Polished nails and pills galore

It's been getting colder recently, and when it comes time for dinner, I just want anything warm, and easy to get.
Today, mum helped me make a big ol' batch of soup. It's lamb, barley, lentils, peas, carrot, onion and potato. And it is delicious. Shock horror, I'm actually leaving the meat in it (about 33g per cup). For the past few years, my soups have been confined to veggie-based, and whenever I made this soup I'd make the broth, take out all the meat, and cool and skim the broth to continue with the soup. Mum's made it since I was young, and it weighed up to 178 calories per cup/250g/serve, with meat. For me, it's pretty heavy for a soup. But all in all, it's a healthy, easy and light-ish dinner.

I chickened out of the Kiev on Thursday night. I felt so ill, I was in tears. I feel worse as the day gets on. I didn't get around to making my pilaf. Not wanting to risk vomiting, but needing food with my meds, I ended up eating about 2/3 cup of plain rice with a drizzle of soy sauce. Another day under 800. However, my Kiev is cut into portions in the freezer, awaiting to be reheated for the next encounter. The past two days, I've made it closer to 900. Days filled with guilt and calorie-dense foods like vintage cheddar, muesli bars, and homemade curry; intended to keep portion sizes down. I'm actually bloated today. Ugh.

In health news; the infections are really knocking me down. I'm on a 10 day course of antibiotics, so hopefully they'll start helping soon. My fever and headache are under control, thanks to ibuprofen and paracetamol, though my cough is still horrible. By the end of the day, my cough has gotten the better of me, and I'm exhausted and ache from head to toe. My lungs and heart feel tired from working far too hard. I'm on so many different medications at the moment, it's crazy. I'm taking 16 pills a day, between painkillers and antibiotics and regular meds. Using inhalers 6-8 times a day, and ointment for my skin twice a day. My brother's suggested I add up the total milligrams I'm having between them all, and I'm nearly tempted to.

The skin around my fingernails has been looking a lot better this past week or two, even before I saw the GP, though they were still infected. Several of them are no longer raw/open wounds, but still swollen and inflamed. Anyway, this means I've been able to put nail polish on a some of them for the first time in nearly a year. Both thumbs are butchered, and some on my right hand aren't so great, but the ones that are painted look good! I'm hoping it'll encourage me a little to stop picking at them so much. Sorry they aren't sparkly; I didn't have the patience to use a proper polish so I used a quick-dry.

(That's my late grandmother's ruby & diamond ring. After I inherited it, I had it reset in white gold instead of the original yellow gold. It never leaves my finger. On a good day, my hair and nails match the rubies.)


xxBella