November 24, 2016

Greetings My Friend, We paid off the wood,coal burning stove yesterday and it will be installed early next week. We should be able to heat the house more evenly this winter than we have for the last several winters. The old stove was just that an old one we picked up cheap, to see if this was a good way to save money on our energy costs. We have found that around here we can buy loads of wood rather cheaply although with 9 acres we will be able to get our own wood with the woods we have on our property. I am thinking we also will use less propane as well this year. The nice part is the propane tends to be a back up system for times we are away and such. The other nice thing about the stove is it has a window in it for us to see the fire. I admit that I have just about gave up on dusting, for some reason I do not enjoy it like I once did. Anyway, I have been waking up rather stuffed up lately when it came to me that the dust is playing havoc with me. As much as I did not want to dust, I decided if I wanted to breathe then dust I must so I decided to try another route to dusting. I used Castile soap and water and the more I wiped down the more I found myself liking this idea better than using a spray to pick up the dust. Castile soap has either coconut oil or olive oil in it which also helped not dry out my hands along with the oil nourished the wood. I got half the bedroom done so I need to finish the other half today but I did wake up so much less stuffed up and clearing my throat and all of that yuckiness. I have a tendency to like nick knacks a little too much and I have decided I may work at dusting better if I got rid of a lot of the things setting out. At one time in my life I loved taking all the pieces, wiping them, the tops of the furniture then putting everything back. Today this whole process seems so tedious to me which is why I am contemplating putting all the nick knacks away then when it comes time to dust all I have to do is remove the doilies and dust. I am grateful Terri introduced me to her sister Sharon who has Parkinson's Disease as well. Having someone to ask questions helps a lot. After I attempted to walk a trail with my wheelchair as a walker the other day the calves of my legs were not happy. I had a nagging discomfort in the calves of my legs so I sent Sharon a text/email asking her how to quiet this discomfort. Sharon responded for me to lay on the floor and rest my legs on the wall up in the air. This trick settled down the discomfort I was having. I learned from both Sharon and Terrie to ride my incumbent bike/ellictipal whenever I start getting tired and to make it a habit to do it most days. This too is helping my stamina a lot and a quick ride often revives me when I am starting to wane on energy. My Chiari friends have taught me much about having a support network of friends who understand your struggles and they share between them different things they find that help them. I have also learned a lot about having invisible illness' in regards to the effect that people often do not look sick. We all have the idea of a handicapped person displaying physical signs of inability to do things. The fact of the matter is many with disabilities have no outward appearance of struggle. The Chiarians have headaches that resemble migraine headaches only they are worse. Mostly the headaches are due to CSF in balance. Not only do I have PD, I also have a few other things wrong such as asthma, oestoporosis, PTSD due to abuse and anxiety more than likely associated from a lifetime of abuse. Today I have walked away from it but the effects still are there. I believe that is why Junior and I have so many pets. In my heart I believe that God has guided Junior and I to seek alternative energy for our home, has guided us with our marriage, my illness' and our PTSD. I find myself grateful that I do not have to face all these struggles on my own, God holds me, comforts me, sends me friends like Sharon and reassures me that Junior is here for the long haul. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet