"Posted by legallyheidi 7B (missreadsalot87@yahoo.com) on Mon, Dec 2, 13 at 23:32 Oh! I hope you feel better soon! Shingles suck. Try and stay happy and stress free...when my brother had it a few years ago, his doctor told him that...along with taking his meds. I cannot take pain meds...my gut doesn't like them." Thanks, Heidi,...still working on it. Nearly every morning , generally quite early, I really want a double hit of 200mg Ibuprofen to counteract the soreness and pain I'm experiencing, but I continue to resist and haven't taken pain meds in well over a week. Basically, at this point, I'm working to adjust to this new level of discomfort while maintaining as much overall functionality as I can. Good news is, I'm getting a lot better at it and accomplishing more. Can't expect everyone to remain understanding forever. Pain meds don't really agree with me all that well either, particularly the narcotic variety it seems (although, years ago, when I had pancreatitis, I learned to nearly love Demerol). Super-uber majorly sux that you can't take oral pain meds at all. :( I mean, like, holy criminey... Anyway, at least I'm not looking so much like a zombie-ogre fresh from the battlefield anymore, although I still wear my hoodie's hood up covering the adversely affected left side of my face. More for the benefit of others than myself, particularly in keeping with the season. It's going on 1 1/2 months now. Yippeee skip. :/ BTW, I've likewise been made aware of the role of stress regarding Shingles. Alas, with my wife being a recovering cancer patient, our 29-yr-old son being an unreasonable autistic and my wife's 89-yr-old mother and older sister often at odds, a stress-free environment in our universe is, well,...you get the idea. (-sigh-) We just do the best we can, like so many others. :)

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I just have junk to deal with -- good thoughts and wishes to those with health problems! Magazines are not my issue. My town's yearly bulk pick up is next week and I've been cleaning out my garage, basement and attic. The basement is basically done except for about 50 cans of paint that have to be dried out and discarded. That's a project that will be on-going for awhile. Don't keep paint cans is my advice. Pour some into a small jar to keep and get rid of the can. If you need more than a touch-up, go buy a quart. I have a huge walk-up attic that has been a dumping ground for everything we have not wanted to deal with for years. I have been filling contractor bags with junk my kids brought home from college (youngest graduated 4 years ago!). I'm trying to recycle what I can, but I have reached the conclusion that I can't let that hold me up. And I have to go through everything - I found some gold earrings my daughter said she's been looking for and there are papers with SS#'s and other sensitive info. Whenever I've upgraded a lamp or a chair the old one has gone to the attic for the kid's apartments. Guess what - they don't want my old stuff! I have a charity picking up anything worthwhile. It's gotten to the point that I have run out of room to sort things around the piles that have to go out. I've hired a few young men to help me get it all to the curb this weekend. I can't wait to see how much space is left. Another purge will have to happen before it's really cleared out, I'm sure. You would not believe the electronic equipment that needs to be disposed of - who has 7 turntables? ME! The garage is a whole other problem. There are cabinets that are filled with half-empty cans of solvents and stuff like that. I have to box it up to wait for the toxic chemical dump day. The cabinets are going on the curb. I think that cabinets in the garage are a bad idea - the more storage you have, the more junk you keep. My DH used to work in a hardware store so we have discontinued displays of entry sets, doorknobs, and towel bars, plus coffee cans filled with every size screw and nail. That's all going to a Habitat-type organization near me. It takes a lot of effort to keep stuff out of landfills, but I'm trying.

I'm with those who've suggested creating a dual-purpose room. It sounds like you would use the crafting/project space, so why not set up half the room (or at least a corner) with a work space for yourself, and find some (gently used) fitness equipment your husband wants? Then you could see how you end up using the room before devoting more space than necessary to one purpose or the other. When I'm ready for another area to have to clean and maintain (which won't be for at least a couple of years), we'll finish our basement. We have the floor plan roughly worked out, and one room will be a combined fitness and project room. Right now the fitness stuff is set up in a corner of the unfinished basement and only sees use on the coldest mornings of the year, or occasionally when the kids are playing down there and it's too hot to run outside. I'm not sure it will get much more use even when finished as I'd much rather be outside moving around, but it's nice to have during periods of extreme weather. My sewing machine is now in a corner of our bedroom that's not ideal, but better than having it shut up somewhere. Projects end up all over the house, spread out in the living room or dining room. There's a kids craft table spackled and ready to be sanded sitting in the middle of the living room as I type. I know I would use a project space if I had a designated one, but the thought of having to clean (and decorate!) the basement when I'm still working on the main floors is too much for me at the moment.