Pacing - the only way to survive Christmas with fibromyalgia

Just a little reminder to all that pacing is the only way to get through the next few days. Come the start of January, you wont regret having done frozen peas instead of sprouts, or having handed over presents in bags not neatly wrapped, but you will regret it if you spent the day in bed as you overdid it trying to prepare!

I managed to do too much tidying yesterday, getting carried away, and as a result didn't wake up until lunchtime, so now have to truly prioritise or suffer tomorrow. I want to eat christmas pudding, so thats next on the list, and maybe wrapping, but thats it for me. I have sent out to Waitrose entertaining for ready prepared vegtables, and a christmas cake. The local butcher Sumblers has prepared the meats, and amazon has provided almost all the presents - the others were from a couple of shops near work, or other web shopping sites. However looking back on this. it probably worked out at about the same costs as preparing early gave me web discounts enough to cover the extra in food ordering, so I think next year I will get amazon to gift wrap everything too!

Happy holidays everyone, and don't panic about the small stuff - just remember its your time that counts, not your perfection.

Sunning it

Its been so hot lately, that work seems to have suffered for everyone. Those air con units are so bad at work when they overheat, especially if like me you have sealed windows in your office. So the only answer is to hide at home, and then enjoy the evening sun. However, thats not so easy if you cant ever get comfy, so this year I went for a waterproof beanbag. And if its possible to say this of an inanimate, non gadget-like, item - I'm in lurve :)

Its very pink, but they had sold out of purple, so whats a girl to do? The best thing though, is actually being able to find comfort, lying on my front in the sun. I like to lie on my front to get the warm rays on my back to ease my aches and pains, and have never been as comfy in this position except on my tempur mattress! I can just fall down and be supported whilst reading or listening to my ipod and just relax for what seems like forever. I highly recommend it. As long as you have someone to help you back up out of it in case you seize up and undo all your good sun bathing...

Oh and try not to let the dog lie on top of you either, as that REALLY hurts ;)

Airports!

Just back from a trip to Amsterdam, leaving from Bristol so thought would do a quick comparison on the two airports.

Wi-fi - Quick and easy to log into a pay per minute system at Amsterdam, but at Bristol you had to go to a corner with PC's where there seemed to be a seat in front of every one. A1, B0

Wheelchair availability - Both you have to go in a way, but despite a couple of hitches both got a chair in good time, but at Amsterdam you couldn't get it till you had checked in, so don't try if you haven't got electronic booking from your provider or you wont get any shopping time. A0 B1

Lift to planes - Bristol won hands down for taking my husband and my friend, Amsterdam expects you to go it alone. A0 B1

Food - a bit unfair as Bristol is so much smaller, but still a goof offering, so one all this time.

Toilets - both were clean and easy to find, so again a draw on this one.

Passport Control - Bristol have managed to put a barrier in the way of the disabled access so you get pushed into the queue a get tutted loads, amsterdam fast tracks you via the crew lines - A1, B0

All in all therefore its a draw on the main points for me, but you have been warned!

Eden Project accessibility

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Eden project not only does free motorised wheel chair hire, but also lets you take in a carer for free when you book one!  We are off there next week, and I cant wait to see how things are shaping up since last year. I will let you know how I got on, but if you want to book in advance which is well advised, click here for the contact details.  In the meantime, I was also very pleased with the scooter options at The Mall at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol where they gave me a very fast 3 wheeler with a fantastic speed dial that went from tortoise to hare.  Hare was very speedy, hence me terming it ramming speed, and the two boys miss hearing this as Rabbit speed :)