2021 Thoughts And Reflections

For the 4^th year in a row we’ve had a big year.  In June Mr StitchNSew underwent more spinal surgery. It did takes us a little by surprise as we were expecting it later in the year if not next year. The timing was perfect as Sydney went into its 2^nd major Covid lockdown 4 days after his operation.  The last couple days of his hospital stay were hard as I wasn’t allowed to visit him due to hospital visitor restrictions brought in after we went into the new lockdown. He recovered well post surgery. Not only is he back doing hobbies he hadn’t been able to do for about 12 months he is also now cooking more than I am! I have my own chef and not complaining one bit. At the start of August all non urgent elective surgery in Sydney was cancelled so my job became a little busier as the hospital surgery lists were juggled around to do all the urgent elective surgeries.

Carrying groceries home on my own

As mentioned in Sydney we faced lockdown in June. There were more restrictions in this year’s lockdown due to the more contagious Delta variant making lockdown harder this time. Some parts of Sydney classed as hotspots and were under tighter restrictions and rules which included the suburb we live and I work. In the Sydney region only 1 person could go to the shops. This year we still able to get weekly online groceries delivered which we couldn’t last year however at times drivers couldn’t come into the building so I needed to go down to the front door and bring the groceries up to the apartment myself. Normally Mr StitchNSew and I go to the shops together and pick up any items we don’t get in the home delivery and he carries them home on the back of his wheelchair. He wasn’t allowed out to help so if a grocery item didn’t arrive in the online order and I couldn’t carry it home by myself we didn’t get it. Fortunately we are both good list makers and planners so our meals were planned out based on what we had already and lists were written out for what essentials I needed to carry home. Due to our location being a hotspot I was having 3 day testing done. I don’t flinch now when a swab comes nears me. I will say it is really hard to have a swab done if you can’t stop laughing. Often I knew the people doing my swabs and we would be busy chatting and laughing through the test. I was fortunate to be double vaccinated just prior to the start of the June outbreak and Mr StitchNSew was double vaccinated in September. Earlier this month I had my booster shot just before the Omicron variant started to hit Sydney. Mr StitchNSew will hopefully get his booster next month. I’m very cautious at the moment as this latest version seems to be hitting those vaccinated. I know it is milder but I just don’t want to risk things with Mr StitchNSew’s health.

I have trained with a mask on at all times at the gym this year

My fitness took a hit this year. Like many people I gained some Covid kilos. Gyms closed in the June lockdown and didn’t reopen until mid October. You could train with a trainer outdoors which I did once after Mr StitchNSew came out of hospital but I stopped after that as Covid case numbers increased and I didn’t want to risk it. Once Mr StitchNSew was vaccinated I more comfortable and commenced training outdoors with my trainer so I missed about 8 weeks of training.  My focus was keeping Mr StitchNSew safe so I was avoiding anything not 100% necessary. I find training outside different to training in a gym (not the same intensity) When gyms reopened I felt like I had gone backwards by a lot. I knew I gained weight (we had started eating fruit, jelly and custard/ice cream every night after the surgery as it was easy for Mr StitchNSew to chew) I didn’t have the same stamina and my hips were sore more. Last year on my 40^th birthday I swore I didn’t want to be like this at 41 but here I was feeling even worse. For weeks after gyms reopened it was getting me down. I was training the day before my 41^st thinking about what I said, I stopped to think what exercise my trainer had me doing. It was a new one that involved kneeling on knee whilst I lifted weights. I was almost in tears when I realised that I was doing a challenging exercise and not doing basic entry level exercises. Yes my fitness is down a little but talking to a Doctor in E.D one night (I had to take my dad in) a lot of people were returning to the gym expecting to start back where they finished in June and that won’t happen as everyone has lost fitness no matter what you did during lockdown and how hard you trained. The slight weight gained isn’t helping my hips but the reason they are sore is now I’m getting more range of movement in them as I gain strength and flexibility. They are protesting as they are not used to moving in this way. There is still room for improvement but I’m working at it even doing more exercises at home than I did before.  

