Life in Middle Girth

Mood: Slightly surreal
Listening to: Silent house

Tuesday, 10.34pm

Tried to write a minute ago but foolishly went to look at 'previous entries' and lost it. So here goes again.

The surreal mood is probably a result of a combination of  things: the large amount of chocolate I've just eaten, being tired, pills I'm taking for a crook back, anticipation of Thursday...

Thursday is our biggie, the day husband goes into hospital for the removal of half of his bowel. Nobody had actually said "He's got cancer", we've had phrases like "nasty cells", "pre-cancerous conditions", 'abnormalities" - but we'll know for sure once they remove it and examine the lymph nodes attached to the arteries that feed that portion of intestine. Today he had day one of a special diet - it's not too bad really, just limited to chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products, white rice, bread and pasta. Easy. It's called a low residue diet, and he has to be on it for the two days prior to his operation. No fasting this time, much kinder to diabetics. The down side is that he'll have an enema on admission. The surgeon expects to do most of the procedure laproscopically which will reduce his stay in hospital to 5-7 days - still that's a fair while. Then two weeks recovery at home following that, and see how you go. It's a biggie isn't it, and it's just starting to hit me. I know I'm only an observer, it isn't me that's it's happening to, but in a way that's even worse because I feel so useless and helpless - when the kids are sick or hurt I can fix them up or at least comfort them but this one is outside my powers, there's nothing I can do. Shut the lid on that box.

Open the next box - the house. Ok, we did eventually get to see the offer made a couple of weeks ago (took the land agent a couple of days to get to us). It wasn't a bad offer, but I didn't feel that we could accept the first offer we got, within 2 weeks of it being on the market. I think Brent would have done without too much persuasion, but his wife is stubborn....so we counter-offered, and the prospective purchaser got her nose in a knot and pulled the plug. She didn't want to negotiate. Her choice, I shrugged my shoulders. But wait.....later in the week the agent came back with a request to view the house and who should it be? The same woman. The plot is definitely thickening, she has connections with our house - is looking to buy it for her daughter, who used to be married to the brother of the guy who built the house and owned it before us. Even more complicating factors - the daughter's daughter works after school with me. Now, how much do they all know, what do I say, how do I act - of course the girls at work want to know how did the viewing go, have we had another offer......I feel like the 3 monkeys, saying nothing. The land agent works in tandem with another one, number one works with the sellers (us) and number two with the purchasers. So, agent number 2 took them through on Saturday, and we haven't heard a damned thing since. Don't you think that's a bit rude? I really feel like contacting number one and telling her - she's very professional and we feel comfortable with her, but the other one does not inspire confidence. She was going to take her clients through the place without even having seen it herself! Hmm. I don't want to be a moaner but any feedback would be better than none.

Sunday was gorgeously sunny, so much so that it inspired me to plant out some plants that I'd bought about a fortnight ago (typical of me) - and it was just prior to doing that, that I bent down to pick a weed up and pinged my back. Oh the pain, the agony. Spent quite a lot of time on hands and knees wondering how I was going to get fully vertical again because each time I tried I got a burst of such pain that I sank down to all fours again. Eventually made it, and spent the rest of the day moving slowly and carefully. Bed that night was not a relaxing place, and I felt like absolute shite in the morning, so took myself off to the doctor who diagnosed "mechanical strain" whatever that means. Pulled muscle? that's what I'd diagnosed. He's given me some anti-inflammatories, and I must admit they've done wonders already. What an old crock! Work is ok so long as I'm careful. Actually, lifting doesn't hurt. Bending down to pick things up does. And I can drive now but it was difficult yesterday.

Husband played number one son at squash on Saturday - first time I've seen them up against each other for real. Age and experience won out over youth and energy but it was a close thing. Brent doesn't think he'll be beating Mike much longer but I reckon once he's fit and well again it will give him a boost. We'll see. It may be a long time before he's bashing balls again.

