Moving Day

Last Saturday was moving day. No, not me. I’m staying put. My best friend, however, has to relocate into the city for her new job.

For the last 3 weeks I have been going over to her place every other day to help her pack. The woman has *way* too much stuff, IMO. Since I’ve helped her move her household countless times over the 30+ years we’ve been friends, I would know.

Boxes,and boxes, and boxes, Oh My!

Why every other day? I am not taking the risk of going into a flare & not being able to help at all. Am I packing heavy stuff? You betcha! Am I moving it? Only when necessary & if it is light enough that I can safely lift. But some things, no way. Vinyl? No way! CDs? Nuh-uh! Paperbacks? Yes, cuz they’re in small liquor boxes. Hard covers? Not a chance. Collectables? With my flakey shoulder, I’m not taking the risk of dropping anything, so unless it not heavy & not far then sure, but otherwise, not happening. Movies? Nope cuz they are packed in a fairly big box. Linens? Depends on if it’s the big box or the small ones! Kitchen stuffs? Again depends on the weight. Decor? Nothing big, nothing heavy.. Furniture? Not in this lifetime, unless it’s like a TV tray or something equally light in weight.

Physically making the boxes, filling them,then sealing them up & moving them to start the next box, even if it’s super light, is quite the challenge. It helps that her & I do it together. She grabs the item off the shelf or out of the drawer & hands it to me, and I pack it to the box. So neither of us is doing all the actiins. Then we switch. It makes for fast work, while not completely stressing out our bodies. (BFF also has fibro). And that has been working awesomely!

Pain still happens though.
Thankfully a bad day, not a flare.

Sunday & Monday were a small crash, but may or may not have to do with packing cuz I was also exercising on Friday & Saturday.. this is the first & only time I’ve skipped helping due to pain. Given that I’d been helping pack now for 2 weeks, every other day, I think I was doing really well. But it’s not a flare, thank God, just a bad two days..

Did I unpacking anything? Only immediate necessities on Saturday. I usually start with the bed. Get that set up & made, so they have somewhere to sleep on Saturday night instead of under a pile or boxes. I rarely get past that point. But I know it’s greatly appreciated. This time because her daughter’s could not help due to covid, I started on her kitchen… Actually got most of her dishes, dish ware, glasses, cutlery & utensil unpacked.. So her kitchen, minus her food was pretty much unpacked by the time we stopped.

Let’s avoid crashing under a pile of boxes.

So, afterwards, I was home most of Sunday recuperating.. Went out for dinner with another friend that night, as we were going back into lockdown the next day. Monday & Tuesday were additional days of rest. & I was grateful that my cub meetings, despite me leading the main activity, were virtual – made bird houses! But by Wednesday I was feeling like my normal self.. Yay!!

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Anyone concerned about my risk of exposure to COVID, please read my previous post “Upcoming Move – Keeping Safe”

Upcoming Move – Keeping Safe

No, I am not moving, my BFF & her hubby are.

For the last 2½ weeks I have been going over to her place every other day to help her pack.

I know there will be those concerned about the risk of getting exposed to COVID. Yes, they are moving to the city, Toronto, Canada’s biggest hotspot but we are being as careful as possible.

To minimize any risk to my parents, I’ve isolated from them while I’m helping pack & move.

I am only in one circle at a time.

My bff & her hubby are now my bubble. No, I don’t wear a mask at her place, but they are the only people who I do that with. His job had been modified so that he interacts basically with no one while he does his pickups, not at his work & not with the clients. She currently works from home, but that will shift slightly after her move. In the grand scheme of things, they are low risk of being exposed. Because of running errands & my cub scouts, I’m at a higher risk of exposure than she is as she is only leaving her place to transport items to her new home, a house.

Because I’m only me & Lilly in my immediate household, it is recommended, for my mental health, that I extend my bubble. Helping my BFF & getting to spend some quality time is also good for my mental health & wellbeing.

Immediately after the move I will isolate for 2 weeks, no bubble whatsoever before returning to my parents’ bubble. I will not be helping my bff unpack as my Mom is not comfortable with that.

On the day of, masks. Every single person *must* have a mask before entering any premises. Hands must also be either sanitized before entering, or washed properly immediately upon entering. Signs will be up to help the movers go directly to the room they need to go to, making things more efficient & less wandering. I’m sure I’ll have a Lysol or Clorox sanitizing cloth at all times to wipe stuff down as the movers come and go.

This is the best way to keep everyone safe and at a comfortable level and allows me to help her out.

More info on the move & it’s impact on my Fibro coming shortly.

My Weight Loss Journey

I’ve always been a bit on the bigger side, a little chubby… I was 120lbs starting junior high, finished high school at 180lb, spent my 20s near 220-230lb.. About 15 years ago, I joined weight watchers with my mom and my weight had maxed out at 275lb. I lost almost 60lb on that program. But after that, my lifestyle completely changed and it turns out, not in a good way. So finally about 8-10 years ago, I stepped on the scale weighing a whopping 303lb.

I did not like that number, but wasn’t really in a position to do much about it. Between finances & available services & programs there’s not much I could do. So I started just eating less.. In the summer, we would walk over to the community pool and I would swim – not laps really, but just treading water.. it took a few years, but I lost about 25 lb in 4-5 years with that schedule. Very slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

At that point I moved out of the city, back near my family. My rent included membership to the local YMCA gym. I didn’t figure I’d be using the actual gym much, but I knew I’d use the hot tub. So, I used the hot tub 5-6 days of the week. I then started doing a yoga class at the gym for about a year until the instructor switched times. Then about 2 years ago,, my mom invited me to join her aquafit class..I started doing not much more than bouncing around in the water. But it was fun, so I kept coming back..

At this same time, my eating habits got better. While I still ate junk food, it was less often, and I was eating at least one good healthy & nutritious meal a day. That’s much better than before where fast food was the norm and serving sizes were twice what they shood be.

In the Aquafit, I was slowly working with increased intensity in the class… I started going to a second class later in the week. . The weight started coming off faster.

I tried to add jogging into the mix, but I just couldn’t get into it mentally, not on the ground and my lungs could not handle the cardio What I did do, I would run laps in the water. This worked the muscles but the cardio wasn’t as strong as I was unable to keep my breath while jogging .

I was improving. My health was getting better, pain levels went down (no, not gone, unfortunately), and my clothing started to get looser and looser.

I had items in a size 26 in my closet. I was swimming in those.most of my clothing was a 3X.. and I started to swim in those.

I feel better.. I feel healthier and happier. I actually feel like myself again.

Where do I stand now? I am a size 16, currently weighing in at 207lb, as of my last weigh in. a total loss of 97 lb so far.

Final goal? 180lb.

Pain

I hate being it pain! I can’t stand that I feel ‘fine’ when I wake in the early morning to take my meds, then later I am in more pains. It’s scary that when I lay here and I can feel the pain creeping down my body until every muscle hurts, even if it’s not horrible bad. It’s just as bad, if not worse than a localized flare with a higher pain level. When it’s localized, at least there are some movements that don’t yell at me. But when it feels like every muscle from top to bottom is hurting, nothing can be done without some sort of retaliation from my body. And when the pain meds don’t help, what can I do? Today I’ve already maxed out (& then some) on my narcotics, as well as my muscle relaxer.. Why does God have to play such a cruel game? To quote Depeche Mode, “I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumours, but I think that God’s got a sick sense of humour.”

 

Now, consider how this also impacts my SO, when the relationship isn’t as strong as it should be. It frustrates, him, me, and all those around us.

Pray for me?