Welcome to my life!

2011-05-16T14:02:00.000+08:00

I am so super excited today! On Friday we had our second Practical Completion Inspection on the house (Yes, I know the house blog is terribly out of date, I had photo issues! Oops!) and aside from silicone being needed around the sinks (Which has now been done) the house is FINALLY finished!!!
So we have an appointment with Content for 10:30am tomorrow morning for Handover and the house is then officially ours :D
We still have masses to do and it will probably about a month before we can move in but it is so good to finally have an end date, to have something to focus on and know that by x time we will be in the house :D

Even better than that, I just got interupted while blogging by a phonecall from the guy who did our driveway paving to give me a quote for the cross-over and it has come in way cheaper than we had expected so that is so good! We have been trying to save while we are staying here with mum but these last couple of months with Hamish and Makenzie's birthdays (Photos to come I promise! LOL) and Easter, Mother's Day and Dad's birthday thrown in our savings have taken a bit of a hit so to get things for less than we expected is a huge relief :)
Anyways, better run, have to get the kiddos in a minute but just wanted to update with my exciting news :D

Mel

BE AWARE! NEW SCAM!

2011-05-10T11:48:00.000+08:00

Anyone who knows me knows I am not one to blah blah about scams and viruses etc. on the internet because so many stuatuses on Facebook and emails that go around are bogus but this one happened to my family this week so I really wanted to get it out there and make as many people aware of it as I can so no one else can get ripped off by these people!
My Mother in Law was contacted the other day after putting a caravan for sale on the classifieds.

The man who contacted her claimed to be working on an oil rig up north so had no phone access and wanted to pay through Pay Pal. My Mother in Law, being unfamiliar with the internet, phoned me and asked what to do so I gave her my email address for the man to use my Pay Pal account.

Yesterday I recieved and email claiming to be from Pay Pal stating the money was ready to be tranferred I just needed to do a Western Union Money Transfer of $950 to his courier for shipping the caravan.

I, thankfully, have been using Pay Pal for many years and had alarm bells ringing so contacted Pay Pal because the whole thing seemed a bit suspect.

This morning another email was received by the man telling us to do a transfer of $2500 so we contacted the Scamwatch people.

They knew all about it, the address we gave that the man had told us to send the money to was well known to them.

Basically, it is a new scam happening where they are contacting people through classified ads and attempting to scam money from them.

I am so glad my Mother in Law had us there to help her out or it could ahve been a very costly mistake for her.

Please pass this on and be very careful when selling things through classifieds as I would hate anyone to get scammed!

Winners!!!

2011-05-01T20:43:00.000+08:00

Thank you all for your fabulous entries into my competition! It was super hard to choose a winner and I wish there were prizes for every entry because they were all so good!
All the winners have been contacted and will be receiving their prizes very soon!

Huge congrats to "Tinkster" for her first place entry:
The best thing since sliced bread is my iphone! I can amuse Jack with wiggles videos when waiting at medicare, I can play games when waiting at the school pick up, I can check my emails anywhere, I can waste hours trying to get the thrid freaking star on angry birds levels (ok, maybe that ones not brilliant) Love love it!

I loved this entry because my iPhone is one of my favourite things too, I have spent more hours than I care to count working on thoses 3rd stars so can totally sympathise! LOL

Second Place went to "Noni":
I am completely shallow and going to say the best thing since sliced bread in my life is my GHD hair straightener. Seriously, before i had one i used either cheap nasty ones which killed my hair or had to pay $50 each time i wanted a hairdresser to blowdry my hair. I never mastered the art of blowdrying my hair into anything but a boofy frizzy mess so it is nice to be able to have nice, normal hair, just like everyone else, everyday!

I hear you on this one too, I can't straighten my own hair (I admit it, I am a hair numpty! hehe) but my sister has a GHD so when she straightens my hair I do appreciate how much quicker it is now than it used to be!

Third Place went to "Princess_Nayd" with her entry:

Wow this sounds great, so convenient and a faster way to pay!!! I reckon the best thing since sliced bread is technology!!! Where would we all be today without it, I cannot remember what we all did before mobile phones, internet, digital tv and so on. I am so excited about the future of technology to see what else is in store for us!

Also I must add that my family are pretty close to being better than sliced bread with my wonderful sister being the crust! ♥

I totally agree with this too, I think my world would end without technology! I am a bit of a computer bandit (Gee, ya think?! LOL) so it is something that is definitely up there for me too!

