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Dad

Organise All The Things

Tuesday, May 23, 2017 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

I have a week off, so naturally I’ve spent the past days working my ass off. It started Saturday with sorting out Mom’s shed. It was a bit messy on the shelves and floor. But the worst offender were the three cupboards on the wall. This is where my dad kept his tools and related things. However, he wasn’t very organised, and he hadn’t used any of it in years. In fact, the cabinets were taped shut and transferred over as is when my parents moved here four years ago. Now with Dad gone, it’s slowly time to start going through things. And the shed seemed the easiest to start.

I took out everything in the cabinets and sorted it. First into what could stay, what had be thrown out and what can be given away/sold. I found a ridiculous amount of drill bits. Not just boxed sets, but also many, many loose ones. I kept the three sets that were still complete, and sorted the singles in usable or not. Tossed all unusable, and half of the still usable ones for being all the same. I also found a second jig saw, hidden in a corner, and three complete sets of ratcheting wrenches (same contents)… So yeah, the doubles made it to the pile of to be sold/given away.

After sorting, all the tools and stuff turned out to easily fit in one cupboard. Leaving the other two free for new things. I put stuff related to bicycles and cars in there, as well as odds and ends. Leaving the shelves free for planting pots and Mom’s boxes of Christmas decorations, which we moved down from the storage room in the apartment itself.

Then Sunday I went over there again in the afternoon for project two: Mom’s wardrobe. We went through it all, and ended up with four large bags of clothes and other textiles to be donated. We ordered take out, and after finishing that we also tackled the night stand. The three drawers were filled with stuff. After sorting what to get rid off, I consolidated all the jewelry in fewer boxes. This saved so much space that she can now actually see what she has in the drawers.

Monday we took a break since we had a birthday to go to. My Aunt turned 88. You wouldn’t say, though, if you saw her running about. Sometimes literally. She still lives on her own in a house (not an apartment or something like that), does everything herself and regularly goes everywhere by public transport and walking. She used to babysit the neighbour’s kids. But they are now all high school aged so don’t really need that anymore. However, my aunt helps them (and their mother) with their paper route. For fun 😀

I did start organising and sorting through my own shed in the evening. Inspiration and such. I have three large, heavy, cabinets in there that keep stuff. One of them isn’t very practical, though. It has drawers in the bottom, an open space in the middle, and a small cupboard at the top. However, one of the drawers is missing, and the others are hard to open. And the cupboard is too small to hold many of the things that I need it to hold. So I cleared a path and heaved and heaved and heaved until I had dragged it all the way out and against the wall of the house. I removed the drawers and put in an old rug to turn it into a cat box. The top now holds little lanterns I can hang outside when sitting there and it’s getting darker. This was about all I could accomplish in an evening, so I pushed the rest of the crap back inside and locked up.

Today we did the storage room in the apartment. We started in the morning as I have a date with the opera tonight. I pulled everything out so Mom could vacuum and mop the floor. Then we repeated the precious process. Sorting things into trash, donate and keep. I then put all the stuff for keeps back so she can not only find everything again, but also can move around in there. Which is useful as the room also holds the washer and dryer.

We then planned to drive to the thrift store to donate all our stuff but we ran into one of Mom’s neighbours. She works in a charity shop where people who need it can come, a couple times a year, to pick out clothes. So we gave her all the bags of clothes and textiles and Dad’s shoes. This left a much more manageable pile for the thrift shop. We stopped at my place to pick up some things that I’d found Monday evening and dropped everything off. And I have some time left now to continue with the shed before I have to shower and leave.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Birthday, Dad, Family, Home, Mom, Parents, Photos

Friends and Family

Saturday, June 18, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

Sunday I had the girls, and their boys, over for dinner. First time in my new house, with my new table and my new chairs 😀

Wednesday it was time for grocery shopping. On the way, Mom and I decided to stop by at my aunt and uncle’s. My aunt was home alone so we joined her for some coffee. Afterwards we made our way to the store and quickly got our groceries done.

