Doing another egg delivery today. If the tray of eggs is in my home until I deliver it, the longer it’s here the more I get creative, my Girl-Wednesday and I collaborating. I deliver and unveil our efforts with the line, “we did these! Well, we didn’t lay the eggs obviously. But we ratified them!”
Need to catch up on some baking at home. Have been doing savoury. And now my freezers are full, I can return to baking sweet things.
Meanwhile, today’s offering the brain grain salad and medicine.
When I was a kid, well teenager, also had a bedroom along the side of our house. My sister had a bedroom with a view of the backyard.
Yes, this is a second child syndrome moment because, it is what it is.
My view was of a grey fence that actually also had racks added so my dad could store his extra timber, metal and god knows what else. Like the double garage wasn’t big enough.
The neighbours loved to work late into the night over the fence in their carport on their cars. So, bright lights and late nights aplenty.
I recall a brief time, my older sister and I slept in a caravan behind our Aunt’s house, mum and dad were on a mattress in their big back room. My parents were building the house I grew up in. I lived in that house until I was nineteen.
In that bedroom that was view-less, having moved out of home to move to Melbourne to be a poor art student. I’ve moved many times. Have I counted? Yes. I’ve got to find my list. Then add a few places to it. But I hate moving and I finally have a reasonable view.
Ok, now I can see other people on their balconies and other apartments. But I have a view.
As per usual, I’ve neglected my blog writing for a little while, as I’ve been busy with all the mundane weekly appointments and carer shifts, I forget to A) Socialize and B) Catch up on my blog writing.
By then, I’m still not caught up on the ‘old’ stuff I want to write about and then I’ve scraped the surface on those things, leaving more unsaid than said.
The Social life stuff leads to needing to write.
This is not the retirement I had in mind. I had to flip over my notebook and start from the back. I’m going to struggle to go back to the train of thought I’ve started at the front, but …..Onwards.
Yesterday, had a nice adventure planned and by 8am the wheels fell off. My fill-in carer had rung in sick and I was asked if I wanted them to be replaced? Just imagine I do like a shower each day, so I said yes please but, my agency outsourced me to another agency, who got lost 3 suburbs away and by the time she found me it was lunchtime.
I was in the mood to hibernate. I also thought I’d make up for doing full “Person” on Saturday, I also did hours of admin sitting at my desk. Here is Mika, her idea of helping me.
That’s right, I went out! I went up and down several times in the lift and ran into people. It’s amazing how many people you see if you keep normal hours. I was even able to help a guy who was attempting to get into the garage entrance with a slab of beer in his arms. I called to him as he was about to put it down and clicked the button for the garage gate to open. He seemed pleased and surprised.
I had been waiting for my sister to pull in to “bump in/bump out” she bought me a vacuum cleaner as mine recently died and she collected some goodies for my dad. Ok, our dad. She was going up to stay with him for a few days before going onto Canberra with our younger sister. We had lunch locally.
I did take photos but they did not work! Again! Reasons why Helen cannot do Insta. I did however make my second last bread and butter pudding Sunday night. I even had some, I normally portion and package it all up to give away. Have delivered some today and while none is going to Sydney to my administrator Noelle. She is getting a box full of goodies. Should arrive Monday?
Another crazy day, not even getting to my favourite cafe in North Fitzroy. Stayed close to my last appointment in Thornbury for lunch instead. Today’s offering a black bean pie, with a little salad and relish and medicine.
There was a drink back in the 80’s and I has become part of Aussie Pop Culture references that crosses all things. The ad was for a drink (beverage) called Claytons.
It refers to it being the drink when you don’t feel like having a drink. A drink without being alcoholic. So, this is a post about a Clayton’s holiday. Get it?
About five years ago, I was with an agency that arranged holidays (group holidays) for their clients. I was able to and included on two holidays, which was really nice as I think it’s been about ten years since I actually had a holiday and even then, that was to Tasmania for two-three nights.
So, the group holidays work out to be only a half day drive from Melbourne and only away over night or two. The other client’s range in age from five (one client’s daughter) to sixty-five (maybe). There were two mini buses with wheelchair lifts on the back (two wheelchairs in the back of each) and usually a car.
I usually bags the front seat of the mini bus (I will do a polishing motion on my backside and one of the carers will effortlessly lift me and deposit me in my seat). Yeah, I do that sexual harassment for the ladies. But I won’t allow a male carer to man-handle the goods. (I’m not light these days, but one lady just effortlessly lifted me making me feel so light.)
Being on a little get away with a bunch of strangers and three or four carers means you have a polite but temporary family type experience.
I always pitch in to help prep a salad or something in the evening as we usually stay somewhere we have a shared meal where ever we stay on the first night, as most meals are eaten out.
The first holiday I went to we stopped on the way back to Melbourne at an outer Melbourne suburb for a lunch and a little adventure.
