The "Sick Bunny"

I was four and I lay sick in my parent's bed.  I imagine my mom put me there because it was closer to the kitchen, where she could hear me if I called.  At some point that afternoon, my dad came home from work and came to see me.  He leaned over and kissed my forehead and placed a stuffed animal- a pink rabbit with clashing red bow-tie and white ribbon suspenders- next to my head.

I'd like to take a moment to comment on the obvious cat hair in this picture.  Our beloved Oliver has been in his new home for four months now.  I have washed the duvet cover not once, but twice.  I have put it through the dryer.  I have shaken it outside.  I have run over it with a lint brush.  And it still looks like we have a cat living with us.  What am I doing wrong?!  

Okay, back to the rabbit.  It never became favourite toy, but I still have it.  I love the memory of that day.  The rabbit was special because it was a gift from my dad.  Not a birthday or Christmas gift, but an unexpected "I love you" gift, one that came on an otherwise dismal day of fever and puking.

When Joshua got sick about a year ago, I gave him the "Sick Bunny" and told him the story that went with it.  Then I told him again.  And again.  And again.  Hey, he loves my stories.  What can I say?

Over the last year, the furry pink rabbit has become a tradition between Joshua and me (we'd include John, but he's seriously never sick, and it's really too bad because he's missing out on the fun), and we each get to snuggle with it.

The rabbit has been in serious business this week.

I love little traditions.  Especially the ones that just kind of happen.

I don't love cat fur.  Especially when it won't go away.

Our New Apartment

Okay, back on a blog roll, baby!  I finally found the camera (lost in an 800 sq ft apartment...what?), which, though broken, was still storing the card with all the pictures.  I am also feeling a bit better, and am ready to enter back into the blog world...and the rest of the world, too.

Before I begin, I'd like to give a shout-out to Katy Bowman at www.katysays.com  If you have any sort of pain (seriously-- foot, ankle, leg, knee, hip, pelvis, back, shoulders, etc.) check her out!!  If you have rounded shoulders or are a rib thruster (even if you think you're not, check!) or have a 'sway' back, walk with your feet pointing out to the side, or your neck leading the way...check her out!  After seeing multiple doctors, specialists, naturopaths, acupuncturists, massage therapists, physical therapists, etc., and even traveling over 300 miles to try and find the right sort of help...help is right here on her blog, DVDs and webinars.  I've become obsessed totally engrossed and super fascinated.  In fact, she's the reason why I didn't jump back on the blogging bandwagon a month earlier. Oh, and did I mention she's the reason why I'm finally starting to feel better?

Crazy how simple it is to fix most of our musculoskeletal problems. Note #1: "Simple" means relatively easy, but definitely not fast.  There's a lifetime of habits to change and tight muscles to stretch out.  Note #2:  Musculoskeletal is a word I always thought would be cool to use in its proper context.  I ought to scratch that off my bucket list.  And speaking of bucket lists, I've always wanted to see a castle.  I just found out that Boldt Castle is a mere 6 hours from here.  Definitely making plans!

Anyway, for several of you, here are the long-awaited pics of our new abode.  For the rest of you, here are the pics of our new abode.

These are the stairs that we face when walking through our private entrance (another favourite thing about this particular apartment complex).  The stairs are cleverly covered in outdoor carpeting, so we don't have to worry about taking our shoes off until we get upstairs.

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This one of the few purchases we made for this place, and well worth it, methinks.  Since living here is only temporary, we didn't want to invest much any money into it, but we did find it necessary to part with three separate bookshelves from our house, and consolidate everything into one place.  And I like it!

Sometimes, when I'm very, very focused on the task at hand (usually any task at hand), I don't hear things like timers.  I just burnt dinner.  Don't worry, it's salvageable!  This is our dining room.  I have since put up curtains.  At least their bare appearance will allow my Papa Jones to see how low/high the windows are, since I was describing the size to him.

This living room picture (and the next) make it look rather bare and dismal, but it's not really.  At least, I don't think so!

Another bare and dismal looking angle.

