Taking steps...

We drove to Liverpool today with the Old Person. The hospital there is one of the biggest in Sydney; with the new extension it may be the biggest. I have not driven to Liverpool in several years: mostly it has not changed including very sparse carpark availability.

I was given Admission papers by the Specialist last week for my operation. I had had my GP sign them for me last week. I had filled them out over a few days last week. There are two sets as I will need two Admissions.

The walk from the front entrance of the Hospital to the Admissions area is quite a distance. I found it difficult to walk the distance - and with no where to sit along the way it was tiring. The daughter was with me, so she stood in line while I was able to sit in the theatre sized waiting room.

There is a small desk with two clerks doing the Admissions, one computer between them. You can see an open plan office behind them through about three different doorways. We were there about fifteen minutes before it was our turn. The clerk just told me to wait so they could do my booking. About ten minutes later another clerk came, called my name and informed me that they would phone me to come in for an information session and then a letter would be sent to me. I am looking at around 3 months till I will be admitted.

I am almost excited about this operation, as the condition has been what has been causing my mental depression. You will have noticed that through my blog, I continually refer to my depression, even after I had been on medication. This is what has been causing the depression. Now I can look forward to getting over it once and for all, to walking properly so that I can exercise and loose weight. All the diet food in the world has not been working. I can do back muscle strengthening exercises to help the general deterioration in my spine.

It will be like getting my brain back and being able to do studies and have some hope to completing my studies.

I can't deny that the operations and recovery are going to be harrowing for me - ironically the depression is making these fears worse at the moment. I don't know how soon afterwards I will start noticing a difference.

I have had calls of support from family members which is reassuring.

Plodding ....

The Old Person

It is not exciting to say we went to the Mall today for shopping - I have to use a trolley to get any mileage out of my old bod these days. The daughter had a few chores to do there so we decided to do our grocery shopping there. At one stage while waiting for her I spotted a papermaking kit on special in the book shop. Now a kid's kit has sort of been on my wishlist, on about page three, so I only bought it because I convinced the old person to pay for it.

Paper making is one of those things that I would like to try my hand at as part of the general craft stuff that I do, teaching myself this and that dabbling, if you will in the amusing arts. So this weekend I thought I would grab the grandsons, and go try it. They will get a bit of a buzz to do something totally different. Grandson1 is in high school now, so it may not be "cool". But GS2 is happy to do "kid" things any time. I think if GS2 could have stayed a grade 3 person forever he would be happy .

I haven't talked about the old person much lately as he hasn't lived here for a while, but he still hangs around. He has to contribute to his half of keeping up her ladyship the ex racehorse. But lately he has become even worse in trying to dominate all things. He wants me to get another job so that we can move to the South Coast and have a little fishing house "sell the horses - we should get something for them"; yeah, the knackers will probably give us $200 for her ladyship and we'd have to pay him to take the really old Arabian mare. Over my dead body. (Yeah, yeah, I know the line from MIB).

I often find myself wondering why the heck I still put up with him, even suggesting to him a few other women who might get interested in him. One sort of was going to, but he said something stupid and now she doesn't want a bar of him. But I guess I am just a sucker for someone with a car who will drive me around without complaining more than usual about it. Also, he will clean up after the horses; even without being asked. He buys their hay too, so I can't exactly go on too much about him.

Back - after quite some time ...

I have decided to take up blogging again, now that the worst of my depression is past. I was treated this time with a stronger medication and did some time with a psychologist. I am slowly coming off the medication and hopefully that will be that. I know the source of the depression and what to do about it, so it should not be a bother to me anymore.

I have done a few things while away, one of which was a 42 page album with the covers for my Aunt in Adelaide. My father was living in Adelaide and had the family album I made for him, but with him now moving to Canberra, she has not family contact. So I downloaded 22 recent photographs of myself and my sisters and our respective families and grandkids. I did scrapbooking and stamping for all the photos. After I had done all that, I thought I had better tell her who everyone was, so duplicating all the pages I wrote a little about each person. With an intro page, and the pages for the two horses and kitten, it came to 42 pages.

After that, I made the covers for the album with chipboard and fabric. I used some stuffing in the front cover. I coloured up a flower for the cover and hung some tags from one corner. Do I have photos? Yes, some. Do I have them on the computer to show everyone. When I have finished working out how to do this I will post them.

Presently I am working on a small album for the old person. The daughter has been taken to work almost every day by him, so it will be a small thank you for him. It has pictures of Her Ladyship the exracehorse and her two foals, Goldie and Cody. I will put in a few more over time.

