Health Fitness and Beauty

Another family weekend – time for a break!

August 16, 2009 by Tricia

It’s been another family filled weekend! It seems like pretty much since mid July we’ve had family visiting or staying over every week! No wonder I’m feeling run down!

My husbands uncle isn’t doing so well these days and about a week ago, his family (the uncles) called to ask if Chris could spend the weekend looking after his uncle while they went out of town to a wedding.

Chris was up for the task, but we knew his uncles health was failing and I wasn’t sure if my husband really knew what he’d just agreed to! I mean taking care of a person who needs just about everything done for them is taxing and stressful. As it turns out his uncles daughter didn’t feel all that great about leaving her father for the weekend either so my husband and his cousin decided to take care of him together.

As things go in my husbands family the plan changed and his cousin and her husband did the main care taking duties over the weekend. In the meantime though … my husbands mother and another aunt decided to come down for a visit (and to see the sick uncle). So I’ve had a houseful of in-laws all weekend.

As I’ve mentioned over the last few weeks my Crohn’s has really been acting up so I didn’t go with the gang to visit Chris’ uncle (for hours and hours at a time!) as my stomach was just hurting too much.

Chris and I are going to go for a visit this evening though – just the two of us … more my style anyways.

Now that the weekend is just about over and Chris’ mother and aunt have returned home I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be relative free for a few weeks! I hope! Of course, if Chris’ uncle gets sicker that may not hold.

Have you had a busy “family” summer too? How do you handle it?

My garden has a hold on me!

August 2, 2009 by Tricia

Join

I was still feeling crappy yesterday thanks to yet another Crohn’s flare, but in the late afternoon I decided I wanted to go outside and at least take some photos of my Rose of Sharon tree.

You see, it just started blooming about a week ago – huge lavender Hibiscus like flowers – lovely. In fact, yesterday, while gazing at the tree I could see more flowers than green leaves. Yes, it was blooming like crazy!

While I was outside with my camera I must have had a surge of energy because suddenly I didn’t feel as bad as I had an hour or so before. I noticed that some of my plants were flopping over and that some of the roses had some dead branches and the next thing I knew I was busy tidying up my garden!

Meanwhile … my husband was in the front yard watering and as he made his way to the back I put him to work helping me tidy up some of the garden beds too.

All in all I think we were outside from about 5:30 pm until 10 pm! By that time I was in pain … my poor back was aching and my stomach was screaming in pain. So I guess I’d better be careful the next time I want to go out and take some “pictures”.

I didn’t upload the photos from my camera that I took of the Rose of Sharon tree and my other plants yesterday, but I’ll do that soon. I’ll probably post them on my gardening blog when I do! In the meantime … here’s a couple of photos of some of the other plants that are blooming in my garden right now.

Climbing iceberg roses 9 — Climbing Iceberg Rose

Of course there are plenty of other plants blooming, growing and or producing fruit and veggies … this is just a sampling!

We also picked raspberries yesterday evening and plan to have them for dessert this evening. Yummy!

Do you garden? If so, what’s blooming or growing in your garden this week?

Hard hit by my Crohn’s this week

July 30, 2009 by Tricia

Well this has been a dud of a week for me. My Crohn’s is as bad as it gets – well pretty much.

I don’t know what I did to make me feel so terrible. Perhaps preparing for our big family get together and my brother staying over almost two weeks ago did me in even more than I thought? I mean, I know all that cleaning and prep work wore me out, but I thought I was mainly just exhausted … perhaps I pushed myself into an even worse Crohn’s flare.

Actually maybe some of the food I ate at our family BBQ and the days afterward’s as we tried to finish up the extra food is one of the culprits. Particularly the corn on the cob!

I really love Corn on the Cob but it doesn’t like me at all. I don’t know why, but when I eat it it really aggravates my Crohn’s. So … if I really want some I tend to only have one a year. That’s right … just one! Usually in August when the fresh sweet corn comes into season. However, I think I’ve had about five pieces of corn on the cob this year – most of that being two weeks ago … so maybe that’s why I’m feeling so crappy. Odd that it didn’t hit right away though.

Anyway … since I’ve been in so much pain this week and just feeling tired and out of sorts I’ve just been lying on the couch working on my sites behind the scenes, playing Mahjonng on the computer and reading lots of books. Luckily I had about five novels lying around that I hadn’t read yet. I’ve gone through three of them this week alone!

I am feeling a little better today. Possibly because I fell asleep on the couch last night … then woke up around 7 am, stayed up for two hours or so and moved upstairs to the bedroom where I somehow slept right through my alarm until close to 2:30 pm! My body must have needed that sleep!

Hopefully I’ll continue to feel better as the week progresses. I hope I do! My husbands on holidays this week and next and so far we really haven’t done much because I haven’t been feeling well. Grrr.