And today we were in Harderwijk for my aunt’s 80th birthday. Like a few years ago the party was at the day care facility my cousin works at. This has the advantage of enough space for the adults to sit and chat, and more than enough space and fun toys for the kids to play with. And get a fun picture taken with Dad 😀

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Dad, Family, Friends, Mom, Parents, Photos

Birthday Central

Monday, June 6, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

To recap: my parents aren’t really good at having their picture taken 😀 Here’s Dad on his birthday, Thursday. It was a fun, low key celebration.

Then Saturday it was back to my home town for my Uncle’s birthday. And on Sunday out to the edge of the world for my Aunt’s birthday 🙂

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Birthday, Dad, Photos

Yup, Sofa

Wednesday, February 10, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20160210_105642So, today we went back to the furniture store with Dad. After some trying out of both, the decision was made to get the one we chose Wednesday. Except in a different colour.

Mom had been thinking she wanted it in a more blueish colour. The associate got out his samples and he had this pretty blue-grey one (left in the image). In a very smart move, Mom had brought a curtain along to check how it would look with the sofa. She liked the blue and it seemed it was going to be that until she spotted another colour on the sample ring. This was a more green-grey colour (right in the image).

In the middle of the show room I wasn’t too impressed with the colour. It seemed too dark and ill-matched with the curtain. We put everything on a table near a window to check the effect in natural light.  There the green-grey one stood out and really fit with the curtain.

20160210_103830Thus it was decided. After filling out the order form, Mom decided she also wanted a new chair to go with it. In the showroom across from the sofa was a chair she had been eyeing while we were there. It’s a more modern and streamlined shape than the old-fashioned wooden chair they currently have. The covering resembled that of the sofa on display without being too matchy-matchy.

The associate brought out fabric samples for the chair and luckily it came in a grey colour that matched with the one for the sofa. The order form got amended to include the chair, and that concluded our business there. In between I drooled some more over the cabinet I saw last week. It’s still very much out of my budget, but it is so pretty. So I took a picture 🙂

20160210_115800Next stop was the thrift store one town over. As of today Nienke has a new house, so I will need some additional furniture when she moves out. That will still be a few weeks away but we’re in the neighbourhood anyway. The thrift store didn’t have anything that struck my fancy in the furniture department. I checked out the books, and hit the jackpot there. I found both the third part in a three-book series that I’ve been missing. I got the first two parts as a kid and always wanted to get the third to go with it. Here it was, for fifty cents 🙂

Then I found another book I’ve been looking for for years. I read Hadassa as a kid and it always stayed with me. Once I got older, though, I could never find it again. Until now. This book was ten cents. And then it turned out all books were 50% off. So I got both of them for thirty cents total!

wp-1455129929041.jpegWe then made our way over to the town center to check out a few other stores and to have lunch before heading home.

At home I worked on the stairs some more. I got sick of the laminate flooring on the stairs. The metal corners are noisy and sharp, and the way the laminate has been places shortens the treads. Plus, it’s slippery. Last week I pulled off all the metal edges and the front laminate. Today I started taking off the laminate on the treads.

This has proven to be one hell of a job. The previous tenant glued everything on with a cement-like substance. It’s fairly easy to remove on its own, but it’s a bitch to pull the laminate pieces loose. It took me about an hour and a half, two hours to get as far as in the picture. I’m continuing on Friday, but this is gonna be a multi-day project. Once the stairs are all clear I’ll be sanding and painting it and then adding some tread rugs to prevent slipping. I’m still thinking about what colour to paint it.

wp-1455129942237.jpegA little after five Mom picked me up to drop me off at the bike repair shop. I brought my bike in last weekend for repairs and it was ready today. I’d been putting new air in my back tire every morning for weeks now and got sick of it. Beyond that, I also had the guy put on a new back light, move the front light forward and check the chain.

He called this morning when we were in the car to discuss the front light. It turned out it was full of water and the dynamo was fried. He suggested replacing all that with a battery powered light which would be a lot cheaper than replacing dynamo and regular light. I’m all for cheaper, so I agreed.

