Painting...

It is amazing how a coat of paint on the walls can freshen up a room. We spent the afternoon painting the flat, with Rich and JP. We didn't expect to get that finished today, which was amazing in itself. We managed to paint a bedroom, living room and the hall all in one afternoon. I must have looked like a woman possessed as I painted 2/3 of the bedroom and the lower 3/4 of the hall walls. Nipping in every so often to touch up any part of the walls that were a bit patchy and then moving on to the next bit. I must have gone for 3 or 4 hours straight without a break. I was loaded up on meds and caffeine so my asthma didn't kick off too much.

I got told off by Rich and JP because I was working so hard and tirelessly. It was a labor of love and it was enjoyable to get the place sorted. I am paying dearly for it now mind, my chest feels horrible and sore. I worked so hard but it felt so worth it. I may end up having an attack sooner or later, but I really want to get the work done before that happens.

The next bits are going to involve moving our things over to the new place, I will probably be there all day tomorrow, after of course getting the curtain track hooks so I can hang the bedroom curtains up. Leaving the YMCA has been so weird, but I don't feel as though I am going to miss it.

Our new place has a wonderful feel to it and there has already been moments of laughter and happiness. OK so it involved JP making the woman and sandwich jokes and I decided to chase him through the flat with a loaded brush... We bounced around for hours, and it felt as though the last 2 years never happened. The sadness, the anger, the regrets, they all melted away and left us with this amazing feeling, and it felt incredible. I felt incredible.

Loves
Wendy xx

Opportunities

I was checking my emails earlier and noticed that I was offered a writing opportunity for a company called Health Central. I am so happy about this and feel so honored that someone would contact me and ask me to write at least 2 articles a week for them. All I can say here is THANK YOU so much to everyone who follows my blog, reads it and all the positive input that I have had. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you all for your support and of course a big THANK YOU for putting up with my variable moods, strange rantings and other things that have made the last 6 months, well interesting.

We have started some of the process of moving, I moved 4 of my models over to the new place, I miss them at the moment but I know that they make the place feel different. The air is clear in there and there is such a lovely feel to the place. We began painting the place which has been an interesting experience, but on the whole, very pleasurable. The best part is knowing that all of us, me, Steve and our wonderful friends are all coming together to make the flat in to the best home we can have. It's not going to be just bricks and cement, but a real house of love and, I hope, happiness.

Leaving the YMCA doesn't feel like an ending. No, it is a new beginning to something special and something we're all building together.

Loves
Wendy xx

Positive Steps...

I know there has been a lot of negativity around lately so I think when we have something good happen, it is important to celebrate each victory as it comes. This week has already started on a good, positive note, well for one, we're preparing to move out of the YMCA, which I think has been the reason we have been so unhappy these last few weeks. No matter how much you love someone, you can't live in each other's pockets without wanting to kill the other person.

Also, another positive thing that happened today was my chest behaved so well this afternoon, I was able to walk (the flatter way, through the Arrow Valley Park) from our flat in Church Hill, to our new place in Abbeydale. It was a bit of a walk, but it was worth it and I did feel good about myself afterwards. I wasn't aware just how much carrying that extra weight was making me tired and making the walk more difficult so the weight loss is a definite win there as well.

I was really proud of myself earlier when I managed that walk. I think I kind of windowed myself in the invalid role and didn't allow myself to see what exactly I COULD do, rather than focusing on everything I found hard. I am really looking forward to this move and getting out of the YMCA. Our rescue pup is settling in well and has been successfully bonded with my eldest boar, so Patch is now happy with Kadaj. When we move we want a small outdoors enclosure so that they can play and explore their new garden.

So it is goodbye YMCA, YMCA mentality and feeling sorry for myself.

Loves
Wendy xx

Our YMCA Days...

Are officially numbered! In 7 days our official tenancy for our new home in Stanley Close begins next week which means that our process of moving out of Knowle Close begins tomorrow, when we sign the agreements and get the keys to the new flat. We're both really looking forward to this. It means we can leave the YMCA for good, never looking back or wanting to live here ever again. It is a big move forward and a big step in the right direction.

I guess I can honestly say that the Village People got it wrong. It wasn't fun to stay at the YMCA. It was noisy, the flat was a shoebox. The doors never closed properly and the place always had the feel that would more commonly be associated with some kind of prison. Not a home. Everyone here always seemed to have this repressed and unhappy look about them and no one trusted anyone else. The walls were paper thin so you could hear everything and everyone else which is not fun, because they can hear you as well.

