The weather strikes again

After missing out on the tennis at the beginning of the month, I got myself into the mindset that if it was going to snow then so be it. I had ordered my shopping and I could just hole up here where it's warm and dry and look out the window and marvel how pretty it is!

On Sunday evening I was on my way home after taking Isis the Fluffy Puppy out for her daily walk - we have walked daily for over a month now! - we'd gone out on our own and were quite confident that we would be alright.

I was just coming down a small slope past the Co-op at the end of my village and I stood on a patch of ice.

I didn't even see it!

I fell - hard! I landed (narrowly avoiding Isis who looked completely baffled to find me suddenly on the floor beside her!) right on my backside with my left palm flat on the floor next to me.

After a minute or two, I managed to get back on my feet and head towards my house. I was so stunned and had scared myself so much I could barely move - a walk that usually takes a minute, took me 15 minutes.

By the time I got home, I was having a mild panic attack and shaking like a leaf. My left arm was alternating between agony and numbness, I had pins and needles in my left hand and couldn't make a fist, I had knots of pain on the inside of both thighs, my back was in spasm and my favourite jeans had split under the strain.

Alex rushed to make me tea and I took one of my whammy pills to help ease the spams and calm me down. I spent the rest of the evening hobbling around with my stick (which I haven't used it months!)

By the time I went to bed, several hours later, I had regained some use in my left arm and the pins and needles were easing.

I felt like I had been beaten when I woke, but I was able to move and the tingling in my hand had gone. I was ok providing I moved carefully.

Then I walked Kaz home after knit night. I do this every Monday. She comes to mine, rides with me there and back, then I walk her back to Sandown - that way I can still do my daily walk but not be too tired to go out!

I was doing fine, all the way to Kaz's house - we chatted about shopping, Christmas and tattoo ideas. I walked her to her door and kept going back towards town to come home.

By the time I reached the town centre, I knew I was in trouble. The pain in my left shoulder was intense! I also had pain in my back, all down my left arm and in the back of my right knee (that was new - I guess it must've happened as my right leg slipped out from underneath me). I couldn't walk very fast and basically shuffled along.

A walk that should've taken me half an hour tops, took approximately an hour and ten minutes!

I feel worse today than yesterday, my left shoulder is absolutely agony and clicks if I move it in a certain way (I'm pretty sure that's normal for an Ehlers Danlos sufferer like myself - I just hope it doesn't dislocate), my forearms ache, my back aches, my neck aches and I'm still fighting the flu I've had for three weeks too!

I've got a billion and one things to do, 3 fruit cakes, 2 almond slices and 2 chocolate cakes (at least) to bake and I feel like one huge bruise.

I've had enough of winter now :(

Breakdown?

Weird day.

Everything started off great. I got up and we packed some stuff into the camper for out holiday next week (we're going camping in Scotland).

Then Alex and I went into town to return some library books and get some shopping. While there we got a new string for his guitar and put a deposit down on something better quality.

I bought some dye - I dyed my hair purple a few weeks ago and now it's a dull red colour.

When we got home I had a house full of teenagers. I had a bit of a moan that Matt was upstairs in his room when he was supposed to be downstairs (he'd agreed to look after Isis) and that they'd been smoking in the porch with the window open instead of the door - again!

Then Matt dyed my hair and we watched the premier of the new season of Doctor Who.

Eventually Matt and his friends all went out, I dyed Alex's hair (plum tint) and ordered a takeaway, took Mum to work, took Isis & Kim for a quick walk.

When I got back, I sat down to work on my crochet hexagon blanket and almost immediately Alex asked if I'd give him a hand to change his bed.

This is something we fight about on a regular basis - I don't mind helping him, but during the day! Asking me in the evening just starts a fight, we can never find a sheet to fit, or a duvet cover (I'm woefully short on bed linen now everyone seems to have a double bed, but I've got enough single bed sized for a hospital!). But I sighed and agreed to help him.

When I got up my sewing needle disappeared down between the cushions.

I just flipped!

I pulled the sofa out, hunted around, vacuumed up all the dust that had accumulated under there (where does it come from?), screamed at Alex who screamed back at me.

Eventually, Alex took himself off for a walk to calm down and in a fit of temper I pulled the king sized sheet off Matt's double bed (he'll get it in the neck when he gets home!) and put it on Alex's bed (pulling my back in the process!). Alex had the grace to thank me when he got home.

