John & Anisa 10th Anniversary Celebration & 1st Time Dancing in Public – 23 June
I forgot to mention that Colin and I had been invited to celebrate John and Anisa’s 10th wedding Anniversary. Like the last party, it was held in their garden. There was the same crowd, live music by our friend Dennis, a lovely sunny day and another offering of delicious Indonesian food. This time, I was able to walk a little better than the previous party. It was great that people had noticed the improvement in me, which meant I hadn’t felt as self conscious as before. Although I walked better, I still had to hang onto something or someone to tackle any steps or on the soft grass area. There was a lovely and friendly atmosphere and the time passed by so quickly before it started to get dark. John had cleared some chairs and tables off the terrace area and guests started to dance to a wide variety of songs from Dennis. I felt in such a great mood, I was confident enough to join some of the girls for a dance. Colin was a bit shocked, but smiled as I carried on for a bit. He chuckled as I developed a new and peculiar style of dancing while I kept balance by holding onto a table or nearest dancer. I really was past caring how it looked. I danced for the first time in public! After a few numbers, the songs slowed down, so Colin came up to join me. That was the first time we had danced together in months. It was a pretty special moment for us both. In spite of being absolutely shattered when we got home, I had a magical time and was really happy ….
Matt & Andrea’s Family BBQ – 2nd July
We were kindly invited over for a family Sunday BBQ afternoon at our friends, Matt and Andrea, with their lovely 3 kids. I always hated going to someone’s place empty handed. I spent that morning to try to prepare some Indonesian chicken kebabs (satay) with peanut (satay) sauce. It took me a while to cube the chicken fillets, marinate them, while I tried not to stab myself with the skewers before baking them. It was a pretty slow and awkward process. Colin kept checking on me, but I stubbornly “shooed” him out of our kitchen. It was important to me that we contributed something toward their food. Everyone was charming and sweetly concerned about my welfare. They seemed to have enjoyed my sate/ kebabs, as they asked for the recipe. Such a lovely and warm family and we had a wonderful and relaxing day with them.
Monday “Naughty Girls” – 2nd July
I met with some of my golfing mates for drinks and nibbles, after the usual “Monday Roll Up” at El Paraiso Golf Club. It was great reuniting with the girls, then Doreen, the Lady Captain made her speech and announced the prize winners.
Surprise Bouquet: What came next, absolutely floored me. Doreen mentioned to the group that I had joined the girls, then presented me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Most of the gang had chipped in to buy it. I felt so overwhelmed and extremely touched by their wonderful gesture, I choked and became too emotional to say a public, “Thank You”. Words could not express my gratefulness for such good friends and generosity of those girls. Talk about support and encouragement!
Officer Wrecker – 4th July
The mini beast managed to wreak havoc in our office area. I couldn’t turn my back for 5 minutes before it resulted in absolute mayhem! However, I couldn’t help laughing either, especially as I looked into his “butter wouldn’t melt” eyes. He had me totally under his paw!
Homemade Paella “Linda Style” – 6th July
I actually got to grips & managed to produce a Paella of Chicken, King Prawns & Veg myself, with Colin chopping up my ingredients again! Poor Colin had to wait a while before trying it because I was a bit slow in the kitchen. However, I later got the thumbs up sign, when he tasted it. This had encouraged me to try and cook more. Although I would be slow and limited in movement, I could at least attempt to do some normal things around the house more.
Colin’s Birthday 7th July
It was a low key celebration but I just had to post on social media, “Wishing a Fabulous day to this Wonderful Love – was holding my hand firmly 3 years ago as we danced and still does as we danced recently, but more slowly 🙂 I’m a Lucky Girl – Happy Birthday Darling xxx”. It had to be said!
My First Golf Pitching Attempt – 12th July
I itched to get back to playing golf, so I had a few attempts at swinging the club. As you could see from Della’s video clip, I wasn’t too good, but at least I managed not to fall over! It wasn’t a great start but I swung my bad arm a little bit more. My good arm did most of the leading! I obviously needed more improvement but I challenged my golf pals on social media to anyone who would like to do a pitching competition with me, however, they had to swing one handed to give me a fair chance!