We went to view the new flat today, and it was lovely. It is ground floor and it is quite a big place. Much bigger than where we live now and its a lot more private. I mean I can actually have a room where I can sleep and relax in peace without the worry about dub-step music or drug dealers. I wonder about having my new items sent to the new place, but what I can do is send them there and if I have to I can collect them from the Depot.

So tomorrow we are going to sign for the keys and the moving process begins. I have begun to move things like the cable, benefits and my bank account to the new place. Tomorrow, we can begin shifting some of the boxes of things over, which means that I am going to have to box up my models and other things.

Loves
Wendy xx

Rescue Pup

So here he is in all his glory. My rescue pup, Kadaj. Hes a tiny little creature with such a sweet little face, and so many wounds, both physical and emotional. I can only imagine what this poor little thing has been through in his 6 weeks of life. Half of his ears have been taken away in chunks and he has so many cuts and scars on his little back. Poor little angel must have been through hell.

I am glad we went to look at the adoption centre at Pets At Home, or this little guy may have never found a "forever home" and would have been put to sleep. We had room for him so we took him home with us, but we won't be adopting anymore now.

loves
Wendy xx

A Second Chance...

I have always believed that everyone and everything should be allowed a second chance at happiness. I think it definitely includes animals. It makes me so mad when you see and hear about these creatures who are being abused and intentionally hurt of killed by people because they can, from people who make dogs fight to guinea pigs who have had bad housing and have been left to be attacked or hurt by other animals, or living in dirty cages, the list goes on and on.

When we adopted little Kadaj, I could see that there was more to his story than we thought. Here was a guinea pig who was so nervous and frightened, walked with a slight limp and had half of his ears bitten away. I had to take that poor little thing home and give him a happy and safe life. It was the right thing to do. As I bathed him (he smelled like a dirty house and had so many scabs that had grown out and were hanging in his fur) brushed him and checked him over, what I found was shocking.

The poor little mite was covered in wounds all over his back. His back is heavily scarred so wherever he was before he was up for adoption, there was obviously an aggressive animal who was housed with him. Yes Hope can be a little shit, but these were not wounds inflicted by another pig. These were caused by something bigger. Much bigger. I had to clip away some of his fur around the wounds so we could get to them and clean them. The poor thing screamed in pain and fear and I felt absolutely awful for doing it, but I knew I had to. I knew I had to get to the wounds to clean them. I know in time, as both his body and his heart heal, he will forgive me for the fact I had to do the things I had to do, for his own good. 

I had a good day today with Steve, Nat and JP. We watched a movie (OK so I fell asleep, but I wasn't feeling as well as I could have been) and generally laughed about so much. It is nice to have such amazing people around me and I do feel like I am part of something. A non-conventional family of the sweetest and kindest people you could ever wish to meet.

Loves
Wendy xx

Tackling Hypokalemia...

After a good chat and checking everything over, we now know what we are addressing when it came to my weakness and exhaustion, muscle cramps and the fact that I would have been better known as "Sea Biscuit" among other strange and rather unusual symptoms. We did have suspicions that I could have been developing Type 2 Diabetes due to my steroids. Turns out a lack of potassium in my diet (over the last 6 months, I have really not been eating much by the way of good food) and the use of bronchodilators had caused me to begin the development of early stage Hypokalaemia.

If left untreated, this could have been dangerous, but now we are packing as much fruit and veg as we can in to me. As well as eating dark chocolate and other things to really increase my mineral intake. Just as well because my feet are cramping to hell! It's getting better thanks to some good food, and a good rest, but it was so painful earlier because my feet and my right calf were just agony and I was shaking so much I could barely stand up, I was so pale that I looked like I would pass out at any minute and I had already fainted today which hadn't helped. My BP was 70/69 which is low. Very low. No wonder I was fainting and looking like a zombie.

On a plus, because Steve thought I needed a pick-me-up, we went in to Pets At Home. We stopped by the adoption centre and saw someone called Marley. Now Marley was an 8 week old, tortoiseshell satin guinea pig who no one wanted to buy. We had to adopt this little beauty and bring him back with us. He now lives under the name of Kadaj and is a noisy little devil!!

Loves
Wendy xx