CFIDS is NOT the Captain of My Ship Anymore

For twenty five years I have dealt with Chronic Fatigue Immune Dsyfunction Syndrome, and for most of that time, it has tossed me this way and that, regardless of where I wanted to go. At least, that's what I thought...I thought I had no control over this disease that had taken control of my life.

However, a lot has changed since I first became ill. Good news is that I no longer deal with issues such as a fluttering heart beat, or my heart stopping for a beat; no longer have nights sweats. My blood pressure no longer drops all a sudden, sending me into a shivering mess.

My organs no longer get so cold I could tell you where each of them was, because they felt like blocks of ice inside my body. I no longer feel as if my head is going to drop off my neck. When I tell my eyes to open they do. When I tell myself to get out of bed, I can.

Two summers ago, I had managed to swim 100 laps in the pool a day. Did I do it all at once? No. I swam first 5 laps, then increased it till I could do 20 laps. Then I did 20 laps 5 time a day.

Last summer, I managed the 6000 mile trip from Fla to Alaska, then managed to get moved into a place here in Seward. I don't know anyone in Seward, and only one friend in Anchorage.

I planned this trip 8 years ago. Took me a while, but I got here.

I had to give up a lot of things to get to the place I am at now. First, my views on spirituality. I was raised a Mormon, and have 300 relatives who are Mormons. I had many blessings from Mormons for this illness. Didn't help. In fact, for me, I had to explore alternative spiritual practices in order to not succumb to the despair and depression caused by this illness. I explored a lot of things, including crystals and stones,
and Native American spiritual practices, (which I really like).

I gave up doctors also. Ten years ago a doctor told me I would be dead within the year. Last time I went to a doctor. Now I listen to my body; when it tells me to rest, I rest. If I don't want to do something, I don't. Unless it's really important to me to do, and then I accept the consequences of pushing past my limits. I know that I will be in bed until I replace the extra energy used. I've learned not to whine about my inability to do what other people can do. I do what I can do, and that's enough for me.

Crystals and stones really worked for me somehow. I was a real hard core case against these very objects when well, but one of my friends gave me one as I lay there in my bed.
I would stare at it, and it was like it gave me energy to focus my thoughts somehow. Crystals led me into a whole new area that I never would have explored had I been well. My mind was just too closed.

And this may sound strange, but somehow I am grateful for the path that CFIDS has led me to. I used to have no patience for sick people...I do now! I found that I could make some really beautiful things using crystals and stones, and it felt good while I was doing it. I could do it in bed if I needed too. I would never have found this talent for creating jewelry, had I not gotten sick. I am an Aries, we don't like to sit still...we like to be doing anything physical. I have found that I have other talents I never would have found otherwise.

And frankly, I've met some truly wonderful people on this part of my journey that I never would have met had I not had this illness. Call me a sucker, but I am grateful for that.

I like my life. No, I don't do everything the way that I did them before. But I still get whatever job I decide to tackle...I get it done. Maybe not as fast as other people. I do get it done my way tho.

Spring is Almost Here and Lisa's Out of The House!

Spring is almost here, and yes, Lisa's out of the house. Since everyone is asking for pics of our town, we went around and took some. This trip just includes pics of the real Seward, and the next trip will be of the tourist Seward.

We took a pic of the view from our living window, then headed down Third St. where we took a pic of the bus station Lisa had to use when coming back from Anchorage when she broke her leg. Then we headed down to the SeaLife Center, and this is where Jackie's going to get a job when she comes here. The work is right up her alley, as Jackie loves all animals, and here is where she gets the opportunity to work with them.

Then we headed over to the ocean where I took a pic of Lisa on her first day outside with her cane. She looks kinda lopsided! But she is walking. And pretty soon she won't be a "newbie" anymore. She will have survived her first Alaskan winter!

We took pics of the ocean and mountains, and then headed down main street. Got a pic of the library and post office, but the batteries ran out when we tried to take a pic of City Hall. City Hall houses everything...the police dept, the motor vehicles dept., the utilities dept.

The days are getting longer now...sun comes up at 8:00 am and goes down 8:00 pm. The local Safeway store (which carries a little bit of everything) stays open from 5:00 am till midnight.

