Hot off the Press – 9th October 2017

Published October 9, 2017 by helentastic67

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Hot off the Press

It’s going to be a crazy week. I can always tell.
Monday, went to the DAC (Disability Advisory Committee) where I spruik myself as a community member/blogger/Girl about town!

DAC

Got to see Young John on the way there and back. He’s still sick but he’s sounding somewhat better.
Ended the day, with an hour-long call from me Ma (not me-maw) going over some admin to make having new carers in my home easier.

Tuesday plans went sideways immediately when my lovely massage was cancelled. So, I moved my GP appointment and the pastry order I made at my fav cafe was cancelled also. I had been hoping to post an extra post this week, to showcase what you should buy when going to a real patisserie. Of yummy goodness. It shall have to wait.

Cancelled appt

Have noticed a few neighbourhood cats have been coming up the front steps and loitering on the front lawn. I haven’t ever been able to go near them (one is old and blind, I’m told by a neighbour) but I never encouraged them when I had Jamima. But today I lost a pen! I know, doesn’t sound significant and it’s not expensive however, having had a cat I was in a habit of always putting something on top of whatever pen I was using. It’s a habit I’ve made sure not to break so when I have my next cat I don’t need to retrain myself of non-cat household habits. So, I’m wondering if Jamima can be blamed for my pen going missing? A friend told me I couldn’t blame her, but can’t I? Maybe these other cats and my pen being stolen from my bed is Jamima visiting and sending the clear message it’s time for a new fur-baby?

Visits

Wednesday, if you read my Foodie good mental health day post? You know, I was such a zombie I needed 2 lattes’. Medicine that is. Robert the owner even stopped by to chat briefly. He is gearing up for Spring Carnival and Christmas.

Wednesday

Saw my Chiro who has been banned from using her elbows in my glutes! It has been known to have her hand slapped away. Today was one of those days. She exclaimed she wanted to help my lower back I pending disc bulge 2.0 issue. I suggested she help it and not try to cure it. Laughter all round. God help me! (In a non-religious way)

Chiro

Dropped in on Sinny where I buy cards and such and as he is closing down soon so I picked up some leather gloves for next winter. While negotiating, I queried how much they were? ($45) And how much they were now? ($32) I stated “Deal!” Then humorously after explaining I can only wear one of them (my left hand gets very cold but I don’t want to try to get a glove on it! So, I told him I only needed the right one? How much for just one? ($32) but he would throw in the other one, I told him I just needed to find someone who needed the left glove? I really will miss him. I once had my mosaic bordered mirrors for sale in his shop and many a gift I have purchased there.

Gloves

Had a great visit with Bella, she left her fur all over the legs of my pants.. Not complaining. Got to acupuncture late but was given the VIP room. So, made some calls. Guilty, not what you should do with 8 acupuncture needles in you.

Thursday! Got to have my massage that I didn’t get Tuesday. Making me a very happy girl. I was so organised I managed to get up and have breakfast before Caroline or even my carer arrived. Caroline was very impressed. Quiet day at home and caught up on calls. Afternoon kip and even managed to get dressed without help. Try putting a bra on one-handed! Not fun. Bra

But dressed I was when my normal Friday carer arrived and we headed to ‘scray’ (short for Footscray) to an exhibition opening.

Thursday
My friend Larissa, who does much for advocacy in ABI and disability is a very talented artist. She does Handstands and does post ups. (She featured at the Arts Centre recently as mentioned in a previous Hot……..) and she does amazing Lino prints. Which I love.
Here are some photos.

Handstand Handstand 1

Don’t mind my hair, it’s at its worst by Thursday late and I do look like I’ve been dragged through s hedge backwards……certainly how it feels.
Here are some photos of some of the other pieces that caught my eye.