Congratulations again to everyone, thanks so much for taking part!
Mel

2011-04-29T21:12:00.000+08:00

Glad to see I finally have some comments happening, I was starting to think iw as going to ahve to take all the prizes for myself! LOL
Just wanted to pop in quick though and let you all know, although the competition finishes at 5pm tomorrow night I won't be able to come on and congratulate the winners till Sunday because I have a wedding to go to (Not the Royal Wedding, may as well be though, they are having a High Tea for their reception! Can't you just imagine me and Steve at a High Tea, makes me giggle a little! hehehehe)
As I know most people who have entered, through Facebook, those who I am friends with on FB that won I will notify you that way, otherwise I will notify you through your followers link :)
Loved all the answers that came in though, I have no idea how I am going to choose the most creative, think I might need the kids to be judges! LOL
Anyways, that's all for now, the kids ar eall on school holidays till the 5th of May so I have been a bit flat out with them but I will be in soon with a good update :)
Mel

Your chance to win...

2011-04-19T15:44:00.002+08:00

I told you all to watch this space and hope you all did...even though nothing much happened till now! hehe

So, as I mentioned in the post last month, I was selected through a Soup Project to be a PayPass Ambassador and one of 12 exclusive bloggers for this project. I have been waiting patiently to receive my information and przie pack in the post so today I can finally announce my competition and tell you a little more about PayPass.

First things first...

What is PayPass?

PayPass is a new way of using your credit card. Mastercards around Australia are being released with new technology to make low-value credit card transactions quicker, easier and safer.

With PayPass, rather than swiping or inserting your card you simply have to tap your card on the top of the card reader!

What? How is that safer?!This was my biggest fear when we first got our PayPass cards, I could see how it could be safer as you do not need to enter a PIN or sign when your purchase is under $100. After some research though, I found it is actually safer! Your card never leaves your hand when you are doing a PayPass transaction which means there is no chance of card skimming. You are the one who "taps" the card on the reader and even if it is tapped more than once the transaction only goes through once.

On top of that, if your card is stolen, Mastercard has Zero Liability protection so if unauthorised transactions occur you are covered as long as you report the card as stolen (Obviously).

How is it easier?

Because you don't have to go through the swipe then selecting account then entering PIN number/sign routine the whole transaction is sped up. I have used PayPass at places like KFC and McDonalds and it makes the whole process heaps quicker. Our local Maccas is usually fairly quick but the first time I used PayPass there I was in shock how much quicker it actually was! When your a mum on the go like me, anything that can save me a few minutes is going to get a big thumbs up in my book! LOL

Where can I get more information?

To learn more about PayPass (or read it in a much more eloquent than I can put it! hehe) click on this link: PayPass Info at Commonwealth Bank

Now, onto the competition!

Like I mentioned in the last post to be eligible to win you must be a follower of this blog. The "Follower" button is on the left hand side.

Once you are a follower, reply to this post with a comment of 100 words or less telling me:

“What’s the ‘best thing since sliced bread’ in your life?”

Be as creative as you can, the more creative you are the better your chances of winning are!

There are 3 prizes up for grabs:

1st Prize: two (2) $50.00 Commonwealth Bank MasterCard Debit Cards and one (1) double La Premiere movie pass, valued at $75.00.

2nd Prize: One (1) $50.00 Commonwealth Bank MasterCard Debit Card and one (1) double La Premiere movie pass, valued at $75.00.

3rd Prize: One (1) $50.00 Commonwealth Bank MasterCard Debit Card

See, I told you there were great prizes huh! So, get writing, I can't wait to see the comments! This competiton is open until April 30th at 5pm (Western Australian Time), so you have plenty of time to get the creative juices flowing, and the Winners will be announced the next day on my blog :)

Hopefully I will be back in the next few days before Easter to do a proper update post but fornow the competition will have to do! LOL

Mel

COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

2011-04-19T15:39:00.000+08:00

1. The Promoter is The World According to Mel (http://the-world-according-to-mel.blogspot.com/) with prizes supplied by Soup (www.thsoup.com.au ).

2. Submission for this prize constitutes acceptance of these terms and conditions. All entry instructions and competition information published by the Promoter form part of these conditions. Entry is via the Internet only.

