Merry Christmas! I hope today was a good day for you, hopefully a day you celebrated with your friends and family! We (my husband and I) did not! For many different reasons we do not celebrate the holidays in the traditional way. Thanksgiving for us normally entails whatever we can find to eat – pizza, Whataburger, etc. I actually cannot remember the last time we were with family for Thanksgiving. One reason I guess is because Thanksgiving was not really a holiday that I grew up celebrating in Honduras but also because neither my family or my husbands family are close. And for that reason when it comes to Christmas we tend to do our own thing – one year we were in Jamaica, one year we were in Orlando, and this year we are in New Orleans. I do not decorate, actually have not decorated since 2007, and that was the first and last year since I left home at 16. Counselors I am sure we can have many conversations but despite our way, we do hope that our friends and family had a great day! The cool thing about Facebook is that you can see all the fun pictures and read the cool stories – from engagements to baby announcements….wow life goes on!

But how are you? How am I? I hope that your pain is not as bad as mine! On a scale of 1 to 5, I am abut 3.5-4. Exhaustion/fatigue has been intense. I was rubbing my leg and it felt like needles was pushing on my skin, thank you Fibro lol! Holidays and pain, really don’t go hand in hand but the good thing is we can still have fun! We can still travel! I am very thankful that this year I was able to make the trip! I know one year I might not be able to make it .

One of my final contemplations for the night are the many new year resolutions. Yes it is that time of year again, we think about things we want to change and do better next year! What do I want to change or do better?

I want to be more of an advocate, living with RA and Fibro does not mean my world ends….it just means my world changes. It means that I need support such as Fibro groups (check my sidebar) or RA support groups (like http://squeakyj.com/). The days will be sooo hard, some days I cannot even get out of bed. The meds will (at least for me) kick my behind…but I still drag myself up to do something! Everyone will have a different story….their story…but the cool thing is we have each other. You can share your story and I can share my story. Through our pain we can help someone else! That is one of my new year resolutions!

Alas my contemplative brain is tired….more soon….Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Have a blessed night!!!!