Skipety doo dah!

Just got back from lunch in town with C again and I took Patrick again and I didn't fall out again!

It was just me and C today 'cos H had some personal issues going on... I know what the issues are but I'm not going to break her trust in C or me - I don't want people to break my trust so I'm not going to break H's!  I'm not even going to write her name in this blog!

Anyway, it was just me and C but I didn't fall out of Patrick or accidentally bump into anyone or anything like that, so I'm feeling really positive right now!

Also, someone on a Pagan forum said there were a couple of shops near the Cathedral that did Pagan stuff and may know other Pagans in the area and stuff so when I'm more confident using Patrick, I'm going to go down there and splash out a bit!

So tired now though!  lol

What a day!

The rest of my stuff from Amazon arrived with the post - good
I reached 100 Nectar searches in the toolbar - good
Signed up with a Pagan forum and was accepted - good
Sent in a new member introduction - good
Didn't fill in the profile bit properly - bad
Wouldn't let me edit the profile bit - bad
Haven't done today's AotG assignment yet - bad

Too tired to do anything else now  :-(

Be on the lookout for...

I've got the new digital camera working now, so be ready for a new page on my site about disabled friendly places in and around Gloucester!

When I'm feeling brave, I'll do a page for Cheltenham too, but that means going on the bus and I'm not that brave yet!  lol

Just sponsored 4 dogs with the Dogs Trust

Feels so good to be helping them again! 

For some reason it would only let me sponsor 4 though!  :-(

Not to worry, I'm still helping dogs so I'm happy!  :-)

It's raining, it's pouring...

It's raining
it's pouring
the old man is snoring!
He went to bed
and bumped his head
and couldn't get up in the morning!

1 down, 4 to go

The first package has just been delivered - a game called Theme Hospital - the SD card adapter thing will be here tomorrow then the medic alert bracelet, the Opalite stone and the grounding and protection crystals will be here by this time next week...

I've been spending way too much at Amazon!  lol

The Postie has just been but...

... he didn't deliver anything from me so it must be coming by courier today.

The memory card has just been dispatched so hopefully it'll be here tomorrow then I can start taking photo's of Mitzi and Steve and C and H and the centre of Gloucester so that I can make a start on my new page on my site - it'll be part of a series of pages about the places that are suitable for people in wheelchairs!  Wish me luck!

Hurry up please Postie!

I'm waiting for Theme Hospital to be delivered today, a memory card for the camera tomorrow that I paid almost £6 for the express delivery then I've got 3 other things coming by next Thursday... can't wait!

It was only half an hour but...

... it was such a long half an hour!

Me an' 'im had to talk to each other!  lol

Mitzi was a spectacular little girl... she did her little sitting at an angle sit with half of her bum off the counter thing!  Bless her little heart!  She got her jabs and didn't even flinch.  She got weighed, poked and prodded and she was an awesome girl. 

She's got to go back in 2 weeks for her booster jabs and she had a Dentastick as a reward for being so good at the vet... Mitzi is not only a cute, amazing, spectacular little girl but she's a wonderful puppy too and I'm so glad she chose us back in 2010!

Ho hum :-(

I bought myself a basic digital camera at the weekend.

It was delivered yesterday.

I put the batteries in and it didn't work.

I tried everything the instructions suggested.

It still wouldn't work.

The only thing that I hadn't tried was putting a memory card in it.

It didn't have one so I ordered one from Amazon.

The memory card came this morning.

It's tiny!  Way too small for the camera so I've just had to order an adapter for it.

It was only 99p so it's only £1 down the drain if it doesn't work.

I bought some other stuff too to make it up to £26 so that it was worth the effort of the Amazon employee and the postage.

Our postie is going to hate me by the weekend!  lol

Mitzi's going for her jabs again this afternoon/evening!

We both thought that Mitzi had her jabs again when we first got her because she was on so many meds to treat her skin that her puppy jabs had stopped working.

The vet hasn't got any record of it so she's having them done again!

She will be a super-innoculated little pup when she gets them done and up to date!  lol

Shoulda known it wouldn't be easy!

