woke up with a "tickle" in my throat so am involuntarily coughing. I'm not happy as we are to have visits with friends the next few days. Most importantly we are to spend Tuesday with Adam, Carrie and Lyla. We haven't seen them for three weeks and I don't want to give up the time. Hoping it will move on so we won't need to cancel.

Slept well last night but not long enough. Only five hours before the cough woke me up.

Had trouble with last nights post. Can't get the spacing correct. Even though I put the spacing in, it doesn't show up once I save and publish. I spent alot of time working on it then again this morning. Finally gave up and will see how this post does.