#WeekendCoffeeShare (June 21, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare this evening. It’s 5:40PM as I type this. I’d advise you to drink lots of water today, as it’s hot outside, but if you’d like a coffee, I’ll gladly serve you one. I also just heard that one of the staff ordered a dozen bottles of diet coke (and I mean the 1.5l bottles, not single-serving bottles), so if you’d like a coke, that’s okay too. Let’s have a drink and let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, I’d start by sharing about the weather. Did I say it’s hot? Yes, I did. The daytime high today was 30°C. That plus lots of sunshine and poor air quality means I may go outside for a bit at 9PM or so, but not now. The rest of the week, the daytime temps have been lower, but I’ve been able to wear short sleeves each day.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another hot day here in the eastern part of the country, but after that, we’re getting some rain and lower temps (though still above 20°C). I’m already looking at the weather forecast for next Saturday, as then my sister and her family will be visiting me for my birthday. Let’s hope it won’t be too hot, as then my sister and her kids will most likely be cranky.

If we were having coffee, next I’d share that I did meet my movement goal on my Apple Watch each day this week again. That is, each day except for today so far, but I’m pretty sure I’ll meet it today too despite only one walk.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you that a staff handed me some shorts, shirts and a few other clothing items that she no longer wears. We did have to throw a few things away that I suspected would be worn out soon or damaged in the washing machine. Overall though, I’m very happy with everything she gave me.

If we were having coffee, I’d also tell you that I fell last Sunday. I had just finished a polymer clay project and was walking out of the bathroom after having washed my hands when I stumbled over an open drawer of my nightstand and fell. I apparently fell backwards, hitting my head quite hard on the floor. The staff said I was responsive right away, though I have a small memory gap. After a while, I got a major headache and my neck also started hurting.

My father broke his neck when he was young and didn’t find out until several days later. This thought crept up on me constantly and, not knowing that if I had broken or seriously damaged my neck, I would’ve felt severe pain right away not a while later, I felt quite anxious. My staff wasn’t able to reassure me either. Thankfully, my GP’s nurse practitioner, who came by on Friday to check on me, was. I now am to take paracetamol four times daily for the next few days to lessen the pain, in hopes that I’ll move my neck more and it won’t stay stiff. I’m glad my anxiety is also less, because that too was keeping me from moving my head.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d share that, though I have a zillion ideas for what to do in the crafting, physical activity and writing departments, none of these seem to materialize. This frustrates me to no end. I really hope there’s a way for me to get some more structure in my activities without it becoming too compulsive.

Today’s Accomplishments (June 20, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m struggling with having a zillion vague ideas of what to write in my mind but not being able to get started on actually typing any of them down. This makes me feel like a failure as a writer. To counter this feeling (and to actually write something, anything…), I’m doing a list of things I did accomplish today. Here goes.

1. Did my morning ADLs. I actually needed to shower today, but had showered and washed my hair yesterday so I did a quick wash this morning. After all, I was still pretty tired when waking up. I’m content with this.

2. Went to physical therapy. I had what I might hope was my last dry needling session on my right leg. It hurt when I was being treated, but the pain has been manageable for most of the day. I probably have to thank paracetamol for that, as I now have to take that four times daily for an unrelated ache.

3. Went on two 1.8km walks. After the dry needling treatment, I’m not supposed to walk long distances for the first 24 hours, but this felt okay.

4. Experimented with seed bead stringing. I had ordered seed beads in four colors last week (the parcel I moaned about not having been delivered last week). I had also ordered a beading needle, which I expected to be sharp so I was saying that I probably needed to protect my fingers. Then again, if I do so, I can no longer feel where the needle is going. Turns out the beading needle isn’t sharp at all. And guess what? I actually succeeded at stringing the seed beads onto the wire. Granted, I haven’t tried even the most basic beading stitch yet, as I couldn’t follow the step-by-step instructions I found online and didn’t have the time to watch a video with my staff. I’ll give it a try soon though.

