January 2014 - My Month in Numbers

I fell by the wayside at the end of last year with Julie Kirk's My Month in Numbers but am back to start afresh in 2014.

Usually January is a pretty quiet month for us but we have had a lot going on this month.

My parents are up and down to London at the moment as my Dad is being considered for a cochlear implant.  For as long as I can remember my Dad has always had a hearing problem - he was in the army in the 50s when ear protection on firing ranges was unheard of and when he left the army he worked for the water company, then the railway and then back to the water company - working with heavy noisy machinery with no ear protection.  He wears bilateral hearing aids but has no hearing at all in one ear and only a tiny fraction in his better ear.  The good news is that the hearing loss is now so profound that it makes him an ideal candidate for an implant.  So in January I had 1 trip to London to St Thomas' Hospital to take part in a family session with the implant team.  It was a fascinating afternoon, I learnt so much about how hearing actually works and all I can say is that it is a miracle, an absolute miracle - that little hairs in our inner ear depending which way they bend is translated into the spoken word and music by our brain.  We met a man who had had the operation 5 months ago and heard about how it has transformed his life.  It will not restore his hearing as we understand it, and he will have to relearn how to hear and interpret sounds into words, he may still not be able to listen to music.  BUT he should be able to have one to one conversations again, watch TV that doesn't have background music and get some independence back.  So fingers crossed that his appointment in February to give him the yay or nay to the op will be good news!!

My Daddy xxx

It was a busy month for eating out with 5 meals out - not good for the waistline but very enjoyable.

1 trip to the local pantomime - a very enjoyable evening watching the Polegate Drama group do Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates, they are a very talented bunch of performers.

Not so good was 2 trips to the dentist.

And crafting wise I have been busy this month and seem to have my enthusiasm for crafting back - my crafty totals for January are -

7 layouts
14 cards
15 Christmas cards

I usually have some countdowns going - sadly no booked Marillion gigs yet for this year (but a hint that there will be a short Christmas tour to be announced soon).  So my big countdown for Month in Numbers will the number of days to my BIG birthday this year - Mr P is taking me on a Baltic cruise and we will be in Copenhagen for my birthday.  They spoil you rotten when you have a birthday onboard so I am really looking forward to it - only 204 days to go!!!!!!!!!