The awesome Vitamin C IV

Exhausted, sinus headache and achy, achy joints and muscles?  Sounds like the flu.  Feels like the flu. In addition to my handfuls of vitamins, homeopathic nasal spray and LOTS of extra sleep, I highly recommend going to a naturopath for a VitaminC IV with extra immune booster shot added in.  I dragged my sorry self out of bed yesterday, headed to the ND and had my IV.  Back home, Advil for the aching and back to bed.  This morning woke up feeling much more like myself.  Much less aching, no more Advil and just more resting.  Hopefully back to school tomorrow.  The trick is catching it in time--don't wait until you're already really sick, be proactive.  I can't say enough about the magic IV!

Update:  while the IV helped, I have succumbed to the aches again.  So more Advil, more napping and no work again tomorrow.  :(  but my hubs tells me I have more colour in my face and I'm not quite as pale.  Always a good sign.  But without the IV I would be a mess, so I'm still grateful!

It's been awhile......

I know it's been quite a while.  But life is crazy and all fell apart the first week of school, so here we are.  I don't want to fill blog land with whiny posts that are oozing with self-pity.  Not my style.  Let's just say fall has kicked my ass, and I'm looking forward to things looking up from here on in.

I am grateful for a supportive husband and family, good friends and colleagues.  The past few weeks especially have made me think about resiliency.  What makes some resilient and others not so much?  Maybe outlook on life?  I'm not sure, but is know that when I'm feeling stressed and ready to meltdown, I take a look around and remind myself that it could be worse.  Yes, work is stressful, I'm worried about my parents and other family members and friends, but I'm ok.  I have a good job, a beautiful home and a great family.  I'm healthy (except for that pesky anemia....) and life is pretty good.  Maybe that's the difference.  I'm not sure.  I do know that I want to shake a few people and tell them to wake up and take a look at their lives--enough with the drama.  I question how our society is devolving into  a society of self-pity and lack of resilient individuals.  Put on your big girl panties (or boy gotchies), a pair of boots and get on with it.  Kick life in the butt.  Got lemons?  Make lemonade.

So there you have it.  Working on getting back to serenity.  Reminding my self daily, "it is what it is".  I even bought a Mantraband that I wear daily to remind of that simple yet effective mantra.  If you can't change it, get over it and move on.

And pin Christmas stuff.  It will make you feel good, if you are a Christmas lover like I am.  I can't wait.  It's the best time of year.  What's not to love in December?  My birthday, anniversary and Christmas all in one month.  Absolutely fantastic.

And if all else fails?  Utter your favourite curse words, pour a glass of your favourite adult beverage and have a hot bath laced with Epsom salts and lavender oil.  Tomorrow is a new day.

I think I hear the fat lady singing....

That's it folks.  It's pretty much over.  We have reached Labour Day.....and as I sit on my deck wearing the hubs cuddly Lulu sweater, my toes and fingers are cold.  It feels like fall.  Kiddos will be arriving bright and fresh faced at schools all over tomorrow morning, full of eager anticipation for the year ahead.  I remind parents to at least attempt to look a little bit sad as they put the kids on buses or drop them at school.  Try.  :)

School beginning always signals new beginnings for me.  I'm starting a cleanse tomorrow.  I decided to use Isagenix, based on the positive results that others are experiencing with it.  Reports of balanced hormones, reduced inflammation and reduction in autoimmune symptoms are enough to convince me.  What I'm doing isn't working, and you know the definition of insanity, right?!  Between my buddy Hashimoto's (confirmed diagnosis by my internist.....tell me something I didn't already know!) and babying my hip and knee as they heal, pounds have crept on.  Time to fix that.  Lots of walking, cleansing and yoga.

My sons and borrowed kid will start school on Wednesday, and my daughter heads back to university this week.  I will miss her and her crazy kitty when they go, but it's good for everyone to get back into routines.  My other kids need to get back to school too, to reconnect with friends and fill their lives with learning.

My husband has had a rough weekend.  His mom has gone to a nursing home.  She has dementia and is becoming more and more confused.  While it's a relief to know that she will be well cared for and safe, it's always difficult when huge life transitions happen.  Dementia is a terrible thing, and it's so difficult to see a parent struggling.  