A friend lived there, so I suggested they join me, so I could catch up with them. Said friend had recently been diagnosed with something quite nasty. They are still in that honeymoon stage of diagnosis where they have had the sugar-coated version of their diagnosis. Goes something like this “OH, you only have 3 lesions…”
Note, privacy being maintained here, yeah. This medical condition is such that when people hear I have a brain injury, I tell them, “Hey! It’s okay, this is my bottom line right now. At least I don’t have XYZ.” Because XYZ is degenerative. It gets worse. It gets shitty. I just gets’ worse.
So, this friend joined my little group of holiday buddies and I briefly introduced them to the group. I’m going to say, I’m terrible with names and I’ve been around this group of people with disabilities now a few years, so in a little desensitized re: medical conditions.
My introduction went like this;
“Brain Injury, MS, Stroke, Stroke, Oxygen deprived at birth (Brain Injury) etc, etc”. And I finished with referring to one particular person in a wheelchair (of which there were five) but the last person I pointed to had the XYZ my non-holiday friend has. “That will be you one day” and they paled considerably.
Really struggling to keep on top of things at the moment. Failing at so many things and feeling sad about it. Allow me to list but a few………
Failing at my emails…..
Failing at my followers emails……..sorry. Very, very sorry. Still!
Failing at getting to bed at a more reasonable time.
So, failing at sleep clinic!
Failing at being a good friend, so I’m told ……….
Failing at getting my shit done so I can maintain some semblance of a pain-free life.
Or at least making it look like I’m not failing at life.
Failing at keeping anxiety and depression at bay.
Failing at not swearing at my GP appointments.
Said Fuck 7 times yesterday! I asked.
I thought I had been holding back!
Felt like such a zombie yesterday I had a double-shot latte with lunch. I had a brain grain salad. It is very good.
Today’s lunch, a Moroccan chicken salad and instead of my standard medicine today…. I’m having a London Fog!
And now for the Little Red Truck, always brings a smile to my face…
On the upside, it’s only mid-September and I’ve achieved my New Year’s resolution. I finished that bottle of Baileys I had been storing in my fridge for the last two Christmas’s. Got a taste for Baileys now. Also had a delivery from my Egg-Dealer! It always makes me Egg-cited! Get it?
As I have mentioned previously, I’m very much a TV girl. Sometimes I think my generation was raised by the TV. Now that I can’t read, TV is how I get more of my entertainment and I switch off my busy brain and I fill my down time. So, I have a lot of capacity for TV shows.
I have different shows for different moods, times of day or night or whatever. If you are a TV person like me, you will know what I mean when someone with less time on their hands, some years ago asked me if he should watch ‘Game of Thrones’ or ‘Walking Dead’. Can you feel my death stare?
Game of Thrones
Walking Dead
Because the correct answer is “BOTH” you watch BOTH and you watch ‘Talking dead’ after ‘The Walking Dead’ with Chris Hardwick, so you can get lots of other bits behind the scenes of Walking Dead and if you want to binge it, watching Talking Dead slows it down.
While those shows only last part of the year (Game of Thrones finished this year 2019) you fill the rest of the year with other things.
People often tell me what they are watching, while I share with them what I am watching. There are times, because I watch so much I’m always behind, people share what they are watching, if it sounds really good, I collect it, I keep a file on my laptop ready to watch. A shortlist on a post it notes, so I prioritise things to watch and I generally don’t start anything until I have it all.
Years ago, I watched a season of Sons of Anarchy (SOA) an episode every week and one episode had me so emotionally raw, I had a tradie arrive just after I finished an episode, where I was so emotionally brittle, I think the guy thought I’d burst into tears. No really.
Have you heard the line; If you want something done right, do it yourself? Now, obviously the definition of ‘right versus wrong’ is a debate all in itself and for everything in my home and surroundings, I am the master of my domain and my way is the right (correct) way.
I don’t like to think I am a domineering person or a bully, however in my home, where I should be able to control things, I like things my way. Because even in really minute ways if something is in the wrong place, I can’t see it or I can’t get to something I need and if you can’t do it yourself, you out source it.
I currently have six carers over a week (I actually had to write down their names to count them) and I thought it was more. To be fair, I have a few I get more than once over the week and to make life work, I will pick and choose somethings one over might be better at or appreciate helping me do it overtime. All of my carers are pushed for time. So, somethings might not get high priority so they get neglected. Other times one of my lovely assistants (it’s what I call them) might get sick of seeing some mess or other and she will make it her project for the day.
If a carer doesn’t do something, I’ve asked of them, how I would prefer it to be done, they might have been telling me not to ask again, so I don’t.
Another mid-week post, it’s not getting old. Good food, better medicine. My favourite cafe never gets old. What gets old is doing adult so much it’s squeezing time to eat and write into oblivion. Note, the less lunch my lunch resembles and more like afternoon tea.
Yesterday, was at the self-advocacy group I attend. Picked up some comedy tickets for next March! Yippy! Stay tuned for that!
Here is a photo of what’s referred to as the witches’ hat in the Arts Precinct in Melbourne.
Note the beautiful spring day in Melbourne.
Today’s offering is Carrot cake and medicine (One of my serves of vegetables every day!) and the pretty strawberry daiquiri my lovely assistant is having.
And blessed Young John, my taxi driver has returned from Greece, have so missed him.
Hell onWheels/Life One Handed 