A Radio Debut, an Injury and a Project

Hello Monday evening! This evening actually has turned out a lot better than I had expected. This morning the Husband left for a 5 night business trip (he is still in Austria so by North American distance standards, he's like around the corner) and I was dreading it. Usually I am a-ok with being on my own with the Kid. He usually is pretty easy going and he is my shadow so we chill and play and he follows me around the apartment as I do stuff. But this morning I was not in a good place. The Kid is sick AGAIN and it is getting all too Munchauseny-by-proxy every time I complain about it. I too have whatever the Kid has and I feel that the last 3 months have been filled non-stop with ailments.

Not only was the Kid hacking up a lung, but I somehow have messed up my back. It started last week and I had hoped that a session of hot yoga would cure it but it did not. It has now moved into my hip and it seems like the sciatica pain I had throughout my pregnancy. And no, I am not pregnant. The only logical explanation after talking to a friend is that I have back cancer. I never said I was rational. With the bad back, a sick kid and a busy week at work ahead, I was not in high spirits. Luckily our awesome nanny could come at 8 this morning and spend the day with the Kid but it kind of feels like paying for me to go to work. The good news is that his cough seems to be subsiding and while he will spend one more day at home, by Wednesday I am shipping him off to daycare no matter what.

This past weekend was pretty exciting because on Saturday was my big radio debut! #faceforradio. FM4 Reality Check decided to dedicate their Saturday show to the topic of autism because it coincided with World Autism Awareness Day. Joanna Bostock spearheaded this show and I am incredibly grateful to her for that. This show has kind of been a year in the making. Last May, while I was covering Eurovision, I was invited one evening to a friend's place. It was a beautiful spring evening and we sat on the terrace drinking wine while overlooking the city. I met Joanna that night and I told her about my frustrations with the city and about the Kid and autism and she said "Hmmm. I would like to do a show about that." and it happened. She came by a couple of weeks ago to tape me and the Kid and while I was sure that I did an OK job, I totally forgot I said "ass" on the air. Well done me. On Saturday at noon, we gathered round the laptop and tuned in and there was my voice and I thought "That's my voice?!?" Gah. The Kid was pretty hilarious because as soon as he heard me talking on the air, he got quiet and came and sat on my lap... probably internally freaking out that there were suddenly two Mommies that would now yell at him to get out of the washing machine. After my segment was an interview with the woman who runs the AKH diagnosis center and then an interview with a man just recently diagnosed with autism. Those two interviews really illustrated how little support there is in this city. At the end, the rest of my interview was played. I sent the podcast to Office Twin today and wrote "I am at the beginning and at the end" and then he wrote "One time on the radio and you think you are Jesus. Who knows how big your ego will become when you finally make it onto TV." Jackass.

I am so incredibly touched by all the messages and compliments I received after the show. I am also incredibly happy to note that the link was shared many times over and that the Autism in Vienna page received more likes. This can only mean that things are going to start happening... I can feel it... in my back.. ouch. Cough. To celebrate, I headed out on Saturday evening for tapas. It was a fun night at Bodega Flores. What was especially funny was the large bachelor party of about 20 men sitting outside of the tapas bar. They had obviously reserved the table for their wild wild night and I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of men on a bachelor party, ordering tapas. "We gonna get wild tonight, men! Wait, should we have the sangria or the rioja? I could really go for some manchego, right now. Rawr!" The poor man of the hour was chained to a concrete ball and he needed a buddy to carry it for him every time he headed to the bathroom. I think he also needed a buddy because at one point, his arm was placed in a cast with a cup attached to it. I am not sure what kind of Austrian tradition this is but strange. They also consumed many many mini bottles of Jägermeister and I made sure to get a picture of that. After tapas, two of us stopped for a nightcap in our neighbourhood at Sekt Comptoir which was probably not the best life choice. But at least my back stopped hurting for a couple of hours!

Sunday was spent listening to the Kid hacking, watching Formula One and me trying not to move too much. And so begins a very busy week. This evening I spent the majority of the time moving around furniture (stupid yet determined, I am) and now I have a little work space in my bedroom. I have been meaning to organize our bedroom for the past two years but it seemed like such a daunting task. During the move, it kind of turned into a dumping ground but the past couple of weeks, I have been slowly trying to get rid of stuff. Hopefully by the time the Husband gets back from his trip, the bedroom will look a lot better and I won't trip over my crap every morning when I get ready for work. I am going to lie down soon but first will take a shower and some more Ibuprofen. This back pain is a new thing and I hope it clears up soon because I do not like staying still. Kerblast! Happy Monday night, everybody!

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