While surfing through an over-abundance of e-mail, Facebook posts and Twitters today, I encountered an absolute gem! For anyone who is dealing with a chronic illness and constant pain &/or fatigue, you know how difficult it is to explain to friends & employers (sometimes even family members) what you are experiencing, especially if you don’t “look sick”.
The-Spoon-Theory,written by Christine Miserandino is a *Must Read*, an absolutely brilliant analogy of what daily life is like – not only for those individuals coping with Lupus (as the author of the theory is), but also Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Lyme Disease and a host of other illnesses!
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Brilliant Analogy!
Sunday, August 8th, 2010Ford applause for my Chevy Camaro :)
Saturday, August 7th, 2010Preface: I haven’t added an entry to BlackburnDigest since May 2nd! I’ve had good intentions (but we all know which road they pave!) I’ve even tried to keep a notebook of “bloggables”, so that I could bridge the gap ‘someday’…… maybe, by the time anyone happens to read this, the May-to-August gap won’t be there; I’ll have taken my notes in hand and filled in a few blanks. Today’s laugh just refuses to sit quietly and wait its turn, however!
Thomas’ (T IV’s) Mustang has been patiently waiting for his financial picture to improve enough for him to take “Betty” to the Ford dealership for her overdue routine maintenance (oil & filter changes, tire rotation & balance, brake relining – all that fun-type stuff). Of course, all that TLC usually requires a few hours; time which is either whiled away in an exceedingly uncomfortable chair in an bleak waiting room, reading a thick book or your iPhone messages , or time spent relaxing or doing other chores at home because someone follows you to the dealership and ferries you home:)
That “someone” is often me, and for the past 13 years I have enjoyed parading my shiny red Chevy Camaro past the New Car Sales area enroute to the Service bay of our local Ford dealership. There is a shorter route to the service area, as Thomas remarked today, but there is always a gaggle or two of watchful, hopeful car salesmen (doing a fair imitation of vultures on alert) along the route I choose to take. They have always paid a bit of attention as “The Scarlet Lady” has rumbled past them (Glass Packs, Baby!), and I admit I have always enjoyed it:) Hey, you’ve got to find humor somewhere! I get a kick out of the ‘middle-aged female/red sports car/handicapped plates image’ – LOL!!
Today was a first, though, and I hope their boss wasn’t watching! The Lady received the usual appreciative glances (“She’s not a Ford, but she sure is pretty” has always been my translation.) as I rolled by on my way to meet up with Thomas and bring him home. Scant minutes later, we passed by them again to exit the dealership. . . . .several of them clapped their hands and one salesman stepped out just behind The Lady and pointed to her license plate! I’m still grinning!
Just a grin
Saturday, August 7th, 2010I found this on one of my interest groups recently:
“Some people are just like slinkies – not very useful, but they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.”
Dentist visit & waiting games
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010The dentist’s appointment was mine – 10:30am to make sure all was well with the implants and take “brag photos” of how well-aligned everything is now 
Both Toms handled today’s stress levels much better than I did! Tom III dealt with new data and reports (for the company which will lay him off at the end of this month!) and surfed the Net before donning company-casual attire and leaving for his second face-to-face interview with sample charts/graphs/reports in hand. Thomas kept himself well occupied with projects in his studio all day, waiting for the “You’re hired” phone call which didn’t come. I prayed, wished, hoped and couldn’t concentrate on anything at all constructive , all day long!
The tension eased a bit once T III returned. He is IN, and is now waiting for the official offer and contract (plus security review) from Human Resources. He also brought home news that Thomas is listed for hire, as soon as HR can wade through some of their back-log. We’ll all feel better when he’s “official” too!
On the Road Again (Houston)
Friday, May 28th, 2010“Interesting” (read stressful) day! Tom III and I made the now-somewhat-familiar trek to Houston to see his two eye specialists. The pressure in his left (injured) eye is quite low, so the Pred Forte drops are now every two hours (when awake). We both caught a swiftly passing reference to a multisyllabic
“syndrome”, so both iPhones were doing research while waiting for the Retinologist to return to the room; I couldn’t even begin to spell it now, but the short version is that the left eye is showing signs of shrinking. Not good, but not a huge surprise either. Maybe the shrinkage will stop. . .maybe he will lose that eye. . .either way, we will know we have done everything possible.