Then next thing I know (I don't even know how it happened), I was screaming at Kyle about how he doesn't keep his cats litter tray clean enough and that his room is disgusting and smells due to the litter tray. Kyle was screaming at me because I'd refused to let him have friends over to stay while we're away (I don't really know these ppl and I don't want them in the house unsupervised).

He cleaned his tray, I put a duvet cover on Alex's bed, Kyle vacuumed his room. The vacuum made a funny noise, Alex & I went to investigate. Kyle had vacuumed up a piece of paper and caused the cleaner to make an 'elephant noise'.

I was saying something to Kyle about how you can't vacuum up certain things because it clogs it and I sat on his bed.

Right onto the (full) cat water bowl.

I just went ballistic, threw my slippers over the banister, stormed downstairs, stripped my leggings and underwear off (I had a cold wet bum!).

Then I sat down, picked up Isis....and I cried.

I cried and sobbed and sobbed.

Kyle came in and apologised and I was crying so hard, I couldn't breathe properly.

Then Alex came in and gave me tissue and hugged me. Then he persuaded me to get dressed and we went out for a walk.

I don't feel any better and I feel awful for yelling at them both.

I'm having one of those 'I'm a single parent and I'm drowning' moments, I think. It's very very hard, you get very little thanks, it's always your fault, they never seem happy.

There's so much negativity.

So why do we soldier on? Because I love them. I may not always like them, but I love them. I expect they hate me most of the time, but I hope they love me sometimes too. There are moments, a shared laugh, watching them grow, learn and become their own person. Those moments that your kids - the same kids you hated half an hour ago for making you sooooo mad - they remind you that they're the centre of your world and life would be so very different without them.

I don't know why today happened the way that it did, but it did and I can't change it. I've apologised to both Kyle and Alex. I've cried all over Isis. My back hurts. My head hurts.

Today was one of those weird days, where it started out great and someone flicked a switch somewhere and turned everything upside down.

I hope tomorrow is better.

A painful few days & A New Beginning

On Thursday I came down with a migraine. It was quite a bad one and I, stupidly, ate dinner after taking a pain killer.

Dinner added nausea and a general feeling of bleurgh to the whole migraine experience.

On Friday I felt absolutely awful and I actually spent the entire day lying on the sofa under a blanket (much to the delight of Isis) snoozing. I then went to bed and slept for 8 hours that night!

I felt slightly better on Saturday and actually managed to get some knitting done - not a great deal, but a little bit.

Sunday, I woke up with a chronic pain in my shoulder. There was a central pain in my right shoulder which travelled across the top of my shoulders, down the right side of my back and down my right arm. This lasted all day and I just couldn't get comfortable!

I spent most of the day zoned out on painkillers with a hot water bottle pressed to my shoulder and slept fitfully Sunday night.

On Monday, Alex had an appointment and afterwards I took him for lunch in KFC. We have a ritual we do everytime we go; tear the end off the straw wrapping, put the straw in your mouth and blow hard so that the other end of the wrapping flies off and hits the person sitting opposite you. Of course, I completely forgot about this and jumped about a foot when this piece of plastic hit me square on the nose.

Christ that hurt!!!

But afterwards on the drive home, I had barely any pain at all!

I went off to our fibre craft meet as usual on Monday evening, but by the time that had finished I was in agony with pain all over the place!

I rested yesterday and shopped today and I'm still in agony, there's a band of pain going right across the middle of my back and I just can't get comfortable!

Naturally, I have a billion and one things to do. I want to tidy up as Helen is coming to visit this weekend. I've got cakes to bake as Jess turns 15 on Saturday and Alex 14 on Sunday.

This is even affecting my knitting as I need to keep moving, fidgeting, shifting position, refilling my hot water bottle, etc and I don't think I'm going to get my Olympic knitting finished in time :(

I can't wait until I finish this shawl as I really want to spin! I have the gorgeous Thunderstorm batts that I carded and several other glitzy batts that I've purchased recently and I want to spin now!!!

In good news; I have purchased 20 kilos of BFL, dyes in blue, yellow and red, squeezy bottles, vinegar and clingfilm! I'm all ready to get dyeing! I'm going to start looking at sites to sell through soon and I should hopefully have a full shop to open by the end of March!

