I discovered how to put a picture at my header! This is Tuvok playing in the snow last Christmas when we had our blizzard. I'm usually not good at action shots so I'm really impressed that I got this one.

On Friday night I went to bed at 8:45. I woke up the next day at 11:30. It was awesome. I just kept sleeping until I finally had a good dream. (Playing with and photographing a fox in Canada) I hardly ever have good dreams, unless I've had a ton of sleep. So that's how I knew to get up. I felt really good all day yesterday. I puttered around and did stuff on my weekend list. We had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings with Dave and Froggi and Froggi's mom. Froggi's mom is awesome and we love spending time with her. Then we went shopping and got groceries. I got a pan for my plant shelf.

HEY!!! IT'S SNOWING!!!

Anyway. We got an aluminum automotive drip pan that is 25" by 48". I'm going to hammer the sides so they're straight up and then it should fit in the shelf just perfectly. Then I got some Rust-Oleum to waterproof the pan. I got the primer and a satin black. It should work. I hope this all works out!!

I'm working through the process of coming to terms with my Chronic Fatigue. When I talk about it or think much about it I feel really depressed and a little indignant. I was really hoping to avoid all this autoimmune crap but I guess I didn't. So basically here's the deal (according to the rheumatologist): My immune system is attacking various parts of my body. At this point my body is holding up pretty well but I feel very tired because it's like I'm constantly fighting an infection, except the infection is my own body tissues. Also, the Mono I had has stayed with me. Some people who have mono recover completely, some develop Epsteinn-Barr (autoimmune), and some develop chronic fatigue. That's what I did. So I kind of got both possible causes of being tired all the time.

So I'm developing a plan. The first part involves eating better. Yesterday at Walmart I got lots of fruits and vegetables and salad stuff. I'm going to have a salad at lunch every day. My goal is to have 5 different ingredients in my salads with as many colors as possible. I'm still going to eat my popcorn every day but half as much. I have some fruits for snacks. I'll probably have fruit for one snack and nuts for the other. At dinner I'll have meat, one green veggie, one colored veggie, and one whole grain (or not whole sometimes)(because some things just aren't as good with whole grains). Breakfast is still my soy milk and protein powder. This plan leaves me with enough calories left over to still have chocolate! I like that a lot!

I've eaten like this before and I remember feeling really good. I'm hoping that the diet will increase my energy enough that I can start exercising. Right now even the thought of exercising is too overwhelming. Also, as the weather warms in the spring I'll be going for walks in the park with Tuvok and doing more yard work.

DH has really come around recently and he is now as supportive as I could ever ask. He used to freak out about me being tired but now he understands a lot better. He encourages me to rest and not overdo it. He encourages me to do things that are good for me like eating better and exercising. He is even trying to eat better with me. He had an epiphany that just like being blind isn't something he chose, so is this. I don't want to be tired. I want to have boundless energy. But I don't. DH wants to be independent and drive a car, but he can't. We both just have to adapt and live our life as best we can. That alone has reduced my life stress tenfold. Over Christmas I got so stressed out that all my conditions flared up. I was exhausted, my muscles refused to work, my brain was mush, my sebborhea flared up (itchy rash around my nose and in my ear), I got a huuuuge cyst on my face, my back broke out, and it was awful. So stress plays a big role in how I feel.

DH's dad is over and they're watching the football game. The pizza should be here any minute. After lunch I'm going to put together the plant shelf. I have a little bit of repotting to do. I'm going to plant some lettuce. I have some leftover cookie dough in the fridge and I'm going to bake it. That's pretty much it.