That Which Keeps Me Sane OR My Favourite Things

If you follow this blog you'll know that I spend a lot of time at home. If I leave the house it's almost always for a visit to the hospital or some other medical appointment or test. On the rare occasion I might be up to a short trip to the grocery store, or if I'm having an exceptionally good day we might even go out for a meal together. In any case right now I need someone to drive me so that limits my options as well.

Thankfully I'm a bit of homebody so I don't feel like a shut-in too often, but it helps that I'm able to keep myself busy within these four walls. I'm often asked how I keep myself from going stir crazy so I thought I'd share a little of what I do here at home - which translated into My Favourite Things!

My iPad. My husband had to talk me into getting one last summer and now I truly don't know what I would have done without it. It's been great for keeping my mind busy when I've had trouble moving around and it also gives me something to do between appointments on those longer hospital visits. And yay for Angry Birds and Epicurious!

My kitchen. Yes, there are three of us living here in this house, but it's really MY kitchen. I love my collection of gadgets, the well stocked spice cupboard, my Paderno pots and pans. Feeding my favourite people gives me so much pleasure, it's an activity that unless I'm really badly off I manage to save energy for at the end of the day. Current favourite recipe? Curried basmati rice with cashews. Yum! With thanks to my husband and daughter who happily fetch whatever ingredients I need, and always eagerly eat up whatever I serve them :-)

The dishwasher. See above. I wouldn't be so enthusiastic about cooking if I didn't have the dishwasher to do the bulk of the washing up!


Meyer lemons. Sadly gone for the season, they'll be available again at the end of the year. I'm going to miss those sweetly tart fruits that added so much to my meal repertoire over the last few months.

Now to veer from the kitchen, my hot pink blanket. Not just any hot pink blanket, a thoughtful gift last summer from my daughter who knows that I'm almost always feeling cold, and it's got "One Tough Cookie" written across it. I do try to live up to that title!

Crossword Puzzles. The really hard ones, I prefer puzzles that I'm not able to finish. Just what I need before bed to calm my mind.


And a recent addition to my list, MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick. I'm not a makeup fanatic, but this stuff just makes me feel more human these days. I'm fitting back into most of my old clothes again after my steroid adventure (good riddance black stretchy pants!) and I needed to feel more feminine again (and less "patient-y"!) and this stuff does the trick. Very subtle, just a bit of colour but it has the power to make me feel better about myself again!