HAPPY AT HOME

There are many articles about pets and disabled people to be found on line, but this is a personal experience from a homebound person.
I have had dogs my whole life. Our dog, Jennie,(in picture) loves everybody. One day our neighbors were out on their patio and Jennie went running over and jumped right up on our neighbors lap! It's a good thing they like dogs too. They think this is one of their funniest stories! She should have a book wrote about the things she does, there's too many to post here. {I think I will do a blog on her}! Our other dog Shadow would protect me till his death. He makes me feel safe from anything.
Dogs can be trained to do tricks and chase balls and Frisbees, go for walks, hopefully with you in the lead! You can give them a bath, and they give you a shower!
But since I've had these illnesses there are many days that I'm homebound and pets have a whole new meaning. Dogs give unconditional love no matter how bad you feel that day. They lie with you and seem to know that you're not feeling good. They can get things for you and help you to get around. I had one that would let me know when the phone rang if I didn't hear it and she wasn't even taught that. But they need care and attention too, which gives you someone who needs you and counts on you.
This is one reason I can't give up my fight with both of my illnesses. What would my dogs do if I did?
They make your day so much happier and worthwhile when your homebound that once you have a dog you can't live without them!

A person with bipolar disease and MS can never have enough love, and cats can sure give that!
I was never a cat person growing up.
I thought dogs were the best pets you could have.
Not long after I was married there was a stray cat in the neighborhood which my husband talked me into keeping. We didn't realize the cat was about to give birth because of her weight. Well as luck has it the cat had seven kittens on our bed in the night! To make matters worse we had planned to leave for a camping trip the next day!
When it was my time for a baby the cat became my best friend. She was on my lap or the back of where I'd be sitting all the time.
Since then I've loved cats too.
The bipolar disease is one of my side effects of the MS. Ever since I have been sick there has been a cat friend near me. As soon as I sit down there is a cat on my lap. And when the cat starts purring, it is a very comforting sound. Playing with them, gets your mind off your troubles for a while.
Anyone who is homebound should have a cat friend. I have four of them now, so if one isn't on me there is always one to take its place. I also have two dogs and all need attention, and I love to give it to them.
At times I'm not able to take care of them but there is always someone who will help, whitch gives me company to bless my day too!
My animals fill a big need in my life. They are my best companions when I'm homebound, or not!

It stinks when you are stuck at home because it's just too hard to get around, right? There are some advantages of being homebound when you think about it. When you are having good days you want to be as active as you can, as long as you don't overdo.
But think of the things you can do that other people would love to have time for but are too busy.
One of these things is reading books. I am an old classic lover, so I reread things like Mark Twain and Huckleberry Fin. But there are other books that interest me like A Rats Tale by Tor Seidler and Stones from the River By Ursula Hegi. I'm also a Christian and a singer so I like 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck. And of course my favorite book is the Bible as it has so much encouragement in it. I love to dream of heaven and what it must look like with its streets of gold, and singing with the angels.
So you see there are some advantages to being homebound even if you're not feeling your best.

Crafts are fun and time consuming!
I enjoy crocheting, knitting, cross-stitch, needlepoint and a little sewing. A lot of what I do is dependent on what I'm able to do at the time. With MS as with a lot of other illness that may keep you homebound there are times when your to shaky or your hands just don't work well enough to be able to do some of these things. But for those who are homebound for other reasons such as being home with kids or out of a job or many reasons, these are things that you can do whenever you want.
There are many other crafts that people enjoy and I'm sure there is one for everyone.
Just try a few of them and I bet that you'll find one that suits you.
I know that you can get to many items made and wonder what do I do with these? Here are a few suggestions. Give them as gifts or give them away to a charity. You can sell them at garage sales, flea markets, and even on E bay. I'm sure there is some way you can use them to make someone else happy or to help bring in some extra money for yourself!

I was thinking about one activity that everyone enjoys and that is eating!
It is so easy to sit and eat mindlessly when your at home with nothing to do or if your watching TV or movies. I even have problems with eating when I'm at the computer.
So what is a person to do?
The only tips I can give you is if you are snacking make them healthy snacks. I know we've all heard this before, snack on fruits and veggies, but it really is a good idea.
When we're hombound (and I don't just mean with an illness) putting on a lot of weight is very easy! Some of us are not able to move around much, or we may have desk jobs, or even have a home business. We're the ones that really need to watch our snacking, and I do have five fingers pointing back at me!
The easiest thing is to limit your sweet snacks to once or twice a week and fill our refrigerators and cupboards with healthy ones. If this doesn't help your weight it will at least be healthier for for all of us.

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Whatever you do in life takes a lot of persistence. Like when a baby learns to walk and talk, they have to practice and really want to learn new things. It takes determination.
We need that determination to learn new things too. I have found that if I really put my mind to it I can learn to do many things.
I've taught myself to knit, to work on a happy marriage and family, and even how to use a computer. I still don't know everything about these and many other things, but I am determined to keep trying.
I have tried to use this patience and determination in fighting my illness by not letting it get me down, and I've tried to replace my "I can't" attitude with " I can"if things don't work out at least I gave it my best shot.
It takes a lot of patience to learn new ways of doing things when you are homebound with an illness and lot of persistence to have an "I can" attitude no matter why you're homebound. But I know if I have persistence, patience,and determination I am happier.

My new "hobby" has become blogging!
This is quickly becoming an addiction even though I haven't made any money yet.
Blogging is a place where you can let out feelings that you don't necessarily want all of your family and friends to know about. Or it can be a way of telling them what you think if you don't want to do it to their face! You can tell the world who you are, or you can disguise yourself.
Blogging can be just for fun or you can try to make money with it, and chances are if there's a reason that you are homebound you probably can use the extra money! One of the best parts is not having to be an expert at anything to do it!
So what are you waiting for?
Get blogging NOW!