Sorry I haven't responded as I have been feeling very low. I've been put on Losartan (think that's the right spelling) which has helped. It's the pain that is causing a problem for me lately and most of my medication is for that. Yesterday I was absolutely crippled up and couldn't get comfortable at all. I suffer with arthritis pain which is in both hands, right wrist, back, right hip and right ankle.
What I do around the church I do actually enjoy but I'm my worst enemy there as I don't know when to say no. I've been told to slow up regularly so I know the others care and they will insist I go home or get on with jobs before I do.
Today I do feel better. We got so fed up with all the neighbour problems that I got us on the Homeswapper site. Anyway last week I got an email from our HA stating that they're not going to be part of the scheme. This means that the HA tenants can be on it but will have to pay the fee to be on it. Instead the HA is just going to concentrate on Homeswap which is equivilant to Homeswapper and fas been incorporated into Durham Key Options. That's how we got the bungalow we're in now. Anybody can apply to Durham Key Options regardless of whether they are council and HA tenants or not. People will get points in reference to age, medical problems, married / single / in a partnership etc the same as council and HA waiting lists. The bonus is that people can put bids on properties they are interested in and whoever is at the top of the list gets first refusal. Now people can do a mutual exchange through the scheme as well.
I applied for us to get onto Durham Key Options about 12 days ago and last week we got a letter through letting us know we had been accepted. I put in four bids all on bungalows with the closing date of the 10th September for bids. One is a mutual exchange so it was up to the other tenant to get in touch with us. One is void which means it's not ready yet so if we wanted that one we would have to wait until the work is done. That left two and yesterday we got an email and telephone call but were out. Rick rang the HA when we got home and HA officer asked if we were still interested. We are so we went to see both bungalows. Both are nice so it we had to weigh up the pros and cons. One had a higher fence round the back garden but the other had a fence round the front garden, it has a shower as well as a bath and the kitchen is a bit bigger. There are new kitchens and bathrooms in both bungalows which is good. The one we chose we will be signing the contract on Monday with the tenancy starting the following Monday. However on Tuesday we are going to pay the first week's water rates so we can pick the keys up and get moved in.
That in itself has cheered me up as it gets us away from the neighbour.
Hey Pip,
How are you feeling at the moment? Noticed you were feeling low last week, hope things have picked up this week and you ain't in as much pain. Yeah Losartan is correct, don't think that has many common side effects and you certainly will get rid of that cough you had.
I know what you mean with saying no at church. I often make a rod for my own back at work cos I like to learn new things and how to do stuff, once you know what you're doing you seem to get the jobs all the time. Plus, then when someone asks you to do something else you feel bad saying no, well I do, I feel so guilty like am letting them down or like am a failure, so I take it on and then struggle with the workload. I guess it's a woman's thing lol but we do need to sometimes take a step back and not take everything on.
How is the house hunting coming along, have you had any positive news yet?
Am doing ok and coping at the moment, had a decent weekend and actually enjoyed playing football yesterday and I can't remember the last time I did. Having a few problems with eating again, have my good and bad days where I hardly eat anything and survive on liquids cos am frightened of putting weight on. Am still on the counselling waiting list think am gonna ring up next week cos it's been over 2 months now. Am doing a meal replacement diet to 1) lose a lot of weight and 2) it is the only way to hide my eating phobia cos people accept "I'm on a diet". I need my counselling to start in the next month cos I need them to help me overcome my eating problems before the shakes run out and I'm forced to eat again. Overall though, at the moment, besides the eating, I can say am managing, am far from recovered and well but getting through the day has become easier, which I think the 45mg Mirtazapine is finally working.
Hope you are well
PP
