Last week, I finished the musical. It was all I could think about. It practically wrote itself. Ward had minimum input. He was fine letting me do my thing. 15 pages, some of them copied word-for-word from memory. When I write a lot, my head gradually tilts to the side, making clicking the right words and letters difficult. I was so driven that I managed to finish the project in two weeks. It\u2019s a real 2003 period piece: Idols (and its dreaded jury members), heaps of pop culture, politicians and jokes about our awful public transport system. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s that time again, I have to get used to a new aide. We have no traditions or routines to speak of. Despite only having known each other for two days, we\u2019re supposed to fully trust each other and work together. I can\u2019t personally tell her, and the note we prepared doesn\u2019t capture the intricate details. How do I like my cup held? Don\u2019t leave me alone for too long when I haven\u2019t used the bathroom in a while. Don\u2019t ask me questions while I\u2019m eating, I can\u2019t answer. I\u2019d rather we don\u2019t talk at all during meals. Things that go without saying with my other aides have to be re-explained. But I do like her as a person, which goes a long way. She had a bit of trouble getting me to the bathroom, but we managed it eventually and it was a learning moment for her. I\u2019m sure it won\u2019t happen again. Besides, it\u2019s fun to hear new stories every once in a while. And boy, does she like talking. We\u2019ll be fine, Sandra and I.<\/p>\n
These days my shoulder hurts when I\u2019m sleeping. Not because of my mattress, but because of my lack of muscles, meaning my arm is too heavy for my rotator cuff. Now I put my arm on a pillow. I\u2019ve come up with an ingenious way to roll over in bed. While I\u2019m lying on my side, Hein tucks the blanket underneath me, making turning so much easier. On average, I still need Hein\u2019s help once a night. And we leave the heating on at night so my muscles don\u2019t get cold and go rigid. There\u2019s a whole science to sleeping comfortably.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a systematic, deliberate kind of person. It manifests most when I\u2019m confronted by someone who is anything but. Sandra is one of those people. She wanted to clean up after lunch and forgot to put the lid on the butter packet. I couldn\u2019t help but tell her, in my almost indecipherable voice, that she\u2019d forgotten the lid. Ridiculous. Eventually I had to resort to spelling, L-I-D, L-I-D! Like it mattered at all. There are better uses for my energy than this, which I realised way too late. I\u2019m weird like that. I need to learn to let some things go. Another example: we went for a car ride and I wanted the kids to be strapped in. That was when the big guessing game started, something I bloody hate. Something about the windows? Open them? Close them? The brakes? Did I put on the handbrake? I started spelling again: S-E-A-T-B-E-L-T. And then it click for Floor: \u201cMum, if you hadn\u2019t said anything we would have fastened our seat belts by now.\u201d Sigh. <\/p>\n
We\u2019ll be going on a skiing holiday on Sunday, February 23rd and return on the following Sunday. We\u2019re hoping to avoid heavy traffic that way. And we\u2019re hoping for fair weather, of course. Moreover, it turns out that we can take the car all the way up the mountain, to a wheelchair accessible restaurant with a view of the ski slope. I wasn\u2019t expecting that, but I\u2019ll be glad to satisfy my voyeuristic needs on a real winter sports terrace.
\nThere was no heavy traffic to speak of, as expected. The restaurant was 2750 metres above sea level, accessible by driving up the serpentine 26 km long mountain road. Driving in the mountains is not a pleasant experience for me. When we go up, my head is pushed into my headrest, except when we brake, then my head is launched forward. Going down, I could do nothing except let my chin rest on my chest. My scarf was too tight and I felt like I was being garotted. Other than that, the sun was blazing but the wind was icy cold. In short, I\u2019d mostly be sitting inside. Not exactly what I was hoping for. The next day, we went down to another village, where we found a sunny terrace. By that afternoon, we had moved to a patio closer to the slope. A lot to take in. It did take Hein and Lieke (Hein couldn\u2019t manage on his own) a lot of effort to get me and my wheelchair up there. For the first two days, when we didn\u2019t have a routine down, I wondered why I was subjecting myself to this. For my family, of course, but after a while I started to enjoy being outside and taking in my surroundings. The four-star hotel was completely wheelchair-accessible. There were ten other wheelchair bound guests (they were a bit more athletic, skiing in special skiing wheelchairs). The food was prepared the way I wanted it. The kids went tobogganing. And of course, we had a Tyrolean theme night, with hits like \u201cEs ist so toll, ich bin der Anton aus Tirol\u201d. We visited Innsbruck on our last day there. It\u2019s a city everyone talks about when going on a skiing holiday, but nobody actually visits. I wasn\u2019t expecting it to be as beautiful as it was, with sophisticated-looking residents, surrounded by white mountains and low-flying aeroplanes. On Saturday we watched the German version of Idols, \u201cDeutschland sucht ein Superstar\u201d, but it was a lot less fun than ours. On our return journey I got the sad news that my favourite Idols contestant had been voted off.
\nIt was amazing to experience one more skiing holiday. My everlasting thanks to Hein, Lieke and grandma Lia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The musical is finished Last week, I finished the musical. It was all I could think about. It practically wrote itself. Ward had minimum input. He was fine letting me do my thing. 15 pages, some of them copied word-for-word from memory. When I write a lot, my head gradually tilts to the side, making … <\/p>\n