The Wednesday HodgePodge (July 12, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. It’s time for the Wednesday HodgePodge once again. Here goes.

1. Is your life simple? Elaborate.
My life is both boringly simple and insanely chaotic at the same time and like you might’ve guessed, neither is in a good way. It is simple in part because it’s so chaotic. I mean, if I get a new-to-me staff member each day, I don’t get to try exciting activities with them that require me to explain a lot, such as crafting, because I cannot be sure I’ll ever see them again.

2. What simple pleasure are you currently enjoying?
I’ve been enjoying listening to calming music on my music pillow a lot.

3. Travel by plane or go on a cruise? walk or ride a bike? swim or ski? ocean or mountains?
I’ve never been on a cruise and don’t think it appeals to me, so I’ll choose traveling by plane. Walk for sure. Swim! Not that I’ve ever been skiing but I hate snow and the cold. Oh, that last one is hard, but I’ll pick the mountains.

4. What’s the last thing you bought online that you really loved?
I haven’t done a ton of online shopping lately, honestly, because package delivery to the institution is quite complicated and staff at my home have a policy of opening packages before they get to me to check for stuff they deem inappropriate. I solve the problem by getting my online orders delivered to my in-laws, but this means I can get my stuff here at most once a week when my spouse visits me.

Anyway, to answer the question, I think my AirPods Pro 2. I’ve had them for about six weeks now and they replaced the original AirPods Pro that I’d had for two years but that had started to develop an annoying high-pitched beep.

5. What’s your “back in my day we__________” story?
Even though I’m only 37, I am an oldie compared to most of my staff, who are in their early to mid twenties. As a result, most of my “back in my day” stories probably revolve around relatively small changes to technology. For example, my spouse and I met on a message board and most staff never used those.

Compared to the other residents though, I’m young, as all others are in their mid fifties to early sixties. I find I’m often confused when other residents talk about what life was like “back then”.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
I am still struggling. In fact, last Monday, I hit another low point. My mother-in-law E-mailed the behavior specialist once again, but she’s on vacation until the 31st. I’m pretty hopeless right now.

Share Your World (July 3, 2023) #SYW

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. Today I’m joining Share Your World. The questions for this week are so intriguing. Let’s go.

1. Do you own your own home, rent, or something else?
It’s complicated. While my spouse and I are homeowners, I don’t live in our home. Instead, I live in an institution. We actually went to the solicitor to sign the contract to our house in Lobith in the same week I moved into my old care home.

2. What is your favorite “go to” food when you’re feeling under par?
Licorice. I love indulging in it whenever I’m in need of a pick-me-up, but also when I’m feeling under the weather.

3. Do you indulge in retail therapy?
Absolutely, but for me, online window shopping is almost as comforting as actually spending money when I’m in a bad mood. Currently, I’m loving looking at clay cutters, jewelry-making supplies and other crafty stuff, but I’m restraining myself from buying any until my mother-in-law has visited me, because she might bring me some of the things I could’ve bought otherwise.

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
Four pairs of walking shoes, three of which are so damaged they really shouldn’t be worn anymore but I still wear them because I don’t want to buy a new pair of walking shoes every month. My orthopedic shoes. Two pairs of gym shoes. My horseback riding shoes. Does that make eight?

Gratitude:
Take pride in the person you are, you are unique.
I agree 100%. How could I not, as an Enneagram type 4?

The Wednesday HodgePodge (June 28, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I haven’t touched the blog in a few days once again. It’s for partly different reasons than last week this time though. The different reasons include the hustle and bustle of my birthday. It’s over though so today I’m back joining the Wednesday HodgePodge. Here goes.

1. What’s one thing you’re excited about in the coming month?
The last bit of my birthday celebrations when my mother-in-law visits me next week. We couldn’t visit my in-laws on Sunday. That is, technically we could, but since my mother-in-law was on call for the animal rescue service she volunteers for, it would have been quite boring for me.