I ordered a digital camera and accessory pack to use with my newest hobby and I thought I'd be all set to go as soon as it arrived...

Nope!

It needs an SD memory card and reader which I've just ordered from Amazon.

*sigh*

Why can life never be simple eh?

:-(

The fortune cookie was right!

I had my first ever fortune cookie a few weeks ago and it said "the dream is within you".  At the time of getting the message I was dreaming about getting an electric wheelchair.  I've now got the chair and I'm keeping the paper with it written on to remind me that it's not just bollox and it will remind me to explain that to others too!

Starting tomorrow...

Steve can do everything and I won't help him 'cos I'm fed up of putting myself out to do things for him and not getting any credit for it yet I get criticized for the living room and kitchen being a damn mess.

Well, starting tomorrow, I won't get up until 8.30am and I'll take my pills and head to bed at 6.30pm... if the shopping comes after that, tough shit!  If M doesn't like it then tough!  I'll make my own food and if Steve orders a take-away then he can answer the damn door to his own food.

There's a Quorn lasagne in the small freezer so I'll have an early tea at 5pm, take my pills at 6pm then come up here to bed at 6.30pm

I'm sorry if that sounds nasty, but I'm fed up of being the bad guy for Steve's crap and Steve getting the credit for the things I've done.

It's not happening any more.

I've had enough of constantly being the bad guy for things that aren't my fault!

veggie burger and chocolate cake for breakfast today! lol

Just had me brekkie - half a veggie burger and huge slice of chocolate fudge cake!  Yum!

I'm being serious!

We had burgers for tea last night and the cake for pud but it was too much for me last night, so I finished them off this morning for breakfast!

I'm the only one in the house awake right now... Steve and Mitzi are fast asleep on the sofa!  lol

1 month ago today

1 month ago today I ordered the wheelchair so this is week 3 of me having it!

I've been more independent in those 3 weeks than I have been in more than a decade!

My first ever 100% on a test!

I have to take tests to show what my level of English is for my newest hobby.  The computer system marked me as 98% on one of the tests and it then got sent to a human just to be sure the computer marked the test right.

It almost marked me right... the human marked me as 100% so I'm feeling really proud of myself right now!

My first ever 100%!  Yaaaay!

Strange, but welcome

I've just checked my Nectar card balance online and I've got almost 1,000 points more than I was expecting and I don't know why!

Maybe I just don't know how to use the site properly or something but I can't find anywhere that tells me where the points have come from!

I'm guessing it's Nectar trying to catch up with itself or something like that or maybe it's from our grocery shopping or something?

I'm not complaining though!  lol

I'm hoping to hear back from the CAB soon

I emailed my local CAB to ask about payment from my newest hobby (I'll have to be self-employed if I go any further than this with it) and I don't want to break the law or whatever by not declaring the poor extra income that I would get from it!

I'm just going to apply on the sites but not actually do anything until I hear back from the CAB!

Better safe than sorry and all that!

150%

Mitzi went on a walk that was 150% of what it usually is this morning!

We got outside and I asked Mitzi which way she wanted to go.  She chose the short way.  No problem.

We got back home and I was about to open the door, but Mitzi kept walking!

Pulling at her lead.

She was going on the long walk too, whether I wanted to or not!  lol

Bless her little teddy bear feet!

Not a word of thanks for even trying! :-(

I took the clean clothes out of the washer/drier and put a new wash on then I started on Steve's tea... what should have taken 15-20 minutes according to the packet actually took 2.5 hours!

Apparently I need to put the grill on full instead of medium then leave the sausages in there for 15 minutes, turning once...

Steve said I needed to put the grill on full for everything and ignore the packet instructions - the sausages need to be across the grill so that they don't fall in the holes and they need to be brown, not grey too.

You watch me forget at lunchtime though!  lol

I'm just glad I took my opal rings off so that they didn't explode... I hope I remember to take them off at lunchtime too!

Did I get a word of thanks from Steve?  Nope, just criticism  :-(

Housework

I enjoy doing a few minutes of housework at a time… am I totally nuts?

