completely wiped out...

[cookiebaker]

had a lunch date with a friend/former co-worker today and figured since i was going to be out anyway, might as well put in a grocery order and get that picked up.. cupboards were looking pretty bare, lol

Lunch was great! was so nice to see, sit & chat with my friend after so long... i think we probably could have sat there for hours talking, but she had to get back to work.. so off i went to get my groceries picked up... by the time i got home, was pretty wiped out already.. but still had to get groceries brought in.. at least the frozen & fridge stuff anyway and get those put away... managed to accomplish that, but still have a few things in the car - nothing that is going to be hurt by leaving it, tho.

so now, I am completely wiped out... so tired.. back is acting up, legs and arms feel like lead... ugh.. I knew I was going to over-do it, so i did this to myself.. *beats head on desk* dumb, Dumb, DUMB - I KNOW better... Why do we do this sort of thing to ourselves?

 

[JayCS]

i was going to be out anyway, might as well put in...

Yep, that's the one to unlearn. Simplifying by combining several tasks works to decrease total amount, but more important is to split up and put breaks in between. A workaround here might have been a break lying down somewhere comfy. During that we can check our pain levels and see how much else is possible and when. Other possibility: Leave the cupboards bare, try using up anything in the corners.

Why do we do this sort of thing to ourselves?

It's easy to know why we do this sort of thing to ourselves. Because we used to be able to and it used to be sensible, to save time and energy. So that's not the problem.
It's the unlearning of old and learning of new habits that's not easy. We get it done quicker if we learn our "weaknesses", question our assumptions, put "my body first", knowing that coupling larger tasks will steal time, rather than save time. Or better as a positive: Breaks and planning will save a lot of time.

 

[cookiebaker]

Yep, that's the one to unlearn. Simplifying by combining several tasks works to decrease total amount, but more important is to split up and put breaks in between. A workaround here might have been a break lying down somewhere comfy.

Yeah, easier said than done... I live out in the country. Nearest decent grocery store is a 30 minute drive (one way) and at the price of gasoline these days.. you dont make multiple trips if you can help it. My lunch "date" was on the way to get groceries picked up. (i pretty much always order online these days so I dont have to try to walk around the store).

I do understand what you are saying tho. and I should try to time grocery pickups/days to coincide more with my partner being home to help with unloading the car - that is what really did me in.

 

[sunkacola]

Yeah, easier said than done... I live out in the country. Nearest decent grocery store is a 30 minute drive (one way) and at the price of gasoline these days.. you dont make multiple trips if you can help it. My lunch "date" was on the way to get groceries picked up. (i pretty much always order online these days so I dont have to try to walk around the store).

I do understand what you are saying tho. and I should try to time grocery pickups/days to coincide more with my partner being home to help with unloading the car - that is what really did me in.

Sounds like me, cookiebaker. It's a 40 minute drive for me to reach the closest grocery store. I have to combine all my trips to town and go anywhere from 2 to 8 places when I go in, which I try to keep to one day a week. Going in to town more than one day (or two if absolutely necessary) not only costs more but also wears me out worse than one long day because going in to town is in itself very tiring for me. Not to mention that if I really liked being in town I wouldn't live 40 minutes drive away from it.

Your solution of having your partner available to help unload (lucky you!) sounds just right.

 

[cookiebaker]

Not to mention that if I really liked being in town I wouldn't live 40 minutes drive away from it.

Exactly!!

People - do not recommend!

it was great for a long time... nearest neighbor was a 1/4 mile down the road, and kept to themselves too... until about 4-5 yrs ago... there is now a new house directly across the road from me, with neighbors that aren't exactly the most considerate people on the planet. I suppose it could be worse.. but dang it.. I do not like having neighbors that close.

 

[JayCS]

Wow! Heard it before, but since then this'd be even less possible for me.
The last thing comparable to what you two regularly do caused a 1 month flare.
If I were forced to do this, the only solution I can think of is I'd need to lie or sit comfy for 30-60 mins after every 30', including the trip there. Being driven or train - if I were "able" to drive myself I'd need a week or so to recover. Breaks every 30' lying down are what sometimes allows me to stay at friends longer.

So transferring that back to your situation: Would breaks like this help you and be possible?

 

[cookiebaker]

would not be very practical in my situation.. I would have to find a place to park (that would not complain to the police) and I would not really be able to lie down.. best i could do would be to recline my seat back...

driving for me used to be a way of life.. I drove truck for a living for nearly 20 yrs (and this is most likely the source of my back and neck issues) so the driving itself is not too terrible... altho I do realize that I would not be able to do long trips now, without a few breaks.