This is our kitchen- rather roomy for an apartment, though I did have to buy a small pantry cupboard for just outside the kitchen door, in the dining room:

Apparently, I didn't finish rinsing the sink out before I took this picture.  However, I assure you this shot is staged.  It never looks this nice.  The counter space is currently loaded with water bottle (full, at least, not empty), and supplements.  But you can imagine by the sounds of it, that it looked very clutter-y, so I moved it for the sake of your eyeballs.  

Ps. The walls look very grimy to me.  I hope that's just the finger prints Joshua has left all over the computer screen.

And the last picture of the heart of the home.  Yes, this was staged, too, or you'd be staring at a heap of clean dishes in the drying rack, waiting to be put away in that cupboard over there...right next to the dryer.

Oh, here's another.  This is the top of the cupboards, which I am using as a "catch all."  Same goes for the master bedroom, which is why you will never see a picture of it.  Unless I am able to work some extraordinary magic in there.  Yikes.

In the other corner, there's a fridge.  Lots of stuff stored on top of that, too.  Also, a small stack of bins near it, containing towels and wash clothes; and saran wrap, baggies, etc. in another.  The plastic storage containers are in a crate under the china cabinet in the dining room.  I'm telling ya, we are maxed out!  And that's after a yard sale, 1258 trips to Goodwill, and generous neighbors willing to take stuff off our hands.

Our balcony.  Love.

The brown door is the furnace/storage room.

Our neighbors across the way, and their pretty balconies.  I feel sorry for them having to look at ours.  It's usually full of clothes hanging on a drying rack.

This is the main bathroom.  I didn't get a picture of the master bath.  Just picture a toilet identical to this one, a smaller sink area, and a shower stall.  

 This is Joshua's room.  It wasn't quite unpacked at this point, but if I took another picture today, it wouldn't look much different.  Just a little neater.

Oh, bonus picture!  I have one of the fridge.  Joshua decorated the fridge for me. :-)  And you can also see where I am storing pots and pans.  Makes me super grateful for the kitchen I no longer have.

So...I'd better go eat my burnt dinner before it is also cold.  Cheerio!

Moving In.

On June 9th we moved into our new apartment.  When our house first sold, we talked of relocating.  We still might.  But the time wasn't right and as we got closer and closer to moving day, it became obvious it wasn't going to happen this year.  After checking into the outrageous cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment in this area, still close to John's work, we thought it might be cheaper to buy.  For a short time, we considered buying again, but our life was still up in the air as far as where I would feel better and where we will live long-term down the road, and our sanity eventually brought us back to the rental option.  We talked about a 6-month lease so we  could continue to pursue other options, but in our hearts, we both felt that God was saying a year.

The thought of living in an apartment after owning a house was a bit of a downer.  Mainly yard space and freedom of creativity.  But we ended up with a lovely 2 bedroom apartment in a mostly (for an apartment and even for this area in general) quiet, out of the way location, lots of trees and common grass areas, a pool and playground, and my favourite: a balcony.  The complex is only 2 stories all around, so it is not too high up and the sliding glass doors let in floods of sunlight.  That wee bit of outdoor space to call our own makes the difference between a prison and a retreat.  We quite like it here, actually.

I got hit with a flu-bug within days of moving.  I haven't been that sick in years.  It was topped up yesterday with my first earache since toddler-hood.  But other than that, my pain is already subsiding.  I get up in the mornings without stiffness and debilitating joint pain.  And my feet aren't swelling up as quickly when I'm standing.  Not bad for a few days away.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Living with this pain has become such a way of life for me, I almost forget what it's like to be "normal."  This mental adaption has been a blessing in the last year when I've been at my worse, but a bit discouraging, too.  Of course, I want to get better!  Desperately.  But I feel my drive has weakened-- not to a point of apathy, but a state of...perhaps resignation.  Less of a craving.  It's hard to look forward to something that you can't really remember.  I mean, what will it be like to cook without taking multiple breaks or sitting in a chair while I work?  And to cook more than one fast meal a day?  What will it be like to sit on the floor and play games with Joshua?  To go for long walks with my family?  All the simple things I used to take for granted, now it's almost overwhelming.  It's a life my brain can't comprehend.  I know, what a twisted mentality!  I'm sure it will wear off as I begin making steps towards wholeness.  If my pain was constant, I'm sure I'd feel differently, but when I'm sitting in a chair, where I've learned to live most of my life from, I can be symptom-free 90% of the time, other than painful, aching joints on humid days.  I've just...adapted.  To this.

