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In: Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Mental Health

I’m not the only one who is doing the April challenge to do something every day, there are others, and one got an interesting response on a post with pictures of some beautiful flowers she had photographed.  The response said simply, “looking at flowers does not stop the pain.”  The blogger had her own response, but I thought I’d respond to it as well. So, does doing something enjoyable, like taking pictures daily, looking at photos of beautiful flowers, or anything like that really help your pain? I honestly believe it can.  Not only does doing pleasant things alter the neurotransmitters that can affect yourRead More →

On:
In: Cats, Garden, Pets, Photography
Tagged: ,

Today is the last day of April, and I must admit, I’ve enjoyed taking pictures to share a little bit of my life.  I discovered it is an easy way to show the fun things in my life, and to show that my life isn’t all about pain.  The photojournal allowed me to share the “day-to-day” life of living in spite of chronic pain.  And here are the last few photos, for now at least! April 27: On the way home from a doctor’s appointment today, I stopped at a greenhouse which had this really neat variegated geranium.  I decided he needed to be added to my collection, andRead More →

On:
In: Cats, Dogs, Pets, Photography
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After smashing my left hand yesterday, it is difficult for me to type much.  So instead here are a bunch of shots of Tyler, some from yesterday some from today.  I was going to pick one or two for my photojournal, but really, he is too cute to pick out just a few.  Hopefully his adorable pictures and videos will give you a smile! April 24 Tyler was seeing what I looked like with a mustache A new scarf – sleeping kitten style! Time for grooming I really hope those eyes stay blue! Interrupted during grooming Caught between sleep and play Time for a catnapRead More →

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In: Cats, Dogs, Garden, Pets, Photography
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April 21: Maigee got an exciting present in the mail from her friends Kellyn (human) and Charlie (GSD mix who is also a Service Dog).  It was a box full of home made treats, she loved them and even snuck a few more out of the box when I wasn’t looking.   April 22: My little pea plant is getting bigger!  It even has some tiny little curlicues which is what I like best about the pea plant.  In other news I found a picture on a recipe web site which made me consider eating peas again.  Unfortunately, I know I’ll only be disappointed once again,Read More →

On:
In: Chronic Pain, Dogs, Pets, Photography
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April 16: Fish are hard to photograph, but here are two of the fish who live in my room – Hope III (female Betta) and Tuberosity (the cory cat, aka Tubby).  I had to do a major cleaning of my fish tank because I noticed I had Planaria Worms, a non-parasitic worm that lives in fish tanks and feeds off the food remains. April 17: Another part of the big cleaning project, my dad built new shelves in my closet.  I’ve been wanting these for a long time, so I’m pretty excited about them! April 18: I had a bit of an accident falling downRead More →

On:
In: Pets, Photography
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April 10: Today was a sad day because Ike passed away; so, I will share one last shot of my little Ike. April 11: Ike’s brother came to live with us, so here is a shot of the two of us together.  He was enjoying a nice nap, but when I grabbed the camera I woke him up and he decided to take a little stretch.   April 12: I’m undertaking a major cleaning project, today’s project was to tackle the windows, which surprisingly are supposed to be white and not grey-ish with black mold spots.  Above is before cleaning one and after the otherRead More →

On:
In: Chronic Pain, Cooking, Dogs, Garden, Pets, Photography
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April 6: After my mom bought a pie crust, disappointing my newly found skills at pie crust making, I decided to make a crust and turn it into ickles.  Ickles are a pie crust rolled into a rectangle, covered with a layer of brown sugar and cinnamon, rolled up, and baked. April 7: After experiencing digestive issues over the past few months, my GI decided to schedule me for a EGD (upper GI scope).  I asked for a copy of my images to share, the results showed that I have a hiatal hernia which is causing the reflux.  This is actually good news because itRead More →

On:
In: Pets, Photography
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Thanks so much for the link to my blog from How to Cope with Pain, who made this original photojournal challenge. April 5: Happiness is…a warm kitten sleeping on your lap. Yes, our family has two new members.  After my mom brought home a tiny calico kitten, it was decided that she was “lonely” and needed an age-appropriate playmate, as our adult cats weren’t too fond of her.  So we went back to the house to pick up another kitten.  Since the calico is my mom’s, this is my kitten, so I would like to introduce to you “Ike,” named after the nickname of President DwightRead More →

On:
In: Cooking, Dogs, Garden, Photography
Tagged:

I’m going to start photo-journaling as a challenge from How to Cope with Pain to do something enjoyable every day, but also as a way to share some of the everyday life with chronic pain.  The times when life is normal instead of just the times when it isn’t. Pictures from the past few days… April 1: Maigee wearing the “cone of shame” after I gave her monthly heartworm and flea/tick preventative.  She is known to lick the flea/tick treatment, so has to wear a cone while it dries.  April 2: Found some fresh onions in the garden today while weeding and decided to make a childhood favoriteRead More →