Home on the range...

I kept my appointment yesterday at the psychiatric clinic for the enrollment in the different classes because I thought it might be very smart if I did considering my options. I met with the woman in charge and she was very nice and went over my application with me quickly and filled an additional questionnaire out with me. There was really no problem and everything went smoothly. I opted for the creative class and the musical class, although there are waiting lists for both, but I expected that and I'm willing to wait a while.

We stopped by one of the creative classes and I saw someone I knew from one of the creative therapy classes I used to go to and it was very nice to see a familiar face and maybe I will see more people I know. Everybody else in the class looked very normal so I may be worried for nothing at all. The whole process of signing up was pretty painless and no big deal at all. I don't know why I had been so concerned about it. Maybe it was the woman who put me at ease.

After I had done that and taken care of all the formalities, I rode my bike over to my younger sister's house because my older sister was there. She had arrived by train from the North and my younger sister had picked her up from the station at noontime. I had not seen my older sister in quite some time and it was good to see her and when the three of us were together, it was really funny to see the similarities in character in us. Our voices also sound very similar.

We spent the afternoon out on the patio being sisters and taking care of sister's business as sisters do. We straightened each other out and agreed and disagreed.

Late in the afternoon, we took my younger sister's dog to my place and walked the dogs because Tyke had been alone all afternoon. He sure was happy to see me. I think he thought I had abandoned him forever. Afterwards we went for dinner at my younger sister's house and I even managed to eat some spaghetti which I had not eaten in a long time and it was good.We sat at the table for a long time afterwards and talked. I think my older sister wanted to go paint the town red, but we didn't. We were good girls and went to bed on time. At least, I went home at a reasonable time and went to bed before midnight.

I've had some success at Bookmooch and people have mooched 4 books off me. That means I get to mooch quite a few books myself. I have to get the packages ready today and go to the post office. I'll do that this afternoon when I have some spare time.

As good as company is, it is also good to be alone and I am happy when I can be on my own in my own apartment in my own space. It's wonderful to have that time to yourself and to have no one around you. Your own company is the best in the end, that's what you always come home to. Of course, I share my space with the animals so I'm never truly alone, but I do like my alone time.

I've got to get the show on the road. I told my sisters that I'd be there early this morning to have coffee with them. I have to get dressed and walk Tyke and answer emails. I hope I have time to do all that.

Have a good day!

Ciao,
Nora

Sooooo tired...

I'm so tired that I've made myself a mug of regular coffee or otherwise I'll fall asleep behind the computer and it's not even 9 pm yet and I think that's too early to go to bed. I'll wake up in the middle of the night if I do that and that's no good, so I have to hang in there a little while longer.

It's the expanded schedule that's making me this tired, I'm sure of it, and I haven't even gone full blast yet. On top of that, my crooked back has been acting up for the last 3 days and is making me lean to the left continually, causing the right side of my back to hurt. I have gotten strong pain medication from my GP, the kind that you have to take stomach protection pills with, but they are only helping a bit and I'm constantly sagging to the left. It's a pain in the you know what, because I constantly have to correct myself.

So, I had music therapy. We spent the first half hour talking about our experience with music and what role it played in our lives and what that kind of music had been starting from when we were children and what we listened to now. This was all very easy for me, because I remember my whole musical development and the stages I went through.

The therapist was surprised at my recent development and asked me how I came about it and I told her about Deezer, which keeps me up to date. I'm no old fogy. I rock with the best.

Then we were introduced to some instruments, which included the guitar and a small harp and a xylophone. There were also lots of drums there on which I really wanted to pound, but we never got around to that. I hope to do that next time. Playing chords on the guitar is hard. I'd rather learn to play the violin. Ahum! As if I ever will at my age. The xylophone played the black keys on the piano. The harp played do re mi fa sol la ti do very well. That's all we could get out of it. Except for some experimental strumming that sounded like fairy music.

We had an half an hour break until the relaxation exercises started and they were very pleasant and non exhausting, just very relaxing. We did them standing up and sitting in a chair, what more can you ask for, except that I kept toppling over in the chair. We literally relax every part of our body, including our facial muscles and we got instructions on how to do them at home. We had to rate our levels of stress before and after the exercises and there was quite a bit of difference for most people, except those who were stubborn and thought they were special cases. They started off with a low mark and ended with the same low mark, as if it had made no difference. I'd kick them all out of the class.

When I finally got home, I had something to eat and walked the Überhund and after that pretty much got stuck in Facebook all afternoon, making new artist friends and exchanging many comments with them and with my daughter who has been sending me interesting links. Here we have a situation of a daughter educating her mother about all sorts of subjects. I'm a willing pupil.

I took the Überhund to the vet for his eyes, because both his ointments were used up and he got another tube of the expensive ointment. The vet doesn't charge me the consultation fee, he just charges me for the medicine which the Exfactor pays. Thank goodness, otherwise I couldn't afford the dog. That poor dog and his eyes, they'll never get better, I think.

I am going to put my pajamas on now. That way, if I am ready to crash, I'll be all prepared. I think I did well writing this post, considering how bone tired I was. The coffee helped a little. I am now drinking decaf again and once I have my pajamas on, I'll get in the sleep mode. It always works. Well, almost always.

Sleep tight, if it is your bedtime. If not, have a good rest of the day.

Ciao...