BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Boy, is it ever cold outside.  They said yesterday that it was going to be a little warmer today.  It was.  Yesterday was -22.  Today was -18.  Right now we are in the 'below normal' forecast.  I would settle for normal.  I think that would be somewhere around -10ish.  When I let the dogs out I just stand by the door and wait for them to come back inside, and they don't waste any time either.

O.k.  Enough complaining!!!  I decided I'm not going to gripe about the cold.  I'm going to enjoy winter this year.  Here where I live winter consists of about 6 months of the year.  That's a big chunk out of a person's life to be spent lamenting something that cannot be changed.  Unless I left the country, which truthfully I wouldn't really want to do.  Alberta has been my home all my life and I like it here.  So, I guess I take the winter with the rest of it.  Not that I have anything to compare it to, since, like I said, I've never lived anywhere else.  I'm sure there are lot's of good places to live.  But I'd still settle for normal right about now.

I went outside last week when it was really cold, before the heat wave came through today, and shoveled the sidewalk.  That wasn't too bad.  I found out I have fibromyalgia and it can be very debilitating.  Last winter I didn't even attempt to shovel.  I could barely drag myself from room to room inside, much less outside.  But I think I am feeling much better now.  I'm able to sleep more hours at a time.  For years I have awakened every hour almost exactly on the hour, so I never had the chance to enter into the REM - that is - the restful part of the sleep pattern.  That contributes to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which I found far more debilitating than even the pain part.  But now most nights I find I am sleeping about 4 hours at a time, so that is a terrific improvement for me.  Then, just about the time I think I have really made a lot of progress with the stress and pain part of Fibro I get splattered between the eyes.  It can be anything, usually something of no consequence that for most people would hardly even be noticeable, but it will just about floor me - an emotional upset if you will.  Then I get the aches and pains and depression.  This used to last for  d a y s  but now it only lasts for days.  I have had to learn to cut myself some slack and not let the occasional set-back be a whip for me to beat myself up with.  With prayer and doing what I can do for my body, i.e. diet, exercise and such I will regain normalcy, which incidentally I don't really remember what normal was, but I'm sure I'll be able to get used to it.  Some say Fibromyalgia is not curable.  I found a couple of doctors on line that say it can be reversed, so I am sticking with them.  Also, and most importantly, with God nothing is impossible, and that includes Fibromyalgia.  (The spell check keeps telling me I'm misspelling the 'F' word, but it doesn't have any suggestions for me).

I didn't really plan on talking about the 'F' word, but it has brought something to mind.  Cutting myself some slack.  Not beating myself up.  My specialty is being hard on myself and expecting super-duper-human results from myself.  But apparently I can improve without the occasional boxing match with myself anyway.  Maybe I should learn a lesson and cut myself some slack in other areas as well.  And improve without knocking the daylights out of me.

Guess I better get myself to bed.  Got a big day tomorrow.  Mom bought a new carpet steamer/shampooer/hard floor steamer and I'm going to try to have the carpet clean by Christmas.  If I get started now maybe I won't be too wonked out to enjoy the Lord's Birthday. 

Have a blessed day, and remember - Don't eat any yellow snow.  :)