When I got there he walked me through what he did to the bike. Beyond the discussed things he also replaced a broken spoke and tightened the brakes. The chain was rusty so he cleaned it and he re-aligned the front wheel also to better deal with the weight of the crate I have in front. I’m really satisfied with what the dude did, and how he did it.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Books, Dad, DIY, Food, Furniture, Home, Mom, Parents, Shopping

Sofa

Monday, February 8, 2016 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

My parents are probably buying a new sofa set.

20160206_142440Saturday Mom and I went grocery shopping. While underway, she said she also wanted to check out the furniture store. The current sofa set they have isn’t very comfortable and some of the stitching is getting loose. Mom’s been thinking about getting one sofa and two recliners so she wanted to check it out.

At the store we wandered around and looked at everything, taking our sweet time. We tried out various recliners and sofa’s with no particular intent to actually pick something. I drooled over a particularly pretty kitchen cupboard that is way out of my budget range and a likewise pretty cabinet that was even more out of my range.

Eventually we stumbled across a pretty brown sectional. It was comfortable to sit on and Mom really liked the colour. A sectional won’t fit in my parent’s living room, but it also comes as separate sofas. We filed it away in our mind and continued our round.

20160206_145607Later on, we stumbled on another sectional. This one a different shade of brown with the stitching in a contrasting lighter colour. This one was also comfortable, and also available as separate sofas.

By now we had made a full round so we tried out both sofas and compared. In the end both Mom and I preferred the lighter one. It was more comfortable to sit on and looked less massive. Especially since it’s available with thinner arm rests.

After some more discussing sofa versus recliner, Mom realised Dad would not be happy with a chair. He just wants to be able to lie on his side when napping. With that squared away, the choice almost made itself.

What with Dad being at home, Mom couldn’t make the decision then and there. We’re returning on Wednesday with Dad to sit on it some more and decide. But I’m pretty sure this’ll be it. 🙂

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Dad, Furniture, Home, Mom, Parents, Photos, Shopping

Merry December Gift Giving Holiday

Sunday, December 27, 2015 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20151225_150117The holidays are upon us!

Nienke and I started our gift exchange on the 24th. I had gotten her a cardboard cutout of David Tennant as Doctor Who. I’d hidden it at my Parent’s and then sneaked out in the afternoon to get it. I constructed it at my parents, walked it over to our front door, placed it and rang the bell.

Nienke opened the door and it was hilarious seeing her reaction. Full of surprise and laughter.

I’d also made a felt adipose to go with it. I found a pattern online and over two or three days made this. The feet are slightly too long, but it does help him sit better.

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She gave me the blu ray of Mary Poppins, I love Mary Poppins! It’s one of my favourite musicals.

The rest of our gifts we exchanged the next day. I’d gotten Nienke a book of Ghost stories, a Supernatural mug, a small watch, guitar picks and chocolate sushi. She gave me a Supernatural book, a colouring book of cats, a box of chocolate and a Funko Pop of Anna from Frozen. She said one of the presents was still missing and that I would get that later. So I held back a present for her as well 😀

20151226_192157I love my prezzies: Anna fits perfectly with the Elsa I already have. I don’t have that many Supernatural books yet so more is always good, and the colouring book was already on my list.

The next day, Nienke was over at her parents, and my parents came over here for prezzies and dinner. I got Mom the new CD of Adele, Dad two nice animal prints and both of them some chocolate. They got me a nature documentary about the wild areas of the Netherlands, and a colouring book of the province.

We were going to eat raclette, so I pulled out the raclette set from the attic. I think the last time we used it was before I even moved out… So more than a decade at least. I plugged it in and we waited for it to get to temperature. But not two minutes later, the whole house went dark. A short.

Using my phone I made it over to the table to unplug the raclette. Then on to the cupboard to switch the circuit breakers back. When the lights were back on, I checked the raclette. It was really hot despite only being on for two minutes. It was quite obvious that the raclette was no longer safe for use.

