#WeekendCoffeeShare (March 6, 2026)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare again. It’s 7:30PM as I start typing this, so I’ve had my last cup of coffee for the day and will take a break from writing this post at around 8PM to have my evening fizzy drink. Actually, Dubbelfrisss, which I generally have, isn’t very fizzy, being that it is only slightly carbonated. That’s a good thing, since I can’t stand actual fizzy drinks. Anyway, let’s have a drink and let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. It’s been incredibly warm all week with daytime highs above 15°C each day. Today we even had a daytime high of 18°C. It’s been sunny for most of the week too. I know, climate change and all and we’re probably getting summertime temps above 30°C, but for now I love this weather.

If we were having coffee, I’d also proudly announce that I broke my exercise record on my Apple Watch again. Yesterday, I got in 190 exercise minutes, both by walking and by biking to Deventer.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I rode the side-by-side bike to Deventer twice this week, both times looking for new clothes. On Tuesday, I bought a few jeans and a blouse. Yesterday, I initially wanted to buy a blouse and a shirt, but didn’t end up buying those when I found out they were rather light-colored. So is one of the jeans I bought on Tuesday, so now I’m afraid I’ve stained it beyond cleaning already. This once happened with a pair of off white pants I bought with a staff several years ago and my wife said wise staff won’t let me wear light-colored clothes because of the risk of me spilling coffee over them. I told the staff I went clothes shopping this yesterday and she said I could put a napkin on my lap to prevent this. The thing is, I only need to forget this once for clothes to be ruined by coffee stains. I’m now unsure as to whether I was wise even having gone clothes shopping with her.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I’ve been playing around with AI a bit. Last Saturday, when I shared the Warmies unicorn soft toy on here, I tried to take several more pictures, but none were better than the one I’d posted. Then I decided to ask CoPilot to edit the image to make the unicorn stand out more. I don’t know whether the original picture was recognizable as a unicorn, but I loved how CoPilot recreated it.

For reference, here’s the original photo I took.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d share that I finally saw my new, activity-based day schedule, to be taking effect on April 1. To be honest, it’s a bit disappointing, in that my assigned staff just added the activities I’d proposed to it and that’s it. How this could take months of “thinking” to take effect, I don’t know. On top of that, the new schedule will take effect on the same day the home will start having a new staffing schedule too. My support coordinator told me there’s no shortening of hours, but at an important time for me, there is. You see, when I proposed my activity-based day schedule, I’d added my daily cup of tea at around 9PM into it, both to make the schedule more aligned with reality and because that cup of tea truly helps me make it through the night without support. Unfortunately, it’s not in my new day schedule and staffing will be cut at 9PM too. I for clarity’s sake don’t need one-on-one attention then, but it does help when staff keep an eye on me. My support coordinator, who told me about the staffing changes and new day schedule, said I can’t expect everyone else to be in bed by 8:30PM because I want my cup of tea and there’s not enough staff to keep in touch with me and help the others to bed at the same time. No, I can’t, but it’s not me who cut those hours. Several staff have told me I’ll have to wait and see how things go and no-one is prohibiting me from having a cup of tea, but then why can’t it be in my day schedule?

February 2026 In Review

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining Natalie’s monthly wrap-up again, as it’s the last day of the month. Honestly, this month was a real mixed bag.

It was, of course, the month it finally dawned onto me that I’m actually declining. I have had this belief for years, but it’s hard having it confirmed by a doctor. Not knowing for sure what the diagnosis or prognosis is, besides it not getting any better, is quite frustrating. I still can’t fully wrap my head around what my physician actually said. I mean, yes, of course literally everyone gets older every single day, but old age, besides the fact that this obviously doesn’t apply to me yet at 39, isn’t a medical diagnosis.

The realization that I’m not getting any better and the thought that I may not even see 2034, has caused me an increased sense of urgency about getting out of life all that I can. Sometimes, this has led me to actually do things I enjoy more than I used to.

I did craft a few things. I also finally hopped onto the cottage cheese bandwagon and baked some goodies. No pictures, sorry. The first time I tried baking with cottage cheese, I added too much almond flour, so the bake became too hearty. I also added garlic powder and suffered heartburn from it all night. The second time, yesterday, I made a breakfast bake with blueberries. I actually enjoyed this.

I also cooked one main meal for my side of the home, another chicken curry. I’m still hoping to cook or bake more often in March, even if it’s just for myself, but I’m less optimistic about it than I was before.