The big shock (well, to me, anyway) came when Tom reported he had noticed reduced visual acuity in his right eye over the past seven days. . . . .I hadn’t heard a thing about that!! I had to do quite a bit of verbal pushing and shoving during the drive back to San Antonio (“It’s Friday, for G-d’s sake! Call right now and make an appointment with your specialist in San Antonio right now!) He will have the right eye checked here in SA next Friday.
It was one of the worst San Antonio/Houston drives we’ve experienced (which is why I am still balancing his pride against his/our safety.) Even more stop-&-go traffic than usual (I’ve memorized the predictable ‘freeze-up zones’), several no warning/hard stops, a car parked on the right shoulder suddenly jumping into my lane without the slightest attempt to match my speed and an apparently fatigued driver of an 18 wheeler! (By the time he realized the right lane was backed-up onto the highway with people attempting to exit, his “collision avoidance” maneuver involved locking his brakes and swerving so that he occupied both lanes – his, and the left lane I was traveling 72 mph in!)
While all of this was going on, I knew Thomas (IV) had to leave his current employer’s parking lot in time to report (clear across San Antonio) for an interview & test for a *much*better*job! Meanwhile, Tom (III) confirmed a second interview with the same contractor via cell phone during our trip home.
Stress? What stress?
Any accomplishment is progress :)
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010I’ve had an extended & frustrating period of requiring excessively long ‘rest periods’ for every chore accomplished; washing and hanging up the laundry would take all available energy, watering all of the outdoor plants left me exhausted, necessary attempts at taming household clutter meant someone else was cooking dinner. Not surprising, I suppose, as rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia both pack a big fatigue punch, and the air pressure(a big trigger for me) has been dancing a ballet for weeks!
Finally, though,I’ve had a weekend during which I really accomplished something . . . more precisely, more then one “something”! Trimmed my e-mail down from 100+ to 4 by actually reading, responding and/or copying and filing recipes, patterns for miniatures, etc. Accomplished the two-week food shopping with Tom’s help. Gave all the plants a cleanup and hearty drink (still need to feed them!), and even managed to spend a productive period up in my “Tower” workroom! I didn’t create any masterpieces, but it was extremely satisfying to convert three long-stored kits into finished miniatures and solve a visibility problem within my newly remodeled Cabbages & Kings antique shop! I hope this trend lasts a while – I’ve sooo many projects I want to complete!
5:30AM won't be pretty!
Thursday, April 8th, 2010It is no one’s fault but my own. . . . .when the alarm rings at 5:30 AM, it is really going to hurt!
I spent ten hours at the TCEA convention today; most of them on my feet searching for misplaced awards envelopes, tracking down missing speakers (“His session starts in 25 minutes!!”), magically producing tape, scissors and whatever else was needed, decorating for the evening banquet – - – -the typical activities of a seasoned & unpaid volunteer. I am footsore and weary, but expected that and enjoyed seeing old team-mates. Meant to depart directly after the banquet, but members of the Board urged me to stay for the awards ceremony – “We need the seats to be filled” Well, yeah – been here, done this, valid point – but I should have smelled a conspiracy! Ready to clap enthusiastically for the next award winner, I hear my name announced. Huh?! I now have a “suitable for framing” certificate of The Volunteer Who Never Says NO award! LOL – my fellow Community Educators are a sneaky lot!
Arrived home at 8:30 PM and delivered Tom III to the Sleep Center at 9:30PM for a follow-up test on his CPAP device. I am now seriously tired, but reviewed my e-mail and replied to about 25 messages that shouldn’t wait and prioritized an additional 200 messages for attention tomorrow. OK – Really should sleep now, but should read the news-of-the-day to find out what was happening outside my isolated melieu today. You can see where this is going: it is 12:59 PM, I am still awake, and the alarm will ring at 5:30AM so that I can pick Tom up at the Sleep Center at 6:30AM! 5:30AM is going to hurt!