Sustainability and reducing waste has been a big focus for us this year. We are now more conscious of items we purchase, packaging and using produce all up instead of wasting it. It has changed the way we shop and cook. I call it Mr StitchNSew’s kitchen. He is good at planning our meals dependant on what we have at hand in the fridge and freezer. Often we get 2 meals from one and I’m good on thinking of different ways to use leftovers. We introduced a rule that leftovers must be properly put away in a container and used in another dish within a few days so they don’t get forgotten. We do have the occasional mishap which results in food waste but for the most part we have reduced down significantly the amount that we toss out. We recycle more now too so overall less bin waste. We have a large garden for a small balcony and have been enjoying tomatoes for most of the year. I’ll be honest and say that I’m still struggling with some parts of reducing waste with my OCD issues. I hate touching my food to eat when I’m not at home. I can’t stand if my hands or face feel sticky or even just the slight bit greasy so I’m still using disposable baby wipes and plastic sandwich bags. I haven’t looked into beeswax wraps yet, I have to feel them first as I think I will still have issues of the texture on my hands. I’m starting to look at other reusable options I can make myself to help reduce some of my disposables.

This year was eventful and busy but it was a good year for us. We have settled into our new place. We got to make it a home as we fully unpacked and found our way. We are still tweaking small storage areas around the apartment that we are finding aren’t working for us but now that we have the time and space we can focus on that.

Cassiy

2020 Thoughts And Reflections

Two things before I start this blog post which as the name suggests are my general thoughts and reflections about 2020. Firstly I don’t think anyone should compare their year to another persons. The global pandemic impacted everyone worldwide. Each country, each city faced their battles with it. I don’t think you should feel guilty or lucky because your experience during it wasn’t the same as someone living in another country or even living across the road. Each household, each person had different experiences and issues they dealt with. I’m sure one day someone will write a book about 2020 and interview people from across the globe. Each persons story will be different and it would be an interesting book. Secondly during this post I’m not going to keep saying I’m grateful. Believe me I’m grateful for a lot of things that happened, a lot of people this year.

Discarded face mask an all too common scene in 2020

 

2020 was always going to be a big year in the house of StitchNSew. At the start of the year we knew we would be moving, Mr StitchNSew would have his surgery at some point and I was turning 40 (which is just another number to me) A lot of big milestones in the year. What no one knew was the global pandemic which would impact us all. I work in a hospital which I think made understanding how serious the virus was easier. Australia hasn’t had the high numbers of infections as other countries. In Sydney the outbreak that is currently going on is the worse we’ve had. Some people are taking the risk of infection seriously and are doing what they can to prevent it but its frustrating seeing others that don’t take it seriously. Part of Sydney is in lockdown at the moment due to the outbreak but we did have wider lockdown which lasted a couple of months earlier this year. Even after lockdown restrictions were lifted we continued living our lives in pretty much the same fashion. We only leave the house to go to the shops if we need something. We don’t go out socialising, go to cafes or just go to the shops for something to do. It just isn’t worth the risk. Working in a hospital I’m around a lot of people and I don’t want to be the asymptomatic person who unknowingly passes things on to other people if that was the case. Daily temperature checks and wearing face masks has just become part of my normal routine in 2020. One thing I did discover is that I always have a low body temperature, one day I had 3 thermometer guns fail on me and the last one was after 3 cups of coffee! Now I can give a reason for always wearing a jacket indoors even in summer (I also hate air con) I’m clearly always cold. Mr StitchNSew and I are both introverts and prefer to be at home. Living like we are at present doesn’t make us feel like we are missing out on anything.

Like a lot of people we used Zoom for the first time this year. I’ve used a similar program at work the last few years so the concept wasn’t completely foreign to me. Thanks to Zoom I attended more of my knitting group meetings this year than I had in previous years. It was nice to catch up with people and chat all things yarn. I liked that from the comfort of my loungeroom I could login on meeting days at the time I wanted too and stay for as long as I feel comfortable for. I didn’t have the travel time or need to carry my projects with me I just turned the laptop on. Zoom also gave us the opportunity to listen to author talks hosted by different libraries. If the talk had been at an actual library we wouldn’t have gone due to the timing and the need to travel. Online we were able to sit in our loungeroom and hear the author speak no matter how tired we were or what the weather was like. One talk I attended was hosted by a library in Victoria (another state within Australia) and people were logged in from around the world to hear the talk. That’s a positive that came out of this year as if it hadn’t been hosted on Zoom a lot of us couldn’t have attended.

Packing and moving house did open up my eyes to what we actually own and use. I’m glad I spent the couple of years prior to it slowing starting to declutter beforehand because we had accumulated a lot of stuff that we weren’t using. As we packed over a number of months seeing what left to the final stages of packing as that was what we were using every day there really wasn’t a lot of stuff. In your mind you think you use more things than you do. We’re not perfect and yes we still do have items that we kept that we really don’t need. We will get rid of them eventually. I still do like the minimalism concept. We’re still trying to work out what our level of minimalism is. Each person has their own level, ours is still a work in progress. Decluttering continues, as I come across things I often stop and think do really do we need this or have we been using something else in its place the last 6 – 12 months. Importantly we are watching what we are bringing into the house so the cycle of clutter doesn’t continue.

