Tramadol Haze

I managed to get to my new GP office yesterday, driven in by a neighbour and bustled about and generally tended to rather sweetly by everyone in the office. My GP was very concerned about the fact I was out of meds and hadn't been able to get seen, but once she started to get the scoop (son only in school for an hour, no social care or respite for either of us), I saw the grim set to her jawline that said "Yes, we'll see about that." Rock on. In any event, I was told to come in for some baseline blood-tests, to call with some info on the doseages I had been on previously and they'd get the medication sorted and dispensed for me onsite, I could pick it up after I went in to get the bloodwork done. This was very good news; while the local post office-cum-pharmacy isn't far, it is down a very twisty and steep bit of hill. Going down it would be treacherous - coming back up it impossible. If I can get meds at appointments then more the better - failing that, I was told they could deliver it to me or my neighbour would pick it up herself.

I'm grateful for their willingness and care of one another here. The community is a good one, and I hope I'll be able to contribute to it.

I also realised yesterday (with a bit of a shock, really) that Xmess and Yule is only weeks away. Somehow I had completely managed to forget this, and was at a loss where to put the tree. I didn't really like the way the room was set up as I didn't really have much say in placement; I was off getting child to bring him back. So things were bunged in rather willy-nilly, and the space wasn't very well utilised. So I set to and did a fair bit of shuffling round to get the tree placed, and also managed to open up the living room a fair bit, as well as set up my sewing/painting area. I like the whole arrangement a lot better now, but I will have to admit I overdid things considerably re-arranging the room and getting the tree up. I was in agony, could barely stand up as the pain was so bad, and I had to make child a rather haphazard dinner, and one for me as well as I hadn't had the energy to make myself any lunch. I had to resort to the strongest painkillers I have just to allow me to be able to move, and unfortunately the residual effects have carried over today. I'll manage, although I feel a bit zombified.

Of course putting up the tree was very exciting, and child was running around like mad, working himself up into a tizzy and insisting he couldn't possibly wait till Yule. Eventually, the inevitable happened and he had managed to get himself completely beside himself, howling and screaming that he wanted Christmas RIGHT NOW. Of course, in his mind, I should have been able to do just that. Things weren't improved by the arrival of presents in their Amazon boxes, and it only started up the shrieking even worse.

Sigh.

But every year, it comes to this, and every year we just have to deal with it. So I took a very hard line - he knows full well he's only getting one present this year. And I also told him that poor behaviour wasn't going to make Yule come any faster. He's obsessed with getting and having stuff and I'm well aware of this - acquisition is a Big Deal when it comes to child, and he rates things a lot higher than he does people. The present he's getting this year is rather big but that is due to the fact it's for me as well as him, and I'm hoping it will be of benefit to him not just as a bit of fun, but a bit of OT development as I consulted with the specialist OT about the use of the Wii before buying it - I'd never have looked twice at the thing otherwise. He knows it's here, and he'll count down the days and go on about it every five minutes. He'll wake me up at 4 am, then 5, then 6, to ask if it's Yule yet (and he started that on Sunday, so I've many a sleepness night ahead of me). Once he starts to calm down and accept he needs to be patient - and if the weather takes a turn for the worse - I'll open the Wii early and we'll set it up to try some games on it. But he won't get what he wants just by yelling for it.

He is getting a new game for the Playstation 2 - which he paid out of his own pocket, as his taste in games is always toward the one he doesn't currently have. It's a good system however, and it does encourage better behaviour at school: if he does all right without blowups, he earns a pound a day, and gets five pounds at the end of the week to spend as he sees fit. It does work, but games do require me to limit his playtime. He gets frustrated and angry when he doesn't win, and the end result is rarely good. His behaviour has already cost him being able to play the game today however, and he'll have to wait till tomorrow to open it up and give a go.

So, recovery for me today; I got a lot done yesterday but I'm done for the moment. Rest, eat, sleep (if I can, but I suspect another wakeup and "Is it Yule NOW?")