Checking in

It's been kinda quiet the last few days; Is every one doing well or just busy with changing seasons?Raking leaves, getting house winterized and cleaning out the garden and flower beds are quite difficult but necessary tasks for people with limitations in their physical ability. Be sure to pace and I'd like to hear how you go about these chores and yet try to be respectful of your limits at the same time.

Please take extra care with flu season coming on us and threats of enclosed rooms and sneezes etc. I use white vinegar in a spray bottle mixed with water to wipe surfaces to keep germs down and use vinegar water sitting open in room to cleanse stale air in rooms throughout winter. With my CMT, I also suffer auto-immune and have to be careful of germs spreading in my environments. Take echinacea as immune enhancing supplement, and use fresh garlic and onion in cooking to help as antibiotics.

Have a great weekend! There are lots of Ocktober Fests in our area and we are taking a road trip soon to pick up my mother in law to visit for a few days here. I'll check in later.

Well l don't do chores, outside ones anyways. Too allergic: grass, trees, weeds, etc. And all the bugs and the odors get to me. l stay indoors as much as possible.

l don't clean my own house very much either, pay a housekeeper, bribe the daughter or something for vacuuming and such. lt's real hard to pace yourself and vacuum, l would never get done. We need to air out the house a bit and turn on the heat to clean out the odor it causes from all the must in the heating chamber. But again, l avoid that due to having the windows and doors open.

We use onions to capture germs. l don't like the smell the first day or so but it seems to work well for us. l take lots of supplements and weekly allergy shots so l stay fairly healthy with my immune system.

~Tami

Hi CM....I haven't been sleeping well so I haven't gotten much done around my apartment. I had my son take some bins out of a closet for me thinking that if they are in the living room "in the way" I will go thru them quicker. HAHAHA!!! I am doing a little at a time. I get frustrated as it seem the littlest chore is tiring or frustrating.

I too have to be careful during the flu season. I try not to go out much. I can't get a flu shot because of allergies.. I am extra careful with door handles and such too. I usually set out the vinegar in the summer for fruit flies, but will have to try it in the winter too. Living in Northern Minnesota I don't open the windows much in the winter except maybe a few minutes for fresh air if I know I am going to be home a lot. And I love cooking with onion and garlic too~

Have a great weekend !

Glad to hear you at least have the desire to tackle the tasks and try to whatever level you can do, b/c my experience is, even though frustrating, that I cannot do it to the same standard or liking I'd like, if I do "nothing" I get more depressed; Accomplishment is one of the things we all need for our sense of well being.

I am doing more singing out in public again, b/c I feel at least I can do something to feel like I inspire or bring joy to others. I take care of my granddaughter, daily, and I'm helping her to learn counting, alphabet, speaking and understanding; we read and visit the library and the park; so, feel like I have value to not only the baby (now a little over 2) but also to our daughter who wouldn't feel good to go to work out of the home with someone else caring for her child. Win Win! I'm enriched greatly, though a two year old can be tiring! LOL

I cook and share with friends and family often b/c so many now depend on fast food or boxed and frozen foods b/c of fast paces kept with work schedules. They appreciate home cooked items and sharing meals when I put a get-together or bon fire gathering together for their benefit. We have more time than money so those are the things I do to give and in the process it gives me a sense of joy and happiness too. It is tiring sometimes but when I see how much everyone enjoys it, it's well worth the energy spent.

As Tami mentioned a fresh onion cut in half and placed in a saucer or small bowl, in various rooms will freshen and sanitize from airborne cold and flu germs that may be enclosed in winter weather. I too have allergies, and take a daily dosage of Zyrtec (cetirizine) and still sometimes must be cautious how much I'm out doors, digging in dirt (mold allergy) or wind b/c autoimmune can send me on overload mode.

One thing I have learned is not compare myself in relation to "how much I do or what I do" as what we do and who we are , are not the equivalent of our worth! I read this philosophy and principle in Tuesdays with Morrie about a man with ALS and the progressive stages and state of mind with loss of function. If you can, read it or watch the movie or get the audio book. It will quite possibly give you a new prospective on chronic illness and disability.

Final note, sending greetings cards , letter, notes, or phone calls is another thing I do to feel a certain value to others and lifts my spirits to reach out to others. I cannot write for very long periods of time b/c of difficulty holding and controlling a pen, holding a phone or even punching numbers to dial the phone is challenging but if i can occasionally do that, and I hear the joy in the other person's voice, it can truly brighten your day and theirs! Winter can become depressing but these are a few things to consider.


braylin's gramma said:

Hi CM....I haven't been sleeping well so I haven't gotten much done around my apartment. I had my son take some bins out of a closet for me thinking that if they are in the living room "in the way" I will go thru them quicker. HAHAHA!!! I am doing a little at a time. I get frustrated as it seem the littlest chore is tiring or frustrating.

I too have to be careful during the flu season. I try not to go out much. I can't get a flu shot because of allergies.. I am extra careful with door handles and such too. I usually set out the vinegar in the summer for fruit flies, but will have to try it in the winter too. Living in Northern Minnesota I don't open the windows much in the winter except maybe a few minutes for fresh air if I know I am going to be home a lot. And I love cooking with onion and garlic too~

Have a great weekend !

Well, mom and I got a flu shot on Friday, got the flu on Saturday, but hopefully it will keep us from really getting nailed with it this winter! BUT it was NOT part of the plan! ha! It's like a Carol Burnett skit around here most of the time, lacking the energy, of course!

I'm seeing the pics of the grandkids in their Halloween costumes on FB, so they're getting ready to trick or treat! We're in the country so we don't get any kids show up here! I used to have some pretty good Halloween parties for the kids, and I would always dress up too, usually as a witch! LOL! Speaking of witches, I must have watched the Wizzard of Oz a million times with the granddaughters when they were little! They'd beg to watch 'The Old Witch', over and over again!

My husband picked me a bouquet of zinnias today, probably the very last of them! He'll need to pull all of the flowers and veggies out, I told him to go ahead and pull out the rest of the bushes that were ravaged by the winter, while he's at it, and we'll start over next year!

Yes, vinegar, onions, and it probably wasn't a bad idea to have strings of garlic hanging around, surely it keeps away all sorts of ills!

Hope everyone is staying well, and just taking it easy for the moment!

Oh, I almost forgot, the last of the walnuts are falling, and as they hit the tin roof of the shed, it sounds as though we are under attack! Always good to bolt upright in fright just after finally getting to sleep!

We've had lots of thunderstorms, and flooding last few days. We had two sets of company and MIL coming in tonight. I had granddaughter today all alone and had to take care of the farm chores with her running around and no one to keep tabs while I was busy milking two goats. Not fun, but we got through it. Hubby left this morning to go pick MIL up and bring her for a 3 or 4 day visit then will return on weekend. Had hopes to get a little visit in with my family since they live 100 miles from dropping off MIL in East Texas. But, they live in the Dallas,TX area and with Ebola in the Dallas area wouldn't be too good to take the risk of possible exposure with my auto immune. So, down and back in a day makes for 12 hrs driving and long fatiguing trip; So, I may stay home alone again and take care of the animals so we don't have to beg the kids to do it for us.

Enjoyed visits with my company and tired now frrm the cooking and cleaning up but was worth the time!