Snowfall and Sunrises....North Atlantic pics...

(Click on pictures to enlarge them)

Our back yard .... after a fresh snowfall


A bit to the north



Same location...next day. Notice the difference in amount of snow covering. Snow seems to come and go quickly here. Also...do you see the light fixture which appears to be hanging in the sky? Cool, eh?






Early morning view of what we see as we wake up (depending of course on the time of year....winter time...this happens fairly late)



Almost over the top.....


This morning. Snow is almost completely gone now...hoping it stays that way...but not holding my breath ;)

Update

Today is day 9 since my last crash and I'm finally doing a bit better.

This one has been one of the worst. I am still upset with myself...this was preventable as I knew better ..... this should not have happened. I've certainly learned my lesson though. CFS is here, probably for good (at least to some extent) and I'll have to deal with that. I've been going against the grain of my personality this past week (which is difficult) and have been resting, resting, resting. Meals have been less than stellar...but food nonetheless. Everyone has, once again, had to chip in and do more. Hopefully, that won't last too much longer.

I've also been looking over my notes, trying to remember what, exactly it was that started me on the road to improvement a year ago. When I was first diagnosed, I researched....and researched a lot. I was able to learn so much helpful and valuable information from those who have the same condition...whether it was what worked for them, what didn't, medical info that just wasn't right, a book recommendation or perhaps an article or website. I'm so thankful to my on-line CFS friends who've been both willing to share their successes and struggles all the while using up their valuable (often limited) supply of energy in order to do so.

I made notes...many of them and am now re learning and remembering things to do. I don't think it was any one thing that started me on the road to feeling better...but a combination of things. I need to hit that combination again (and this time I'm writing it down)

We moved to NL to enjoy and explore this beautiful province....which I still plan on doing. While we have seen some of it....there is still a lot more area to cover. There are pictures to be taken, things to be learned and friends to be made.

Looking forward to fully recovering from this latest crash.

Crash Mode Today

Grrr at CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).

I had been doing so well in my battle with CFS...making great progress. The new year started off with me pledging to take even better control of my health.

Things were going fairly well too...until yesterday that is. One of the winter activities for our homeschooling group is skating and the kids were eager to sign up. Most of the time, our group's activities are too far away for us to participate in....but this time skating was booked at an arena only 20 minutes away. Parents could join in the skate as well, if they wanted to. Even though I used to skate four nights a week....I knew better than to attempt it at this point. I was encouraged though, to learn the arena also had an indoor walking track. It rings the ice surface...up high over looking the ice... Great!...I thought. I can walk without worrying about snow, ice or rain and watch the kids as they skate...all at the same time. Bonus!

I should have known better. Larry and I did three laps...he went on to do another while I sat one out. When he finished, he joined me to see if I was up for some more. I already knew I was in trouble...I could feel it....but as stubborn as I am (get that from my Dad *wink* )....I thought I needed to push it.

Big mistake. I know better (or I should know better) than to think like that. (Pushing it works in a healthy person --- it helps increase one's fitness level...but with CFS, pushing it makes it worse. Our bodies do not produce energy the same way a healthy one does. I know I need to use less energy than I have. I know if I use it all...I will feel worse tomorrow and perhaps even worse the next day. But for whatever reason...I reverted back to traditional thinking. (Maybe it was wishful thinking..hoping I was back to normal and just needed to push it bit?)

We did three more laps.

Even bigger mistake.

As the kids were coming off of the ice, I could feel that all too familiar fatigue settling in. The fatigue is bad enough...but the achy/burning muscles that accompany it is something else. Then the onset of flu like symptoms....I'm sure I could point out where every lymph node in my body is...because they all hurt....I was sore all over.

Dinner was a bit on the pathetic side. I guess it was food at least but I always feel guilty when I'm unable to prepare a healthy meal...especially when this time, it was my own stupidity for ending up like this.

After dinner....I fell into bed in that all too familiar exhaustion. Exhaustion and fatigue are really poor words to describe the feeling of CFS...it's so much worse than that. It feels like my body is starved for what it needs .... like my cells are just not getting enough oxygen.

I did not hear Larry get up at 5:30 (I am a light sleeper and always hear everything). The alarm (radio) is set for 6:00 and it played for 15 minutes before I kind of...sort of heard it ...way off in the distance. It was like I'd been drugged....no matter how hard I tried...I just couldn't seem to wake up. Yep...I felt worse today than I did yesterday.

The whole day has been like that. My body feels like lead. I ache all over. All my muscles hurt. My sides are sore..even the slightest touch causes immense pain. I am swollen...all through my neck, under my arms....all over. The ringing in my ears is almost unbearable. I've slept...a lot...none of it refreshing at all.

I'm so hoping I haven't undone all the progress I've made over the last little while. I should have known better...but I want to be healthy again. I want to be able to take part in activities with my kids...instead of having to watch from the sidelines. I know...it's all about pacing myself. I thought I had that down...but apparently not. Back to the drawing board...but hoping I don't have to start all over from the beginning again.

