Category Archives: Daily Life

Jan 19 2013
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Daily Life

Not Such a Clever Idea….

Ok, who suggested I should take some ski poles and go out walking in the white stuff?? And it all started so well. At 7am yesterday morning I was doing a little jig in the snow outside my house, the cat glaring at me accusingly from the window. Gloves, hooded jacket and ski poles were primed and ready to go, so I had a bit of a quick trial run, eventually deciding I looked less like a weirdo with just the one.

The Teenager was busy messaging his friends while I got myself loaded up. Keys, check. Mobile, check. Wallet, check. Huge ruck-sack, check. Emergency ration biscuits. Only joking. I headed off, feeling a bit silly with the ski pole, especially when someone yelled, ‘oi, you lost one!’ at me from the other side of the road. So far so good though.

I trekked up to the shops, feeling intrepid and adventurous and soon got into a semi-comfortable stride. Any foot drop I had was hidden by the snow. I got to the supermarket, but snowpocalypse had already struck. There was no bread, no potatoes, not much meat and hardly any fruit left. The shelves had been stripped bare. I picked up some grotty mushrooms, half-price bacon, Monster Munch crisps and a tub of double cream (no idea why, seemed a good idea).

After a quick coffee pit-stop, I trekked up the hill to my mum’s with a newspaper, another coffee, then over to Tom, the elderly guy I check in on. Stopped for a tea and a chat, then trekked back up to the shops to meet a friend for coffee, eventually getting home four hours after I set off. My cheeks were ablaze with redness, I felt exhilarated and generally rather fab. Until I took my welly boots off and crumpled in a heap in the hall.

Excruciating cramp in my legs, a sore hand from gripping my ski pole and a huge wave of tiredness sent me straight to my sofa. My legs and feet are still tingling and buzzing. Think I got a bit carried away. Note to self – perhaps take it a bit easier in the snow next time…

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Jan 18 2013
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Daily Life

Snow Joke…

It’s finally here. The white stuff is falling from the sky and there’s a lot of it. The Teenager is flapping around trying to find his gloves so he can make snowballs and I doubt school will be open today.

Last week when the promised snow failed to materialise, he was nonchalant. ‘Don’t care. Too old for snowballs anyway. D’uh. Snow’s for kids.’ Hmm. That’s why he rushed to the window every morning and turned away each time with a sad little face.

The news is on and this is obviously a national crisis. Who would’ve thought it – snow in Winter? They have cold-looking reporters in padded jackets stationed across the country, sending live and ‘exclusive’ reports from gritting depots, fields of snow and um, gritting depots. My friend texted me yesterday, saying people were panic-buying petrol, there was no bread or milk left in the supermarket and the roads were jammed. Guess we’ll be having Pot Noodles and biscuits for lunch then.

This is pretty bad timing for me though. After seeing the optician, I was all booked in with the MS rapid access clinic, but it was cancelled an hour later due to the forecast snow. So I will use the  time to try out my Nordic walking poles. I’ve already got my wellies ready and a backpack to put my shopping in. I am going to look ridiculously stupid, but no one cares in the snow. Hopefully.

Luckily, I am not back in work til next week so I am going to spend this time sorting out my university books and look over my notes to remind myself how to write an impressive essay. It’s been a while. I have a pot full of brand new pens and highlighters, the printer is full of ink and I even have little sticky notes in four different colours to mark ‘interesting and informative’ points in my books. All I need now is for my rusty brain to click in to gear and I’ll be fine.

So, I’m off to dig out the thermals, check the ski poles and head off to the shops as soon as I’m ready. I may be some time….

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Jan 12 2013
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Daily Life

Bring On The Snow….

We are overjoyed in our little household that there may be snow on the way. The Teenager is happy because it could mean a day or two off school. I’m obviously not happy about that, but I love snow. Apart from it looking pretty, I love it because it makes some of MS’s horrible side-effects socially acceptable. Honestly!

Let me explain. I have foot drop. Some days it doesn’t happen (but you’re always waiting for it to) and some days it’s constant. Wandering around the shops is not always an attractive option, It’s more a case of smash and grab a few groceries and head home. But if it snows, we all belong to The Ministry of Silly Walks. Foot drop is hidden when you’re trudging through snow. Everyone is watching where they put their feet, not just me. It’s lovely.

