Heat & Central Core

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Disability and Determination is a weekly newsletter about my experience living with a rare disability…with a little bit of meditation, pop culture, and other random things thrown in. If you like this post, give me a like with the ❤️ symbol below. This will help me get discovered by others on Substack. Drop your email in the field at the bottom and click the Subscribe button to be notified of future posts, or if you want to contribute, I offer a paid subscription option or you can Buy Me a Coffee ☕

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This summer heat (our thermometer hit 110 degrees [F] today) inspired a post.

From hot to cold, different weather patterns affect everyone differently, especially when you have underlying health conditions already. Heat, like what so many of us are experiencing right now, can be especially dangerous.

I could never live anywhere where there’s ice and snow because I would be stuck at home since I would be very likely to fall in either circumstance. These arms will not be shoveling snow either, let me tell you.

That being said, I actually function better in cooler climates when it comes to my disability. Notice I said cooler and not cold. I’ve been in 10 degree weather before and no, thank you. But 40s, 50s, and 60s (yes, to Californians, the low 60s are still on the scale of “cooler” 😂) are perfect. Why, you ask? Well, since it takes my body more energy to move around, my body tends to generate a lot more heat. I also have a lot of hair which helps with that. So I don’t often get too cold even when it’s considered “cold” outside (my hands however, have their own thermometer and always seem to be cold). My body is kind of its own personal heater, especially if I’m outside and have a jacket on.

When summer rolls around and we start having 90 degree and above temperatures, that’s when things get tricky. Not only am I noticeably more fatigued in general, I have a much harder time moving around. My whole body gets stiff, especially my legs. I get winded more easily. It just takes way more effort to move around in any capacity. So this last week of almost straight 100+ temps has been rough. I’ve been super tired no matter how much sleep I got. I haven’t been getting out of the house as much as I’d like to because I can feel how much weaker I am, and I could very much see a fall coming on. It’s supposed to get down into the 90s again next week so I think my body will appreciate that, even though it’s still not ideal.

I’m already ready for fall though, let me tell ya…🍂

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What I’m Reading This Week📚

Doing a little something different this week instead of “What I Loved”. Even though I don’t do full-on posts about books anymore, I almost always have a book on my coffee table that I’m working my way through. And books are just awesome.

One of my 2026 goals was not to buy any new books. Anyone who knows me, knows what a challenge that is, but I set the intention that I was only going to get books at the library this year and so far, I’m holding strong on that. It helps to just frickin love the library too.

Anita de Monte Laughs Last - Xochitl Gonzalez

I read a whole lot of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club picks. They’re always centered around women’s stories, and I haven’t read one that I didn’t like yet. This one though, I actually got from the library after

Things that Make me Happy!

recommended it, not knowing it was a Reese pick. It did not disappoint. A tale of two very strong female artists living in two different times, mixed with some revenge and awesome supernatural threads, I couldn’t put it down. A lot of it takes place in the late 80s and 90s too and that nostalgia was a nice added bonus.

I Curse You with Joy - Tiffany Haddish

This was in my favorite section at the library—the New Releases display. I’ve always loved and appreciated Tiffany Haddish’s boisterous, raunchy, no holds barred comedy (that as far as I know, doesn’t include making fun of disabled people, but please let me know if I’m wrong there). I’m not quite finished with it, but her book is true to form for her. Funny, heartfelt, open, and honest on all things from her life experiences, to sex, to advice on how to handle life’s challenges. One of my favorite things she gives in the way of advice is that everyday she looks in the mirror, looks herself in the eye and says her name followed by “I love and approve of you.” I’ve never been great at doing affirmations but I’ll try just about anything if it’ll help give me a confidence boost. Something about this one really stuck out to me too. She does it for five minutes though so think I may start with trying to do it once a day!

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I’ll add one thing that did make me happy. I’ve been seeing all these hilarious memes going around about the Tesla Cybertruck, and they’ve brought me such joy. That “truck” is literally the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen (kind of like their creator) #sorrynotsorry. Here are a couple of my favorites:

[Image Description: Twitter post that reads, Tesla have been kind enough to deliver one of the new Cybertruck for me to test. I must admit that I’m not sure on it. Photo is a picture of a bright yellow industrial-sized garbage can]

[Image Description: Top photo shows Tesla creator Elon Musk smoking a giant marijuana blunt on a radio show. The bottom picture is Musk standing in front of the new Cybertruck with the caption “1 Year Later’]

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Adding on to what was in my last post too,

Sandra Ann Miller

sent this link to me about all of the things that ended up happening that were mentioned or predicted on The Simpsons (some that I know we all wish hadn’t come true). Definitely think I need to watch now.

Hope you’re all staying cool and hydrated too 😎 Happy weekend!