A few pics from our walk tonight… Yep, Pippa, Queen of Drama when it comes to rain, had to jump into the lake - at 16°C/60°F Then we saw a deer… Pippa didn’t get what I found so interesting about it. “Can we go play now???” And it’s almost full moon
A few pics from our walk tonight… Yep, Pippa, Queen of Drama when it comes to rain, had to jump into the lake - at 16°C/60°F Then we saw a deer… Pippa didn’t get what I found so interesting about it. “Can we go play now???” And it’s almost full moon
A few pics from our walk tonight… Yep, Pippa, Queen of Drama when it comes to rain, had to jump into the lake - at 16°C/60°F Then we saw a deer… Pippa didn’t get what I found so interesting about it. “Can we go play now???” And it’s almost full moon
BAD! TOY! NEED! TO! KIIILLLL IIITTTT!!! GRRRRRR…!!! Sometimes, her toy is bad, so Pippa turns into a big bad wolf… Or so she thinks. In reality, she’s still a little sheepdog, looking like a sheep herself
Friday and Saturday, we made our first longer trips to a very big park-like area where dogs are allowed to run freely, and we had so much fun! We met very few people and Pippa could enjoy just sniffing around and running a bit and looking for ducks and birds and stuff. I still have to keep her on a leash, but I don’t think it’ll take very for her to learn to stay with me even without a leash, because she always comes back to me when I call her.
I was very tired afterwards, almost too tired to sleep, and my feet and legs hurt, but for the first time in years - I was happy. Despite all the crappy health stuff I have going on.
My cat was very happy when we came back and came to cuddle, and it felt so good to crawl into bed near him.
Pippa instantly went to sleep and took a two hour nap, so I really could relax for a while before I had to go outside with her again. And she was fine with just playing around with her toys and stuff for the rest of the day, so it wasn’t too exhausting for me.
The last couple of years haven’t been easy. I went through an unhealthy relationship that ended in a not very nice breakup. I moved to another city where I only knew one person who a few months later decided that we couldn’t be friends anymore because of how I deal with my chronic illness/disability. Another friend, whom I had known for 10 years, also ended the friendship, apparently because I had changed. Almost none of my contacts survived my moving away. So I was alone in a new city when Covid arrived. In addition to that my heath got worse. It hadn’t been good for years, but at least I could do some things. But by the end of 2019 I wasn’t able to take care of myself anymore. But a few months had to pass by for me to ask for help. The people who saw that I needed help and supported me saved my life. It’s been a year since and staying at home doing nothing but concentrating on my health really has helped me. It’s been a lonely year, but that’s okay.
Normally I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but when 2021 came around I suddenly had gained enough strength to set three ‘goals’ for this year. Or let’s call them 'projects’, because whether I finish them or not - it will be a better year than the last few were. So the projects are:
- lose weight (yeah, I know, but I’m doing it for me and not because anyone says so)
- declutter my appartment
- get a dog
The last point actually was my therapist’s idea, because it would give me a reason to leave the house. And since I’m capable of taking care of a pet, we decided to put it on my list.
So far, I lost 13 kilos (28 pound), my flat is ¾ done - and I got a dog. It had been a lifelong dream of mine to own one and I still can’t believe it has come true. Her name is Pippa, she’s about 5 months old, and a Hrvatski Ovcar (Croatian Sheepdog). She’s such a lovely dog and I just love her. She spent her first few months roaming the streets of Gospic before being rescued and brought to Austria where I adopted her. She likes to cuddle and play ball and is just so happy all the time. My cat is not as happy as I am, but I’m pretty sure they’ll get along well.
This being said, I will dedicate this blog to Pippa’s and my journey getting to know each other and finding a way to live a life together - despite me having CFS/ME.
It’s been two and a half weeks now since she moved in and there’s one thing that I noticed the most: Some people suffering from CFS/ME say that they really benefit from pacing - doing something for a short while, resting, doing something and so on. I was never able to do that, probably because of my ADHD-brain being not satisfied with 'doing something for a short time and not finishing it before resting’. But ever since Pippa moved in, I’m forced to do pacing: She’s not house-clean yet, so I have to go outside every 1.5 hours. She’s still a puppy so she sleeps a lot - that’s when I can rest for an hour or two, before I have to go outside again. I never thought I would benefit from pacing, but I really do. It’s not that I’m healthy all of a sudden, but it helps me cope with the tiredness and fatigue.
To wrap things up… My life has changed big time and I’m so happy it has.
