Thursday, December 31, 2009

Farewell 2009!

It's been a year of love and loss. It's been a year of adjusting to change and of settling into what is. It's been a year of growth and of trying to pare things down to what's absolutely necessary. There has been laughter, tears, yelling...too much yelling...swearing, praying, reading, learning, writing, talking, listening, escaping, discovering, denying, accepting, bitching, moaning, giggling, sweating, sleeping...well, you get the picture. It's been a year of life and all that it has to offer.

No one could or would ever accuse me of living life in the safe spots. With each day that I live and breathe, I do it fully and completely, good and bad, as close to the edges as possible. It's a mental/spiritual/emotional thing and some days I live fully without ever taking my butt off the couch. And I can't even blame the MS. Some days I'm just lazy and choosing to live between my ears. :-)

A friend sent me a video today about self love. I think that's going to be my focus of 2010. I am going to do all that other stuff I've been doing--good and bad, I'm sure--but I'm also going to work on loving myself. Piece of cake, right?

Happy New Year! Blog on, babies.


Thursday, December 24, 2009

The Creatures Are Still Stirring...

I suspect the excitement of Christmas tomorrow will lose out over the need for sleep and my children will soon fall asleep and allow Santa to do his work.  In the meantime, Happy Holidays to you an yours and may 2010 bring you all a boatload of really great stuff like:
  • The passage of a pretty crappy and diluted but necessary first step in achieving health care reform (you have to walk before you can run, right?)
  • Oral meds to treat MS
  • Some serious progress in stem cell research to find a cure for MS and other currently incurable diseases
  • Peace on earth
  • True love.
  • The demise of all those quilted handbags with paisley prints that are bizarrely popular but very, very ugly and remind me of a grandmother's knitting bag.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Reducing Stress


According to my neurologist, I need therapy, weight training, aerobic activity, and yoga--all in order to strengthen my body and relieve my stress. Hmmmm.

Don't get me wrong. These are all wonderful ideas but I'm not sure where I'm supposed to find the time or the money. I suppose I could quit my job but then how would I pay for it all? I could do some freelance work for extra cash but then there would be no time left in my already busy day. It's a conundrum, for sure.

And then there are the logistics of actually getting to these additional appointments. I could hire a chauffeur transport me a direct route that would be quicker than public transportation but....that's right...we are back around to the issue of paying for it. Do you think there are chauffeurs that work for gingerbread cookies?

Perhaps, I should buy a single lottery ticket each week. Do they still make $1 lottery tickets because I'm pretty sure that's all I could swing with my current budget? I could hope to win big and then quit my job which would free me up for 40+ additional hours per week.

Nah. I would probably end up getting addicted to gambling and before I knew it, I would be taking buses to casinos in Connecticut and spending all my rent money at the blackjack tables. I'd be evicted and, because I had no place to work, I would end up jobless, as well. Now THAT would be stressful. And I'm pretty sure they don't have yoga, weight training, aerobics, and therapy in homeless shelters.

I think I will just continue with my walking, sun salutation yoga sequences at home, going to free twelve-step meetings, writing, and up the prayer and meditation.

How about you? What free stress relievers do you have in your life?


Wednesday, December 02, 2009

A Newly Diagnosed Woman Afraid to Tell Her Children

I can't imagine hiding my MS from my children. How about you?