Artwork

Friday morning learnt a valuable lesson!
Remember that statement I would attempt to get to bed earlier? Achievable outcome? 1am! Yeah, turns out my standard 2am bedtime is more accurately achievable and I have even been coping. But, as I was out last night at the exhibition opening I got home around 9, ate dinner then did my usual catch-up-on admin/TV/emails, etc. and didn’t get to bed until 2.30! Disaster………..woke up like a zombie today!

Friday

Will binge some BBT (Big Bang Theory) to avoid a kip before going shopping. It is now (roughly) the end of Friday, officially Saturday. The dishwasher is now on a third time. It is only a single draw bench top dishwasher. Made some yummy things with my carer, have bagged and tagged for the freezer, to go to Sydney next week.

The weekend! Super lazy. Great weather for getting washing done. No Chinese laundry amazing. Still no single girl date night movie. Have still been binging and catching up on TV. Currently, watching season 2 of the Australian show Glitch and the other is called the Wrong Girl. Both thanks to my Toppy. (Topfield)

Wrong girl

Saturday. Night and I finally succeeded getting to bed by my self-imposed bedtime 1am, I mean I was still awake at 3am but still Winning!

Back during my club days, had I ever left a club that early my friends would have asked if I was ok? I know, still gotta write about my club days, otherwise referred to as my 20’s and the 90’s for everyone else. I will get there.

Clubbing

Some more comics moved around my home, not as many as last week but nothing to sneeze at.
Might get back into house hunting this week, if only it were that easy. It is only really when I stumble across a property that fits my requirements. Space versus value. Wish me luck.

Cheers,
H

New week

I.D. is not ABI

Published October 6, 2017 by helentastic67

ID not ABI

I.D. is not ABI

Apples and Oranges, it is often that people will assume all people with Brain Injuries are idiots or in some way Intellectually Disabled.

(I.D.) to be fair, it depends if that person was an idiot before they got their ABI or how long they were in a coma (if that is relevant) No idiots ‘here’ I promise!

One of the people in my ABI network had a rant the other day about an organisation I’ve only heard of recently.

There was no background for why I needed to hear the rant, but one of my fearless leaders in her need to rant explained said organisation was originally based around providing services for people or carers of people with I.D. In recent times, they have expanded their services to be more inclusive (don’t we ‘love’ that word?) to cater to other disabilities.

Ranting

All of this is relevant as my mother now months passed did some ‘training’ with said organisation where there were only 11 other ‘carers’. The training was for how to do the application for the funding for NDIS. The training was 2 days a week over 6 weeks and mum travels (unfunded) 3 ½ hours each way to do these things. She generally stays an extra day and by the 6^th week she was here a whole week.

Training

By the last week, we had really had enough, to be fair, mum has a foot in both worlds. When she’s home, she doing “her stuff”, but I’m sure it plays on her mind what I need help with. When she’s here with me, she’s mindful of being home to work and make some money.

Like a Rockstar, my mum might arrive at midnight and she leaves so late a few days later, she cranks me when she gets home and it’s 3am. If she doesn’t ‘crank-me’ I worry. I’m generally still awake anyway.

Rockstar

When Mum’s down, she is always very tired, she has her head in a book or culling emails as until recently, she has had 3^rd world internet access where she lives.

Internet

No, really when my younger sister and mum are rarely visiting, they have their heads in their laptops and they are like two teenagers (67 and 28-year-old teenagers) and while I’m on it, now my mum has the NBN now, so I’ve lost one excuse not to go home at Christmas.

Anyway, I digress.

The training my mum participated in was with eleven others. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to attend also. I do manage all my own “day to day”, all my own accounts and dealings. But it became more obvious when mum explained to the other eleven people were carers for ‘kids’ with ID. Varying ages, from Primary school age to my age. But severe ID with complicated and multiple issues, including ‘PIKA’ – type issues.

No eyebrows, eyelashes, no whiskers on the cat – poor cat. Bad! Bad! Bad! Complex issues. Did I mention I live by myself?

While mum was down, she would constantly point out to me that I had to ‘act’ more responsibly in public, because the Disability sector and people with disabilities are being disrespected and I therefore had to carry myself in a way that was beyond reproach.