We still needed to eat, so I piled the meats in an oven dish and placed that in the oven along with the veggies. In the end, the food was just as tasty like this. The desert was an ice cream cheese cake with caramel topping.
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Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Books, Colouring, Dad, Food, Friends, Funko, Geeky Stuff, Holidays, Mom, Movies, Nienke, Parents, Supernatural, TV

Johanna Ripperda

Sunday, June 21, 2015 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

Today was father’s day. Mom was away to spend the day at my aunt’s so I headed over to my parent’s house to hang out with dad. I brought a nice drink and cake and we spend the afternoon watching sports on TV. Not normally something I enjoy, but it was tennis first and show jumping afterwards. Tennis is okayish, but I do love watching show jumping. It was a good day.

Yesterday evening I attended an open air performance in town of a play about the Ripperda’s.  The Ripperda’s were an influential family in the area back in the 16th century. Told from the point of view of daughter of the family, Johanna, the play chronicles about 15 years in their lives. The play was comedic in nature and uses modern things in places for humourous effect.

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The town square of Winsum, circa 1565. It is market day, except there’s nothing to sell as it is only allowed to sell wares at the market in Groningen. The people are poor, and even the Ripperda’s, in charge of town, are having trouble. Asinge is the eldest, he runs things with help of his brother Peter. They have a sister, Johanna, who is still unmarried. To safeguard their property and interests, Johanna is to be married off. Her husband to be is a German noble who will come for her later.

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The coach of the Ripperda’s arrives to bring home the other brothers of the family: Wigbolt and Onno. They have been studying abroad for several years and became Calvinists. This is risky as most of the North is the hands of Catholics at this time. They also brought a friend of theirs, Rennenberg, from Flanders.

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The townspeople already hate the citizens of Groningen and the Catholics so they follow the brothers in Calvinism. They lure the Catholic monks from their monastery under the guise of a party in their honor. While the monks are on the square, the monastery is invaded, trashed and emptied of valuables. The monks are then tarred, with cheese, and feathered. Shortly after, Onno and Wigbolt leave to join the war efforts in the 80-year war.

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While waiting for Johanna’s fiance to show up, she grew closer to Rennenberg the Fleming. Despite their love being mutual (culminating in a one-night stand). She fulfills her duty and marries Folkmar von Beninga. He’s a fat, older man who smells of bratwurst. His demented old mother has also come along for the wedding. She keeps forgetting why she’s there and does not believe that Folkmar is actually getting married.

After Onno and Wigbolt’s departure, the remaining brothers fight the good fight closer to home. As this is seen as heresy, Asinge and Peter are to be arrested. Luckily, with some advanced warning, the brothers escape. They leave directly after the wedding and go back to Germany with Folkmar and his mother. As the coach is full, Johanna stays behind, promising to come as soon as possible. Folkmar dies shortly after returning home, never having seen his wife again.

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12 years later, it is now 1580. Johanna is the only Ripperda of her generation left. All her brothers have died, all through beheading, either in battle or as punishment. Johanna has a roughly 12 year old son. Everyone thinks he’s Folkmar’s but we all know he’s really the result of the one-night-stand with Rennenberg.

Technically Asinge’s son Focko is the heir to the Ripperda estate. However, he’s mentally not all there so in reality Johanna and her sister-in-law Bauwe run the place. The people of Groningen and the Spaniards are at the doorstep, wanting to annex Winsum. To help fight them, Johanna’s sends a letter to her uncle Johan van Ewsum to come with an army. The mailcoach leaves immediately.

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Johan comes to help his niece and brings along a contingent of Scottish warriors. He is ready to fight the Spaniards!

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Johanna tries to convince him that he does not need to go into battle, he just needs to defend the town. Johan will not budge, tomorrow they will go.

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The Scotsmen get along great with the townspeople. Except they have gone out plundering nearby farms and Johanna is ill pleased with this. After arguing with Johan, he decides to leave to fight the Spaniards elsewhere. A few of the Scotsmen stay behind, though. They have found love 🙂

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Rennenberg returns to town. He is stadtholder of Groningen by now and has been sent to annex Winsum, whether they want to, or not. After reuniting with Johanna, he chooses her and the town over Groningen. Groningen retaliates and attacks. The Spanish commander Verdugo invades the town with an army of Frisians. Winsum burns.

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The villagers have been corralled off to the side while Verdugo searches for Rennenberg.