3. Entry to the competition is open to all residents of Australia over the age of 18.

4. The competition commences at 5pm WST 19/04/11 and closes at 5pm WST 30/04/11.

Entry to the Competition

5. To be eligible for the prize, persons must be a follower of The World According to Mel and submit a response to the question via public post on http://the-world-according-to-mel.blogspot.com/ telling us in 100 words or less “What’s the ‘best thing since sliced bread’ in your life?”

6. The three (3) persons who in the Judge’s opinion submit the most original and creative answers, will be declared the winners and ranked in order 1st, 2nd and 3rd by the Judge. The Judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. This is a competition of skill and chance plays no part in determining the outcome. Entries must be the Entrant’s own work and must not infringe any rights of third parties.

Prizes

7. 1st Prize will be awarded two (2) $50.00 Commonwealth Bank MasterCard Debit Cards and one (1) double La Premiere movie pass, valued at $75.00. 2nd Prize will be awarded One (1) $50.00 Commonwealth Bank MasterCard Debit Card and one (1) double La Premiere movie pass, valued at $75.00. 3rd Prize will be awarded $50.00 Commonwealth Bank MasterCard Debit Card. The total prize value for this competition is AU$350. The use of each prize is subject to the issuer’s terms and conditions.

8. Prizes are not transferable, exchangeable, or redeemable for cash. A Weekly Prize must be taken as offered and cannot be varied. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any tax implications that may arise from the prize winnings. Independent financial advice should be sought. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for any variation in Weekly Prize value. Vouchers included in a Weekly Prize are subject to the vouchers’ prevailing terms and conditions of use including expiration dates (the Commonwealth MasterCard Debit Card expires by 31st July 2011) and are not replaceable if lost or stolen. The Promoter reserves the right to replace any prize with another of equivalent retail value without notice.

Judging

9. Judging will take place on May 1st, 2001. The winners will be notified by telephone and/or email within 5 days of the judging date. Names of the winners may also be published on The World According to Mel at the url http://the-world-according-to-mel.blogspot.com/

10. Prizes will be posted to the winners at the address nominated by them, via email correspondence with the promoter within seven (7) days of the winners being notified.

Get this girl her own show..stat!

2011-03-31T19:40:00.000+08:00

Miss M, has suddenly discovered the joys of the human voice, more particularly...her own human voice! So, last night, while we all sat at the table eating dinner (KFC because I have a cold and Hamish had his first rugby trainign of the season so dinner was a mere afterthought! hehe) Jessie ask Dad for an Original Recipe. He gave her the recipe fore scones, which I said was not original...blah, blah, blah...as you can imagine riveting conversations followed...
ANYWAYS....long story short, after a lot of chatter Makenzie piped up with "I know an original recipe!" MMMM, this coulld be fun..."Okay, go on" I said"
"First, you need Broccoli" M said "Then, Eggs"
"Next, you need Milk..." Long pause for dramatic effect, finger tapping on chin "Then Cheese"
"And last...Did I say Broccoli?" She asked
"You did" I replied
"Well, you need more...3 times!" She stared at me rather intently, I presume to make sure I was writing all the details down in my head.
"Right, so when do you do with all the stuff then?" I asked
"You need to call them the ingredients!" Kenz rolled her eyes as she said this and I began to wonder when exactly my 3 year old turned 12.
"Okay, so what do you do with the ingredients?" I corrected
"You put in the first broccoli, the milk, the eggs, the second broccoli, the cheese and then the 3rd broccoli and stir"
"MMM, sounds yummy so far" I commented "Then what happens?"
"You cook it!" She squealed
"But how?"
"MMM, in the oven...for 4..." M replied
"4 what?" I asked
"4 minutes....no, 4 hours" She said "And theeeeeennnnnnnnnn.........................It's done!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
She was so proud of her "original recipe" and beamed at everyone at the table one by one, while we all tried to keep from giggling at her and her expressions.
I really need to start videotaping her because she is growing way to quick, in just over a month, she will be 4 and Hamish will be 7! Crazy right?!
Anyways, that's all for now, will be back soon when I have more details about the competition but don't forget to follow :)
Mel

Watch this space!