So that's it.  The fat lady is singing.  It's over for another year.  Time to enjoy the splendour of autumn, leaves will soon be changing, the bounty of the harvest.  Ontario corn, tomatoes, potatoes and peaches are now in season.  And apples.  Fresh crunchy apples, also harvested locally.  

Maybe it's not so bad after all.

The dog days of summer.....

This is it, the final week of summer before I head back to work.  It's been a fabulous summer!  Montreal with my hubs, my parents' trailer, some time with my nephews and heading to a cottage for this last beautiful week.  Beautiful weather, LOTS of rest, very little exercise and some great books have made for a blissful holiday.  I'm looking forward to lots of beach time this week, the cottage is only a short walk to Sauble Beach.  Sauble is one of the nicest beaches in Canada.  I hope the lake is warm, and the days are sunny!

http://theperiodstore.com/post?id=186  this popped up on my Twitter feed.  Brilliant.  A store that delivers "feminine" products to your home.  Someone is reaping the benefits of female biology!  In a somewhat related vein, if your doctor wants to do an impromptu endometrial biopsy, don't believe him when he says most women don't feel anything.  That sh** hurts.  A lot.  Go for the knocked out version   Never believe anyone who doesn't have a uterus when they tell you something won't hurt.  Lesson learned.

If you need to laugh until tears come, read this www.thebloggess.com  Jenny Lawson is one funny, if bizarre lady.  I picked up her book to read at the cottage, it's supposed to be equally as funny.  I'll let you know.

I found a couple yoga studios near my school, I'm looking forward to getting back to a regular practice.  Dancing Turtle offers kripalu yoga, and The Yoga Barn offers several different classes, including Moksha (hot) and Vinyasa Flow.  I'm thinking vinyasa is what I need.  See you on the mat :)

Enjoy these last few of weeks of summer.  If I catch any great sunsets there will be pictures to come.

Why I love my naturopath...and some other stuff

I went for a visit to my naturopath yesterday.  And walked away feeling great about myself, my summer choices and more than that, filled with hope and self-acceptance.  She listens.  Listens fully.  That is the single most important difference between her and my conventional medicine doctors.  She takes the time to listen, treats me like I'm intelligent and cares about all of me.  So in a nutshell, she agrees with me that whatever is going on in my body, it's not fibromyalgia.  Which relieves me.  She agrees that anti-depressants and sleeping pills are not a good solution for me (I can't emphasize for me enough....they are the right thing for some people).  She applauds my decision to give myself permission to sleep and do nothing in order to heal my body.  And agrees that running is not in the cards for me at this time.  My gut feeling is that yoga is what I really need, maybe a little walking and swimming, lots of sleep and time doing nothing are the best medicine.  She agrees with me.  We talked about how the forties are very freeing in many ways.  And letting go of guilt and living life, not always hurtling toward the next goal.  Eating beautiful food, lots of veggies and fruit, cutting out grains, drinking lots of water (and some wine....let's not kid ourselves) are all part of what is going to make me feel well.  It's amazing what those things and getting rid of stress will do for a body.  

I think it's important to emphasize that I'm not implying in any way that it's my job that causes me issues.  It's only one stressor out of many.  What's important is recognizing that in order to do the job I LOVE, I need to take care of myself and use my vacation to heal and rest.  My biggest stressor is me.  I make myself crazy.  My brain never flippin' turns off, and that causes stress.  So I'm trying to learn to turnout off.  And since realistically I can't totally change my personality and turn my mile a minute mind off, I need to practice working with it.  Not letting things turn me into a pretzel of stress and cortisol and crankiness.  I'm working on it.  It's a process.

Last night was a weird night.  I spent hours alone, just me, the cats, my dog and my daughter's boyfriend's dog.  We hung out, we cuddled, I read a bit and we watched a movie.  PS I Love You.  Normally romantic movies make my skin crawl, I much prefer sidesplitting inappropriate comedy or action type movies, but that one I love.  There's nothing quite as nice as snuggling in a warm bed with a cool breeze blowing in the window, pets all around, watching a movie that makes you cry.  Only a little bit.  It's a tear jerker, but so heart warming at the same time.  It makes me very grateful for what I have.

