Holy crap, I haven't posted in four months!

What can I say?  It's been a busy four months.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Darcy's birthday... There was something big every month, and on top of that, I've been in a bad fibro flare since September (absolutely my longest and worst flare ever).  Plus, I'll be the first to admit that I'm lazy about the whole blogging thing.  I feel as if it is more of a public diary and no one really wants to read it.  No biggie, though. 

Things that are new since the last post: 

Rumple and Chloe

• two new kittens and two new mice
  
• I am journaling daily in two different journals, one a guided journal and one a perpetual journal
  
• I am following along with Ali Edwards's One Little Word, with my word for 2014 being CONTENT (you can see the types of things I'm working on at my Pinterest board for OLW)
  
• I am teaching a class at Friday School based on the book Read-Aloud Plays: Classic Short Stories
  
• I threw a fun-filled slumber party for Darcy and her friends on New Year's Eve and again on Darcy's birthday.
  
• I have found a new television series to obsess over in Pretty Little Liars (which has an awesome soundtrack, by the way)
  
• I colored my hair back to it's natural dark brown (at least I think that is its natural color)
  
• I've come to accept that some former friends have decided to remove themselves from my life, and that if they can't accept me for who I am, it is their loss and not mine (part of that whole being content thing, right there)
  
• I've not only accepted that we won't have more kids, but I've decided I don't want any more.  I've gone from "I want a baby" to "If we get a kid, I'm with Darcy in thinking that she should have an older sister."  Seriously, I really like the way my life is and a baby would screw everything up.  (Hey, that's another part of content!)

The school section
of the Mom Cave

• I have a new Mom Cave (the former family room) for my Thirty-One business items and inventory, all the school books for Darcy's home school adventures, and all my craft supplies
  
• I'm starting to look more into essential oils for medicinal purposes
  
• and, I started selling my awesome Magic Menu Boards to help out other busy moms.

 See!  I've been busy!  

 My current pet peeve is one that has been bothering me a lot lately.  It's those people who do not have a chronic disability, nor do they live with someone with a chronic disability, yet they say things such as "I know how you feel."  No, you don't.  You don't know how it feels to live with constant pain 24 hours a day with no relief.  There's never a day where I can say I'm not in pain; it is always either tolerable or intolerable.  You. Have. No. Idea. Don't demean what I live with by saying that you know what I'm going through.  It just makes me lose a little respect for you when you say things like that.  Please, take a moment to read The Spoon Theory and maybe you'll understand a little bit what it is like to live with chronic pain. 

Furthermore, I feel as if I'm am often judged because I don't look sick.  I can force myself to get dressed and put on makeup and participate in activities, but that doesn't mean that my body isn't screaming at me every second.  If I don't make an effort and always look as badly as I feel, I'm judged for trying to gain sympathy or, even worse, being a hypochondriac.  If I do make an effort, then I'm judged for faking being sick.  It's honestly a no-win scenario when you are dealing with an invisible illness.  I may not look sick, but then again you don't look dumb.  I guess it all evens out.