2011-03-24T13:37:00.000+08:00

I know I have not live up to my promise of weekly posts like I said I was going to (Hands up who not surprised by that though?! LOL) life has just been super crazy! Between Jessie's birthday and tee-ball running our lives and then my trip to Bali (Photos to follow) my poor old blog has been poorly treated in these last few months :( I don't think I ahve even put up Christmas photos or updated about my broken brain issues since November so really should get a move on!

BUT that is not what I am on here today for...I have just got off the phone from a lovely lady over at The Soup office (I have been a member there for a long while, pretty much since they started) and she told me I have been selected as a Soup Blogger for their latest project. What it means is next month I will be doing a couple of blog posts about my experiences with using PayPass but I will also be running my first ever competition! The prizes are really good and I am very jealous that my readers get the prizes and I only get to give them out! LOL So, in preparation for next month I am asking that anyone who wants to be in the running for the prizes become a follower and in April I will give more details. The competion will only be open to those people who are followers so get following :)

Mel

Fire, Puppy Love and My Baby...PART 3

2011-02-28T21:37:00.000+08:00

The final part of this post involves my littlest baby girl growing up. On the 14th of February this year Makenzie started Kindergarten! It seems like only yesterday she was born and now she is at school. She has already made two best friends, Jessica and Madison, and knows a few others from childcare so is settling in really well.

Me on the other hand have won the Bad Mummy Award on her first day of school. They do half days for the first two weeks and I thought they finished at 12:30pm each day but turns out it was 12pm so on her first day of school i got a phone call from her teacher at 12:20pm telling me school had finished...oops! It was right after I had said to Nayd I needed to go because I didn't want to get the Bad Mummy Award on the first day...if only I'd known I had already won it! LOL

Today, she had her first full day and came home full of news about what she did and who she played with and what they got to do different to earlier days. Poor chicken was beat tonight, she fell asleep at school durning quiet time and was almost asleep at the dinner table too so think it will take a bit of getting used to for her but it is so exciting to be going through this new stage with her!

Fire, Puppy Love and My Baby...PART 2

2011-02-26T18:34:00.000+08:00

I thought I would get back sooner to continue on with this post but apparently not! 2011 is shaping up to be a flat out year!!!
Anyways, I left the last post after the fire, it ended up being a mammoth post about a couple of things but only one thing from the title so I will aim to get the last post finished in this one! hehe
On the 16th of February, Jessie turned 10! Two days before that was the biggest day so far in Jessie's life (According to her at least! hehe).
I don't know if I have mentioned before but since she was 3 years old Jessie has been "betrothed" to a gorgeous little boy, W, they met at swimming lessons and after 2 lessons Jess declared she was in love and was going to marry W one day. W's mum and I became friends and the kids have been great friends ever since, they are now in Year 5 together at school, and all the kids know that W and Jess are going to get married.
So, all was going well until D came on the scene. D is a lovely boy who goes to school with the kids and also plays in Jessie's tee-ball team. At the beginning of last year Jess was having some trouble with some girls in her class picking on her and D came to her rescue and has been a good friend to her since then. It turns out D, who has the cutest stutter I have heard in a long while, has a major crush on Jess.
Not a problem there, Jess knew about D's crush and was fine with it and remained friends with him even when her friends picked on her about him.
Soooooo, over the summer, Jessie has developed her first "non-W" crush...on D! They saw each other a bit over summer with tee-ball but apparently something changed for Jess between December and February when school started again because she got just like I remember being at her age in the throws of puppy love.
On one of the first couple of days back to school after the fires, I walk the kids across the busy road near their school (They then walk up to a cross-walk and into school from there) and as we reached the footpath D was walking up. Jess blushed the brightest I have ever seen her, as did D, who then said "Hi Jess" which she replied to with a just as hurried "Hi D" and they walked together blushing at each other up to the cross-walk.
The week after the fires was Valentine's Day and jokingly on the Saturday before I asked the kids who they were going to give cards to. We don't normal do cards or anything (I am lucky if Steve even rings that day! LOL) so was really surprised when both big kids said they wanted to give cards out. Hamish said he NEEDED to give his to T (The coach's daughter, from tee-ball) and then was even more surprised when Jessie said she wanted to give one to both W AND D!
Sunday afternoon was spend in a cloud of glitter glue and red card and it was decided that Nayd and I would do a "Cupid Run" when the kids were at school and drop the cards at all 3 kids house. We dropped off W's fine then went to find D's house but the address Jessie thought he had told her was wrong! SO we went to T's house dropped hers off and then had to wait for Jessie to come home to break the news.
When she got home I told her "You have one of two choices - either I can slip it in his tee-ball bag and it is done or you can make a new one (As this one was signed "Your secret Admirer") and give it to him in person"
She said she would like for me to put it in his bag then a few minutes later came back and said she wanted to make a new one because she didn't want D to think it was a joke or that someone was being mean to him (He gets picked on a lot because of the stutter :-( ) so she made a new one and signed her name.
When we got to tee-ball, Jessie was so nervous, she was blushing furiously and didn't know where to look when D got there. BUT she was so super brave, she went up to him and said Happy Valentines Day and gave him her card. He thanked her, ran to his car and threw the card in.
You could just about hear Jessie's heart breaking, she was certain he didn't like her any more, but she was positively glowing after training when she got in the car and told me what had happened and I told her about a certain young man getting into his car after training who was heard to tell his older sister "Give me back my card NOW!!!" So, looks like romance is still in the air! hehe
Since then, the blushing has slowed but D has been seen to walk Jess to the car on a few occasions so she is still happy! hehehe
Anyways, am still not going to get this finished, so will have to finish in Part 3! LOL