I also, like I shared yesterday, had some days on which I was quite active physically. Early in the month, I struggled to get in any movement at all, so no perfect month for me on my Apple Watch.

I did manage to journal each day (except for today so far, but I’m going to do that after I finish this post). Most days, it was just a quick daily wrap using a template and I’m not so sure it actually helps me, but it doesn’t hurt me either. I only published eight blog posts including this one. That feels a bit disappointing to me.

Some days, and there are more of those than I’d like, my knowing that I’m declining leads to increased inertia. I hope that will get better as the days grow longer and the weather improves.

One last positive: I finally bought a Warmies stuffed unicorn. I have shared a few times about my microwave-safe stuffies that give off a lavender scent when heated. I used to have several, but the last one I had got damaged in the washing machine a few weeks ago. The Warmies ones though have a removable lavender filling. Now that I’ve got the unicorn, I want a few of the others too. By the way, I took the picture of this unicorn myself. I tried a dozen times to snap a better picture, but all of my other attempts were even worse than this one.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (February 27, 2026)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare today. It’s just past 5:30PM as I start typing this blog post, so I’ll still have my evening coffee at 7PM. If you’d like to grab a drink too, feel free to get yourself a cup or glass of your favorite beverage and let’s chat.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. It’s been crazy! Crazy good in my opinion, in that yesterday and on Wednesday, the daytime temp climbed to 17°C. Today we had a daytime high of 15°C and more wind. It’s raining now too, which I’m told is necessary, as the winter has been horribly dry over here.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you that I reached my movement goal on my Apple Watch each day this week. Yesterday and on Wednesday, I even doubled it. I also broke my exercise minutes record yesterday. I mostly went for walks, but on Tuesday, I also rode the side-by-side bike to Deventer to get some shopping done. City representatives were having a survey about the bike-friendliness of the city. I accepted the flyer because the person handing it out was making a fuss of how special the side-by-side bike is. And also, we got a free serving of “poffertjes”. Note to self: actually do that survey!

On Wednesday I also rode the side-by-side bike to the nearby lakeshore to have a cup of coffee and a piece of caramel pie. No pictures this time, but it’s the same caramel pie I had a few times last year too. I must say, this place is pretty budget-friendly, in that I only paid €6.95.

If we were having coffee, I’d provide an update on my medical situation. I had bloodwork done on Monday because of increasing IBS symptoms. Thankfully, nothing came out of it. I’m okay just dealing with the pain and discomfort, knowing that at least it’s not something more serious.

This is not necessarily the case with respect to my involuntary movements and tremors. Like I shared on Saturday, my doctor says they’ll only get worse because I’m getting older. I call bullshit to that, in that, while literally everyone gets older, it’s not like I’m elderly at 39. My wife looked up tardive dyskinesia (TD) as a result of medications, which my doctor didn’t mention specifically but then again she never mentions anything specifically. If I have this, there’s some medication for it in the works, but it isn’t available in Europe yet.

My wife at one point mentioned that this medication is prescribed to people with Huntington’s Disease too. I know there are similarities between tardive dyskinesia and Huntington’s, but I didn’t know how far these go. I finally joined a TD group on Facebook and asked. Thankfully, TD is not a death sentence and it may not even progress. That doesn’t mean I’m no longer distressed, because, quite frankly, unlike my IBS symptoms, the involuntary movements significantly impair me.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I decreased my antipsychotic again starting today. I’m now on 9mg of aripiprazole. I’d expected to get one 5mg tablet and four 1mg tablets, but for some stupid reason I got nine 1mg tablets. This means I can now just about barely swallow all of my pills at once.