Training 1

If we were out shopping together, I might do a little grumpy ‘pout’ about something (I’m not beyond a little grumpy pout on occasion) but mum would growl at me and scold me.

“Remember what we talked about? Well, stop it!”

Yeah, that shit!

So, my point if you stayed with me is, when I found out the organisation in question was from an ID background it explains why mum was treating me less like someone who manages everything for myself.

Of course, I really now feel more for those with ID and how they get treated.

Ironically, when I’m out and about with my Carers, we chat all the way around the supermarket or wherever I have to go. Whatever topic we are discussing, we will put a ‘Pin-in-it’ when we have to stop and focus on a purchase or product or whatever else.

Shopping

And then we walk to the next shop or location and the previous discussion continues.

If I’m telling my Carer about a topic that is a bit less – public consumption. I abbreviate to make a point and at times I turn my head toward them to deliver the punch line, so only they hear it.

They often burst out laughing and I can’t help but smile and this is often what people see of me when I’m out and about.

This is one of the huge differences between family and my carers. My carers are only concentrating on the moment. I know they get paid to be there with me, but we are engaged and however their day started, going out with me cheers them up. Whatever stress or drama they had going on earlier, I manage (without intending to) to take their minds off it.

I think this is my gift to those people who allow themselves to be immersed in spending time with me. Of course, I attempted to explain the difference, I found in my mum dealing with me when she’s attending this training and scolding me.

“How dare you…….. on how I choose to help you!”

That hurt.

Truly, this is why I blog!

I hope you can tell my mum and I love each other, however we often do better apart…

Mum and me

Today’s Lunch – 4th October 2017

Published October 4, 2017 by helentastic67

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Today’s Lunch

Well,

A brief Hot off the press moment! Unit 2 have left the building! A huge truck was in the driveway this morning……I am sure the truck might have been half empty. (Unit 2 is smaller than units 1 and 3)
You may recall, I didn’t hate the tenants in unit 2, I just intensely didn’t like them?
Ironically, the energy is different already.

Moving 1

I attempted to bring you a different …….foodie offering.
But it hasn’t happened.

Today, is a different Arancini. This has pumpkin and spinach. Still with the side salad.

Pumpkin Arincini

And the medicine, might need two today. Feeling like a zombie.

Cafe Latte

It’s a nice day today in Melbourne. I’m hoping I don’t regret wearing my merino wool cowl neck vest over long sleeves. I just wasn’t ready to go full scooter t-shirt! (yes, I have one!)
To be continued………

Scooter

Cheers,
H

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Hot off the Press – 2nd October 2017

Published October 2, 2017 by helentastic67

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Hot off the Press

Monday, rudely awoken at the crack of nothing! At 3.45am. There is no God! Who rings anybody’s doorbell at that hour? I imagine it wasn’t even mine but likely unit 2………did I mention they told me they are moving? They were given notice to vacate using the excuse that family was moving in. I doubt it but, it’s the excuse landlords can use to get rid of tenants. When they told me, my neighbours suggested others would move in I would hate instead. Rude! I don’t hate them I just intensely disagree with their use of the doorbell rather than a key to open their own door and their definition of the term ‘Hippy!) Anyway, saw my Shrink, so good start to the week despite feeling knackered!

Doorbell

Glad I took photos of the concrete bollards in the Bourke Street Mall as the LEGO has been discarded. Ah, I’m sure it will be replaced. Give us time.

Lego bollard 1 Lego bollard 2

Ran into a retired Nun getting off the tram and decided to attempt to convince her to vote Yes, on the upcoming Same sex marriage equality postal vote. She actually doesn’t mind if two men love each other or two women love each other, it was just the use of the word ‘marriage’. I attempted to give her other points to consider and even after telling her I was a “Bitter single straight barren spinster” (yes, I told her I wasn’t bitter) she gave a little laugh and I gave up. I just hope it gave her something to think about.