2. What was your life like when you were ten years old?
It was a very difficult year. I turned ten on June 27, 1996. The day before my tenth birthday, I had my first out of what turned out to be only four sessions with a play therapist/educational psychologist. Given what I remember of those sessions, I wonder whether the therapist saw signs of autism back then. Either way, I’m pretty sure my parents decided after those four sessions that it was useless to continue. Fast forward to the end of my year of being ten, June of 1997, I had a psychological evaluation supervised by the same ed psych. This, and the recommendations that came out of it, led to my parents finally falling out with the school. Oh, how I wish I hadn’t been loyal to my parents back then…

3. What’s something from your childhood you still enjoy today?
Being creative, although not in the same ways. That is, I did love playing with play-doh (which one might say is somewhat related to polymer clay, even though real polymer clay artists will punch me in the stomach for saying it) as a young child. I loved drawing more though, something I obviously am no longer capable of. One thing I want to say though is that, even though I’m now totally blind, I still appreciate colors.

4. What state (that you haven’t been to) do you most want to visit? Tell us why.
I haven’t been to any U.S. states and honestly have no interest in visiting them anymore either. As for a country I’d like to visit that I haven’t been to: Sweden.

5. Do you like to drive? Tell us how you learned to drive.
Uhm, N/A. I don’t drive, as I’m blind. That being said, I doubt I could’ve learned had I not been blind, because my processing is about as screwed as can be.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
Today, I created a polymer clay flower pendant in just half an hour. I loved the entire process and it turned out quite good. In fact, the only thing I dislike about it is the fact that the eyepin’s direction is off.

I really need to be showing more of my creations on here, I think, as social media hardly work for me. I mean, I do try to use Instagram, although I wish it were more of a microblogging service with the pictures being optional. Then again, that’s what Twitter is supposed to be, but then again I despise Elon Musk. Oh well, the perfect social media platform doesn’t exist.

The Wednesday HodgePodge (June 14, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. It’s been a while since I last touched the blog. Honestly, I haven’t been feeling inspired. Today is no exception. I’m joining the Wednesday HodgePodge once again. Here goes.

1. What does productivity look like to you?
I honestly don’t really know. I don’t do to-do lists, but I do have goals. For example, I’d really like to blog at least three times a week.

2. What was your fondest (or one of your fondest) memory of High School?
Participating in the Model European Parliament debating contest, in which students pretend to be EU representatives. Especially because I was chosen by a student committee, not the teacher. The students were in the year above me, mind you. I don’t think my classmates would ever have picked me. Neither, it turned out, would the teacher responsible for the contest and he didn’t shy away from admitting that it was because of my blindness. That, he also admitted was the reason I didn’t make it beyond the provincial level. I don’t mind. Going to Arnhem for a week to debate the European Union’s most pressing issues (I was on the foreign affairs committee) was cool. So was partying at night and getting tipsy on two beers, the most alcohol I’ve ever had. And trying a few puffs of a joint. Which, since I didn’t smoke, did nothing. For which I’m intensely grateful, since I later found out about the mental health risks of cannabis.

3. What did you do the summer after High School?
Nothing in particular until I started at the blindness training center in late August.

4. June 14th is National Strawberry Shortcake Day…are you a fan, and if so will you celebrate? How do you make yours? Have you been strawberry picking? If so what do you do with all those berrries?
I have no idea what shortcake even tastes like, since it’s not a thing here in the Netherlands. I haven’t been strawberry picking recently either.

5. What’s something you always splurge on?
My latest crafty interest, so it’s been polymer clay for several years. I am quite embarrassed to admit that, ten years ago, during the year I started crafting, I probably spent at least €1000, if not more, on card making supplies. And this was a time when I couldn’t sensibly afford to spend €100 a month on things I didn’t need. Besides, I ended up throwing most of my supplies away after that year.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
I recently bought new AirPods. The old ones had an annoying beep in the right earbud, and since I had given up on the perfect noise canceling headphones, I decided to settle on AirPods instead. The good news is I actually figured out how to pair them with my PC.

The Wednesday HodgePodge (June 7, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining the Wednesday HodgePodge again. It’s been a while. Here goes.

