Another busy day

      My tree is decorated, and the rest of the house decorations are up. I wrapped most of the presents I purchased yesterday, and they make a small pile under the tree. I cleaned my kitchen, including mopping the floor. Nothing will ever make me like mopping, by the way.
      I spent the rest of the day working on the newsletter. I still have much to do. This week will be devoted to finishing it and getting my Christmas shopping done.
      Before I get accused of being efficient, I think I need to explain that I'm trying to get as much done as I can while I'm healthy. Odd? Well, I have IBD. Inflammatory Bowel Disease, if you don't know what it means. It's not one of those romantic diseases that they make a Lifetime Movie about.
      The simplest way to explain it is that I have an overactive immune system. It's always on. And sometimes it attacks me. Particularly the lining of my intestine. It makes me throw up and do other things that I will leave to your imaginations. If it's a really bad flair, it makes me bleed inside, and then I end up in the hospital. Not much fun, but I medicate early in a flair, and I haven't had to stay in a hospital in a long time.
      No one knows what causes IBD, IBS or Crohn's Disease. There are lot of theories and a lot of research being done, but no real answers and no cures. My niece suffers from Crohn's and has it much worse than me. She's been doing okay for a while, thank God.
      Certain foods can sometimes trigger a flare for me. Or stress. Or simply being alive. And here's the rub on the stress. It doesn't have to be bad stress. It could be something good, but it can still trigger a flare.
      Holidays are stressful, and I've lost weeks to a flare before. So when I'm healthy, I try to do as much as I can in case I'm not able to later. That's why I've been working steadily on Christmas. Just in case. I know it's an odd approach to life, but trust me, it's the approach of all IBD sufferers and anyone else with a chronic disease. And it's something you adapt to. No one's life is free from pain. That's just the price we pay for being alive.