Lilo

Lilo

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Ohana means family..............

....................... And family means no one gets left behind.


This is kinda how I feel about Peter - he shouldn't be left behind, even tho he had learning disabilities. 
It seems to have worked - i hope!!


Mind you, over the years my family has changed.
Sometimes thru choice - having the children.
Sometimes by circumstance - people have died.
And sometimes it's because i just cannot have people in my life any more.  
Some people can be so toxic that for your sanity and the sanity of the people who stay with you - you just have to get rid of them!
Yes - i make light of it just now, but honestly - i didn't want or need the hassles - i can make enough of that for myself without someone else dumping on me!!


So now ohana means Matthew and the kids. (can't leave them out!!)


Some of my cousins - Ann Marie makes lovely dresses - Lou will model if you wish!!! And Tam and Phil - god help you if you ever say anything bad about Peter. You will be felled by one look that says "don't dare"!!


Friends - some of them I have known for years and we dip in and out of each others lives - Does that sound like us Linda Mac?!?!?
Some of them i know through mu Unique Family. Lynne and Ali come to mind. We support each other and spend time Fbing or e mailing and we have met at family weekends. Some of the other Unique families i've not met, but maube i will - one day.


And some friends are cyber friends - i may not ever meet them, but they ARE friends. 


So family is what you make it. It may not  be what everyone else has, but if it works for you, heck - don't knock it!

Friday 3 February 2012

It's been one of those...............

............................Days.


No - forget that, it's been one of those weeks!
Last weekend, 2 of matthew's extended family died in less than 24 hours.
Ok - that happens in families we thought. Just have to wait and see about funerals.


Sunday afternoon, i came downstairs. I'm not sure if i lost my footing on the bottom stair, or if i tripped over the handle of a bag. But i went flying, head first to the living room door and landed on my bad knee.
If my knee hadn't been so sore, i'd be laughing with you.


[Go on - admit it - you're just laughing at the thought of been flying about 6 or 7 feet across the hall!!!]


So i hobbled about for the rest of the afternoon, feeling sorry for myself.
Well - nobody else did! Once they had made sure i could move and no bones were broken, they went back to whatever they were doing!!!!


Monday morning, we had to go see the Lawyer. She had sent us a draft copy of her submission for court, so we had to go over that. Some parts we took out, some parts we expanded on. Then Louise decided we were going for lunch.


She wanted Frankie and Benny's Brownies and she wanted them NOW!!


Dilemma du jour on tuesday was the washing machine. Well - it wouldn't wash and i had a basket full of dirty clothes. Thankfully, my friend Anne came and took the jeans and towels and did them for you. Thank goodness for friends!!




Wednesday brought the washing Machine repair man. I took Peter to college and went for a swim, since he was not meant to arrive till lunchtime. (he was to phone to let us know when he'd be at our house)
But at 10.30, he arrived!! 
I got home to be nagged at for  1) not actually telling Louise what was wrong with the WM and 2) for not having my mobile phone on!! (well - i didn't have the phone with me!!!)


Now - i'm not too sure WHERE i was meant to put my mobile while swimming up and down the pool! Any suggestions/ideas/ comments may be address to my daughter!!!!


Poor Lilo was totally spooked by the repair man!! She went scooting upstairs when he first came in. And when he came back, she went behind the couch and refused to come out. Even the offer of Kitty Treats did not entice her!
And given that she had been put on meagre rations by the vet nurse because she was overweight!! And by Wednesday afternoon she was starving. I mean - one sachet of food + 5 bits of Kitty Biccies doth not keep a cat happy.


Yes - that was to be her rations for the day.
She has protested and we have upped the rations and will deal with the not so slim vet nurse in a month!!!


By that evening, we found that both funerals were on the same day, within 1/2 an hour of each other and about 6 miles apart!!! (you couldn't have done that if you had tried!!!) So Matthew, Lou + Paul knew which one they were going to. I opted not to take Peter and i had a doc's appointment in the morning.


And the washing Machine decided to play up again!!! Just to keep me going.
My friend May came up for lunch - we had planned on going out, but the way things went i just said to come to me. Josh arrived to take Peter out and every time i went to make up our lunch, the phone would ring, or something would happen. I was for running away.


Matthew came home and managed to sort the machine - so no call out.
Louise and i took May back home and then escaped to go shopping.


This worm is turning and taking a bit of me time!!!


SO that gets us to today. Got home after doing the shopping. To find a letter from the Tax Office waiting for me. I opened it - it had my name, my address and my national insurance number. It was telling me of my tax code for the next year and that they would be informing my employers of iot and mentioned the name of a company i have never heard of!!


Now, given that i have been a full time carer for many years and find it hard enough to put everything i need to into my day, it would be hard for me to add paid work into the equation!!!


So i had to phone the tax office - on hold for 20 minutes, then got to speak to a human. She couldn't explain why that had happened, asked me to wait while she updated my files and put me on hold. When she got back to me, files were updated and she said they would be investigating why it had happened.


I know - on a grand scale, my week hasn't been as bad as some. Just kept feeling that i was tripping over my feet ever time i moved!!!


Oh - and i didn't even tell you about the 3 letters from the council about our community charge, with 3 different amounts to be paid by the end of March and we didn't know which was the right one!!!


And the council wonder WHY they have no money!!!


On a better note, Lynne and Jack will be heading home from hospital soon - i'm really glad about that.


Peter is off to respite next weekend and is looking forward to it!!


We seem to have a couple of good workers for Peter - Alisdair told us that Josh was "Kinda Arty", so was looking forward to supporting Peter at art class.
Now - that statement is like saying that Michaelangelo emulsion painted the walls and ceiling of a little church in Rome!!


Josh has a degree in art from the Art School of Glasgow!!!!


It was amusing when he admitted where he had done his degree and what it was in!!!


So things can only get better. Lilo is happy she's getting a bit more food and isn't so spooked now - she has taken a liking to crawling under the fleecy blankets on my bed and hiding!! (tho it has to be said, she only lies on Matthew's side of the bed!!!)


Have a good weekend all. I'm going to have a small drink tonight to get over the week!!!