Waste Not by Erin Rhoads

We have always been pretty environmentally conscious and done what we could in terms of recycling. This year we’ve changed our behavior in terms of our choices for items. We are making conscious decisions trying to use more sustainable item, moving away from single use plastics if we can and using what we’ve already got. Some things have been easy like reusable kitchen towels or using a piece of newspaper to wipe any remaining grease out of a frying pan. I am struggling in terms of using zip lock bags. I have OCD and a big part of it revolves around food. If I’m not at home I can’t touch my food whilst I’m eating. I can’t eat my sandwich unless I’m holding it in a bag. I know there are beeswax wraps but I haven’t tried one yet to see if it will still keep my sandwich fresh in the fridge if it gets made the day before. I do recommend reading Erin’s book Waste Not as she has a lot of tips in it, she was actually the author I heard from Victoria speak. We still have a long way to go to being more sustainable but the important thing is we are conscious of what we are doing and we are trying. In my previous post I mentioned not buying fabric, that’s one of the conscious decisions I’m making to use what I already have first. I have decided I’m no longer going to get an acrylic yarn I like as I get it posted from the UK, I’m conscious of the carbon footprint of having it flown by air. At the shops I can get some nice yarns which come to Australia via sea rather then air mail so in future if I need to purchase any I will do it that way, that’s of course after I have checked my yarn stash first.

In 2019 I lost of heaps weight, 2020 not so good. It has been a culmination of not having 40+ steps to walk up each day anymore, stress and the hecticness of 2020. I trained on the day of my 40th and I told my trainer “I’m 40 and fat and I don’t want to be like this at 41” Bad habits have crept in which I need to break. I’m not beating myself up over what has happened. I never had to be conscious before as to what I ate but now I do. I will kick myself back into gear, I need to focus on me a little which I haven’t done in 2020.

2020 wasn’t the disastrous year for us. We had a lot of good moments. Yes the global pandemic made things difficult at times but you just had a deal with things and take each day as it came.

I don’t make new years resolutions or set myself goals, I believe if you want to change something you start now and not wait for some magic date on the calendar. We have no big events in 2021 so we’ll just keep doing what we are doing.

Cassiy

2020 Charity Bags

Last weekend I dropped off my Share The Dignity charity bags at our local Bunnings which is a collection point up until November 29. If you’re not aware of the charity or the annual bag donation drive the charity askes people to donate a bag full of essential items. The bags are collected then distributed out to homeless woman or those in crisis accommodation.

I start collecting and planning items for my bags from the moment I drop off my bags each year. I have a storage box under the bed that I put all the items in as I get them. In previous years most of the contents came from hotel stays throughout the year. With us moving, Mr StitchNSew’s surgery and getting the mortgage I knew in 2020 we wouldn’t be staying in as many hotels as much so I set myself the challenge of spending $20 per bag to fill them. In previous years I never kept to a budget as I never really had too but I was mostly getting a lot of stuff for free anyway to fill them. I ended up being $5.20 over my total of $60 (I always make up 3 bags) This didn’t include the card I purchased to write a note in for each bag. Please don’t think I sound petty for adding up how much I spend for charity. Share The Dignity is a wonderful cause that I want to keep supporting each year I just need to find the most frugal way to do so without cutting back on the number of bags I make up. Due to Covid this year which wasn’t anticipated when I set myself the challenge last November I’m not that worried I failed my frugal challenge. I wasn’t at the shops looking for bargains all the time, we did stalk our local supermarket most weeks looking for discounted or sale items. To be honest I didn’t know the price of a lot of items as a lot of the items in the bags we don’t use/buy as we use other items eg a 3in1 kids shampoo/conditioner/bodywash or reusable cloth pads. In 2021 I’m setting myself the same frugal challenge of $60 for the 3 bags. I’m going to look in a couple of other shops that I didn’t this year to see their products and prices so perhaps I can stretch my budget that way.

Once again this year besides making the bags I added in a few handmade items. Each bag got a shawl, facecloth and 2 face masks as I consider face masks as an essential item in the current climate. I have already started knitting scarves for my 2021 bags. Besides face cloths I’m not sure yet what other items I will make.

I was worried my bags would feel empty this year but they were fully packed. The pocket on the front of bag fitted the card nicely without it falling out so I will be doing that pocket again next year. I have my fabric picked out for the bags so will start working on them earlier in the year like I did this year so I don’t feel rushed to get them finished. I want to keep supporting this charity each year I just need to find the most frugal way to do so.