We're getting our jewelry ready for the 4th of July festival here, and so we are busy. 50 thousand or more people come to this festival, so we're making lots of stuff. We even got a sold mold of a hockey player with his stick (they are really big on hockey here)....we plan on using the teams colors on his uniform...should be cute. We'll post it on our store's website when we get it finished.

We're doing pretty well for a woman with a broken leg, and a woman unable to stay out of bed!

You can comment on this post by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of the post. You can visit the store by clicking on the store link in blue.

I'll post the rest of the photos on the facebook page....

We love you, we miss you

The Wind is a Howling tonight

The wind is howling tonight! It is raging so hard that it knocked my stain glass right out of the window it was sitting against. We had cracked open that window to let in some air, and to clear out the apt of smoke, as our upstairs neighbors complained that the smoke was going up the vent in the kitchen. Usually, with the windows open, we can hear the snow crackling like little twinkling lights, but tonight all we hear is that howling. Sounds kinda cool.
Lisa has her doctor's appointment with the orthopedic doctor tomorrow, early, and yet here it is 4:00 a.m. and we are both still awake.
Thanks to Jackie for our care package...the little xmas tree and decorations really made our day, as we gave all our xmas decorations to the Battered Women's shelter before we left. While it doesn't bother Lisa to not decorate for xmas, it bothers me. Christmas time is the best time of year, and I miss my tree and decorations. So, thanks very much Jackie.
UPS delivered right to our door. The mailman does not deliver mail to anywhere in Seward, so everyone has to pick up their mail at the post office. It was a real treat to have it delivered straight to our door.
I am posting a pic of our chakra ring, which comes with the seven stones for the seven chakras. It can be made in either gold or silver, and we do have the stones to make this same ring into a mother's ring, with the children's birthstones. You can see it in more detail at our ebay store .
You can also see it our own website.
We love you all and miss you terribly. Lisa is especially having a hard time because she has stay off her leg, and feels guilty because she is not supposed to do anything. So, everyone, send her lots of love by emailing her and letting her know you care.
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Merry Christmas to all of our friends and loved ones!

We have a new home!

We have finally moved to the place we are going to settle for a while. We were going to move to Moose Pass, but a mudslide on the road on the day we went to look at the house we were going to rent had us changing our minds about Moose Pass! So we have moved to Seward, Alaska. We have telephone service, cable and internet service! There are only about 2000 residents here in the winter time, which suits us just fine. The closest Walmart is 120 miles away.
SO, everyone can just stop worrying. We are not homeless. We are not living in a shelter. We are warm and dry, and have plenty of food to eat. There are doctors and a hospital here.
If a bear knocks on the door, we will look to see who is knocking before we answer the door.
The only problem is that Lisa keeps wanting to call the town we live in Steward, instead of Seward. If that is the only problem we face, I am sure we will be doing just fine!
We miss and love you all.

We are in love with Seward

Our last stop before coming home to Anchorage was Seward Ak. This is a wonderful little town with only 2600 residents in the winter. We stayed in the city campgrounds there, which had no internet but had coin-operated showers, and free toilets! The garbage cans are painted by local artists, and we have included some of those garbage cans with their new age sayings here. We had a view of the ocean which was surrounded on three sides by mountains. Absolutely awe-inspiring.
Lisa has taken a job in a remote lodge 350 miles from Anchorage, and works there until Sept.14. It's right next to a glacier and she gets to go on all the tours for free as part of her package. She also gets free room and board for the two months, and since there is not one place to spend money up there..she will save quite a bit. She is also getting to meet new people and learn what we will need to know to open up our own bed and breakfast.

We're having trouble getting consistent high speed internet here, so we are having to post new items very slowly to the new site, earthslittletreasures.com

We will still have the store at Ebay, but willing be phasing that store out when we finally get the new store up and running. At the new store, you can order unlimited amounts of soap without it being the problem it was on the ebay store.

We will be putting up on the blog some of the new items we have now wire-wrapped. They came out absolutely beautiful, and I wish we didn't have to sell them!

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