Doctors and Dentist

 Had doctor's appointments on Wednesday.  One was to pick up my prescription for cancer meds, and the other was to check my diabetes level.  One good thing about this hospital is that everything is under one roof.  Got there early, a blood test, and a pee test.  Waited for an hour for the results.  It's nice that the lab is on-site, no waiting a week for results.  Good news is that all my numbers are better.  Weight is down, even on the hospital scales I was under 100kg, this morning I was 97.6kg.  Lots of waiting around but I was happy with the results and I don't have to go back for 3 months!

The dentist visit was not so good.  Actually, it was awful.  He is doing a root canal, and he puts some kind of medicine in the hole in the gum to kill the nerve.  On Thursday he was digging into the gum and then drilling, without any anesthetic.  I was gasping at the pain.  The dentist asked if it was painful, when I answered yes, he just said okay.  Not okay at all.  It was so bad that I was sweating and shaking after.  The whole day I was in pain, I had to cancel my classes!  I have to go again next week!

Got to the house again today.  Did a bit more.  Because it's raining and cloudy the house feels gloomy.  Got some photos.

View of the mountains

Messing around with Christopher

The house

Neighbours yard behind the house, all bamboo.

What A Week

 Last Sunday Hannah and I went to see 'Dreamgirls.  Mikey drove us into the city, he was going to meet his friend from high school.  

The musical was very good.  Because I've seen the movie a couple of times it was easy to follow the storyline.  The actress playing Effie White was particularly good.  Her performance of  'And I am telling you'  gave me goosebumps!

Posters for Dreamgirls

We had a nice time but I was in pain the whole day.  I woke up at 3am with a stiff neck.  I figured I had slept funny, so took some pain killer and got on with my day.   By the time we got back home, I was in so much pain.  The left side of my neck, down the shoulder blade and shooting pains down my arm.  I had taken over the counter pain killer but it wasn't helping at all.  So I went to the emergency room.  I was surprised that I had a fever, 38C, I didn't feel feverish at all.  The doctor did a quick check and then gave me some strong pain killer so I could sleep.  I actually slept sitting on the sofa, lying down was impossible.  The next day I went to the orthopedic doctor who was treating me for my knee problem.  Got x-rays, turns out to be a slipped disk in my neck that was pressing on the nerve.  Got a months supply of painkillers and was told to rest.  So Monday and Tuesday I spent most of the time on the sofa.   I could read because holding a book or kindle was too hard, I did try.  So I watched daft TV or slept.  By Wednesday I was better and I could teach and by Thursday I was back to making lunch and cleaning.

Hannah made me laugh.  She was cooking herself some noodles the other night when she calls out "Mom, the pot is sad" when I asked what she was talking about she showed me this.

Sad Pot

Quick Update

 I've been very busy the past couple of weeks.  Still clearing out the house.  I sometimes feel defeated by the amount of stuff there.  The last few times I went I spent time cleaning out all the clothes my mother-in-law had bought.  Most of the clothes are still new and will go to the local recycling shop.  I know I won't get a lot of money for them but I feel better knowing that somebody can get use out of them.  Stuff that has been used has been burned.  I felt good that all the drawers were empty.  I decided that I should start on the things that we have stored there.  So I went to the storage building but couldn't even get inside.  So that is my next task.  I have no idea what is in all the boxes there.  For the past 32 years I have dumped stuff there with the idea of getting rid of it later but later never came.  We started to throw out some of the junk but never got back to it.

Other than that it's been busy here.  Cleaning, throwing out, downsizing.  Hard but needs to be done.  I was cleaning out one cupboard last week when I came across some cards that Hisao made for me when I was teaching at kindergarten, that was before Christopher was born, so about 26 years ago.  Why are they still taking up space?

26 year old cards!

Hannah is on holiday from university.  She bought herself contact lenses.  I couldn't go with her, the idea of putting something in your eyes makes me cringe!  She has been trying them out at home for the past few days, I guess it takes time to get used to them.

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that I sneezed so hard the other day that I bit down and broke a tooth.  Back to the dentist.  He is doing a root canal but will take a few visits.  It's a front tooth so I have to be careful when smiling.

The good news is that I am finally under 100kg.  First time in about 17 years.  This morning I was 99.3kg.  I can't remember the last time I saw that number!  I eat normally but no sugar and am still trying to avoid carbs.  Somedays I do great other days are harder but I've stopped turning to food for comfort.  I actually don't miss sugar that much!  I have a doctor's appointment on the 22nd so I hope that my blood sugar numbers are better!

