Marguerite
Active Member
It's been drawn to my attention that I've been a bit AWOL lately. Partly the season, partly a very new granddaughter. Yes, easy child had her baby girl three weeks ago. First grandchild for us. We spent a lot of time (me especially) shuttling three hours drive each way to go stay and help out. husband took mother in law down for an overnight visit.
mother in law has been getting more frail and we've been there every night for dinner now, for the last two years. But we're now realising we can't miss a night, she really needs someone with her or she won't bother eating properly. We need to now take off her tight elastic stocking every night too, she has a community health worker putting them on for her each morning.
We had husband's family visiting over Christmas, staying with mother in law. They're from the other side of the country, it's quite an undertaking. And with them staying, we spent even more time at mother in law's.
And mother in law has no internet access, so no chance to use the internet down there.
So - what with family staying, us being needed more by mother in law and the baby, I have barely touched base here for ages. When I was down in Canberra with easy child & the baby I was lurking a bit, I think I posted a little but it was a busy time.
SIL1 is an amazing dad. I knew he would be, but he is more incredible than we expected. He can soothe that baby like nobody else. She is going to be daddy's girl, his little jiggly puff.
And now another reason to be busy right now - it's definitely silly season here. Summer. We had lousy weather until the week before Christmas, it was like summer was very delayed. Then WHAM! And with summer comes tourists, overcrowding and other issues.
Our location is unique. I describe it as an island, sort-of, but it is an isolated pocket of houses (and a handful of shops) surrounded by government parkland. And right now, the authorities have suddenly decided to restrict our access to our own homes (also access from friends and family). We've had the busy days, Christmas Day & New Year, see family unable to come visit us because of road blocks. As soon as it happened to us (I didn't know about the other people until later) I got on the phone to the police, to the other authorities, and raised a stink. It's been a fairly solid, time-consuming activity which at last seems to be bearing fruit. it's ironic - due to my local (mostly former) stalker, I have chosen to keep a low profile locally to avoid the guy causing me trouble again. But his wife is one of the people I now have to interact with. I've definitely stuck my neck out with all this!
It's also school holidays for us, our summer holidays. So school-wise, nothing much is happening with difficult child 3. It will all get busy in a few weeks, but for now we're playing a waiting game. He turns 18 in a couple of weeks (another public holiday - our biggest) and our village road access will be an issue on that very day especially. We're also trying to convince him, help him understand, how this year is vitally important for his education and will be a make or break year. And HE has to take control, because I can't force him to do his work against his extreme level of distractabilty and intractibility.
Right now I feel I've bitten off more than I can chew. However, a lot of people living here have been very encouraging and supportive.
Somewhere in there I also have to work on my writing. And hopefully get time to work on my tan in between times, not easy when I need to be in phone range and I can't always hear the mobile phone ring over the sound of the surf at the local beach. If I keep the phone on me, I risk doing what I did last year - taking the phone for a lovely long swim. Mobile phones do not like salt water immersion, I discovered the hard way in January last year. My doctor wants me to get in the water as much as I can, I can't get to a freshwater pool for aquarobics so I have to fight the surf here instead to exercise my hip joints. We call our local mini-beach Devil's Hole. Also known as the Washing Machine, because you feel like you've been thrown into the rinse cycle. The waves crash over you from five different directions at once, with a very strong (but thankfully short) rip. Stand in the water ankle deep and you can rapidly find yourself being knocked over in waist deep water. NEVER sit on the shore here, or you end up getting dumped and having your swimsuit fill up with sand. So medically I'm walking a tightrope between improvised aquarobics and dislocated kneecaps. The one thing I don't have to worry about there is sharks. Too rough for them... seriously, we've lived here for over 30 years and there has never been a shark bite case in these waters in all that time.
So I'm trying to stay on board with everyone, I will be back more regularly but it could be another few weeks.
We're all okay here, just busy all round. Now that husband's family have gone back home, we may have a little more time.
Marg
mother in law has been getting more frail and we've been there every night for dinner now, for the last two years. But we're now realising we can't miss a night, she really needs someone with her or she won't bother eating properly. We need to now take off her tight elastic stocking every night too, she has a community health worker putting them on for her each morning.
We had husband's family visiting over Christmas, staying with mother in law. They're from the other side of the country, it's quite an undertaking. And with them staying, we spent even more time at mother in law's.
And mother in law has no internet access, so no chance to use the internet down there.
So - what with family staying, us being needed more by mother in law and the baby, I have barely touched base here for ages. When I was down in Canberra with easy child & the baby I was lurking a bit, I think I posted a little but it was a busy time.
SIL1 is an amazing dad. I knew he would be, but he is more incredible than we expected. He can soothe that baby like nobody else. She is going to be daddy's girl, his little jiggly puff.
And now another reason to be busy right now - it's definitely silly season here. Summer. We had lousy weather until the week before Christmas, it was like summer was very delayed. Then WHAM! And with summer comes tourists, overcrowding and other issues.
Our location is unique. I describe it as an island, sort-of, but it is an isolated pocket of houses (and a handful of shops) surrounded by government parkland. And right now, the authorities have suddenly decided to restrict our access to our own homes (also access from friends and family). We've had the busy days, Christmas Day & New Year, see family unable to come visit us because of road blocks. As soon as it happened to us (I didn't know about the other people until later) I got on the phone to the police, to the other authorities, and raised a stink. It's been a fairly solid, time-consuming activity which at last seems to be bearing fruit. it's ironic - due to my local (mostly former) stalker, I have chosen to keep a low profile locally to avoid the guy causing me trouble again. But his wife is one of the people I now have to interact with. I've definitely stuck my neck out with all this!
It's also school holidays for us, our summer holidays. So school-wise, nothing much is happening with difficult child 3. It will all get busy in a few weeks, but for now we're playing a waiting game. He turns 18 in a couple of weeks (another public holiday - our biggest) and our village road access will be an issue on that very day especially. We're also trying to convince him, help him understand, how this year is vitally important for his education and will be a make or break year. And HE has to take control, because I can't force him to do his work against his extreme level of distractabilty and intractibility.
Right now I feel I've bitten off more than I can chew. However, a lot of people living here have been very encouraging and supportive.
Somewhere in there I also have to work on my writing. And hopefully get time to work on my tan in between times, not easy when I need to be in phone range and I can't always hear the mobile phone ring over the sound of the surf at the local beach. If I keep the phone on me, I risk doing what I did last year - taking the phone for a lovely long swim. Mobile phones do not like salt water immersion, I discovered the hard way in January last year. My doctor wants me to get in the water as much as I can, I can't get to a freshwater pool for aquarobics so I have to fight the surf here instead to exercise my hip joints. We call our local mini-beach Devil's Hole. Also known as the Washing Machine, because you feel like you've been thrown into the rinse cycle. The waves crash over you from five different directions at once, with a very strong (but thankfully short) rip. Stand in the water ankle deep and you can rapidly find yourself being knocked over in waist deep water. NEVER sit on the shore here, or you end up getting dumped and having your swimsuit fill up with sand. So medically I'm walking a tightrope between improvised aquarobics and dislocated kneecaps. The one thing I don't have to worry about there is sharks. Too rough for them... seriously, we've lived here for over 30 years and there has never been a shark bite case in these waters in all that time.
So I'm trying to stay on board with everyone, I will be back more regularly but it could be another few weeks.
We're all okay here, just busy all round. Now that husband's family have gone back home, we may have a little more time.
Marg