5. Brushed my teeth. This isn’t such a big achievement to most, but for a long while when in the psych hospital, I struggled with this. For this reason, I’m mentioning it anyway.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (June 7, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare. It’s past 10:30PM, so I should really be in bed and I certainly shouldn’t be drinking coffee. Then again, this is a virtual get-together, so I’ll gladly pass you a virtual cup of your favorite beverage. Let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. It’s been quite unpredictable but mostly chillier than I’d like and also rainier. At the end of last week (I believe) I was even awoken by a thunderstorm in the middle of the night. And if you know me well enough, you’ll know that I hate thunderstorms.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you that, thankfully, it wasn’t raining on any of the evenings we did the walking event I mentioned last week. That is, not during our walks at least. I’m also proud to say that I completed the event and earned a medal. I’ve always been surprised at the fact that participants in the big Nijmegen four-day walking event only earn an actual medal every five years. Of course, I can probably guess the reason: the medals we get are cheap and not something a neurotypical adult would appreciate. As such, participants in the Nijmegen thing are as happy with a simple mark of completion as I am with the medal. We also got free ice cream at the end of the event (well, those who’d actually completed the event and earned all their checkmarks). I chose whipped cream-flavored ice cream.

Did I mention that originally, my staff had agreed with me that I’d use a wheelchair as needed during the event? That wasn’t an option according to the staff accompanying me. I sort of understood, but was annoyed at the lack of clear communication. Thankfully, I was able to complete the event on foot.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I had two physical therapy sessions this week. One was on Wednesday and it was originally intended for another dry needling session. However, because of the walk that evening, we decided to do the dry needling on Friday and for the physical therapist to just loosen up my leg a bit.

On Friday, I had my second dry needling session and it hurt like crazy. Afterwards, I got a bit dizzy. However, it’s now nearly 36 hours after the treatment and at least for now the pain is less than it was last week. I’m also hopeful that this will actually in a few days turn out to have significantly lessened my leg pain.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I haven’t been very crafty over the past week. On Monday, I created a polymer clay bear using a new-to-me skill: filling it up with tinfoil. The foil needs to be crumpled very tightly to prevent air bubbles forming in it and there’s also the risk of air bubbles getting trapped between the clay and the foil. Air bubbles will expand and can cause the layer of clay to crack. This happened with the bear too, but still, I’m pretty content with the result.

If we were having coffee, I’d say that I did enjoy thinking up new ideas for creations. I badly want to craft a standing unicorn someday, but it needs a wire armature. I had been reading up more on sculpting with clay, but my book doesn’t include a unicorn or horse (it’s a book about creating animals). So what did I do? I asked ChatGPT. It came up with what sounds like a pretty doable tutorial. I did have a few questions that I asked in a polymer clay group on Facebook. I still need to figure some things out, but I’m confident I will be able to create a wire armature someday and as a result craft a standing unicorn. I already got one of the student staff here quite excited for helping me make it.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (May 31, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. Today I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare. I originally wanted to write another post first, but got distracted by a dozen other ideas. It’s 9PM here, so no more coffee for me. I need to drink plenty of water because I have some extra fluid in my right leg. Let’s have a glass of water and let’s chat. Or if you’d like coffee, fine by me too.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. For most of the week, it’s been quite rainy and too chilly for my liking, even though the daytime temperature was probably still higher than it should be. Today though, we have sunshine and a daytime high of 25°C.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I haven’t been as physically active as I’d have wanted to be. Like I said above, I have some unwanted fluid in my right leg. My leg also hurts from muscle knots. I had a dry needling treatment at the physical therapist’s on Tuesday and am having another one next Wednesday. I am not 100% sure it’s working, as on Thursday my pain was worse and besides, I don’t know which pain or limitation is from the muscle knots and which is from the fluid build-up.

Today was a good day in the walking department though. Next week is the institution’s four-day walking event. I’m going to take part in the 3km walk, but I’ll be allowed to sit in a wheelchair as needed (thankfully, this event isn’t as strict on walking as some others are). That way, I can take part in the festivities and enjoy the experience but don’t need to overexert myself.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you about my creative endeavors over the past week. I finished two unicorns for the home’s volunteers on Monday.

That day, I also found out that one of the student staff would be leaving. He didn’t work with me, but I know him because he used to be a student staff at the care facility in Raalte before coming here. Back then, we used to go on walks together, taking his camera with us and snapping pictures which my image description app could then describe. The app wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is now, so I might want to look up some of these pictures and run them through Be My Eyes now.

Anyway, I wanted to craft something for him but didn’t know what until my best friend asked me what his hobbies are. I initially said that I don’t know, then remembered our photographing adventures back in Raalte and said “photography”. My best friend immediately suggested I craft a camera. I had never done so, but my best friend gave me some suggestions. Here’s the result. Be My Eyes recognized it immediately and even said that the photo of the back I took might be of a miniature camera.


