Well, my guests have gone, my holiday is almost over and tomorrow I must go back to work *sob*
Actually I've had a fantastic break which has mainly involved sitting around with one of my favourite people in the world and nattering, reading, knitting and generally being very chilled out (okay except for the bit where I was forced to drink vodka and watch Eurovision)... the half daughter has been a complete star and took on her minion duties with dedication - her drink mixing skills are fantastic for her age ;o)... in a moment of utter dedication to the cause - and in the interests of preserving mine and everyone else's health and sanity cos, you know, me and something with blades and electricity would not be a good idea - on Monday she spent several hours with the strimmer clearing the meadow that was masquerading as my lawn.
They will be back, hopefully in October, when half daughter will be well into the first term of her photography course at college - and will have turned 18!
We also managed to visit AP, who has been let out of hospital to spend her final days or weeks in her own home. She was better than she had been but has been told that the cancer is now terminal... which made it difficult because saying things like "how are you feeling" and "you look better" or even discussing future plans is, I don't know, kind of wrong
Today after waving my visitors back on their way up to the northern wilderness where they reside, I also waved my mother off for a weeks holiday in Cornwall... she's meeting two of her friends she taught with in London before I was born.... I shudder to think what they will get up to!
Anyway, this evening, rather than feeling that sigh of relief that my house is once more my own that I usually get when visitors leave, I am left for the first time in as long as I can remember, feeling rather lonely and depressed. Maybe I am actually starting to move forwards with the whole being able to deal with people or want company thing.....
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Friday, 25 May 2012
That was the week that....
Disappeared a bit faster than I was expecting! At least no work for me till next Thursday - which as I worked out today my boss hasn't spoken to me for over 3 weeks now I am quite pleased about!
Friends arriving tomorrow so, yes, of course, tonight I have done housework, been shopping, got organised... erm no, firstly, because my copy of Armed & Dangerous arrived in the post this morning (only a week from the US is not bad me thinks) and secondly a friend who I've not spoken to for about 18 months phoned me and we spent rather a long time catching up.. about 2 hours worth of catching up.
Actually, following on from last week's post about life being short and cruel, I am really pleased that she contacted me and that we spent the time talking. We are hoping to meet up at some point in the future for lunch and a longer catch up.
So tomorrow is going to start very early because visitors are due at lunch and there is more hair on the carpet/sofa/worktops (!) than there is on the dogs right now.... major housework hell mode tomorrow! The cats will be off into hiding as soon as the hoover appears!
And no, I still haven't decided if the alien is coming to live with us...
Friends arriving tomorrow so, yes, of course, tonight I have done housework, been shopping, got organised... erm no, firstly, because my copy of Armed & Dangerous arrived in the post this morning (only a week from the US is not bad me thinks) and secondly a friend who I've not spoken to for about 18 months phoned me and we spent rather a long time catching up.. about 2 hours worth of catching up.
Actually, following on from last week's post about life being short and cruel, I am really pleased that she contacted me and that we spent the time talking. We are hoping to meet up at some point in the future for lunch and a longer catch up.
So tomorrow is going to start very early because visitors are due at lunch and there is more hair on the carpet/sofa/worktops (!) than there is on the dogs right now.... major housework hell mode tomorrow! The cats will be off into hiding as soon as the hoover appears!
And no, I still haven't decided if the alien is coming to live with us...
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Midweek music to melt to....
Well not really, but it's rather warm here... my house used to be owned by an elderly couple who took their insulating seriously. Which whilst that means it's easy to keep warm in winter it's a bugger as soon as it gets warm out... particularly as I can't have the upstairs windows open properly as the cats will stand on the outside of the window ledges, or attempt death defying leaps towards them......The windows are cracked open a bit... but all that means is that my home appears to have been invaded by spiders, there are eight legged we beasties everywhere..... it's going to be a long night of hunting for the cats I think
Ok, a tune, this is an old one, but I've heard it loads this week on the radio and it's one that amuses me no end....
Ok, a tune, this is an old one, but I've heard it loads this week on the radio and it's one that amuses me no end....
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
So.....
There may be a new arrival at the mad house shortly....
My cat population may be increasing by one....