I will never buy HP again!

Beware, mega rant ahead!

I have had numerous Hewlett Packard printer - usually superduper-do-everything-for-you-except-make-a-cuppa ones!

The first one I had needed to go in for repairs when the shuttle holding the ink cartridges broke during the first cartridge change. The second one didn't print properly and was a complete piece of rubbish. Then I bought another one.

Well, this one ran out of black ink at the beginning of December. I got new cartridges and replaced them. Went through all the realignment processes and received an error message that the heads could not align.

I checked the help (HA!) section on the HP site and followed all the instructions.

Nothing doing!

So I took it back to Staples. I walked in and Mark (the salesman) took one look at me and said "Not again!"

He spent half an hour fiddling with it and eventually phoned to book it in.

I knew it would take a while as it was booked in on the 16th December. Two weeks before Christmas; I knew it was going to be hectic.

Then of course there was the 'Big Freeze' and the whole country ground to a halt.

I received a call from the insurance company in January apologising profoundly for the delay. I understood that due to the snow, not much was happening. They said they would call me back in 10 working days.

I received another call a couple of weeks later telling me that they had to send away for parts from 'abroad' as they couldn't get the part here and that they wouldn't be received until February 5th! I grumbled a bit, but - ya know - not much I could do.

I've just received another call. It's going to be a few more weeks!

I have just flipped down the phone at the poor CSR. This is totally unacceptable tha an item that cost me that much money breaks in the first year and is extremely difficult to repair!

They haven't offered me a printer to use in the interim!

I will never buy a HP product again. They're completely crap, don't last and just aren't worth the money!

Cut me a break

I seem to be having one of those days, you know?

The Majacraft dealer got back to me and said not only had I missed delivery for UK before Christmas but apparently there's a backlog on orders to Majacraft anyway.

So I've had to cancel the order.

A woman complained on our local fibre crafts group on Ravelry a couple of months ago. She had attended a village fair that a few of us were demonstrating crafts at. This is her post:

"I was at the festival on Saturday and managed to get to see some spinning.

I was rather upset by the language and manners of one of the demonstators - a ‘lady’ in her 40’s with black hair and very long nails.

I assume that events like this are intended to improve awareness of your group and encouage new members. Foul language and attitude will not achieve this, and I hope that whoever is responsible for this group thinks carefully before future demonstations." This was posted when I was away camping for the half-term week - something everyone on Ravelry knew as I'd been talking about it for weeks.

First off, I'm 34! Secondly, i only spoke to a couple of people, I was polite, well-mannered and didn't even swear when my friends and I were alone.

Today this woman posts that she has a Majacraft Rose for sale with 12 bobbins and she wants £300 for it, but only to someone who doesn't already own a wheel.

I PM'd her and she messaged me back asking if I had a wheel. I said yes, but it was living in the camper and the Rose would be my only at home wheel. She replied that it was only to go to someone who doesn't already have a wheel, then miraculously; the wheel was marked as sold!

When someone else queried it; she claimed that I hadn't been the first person to enquire about it so I wouldn't have got it anyway.

This woman has no profile, no picture, no links to anything and has only posted 6 times on Ravelry, once on Joy's board, twice concerning this complaint and three times today concerning this wheel.

I'm beginning to think this is someone I know with a personal vendetta and I think I know who it is too - get over yourself hon, all you're doing is pissing me off!

I called T-Mobile again today and asked if I could buy out my contract, then upgrade.

No, I can't. I can buy off my contract and take out a new one, but I can only keep my number if I take it to another network and then transfer it back. I can't take out a new contract and take my number with me unless I wait until 6th January to upgrade!

I'm badly in need of retail therapy to cheer me up, but it'll mean running two contracts for a couple of months and having to use a new number on the blackberry for the next 18 months. I've had this number for years! Since I was with Simon which means I'm approaching ten years with this number!

On one hand, it's easy to keep a number, but on the other hand it'd be nice to have a mobile number that certain people definitely haven't got...

Decisions Decisions!

This has been one of those awful rotten days where nothing seems to be going my way.

It would be nice to get an e-mail from Hedgehog now to tell me I can go get my wheel this weekend - I've made arrangements to meet Sarah so at least she will have a new wheel for Christmas!

On top of all that, I bought 4 tickets to a raffle and I didn't win a single prize