You may notice in the picture above that my best friend is hanging out in the cool morning air wearing a shirt and sweater. Meanwhile, I am not only in my own shirt and sweater, but also big winter coat, hat, and gloves (not shown). I am certain the only reason I am not wearing a scarf is because I didn't bring it. (I absolutely LOVED having to wear masks during covid simply because it was an extra layer of warmth that didn't look out of place.)
After the birth of my firstborn, I discovered I have Raynaud's Syndrome. Now, before you start feeling bad for me, let me tell you a little about it because you probably haven't even heard of it. Ok, scratch that. I still don't know a lot about it, but I will tell you how it shows up for me. When I enter a hot bath on a cold day, my toes feel like they are going to burn off my body until they adjust to the temperature. It took me awhile to recognize that my toes were lying and the bath wasn't actually a scalding 500 degrees. This led to more than a few tepid, disappointing baths as I adjusted the water to something my toes deemed acceptable while the rest of my body was wondering how we ran out of hot water that fast. On cold days I must always have on thick socks, boots, gloves and something covering my ears when I'm outside. That's to keep all of my extremities warm but also so you don't freak out at the way my fingertips have turned ghostly white. Inside, I keep my home a toasty 74 degrees and still wear cozy onesie pajamas with a sweater over it and a blanket over my lap in fall and winter (and the early part of spring). My body has a difficult time regulating extreme temperatures. And by extreme I mean anything outside of 70-99 degrees. Yes, it likely is a huge part of the reason I moved from CT to the south and am now living in Georgia. It's the mildest I could find along the eastern seaboard where I can still remain within a relatively close distance to my family. Anyway - the biggest challenge I have with this syndrome is the food I eat. I prefer warm foods always. Hello soups and stews! My water is always room temperature. BUT - I love smoothies! This is fine in the summer when it's hot out and the smoothie helps cool me down. The challenge is in the winter. Typically I avoid smoothies in the winter, but they are just so dang healthy and delicious. So, I have had to find workarounds. And, that leads to the point of this blog: to share with you the quirks I have created for myself to enjoy the sweetness of life despite my limitations, in case you wanted to know. My favorite workaround is to drink my smoothie while taking a shower. Yes, I bring my mug into the shower, turn my back to the water stream and drink through a straw. My body stays warm and I enjoy the pleasure of a smoothie in winter. This works really well. However, I don't like taking too many showers in the winter because I don't want to dry my skin out. If I want a smoothie but it's not shower day, I have to resort to the next best thing. I place my smoothie in a to go cup and drive around in my car with the heat blasting and my seat warmer on. (This has been known to happen even in summer if it's a cloudy low-70's kind of day.) So, basically, if you ever see me around town and I look ridiculously over dressed for the mild weather, know that I know how ridiculous I look and also that I don't give a shit because I am warm. Your turn! What's one of your quirks?
0 Comments
|
AuthorMelinda Lee is a mom of two adolescent boys, a devout student of all things spiritual, a recovering perfectionist, and immensely fascinated with achieving the unachievable. Currently writing a memoir about hugging strangers. Archives
February 2023
Categories |