I enjoy cooking for me and him as long as I keep an eye on the times and don’t make the meals too complicated… am I nuts for that too?

I enjoy binning bags of rubbish as long as they aren’t too big or heavy… that as well?

I enjoy washing clothes and doing the washing up… what about that?

I enjoy light dusting and polishing and putting the cleaner around downstairs… am I totally fruitloop or just house-proud?

If I do it for a couple of minutes at a time then I soon feel motivated to do more, it’s just that my legs won’t hold me up for very long so can’t do too much at a time and the motivation quickly disappears if I don’t get the help I need, as soon as I need it.

Don’t get me wrong, the house gets messy sometimes but I also don’t see why I should do it all and Steve gets praise for things that I’ve done and it’s me that gets criticised for not helping him instead of the other way around!

I ask Steve to do 2 things that I can’t do because of my height – taking out the bin bag from the kitchen bin so that I can tie it up and put it in the outside bin and empty the washer/dryer when it’s finished.

The kitchen bin has been full for the last 10 days and I’ve repeatedly asked Steve to take the bag out of the bin so that I can dispose of it.

The clothes are only washed and dried when Steve needs clean clothes and they are left in the machine where I can’t safely empty it myself.

Oh just ignore me, I’m just whining again!

That's a relief!

I wasn't paid my ESA last Tuesday because I forgot to send in my new P45 but I've just checked my balance and I've been paid both ESA and DLA today so I can stop worrying now!  Yay!

I couldn't have done it without Patrick!

So incredibly tempted, right now, to...

After coping so well with going in to town yesterday, I'm now tempted to go into town alone!

The only problem there is that I have to cross 3 busy roads and 1 road that's difficult at the best of times but being alone in the chair would make it even worse!

My sensible head is telling me to leave it be and just enjoy the incredible feeling that yesterday gave me.

My excited head is tempting me so much "just to see if you can do it alone and during the week!"

I hope my sensible head wins!  :-|

Just got back from town

I'm pretty much totally independent when I'm out and about now!

I was dreading going up a slope in town in case it was too steep for the chair to handle but there was some scaffolding blocking the pavement and no dropped kerb, so I did a U-turn and went, very nervously, up the slope...

I did it!

I was nervous about it but I didn't need to be!

That, and getting down it on the way home has given me an incredible feeling of achievement!

We went into a pub for lunch and other than crashing into the wheelchair lift on the way down, that was another amazing achievement!

After lunch, we went for a mooch around town and it's changed so much down there!  It felt good though, to be able to go down there and see what it's like there now!

The only thing I didn't do alone was get the chair up the kerb and into the house, but I know how to do it now, so I'm hoping to be totally independent next time!

The busy road just before the centre was surprisingly quiet and I crossed 2 of the 3 roads at the same time!  I was thinking the chair wouldn't be fast enough to cross both roads at the same time but I was wrong!

I'm so close to being able to take Mitzi for huge walks... I just need more practice and confidence in the chair that can only come with practice!

I've done it once so my confidence has grown in my ability to get into town alone now!

I'm not going to go alone for a while yet, but I'm so close to it now!

Going into town this afternoon!

I'm meeting a couple of friends for lunch today - in town! 

It'll be the first time I've been there since 2002 when we got married!  I'm going down there with people the first few times and I'm not going to rush it... there are 2 busy roads to cross so I'm not going to risk them alone until I'm confident in the chair!

Wish me luck!

I'm now thinking...

I know I said yesterday that I thought the stranger was an Angel, but I got the feeling last night that he was actually my Guardian Angel!

It would explain why he was there when I needed him then he mysteriously disappeared when he'd helped me!

Maybe he was a stranger that my Guardian Angel directed towards me?

Or maybe it was my Guardian Angel in a human body so that he didn't scare me or freak me out?

Maybe my Higher Powers asked my Guardian Angel to look out for me while I was in the chair because I was nervous about going out alone?