Cassiy

Overnight Guest

We have a small reserve directly opposite our apartment block which has about 4 trees in it. It is home to a pair of magpies. As Mr StitchNSew and I are both bird people we have been watching the pair since we moved in. At our old place we had a lot of contact with the local birds. It is breeding season at the moment and we were delighted to see that the pair now had babies in the nest. Last week late one afternoon just before it got dark we heard all the birds in the area making a fuss and looked over to see one of the babies had come out of nest early which often happens sadly but that is part of nature.

With a box and some fabric we went down to see if we could help the baby back in the tree. The baby wasn’t very tiny and could run around it just didn’t have the strength yet to fly back up to the nest. Without distressing her too much were able to catch her. Once she was in the box coved in the fabric she stopped calling out. Neither of us were in the position to be able to climb the tree to put it back so we decided the best option was to ring WIRES which is the wildlife rescue service in NSW. They gave us directions on how to care for the bird until a WIRES carer could come out to our place to collect the bird. 

Once we got back to our unit we found a better box and some additional fabric to make her more comfortable. We were instructed not to feed it but we could give it water. She was too little to drink from a bowl but after some persuasion took water from a plastic syringe. Mr StitchNSew camped out in the lounge room all night to regularly check on her and give her water when she woke up. Don’t know if it was a boy or girl but we kept saying it was she. She was very settled and calm in the box. The next morning she did hear the other birds outside and started to call out but she settled again. She never tried to get out of the box but she did kept popping her head up whenever she heard Mr StitchNSew move about near her box. 

At the time we caught her I didn’t have any nests that I make for WIRES as I had sent in the last I had finished prior to the move. I did find a half completed one so finished it off. She was sleeping when I finished it so it was put in her box during the night. She watched it get placed in the box then went in it to sleep without coaxing which was nice. 

The carer who came to collect her said sadly she wouldn’t be able to be returned to that tree. Instead she will be released elsewhere when she is strong enough. In a way that was really sad but knowing that we were able to save her and give her a chance was a nice feeling. Over the years in the local area we have seen enough dead wildlife to know it isn’t always a happy outcome. I have so much respect for WIRES and all the carers that help out the native wildlife. Due to the circumstances of this year I haven’t been able to make the items I’ve made for WIRES in previous years but having our little visitor reminded me of how important it is to support them. I want to get back into the habit I had before of always having some sort of item for WIRES on the go. I would always have a knitted pouch on my needles or cloth pouches that were in some part of the sewing process ready for me to pick up and work on when I could. I enjoy crafting for WIRES and supporting them in a practical way. It’s time to get back to it. 

Just to add the parents of this little one were quiet the first day but now we are seeing them return to normal. They do have another baby which is a little bit older and is strong enough to be out of the nest as by chance I had met this other baby as I was walking to work on the day we ended we rescuing this little one in the afternoon. I don’t know if the parents will have another egg this year but we’ll continue to keep an eye out for all of them. 

Cassiy

 

 

Storage Solutions For Apartments

Our apartment is 102 square metres which is decent size. I must admit it does have a lot of in built storage in the areas such as the bathrooms and some in the living areas but some areas just felt like wasted space. Although we are trying to follow minimalist principles of not having excess stuff we don’t need the truth is we still have a lot of stuff and it needs to be put somewhere. With all the expenses that came with moving I’m trying to cut back on spending money however I’m looking at these as one off expenses that will benefit our place for the long term. Before I hit the shops I did a lot of searching on the Ikea and Howard’s Storage World websites for storage solutions for our ‘wasted areas’

Kitchen

So the current trend is that appliances need to be hidden away behind doors. We have a ‘fridge’ cupboard. The fridge we had in the old place leaked. Our original plan was to get a new one when we moved in, unfortunately Covid changed our plans. Firstly I couldn’t get to the shops, secondly with everyone spending so much time at home fridges became a high demand product and there was a 6-8 week wait to get one. We didn’t want a leaking fridge behind closed doors so we put it in our lounge area and put our small freezer in the cupboard instead. When we did manage to get a fridge that could be delivered quickly (ex display stock) we discovered it didn’t fit inside our cupboard so we decided to keep the freezer in there. I wasn’t happy with empty space above it and decided it needed shelving. I had seen shelving before for above toilets and discovered that Howard’s had one similar which could be used in bathrooms or laundry to make use of space above appliances. Our freezer is about the same size as a washing machine so this shelving unit was perfect. It is stainless steel and very sturdy. It was actually very simple to put together. We are still experimenting around with what we are fully going to put on the shelves. You select where you want the shelves but I am happy with these. Just by putting them items we have on the shelves has made life easier, I don’t need to carry my breakfast cereal tubs into the kitchen each morning for breakfast now and Mr StitchNSew doesn’t need to bend down low to get his juice bottles.