1. Tell me something you remember (or if you’re not there yet, something you look forward to) about being 35.
I turned 35 in June of 2021. Honestly, it was one of the best years of my life so far, even though I didn’t see it at the time. It was the first year I had one-on-one and I started exploring polymer clay that summer, shortly after turning 35. I am pretty sure I made some of my best unicorns that year. At the end of 2021, I remember saying here on the blog that I had the best support I could hope for and now it was time to find the best med combo for me, referring to my wish to taper my antipsychotic. Honestly, looking back, I should’ve stayed in my comfort zone and not made the decision to want to move care homes (also when I was still 35, in April of 2022). Hindsight is 20/20.

2. Last time you “burned the candle at both ends”?
I rarely get up very early. My usual time to wake up is 8AM regardless of the time I went to sleep. That being said, if 8AM is considered early enough to count, I regularly “burn the candle at both ends, as I regularly stay up way past midnight. I remember once going to sleep at past 3AM and getting up before 8AM to get in my stand hours on my Apple Watch. I got 21 stand hours that day.

3. Are you someone with the “gift of gab”? Elaborate (which shouldn’t be a problem if you answered yes teehee).
I had to Google that expression. As for my answer, well, it depends. Sometimes I can talk up a storm, but sometimes I cannot articulate my basic needs.

4. Do you request a special meal on your birthday, and if so tell us what that meal is? Do you want the same kind of cake year after year or will any flavor work? Do you want cake at all? Growing up were birthdays a big deal in your house? Are they a big deal now?
I don’t really get to pick a special meal on my birthday now, although back in the psych hospital we could. Instead, I usually go out for dinner with my spouse and my parents on my birthdays. My spouse and I pick a restaurant. This year, we haven’t chosen one yet even though my birthday is on the 27th.

I don’t care for cake, honestly. My mother’s apple pie is good. So is homemade cheesecake. Other than that, I prefer a large waffle or something like that.

Birthdays were definitely a big deal growing up. That being said, I always managed to ruin mine as well as my sister’s with a meltdown or two. Now, though I like my birthday a little because of the presents, it’s more stress than fun.

5. “Age is just a number.”… agree or disagree? Tell us why.
I completely agree with Joyce’s answer to this question. I can feel all kinds of different ages, but it isn’t like I actually am an eight-year-old.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
I went swimming, yay! One of the student staff has a project on leisure activities for a client and she chose me. During our discussion, we talked about swimming. She initially wanted to go to the nearby lake, but I don’t really like that. It was actually my idea to call the institution pool to ask if there was a possibility for me to go swimming there just once. And there was. It was magical! And the best news is, it’s not just for once. Our home now has a spot to go swimming there each week.

The Wednesday HodgePodge (May 10, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining in with the Wednesday HodgePodge once again. Here goes.

1. Did you watch the coronation of King Charles III? Share some of your thoughts about that, or about the royal family in general.
No, didn’t watch it and don’t care for the royal family at all. I honestly am more on Harry and Meghan’s side if I have to choose one. Not that I know much about the entire situation leading up to them being the black sheep, but there are always two sides to a family split-up and everyone seems to side with Charles, William and Catherine. Being that I’m old enough to remember Diana, albeit not very well, this tells me Charles himself is far from perfect and he hardly seems to acknowledge it.

2. What are you the uncrowned queen of?
Here at my home, I’m the uncrowned queen of smoothie making. Sadly, the blender died and the staff think a stick mixer works as well (which it doesn’t), so I’m waiting for my benefits to arrive on the 23rd so that I can buy a new blender.

3. In a box of chocolates which one do you usually go for?
Coffee cream. I also love caramel and anything with nuts in it.

4. Something learned at your mother’s knee?
I’m not sure what this expression means, but if it means something I learned from my mother as a child, I’ll go with my love of crafts and simple food prep. My mother would often help my sister and me bake cookies. Though I haven’t done that in years, it does probably translate into my love of smoothie making.

