week

Well it's taken me a week to get back to my norm after the London trip, and I am pleasantly surprised. It took so much out of me that I thought we would be longer getting back to normal. And I had two nights this week where I went with the Husband while he did some electrical work and both times it took longer than thought so I wasn't in bed til gone ten. I always find that the cold weather is a bit cold making - I don't know if its because it slows the body a bit, or because you are constantly wanting to be tucked up in bed in the warm!

weekend

We have had a fabulous weekend. For our wedding present brother the elder bought us a weekend in London. We had booked to go in May, but I was way too poorly for it to be worth going. When I was starting to get more better we decided to rebook, and we went at the weekend. We went on the London Eye in the dark, it was lovely to see London all lit up. We had booked the cheapest possible tickets to see Grease, and when we got there we were told that the bit where our seats were wasn't available for that show, so they gave us a free upgrade to some really super seats. I think that Grease was the very highlight of the weekend for both of us. We went and saw lots of London sights, visited the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Science Museum. We saw the Christmas lights at Regent Street and Oxford Street. We went to Covent Garden, and a German Christmas market on South Bank. We had a truly lovely time. Our hotel was just behind the Eye, so it was really easy for us to pop back for rests whenever needed. I am slightly paying for the busyness now with the fatigue being worse than it has been for a while, but I would rather have had the good time and pay now than missed out on living life.

feelings

Feelings are funny old things. At the weekend I was feeling really good. I was very happy, although we didn't do much I had a lovely time. Monday and Tuesday I felt ok, not as happy as the weekend, but still quite happy. Today I woke up feeling sad and angry. For no particular reason. There are things going on that if I let them could let me get angry. But I didn't think I was letting them get me angry. I know that alongside the CFS I am battling with depression, and this could account for the changes in mood, and the inability to cope with them. I think that as much of the problem of the changing moods is the inability to deal with them. I've never been exactly steady in terms of feeling, but i used to have a better handle on dealing with them. I look forward to the day the ability to cope returns.

shower

Today I am having a bit of a slow day. On slow days I get a bit more brain fog and don't manage to remember much. Tomorrow we are going swimming so today I needed to shave appropriate parts in readiness. I kept on forgetting this, and then remembering again. So I started singing a little song as I got in the shower to help me remember. I went to the tune of Deep and Wide and the words were along the lines of:

Legs and pits,

Legs and pits,

oh I need to shave my legs and pits.

Legs and pits,

Legs and pits,

oh I need to shave my legs and pits.

It worked. I remembered.

grateful

There are many things I am grateful for.

- the wedding of Mr and Mrs Verow, the lovely day it was and the chance it gave to spend time with friends.

- a visit from the younger brother who stayed for three days. I had such a lovely time, and it was wonderful to not be on my own.

- decent sleeps for nearly a week. Half of this was at my fathers in a large bed that made it easier for the husband and I to share. The other half was at home, but I had the bed to myself. Bliss.

- Spending time with the Blake-Lobbs. They are a real blessing to us.

- seeing relatives and sharing food and fireworks time with them.

- the drain man we had to call out in an emergency only charging us for an hour, even though he was here for two.

- tasty bro cooked chilli.

- warm slippers and fleecy blankets.

friends

It is amazing what time spent with friends can do. This last weekend we got to go the wedding of some lovely friends of ours. It was a fantastic day, and the food was mega brill. Being there meant that we got to spend time with other friends as well. It really cheers my soul and ups my energy levels to be able to spend time with people who really care about us, and do their best to make life as nice as possible for us even if life is being a bit tough for them. It's going to be lovely when we can be in Ipswich full time, until then I shall be very grateful for the lovely friends I have.

simmering

Thank you to those of you who contacted me in some way following the last blog. I had had that one simmering away under the surface for a while but it took a while to transfer from head to fingers. I know that those feelings are common for many with CFS, as well as for those with other long term conditions.

I have managed to pick myself up a pretty mean cold, so am having to reduce what I do by even more at the moment, it has really wiped me out. I was saying to the husband, its funny I seem to be coping with this poorliness better than the long term one. In the past if I got a cold I'd be annoyed that it was slowing me down and be fed up by my symptoms. This time I just seem to have accepted it.