Getting out of the house. It can be done.

31 days of getting out of the house without my driver's licence.

from least to most difficult...

Birthday Celebration & Strategic Planning Meeting - 30mins by taxi 

This was the easiest because I didn't feel like I was inconveniencing anyone and I didn't have to do any prior planning.

2 x evenings of Cabaret Festival with my Dad - lifts from dad Thank You!

A Fete & My Sister's House with my Sister - lifts from sister Thank You!

Saturday Matinee Theatre Performance with my Friend - lift from friend Thank You!

Saturday Night Theatre Performance with my Dad - lift from dad Thank You!

Dinner with Relatives - lifts from auntie Thank You!

My Friend's House with my Friend - lift from friend's partner, trains and walk with friend 

Although this involved more than an hour travelling each way, I coped fine because I was with my friend.  Thank You! & Thank You!

The Supermarket with my Friend - lifts from friend's friend Thank You!

My Friend's House (1hr4mins by car)

getting there - 4mins walk, 21mins bus, 1min walk during 11min wait, 10mins walk during 16mins wait, 47mins train, 6mins lift from friend's partner (1hr45mins)

This was not too difficult because I spent half a day getting there at my own pace and told myself it was an adventure.

Dinner with Friends (22mins by car)

getting there - 4mins walk, 21mins bus, 1min walk during 5mins wait, 20mins bus, 5mins walk, 2mins wait, 7mins train, 2mins walk (56mins)

This seemed reasonably easy because I had spent several hours on Google Maps planning how to get there and I was excited about seeing my friends.

7 x days of Voluntary Work & A Pre-Employment Course Session (30mins by car)

3mins walk, 14mins bus, 1min walk during 5mins wait, 9mins bus, 5mins wait, 20mins bus, 5mins walk (1hr)

Falling in and out of sleep is mentally and physically painful.  I'm finding it fairly difficult to make two of these trips each day which is why I've only made it 7 times out of a possible 18.  But I did it 7 times so that's something to be proud of.

A Doctor's Appointment (7mins by car)

getting there - 4mins walk, 5mins bus, 18mins walk (27mins)
getting home - 18mins walk, 21mins bus, 3mins walk (42mins)

Dinner with Friends & Theatre Performance Viewing at Cinema

lifts from friend Thank You!

I had been looking forward to this but hadn't figured out how to get there so I thought I'd just stay in bed.  I put a message (sob story) on facebook and half a dozen people offered me a lift.  I was so happy I cried.  

Friday Night Theatre Performance (32mins by car)

getting there - 2mins walk, 9mins train, 1min walk during 10mins wait, 35mins train, 9mins walk (1hr5mins)
getting to friend's house - lift from friend Thank You!

That was an epic Friday because not only did I make it to the theatre but I also performed in the show after two nights absence.  That day I helped celebrate the 16th birthday of the community centre where I volunteer and I participated in a strategic planning meeting including typing up the second half of the strategic plan.

Lunch with a Friend

lifts from friend Thank You!

All I had to do was get to the front door.  I made it easier for myself by cutting out the difficult part - stumbling into the shower.  I was able to change from pyjamas into clothes and stumble out the front door.

 I made it to all these things but unfortunately I didn't make it to all these things.

Simple "meals" that are better than starving.

"Baked Beans are not a meal.  
Toast is not a meal.  
Baked beans AND toast?  
That's a meal."

This advice from a friend has really helped lessen the guilt I feel about not having cooking skills.  I just imagine I'm like a twenty-something bachelor living alone instead of a hm..hang on, I kind of fit in that category but I'm female instead of male. 

Some "meals" I can make without falling asleep or losing strength in my limbs and/or neck...

 Baked Beans and Toast
The good thing is that it doesn't really matter in which order I do things.

• Put beans in bowl
• Put bread in toaster
• Microwave beans for 1-2 minutes
• Toast bread until it pops up
• Combine beans and toast (and cheese if available)

Baked beans and toast?  

That's a meal.

EasyMac Macaroni Cheese
Reading the directions overwhelms me but luckily I can count to 4.  I just have to remember what the numbers relate to.  The whole time I'm making it I keep counting through from 1 to 4 and I normally check the packet to make sure I have the numbers assigned to the right steps.  I'm writing this not to highlight how demented I am at cooking but because maybe it will help me figure out why I find it so difficult.

• 1 put macaroni in bowl
• 2/3 of a cup of cold water in bowl
• 4 minutes in the microwave
• put cheese in bowl (I can do that bit without a number because without it I would have Macaroni Water instead of Macaroni Cheese)

Macaroni and Cheese?  
That's a meal.

2 Minute Noodles
Again, the directions seem backwards and they confuse me so I find it easier to think about what I need to do - cover noodles in water and heat.

