Tag Archives: family time

The Birthday Surprise

December 30, 2012

I can’t believe Christmas is over for another year, the time has just flown by. Of course my being very beforehand meant the whole affair sort of took me off guard. I did manage to enjoy the day though, and some time with my family. I didn’t get to spend time with the friends that I wanted to unfortunately, but you can’t have everything. I am now safely back in my little flat, with Paul and my kitten Didi. It has been so long that I haven’t even been able to write to you about the little edition to our household.

A photo I took of Didi for our Round Robin letter

Didi came to me the Friday before my birthday, as a surprise. Paul got her from another family who were no longer able to have her so she was already 19 weeks old. She settled in quickly though, and seems attached to me and P. She follows us all over the house, and likes to be close to one of us all the time. Didi acts crazy (and I mean crazy) part of the time, racing and racing around the room, but she’ll also happily sit in bed with me for hours on end or snuggle up for nap time. The perfect temperament for us.

Didi is black with lots of white dots and strips on her belly. The best part of her fur though is that she has little white socks. So cute. She also likes posing for pictures, and responds to her name as dutifully as a dog. My mood has improved greatly since Didi came to live with us and I don’t feel as lonely anymore, that was exactly P’s plan of course.

The three of us are spending new year’s eve together tomorrow at home. I’m still feeling very fragile health wise, and a little knocked for six after Christmas so anything high energy was off the cards, I might not even stay up until midnight. I’m not a huge fan of new year’s eve, but it seems a bit sad to do nothing so we’re planning on getting some fruity treats, doing a puzzle and watching some films. The good thing about NYE is that you feel as though you have to re-assess your life and the last year. Instead of allowing myself to be depressed by all the things I haven’t been able to do because of my illness, I am going to list all the great and wonderful things that have happened this year and thank God for them.

How are you celebrating NYE?

Love Katie x

Posted by Katie Bennett-Davies in Family, Home life Tags: Birthday, Christmas, Didi, family, family time, fun, gratitude, holidays, Home, kitten, lifestyle, New Year, New Years Eve, NYE, thankful, thankfullness

Wedding time

August 5, 2012

Here’s me at second mummy’s house all ready for the wedding

I don’t usually post on a Sunday but I wasn’t able to post yesterday because I was at a family wedding. I’ll write more about how I managed the day soon, but for now I’d just thought I’d share the picture with you. Still in my pjs, recovering, but managed to get some weddingy things done online so the day isn’t a total loss. We’re at second mummy’s house so I don’t want to sit on the computer but enjoy sometime with my soon-to-be little sisters. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Love Katie x

Posted by chronickatie in Activities out of the house, Social activities Tags: CFS, family, family time, M.E., pjs, recovery, relationship, second mummy, spoonie, spoonie life, tiredness, wedding, Weddings

3 comments

Guess who’s back?

July 18, 2012

You must have begun to think I’d given up on this blog. Fear not, I am still alive and writing blogs, but only at night in my mind when I can’t sleep. So much has passed since I last took out a notebook and pen to write, I think that is probably part of the reason why you have seen new posts.

P and I did successfully manage to move, and it was even worse than we had anticipated. Mainly because the sheer amount of things we have managed to accumulate is incredible. I tried to be as ruthless as possible with getting rid of un-neeeded things, but still we had so much stuff to move that it took 5 trips in my dad’s 4by4. I have since spent a lot of my bedbound mornings running a monologue debating the reasons why we have such a lot of things. I’ll spare you the whole speech, and just drill down to the foundation the reason we have so much stuff is that we spend so much time at home.

Most students keep some of their things at their term-time address, and the rest in their bedrooms at their parents house, but because we usually live in Cardiff all year round, we moved basically everything we own to our new address. Secondly, and this is probably the more accurate reason, when you have periods of time where you’re stuck indoors for days on end, you need a lot of entertainment. For example, it can be awkward for P to find time to go to the gym so he has weights and an exercise bike in the house so he can workout whenever he wants, even if I’m really sick. We don’t have an more than a normal amount of clothes, shoes, or handbags (that’s me, not Paul), but my goodness do we have a lot of books. As the kind of people who want to know everything about everything (nothing is boring to me), we have a lot of reference books (including an encyclopedia published the year of my birth), academic books for university, and classic novels (my favourite) so not the kind of books you get rid of- they’re keepers. To add to this, we have two stackers full of DVDs and more, even though we had a clear out of the DVDs we never watch! We love films, and watch at least one everyday, I’m “watching” one right now (multi-tasker), especially on my bedbound days.

What takes up most of the room though are my craft things. I am terrible at starting lots of new projects, and not finishing them. Since I forgot to bring any craft projects home with me, I begun even more new ones since I arrived back here. My mummy is really into crafting too, so she’s been throwing an abundance of new ideas at me with her collection of books and ideas diary. She’s given me free reign of her extensive resources too!