5. “Like mother, like daughter”…in what way is this saying true for you?
The first thing that comes to mind is a negative one: both of us have really poor distress tolerance. However, both of us are also somewhat creative. We also look somewhat similar: both of us are short, both of us on the curvy side, both with dark hair. My mother has brown eyes though, while mine are blue.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
I am currently reading I Want My Daddy, the latest foster care memoir by Casey Watson. So far, it’s good. It has an intriguing twist that I didn’t expect.

Currently (May 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I remember joining in with Currently every once in a while way back many years ago, but then the person who used to host the meme discontinued it and I never found it again. Now, I’ve rediscovered it. The Currently linky is a meme in which we share what we’re currently up to based on five monthly verb prompts. Here goes.

Loving:
First up is smoothie making. I am loving experimenting with ingredients, such as instant coffee and cocoa powder. One smoothie, in which I added just a little (or a lot!) too much instant coffee, turned out rather bad. One of my fellow residents still claimed she loved it though. We’re not officially allowed to give each other things, but since I just can’t make just one smoothie serving and she’s the one who enjoys my smoothies most, I make sure to consider her first when I have some left over.

Next are my tactile dice. I had and probably still have them at my and my husband’s house in Lobith but they’re probably down in some junk closet, so I decided to order new ones. I have been loving playing the game of yahtzee with the same fellow resident.

Picturing:
I will be going clothes shopping with my staff tomorrow and am kind of imagining how that will be going, both positively and negatively.

Craving:
I just had lunch when I started writing this post, so nothing at that moment. Now that I’m finishing up this post at 3PM, I’m craving white chocolate. I just hit my lowest weight since my wedding (in 2011) this morning and am really pleased with it though.

Wishing:
To find a more suitable care home. It’s been really hectic here at my current care home and I’m pretty sure the powers-that-be are testing my limits. For those visiting from the linky: I reside at a care home for people with mild intellectual disability and significant challenging behavior. I am supposed to get one-on-one support for most of the day, but this often doesn’t happen because others need or are supposed to need more care. I finally got the okay to be looking for another care home last March, but of course this can be a long process.

Collecting:
Smoothie recipes, of course. I downloaded several smoothie recipe collection books off Bookshare, the accessible book service for the blind or dyslexic. I don’t have all the ingredients for any one smoothie, unfortunately, but like I said, I’m trying to experiment.

Share Your World (May 1, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m really wanting to continue my blogging streak and, even though I have a lot I could still write about, I don’t feel like writing a long blog post. Instead, I’m joining Share Your World. Here goes.

1. The First of May is a Bee Gees Song.

Do you like the Bee Gees and if so, what is your favourite track?
I had to look up the group on Spotify to know what they produced, but my hunch was I couldn’t stand them. Indeed, they’re the ones behind Stayin’ Alive, More Than a Woman and other equally annoyingly-sung tracks. So no, I’m not a fan.

2. What was the first record (single or album) you bought?
I would like to say an A-Teens (ABBA cover band) album, as that’s what I listened to most, but probably it was the 1999 album Urban Solitude by Anouk.

3. Do you know what was top of the charts the day you were born?
I had to look it up and checked the number one in the top 40 for my birth week in the Netherlands too just to make sure it wasn’t completely different. It was On My Own by Patti Labelle and Michael Mcdonald. It’s another song I cannot stand.

4. Do you and your partner have a “special tune”?
No, not at this point. Our taste in music tends to develop together though: when we first were dating, we were both into Irish folk. Then came Tom Lehrer. Then followed German schlager and truck driving songs. Then punk (or that was before the schlager and trucking songs, I can’t remember). Then more recently country. Now we’re both into pop. I am more into dance too, as I don’t really listen to music just for its lyrics.

Gratitude:
Music has no hidden agenda, it can inspire, soothe and calm.
I agree wholeheartedly, although I must say people can misuse the idea of music. I mean, staff often tell me to “just” put on some music when I’m distressed. It can definitely help and I won’t deny that, but it’s no cure-all.

To end this post on a positive note, I am going to share one of my favorite songs to dance to.

The Wednesday HodgePodge (April 26, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. It’s been a few weeks since I joined in with this meme, but today’s questions for the Wednesday HodgePodge appeal to me. Here goes.

