Our prompt for Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday was “Choices.” Which got me to thinking about spoonie choices. Now choices are something that every spoonie deals with on a daily basis, I mean really that’s pretty much the definition of a spoonie. Choices are also the bane of many spoonie’s existance. What to cook, what to wear, shower or no? yadayadayada … No relief in sight always choices, everywhere you look. It’s a huge burden for me. Maybe less (or more) for other spoonies. Partly it’s a side effect of brain fog but some days decisions or choices are just impossible for me to manage. Here are a few examples,
I cannot go to buffet-type restaurants. I have enough trouble with a stinkin menu, I sure don’t need to try to make intelligent choices when surrounded by food of questionable nutritional value. I wind up standing there staring into space like “Norman Coordinate.”
Some days even grocery shopping can be overwhelming, I find myself standing in the store with that blank expression on my face, just … overwhelmed by waaaaay to many choices.
What to cook? This is a biggie. Cooking takes energy which is often in short supply around here. Plus Superhubs and I both follow low carb diets (he’s diabetic, I’m just overweight). This takes planning, preparation, and yes choices.
Clothing, yes even what to wear can cause me to have a panic attack. Colors, textures, accessories. What color will uplift me today? Which of my stones will suit my needs? What texture can I tolerate? Can I manage buttons?
Shower? – some days the decision whether or not to shower is tantamount to conquering Everest.
What to watch? We watch a single episode of some older TV series each night after dinner as part of our wind down time. The question always is … what to watch arghhhhh another CHOICE!
OK, enough of the ever expanding list of stupid, meaningless, but still very important choices we all make every day. What do we do about it?
Here’s how I handle the daily choices I have to make.
Buffets — Just skip them. We don’t eat out often and when we do, we carefully avoid buffet type restaurants.
Grocery shopping — I make a list. Pretty much if it’s not on the list, it isn’t getting bought so I’m pretty thorough and ties in to the next choice, meal planning.
Cooking — Two Words – Meal Planning. Yep, I’m a big believer and user of meal planning. I use the theme process in my planning to (again) simplify the choices. For example here at chez spoonie we have
Burger Monday
Tofu Tuesday
Banger Wednesday (sausages)
Fishy Thursday
Foil Pack Friday
Oh So Simple Saturday
Slow cooker Sunday
OK, you get the idea, from there I pick out some recipes, make a list and voila, I know what we’re having every night. Now keep in mind that the best laid plans of mice and spoonies often go astray. There are nights when nobody is up to cooking. Those nights usually get switched to soup and sandwich or frozen entrees.
Clothing — OK confession time, I’ve eliminated buttons from my wardrobe. They are just too often impossible for me to work with. I have lots of soft knits that pull on. I also use a color correspondence for shades and accessories: Monday is Blue, Tuesday is Red, Wednesday is Orange …. you get the idea.
Shower, personal care — this one gets kind of touchy for a lot of people. Here’s the cold, hard truth. There are days when taking a shower is way beyond my available spoons. Lots of days. But, I also have this almost pathological need to be “clean” before bed. Now I don’t do a lot of sweaty work so it’s not tragic (or smelly) if I just skip a night. That said, on low spoon days I use a “bucket bath.” Take a sink of warm water, stand on a towel, wet your wash cloth and wash, rinse, repeat. I use a spray “soap” that requires no rinsing although I do rinse with my wash cloth. Sinks work for hair as well as do dry shampoos.
TV watching — You wouldn’t think this would be a big deal right? Well, trust me, it is. We use the same “theme” plan we use for meal planning. We have “Trekkie Tuesday,” “Deep Space 9 Thursday,” “Marvelous Saturday,” you get the idea.
So that’s how we make daily choices here at Chez Spoons. How about you? What do you do to make the whole process easier? Of course there’s always, rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock.
Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock ~Big Bang Theory
Til next time ~May the Spoons be ever in your favor ~JPP
Crone and Curmudgeon 