Bloody hell, this is hard 😥

 

This is a bit of a ‘Pensieve dump’ (see previous blogs for explanation 🙂). I’m sort of hoping that, if I put this all down on paper (screen?) it might lessen the effects on me (I’m ever hopeful 🤨) Also – it’s p always hard to write this sort of post without it sounding like a plea for sympathy. That is really, really not my intention with any of the stuff I dump on here – it just feels better if I get it out my head 😊 So no sympathy is needed (my own self-pity is more than enough for all of us 😉)(but positive thoughts are always welcome 🙂).

 

I used to roll my eyes when I heard about celebrities who had committed some misdemeanour and were heading to rehab because they were ‘addicted to prescription painkillers’. It always sounded like a cover-up for some other kind of addiction. I’m a psychiatric nurse, by training, so I knew about assorted addictions, and I have up-close-and-personal experience of alcohol addiction (not me 😉) and I’ve known people who had become dependent on things like Diazepam, back when they handed them out like Smarties. But I thought pain medication addiction was something to that happened to other people. People in America who had private doctors, who would prescribe anything in any quantity for them, if they were prepared to pay. And I rolled my eyes and got all self-righteous when they crashed their cars after driving under the influence. And when they talked about how they had relapsed back into addiction because it was too hard to stop taking them.

But here is my confession. My name is Jan and I’m addicted to pain medications. And I have driven when I shouldn’t. And I’m finding out the hard way how difficult it is to get off these things, which have helped me live a semi-normal life.

 

I’ve been taking fairly huge doses of Tramadol and Pregabalin for years – they were prescribed by the NHS pain clinic for my fibromyalgia and nerve pain in my thoracic spine. I was told about side-effects of taking them – but there was no discussion about what would happen if I ever decided to stop taking them. Maybe they expected that I would take them for ever – since my condition is chronic and not likely to get much better. And initially, they seemed helpful – they did take some of the fibro pain away (although nothing ever really worked for my back).

The side effects were pretty dire – they gave me muscle twitches and added to my already foggy brain – which made them a major part of why I had to eventually stop working. Taking them makes driving difficult. So, if I was working a distance from home I had to choose to either take the full amount and be relatively pain free for the day at work (but risk driving in a drugged state), or take less (or none) and be unable to work effectively due to the pain I was in 😣

This also proved problematic when I happened to fall in love with someone who lived a long way away. I don’t think she ever quite understand  why I was sometimes grumpy and emotional (more than normal, I mean 😂) when I got there after a five hour drive.  Maybe that was also when I started to feel more empathy with people who have had accidents when on medications. There were a couple of occasions when I took my usual amount – wanting to be ok when I arrived. Serious and stupid mistake 😳 I remember nearly falling asleep on the motorway. I got there in one piece more by good luck than good judgement.

Which was why planning my road trip last year was a huge process of juggling the driving part of the holiday and the timing of the medications to make sure I could be comfortable when I was with everyone I wanted to see, but still be safely able to drive. It was taking its toll by the last day of driving – when I finally got to St Ives, I was a bit sore and in a bit of a state – and scraped my car on a wall with some spectacularly bad reversing 🤬

Anyhoo, I digress. When it became clear that I couldn’t do my job to the standard I wanted, I was fortunate enough to encounter an HR department who didn’t quite understand their own systems and I was able to fight for ill-health retirement. And so life changed – and it was easier to take part in things I enjoyed because I had more energy. Now, my only driving involves trips across the M8 to visit the family. But I started to notice things. I was being much more careful about not taking meds if I had to drive. But, when I accidentally forgot to take the next dose of Tramadol I felt like I had flu. And the severity of the withdrawal effect scared me. So I started to think about reducing or getting rid of these really strong medications from my body.

I knew there would be side-effects. And I knew I couldn’t stop suddenly. So I tried to reduce some of my doses. And I failed miserably. The withdrawals were horrible. So I decided to stop stopping – until I felt better 🙄

And now I’ve decided to try again. So I was sensible (not like me) and have seen my GP to figure out how. And he was surprised at how much I was on and how long it had been left without any kind of review. I know that, at the start, it felt like a miracle cure for my pain. But that didn’t last long. And when I thought about it, it seemed that I ended up with both the pain from the fibro and the back pain as well as being doped up with the side effects of the medications.

 

So detox it is.

And I am feeling like absolute shit, with all the side-effects. I was warned what could happen but didn’t really know how it would feel. There’s the wonderful rebound nerve pain and muscle twitches (which are just dandy if you’re carrying a hot cup of coffee or trying to put mascara on 😳) . Not forgetting the general feeling that you have flu 24/7. And the …………….err……digestive disruptions that mean it’s a good idea to stay close to a toilet 😳 And I’m reducing my usual breakfast treat of  ‘real’ coffee for a while. I’m sticking with one cup a day and it’s decaf the rest of the time to see if it helps with anxiety feelings.

