Holiday Fun?

Dear Bloggers,

Our country is hardly moving, or at least not so fast anymore.

We live these days in a whirl.

On the edge of pulling through the last bits or they are at least dreaming away about what will happen.

However, many also are concerned about what will happen.

Will I be fired after the holiday or am I another victim of the Mexican flu?

According to experts, the recession and the flu will show themselves from their worst side soon. It can be seen in their faces.

Some are looking pale, despite the fact it is already high summer for weeks.

Others are brown tainted and sitting relaxed behind their desks.

Just work for a while, and then we really are going on a holiday.

However, the open-mindedness is something that is far gone this year because now the exciting places may be hazardous this time.

And then the idea that the holidays might be the last ones Mom or Dad gets unemployed.

This in relation with the stranglemorgage they can not cough up moneywise.

In the street you start to find empty places.

You got already quickly used to caravans and motorhomes that decorate the street.

With a certain probability I think that a few of them need to sell their so called “hobbyhome”.

I am also happy that I am not that hooked on going on holidays.

I find it just as much fun on the Costa Backyard as the Costa del Sol.

As myself many parents of young children pressing their last energy out to begin the holiday with as much fun as possible.

I therefore put the pool up and place it in the backyard, the children still had not much interest although the temperature was rising to thirty degrees celcius.

Unfortunately, the kids don't want to do anything fun because they are just tired.

The last bits and pieces were the hardest ones.

Here at home the atmosphere is excited as they understand that we no longer have to get up early.

But if you're awake then you will find Dad downstairs.

I am almost every morning up around six o'clock already, because my body is being painful crying for a hot shower and medication to mute the pain.

After a few days they are used to the new rythm and get out of bed as I have already a half a day behind me.

It is pretty tiring for our kids, waking up every morning at seven o'clock because they have to get ready for school.

But if it is holidaytime, it is tricky in the beginning to sleep in, and it happens the first few days that we shared our breakfast at seven, despite the fact that we all are having summerbreak, but many times after breakfast my oldest daughter goes back to bed.

And I cannot say that this is wrong.

It is only the beginning of July their holidays have just begun.

We only go on a trip at the end of their summer holidays.

It all boils down to a week or five with nothing to do.

(According to my two lovely daughters we find this boring.)

If we sit at the breakfast table, and I prepare for this holiday time, I am bringing up my topic: “Adventure” is the magic word.

Where do you want to go this holiday?

There is a long silence at the breakfast table.

However, my oldest comes up with a few ideas and I write them on paper.

We make a list of adventures park it to the cooker hood.

My youngest doesn't care at all no matter where we go as long as we go by bus.

(she is five and that is her greatest passion.)

Indignation, is widespread when my wife announced that we have no money for these kind of things.

The recession became also active in our savings account.

We will probably not be able to do all adventures but at least a part of them.

We just want to have occasionally the holiday feeling, after the hard work at school where the days were long.

We are happy with a museum and an amusement park this would be enough for us.

It is true, they had to work hard this year because our school was not that good.

The inspection has been very satisfied with the results.

I fear that after the holidays, when school starts again, it will cost the same amount of weeks to return to the harness of getting up on time and yes soon enough it is again November 11 and we are also getting closer to the arrival of Sinterklaas.

Then new strenuous times are there.

There is something unfair in it, they have so much to learn, and I occasionally learn a bit about all the new techniques.

But they are still at the beginning of life and will have at least 45 to 50 years of working for a future to build, I am now somewhere halfway.

I am going to think quietly about it and take a walk through the neighborhood.

It is a confusing time.

Neighbors in shorts are busy packing the camper.

Mothers with children riding hasty and crates full of groceries into the street. (own potatoes rule)

At home my children enjoy their holiday in the garden leave and I walk on quietly thinking.over everything.

Slowly I realize that during my childhood we did not go on holiday because there was simply no money for it.