If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I cooked pasta for my fellow residents on Thursday. It wasn’t as good as it could’ve been, because the veg had been overcooked and generally speaking the meal was a bit bland. Better luck next time.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d share that yesterday, on the student staff’s last shift, I played DJ again at the other side of the home. I initially played some Dutch-language songs that were apparently not well-known, but finally I chose “Oerend hard” by Normaal and that had my fellow residents loudly singing along.

Overall, this week was a good one except for the pain.

Thankful Thursday (May 15, 2025): An Active and Creative Day

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. Today is Thursday. I used to join in with (now angel) Brian’s Thankful Thursday occasionally a long time ago, but mostly pet bloggers joined in there. Recently, I discovered another Thankful Thursday blog hop. I’m joining in with both just because I can. 🙂

Today I had a really productive day in both the physical activity department and the creativity department.

In the morning, I went for a walk on institution grounds. Then, in the afternoon, my staff and I rode the side-by-side bike to the next town, where another staff lives who is currently on leave for family-related reasons. I went there to bring her a polymer cay “(op)kikker” (frog).

The staff invited us in for coffee, which was lovely. She really appreciated my little gift, which in turn made me grateful.

Later, I went for another walk on grounds and, in the evening, I crafted a unicorn out of polymer clay. My staff asked whether it was for yet another staff member, but I think I’m keeping this one myself. 😊

The staff, who had been doing all my support from 1PM on, also asked me whether I want to ride the side-by-side bike again tomorrow. Well, of course! I want to go to the market!

I am intensely grateful for a productive day. Here are some things I especially appreciated about today:


  • Coffee at the staff’s house.

  • Minimal pain even though I was quite physically active.

  • Being able to create again (I’ve been exceptionally crafty lately).

  • Excitement for tomorrow’s visit to the market.

  • And finally, the fact that I figured out how to use emojis on the computer! 🤣

#WeekendCoffeeShare (May 4, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m once again joining #WeekendCoffeeShare on Sunday, as yesterday, I had a busy day and was too tired to write.

Today’s the day we commemorate Dutch people who died in World War II (and in every war, conflict and maybe they now count terrorist attacks too since). Only 5% of Dutch people currently were alive during our liberation on May 5, 1945. I never was all that much of a May 4 and 5 follower, but I have over the past few years learned to be more mindful of the freedom and rights I and those I love have, since they are more and more being threatened. For this reason, I think I’m going to do the two minutes of silence at 8PM this year. I hope I’ll have finished my post by then. I’ve just had dinner, so no coffee for me, but I’d love to offer you a drink.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. On Wednesday, we had our first day when, at the national weather institute in De Bilt, the temperature climbed to above 25°C. On Thursday, here it even got to 28°C. I read that the first day of temps above 25°C usually doesn’t happen until mid-May. I appreciated it though. Today, the daytime temp didn’t get above 13°C.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you I’ve done a lot of walking again, as well as riding the side-by-side bike. My May challenge on my Apple Watch is to double my movement goal twice. I already did it once so far, so that should be ridiculously easy.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share that one of the sick staff whom I’d made the polymer clay frog for last week, let me know via her colleague that she was really happy with it. I had originally asked another staff to pass the frog for the other sick staff on to her. Then, on Tuesday, that staff said it may be nice for the two of us to pop by the sick staff’s house on Wednesday so that I could personally give the frog to her. I did ask the staff whose idea this was to text her colleague to ask her permission for us to stop by, since some care workers with good reason don’t want clients to know where they live. Now I for one never even look up my staff online and would certainly not violate their living space. The sick staff gave her permission so one of the side-by-side bike rides was to there. The staff’s kids were home too and one of them asked me where I live. I, being awkward with young kids that I am, originally mentioned the institution town and then said I lived at [staff’s name]’s work, only to realize that [staff’s name] is “Mommy” to the kid.

If we were having coffee, I’d share that the other side-by-side bike ride was to a market once again. I resisted the urge to buy something, as I’d already been to the supermarket on Monday and I reasoned even just strolling the market is a nice experience. Besides, we did have lunch at a fish diner.

