jmgoyder

wings and things

Apr 6

Sad sunset

by jmgoyder

pea 574

I have been trying so hard lately to be positive, but tonight, a nurse rang me asking me to try and convince Ants to take his pills. Eventually my voice on his phone worked and the nurse was able to give him his pills.

Ants was distressed and confused and aggro: this scared me.

What a wonderful nurse to ring me like that. I am so relieved to know that Ants is okay in this nursing lodge, but I am constantly anxious for him now that the dementia is happening.

Ants is coming home for the afternoon tomorrow so I’ve invited a few friends. Oh I so hope it all works out!

[Note to blogfriends: I can’t keep up with reading blogs at the moment, but will catch up soon.]

blogging Family Friendship Grief Happiness LOVE STORY Marriage Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease dementia

50 Comments »
Feb 17

Bicycling beginnings!

by jmgoyder

I have now figured out the gears and settings of my new bicycle and tomorrow will be Day 1. I’m going to record my progress on the blog (nothing like blogging to keep a person honest!) for 5 days.

blogging

33 Comments »
Feb 16

The difference between what matters and what doesn’t matter

by jmgoyder

WHAT DOES MATTER

– Ming began harp lessons.
– Anthony said on the phone this afternoon that he’d been kidnapped, but I calmed him down.
– Some lovely friends came to pick the dying figs.
– Gutsy9 (baby peacock) is thriving despite his wonky leg.
– We found a clock man who has now fixed three of Anthony’s clocks, so the house is chiming again.
– I finished delivering details to our accountant for our tax return from last year.
– I am going to purchase an ipad tomorrow so I can access the internet in Anthony’s room and show him stuff.
– Ming and I are getting on top of the housework/yardwork etc.
– I only cried a little bit today, instead of a lot.
– The blog community is amazing.
– Ming has stopped being so bossy!
– Lots of other good things.

WHAT DOESN’T MATTER

– It doesn’t matter!

Animal blogging Family Friendship LOVE STORY Wings

64 Comments »
Feb 4

Negative comments

by jmgoyder

In over a year, and hundreds of posts, I have been fortunate not to have received any negative comments on the blog. Until today.

The negative comment was uttered in response to my post about ‘doing the right thing’ yesterday.

It was personal, exclamatory and gave me a bit of a shock because I am so fond of this person.

Strangely, I welcomed the comment (better to get a negative comment from a friend rather than a stranger I guess), and, instead of deleting it, I decided to respond and make both comments public.

This has made me very curious about how other bloggers respond to negative comments. Do tell!

blogging Family Friendship

105 Comments »
Jan 28

Enough is enough

by jmgoyder

I never intended for this blog to become so personal and I certainly didn’t intend for it to become so sad. It was a blog about our adventures with birds – a way of cheering the three of us (Anthony, Ming and me) UP!

How was I supposed to know that Anthony’s Parkinson’s would escalate, then collide with Ming’s spinal surgery? How was I supposed to know that we would have to find a nursing home, that I would have to resign from my job, that I would have to figure out Ming’s post-op. requirements, that we would lose many of our birds to foxes?

How was I supposed to know what last year would entail – Ming’s anger, Anthony’s sorrow, my despair? Obviously I don’t have very good foresight.

I do, however, have pretty good hindsight and tonight I have realized that enough is enough, that I am not going to allow myself to die because Ants is dying, that I am not going to allow myself get angry because Ming is angry, that I am not going to allow myself to sink into this self-pitying quicksand of despair.

Apologies for recent posts.

Enough is enough!

Animal Family LOVE STORY Wings

85 Comments »
Jan 19

I care about you

by jmgoyder

When I first began blogging, I had no idea that I would begin to care about people who I may never meet face to face.

As a newbie to the world of birds, I was drawn to blogs about birds, then drawn to blogs about photography.

As a carer for a husband with Parkinson’s Disease, I was drawn to blogs about PD, nursing homes, other people’s experiences of other illnesses.

As the mother of a teenage son, I was drawn to blogs about parenting, children and Erma Bombecky humour.

As a writer, I was drawn to blogs written by an array of different people – all ages, all styles, all genres, all fantastic.

As a woman battling grief, I was drawn to blogs about grief and blogs about inspiration – a good mix.

Tonight, I am drawn into the blog of a woman who has become my friend. Her daughter died today after a gruelling battle with disease.

I care about you.

