The Seated View

And so, we come to the end of this year’s Advent giveaways. Throughout the year your comments, thoughts, jokes, and support means so very much to me. It has been wonderful to be able to give something back to you. For the fourth Chronic Christmas Giveaway, the winner will enjoy two things that will hopefully make 2018 better. One will help you keep your life organized so you feel less overwhelmed. And second, often, a bit of downtime starts with a cup of something hot — the other will help you transition into the Christmas habit of hygge into a year-long way of taking care of yourself.  The person who wins with get their choice of one of the five calendars I created for this year , as well as their choice of a Chronic Christmas mug or a Your Life with RA mug . To enter, leave a comment on this post. Say whatever you want — are ready for the holidays? What’s your favourite Christmas cookie? What are your wishes for 2018? And if any of those seem too complic...

I’ve loved Advent calendar since I was a little girl. Opening a small gift every day for the month of December is such a wonderful way to build anticipation while temporarily calming down the excitement  so you don’t explode by the time Christmas arrives. It’s one of the reasons I wrote Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness as Advent calendar, sharing a daily tip for how you can make the holidays manageable and how those who love you can lend a helping hand. So when I started thinking about ways to help you enjoy the holidays without overdoing it, an Advent calendar was foremost in my mind. And then, to wildly paraphrase a certain green gentleman who shows up around this time of year, I got an idea. An amazing, wonderful idea. For the next month, I’ll be hosting weekly giveaways with helpful and cool prizes! In the tradition of Advent calendars, I’m not going to tell you what they are. You'll just have to come back to “unwrap” them. ...

Three years ago today, Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Treatment, Side Effects and Pain was published and I fulfilled my lifelong dream of being an author. It’s been an amazing three years. My little book was very well received by people who live with RA and I have been lucky enough to meet many of you, some in person, most by email and on social media. Every time I do, it warms my heart and puts a smile on my face. When you sit in front of your computer for months and years and write, you hope that your idea for the book is going to resonate with others. You imagine the people who will enjoy your book and, in this case, find help in it to live better lives with a difficult disease. Knowing that over 2500 of you (so far) are reading those words is incredible to me. Some of you were kind enough to leave a review on Amazon . And although it is totally uncool to say this, I’ll admit to having read those reviews more than once. On the days when the writ...