Just an FYI; received two proposals for marriage last week, on the same day. Like I’ve not waited 44 years….ok, maybe not the first 23 or so….but the last 20 sure and got them both in the same day. One was simply because I made minestrone and didn’t stuff it up.

Gave some to the lovely gentleman Tony previously mentioned and the second offer came from another gentleman for a reason I cannot even recall. Both men old enough to be my father! So, not offended. Let’s move on………

Story for the week re the Place I go? Previously, the crazy woman who threatened me? This week a lady was wandering around in her winter jacket (only) while she ran her clothes through the washer/dryer. She kept using the washer then the dryer about three times so she was there all day! With the machine busy all day and proceeded to make a mess of the bathroom (there is a shower there) and she managed to flood the laundry twice. The place survives with one underpaid staff member and volunteers. This woman could not be reasoned with, she would not clean up after herself as she felt she wasn’t paid to clean so, she almost had the only paid person on site in tears trying to reason with her to leave and take her presence elsewhere. I was in the office filing away client files (mine included) helping any way I could to lighten the staff members workload. I even did a little parenting since grandma wasn’t doing it. I do grumpy parenting under these circumstances by the way. “No! No one’s using that computer. But go out there and stay out of the way!” I might also have ended up sitting on the floor in tears but luckily my day ended by being given a lift home. About 3-4 suburbs away.

We eventually paid the terrible laundress money that had been donated that day so she could take her wet clothes to the local laundromat to dry them there. She even had the audacity to demand change for the dryers. I later learned her mentality is due to alcohol related dementia.

So, everybody put down those glasses and I have been starting to consider alcohol an affordable solution…..

Also attempted to propose a foodie gathering with the ladies in my family. My mum, younger sister and my older sister with her partner. Suggested a gathering so we don’t just all see each other together once a year if we are lucky.

I offered to cook my amazing Chicken Veggie Lasagne. At least I got responses despite not the ones I had wanted. So, I might be making my lasagne for my friends instead as my family gathering is not going to happen. Not surprised but still disappointed, everyone in my family has someone else except me. Feeling like an orphan.

Finished 2 comics this week! I read both in a single sitting for each which felt like an achievement however I’ve obviously been churning through all the A’s -B’s and having just read a season of Willow from the Joss Whedon. I’m way behind still. The final Willow Comic Season, had an advert for a Comic Con….Dated 2013! Grrrrr……Just when I thought I was getting somewhere!

Also had company for my standard Single Girl Date Night! I referred to us as the 3 Amigo’s watching, you guessed it “The 3 Amigo’s!” I suggested to the others, to work out which actor they felt they embodied. I ended up Martin Short but, I’m not complaining. I haven’t seen the film in years, but recently added it to my collection. Now I have the tune My little butter cup song in my head!

My guests fell asleep sitting up on the couch before 9pm! After the film ended and their kip’s over I fed them. Everyone was happy! They departed by 11pm.

In recent weeks, I’ve learnt the meaning of the term ‘False economy. For example: 1. An NGO (Not for profit/None Government Organisation) self-advocacy group has been funded nearly half a million dollars just before the end of the financial tax year because the government had a surplus. Now, that agency has been given that funding to roll out what they do in Victoria but in the other States as apparently Victoria is ahead of the curve and the other States are behind, and they will get it done. However, in the following years they can’t expect the funding to be there to help get the work done or keep the ball rolling. They will need to tender for ongoing funding.

My firsthand experience of the false economy is that my Case Management organisation who also provide the bulk of my carers these days has not been particularly efficient and as my NDIS package was not correctly implemented (not getting my shoes, etc) the company has offered to find the money for my shoes to keep me happy. Little does the guy who suggested this to my Mum to appease her know I need 2 pairs of shoes and they cost AU$460.00 a pair! But they cannot seem to fix the communication issues in their organisation so I have a roster every week for my carers no more than two carers in any given week. Lastly, the lovely newly qualified lady from the Rio/Remedial clinic came to give me a massage on Thursday. I put on some lovely soothing music. Dead Can Dance.

Just as we got started, out the front of my house some overdue roadworks started! My council has been promising speedhumps down my wide street to slow down the hoons for years! Then down the back someone started some gardening with a Chainsaw!!!!

Sweet Jesus! I was neither happy nor relaxed! The Universe did not get my memo….. for peace and calm.

On Friday, while out shopping with my carer we visited a pet shop in a neighbouring suburb. It’s the kind that has pets for sale bunnies, fish. On this occasion, a kitten curled up fast asleep, I let it sleep. It was a challenge as they usually have a cat that has been rescued, fostered by a crazy cat lady in the countryside to be rehabilitated (my word not there’s) and their health attended to. Then transported off to pet shops for sale to living pet owners.

This is how I came to meet Ralph on Friday. Ralph is a 2-year-old boy, ginger and white, long-haired. He is a very big boy. I asked Mark if he would get him out of his 3-tiered enclosure so I could do more than beg to scratch his head. He was inundated by hand from everywhere prompting me to ask a man (whose daughter was patting him) if he would give Ralph a good home. He confessed they had two cats at home already so I continued to introduce myself to young Ralph. Luckily, Mark (staff) lives in my street so we discussed renting in the area while I managed to get a headbutt from Ralph. I suspect Ralph is a Maine Coon breed, but I don’t think they know this. Mark told me the long-haired cats get snapped up very quickly there. The last cat they had was there a month, Ralph had arrived only the day before. These cats are vet checked and neutered. And cost only $120. My carer and I stopped for a coffee break next door and I rang my mum. I really miss sharing my home and coming home to another living breathing creature but mum is convinced I’m not getting another cat until after I’ve relocated.

Again, I’ve come to the conclusion I won’t find anything cheaper of a reasonable size where I won’t go bat-shit claustrophobic crazy, so I want help to be able to afford to stay. I look to my mum to encourage me to have another cat but she is not very encouraging.

I have a wardrobe full of clothes from my old life I want to sell. I’ve recently been in pursuit of some consultancy work. To help me afford the things I need but cannot afford but it’s hard to convince people with an ABI who have plenty of funding how the rest of us live. He keeps offering me work telling me how much he needs me but if I do any work, I risk losing all of my income and I can’t work enough to cover what I would lose. So, I’ve started to withdraw my advice and energy.

I’m finding while not financial I get some great rewards from my blogging community even if all I’m doing is advising someone who hasn’t left the house in 9 years, how best to utilise their carers. She now gets carers because I asked her what she was waiting for. Her blogging is not as prolific however her tone is clearly more upbeat.

So, again all I can hope is that this week is not as stressful and I can read more comics.

Cheers,

H