July 19, 2016

Greetings My Friend, The heat and humidity is taking its toll on my lungs. Add to this I am also struggling more with my gait and walking in a straight line on my own is difficult. When I do take off without the walker I tire easier and my lungs rebel. This round of lack I understand that I need to take even more breaks and sit longer than my mind wants to sit. My mind is still active even if my body is not. I count today a good day because I had the sheets back on the bed by 12:30. These days I am accomplishing the goal of having the sheets washed and back on the bed around lunch time and I am proud of myself. I have made my medications up for the next week which means the days I struggle with brain fog I won't make a mistake. When I worked I found when learning a new job that I did not take notes right off. I took notes more when I attempted something more than once and was stuck that was the time I wrote down the step by step instructions. By using this principal I realized that I messed up taking my medications a few times so I came up with another game plan, making my medications up and dividing them into AM and PM. Now all I need to do is wake up and take my medications without having to think especially on brain fog days. My rest periods are lasting longer while I cope with a sluggish body and mind. I know in a few days I will be able to move about more so again. In the meantime I sleep, work in my recliner and move as I am able to move about. A few days ago I was moving around like crazy and now I have slowed way down. It seems like energy tends to be boom or bust these days. When I have a few good days I try to do all that I can do while the days my disability catches up with me I am learning to go with the flow. I no longer worry that I will stay in this mode from now on. We went to Modern Hardware the other day and I pushed myself around in the wheelchair. I am doing better in this chair than I was doing in Junior's wheelchair. My shoulders are still tiring rather easy but I was able to get around while he checked out and paid on our new wood burning stove. I have been exercising my shoulders for months and they still get tired which makes me think this is another area my disability is displaying itself. My thought is to do what I can and see if I can build up my muscles as best as possible. I push myself as much as I am able to. These days I know to stop and start giving myself long breaks in between. It helps me stay active, maybe not as strong and active as I once was but active enough. I believe that God has placed the simple life upon me so that I am able to live within my limitations and be satisfied. At the end of the day I am amazed at how much work I have been able to accomplish. My mind is being challenged learning new things and learning to do old things in a new way. I find great enjoyment as I complete another day of dehydrating food and I see the bottles, bags and plastic containers filling up. Junior found a squash that is ready to be cleaned and dehydrated from our garden. This week I have froze 3 quarts of blackberries. They take a long time to dehydrate and I am debating whether to keep them frozen or to dehydrate them. I will take this to prayer and ask God. We have had our first batch of blueberries from the bushes we bought this year and that was exciting. We have lots of rasphberries growing on our property so that harvest should be starting soon. Doing these things takes my mind off of my disability and I see I am able to do much more than I realized. God is good to us and to me by showing me I am able to keep going. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet