Cate's Diary

[Cate]

I think getting some masks that come out from your face & give you more breathing space would be better than the cloth ones I have & would work better than the surgical ones. I have had a lot of practice wearing masks, but have always struggled to breathe in them for any length of time. I'll just do it, LaMa. Who knows what restrictions will be in place in Queensland by then.
I have had a good day, food-wise today & am currently drinking a sugar-free kombucha before dinner, which will be a pork backstrap stir-fry. Lunch was some venison with veggies, BF bacon & eggs.

 

[Marsia]

I hope R finds a good reliable car. I also hope he does put things away so they don't get chewed up! Nice his puppy sitter is the original owner. We have that set up with our cat - the woman who rescued her is also a pet sitter, so it worked out well.

I wish I had advice about masks, but I don't do well with them either. K says she thinks her lungs are stronger from wearing them at school all day for 2 years. She says she thinks she is a stronger singer because of that. So hard to believe it's been 2 years!

 

[Llama]

You'll find a way to make it work, Cate, I'm sure of it. Marsia, a funny thing about the masks is that just before the pandemic started there was a hatchling trend of people wearing heavy oxygen restriction masks during training to improve their oxygen capacity. And then the pandemic hit, the trend just evaporated like a puff of smoke and the same people who were just on that bandwagon were complaining about having to wear even the lightest surgical masks while sitting still. It was quite surreal.

 

[Cate]

Hi, Marsia & LaMa. I'm sure I'll make it work too. I'll keep trying to buy some N95 masks that sit out from your face.
D & the kids are coming up for dinner tonight, which will be lovely as we haven't seen them since Christmas day. Their mother hasn't wanted them being out & about much because she's pregnant & doesn't want to get covid. I don't think there's much logic in them not coming here as we're triple-vaxed & very careful, but who knows? It will be lovely seeing them. They're saying goodbye to their old house as it's settled tomorrow.
I keep decluttering our house & it is looking better all of the time. I removed a cane arched shelving unit from the end of our walk-in wardrobe & it now looks so much more spacious & will be easier to clean. It was filled with G's shoes, but I have rearranged our wardrobes so they fit neatly & he is happy with it. I think I will get a mirror to put on that wall now. I have replaced all of our light fittings with LED globes & the light is so much better. Our bathroom & wardrobe were gloomy before. Little things like that make so much difference.
It has really chilled off here & I think it's almost time to change to spring bedding. We wake up cold. I would like a new lightweight doona (duvet). They are so expensive though. Probably now is a good time to buy one. We have a really good woollen winter one.
G & I have some jobs to do that will really make a difference to how our house looks & we have bought the stuff. I would love someone else to help us though. I'll ask D I think. I know he's time-poor, but we helped him out quite a bit & he's younger & fitter than us. He shouldn't mind.

 

[Marsia]

Marsia, a funny thing about the masks is that just before the pandemic started there was a hatchling trend of people wearing heavy oxygen restriction masks during training to improve their oxygen capacity. And then the pandemic hit, the trend just evaporated like a puff of smoke and the same people who were just on that bandwagon were complaining about having to wear even the lightest surgical masks while sitting still. It was quite surreal.

It's like kids with the bath. They don't want to go in if they are asked to, and it's then next to impossible to get them out when they are having fun in there!

I think it's wonderful to ask for help from D. You guys help everyone else out and work so hard! Plus you helped him so much with getting his house ready to sell. You sound like us getting our house perfect in preparation to possibly sell some day. Then you aren't going to want to go once it's perfect.

It's great you get to hang out with the grand kids and D. Hope you have a lovely time!!

 

[Llama]

Lighting makes a huge difference for how a house look. Best of luck with the other improvements!

 

[Cate]

I think it's wonderful to ask for help from D. You guys help everyone else out and work so hard! Plus you helped him so much with getting his house ready to sell. You sound like us getting our house perfect in preparation to possibly sell some day. Then you aren't going to want to go once it's perfect.

I have stopped thinking about selling as it stressed me out too much. I don't want to go anywhere, but I will enjoy getting things fixed for us

It's great you get to hang out with the grand kids and D. Hope you have a lovely time!!

I'm really looking forward to it

Lighting makes a huge difference for how a house look. Best of luck with the other improvements!

Thanks, LaMa. I'll keep ticking things off our list & each little thing we do will make our house even better & most won't cost a lot.
I started typing this in Marsia's diary & then realised where I was-
"We have had a good day today. We had to go into our local town & I made sure to get some library books & lots of fresh fruit & veggies. I have been feeling a bit under the weather & snuffly, so did a rapid antigen test today & it was negative. I thought I should be extra careful with the grandkids coming up for a visit because their Mum is so covid wary with her pregnancy."

 

[Llama]

Being careful is definitely the sensible thing to do, especially with a pregnancy in the mix. Hope you feel better!

 

[Marsia]

I love hearing about your decluttering and redecorating. It gets me enthused for our new place and being organized and having things tidy and relaxing. I've been in the mood for going to the library, too. Hope you found books you really enjoy. It's great you can get the rapid test now and can make sure you are ok! Hope the snuffles lift quickly!! Happy fresh fruit and veggies.

 

[Cate]

Being careful is definitely the sensible thing to do, especially with a pregnancy in the mix. Hope you feel better!

Thanks, LaMa. I felt much better in the evening. I think it was a reaction to going into the library & fruit & veg shop. Fresh air did the trick once again.