I am preparing a couple of great diatribes, one for Alien Horses and one for Alien Thoughts. Well just expressing some opinions, anyhow. I hope to be taking both of those blogs in a little new direction soon.

Thank you for being so patient, and I will update from time to time as memory serves me.

Long time ...

Although I have been sick, and spent much time in bed, I have also been doing things. Not alot, because the whole thing has left me weak and tired, mostly. I have finished of my "chatelaine" and will photograph it and load it onto Bilum in the next few days. I have also finally watched the video for my Embroidery Sewing Machine after having it for a few years now. I hope to sit down and do one little design this weekend. If it works I shall tell you.

I have begun sorting out things to keep and throw away for our "move". I am a junk collector. It isn't second hand junk, I just buy things and think I will use them one day, and end up never using them. Mostly my motivation peters out and I just forget about it. Now that I am on medication, I feel more motivated to do things, and finishing the blog, the "chatelaine" and stuff was really easy to do. I should live on this stuff! lol.

Her ladyship is loosing her hair for the warmer months ahead, and there is brown fur everywhere outside. I have been brushing her, rubbing her with a towel and whatever I can to ease the itching, but she has about 2 months to go of the worst of it. Poor thing. She just asks for a carrot now and then. Okay, she is somewhat spoilt, but being alone still she needs some sort of company.

The old person is getting grouchier and nastier and fatter. I suppose partly to do with his old age, but I think now more than before, he might be getting dementia. He refuses to see the doctor for a diagnosis. "There is nothing wrong with me. It's everyone who has a problem."

The daughter is blogging now. She bought a movie camera and is trying to load videos onto her blog, but has struck some technical complications we are going to have to get more information on. Once she has the videos uploaded I will let you all know.

Must go serve dinner. Nice chatting with you again ....

Feeling sorry for himself ...

So the old person has had this dental appointment he has been waiting weeks for. He chipped his tooth at the beginning of February, and instead of going to the dental hospital and getting it seen to immediately, opted to go to a clinic in Ingleburn about 10 kms away by car. So they say he can have an appointment. They would write and let him know. So after three weeks his letter duly arrived and gave him today as the date. He was like "WTF" why so long? Because it is a government free clinic. Still this is the old person, isn't it?

So the big day dawns and I am not going with him! (him: WTF not?)

So he gets back in less than an hour, face all drooping, a grotty sponge hanging from his mouth. They pulled it out. They had actually offered to fix it, because it is near the front of his mouth, but he is convinced a filling will fall out. So he has this huge hole in his gum. Yuk. Oh, yes, I have to look at it, he insists. Cuts up one of the new hankies I bought him just in case it bleeds.
Luckily he slept most of the afternoon and did not moan and groan about it - which is unusual enough. But he had to get up sooner or later. He can't have anything too hot or too cold, paracetamol and not asprin because asprin thins the blood (maybe that is what is wrong with him - an OD of asprin at some time in his life - lol).

Then it turns out that he has more dental work booked because they want to fix some other teeth. I guess at his age if they can keep him going with his own teeth he will be alot better off. But they are also talking about giving him a plate for other missing teeth. So he is quite excited about all of this.

I almost feel sorry for him in his pain. The problem with people like the old person is that they moan so much and feel so sorry for themselves that there is no point in anyone else feeling sorry for them, they have enough of their own.

Anyhoooo ...

Parcel came in the mail today. It was a CD of Benny Goodman. 1930's Jazz. For me and the Boys from the great grandpa. (Okay, he is my dad, but he is GG to the boys). So we are going to have some real jazz to listen too and appreciate.

I have done quite a few pages of scrapbooking these last few days. There has been what might be termed a back log of UFO's and new pages to get on with so once I have finished I will take photos and post them. The main problem now seems to be what journalling I will include.

hasta la vista ...

To be or not to be ...

The old person strictly forbids me to set my sewing machine up on the dining room table for any reason. Most of my craft and art work he regards as "women's hobby" stuff and not one scrap of it he takes seriously. But if I do not go and admire his mowing, particularly in an area where I have repeatedly asked him not to work, I am useless, a cow and lazy among other insults not printable on the internet.

So there is a major difference between us just here, as you can imagine.

This morning the old person decided to use the Gift Card to purchase some trousers to wear to the races tomorrow. Someone has gained 20kg in 2007 and none of his old clothes fit him. But to go from size 95 to 107 is just too much. The new pants are about 6 inches too long.

Oh, so I can set up my sewing machine to take up the hems of his pants.
"That is what you got it for isn't it?"

If I hit him with the machine, do you think I could plead mitigating circumstances?