Here we are at another Friday and what do I have for you this week.
VHS
BETTA
DVR
MEDIA PLAYER
DVD RECORDER
Another easy lot this week
Month: October 2015
Photo Wednesday/My Nan
History Tuesday/Halloween
Hello everyone well since Friday is the 31st and for some that means Halloween (not me) I thought I would write a tad about the history of Halloween.
Now most people probably know that Halloween comes from the words “All Hallows Eve” which means it is the evening before “All Hallows Day”, this is also known by some as All Saints Day. In the Catholic Church, All Saints Day celebrates those who have gone to heaven, screw those who have gone to hell, it is followed by All Souls Day which is on the 2nd November which is for those who have died but not gone to heaven yet.
Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition, it is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ware of roaming ghosts. It was in the eight century that Pope Gregory 111 designated the 1st of November as a time to honour all saints and martyrs. The holiday of All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain and the night before became known as All Hallows Eve than Halloween.
Trick-or-treating partly comes from the English medieval practice of “souling” when poor people would go from door to door offering prayers for All Souls Day in exchange for food. Over time Halloween evolved into what it is now a community-based event characterised by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating.
Halloween is becoming more popular in Australia just not with me or my family but with many including schools and such and you do see children going trick-or-treating through local streets. Although for many years it was just an excuse to watch scary movies.
Many older Australians still do not get involved in Halloween including me this is because for me it has little relevance to Australian culture, it is also considered by some to be an unwanted American influence this is because despite the history of Halloween dating back to Celtic/European origins it is generally through American tv shows and movies that Halloween has become known here in Australia. There are those who say that Halloween is not entirely American but rather Celtic and there is no different than embracing other cultural traditions such as Saint Patrick’s Day and that may be the case but not for me.
I have nothing against Halloween but since it wasn’t an event in this country till the last 10-15 years I can’t help but thing of it as a way companies see to make more money, so I don’t do Halloween for me the 31st is just my baby brothers birthday.
Monday hasn’t started out as a fun day, but it has improved, a tad
Good morning world as I think everyone knows I do very little blogging over the weekend this is my time to catch up on tv shows I have recorded or answer letters and you know other stuff other then blogging.
Anyway it is now Monday and this morning when I went for my walk I was not is a good shape, I was so very tired after about 30 minutes and had to stop 3 times for a rest and I was walking and stumbling around like I was drunk or something and it was such an effort to keep on walking but I made it. When I got home I went to the toilet and lost my balance and fell into the door, didn’t wake Tim though, in fact the last part of the walk my balance was pretty bad I kept walking to the left and closing my eyes it was that difficult but I made it home without falling or anything.
This morning we are getting our new fridge delivered, yesterday Tim took the freezer outside and hosed it out to defrost it and I have transferred the stuff out of the freezer in the fridge into the upright freezer. Tim also took the old deep freezer out behind the back gate and tipped it up to drain all the foul smelling crap out of it, it is still there, he will bring it inside sometime this afternoon. The fridge is arriving just in time as the one we have is not working now I have placed ice bricks in the fridge to help keep the food in it cool I hope it is delivered early but we will see.
Yesterday afternoon our next door neighbour (Bear) got up on the roof and cleaned out our gutters this he did without being asked, when I told Tim he said he will give Bear some money for doing it, Bear also does our backyard every few weeks which Tim gives him $30 for, in fact Bear does many of the yards in the complex it is something he like to do to keep busy and it earns him a few dollars he is a senior citizen so making do on the pension.
Over the weekend Tim removed the security screens from two windows and replace the mesh in them so now we will have to read the riot act to the boys about damaging the mesh, Leo cut the mesh which is why it had to be replace so no doing that this time. Tim in fact made the security screens for the windows they are called security screens as they are pop riveted to the windows so they can not be removed without making a lot of noise unlike normal window screens that can be simply removed.
Ok I am back the new fridge has just arrived had to unpack the old stuff and throw it all on the bench and sink but all now packed into the new fridge but of course we have to wait an hour before we can turn the new fridge on. Tim has the day off, he took a sick day which is ok with me he now wants to go and do a stock up shop also ok with me.