Or maybe it was just an incredible co-incidence?  I don't reckon it was though  :-)

Tea tonight

I’m having 2 Quorn quarter pounder burgers and Steve’s ordering a curry from a take-away.  I’ll use a plate and Steve will eat his “out of the tin.  I’ll do the washing up tomorrow and you can cook for us both then” *sigh*  :-(

I was hoping to do us both a Quorn cottage pie and roast potato’s for tea today, but that’s gone up sh*t creek now  :-(

Ho hum  :-(

Angels

I fell out of my wheelchair for the first time last week, I'm sure I posted about it, but it hit me last night that the stranger who helped me might have been an Angel!

I'm serious!

If the stranger wasn't an Angel then it would have been too huge a co-incidence that he would come down a usually quiet street at the exact moment I needed his help, that he was tall enough and strong enough to put the chair back on the pavement and reconnect the batteries so that all I had to do was pick myself up and plonk myself back in the seat!

I kept saying thank you to him and he just smiled and went on his way!

I looked down the street when I got to the corner and he'd vanished... maybe he lived down the road or went into the pharmacy or GP or something... or maybe he was an Angel!

I know you may not have the same beliefs as me, but I know what happened and I reckon the stranger who helped me really was an Angel!

Just cooked Steve's tea

Just cooked 4 quarter pounders for Steve's tea and other than accidentally dropping the last burger on the floor because I was shaking so much, I really enjoyed it!  I'll do my 2 Quorn quarter pounders tomorrow to use up the last two bread rolls... "waste not, want not" as my Grandparents used to say!

Now that our oven has stopped smoking I'll be doing it again and trying new things too... next up, Quorn cottage pie and roast potato's tomorrow!  I just hope they take roughly the same time and the same oven temperature!  lol

Wish me luck!

Wide awake now!

Just needed a caffeine (Pro Plus) and sugar (maple syrup) hit after all... not even the vitamins B12 and D helped today!  I've got numb lips and throat now though 'cos I put the maple syrup on a tub of soya ice cream!  lol

You'd think 36 is old enough and ugly enough to know not to eat a whole tub of ice cream at once, wouldn't you!  lol

Burgers for tea tonight!

I'm gonna make tea tonight... 4 meat burgers for Steve and 2 Quorn quater pounders for me!  I just hope I don't slice my arm open when I slice the buns!  lol

So unbelievably tired right now!

Steve's having his carer come over within the next few hours, then he's going to see a nurse at his GP practice at 4.55pm, then he'll come home and I'll go to bed  I won't be having any tea... I'm just too tired to keep my eyes open for long tonight!

*sigh*

She's home! She's home! She's home!

Mitzi has just got home and her beard is already brown but she's getting her smell back on her from the sofa and the throw now.  That was the longest 5 hours so far... I missed her so much!

I can smile again!

Feeling semi proud of myself

I've just posted 2 forms to Gloucester job centre so that hopefully I'll be getting next week's ESA as I didn't get it yesterday!

I've also got the chair up to full (walking) speed now so I just need to keep practicing now and I'll have the confidence to use it to totally re-gain my independence outside soon!

The only thing I needed Steve's help with was folding up the chair and bringing it into the house but that's only because it's still new and hard to fold up, but the more I do it, the easier it will become!

I'm hot and shaking now, but I've got the fan pointed at me and I'll be fine again soon  :-)

Just under an hour

Still missing Mitzi and she's only been gone less than an hour!  She's a small dog with the personality of a giant dog and the hours are really going to drag until she comes home!

Missing her already!

She's been gone for about 20 minutes and the house feels so empty without her in it!  :-(

Mitzi is going for a wash and brush-up this afternoon

Mitzi is laying in her bed right now but she'll be going for a spa day at the vets this afternoon... it might sound weird, but I'll miss her while she's there!

Daft, eh?

Don't need to take my supplements today

Between the cereal and soya milk, I don't need to take 4 of the 8 supplements today and the 4 that aren't covered in the cereal and soya milk aren't big deals, so just by having breakfast I've already done one of today's tasks and the other one is just to go up and down the street in the wheelchair, increasing the speed slowly but surely!

I also get paid ESA again today so I'll have £400 in my account, ready for all my direct debits to come out on Friday then I can use the DLA money I get in a couple of weeks to get the ramp and stuff from Amazon to keep me totally independent!

