Sublime to the ridiculous

I had my second session shadowing a volunteer at the hospice today.

I was shadowing a wonderful, friendly lady called Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was a recently retired midwife, who had been intensely linked with the hospice from the days when it was just an idea being fundraised for. She is absolutely charming, shiny and sparkly, and I'm sure she was a wonderful nurse to have had.

In the short session, I learnt a lot. One of the things I was worried about with volunteering at an hospice where the patients had terminal illness, was how I should approach them. Should I be cheerful and happy, or treat everyone with the solemn gravitas that the situation might need? She showed me that by being a ray of sunshine (while being aware of the feelings of the patients and their loved ones) it could make the difficult time slightly better.

She is an absolute gem.

I've met so many lovely people there who care so much and are so nice. The hardworking medical staff, volunteers and admin are amazing. The patients are dealing with their situation with dignity and stoicism. Support your local hospice, whether by donating money or time or skills. They are amazing organisations, and you never know when someone you know may need help.

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On a slightly more mundane note, there seems to be a bit of a craze with young kids with shoes with wheels in the heels which lets them slide around. As a big kid who should be too old for these things, (but never really grew up), I whinged to my younger brother that these shoes didn't come in my size as the manufacturers carelessly overlooked the possibility that twentysomething people might feel like sliding around like they were aged seven.

Being the computer whizz that he is, he started searching online, and found some shoes on Ebay called kick rollers, that are shoes that transform into skates at the touch of a button.

They arrived today! I've been sliding around happily this evening. They're basically a novelty, I don't think they're very good as shoes or skates, but they're fun! Good for the big kids!

Waiting for the packages is a royal grade A columbian pain in the neck. I really wish these delivery companies would give a more exact time than "Yeah, we'll probably deliver some point on Tuesday some point between 8 am and 6pm. Probably. And if you miss us, you can always pick up your parcel from your local depot 30 miles away. Which is open between 12pm and 12:05pm."

Rant over.

And I abandoned the ape diet today. I think it was a success. My general digestive system seems to have enjoyed the clean out, I learnt a new appreciation for salads and raw fruit, veg and nuts. I also learnt to really appreciate cooked food.

I broke it with some rice, turkey and cooked sugar snap peas, lightly stir fried.

It was delicious.

I'm going to take some lessons from the ape diet and eat healthier, and maybe go back on it occasional weekends to give my body a light detox.

Keep rolling, rolling, rolling, rawhide!

AcidCat