Keepin' it real · Sick

Day 2018: In Between

Decemberbaby1 Comment

Today I’m feeling better. Not all-the-way better, just better enough that I’m starting to feel like I’m being lazy. To be clear, I know I’m not being lazy (I’m still dizzy when I’m standing up) and I know I need to keep resting to recover fully; but knowing it and feeling it are two different things.

Today I coped with that in-between feeling of I’m-sick-but-also-I-should-do-something-useful by working on the new bullet journal I’ll be starting next month. That this was more a diversion than actual productivity should be obvious to everyone when I admit that I spent two hours drawing little doodles of houseplants.

(You heard me. I said what I said.)

I’m an idiot, though, in that I didn’t consider what those two hours of doodling would do to my hand—yes, the hand I had surgery on last month. It was cramping by the time I pulled my pencil away from the paper. I think I’ll drop the journaling for the rest of the weekend.

(Oh, who am I kidding? The allure of those adorable little doodles is too great. I’ll probably be inking them by tomorrow afternoon.)

I feel like I should be better at striking a balance between rest and activity (or work,) but what I’ve actually gotten very good at is careening between doing cool stuff and then recovering from said cool stuff. Of course, times like these when I didn’t do anything cool and I still need to rest and recover… well, it’s frustrating, no question. And it’s very very hard to get the balance right. But I’m trying. And failing. And trying again…

gardening · Keepin' it real · Sick

Day 2017: At Least the Plants Are Happy

Decemberbaby1 Comment

His feet came into view first.

“Hey, are you okay?” Mr. December peered down at me, “Why are you on the floor?”

“I’m fine,” I said airily. “I was just feeling a bit dizzy, so I decided to lie down for a while.”

“But what are you doing down here?” He asked.

“I’m making a self-watering planter because that poor little plant in the glass bottle desperately needs to be in soil now.”

Mr. December looked at me and sighed. “It’s not worth doing a little bit of work at great cost, you know. Better to rest than to worry about productivity.”

“I’m not trying to be productive. I’m trying not to be bored!”

I’ve reached the stage of this illness where I feel almost good when I’m lying down. My brain has decided that enough is enough: it’s time to do something interesting.

I don’t know why I settled on rehoming these two plants; but once I got the idea in my mind I ran with it—except that I sort of staggered with it, to be honest, because I’m still dizzy when I’m upright.

Anyhoo, I went down to the makery and rummaged around (then lay on the floor) and then started assembling stuff (then lay on the floor again, gosh, it was slow going) and finally had a finished product. I potted the plant.

Then I turned around and realized that this wasn’t even the plant in the direst situation. On the windowsill beside me was a baby spider plant whose roots were so crowded in that glass bottle that they were clutching the decorative marbles at the bottom. I had to pry the marbles out of those little roots… and then I had to make another self-watering planter.

For the first planter I had used a small plastic flowerpot, a large plastic jar, some cotton thread, and a wide straw. See the diagram below for how that all came together.

Diagram of a self-watering planter. A plastic flowerpot rests in the mouth of a larger plastic jar, which acts as a reservoir. Cotton threads act as wicks, going from the reservoir into the bottom of the flowerpot. There is a wide straw that protrudes from the soil at the top and from the flowerpot at the bottom, for adding more water to the reservoir.

Sadly, I only had the one small flowerpot. Casting about for something I could use, my eye landed on the eyesore of eyesores: a giant pile of reusable grocery bags. They’re made of the same polypropylene as weed control fabric, so I grabbed one and used it as a container for the soil. I suspended it inside the larger jar by folding it over the rim of the jar and then screwing on the jar lid (from which I removed the top, so really it was just a ring.) here’s a diagram:

Diagram of a self-watering planter made with a reusable grocery bag, a large plastic jar, a straw, and some cotton rope.

That’s one reusable grocery bag down, and only 17,689 to go.

So now my poor little plants finally have their own homes. They can drink whenever they want—no more waiting for this lazy lady to come by and water them.

As for the other living things in this house… well, we’re mostly still sick. But at least the plants are happy!

