wotw

Word of the Week 12 – Shopping Stress

March 20, 2020 by Anne Sweet 5 Comments

Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My phrase this week is Shopping Stress and you can read more about that below.

devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

My Word of the Week – Shopping Stress

The world has gone crazy. Especially in the shops. I’ve heard so many horror stories. I’m in self isolation at the moment as three of my family members are at risk from the Corona Virus. Getting food has not been too bad so far but I know that others have had a lot of trouble. I did write a lot about shopping on my last isolation post here, so I won’t repeat myself.

However, I did want to tell you what happened when I got my Sainsbury’s delivery. I didn’t go over the top, I just bought what I thought we needed to get by for a week with a couple of little extra cupboard staples. I had a ton of substitutions and quite a few unavailable items which was disappointing, but I expected it to be worse.

At least we got nine toilet rolls…yes that’s slightly more than one each for a week! (my usual weekly use is 16, that’s not stockpiling, we are a big family with four member having stomach issues!) We did get a packet of wipes as well, and well, if it comes to it, there is always soap and water! (btw, I don’t buy handwash I buy bars of soap, I have done for a long time, they last so much longer and are not a plastic waste product.)

This weeks Shopping Stress

Anyway, I digress, let me take you back to shopping delivery day. The driver arrived and my husband took control of bringing in the shopping. The driver was off as quick as possible, he was so busy. Then while putting the things away I noticed a few things I hadn’t ordered, Like four bottles of milk, when we have lacto free and nut milk, and whole tomatoes, carrots, red grapes…it was looking a bit weird. (we only buy cherry tomatoes and I’d already bought carrots, and no-one eats red grapes. I realised we had someone else’s food.

It got worse. Where was Boo’s apple juice, she’s already come in to ask for it? And where was our cheese, apples, smoothies oh the list went on and on. Around £50 worth of shopping was missing.

I phoned Sainsburys immediately, with my receipt in my hand and all the missing items highlighted, while leaving the shopping that was obviously not ours on the kitchen table. The lines were busy, extremely busy and it was 45 minutes before my call was answered. Then very slowly we began working through my list. He had to look up each item on the computer which must have been going slow because it took forever. However, while I was on the phone the delivery driver called us on the house phone to say he’d found our missing shopping and was coming back. Phew!

We got all our missing goods and gave him back the shopping that wasn’t ours. I wasn’t even annoyed, I was just so relieved.

Shopping has never been so stressful, and I’m not sure what is going to happen in the future. There are no delivery slots anywhere. I can’t let Graham go to the crowded supermarket, and from what they say, the shelves are empty anyway. We have a lot of basic ingredients though, so I’m sure we’ll muddle through. And we have a local store which will keep us fed for a while (I hope)

How have you got on with your shopping this week, I hope you’ve had less stress?

Now it’s over to you, let us know what word or phrase sums up your week?

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Word of the Week 9 – Wetroom

February 28, 2020 by Anne Sweet 8 Comments

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest boarddevoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to MixPlease add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK – Wetroom

Last year I told my occupational therapist that I was having trouble with showering. She came to visit my home and said that I could do with a wet room. I don’t know why, but the thought of having my bathroom ripped out and changed just scared me and I said no. So we worked on some other things that would help, like seats, bars, steps etc. Sadly, nothing really helped. So I called her and told her that I had changed my mind about the wet room. She came to visit again and told me that I could also do with a through floor lift from my living room to my bedroom. In for a dollar in for a pound I guess.

I was told that work would start in April, but this week a workman turned up and said they would be starting this week! So, on Wednesday we had a house full of builders making tons of noise. I don’t deal too well with noise, but I popped in my headphones and just got on with it.

On Thursday, the workmen didn’t turn up until lunchtime!! I had to be at the hospital with Star, so I really didn’t have to spend to much time listening to their noise

I can’t wait to be able to shower with confidence. For the last six months it’s felt like I’ve been risking my life every time I shower, especially with my balance being so bad. And I’ll be able to go to the bathroom in my wheelchair during the night. I’ve had so many near misses with falls trying to make the couple of metres from my bed to the toilet when I’ve woken in the night. One night I crashed into the bathroom door and thankfully my eldest son was still awake and came to help.

Next up it will be my lift and I’m dreading the work involved, but again it’s something I really need. I can’t wait to not have to walk up and down the stairs anymore.