I can do this, I really can!

Screw you again, spending addiction!

One target achieved

I've just taken my supplements so I can cross the first target off the list and it's getting dark and wet outside now and people will be on their way home from work soon so I'll take the chair out tomorrow afternoon when the road will be quieter and the street will be drier and lighter... need to find out the name of the man next door so that I can send him a thank you card too - you watch me forget now!  lol

Today's two targets

The first target is to take my supplements.

The second target is to go up and down the street and start to get the wheelchair up to full (walking) speed by the weekend.

Reckon I'll do it?  Let's see  :-)

Cold now!

Clean and relaxed but cold since getting out of the bath  :-(

Tired too!

So hot! :-(

Walking Mitzi + cold and rain outside without a coat or even a jumper = me being hot??

Yay!

I finished charging the wheelchair batteries this morning and it only took a total of about 3 hours to charge them!

Now that I've done it once, I'll know how to do it from now on!

Yay!

Charging the wheelchair's batteries

The batteries are charging up now but one of the biggest selling points for me was that the batteries charged up off-board.  

They need to be plugged into the chair and the charger needs to be plugged in underneath the controls.  Yes, the batteries are on the floor with the chair folded up, so I guess that is sort of off-board but from the description on the site, I thought the batteries could be charged up in the kitchen with the chair folded up in the hall.  There's no way that can happen though, unfortunately!

Ho hum!

Small health shopping list

ramp
reflective bib for the back of the wheelchair
underseat bag
medical bracelet for the brain damage

Hopefully...

Hopefully the extension lead will turn up today so that I can charge the wheelchair batteries up for the first time... knowing my luck though, it won't arrive today!  *sigh*

This is the 222nd blog post I've made though so feel better about that... it's an OCD thing!  lol

That's a lotta money to spend in 10 days!

Electric wheelchair - £800
Insurance - £110
Personal loan - £150

So that's £1060 in 10 days but the wheelchair and loan are one-off payments and the insurance is for a year, so I can save up for the ramp in 3 weeks time then move £10 a month into Steve's account to pay for the extra electric to charge up the batteries...

So close I can taste it!

Steve ordered a long extension lead from Amazon this morning that was on Prime so it'll be here tomorrow, then I can charge up the batteries for the first time so that they don't leave me stranded in the middle of a busy road or whatever.

The men who delivered the chair said that I should charge it up after every use so that's what I'm going to do when the extension lead arrives and it says to do that in the user manual too and it's better to be safe than sorry so that's what I'll do  :-)

That's either impressive speed or...

I dropped of my repeat prescription form with the pharmacy on Tuesday.

I asked for it to be delivered.

The woman I handed it to said it would be delivered on Monday.

No problem as I had enough pills to last me until that Sunday.

It's just been delivered.

So, either that's impressive speed (2 days) or the woman who took the form overestimated it in a big way!

Whichever it is, I'm really happy with it!

So tired! :-(

I took my pills at 6.30pm last night, but didn't get to bed until almost 8pm and Steve woke me up at 7.30am so I've had almost 12 hours sleep, so how comes I'm so tired?

I'm going to take my pills at 6pm tonight and go straight to bed to hopefully sleep off the tiredness... I used to get by on 4 hours sleep so why am I so tired after triple that amount?  :-(

We've also worked out why my previous mobile number wasn't moved to the new smartphone... the number is of the previous phone and I've got the one before that!  D'oh!

90%

Just got back from dropping off my repeat prescription request and I didn't fall out of the chair this time, I was almost at walking speed on the straights and it wasn't until I got back that I needed help to get the chair up the kerb and into the house.

It's currently sitting in the kitchen doorway waiting to be folded up and if I get a ramp then I can, in theory, be totally independent and not need help from anyone at all!  Yaaay!

I doubled the speed of it so need to remember not to push the joystick all the way forward unless I go on wide, straight bits and I've got more confidence in the chair and myself.

Other than that, I just needed help to get in the door of the pharmacy but that's because I'm not very good with the joystick yet!  lol

I'm so close I can almost taste the total freedom!

