May 12th is "Fibromyalgia Awareness Day" and it is also Mother's Day...

...so it only makes sense that I'm having the Mother of all Fibro flareups, doesn't it? This flareup was brewing for a couple days. The other night, I was up till almost 2 AM because my pain meds and muscle relaxers failed. I took a second dose of pain meds at midnight and around 130 AM, I finally started to feel better and tired enough to sleep. Yesterday wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good.

I woke up on this fine, sunny, windy day in agony. All my joints hurt. Well, not ALL of them. My knees aren't sore. But my ankles and wrists- they feel like I sprained them, but I haven't. My elbows ache like I've been playing tennis, but I haven't. In fact, I haven't played tennis since it was required in gym class, so... since 1983. That's an awful long time for tennis elbow to set in, don't you think?

Along with the wrists, the pain is radiating down to my hands and fingers. Typing hurts, but I'll soldier on, because I'm such a badass. Even though I feel terrible and would rather just sit around in loose yoga pants and a giant "I shoot RAW" T-shirt, I had to get dressed and go to the store. That lactic-acid-strain feeling I mentioned in my video from last week is in full force today. A half gallon jug of milk was so heavy that I had to use both hands to lift it.

I don't normally give tips and advice in this blog. Its mostly just a place for me to bitch without annoying the entire world ("the entire world" being "my Facebook and Tumblr Friends"), but I will say those reusable "green" bags with handles, those are awesome. I can carry four of those (even heavy ones) at one time, making getting the groceries into the house much, much easier. Way better than paper or plastic.

And since I just gave some advice, let me link you to a Facebook page called Chronically Crafty. Entertaining and informative. The person who runs the page suffers from fibrofuckingmyalgia, just like us! And if you don't have it and you're reading this- just like someone you know who has it! She asked for links today, for sharing and raising awareness, so I gave her the link to last week's video blog post. She has a Tumblr too, which is how I found the Facebook page.

I have no way to end this on a lighter note, but since it is Mother's Day, let me just share a bunch of random photos of my kids... because without the kids, I wouldn't be a mother. Mom. Mumsy, even.