One little pill. That's all it takes sometimes.  I've told you I've been fighting an extra level of fatigue recently.  I chalked it up to an earlier wake-up call because of Deirdre's new high school schedule. When I didn't adjust to getting up an hour earlier, I added a morning nap. You can read about me being resentful for the nap here, and learning to cope with it here. The path to living well with lupus is rarely a straight line!  I also thought maybe it was just time to join the rest of the world in needing a cup of coffee to get through the day. But my skin didn't appr ..read more

Welcome to Day Four: No coffee or chocolate. That's right. We're doing a mini food elimination diet over here. Be glad you're not around.  I have to admit, though - I am pleased with the results, even if I'm not super enthusiastic about cutting those two things out of my diet permanently. ?☕ Sigh.  Here's what led me to this experiment:  As September and October rolled around last year, I noticed that, on my face, the reddish sun-kissed look I'd had all summer wasn't fading.  Had I gotten too much sun over Labor Day?  Was I continuing to get too much sun exposure at th ..read more

 I just discovered the use of a "distraction list", and I am blown away at how effective it is!   A distraction list is kind of like the opposite of a to-do list, but not quite. Instead of a list of things TO do, it's a list of things not to do NOW, but to do LATER.  It's designed to help with focus, improve productivity, and reduce multi-tasking. (As a life-long multi-tasker, I've come to agree with experts that doing several things at once isn't as effective as we tell ourselves!) Here's how it works:  When you sit down to start working on a project, or set out to wo ..read more

Earlier this year, I felt like writing a post titled " Why Teen Girls Take their Frustrations Out on their Moms".  But I didn't.  If that blog post exists, though, I'd like to read it.  And takes notes.  And memorize the top three reasons so I can remind myself the next time a hypothetical teen is hypothetically taking it out on me.  But all of that seems to have moved to the proverbial back burner, as our family has made MAJOR progress in the teen health and wellness department in the last couple of months, and I'm so excited to share.  My oldest daughter has bee ..read more

"You're not old. You just need to stretch." This line from an ad came up on my news feed a while back, and it made me laugh. Mostly because it's true.  On the days I stretch - I don't hobble. I don't wince. I don't ache. I just go about my day, nimble and supple. But if I skip more than two days, I am a cranky mess of creaky joints.  This stretching video from Daniela Suarez is one of my favorites. I love the body parts we work (most of them), and I love how long we hold each stretch (long enough to feel it). Her voice is soothing, too. I've cued it up below, so if you're wearing ..read more

I thought I had my stance on caffeine locked down: poor stand in for valuable sleep, can be detrimental to clear thinking, and brings unpleasant jittery side effect. But this multi-tasking, busy mother of two teens and small business owner who is forever short on time...isn't so sure now.  Know that I've never been a caffeine drinker. I had the occasional caffeinated soda or cup of coffee in college, but never got used to the sweaty palms or restless feeling caffeine gave me. So I avoided the stimulant and always chose decaf - herbal tea mostly, but coffee and sodas, too.  Even in my ..read more

By mid afternoon today, I was feeling pretty crummy about my productivity. I'd been particularly tired (probably from three late nights over the long weekend), and I had needed two naps   - one from 8:30-10:30a, and another for about 45 minutes this afternoon. When I made a mental list of the things I'd accomplished,  it felt like I'd done next to nothing. Here's what I came up with:  Got kids off to school Napped Finished a podcast Worked Out Napped again But then I thought - what if I said,  "Managed lupus fatigue" instead of "Napped"? Would that change the wa ..read more

Came across this recipe from Erin Lives Whole and thought I would share. This healthy baked oatmeal is delicious - chocolaty and just sweet enough to satisfy the girls. It's great for breakfast, or perfect for an afternoon snack.  I'm always looking for ways to incorporate oats into our diet - they often take the place of flour and I'm loving all the mix ins I can add to make yummy oat granola, oaty protein bites, or healthy oat "cookies" - shredded coconut, flaxseed, chia seeds, or peanut butter. The recipe below incorporates the changes I've made. To see the original recipe,  ..read more

I made a list of things to do this week - a combination of work stuff, home stuff, and things for the girls. Some tasks will require an hour or two of my time, or even several days to get through. Others, I'll accomplish in 10 minutes or less.  It's funny what I deem important enough to write down. "Replace light bulb" is on there, but so is "design website for re-launch".  I see that my lists are a way to organize my time, but also remember the stuff I might forget, or motivate to do the things that I'm hesitant to tackle.  Actually, if I made a list of what I want to do, here ..read more

Question - how far does sulking about a lupus symptom get you?  Answer - not very.  So while I'm not happy about my new morning fatigue, I'm not being stubborn about it. Or neglectful. Or unhealthy.  I am learning not to fight it. I am attempting to make it a part of my morning routine - booking appointments and scheduling calls around the fact that from 8:30-9:30a, I need to sleep.  I've had to rearrange plans and miss outings. I choose to dress differently most mornings, knowing that in just a couple of hours, I'll be back in bed napping. I treat my afternoons a little di ..read more