Well, yesterday was a bit of a wash.

Got up at a decent hour, did the bulk of my routine, lay down for a refreshing non-nap of about 30 minutes.  Then as I was making lunch, I somehow threw my right shoulder out.  OWWW.  In an instant, I turned from a moderately healthy and active 30-something into a little old lady of 83.

Took some cyclobenzaprine -- a muscle relaxant -- and some ibuprofen as soon as possible.  The first knocked me out.  The second?  Not sure if it did much at all.  But as a result I was too looped out to make it to work.  In fact, I slept from 1-4 p.m. ...

Once I regained consciousness, I had a hair appointment to keep.  Got myself ready, headed down to The Fox Den to let Amber work her magic with my hair.  On the agenda: a cut, and furthering my hair from a pretty, peachy blonde to the ultimate goal of silver-grey.

That went well, save for the rinsing part; leaning back in the chair to get my hair inundated was... painful, at best.  But the final results are mrrrr.  Quite pleased; just the right shade of grey, with hints of russet just barely enough to evince themselves under scrutiny, giving my hair a pleasing depth.  Frankly, I feel like I look like an anime character now!

Afterwards, Pazi wanted to see.  I'd already had dinner by the time we poked each other online, and all of us -- she, Tess, and I -- were in dire need of some quiet time, but they still had me come over for a bit.  Given the vocalisations I heard methinks they approve of the new hair as well.  And both Pazi and Tess took pity on me, tag-teaming to give me a backrub.  Pazi wiped out a few of the main knot's exurbs, while Tess went in and nuked the area rather thoroughly.  When the natives put on their radiation suits and started to rebuild, Tess blasted them again -- and oh my word, I feel so much better today!

Then Pazi, feeling a domestic urge, made some of the tastiest oatmeal raisin cookies I've ever had.  Nomz!  Perfection in and of themselves.  Though given my own culinary proclivities, I couldn't help but think of how to level up the recipe; some apple and mace added to the dough would do the trick nicely.

Lightly cuddly, quiet time followed, with lemon tea and a Triceyhead on Skype.  By 11 p.m. I needed to head home and slink into bed, and Pazi was verbed out... so we called it a night.

It's so nice to have friends and family with whom I can just be present, without needing constant interaction. Hopefully we all still got the quiet we needed; at least I did.

And that was my Tuesday.

Today's the day my mother and her husband left on their long vacation in Europe. Since I have never yet been able to afford a place of my own this is I think the first time I've had an opportunity to direct my own life without anyone else looming over me.

Repeatedly leading up to this people have checked on me that I know how to do things like sweep floors or wash clothes or cook food. I find it upsetting that people seem to view me as rather more helpless than I am, especially since there doesn't seem any conscious basing of this on my having a disability that does make self-care difficult for many (perhaps if they did I would be bothered by that instead, but right now this foundationless presumption is bothering me). Maybe it is not without foundation, and I will turn out fairly unable to survive without someone else looking out for me. I hope not. I don't think so, but I worry. Been looking forward to this opportunity for quiet and self-management.

Since we have been left some money to buy food I have been wondering if I might redirect some of my own money that I'd been saving up to pay for food during this interval to instead buy some gloves, so I have something to keep my hands warm. these ones look nice, albeit expensive. Would be tempted to get a pair in emerald and another in ruby, so I can wear them mismatched with each other, but what I will probably do is ignore the money we've been left, buy my own food, and then see if I have any extra savings.

As well as saying farewell to my mother and her husband, today was also a day for turning in forms to Centrelink so they know I've been a good and diligent job-seeker. The late afternoon was a bad time for doing that, as I had two close calls driving due to glare from the setting sun obscuring other cars or their signals. If I don't have to drive at that hour, I'd much rather avoid it.

They also offered me access to turning in forms online, which would do away with the fortnightly trips. Unfortunately their demonstration tools were down at the time, so I will have to wait until next time. Ah well. Detoured after to the shopping centre in search of fresh cleaning fluid and cloth for my glasses. Somehow managed to make a complete loop of the place before finding my goal right near where I started. At one point accidentally crossed the line of connection between a young child and eir family, which reminded me to be glad I was there alone so I did not have to manage connections with a group.

Fear not, I do not intend to go back to daily chronicling. Been trying to be a bit postier though, because I want to.