Found out that my soldier (the letters one) died from Tuberculosis - got his records last week. Coincidentally, there has been a kid at PNBHS go down with TB, and something like 30 out of 50 kids in his classes have tested positive too. That's disgusting in this day and age!! There's talk that the whole school might be tested, no mean feat with a roll of 1500 or so. The infected boy is in the third form, far away from Greg.

Got rid of my heap of shit cellphone that had been playing up for the last couple of months. Bought one from one of my workmates who changes hers regularly, for $100. A bargain I reckon, it even has a camera!

ZZZ time. I'm knackered. But I needed to update.

Cheers,

Jaybee

Mood: Cruisy
Listening to: Silence

It seems that if I have a wine or two or three early in the evening, I wake up in the middle of the night bright and refreshed, ready to go.... trouble is, by the time it is time to be bright and refreshed and ready to go for real, I'm snoring in the depths again!

It's all happening in this joint - the house has been "on the market" for what? two weeks? and we've just heard from the real estate agent that she's received an offer for it and will bring a contract round for us to look at tomorrow. Er, hang on a minute, nobody's been through! Seems the prosepective buyer likes the street and saw the house on the website (there is only one photo there, an outside shot). How bizarre is that?

I'm really not into sell mode - the place, to outside eyes, is a bit of a bomb site, although I look at it as well-lived in. I am gradually beginning to get myself into tidy mode but have the huge obstacle of sentimentality to get over.   If left alone I think I could conquer this but not quickly - but to do it in a short time frame worries me to say the least.

If we did negotiate a sale from this offer, there would have to be certain stipulations: for a start, there's no way we could move within two months. Problem A being hubby is due in hospital in a fortnight and will take at least a month before he's up to anything physical (and moving must be counted as physical!) and Problem B is a lack of anywhere to move to. Minor details lol. Minor like Mt Everest probably.

I have a theory. We're in a seven year cycle. 1999 saw us coping with not one, not two but five major - and I do mean major - events, and went down in history as our annus horribulus (excuse me, your majesty). Now we are doing multiple major life events again! Please, please let it stop at two.

Number two son cracked me up the other night. He was complaining of sore feet, red bumps on his toes that really hurt. This is the kid that has worn Roman sandals right through winter rather than shoes and socks so what's your diagnosis? Yep, same as mine, chilblains. What made me laugh was that he thought he'd got blisters and had tried to pop them (no wonder his feet are sore), and that he's never heard of chilblains. You should have seen his face when I told him the folklore cure! No, he didn't try it. Didn't believe me either and it didn't help when I said "Try Google, it'll back me up" and it didn't! He's going tramping tomorrow, up to Rangi Hut where there will probably be snow. Rest assured he won't be in Roman sandals.

Have to work tomorrow. It's not often I work on a Saturday so I don't really mind but on the other hand it would be a good to have time at home tidying, sorting and chucking out. Never mind, there's always Sunday.

Cheers,

Jaybee

Mood: Confused
Listening to: Birds twittering

Holy guacamole what's been going on here? Suddenly my nice safe comfortable blog has gone all sterile and odd.  I'm not a great one for change, but will try to keep an open mind.

I'm lost for words actually! Feel most disorientated.

Logic tells me to catch up on the biggie of the household, the husband's health, so that's where I'll start. Mind you he's about to get up and I don't like blogging about people who are around me.... We saw the surgeon last week and have booked in for a "laproscopically assisted right hemicolectomy" on August 31. That will involve 5-7 days in hospital, then at least two weeks recovering at home. Part of what they will remove is some lymph nodes or glands, and its not until that bit gets analysed that we will know one way or another, cancer or merely pre cancer. Waiting is not a pleasant thing, causes lots of tiredness, tension,  niggles - but we have lots of distractions too.