If we were having coffee, finally I’d share that the talk with my support coordinator on Sunday was a bit disappointing. There are several things about my care that frustrate me and she told me it’ll take months before there’ll be any significant changes. Thankfully, she didn’t mean my day schedule. That might change a little sooner. She also scheduled a meeting with the behavior specialist who’s now responsible for my home now that the regular one is on maternity leave. That meeting will be on March 10.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (January 30, 2026)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi all! I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare today. Yes, on a Friday. Tomorrow, I’ll wrap up the month of January, but I really want to write today too. It’s 7:30PM as I start typing this, so no more coffee for me. I’ll once again take a break at 8PM for my Friday evening chips and soda. I’ll have to shower too, so may not return to the computer until like 9PM, because I don’t want to be using the computer with wet hair. If you’d like, grab a cup of your favorite beverage and let’s chat.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. It’s been chilly. Scratch that: it’s been cold! Daytime highs early in the week were around 4°C, but yesterday I believe it was freezing almost the entire day and we got snow again. I want spring, for goodness’ sake! It isn’t helpful to realize that February is the coldest month of the year here in the northern hemisphere.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you that I hardly walked all week. That is, today I did go for a 45-minute walk around grounds because I wanted to orient the home’s team leader, who’s working one day a week at our home as a support staff, to my walking routine. Yesterday, I didn’t walk at all, but did somehow activate an outdoor walking workout on my Apple Watch while just pacing around my room. I was also sitting down a lot and only managed 100m or so in 34 minutes. Thankfully, I was able to delete the “workout”.

If we were having coffee, I’d share that, on Sunday, I bought a new winter coat. I gained a little weight, so my old one was a bit too tight and had a tear in it. My wife offered to fix it, but after thinking for a bit, I said no. Unfortunately, I’d left my gloves in it and she’d already taken it home with her when I realized this, so this meant no gloves for the entire week. By the way, the new coat cost only €30.

If we were having coffee, next I’d tell you I didn’t end up going to the Eye Association meeting I was supposed to go to today after all. I shared last week that I had planned on going to a meeting for people with mild cerebral palsy this Saturday (January 31), but had decided against it for transportation reasons and because I had another meeting today. Well, early in the week, my assigned staff told me she wanted to talk some things over with me. Besides, I thought I had a physical therapy appt today too. Looking back, the things my assigned staff wanted to discuss, weren’t of major importance and the physical therapist’s appt was yesterday, but well.

If we were having coffee, finally I’d tell you that one of the things my assigned staff did want to discuss, is my day schedule. Unless the behavior specialist or my support coordinator has major objections, I’ll finally have two weekly kitchen-based activities in it soon. The staff did ask that, when I cook, it’s initially just for myself and maybe one or two others, because if we decide I’ll cook for the entire home, this means too much pressure on me (and potentially the staff). I agree with this.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (January 17, 2026)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare again today. It’s nearly 7:45PM, so I’ve had my last cup of coffee for the day and am soon going to step away from the computer to have a soft drink and chips. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and let’s chat.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. Last Sunday, it was freezing still with nighttime temps as low as -9°C. Yesterday and today, the daytime high was 10°C. Mother Nature is having mood swings.

If we were having coffee, next I’d share that, this week, I’ll probably have a perfect week with respect to my Apple Watch activity rings. I’m not all that ambitious about it, honestly, but it’s nice to see a virtual medal. Yesterday, I did complete the New Year’s challenge, which is to close all of your rings seven days in a row sometime during January.

If we were having coffee, next I’d update you on the assigned staff/support coordinator thing. I mentioned a few weeks ago that my assigned staff is in training to become a support coordinator and after that, it’d originally been decided she’d be both my support coordinator and assigned staff, with some stupid comment about me being able to come to anyone with my concerns. That was rather frustrating for me, as then everyone would be making decisions about me and my support would be even more chaotic than it already is. Well, yesterday I was told that my current support coordinator will remain my support coordinator for now and my assigned staff will remain my assigned staff.

I did have an argument about this with another staff today. There’s been made a decision about my showering routine which she disagrees with and she’d been telling me how she felt about it. I told her to stop coming to me for changes to my support agreement, instead going to either my support coordinator or assigned staff. She then claimed that she would no longer be doing fun activities with me, as that’s an assigned staff’s job too. That’s not true and it felt like she was using black-and-white logic. Unfortunately, this particular staff isn’t very able to accept criticism.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you I did enjoy some fun activities over the week. On Thursday, I went to have lunch at the institution townhouse with a staff. I chose a poke bowl.

Yesterday, I rode the side-by-side bike to the market in the next town. I bought olives, feta-filled green peppers (which it turned out I like despite thinking I don’t like feta), arugula and spinach and tried to buy fried chicken, but it was almost sold out. The vendor gave me what he had left over for free.

If we were having coffee, I’d share that my wife and I are pretty certain we’ll get a divorce after all. On Tuesday, she and I will be meeting up with a financial advisor to discuss the financial consequences of getting a divorce. I’ll still need to do some official ID stuff before that, but my wife is going to help me with this when she’s here tomorrow.

