When I asked for luck I didn't mean the bad variety!!!

*Robin*

Hello Be Lucky, :hello:

"Putting up the Christmas Tree" will become a treasured family story to laugh at in years to come - awful at the time but one of those things that enrich family life..

Anyway I hope you have a better day today.

You need to give yourself at least a week to recover, you know; probably longer as you're on antibiotics. If you can, squeeze enough from the shopping budget to get yourself some probiotic yoghurts - eat one a day for a couple of weeks after you've finished the antib's. Has the Doc given you iron pills as well? If not, ask if they would speed your recovery when you go for your check-up next week.

ETA. Re DH's early morning confusion/bad mood. My mate who went through the same thing was like that. His wife set up their sound system on a timer, so that instead of an alarm clock, one of his favourite pieces of music would start playing [not loud!] a quarter of an hour before getting up time. She told me that really helped him for the first couple of years after he came out of hospital, while his brain was 're-training' itself. Might be worth a try?

please-let-me-be-lucky

Thanks for that Robin! I can laugh at yesterday now but it sooooooo wasn't funny at the time!!

I'm not on any iron tablets as the Dr said my haemoglobin levels were fine. It might be a good idea to ask though. I'm feeling a bit better again today. Maybe 80%!

I've been inspired by another diary to look at our grocery spending again. I honestly don't know what we spent in November as even if I added all the amounts from our bank statement, it's not a true reflection. We bought christmas gifts in with our shopping and also went to the meat place & farm shop. For December I'm going to try to not only cut back, but to note properly what we spend, and then see if we can beat it in January.

I haven't been out of the house for days but still haven't had any NSDs as DH and boys have been out spending with MIL. On the positive though we haven't been using our own fuel.

Really feel like I've done nothing but complain on here recently so for that I apologise. Normal service shall resume soon hopefully Xx

please-let-me-be-lucky

Ooh just read your edit Robin. Sounds good and worth a try. The problem here though is that we don't have a set time for DH to waken. Sometimes it's when my alarm goes off, sometimes he's been awake for hours by then, sometimes he sleeps in and mostly it's whenever DS2 is shouting down the monitor that he wants to get up! It may therefore be hard to implement Xx

*Robin*

please-let-me-be-lucky wrote: »

Ooh just read your edit Robin. Sounds good and worth a try. The problem here though is that we don't have a set time for DH to waken. Sometimes it's when my alarm goes off, sometimes he's been awake for hours by then, sometimes he sleeps in and mostly it's whenever DS2 is shouting down the monitor that he wants to get up! It may therefore be hard to implement Xx

Be Lucky, I think you've just high-lighted something very important here!
Routine. As important for someone recovering from brain-damage as much as it is to a child learning for the first time..

How old is DS2? My DS2 was an early riser too. Drove me bonkers until I realised what was waking him at ridiculous hours. Found a solution for us but it may not be age appropriate for you.

poohbear59

plmbl you do have pleanty to complain about. What is amazing about you is that you actually 'complain' so little. We have had tree dressing events just like yours in the past. Particularly when Mr P was very depressed. Luckily the kids don't remember any of it. Keep resting while you can.

I too like robin's idea about the music. I might try using it with Mr P. I will have to find a music system of some sort for the bedroom but I am sure DS3 will help me. he doesn't have a set time of getting up either. He is still not his old self. He didn't come downstairs for three days last week. When the sun was shining I couldn't get him to even open the bedroom curtains this week. I want to try him in front of the SAD light box but 'you can take a horse to water......'
We used his pickup to collect some firewood on Thursday and even his tapes in the vehicle were depressing.

please-let-me-be-lucky

*Robin* wrote: »

Be Lucky, I think you've just high-lighted something very important here!
Routine. As important for someone recovering from brain-damage as much as it is to a child learning for the first time..

How old is DS2? My DS2 was an early riser too. Drove me bonkers until I realised what was waking him at ridiculous hours. Found a solution for us but it may not be age appropriate for you.

