A Day Out

First things first … I found this for Adoring Husband … I hope he takes note.

10 Things You Can Do TODAY to Build Neuroplasticity with Parkinson's

(No gym required. No excuses accepted. Just you and your brilliant, adaptable brain.)

1.  Take a 10-15 minute walk after dinner. Your digestion will thank you. Your sleep will thank you. Your brain will throw a party.

2.  Put together a puzzle. 500, 750 or 1,000 pieces. Every piece you place is a conversation between your fingers and your brain. Keep talking.

3.  Smile big at 10 people today. Yes, really. Facial masking is real and so is the antidote. Big smiles, on purpose, all day long. You might just make someone's entire day in the process.

4.  Read out loud for 10 minutes. Your voice is a muscle. Parkinson's wants to make it smaller and quieter. Refuse. Read loudly, clearly, and with all the drama you can muster.

5.  Dance to 3 songs. Full commitment. Rhythm bypasses damaged pathways in the Parkinson's brain in ways that nothing else can. Pick three songs that make you feel alive and move like nobody's watching. Because neuroplasticity.

6.  Stand on one foot while brushing your teeth. Hold the counter if you need to. The wobble is the point. Two minutes of balance training built into something you already do every single day.

7.  Write by hand for 10 minutes. A letter, a journal entry, a grocery list, a love note to yourself. Fine motor control, concentration, and bilateral coordination all firing at once. Your brain loves this.

8.  Sing loud in the shower. Every single day. The acoustics are on your side. Nobody can hear you. Full voice, full volume, full joy. Your brain responds to the effort. Your mood responds to the joy. Both matter enormously in Parkinson's.

9.  Go barefoot or sockless on grass, sand, or a textured mat for 5 minutes. Thousands of nerve endings in your feet are waiting to send signals straight to your brain. Wake them up. (And yes, open toe pressure socks count too.)

10.  Juggle a tennis ball. One ball, two hands, five minutes. Hand eye coordination, concentration, bilateral movement, and just enough frustration to keep your brain fully engaged. Drop it. Pick it up. Try again. That's neuroplasticity in action.

Your brain is not done adapting. It is waiting for you to give it a reason.

Start with one. Just one. Today. Share your ideas.

Just 10 More Steps. Every single day. 🤍

#Parkinsons #Neuroplasticity #MovementIsMedicine #PWRMoves #Just10MoreSteps

Today was a date day for AH and I. Not in a romantic way, but in a social, friendship connection way.

Friends who we met when we first arrived in our little town 18 yrs ago, are moving to the Sunshine Coast in two weeks, so we enjoyed a farewell luncheon with them today, at The Dock tapas bar and restaurant at the marina.

On the way there, I did a little shopping for The Gypsy, who is home bound for the next five weeks and we took it to her after our lunch.

We arrived at The Dock fifteen minutes early, so we ordered drinks. I had a ‘Sand in ya Pants’ mocktail which was orange juice, lime juice, mint and ginger beer. Delicious. AH ordered his favourite zero beer.

The Sex Worker and her Pimp (joke nicknames given many years ago) arrived right on midday and also ordered drinks. One wine and one coke.

The restaurant is dog friendly and there were a heap of dogs there including 3 miniature poodles all in prams.

A pleasant surprise was seeing an old photography friend there and we’ve promised to catch up properly in September when she is next in town dog sitting.

We ordered our lunch of crab stuffed mushrooms, rump, and pumpkin, beetroot, feta and rocket salad for our friends. I ordered the same mushrooms with rough cut potatoes and tomato relish. AH ordered the same rump with the same rough cut potatoes.

The food was delicious, the service efficient and friendly, the atmosphere energised and comfortable, the scenery delightful, the price reasonable and the company was perfect. Of course, we ordered dessert. Bailey’s panna cotta with raspberry coulis and whipped cream.

Our friends had Crème Brûlée and Waffles and ice cream (sorry no pic of the waffles)

After two hours, we bid our fond farewells and took The Gypsy’s shopping to her and did a welfare check - she is doing remarkably well, all things considered, and is healing well from her surgery AND her fall two days ago.

I swapped her ice pack for a fresh one, filled her water bottle, washed a couple of dishes and put her shopping away and after about 20 minutes left her in peace. She is expecting a few visitors over the next couple of days, so she will be well taken care of.

AH and I were home by 3.30pm and after a quick catch up with BGWLBH and Harley, I made Sunday spaghetti for her and AH for dinner. Yes! AH had some bread when we arrived home, then spaghetti bolognese and then two MORE slices of bread. I swear his stomach is a bottomless pit!

We watched the football for the remainder of the evening and I’m now in bed watching the French Open tennis.

