Today didn’t really promise that much. I wasn’t too fussed by this but I’ve increased one of my medications, a muscle relaxant called Baclofen, as I’ve been in quite some pain over the past few weeks. My rehab doctor seems to think that the increased spasticity levels in my muscles could be the cause and suggested that I increase the dosage. Not by much, just by half of a tablet, that is, 5 measly mg. My other half can knock back these little beauties like Smarties, up to 80mg in a day and feel nothing at all. I’ve been taking this extra dose for 2 days and I’m knocked sideways! So, I got up feeling pretty wretched today and struggled to get myself going. The nausea (another gem of a side effect…) wasn’t really doing much for me and as I sat there nursing my cup of tea, I have to admit that I wasn’t in the best of moods.
Eventually the effects starting to wear off and picking myself up, I started dealing with the day’s jobs in hand. Tackling the never-ending pile of filing was the first order of the day, only for me to be interrupted by the phone. Not that I was too heartbroken about that, filing isn’t top of my favourites list. Only, one of our carers was calling to ask why her wages still hadn’t gone into her bank account. One lengthy phone call to the bank, several threats to change banks, and many more swear words besides, the issue got resolved.
After the filing finally got done, I got to writing the reply letter to the care agency that had overcharged us for mileage, yes that’s right, for mileage, which basically was telling them that credit notes would not suffice, as we would not be using their service again. Ever. Then it was the call the water company about the astronomical bill. More tedium followed but eventually it got done.
At this point, my husband had already gone off to the supermarket so, after a bit of web surfing time, I started with getting tonight’s tea on. Beef stew, and as I was using shin of beef, I needed to get cracking. I had just floured the meat when I saw my other half coming back from Morrisons. Just a few things, he had said. The box on his knee told a different story. If only the box had stayed on his knee. As I opened the outside door to let him in, the contents were spilling nicely over the pavement. So you can see how the day was panning out…
Anyway, contents picked up and ‘few bits’ put away, I got back on with the stew. Three-twenty p.m. in the oven and this beast needed three hours at least. Step-father-in-law (even harder to say, trust me) was due at five-thirty and he was always early.
Five p.m. and SFIL (I can’t type that mouthful every time!) didn’t disappoint my expectations.
Finally, at seven-twenty p.m., I settled down to eat – the beast had proved awkward and taken four hours instead. Despite having taken the trouble last year to create a ‘proper’ dining area, it's typical in our house to eat off our knees, whilst watching TV. We flicked the channels and finally settled on a programme called ‘The Wonders of the Solar System’. Anything to avoid Eastenders. But then it started to get me hooked. The presenter’s passion for what he was talking about was infectious, and suddenly we found that we really were watching, rather than just having noise on, like we usually do. Now I can’t pretend that I’ve retained anything that he said – my brain is like a sieve at the best of times, never mind on a ‘bad day’ like today. But there was one thing the presenter said that really struck a chord in me, “what a majestic story”, his description for the life and death of a star. I’m no physicist, so am not able to relay the stuff he did, but I did get that carbon, the universe, the stars, the sun, the moon, are all things that are crucial to our existence. The majority of us rarely take notice, as it’s just there, seemingly part of the everyday, the inconsequential. And yet it isn’t. Most of us concern ourselves with the humdrum, the trivial stuff, the banks, and the care agencies, the boxes on the floor. Stuff like that, whilst the real story, the big one, has been going for billions of years without too much of a mention. Relatively speaking anyway. Today was no different, I’ve relayed to you the humdrum, the petty and the trivial, largely ignoring the big one, and no doubt tomorrow will be much the same. But it has made me think, just for a little while at least, in the midst of all my 'stuff', of what’s happening out there. What a majestic story.
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