Yes, yes, I know that April is already upon us. But last month was so crazy, so exhausting and also so magical that I need to record those events for the purposes of posterity. And also to remind myself that even when I think I can't go on, I actually can.
The month started with the riot that was the Gallery's March Sundowner. Stinking hot, but an absolutely wonderful night of music, art, conversation and shenanigans. We sat out on the pavement, now wide enough to accommodate us all. We had additional musos dropping in from York, along with the uber-cool Guy Slingerland, the urbane Lawrence Jones and the instrumental guru David Sparrow, who also happens to be chief pirate of the York Yacht Club. The party belted on well into the night with Lawrence and Michael being the last guests semi-standing. I believe they crawled into their respective beds at about three o'clock...
The following weekend was the Sofoulis Family Gathering, held at Darryl's house just outside Toodyay. Lots of fun, food and vino was experienced by the older participants with the younger members just having lots of food and fun. Nephew Matt earned the reputation as King of the Kids, Michael John and Michael Lawrence renewed their bromance, Wendy and helpers produced superb spread after superb spread. Darryl was a dab hand on the BBQ and our test run of Will the camper trailer over two nights was quite successful.
No month would be complete without frustration from the NDIA/S. Or medical appointments. We continue to debate/argue/plead for a satisfactory NDIS plan so that Alex may live a wonderfully ordinary life and that the NDIA, Support Coordinator(s), Support Worker(s). Medical and Para-medical personnel all work collaboratively as a team. *sigh* An added delight is a review of Alex's Housing Authority circumstances that arrived in a letter so convoluted that Pascal, Alex's Support Worker to the Stars, was completely confounded and Alex became rapidly panicky. I have until 18 April to sort out yet another fine mess.
Medical appointments included the confirmation that Alex does have Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and the start of his CPAP trial. The use of CPAP has made a huge difference to Alex's quality of life - he is sleeping much better, spending less hours in bed, his anxiety lessened and his daily functionality improving. Now, we just need a supporting letter from Alex's respiratory specialist confirming these outcomes so the NDIA approves funding of a CPAP device...Wish me luck.
Later in March, I attended the rooms of the delicious Doctor Daram to have half my head excised, Seriously, a Basal Cell Carcinoma the size of an insect bite resulted in rather a sizable chunk being removed from my head, Michael viewing my skull and Daram's incredibly neat stitching to hold of all my brain insitu!
The good news is that we went to the Caravan and Camping show immediately after my surgical procedure and spent about three very satisfactory hours researching mattresses, personal beacons, battery systems and dropping into the Avon Valley tourism stand. We arrived home shattered but pleased with ourselves.
The last week of March saw me meeting Angie, probably the most intelligent and empathetic shrink I have ever encounted. She cut through the crap, asked me specific questions and proposed that my depression and anxiety was a lifelong reaction to abandonment. From Mum, Dad, brothers (involuntarily), obstetric adventures and a desperately bad marriage I tried to save for far longer than should have happened. What a light bulb moment. My entire life suddenly made sense...
Has my revelation led to me becoming "cured"? Not yet, but at least I can make some sense and have a path towards recovery. I am determined to become the best person I can. Not at the expense of losing my sense of humour, my spontaneity or my spirit. I have no desire to become a shadow of myself, so I have to balance all these facets of my psyche. I need to be prompted if I ever become boring or pompous.
However, the absolutely best news of all was the arrival of Miss Violet Ella, baby sister to Miss Imogen Ivy and divine second daughter of Callum and Bronwyn on Thursday 16 March. After being the cause of yet another horrendous pregnancy, Violet quickly has become as beautiful as Miss Immy. She sleeps like an angel during the day, but has yet to work out her circadian rhythm, hence she is waking her somewhat sleep-deprived parents fairly frequently during the night. This is why sixty-year-olds should not have babies...The other fantastic development is that Immy not only recognises us as Nanny Kate and Grandpa Michael, but loves to give us hugs and tea parties.
There, in summary, was March. I hope that you get a kick out of reading this post as much as I did writing this. My blog is cathartic; I have this outlet to check that my recollections are correct. Plus, if at all possible, I try and find the funny side of life. During an interaction with shrink Angie, I asked her how to reduce my anxiety when dealing with everyday irritating episodes. She responded that I could treat those events as comedy skits - and so alleviate my negative reactions with the use of humour.
A smart woman is Angie...
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