Because the anxiety is by far the worst bit. I’ve been ‘anxious’ before (obviously) but it’s always been for a reason. Now I’m having what I suppose are panic attacks for absolutely no reason whatsoever. The first time I woke up feeling like I had just had the fright of my life and life was coming to an end, I had no idea what was going on. The pounding heart and sweating and the feeling as if something absolutely horrible has happened or is about to.  I don’t think I’ll be going to see A Quiet Place. Who needs horror movies when you have your own personal one going on in your head, replaying every bad or embarrassing thing you’ve ever done in your life 😱

I think my stress hormone levels must be through the roof. And that’s the thing – there is very little respite from that ‘fight or flight’ feeling. It’s relentless. I actually have no trouble getting to sleep (thank you Audible for reading me to sleep 💜) but I wake up with panic attacks several times through the night. The effect on my thinking has been awful too. It’s like all the work I’ve done on my ‘self-care’ over the past few years has gone to pot. I feel as bad (if not worse) as I did when Sarah and I split up – nearly 7 years ago. I have no attention span, so even reading or watching movies is hard. And I have virtually no motivation to do the one thing that I should do more than anything – get out the house. Distract myself. All I want to do is stay in and hide, which I know is counter-productive. This is when living on my own is really bad for me – nobody to boot me (or persuade me gently) out the door.

I’m clinging to the thought that that this has an actual, physical cause, so it will pass.

So, I apologise if my social media input is a bit sad/angry/depressed for a while. I have to keep going with this. There may come a point when I need to start taking something to help with pain management. But I now have the opportunity to put all the strategies we were given at the pain clinic for ‘living with pain’ rather than ‘suffering from’ it. Might work. Might not. But the alternative is to give up and start taking the full doses again. And then I’d probably have to go through this again in months or years. And I ain’t doing this again. Ever!

Now, having dumped all that, I need to start to kick my own backside and get out the door 😊 Outside time will help. I think. Maybe? And there is cake outside  😊🍰😊

Be kind to each other xx

Books I loved and lost (and now can love again) 😊

I’ve been rediscovering some of the books I read back in the late 80s/early 90s, when I first came out and discovered feminism (all at the same time – it was bloody hard work 😆). And I mean literally rediscovering, because they turned up in a box in the loft, when I was having a tidy a while back. One of the books I loved (and which scared me ridged) was The Handmaid’s Tale. At the time it seemed a possible, but only distant, future (and probably needing some sort of nuclear or chemical war first). It faded away from my memory in the later years, but has had a resurgence recently because of the telly thing. And it now feels frighteningly possible in parts of Trump’s America 😳😡

But there are other books that I found in that box. Books that I loved way back then,  which were much less scary and a much easier read (and provided a few laughs) but which still had a few points to make about women, feminism and politics.

Two of my favourites are by the fabulous Ellen Galford. In spite of their increasingly worn appearance, because they have been read over and over, they had pride of place on various bookshelves since then and have now been reinstated having survived in their box after an attempted cull by my ex, who clearly never read them 🙄

 

The Fires of Bride is one of my go-to books in times of strife, because it always brings me back to calm. This is actually a bit surprising, because one of the main characters reminds me a lot of one of my exes. And there was also that time I went to see it dramatised and have a slightly erm ‘interesting’ 😳 memory of the same character being portrayed on stage by a seriously attractive woman who kept making eye contact with me 😉. I love it so much, that, when I thought my original copy was lost, I bought a new one. And then another one, because the second one started to fall apart after multiple readings 😂 But I love having my original copy back.

Like Ellen’s other books,  this is not a heavy, ‘worthy’ sort of read. It is light and easy and I can read it again and again. There are a few bits and pieces that jar slightly because of the distance in time, but mainly it is so fresh that it could have been written very recently. It’s the sort of book that just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. A sort of a fantasy set in the ancient past, recent past and present. Stories about women, a bible story that was ignored and forgotten (but remembered by nuns who broke all the rules), cloudberry jam and a beautiful Scottish island. And it was one of the first books I read about lesbians falling in love that wasn’t all doom and gloom.

One of my favourite bits of this one comes on the page before the Prologue even begins :

 

Queendom Come is also woman centred and very different. And very funny.

It considers what would happen if an ancient queen (Albanna), who is buried under Arthur’s Seat, returned to modern day Edinburgh – because her people need her help. A bit like King Arthur, only better. Her people, it turns out, are under the rule of a government that sits in the far, far south and is led by a woman who wears a lot of blue 🤣

At the time it was written it was set in the near future – and the real future turned out quite differently. Some of the horrors in the book never came to pass. Thatcher was de-throned and we ended up with a Scottish Government and gay marriage. However (maybe because I lived through and voted against and marched against so many things) there are a lot of things in this book that have never left my radar – and are scarily coming back into view again. The future of the NHS and the benefit system to name but two 😢😡

One of my favourite lines in this book comes when Albanna asks Shona to “swear it – by the clitoris of your grandmother” 😂

 

I’m always reluctant to recommend  books that’s I love to anyone. There’s nothing worse than someone rubbishing your taste in books, or telling you it wasn’t as ‘intellectually stimulating’ as the books they usually read ( this has happened 🙄). But if they sound like your cup of tea, I really recommend that you seek out a copy of any of Ellen’s books. Sadly I’ve mislaid Moll Cutpurse, Her True History – but I’m trying to find a replacement. I know there are great new books that I should be reading, but over the past few years I’ve needed comfort more than anything and re-reading my favourite books always takes me straight to my happy place. 😊💜

Be kind to each other xx

To move? Or not to move?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about moving. I love my wee flat, but eventually I’d really like to live somewhere that didn’t have so many stairs (thinking about planning for my aged future 😉)  And somewhere with a bit of outside space would be brilliant. I could sit outside to have my coffee in the morning (on the three days a year it’s warm enough) and I could have a dog 🐶  Sometimes I wonder if I should move somewhere completely different. Cornwall is always on my mind – more days of being able to sit outside and great places to walk with a dog (but probably too expensive). Or how about heading back west, from whence I came (anyone for Millport?) 😉 Then I see Edinburgh on a sunny day and I’m full of happy feelings 💜 So more likely is a move to somewhere closer, in the Lothians (again, finances permitting – the hazard of living somewhere so expensive).