You definitely have a point about routine Robin and it's something to think about for sure, but just to clarify:

After the accident DH had trouble sleeping and regularly woke at 5am or earlier and couldn't get back to sleep. This then led to bad days as he was tired. He has since been prescribed Trazodone as not only an antidepressant, but as something to help him sleep, and he takes this before bed. The downside is that sometimes he is slow to awaken the next morning.
Weekdays we need to be up for getting boys to school etc and I set the alarm for 7.15am. More often than not this is just a precaution incase DS2 doesn't wake us first. He is 3 next month and usually wakes anywhere between 7-8am, more usually closer to the 7am mark. He has his bedtime at 7.30pm in the evening so I'm more than happy with how long he sleeps, though on a fairly irregular basis (if you see what I mean!) he wakes between 6-7am which is earlier than we'd like.
On a weekend we don't set the alarm for the chance of sleeping til 8am if DS2 does!
Sometimes DH wakes bright and sometimes he doesn't. If it's a weekend I let him 'lie in' but he rarely stays in bed past 8.30am.
We almost always are in bed between 10-11pm.

I am more than happy to try anything that helps and therefore perhaps a more structured routine is the key, however DS2 will always be a variable Xx

please-let-me-be-lucky

poohbear59 wrote: »

plmbl you do have pleanty to complain about. What is amazing about you is that you actually 'complain' so little. We have had tree dressing events just like yours in the past. Particularly when Mr P was very depressed. Luckily the kids don't remember any of it. Keep resting while you can.

I too like robin's idea about the music. I might try using it with Mr P. I will have to find a music system of some sort for the bedroom but I am sure DS3 will help me. he doesn't have a set time of getting up either. He is still not his old self. He didn't come downstairs for three days last week. When the sun was shining I couldn't get him to even open the bedroom curtains this week. I want to try him in front of the SAD light box but 'you can take a horse to water......'
We used his pickup to collect some firewood on Thursday and even his tapes in the vehicle were depressing.

Oh dear Pooh it must be so hard for you. Of course we understand that you are only trying to help Mr P but it must be so frustrating when he himself doesn't understand that or isn't able help himself. Depression is cruel, not only to the person suffering directly from it. I hope you get some joy from the music side of things. Perhaps the tapes in his pick up can have an 'accident'.

please-let-me-be-lucky

DH has just been shopping again with MIL. He spent £35.17 :eek:. This did include £6.50 for a large pack of batteries and £6 on toiletries but if I'm honest not much else in the way of foodstuffs. A lot of 'treat' stuff like doughnuts/cookies/ice-creams/pop etc.

In his defence he bought a lot of offers eg 2 for £2, and the original bill was £44.54 before offers/discounts and multibuy savings, but it's still a red flag to a bull when I've just decided to focus on the amount we spend on food shopping.

So, for my information, my running total for December groceries is £22.67 (I've deducted the batteries & toiletries).

please-let-me-be-lucky

please-let-me-be-lucky wrote: »

Weekdays we need to be up for getting boys to school etc and I set the alarm for 7.15am. More often than not this is just a precaution incase DS2 doesn't wake us first. He is 3 next month and usually wakes anywhere between 7-8am, more usually closer to the 7am mark. He has his bedtime at 7.30pm in the evening so I'm more than happy with how long he sleeps, though on a fairly irregular basis (if you see what I mean!) he wakes between 6-7am which is earlier than we'd like.

And just to make a liar out of me, he slept in until 9.20am this morning!!! :rotfl:.

I feel a bit better again this morning so fingers crossed I'm on the up. It still hurts a bit to stand up/sit down but walking is ok now, if perhaps a little slower than usual.

Sold some things on eb@y last night so we've packaged those up ready for posting this morning. We also need to collect DH's prescription (has to be today as he's run out) so I will be venturing out the house for the first time in almost a week.

And we have snow!!!

please-let-me-be-lucky

£28.15 made on eb@y after fees :j:j:j

Snow has melted :j:j:j

I managed to get outside and drive/walk ok :j:j:j

I didn't feel like I was turning inside out every time we went over a speed bump :j:j:j

Good day so far! Xx