Sunday in June

It is cold here now.  Not surprising considering that it is now Winter.

I asked my son the other day about the prospect of going on a short holiday to a warmer place.  Travel is fairly cheap at the moment.  

First I asked what he thought about Disneyland.  He declined.  He does not like rides or crowds.  I like rides but hate crowds.

Then I suggested Hong Kong or Singapore.  He declined.  Crowds, weird food and too much humidity. 

I then mentioned that we could go up to Queensland.  Not overseas but definitely up in the sunshine.  He declined and then reminded me that I don't like it up there.  He is right. I hate it up there.  I would rather poke myself in the eye with a stick than go to a resort and sit by a pool.  Boring is not a big enough word to cover how I would feel.    

"Mum, if I am going to go on a holiday I would rather it be Europe.  I would rather wait five years with no holiday than go on holiday just for the sake of it," he told me. 

Have I spoilt him?  Too many overseas trips maybe?  Hmmmmmm.  

K and I did briefly entertain the idea of an overseas holiday this year but it is not going to happen.  Most likely next year.  Holidays overseas are great fun.  

Today S and I were watching the movie Sherlock Holmes that was out recently this year.  Lots of lovely filming at wonderful places overseas.  Train travel and snowy mountains.  I jumped online and looked at how much it costs to travel on the Orient Express.  It appears that the way I want to travel and the places I wish to travel to seem to exceed my income.  That is always a bit of a problem isn't it?  

I actually mentioned the short holiday to somewhere warm because the colder months are the time when I have great difficulty with my depression levels.  On Thursday I went to therapy and we talked about this recurring problem and a few suggestions were made.  First was medication but that is not an option for me. I am just never going back on meds.  Never, ever.  In fact, the more he talked about it the more anxious I became and felt like putting my hands over my ears so that I could not hear him.  

We did come up with my getting a light box to use each morning.  I am a bit dubious as to whether it will work or not but I got one on Friday.  Not an easy item to get here in Australia.  I have used it twice so we will see. 

The other thing is that I have to get back to exercising every day.  The past two months have seen me just so indifferent to physical activity that I have scaled it down to a bare minimum.  Because I want a change I am keeping two outdoor classes and will be joining a gym that has recently opened up around the corner.  It is a huge place and is run by the local council.  I am ready for the change.  I also have a gym buddy who is one of the girls I did the Oxfam walk with.  The fact is, if I don't exercise I cannot manage my depression successfully.  

So I have the light box and then the exercise and, if I can be bothered, a week up in the sunshine somewhere.  Not sure about that.  I would die of boredom.  Maybe a health farm.  Oh, no, that would be too awful.  I think the light box and the exercise will have to be the focus and some therapy.  If those three don't work then I am just going to have to live feeling "special (precious?)" for the next six months until the days are longer and the sun is warmer.  

My son is doing a two day hike this week and he and I had to go shopping for appropriate shoes.  He and I do not really embrace the experience of shopping together.  He says I think too much and look at everything.  I think he is very painful to take shopping because he does not want to put any effort it.  But we worked it out today because I had hiking credibility so he did listen to my advice about choosing shoes.  He tried on eight pairs before finding the right ones.  As he was trying different shoes on he kept saying things like "yeah, these hurt a bit but they should do....".   I said to him that he had to keep going until he found a pair that made him go "Ah, this is it" and he did.  It took an hour.   He is wearing them around the house now and is very happy.  

I, however, am poorer after doing the shop.  Shoes, gloves, thermals, socks, sleeping mat, plate, cup and other bits and pieces.  Yesterday he mentioned he needed a sleeping bag and pointed one out that he thought would do the job well.  Yeah, it should do the job very well at $750.  But he did point out that there was a sale on and I could get it for $325.....  I am borrowing one instead.  It's not like he is going to be hiking or camping a lot.

Have I mentioned how I don't like camping?  Or caravans.  It's just not relaxing to me.  I suppose I would go camping if someone else did all the work.  Glamping.  That's more my style.  I would go glamping any time in the warmer months.

My boss and his wife go camping.  I always laugh at that because they have a camper trailer that has ever mod con you have seen on it.  It is hardly roughing it.

I have been camping twice.  One of those times was in a swag which is just a canvas sleeping bag out in the open air.  It was okay.  Just not my thing.  I like to climb into bed each night and slip in between clean, white and fresh sheets.  I do not like to crawl into a bag to sleep.

But my son will be having an overnight camping experience this week.  They have to cook their own food, put up their own tent, bring their own food and trek about 20kms.  This is all part of his Duke of Edinburgh award he is working toward.  They do two practice hikes and then a final one at the end of the year.  It's such a good thing for them.

So, not much else to record on this chilly Sunday.

Just a day in the life of me.

Oh, wait. I had to amend this post.  My dog chewed on one of my new green boots.

Yes, I agree.  It is a first world problem.

But it did make me cross.  I should have put them boots high up out of reach of Mr Benny.


Ciao
LC