If we were having coffee, then I’d share I’m still struggling with the temp worker situation and how much energy goes into explaining everything to them. Sometimes, I think staff get me, while at other times, it seems as though they’re absolutely clueless.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d tell you that, yesterday, I went to Nijmegen for a cerebral palsy meeting again. It wasn’t the nationwide CP day. That had been in early April but was held in a city that’s a two-hour journey from here, so I hadn’t gone there. Nijmegen is about a 45-minute drive in good traffic. This meeting lasted three hours total and there was no theme. Rather, we gathered in a restaurant and had lunch and some drinks and just chatted. I have met many of the participants a few times before, but there were a few newcomers too. With one of them, I chatted almost the entire time, because we had so much in common. She recommended a few resources to me too.

After the meeting, I had decided to go to my best friend’s parents’ house (ack, “in-laws” is a lot shorter 😉). My best friend picked me up in Nijmegen and drove us there. My best friend’s sister was there for a bit too with her one-year-old son. I really don’t do well with kids, although this one is a lot less loud than my nieces.

I didn’t get back to the institution until 8PM yesterday and went to bed shortly after 10PM. I’m honestly still quite tired.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (April 12, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare today. It’s just past 4:30PM as I start writing my post, so I’m going to interrupt my writing for dinner. If you’d like a cup of coffee, you’re free to join me at 7PM, by which time I’ll probably have finished this post. 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 sunny most of the week and we haven’t had rain in forever. Today, the temperature climbed to 22°C. This is my favorite type of weather, but I do realize that this high temps in April probably mean 40°C in July.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I once again managed to get in quite a lot of steps. On Monday, a staff and I went to the nearby lake, which I’d visited a few times with another staff before. While there, I did manage to take a few photos. My staff thought it’d be cool to take a photo of me at the bridge, but none of the photos she took were good enough. Here are a few photos that did turn out okay.



If we were having coffee, then I’d share that I’ve been taking some more photographs. On Sunday, I took some sunset shots. I really want to learn how to capture just the sunset rather than the buildings and trees too.


On Monday, I let my staff take my phone to the yard to snap a picture of an air balloon. I love how Be My Eyes describes the second photo with the bird on it.


If we were having coffee, next I’d tell you that I went out for lunch twice this week. On Wednesday, a staff and I went to Deventer to eat out at a restaurant staffed by people with developmental disabilities called Brownies ‘n’ Downies. There, I got the chicken burger with fries.

On Thursday, my mother-in-law came by for a visit. We drove to a pancake place a few towns away that has a play area for children too. Even though there weren’t many people in the restaurant, it was quite an overloading experience.

If we were having coffee, next I’d share that I’ve been hyperfixating on the idea of doing more cooking. I’ve been looking at smoothie recipes too, but I can’t seem to find cacao powder that isn’t super expensive anywhere in a brick-and-mortar supermarket.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that, this week, I’ve unfortunately still been struggling with temp workers being assigned to me. (Of course, my staff will say they’re “regular” temp workers.) Today, the support coordinator assigned me one of the temp workers for the entire morning under the guise of fewer switches. Well, it isn’t like he does this fewer switches thing when my trusted staff are available. IN the afternoon, the other temp worker had to have her one orientation moment with me. We went for a walk and then tried to play a game of dice, but she didn’t understand. The support coordinator told me that, if a staff doesn’t understand an activity, I can choose another activity which does suit them and another staff will explain the activity to them later. This frustrates me to no end.

If we were having coffee, I’d end on a positive note and share that, thankfully, the Center for Consultation and Expertise received our request to get involved. I’m now waiting for the behavior specialist to receive a call planning an orientation meeting. I really do hope I’ll be invited to that meeting.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (March 29, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone on this last Saturday of March. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare today. It’s nearly 8PM as I write this, so no more coffee for me. However, a fellow client’s parents brought us cheese, sausage and maybe other little snacks to go with our soft drinks this evening. I’ll have apple and peach-flavored Dubbelfrisss as usual. Let’s have a drink and let’s catch up.

If we were having coffee, first as usual I’d talk about the weather. It’s been mild most days with daytime temperatures around 15°C, though night-time temps have been around freezing. We had a little rain on Sunday I believe, but I think that was before I woke up. Honestly, I’m pretty sure nature could use some showers.

If we were having coffee, then I’d talk about my physical fitness routine. I am still going strong with my goal of a perfect month on my Apple Watch and, on Thursday, got in over 20K steps again.