I’m in the very fortunate position that, if I wanted to, I could move tomorrow. But every time I think about a move, I get The Fear. What if I hate it? What if the neighbours are a nightmare? What if it’s a money pit?  But, mostly I get scared by how much work is involved in the actual moving process – and living life as a single Spoonie, makes that all the more intimidating. Even thinking about it fills me with weariness 😖

And I wondered. Why isn’t there a house-move planner? A bit like a wedding planner, but with more work.

I would happily pay someone who would put my flat on the market – and arrange all the surveys and certificates and stuff you seem to need these days. And organise viewings – and field (hopefully) offers. And be tough when deciding to accept or hold out for more money.

And, after the flat sells (which will probably take a while, because of the location), they could create a shortlist of properties for me to view, based on my specifications of course (a bit like Kirsty and Phil, but without having to put up with either of them) and then deal with all the offering process and legalese once I decide what one will be my new home.

And, when time came to move, they would (if the timing of moving out and finding a new place weren’t the same) arrange a temporary rental place for me (cat friendly, obviously), arrange for all the utilities to be disconnected (and reconnected), make sure I have WiFi in the new place (Most Vital 😂), redirect my post, arrange for my loft to be emptied – and dispose of the stuff I don’t want to take with me, empty and defrost the freezer, sort out the rest of the  packing and the removal company  – and unpacking at the other end. And make sure the flat and my new place are as clean as clean can be. And anything else that I’ve forgotten to ask them to do 😆

And River and I could go away (maybe somewhere warm), while it’s all sorted out and I’ll move in to the new place when I get back  – and be left with just the fun bit of sorting out cupboards and kitchen stuff and deciding where things are to go. Simple 😁

I have friends who I know will help, when the time comes (if I can bring myself to actually ask them). And I know that lawyers and removal companies will do different bits of it. But what I want ( what I really, really want 😊) is one person I can talk to. One person who will put the whole thing together for me. Maybe they exist – for millionaires 🙄 Trouble is, with all the work involved, it would probably cost more than the entire value of my flat. So I suppose, when I eventually decide to move, I’ll damn well just have to do it myself. Fuck 🙄

Think I might stay put for a while longer 🤔

Be kind to each other xx

SIXTY GLORIOUS YEARS 😄

Sixty, eh? I think I’m supposed to say “where did all the time go” and stuff like that. So, being the contrary person that I am, I won’t 😊 I’m really quite ambivalent about the whole birthday celebration thing. It really is just a number as far as I’m concerned and birthdays themselves have never been a big part of my life. We had a few nice parties when I was little, but after that I only really celebrated my 21st (my sister was 18 at the same time, so we shared a party) and Sarah and I went to Mexico, the year it was my 40th and her 30th. But 60 feels like a nice round number to make a bit of a fuss about 💃🎉💃😄

As for the first 60 years of my life, I’ve been writing a lot about that recently – some in blogs and some just for me. So here’s a small(ish) summary.

0-10 I can safely say that my first decade was the least complicated and possibly happiest of my life. Family life was pretty settled and any problems were hidden from my sister and I. We had fun times with Dad and great birthday parties and holidays in Millport and Cornwall. The only downside was that we had regular moves around the country, as Dad moved from  job to job, and I went to lots of different schools. I suppose that’s why, in spite of being hugely shy, I was better at making friends than keeping them. It felt like as soon as I had made a friend or two, we were off again. And there was no mobile phone or social media in those days to help you stay in touch. Just a phone in the house (or being someone’s penpal 😆)

 

11-20 I think the least said about this decade the better. I know teenage years are meant to be a bit difficult. But mine were just plain horrible. From beginning to end I was unhappy. So much angst and turmoil. I got through school, had a failed attempt at starting nursing (which only lasted 3 months 😢) and a couple of other odd jobs. And there were a few other things that caused much sadness. Definitely a decade to happily be left behind. I can’t even think of one positive that I took into my next decade 😳

 

 

 

21-30 My twenties were quite eventful. I started nursing again (and stuck with it this time), found some brilliant friends, even a few boyfriends 💜. I had my heart broken, got engaged, got dis-engaged and moved to Dunfermline, to start managing a care service. That was the only rubbish bit of this decade – two and a half years in Dunfermline (sorry Dunfermline 😆) But then I moved back to Glasgow and started a whole different bit of my life. I discovered feminism and met some amazing women And fell in love with one of them 💕 (sadly, this was unrequited, but we stayed friends). And, after a lot of angst, I came out 🏳️‍🌈 Unfortunately, that meant that I lost most of the people from my past who I thought were friends 😢 It seems quite extraordinary now, but being a lesbian back then wasn’t as generally acceptable and normal as it is now. I was sad about losing friends, but I had no regrets about being me – better late than never 😊