In case you haven’t caught on already, Paul and I did decide to move home for the summer to save money. One of the things I like best about being at home is going to patchwork group with my mummy and nana. I love patchwork blankets, cushions, bags, etc, and have always wanted to be able to do it. I am hoping that this will be the summer that I finally get to grips with my sewing machine and make some patchwork projects, especially while I have been allowed unlimited access to the massive stock of material my mummy and nana have.

Anyway, this post has become a garble of ramblings. Fingers crossed, I shall manage to get to my parents’ computer more often from now on. I thought that coming home would mean oodles of free time but so far I’m struggling to fit everything into my diary, not completely convinced we will save any money or I’ll get any rest if we don’t start restricting ourselves!

Love Katie x

Posted by chronickatie in Activities out of the house, Fibromyalgia, M.E./CFS Tags: Arts, Cardiff, craft, craft projects, Crafts, dad, de-cluttering, diary, disability, disabled, DVD, family, family home, family time, fibromyalgia, M.E., moving flat, moving home, mummy, nana, parents, patchworking, patwork, Paul, posessions, saving money, severe M.E., Sewing machine, shopping, students, wedding

2 comments

Chronic Summer Holidays Part-two: The Fab Plan

June 24, 2012

*Today’s blog continues on from yesterday’s theme.

Persuaded P to take a photo of me today

Beau and I had a picnic at the Castle again today, which in some ways was even nicer than the one we had yesterday. I definitely felt more relaxed and even had a lie-down so we didn’t need to leave so quickly. We spent some of the time discussing ideas and plans for the summer holidays. At the moment, P hasn’t been able to find suitable work so we will probably move home to my parents house for July and parts of August and September, in order to save money. We both get pretty bored without anything to be working for or doing something. Last summer we became tourists in our own city and did all the things we’ve been meaning to do since we moved to Cardiff. I wrote a blog post about it here.

I can’t wait to hang out with this pusscat when I get home

Before our wedding (and hopefully honeymoon) we still have two and half months to fill with memories. Alongside studying for our exams, we plan to do as many free or low cost activities as we can. For example, we love camping so we’re planning to do that as much as we can, where ever we can, whatever the weather. Maybe we’ll only manage as far as the end of the garden, but I’m confident we’ll still have fun, at least it’s not in bed! We’ve got friends we’re hoping to visit, and articles, books, etc that we need to write. In fact, this may seem silly, perhaps P won’t thank me for writing this here, but we’re kind of viewing the move home as a bit of a holiday. We’ll (or should I say Paul) still be helping out with chores and be in my parent’s home but it’s away from the bed I’ve been stuck in for months, a change of scenery. Plus, it’s in the countryside so plenty of places to picnic, BBQ, and explore. And, best of all, we’ll get to spend time with our families.

I have been inspired by the new Wispa advert, which I know I shouldn’t admit. Essentially, it has very little to do with chocolate, but has the slogan

Time well mis-spent

and in one part says,

the kind of things they don’t hand medals out for, but really, really should.

These words really resonate with me. I may not be able to do anything worthy of recognition, but I can do plenty of things which should. Things like keeping the art of letter writing alive. It’s just little things really, but being ill has really made me come to appreciate the little things. As I recently replied to a commenter on this blog, yes, in one sense, we have a right to have a chip on our shoulder because of all the things we’ve had to miss out on, or we can accept that we were meant to have a different life. A different life but not a less fulfilling life.

Love Katie x

P.s. Any disabled readers have advice for traveling abroad?

Posted by chronickatie in Activities out of the house, Social activities Tags: August, Barbecue, BBQ, Cadbury, camping, Cardiff, chronic illness, family, family time, fibro, fibromyalgia, friends, fun, God, July, M.E., moving home, Paris, Paul, picnics, plans, September, severe M.E., staycation, Time well mis-spent, tourist in own city, Wispa

3 comments

We are family

June 9, 2012

For me, one of the best things about getting married is getting more family. Today P and I were blessed by a visit by Gran #2 Mummy #2, little and littler sister.

Littlest sister’s reaction to her drink turning green

My favourite part of the day was when littlest sister asked if the moon was really made of cheese. So cute. I love spending time with family, I miss people on both sides a lot. It’s part of the reason why I love Christmas, all the family comes together. I know I am lucky to have such a wonderful family, which is why it pains me so much that we don’t get to see them very often.

This especially hit home for me when mummy #2 rang a couple of weeks ago to say that one of her sisters is pregnant. I was ecstatic about the news until P pointed out that we’ll get to see the baby twice a year if we’re lucky.

P was so close to his little sisters when he lived at home, it was one of things I liked about him. He moans about them being annoying, but anyone can see he loves messing around with them. And now, they’re growing up fast and we’re missing that. I don’t want to miss all of the big things in their lives, and grow apart from them, like we are now.

As a result a lot of our lack of trips home, we haven’t gotten to know mummy #2′s partner and his daughter much. They are a big part of her and the girls lives and we want to be apart of that too. We want to be apart of the family days and film nights. It’s not like you can book that time in, it’s spontaneous.