Basically, the person who allowed me to become the slave to Gina & Hugo is having problems with one of her other queens... she's not agreeing with the rest of the household and being a complete pain in the arse... she basically needs somewhere quieter with less cats/children/chaos.... so naturally she thought of me...
Yes, I need another cat like a hole in the head, but then again, it's no real hardship....... I am trying to be sensible (I know I have a bad habit of acquiring new additions to the family when I am depressed) but I don't know if I can turn this one down. Her owner is going to have a long hard think about whether she wants to let her go and if she does I have first refusal....
So possibly this will be my new addition (yep another of those cats only a mother could love/ugly naked cat)
My cat population may be increasing by one....
Basically, the person who allowed me to become the slave to Gina & Hugo is having problems with one of her other queens... she's not agreeing with the rest of the household and being a complete pain in the arse... she basically needs somewhere quieter with less cats/children/chaos.... so naturally she thought of me...
Yes, I need another cat like a hole in the head, but then again, it's no real hardship....... I am trying to be sensible (I know I have a bad habit of acquiring new additions to the family when I am depressed) but I don't know if I can turn this one down. Her owner is going to have a long hard think about whether she wants to let her go and if she does I have first refusal....
So possibly this will be my new addition (yep another of those cats only a mother could love/ugly naked cat)
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Because life is...
Short, cruel, and sometimes a complete bitch..... it's always a really good idea to tell someone how much they mean to you.
This afternoon I got some news about an internet friend I've known for going on ten years now (let us call her AP) she was a member of an on-line forum dedicated to the books of a Girls Own author, a talented writer and really wonderful genuine person. In around 2005 a smaller group of us from that forum developed a really close friendship and a lot of our day was spent e-mailing back and forth between us.... we supported each other through some traumatic times in all our home and work lives, including AP's first battle with breast cancer.
As life moved on, jobs changed, one of us got married, one was forced into retirement, teenage children went through horrible times etc we gradually drifted apart, not completely but that close relationship the small group of us had had for around 18 months wasn't ever quite the same.
In October 2010 we were told that AP was again seriously ill, a secondary tumour having formed on her spine. Radical chemo and radio therapy treatments were done and she recovered well, we all managed to get together and catch up, but since then we've drifted, not least because AP's vision and ability to concentrate became difficult because of the drugs. But that was 18 months ago, and I think we all got complacent and believed that she was better and all was going to be okay.
Her husband e-mailed yesterday to say that the tumour has returned, this time in her brain and they have told him she has a matter of days. AP knows she's ill but doesn't realise how bad it is.
AP is one of the kindest, wisest most caring people I have ever met. I just can't believe that she is going to be taken from us. My heart goes out to her family and closer friends. She is going to leave a very big gap in all our lives. I just wish that I had had the opportunity to tell her how much I valued her friendship and support.
This afternoon I got some news about an internet friend I've known for going on ten years now (let us call her AP) she was a member of an on-line forum dedicated to the books of a Girls Own author, a talented writer and really wonderful genuine person. In around 2005 a smaller group of us from that forum developed a really close friendship and a lot of our day was spent e-mailing back and forth between us.... we supported each other through some traumatic times in all our home and work lives, including AP's first battle with breast cancer.
As life moved on, jobs changed, one of us got married, one was forced into retirement, teenage children went through horrible times etc we gradually drifted apart, not completely but that close relationship the small group of us had had for around 18 months wasn't ever quite the same.
In October 2010 we were told that AP was again seriously ill, a secondary tumour having formed on her spine. Radical chemo and radio therapy treatments were done and she recovered well, we all managed to get together and catch up, but since then we've drifted, not least because AP's vision and ability to concentrate became difficult because of the drugs. But that was 18 months ago, and I think we all got complacent and believed that she was better and all was going to be okay.
Her husband e-mailed yesterday to say that the tumour has returned, this time in her brain and they have told him she has a matter of days. AP knows she's ill but doesn't realise how bad it is.
AP is one of the kindest, wisest most caring people I have ever met. I just can't believe that she is going to be taken from us. My heart goes out to her family and closer friends. She is going to leave a very big gap in all our lives. I just wish that I had had the opportunity to tell her how much I valued her friendship and support.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Fun Filled Friday Frolic....
Who says I don't know how to have fun *roll eyes*
Actually I do, just my version of fun - which usually involves either books, knitting, and occasional trips to the pub, or sometimes a combination of all 3 - isn't everyone's idea of fun... but hey I'm old!