Same sex marrige

Tuesday! Ladies? Because I don’t think I have many male followers………would you prefer a trip to the dentist or the gynaecologist? I confess I’ve never seen a gyno but get my regular Pap smear every two years as it is recommended and as I went to the dentist today I confess to say, I vote pap smear! I had my teeth cleaned today and I confess I squirmed the whole time, and wringing my hands. I absolutely hate it and I’ve had fillings without needles. I’ve had needles driven into my lower back near my spine with only a local anaesthetic. But Pap smear! I confess I kept holding up my right pointer finger to indicate I was drowning! (They suggested my left hand) but I had to remind them my left arm didn’t work and I promised not to get in their way. So, I guess it took longer than normal for that reason. I agreed to an x-ray which I later regretted as now I have more appointments to mend 4 fillings!

Dentist

Standard Wednesday, with a drop-in visit with Bella. She is often hiding and today I worked out the perfect way to encourage her to emerge. I can’t believe it has taken me so long. The shop has many, many pet toys. (You know the ones that squeak?) I love those toys. I just go crazy with the squeaky toys and she comes running. Awww.

Squeaky toys

Thursday, having family generally ignore my needs and isolation from family or friends and continually under delivering on promises. Therefore, sabotaging my ability to have funding or use things I need. I had the severe case of the CBF’s!

I kept my head down for the day and was largely off-grid. The few people I did reach out to didn’t improve my outlook much. Afternoon nap and rather late lunch was just what Doctor Helen ordered. A late text to a friend Michael and I learnt it had been his birthday! So, I gave him a call. Phone calls with Michael can cover a Plethora of topics and go for hours. Tonight, was nearly an hour, a short one all things considered. Ate dinner after midnight! I’ll get back on track tomorrow. Michael reminded me I’m overdue a trip to the community centre I go to for my free Osteo/Mio appointments. It’s a great way to feel your own life is normal.

Happy birthday
Friday, a long weekend bought to us by the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne. I mentioned I’m not into sport? Yes, very un-Australian. It also makes fun for going out shopping. Plenty of woman with a ‘kill or be killed’ attitude and men who have the day off work and don’t know how to act in normal society. Mixed with school holidays and a handful of teenagers treating the shopping complex like a playground. Running around playing kiss-chase? Is that what that was about?

Kiss chase
All I can say, is my attitude to people who are likely to knock me over? I go down, you come down with me! (Can’t wait to see what Noelle comes up with for that comment!)
Challenge issued……… Challenge accepted

Threw together a double batch of my special muffins and my carer left with the first 4 out of the oven. Muffins for everyone over the weekend! Ate dinner late and still ploughing through emails around 1.30am. So much for off-grid Saturday. At least I got to have a quick visit with both Bella and Wilfred this week. Looking forward to not having a schedule for a few days.

Muffins

Saturday, grand final day in Melbourne. Best afternoon kip ever! Didn’t want to get up. Late dinner, later coffee then went to bed at 2am. Still awake at 4.30am. No judgement please, coffee keeping people awake is for amateurs……

Sunday morning. What!? It’s day lights savings? There is no God! It takes me all summer (and the rest of spring) to get used to it. As another week begins……I’ll leave you with some photos of my discoveries in my back yard. It’s a concrete jungle.
Orchids 1 Orchids 2

Orchids 4

Orchids 3

Lastly, read six comics this week. Note, failed to mention the pitiful number last week but more than made up for it this week. I’m currently reading Buffy season 9. But it did take a conscious effort to achieve that number.

This week I might attempt to get to bed before 1am, as I do like to have a realistic and achievable goal. I have started with the new service provider for my carers. My local council is no more so, here’s to a new week where every day I’ll face a brand-new carer, do my own in-house induction and within 20 minutes they will see me naked! Luckily, they get paid for that torture! I wish I had kept a tally over the years, there have been so many carers.

Showering
To another crazy week ahead!