Mish, mash, this and that, or a post about random stuff
Good morning all, it is a nice warmish day here, started out cool and wet though so I didn’t go for a walk this morning as it was raining and I was so tired which I blamed on the dark and wet morning. I am now feeling more awake and have been out to take Jessica to Centrelink for an appointment, I dropped her off and she said she would ring me to get her when she was finished for all those who don’t know appointments at Centrelink can either go on time or you can be left waiting and waiting and waiting. So I dropped her off headed home stopped at the shops to get her bread rolls and came home I walked in the house and she rang she was out so her appointment which was at 10 was over and done with by 10.10, so back I go to get her she felt bad that I had only just got home and had to leave again but as I told her not her fault just the way it was.
So this morning while I was blogging I was reading Kate’s blog she can be found here:
http://www.canigetanotherbottleofwhine.com/ she had mentioned she did this social anxiety questionnaire and scored 40 out of 90 so I decided to go to the website and do it myself I scored 60 out of 90 which indicates I have a high amount of social anxiety this comes as no surprise to me, the questionnaire can be found here:https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/test-social-anxiety-disorder-find-out-if-you-suffer-social-phobia
Moving on this morning I found Tim wanting to toss out the last 5 slices of bread now the bread was still fresh I bought it on Tuesday so nothing wrong with it, it was just the last of it and I had a full new loaf that I bought yesterday. So I asked him what he was doing and he said we have a new loaf and I was like so,nothing wrong with this bread I will use it to make toasted sandwiches and I used two slices to make Blain’s school lunch. I get really annoyed when he wants to toss out bread that is still usable.
Still on the topic of things Tim do that’s annoying, I had recorded some episodes of NCIS and had put the “K” for keep next to it so Tim would not delete it well you guessed it he deleted the episodes as soon as he watched them. Now I said to him last night when I realised what he had done why did he delete them he said he didn’t know what the “K” meant well I said common sense would have said it is something Jo has done I should not do anything to I ask her about it, but of course not Tim he doesn’t think he just does these annoying things. When I complained he said just go online and download it and watch it on the laptop,NO, Tim that is not what I want to do. I am not one to watch stuff on the laptop I prefer to watch tv shows on the tv sorry but you should know that Tim.
Yesterday I bought tickets via Groupon for the Dinosaur Museum in Canberra saved over $30 on the price of the tickets and I told Tim last night that I had done it and thought we could go with Jessica and Leo over the Christmas school holidays as Leo loves dinosaurs. He was annoyed that I didn’t ask him first but when I explained that he was at work and I had to buy the tickets while the deal was active and that it was over a 50% saving on the tickets he was ok. He doesn’t get at times that the deals are often on for only a few hours if I had a end time for the deal I would have spoken to him first but since it just said ending soon I wanted to get them before it ended. I did ask Jessica if she thought it would be a good idea and she did she agreed with me that Leo would love it.
So I asked mum if we could borrow the motor-home over the Christmas holidays for the trip and she said she would ask dad but it should be ok but first I am going to check out the cost and places to stay before we go better to make arrangements now and not leave it too late.
Photo Wednesday
Appointments, vomit, walking and seeing a dentist so pretty much just life
Yesterday I started this but then got distracted and never got around to finishing it, I had to got to the doctors to have a medical form filled in for the RTA which is now called Service NSW for those not in the know that the mob who issue you your drivers licence along with a lot of other crap. I needed the form filled in because I have sleep apnoea and diabetes all good I will hand it in sometime today.
This morning Blain woke me at 6am to tell me he had vomited in the loungeroom, beside my arm chair, I of course got up and cleaned it up then went back to bed for half an hour, when I was getting ready to leave for my morning walk I could hear him in the bathroom throwing up again, so he is not going to school today, he has gone home with his mum for a while she will bring him back before she goes to work.
Thank you for all who had kind words about my condition with my right arm, I kept it a secret from many people for many months, I didn’t want anyone to worry and it was only when it became so noticeable that it was hard to hide that family members became aware of it, and yes the are all worried about it.
I got a letter on Friday from the Royal outpatients department over at the John Hunter Hospital complex to tell me I had an appointment over with the diabetic doctor on Friday morning, what the hell I hate Friday appointments as Friday is my super busy day, so I rang them to see if it could be changed till a different day, but no it can’t be bugga that. The appointment is at 9.40am and I know some people will thing that is ok it is nice and early but no its not, the first appointment would be around 7.45am in the day so about two hours after the first appointment which means I may or may not be in on time. So I don’t think I will get much if any shopping done on Friday I know I will not get the food shopping done as I will not have time.