If we were having coffee, then however I’d moan about my tremors. I’ve mentioned a couple of times that my right leg trembles horribly sometimes and, usually when it’s been happening, the rest of my body follows suit and starts twitching. Yesterday, it was really bad. My intellectual disability physician usually says it’s most likely influenced by stress, though both of us know that my medication (particularly my antipsychotic) could be causing it too.

With respect to my meds, I’ve often been reacting out of fear of becoming unmanageable and for this reason asking for a very slow taper. My physician has been constantly asking whether my life will become more difficult soon due to for instance more temp workers, because apparently that’d be a reason not to taper further for a while. Now I’ve decided that being manageable is not a reason to put my body through the effects of strong meds. Besides, yesterday I had an aggressive meltdown precisely because I couldn’t cope with the tremors anymore. Now thankfully on Monday my staff will contact the intellectual disability physician, my GP or both.

If we were having coffee, I’d also moan about my shoes. I’d worn one pair of orthopedic shoes for only a week last Thursday and they were already badly damaged. The physical therapist took a look at them and said she thought the orthopedic shoemaker might not have done the last repair properly. I’m not sure that’s the reason they get damaged so quickly. On Friday though, the physical therapist came by and took a video of my walking, which she is going to compare to a video she took about half a year ago. I’ll see her again next Friday and hope she’ll have some ideas.

If we were having coffee, I’d share that I’ve been having bad memories of my time in the mental hospital. Like I said above, the intellectual disability physician here constantly talks about the possibility of more temp workers as an excuse not to taper my medication. This was precisely why I was prescribed medication in the first place: I’d become severely irritable because of the large number of temp workers at the time and my psychologist was threatening me with seclusion if I continued to have meltdowns. Similarly, when on the locked ward, I was literally told I’d be locked up in the “quiet room” if I needed more care than they could provide. I realize rationally that this is institutional abuse, but I’ve internalized a lot of all the bullcrap institutions feed me.

If we were having coffee, I’d end on a somewhat positive note by sharing that the behavior specialist finally filled out the forms to get the Center for Consultation and Expertise involved on my case.

#WeekendCoffeeShare (March 22, 2025)

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. It’s nearly 10PM here. I really wanted to write today but, for reasons I’ll explain in a bit, didn’t get to it. I’m joining #WeekendCoffeeShare. No more drinks for me except maybe some water, but if you’d like to, feel free to grab your favorite beverage.

If we were having coffee, first I’d talk about the weather. It’s been absolutely delightful. Yesterday, the daytime temperature was as high as 22°C and I wore a skirt. I usually don’t wear skirts in colder weather because I don’t like wearing tights. It felt so good to be able to wear a skirt. I also loved the sunshine.

If we were having coffee, then I’d tell you that I got in a lot of walking again over the past week. I really liked being active.

If we were having coffee, next, however, I’d share that I’ve been struggling badly again. I had an unannounced visit from the behavior specialist on Monday. My initial question was whether any progress had been made in involving the Center for Consultation and Expertise on my care. The answer to that was “No” and the behavior specialist didn’t offer any clarity on when she was going to get the ball rolling. My feeling is it’ll be 2034 by the time they get involved.

She did, however, have a lot of new so-called “agreements” (I’d call them executive orders) on my care. She pretty much ignored my input and there’s nothing about the things I said in the bullet points my assigned staff wrote in my records. Some of the new rules include:


  • New staff get only one chance to be oriented to me for each task (activity, morning routine, meal) and then they’re supposed to be “regulars” and can be assigned to me whenever the staff want. If I am not accepting them for their orientation time, it’s a missed opportunity on my part. I didn’t find out about that last bit until today.

  • I can be physically dragged to my room if I’m having a meltdown in the communal areas.

  • Staff will no longer be forced to rotate almost each support moment. Sounds good and it was what I wanted, but now they’re supposed to decide at the end of each moment who will come for my next moment, giving me only half an hour to adjust.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that the staff tried to orient three new “regular temp workers” (that’s an oxymoron in my opinion) to me within the next three days. I didn’t accept two of them. One because it was the evening after the meeting with my behavior specialist and a relatively new staff would be orienting her colleague. The other, I never said I wasn’t accepting but I was in a lot of distress and somehow my assigned staff made up that it was because of the new one.

The third one, I accepted without protest for my morning routine even though I later found out staff are supposedly first oriented to an activity. The staff being oriented kept asking me whether I’d explain things to her if she forgot. Well, actually, no, since I’m pretty easily overloaded by lots of questions. “She does pay attention, don’t worry,” the regular staff told me. Well, I do worry.

