Rellacafa

Dear Audy,

It was WONDERFUL!

(pop out or view on youtube for full annotations)

Did you get holidays? What did you do with them? I hope they were mega merry!!

Love & Invigoration,
Caf

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Dear Audy,

Talkie time! Just a quick one about some exciting developments and a pretty new dress.

Happy Friday to you, wherever you are!

Love & Sunshine,
Caf

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Dear Audy,

I recorded this a couple of days ago. In the video I am talking about coming off Lyrica and the kinds of things that have been helping me to cope in recent months.

Enjoy!

A huge thank you to JC for leaving me a comment on my last post, letting me know that the Lissie cover that I mentioned in my review was Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started From”. You are wonderful, Audy, I’d sincerely like to thank everyone who reads, watches, comments. You help to keep me motivated and inspired every day.

Love & Chats
Caf

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Dear Audy,

Hello! I am feeling well, hurrah!! Well, well in the sense that my silly chronic pain hasn’t gone anywhere, but I have gotten to a better level of coping. October and November brought a lot of minor injuries that caused major flare ups. I am happy to say that I think I’ve recovered from the worst of it and can get back to finally moving forward and feeling human again.

Talkie time! Just a few words on the thrill of leaving my house for the purpose of fun and the challenges that come along with doing so.

Having fun with my lovely friend Jen.

I didn’t know this until I read Carly’s post this morning, but today is International Day for People With A Disability. I am one of those! I am glad that today is one where I feel like I can celebrate being in control of my pain, rather than feeling smothered by it. Sure, I’m extra worn out from doing things this week, but I feel like I know what to do to recover effectively and that makes feeling the pain a bit easier. Things are easier when they aren’t scary and unknown. Expected pain is more tolerable than the kind that comes out of nowhere, like a wrecking ball.

The second piece of exciting news is that Ramp Up, ABC’s new disabilities website launched today. I have spent most of this morning reading through the wonderful articles that are already up, some by people that I’m lucky enough to know and some by people whose writing makes me want to know them better. If you feel like reading some very insightful and enlightening articles, head on over there! I’m excited to say that I will have some contributions published over the coming weeks, I’ll let you know when they are up for you to read, hurrah!

Now I shall sit back and relax happily, knowing that it’s necessary rest and knowing that if I treat my body well, it will let me go out and have some more fun tomorrow!

Love & A Quiet Day,
Caf

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Dear Audy,

Today I am taking part in a blogging event that… actually happened yesterday. Oh wells, I can do things when I can do them, it’s this whole thing where I listen to my body and behave in ways that will assist healing and help me feel better, even when that means avoiding what I actually want to do. In these days that my hands have been mental, all I have wanted to do is write… of course. I am going to get hooked up with some talky/typey software so that I am not forced to stop writing at times like these, when the seasons change and my nervous system can’t keep up, so it throws tantrums.

I was invited to join in with Love Beats Hate by the lovely Jeanne, from Chronic Healing. The idea behind this initiative is to focus on all the good that is made possible by social media. As a disabled person, the internet has helped me a lot. I just don’t know what I’d do without you, Audy.

Sometimes, I warble a little to warm my voice up before I start talking to the camera. Today my mindless warbling contained a rather excellent lesson. Let’s not sound like we have a stuffed nose. Giggle, I am always amused when subconscious me sings, quite literally, what she’s thinking. She has a good point. It can be unavoidable, but never sounds good to have stuffy nose voice, especially not when you’re planning on recording what you say.

(Side note: That’s enough already, airborne allergens. Also, I have no idea why I’m referring to myself in plural. Let us? Me and Subconscious Me? Am I going Gollum?)

You can check out the Linky page here for other posts by participants of Love Beats Hate to see what other bloggers have to say.

Have a wonderful day! Go and be nice to someone, just for the sake of it. Giving warm fuzzies is getting warm fuzzies, after all, it doesn’t matter if the person in question reciprocates. Just focus on how good it feels to be genuinely nice, it feels so much better than being rude or cynical or judgemental or mean. The nicer you are, the better you’ll feel… and couldn’t we all stand to feel a little bit better? I think so.

Having trouble with the CyberBlues? Check out this past post where I ramble on about coping online: Interacting Online: The Joys, The Struggles & Surviving Unharmed.

Love & Extra Love,
Caf

P.S. Please feel free to share your own stories of internet warm fuzzies in the comments, I’d love to hear them!

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Dear Audy,

I am bumbling along in my usual fashion, just trying to deal, trying to cope. When there is a lot of negative stuff going on, it is important to nurture the mental rewards that are received when we choose to focus on the positives. The old saying would have us remember to smell the roses. I haven’t been sniffing, but I have been admiring my cactus flowers, lately.

Please excuse my shaky hands…they do that.

Lots of Feldenkrais, lots of rest and lots of focus is the way that I am getting through my days. Anti-inflammatory pills are helping my hip enormously and my neck and shoulders are finally settling down. Yay! Things are turning around, Audy. My biggest problem right now is very sore hands. In their defence, I am forcing them to do a lot more typing than usual, working on some stories and articles and organising life in general.

