Sunday morning

[houghchrst]

and the sun is shining, thank God, so my mood has been getting a little better despite the cold, and the severe pain I was having during all those nasty rainy days has abated a bit. At least the pain from the fibro. My knee still hurts most of the time. The snow and ice are melting and I believe we are in for a bit of a "warm" spell if you can call low (very) forties warm :rolleyes:. My head has finally stopped hurting now after almost a week of no Clinoril. I really never want to have to go through that again. I never thought a migraine would cause me to have to take a trip to the ER. When you say it to someone who has no concept of what exactly a migraine is they think you are just being a baby and though I never thought that and was always sympathetic I just never really understood what it was like :eek:. Then to make matters worse I was there for almost 10 hours. Guess that's what happens when you go to the local hospital on a Friday.

Tomorrow is back to the grindstone. For me I guess that just means having to get up early and get the little guy off to school. Make necessary business calls and attempt to do a bit of housework. I have been looking around online for things that will help make housework a bit easier. Less bending, wringing with hands, no scrubbing on knees, can't even get down on knees anymore thanks to having to have surgery. I can get down on the floor but it is not comfortable and not fun trying to get up :eek:, though it is a bit comical to watch I imagine :rolleyes::D.

Thanksgiving went well all around. I did do pretty much all the setup and cleanup but there were only a few of us and things went smoothly. Adrenaline kept me going and I did hurt pretty bad later but a sense of satisfaction made it worth it. Even though it was not home made it was still good. My mother had a nice time even though she could not move much. She did walk a bit and sit a bit but spent most of the time on her back. She quite frankly is fed up with having to lay there and becomes quite depressed right about the same time in the evening that she would have normally started drinking. She has remained sober now for over two months so hopefully it will stay that way. She says she has done a lot of thinking so I really pray it is so.

Christmas is coming and this time of year always brings a lot of feelings to the forefront for me. Fear, dread, excitement, anxiety (gee is that the same as dread? ;)), happiness. Mostly a lot of worry about money. We always manage and some xmases have been better than others so this year though we may not be able to get for everyone my boys are what concern me the most. So I shop for them first. I have discovered that I am quite good at finding online deals, Ebay and Amazon, and Google search have been wonderful for me. So far I have only had to go out twice for gifts. Everything else has been cheap and came in the mail :D.

Okay I am sure I have "talked your ears off" so I will go for now. I hope you all had a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving.

[Tootsie]

Christina, I have a couple of suggestions about the Christmas shopping, and preparations issue. I put some of them on the Fibromyalgia Forum. However, when money is an issue, there are some other things that work well.

I save the Christmas cards I receive every year. Usually you can cut off the backs and convert the pictures to postcards, write a greeting on the blank left side and the address on the right. Postage is cheaper too. I also use them to respond to Christmas notes and letters I receive, and mail them to different people than the ones who sent it. Sometimes you can also use parts of the card as tags on gifts to avoid buying them.

I shop all year long when there is one of those sales where they are, either almost giving things away, or they are selling clothing, cheaper than I can buy fabric to make it. After Christmas sales can be wonderful but you really have to watch it closely to make sure it truly is a sale. Small stores can be source of great bargains after Christmas.

www.vermontcountrystore.com has some good cleaning tools. I have a scrub brush attached to a wood handle similar to a back brush you use in the shower. It is great for scrubbing out a bath tub without bending much or kneeling. I think it is made in Germany.

Using both a sponge AND and dishrag, can save you wringing out the rag. I drape it over the faucet to drip dry. My husband does the vacuuming as the new machine HE bought, has all the weight in the handle and it wrecks havoc with my back!

I've also found that I can avoid lifting almost anything by dragging, pushing, levering, or letting it sit where it is, until someone else moves it. This works for carrying in groceries also. I can ask the bagger to put things separate that must go in the house immediately.

I am glad to hear that your Mom has been able to avoid drinking for 2 months. If appropriate, give her my congratulations and to keep up the good work. The holidays can be tempting. Cheerio.

[joy]

Hi there. I had my reply almost all ready when grandchild came in. After her typing, etc. I just delete it and visited. We have not seen her much this week because of hubby's broken ankle. I am always glad to read almost anything someone else writes. It takes my mind off my troubles a bit and besides, it does not make me feel like a shut-in entirely. We get the surgery over with bright and early in the morning. Just a week and 2 days after the break.

Hope no more ER visits for any of us. Holidays are not the best times to have troubles anywhere, even in hoospital. Surgeons want off, can you imagine! I hope no more headaches for you either but know that not likley. I will say, maybe they will stop. Mine did eventually or maybe I am just on right mediucation or past part of the stressors, like periods, etc. That never helped me.


I have many hand gadgets. That spinning brush thing had been my favorite for years. But even with that, some things are a real job. I am so thankful hubby did the shower stall before his break. I have a hard time with smells from chemicals as well. And our shower stall was pretty awful. Hopefully it will stay clean enough until his break mends. I can hope anyway.

We did shopping by internet the year my foot was in boot so looks like we will tackle the gifts the same way this year. I am so glad it is available, it is a relief to know you can still buy gifts that way.

[houghchrst]

I've also found that I can avoid lifting almost anything by dragging, pushing, levering, or letting it sit where it is, until someone else moves it.LOL, I like this. At my house letting things sit where they are is a specialty. Also attempting to move something heavy, after asking fiance to move for me 3 days ago, in sight line of fiance gets it moved immediately. I have learned that if I ask for something to be done it is often forgotten and if I start and ask for advice it is quickly taken over lol.

I have asked for one of those Black and Decker Scumbuster Extreme for Christmas and a Hoover cordless Electric Power Mop. Vacuums and mops. Needed desperately. I have been vacuuming the linoleum when I vacuum the carpet but they need to be mopped, I can't even remember right off when the last time they were. Also requested a long handle dustpan. I will check out the site mentioned and go to the fibro board and check other ideas. The card idea is a great one. I think I still have a bag of old cards in the attic.

Joy I hope that the surgery goes well and that your hubby recovers quickly. I too am glad that the internet is here. It has extended my network of friends and has been a wonderful source of info and entertainment. I know that my migraines are not gone I just really hope to never have another that bad. I have been getting them more often. They originally only came on during menses but have become more frequent. I am glad that you got to spend some time with your GD (gee is that right). I need to take my son to see his grandmother to hopefully cheer her up.

[joy]

Surgery went well and we are back home. Now the healing can start. Yes, I'm sure that grandmother would love a vist. Especially if she feels by her GKs like I do mine. They sure help keep me going. Makes a lot of things worthwhile.

Did you ever notice how men can't figure out how to move furniture? I still could move a dining room china hutch with all the dishes easier than both my hubby and son could. I just used to walk it. And or put it on a rug. Just the other night I needed another chair moved into the bedroom so people could sit and visit hubby since his ankle is broken.

Son just could not figure out how to get the wide chair through the door, lol. Some things never change.

[houghchrst]

Did you ever notice how men can't figure out how to move furniture?That is funny. I have learned not to watch the bf while he is doing a task because he usually does it the hard way or breaks something while he is fixing something. Don't get me wrong, LOL, he is wonderfully handy but I get stressed out watching and if I am too concerned about how something will be done then I have learned to do it while he is gone and then just put up with the fallout. Nothing too strenuous, I leave that to him, but if I think I can do it then I try. He has done many tasks for my mother and even she cannot watch LOL. He has hurt himself so many times that when he did roofing I was terrified that something terrible would happen. Thank God he is not a policeman, he may shoot his own foot LOL. That is okay, I am grateful for him and love him dearly.