However, I do not blame my parents because they made great trips with us to the IJselmeer.(the big lake in the middle of the Netherlands.)

We had bread and coffee to go and we bought an ice cream.

This was according to my experience the ultimate holiday.

The Old Sailor,

They call me fibromyalgia

Dear Bloggers,

Let me introduce you to my new companion in life.
I found this on the Dutch fibromyalgia site and translate it, as it comes quite close to my feelings.

Now they gave it a name and now the fight against it finally begins.

Hello,

I am an invisible disease.

I am now with you for the rest of your life.

Others around you to see me, but your body feels me.

I can attack you when and how I want.

Also I can take care of you by giving severe pain attacks.

And if I'm in a good mood I can even ensure that you have pain.

Remember that you did a lot with your energy and had a lot of fun?

Well, I took that energy away from you and gave you fatigue instead.

You now also trying to have fun, but I get you out of your sleep and give you a headache in return!

You know what I can do more?

I can ensure that you vibrate inside and you are cold or hot when everyone feels normal.

I can also make you anxious and depressed.

You did not ask for me but I have chosen you.

Why?

Perhaps by a trauma (car- crash/whiplash, surgery....?) That you had.

Or by a virus that you caught somewhere.

Anyway, I am here now and I will stay!

I hear you went to a doctor, to get rid of me.

Hahaha, I rolling over the floor and laugh!

Keep on trying!

You will be going to many doctors if you finally can get rid of me.

Also you will probably be packed with pills: sleeping pills, vitamins, painkillers, energy pills?

You will get massages and sometimes they will tell you that you are anxious and depressed. They will tell you that if you take pills on time, and do your exercises well, I will go away.

But the worst is that sometimes you will not be taken serious, when you are yelling at the doctor that you do'nt have a normal life anymore.

Your family, friends and colleagues will all listen to you until they are sick and tired of knowing how I let you suffer and that I am a disease from hell.

Some will say: "You just have a bad day" or "Yes, you can not do anything more that you could ten years ago."

They are not you then say: "Ten years ago? Ten days ago!"

Also, some will talk behind your back while you slowly get the feeling that you are losing your self-respect.
Still you try, while you know, to explain them so they would understand.

This can be especially difficult if you have one “normal” person where you are talking to, because sometimes you'll suddenly forget what you wanted to say.... The only people who really understand you and support you are, the people in whose body I am also present.

And unfortunately, you will also discover that your true friends you can count on 1 hand.

But the ones who are there are those, which are there for you REALLY!

The Old Sailor,

Older painkiller, naproxen, found to be safest

Dear Bloggers,

Shocking news this morning a legend, the king of pop, Michael Jackson went to fiddler's green. Sometimes I am worried that my painkillers could trigger a heart attack or dangerous stomach bleeding as today it was mentioned in the news that Wacko Jacko died of a cardiac arrest. And that the painkillers he is using might have caused his death, it made me think that maybe the next victim is me. So I started reading reports again and to my surprise I read that diclofenac is pretty dangerous.

New reports on painkiller risks, based on reviews of dozens of studies including hundreds of thousands of patients, indicate most patients should try naproxen, an older anti-inflammatory drug.

Experts say it doesn't raise heart attack or stroke risk -- a major worry for older people -- and naproxen is inexpensive because generic versions have been around for years. Available over the counter, it's taken by millions of people worldwide.
The drawback is that like most painkillers, it can irritate the stomach, so doctors say some people may also need to take one of the newer acid reflux drugs.

"I do think we should start with naproxen in the vast majority of cases," said Dr. Steven Nissen, head of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic and president of the American College of Cardiology. "It's about balancing the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal risk."
Along with the good news about naproxen, the two studies raise new concerns about a few painkillers, particularly diclofenac, which has been on the market since 1988. The commonly used anti-inflammatory drug, also sold as Voltaren and Cataflam, carries as high a risk of heart attack or stroke as Vioxx.

