Dancing Penguins

I’m 26 now, have been since the 18th. Feels very strange to not be a young person any longer.

My birthday was lovely. I had my friend Sanabitur Anima Mea come around, and we had a bed party, talking and playing Draw Something. It was nice and exactly what I wanted to do 🙂 I got some lovely presents from friends (I got the ones from Johan earlier in the month). One friend got me some penguin bunting, some penguin pyjamas (the hoodie version of my favourite ones) and made me and penguin matching purple tutus. This was unexpected so it was very lovely 🙂 Sanabitur Anima Mea got me a sparkly purple penguin- the exact one I’d previously lost and was wanting a new one of, that was on my planned list 😀 That made me very happy.

I went to the Interface prom on the 20th. I wore a tiara I’d bought from Amazon, and managed a couple of hours there with a couple of breaks in the quiet room and outside. I had to replace my tiara with my ear defenders after a little bit but I was so happy to be there and to see some of my friends again. Johan unfortunately didn’t cope very well and panicked, but was okay by the time we got home. It was too noisy for him and he didn’t have his ear defenders.

I got some payback from going to the prom, so was rather ill until Monday. Tuesday though I was feeling better, and on Thursday I had a doctors appointment. That didn’t go quite to plan. The doctor is nice but unfortunately is the first person I’ve met that thinks exercise is the cure for M.E. She doesn’t like me using my wheelchair (the rest of my treatment team agree that it’s okay, especially since I can’t walk at all), and doesn’t seem to get severe M.E. as she didn’t understand when I told her what I was living with. I won’t be seeing her again but luckily there’s another doctor I can see who understands better. I am also thinking of sending her Voices in the Shadows as it may help her understand better.

While we were seeing her there was a thunderstorm. The ceiling collapsed in another room and all the lights went out. It was the first of three super cell storms to hit our area, and we managed to get home between the first two. It was still extremely wet and the roads were like rivers, but there was no thunder and lightning during that period. Johan got exceptionally wet (I’d taken my waterproofs to the doctors luckily) and other people also got a bit wet. There was one young man who tried to jump across the worst of the river on Durham Road, but landed near the worst of it and the water was well above the level of his socks (he’d pulled his trousers up). His friend looked at me and we both burst out laughing as it was such a funny sight. My wheelchair managed fine as it was tilted and the seat is much higher than my old chair. All the people we met on the way home commented on the weather.

We got lucky on Thursday- we missed the worst of it. Half a mile down the road some houses were evacuated as they were flooded, the metro system was under water, there were cars completely submerged, there was a pub about a mile from where we live where the water was up to the stop sign outside. Some people went swimming and canoeing in the streets it was that deep. No-one in the area had ever seen anything like it. Luckily there were no serious injuries- a few people had to be rescued and one person got slightly injured when a ceiling collapsed in Ikea. Most people pulled together to help each other, with the Go North East drivers apparently doing everything they could to get people home through it all. We were watching things unfold on Twitter and the hashtag #NewcastleEndOfDays was particularly popular. There were some amazing photos and videos taken- some people got a video of lightning hitting the Tyne Bridge.

I’m getting some payback from the doctors visit as we were out longer than expected, and it was a very draining appointment. Yesterday was a very weird day. I was in more pain than usual, apparently passed out for a bit and have a bit of time I can’t remember but apparently I really wasn’t coping during it. I ended up watching a bit of Pingu then some children’s films on Netflix as that was all I could do (luckily sensory stuff doesn’t seem too bad at the moment).

Today I had a visit from Vicky and her friend Sameeha, who is from Gaza. I have been following her on Twitter and she is awesome, and even more so in real life 🙂 She is very funny and has lots of interesting things to say. We had Lebanese food for tea and it was nommy. Vicky is staying overnight while Sameeha has gone back to her university. Vicky brought gifts. I have a rosary necklace from Bethleham and a Palestinian scarf thingie that I can’t remember the name of. Johan has a Palestinian football scarf, which he is very happy with. Lovely carer had been wanting to meet Vicky and Sameeha and was able to do so as she arrived just before Sameeha had to leave.

I am happy, though very tired and feel rather out of it. I’ve got a few blog posts planned but my brain is being rather weird at the moment so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to write them.