Are you , like Me, feeling like this fed up and weary Olaf today ?
After yesterday's flame grilled events the only fire left Flaring is in my joints so todays post is a perfect example of Festive Pacing in Action.
I put aside the Nativity post as it deserved more time and chose a quick little quiz to raise a smile on my Face ( and hopefully yours as well ).
Because Life , especially Life with Chronic Pain, is what happens while you are making other plans , and Clever Pacing living with the ' New Normal' of PMR or GCA is all about adapting those plans when the Flare Demons drive.
So here we are , a bit of fun , from a real scene at our Home , lovingly known as 'The Asylum' . So named , not just because we are all Mad here , but because for years it was always everybody's place to escape to , to hide from the Madness in the Run Up to Christmas and find a bit of peace or stress busting gentle Fun.
So, Who is Grumpy Olaf? Is it .....
A. Auntie Bee hoping that she can fool others with a cunning disguise to get out of yet another Christmas chore?
B. Is it the Eldest Daughter , known as Eric , hiding from Mr. Bee and the washing up , nursing a stomach ache because she ate a whole plate of doughnuts and didn't save him one !
C. Is it the youngest Daughter , known as Grandma , trying to spook out her greedy Sister to force her to give up a doughnut whilst Eric eats on and occasionally punches Olaf shouting , ' Stop it , you Pain, I will not Share!' , not even the Cat got a nibble!
D. Is it one of our Friends , hiding from their husband/ wife , because they just couldn't stand the idea of , in their words, "doing yet another pointless trip to the shops to buy something that won't get used anyway??!!!" Many have reached the end of their Tinsel and done the same before.
E. Is it a Celebrity ! trying to hide from yet another Christmas appearance , and if so , which one do you think it might be?
F... inally , could it be You , in mind if not in Body, because you really aren't up to the job today or this year and you forgot to put a Festive Pacing Day into your Christmas List. If so , look back and pen those Rests in now !
Answers in replies if you need a bit of diversion from the Seasonal Stress . Or show your victory over Christmas Mayhem , and Allegiance to the PMR/ GCA Christmas Freedom Party and help others see that it can be done. Tell Us about a thing you have changed or cancelled this Christmas to make your Chronic Christmas more Stress Free. And put out a shout , Cancelling it , Guilt Free!
Take care All , and if you like Olaf feel like you are rapidly melting , drop everything , cancel that list of things to do , and give yourself a guilt free Day ( or Year!!) Off. You really can , you know!
Hugs , from a lounging , occasionally snoozing , Aunty Bee xxx
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Blearyeyed
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I guess its eric? My solution to feeling fed up with weather and grotty gp news is to start my homemade mulled wine. I cant find the wine glasses so have reverted to half pint glasses instead!! So not only could my answers as a raging insomniac be strange they now have the added benefit of mulled wine🥳🤪🤫
I know , I remember when you tried to do it , you poured one and couldn't manage to drink it. You are like me these days , the heart may be willing to raise the odd glass but the body is weak.
I may manage a Babycham and lemonade on Christmas Day if I'm very lucky , do you think Bailey's fits in with going Carb Free / High Fat ? I will have to look it up and see!😋
I have a mixed fruit cider that I add mulling spices to as I can't cope with wine anymore , it's not just the alcohol but the tannins I think , it adds to my Dry Mouth symptoms. It's by that company called Koppaberg ??? I think , it tastes more like fruit juice than alcohol .
Babycham always reminds me of Christmas though , I used to get a bottle in my Christmas stocking.
Didnt know you could still get Babycham! My mother never drank alcohol, but her brother who returned from South Africa for holidays one time insisted she have a Babycham. Her face was bright red, probably like a bottle of wine to her!! Oh the memories!!
I drink it now as I was allowed to do as a child , third of a bottle and the rest of a big glass of lemonade. One bottle would last me three days when I was 10 , and I'm back there again , but a taste of Christmas and at least I make a cheap date for Mr. Bee!😋😂😂😂😂
That was an actual quote but not necessarily from the person dressed as Olaf at that point , I will let you know if you are right tomorrow .😋
They were rewarded with a comfy chair , kiss on the head , giant mug of coffee and a mince pie and luckily recovered before they were found , no divorces ensued.....that year!
Christmas Fatigue , it's a Chronic illness that can hit quite suddenly but last a Lifetime , just like Birthday Fatigue . There is nothing wrong with choosing not to celebrate anything , we have a lot of friends that do it and deserve the right to do it guilt free . We will still give them a card or gift if we want to and they don't mind because they know we genuinely do it because it makes us happy and we don't want anything in return.