• Unlike the EasyMac, this one requires boiling water so I put the kettle on first. Most of the time. Sometimes I forget and have to do it after I've opened the noodle packet.
• Put noodles in bowl.
• Cover noodles in water (this avoids the hassle of having to measure a particular amount)
• Put noodles in microwave (sometimes I forget how long to put them in for until I remember they're called 2 minute noodles and I praise myself for being such a genius)
• Tip noodles into a strainer then back into the bowl.
• Add Hoisin Sauce.

Noodles and Hoisin Sauce?  
That's a meal.

Toastie
I found out recently that spreading butter on frozen bread works better than spreading butter on fresh bread so I don't even need to have fresh bread or defrost frozen bread.  UPDATE: My friend read this and excitedly said "Yeah, I discovered that too." I had to tell her that she was the one who told me.

• Switch sandwich press on to heat up
• Butter pieces of bread
• Slice pieces of tomato
• Put bread in sandwich press - butter side down
• Add tomato and cheese
• Top with bread - butter side up
• Toast in sandwich press

Toastie with Cheese and Tomato?

That's a meal.

The next one is a bit of a stretch but at least it's green.

Mixed Lettuce
I had used the last of a tomato to make a toastie and at some point I chomped through the remainder of a cucumber so the only fresh food I had was a bag of lettuce.  Fancy lettuce though.  I also had half a lemon.  I'm still convinced that the other half was used to make a salad dressing.  I should really ask my friend how she did that but I had a go because I was feeling adventurous.

• Cut the crusty edge off the lemon.
• Squeeze the lemon juice into the bag of lettuce leaves.
• Add some pepper.  For the record, I added too much pepper.

Mixed Lettuce and Salad Dressing?

That's a meal.

 

I may have taken the "a AND b equals a meal" theory a little too far with the lettuce but it's certainly a better choice than not eating.

That's a summary of where I'm at.  When I say "I can't cook" or "I don't know how to cook" or "I'm too tired to cook" I actually mean "If I'm not too fatigued I can combine a couple of simple things and follow a couple of simple steps".

Visualising my Visions

Around the same time as the Tree of Life I also looked at my Visions for the year.  We cut out words and pictures from magazines and created collages.  Visualising my visions was pretty useful but I haven't been doing a great job of actually attending to any of my ideas.

Visions for 2012

It's a bit small to read so here's what it says:

Rise and Shine 
happy, alert, smiling face and clocks to represent regularity of sleep cycle

A Working Eating Plan
3 meals a day, 7 days a week and "me" enjoying cooking

• Planning food
• Buying food
• Preparing food
• Cooking food
• Eating food

Clean Up: Organized Home
clearing old junk out of the house to make it my home, renovating, having shiny tiles?

Friends
finding, keeping

Sweet Dreams: A Peaceful Slumber
having sleep that leaves me refreshed

It was all getting a bit serious so I added the picture and caption in the top right corner.

Meet your perfect match!
"Hello Amanda, my amazing girlfriend.  I'm so glad I met you this year." -Hamish Blake.

Flawed Floors & Licence Loss

Eeyore and the Giraffe: Adventures on the High Seas.

The above picture probably has nothing to do with what I'm about to write, but I don't know because I'm yet to write it, or not write it, as the case may be.  It is now that I will decide what I'm going to write about in this blog.  Not just this post, the entire blog.  It seemed unnecessary to trouble myself with such trivialities before I created it. So, recently I had to surrender my driver's licence because I was still falling asleep at the wheel and I imagine that my daily struggle to stay awake will form part of my writings. I'm still attempting to fix some things around the house so this could be a good place to post my before and after photos of such thrilling aspects as the driveway and floorboards. My little project before I commenced ripping up carpet and sanding floorboards was to repaint the wooden giraffe above and make little hooks where I now store cables.  The leap from sanding small pieces of dowel to sanding metres of wooden floorboards was slightly greater than anticipated and I am left with some very 'rustic' surfaces which I am yet to sand and/or varnish. As for the driveway, which I originally thought I could remedy by filling in with some old laundry tiles, I am now left with a landslide of old crumbling slabs which used to constitute the walls of the swimming pool.  Not that it matters, seeing as I'm not allowed to drive anyway. Advantages of not driving: The discovery and subsequent delight in the noise a 600ml coke bottle makes when you hit things with the curvy bit.   Finding that the ticket validating machines on buses no longer make an anxiety provoking 'you are a terrible person because your ticket doesn't work' beep but instead they sound like a jolly bouncing frog.  Disadvantages of not driving: Getting a cold from visiting a doctor 5mins drive away because it took a few hours of travelling and waiting in the freezing cold night air.   I can't blame that entirely on not driving; it would have been more sensible to visit the doctor during daylight hours.  Unfortunately, I felt too sick to go to the doctor. The sickness I had before and the sickness I have inherited since have nothing to do with the reason I went there in the first place.  Much like this blog.  Much like my life in general. Well, that explains it. The main themes shall be:  Largely irrelevant photos Staying awake Not driving House renovations Things that make funny noises Complaining about my own stupidity Trying to figure out what I'm writing about