Head Cold and Dysautonomia = UGGGHHH

Hey there. I haven't blogged in just about forever. But, since this stupid sinus infection slash headcold has knocked me flat on my behind for 4 days now, I guess I'll take the time to blog! So, I'm not even sure where I left off last blog, so I suppose I'll just do a basic update.  Before I got this latest bout of sickness I was trying to keep up with the most therapeutic thing I'd had going in my life. Small Gardening! I know what you are thinking. How on earth can you garden!?!
Well, that is easy.  Raised beds! They are hardly any work at all after the initial setup and even non-gardening people are capable of helping you out with that! So at the start of the year I had 2 raised beds set up for me. Each are both 4'x4' and 10" high and filled with a mix of composted manures, peat moss (would rather have had coco coir, but wasn't available at the time), and mushroom compost. We do square foot gardening so the beds are marked into 16 individual squares, each 1 square foot. You wouldn't believe the amount of vegetables you can grow in this amount of space!  I've had LOTS of time where I haven't been able to do much of anything and that has given me LOTS of time to do research! So last year I started researching and there is a great book by Mel Bartholomew that can walk you through it!  Click HERE for a link to buy that book!
Anyway, I have the 2 4x4 beds marked into 16 square feet. Planting is SUPER easy, can be done sitting on a bucket, the ground, or a milk crate!  This is GREAT especially for those of us who can't stand for long! So I get to garden while sitting and it only takes short amounts of time to get it done! No weeding! Very little watering! And no digging, tilling, or hoeing!  Just the pleasure of getting to watch things grow and produce food! My favorite part is the flowering right before the food starts growing. It's so pretty! My other favorite part is that even my little girls can garden easily like this! FINALLY something I can do with my kids since I got sick!!! That in itself is to me a miracle!
Oh, and the taste of organically grown fresh produce... OH. MY. WORD!!!  Seriously, give square foot gardening a try if you need something rewarding in life to keep your spirits up on those super hard days!
Speaking of the joys in life, my daughter has gotten herself some chicks and a rooster. He's a beautiful white silkie bantam and the chicks are 2 of each Aracauna, Silver Laced Wyandotte, and Buff Orpington.  I am enjoying watching her learn responsibility and life lessons while caring for her birds! Plus in the afternoons sitting in the shade while the girls play, I get to watch the chicks and let me tell ya... chickens are funny creatures! So interesting to watch or maybe it's just because I've been forced to change the way I live in the last several years...lol  Who knows!?! But either way it's relaxing and completely stress relieving.
As far as the stupid disease goes, I'm doing everything in my power to live life to the fullest without killing over!  I have really learned to read my body and most importantly listen to what it's saying. I rest frequently yet try to keep active as much as my health allows. I'm finally sweating again (yeah, never thought I'd be happy about sweat!) so I'm not overheating as often. That is a HUGE plus here in the South!  Along with staying REALLY hydrated... I should own stock in bottled water... and eating better and taking short walks around my house as often as possible to build strength... I feel pretty good about how I'm handling life with Dysautonomia these days.
At the checkout at Target when I got some meds filled and got the kids easter basket I met a lady. She was our cashier. She was working with more enthusiasm and speed than any of the other workers there. The catch... She was in the middle of radiation treatments for cancer. I knew before she even said it because I've had family members receive treatments for breast cancer before and she had the look they had. But I can't stop thinking about her and her attitude about her life. She was choosing to live for the moment. Live and enjoy every moment. Be happy despite her circumstance.  That's what we have to do... Live for the moment and love the life you are living! I'm not saying that every moment is easy... heck it's definitely never easy with a chronic disease. But how we feel when we are sick doesn't have to be depressing! Find joy and laughter and cling to the happy moments! Never take a single moment for granted!  It's true that laughter is the best medicine! Find something in life that is enjoyable and therapeutic for you and enjoy it as much as your health allows!
Until next time, I hope you have an amazing day and a dys free one! If you are here and you don't have dysautonomia but some other chronic disease... then I pray it's a day free of pain and all that stuff!
And if I'm rambling then I'm SORRY! Can't blame a girl for trying to write with a sinus infection and head cold for 4 days straight!