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Through a ruse the villagers manage to send the cheese monger to warn Rennenberg. The cheese monger gives Rennenberg his clothes so Verdugo won’t recognise him. The next morning, after the Verdugo and his army have left, Rennenberg and Johanna reunite.

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Rennenberg proposes to Johanna. Marry him and come live in his manor in Groningen.

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Johanna speaks to her son, Hendrik. She tells him the Ripperda’s have a mission. It is their duty to care for the Winsum and its people. To attain good positions in life, make good deals and through this make the town prosper. She refuses Rennenberg, her place is here.  Together with Hendrik they will rebuild Winsum.

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Culture, Dad, History, Parents, Photos, Theater

Ten Days and Counting

Monday, May 4, 2015 by Tse Moana 1 Comment
20150424_093523

And so we wait…

As of today it’s been 10 days since I had top surgery.

Back in November I met with the plastic surgeon. We discussed options with the general plan that surgery would be in January somewhere. It ended up taking a bit longer than that, but in early April I got a letter to come in for pre-op consults with the anesthesiologist and the ward staff to make sure they had all their info, and I had all of mine. At that point, they didn’t know a surgery date yet, but I would get a letter.

About a week or so later, the letter dropped. I was to report in at the hospital on Friday, April 24 at 8:30. No more food after 04:00 in the morning, no more liquids after 8:00. So following from that, surgery should be around 10:00 or later. That morning, Mom and Nienke drove me to the hospital and I checked in. I first had to give some blood, and then report to the ward where I was to stay. I got signed in and met with one of the nurses briefly, and then we had to wait a little bit more as my room wasn’t ready yet.

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Off I go!

A short while later, I got shown to my room to settle in and wait. I read my book, Mom her news paper, and Nienke worked. We had to wait for quite a while but eventually, around 10:30, the nurse came in with the gown and told me it was time.

I changed into the gown and got back in bed. The nurse then came back and I got those plastic bracelets with my name and date of birth on each wrist, after confirming the info was correct 😀 A few minutes later, they came to wheel me away.

I was brought to the Holding area, where I got to confirm my identity again, and I got an IV fitted into my hand. The OR wasn’t quite ready for me yet, so there was more waiting. I also hadn’t been drawn on yet, so the nurse there expected them to come and do that, too. However, around 11:30, they were ready for me. So I got wheeled away to the OR undrawn.

Once there, I got to confirm my identity, again, and was asked to move over to the operating bed. After I had done so, the surgeon came in and had me come back off, because he had to draw on me… A few pretty blue stripes later, I got back on the, very narrow, operating bed and got wheeled from the little prep area into the OR itself. There was a final identity check, and a brief conversation to indicate what kind of surgery they were going to do (so I could protest if it was wrong), and then the oxygen mask descended and shortly after, I was out.

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And back I am 🙂 Wearing the compression vest I have to keep on for 6 weeks.

I awoke in Recovery feeling fairly groggy, and thirsty. Of course it took me a while before I could keep awake enough to get a decent situational awareness but once I did, I was given some water and an explanation of the morphine pump attached to me. I could press it every ten minutes if I felt any pain. I pressed it, mainly to try it out, when I started to feel some pain and it did indeed work nice and fast. I was still out of it, though, as I couldn’t read the clock and had no idea of time so I only occasionally pressed. I was also given an ice lollipop for extra fluids, it was the most delicious thing ever at that moment.

Around 4:45ish, I think, they deemed me well enough awake to return to the ward and I got wheeled away again. In my room, Mom and Nienke were waiting 🙂 They stayed for a little while longer and then left about an hour later.

Later that evening, after I’d had some tea and biscuits, finally had had enough fluids inside to warrant a visit to the bathroom. With some supervision from the nurse, I sat up on the bed and tried standing. That worked okay, so I shuffled to the bathroom. When I was done, though, I got the cold sweats, starry vision and dizziness that indicates a fainting is on the horizon 😀

I alerted the nurse and she wheeled the bed to the bathroom door so I could get back in it. Once I’d done that, my blood re-arranged itself as it should and my streak of never actually having fainted continued!