31- 40  This decade started with one ridiculous relationship. It should never have happened and ended in trauma and  (because I’d moved in with her) left me effectively homeless. I was saved by friends of hers who gave me a room in a flat. And that’s the thing about that relationship, it shouldn’t have been, but if I hadn’t met her I wouldn’t have ended up living in Edinburgh. I decided to stay here and had my final house move – into the flat that I’m still in 😊 Best decision ever, because, not long after that, I met the love of my life. It was far from a perfect relationship but, at least for a while, I felt totally loved and safe and like I really belonged somewhere. The next 18 years were both wonderful and (towards the end) painful. It was also the only time as an adult, when I actually celebrated birthdays (because S made a huge fuss about them). In 1998 we both had big birthdays, so we headed to the Pacific Coast in Mexico and had the best holiday, ever!

41-50 The longer S and I were together, the more I was gradually distanced from everyone I knew. I lost all the friends who had still been there after I came out (because S didn’t like them 😕). I wasn’t even able to make friends at work – because S hated if I went on nights out without her. And, she’s not the villain of the piece here, we were both responsible for everything that happened. At the time it didn’t feel wrong – we made a big thing about it being just us against the world and as long as we were together, everything was fine. This was also when my fibromyalgia started and I’m fairly sure there was an emotional connection to that. I moved around a few care homes as a manager, before I moved into regulation -in what would be my last job. It was a great job and OMG the joys of not working shifts after all those years 😄

50- 60 Things between me and S started to go downhillll fast and, at 54, I found myself single – and almost homeless again. But I managed to hang on to the flat, by the skin of my teeth. Never has having a home base been more important. Being as socially isolated as I was, having nobody to turn to, at the start was very difficult. Which is why I’m so very thankful for the friends at work who stepped up and helped me to pick up the pieces (and are still a big part of my life 💜)

And I found social media and all that it brought to my life. Good, brilliant, bad and downright awful.

I think the whole of the last six years has been tied up with my recovery from that breakup. All the crap decisions I have made were part of that (I’m an emotional person – no excuses and no regrets). I might have made some lousy choices, but my tattoos were some of the best ones. They were part of my breaking away from who I was and I love them! And I finally know more about who I am and who I want to be than I have before. So onward and upward.

60-Infinity and Beyond!  I have no work, to worry about. There will continue to be Mum’s dementia to deal with, but that is my only major stress. My project for my 60s is to, hopefully, get fitter, get out and meet more people, find new things to do and to definitely get out the house more. Oh, and maybe have one last house move – it would be nice to move somewhere I can have a dog 😊

As I said in my last blog, I am going to try to spend the rest of my time doing things that really interest me. What they’ll end up being, who the hell knows 😆 It’s been a rollercoaster.

Now, where did all the time go 🤔😂

Be kind to each other xx

The future’s bright. The future’s………I’m not sure🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve been trying to write this blog for a week. So far I have enough for about four blogs and none of it made much sense. The question that started it all was : What am I going to do with the Reflexology thing? But, as I was writing, the Reflexology got tangled up with a whole load of other stuff about friendships and memories and stuff about my retirement and my future with social media and big birthdays. Until it had turned into a bit of a novel! I don’t just think myself round in circles, I do it in spirals – and get chucked out the other side having made no decision at all 🙄

But eventually it started to make sense and I was able to (mostly) separate out the Reflexology bit. So, with apologies for the bits that have been in other blogs, but I needed to put it all together, here goes (and I’m sorry about all the rambling – but, as Tilly would say, “bear with” 😉).

The story so far. The first complication is that the original idea for the course was mixed up with the Yorkshire debacle (don’t panic, enough has been said about all of that already, so I’ll spare you all the details). To cut a long story sideways, I was supposed to be moving to Wakefield and, even while I was still travelling up and down the A1 and not feeling at home anywhere, I started to get a lot of pressure from she-who-shall-not-be-named to “do something” with my time. (I could get really bitchy at this point and talk about how busy I was with the driving bit and trying to keep her house even slightly clean and being a delivery person for parcels to and from Next, but I won’t).

(oops) 😉

Anyhoo. I started looking. But because at that point  I was doing it for her, rather than for myself, I didn’t really try too hard. I barely went further than googling “things to do in Wakefield” and picking the first thing that looked vaguely interesting. I chose Reflexology because I’ve always had an interest in Complementary Therapies and I’d had a couple of treatments in the past and found it really relaxing (I also thought “how hard can it be – it’s just rubbing feet”) 🙄

However, I never got the chance to start the course before I found myself back in Embra and just a bit broken. By that stage, I had officially retired from work because of my health stuff and, much as I wanted to hide under a duvet for ever, I knew I would need to find something to occupy myself. I didn’t take any time to re-think what I was going to do (any kind of rational thinking was a bit beyond my capabilities back then) and Reflexology seemed as good an idea as any. It was only supposed to be an interest – I saw the course as means in itself, rather than a means to an end (if that makes sense?). I had absolutely no thought about what I’d do with it afterwards, but as I started to prepare for the course and talk to people about it, ideas of volunteering started to emerge. By the time it started I was very excited about meeting new people and new horizons and new skills and (maybe) new opportunities. I even thought that it might be a bit soothing 😆