Under the sink is a problem area for a lot of places not just apartments. Again at Howard’s I found a shelving system. This one is fully customisable so you can place the plastic shelf pieces around your pipes. Again it was simple to put together. Now to be honest I’m happy that this has given us a bit of extra space but I think this area still needs some work. I might have to move things around a little. I think the shelving system is a good idea and it wasn’t a waste to get it.

Balcony

We have a decent size balcony but no storage as is the case with most balconies. Ikea has a storage unit which is powder coated steel so can be used outdoors. It looks big in the picture but when I saw it instore I was worried it wouldn’t be big enough but once we assembled it I was surprised. We call it ‘The Shed’ It has all items we would normally keep in a shed or laundry (our laundry is tiny) We keep finding more and more items to place in it thus freeing up room in other cupboards.

The doors have magnets to hold it shut but admittedly they aren’t very strong and kept coming open. Our solution as a closure we are using old alan keys from previous Ikea furniture and threading them through the latch where you could place padlocks. Our rule is if you open the door you place the key on top of the unit so it doesn’t get lost.

Thanks to Mr StitchNSew who has done most of the unpacking we have all our kitchen/linen/lounge unpacked. We are still working out where we want things and changing stuff around on shelves. I’m really pleased with our additional storage. As I mentioned yes it was another expense I didn’t really want but long term it is worth it. If I’m not careful I can easily be a messy person but I am trying to establish good routines of putting items away once I finish with them. I like the phrase “A place for everything and everything in it’s place” We are still in the process of finding the places for all.

Cassiy

The Big Move

We have been in our new place nearly 3 weeks now! It has been a crazy few weeks.

In Australia we are still under lockdown due to Covid however you could still move house. There was restrictions like you couldn’t get friends and family to help you like you would normally do. Neither Mr StitchNSew or I drive a car so we had to rely on removalists to shift everything although there was some items we walked up from the old place to the new (about a 15min walk) Prior to picking up the keys I had only been inside the new place once and Mr StitchNSew had never been in it all (This was again due to Covid lockdown restrictions with open homes) It was a relief to see Mr StitchNSew could access the front of the building with his wheelchair and get in and out of our unit easily.

3 days after getting the keys was the big move day. I found a local removalist company after recommendations on a local Facebook group. The 3 guys we had on the day were great. I was a nervous wreck but this was their job and they knew what they were doing. They could see I was worried and were joking around all day to ease my nerves which was fantastic. They really did make a stressful day easier. The old place was 3rd floor no lift so they had to lug everything down 40 steps. They did a wonderful job.

The new place is much smaller and the day we moved I just told the movers to place boxes wherever they fitted. The majority of the boxes were stacked in the spare room but we were able to just shut the door. For the first few days we coined a new term “mountain goating” as we climbed on boxes to find different ones. This room is about ½ clear now. I must admit by the time I had packed all the old place up I didn’t want to look at boxes and to be honest didn’t care if they were thrown out. Mr StitchNSew has done a lot of the unpacking and most of the non craft boxes are now unpacked. I have furthered culled some items as different boxes were opened. Something things we discovered we didn’t need or want. We are still trying to find the best way to use different spaces plus come up with storage ideas to make the best use out of the areas we have. At first the new place didn’t feel like home and I admitted to Mr StitchNSew the first weekend I was hating the place. I became more at ease when I got little things like my washing machine to work and I could find a few items I was after. Now it feels like home. It doesn’t feel so small either. We had gone from a large spacious 3 bedroom place to a smaller 2 bedroom but thinking about the other units in our building we have a spacious unit that is set out well. Our unit is like a giant rectangle and the rooms are all slotted neatly into that in a uniform way. Other units are odd shapes and the rooms are pokey. I’m glad we got the place we did.

I haven’t had a chance to unpack my craft areas yet. I have been doing lots of knitting and crochet to keep my stress levels down. Even on moving day I had emergency crochet with me to calm my nerves if I needed it. I got it out when we got to the new place and one of the movers even said I was more relaxed then.

Cassiy 

The Final Countdown

Things are getting serious. Settlement for our unit should be just after Easter and with any luck we will be moved into the new place by the end of April. I don’t have a moving date yet. To stop everyone moving into the new building at once we have to reserve a time window for the lifts. I have to find a moving company first and speak to them before I can book the time slot. I’m going to wait until settlement but in the mean time it is pack and toss like crazy. I have 2 free council clean ups booked for this month as I refuse to be the neighbour who moves out and fills everyone bins with rubbish. If you have ever lived in a situation with multiple units or apartments you’ve had neighbours that have done that.