Actually one event I will attend this year is something that grew quite naturally after Christmas at my Non Christmas celebrating friend's house to use up the leftovers . We have an Un Christmas get together , no fuss , no partying . I make a big pan of soup , we have a giant plate of sandwiches , theres some cake and a good catch up. It gets more popular every year. It's funny though , as one of them looks just like the Man in the Red Suit and his nickname is , Bad Santa!
I always preferred Boxing Day anyway - we'd always made a double load of veggies so it was cold turkey and bubble and squeak made with sprouts (oh yum!)
You sound like us , love the bubble and squeak. If we have enough spare veg I often make bubble and squeak balls for a roast beef dinner as well. Also can't beat cold turkey with Triple cooked chips , oooh you have made me hungry now!
Nobody is coming except the cook ( OH) and one vegan, totally non- materialistic son . This will be cinch compared to last year with 10 round the table.
People might like the foodie idea if they have a vegan coming to their house.
I'm thinking of trying a vegan Christmas cake this year because it's one of those recipes that don't need months of maturing and you can just bung it in a bowl and shove it in a tin.
Every year we make a vegan pastry tower with a layer of tasty chestnuts, cashew, pistachio onion and garlic ( like nut roast) a layer of red cabbage with apple and balsamic vinegar. Some cranberry, and then cheese that is a problem, (because apparently dairy cows have dreadful life, permanently pregnant with their calves snatched away). So we need to find a cheese substitute. This has a rich sauce using onions and mushrooms And veg Bouillon. They are gorgeous, but now he’s a vegan not just a veggie , we will need to adapt everything - the starter is usually warm blinis with a quails egg on top with peppered mayonnaise or a prawn in pink sauce. So some adjustments - aarg Gord’s Christmas trifle! Eggs cream the lot. Maybe 10 round the table and a turkey would be easier. 🤗
Thats sounds really tasty and festive , you could do individual portions so others can have the cheese but have you tried that vegan cheese?
The chain brand is good called Violife . Cathedral City has a vegan cheddar but it's better eaten as it gets quite oily melted , and Tesco own brand smoked vegan cheese is one of the few things I but there.
You can make quite an extensive vegan cheese board with them , if you get a vegan soft cheese , you can make a roule with garlic and herbs , or we added a splash of port , shape it in a yoghurt tub , then cover it in walnut halves. Can you tell by any chance that our Grandma got Dairy Intolerance last year , sad as she's a big cheese lover.
She actually started using those Lactoaid supplements though this year and has been able to return to cheese but at least we have learnt how to add more stuff for our vegan friends.
Your could always ask your 'Cook' to make some vegan brownies for the one , that the vegan can pick on through the day , and some sort of veggie salsa to have on their blinis while you still get the prawns . Nobody else should miss out on their Christmas treats then and be forced to eat vegan on your special day as it's not that much extra work . If you want a recipe PM me.
Believe me I am clueless at many things , especially Tech Stuff and Bike riding ! I have a Tricycle and I have to ask Poops for help all the time with links!😋
What is Violife like as slices? Does it sort of melt? The range is pretty restricted here - not that many vegans though lots of veggies. Our local dairy cattle have a good life, outdoors and always fed on grass or hay, the calves stay with mum for a long time, even the bull calves that are used for veal, so the veggies happily eat the cheeses made up the mountain.
However, the vegan granddaughter in the UK says Scheese is good for melting - it's what Papa Joes uses on vegan pizza.
Yup. 4 out of 6 will do normal but wondered what to do for the awkward squad. GD says she just toasts the veggies to go with whatever vegan "meat" there is. My kitchen isn't really designed for cooking for 6 mixed diets where all bar me are rather picky
I'm going to check with Grandma and I will let you know later . She did all the melting experiments trying to recreate Macaroni Cheese and there was one that worked really well and I can't remember which it was . Luckily , occasionally I have my cheese mate back ,
but you are right about the asthma , if we have chest infections and colds we cut out the dairy too , cuts down on the mucous
I hate that vegan " cooked meat " or "no bacon" , last time I tried a raclette we put some nice bits of vegan sausage and Quorn chicken bits in it cooked the day before , with the same veg as everyone else , it's the cheese we put on that I'm trying to remember
I leave it to them to choose that! I can't eat many of them anyway as they are made of wheat stuff. It is difficult here because there is a heavy emphasis on local food and the local Spar has a promotion on at present for Italian food in general which is great as you get veggies grown in the fresh air but under cover all year round. We even get wonderfully shaped and tasty Italian peppers instead of the perfectly even sort from the Low Countries!