Photo of two plants in homemade self-watering planters.
Keepin' it real · Sick

Day 2016: Backsliding?

Decemberbaby1 Comment

I was busy typing out a long, whiny rant about how getting sick sets me back in terms of my physio and fitness goals, and how at this rate I’ll never actually get past a certain threshold because there’s always something, isn’t there, and it just sucks so much. And it keeps happening.

That whiny rant made me sit up and take notice. If it “keeps happening” then it’s not interrupting my normal—it’s part of my normal. As such, I should adjust my expectations and my strategies to handle it, instead of moaning about it anew every time I catch a respiratory virus.

I need to figure out which of my physio exercises I can continue to do if I’m bedridden with fever. Glute bridges? Probably. Squats? Probably not. But it’s time to stop giving up everything just because I can’t do everything. So… five glute bridges and five of whatever those ab exercises are that I do lying down. That seems pretty doable.

It’s probably worth recording (thus measuring) the duration of my walks, to see whether there really is a regression after I’ve been acutely ill—and if so, by how much. Maybe it’s not as bad as I fear; or maybe it’s ten times worse. As the engineers say, if you don’t measure it, you can’t change it.

(Deep thought: if something changes and there’s no test to measure it, did it really change?)

But maybe all of this is just the ramblings of a fevered, control-freak mind. Could it be time for more Nyquil?

Keepin' it real

Day 2015: Accomplished

Decemberbaby1 Comment

My accomplishment today was that I took a shower. I also did half a crossword and some Duolingo; but really, the shower is what I’m proudest of, on account of it’s the thing that was the most physically taxing.

E is the only one in our house unaffected by this plague. She’s been an absolute saint, running tea and trays of food to and from the kitchen for all the sickies.

That’s all for today. I’m only posting today to keep up my daily posting streak—and to let you know that I’m still alive, if not well.

A pain in the... · Keepin' it real

Day 2014: Still Alive

Decemberbaby1 Comment

I’m really hot (not in the good way.) Everything aches, and when I cough my head explodes (or so it seems to me.) But I’m still alive, and people are taking care of me (leaving my oatmeal and coffee and lentil soup outside the bedroom door.) As bad things go, this one isn’t that bad; I’m just tired and contagious and won’t be showing up for anything at all this week.

In related news, 24 hours in bed have proved to me that I need a new mattress.

In other related news, my Yogibo bean bag purchase turns out to be very helpful for bedbound sickies like me.

Speaking of bedbound sickies, K is still one—but at least she already has a perfect setup. Yesterday I asked her to bring her Nintendo Switch and her clamp-on device holder to my room so we could play Tricky Towers together, lying on our backs in my bed. It worked perfectly. I wonder if she’d be up for it again tonight?

A pain in the... · Keepin' it real

Day 2013: I give up.

Decemberbaby1 Comment

I concede. I surrender. I’m laying down my arms.

Actually, I’m laying down all of me, in my bed, because this virus has finally caught up with me. I’m finally ready to admit that I’m sick.

At least it’s a fairly low-stress time of year. Nothing is on fire, no trips are imminent, I have no commitments. So if anybody needs me, I’ll be in my room—under an extra-cozy duvet, with a heating pad and a cup of soup.

better homes than yours · Keepin' it real · Kids · parenting

Day 2012: R’s Room

Decemberbaby1 Comment

R has been asking to have her room repainted for a while now. Looking back, I realize that I never included her room in the house tour I posted four years ago; so I don’t expect you to know that the ceiling and trim in her room were magenta. It looked fantastic—but she’s not into magenta anymore, and I think it’s fair to let her have a change of colour as she transitions into teenagehood.

R's bedroom, with a sage green ceiling and sage green trim.

So now her ceiling and trim are sage green. I was helping her move her bedding out a few days ago, which is when I noticed that she’s been sleeping with a down-and-feather duvet since we moved in. For those just tuning in, R has a lot of environmental and seasonal allergies, including feathers. No wonder the poor kid wakes up itchy! I just assumed that obviously we would have done the most basic thing and gotten her hypoallergenic bedding, but apparently we didn’t. Definitely a parenting fail.

