Let me reflect a little, about my personal 2010.
If you know me, you know as well that I never make resolutions. I either change on the spot this very second, or I'll never do. That easy it is.
Last year was the most painful in my MS career. Several months were contributed to what is referred to as MS-Hug. I don't want to get into it any deeper, because when I write or talk about it, it triggers the pain often. Let me just say that my maximum dose of pain relievers didn't help anymore, so I had to switch to opiates and those cause heavy vomitting. To top it off I don't exactly know what causes the pain attacks to occur. Just when they're over you wonder what is missing...
I also recognized that I can reduce the pain if I do Taiji. So I've learned a little bit of Taiji in 2010. I also found out that I should skip the warmup, because it causes my chest to get squeezed together which could trigger the Hug as well.
Stress isn't good for MSers, so what I did was that I quit teaching English to that bunch of kids I taught at home. It was difficult anyways, due to lack of teaching material and proper space.
To continue to keep busy and my mind occupied I started (finally) reading all the Harry Potter books. To make it harder on me I do this in English (the adult edition). And I'm stuck with book number 6 right now. One more to go.
To reduce my stress and concentrate on MY family and MY household and MY life I also involved my aunt with caring for her sister, my mother. Which means I don't call twice a day anymore, nor do I visit weekly, just every other week. This takes a load off my shoulders.
Still, the confrontation with my aunt, on a regular basis stresses me a bit. Which all came out on Christmas. She had the nerve to turn down my gift (a picture frame of our family). She said it was too kitschy for her. She took out the photos and gave the photo frame back to me (!). My mom has it now...
And then I got into an argument with the mother of my Goddaughter Vanessa. To make a long story short: we arranged (one year ago) for a get-together on Christmas, where I was supposed to cook Mexican for the family. We got mixed up on the exact date, which wasn't my fault, but she wrote I would act embarrassing, behaving like a maniac because of that, and if it was too much for me to see my Goddaughter twice a year, she would save me time and money and we should just leave it at that.
Well, that exactly didn't do my MS any good, as we all can imagine, but my boyfriend and daughter were extra nice and helpful over the holidays. My best friend Karin filled in with her family. I invited them instead, to cook Mexican for them and they highly appreciated that!
They had 3 losses over the past years and a rather odd holiday season ahead, so they were delighted and grateful :)
Furthermore we're entangled in the whole graduation process of our daughter, which will be in May 2012. But the grades are just fairly okay, so the poor girl stresses herself out and us with it...
To top it all off, her graduation trip will be to Ireland (in September 2011) and I'll just go and shake the money tree outside, if you know what I mean? *lol* ;-/
It wouldn't be such a big deal, if we wouldn't have safed up for a large US trip this summer. Yes, family and friends over there, we're actually really coming. I paid the flight tickets in full already. All we have to worry about now is accommodation and the route. The dates are set, the guinea pigs taken care of. But... I need me a fantastic camera to take the most precious, breathtaking photos to post on my blog then, guys! *hint hint hint* My birthday is coming up!!! Got it?
My mother stayed a lot calmer last year, but the dementia is proceeding, one can tell.
My boyfriend had a tough year again, getting laid off, but he became a freelancer once more. Business is very slow. People don't waste money anymore and insurance surely is a branch they're not generous at, trust me!
Our daughter gets a new laptop anyway (remember the money tree outdoors...) and to make our holidays complete she lost her ID card at a club, or after.
Do you know the song: "Money makes the world go around"?
Oh and... in our apartment we have heavy mold to fight, and I came to realize that it really IS me airing and heating the rooms wrong. Now I found me some "biological" stuff to bleach and get rid of the mold. Biological in terms of us not having to wait for springtime. We can remain in our rooms, so can our daughter and her guinea pigs, without doing them any harm, so they say. Oh well. I'll report if we've dropped dead, ok?
As you can tell, it was a rather slow year, at least for me it was. My left leg begins to hurt really bad, so as soon as it gets warmer out I'll start going on walks. Maybe it'll reduce my weight as well?
At the moment we're still stuck in the snow and *happy to announce* we actually HAD White Christmas! It was wonderful, but now... melt snow, let spring come soon!
The only thing that keeps me up atm is the perspective of a California vacation. No clue if I'll be able to manage and beat the heat, but I discovered me a page with cooling undergarments :) California, here we come!!!
Guess that's all I had to fill you in about.
I would love to read your comments below.
*waiting desperately*
