Ah December – end of school for the year, then two weeks later Christmas and then that weird 26th – 31st period where everyone seems to lose track of time. Or maybe that’s just me. I’m writing this on the 20th so only 5 sleeps to go until Christmas Day. This year we are going to my sister & brother-in-law’s house for lunch which will be lovely, and then Mr T and the two younger kids are headed up to Bribie to his mums place for a few days.
It’s the 22nd now – I keep losing my computer to my daughter so writing this in bits at a time. It’s been a huge year with all four kids at school – my youngest in prep and eldest in grade 12. I knew it was going to be hard but the other two threw in a few extra challenges just to keep me on my toes. Lots of executive functioning going on, and when you have ADHD that is doubly exhausting. About the end of November I really started to feel the exhaustion and burn out so decided to start doing the bare minimum and focusing on rest. And it is working. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just have to remember I’m still in the tunnel, I need to keep resting to get out the other side properly.
So now it is the 31st. My daughter now has a computer of her own so I can actually reclaim mine! I decided to take a break from doing my honesty stall, propagating, and pretty much everything for this week. I have been doing some things around the house but also being careful not to overdo it. I really like this not being completely exhausted feeling. I’m at a regular level of tired. One thing that happened was my gp tested my cholesterol levels and told me they are way too high. We agreed I’d try diet and lifestyle modification for 3 months and then retest to see if I need to take meds. As much as the timing sucked for Christmas day it did give me a good nudge to look at my less than ideal diet. I come from the UK so doing things like soaking bread in the drippings off a roast is normal (and extremely yummy). I actually have a good memory of my mum and I doing just that and giggling like school girls. And I am a big fan of pate, salami, cheese, chips, and lots of other foods that are really not great for cholesterol levels, and don’t eat enough fibre which I’ve learned is important for your body to get rid of cholesterol. Also the relationship with carbs is interesting because from what I have read if you eat too many carbs it encourages your body to produce more cholesterol so you need to watch that.
I decided I didn’t want to make my diet restrictive so instead of just cutting out things, I’ve been finding replacements. So snacking on mixed nuts, bhuja mix, popcorn, and vege chips (because sometimes I miss the crunch of potato chips), and I’m still eating red meat but smaller portions and we are watching how we cook it. I made a lamb ragu the other day and I drained so much fat out of the sauce. And when we have tacos I just have a little cheese and skip the sour cream.
I’ve been using My Fitness Pal to help me record what I’ve been eating. And now that I am not eating all the things I mentioned above I have had many days where I am not eating enough calories at all. And I really struggle to get enough protein. So my focus for the next little while is going to be getting that balance right. Unfortunately I can’t eat yogurt, but I’m going to try and make cheese (labne) with it because I think that will go down well.
In other news we adopted a puppy. My youngest named him Ruffles. We got him on Christmas Eve – I think his foster mum wanted to get him to his new home for Christmas. He was 13 weeks when we got him, and was rescued at 2 weeks from an outback pound. He is a Border Collie cross – dad is most likely an Australian Cattle Dog but not sure. He’s an intelligent little pup and got lovely manners, and he’s encouraging me to get walking which I need to do. I want to get back to running eventually, but for now walking is best.
And of course because it’s NYE I am thinking of all the work possibilities for next year. I am very keen to continue with the VA work, and maybe get some more hours of that, but I don’t think I’ll aim for more than 5 – 10 hours per week. That way I have time to dedicate to my family, my honesty stall, and crafting, without rushing around. I like not rushing and having time to rest. Probably my main goal for 2022 is resting more. I haven’t been doing much in the garden at all. Watering, moving plants into the shade house and taking photos is about it.
So I guess that’s it for 2021! What a year. And I haven’t even mentioned Covid yet, but I don’t want to forget. We have just finished the second year of the pandemic. And we were in such a good spot in November, the Qld borders have been shut a lot this year so we haven’t had many cases at all, and those that did pop up we went into snap lockdowns for a few days. I’ve been impressed by how the Qld government has handled it. And then just before the Qld borders were due to open the new Omicron varient started spreading. And it has spread so fast. The borders still opened, and requirements for entry seem to have been relaxed. It seems the plan now is to rely on vaccinations, boosters, people doing the right thing and wearing masks and distancing. Close contacts have been redefined from anyone in the same place to people that have spent 4 hours with the person. So the locations on the Qld tracking app are not being updated to the Qld health website. People are starting FB groups so that people wanting to know where the positive cases are occurring can find out. Very important if you are unvaccinated, elderly, immunocompromised or anxious. I think 2022 is going to be an interesting year, and hopefully we see covid turn into a manageable virus and some kind of end to the pandemic.
Bayside Homestead 