Unfortunately, I got a lot of negativity in my records for my behavior and yet there wasn’t the slightest acknowledgement of the fact that I’d accepted the third new staff without protest. That feels intensely unfair to me.

If we were having coffee, I’d share that the support coordinator did, for some reason probably only he knows, decide the new “regular temp workers” can’t be assigned to me yet even though by the behavior specialist’s rules, I’ve had my chance with all three. I am grateful for this, although I do understand I’ll need to accept them soon enough. That, hopefully, will go okay.

If we were having coffee, lastly I’d share that I’ve been writing up positives and negatives of the day each day for a few weeks now. Looking over these, it shows that I do appreciate small joys.

For example, there’s a new sensory room on the other side of the home and I’ve been eager to use it. I’ve also donated some stuffed animals and cushions to it.

Share Our Life (March 2025): An Average Day

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone! Today I’m joining Share Our Life, a linky with a monthly theme. This month, it’s to describe an average day in your life. Unfortunately, taking pictures is not part of my average day. I really want to change that, but for now, just text will have to do. I didn’t pick a specific day to describe.

I usually wake up at around 7:30AM when the staff are helping the resident in the room next to me with her morning routine. Since my first support moment isn’t until 8:15AM, I usually have a little snooze.

8:15AM is when my staff come to wake me up and help me with my morning routine. I hate showering, so don’t do it each day. I get dressed and have breakfast – usually quark with muesli and blueberries. My morning routine, including breakfast, can take up to an hour.

At 9:15AM, I’ll usually lie back in bed for a little slumber while listening to music on my music pillow.

My first activity time slot starts at 10AM. I sometimes extend my lie-in until 10:15 or 10:30AM. I start my activity time slot with coffee and then I’ll usually either play a card or dice game or go for a walk.

By 11:30AM, my staff leave to prepare my lunch. I usually eat two slices of bread with peanut butter and a cracker with speculoos (Biscoff). I also consume a serving of veg with my lunch. My lunchtime is at noon.

By 12:15PM, I’m done eating and will be on my phone for a bit, reading the news or texting or calling my spouse, who is then usually taking a break.

My two-hour activity time slot starts at 12:45PM. This time slot was originally intended for more time-consuming activities such as a bigger polymer clay project, going out to the nearby town, etc. Occasionally, I’ll use this time slot for cooking dinner for myself and my fellow residents. Often though, I can be found walking grounds with my staff. I’ll end my activity time slot with coffee, although I might also have a cuppa by 1:45PM already.

My staff go into handover at 2:45PM and I’ll most days use up the 45 minutes until my next supported moment with some online activities. By the way, handover doesn’t take 45 minutes, but it’s not like I need one-on-one all of the time.

During my 3:30PM activity time slot, which lasts an hour, I commonly play a dice game. I sometimes also go for another walk. I have unsupported time again for 30 minutes after this while my staff help the other clients with their dinner. My dinner is at 5PM. I am a rather fast eater, so am frequently finished by 5:15PM. My staff have their break at 5:30PM.

At 6PM, my final activity moment for the day starts. I have an activity list, from which I can choose what we’re going to do. What we’ll do, is too often related to the staff supporting me. I really want to change this, but it’s hard.

I’ll have my final coffee at 7PM and then have unsupported time again until it’s time for my late evening meds at 8PM. I’ll most commonly use this time and the rest of the evening for blog-related activities.

Like I’ve shared many times, I usually have Dubbelfrisss in apple-peach flavor with my evening meds. I also will eat a serving of fruit. Then I’ll be told which staff will be in the home the next day. Some days, I’ll hang out in the living room for some time then, while at other times, like today, I’ll head straight back to my room and go online. I used to be phoning my spouse a lot late in the evening too, but now we’ll often talk at other times.

At 8:45PM, I’ll sometimes have a little snack. Then I’ll go online again until my staff come to supervise me brushing my teeth and to close my door to the yard at 9:30PM. After that, the staff will leave the home and I’m supposed to rely on the night staff in the main institution building for support. My fellow residents all go to bed before then, but I’m allowed to stay up. I’m a true night owl, so most days it’ll have been past 11PM before I’m in bed.

All this sounds incredibly boring and unproductive. I really want to put my unsupported time to better use, because currently most of the time I just end up scrolling.