1. April 26th is National Audubon Day, honoring John James Audubon, the French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter known for his detailed study and illustration of birds in their natural habitats. Do you have a bird feeder? Any birds in your home decor? Have you ever owned a pet bird? What’s your favorite bird?
I am pretty sure there’s a bird feeder on my terrace, but I didn’t place it there. It was here from before I moved to my current care home and I don’t place bird food in it either.

I don’t have any birds in my home decor, though I do like birds. I’ve never owned a bird as a pet, though one of my fellow residents does currently.

My favorite bird? My first thought goes to the blackbird. I am not really sure why though, as truthfully black isn’t even my favorite color anymore (and I have no idea whether blackbirds are actually black). I do like its sound though.

2. What’s something you took to “like a duck to water”?
Blogging for sure.

3. Empty nest, nest egg, proud as a peacock, free as a bird, birds of a feather flock together, or the early bird catches the worm…choose one and tell us how it currently applies to your life.
I’ll go with “empty nest”, even though none of these expressions really apply to me. I mean, I had to Google “nest egg”, but that’s unrelated to my life too. As a childfree person, I don’t think “empty nest” applies to me either, as I never even had eggs or young in the nest, but oh well. I do feel lonely and bored with not living with my family.

4. Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds…your favorite seed and a favorite food or dish made with that seed or topped with that seed? Have you tried all the seeds on the list? Any you don’t care for?
Yes, tried all of them and love them all. My favorite are chia seeds and I use them in my overnight oats as well as in my smoothies. I also used to always buy poppy seed bread when I lived at the independence training home (basically regular bread with poppy seeds on its crust).

5. Something in the past week that made you “happy as a lark”?
Nothing really. I have been quite depressed lately, but the visits from my mother-in-law yesterday and my husband on Sunday were a welcome distraction.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
I’m off to try out the giant trampoline here at the institution in about half an hour. That hasn’t yet made me happy, but it’s definitely something I’m looking forward to. The physical therapist has to go with me to see how I do it, but he’s hoping it will help me loosen up my muscles in my back.

The Wednesday HodgePodge (April 12, 2023)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining the Wednesday HodgePodge yet again. Here are Joyce’s questions and my answers.

1. April 13th is National Scrabble Day…are you a fan? Do you enjoy word games in general? What’s an eight letter word that tells us something about your life currently?
I don’t like Scrabble, because eventually the board becomes too crowded for me to understand. I do love other word games. There was a game I used to enjoy on the iPhone called 7 Little Words. That is, until they introduced a special “screen reader mode” that was just slightly less inaccessible than the rest of the game had become from then on.

An eight-letter word that says something about my life… clueless. I’ll leave it at that.

2. Do you have a junk drawer? Is it full? Do you know what’s in it? What’s in it?
Not really. Oh wait, the upper drawer in my desk probably counts, as it does have lots of miscellaneous stuff in it, particularly parts that belong to my various gadgets, such as my original Apple Watch wristband (well, only the lengthening half of it, as I recently discovered). I do know of most things in it, but not everything.

3. When does time pass quickly for you? When does it pass slowly?
It passes quickly when I’m engrossed in writing a blog post or in a good book or especially when crafting. Slowly when I am waiting on something.

4. These eight vegetables are in season during spring-asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, collard greens, garlic, herbs. What’s your favorite? Any on the list you refuse to eat? Last one on the list you ate?
Wasn’t this a question last year too? Anyway, my favorite is broccoli. There aren’t any on the list I refuse to eat altogether, but I really don’t like celery. The last one of these I ate was a carrot this afternoon with my lunch.

5. What’s the oldest thing you own? Tell us about it.
I don’t think I own anything old, so I’ll have to guess either my stuffed whale which I’ve had since I was a baby or my desk. Though I’ve owned my desk for only like 17 years, it’s secondhand.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
Thank goodness for a bit of sunshine inbetween the rain today. I went for a walk this afternoon and then stopped by the day center cafeteria to have a hot cocoa and a muesli bar, the latter of which my staff treated me to out of the vending machine. Yum!