The new analyses also provide even more evidence of the dangers to the heart and kidneys posed by Vioxx, which was pulled from the market two years ago.
The latest findings should help patients and doctors confused about painkiller safety since news began unfolding about the risks of Vioxx, Bextra and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Using any of those drugs, liver and kidney function tests should be required every six months.
The heart risks from diclofenac were reported by researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia. That report recommends regulators review whether diclofenac should stay on the market.

THE RANKINGS
According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the painkiller naproxen has less of a cardiovascular risk than other drugs. Here are the rankings of risk estimates, from lowest risk estimate to highest risk estimate:
1. Naproxen
2. Celebrex
3. Ibuprofen
4. Other anti-inflammatory drugs
5. Mobic
6. Vioxx
7. Voltaren

I think it is about time that I should discuss this with my doctor, at my death there will not be such a media hype. But at least seven persons will miss me.

The Old Sailor,

Fathersday

Dear Bloggers,

Father's Day has become a day in which to honour our dad's for all that they have done for us through the years of our lives. Being a man and living with fibromyalgia can make it more difficult for us to do all the fathering that society expects of us. Father's Day can become a day of great stress for us as we try to please our own parents.

Our children do try to honour us, and even the smallest gesture of their love can help to make this day special for us. However, we may need to make our families understand what they can do for us on this day in order to make it a less stressful and exhausting day.

Breakfast in bed is nice, but if the rest of the day is spent trying to meet their needs, then it isn't enough for us. Families tend to think that what we want is to be together with them on Father's Day because our social values have taught us that that is what is expected to happen. But what those of us with fibromyalgia may really need for Father's Day is a day just to ourselves.

A day of walking along the beach, in the woods, or just sitting outside and enjoying the springtime with its beautiful colors and flowering plants without any demands being placed upon us.

Preparing our families and explaining what would be really helpful or special for us on this day set aside for fathers is something that we can do. It may be that we awaken on Father's Day in a major flare of our fibromyalgia and the last thing we want to do is get out of bed, get dressed, and be taken out to anywhere.

Those of us with small children may find it extremely difficult to get through this special day because of their many needs which must be attended to whether we feel up to it or not. If we have a supportive spouse or mother who truly understands our fibromyalgia, it can be made easier for us. However, many of us don't have the support of our families, or our extended family is far away, and can't be there even if they do understand what we go through on a daily basis.
I did not have fibromyalgia when my own children were very young, yet I now struggle with their lack of understanding of what I actually go through each day of my life. They will do special things for me on Father's Day, but if I can communicate my needs to them for this special day before it arrives, then maybe it will become a day that I will enjoy and remember as being a day especially for me.

Placing myself first has never been easy for me, but this year I plan to do just that. I don't know what I will want from them, but I do know that just being accepted as I am, and being understood no matter how I feel on Father's Day is the most important gift that they could give me. If I choose to spend the day in solitude and reflection of myself, then I hope that this will be granted to me
Flowers, gifts, and food prepared by someone else may be all that some of us need in order to feel that we are being honoured. Others of us may need to be pampered or shown by actions that we are loved unconditionally.

Being a father is a great responsibility, and for those of us with fibromyalgia, it may be one that drains us on a daily basis. We need to learn to take care of ourselves first, and sometimes this creates guilt because our society says that being a father means to give to others first. Yet, if we can't care for ourselves, then how can we find the energy and resourses to care for others without losing an important part of ourselves?

I believe that honouring and taking care of ourselves first is the most important gift that we can give to ourselves on this special day set aside for fathers everywhere.

