Fibromyalgia Hobbies and Leisure; The Occupational Therapist in Me Comes Out!

I ran late getting over to Pablo Blanco's last night to cook dinner and help with 'glue up' of a big wood working project he has been working on for about as long as he's known me, which is 15 months now.  I think I was putting it off a bit because I was nervous about how it was going to go as I've not done a big glue up like this since about 1992, and fibromyalgia has come and had it's insidious impact on many aspects of my function, including dexterity, processing speed of the mind, and on and on.  Yada, yada, yada, as "Seinfeld" would say.  I was tired yesterday and had just enjoyed a rewarding afternoon chatting with Alice, as we established her new Forum area of the Spirituality Forum, where she's going to write about everyday life, commitedness to her religious beliefs, family, and hopefully what it's like to be on the upward spiral of health that I've enjoyed in the past few years (which she learned from Lumigrate about things that are helping her now). 

Yenta had just posted a wonderful new entry about having joy in your life and playing, and the joys of children.  Pablo Blanco, like me, has never had kids, yet we both enjoy them when we're around them.  Earlier someone had asked me why I don't have kids, and that's always something people bring up in a hesitant way as they don't know if it's a sore spot with me or not, so it was interesting that Yenta at that time was writing about children.  My answer was that it was a combination of factors but long story short, Lumigrate is like having a child and I feel as committed to it as a mother would her child.  I want for all the people following us what I would want if it were my child that were struggling with his or her health.  "It's all good".  That's what we ended up naming Alice's section - "Life is Good with Alice".  She and Yenta have been discussing children in the forum area and it's just been amazing.  Also amazing is that in today's newspaper the theology writer was discussing how the town I live in sometimes isn't so accommodating of other people's spiritual beliefs and SO FAR we've had just the most grace-full interactions.  The Grate Group is Grate for a number of reasons, but don't get me started bragging about 'The Smartest Group on the Internet', which I am pleased to say now has more men following.  

Ironically, Yenta's FUN and deep story included something about broccoli, and that was what Pablo asked me if I had any to bring over for dinner.  I had spinach and am just so grateful that he LOVES spinach, and then he cooked it as only Pablo would -- 'this is how the finest restaurants make their creamed spinach' (cream cheese and then some ground nutmeg).  I asked him how he knew that, because he owned a big restaurant once upon a time, and he said 'from tasting it'.  He can smell a spice mix -- I kid you not -- and tell you what is in it.  I've tested him.  It's like nothing I've ever seen! He can sniff wine and say what he smells and it'll be what the bottle says.  I think sometimes I have the dumbest palate in the world, but I'm a good eater -- he told me not once but TWICE what a good appetite I have and even challenged me to eat everything on my plate.  Which I did.  So I won the bet!

Before I left, I saw a woman on the Chat lineup on facebook who is a usual contributor in the past and hadn't been around for a while.  Always concerned why someone changes a pattern -- did we offend them, or bore them -- or are they not well -- I popped in to say hello.  I'd known she'd had H1N1 and was struggling with aftereffects of that.  Just as when Alice had surgery this fall, I was like a nervous Jewish mother, but since Yenta has THAT base covered and I'm a Colorado Mountain Girl at heart I tend to be reserved a bit about what I tell people my real thoughts are until AFTER things are better, then I'll say 'I was sure worried about you'.  Sure enough, this gal's suffering the effects they believe is along the lines of what Pablo Blanco has called 'mangling medicine'.  I was glad to Chat with her before I had to get heading out the door, and I told her I'd send her some vibes from my evening there.  I found myself grateful that I was comparatively so well, and hope that the information that will come to Lumigrate will help her recover from this and get as well as can be in the future.  She, like so many others, are very wise and experienced, and has a wonderful sense of humor I found out last night, and is always so lovely in what she contributes to the comments people make, that she's been really missed from my standpoint.  So, armed with her in my thoughts, I got to Pablo's house and said why I'd run a little late, which was fine it turned out.  I told him that the woman was very interested in woodworking it turns out, and that she'd asked for a photo.  So, since I won the bet later about if I could eat all the food on my plate, there will be a photo coming this afternoon with me in his shop with the piece we glued up!  (And the blood on the floor is not mine -- he really cut the back of his hand somehow, so there we were ALREADY stressing about how efficient we had to be, with a history of getting in conflicts because we're kind of like that with each other, having to be putting the gluing rags as bandages quickly so we didn't get the piece all messed up.   I SWEAR, there is could be a reality TV show about this stuff, it's just comical what happens.)  

He called when I was driving over there and I thought he'd be impatient but instead he was asking if he could borrow my easel, as he's about to start painting on the canvas I gave him, which YOU can see in all the Lumigrate videos from our previous studio.  (If we go back to recording we'll not use that projector setup again).  He'd just gone to the art store yesterday to buy what he needs to start painting.  He stays busier than anyone I know -- he skies, bikes, goes to the gym, cooks (as y'all know from the recipes section with his name on it).  And it reminded me of how important it is for people to have their hobbies and leisure activities.  So we're not only cooking up recipes from Pablo Blanco now, but he has agreed to collaborate with me on a wood-based product that can be part of the Lumigrate Products area, for people with fibromyalgia.  I'm looking forward to where the project goes, but I'm hoping to get Yenta and Alice and the professionals such as Deirdre Rawlings, ND and the providers you see in the Videos at Lumigrate.com involved in the concept so that we come out with something lovely and helpful.

Speaking of lovely and helpful, my thanks to Yenta and to Alice for their wonderful spiritual and FUN contributions to Lumigrate.  There were over 40 users in the website at one time after I announced yesterday that a new Yenta post was there.  That's more than we had in the fall when I'd post about Dr. Oz and fatigue or about H1N1 and The Denver Post article we were part of!  And EVERYONE who writes, reads, tells others, gets our link out there on their blog or in their facebook areas they frequent helps too!  So thanks ALL.  

My attention might turn to the USA/Canada hockey game in the Olympics later today, and it sure is nice to know that if Canada wins I'll be good with that -- there are some very special people living to my north, as all over the world.  It's a pleasure to get to know so many people, and you have my commitment that I'm working very hard to make Lumigrate have The Best information and 'stuff' for YOU.  Oh, and April Schulte-Barclay, DAOM was working yesterday on her section of the website and getting it set up, so we'll have Acupuncture represented VERY SOON!  Stay tuned in and turned on about integrative medicine at Lumigrate.com~  Mardy

Links:  NEW Forum about Hobbies and Leisure (under the Occupational Therapy www.lumigrate.com/forums/integrative-medicine-parts-make-whole/therapy-occupational/hobbies-and-leisure-activities

Here's a link to the wonderful discussion between Alice and Yenta, for your information: (Alice and Yenta each have Forums in the Spirituality Forum, this one is in Yenta's and shows the synergy that happened when Alice responded, then Yenta again.... 

A GRATE example of how Lumigrate works!  www.lumigrate.com/forum/life-life-lchiam