Fire, Puppy Love and My Baby...PART 1

2011-02-14T16:12:00.000+08:00

What a whirlwind few weeks I have had!
Steve turned 30 on the 30th of January, we went to his mums house for 3 days and camped out in their paddock...sort of. We thought it would be a great idea, it is such a Steve thing to do. He invited a whole heap of Facebook friends to come down and camp the night at his mum's house, unfortunately we hadn't factored in an approaching cyclone! The wind was so strong Nayds tent, on the first night, ended up being a blanket and she was worried about suffocating in it so she bunked in with us and the second night none of us wanted to chance the winds again so all moved our beds onto the patio only to be woken at about 6am by a huge downpour! Yup, it was some fun times that's for sure! LOL

On the Saturday (Steve's party was Friday night) we packed our stuff up and headed home (When I say we I actually mean Steve because I was laid out on the couch with a wicked headache and no drugs to relieve it) and then had the joy of a tee-ball carnival the next day.

Steve got two weeks off for his birthday and course he had to do so went back to work for two week. On the Sunday after he left Hamish had another carnival in Mandurah (About an hour away from home) so I left the girls with mum and dad and Hamish and I drove down at 6:30am for the carnival. It was a very long day and as we left I discovered it was about to get even longer!

As we started to drive away from the oval my mobile rang so I pulled over to answer it, it was my sister Nayd calling to say "Don't go home, you have been evacuated! There is a massive bushfire headed your way so come to mine instead" Okay, not a problem. She had grabbed my camera bag, passports and the two dogs plus the girls teddies (The girls were both with her as mum and dad went out for lunch) So I was quietly panicking about my box of photos I had only the week before brought home from our storage unit plus all of Steve's musical equipment.

As we drove home, we saw the smoke get worse and worse and blacker and blacker. It got so bad at one stage I couldn't see the car in front of me and even with headlights on it was like driving through red night, scary stuff! So, we get to Nayd's and she is almost in tears, Jess is almost in tears, Kenz is almost in tears, Andree (Nayd's client) is almost in tears and the 3 dogs are barking up a storm.

Hamish by the stage is in tears for two reasons:
A) He hasn't had lunch yet as we were going to get something on the way home but Naydene was a little stressed so we needed to get to her as quickly as possible. Nayd had hot dogs but in all the mad rush we forgot to get them for Haim!
B) We couldn't get back to our house to rescue his rabbit so I had to prepare him in the fact that even if the house didn't burn down there was good chance his rabbit would die from the smoke.

So, We have 2 functioning adults, 2 intellectually disabled adults, 3 children, 3 dogs and 3 cars and we then receive news that Nayds house is to be evacuated too! All the aforementioned "near tears" people promptly burst into tears which left me to try and keep everyone working towards packing things up and getting out. I tell Nayd and Steven (Who is her live-in client, he has Down Syndrome and is a lovely man but often in his own world so needs a lot of supervision) to get 2 changes of clothes each plus something to sleep in. Nayd managed to get 2 dresses and nothing to sleep in but a few pairs of knickers and Steven had a number of tee-shirts but not enough pants! LOL But in positive news, Nayd did pack her GHD just in case! LOL

We all bundled into my van and mum's car, leaving nayd's car at her house, and drove to drop Andree off at her house then went to my cousins house. Finally at about 8:30pm (Still not knowing if the houses were okay or not) we walked in to my mum and dad's friends house to stay until we could go back home.