And now, the sick report:

K is still sick in bed (but I think her fever is gone.) My symptoms don’t seem to have developed into anything— which feels odd, but I’m not complaining. Mr. December is still not feeling 100%, but he was well enough to go on a 3km walk with me this afternoon. I’ve heard N coughing, but he hasn’t complained at all—and he was out there shoveling the driveway in his shorts (peak Canadian teenager, I tell you.) The two youngest kids seem totally fine.

Homeschool · Keepin' it real · Kids

Day 2011: Sharing ≠ Caring

Decemberbaby1 Comment

We’ve instituted a new weekly meeting for our homeschool. On Friday afternoons, the kids bring us all their workbooks and assignments; Mr. December and I mark their work and go over the mistakes to make sure they understand fully.

As the less-math-literate parent, I have the dubious honour of reading N’s mathematical proofs to see if he’s written them in a way that anyone can understand. They’re full of his messy scrawl and contain almost no words (I think they could be improved by a just a few words, like “let” and “if.”)

Which is why, when I sat down to draft this post, I used a math symbol in the title. In case you’re not math literate, ≠ means “does not equal.”

“Sharing is Caring” is a motto that grated on me the very first time I heard it; and it hasn’t improved upon longer acquaintance. There are many things one could share that would be considered uncaring. Things like:

  • Other people’s secrets
  • Ebola
  • Your debit card PIN
  • Hoax emails
  • Pictures of the kidney stone you just passed
  • Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up, in any form—written, sung, or recorded
  • Every virus going around this winter

See? Plenty of examples in which sharing ≠ caring.

My kids know how to share and do it willingly when it’s appropriate. Sadly, they sometimes share indiscriminately—and I’m not talking about the way my four-year-olds would tell everybody everything they heard at home (although that makes the list, too.) No, I’m talking about how they share their germs.

Which brings us to today’s tsuris (Yiddish for troubles): K is sick with a fever and other flu-like symptoms. Yesterday Mr. December admitted to feeling “under the weather,” which means he’s got a very mild version of whatever virus is flattening everyone else; and now I’m feeling a bit woozy, clammy, and somewhat wheezy too.

I had planned to take R and E to the skating rink this weekend (I was just going to watch this time.) I had hoped to continue my streak of daily 2km walks. Now I have to pivot and accept that my weekend plans involve only one outfit (pyjamas,) chicken soup (I have a big pot on the stove,) and lots of sleep.

Note to my kids: I love you, but for heaven’s sake, please stop sharing your germs!

Keepin' it real · Sartorial stuff

2010: Winter Weight

Decemberbaby1 Comment

It’s been very cold all week. I love it—the sky has been clear and sunny, which has resulted in a way better mood for me. I’m embracing winter by walking outside and then enjoying warm drinks and fires in the fireplace. There’s just one place I haven’t been feeling super cozy: my bed.

See, we never changed our duvet over from summer weight to winter weight. So every night I get into bed, slide under the extremely light duvet, and think, how is this going to keep me warm? It does, because it’s goose down and because our room isn’t that cold; but it doesn’t give me that cozy, all-bundled-up feeling that I’m craving. It’s just okay.

So today I went exploring in N’s room (for some reason all of our extra duvets and blankets get stored in there, on the top bunk he never uses) and found our winter duvet. Before you say it, yes—this was so important to me that I was willing to change the king-size duvet cover (and you know how much of a pain in the butt that is!)

Now it’s done, and I’m really looking forward to feeling the full weight of our winter duvet around me as I fall asleep.

Next on the topic of cozy winter things: one of my favourite alpaca wool socks has developed a hole.

Darn.

(pun intended.)

Homeschool

Day 2009: Today

Decemberbaby1 Comment

It was a rare sunny day, so I dragged K out (in her chair) for a walk in the woods. Minus nine degrees, but we both felt happier (if not better) after our 2 kilometre circuit.

I’m trying to make homeschooling more enjoyable this term, so I lit a fire in the fireplace and did E’s geography and music lessons in there.

I had a few administrative tasks to do as well as homeschooling, and I actually got them all done. I’ve got nothing profound to say about it; it was just a very satisfying day.