Today’s Score

Today’s score was dismal.

Arthritis- 1
Sheri- 0
Steps 4578 out or 8100.

I rested most of today. I am hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Exhausted

Tonight I am exhausted. Partly because of an arthritis flare up. Partly because John and I were very busy today with friends and chores.  Even though I was exhausted I managed to get my steps, drink my water and eat right.

I hope you all have a wonderful and productive weekend.

Still Sick

I am still home sick. I am a little less tired, but the arthritis kicked in with vengeance today, so it was another slow day. I rested most of the day again.

I did manage to fill 9 dog pillows and they are awaiting their final seam. Maybe in the effort to declutter John will take them to the shelter for me. Unfortunately I still have more dog pillow stuffing. I really thought that 3/4 of a bolt of fabric was going to be enough with one or two left over. No such luck.  So after the holidays I will make the next batch of pillows. It is company season so I want to wrap things up by tomorrow. The craft room must become the guest room.

Is am working on a new blanket pattern.  I wonder if I can get the knitting, pictures and pattern done by Christmas? Will my hand hold up under the stress? Please join me in saying how much you hate arthritis too.

Well it’s time to call it a night.

Busy

It has been crazy busy around here lately. Eric had about a week and a half where he went to program everyday. I did get to relax and get a lot of cleaning done. I also found that with adequate sleep I got my creative mojo back. So a lot of projects were finished too.

That at all went sideways this morning at about 3:30 this morning. I managed to get a total of 1 hour of work done before Eric care took over my day. The good news is that he is now feeling better.

Even though I am trying to move and do more my arthritis seems to be getting the better of me now. Not even hitting the 50 pound weight loss point seems to be helping. Although I can now claim a smaller dress size. So since December of 2009 the totals are down 50 pounds, 4 dress sizes, 2 shoe sizes and 6 inches off my rib cage. The way this was accomplished was by giving up anything with high fructose corn syrup, aspertame and any other artificial sweeteners. I am also moving more.

A Rough Week

Eric was sick all last week. He even shared the cold and aftermath with me. Poor John has been trying to keep up with 2 very cranky people. Even with the larger washer, Eric has managed to make 2 pretty full loads of laundry a day. Thank goodness for Eric's aides, they have been doing all the folding. I don't know if my hand is up to that much work yet.

I am really hoping that Eric will be back at program sometime this week. When he is at home sick this much, my world feels a lot smaller. I swear that my world can not get that much smaller or I might just fade into oblivion.

My left hand is a little better. I have been able to use it between 30 minutes and 2 hours on most days. I can say for certain that the arthritis flare up post cold is not helping the recovery process in the least. At least 2 out of the 3 fingers are almost, well at least 50% healed. The ring finger is another story. I am really working to get my left hand fully functional again. It will make my life so much easier and neater. I would really like to know, say before a meal, if my hand will work all the way through the meal.

I am hoping that Eric is not real clingy today. Yes I just noticed that it is 12:40 and it is time for a nap before I start my day with Eric in a few hours. By the way, it is getting easier to type too. Not a lot of mistakes. I can even reach for some of the keys.

My goal for the coming week is to have a better week and get a lot of crafting and cleaning done.

The No Knitting Diet

It's official, I can not do any knitting until after I see the hand specialist.  So I have put all my knitting projects away. All my knitting needles are in my knitting closet. Anything that is time critical, I will get someone else to do the knitting for me.  Hopefully this is only temporary. Did I mention how much I hate my arthritis right now. If I am a little grumpy, please be patient with me, knitting is how I have found a way to relax in this hectic world of mine for over a decade.

If it does not hurt my hands I can do a little spinning and weaving. Not quite as portable. I will also be doing a few hand exercises for my hands. I will do my best to hang in without any extra eating. Wish me luck.

I Made My Goal Early

The big news today does not have to do with the house.  Nor does it involve everyone being sick, which we all are.  Not even knitting, spinning or weaving.  It involves a long term goal made when I went off one arthritis medicine which caused me to put on 50 pounds in 6 months.  For those of you who follow my blog on a regular basis I have now lost 1/2 of the weight I put on with the medicine.  Slow and steady is winning the race for me.  

