My lovely little boy, Jan 2011
This guy keeps me busy. I reread my post below and one of my goals was to blog more. Well I had good intentions. I also have one of those new nifty phones that does everything except make coffee (now that would impress me). Unfortunately I send lots of my photos straight to
Facebook (whom I suspect along with Twitter is stealing lots of people from blogging). Its so quick and easy. In my mind right now, its like comparing a love affair with a marriage. One is fast and instantly gratifying, but the other is definitely more satisfying in the long term. Well, I'm making an assumption because I have not actually had an affair and I don't plan on having one either. And I'm in a good marriage and I do love great blogs. Many of which can be found in the
bloggy links list here.
I managed to do just a few crochet covered stones over summer. I had some lovely white quartz stones from Thames. I used 4 ply cotton purchased from, ahem, Spotlight. I promise I am still making lots of things. (Haha, someone is totally justifying herself). And I will post them once I can track down those renegade photos that hussy Facebook keeps stealing, lol.
I'm also still dealing with a gammy back which grieves me still however the good news is that I have a specialist appointment next week and hopefully a MRI scan so we can look inside and make sure everything is how its meant to be. I think there's talk of me having cortisone or epidural injections for long term pain relief. I was very concerned about taking 3-4 kinds of meds every six hours for the past 20 months. There was one period where I was really well and I'm very thankful for any respite I get. Living with constant pain is no walk in the park. Everything is a challenge.
I'm thankful for the days I have mobility and in the days when its hard, I go into a self-care mode. Doing the basics, asking for help, being prayerful and thankful for what is good in my life, and being proactive in my healing process. It is very humbling. Having to ask my husband to help with my personal needs, relying on others, being in the background even more so these days, not achieving much fast. For an ambitious and active person, it certainly highlights my own limits and how unneccessary some things are that I thought were important. There are low days but I've gotten better at managing myself so those tend to be do-able. I've become good at communicating when I need help or support and I am very fortunate to have a loving husband and community around me.
Perspective helps. We have a friend who will never walk.. There are lots of things he's prevented from doing. Even basic care for his own personal needs. Although that doesn't make the very real pain I live with go away, he gives me a context, perspective. Likewise my friend Livy, who's six year old son is battling leukemia, they give me perspective. And my friend Wendy who is facing a very difficult decision about having her second breast removed and inability to undergo chemo treatments. Her situation definitely gives me perspective.
I had a lot on my plate recently and was feeling angry and resentful. My friend Betty-Ann gently reminded me that often its a matter of reframing things so that they work for us instead of against us. I found it helpful and reframed my issues from being problems that overwhelmed me to challenges I am going to overcome and that will take me forward.
Ok, so I will post a more crafty post later on because I love the art works and crafting I get to do. I also love looking at other peoples wonderful lives and their creativity so want to share the bloggy love and intro you to some of my new blog destinations.
xOx
