Stirfried greens with noodles and mini spring rolls

It feels like I’ve done a lot today, but thinking about what to write I must admit I’m struggling.

Early this afternoon I was meant to have a telephone meeting with a rep from the DWP, so I made sure my phone was charged and then I waited. And waited.

When half an hour had passed with no call I went to get some lunch – leftover pasta of which I took one bite and spat it out because it had gone off, so I replaced it with an apple and the last few strawberries – then waited a bit more.

Eventually I logged in to my benefits account, and found a message asking for my explanation of why I had failed to attend the appointment – in person, in Newport (the county town, and location of just about all major services here on the Isle of Wight). The message warned that I better have a good reason for not attending or they would consider cutting the amount they pay me. (Which would be difficult as they don’t currently pay me at all.)

That was quickly followed by a second message, from the person I was supposed to be talking to rather than a template system message, apologising that she forgot it was supposed to be a telephone meeting. Which is fair enough, these things happen, but I don’t imagine that “I forgot” would be accepted as a valid excuse if I had been the one to make a mistake.

After that I boxed up some more of my belongings to appease mum’s desire for tidiness, made a couple of phone calls, answered a couple of emails, made a meal plan and ordered groceries, and generally felt like I was on top of things for once.

And then the post arrived and brought a two letter reminder that no, I’m not on top of things, and life can still kick me from behind. (I’m not going into details, but it’s a couple of things that got missed when I was very ill last year and that have now come back to bite me, as such things do.)

After all that, an easy dinner was called for, so I stirfried some green veg with hoisin sauce, boiled some noodles, baked some frozen mini spring rolls, and called it a meal. Mum loved it. I was grateful it had been so quick and easy to make.

I followed it with some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, which was so outrageously sweet I ate the whole tub, and am expecting that that will soon come back to bite me in a different way.

Talking of which, I must remember to add some more of it to the grocery order, so I can be outraged by its sweetness all over again tomorrow. 😋