Well the course turned out to be anything but soothing 😆 It was very, very hard to get my fibro/medication fogged-up brain to wake up and to focus on all the reading and the essays I had to write. Because the course was accredited by Napier University, the standard of work expected was higher than I had imagined. There were anatomy lectures and essays (and Harvard Referencing 😳). And there were projects – like designing a scientific poster (I’d never even heard of one of those) and devising a business plan 🤯

I had roped in my poor, wonderfully accommodating friends to be victims to practice on and, along with all my online friends, they supported me with more than just their feet 😊 They helped with ideas for the projects and gave me examples of stuff I’d never done before. There was a lot of hand-holding when I felt like chucking the whole thing in and they were endlessly supportive 💜 And they started to come up with other ideas for things I could use it for, after I qualified. Most of my classmates were doing the course with the intention of starting (or adding to) a complementary therapy business. Since my attempts to get into the petsitting business had collapsed spectacularly by that time and I was already registered with HMRC as a small business, it seemed like the obvious thing to do.

Well, dear reader, in August 2017, I got my Diploma (not forgetting the ‘With Distinction’ bit)(proud) 😇

And immediately hit a wall 😨

I was physically and emotionally drained. I hadn’t even begun to process what had happened in the previous few (probably previous six) years and I had a huge crash and burn. So I took a break and went on holiday (which turned out to be a bit less relaxing than I had planned 🙄😆)  But, while I was away, I made a start on the things I’d need for my business. I had a name – Rainbow Reflexology – which was a hint that I might target the LGBT community. And I started designing and ordering business cards and thinking about a website and marketing and where was I going to work. And that’s when it all got too complicated.

Please don’t act surprised, you should know me by now. If there’s overthinking to be done, I’m your woman. But, even for me, this was more tangled up than usual and I ended up tying myself in knots. And it’s taken nearly six months, during which time I’ve added a cat to my life 😻, to get to here.

Questions:

• How does the whole concept of reflexology sit with my ‘science’ brain? (research, evidence-based etc). This is a whole other blog in itself.
• While I absolutely believe that Reflexology is wonderfully relaxing, and relaxation can help the body heal, can I really buy into some of the more airy fairy claims?
• How can I associate with a therapy where there are members of the same professional organisation, making claims to be able to ‘treat’ serious medical conditions rather than complement other treatments?
• And, even if I could get past all that, where would I work? I wouldn’t be happy seeing strangers in my home – or even seeing strangers in their homes. So, how about hiring a room? Well, my fibro often won’t let me do more than one or two treatments at a time before it gets too painful (I sometimes forget that there was an actual reason why I had to stop working). All in all, not financially viable.

And there was one last big question:

• What will other people think? If I don’t do something ‘proper’ with my new skills, will I be letting down all the people who supported me to get through the course? Not just the friends who lent me their feet, but the online friends who held my hand all the way.

.

It was only when I got to that last one that it finally dawned on me, why I was struggling.

It seemed pretty clear that there wasn’t going to be a business – it was a non-starter. But the idea of letting people down is a powerful thing for me. It felt like I was throwing away all the lovely support I had while I was doing the training. And I know that people won’t actually think that – but it’s still very hard for me.

However. As hard as that was, it sat alongside the amazing feeling I’d had on the day when I left work for the last time. Although I had to stop working for health reasons, I was Finishing Work 💃😃💃

For the first time in my adult life, I was completely free. In fact it was better that. Because of the reasons I has to stop work, I’m not allowed, by HMRC, to take up any sort of similar work. The government is giving me permission to not be a nurse any more! Whoop 😁

Don’t misunderstand – I wasn’t completely miserable for 40 years 😉 There was a lot that I enjoyed (and I was actually very good at lots of it 😉). And it has given me a couple of my closest friends. But I wasn’t a natural nurse, or manager, or good at talking to people. I really had to work at it. And it was stressful and often made me unhappy.

And now I’m in a position to start from scratch and actively choose what I really want to do. I don’t want to repeat what I did 43 years ago – and so many times since. In spite of being qualified to go to University when I left school, I went in to nursing.  I did it without much active thought other than that I was making somebody else proud. And every time I moved into a bigger and better job I was making someone else even more proud (or happy that I was earning more money 🙄). And I got stuck.

I suppose what it boils down to is that I’ve already had my career! And I don’t need or want another one. I’ve paid my dues – so my retirement will be for me.

I have invested a lot in doing the training and I do like the relaxation it gives to people, so I’ll probably keep up with the volunteering (if they want me). And I have a couple of chums who have carried on with having occasional treatments since I finished training – and are wanting to continue.  I’m a bit sad about not having the extra income that a wee business would have provided. But I’ve worked out that I get my State Pension in another 313 weeks. Life can begin at 66 😆

As for the rest of my retirement (another cue for a whole other blog) I’m still looking for more ideas. Sadly, at the tender age of 59 and 51 weeks I still haven’t found My Tribe. But I’ll keep looking – I know they’re out there somewhere 😊  For the last couple of years, my interests have been, increasingly, all things scientific. So, having missed out on it in my youth, I’m starting a physics course at Embra Uni next month. Who knows, I could be a late-bloomer and end up becoming Edinburgh’s answer to Professor Brian Cox!