Earning My Keep

When I was young, my parents made me work .....and work hard, as evidenced by the above picture. That's me, sitting on my Dad's tractor.

Yep...driving the tractor, ploughing the fields....all in a day's work for me.

*grin*

Well...ok...so I didn't exactly have to earn my keep. I grew up on a farm and sure liked riding on the tractor with my Dad while he worked in the fields. Some jobs were more enjoyable than others....getting stuck in the mud while being eaten alive by mosquitoes was not one of the more enjoyable. Spreading manure wasn't one of the best either. But...ploughing and other field work was great.

I will take it!

I am just not a snow person...not at all. I'd be more than happy if we never received another flake. Not ever.

Here is what's left of our snow. With all the rain and mild temps....the 40 cms we received last month....HAS ALL BUT GONE!! YAHOO!!!!

Here is what's left.....



Ohh...I found another patch.....(this size...I can handle ;))


None here...


None at the park (that's a mud puddle in the middle of the road)



Our front yard...none (those are white stones in the garden)



Looking down our driveway



I'm enjoying it while I can....they're calling for 15 - 20 cms (6 - 8 inches) on Saturday. I'm hoping it won't stay for long (and if it does...I'm sending it to Becky).

Twice the fun on New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve with family friends. We have many interspersed connections to this family....we're both 'Mainlanders' from Ontario, all of us growing up in fairly close proximity to each other. The town they are from was named after a distant relative of mine and her parents now live in the same town as my Dad and step-mom .... (practically across the street from each other). How cool is that? We didn't know them before coming to Newfoundland and only met up with them while visiting churches upon our arrival here. It's such a small world!

We decided awhile ago we'd spend the night in St. John's. We selected a hotel (Super 8...we stayed there last New Years's Eve), with a pool, a huge water slide and hot tub. We booked early and asked for adjoining rooms on the top floor with a view overlooking the ocean/city. We wanted to have a great view of the fireworks display put on by the city at midnight.

We hung out in the room, eating junk food as well as some healthy food (and I know there are lots of chip bags in the following pics....but we also had a fruit tray and a vegetable tray....we really did!)

We hung out by the pool.

We swam.

We enjoyed the hot tub.

Some of us enjoyed the water slide (and some of us chose not to go down..betcha can't guess who that was lol).

We hung out some more in the room....the kids played various games (video games and hide 'n seek...who would have thought that could be played in a hotel room?....but they did it) while the adults took a breather.

We had pizza for supper (larry's fave!).

We swam some more and enjoyed the hot tub.

We played Pictionary ..... girls against the guys and I won't mention the girls WON WON WON...even though there was one more of them *and* even after we gave them a huge head start by letting them win the first few rounds (well...ok....we didn't really let them win those first few rounds...but it makes for a better story ;))

And at midnight.....we were not disappointed by the fireworks. Not only did we see the city's display, but many other private homes were setting off their own. It was so beautiful to watch all of them at the same time....the whole sky over St. John's seemed to be lit with various displays of fireworks. We had a great view *and* we were warm watching from the comfort of our room.

And...in the morning, we enjoyed a delicious continental breakfast mmmmm!

Pictures from our evening (click pics to enlarge)


The group....
(from left to right...Larry, Tyler, James, Paul, Jake, Jennifer, Rebecca, Brittney)




Jake, Tyler and James checking out a video game




Brittney, Rebecca, Tyler...strategizing for Hide 'N Seek...



James and Jake



Rebecca, Tyler and Brittney....getting ready to go out for supper




Rebecca and Brittney



O.K...Enough pictures already, Mom...enough!!



The guys...Tyler, James, Jake and Paul




James, Jake and Paul






HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Christmas Day

Our Christmas was quiet ..... but enjoyable.

6:00 a.m. found Jake in our bedroom, standing beside our bed looking down at me. When I awoke with a start, he announced he just could not wait any longer. He went on to say, he'd been awake since 5:00 a.m. but had stayed in his room....except for a trip to the bathroom where he stopped to check out the presents (only one problem, he does not go by the living room on the way to the bathroom. Guess he must have taken the long way there ;) ). He then gave me a count of how many presents there were for each person.

Did I mention this was at 6:00 a.m.? I could barely recall my own name, let alone process everything he was telling me.

Some pictures of our Christmas.

Christmas Eve. We didn't have any cookies, so Santa and his reindeer had to settle for bananas.



On Christmas morning, we did our usual of opening the stockings first, followed by me preparing the turkey and putting it in the oven. After that was done we had breakfast...our usual Christmas morning fare...muffins and fruit. Notice the clock on the wall....it was in fact 6:40 a.m.



The pictures tell the whole story....only one of us was wide awake.




Tyler getting ready to open presents. Jake has already started. As evident by the window in the background...it was still really dark.




Tyler is starting to open his gifts, Jake is half way through his. Stuffed animals given to him by his friend, Ben.



Tyler has started, Jake is just about finished.



Brittney was pleased...a guitar book to go along with her new guitar.