It’s just that it’s very difficult going home. Firstly, public transport is terrible with a wheelchair. Secondly, both our families’ homes have stairs so that’s painful for me. And, Paul doesn’t respond well to not having control of his environment. It’s not that either of our parents aren’t welcoming, quite the opposite. He’s just used to running his own ship and feels uncomfortable on board someone else’s deck. That’s a poor metaphor. It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t had the same anxieties and depression he has. At best P can handle about a week before he starts to get ill.

We split that week between half the time at my family’s house and half the time at Paul’s. When you factor in at least two days rest, I barely get to spend time with either family, and grandparents don’t get a look in. And then, there’s a couple of days recovery back in Cardiff. Phew, I’m feeling exhausted just writing about it. It feels like too much to ask P to go through that very often, let alone to visit aunts and uncles who live 3-4 hours away.

I’m working on trying to find ways to make going away less stressful, exhausting and painful for both of us. For example, we sleep downstairs at mummy #2′s house now, which is actually great because it means even when I’m in bed, I’m still around little sisters. My parents have offered to turn my sister’s room into a sort of day-lounge (when she’s not there obviously) for us to have some more space of our own. Maybe I’ll try to get our families into Skype.

Love Katie x

Posted by chronickatie in Care/carer, Depression Tags: carer, chronic illness, depression, disability, disabled, family, family time, fibro, fibromyalgia, M.E., Paul, public transport, severe chronic illness, severe M.E., spoonie, wheelchair, young carer

1 comment

I have an Olympic gold medal…

June 3, 2012

…well I would if sleeping were an Olympic sport.

Daily readers will know that a few weekends ago my mummy came to visit. She came to watch the Olympic tour pass through Cardiff with me, P and my sister, it’s not my daddy’s sort of thing so he stayed at home.

P made me a gold medal when I gave him some leftover clay to play with

I didn’t enter the ticket ballot because even if I could afford the tickets and a trip to London, it would be a massive struggle to handle the trip. With some creativity I have found some ways to get involved. I am inspired by Holidays From Home, a website which sells holidays to those who are bed-ridden. Claire Wade came up with the idea of virtual holidays when she was stuck in bed with M.E.. Holidays From Home are doing a special trip to London this summer but I couldn’t justify spending £30 on it when we’re saving for a honeymoon. Plus I just want to focus on the Olympics really, not a whole visit to London.

So here is my quick guide to a virtual Olympic experience:

The first and most important step to a virtual holiday is preparation. In order to feel like we’re really at the Olympics, P and I are going to decorate our flat with British flags, bunting, etc. I’m going to be searching the internet for ideas over the next coming weeks but we’ll wait until we actually move to our new flat to put everything up – I’ll post some photos when we do.

Next is fun activities, we’re going to invite friends over for championships on games consoles and silly tasks like holding ice in your mouth the longest, and paper tossing. If I can I’ll even make medals. It’ll be like an Olympic party.

Of course, the main event will be watching the games on television. We’re hoping to keep track of the medals we have won (and by we, I mean team GB of course). For me to get excited, I really need to understand what’s going on, so I’m going to read as much as I can about GB’s athletes and begin making a scrapbook. That’s right, a new project. I also want to record interesting and fun facts about the Olympics to put in my scrapbook. This will be a memento for me to keep.

When Claire Wade’s mother took her on a dream trip to Greece, she collected items from friends who had visited there so Claire could imagine she was visiting shops and museums. So lastly, if we can afford it (they’re pretty pricey), P and I are going to buy official souvenirs from the Olympic website as a treat.

I wonder what you’ll be doing to get involved with the Olympics? Any ideas for me and other spoonies*?

Love Katie x

*Spoonies are people suffering from a chronic illness. Look out for a post coming soon explaining where the name came from.

Holidays From Home do lots of other holidays for £19.99, visit their website for more details.

Posted by chronickatie in Inspiration Tags: championship, Claire Wade, creativity, family time, games, gold medal, Holidays From Home, imagination, inspiration, London, mementos, Olmypic torch, Olympic torch tour, Olympics, Paul, scrapbook, scrapbooking, souvenirs, team GB, virutal holidays

Tag Archives: family time

The Birthday Surprise

Like this:

Guess who’s back?

Like this:

We are family

Like this:

I have an Olympic gold medal…

Like this:

Meet Katie

Subscribe to my blog

Find me on…

Search Chronically Katie

Archives

Tag Archives: family time

The Birthday Surprise

Share this:

Like this:

Wedding time

Share this:

Like this:

Guess who’s back?

Share this:

Like this:

Chronic Summer Holidays Part-two: The Fab Plan

Share this:

Like this:

We are family

Share this:

Like this:

I have an Olympic gold medal…

Share this:

Like this:

Meet Katie

Subscribe to my blog

Find me on…

Search Chronically Katie

Archives

View posts by category