I have box stacks in the study and the spare room. Soon I will take over the loungeroom too. Anything lite enough for me to place on upper shelves I am. I’m in the process of thinking where to stack empty bookcases so I can use the floor space for more box stacks. I refuse to have moving boxes in the bedroom until just before the move as I need one room in the house that I can go into and not be reminded of moving.

I’m getting creative with fabric to wrap some items that can’t be put in boxes. My simplicity cutting board is one item that has been fabric wrapped with safety pins to secure it. All my rolls of interfacing and pdf patterns are in giant fabric parcels.

I’m in the process of writing a heap of blog posts ready to go so I can schedule them for the various Tuesdays. In the coming weeks you will see projects that I have finished just recently or perhaps earlier this year that. I’m in the process of finishing a crocheted poncho and I have 1 knitting project on my needles. Most of my craft items are now packed away. It is a bit sad as when I’m down to packing my sewing machines and knitting needles means we are moving soon. I’m excited about the new place but sad to leave our current place. In near 11 years of living here I have lots of memories both good and bad.

Yesterday I got to see the new place for the first time. It is a bit smaller than I thought but I am used to living in huge 3 bedroom unit. I already have plans for one area. This girl needs a fabric vault!

Cassiy

 

All Clear

Just a quick post to say my test came back negative as expected and I am back at work tomorrow. Once again I urge you if you can stay at home please do. As one community we can work together and fight this. Your individual actions of avoiding unnecessary contact can stop the spread and help save lives.

Take care xx
Cassiy 

Fitness Junkie

I may not look it but I am a bit of a fitness and gym junkie. I am more comfortable at the gym then in a shopping centre. I would pick going for a walk over going to the movies. Fitness and sport is something I have always been interested in. I mentioned previously I played netball as a kid. As a kid you’re not thinking of it as fitness you are just thinking it is fun. After I had my surgery for many years I didn’t really do anything fitness wise and I missed it. Netball was fun as you interreacted with others but I enjoyed the training side.

Wedding present for my trainer

In 2005 when I got my arthritis diagnosis I decided to get back into fitness, I signed up to a gym and got a personal trainer who had experience training people with disabilities. I couldn’t stop the arthritis but I wanted to feel like I had control over it. 14 years later I still have the same personal trainer Mr L. I get on really well with my trainer, he is one of the few people who can read my mood without me even saying a word. I train with him once a week. He has a general plan for each of my training sessions but adapts them to what my needs are on the day. I might text him before the session and say I’m tired so we will more stretching that day which is very helpful for me or I might turn up angry and he will get out the boxing gloves. I joke that he is more than just my trainer but also my psychiatrist as he listens if I need to get stuff out of my head, my physiotherapist and my nutritionist.

The gym is “my happy place” I know everything I do it at benefits me. The hard work I put in there helps me in my every day life. My trainer isn’t one of those who yells at his clients to push them or motivate them, he knows if he yelled at me I would yell back. I briefly worked with a trainer like that when Mr L was overseas for a few weeks and I hated it. I push myself hard at the gym and I don’t need anyone else to do that. I’ll be the one who says the weights are too lite or pushes the speed up on the treadmill. You wouldn’t think it but I actually like running. I find it easier than walking. During one training session I just randomly started jogging instead of walking and from there Mr L has incorporated it into my training sessions when I am up to it. As a kid I hated running but now I love it.

My biggest fitness achievement was in 2017 when I completed the City to Surf. It is a 14km fun run / walk in Sydney. I trained for nearly 2 years to work up to it and I managed to do it in less than 3hrs! I was so surprised at the time. I did it with my best friend B and it was the best day even though I did have major issues such as cramping through it and stopping at one stage in it to be physically ill (too much water and not enough sugar in my body) I’m not sure if I will get to do another City to Surf but at least I can say I have done it and I ran parts of it.

All these years my fitness goal has been to become stronger and not focus on weight loss. Strength and movement is what my body needs and any weight loss is a bonus. In 2019 I was told I actually need to lose some weight due to my bad sleep apnoea so I have started to look at my nutrition changing some areas of my diet. My main focus is still on strength and gaining more movements in my joints that are still restricted. Long term that is what my body needs. Earlier this year I had more scans and sadly yes the arthritis has caused further degeneration of my hip but I know the hard work I have put in over the last 14 years has slowed the progress. I still see my old surgeon and he is surprised I still have my original hip as it was not expected to last this long. I can only put it down to my training.

