Hi @Determined. Yeah, we're back home.
Feeling pretty "topped out". Travel both ways went smoothly enough, but we didn't get a huge amount done most of the days we were there. Too overloaded and tired. We wanted to get some idea what was missing before we went to the police, so didn't do that until late Wednesday. Had a CSI police officer come around the next morning, and as well as photos, she was able to take away some alcohol cans and a partially smoked cigarette that the culprits had left behind for DNA testing. That, plus the fact that they went to the next door neighbours house to spin the story that they were entering the yard as tradies... and the neighbours have a doorbell camera so got footage of them... means there's a reasonable possibility the police willl be able to track them down.
Once the policewoman had left, we stacked the car and trailer as full as we could with things that we were increasingly uncomfortable about leaving behind. They'd poked through all sorts of drawers and boxes, probably didn't find any easy convertibles like cash or stamps, but they did take some pushbikes, and they emptied a plastic crate out onto the floor and took it away, so we presume there was something inside it, but have no idea exactly what.
The pianola rolls have come home, but the pianola can't follow until we've made space here, and can hire a moving van/truck. Can't do anything about that at the moment. We've locked down the house up there as well as we can, hope that does it.
In the middle of all this we decided that a treat event might be a good idea, and Midnight Oil is doing their final-ever last tour, so we got online to book tickets yesterday... accidentally went through a scalpers website. 😠 Couldn't cancel the transaction, but turned out we could put a stop on the debit card payment. Rebooked this morning via the official site. It would have "contaminated" our enjoyment of the event to go on illegitimate tickets (assuming we didn't get turned back at the gate anyway), but seriously, we didn't need that extra stress. Praying that all sorts out without extra hassle from the scalper's site. It may take up to a month for the money to come back to us.
And today was a sort of hard but sort of good day. Our Younger Son is performing in a play at the moment, and also did some of the costume making and prop making for it, so we headed down to the Big City to see it this afternoon. Didn't want to miss out on his professional debut, but it's a play that centres around the "second main" character's struggle with mental illness, and dealing with death and grief. Kind of raw subject matter, especially at the moment. Was stressed on the trip down, but actually feeling a little better once it was over and we were heading home. Maybe because in some ways the grief in the performance felt like it validated our grief?
This week, as much as possible, we're going to need to focus on looking after ourselves. We've agreed to go along to a "focus group" discussion on Tuesday re. supporting mental health carers and family members. I wasn't going to put our hands up, but the lady who organises the local MH carers support group was very keen on us being there, because we can speak from experience on how MI affects the broader family. Am expecting that will be a confronting afternoon, but if it can contribute to better support for families, it will be worth pushing through this "one more thing". But I'll definitely plan for an easy dinner afterwards, and light duties the rest of the week.