I had a long one shaped like an S a few months back but it tasted great.
Just grabbed Grandma , she said definitely use the Violife , it's the one she sliced thinly , no oil and it actually , in her words , ' can do stringy '!
We use the block but they only did ready sliced years ago and I remember it being the same , it's the same cheese as the block. It's thin enough just presliced , so it should work the same , she suggested part cutting the slices a bit with a knife , to increase the meltiness . She is on form today.
I’m going with Eric, and well deserved tummy ache! Your points are well made, I’m trying to get there...rest...but need to bake a cake and vote first! Crochet and movie afternoon planned...but must go book a hotel for night before we fly off on hols in January.
Well we’ve voted in the pouring rain, the cake is in the oven and I made a marmalade bread and butter pudding to celebrate the temporary, very temporary, end to my low carb diet! Starting on 5:2 today. Just going to make hotel reservation, then OH can heat up the soup for lunch...running a tad late, but keep dropping everything this morning! For me by far the most restful day I’ve had since October!
It might be going to let you know soon , yes , my Surgery also mucked up my prescription and forgot the HRT on Monday , Mr. Bee has kindly just popped back from work so I might get back to normal soon. Well , as normal as I ever am!
Being one of the “ olders”, mine is a victory over Christmas that started before pmr. In my mid 70’s I began delegating to the next generation. Since pmr that really escalated. They do a great job. I still have a say as they organize our family get together, but no stress. If I just show up, they’re happy. 🎄 🤗
Yah!!! That's the way to do it , being a baby ( 48) I'm still vaguely stuck with it , but with the girls both over 16 , and the GCA and POTS from last year I happily let them make most of Christmas dinner with their father , following my written instructions , then I made the gravy it was lovely being in the kitchen together and not worrying about what time we ate . I will do the same this year I think. No big parties this year either , until my tachycardia is sorted ( except on here with you!) . Most of my trips out are for hospital appointments . If I can manage to help out with things I do , if not , I'm like you , Give it up Guilt Free , it took time to ease up , but, it didn't just easier but really more enjoyable. Eric can however take the longest time preparing a pan of sprouts I have ever seen!
Probably me, when I can’t do the simplest thing. Grouchy. Or at least frustrated. You should have seen me trying to do my easy Christmas decorating. The mini- stockings that are supposed to hang around a door frame are hanging on a door knob until someone arrives who can reach their arms up without hurting. 😒. Guilt free is the way to go. Good for you. 🤗
We have a snoring Ernie doll with a slightly loose wire so it goes off randomly on its own.
I hide it in Mr Bees bed and it went off when he sat on edge , ' zzzzz, I need a nap!' I could hear him jump six feet from downstairs.
I also hide it in the girls room s in the middle of the night while having a bout of insomnia , it was the most fun I'd had in months , ' oooh, I'm so sleepy' they weren't after they heard that at 2am!
I think it’s Eric! I have changed Christmas this year as last year I had a bit of a meltdown!
The son in law was supposed to be cooking on Boxing Day but as it was at our house it didn’t really work; me acting as sous chef , finding everything for him and trying to wash up as we went along, as he uses every implement in sight. Having said that he is an excellent cook!! It is just that my husband does the washing up and can’t believe the mess SIL makes so last year I was trying and failing to keep everyone happy.
This year we had an early total family celebration in November. Christmas Day is just my 94 year old mum and my husband, cooking what we like which is easy and not traditional. We have a day off Boxing Day although SIL( the cook), youngest daughter and 3 kiddies under 3 ( twins 18 months and one 2 and a half)will stay Boxing Day night( arriving really late) Then we all go to our son’s and DIL day after Boxing Day for family celebration for one meal. I have nothing to do for this meal I might add- I do though offer to pay for the meat as a meal for 17 is a bit costly.
So everything parred down from what it used to be and I am gradually learning to hand over the mantle to the younger ones. I used to love organising and planning everything. Now I really haven’t got the energy or inclination!!
Yes , first time I tried scaling back I felt like I was running about more getting everything out.
These days , even normally when I cook , I give them a list of what I need out of the cupboards etc. and they sort the veg out before I go in the kitchen , it means I can still make a nice Mum meal without the Fuss . They get the stuff from the cooker and have started playing up too. Sounds like I'm being lazy but with the Orthostatic part of my tachycardia I can't keep bending up and down quickly , it's dangerous , dinner could be fed to the floor!
I think it takes time to pass it on , just do what you can cope with or enjoy , but you eventually get to see why the older generation finally get a smile back on their faces like the children , and they deserve it after many years of Loyal Service.
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