Feeling quite weary actually.

Nite all.

An Intense Time

On Thursday, I went to work with BGWLBH and she dropped me off at The Gypsy’s home at the end of her shift.

The Gypsy had been picked up from hospital at 11am and taken home, and I arrived at her place just after midday.

My plan was to stay with The Gypsy for her first night at home after hip surgery, but I packed for two nights, just in case.

She was doing really well, with good movement, manageable pain and was doing all the right things with medication and her set exercises to maximise healing and movement, so I confidently left her home at 1pm the next day.

Adoring Husband took me immediately to inspect an electric trike at a bike shop. He had seen it when he bought some new rubber handles for his bike and because my trike is looking the worst for wear with a bit of rust and faded paint AND at my age, I’m struggling with pedalling, especially on windy days, he thought it would be a good purchase.

So I took it for a test drive and we checked out the specs and bells and whistles before deciding to purchase it.

It folds in half and we hoped that it would fit in the back of the Outlander, but it was about 10mm too tall to slide in the back. It turns out that the shop owner’s Dad lives directly across the road from us, so he is going to deliver it on Monday, free of charge!

While we were attempting to put the trike into the car, I received a text from The Gypsy asking me to return because she’d had a fall! So we rushed back to her place.

She had fainted, cut her chin and hit her cheek bone and forehead. There was a lot of blood on the floor in the bedroom where she fell, but she is taking blood thinners, so the bleeding was worse than normal. While it wasn’t gushing or dripping with blood, it took all day for the wound to stop seeping blood.

We discussed calling an ambulance to have her checked over and she asked if we could just wait and monitor her condition before making that decision, so I agreed to that. She later texted her medical support person from the hospital and got advice from him, so she was able to stay at home.

I decided to stay another night and when I left this morning, she had everything she needed, like food, cup of tea, water, medications, tissues, phone etc., at her fingertips so that she would only need to get up for the toilet and some light movement exercises.

I have checked in every two hours by text and she is safe and well.

Harley was happy to see me and we have played a couple of times. I have spent the afternoon watching the footy with AH and luckily it was ‘fend for yourself’ night for dinner, so I could just relax for the day.

Now it’s almost 10pm and while the fold out cot that I slept in at her place was surprisingly comfortable, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

Nite all. 

Don’t Even

Vibration in quantum physics means everything is energy. We are vibrational beings on certain frequencies. Every vibration is equivalent to a feeling and in the world, there are only two species of vibrations. Positive and negative. Any feeling makes you broadcast a vibration that can be positive or negative.

1ST - * Thoughts *

Every thought emits a frequency to the universe and this frequency goes back to origin, so in this case, if you have negative thoughts, discouragement, sadness, anger, fear, all this comes back to you. This is why it is so important that you take care of the quality of your thoughts and learn how to cultivate more positive thoughts.

2ND - * The Company you keep*

The people around you directly influence your vibrational frequency. If you surround yourself with happy, positive and determined people, you will also enter this vibration. Now, if you surround yourself with people complaining, gossiping and pessimistic, be careful because they can reduce your frequency and therefore prevent you from using the law of attraction in your favour.

3RD - * The Music *

Music is very powerful. If you only listen to music that talks about death, betrayal, sadness, abandonment, this will interfere with what you are feeling. Pay attention to the lyrics of the music you listen to, it could reduce your vibration frequency, and remember, you attract exactly what you feel in your life.

4TH - * The things you look at *

When you look at programs that deal with misfortune, death, betrayals, etc., your brain accepts this as a reality and releases a whole chemistry into your body which affects your vibrational frequency. Look at things that make you feel good and help you vibrate at a higher frequency.

5TH - * The Atmosphere *

Whether it's at home or at work, if you spend a lot of time in a messy and dirty environment, it will also affect your vibrational frequency. Improve what surrounds you. Organise and clean your environment. Show the universe that you are fit to receive much more. Take care of what you already have!

6TH - * THE WORD *

If you speak badly about things and people, it affects your vibrational frequency. To keep your frequency high, it is essential to eliminate the habit of complaining and negative talk about others. So avoid drama and bullying. Assume your responsibility for the choices of your life!

7TH - * GRATITUDE *

Gratitude positively affects your vibrational frequency. This is a habit you should integrate now into your life. Start to give thanks for everything, for the good things and what you consider to be bad, give thanks for all the things that you've experienced. Gratitude opens the door for good things to happen positively in your life.

8TH - *THE LOVE*

The love held in your heart, in your head and in your life. It doesn’t matter who or what you love, it matters THAT you love

My vibration tonight is not on a very positive frequency.