If we were having coffee, finally I’d share that I bought new earbuds. Yes, again. I bought JBL earbuds, because, though I have AirPods and JBL headphones, I prefer earbuds to headphones and yet the AirPods don’t work well with non-Apple products. I’m not yet entirely sure I like the new earbuds, but they weren’t horribly expensive.

Trying to Celebrate Small Wins #JusJoJan

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I have been struggling with mixed feelings about my day schedule and the things I accomplish or don’t accomplish during the day. Sometimes, I feel like there’s been quite a lot I’ve done, but on other days, I focus on the hours I’ve spent staring at the wall.

The difference isn’t just dependent on how much I actually did in terms of crafting, cooking, walking, reading, etc. It’s sometimes also a matter of perspective. I mean, I spent most of my allowed activity time slots just chatting with staff today. I could focus on that and on the fact that, with some help, I could’ve turned them so much more productive. Then again, I could also focus on the things I did achieve. Today, for example, I crafted a polymer clay snake.

It frustrates me to no end that my day activity goal is so vague that it’ll be achieved regardless of what I do or don’t accomplish during the day. I had worded the main goal myself, saying I’d like to do at least one meaningful activity each day. To this, however, my then assigned staff added examples, including dice games, and a caveat that if it looks like I’m in distress or tired, the staff can suggest doing smalltalk or extra moments to lie in bed, saying everyone needs rest. By this logic, each day is meaningful even if I’d spent it entirely in bed.

And that’s not entirely untrue. What makes it untrue is the part where staff decide for me which activities give me meaning and when it’s appropriate for me not to engage in them. In other words, it’s worded as an excuse for staff not to help me find and engage in meaningful activities. If I chose to lie in bed all day, like I did last September when sick with probable COVID, it’s quite different from all the times staff have suggested I lie down. If I chose to be lazy, it’d be on me, but if the staff choose to be lazy and twist it to mean they’re meeting my needs, we’re having quite a different situation.

I do try to celebrate the small wins though. Like today’s snake. That doesn’t mean I can’t wish for improvement, particularly because a lot could be improved without me getting more support hours. Would it be harder on the staff? Possibly, but not necessarily. I mean, listening to me moan about my quality of life, is no doubt exhausting to some staff too. And besides, it isn’t my task to make staff’s work day meaningful.

However, it does help me personally to focus on the things I do achieve rather than the things I don’t. I’m genuinely happy about the snake I crafted. Yesterday, I even did two crafty activities and met my movement goal on my Apple Watch by walking. I try to celebrate that. Celebrating my small wins gives me joy.

This post was written in response to today’s prompt for #JusJoJan, which is “celebrate”.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (January 3, 2026)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. It’s nearly 9:30PM as I start typing my #WeekendCoffeeShare post, so no more coffee for me. I just had a cup of orange-flavored green tea. Feel free to grab a cup of your favorite beverage and let’s chat.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. It’s cold, windy and snowy thanks to weather phenomenon Anna in Scandinavia. I can deal with the cold, but the wind and snow are rather annoying.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I haven’t really been moving much lately. I signed up for the free trial of Apple Fitness+ a few weeks ago, but canceled it on Thursday because it kept getting in my way when I tried to change my workout type on my Apple Watch. Not that I’ve done much other than walking, but I did try to dance once and somehow my watch kept messing up.

If we were having coffee, next I’d say that I’ve been struggling quite badly over the past few days. My day schedule is still a never-ending battle, I still haven’t heard from the Center for Consultation and Expertise consultant and on top of that the behavior specialist responsible for my home will be going on maternity leave soon. Yesterday, I also found out that I won’t be getting a new assigned staff now that my assigned staff is going to be my support coordinator. It wouldn’t have been a problem, had she had enough time in her work week to be both support coordinator for ten clients and my assigned staff, but she doesn’t. Staff keep saying I can go to any staff with my concerns, but this is actually not going to work for me with everyone having different opinions and no-one ever taking responsibility for so-called team decisions.

I had a meltdown over this whole thing yesterday. Staff kept arguing with me that I am too needy of my assigned staff and I have the capacity to understand the staffing situation so I don’t need an assigned staff. That last comment was made when I said the other clients often cling to their assigned staff people too. I’m honestly fed up with all the claims that I’m fundamentally different from every other client.