Be kind to each other x

Valentine’s Day? Meh 😉

I saw Miranda Hart tweeted today about Valentine’s Day – and is going to be tweeting all day to support anyone who feels alone today. A really sweet thing to do (a bit like     Sarah Millican does on Xmas Day).

I feel like I deserve some kind of long-service medal. This is the 60th year on the trot that I won’t have had a Valentine (card, present, flowers or person) 😭

I can’t remember if it was a ‘thing’ in our house when I was small, my first memory of it was kids at primary school making cards and sneaking them into somebody’s desk (not mine). And then, at secondary school, I listened to other girls swapping tales of how many Valentines they had received that year. And seeing them show their friends envelopes with SWALK and BURMA scrawled all over them (I suspect some might have sent cards to themselves 😉).

The thing is – I never expected to get one. It seemed that you had to be in with the ‘In-Crowd’ to be worthy of receiving one. And that was never me. I was dowdy and chubby and geeky (I don’t even remember if that word was invented back then) and we moved around so much I never had time to be in a clique. So I was never actually sad or disappointed. It was just how it was.

Then I grew up and nothing much changed. Friends got cards and flowers from boyfriends but, although I had occasional boyfriends – I never seemed to have one around Valentine’s Day 😆 And then I came out. And fell in love. And it was all romantic and gorgeous. But still no Valentines. Back then, lesbians were far too cool to do anything quite so ‘Hetero-norm’. It seemed like I couldn’t win 🙄

My first long-term girlfriend was a florist. She had to work 24/7 for days, in the run up to 14th February, to meet the demand for roses and chocolates that other people were sending. And I learned all about how the flower growers hiked up the cost of roses and how much it was all about what would sell and how much money was being made. By the time it actually came around, she was tired and grumpy and hated the whole thing. And so did I. She once brought some roses home for me – but I knew it was just leftover stock. Flowers from a florist don’t really mean much 😆

Then I met S. And it was amazing. We did so many little romantic things all year round. The ‘lesbians are too cool’ thing had disappeared, but we still didn’t ‘do’ Valentines. She didn’t like giving in to the commercialisation. And, after the previous girlfriend, I have to say, I agreed with her. So, for 18 years, we pointedly didn’t do anything on Valentine’s Day. I actually think there came a time when we both would have liked to have been a bit more traditional, but neither of us said anything. So nothing changed. And then it was over and I was on my own.

 

 

When the last ex heard all of this, she made a ‘promise’ that the drought would finally be over. Woohoo! But, we all know what happened to those promises 😏. When the next 14th February rolled around (and on the assumption that we were still in a relationship) I sent her a card. But I didn’t get one from her. And she managed to make it sound like it was my fault and that she had misunderstood and it was her last girlfriend’s fault and, basically blamed everyone else 😂. Same old, same old 🙄

And that’s the sad, sad story of my relationship with Valentine’s Day. And now I’ll be off to hug my cat and cry into my lonely ready-meal. I’m going with the story that Valentine’s Day is another Christian holiday that was tagged on to an old pagan festival involving feasting. So I bought one of the Marks and Spencer’s ‘Dine in for £20’ Valentine meals. Well, it’ll do me for two days 😜 And I’ll always have Netflix 😂

What a difference a cat makes 😻

Just realised that it’s exactly three months today since River came into my life. Only three months?? Feels like forever – in a (mostly 😉) good way. And she’s made a few changes since she moved in. Some good and (in the case of my skin) some painful 😳

If you haven’t been following the saga, River is my chubby little 8 year old torty rescue cat (and if you understand the reference in the title picture, you’re my kind of people 😊).

As I’ve said elsewhere it took me a while to bond with her, for assorted reasons, but she finally wheedled her way into my heart and now it feels like she’s been here for much longer than three months.  So what’s changed?

1. Well, the seating arrangements on the sofa for a start. Like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory, I had ‘my spot’ on the sofa 🛋 It was my favourite for telly-watching and the most comfy for reading. River decided very early on that it was where she wanted to sleep – I think because it’s in a corner and she probably felt enclosed and safe. And, because I wanted to help her settle, I gave in and put a blanket there. Now, it is her permanent, preferred sleeping place, until I sit down (somewhere else, obviously) and then she climbs onto me.

There’s another proper cat bed beside the radiator that she likes too, and she’s made this her night bed (I discovered this when I rudely woke her up to check if she was ok when the fireworks went off at new year 😹) This is also her bed of choice when she’s in a strop and wants to be somewhere she can lie and stare at me disdainfully 😾

2. The time I get up in the morning is now fixed at 6am. And not a minute later. This is mostly fine, because I’ve always been an early riser and I’m usually awake between 5am and 6am. It’s not that she’s noisy and making a fuss to let me know she wants fed, she’s actually very quiet and just stays in her bed until she hears me moving about. It’s my self-imposed guilt at shutting her in the living room all night that forces me to get up and give her food (and cuddles). But there used to be a very rare occasion when I wanted to sleep longer, for example if my meds or fibro were playing up or if I’d been out the night before (something that’s as rare as hens teeth these days anyway 😆). So these lie-ins are no more – and I’ve actually set my alarm to wake me up if I don’t wake by myself. I’ve not had to use it yet, but you never know. Feeding a hungry cat takes precedence over my beautiful, comfy, soft, cosy bed ⏰

