#WeekendCoffeeShare (July 2, 2021)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone! Can you believe the first half of 2021 is over already? I certainly can’t. Today, I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare. I just had my afternoon soft drink. If you want one too, I bet there’s still some left in the fridge. I can also make you a Senseo coffee if you want it. Let’s have a drink and let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk a little about the weather. It’s okay. Most of the past week, it’s been raining, but I still got time to go outside inbetween rainfalls. It was a bit chilly for summer early in the week. Today and over the weekend, temperatures are supposed to rise to above 20°C.

If we were having coffee, I’d also tell you that most of the pandemic restrictions were lifted last week. They however had only been lifted a few days when news got out about the delta variant of the coronavirus soon becoming dominant. Thankfully, the Netherlands has quite a high vaccination rate, so I have my hopes up we won’t enter a full lockdown come September. After all, my husband and I celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary on September 19 and we really want to finally be able to do something fun.

If we were having coffee, I would share that this week was a truly mixed bag mental health-wise. I did enjoy some activities, like jewelry-making. Last week was my 35th birthday and I got a bunch of supplies as a present. When being engaged in creative activities, I do genuinely feel some level of contentment, if not happiness.

However, there have also been times when I felt incredibly left out and hopeless. Like I said two weeks ago, the manager indicated that I cannot get more support than I’m getting now. Sometimes, I’m okay with this, but at other times, it really frustrates me.

If we were having coffee, I would share that I’ll finally start my topiramate this coming Sunday. The longer it takes, the less hopeful I am that it will actually help. We’ll see though.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that, on Wednesday, some type of staff support person came to observe and help the staff with some situations with other clients and with me. She offered some ideas for easing transitions for me. When I’m doing okay or sort of okay, they help, but when I’m very distressed, they don’t. I’m still unsure as to how I can ease the many transitions I face during the day.

If we were having coffee, I’d update you all about my situation with the possible UTI I talked about two weeks ago. Well, it isn’t a UTI. What it is, no-one seems to know or care about. I was told to take naproxen and paracetamol and, when this week I reported that they helped some, was just told to continue taking them for another month. A month! I mean, seriously?! I feel quite frustrated about this.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d tell you that my sister and her family are visiting me and my husband in Lobith tomorrow. My husband gave me the choice between taking a ParaTransit taxi and him picking me up at 10AM. Since my sister won’t visit till 3PM, I decided to take the taxi. I still have my entire kilometer allowance, since I haven’t felt comfortable yet using the taxi due to COVID-19. My taxi should arrive here in Raalte by 12:30PM. It’s normally a little under a ninety-minute drive to Lobith, but the taxi service might be late and/or combine my ride with someone else’s. However, if I schedule my ride earlier, I won’t be able to have lunch. Fingers crossed the taxi won’t be late.

How have you been?

16 thoughts on “#WeekendCoffeeShare (July 2, 2021)”

  1. I’m glad that you had some enjoyable activities this week, even though things weren’t quite ideal mental health-wise.
    Fingers crossed that the topiramate will work.
    It’s not surprising for me that nothing seems to work for you with transitions when you’re distressed. Transitions can be distressing in themselves and if you’ve already go some distress to deal with, it can get too much to be managed easily. I guess in a place like a care facility there really must be a lot of transitions, shifts and the like going on throughout the day, so I really hope you and your staff can find a way to cope with this better, also when you’re in more distress.
    Wow, I’m so sorry about your not-UTI situation, it’s strange that no one really seems to see the need to look into it! Definitely frustrating.

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    1. Thank you for your supportive words. Yes, there are a lot of transitions with when my one-on-one come, leave, come back again, when I need to rely on the regular group staff (several shifts a day too), etc. It’s really hard.

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  2. Hi Astrid. We too saw several places beginning to reopen for normal business. There are a few restaurants nearby that are seating folks again, even inside, but retain some minor annoying restrictions like serving your food in to-go boxes despite the fact that you’re sitting right there in their dining room. It’s a small but annoying reminder that we’re not yet back to normal. But many places no longer require a mask and i really REALLY don’t miss that thing.

    Good to hear that you’re making some progress too, both with your own towns reopening and maybe getting your meds better matched to your needs. And your 10 anniversary. . . How cool is that? Congrats and I hope you do get to do something fun that leaves you unable to not smile and laugh.

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    1. Thanks! I’m glad some restaurants near you are reopening, but indeed these restrictions, albeit small, are annoying. Here, we are not required to wear a mask anywhere anymore except in places where we can’t maintain 1.5m distance, such as on public transportation (including ParaTransit). My staff still need to wear a mask though, but most leave them more hanging around their neck than on their face.

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  4. Happy belated birthday Astrid! Jewel making sounds like such a great activity, my daughter enjoys it very much as well. I hope your weekend is starting out in a great way. It is so nice that the restrictions are lifting a little.

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    1. Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. I am so happy your daughter enjoys jewelry-making too. I need some help with it, as I am blind and have a mild physical disability, but I’ve come to accept this.

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