The Old Sailor,

It is time to party

Dear Bloggers,


It's finally the annual time of the year, time for the so called Liphuster Feest. On thursday it's decorating day, a day on which we decorate the houses and gardens for the coming days.
But today it is Friday and we kick off today with the kids from elementry school which is based in the village. They all walk from school to the tent and getting fries and ice cream as a treat. Every year the committee comes with a theme and this year it is fairytales. And of course at the beginning of the evening we have the parade. During the day we had some rainshowers but the sky cleared and the sun came out. Through the years the floats became bigger and more beautiful, which is giving some trouble to get everyone in start position. But after a bit of puzzling it is time to get rolling. Just after a 100 metres the parade comes to a hold as the bolts from one of the wheels of one the floats came loose. Luckely no accidents happened but this was close call. One of the neighbors is mechanic and he was able to fix it during the evening as the float stranded in our street, but they had to drop out of the parade for today.




























Children Love Parades
Children love parades for a number of reasons, one of which being that they are strange and wonderful things. Big city folks don't understand small town parades. They have expensive floats decorated entirely with flowers and grown up men are having toys that they're obviously too old for, but it's a little different at a small town parade.At a small town parade, you start off with the local police department, riding in cars to make sure that everything is safe trafficwise. The floats are being build by the local mums and dads and also the clothing is sometimes made by a few handy women. I think it is nice that this is still excisting as in these modern times it is not that common anymore to do things together.

Marching Bands
Marching bands, are probably the most professional entries in the parade. As they practise a lot and are showing up in all these parades, although of course one is better then the other.
Less charitable things can be said for the baton corps. These are little girls, most of them, who can barely manipulate a baton. More or less twirl one. The older ones will toss the baton in the air and actually catch it, but please don't think that I'm critical of the kids.
Building a float
Starts with spreading ideas at the neigborhood meeting, from that point a lay out is made and the building of the float begins. It is for a lot of us pretty hard to be a teamplayer as we all want to be captain. So there is a lot of discussion among the buildinggroup and the developpers. For me it is pretty hard to keep myself on the brakes, but I have to take it easy on my body otherwise I will be struck by it the next 24 hours. I am not always agreeing with the design but it is nice to see what they are coming up with, this years theme is fairytales and our float is called “ice queen.”
Most of the streets have units. , with actual floats built atop hay wagons, usually pulled or ushed by tractors. The building of them happens in barns of farmers in the neigborhood or under a construction of pipes and shielded of with a few hammer-cloths. As a mum or dad you have to help building the float and they make a shedule for that, but also the youngest kids are going on the wagon from the school. So you got a double job.

Dads don't get to be Dads any more. As before every single dad had a job but now in this time of recession a lot off them are laid off or it is getting closer to them. On some of them you can sense it as there drive to do something is not there and their conversation is a bit depressed. If he gets laid off and doesn't have money to pay the full amount of bills coming in every month, and with these days that you have to play cheerful and go with your kids to the fair eventhough you can not afford it. It's not much fun being a unemployed dad, nor do I imagine it's much fun for their kids.

I Love A Parade
I said earlier that little kids love parades, because they are strange and wonderful things, and older people have their own reasons for loving parades. I can't say that I find them overly thrilling, myself. I always liked to see fathers beaming to see their kids in the parade, and kids beaming to see their parents see them. No wonder parades have dropped off, as people have forgotten the warm feelings of their kids and the happiness on their little faces. Some of us are being to busy with themselves but this is a start of coming back together or....


The Old Sailor,

Fear of falling with the bike.

Dear Bloggers,



















I have found a new remedy to keep myself in motion, the fun in it overrules the pain.
And it is great to see that your own daughter is fighting the stabillity issue.
Somedays I have to take it easy as the pain has the lead, but as soon as I can we go for a ride.
She understands perfectly that daddy can not get of his bike so quick and that she has to listen careful to what I tell her to do. If we enter a crossing I learned her to stop and get of the bike.
One of the biggest problems for my daughter is to concentrate as she is sometimes more occupied with talking to me where she should actually focus on her biking.










