2012 - How did that happen so quickly?

As a New Year's gift to myself, I gave my poor lymphedema stricken arm a day off from the constant compression it lives under. I actually do it about every four or five months. But when it came time to wrap the poor sucker up in its compression bandage at bedtime, instead I just gave it a good massage and hit the sack. And had my first good night's sleep in months!

Those who know me well know that I've always been a good sleeper - put my head on the pillow and within two minutes, I'm sleeping peacefully. Many of my friends have been very jealous of my good night's sleep. But since I've been saddled with this damned lymphedema, that is no more.

The club that my arm becomes, after the half hour it takes to get it wrapped, creates problems all night long! I have yet to find a comfortable way to position it. It's always in the way. And it gets trapped in the covers if I move, which of course drags me awake. The arm gets stuck in strange positions and goes numb or starts to throb. There's just no place to put the bloody thing! I'm probably awakened 6 or 8 times a night from the arm in various states of complaint!

But I can't treat myself often - the thing loves any excuse to swell up more, and I pay for leaving it naked for 24 hours! But it's worth it, for just one good sleep!

The lymphedema is slowly getting worse, as opposed to the initial hopes of the therapists. There is an area around my elbow that requires constant attention -
there appears to be a 'drainage pond' where the lymph fluid collects and must be forced out manually. Personally, I think it just waits until I'm not looking, and drains right back into the 'pond'! On bad days, it causes a reaction whereby I can't lift even my tea cup. And sometimes, without warning, my hand will cramp into a claw, bringing a flood of tears! I have to pry it open (hurts a lot) and force it flat and hold it down that way until the cramp passes. Sometimes that happens 4 or 5 times a day, and sometimes it goes weeks without a cramp. Doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing.

I hate HATE hate it, in case anyone wonders!

In the meantime, I had a particularly lovely Christmas season this year. I've always been a Christmas junkie. Got it from Mama, I think! We made decorations together for years. I do think of her often and miss her especially during the holidays!

When I sold my little house in the country and moved into my RV, I got rid of pretty much all my earthly possessions. If it didn't fit in the RV, it was sold or given away or donated. But not my Christmas decorations! Girlfriend Lizzie was extra sweet and let me store my boxes of ornaments and whatnot in her storage locker. So as I RV'd my way around the country, I didn't really have a 'Christmas' and I missed the celebration bunches. It's been 6 years since I had a proper Christmas!

This year, we met up at her storage unit, so she could get some of the things she was missing, and I picked up my Christmas boxes. What fun it was to open each box and find all the decorations Mama and I had made, and the special collection of my Hawaiian ornaments and those I had picked up in all my travels! I was like a kid in a candy store!!

I had, of course, put lights all over my little house already!


And then I put up my tree!









It was really pretty with its lights on too - which was 24 hours a day for a couple weeks!!




Haven't even started thinking about taking anything down yet either!



So, between having 'my' proper Christmas, and a few very special visitors, my spirits were high and I was wearing smiles every day! Along with seasonal clothes, of course, like this sweatshirt that expresses my feelings of winter pretty well!

So 2012 is here. Isn't the world supposed to end this year sometime? (you might want to check out this link, if you believe that!)

Oh, and BTW, my RV finally sold. For about a third what I had hoped for. But at least, after almost three years on the market, it's outta my hair. It was a grand life, and I wouldn't trade a moment of my RV time, but when the body said it was time to quit, unfortunately the economy didn't cooperate. Now I'm a happy little homebody, with my feet planted on the ground again.

I should find out next week when my next surgery will be, and then hopefully all that will be over with too!

I intend to ignore the bloody political scene as much as I can, and just enjoy the sunshine and gentle days that Arizona has to offer. So I can say, and mean it, Happy New Year 2012! or, as we say it in Hawaii,