Animal blogging Family Friendship LOVE STORY Wings

76 Comments »
Dec 31

Happy New Year!

by jmgoyder

IMG_1857

Last night I was feeling really low with my flu, the hot weather and a smidgen of rage against a couple of people who have hurt Anthony over the years but especially recently. I had planned to write about this today until I read these two wonderful posts by fellow bloggers:

One Heart at a Time


http://eof737.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/reflections-keep-the-faith/#comment-33855

In reading both of these posts, I realized that to write about such negative stuff is absolutely pointless and probably extremely boring.

So instead, on this broiling New Year’s Eve, I will show you Gutsy9, the baby peacock who spends most of the day on my shoulder. He is now 3 weeks old and getting too big to hide inside my shirt. His tail feathers are growing and his crown has begun to sprout. He can fly across the room or the back yard with ease. I love him.

Animal blogging Family Friendship LOVE STORY Wings

65 Comments »
Dec 1

Blogolitics

by jmgoyder

I am, once again, subscribing to too many blogs but I don’t want to unsubscribe (like I had to do once before when it all got too much and there was a software glitch) because I really enjoy those blogs and I’ve even found a few new ones.

This presents a dilemma that will be familiar to most bloggers: How do I keep up with all the reading, liking and commenting as well as write my own daily post(s)?

Well you can’t, can you, so don’t even try. Read, ‘like’ and/or comment on the blogposts that interest you on any given day and leave it at that. You don’t have to read everything! Check out the title of the post and if it appeals to you, read it; if not, it’s no big deal. It isn’t a crime to not read everybody’s blog posts (especially those daily people like me!) Take the day off and delete all of your email notifications because there will be more tomorrow. – that is guaranteed!

I lost a few ‘followers’ when my bird blog evolved into something more personal and that is fine. As a novice blogger I was initially a bit sad not to hear from a couple of people anymore but, as a more seasoned blogger, I completely understand. After all, why would someone interested in birds also be interested in Parkinson’s disease?

Blogging is a strange and beautifully unpredictable world. You make friends, find commonalities, offer support, receive support and you are allowed to say anything you want to say. I find this exhilarating, but, yes, risky and even a bit frightening. When I tiptoed into this blogging world a little over a year ago I had no way of anticipating that I would become so emotionally gripped by various bloggers/people. I had no idea that I would discover friendships that would alter my own little status quo and give perspective to my little life.

Who cares about the stupid statistics? That is the one thing I have begun to loathe about blogging – this constant, daily reminder of how many ‘hits’ you’ve received. Why does that matter to us so much – are we that desperate for acknowledgement that we exist? Why are we competing?

Give me a hug, virtual or otherwise, any day!

PS. If I have lost touch with your blog it has not been intentional….

blogging Family Friendship

70 Comments »
Nov 22

Lady Barefoot Baroness

by jmgoyder

I have been following Lady Barefoot Baroness’ blog almost since I began my own blog last year. Apart from anything else I was intrigued by her name! Now I call her BB or CC (for Cheeky Cherub) and we have formed a friendship via the blogosphere that I value immensely.

Amongst all of her other talents, she hand-makes gift cards and yesterday I received two from her as gifts! When I opened the package and saw the cards I was overwhelmed, not just by BB’s generosity to me but by her talent. The meticulous detail of each card astounds me and these photos don’t do them justice.

I am going to frame them! There is no way I am giving them away hahaha! So if you want one, you are not getting mine and you’ll have to contact BB herself but remember, she is a baroness, so you must be very respectful.

http://barefootbaroness.org/

Baroness, I cannot thank you enough for this beautiful gesture.

Family Friendship

38 Comments »
Oct 11

‘Fluxuation’ versus ‘fluctuation’

by jmgoyder

Hello

Okay, so in my previous post, I used the word ‘fluxuation’ instead of the word ‘fluctuation’. The link below proves that I was, indeed, incorrect.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_definition_of_fluxuation

I just received a phonecall from a friend who alerted me to my spelling error, so I went back to the post and was just about to correct this until I realized that, in fact, ‘fluxuation’ is a much better word because it implies flux which is what I was trying to convey. Yes, I am quite sure now that I intended to use ‘fluxuation’ so I will now ring my friend back and tell her that I was being incredibly clever and that she mustn’t be afraid of neologisms and extraordinarily brilliant metaphorical linguistics.

Actually I did make a spelling error. Whoops!

Lots of love

Fluxy

blogging Family Friendship

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