As you can sense, my daughter of 5 would love to learn how to ride a bicycle, she bikes, but is very afraid to fall. She is now cycling with supportwheels, but to stop and particularly the getting 'on and away' cycles are difficult because she is afraid to fall sho she is getting cramped and worried. However, she is very persisting to learn it and she loves to go biking with me. It is as if her confidence is lacking in her physical capabilities, what she physically can, purely in terms of cycling, stabillity is still her enemy. She notes if she has that under control, it is good. What remedy (s) can I give to support her so that she can learn to trust in herself because fear is a bad adviser.



Possunt, quia posse videntur
(They can do it, as they are convinced that they can do it.)


The Old Sailor,

Am I losing it?

Dear Bloggers,

The question is: am I losing it?

As all these doctors keep on telling me that I am overweight, something that they have been telling me for years now and nobody is taking action.
So I went to a dieticien to find out what I should do differently eatingwise.
When it is sunny I don't have many problems although people selling ice cream are very nice people, and with two young kids it is hard to get past them.




I am doing my best but sometimes I have to give in, most of the time I am strong enough to say no.
On rainy days I am facing the hard times, but when I feel for a snack I go for fruit now.
But of course all the bad things are still there as my kids still get candy, crisps, cookies and so on.(they don't have to suffer.)


People around me are telling me that I am getting a bit slimmer and I promissed the dietician to leave the weighingscale for what it is.
Checking all the time does not make you happier she said but can actually make you very frustrated.
Listen to your heart and the people around you that should be enough.
So from that point of view I have to think that losing 40 kilos is not going to be that easy.















Today is one of those days, feeling down, feeling blue, nothing clicks for me. It’s raining, it’s pouring, my life seems so boring.
Nothing is really wrong, just this overwhelming feeling of nothingness and unacceptable hunger attacks.
Let’s see if I can find 10 things in my life that are not nothing but everything.















1. I have a roof over my head, our house is dry inside, warm inside and houses me and my family really well.
2. My daughter is walking around sniffing her nose, last signs of the cold she had this weekend. She smiles at me and gives a kiss.
3. The laptop is working very well, it gives all support in writing the blog and never complains of me hitting his keys.
4. People look at my blogs, read articles and leave comments. Blogging is connecting most of all, leaving comments is connecting.
5. Finding my voice in writing is becoming easier. Every time I type the word ‘think” I begin feeling again. This way my posts are from the heart rather than the head. My head can be emptied by listening to the heart.
6. I had a good sleep last night and already had two delicious cappucino’s! Mind you, some days coffee makes my day.
7. Vision, I can still see with both my eyes even though the vision in my life is not always that clear. [Can you see how I am going to be negative again, what a habit.]
8. In Midspringtime my garden is already flowering. Midspring is cold, rainy and not the time for the flowers to come out. Midsummer is still a long way to go at least that is what it looks like at the moment.
9. I just found this quote: ‘If I know what love is, it is because of you.’ by Hermann Hesse.
10. I get inspiration by reading about how to connect with other people through the net and end up on total different pages again.




There was a really good chance of rain today but it didn't rain.
It amazes me how rainy days affect my mood.
I was all prepared for the onslaught of a torrential rain and it didn't happen.
The Weather Man says its coming tonight and tomorrow, and I will try again to prepare myself for the sleepy, drowsy, weepy mood rain puts me in.
I don't know why rain affects me that way but it does, another thing I need to learn to deal with.
I may never learn to love the rain, as many times rain means pain but I will learn to live with it.
And I will learn to dance in the rain eventhough I am not that rhytmic.
I have so many bad eating habits that affect me like the rain,when I allow these habits to creep into my life they overwhelm me.

Sometimes I am afraid of losing the battle but I keep fighting myself like Don Quichotte fought the windmills.
I am going to strive to overcome these habits.

This quote sits on my computer where I can see it every day, how often I forget these words.
" Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass....It's about learning to dance in the rain"















Let us wait for the sun to come out even it is only for five minutes, enjoy living in a different way as the good old days are lying behind us.
I walk towards the sunset and know that I will never make it to the end of the horizon.

The Old Sailor,