Song of the day (LH): Itchycoo Park - The Small Faces
Song of the day (VW): The universal - Blur
Hello September!
Up before 10am...what's this a new month, a new me!
Yesterday the Deutsch's had introduced us to a new artist called Rockabye Baby....basically they take existing artists songs and turn them into lullaby style music to help your little one drift off...DW and I have turned this into a game of trying to name the song! Some are easier than others...Eoin also enjoyed this game when we tested it out on him! Dinner party quiz sorted! ; )
Today's main task was picking up my hire care for the next 2 weeks. Our car is really heavy so we decided that I should rent a Fiat 500 for a couple of weeks as the steering is lighter than air and also it's a bit of a treat as I've always wanted one! My mum kindly drove me over to Avis to pick it up. Despite the guy on the reservation line assuring me that Fiat 500's were the most common car of the type I had paid for there was no absolutely guarantee....so when I got there I was handed keys for a Corsa....mmn not happy! The other benefit of the Fiat is that the gear stick is much higher than normal, again handy for those who've had surgery to the left side! So I had gone with my wig on so as to not alert any illness conceptions, looking back this was slightly ridiculous but hey. Anyway I mentioned to the ladies at the desk the reasons for needing the Fiat....rather flatteringly they asked what on earth had I had done as they couldn't see anything wrong! I explained and then they both melted, it turned out for one of the ladies her mother was going through breast cancer treatment and for the other lady her sister in law was going through treatment as well. It goes to show, sadly, how common this disease is and how amazingly it can be treated. Being near to Windsor it turned out that these ladies' relatives were being treated by my original surgeon, so I had to bite my tongue when I found out that one of them had been waiting for 2 years for reconstruction and that this was being delayed by a further 6 months due to surgeon availability. These ladies need to get on with their lives and whilst I'm sure anyone gets use to a prothesis, there are other options that will give them a better quality of life. Rant over.
Thankfully, these the ladies Avis said that they would try their hardest to get me a Fiat 500. Apparently they never have them at Bracknell, so reservation guy you were naughty telling me there was an abundance of them in the fleet!
Despite being fired up to get the car of my dreams, the tiredness/ lethargic feeling continued. The 'what if' monkey had also decided to sit on my shoulder...go away monkey and play elsewhere please!
Photo no.543 - Victoria plums...autumn is coming
Tuesday 2nd September
Song of the day (LH): For once in my life - Stevie Wonder
Song of the day (VW): Sexyback - Justin Timerblake
Ciao Fiat 500! Yep, the Avis ladies pulled it off and I picked up the lovely little red machine! Such a fun drive...to be really picky I'd have liked a convertible but you can't always get what you want!
Today I experienced a small gesture but one that meant a lot. My postman is, close friends and family aside, one of the few people that has had the pleasure of seeing my hair lacking barnet. I saw that I had missed him due to a red card poking through the door. I had been at home, so it must have been whilst I was in the shower. A couple of hours later, the doorbell rang. It was the postman. He came back to see if I was home with the same package to save me going to the post office. A small gesture but sometimes these are the most powerful.
Wednesday 3rd September
Song of the day (LH): In the air tonight - Phil Collins
Song of the day (VW): Fly me to the moon - Frank Sinatra
One of the positives that have come out of this year's experience is that I feel strongly about helping others going through a similar thing. This morning I had a long chat with Sophie, who works in the Press & PR team at Breast Cancer Care. October is breast cancer awareness month. Whilst I believe awareness is fairly high for this disease, I would like to start thinking about how to raise awareness for girls in their teens. More specifically, how to examine yourself as this is never demonstrated as far as I'm aware and the fact that breast cancer is not necessarily an older woman's disease. So it's early days of my thinking on this but something that I wish to pursue post treatment.
Photo no.544 - Mr Potato Head enjoys an afternoon in the sunshine
VW also had an afternoon in the sunshine as well which was much needed.