Next biggie - the house. New or old? Well as for the old, we put it on the market the week before last with the thinking that by selling up we'd at least know what we had to work on with the new house. The up side will be no bridging finance except what we've got for the section, but the downside is the likelihood of having to move out and rent somewhere before the new place gets built. If we could have our druthers, it would be to find a buyer who will pay the asking price and be happy either for settlement to be way down the track when we're ready, or have us rent until we can move into the new house. We'll just have to take what comes, but then we're getting good at that, comes with practice.

Selling is all a bit of a worry for a person who has been an inefficient housewife for the last twenty something years. Not to mention a hoarder of all things. When the real estate agent first came through I had two hours notice - amazing how much you can pick up and stuff in cardboard boxes in two hours! The trouble is, now I have to go through the boxes to sort the crap from the uncrap. And I can't find lots of things, whereas when they were randomly strewn over the place, I could. The dreadful part is that although we know how great the improvement has been already, an outsider would still cast their eye over the place and think "what a mess"! Even I am beginning to look through a stranger's eye at the house. Sigh. Put it on the list. The To Do list.

The week of the "listing", I was off work with small who had chicken pox. I'd thought he was going to be the only kid in class who missed it, but he was just a late starter.  Lots happened that week, or maybe I was just aware of it because I was home. There was the argument with the rubbish men, they'd missed our wheelie bin the week before and wouldn't take my excess because it wasn't in official bags - after twenty minutes of being staunch and strong I resorted to feeble female weapons, snivelling and mentioning my sick child etc etc. Despicable I know but it worked, then I blasted the office lady because she'd given me special dispensation but hadn't told the guys on the truck. Then there was the visit from the MIL who has been telling all in sundry about the hubby's health and making it sound as though we need to get the shovel out....and the daughter from hell who is still not speaking much to us, although she came home briefly this weekend and spoke but we wish she hadn't because none of it was  pleasant and positive, its all negative and critical which gets a bit hard to bear sometimes.

On a lighter note.....Harold the Tranny.  Not his, er, her real name, but let it suffice.  This six foot vision with pink and purple braided hair, long fingernails, boobs and a two day growth appeared at work and asked me, "Where's the toilet?". At least that's what my ears heard....He had a child with him, about seven I guess, so, assuming it was for the child, I said, "follow me", and half way out to the back I took the drink the child was holding and gave it to "Harold", and we carried on, out the back and up the stairs. "Why are you bringing us here?" asked Harold. "There's the toilet", I replied helpfully. "But I don't want to go", said Harold. "Yes you do," I answered, confused, "you asked where it was!" "I asked where's the Twink!" Oh-My-God.........I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Apologies were profuse, I would willingly have flushed myself away if I could have. The walk back downstairs, out to the shop, to the Twink, to the counter was excruciating. Of course, all the other girls were watching this because of the very interesting nature of the customer, and when they twigged what I'd done, it was almost too much for them. There was a fifteen second pause as "Harold" left the store, then total, utter collapse all round. Strangely enough, the following week our Twink sales were phenomenal, and not at all connected with the Harold incident. But it only takes a customer to ask for Twink and we're off again........

Had cousin from Australia visit this weekend. He arrived in NZ on Wednesday but his bag didn't, so that was a bit of a drama. He got it back eventually on Friday, but not before we'd been shopping for clothes.... I thought he'd do a freeze (we were) but he didn't seem bothered, even went up to Ruapehu on Saturday but without joy as the weather packed in and just got wetter and bleaker. He'd come over to visit his mum who is in a rest home here, but I don't think she knew him, and didn't want to go for a drive with him mainly I suspect for that reason. He soldiered on through three visits though, good on him. He's gone back to Aus now.

Right, I should go for a walk. Have been doing zero exercise and binge eating (comfort eating?) and the result is that I am now the heaviest I have ever been in my life, including when I was pregnant. Yes I feel guilty, but that only makes me reach for another slice of cheese or bag of chips....

Hope this all works, I'll be devastated if it doesn't.

Jaybee