Busy, Busy, Busy...

...and that's a good thing 'cause it means I'm over the ME/CFS crashof last week after my visit to Alabama:) So, on Wednesday, I left the house for the first time in a week for just a little trip to the apt. office. Then I got busy cleaning (since I hadn't felt up to that for a week), and I cooked some meals and froze them. I made chicken fingers, and froze some for Mike because he couldn't be home when the kids visited and there were none left to save for him after we all ate and ate and ate. Then, I decided to go ahead and make a big pot of vegetable soup, which is a staple around here. I'm going to have some for lunch and I have a bunch in the freezer for the days I don't want to cook.

Being so sick that I could usually not do the simplest things or stand for more than a few minutes, with days when I couldn't get out of bed, and then "coming back to life" has been an incredible experience. It often feels surreal. I'm still not well, and barring a miracle, I'll always have some ME/CFS symptoms and will have to be very cautious with my fragile health. But, the difference is like night and day. I sometimes think that my experience is similar to that of one coming out of a coma after many years. I had to get used to prices at the grocery store and discovered some new products because I was too ill to even go in a grocery store for almost 4 years. Because one of the symptoms of ME/CFS is "brain fog", what I did experience during those years is often blurry.

My favorite new ability is being able to walk outside and enjoy the air wafting against my face and the sun beating down on my head. I've always loved the sun, but because of the ME/CFS symptom of light sensitivity, I often had to be in darkness because light made me sicker. I feel like a butterfly released from the confines of the cocoon!

Another new "superpower" is, drum roll please, TALKING! I love to talk, and through the years of my brutal relapse with this dastardly disease, I sometimes almost lost my voice and more times than not, talking made me sicker. There are some sufferers with this disease who completely lose their voice.

Yesterday, I washed some clothes at the laundry room of the apts. and hung out at the pool while my clothes were doing their "thing". I swam a little, but I'm going to work back up slowly to the number of laps I swam before due to my little set-back last week. Last night, my granddog, Creamy, arrived for a weekend with GranJanne while her parents are celebrating their anniversary. So, I've been busy, and I'm thankful for my new perspective of what a blessing it is to be able to be busy:)

Happy Anniversary to Jason & Catrina!

Jason & Catrina's Wedding: June 29, 2007

Four years ago, my son married a beautiful and wonderful woman and we gained a gracious, kind, intelligent, loving, witty, charming, funny, giving, and eloquent daughter! Mike and I love Jason and Catrina sooo much, and we wish them a wonderful anniversary!!

Roots

I went back to my roots (translation: trip to visit my family in Birmingham, Alabama). It was a whirlwind trip, but loads of fun! This pic is of me & my nephew, Kyle, at his brother's wedding which was gorgeous & so sweet!

Crash

I've had a bit of an ME/CFS crash this past week, so I thought I'd share some info. on what that means since I don't feel much like thinking anyway. I'm better today than yesterday, so I'm hoping I'll be back to usual tomorrow ...or at least by Tuesday:)

Zooziasm

(photo is first pic I took of Zoozi the day I brought him home)

My cat's name is Zooziasm, but he prefers to be called Zoozi. The origin of the name Zooziasm is a story for another day. Zoozi was born on Valentine's Day of 2003, and came to be a part of our family in April 2003. He has quite the attitude at times, but I love him anyway. Perhaps, I even love him because of his attitude! There are many colorful tales from the life of Zoozi, and maybe I'll share some of them in this blog eventually. For today, I'll just mention one of his biggest acheivements: He once killed a big opossom which Mike stumbled upon early one morning in our storage room. Now, he's an inside cat who was getting very fat until we put him on a diet recently. He's such good company for me! I've been hinting to my husband that I want a puppy also, but I don't think I'm making much progress with that. We'll see.

"I'm Tired"

"I'm tired." These words have a very different meaning for those who suffer with ME/CFS as I do; it has been said that the "fatigue" in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is to normal fatigue what an atom bomb is to a match. I'm so thankful that I am no longer bedbound and homebound as I was for four years (from Nov. 2006 until July 2010). I just returned from a fun-filled visit with my family in Alabama, and I was even able to attempt slip 'n slide with my sweet nephew, Kyle. It is a testimony to the huge improvement in my health that I have not had post-exertional fatigue (another dubiously named part of ME/CFS. Post exertional fatigue actually means that exertion (depending on the severity of ones illness, this could mean even standing up for too long or rolling over in bed) makes one extremely ill for days or weeks following the over-exertion. So, "I'm tired" and it's more than a normal person's tired, but not so bad because I didn't have a "crash" as we with this disease refer to when we have to go to bed for days to recover and sometimes, not even talk or think too much to get our strength back. I'm going to rest a few days, and then I'll probably be back to swimming laps in the pool. Every day is a miracle now that God has graciously improved my health after so many years of suffering; when I swim, I feel an overwhelming feeling of euphoria almost because it is truly a miracle that I'm able to not only walk outside again, but even SWIM! One of the things God used was our move to Houston and leading me to a wonderful doctor who has helped me so much; so, that's a story for another day because, today, I'm tired and I'm going to rest:)

Family Rocks!

Besides my faith in Christ, my family is the most important thing in my life. I love them dearly, and they are very important to me. My husband, Mike, and I have been married almost 38 years; he's my best friend and the love of my life. Our oldest son is Jeremy, and he lives in Denver, Colorado. My son, Jason, is married to beautiful Catrina. They live in Houston, Texas, so we moved here to be near them. My daughter, Molly, is married to Scott who is a wonderful son-in-law, and they live in Scotland. We're all far apart in miles, but close in heart. We get together as often as possible, and communicate via phone and internet in between. This picture was taken Christmas 2009.