When I’m not at the gym I still like to exercise like walking or if me and B get the chance to hang out we literally do. Exercise doesn’t have to be completely serious. You can have fun with it and that’s what I like to do. Once again it is one of those things if I’m not having fun then I’m not going to want to do it. I’m a big believer in incidental exercise which is all those little things you do like walking up the stairs or a ramp instead of taking a lift or even dare I say housework. Your body is moving and you are working your muscles without even knowing it. Every bit helps.

So what I am doing on the last day of the year? Since I don’t have to work today I’m hitting the gym. I haven’t been to the gym since before Christmas and I really need a workout as I miss it. My trainer won’t be there but that won’t stop me, I can happily train on my own. My favourite equipment at the gym is the TRX. Unless you have been to a gym in the last few years that has this you may not of heard of it. It is suspension training where you use straps that are anchored to a point (the roof at my gym) Using the straps you can do a rang of exercises such as push ups, squats, rows, bicep curls the list you goes on. You use your own body’s weight as your resistance. When my trainer first introduced me to TRX I feel in love with it. Out of all his clients he has taught me the most exercises on it plus I have learnt a heap of others from seeing them on Instagram. For me TRX is fun, I don’t have to worry about adjusting weights it is just me and the straps. I can switch from working my arms to working my legs without having to change equipment. Next year my trainer is switching gyms and the first thing I asked was “do they have TRX?” They do so I am happy.

Happy New Year everyone.

Cassiy

Disabled And Proud

This is the hardest post I have ever written and the most honest. It is something I think I needed to write. It will help explain a few things if I casually refer to them later on but it is also a post I needed to write for me.

I have been disabled my pretty much entire life but for a long long time I never really identified as being disabled. It was just there and it was my normal. I was born with a condition that used to be known as “clicky hips” which is Hip Dysplasia but it wasn’t picked up until after I started walking when my mum saw me walking in front of her and thought I didn’t walk right. I spent months in hospital in traction having my tendons lengthened. Whilst most kids first word is “mum or dad” my first word was “hurt” which I said as mum was carrying me home from hospital on the train after my tendon lengthening. She was excited that I was talking than realised I was in pain. I later had surgery on both hips to correct the dysplasia (open reduction on left hip, closed reduction on right hip) and I spent months in a hip spica. A hip spica is a torso to ankle plaster. I used to crawl in my hip spica and there still might be marks on a doorway at my parents house where I rubbed away the paint and plaster as I was going into the kitchen. Clever me even learnt to stand up in my hip spica which freaked mum out. I also then spent time in a brace after my spica. Thankfully Hip Dysplasia is now picked up at birth for babies born with it and treated straight away to try to prevent further hip complications.

In my hip spica with my guardian by my side

My childhood years were just like every other kid except I knew couldn’t run as fast as the others or do things like cartwheels, touch my toes or ride a bike (I never got off my training wheels) as my balance wasn’t the best. I played netball for 9 years, goal keeper and shooter were my favourite positions where I didn’t have to run as much (to this day I still shoot things into bins) I had a hip scar that the other kids didn’t have and I limped a fair bit (more if I was tired) but it was my normal and I didn’t think any differently. Every few years I would go and have hip x-rays but that was it. I did dislocate my knee during netball training when I was 13 but I went back and played netball the following season so that didn’t stop me.

My hippo that I got at 16 ahead of my surgery which I named after my surgeon

When I was about 16 I was in a fair bit of pain and after some tests it was discovered my right hip was bone on bone rubbing it away it. I was faced with the option of surgery or being in a wheelchair by the age of 20, it was that bad. I didn’t want the surgery explained to me in full otherwise there was no way was my surgeon going to be able to get me on the operating table. At the time all I knew was my hip was going to be cut in 3 places, spun around and couple of pins put in it. I later discovered the official operation was a triple pelvic osteotomy, which is a hip reconstruction. The surgery took longer than expected as my surgeon just wasn’t happy with it. Months later the pins that were put in to hold in it in place shifted deeper inside my hip but as I was use to so much hip pain I didn’t really take much notice of it. After the osteotomy I was on regular crutches for a few months then went off them until the pins were removed. I was limping a lot but I was use to it. When it came time to remove the pins they couldn’t be located as the bone had grown over them and again the surgery took longer than expected as they had to find them.  When the pins were removed I was on regular crutches again for a short time but I continued to limp badly without them and I was in pain. I think I spent about 2 weeks off them before it was decided I needed to keep using one so I started using a canadian crutch or forearm crutch and I have been on it ever since. If you need to use a singular crutch canadian crutches are much more comfortable and easier. Bonus is you can hang stuff off them whilst you’re standng waiting at places. There was a couple of nights when I was 18 that I went out without it but I was in so much pain it wasn’t worth it. My surgery at 16 changed my life forever. I elected to repeat a year 11 as I had spent so much time off school that year due to my surgery. I had to change my career path because childcare was no longer an option. I’m ok now with what happened but for many years I wasn’t. There was days where I hated using the crutch and I have kicked it and thrown it many times in anger. At 24 I was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis. It was something that I knew was always going to develop but it pissed me off for a long time as in my mind I wanted to make it to 25 before I got it and I didn’t.