This evening we met up with Mike and Jen at Hamilton HQ. I was absolutely exhausted but determined to see them as they had come over from Seattle for a couple of weeks. The thing you always find with good friends is after the initial hello, it feels like you only saw them last week. So a great evening with the Trues and Hamiltons! xxx
Thursday 4th September
Song of the day (LH): Spooky - Dusty Springfield
Song of the day (VW): Diamonds on the soles of her shoes - Paul Simon
Today was a low day, really low day....lack of energy can be converted into low mental energy for me. Thankfully, it's rare I have these days but today I really felt teary. It was a mix of things...potentially some of the emotional cancer baggage that I had neatly packed away in full on fight mode, some anxiety about going back to work and a few other things that had been stowed elsewhere but decided to make a come back. Often I will try and keep busy when feeling like this so that I ignore this stuff and keep on smiling. But I've come to realise that sometimes, you just need to wade through days like this solo so that the emotion seeps out and the packages unfurl.
One of my new missions is to walk at least a mile a day. I find this helps the body and the mind. It'll be important to keep this going during the winter months.
Photo no.545 - a weekday classic....
Friday 5th September
Song of the day (LH): Sweet home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynryd
Song of the day (VW): Alive and kicking - Simple Minds
Perhaps yesterday's emotional outlay gave way to greater clarity of mind today, as I felt the best I had done in a long time. Less tired and more drive to achieve things. More like the old me. Awesome!
As you can probably tell, I'm writing quite a few of these posts retrospectively. Post surgery, I seemed to lose the focus and concentration required to write. Simply, I just didn't feel like being in Wonderland...even though that's where I was still dwelling, writing just didn't come forth. In a brighter way, perhaps life is going back to normal and I won't be capturing every day going forward, so this could be the start of this new stage.
So as to not bore you with the minutiae (it is a word Mr Webb!) of my day, all I'll say is that I saw some of the very best people today, enjoying good food and a glass or two of vinho!
Saturday 6th September
Song of the day (LH): Save me for the last dance - The Drifters
Song of the day (VW): Somebody else's guy - Jocelyn Brown
The lovely DW had made caffeinated coffee at the end of last night's dinner....which led to a not so great night's sleep. Still not the end of the world.
A good Saturday with DW, ending in a highly unusual scenario of eating pizza on the sofa for dinner...we were both feeling drained. Time out!
Sunday 7th September
Song of the day (LH): He's the greatest dancer - Sister Sledge
Song of the day (VW): Thinking of you - Sister Sledge
A Chez Stephan visit was required today for a much overdue wig wash! Ben had just come back from a couple of weeks in Spain and was adopting the Spanish mantra of afternoon siestas and mañana, mañana! Perhaps we should all take on this more relaxed way of life!
Post wig wash, I met Moira for a much overdue catch up. DW was on a covert anniversary gift pick up, after which is joined us for some lunch.
Photo no.546 - Putney puppies....
Photo no.547 - Fiat 500...the original!
You've probably come to know my Sunday drill...lie in, breakfast, walk, dinner...and sometimes a few things in between. The weather had been so fantastic today, so after we had said a quick hello to Luca, we went on a very familiar walk along the tow path from Putney to Hammersmith. A perfect walk.
This week's Sunday night dinner....
Photo no.548 - Jamie O's Asian style salmon
Served with....
Photo no.549 - English wine!
When I had been choosing wine to go with this dinner I had struggled but then remembered a good English wine I had had. DW took a blind test before he found out what it was and it was endorsed...! ; ) Sorry Mr Rossi, we'll have Oaken Grove next time.
So surgical tales week 4, you've been less about surgical recovery and more about facing into some emotional baggage. I suspect this is part of the reason for constant tiredness as well as my body taking some well deserved time out. I can't say I'm full of joie de vivre but there are glimmers of this returning! After 28 days herewith ends the surgical tales. I'll decide tomorrow what to call the next chapter that I'm so grateful to have and write.
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