I hope everyone has had as good a holiday/winter season as is possible, and that the next year is awesome for you š
I’ve had a really good Christmas. Got spoilt again (lots of purple, warm stuff and penguins), and Johan made roast chicken with his amazing potatoes that were perfect. I saw Sammie a couple of days before Christmas so she could get her presents, then spoke to her on video chat on Christmas Day itself. Unfortunately she was ill for her birthday itself, but she’s feeling a bit better now and we hope to take her out to celebrate at some point.
I went out four times in December, which is the most in a very long time. First to the cinema with Sammie and Johan for the Chronic Illness Christmas Party, which was also the first time I’d been to the cinema in over eight years. We saw Miracle on 34th Street (90s version) and it was brilliant. I took my own subtitles on my tablet which worked really well (the cinema would have put them on the main screen for me, but I didn’t have my new glasses yet so I wouldn’t have been able to read them properly, and this way they didn’t disturb anyone else). The only minor issue was the lift breaking down, which with 20+ chronically ill people, 9 being wheelchair users, was a slight problem. Luckily they got an engineer within 15 minutes, and half an hour later the lift was working again! We then went to see Fenwick’s Christmas window display which was awesome (Sammie couldn’t remember having seen it before, and the last time I took her she was 2) then got the bus home.
Next week I went out to vote. Ian Mearns was returned as our MP for Labour, but the Tories getting a large majority is really worrying, especially for ill and disabled people. I’m just going to concentrate on the positives, like how awesome people are that are helping those affected by government policies and helping make the world a better place.
For the fourth Sunday of Advent I went to the St James and St Bede’s church for a carol service and it was awesome! It was the first time I’d been left without someone I knew while not in a bed in years, as Johan doesn’t do church but was willing to push me there and back. I sang a verse here and their of some songs, but mostly just listened to the others singing. Despite being in my chair and without anyone I knew, my heart rate dropped lower than my normal resting rate, which I’m taking as a good thing š Afterwards Johan came to get me (he’d been in the local McDonalds) and I had a mince pie and we chatted with the tech guy for a while. I’m wanting to go back at some point but the services are usually at 10am which is going to be pushing it most of the time.
As it’s technically my parish church I want to email the vicar and find out how LGBT+ friendly it is, and also ask about confirmation as I missed mine by being in hospital then was too ill for too long, but I’ve not been up to it yet (I’m also not sure if the email address I’ve found for the vicar is current).
Saturday after Christmas the Running Ninjas were at Gateshead Parkrun in Saltwell Park, and Johan asked them to change the breakfast location to one I could get to š They agreed, and I was well enough to go watch them run and then go for breakfast afterwards. It was awesome seeing everyone again, and I got chatting to one of the mini ninjas while they were running. I was overwhelmed during breakfast by the amount of people and noise, but I had my noise cancelling headphones so I just phased out a lot and accepted that I’d not be able to understand most things. Afterwards we looked in a couple of shops before going home.
My payback for going out is now only a few days, rather than a few weeks, which is making me very happy. I’ve been on my computer a few times in the last few weeks as well. Mostly sorting out emails, trying to do food shops and playing World of Warcraft. Shopping and sorting money still makes me feel horrendous, worse than going out does, so I have to be really careful. I still haven’t done all my Christmas present shopping because of that.
New Year’s Eve I was hoping to go on the ramp to watch the fireworks, but Johan was too tired so I watched the London ones on the telly instead. Then I turned over to BBC 2 and got Rick Rolled. Sammie did as well which made me feel a bit better š I’m hoping to do my goals and review posts soon but don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. Hopefully I continue with this improvement and I’ll be able to go on my computer more often š