And, speaking about her sleeping in the living room. In case you think I’m a cruel, cruel excuse for a cat-lover, this is due to my allergies. I tried having her in with me at the start, but I quickly developed the wheezes and had to go back to my usual system from previous cats and the bedroom is a cat-free zone. So far she’s only shown interest in getting into the bedroom on a couple of occasions and was chased away. I’m sure she now thinks it’s some kind of Bluebeard’s room where horrible secrets await 😈

3. After losing music from my life for a few years (following a couple of hideous relationships)(it’s complicated 😂) I had been starting to find it again. And I was I getting into the habit of singing along to my Spotify playlists of happy songs. Not any more. She hates my singing. And the look on her face if I do it is priceless 🙀 So, naturally, I now do this less. Or more quietly. I expect my neighbours appreciate this too 🤔

I have no idea what sort of life River had in her first 8 years (although the way she reacts to some things make me fear the worst 😿) but she hates being picked up and has never learned how to retract her claws. Any and all cuddles are very much when and how she wants them – and she is a very affectionate wee soul. There are times when she can be fast asleep on ‘her’ seat on the sofa (can you tell I’m still hurting over this 😂) and I’ll be reading or watching telly. As she wakes up, she makes this sort of chirruping sound and rushes over, desperate to have a cuddle. And when I say cuddle, I mean she’ll push my book or laptop or anything away from me before clambering over my legs and body and climbing up and over my chest to lie across my shoulder, like a baby. Unless I’m quick and anticipate her arrival and have something nice and thick handy to protect my legs and body, the damage from her claws (completely unintentionally) can be pretty painful. I’m getting better at recognising the signs – and I’ve invested in a couple of rolls of fleecy vet-bed stuff that is handy to use as a rug to protect skin 😄

The things you have to do for love 💜

4. Although that’s been difficult, the biggest negative for me is that I have had to buy a set of bathroom scales. These appalling items of torture had been banished from my home for a long time. However, according to River’s previous vaccination records which I got from the rescue place, she has a tendency to put on weight (we are very well suited). When the vet came to see her, she was weighed and I was told that she should lose about a half a kilo. So I need to monitor her weight. But, in order to weigh her I need to weigh myself (😳) and then weigh myself holding her – and deduct one from the other. The actually process of picking River up and stepping on the scales is an operation in itself – and has resulted in lots more skin damage (mine, not hers). The only good thing is I am doing this in kilos and I haven’t a clue what kilos translate to in real money, so I have no idea what I actually weigh 😆.

Anyway, the thing is, since I’ve had her, she’s actually put weight on 🙄😆 My lovely friends have said this is because she’s happy – and I hope that’s true. But I suspect she’s just a greedy little bugger – a bit like her mum. So sorry now she has a full kilo to lose! New fitness programme needed for 2018 (for both of us)

5. By far the strangest thing only started happening recently. Synchronised peeing 😳With other cats I’ve had, I got used to them following me into the bathroom. But River doesn’t. Her litter tray sits outside the bathroom and now, every time I go for a pee, she pees in her litter tray. It’s very funny. And more than a little disturbing 😳😆

 

But in spite of the sharp claws and the sofa-stealing and the peeing with me and the guilt any time I leave her on her own, I love her very bones. I do hope she’s happy. I have only sketchy details about her former life, but I do know that she deserves some comfort and bit of spoiling. And I think she came to the right place 💜

 

Be kind to each other x

Help! I’m in a quandary. Again 🙄

I don’t want to shock anyone, but I have this woman in my life. She’s someone I’ve known for a long time, but only started to get to know well quite recently. And we spend a lot of time together 🙂 I genuinely think she’s a nice human being, but there are things about her that are, well, slightly irritating. What I mean is………………. OMG SHE IS SOOOO ANNOYING!! 😖😠😤

For example, she hums tunes over and over. Not just now and again. All. The. Bloody. Time! The most common ones are snippets from things she’s heard on Classic fm that day. Like the theme from Peter and the Wolf. Over and over and over! Seriously weird. And very annoying 😡

And, if she’s not humming, she’s talking to herself. I’ve heard her in the kitchen while she’s cooking or making coffee – sometimes it’s a running commentary about what she’s doing (and, recently she’s started doing this in shops).

And she is never ready to go out. Spontaneity doesn’t seem to be in her vocabulary these days. Even if it’s only a trip out for coffee, it’s like she’s preparing for an expedition up the Amazon! 🤬

I really dread to think what else is going on that I’ve not noticed yet (actually, there are a few other things, but they’re too odd to even mention)!! 🤭

If you read my last blog, you’ll know about the ‘Accept it, Change it or Leave’ dilemmas I’ve had. In this case I really can’t accept, so I’ll need to try to help her to change her irritating (and slightly creepy) habits. Leaving’s just not an option.

Because she is me 😳😆 (they do say that being aware is the first step 😉)

Be kind to each other (and try to love the irritating)(please) xx

Obligatory End of the Year Blog 😁

If 2016 was the year I did things I shouldn’t have done and the year I didn’t do things I should have done, 2017 was the year I grabbed some things by the short and curlies and ‘protected my peace’. There were some things I was really struggling with when the Edinburgh Hogmanay fireworks shook me awake at midnight and 2017 got going.