If we were having coffee, I would share that I quit Morning Pages already. I started on January 1, but last night hardly slept at all, so I decided I was lying down after breakfast again. Besides, the app I used won’t let me browse entries with VoiceOver, so I can never read what I wrote. Not that you’re supposed to for a while when you’re truly doing The Artist’s Way, but eventually I wish I could check back.

If we were having coffee, I’d finally share something positive: I’ve been crafting again this past week. On Tuesday, I made yet another polymer clay cheer up frog and, on Thursday, I made a unicorn with seed beads for its eyes. The frog, I once again made in record time: just over twenty minutes. And it’s awesome.

Yesterday, I was talking to my assigned staff / support coordinator about possibly making the unicorns and cheer up frogs to be sold at the care agency gift shop in the next town. The reason I went into it wasn’t altogether positive, namely the fact that another resident now has to pay for support to accompany him to his football and I’m scared that, eventually, the higher-ups will decide polymer clay isn’t “work” so I’ll have to pay for one-on-one support with that too. However, I do like the idea.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (December 27, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi all! Can you believe 2025 will be over with in less than a week? I honestly can’t. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare again. It’s past 8:30PM, so no more coffee for me. My favorite soft drink wasn’t cold, so I had water with my evening medication today. Let’s have a drink and let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. We had a frigid Christmas with a daytime high of -1°C. Today, the daytime high is 4°C. That’s still below-average for this time of year though and it’s still freezing at night.

If we were having coffee, next I’d tell you I finally let go of my movement streak on my Apple Watch. That is, like I said before, I was cheating all the while because I’d paused my rings when sick last September. On Christmas day, it was freezing cold, so I didn’t care for a walk. I could’ve cheated again, but didn’t.

If we were having coffee, next I’d share about my Christmas. I was at my and my wife’s house for the night. Christmas is often stressful with family issues and forced cheerfulness, but this year it was genuinely okay. Then again it was just the two of us (plus my wife’s cat, who was in hiding from me almost all the time).

The best part was my Bastogne cookie dessert. It was my idea to make this and I helped crumble the cookies and lended my wife my hand mixer. The recipe though was for eight servings. We made half of that, but of course it’s still a lot for just two people. The rest of the meal was good too.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you that I decided to give the staff who’s retiring next week her polymer clay “cheer up frog” on Sunday rather than wait for her last shift. She was very pleased with it.

If we were having coffee, finally I’d share that, yesterday, I decided to download yet another self-care app on my iPhone. I already used to have a ton of them, like I’ve had a ton of different apps for all kinds of things over the years. This one, I downloaded because I read on another blog about affirmations and wanted to do these again. The app this blogger uses, Labyrinthos, isn’t all that accessible with VoiceOver and its paid plan is a little outside of my budget. Besides, much as I love to dabble in tarot (which this app is mainly about), the cards are still mainly visual. This got me looking for other apps for affirmations and gratitude etc. The app I downloaded is simply called Gratitude. So far, I really like it. I’m really hoping to make positivity a bigger part of my life in 2026.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (December 20, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare once again. It’s 7:30PM, so no more coffee for me today. If you’d like to grab a cup of your favorite beverage though, feel free to. Let’s have a drink and let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. It’s still been warm for this time of year. Today, the daytime high was 7°C and that’s the lowest daytime temp we’ve had all week but it’s still considered above normal. We had some rain, but not too much and none is in the forecast for the next ten days.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I’m still meeting my movement goal each day, but I’m not nearly as physically active as I was over the summer. Not that I care. My cardio fitness level according to my Apple Watch is back in the below-average rather than low range. I doubt that’s correct. My sleep scores are also amazing most days. That makes me wonder why I wake up tired almost everyday.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I’ve had quite a productive week this past week. On Tuesday, I decided to put up a little Christmas decoration in my room after all. These are all my own polymer clay creations, though only the gingerbread figure is new.

Today, I finally created another cheer up frog. In case you don’t know, when several staff were on sick leave last spring, I created polymer clay frogs to cheer them up, the frog being a pun on the Dutch word for “cheer up” (“opkikker”), which has the word for frog (“kikker”) in it. One of the staff who’d gotten one last spring, asked for another one last September, but then we had an argument causing her to withdraw from my care. This staff is retiring in a few weeks, so when we had talked things over, I told her she’d get her “opkikker” after all.

However, by that time I was out of the right color of green polymer clay. I finally ordered new clay three weeks ago, but it took the store two weeks to get it delivered to me. By this time, I’d just ordered from another store. Now I have three packages of tropical green Fimo. This is alright, since I’ve since promised several more staff an “opkikker”.