It takes so much focus and concentration to be me, to move, to walk, to get up from a chair, pick something off the floor-- there is no aspect of my life that isn't affected-- that I feel like to NOT have to think and to just DO, it seems like a crazy thing.  A notion I'll quickly get over, no doubt.

I'm almost afraid to post these crazy thoughts.  I know they can't make much sense.  I guess it's the same as an able-bodied person trying to imagine life with PGP/SPD.

The unpacking is going slowly, of course.  Every day that we're here, I'm able to do a little more, but that's still not much.  When we're done, I'll post some pictures.  In the meantime, I may come back with more words. :-)

Hello. Good bye.

My life right now:  Downsizing.  Power Packing.  Paperwork.  Happiness.

It's been a long couple of weeks, full of ups and downs, first more stressed than I think I have ever been at one time, and then the satisfied contentment of knowing where I'm supposed to be for today...or more technically, for the next year.  We signed a lease for an apartment about a half hour from here.

That's a really long story cut short.

So hello and good-bye.  My last post from our little row home in the 'burbs.

On Big Decision In Vague And Uncertain Terms

There are a dozen things I planned to write, but didn't.  I have a folder of pictures I planned to post, but no, I didn't do that either.  First we were busy, then I was sick, now we're busy again.  We are making big, potentially life-changing decisions around here.

Oh, and we also sold our house.  That kept us on our toes for a while because the inspection, etc. didn't move along as quickly as it could have.  Now that things are firmed up and I wasted a week being sick, and Joshua before that, we have about 30 days to do a lot more than 30 days worth of stuff.  Most of us have been there before.  We'll make it through, just like everyone always does.  In the meantime, we don't eat at our table because there are boxes covering it, and all the chairs besides, where they are at an easy place for me to access without having to bend or lift; we are sorting and organizing for a future that is still uncertain as far as when and where and how we will move; the rest of the house is neglected in the meantime and I wouldn't let you through the front door unless I was quite certain you loved me for me and not the way I keep my home; and every. single. second of the next month is overbooked.  We also need to find a new car before the end of June.  A "little" thing like that can really throw one's life off-course when it happens at inconvenient times such as this.

So that's why I'm STILL not blogging.  I'll try and make it back once or twice over the days to come, but I don't suppose I'll *really* be back until we're in our new dwelling.  Wherever that is.

My Little Fisherman...And Other Faces From The Day

Today's fishing trip was inspired by one of Joshua's favourite books, "The Little Fish That Got Away," by Bernadine Cook.  "We need to dig up some worms and get a basket for the fish we're going to eat after we catch them," he said.  For weeks, he has been asking us to find a place where he can fish.  One of our neighbors has a bunch of fishing slogans and fish decals on the back of his pick-up truck, so John asked him if he knew of a good place to take a four-year-old.  He recommended what turned out be little more than a pond that supposedly has small fish.  We didn't catch anything to prove it, but that could be the fake bait we used because Walmart was fresh out of wormies.  We're going back tomorrow morning with fresh-from-the-garden worms and we're hoping that the fish are hungry for breakfast.  Catch or not, Joshua loved fishing and I think we'll be doing a lot of it over the next few months.

He tried sitting like the boy in the book.  He also tried lying down to take a nap (I can't remember if that part was from the book, too), but in the end he decided that he'd do a thing or two like Joshua G, and that meant standing, squirming, walking about and reeling in the line faster than a fish could possibly chomp on the hook (until we explained the necessity of patience).

Learning to cast.

Project #3: Make A Wreath For the Door {March}

This is the first time I've tried to make a wreath.  I had no idea what I was doing.  I suspect it's tacky, but I stared at it for so long, wiring and gluing and snipping, that I can't be sure whether it turned out or not.  Maybe in a few days I will gain perspective and be able to tell how successful I was...or wasn't.  Either way, it's not the last time I'll make one, because I found it quite enjoyable.

( Fourteen hours later: The word "hideous" comes to mind!!  Must find a how-to guide. =P )