Tonight was not living the high (ok, well just above ground level) life... tonight was playing taxi service and responsible adult ... my sister has scuppered her shoulder, the right one, somehow, she doesn't remember falling, hitting anything with it, landing on it, having her incredibly overweight cat sit on it etc... my sister is the sensible one, she doesn't fall over things, down things, injure herself or blow stuff up .... but today it was so painful that she couldn't drive and actually was sick.... cue tearful phone call at 6pm - can I take her to the Hospital's minor injuries unit... sure no problem... so off we go
But no, they won't see her there, because she can't remember actually doing anything to it to case the injury... so off we go to the A&E department at the main hospital (right on the other side of town) .... nearly 2 hours later, they prod her shoulder and tell her it's probably arthritis (which she doesn't have) and to go home and take pain killers which she can get from the chemist, but just take double the dose.....
She was the one that hurried me out of the hospital at that point before I opened my mouth as she could see that I was highly unimpressed with that advice.....
I've taken her home and handed her over to her other half who had just arrived back from work... hopefully she will be okay... by the time I got home there was just enough time to walk the dogs round the block (in the pouring rain again!) before bed time....... so that's the first part of my weekend gone!
Actually I do, just my version of fun - which usually involves either books, knitting, and occasional trips to the pub, or sometimes a combination of all 3 - isn't everyone's idea of fun... but hey I'm old!
Tonight was not living the high (ok, well just above ground level) life... tonight was playing taxi service and responsible adult ... my sister has scuppered her shoulder, the right one, somehow, she doesn't remember falling, hitting anything with it, landing on it, having her incredibly overweight cat sit on it etc... my sister is the sensible one, she doesn't fall over things, down things, injure herself or blow stuff up .... but today it was so painful that she couldn't drive and actually was sick.... cue tearful phone call at 6pm - can I take her to the Hospital's minor injuries unit... sure no problem... so off we go
But no, they won't see her there, because she can't remember actually doing anything to it to case the injury... so off we go to the A&E department at the main hospital (right on the other side of town) .... nearly 2 hours later, they prod her shoulder and tell her it's probably arthritis (which she doesn't have) and to go home and take pain killers which she can get from the chemist, but just take double the dose.....
She was the one that hurried me out of the hospital at that point before I opened my mouth as she could see that I was highly unimpressed with that advice.....
I've taken her home and handed her over to her other half who had just arrived back from work... hopefully she will be okay... by the time I got home there was just enough time to walk the dogs round the block (in the pouring rain again!) before bed time....... so that's the first part of my weekend gone!
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
If only falling over was an Olympic sport....
Last night's blog post never happened due to another moment of well, accidental stupidity, on my part..... you remember as a kid you were always nagged to take things upstairs and not to just abandon them on the stairs.... well what do you know there is a good reason for this.
I got in from work last night and threw the dogs chicken wings at them then went to pacify the cats with offerings of edible things (I'd even remembered to buy some biscuits for them in the vain hope they'd stop screaming at me about how starving they were)....So, I safely negotiated the babygate at the bottom of the stairs (despite no babies, I seem to have more babygates than the average baby owning household for goodness sake) and got four steps up, whilst carrying a new sack of cat litter and the biscuits. I was carefully negotiating with the cats on the whole "let me get upstairs without treading on you" thing when I put my foot on some papers I'd left on the stairs, slipped and crashed in an inelegant manner back down the five or so stairs I'd managed and crashed into the babygate.
I was very impressed I didn't manage to smash through the babygate being as I am no lightweight... I do have some impressive bruising, only impressive as it's an imprint of the stripes on the babygate up one leg, oh and an on my left arm but that one is just a boring splodge. I think from the looks I was getting my efforts didn't earn me high marks from the onlooking cats or dogs, for either technique or artistic merit......in fact I possibly lost marks from the cats for delaying the arrival of their food!
Mum finally had her surgery today - despite the hospitals promise of "you will be first on the list" she didn't actually go down for surgery till 2pm. My sister visited her this evening as she was back on the ward if rather groggy still. She is hoping to be discharged tomorrow evening...... she is obviously the member of our family that does optimism as my sister and I think it will be Friday. Just pleased it's over and done with though now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)