Hope you’re having a better week than me!

Still wiped out

July 26, 2009 by Tricia

Well I thought I’d be recovered by now from having a house guest and a big family barbecue last weekend, but I don’t think I am!

Last night Chris and I decided to go to the Street Festival part of the Toronto Beaches Jazz Fest. I seriously thought I was up for it .. but a few hours before we went we had a huge storm – 30 mm + of rain in an hour or so, and oh buy did the humidity ever rise!

That humidity zapped me as we walked the crowded street passing and stopping to watch multiple bands play jazz, blues and funk. Oh I had fun! the music was fantastic, and I’ll post some photos in another post soon … but I just wasn’t feeling well last night. Not at all.

It’s the Crohn’s of course that’s doing me in. When it’s active I can’t do a lot of activities – not just because of the pain and other symptoms … but because the more I do the sicker I seem to get. I also get tired really easy too. There are days I’m so wiped out that I couldn’t even read a colon cleanse review or anything else for that matter!

Chris is on holidays this week and we don’t have any specific plans … however, I think for my sake, I’ll just try to take it easy for the next couple of days and maybe I’ll feel better.

Are any of you on holidays this week? What are your plans?

Recovering from our big family BBQ

July 23, 2009 by Tricia

OK, recovery mode – over!

As I mentioned last week my brother came in to town this past weekend (Vancouver to Toronto) for a business meeting on Monday.

It had been a long time since any of my siblings or I had seen my brother … close to two years! So naturally, along with his three and a half day visit to Toronto we needed to arrange some kind of family get together. We also had Chris’ parents coming into town to take Chris and I out for a meal on Saturday.

I’d only found out that my brother was going to be coming for a visit and would be a house guest last Tuesday or so … So we were in a mad scramble to 1. clean the house, 2. prepare for a family gathering and 3. figure out how we’d see the in-laws on Saturday as well!

There were lots of family emails going back and forth all week as we tried to plan for my brothers visit. Finally I came up with the idea of us having a backyard BBQ on Sunday that any family who wanted to come would be welcome to attend.

Now, I wouldn’t say our house was dirty … but we are in stalled renovation mode, and with a ceiling with slats nailed to it awaiting the tin ceiling we hope to put in … the house seems to get dustier quicker than it should. Not to mention the fact that our dog seems to be going through a heavy shed …

So I guess I started cleaning on Wednesday and put in a full day and a half on both Thursday and Friday! By the time my brother arrived I was exhausted … and I still had to get the food ready for the BBQ!

Luckily my brother is really easy going, willing to help out a bit and pretty much a perfect house guest! He happily tagged along on Saturday (after we’d gone out for a noon hour late breakfast with my husbands parents, picked my brother up at the airport and brought him back to our house) to the grocery store and beer store as we got everything we needed for the next days barbecue.

In the end I bought too much food! We were expecting a total of 13 people and I served Octoberfest sausages, Greek spicy Italian sausages (I know weird – made by a Greek butcher, but Italian flavor LOL), fresh corn on the cob, a green salad, potato salad and the food that my sister, sister in law and niece were bringing as well!

I guess my family aren’t big eaters … we only went through about 10 sausages, and 8 hamburgers and had about the same amount of each (not yet cooked thankfully!) left over. I’d also cooked 15 corn on the cob and only 7 were eaten … So Chris and I have spent the week cooking up and eating the sausages that were already thawed for Sundays party and finishing up the salads and desserts!

I guess for us it’s been a week long barbecue!

On Monday evening we drove my brother to his Airport Motel (he had an early flight the next day so it was easier for all of us if he stayed closer to the airport), and then we spent some time in his motel room having a last visit. By the time we returned home it as close to midnight and Chris and I were beat.

Actually I was exhausted by Sunday evening or truth be told after all that cleaning before the weekend has even begun! Darn Crohn’s disease … it just wipes you out. Monday I had a massive headache all day … probably from being overtired and well .. I had a few drinks on Sunday … and I don’t drink very often these days.

Tuesday and Wednesday were right offs as well … It’s only today that I’m starting to feel more like myself.

I’m sure that if I were healthy (ie no Crohn’s!) having more than a dozen visitors descend on our home wouldn’t have fazed me all that much … but considering my health it was quite a big task … one that I made worse with my insistence that the house be as clean as it could be.

Have you ever been totally wiped out after having a family gathering and at least one house guest?

Anyone else having a big family gathering or reunion this summer? We had a great time at ours (my oldest brother couldn’t make it, but the rest of the siblings were there).

Another family weekend – time for a break!

My garden has a hold on me!

Hard hit by my Crohn’s this week

Still wiped out

Recovering from our big family BBQ

Meta

Search this site

Blogs I Visit

Meta

Search this site

Tags

Blogs I Visit