February

 I know that February is the shortest month but it has gone really fast.  I think part of it is being so busy and counting down to moving out of here, only 22 months to go and so much to do.  Actually, I'm hoping to move earlier.  January is far too cold and that house is colder.  So my idea is to start moving in October 2024.  Still not happy about it but no choice.  Looking for one good thing.  Kids keep telling me that I won't have to pay rent, which is good but I'll have to get a loan to repair everything, so no real change.  Found out yesterday that the bathroom sink will need changing.  It looks like it wasn't installed properly as there is tape connecting it to the wall and the waste pipe is damaged.  Not going to think about that at the moment!

Good things this month.  Hannah got her driver's license.  She passed the driving part last September but failed the written test by one point.  It takes a few hours to do the test so she hasn't had the time or Mikey has been too busy to take her.  Finally got their schedules to mesh up, she went last Friday.  I'm glad that is finished, she can focus on her studies.  The school year finished earlier this month, and she got a 3.2 GPA. 

The cats are freaking out at the moment.  The house next door is being demolished and the noise is bad.  Alan got under the sink for an hour or so.  I've put some boxes for them but they aren't happy at all. 

A few random photos.

Alan is under the sink!

Christopher at work.

Side of the house.

A Little Outing

 I was going to go back to the house yesterday but it was pouring down and very dark.  So David, Christopher, Hannah and I went for a little trip.  Mikey had plans with a friend.

In a town near here is a museum dedicated to the air field in that area. This was a civilian air field that opened in the early 1900's, testing some of the earliest air craft.  During the war it was used as an army base and training school.  Some of the pilots beccame Kamikaze pilots.  The area was heavily bomded by the Americans towards the end of the war.  There were actual planes that has been found and restored and a lot of other items.  One thing I found interesting were the uniforms, they looked very small, especially across the shoulders.  It was a nice morning out.  Few photos.

Back To The House

 And a complete melt down.

Mikey, Christopher and I went back to the house to try and clean things out a bit more.  Mikey and Christopher worked outside, sorting the trash into groups, metal, plastics etc so we can hire somebody to take the stuff away.  I worked inside. Spent half an hour throwing out underware and old socks, there were 7 draws stuffed with underwear and a cabinet full of socks.  I then moved into MIL's bedroom.  She had so many clothes, most she never wore.  When we lived with her, about 15 years ago, I moved her stuff from the larger bedroom.  I noticed all these catalogue boxes, stacked floor ceiling. She had opened the boxes but the clothes were still in the plastic bags, she had left the receipts inside, there was about 6000 pounds worth of clothes.  These clothes were still there, so I started to pack up things to take to the recycle shop.  I opened the window because of the dust and noticed that the rain pipe was held together with tape.

Rain pipe

I lost it. I got so angry.  Here I was surrounded by crap but she couldn't be bothered to fix the rain pipe.  I also noticed that bamboo from the neighbours yard had fallen on the roof, I really hope there is no damage.

I honestly don't want to move there, I would rather seell up and buy something near where I live now.  But nobody wants to live in that area, it's really in the countryside.  I know I could put it up for sale but it would take longer than two years to sell.  Some land in the area has been for sale for about 10 years!

I feel so awful, really depressed about this and trying to find something good isn't happening.  

We took a big box of clothes to the recycle shop and got 2 pounds. dpesn't even cover the gas!

Of Course

 The good things finished and back to the struggle.

Bit of background.  I find it hard to throw out things, I'm really a hoarder.  I know that things are just things but it is difficult to let go of stuff.  I have clothes that are 5 sizes to small but I'm still hanging on to them because you never know!  Because I'm like this with my stuff and household stuff the kids are the same.  Hannah is a bit better but still holding on to things.  

Yesterday I decided that I have to get rid of a lot of stuff.  So I helped Mikey and Christopher go through their clothes and filled a box with old stuff, somethings from junior high school!!  Mikey said that there is a place where old clothes can be dumped to recycle so we decided to go there, it's also near a good supermarket that has better quality meat and cheaper than near here.  So Mikey, Christopher and I went out. Went shopping, got some good bargins on meat. Then went to the recycle place.  They are no longer accepting clothes.  Never mind, we will have to burn them.  Went to another store and then started for home.  As we were driving back a light came on the dashboard, the engine was over heating.  We stopped and opened the hood, smoke starts pouring out, the radiator is completely dry.  We had passed a gas/ service station so we turned round and managed to get there.  The smell from the engine was awful, really burning smell.  Mikey talked to the staff who called the manager back from lunch.  Christopher and I went and had a look around another store.  Hour later Mikey called saying that we can drive home but need a new radiator.  Mikey had already booked the car in for it's MOT this week so they can change out the radiator.  But it's just another expense that we don't need.  I'm trying to save money so we can do things for the house but at this rate we won't be able to do anything!

I'm really fed up.  I had hoped to travel a bit this year but that is now looking like a pipe dream!

Where we broke down!