In other news, the hospital appointment on Thursday for Star was with her neurologist who told us all is well with her neck, yay! Just one more appointment at the Children’s hospital next year and she’ll be discharged. If anything happens from then on, she’ll be at the adult hospital. Now, that’s a scary thought! (Not the adult hospital, but the fact that she will be classed as an adult for medical issues!)

Oh, and we heard this week that she does NOT have Marfan Syndrome. We still don’t know what her actual problem is, she has a lot of characteristics of Marfan’s but no variation at all of the rogue gene febrillin that causes it. Of course, I may be jumping the gun as we still have some more testing to come back and don’t, as yet, have a follow up with her geneticist. It looks like she just might be one of those rare children that just doesn’t fit in any box. I wonder where she gets that from?

Now it’s over to you, what word or phrase sums up your week this week?

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Word of the Week 7 – Pain and Illness

February 14, 2020 by Anne Sweet 6 Comments

Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My phrase this week is pain and illness and you can read more about that below.

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK –Pain and Illness

Just so you know, its okay to use a phrase rather than a single word if you wish, This week I’m using Pain and Illness. I could have used one or the other, but they apply to different people.

This week most of my family have been suffering from some kind of illness. We’ve put it down as colds but the truth is they have felt less snotty and sneezy and more achy and really tired. Every child has had at least one day off school. Thankfully not all at the same time, when we get an illness it usually affects everyone in a round. It may be nice to get it all over and done with in one go, but sometimes I think how I’d cope if they were all ill at the same time. They are all back at school and although The Little Man seems pretty fine, the girls are still suffering a little. Boo has a sore throat and Star is feeling achy. Star suffers from joint problems and on Wednesday evening she subluxed her ankle walking down the stairs. She was in a lot of pain, but it did ease off eventually.

As for pain, well, that’s where I’m an expert. I’ve managed to get up to the maximum dose of my medication now and it feels like, rather than getting better, my pain has changed. My legs have never hurt so much and neither has my back. But the spasms have eased off a little. I just can’t win. Do I want to feel paralysed and helpless or do I want to be able to move but with accompanying pain. There doesn’t seem to be a middle point, or any real relief.

The only good thing is that a lot of the self help methods I have tried all seem to focus on pain, not paralysis, so maybe if I keep at it I can get the pain under control without having to deal with the paralysis. Fingers crossed.

I have been suffering with such awful tiredness though. Each night I go to bed and go to sleep quite quickly. I may have things on my mind that want to keep me awake, but the medication I take is having none of that nonsense. Then I wake around 4-5 am every morning. I often go to the bathroom, not because I’m desperate to, but because my body is willing me to move it, to work off the stiffness and pain. I wake myself up a lot of times during the night by snoring, but it feels more like an inability to breathe that causing the noise. I may have to talk to my GP about it. The during the day, all I want to do is fall asleep, and I often do.

It’s not all bad though. The girls have now broken up for half term, and The Little Man finishes today. Tonight we have a party to go to, and tomorrow I’m incredibly excited to be taking my friend to see Mathew Bourne’s ‘The Red Shoes.’

What word or phrase sums up your week this week?

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last weeks word of the week – Lifted

Word of the Week 6 – Lifted

February 7, 2020 by Anne Sweet 19 Comments

Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is lifted and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.

There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest boarddevoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to MixPlease add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK – Lifted

Last week I left you with the word plans. This week I am still making plans but I have decided to use the word lifted.

Lifted. A photograph of a lift in a home with the word Lifted in bold

Do you remember that song by The Lighthouse Family, Lifted. This is my inspiration for this weeks Word of the Week.

I’d really love to be alone without all the
Ache and pain and the April showers

Ok, I know it’s only February and the showers are more like downpours, but who doesn’t get fed up up the cold and miserable weather? I used to be a winter person but the cold and wet just makes my aches and pains so much worse now.

When it all gets dark again
The whole thing falls apart I guess
It doesn’t really matter ’bout the rain
‘Cause we’ll get through it anyway
We’ll get up and start again

Sometimes it’s tough and dark but it’s only when you reach the very pits of the darkness that you realise that the only way is up. You can get through it, get up and start again. You can be lifted from the shadows.