They then gave me some more food (tea, breakfast cake, cheese), as I hadn’t actually properly eaten anything since dinner time on Thursday….

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Bandaged up

I made it through the night okay. I woke up a few times since sleeping on my back isn’t something I’m used to, and I had some occasional pain. My stomach also protested a few times.

I figured the stomach issues were due to not having eaten enough yet, so I had tea and beschuit and yoghurt with muesli and orange juice for breakfast. However, when I went to the bathroom again a little later, my body decided that a rerun of last night’s episode would be good. This time the nurse had a wheeled chair nearby so she got me back to bed quick enough as well.  Perfect streak!

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My drains

After rounds by the doctor, they decided to remove the pain pump since it was probably a reaction to the drugs as well, and I had barely used the pump anyway. To compensate, they gave me a pill 😀

They left the IV needle in, so they had an easy access port if I did pass out or something happened. I’d gotten it bandaged up the night before, as the cold sweats had loosened the sticker, which made it easier for them to hide the loose end.

I spent the morning reading and sleeping, until my stomach decided it hated me and I mass vomited my entire breakfast on my bed o.0

After calling the nurse in, I moved over to sit in the chair for a while, while they changed the bed. We decided that I should eat lightly today, and try sitting in the chair a couple more times. So I lunched at the the table with some clear soup and beschuit.

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Pick-up

In the afternoon, Mom and Dad came to see me. Mom had brought orange juice and cake, which I declined seeing as what had happened that morning 😀 They stayed for about an hour, and Nienke came by afterwards. In the evening, I tried another bathroom visit, and this one went without a hitch 😀 It went so well, I even felt comfortable enough to brush my teeth in the bathroom, too.

Sunday morning during rounds the doctor decided the drains could come out and that the wounds were looking good, so I could go home. The removal of the drains felt funny, but didn’t hurt. I got some extra plasters on it, and then they went to get my paperwork in order.

I alerted my parents and around midday they arrived to take me home. I spent the next few days moving between my bed and the sofa and shuffling around the house. I did a lot of reading, sleeping, and TV watching.

Wednesday I went for my first post-op check-up. They peeled the plasters off and checked the incisions. Then they removed the thingy covering the nipple transplant, which was loosely stitched on, to check that. Everything looked good, so they covered the transplant area again and gave me a bag full of gauze and plasters and such so I could change the dressings myself, daily.

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Home sweet home

The next few days were mostly a repeat of the first few days, except with every day more moving about and slightly less sleeping 😀

The daily changing of the dressing was a bit funny to do the first time. The whole chest area is covered in bruises, but the area around the nipple transplant is still numb so I don’t feel it. I’m keeping up the paracetamol regimen of two in the morning and two in the evening, and am having fairly little pain.

Sleeping is still a bitch as I hate, hate, hate sleeping on my back, but, as they say, this, too, shall pass.

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This is how it looked after I got home from the hospital. These bandages were removed during the first check-up

Today, my additional compression garment arrived. This one is a stretch band with velcro closure instead of the zippered vest. I noticed the arm holes of the vest are fairly tight so it scrapes. I;m hoping the band will be more comfortable. I also started working again. This week I’m working half days from home, and then next Monday, I’ll be going by the office after my second post-op check-up.

 

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Dad, Friends, Health, Me, Mom, Nienke, Parents, Photos, Transgender, Transitioning

Prezzies

Saturday, December 27, 2014 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20141222_112029After Christmas dinner it was time for prezzies. First we exchanged gifts with my parents, and after they left, Nienke and I continued the unwrapping party with our gifts for each other.

We’d already given each other one of the prezzies the day before, but now it was time for the rest. We usually set a budget, and always go over, but I think we never went quite as far over as we did this year 😀

Mom and Dad gave me the CD with the soundtrack of Guardians of the Galaxy. A definite hit as the songs keep getting stuck in my head 🙂 I got Mom a bath set with lotion and fluffy things, and for Dad dried meat sausages, he always likes a good sausage.

