Thanks very much for your reply Pink. Regarding my husband, ideally, he could have talked to me about it. I tried talking to him about it, but he flatly denied it and turned blame on me. Then evidence presented itself. He lied through his teeth and told me I had a filthy mind, and that I was lucky to have him because nobody wanted me, including my own family.  I found out many years later that while he was saying these things to me, he had been in “committed” relationships with men – more than one he was besotted with.  He used to belittle my appearance constantly though especially after I left him, people of both sexes, including strangers, would remark that I was very attractive. Of course, it’s in the eyes of the beholder. My dear friend tells me that these last 2 years, I have aged a lot – since that relationship broke up and I have felt very sad a lot if the time.

Since I started addressing my medical issues and trying to take better care of myself with lifestyle choices and medications, I’m starting to look improved.

Re the mental illness of family members, since my adulthood, my mother made numerous serious suicide attempts ending up in ICU.  She was in an institution for 1 year and had shock treatment which didn’t seem to work, and it has caused some brain damage. She is now a tiny frail lady.  My father died quite young.

I will take up your suggestion of trying to be bit more open and connect with people, and see how it goes.  Thank you.💜💜💜💜

Thank you for welcoming me back Anita and for your helpful advice.

Yes, the tests I had recently would likely have cost thousands.  The medications I will likely have to take for life shouldn’t cost me more than $60 per month nut would cost a lot more in USA. My GP visits cost $30 per visit as I get a rebate from govt for the rest. When I retire, that should all be cheaper again.

As well, in Australia, we have a very serious housing shortage which our present govt won’t doesn’t want to address. When rentals come up, often there are 100 people applying for the rental and buying is unaffordable for most people on average incomes. O managed to buy my home before it got this serious. I have a mortgage, but it is affordable.

My dear kind friend is passing through this afternoon and dropping by to see me. I have said to her for a long time that if she ever becomes unwell, she is very welcome to stay here and bring all of her pets with her.  When I have my surgery, she is going to take me to hospital and collect me, and will stay overnight if necessary.

I’m starting to get to know 2 of the younger women at work who are very nice.  Right now, I don’t have time or energy to meet people outside of work.  Hhowever, there are a couple of fitness type classes in the t o an I would ltike to attend when I can.  I will need to scale down my employment before I can do this. The younger women generally w o to less hours than I do, but we are all feeling we are heading towards burn out but exploring options with our hours.

Thank you Anita. My friend and I are both very concerned about climate change. Some scientists believe Australi a may become the worst affected country. Our present govt have been the worst climate change denialialists because they are the most supportive of big mining companies. Theaters  current new independent candidates who support action and renewables.

The sun feels hotter and I wear SPF50 and cover up when I’m driving.  I just don’t go into the sun anymore. We will soon go into autumn thankfully but I will continue with the SOF and keeping out of the sun.  There are a lot of elderly in our town.  All of them have sun damage to their skin, and most have skin cancers. Skin cancer is predicted to increase in Australia with climate change.  Petrol is presently $1.80 per LITRE so electric cars are appealing to a lot of people though they are very expensive and need to be subsidised by govt. New Zealand is a much better country in so many ways..