Knitting Therapy – 15th July
I thought I would tackle knitting again. As my darling puppy had managed to destroy my previous knitting project, I had to start all over again. I thought it could improve my left hand grip. On my 1st attempt in early recovery, a few months ago, I nearly poked my eye out! I since tried very, very slowly and was quite pleased with myself. However, Colin’s description of my knitting effort was “Knit one, drop two”. Cheek!
Faster Cycling – 21st July
When I first began on that dreaded cycling machine, it had been to strengthen my left leg. I had a slow average of 10- 12 RPM (Rotations Per Minute) at the time, which was pathetically slow indeed. However, from the dark photo, you could just make out that I managed to get up to 40 – 48 RPM today. Whey Hey! The “Tour de France” was going on at the time, but I felt like a winner anyway.
Over 30 Years Friendship – 25th July
Our dear friends, Lynne and Peter, came over for a short time from the UK. It was wonderful to arrange a get together lunch at La Sala Beach Club. We’ve been friends for over 30 years.
La Sala was situated at the end of a private cul de sac. As the place was always busy, a lot of cars were parked along the street, so we had to park quite far away. I was really thankful for their golf buggy service that drove us up to the entrance, because I wasn’t sure if I could walk that far. However, we had a long passage to walk along before we reached the Beach Club. I actually managed it under my own steam, but I had to hold onto Colin when we came to some steps to go down. I felt pretty proud of myself! During lunch, we shared many memories of birthdays, family holidays in Thailand and other occasions over the years. They were wonderful times of laughter and I really enjoyed our catch up.
Music Festival & 2nd Time Dancing in Public – 29th July
A group of us went to the “Chilli Festival” at the Chilli Farm in Estepona. This consisted of a BBQ, drinks and live music by a few local entertainers. It was great to see another group of friends arrive with John and Anisa, so we ended up as one larger group. Such a fun day with lovely friends, great food, friendly service and fabulous entertainment by our friend, Denis, and a new guy called Vicus. I felt a bit strange, when I sat alone, while everyone got up to help themselves to the BBQ. Colin helped himself to 2 of everything so that we could eat from one plate. We were conscious of the fact that it probably looked a bit greedy to strangers, but sure they must have realised when he returned to me to make it clear his plate was for 2 people.
There was a great party atmosphere and I actually felt confident enough to have a few dances that day! My second public performance!
Please view next page 22 at link “Solo Walk, Exercise, Medical & Updates”: https://www.rebootinglinda.com/first-solo-walk-more-exercising-medical-updates-cooking-and-socialising/
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You were finally able to get out among friends for dining and dancing w/Colin, of course slower than before for obvious reasons, you did great. Two cooking incidents, one with the kebabs and later your Paella, that one I really would have liked to have been there for as you know how much I like Paella. I bet your eyes watered up when meeting with your golf buddies and they presented you with the flowers and supportive comments about your recovery. Fortunately you were never in a depression mood but it seems one of your close friends was and because of personal attacks and negative comments you fortunately cut that person off so as to not be drawn into depression yourself, smart move on your part and of course with Colin’s support. Thinking back you have had a rough road but thus far have been able to come from behind and excel at your recovery. The future looks bright for you as long as you keep your present attitude.
Hi – Thank you so much for your comments. Yes it was really nice getting out and attempting to have a dance or few. Being able to cook, in my way, made me feel a bit normal and that I was contributing something towards our house. Golf girlfriends were special and I was extremely touched by their gesture. I feel bad about having to cut myself off from the person with depression, however, I had no choice when I realised I was getting absolutely nowhere and it would continue to be a negative influence to my recovery. You were right that I had struggled to improve so I wasn’t going to let that unravel or undo all the hard work by Colin & Della. I really hope that person managed to get professional help & advice. As for me, I have been extremely lucky, especially being surrounded by people who wouldn’t let me get down. Take care xxx