Month: April 2011

So, Greg Mortensen has been knocked off his pedestal, and the effectiveness of his mission, to fund the building of schools for girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan through private contributions, is being challenged.

Whether or not he’s a hero with feet of clay, Mortensen still deserves props for getting so many people interested in the transformative possibilities of educating girls and young women in Central Asia.

Even so, I’ve had no illusions about Greg Mortensen since reading his account of how he met and fell in love with his wife, Tara Bishop. She’s small and dark.

Same deal with Nicholas Kristof, whose wife is Asian and in his words, “hot”.

You won’t see either Mortensen or Kristof shilling for schools in places like Appalachia, where many of the children are fair-haired and blue-eyed.

Guess I find male chauvinist, racist piggery more disturbing than bad accounting and poorly executed good intentions.

I’ve been interested in illnesses of the brain since Robert and Emme were diagnosed, but today was the first time that I found a group that could help me understand my own as well as Ron’s brain injuries.

Brain injuries happen for many different reasons besides stroke or TIA – accidents, illnesses like tumors and encephalitis, aneurysms, sports-related injuries.

Most of the people in the room had brain injuries for reasons other than stroke. Even so, I could relate to so many of their experiences.

Examples: the day after attending a conference, or any event that piles on too many stimuli, a couple of the participants said they were exhausted, that it felt like they had the flu.

They said that clutter or noise can be overwhelming, that it takes longer to do anything, even mechanical activities like brushing your teeth, that it requires five times as much effort for an injured brain to move muscles and think through a task.

Someone recommended keeping a list on the wall, or a grid for bill-paying. Others recommended books or DVDs.

A couple of participants felt that HIPPA has created problems for brain-injured people, in that it’s impossible to distribute information on support groups in the community unless specifically asked. Foolish!

One of the difficulties in finding long-term treatment and support is that brain-injured people are stigmatized in our society.

It seems from some of the experiences that even medical professionals have little understanding of how long it takes to recover and the best ways to go about it.

All in all, an enlightening and encouraging two hours. I’m looking forward to the next one and hope Ron can attend as well.

This morning, for the first time, I attended a meeting of the Brain Injury Survivor/Caregiver Support Group of Mashpee.

The group leader made the comment that at times, he feels like he accomplished nothing: what did I do over the last 3 or 4 hours?

That’s exactly how I feel today.

After the meeting, I ran some errands, including banking and picking up meds, and got back here around 2.

Have I done almost 3 hours of anything since then? Not that I can remember. I paid a bill online, talked with Ron for a bit, reserved a couple of films at Redbox, received a call from a property management company and sent a couple of emails.

– Birth of a child
– Birth of grandchildren
– Understanding and making allowance for disabilities and limitations
– Catering to food likes, dislikes
– Creating a pleasing home environment
– Common values around money, community responsibility, political activism
– Pleasure in the person’s looks and demeanor
– Shared sense of humor
– Shared communication styles (direct/indirect, articulate/nonverbal, etc.)
– Wish to protect each other from physical, verbal and emotional harm
– Wish to participate in shared experiences
– Respect for the other’s independence and need for privacy
– Sexual compatibility

– Linda
– Jennifer
– Susan
– Gloria
– Sally
– Judy
– Laurie
– Benny
– Melody
– Marcia

Cut back at Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and July 4th. For Spring pruning, cut back to buds at the base of the plant.

Would be nice to put in some Joe Pye Weed this year.

Two nights ago, James was here with 3 friends for an overnight. He and Tyler had been here on and off all weekend.

I was able to clean up the kitchen and put the basement clubhouse in order before knocking off last night. This morning, I reorganized the blankets and pillows and got those put away.

Yesterday, I finished putting super phosphate on the flowering shrubs in the back, including the lilacs, hydrangeas, Montauks, butterfly bushes, peony and St. Johnswort.

I’m pretty much done with pruning and possibly even weeding for now.

Today I shall clean up the section of the basement reserved for Ron’s trunks and boxes.

I also want to spread the mulch, load the truck with throw-aways from the basement, get to Fedex or UPS and attend a talk at Mahoney’s.

Well, that didn’t work out as planned.

I did get most of the basement cleared out, but not all of it.

I didn’t touch an inch of mulch.

I did load the truck with most but not all of the throw-aways.

I did get to Fedex but not to Mahoney’s or to the beach clean-up.

I invited James to come over to do a yard sale. We set out tables and posted signs, but we just didn’t have enough good stuff to make it worthwhile.

Plus, it was cold, windy and unpleasant.

I ended up with four boys (James, Tyler, Shane and a new friend, John). Tyler stomped on my poor Jacob’s Ladder. Emme came along, but we didn’t get around to doing anything fun. It was a challenge to keep the grill from blowing out, but James was able to roast hot dogs and rolls.

All in all, a somewhat disappointing day in terms of productivity.

Today I shall clean up the section of the basement reserved for Ron’s trunks and boxes.

I also want to spread the mulch, load the truck with throw-aways from the basement, get to Fedex or UPS and attend a talk at Mahoney’s.

We had a frost warning last night, but I didn’t see any this morning. It is cold and windy, not a real great day to be outside tending a yard sale, which is happening across the street at Candy’s.

Three weeks from today, Ron will be here.

I am very happy about that.

Even though I’ve lived by myself for decades, I’m looking forward to his moving in. As he’s said several times, I wish it were over. In about a month or so, he should be pretty well settled in.

It’s been raining, with thunder and lightning, since around 4:30 this morning. At times, the rain has come down in sheets.

The backyard has several large puddles in the usual spots.

Glad to have gotten at least some compost down yesterday, and wish I could have done more.

Picked up compost today at the Falmouth leaf collection center on Blacksmith Shop Road and half a yard of black mulch at BSF. Put down most of the mulch and a good chunk of the compost in front of the house. Hope to do more work tomorrow. Pretty beat right now.