Things you should Not do on a Bad Day with Pain~~

 This walk with Chronic Pain is just like having a full-time job, except I don't leave the house, and there are No Perks or benefits that go with this particular Job!  Many years ago (pre Tree Fall) I worked in the Public Sector and loved it-but  remember having to spend weekends doing all the necessary catch-up jobs around our home,  making sure to do extra cooking to have food ready for us at the end of a work day.  

That was a long time ago and everything in my life is so different, daily changes come my way, demanding I make numerous concesssions- having to cancel plans at the last minute due to Pain that forces my body to Stop and ride through the Waves of Pain.  The last thing on my mind is cooking-and I feel a lot of guilt about this aspect-after all, my dear husband needs to eat, so do I-but getting around the Pain and into the Kitchen is one heck of a Task on the bad days.

  It dawned on me recently just how far I have strayed from the Kitchen- We keep the fridge stocked so my dear husband is not chewing the sofa legs off-but something hit when I saw a empty frozen Pizza box in the trash, a light bulb went on and I knew-"martha, you need to cook something!"

This message rang loud & clear when I saw my sweet husband grabbing his belt, hooking it up an extra notch, I knew-"My man is Hungry" so to the kitchen I went!  My intentions were good-I had some beautiful Fish Fillets that I quickly seasoned and popped in the Oven-  
but~~~
 Pain was roaring and I forgot Fish cooks pretty fast-as I turned to oven temps up, up, up!

We took a few minutes to relax on our front porch-taking my mind away from the Pain-but I noticed  constant reminders coming my way-as my dear husband kept glancing at his cellphone, reminding me
 "So, how long did you say that Fish needs to Bake?"  

Oh no-I forgot about the Fish, recalling setting the oven temps too high-as I tried to throw a line of Hope for a good meal  "Oh I bet its almost ready, just give me a few minutes" and flew inside, being greeted by the oven reminder beeping constantly-as if to tell me "Geez its Too Late now!"  

I took the once decent-looking Fish out and knew-on this night, Toasted Fish was the Main Course as I scrambled to find those 'Steamer Vegetables" throwing a bag in the Microwave, all the time knowing, there was No chance for a revival of the Fish!  Time to face it, lowering my head in prayer, not wanting to look at my husband!  

We ate in silence as I watched dear husband drink glass after glass of water-not saying a word, as he chewed away on Toasted Fish and pitiful Microwave Vegetables!  What had I been thinking-trying to fix a meal while Pain seemed to constantly jump in my face-throwing me off course, as if to give me a
warning "Guess what Martha-You are going to Mess this Meal up Big Time Tonight!"

I couldn't take the Silence any longer- "Okay, I know the Fish is Terrible-its like Toast, and those Vegetables are just as Bad!  Say Something-anything, Please!"  After downing his 5th glass of water,  my dear husband cleared his throat, took the remaining piece of fish in his hand and said

"Well-this is a New Way to Eat Fish-really Toasty!  How about you let me Fix Dinner the next time?"

We laughed Together-this man could have really let me know how Bad the Meal was, but instead we Faced the Real Facts: 

 Cooking Fish is one Thing Martha should Never Do on a Bad Day with Pain!

A lesson learned!

martha