Yesterday and Today

 Yesterday we drove to the Eastside of Tucson and went to Aqua Caliente Park. Before the water levels dropped in Tucson it was a natural hot spring.  It is a nice area to walk around.  It was too cold to brin a picnic lunch.  Here are a couple of photos that John took.  

Today we did the Walk for Sjogren’s.  Since it was a virtual walk, we walked on our street until I was tired.  If you would still like to make a contribution to The Sjogren’s Foundation there is a link on my Facebook page.  

This afternoon I did laundry and napped.  This current flare up is exhausting.  John is better at taking pictures than I am at modeling.  

Still Crunchy

 My hands are still crunchy.  I am trying to figure out which finger’s are triggering.  Not an easy task.  I am wearing fingerless gloves to keep my hands warm which seems to help.  I am also starting to drop things so I am being very careful with fragile items.  I have a few more pressing items take care of first   Then my hands. I am hoping that this will go away when the flare up ends .

I have made a design change to the baby blanket.  It should take a few hours off the total time.  

Crunchy Hands

 I had a better day today.  I am still tired.  My hands are on the crunchy side so not much knitting or cleaning got done.  My main accomplishments of the day were doing the Cubii2 for 7 minutes and planking for 11 seconds.  Yes, I know the numbers are low but hopefully they will get better.  

I am hoping for a better day tomorrow. 

Alexander Had a Better Day

 Need I say more. No. Great. 

Still Tired

 I am still tired today, but managed to get in a few rows of knitting.  Some on the current hat. Some on the baby blanket.  I really did not get much else done.  I tried my Cubii2 but only lasted 4 minutes.  

We did go out to lunch today, we tried one place and they could not give us patio seating.  Another restaurant a few doors down only had 8 people on a patio designed for about 100, so we ate there. I had steamed vegetables with tofu.  We also added 1 dim sum dish and edamame.  Along with a pot of green tea.  

Just Exhausted

 I found out something new about me this weekend.  I can actually be too tired to knit.  Yes, I have been known to fall asleep while knitting.  But I have been too tired to pick up any knitting needles.  I will put it solely upon the Sjogren’s flare that snuck up on me.  No I have not been sick. I have just been really, really tired.  

The rest of the really expensive Elon for nails package came today.  Yes, it included a note to send a thank you note to my husband.  I am not sure what he thinks about that.  However, I just don’t feel the need to thank my husband for a tube of nail cream, cuticle oil and nail files.  If it was something really big like…..

I have got to get my energy together to plan the yarn destash sale.  I am thinking a 4 or 5 hour window on a Sunday so as not to be in direct competition with my local yarn shop.  

Just Wow

 I can’t tell you how many years it has been since I have not broken or split at least 3 fingernails in a day.  They say that Sjogren’s drys out everything even fingernails.  Well something amazing happened this week.  My new dermatologist suggested a nail cream called Elon. It is lanolin rich mail conditioner.  It is on the pricey side of things.  It even came with a note reminding me to write a thank you note to whom ever sent it to me.  Yeah, that kind of product.  

While I was waiting for the cream to arrive ( it is not available in Tucson), I started using Badger Cuticle Care that I got at Artemesia here in Tucson a couple of times a day. This is something that Tracy carries  in stock and will not require a thank you note to get.  

I have been using both creams a couple of times a day depending on what activity I have planned.  I use the Elon when I know I won’t need my hands for a couple of hours, it can be a little sticky. I use the Badger Cuticle Care when I will be using my hands soon because it is not sticky.  

I can already see and feel the difference in my fingernails. I did not break a fingernail today or have to use a nail file because of a snag.  Even with all the hand washing I do on a daily basis.  I know from the information that I read I will have to keep this up forever. I personally think it is well worth the time.