Gearing up for Change

I find change hard. I always have. I usually can talk myself into believing it is for the best and there are new adventures around the corner but it is not easy.
I am a bit of a "hanger on" person. I hang on to my habits, I like my routine. I still have a lot of my old childhood treasures. I keep a lot of resource materials like about 20 years of Guider Magazine and files of cooking articles, and how to do web design because I might come back to it someday. I treasure my friends too and believe I am a loyal friend.

The last time my life was totally turned upside down it was a sudden change. In a 2 day period, I was worried for my life and in a week I was thinking my life was not worth living. But it got better, I got back to much of my life from before but never again would I see my world in quite the same way. I lost friends, I lost some dreams of what I wanted to do with my life. I lost a ton of confidence in myself and what I could aspire to do and was devastated by my inability to be the wife and mother I used to be.

When it happened I was weeks away from a large Girl Guide camp where I was one of the key planning people. From my hospital bed, I was trying to use my confused and traumatized brain to think of where the plans and papers were so that it could be handed on to someone else to complete and trying to remember all that I had left undone.

Change, this time, has not been sudden. It has been insidious.  My right knee had been sore 10 years ago and was a problem when doing rehab for the brain injury but did not really mess with my everyday world. Walking with a bad gait due to a weak left side has resulted in a  lot of wear and tear on my "good" side and I have been having increasing problems with knees and back and hips. It has been a slow decline.  Two years ago I had a fall at work and hurt my lower back and hip quite badly. I healed from the fall but the arthritis in my right hip rapidly became very severe.

The past two years have been difficult. Creams, pain medications, cortisone shots and physiotherapy have helped but not been enough to control the pain or let me do all that I want and need to do.

I was placed on a waitlist for a hip replacement and I will be having surgery in a few months. There is a lot to do to get ready for this surgery. I have had several education sessions that are mandatory, I have to see a dietician, occupational therapist and a physiotherapist. I need to make some changes to our house and maybe even our vehicle. I have to have any dental work done ahead of time. I needed an EKG and blood work plus a pre-op physical with my family doctor. I have informed my work supervisor that I will need an extended sick leave.

I really need to step up my game and get exercising to make my muscles as strong as possible. Any weight I can lose will be a help so I am trying to diet. None of this is easy.

This time I am getting ready for the Change.  This time I am getting my ducks in order ahead of time. I have stepped down from most of my volunteer obligations and handed the reigns to others. Someone else is already in charge of the big, upcoming Girl Guide events and camps. It makes me sad. I have loved my time with the art group, youth program and seniors programs I have been involved with as a volunteer.

I hate letting go of my current life but I have to trust that this time Change is going to lead to a life with less pain, more mobility, better health and that there are some wonderful new adventures to come.

Hot Chocolate 101

My daughter Alicia is going to Guest Blog for me today.

I work at a day program for adults with cognitive and physical disabilities.

Today the lady I was supporting hosted a Valentine Party for a bunch of her friends and wanted to give them Hot Chocolate because chocolate and Valentines go together. She wanted to give them something to drink.  This a drink we had figured out a recipe for around Christmas time. She had wanted to figure out an alternative to coffee for a diabetic friend.  They both said they had not had hot chocolate for many years.

  We put all of our ingredients into a large cooking pot. We used  one and a third cup of instant skim milk powder or enough to make up a liter of milk. We used a third cup of cocoa and half a cup of Splenda.  We stirred up all the dry ingredients, poured in the 5 cups of water, stirred it thoroughly again and put the pot on the stove on low so it could slowly heat up and be ready for when her friends arrived.

People were so excited to have the drink. Her guests and my coworkers told her how much they loved it and commented on how good it smelled in the house! They even asked her for her recipe. We wrote the recipe out for a few of them and titled it Hot Chocolate 101 so that is where the name comes from.

My coworkers had a cup and then wanted seconds. They were used to drinking powdered hot chocolate mix and most had never tried hot chocolate made from scratch before. They commented on how different it tasted. For a lot of the disabled individuals it had been a long time since they had hot chocolate of any kind. This was a really nice recipe because it allows us to control the sodium, sugar and fat content making it accessible for different diets including heart friendly and diabetic diets and so allowed everyone to share in the treat.

Hot Chocolate 101

1  1/3 cup Skim Milk Powder
1/3 cup     Cocoa 
1/2 cup     Splenda 
5 cups      Water.

1. Place dry ingredients into a large pot.
2. Mix ingredients with a large spoon
3. add water and stir again.
4. put on a low heat on a stovetop and stir occasionally.
5. Serve using a ladle.
6. Enjoy!

Serves about 6 

Note  from Linda:
I think I will test this out with a slow cooker next week and then try it out at work. I am always looking for a nice treat that people on special diets can share.

Art - Pour Painting with Girl Guide Friends

My Painting.

My local Area for Girl Guides of Canada  had a "Pour Paint" evening for adult members.

What a fun night! One of our members, Janet, figured it out by watching videos on line and then experimenting and figured it out! She was kind enough to organize this evening and share this skill with us. We had about 21 people get together and we followed directions and it was amazing to see the results. It was more fun to do than I expected, and most certainly more exciting too. I was also surprised how much harder it was to control the color and outcome of the picture but still they all looked amazing. It was also a lot tidier than I expected. The tables and floors were covered with plastic and tarps on the floor, and we were all warned to wear clothes we didn't want paint on. Sure the tables had a lot of drips on them but no major spills and there didn't seem to be any paint on the floor.

I want to try it again, and I will take pictures of the process, but that can wait for better weather when I will try it outside. I was originally hoping this would be something I could do at work or with my Stroke Recovery Art group but I really think I will need to experiment and see what modifications I can make in the procedure to see if this would be a possibility. The cost would be kind of high for a small group too. Janet estimated that the cost was about $10 a person for our bigger group. Maybe it will work with smaller canvasses and fewer colors of paint.

Basically what we did was choose about 6 or more colors of acrylic paint and these were each added to individual cups along with a thin layer of a paint flow liquid.  If needed we added drops of water so it was thin enough to pour in a stream off of the popsicle stick mixing stick. It should not be dipping in globs nor should it be very runny.

Next we put  a bit of one of the paints into a bigger disposable cup and added a couple of drops of silicone type lubricant. Janet recommended little bottles of this stuff called treadmill oil that is usually sold near treadmills.  Just keep layering until the cup is full.

Next we inverted out canvas over the glass of paint and holding on tight flipped them. Full upside down glass on top of the canvas. You slide it around for a second and then lift the cup! TADA. Tilt the canvas around and let the paint roll around to develop the pattern and colors and be sure to get to all sides and let it pour off the edges.

Rest your painting on a paper plate to lift it off of the table and give it at least an hour to set up before you try and move it, but it will probably take over a day to set because the paint is extremely thick.

The acrylic paint dries as a flat color and it really looks best with a clear gloss spray coating or clear paint on sealant.

Below are a couple pictures of other participants work. Aren't they awesome?