Mum and I are the earlier the better when it comes to appointments type of people, so you can imagine when mum got a phone call saying that she has an appointment at Wakefield school on the first Wednesday of November. The stupid woman at the school was like it will be early around 9.30am so you should be home by 11am so you can go to the nursing home then, no we will not be going to the nursing home that late in the day we like to be there around 9am to see nan and the same goes for when we go to see Aunty Pat 11.30am which would be the time we would be getting to the nursing home is just too late, mum has to be home to get my brother’s lunch between 11.30-12 each day and dad like his lunch at midday each day so it really doesn’t work.
I told Natasha this morning that I have decided to continue my morning walk even if Tim isn’t hear in the morning for Blain as Blain is now nearly 10 and he should be ok on his own while I am gone as I am only gone for between 30-40minutes and he knows my phone number so if he wakes up and is worried he can just ring me but 9 times out of 10 he will still be asleep when I get home from my walk.
I am the type of person who likes to go for an early morning walk if I don’t go first thing in the morning I won’t go as by 8.20 when Tasha leaves to take the boys to school I am no longer interested in going for a walk also in Summer it is getting pretty hot by that time most days and I would prefer to go before it gets hot.
I have a dentist appointment this morning in about an hours time, Tim was great with giving me the money for the appointment as last week he had to go to the dentist himself although when he went he was surprised how much it cost to see a dentist it ended up costing him $285 which was not a surprise to me but it was for him.
A little about me
On the first day of the school year this year, I noticed my right hand shaking a little as I left the school after dropping off Leo, however, when I got my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the car it stopped and I thought no more about it. However, over the next month I notice it happened more and more and was worse when I was upset or distressed because Leo was clinging to me and didn’t want me to leave him.
Around March I noticed that while I was using the computer and had my hand on the mouse that it felt like it was trembling although it didn’t look like it was moving it was more internal then external. I mentioned it to Dr Ben Nicholas at Smith Street Medical Centre but he didn’t think it was anything to worry about.
By April my daughters started to notice my hand shaking at times, so in May I went and saw Dr Rod Watson also at Smith Street Medical Centre and he examined me and said it wasn’t anything to worry about but if it got worse to go back. When he had me walk up and down the hand shook and I stumbled twice.
Speaking of my stumbling well that in fact started last year, many times when I walk I stumble it is if I don’t pick my feet up while I am walking or at times it feels like I stand in something sticky and this causes me to stumble, I have not at this stage fallen over I just stumble a bit.
In June I was notified that I had lost my pension and since I would have to pay to see a doctor at Smith Street Medical Centre I decided to find a bulk billing doctor which is why I went to see Dr Zain Ul-Albadin at Mt Hutton Medical Practice at my first visit he noticed my hand shaking all the time and asked about it, I explained that it started at the start of the year and has gotten worse over time. By this time it wasn’t just shaking, my arm was stiff and sore and aches all the time and it will be worse when I am upset or distressed or tired. So he decided to refer me to see a specialist as he said it was obvious that the tremor was getting worse and there would be a bit of a wait to see a specialist so best get referred.
I go for a walk each morning and the hand shakes the whole time I am walking and I will often stumble while walking and it isn’t uncommon for me to start to feel tired and exhausted 30 minutes into the walk and this makes me stumble some days I end up walking as if I am drunk this goes away once I get home and can rest for a bit.
When I stand after sitting for a while or when I get up in the morning I have to stand still for a few moments to gain my balance otherwise I will stumble when I try to move.
In July I notice that my right thigh would tremble although it isn’t obvious it is more an internal tremor at this stage and has since July only happened about 8-10 times each time it lasts only a few minutes.
Also around July I noticed that my right hand would shake while I am driving as I grip the steering wheel my hand while move, in September I noticed that some nights while writing in my diary my hand will shake and it is hard to write I have given up a few times because my hand is shaking so much.
A poem but not by me
From the time one becomes a parent to the time one dies they will put the needs of their child before their own, that is if the parent is a good parent, and most parents are indeed good parents.
The above poem sums up the role of a parent for me
Today my baby sister turns 37 so here are photos of her through the year
joannerambling 