So after much research I went off aspertame and high fructose corn syrup. The first 3 months were very rough. I started using smaller plates for almost all my meals, I still use a soup bowl for cereal though. I eat a lot less fast food. Most of my cooking is now from scratch.  When Eric is home sick and PBS is on all day, I do the excersice breaks with Hooper, which are much easier now. I walk more and do more of my own house cleaning. I set a goal of losing 5 pounds a year, because most people my age put on 5 pounds a year.  I figured that this would put me ahead of the game.  It was a few big changes and a lot of small ones. Today almost a full 2 months early I have hit my 5 pound weight loss goal for the year.  This means that I can now start using my Wii fit again, I am now under the maximum weight. 

The plates below are as follows: The daisy dinner plate ( this used to. be our dinner plate )was the standard size Correlle dinner plate of the 1990's, which is now used as a serving platter.  The yellow luncheon plate by Fiesta is now our dinner plate. The clear glass desert plate is now our lunch size plate.  Usually divided into 25% protein, 25% starch and 50% vegetables.  

Since I have no medical degree, I would recommend that you check with your doctor before making these or any changes to your diet or excersice routine. This blog is not meant to replace your doctors advise.  This is just about my life and what works for me.  

Catch Up

My body played catch up today.  I am in total flare up, with all the soreness that goes along with it.  I did manage to grab a 4 hour nap this afternoon.  It was wonderful. I woke up feeling so much better.

This evening was spent between my drop spindle and knitting.  My second demo piece for guild is done. 

Well it sounds like Eric is just about asleep. So it's time to call it a night. 

New Shoes and More

Eric slept for 12 full hours last night. I can not remember the last time that had happened. Me on the other hand was up at around 4am from arthritis pain. Eric was in a really good mood today too. Although I can not figure out how he managed to get more sleep today as he dozed on and off. I really hope that he sleeps tonight. So far its almost 11pm and he is still up.

As for the arthritis pain in my knee, I recently did some research on causes of foot/knee pain. Report after report said that the slip on shoes that I like can be a cause of improper alignment of the foot, that leads to bad body alignment. They all recommended sandals with sturdy soles and the straps that go across the front of the foot, mid foot and a strap that goes behind the heal. Yesterday I went shoe shopping and today I wore the first pair. Gravity Defyer - Amelia in black. The stiffness has not gone totally away, but I have not had any Tylenol since 4am and I don't think that I needed any until bed time. I have not had any sharp or shooting pain. No muscle cramps in my calf's. So day 1 is a success. I did take one Tylenol right before I was going to sleep an hour ago. Also I would like everyone to know up front that I had never heard of this brand before shopping yesterday. I paid the going rate for the sandals at the time of purchase and was not asked by the company to review these shoes. I am also not giving any professional medical advice. Please go to your personal physician for any medical questions.

On the spinning front I am trying another artsy spin on a drop spindle in shades of purple with diffrent fibers. I will post a picture once it is plied. I also started the second half of a poncho. I am really tired and hope that Eric goes to sleep soon.

Not As Planned

Today did not go as planned. I was up until after 3am with Eric.  Then the arthritis pain kicked in around 5:15am, I kid you not.  This lead to a day with a lot of naps which are good, but not as good as a full nights sleep.  Eric and John also took advantage of the day and got naps too. 

I had planned on finishing one braid on the drop spindle and one batt on the spinning wheel. Then start the next 2 spinning projects. Only the braid got finished.  I don't have the yardage. Considering it is lace weight I think there is a lot of yardage. The picture is below tell me what you think. This is going to be something for me.  This is the Cloudlover fiber from my previous blog. Well it's not to late but I am tired and need a good nights sleep. 

Summer Time

Summer time in Tucson never fails to surprise me. There is always the really crazy driving and the tempers tend to flare as the heat goes up. But what surprised me the most today was that I boiled some yarn and had most of it hanging in the garage to dry by 1 pm. At 7 pm it was still damp even though it hit 107 at our house today.

