winter feels

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After navigating several obstacle courses of bureaucratic inefficiency over the past few weeks, I finally managed to score my first dose of vaccine yesterday! Hurrah!

I now have AstraZeneca coursing through my system, and my next dose is a long 12 weeks away. Pfizer is being saved for the <50s and the roll out for 40-49s started last week. Anyone under 40 can’t get theirs until – well, who knows? 2027? See above bureaucratic inefficiency.

I’m skeptical of the narrative in the Australian media that people don’t want to be vaccinated – maybe it’s just the circles I move in, but I don’t know anyone who is not super-keen to be jabbed right now.

My left arm aches, don’t feel too poorly otherwise. I hear tomorrow will probably be rather less pleasant.

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In utterly brilliant news, Joe/Frank has entered the permanent workforce!

He’s in his final semester of undergrad and, because the unemployment rate for people on the autism spectrum is astronomical, we were beginning to source disability employment services and grad programmes, and having those “what would you choose as a second degree?” conversations. We expected it to be a long grind.

He applied for a random job via linkedin last month, there were 166 candidates and he made it through phone screening, two interviews and a surprise test! Even more wonderful – it’s a job in his field!

By complete coincidence, I worked for this same smallish suburban employer in the late 1980s – it’s a pretty good place to work and I think will be a great fit for him.

I thought this journey would be so very, very hard and full of many disappointments. It’s just incredibly amazing! Everyone is immensely proud of him.

There has been much shopping for work-appropriate wardrobe items. That little-used overlocker is genius for assisting with pants hemming.

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Last week I stepped on a small, sharp thing in the not-craft room and looked down to find … a tooth! Poor BabyKitty’s left canine had fallen out!

Two hours of surgery later and she has twenty stitches and significantly less teeth.

They’d mentioned at her annual check-up last year that maybe we should consider organising a teeth exam, but we did not expect this!

She’s bounced back to her curmudgeonly self, but will need a return visit for another poke about.

Poor precious darling.

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It had been an age since I’d had my last eye check, so no surprise that I needed stronger reading glasses – two steps up. I knew there was a change in my vision, but I’m honestly amazed at the difference, particularly for close work like embroidery and for looking at my phone.

Now I have three different types: distance (fairly mild – for driving, movies and television), reading – and now computer (my old reading, repurposed). The optometrist said owning three types is not uncommon – mind blown.

I need a spectacles reckoning – I have a lot of pairs scattered about in the hope that I’ll reach for them, rather than squinting helplessly at things and ending up with a headache. I plan to re-balance to more reading and less computer pairs – actually good advice for more than just glasses.

And hey – maybe it’s time to book in your check-up?