Don’t even get me started on the result of the first state of origin game.

Ugh 😩

I am, however, very happy with the state of my bruise after my spectacular fall on Monday!

Tomorrow night I’ll be staying at The Gypsy’s apartment for her first night out of hospital after hip surgery. I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to be by herself for the first night. Depending on how she’s managing, I may even stay for a second night.

It’s almost 11pm, I have an early start in the morning and I haven’t even packed so I’d best get some sleep.

Nite all.

Ready Set Sleep

Ugh 😩

I am so tired.

After finishing last nights blog post, I decided to massage some magnesium oil infused with frankincense into my joints and muscles to try to alleviate that “hit by a bus” feeling, which was the result of my spectacular fall yesterday.

It worked a treat! 

I woke up this morning feeling as good as new - except for some tenderness in my upper left thigh, which I can only feel when I put pressure on it.

I am very grateful for my strong resilient body.

So BGWLBH and I drove into the Bay.

She needed a new brush and I had a small list which included a glass bottle with a dropper, a long handled body brush and a few groceries.

We were ready to come home at 1pm but it was pelting down rain, so we had to seek shelter until it eased.

It was almost 3pm when we arrived home, so I changed out of my good clothes and took Harley out for an afternoon play before making dinner.

Stuffed rolled chicken breasts wrapped in bacon with wombok salad, garden salad and mashed potato.

We played trivia for a little while and were all in bed by 6.30pm!

I am feeling very weary so it’s time to fall asleep to the sound of racquet on ball again

Nite all.

Ease to Oopsie

My alarm was set for 5am so that I could be ready to leave the house at 5.30am.

Miraculously, I woke at 4.30am and didn’t require the alarm!

It was an uneventful morning. The drive into the bay was smooth with no traffic and we were lucky to catch every green light, which meant that we were right on time to pick up The Gypsy for the drive to the hospital.

A heavy fog settled over the bay, so we had to take it slowly from her place.

We arrived at the hospital right on time, had 5 minutes in the first waiting area, 10 minutes in admin and a further 10 minutes in the second waiting area. 

We parted ways with a warm hug and off she went to be prepped for hip surgery. First surgery of the day!

Outside the hospital, the sun was still rising, there was a lovely chill in the air and it was very very quiet, so instead of calling Adoring Husband, I decided to sit and enjoy the cool silence for ten minutes.

When I felt ready, it took one text and three phone calls to finally connect with him.

He had done a run to Bunnings, topped up the fuel tank in the car, bought a coffee and two loaves of sour dough bread from the bakery and then returned to me.

We then stopped at Oliver’s drive through for coffee and a hash brown for me and we were home just before 8am.

After a short play with Harley, BGWLBH and I decided to set up the string lines on the big cupboard door to hang my old photos. 

Unfortunately, when I walked to my desk for a ruler to measure the distance between hooks, I had a little mishap.

Somehow, my foot got caught on the power cord to the very heavy amethyst crystal lamp, which was sitting on the edge of my desk.

When I say heavy - it probably weighs about 4kgs.

As I turned, I tripped on the cord, pulling the lamp off the desk directly onto my ankle, but at the same time, I was falling heavily to the ground, which was a concrete floor and had absolutely no chance of avoiding the falling lamp.

I yelled as I hit the ground, cursed like a drunken sailor and lay on the floor mentally assessing whether I could feel and/or move various parts of my body.

BGWLBH didn’t actually see what happened because there was a screen standing between us, but she rushed to my assistance when she realised I was in distress.

My left ankle and knee seemed to have taken the brunt of the damage …

With the aid of a chair, I was able to get myself off the floor and walk into the family room to lie down on the chaise lounge, while BGWLBH busied herself making two ice packs for my joints.

As I lay down, I could feel some bruising happening on my upper left thigh.

AH was summoned from the back yard and he rushed inside to assess the situation.

It took around 20-30 minutes for the adrenalin to settle, for my heart rate to calm down and for us all to realise that there were no breaks, sprains or strains.

When all the excitement had settled, I moved back to my work desk and started making jewellery.

I finished the blue extra large bracelet, selected and put into order, the beads and charms for two more bracelets and then made 11 pairs of earrings.

That was when my body began to complain.

My left wrist began to feel sore, all of my joints began to ache and the muscles all over my body began to feel tender, so I moved straight to my recliner and lay back with my feet up.

Right now, lying in my bed at 10pm, I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus!

Ugh 😩

The Gypsy came through her surgery beautifully and within 3 hours, they had her standing up and walking on her hip with a walker and the assistance of two male nurses.

Impressive.

Now I think I shall fall asleep to the sound of racquet on ball at Roland Garros.

Nite all.