Injury caused by hypermobile fingers stuffing a toy

Roll foreword to more recent years. I have grown to accept I have a disability and embrace it. I’m hypermobile. Most of my joints bend back further than they should, I get minor subluxations which means my joints move out of place at times and I have to move the joint around to try and get things back into place, sometimes I can do it straight away other times several hours. Not all joints are flexible (still can’t touch my toes) but hypermobility isn’t necessarily in every joint for every person. All my joints click and often I need to crack them to relieve the pain. I was cracking my knees one morning so much a work colleague thought she was hearing rain hitting the window outside, I did crack up laughing at that.

 

Last year I discovered a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome  (EDS) I was honestly in tears reading about it. Hypermobility falls under the syndrome. Suddenly all these unrelated symptoms or conditions I have all made sense. Aside from the hypermobility issues I have anxiety, depression, digestive issues, pain, fatigue, random bruises, insomnia, sleep apnoea, brain fog the list goes on. Many health professionals I have spoken to do believe I have it, some without me even mentioning it first. I’m in the process of trying to get an official diagnosis of it which I am desperate for. It is hard to put it into words why I am desperate for a diagnosis. Part of me wants an easy answer to tell someone if I choose to tell them why I am disabled. I say if because my disability isn’t something that I should have to explain to complete strangers in random situations unless I want to (believe me that happens a lot) I hate referring to it as a condition that I had when I was a baby when that is coming up to nearly 40 years ago. Part of me want confirmation of EDS so that I know I’m not making this stuff up in my head that I go through everyday.

A few years ago I started using #disabledandproud on some of my Instagram photos. Not to big-note myself and say look I’m special but to just to be comfortable and connect my with my disability which is a major part of my life. I’m not ashamed of walking with a crutch in fact I love it. I know if I didn’t use I wouldn’t make it out of the house each day. Mobility aids no matter what they are shouldn’t be something to be ashamed of. I don’t need to use it at home or around my general area at work (unless I’m having a bad pain day) The crutch I is something I use that allows me to get on with life.

In some ways I am not a confident person (anxiety and introvert part of me) but I’m not afraid to speak up when it comes to things like asking for a seat on public transport for myself or others. I do question or point out issues in terms of disability access when I see them. I don’t generally make a big deal about my disability as it just part of my everyday life but it is a very big part of my life that I have come to accept. Currently I still get a lot of pain, some days more than others but not the same level I had at 16. I am very stubborn person and want to do everything on my own but sometimes I do need help and often it is hard for me to admit that. In my mind it is like admitting defeat and I don’t like to lose. Like a lot people with disabilities I have twisted sense of humour. My favourite song lyrics ever “No one should take themselves so seriously” come from the blink-182 song What’s my age again? I can make fun of myself and call myself a cripple, so can my close friends or others I meet who are disabled but no one else can joke about it. As I mentioned earlier a lot complete strangers think it is ok to comment about my disability, joke about it or make assumptions about me. This is not something new I’ve been dealing with comments and jokes from strangers for over 20 years. The best one was when I got in a lift once on a railway station platform and an older lady said she should stand near lift exit first as it would be quicker for her to get out than me. Red rag to a bull!! That was it the race was on and instead of taking the 2nd lift to exit the concourse area I took the stairs and I stood there smiling as she got out of the 2nd lift. As I said I don’t like to lose. I’m now sick of the comments I get from strangers. I don’t understand why people think it is acceptable to joke or comment but they do. I don’t quiz people as to why they are ignorant morons but I am now thinking I should.

If you have made it this far thank you for reading my ramblings 🙂 In previous posts I have mentioned my disability before but I hope this has given you a more of an understanding about me, not that I have to explain myself to anyone but I’m choosing to discuss it on this blog. It took me years to say it but I am Disabled and Proud!!

Cassiy