I love hearing about your decluttering and redecorating. It gets me enthused for our new place and being organized and having things tidy and relaxing. I've been in the mood for going to the library, too. Hope you found books you really enjoy. It's great you can get the rapid test now and can make sure you are ok! Hope the snuffles lift quickly!! Happy fresh fruit and veggies.

Now that I have taken away the stress of thinking about moving I can just concentrate on decluttering just to make things better for us. I'll keep in mind how others might view the house as well though as it will make it easier when that day comes that it is time we want to move.
I love getting books from the library. I started reading Jodi Picoult's "Wish you were here" & am really enjoying it. I will probably finish it today. I am such a fast reader that it is smart not buying books.
I managed to get a box of 5 free rapid antigen tests & had bought 4. We'll get our allocation of them when they are available at our local chemist. It's good to know that you can test yourself now at home if & when you need to. They are still very scarce.
I rang my friend L yesterday as it was her birthday. She sounded awful & was in bed. She says that her stomach has stopped working & she spends most of her days in bed now. I'm calling her back at about 11 this morning. She has Lupus & it really sounds like her quality of life has seriously deteriorated. I love this woman and she was my closest friend when we lived in Melbourne.
My friend V recently had an op to remove her bowel cancer & was told that she was all clear, only to have been told a few days ago that it has metastasised & she only has 6 months to live. G & I are going to visit her on Thursday & will take her some lunch. She's about 15 years older than me & has a great attitude. She had the op as she said she still had lots of living to do.
We really do have to make the most of our lives & enjoy life while we can.

 

[Llama]

Oh wow, that's two scary phonecalls close together. I hope they both recover well. Good to hear you have a couple of home tests for future use now though.

 

[Cate]

Thanks, LaMa. I doubt there will be any recovery for either of them unfortunately. I had a lovely call with L. She was my best friend for years & years. We exchanged son stories when she rang me back this afternoon. I had spoken to her husband in the morning when she didn’t answer her phone. I’ll ring more often( &/or text) & not for as long.
I have had a good day & eaten well. G has been gone since before 8 this morning & it’s almost 5. I knew it would happen as I knew he would help out at the end of the tournament. I didn’t feel slightly bad about not going out to help.

 

[Llama]

I doubt there will be any recovery for either of them unfortunately.

I'm so sorry. Take care.

I didn’t feel slightly bad about not going out to help.

Excellent. Life is too precious.

 

[Emilyrose]

Sorry to hear about your friends. Life can be tough. Glad you don't feel bad about not helping at the golf tournaments now. We've made progress.

 

[Cate]

I'm so sorry. Take care.

Excellent. Life is too precious.

Thanks, LaMa. Life is certainly too precious to waste.

Sorry to hear about your friends. Life can be tough. Glad you don't feel bad about not helping at the golf tournaments now. We've made progress.

Thanks, Em. Life can be tough. I have quite a few friends who are a fair bit older than me, so it is inevitable. I have made progress with not feeling that I can't say no. It has taken me a while I know, but progress is progress. Now I just have to stop feeling bad about saying no
I don't think I will rejoin the golf club as I really don't miss playing golf. I have until the end of the year as I deferred my membership until then.
I think I need to switch my thinking around about getting out & about. G will be going to Queensland in June for a week & I really have not felt like going & I'm not even sure why. I think I will decide to go & commit to enjoying myself. Life is for living. I'm sure that if I set my mind to it I will enjoy it so that's what I am going to do. I think I would rather go to a travel agent & get someone else to book for me. I get nervous these days about it. I lost out last time because of covid as the travel voucher expired. I started booking flights yesterday but chickened out as I couldn't see where to book insurance. That's the 3rd time I have tried.
I might try one more time today.

 

[Emilyrose]

I think doing it all on your own is overrated. The travel agent takes all that bother out of your hands.

The only thing I would say about the golf is that it is a fantastic social outlet, it's good exercise, and you're out in the fresh air for a couple of hours at a time. When you're not working, it's a great thing to have. I can see that my mum is at a bit of a loss without it, but she's not ready to go back yet. If you're not playing golf, I think it would be great for you to find something else you enjoy. Would you start a book club? You seem to love reading.

 

[Skurgeon]

I call those people energy vampires. They just suck the life out of me.

 

[Marsia]

I agree about saying no. It's wonderful you are getting relatively comfortable doing that.

I booked all of J's trip online and it was such a pain. The computer automatically puts the date in but doesn't always do it correctly, you can't see all the charges until the end so you can't tell if you are getting the best deal or not, and it's just scary giving out all that info online. A travel agent sounds excellent! Are you going the kind of place where you and G could stay a while and vacation at the end?

So sorry to hear about your friends. It's so hard knowing you only have so much time with someone and they don't really feel good enough to socialize very long. Big hugs!!!

 

[Llama]

Saying no is horrid sometimes but not saying no when you really should feels awful as well.

Could your mixed feelings about traveling have to do with just not having done it for a while? I got really anxious the first time I went to the zoo again after the first lockdowns and it still takes me a bit of stern talking to myself sometimes to go anywhere.

 

[alligatorob]

Hey Cate, I am just catching up with people, and with you that seems impossible.

What's you talk above moving about? Are you contemplating a move?

It seems to me quitting your golf club may be for the best, as I recall that has caused you lots of stress. But you may need to replace the social interactions and exercise. Can you do that?

I have traveled a lot, and still do, I have never payed for the insurance. Didn't seem like a very good deal to me.