This week I'm looking forward to maybe more beach time, more reading, more movies and getting ready to head to Montreal next week.  I can't wait to go to Montreal, I haven't been in years, and it's just not like Toronto.  It's so.....French I guess.  Whatever it is, I love it and I'm excited to be going for a few days. When we return a couple of days at my parents trailer, more beach time and then a week at a cottage in Sauble Beach.  More beach time.  By then I should be good and ready to head back to work.

Isn't life grand?

One reason Canadian summer is too short

My summer just started.  I finished work on Friday, and will have six glorious weeks of summer before returning to school all refreshed and able to cope with other people's children.  Believe me, educators need to recharge over summer.  Most kids are great, some would try the patience of Mother Teresa (oh wait, that might be my own children I'm speaking of.....message remains the same....). But I digress.....so, while I'm enjoying catching up all of the housework I didn't do for the past, oh let's say 9 months, I check my email.  And my inbox is full of emails about back to school sales, uniforms, backpacks and other school accoutrements that parents get suckered into buying.  It's the second week of July for crying out loud.  What kind of an asshat is thinking about back to school already?  (Sorry Pinterest friends who are madly pinning BTS crap....stop planning for a couple of weeks already!).  We live in a ridiculously material, consumerist society.  It is summer.  Time for beaches and decks and hanging out with friends.  Camping, cottaging, enjoying nature, hiking, lakes, canoeing.  You know Canadian summer things.  Not advertisements for crap kids don't actually need for school, that were no doubt manufactured in an Asian sweatshop.  First world problem I know.  But I live in the first world, and my crazy life makes me sick and I need to recharge without worrying about BTS.

So when I summon enough energy to unsubscribe to those retailers (online shopping is wonderful, and yet this is the result), that's what I will do.  In the meantime, don't email my sympatico account, I'm not reading those ones.  

In other news, when cleaning my grubby house, I took the chocolate brown curtains down to be washed.  And rediscovered the lovely bright airiness of my downstairs.  I don't think I'm putting them back up.  I did foray to Target a week ago to see if they had any lighter curtains, they didn't have what I was looking for.  Although I'm not sure the orange and white chevron I'm envisioning in my head is available anywhere.  Maybe I can talk Rick into coming to Ikea with me.  I live in a subdivision so no curtains isn't really an option, I need some kind of window coverings.  Ikea might be my best bet.  Cheap.  Or I might need to stoop to actually sewing some.  I think it's safe to say that is not really the best option.  Sewing raises my blood pressure to near stroke levels.  Fingers crossed that somewhere will have just what I'm looking for.

I've also decided this morning that I need to buy a "vintage" trailer to redo, and then put on a lake somewhere on a seasonal site.  Vintage really means old.  But made to look adorable with paint and imagination.  Look on Pinterest.  You'll see what I'm talking about.  Has to be a trailer, Rick won't go tent camping anymore.  I say Rick, but what I really mean is that we are too old and decrepit to get up off the ground in the morning when we sleep in tents.  For real.  But the real deal is that I need to be in nature.  Near water.  Nothing soothes the soul or lowers blood pressure like looking out at the lake in the early morning.  

Lunch with my sister and nephews today, meaning I need to kick my butt into gear so I get there on time.  Enjoy summer friends, it's too fleeting to be thinking about fall yet.

Quiet days

Summer vacation has finally arrived, and with it the bliss of quiet days.  Time to reflect, meditate, practise yoga and simplify.  A new doctor who suggests that fibromyalgia is a part of the puzzle of my health has given me lots to ponder.  Apparently it's not normal to ache everyday and to have trouble climbing out of bed because of stiffness and non-restorative sleep.  I don't know why I never suspected that in my quest for answers as to why I feel like crap a lot of the time.  But I didn't.  It's given me a huge kick in the butt.  I'm in my early forties, and some days feel 80.  I don't have time to feel like that.  I have too much to accomplish.  So I am actually taking my own advice and working on simplifying and finding balance.  It's my hope that it will just be habit by the time I go back to work in six weeks.  Six glorious weeks of summer.  It will fly by and before I know it I will be making plans to return to my office, and get ready for the onslaught of children after labour day.  Until then you can find me taking it easy.