MOVICOL

I have better bowel movements since I started taking MOVICOL I take it first thing every morning. My morning routine includes a cup of tea, a banana and some other fruit. After a wash or shower with nice warm water I get dressed and hopefully can go for a little walk. Later on I usually cook myself a nice breakfast. Often this nice breakfast is enough to have with it a second breakfast (Brunch) as well.

What do I do over one week? A normal week goes like this:

Mondays I get three hours home help, that is the home help comes at 9,30 AM and leaves at 12,30 PM. Tuesdays I do in the morning whatever I feel like doing. Wednesdays I join a STABILITY EXERCISE class at CITOS Bowling Club, with coffee and talking after the class and sometimes lunch at the Club as well. Thursdays my daughter Monika usually picks me up to take me out for lunch with her grandkids. Fridays I go to the CITOS CLUB again early in the morning. Sometimes I have have a lunch special again at the Club. From 2PM on I play SCRABBLE and Rummy with some of my friends.

What happens on the weekend? Saturday/Sunday I usually have totally to myself unless a family outing has been planned.

To have to be ready at a certain time, I find demanding, since it takes me up to two hours to get ready! I do everything so very slowly and often keep running out of time. But I am very happy that I can stilll live on my own.

Tomorrow, Monday, the 12th of February, is the funeral of my neighbour Barbara, who passed away on the first of February.

My home help stays with me until 12,30PM. This is the time when I’ll be ready to be taken to the funeral which starts at 1,30PM in Kiama. Two of my very kind neighbours are going to take me to the funeral.

Neighbours

For sure it is good to have good neighbours. I have about half a dozen extremely friendly neighbours, that are all well past 70. First of all there are two very friendly women who live with their very friendly partners of the opposite sex! And then there are two single widowed women that have been widowed for ages, and both of them have been my very good friends for nearly twenty years! However, we visit each other on average only about once a week.

Myself, having been widowed for close to one year now, I still often feel quite lonely. The other people in the rest of the houses I know only casually: One is a 92 year old woman, and all the others are much younger and out working every day of the week. Ayleen, this 92 year old very friendly woman, has her daughter living just around the corner.

Ayleen and I, we are the only people in the complex who do not have a car, for we don’t drive. I usually get outside help when I need some shopping done or when I have to go somewhere, or I call a taxi.

My two daughters are still full time workers and don’t live very close. However they are there, when I need them. My son, who lives in Victoria, is a lot of the time not available. So, I try to fend as much as possible on my own. Four hours help per week is provided by the government so that I can stay in my own home. Yes, I am lucky, that so far, being already 87, I have managed to stay in my own home and out of hospital. None the less, it is a rather lonely life, especially during lockdowns. And so far I have not been able to use public transport . . . .

When my husband was still alive, we would usually go on a little holiday at least twice a year. I wished I could go on a holiday now. Who wants to come with me? . . . .

Peter and I had often guests staying with us. Who wants to be my guest now for a bit more than a couple of hours or so? . . .

End of September 2015 continued

There is still some cake left from little Alexander's Birthday. — There is still some cake left from little Alexander’s Birthday.

On Monday, the 28th, one week after my birthday, I had our monthly women's meeting at my place. — On Monday, the 28th, one week after my birthday, I had our monthly women’s meeting at my place.

The women always bring a plate along. Naturally, never everything gets eaten. Peter took this picture of us after we had already more or less finished with our afternoon snacks. We women love to meet on the last Monday of each month. Two women moved away, but still live not too far away, six of us still live in the complex, as well as some other women who go to work and meet with the neighbours only once a year for our general body cooperative meeting. Last year we also had a lovely Christmas party with all the neighbours here in our complex. We are mostly women in this complex. Only three men, all of them married, live here.

Tomorrow, Thursday, I am going to be at my gentle Exercise Class from about 12,15 pm to 1,30 pm. On Friday our Rummy Cub game and Scrabble is going to be at Irene’s place from 2 pm onwards. One week after another goes very quickly. On Saturday, the 31st of October, our grandson Ryan and Ebony are getting married in Wollongong. We are all invited. And of course, their two little ones, Lucas and Alexander, are going to be there. I am so much looking forward to it!