Moving on up

..and moving on out.

That's right, we've decided that we're right royally sick of the muppet downstairs - even though we can mainly tune him out these days. Instead we're looking at moving home, possibly Knutsford way - perhaps even as far as Sandbach.
I'm no longer bothered about getting a decent doctor so it doesn't matter where we move - lets face it, I have a fantastic doc now but he can't do anything for me.

I had a long hard look at myself when the DLA decision came through denying me any money and I've come to the conclusion it is probably a justified decision.
Before I went into hospital for the perianal abcess experience back in.. um.. October? November..? Meh! Whenever it was. Anyhow, prior to that I was doing really well, but I was pacing properly and making a concerted effort to stick to a healthy diet and a decent schedule, that lapsed pretty much as soon as my backside broke out and I've not really tried properly to bring it back - this is why I'm so crap at present, I have no one to blame but myself.

The worst part is I know better! I wrote an entire page on the benefits of pacing for my website! I know eating and drinking certain things help more than others. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that diet has probably the biggest impact on my ability to manage this illness than anything else, yet I've been lazy, I've allowed myself to sink further backwards because it's easier to let Stef do everything, if he doesn't feed me, I don't eat - even when I'm at a suitable level of energy to make something, If he doesn't tell me I forget to take my pills, I don't go to bed or get up at set times..

I've allowed myself to become a leech. That's about to change, I had a look at my life and what I'm becoming and I don't like it one little bit.

Hence the chat we had earlier.

I've made a timetable for myself as I did the last time things were going well. the only things written in blood (or coloured in red) are meal times and waking/ sleeping times. I have pencilled in a cleaning rota interspersed with rest periods and free time, but these are subject to change depending on the demands of the week. I've also gone a step further and done a little nutritional research.

Since Stef want's to lose weight and has asked me to help him with this I've devised a shopping list and provisional meal plan using the Glyceamic index sadly this means I have to give up a lot of my comfort foods - the worst being mashed potato (my absolute favourite) in favour of things like lentils, it's not as bad as it sounds though, Stef is an amazing cook so he even manages to make lentils taste delicious - but it's not the same as a proper plate of mash is it?

The upshot of all this is if when I've followed this pattern for about a month I should be approching my former energy levels - maybe even sooner as long as no other colds/ ear infections etc sneak up on me which means I'll be able to recommence driving lessons, I need to get my licence before my theory runs out so the sooner the better - this also means once I've passed my test i can start looking for work, it's travelling that wrecks me more than anything else - even when i'm doing well and pacing properly, my own car will halve all journey times and ease that particular piece of working life no end.

See, I'm back to being a positive bunny again - it's amazing what a kick to the head will do for you sometimes..