If we were having coffee, I’d share that I also did quite a bit of cooking and baking over the past week. I cooked another chicken curry last Tuesday and baked a custard cake on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the same staff who went to the market with me last week, worked my afternoon activity. He had said last week that he didn’t particularly like the market, so I hadn’t asked him to go with me again, but he came up with it himself yesterday. This time, I bought olives again, but also peppersweets. I had no idea what these are and they tasted quite different than I’d expected, but they were delicious. I also bought fried chicken and mixed salad greens. Later in the afternoon, I prepared a salad using the olives, peppersweets, salad greens and also some onion and bell pepper I’d grabbed out of the care home fridge. It was absolutely delish.

If we were having coffee, I’d share that, yesterday, I attended the town’s annual Christmas lights walk. Two years ago, the staff were being difficult about me attending because it doesn’t end until 7:45PM and my activity time slot ends at 7:15. I made it very clear that I’m willing to think of ways I can cope without one-on-one, but my day schedule shouldn’t be an excuse not to include me. On Thursday, when the staff asked me whether I wanted to attend, i once again made sure they understood this. It was quite an enjoyable walk, though it’d been more enjoyable in previous years.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d ask for positive thoughts regarding the changes to staffing that will take effect next month. My assigned staff (who is also in training to become a support coordinator), today did reassure me that my day schedule isn’t at risk. I hope she’s right.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (December 13, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare again. I’m starting this post at 5:35PM as my iPhone is upgrading to iOS 26. I’ll probably finish this post after my evening coffee at 7PM. By the look of it, the iPhone update might not even have been completed by then, as my Internet is incredibly slow. Anyway, let’s have a drink and let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. Early in the week, the daytime highs were like 14°C and we had a little rain. No more rain today or yesterday and the temps have dropped to 10°C. That’s still warm for this time of year.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I’m still going strong meeting my movement goals on my Apple Watch and it’s now finally decided to actually add days to my streak. I broke my streak record a few days ago. The previous record was 309 days and it was set in June of 2023. However, of course I cheated with this one, as I paused my rings while sick last September.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you this week is a mixed bag. Early in the week, I found out that, as of next month, all self-employed temp workers will be let go. That’s understandable, as a self-employed person actually doing the same things as regular employees, is considered tax evasion on the part of the employer (in this case the care agency). The Tax Service had originally planned on handing out fines for this starting this year, but due to the problems in care and other sectors, it postponed this a year. I had known that this was going to happen for years, but due to the care agency’s careless attitude, hadn’t been sure that the care agency was actually going to follow through this time.

On Monday, one of the regular staff here, who is responsible for planning, said it’s indeed true and that this will likely lead to more staffing issues and possible cuts to our care. Other staff have been reassuring that my one-on-one hours have already been approved until late 2026 and I need not worry about cuts to my one-on-one. All this makes me quite worried regardless, as I’m just now learning to actually fill my one-on-one with enjoyable or meaningful activities.

If we were having coffee, then I’d talk about these meaningful activities. On Monday, I finished the Christmas decorations I crafted last week. No photo of the individual pieces, sorry, as my staff hung them on the branch that we use to decorate for the seasons before I remembered to snap a picture. I do, however, have a few pictures of the entire scene.


As a side note, my staff also borrowed some of my clay cutters for creating more decorations. These, I believe she is now finishing and will be putting up soon.

If we were having coffee, next I’d tell you that, yesterday, I visited the next town’s market again. I love going to this market, which is quiet enough that I don’t get overloaded yet there are enough stalls to buy all of the things I’d like to buy. I had fried shrimp at the fish stand. Well, one of two fish stands, actually. It turned out I usually go to the other one and like that one better, but I was with a staff who’d never been to this market. I also bought olives, mixed nuts and candy.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d share that I finally got my mother-in-law’s access to my records at the care agency revoked. I had originally asked that she’d be given access because, for some stupid reason, the powers-that-be wouldn’t give me access. Their reasoning was that it’d lead to too much distress, something I now realize isn’t grounds enough for denying a patient access to their own records. However, due to this decision, for many years, nobody had access to my records, so the staff could basically write down whatever they liked. That’s why eventually I asked my mother-in-law be given access. Not that she ever reads my records or that I trust her to respond appropriately if she does. Now nobody has access again, but I’m soon going to persuade the behavior specialist and manager to give me access after all.