Nienke gave me awesome things! Starfleet Academy and Medical Academy buttons, a necklace of the Elven brooch given to the Hobbits, a colouring book and a cute story book, a letter E, and the best thing ever: a USS Voyager model kit. I’ll have to order paint first, but I can’t wait to build it.

I got Nienke a Comic Con Exclusive Buffy Pop Vinyl, the eleventh Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, a 1:64 model of the Impala from Supernatural along with a replica of Dean’s necklace that Sammy gave him, blue fuzzy gloves, a guitar stand and the unicorn plush from Despicable Me. The cats each got a toy, as well.

Then tonight Kim came by to watch the Olivier B. Bommel movie Als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel and then we saw Flushed Away before also exchanging gifts.

I’d gotten both Nienke and Kim a chocolate bar, and gave Kim a set of mugs with owls on it, as well as a bracelet with a Mockingjay pin. I’d also gotten some toys and candies for her cats. She got me chocolate, fudge and a Pop Vinyl of Invisible Bilbo!

Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack

Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, true to its name

 

Starfleet Academy departmental buttons

Starfleet Academy departmental buttons, Starfleet Medical Academy button and a Star Trek general button

 

Lord of the Rings Elven brooch necklace

Fantastic Lord of the Rings Elven brooch necklace

 

Undead Pets book

A cute little book about Undead Pets

 

Feel Good colouring book

Very pretty Feel Good colouring book

 

USS Voyager model kit

Best gift ever 😀 USS Voyager model kit!

 

Invisible Bilbo!

Invisible Bilbo!

 

Chocolate hippos! And fudge *swoon*

Chocolate hippos! And fudge *swoon*

 

Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Books, Christmas, Crafting, Dad, Fandom, Fantasy, Food, Friends, Funko, Holidays, Kim, Mom, Movies, Music, Nienke, Parents, Photos, Scifi, Star Trek

Dinner of Champions

Friday, December 26, 2014 by Tse Moana Leave a Comment

20141225_191427I started yesterday morning with making the dessert and the starter. Like last year, I planned a cheesecake, but unlike last year, I went for slightly smaller portions and more decorative. So I baked it in a cake tin so I could press out shapes.

The starter was a combination of two tiny cream-cheese and ham pastries and two pieces of deviled egg. The pastry cups were store bought so I stuffed them with herbal cream cheese and topped it with prosciutto. I then boiled the eggs and made a mustardy filling.

By the time noon came around, the cheesecake was cooling, the pastries and eggs were in the fridge waiting for the evening, and all the vegetables (carrot, potato, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) for the main courses were sliced, diced, shredded and what not.

This left me enough time to have a cuppa tea and relax 😀

Later in the afternoon I finished the dessert by using a ring mold to cut out four circles and decorated it with blackberries on top and sliced strawberry around it.

After that, it was time for actual cooking. I started with a traditional oven roasted chicken and veggies. After quickly browning the chicken in a pan I put the sliced and diced carrots and potatoes in an oven dish, mixed with herbs and spices, spread the chicken on top and shoved it in the oven to forget about it until the rest was done.

20141225_191052Then I put the cut broccoli and cauliflower in another oven dish and made a cheese sauce. When that was done, I poured it over the veggies, and added this dish to the oven, also.

For the third dish, I stir fried shredded Brussels sprouts and cabbage with bacon bits and curry powder.

And finally, I made chicken saltimbocca: chicken covered with prosciutto, spinach and parmesan and then rolled up. First it gets cooked on all sides so it stays together better, and then the pan is filled with a chicken broth and it is boiled in that for a while.

While these were finishing up, I got the rest out of the oven/off the stove and on the table and starter plated up. Time to eat!

The food was well received, even Dad, who normally doesn’t really say anything about it but just eats, came out and said he liked it. Even the dessert, which I think he skipped last year, went in smoothly. I call that a win 🙂

Tonight it’s Nienke’s turn to do dinner. The plan is roast beef with broccoli and cream sauce and roasted potato. Sounds delicious!

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Posted in: General, Photos Tagged: Baking, Christmas, Cooking, Dad, Family, Food, Friends, Holidays, Mom, Nienke, Parents, Photos
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