My bigger problem is getting the groceries in from the car and getting things put away. Four steps every trip (up and down) and carrying the bags - sometimes loaded heavier than i would like.
I try to start with the frozen and refrigerated goods - those are top priority to get put away... non-perishables can wait if they need to and frequently do.
the nice thing about ordering groceries online is that items are pretty well grouped in the bags... frozen is all together, frig stuff is all together, produce together, etc. because they need to keep those items in proper temps until you get there to pick them up. Makes putting things away a lot easier. lol

 

[sunkacola]

@cookiebaker , same thing happened to me pretty much; bought the place with a beautiful view. Neighbor right across the road now, spoiling part of my view and I dislike it. but I am lucky, because they are the quietist neighbors anyone ever had.

I do OK driving, even cross country as long as I stop and stretch a minimum of every two hours. If the trip is a day long or more, I am pretty much a wreck by the time I get there, though. I have decided the next trip I take, if it is in the warm months, I will take longer to get there on back roads and sleep in my car making it possible to take an extra day to get there.

But going to town has a whole other set of things, not just time in the car, so it can be as exhausting as spending a day going over the road.

 

[cookiebaker]

But going to town has a whole other set of things, not just time in the car, so it can be as exhausting as spending a day going over the road.

oh, i completely agree... going to town means more people (again, do not recommend, lol) - even if I dont have to spend a lot of time around them.. it is just the fact that they are there.
most of the time, when i go to town, it is because of an appointment at the clinic.. for whatever reason... those days i tend to get more stressed than normal.
i guess it is just something i have to learn to cope with and manage the best i can. Dr appts are necessary evils... and groceries are kind of necessary as well...

 

[sunkacola]

I have various strategies for making it less stressful. One thing is I do not read anything, billboards, store signs, etc. That seems to make things less stressful. And, even though I am not crazy about having all the people around me, I make an effort to be as friendly and nice as possible when I need to interact with someone, and that seems to help as well because then they are friendly back most of the time. I make a list, in order of my most efficient driving route, of the places I need to go so that I can mentally or physically cross off each one like a countdown to when I get to leave the city and get out into the area where I live again.
It also helps that as soon as I get to a certain point in my trip home I am on the other side of mountains that completely block any sign of the city and it feels more remote than it is. Almost as if I am home when I get to that point even though I am still several miles away.

It's worth it to me, by far, to live here and make the drive. Again, I am lucky that my drive to town is very scenic and beautiful at any time of year. And the area in which I live is very, very quiet. To me that peacefulness alone is worth all the drives I need to make!

 

[cookiebaker]

yup, i do pretty much the same as you, @sunkacola

and yes, it is far better out here than in town, or even closer to town. Just wish there were more trees around me.. we are surround by corn fields, LOL. We have trees on our little piece of property, but not enough for my tastes... oh well..

 

[sunkacola]

Not enough trees on my land for shade when I first bought it, but I got to work the first year planting trees and using watershed management to create places where trees would like to grow and between the trees I bought and the ones that volunteered, it looks very different now. Took a lot of work but it was worth it. I am very keen on watershed management.

Corn fields are nice too.

 

[cookiebaker]

well, after doing a whole lot of nothing the last few days, aside from going to PT and laundry, felt well enough to attempt a little mowing today. we have a fancy new zero turn mower that i have only been on once since we got it and not for very long.
Spent about an hour on it today, and dont feel too terrible. tired, yes. but not bad. Got done what I wanted to get done.. had my partner leave one section for me to try (the smoothest part, lol) and i got it done. Proud of myself.

 

[Auriel]

had a lunch date with a friend/former co-worker today and figured since i was going to be out anyway, might as well put in a grocery order and get that picked up.. cupboards were looking pretty bare, lol

Lunch was great! was so nice to see, sit & chat with my friend after so long... i think we probably could have sat there for hours talking, but she had to get back to work.. so off i went to get my groceries picked up... by the time i got home, was pretty wiped out already.. but still had to get groceries brought in.. at least the frozen & fridge stuff anyway and get those put away... managed to accomplish that, but still have a few things in the car - nothing that is going to be hurt by leaving it, tho.

so now, I am completely wiped out... so tired.. back is acting up, legs and arms feel like lead... ugh.. I knew I was going to over-do it, so i did this to myself.. *beats head on desk* dumb, Dumb, DUMB - I KNOW better... Why do we do this sort of thing to ourselves?

Cos we're just trying cookiebaker ️️

 

[hope23]

Well today is a challenge. Does everyone else have those days within a flare up that feel like a whole flare up of its own.

I felt it coming on yesterday, so had an easy dinner(i have become a lot better at making sure i have preportioned dinners in the freezer for days like this), had a long hot shower(wouldn't have been able to get back out of the bath so that was out) put magnesium cream on all tender areas and went to bed early(7:00pm) trying to give myself the rest my body was telling me i needed. Hope really is a double edged sword, you can feel the crash coming, you do what you can and get additional rest and that hope, that this time will be the one where it does the trick and you avoid the crash is so hard. Without the hope i may not keep trying, but doing all i can and the crash still happens is really hard. Definitely falls in the idea of acceptance, and that acceptance is a practice to work on every day, and keep working on it despite the hurdles thrown up in your path.