I started counselling today. I’ve been on the waiting list for months and today I really didn’t feel like leaving the house, but I had to. And I’m glad I did. It’s what I need, someone to talk to that won’t judge me or tell me what to do. Someone who I can tell everything too and they won’t be able to tell anyone else. There is so much, I think I will need many sessions just to tell her everything. But I’ve started at the bottom and now things can only get better. I can be lifted from those shadows that have followed me around for many years. My illness is nothing compared to the pain of my mind. The darkness inside of me causes me more pain than the agony of not being able to move while my body cramps up into painful spasms. But the two work together, and I’m sure if I can work on the mind the body will follow.

Lifted

Another way of being lifted this week is by the news that my house is going to be made safe and future proof for me. I’m having a wet room and a lift installed in April. I have so much trouble climbing into the shower, they’ve given me a step, a chair and bars on the wall, but it’s still really hard. I had a shower the other day and used up more than half my daily amount of spoons. (check spoon theory, if you don’t understand)

Having a wet room will mean I can shower safely and alone. I will no longer need to be afraid of falling and I will find it much easier to do the most basic thing of all, get washed!

The lift is something as a family we’ve had many a debate about. I wanted a stair lift but because of the shape of our stairs the lift would be difficult to install and cost a lot of money. It would take up a lot of space on the stairs so everyone else would find it a pain, and they can be really dangerous for kids. Not only that, but my occupational therapist said that a stair life would be most inappropriate for my condition.

So, we are going to have a lift. From the living room to the bedroom. Our living room is pretty big (but it’s still cluttered.) the lift will be fitted in the corner which is currently behind our bigger settee. We will just have to move the settee over a little to make space. During the day we can keep the lift upstairs so all that will be seen are two metal stripes down the wall. We will have to keep the space clear though.

The bedroom will have the biggest transformation. We are going to have to move our bed and the wardrobe and get rid of some of the unnecessary furniture. One of my bookshelves will have to go and a chest of drawers which is currently broken and unused anyway. (If we can fix it we can put it in the Little Man’s room, if not it can go to the tip.)

It’s going to make such a difference to me, especially in the morning when it takes me so long to get downstairs (And it’s so painful I could cry.)

New Horizons

Lifted, lifted up today, lifted all the way, yeah we could be lifted
We could be lifted, from the shadows, we could be lifted
Lifted up to new horizons

I really do think that the house adaptations and the therapy could actually lift me to new horizons. And maybe, just maybe, those dark shadows could be chased away.

p.s. I survived my MRI, yay! Hopefully it will be a long time before I have to have another (if ever.) I did have to be ‘lifted’ off the bed afterwards though thanks to my body completely closing down and refusing to move by itself!

Now it’s your turn, what word or phrase sums up your week this week?

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Word of the Week 5 – Plans

January 31, 2020 by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is plans and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK – Plans

Last week I chose Changes as my Word of the Week. Since then I’ve been hoping for even more changes but things don’t always go to plan do they?

My son’s birthday didn’t go to plan. It started out okay. Then we hit a few issues and our original plan had to be cancelled. I did think at one point that we were not going to get out of all but we did, and we had a good evening.

After a lovely night out we’d all got home safely and I had gone to bed. Then I seemed to hit an all time low and at 4am I was hatching a really stupid plan. Thankfully, I didn’t go ahead with it but it made me realize that things were not right.

What do I do when things get tough? I get planning. It’s what keeps me sane, planning all sorts from events to spending, to my next book or crochet project.

First up was a new savings plan. I’ve a lot of spending to do this year and my savings are pretty low, so it’s time to tighten the belts and get my finances sorted.

Then it was planning our holiday. I was trying to figure out how we could get my eldest son to come along with us. We don’t have room in the car, but a train journey would mean at least two changes and I don’t think he could handle that. I spoke about it to his Dad on the phone and he suggested that he could go and holiday with him in France instead. So I put them on the phone together and he’s talking to him about rather than taking a direct flight he could change planes. Sometimes plans just don’t come together.

I have finished my book that I was reading (or rather listening to on Audible.) It was rather a long book and I started it in December. So now I’m planning on what to read next. I like to plan my reads so I get lots of variety. This last book was long and complicated so I think maybe something a little more lighthearted. By the time you read this I’ll have probably started something.

I’ve also finished my crochet project. A lovely cardigan that my daughter bought me for Christmas. It was really nice to work on and I’m so happy with it. I now need to plan on what to make next, or maybe I’ll just pick up one of my old Wips.

Next weeks plans are preparing for my MRI (I hate them so much) and for my first visit with a mental health nurse.

Do you have any plans?

Now it’s your turn, what word or phrase sums up your week this week?

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