I have been walking on a very regular basis since I got back from L.A., some days are better than others. Being sore and achy does not lend it self to me wanting to walk. I am hoping that it will help in the long run. My hope is that the walking will help lessen the pain. I will let you know how that goes.

My summer in Tucson tip of the day is to park in the shade when ever and where ever possible. Even if that means parking at the back of the parking lot and walking farther in the heat. Your car will be much cooler and you will be able to touch the steering wheel.

How Not to Plan a Day

OK So I thought I had a great day planned, but..Well I am a little ahead of myself here. So from the beginning. I slept in until about 6:30am and enjoyed the quiet house until 8 am when everything came from the quiet of the night to the busy morning in just a few moments.

John and I got competitive on the Wii. He broke his distance for a 20 minute run so I had to top him with a 50 minute work out that included a 30 minute virtual bike ride around the island several times for a total of 7.35 miles and 20 minutes of yoga. Well round one went to me of course.

Then it was off to lunch with John and Eric at Shogun. Then you guessed it for more walking around the mall. at least 2 miles and 1.5 hours later we headed home. I was trying to out do John on exercise and Eric was enjoying being out.

After getting Eric settled in for a rest we decided to catch up on Tivo. I was working on a hat that I started yesterday. That's when my body decided to start telling me off. Gently at first with random shooting pain. So I tried to get into the relaxed I not going to let my body run my life mode. About an hour later my body said enough and put me in sleep mode until John woke me up for dinner. We went out to the unlimited soup and salad at the Olive Garden which was pretty good.

After we got home my body decided it was time to show who was in control and it won over my mind by a long shot. The random pain and stiffness of Arthritis has taken over.  I have decided that I don't have time for or want a flare up this week so I am really working on this mind over matter stuff. With this in mind I think I will call it an early night and see if a few straight hours of sleep will be curative for me,. so good night all and enjoy your families...

Hi Again

I know it has been a while since I last blogged. It was Eric's first day of summer break. I have been very busy with Eric and John, both guys were off together so I was a bit too busy with the boys to sit down and write. There was also the hand issue, but I am happy to say both my hands are feeling better after almost 2 weeks of very light use. This should be read as no knitting and very minimal spinning, but mostly doing nothing but ice packs and splints.

We did go to a movie this week. Eric and I saw Kung Fu Panda 2. We both liked it a lot. I am hoping that the last scene in the movie is alluding to a third movie in the series. I would recommend this as a family movie although most dads will want to go to a comic book action movie.

I do have a quick question for everyone. I have 5 skeins of yarn which is enough for 3 small projects. I was wondering if everyone was up to a contest with between 1 and 3 winners or if you think I should find a local knitter for the yarn. Your input would be nice.

Well it is getting late and we have another full day scheduled for tomorrow.

Runners Needed

The reason I am posting this blog on the Sjogren's running team is that I have this form of arthritis. So if you are a runner or would like to try a marathon or a half marathon please consider this run.

Recruiting Team Sjogren's Participants for the Nashville Country Music Marathon!

Do you want to make a difference for Sjögren's patients and their families?
Have you or someone you know every thought about running a marathon or half-marathon?
Do you have a desire to challenge yourself?

Then you might have what it takes to join Team Sjogren's and train to participate in the:

Country Music Marathon & Half-Marathon
Nashville, Tennessee
April 24th, 2010

Team Sjögren's is a Marathon Training Program designed to help you train and prepare to participate in a marathon (26.2 miles) or half-marathon (13.1 miles).

In exchange for training and support, you help raise awareness and money towards research into a cure for Sjögren's, the second leading Autoimmune Rheumatic disease in the Country.

The Nashville Team Sjogren's Kick-Off Teleconference Call has been scheduled for December 2, 2009 at 8pm EST!

If you would like to join us on the call or have questions about Team Sjogren's, contact Elyse Jordan at
(800) 475-6473 ext. 217 or ejordan@sjogrens.org

Please feel free to pass this on to the runners in your life. You may also print this blog post for bulletin boards. Every one can make a difference.