And if I fall over, well, lots of people do in the snow, and at least there should be a soft landing. I also like the suspension of real life and the feeling that we’re in the grip of a national crisis. We start to look out for our neighbours, whoever gets to the shops first buys milk for everyone and we smile as we walk/stumble past other people in the street.

I used to live in a country where it snowed for over half the year. Everyone was pretty blasé about it but I was like a kid at Christmas, ‘ooooh it’s snowing, look!’ ‘Yes, dear, it does that a lot here.’ Snow wasn’t very kind to me back then though. I skidded in my car and ended upside down at the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere. I clambered out and walked home, crying all the way. I wasn’t hurt, just stunned that snow could be so mean.

Then there was the time I was convinced I’d make a great skier. How hard could it be? Answer – very difficult when everyone else in that country was born with skis strapped to their feet. On the nursery slope (called nursery for a very, very good reason), toddlers whizzed past me at electrifying speed pausing only to point at the adult inching painfully forwards, legs akimbo. I called it a day and never went back.

Anyway, I am watching all the weather forecasts, as is The Teenager. Please, please bring snow!!

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Jan 02 2013
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Daily Life

Back to life, back to reality

Christmas and New Year are well and truly over and it’s back to work today. I am torn. Part of me is excited and full of plans for the year ahead, yet  part of me will miss the lovely unreality of the last few weeks. After a truly terrible year, it was a chance to kick back, relax and recover.

Aside from celebrating Christmas, catching up with friends and family and all the usual over-indulgence, Christmas is an excellent excuse for suspending real life. Normal routine is put on hold and I could say, ‘oh, I’ll do that next year’. Well, now it is next year and reality is breathing down my neck. Even though I worked between Christmas and New Year, it felt different, as there were still ongoing celebrations to look forward to.

Christmas time cushioned me in magical possibilities. Dreams can come true and weird and wonderful plans were discussed late into the night, the Christmas lights twinkling softly in the background. I will be taking them down in the next day or so and will miss them and all my lovely decorations. Oh, and the chocolate coins and Christmas cake. I will miss the sense of expectation in the air. Stripped of the Christmas trappings, life comes back into sharp focus once more.

Anyway, I guess it’s time to concentrate on the here and now. The Teenager comes back from London on Saturday and normal routine will definitely be back with a rude bang – the schoolwork, the laundry, the rugby matches, the grunts, the mysteriously vanishing food. My final year at University starts in February and I will be knee-deep in study notes, essays and books.

Does anyone else find January a dreary and grey month? The only thing to look forward to is Valentines Day. If you have a partner. Which I don’t. I was joking with a friend the other day about how hard it would be to find a new man in my situation. If it was tricky enough before being diagnosed with MS – 30-something, divorced, single mother – imagine my lonely hearts advert now: 30-something, divorced, single mother and oh, by the way I have MS. I mean, what are the chances?

 

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Jan 01 2013
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Daily Life

Happy New Year!

At last, we’ve made it. We weren’t wiped out in a Mayan apocalypse and we survived the forced jollity of New Years Eve. The discarded party hats, party poppers and champagne corks will soon be swept up and a new year begins. So what are my resolutions for 2013?

Normally, I’m the same as everyone else – lose weight, eat more healthily, take up exercise, yada yada yada. By the 10th of January, I’m back on the sofa, cramming popcorn in my mouth  and channel surfing.

My brand new shiny trainers remain brand new and shiny and I refuse to take part in the ritual humiliation of the weigh-in at Slimming World. The last time I joined that club, I celebrated losing a pound by popping into the pub with friends on the way home for a white wine spritzer and a bag of crisps.

This year will be different. I am going to set reasonable, achievable goals:

  • Try something new every day – even if it is just buying a different newspaper or changing my coffee order. I need to shake up my routine a little, so small steps.
  • Take up 10 minutes of exercise a day – a quick walk round the block rather than an intensive, army-like regime which I would give up within two days.
  • Start our MS book club – Reading Between the Wines.
  • Finish my degree course, with honours. I’ve come this far, I won’t give up now.
  • Keep blogging every day apart from Silent Sundays – it keeps me sane…
Will I stick to them? I really, really hope so. For the last year or so, my life has been dominated by events out of my control, but hopefully with the Alemtuzumab treatment and a fantastic MS team at hospital, the MS monster is being tamed.
So, Happy New Year everyone. I love reading your feedback and comments and they all make blogging so much more worthwhile. Let’s start the year as we mean to go on!

 

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