Isolation, OCD, and a Request

I recently wrote a longish autobiographical piece about my childhood OCD-based fear of waterslides. (It’s still not polished, and I’m not sure what I’ll do with it after the final edit, so I’m not posting it here.) Waterslides weren’t the only way OCD affected my life when I was a kid, and my brain eventually … Continue reading Isolation, OCD, and a Request →

Return of the LEGO Fairy

It was on a particularly challenging day last week that I received a message with an offer so generous it made me want to cry. (OK, fine; some tears were shed. I’m becoming an increasingly emotional beast with each passing year.) It was from my LEGO Fairy, who wanted to know if she could purchase … Continue reading Return of the LEGO Fairy →

The Patio

Every spring for the past many, my husband and I told ourselves that we were going to make better use of our patio, which is remarkably large for one belonging to a city apartment. In March, April, May, those shoulder months when the weather is periodically warm enough to allow you to imagine being outside … Continue reading The Patio →

Creative Solutions to Practical Problems

My husband took a well-deserved vacation last week. He spent it both relaxing and getting things done, and I spent most of it in his office, which I commandeered the Friday his time off began and quickly turned into a low(er)-stimuli retreat—my version of a spa, minus the pedicures and saunas and without the danger … Continue reading Creative Solutions to Practical Problems →

Welcome, New Year

I'm a little late, but Happy New Year! 2020, not a great year for ... anyone, really, is finally behind us. Let’s see what 2021 has in store. New year, new agenda. I’m not big on new year’s resolutions. I am big on trying to find productive ways to move forward and on setting realistic … Continue reading Welcome, New Year →

Redefining Productivity (Again)

Though I set myself the (completely arbitrary) goal of writing two blog posts in May, for various reasons, most of them medical, I wasn't able to follow through. It's not as if I forgot or didn't make an effort to get the job done; it's just that every time I sat down to force myself … Continue reading Redefining Productivity (Again) →

It’s Almost 2019! Time for a Disjointed Post.

It’s me! It’s been (practically) forever! Don’t get too excited: I’m just dropping in to wish you a happy end to 2018 and beginning to 2019. Since I keep meaning to compose a long catch-up/excuse post and then collapsing under the pressure of having so much to catch up on and not knowing how much … Continue reading It’s Almost 2019! Time for a Disjointed Post. →

Lost Engagement Ring, New Hero at Waste Management: A Happily Ever After

You might (rightfully) wonder why I decided to write about a lost object and a newfound friend at the City of Toronto's Solid Waste Management Services in a blog that's ostensibly about living with chronic illness(es). I asked myself the same, or at least a related, question. OK, questions—plural—since my brain isn't good at stopping … Continue reading Lost Engagement Ring, New Hero at Waste Management: A Happily Ever After →

Compulsively Knitting for Fun, Entertainment, and Distraction

For complicated reasons that aren't the topic of this post—sorry—I've been trying to stay in bed, sedentary, for much of the day (and night, but that goes without saying) since last Wednesday, when I got some not-great news at a medical appointment. Mandatory bed rest when you're physically very unwell is pretty easy; turns out … Continue reading Compulsively Knitting for Fun, Entertainment, and Distraction →

Same-Day Appointment with My Epileptologist: Success/the Beginning of a Multi-Month Pregabalin Breakup

I woke up yesterday morning to two missed calls and a voicemail from an "unknown" number. I've been doing this chronic-illness thing long enough to know that 95% of the time, if you're a heavy user of the health-care system, an unknown caller means a medical office, usually one in a hospital. Sure enough, it … Continue reading Same-Day Appointment with My Epileptologist: Success/the Beginning of a Multi-Month Pregabalin Breakup →