Above everything there was my Mum’s dementia. Seeing her slowly disappear has been the cloud over everything else for the last ten years. It had started to get significantly worse in 2016 (and that has been the story of this year too) – so that the bad things feel worse and even the great things are a bit diminished 😢

And for months I’d woken up every day with a huge knot in my stomach. Things I should have done, decisions I should have made ages before, were still needing to be done. But I knew I’d hate doing it and there would be serious fallout. And so it all rolled over into the new year. Something had to give. So what did 2017 bring?

This popped up on my Instagram the other day and sort of sums up the first half of my year. There are things that are very hard – like my Mum’s dementia. Sadly, I can’t change that and I will never leave. So I’m trying very hard to accept how things are (including all the difficulties with my Dad).  All in all it’s much better for my mental health. However, other things were far less clearcut – it had taken a long time for me to reach a conclusion.

Well, dear reader, a few weeks into the new year things were (as my Gran would have said) “all over bar the shouting”. There were things I couldn’t change or accept, so I had to decide if I could stick with it in the hope it would change (and keep being angry/hurt/disappointed etc) or if I should leave. And leaving was the only option left. Much as I had planned in my head that it would all be done calmly – all neat and tidy, and tied up in a bow – inevitably I made a complete fucking mess of things and March turned out to be horrible and hard and I don’t think anyone will ever understand just how sad it all made me. Suffice to say, as the fallout hit (online and off) the inevitable collateral damage resulted in the loss of people I had really cared about. That was, if possible, even sadder. But I have no regrets. Even if I had handled it better, the end result would have been the same (the way it came to a head proved that I was making the right choice). It might have been selfish, but it was right for me.

 

 

 

But! Please don’t disappear!! It’s not all doom and gloom.

Overall, this year has actually been quite brilliant. All the crap at the start of the year has been balanced by loads of lovely stuff since.

Thanks to all the friends who helped me, I finally got my Diploma and qualified as a Clinical Reflexologist. I have had huge satisfaction and comfort (and not a little pride) from being able to use those skills in various places in recent weeks and months and I loved every minute of it. What I do with my new-found skills in the future is still under consideration and will be something I need to deal with in 2018.

Another highlight was finding a way to deal with my psoriasis. I doubt you could  understand the joy I felt at having clear skin unless you’ve experienced feeling like a lizard 😖🦎 It was miraculous, physically relaxed me and my self-esteem was boosted by 100%. It also gave me the little boy in the yellow coat (who I blogged about a few months ago) 💛

The bringers of my biggest happy stuffs this year have been my friends. This year has had a fair bit of reconnecting with people I’ve known for years, but hadn’t seen for ages. People I knew when we were children and old work colleagues have all figured in my year. Best of all were the friends who have been around in recent years, when I’ve needed so many listening ears and who (much to my surprise) have stuck with me 😊 If you’ve read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, you’ll remember the way Luna Lovegood decorated her bedroom ceiling and walls with pictures she’d drawn of her friends. Not sure I’d go that far 😜 but they are all special and important in their own way and I love them all.

And then there was my brilliant trip around the country to meet up with a few lovely Twitter chums. And Cornwall, where my adventures connected me with more lovely people. Again, it’s been blogged about before and it was definitely the most eventful holiday I’ve had for a while. I’d love to do another road trip soon – maybe take a different route and meet some of the other lovely twitter chums who have made me laugh and held my hand – and made life, the universe and everything feel tickety boo.

When I got home from that holiday, I decided that I was ready to have a cat in my life – and, in October, along came River. She is named after two kickass women in my favourite sci-fi programmes and she has lived up to her name 😹 It was a difficult settling-in process, but we are now totally bonded and I love having her around.

Like any other year there were lots of other little triumphs and mini-disasters. Like painting my kitchen – but ruining the cupboard doors  when I forgot to turn the kettle off 🙄 and the horrors of all the work I had to do to finish my reflexology training 🤬 But, for me, 2017 has been hugely positive. Not perfect – I still have Mum to worry about. And it’s no secret to those who know me best, that I have ongoing issues with my health – physical and mental – which result in periods of darkness when I hide myself away from everyone. But the knot in my stomach has gone and, in my weird little world, it feels like there has been a degree of balance restored in The Force.😊

There will be no ‘New Year, New You’ type resolutions, but I hope 2018 will be a good year to work on managing my fibromyalgia better (if I can) and improving my overall physical health. Oh, and after a year of developing a huge interest in all things scientific, I’m giving my brain another challenge and starting a short physics course in April. All good stuff 😃.

There’s only one of my friends (one who wasn’t connected to any of that stuff) who knows the entire, whole story of why I did what I did. I don’t know if she reads these blogs, but if she does, she’ll be very happy to hear me say this.

No more dramas! I’d really like a calm, relaxed year please, Universe 😉😊

And………*drumroll*……….2018 is the year I turn 60!!! O.M.F.G! How in the hell did that happen?? But I’m actually looking forward to it – I like nice round numbers 😜 No idea how I’ll mark the occasion. I’m not one for big celebrations, but I feel I need to mark it somehow.

I hope 2018 is a happy (or at the very least calm and contented) year for everyone. Lang may yer lum reek and other Scottish things 😀 And, as the glorious Sandra Bullock said in Miss Congeniality, I really do want world peace. Yeah, that would be a pleasant change.

Be kind to each other xx