Wish me luck for this afternoon! :-)

I'm going to drop off my repeat prescription request with the pharmacy this afternoon and hopefully remember to increase the speed of the chair too!

It will be my first independent task that I'll do totally alone since the turn of the Millennium but this is one of the main reasons I bought the chair so I want to use it now that I've got it!

It'll be my first trip out in the wet too...

Wish me luck!  I think I'll need it!  lol

Shopping's coming tonight

Steve's ordered the shopping to come between 6 and 7 tonight... I don't know whether he's told M yet though!  I hope he has!

I've got to remember to drop off my repeat prescription request tomorrow too!  And charge the batteries up for the first time!  I think they need to be charged up while they're in the chair though  :-(  Exactly what I didn't want!  The description of the chair said that the batteries charged up off-board but I don't think they do  :-(  Either that or my definition of off-board is different to Betterlife's!

Ho hum :-(

Looks like today's trip into town is a no-go again  :-(

I'm going to take my repeat prescription form down to the pharmacy on Tuesday so I'll try and slip away into town after that... just got to remember to put the speed of the chair up before I get there otherwise I'm going to be getting on motorists bad side.  Again.  :-(

I've got to remember to get an extension lead too so that I can charge up the batteries too... something is bound to go wrong with that too  :-(

Wish me luck!

I'm thinking of going into town in my wheelchair when I get back from having lunch with C and H!

If I get there and back without falling out of the chair then I'm good to go... just got to remember to up the speed of it so that I don't get stuck crossing the road like I did when I went down to the pharmacy!  lol

It's a busier road so I hope I don't fall out of the chair in the middle of crossing over!

Owie! :-(

I stupidly pulled some loose skin off my foot in the bath yesterday.

It didn't hurt at the time, but it does now  :-(

Expensive but worth it

I had a bowl of Kelloggs Just Right cereal for breakfast and while it's expensive, it's yummy and has 3 vitamins (2 B vitamins and vitamin D) I need in it so that I don't need to take 3 supplements on the morning's I have the cereal and I can feel the B12 kicking in already!

Give it a go - I already know we'll be getting it again - it's worth it for the B12 kick alone!

Even at 6.45am it's still freakin' hot out there!

Took Mitzi for her walk at 6.45am this morning, thinking it would be cooler out there so early on.

Nope!

We came home still sweating!

Even though it had rained not long before I woke up and started raining again about 5 minutes after we got home, it was still really hot!

*sigh*

That was the funniest 10 minutes 44 seconds in a long time!

I've just had a "Windows help desk" woman on the phone and I figured I'd play along this time!

They tried to get me to go to my homepage.

I had "a javascript error"

So the woman started getting flustered and I tried desperately not to burst into laughter.

"I'll just pass you on to my supervisor, Madam" she said

I looked over at Steve and he looked at me quizically.

The supervisor came on to the line

"Have a look on the bottom left of your keyboard, madam, you should see a ctrl key there.  That's your control key.  Press that key and your R key down at the same time"

No friggin chance mate!

I said "I'm getting another error message now!" and tried to control my silent laughter

"OK, press the 4 windows key, that's the one with 4 squares in it, let me know when you've done that"

I did it.

"At the very bottom is a search box, type run in there and click on the go button"

"But I haven't got a go button, just a magnifying glass!" says I, trying not to burst into fits of laughter.

"That's OK madam, click on the magnifying glass... it does the same as the button"

"I've just got an egg timer now" says me.

"let me pass you up to my supervisor madam" says the poor bloke.

The supervisor said pretty much word for word what the previous bloke had said and I repeated what I had said.

He passed me up to his supervisor too.

Same questions and same replies.

I then heard the last bloke calling me a stupid woman and I just had to hang up, I couldn't hold the laughter in any more!  lol

I haven't laughed so much in a very long time!  ROFL

Day after yesterday

I fell out of the wheelchair yesterday and I’m now stiff, achey and tired!  I’m going to stay home today… I did more in the first 3 days of having the chair than I’ve done in 15 years combined so I think my body is begging for a break for a couple of days now!  lol

Just me, Steve and Mitzi until Sunday now!