It is most definitely time to give them some rest!

Love & Moving Forward Again,
Caf

P.S. New, organised blog layout! I felt like a change & I’m digging the multiple RSS feeds for different post categories up the top there. Yay!

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Dear Audy,

Oh, I am very sore. I am very sore, indeed. I miss being able to sit up, it’s ever so hard to concentrate on anything interesting when I am too sore to even sit on the couch. My TV is in that room. I am alternating between laying down on cushions and sitting slightly propped up out there so that I can watch some entertaining stuffs like Gossip Girl and Glee. My reading brain is shutting off on me, the bright and noisy pictures seem to distract me more effectively at the moment. It can be really hard to concentrate when dealing with so much physical pain, my brain is so clogged up with pain signals that the thought signals tend to have more trouble getting through. I have read one fabulous book recently and I shall post a review for you as soon as I have functioning thoughts enough to do so!

I was going to sit and wander through the blogs that I have been missing in recent weeks, however having the laptop on my lap just long enough to post this is apparently enough laptopping. Concentrating is making my hurts hurt more. Stupid pelvis. I am so darn tired of it causing so much pain and incapacitation. Especially when the sun is shining happily outside! I would like to go and frolic in it. Oh yes, I would like that very much.

SIGH.

Love & Waiting,

Caf

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Dear Audy,

Yeah, you know how it goes, my hands get sore and then I talk to the camera.

A general CRPS and health update from the past few months, along with some pondering about the pain/anxiety cycle and the way in which Feldenkrais has helped me in overcoming a lot of my physical limitations.

Gosh darn it’s weird watching myself, talk about myself. Kind of like walking in on myself naked. Can I please have a cupcake now?

Love & Chatting,
Caf

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Dear Audy,

Very sore hands. Very, very sore hands. Trying not to stay in the trance of thinking about my very sore hands…so I recorded a talkie about the good things that have been happening lately.

Whenever I feel depressed, I also feel a little bit guilty. There is a difference between sadness and depression. When nothing can be done to stop whatever is upsetting me, I am the only thing that can make me feel better. How? By choosing to. It’s just a choice, that’s all. The more that I am aware of the choice, the easier it is to let go of the feeling of desolation. It’s not always easy to see the choice, but it is always there.

Getting to this realisation by lunchtime on a flare day makes me feel a little chuffed. I am making progress, flares are just flares and eventually I will have a nice, new, pretty dress.

Love & Lollipops,
Caf

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Dear Audy,

Several exciting things happened yesterday. It started with the nap that I took early in the afternoon…what, you don’t like a slow build?

I DROVE ALL THE WAY INTO THE CITY. ALL BY MYSELF. I DID. AND I EVEN DROVE HOME AGAIN AFTERWARD AND I AM OK! HURRAH!

Driving myself places makes is like being 18 again. It’s a freedom that being a navigating passenger just can’t provide. Sure, I have to wear sexy, thick soled shoes, thick socks and padded gloves, but who cares? I can drive again. Just as long as I don’t have to do anything the next day that involves leaving the couch.

Why was I driving, all by my lonesome, into a cold and drizzly Melbourne on this wintery Monday night? To meet awesome people, that’s why. With all of my stuck at homedness, I don’t get a lot of opportunities to enjoy the company of people that I don’t already know. Thank goodness there is Twitter. Some time ago, I made a bubbly new friend whilst tweeting about the Australian TV Series Rush. Having met up with Carly once during the comedy festival, I was happy to accept her invite to come and hang out with her at a premiere screening for season 3 of Rush. Turns out that was a good idea! Here’s a little look at the highlights from last night:

Not only did I get to enjoy Carly’s company, I was also privileged enough to meet up with Jenna and Renne, both of whom I have been tweeting with for so long that I can’t even remember how long. Always wonderful to meet online friends in the real world! Especially when they turn out to be friendly, fun people.

Take a breath, this story is about to get even more exciting…I also experienced what must be the exact opposite of becoming acquainted online before in real life! Megan was great fun to hang out amongst hot actor boys with and writes a great blog that I can now enjoy reading – as can you, if you follow that link!!

SO MUCH EXCITEMENT! It’s fun to get excited. It’s fun to have fun!! I am exhausted now, but it was all worth it. My fangirling days are mostly behind me (I think, check back in a month or so when it’s nearly time to be in the same room as Joss Whedon), but I had an awesome time feeding off the fanergy of others. Look, I know that sounds dirty and looks wrong, but it’s staying. One more time…fanergy. Being around excited people is as infectious as being around depressed ones, except in a much, much more brilliant way. I loved hanging out in the fanroom!

Not to mention, those boys are a bit of alright, yes? My prince is shooting across dirty looks every time a Rush promo comes on TV, which is a lot. Being a pretty lazy fan, I kinda tuned out part way through last season, but it would appear that’s my loss. The screening was very entertaining! I like shows that make me laugh and I also like shows where things blow up and Rush packs those together nicely. Not to mention, those boys are a bit of alright, yes? Yes.

Love & Fanism,
Caf

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