G’nite, all!
Dotsero*
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010*Strange title, right? Well, maybe not quite so strange. . . .Dotsero is, in reality, a small community near the head of Glenwood Canyon in Eagle County, Colorado. Although there is some …. um, conflict….over the origin of the town’s name, recorded history shows that Ferdinand Hayden did, indeed, use this location as “Dot Zero” on his survey maps of Central and Southwest Colorado in the 1870′s. I will leave that argument to more scholarly minds, but adopt it as a fitting “re-start” for my blog. I’ve left the digest blank for mumbletoolongmumble months, and intend to correct that starting now – today is Dot Zero, and (as time allows) I hope to back-fill with a few dates and data which became somewhat lost in the general bustle of life.
Today definitely did not start out in my “Fun” column; I do not enjoy hearing an alarm clock sound off at 5 AM , knowing it is hollering at me. . . . . .even my cats do not bother to interrupt their slumber to keep company with me at that early hour! Actually, that feline disdain worked to my advantage. . . they weren’t underfoot as I stumbled through the transition from stiff, sore and groggy semi-human to acceptably groomed and lucid registrar of the 2010 Texas Community Education Association convention.
Yes, I retired several years ago, but that doesn’t protect me from being volunteered or drafted for such duties. Quite the opposite; since no one has to worry about salary or comp time, I’m a (hehe) valuable asset:) Early alarm clock aside, I truly enjoy being back in my old milieu and greeting newbies, vendors and the dedicated people I was privileged to work with for 17 years! Tomorrow will be more fun, more work and the South Central Texas version of a Hawaiian luau – a scary concept!
Green sock and interior decorating
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010My admittance to the GSOLFOT (Green Sock on Left Foot on Tuesday) group has stirred up my creative side again:) Other than organizing some of the perpetual chaos in my workshop area, I haven’t really spent much time in my “Tower” recently; but my new title and a (virtual) office of my very own (#17) has me back at the workbench!
There is only one miniatures shop in San Antonio, and I will not shop there, ever! Since I was fired-up to start creating my new office now/immediately/this very minute, I turned to an alternate possibility for the wallpaper I needed; my local scrapbooking shop! A long-retired room box from my storage closet was pressed into service – by dinner time, the old & discolored wallpaper was stripped, fresh new paper installed and a new carpet measured and installed. A dining table with two wobbly legs and a very dull finish was re-glued and wearing a warm new wood stain, ready to become my workbench. A seriously red-hued mahogany wall cabinet was wearing a fresh coat of pale spring green paint, and I had a large basket full of possible furniture, nick-knacks, throw rugs, fur-kids and craft supplies (all in one-twelfth scale) was waiting for glues and paints to dry. Oh, yes – dragons aplenty were waiting for a shelf, table or a corner to claim also!
Tomorrow, after everything is dry, I will begin creating a properly messy and disorderly office/studio. Let the fun begin!
I have a title!
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010Still feeling a bit shaky, but I did manage a few constructive actions today; laundry, more entries in my “flower recipe’ book (miniature flowers), a two week menu & shopping list to occupy us for awhile come tomorrow and a shiny new “official” title, awarded by The Great Oz of GSOLFOT!
As a newly-minted member of the “ancient & honorable” order of GSOLFOT, I’ve been mulling over what title and duties I wanted (should I be so fortunate as to be granted either a title or an office in the virtual -castle). Today, my title request was granted, with an acceptable alteration. I’d held a feeble hope that I could be a Princess (every ‘little’ girl’s dream – LOL!), but there’s no room for more royalty. Fair enough – I am now, officially, Contessa of Useful Bits, Bobs & Specks and Protector of Roof Runners! No, I am not kidding. Yes, I am off my rocker. Having a glorious time, thank you!