The next morning, we got word from dad (Who is a fireman and was allowed to go in the evacuated zone) that both houses were safe for now so all we could do was sit and wait. Thankfully, the house we were staying at was more like a resort, it was absolutely beautiful! Ingrid had got her kids to bring over mattresses for the kids and I so we could all be in the same room together. They had a toy room which kept the kids entertained as well as pool which was perfect for the hot weather and enough room for all of us to have our own space so all in all it was certainly the kind of evacuation I could get used to ;)

After 2 nights away from home, we were allowed to go back, thankfully our home, garden and rabbit were all fine! The house across the road from my old house burnt down, the bush across the way from us was all burnt plus a number of houses in the area ( I think final figures were about 90 destroyed 50 damaged houses) plus a bridge on one of the major roads which has caused quite a big traffic problem in the area so it is all taking time to get used to but we are all so grateful and humbled by the experience, words can not express how thankful we feel to have been spared.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Who would have thunk it?!

2011-01-17T23:59:00.000+08:00

Hi there!!!
Welcome to my blog for 2011! If the last 17 days are anything to go by, looks like my blogging habits will not look any different to last year! hehehe Oops!
BUT, if today alone is anything to go by weird things are happening in my world so anything is possible!

So, I could bore you with a whole pile of 'me' related rubbish that I haven't bothered writing about for the last two months or I could just get on and tell you about the weird things! LMAO

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while or who knows me in real life knows all about my music loves and addictions, at best it could be called eclectic, at worst absolute crap taste (Usually said by Steve when I make him listen to "Just one more..." in my current obsession). Basically...I love music, if it has really good lyrics that get me I am bound to fall in love and be found humming it at 3am when I can't sleep (The joys of the broken brain and a music obsession! LOL)
As you can tell from my mini-series of posts about discoveries in music (that never made it past the first one), I love all things Country, Sugarland is at the top of the Country list for me but most anything Country will get me in.

On the top of my DO NOT like list (Which used to be large and has gotten scarily small) is AC/DC and followed on from that pretty much everyone Steve loves: Kiss, Cream, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin....blah, blah, blah....

Yeah...and?! I can hear you think. Well, this is where things start getting a little bit strange...

Today, the kids, my sister and I went in to the city and when we came home the kids were watching a movie while I was messing about on the internet. As I am a big country fan, I was talking to my uncle last night and Allison Krauss (Bluegrass/country singer for those playing at home ;-) ) and how she had made an album a couple of years ago with Robert Plant (Lead singer of Led Zeppelin, if your still playing :-P ) that was really good and blew me away.(As a semi-interesting side-note to this story, Makenzie got her middle name (Paige) from Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page) So, today while I was faffing on the net, I remembered the conversation last night and it reminded me that I still hadn't bought the album yet so I jumped onto itunes and bought the album (Called Raising Sand if you are wondering! LOL) then the genius recommendation thingo told me I might also like Robert Plant's "essentials set" of songs that he has made between Led Zeppelin breaking up and now.

Sooooooo, I went and had a little listen of this album and ended up downloading that too, turned out I really like Robert Plant! So, then I thought maybe I need to have a little listen to his earlier stuff (Yes, I am talking about Led Zeppelin stuff, do you see where I am going with this yet?!) which then ended up with me on the phone to Steve super excited at this latest music discovery. I have now just spent the last 3 hours copying all of Led Zeppelin's albums from our external hard drive as well as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Cream AND even 1 (Yeah, just one am not that crazy yet! LOL) AC/DC song!

And that concludes the longest apology to Steve post ever I think! LOL I feel like such a dumb head that I have blocked his music for so long thinking it was all crap because I don't like most of AC/DC's stuff when i could have been in an even bigger music heaven than I already am in! hehe Sorry Steve, you were right (Mostly) and I was wrong!

Will be back some time in the not to distant future to do the aforementioned "me" rubbish but for now I am off to listen to music in bed with a book :)

Mel

Me and my music

2010-11-22T09:55:00.000+08:00

Okay, so some more thinking...
I think there is only one way to get back to me and my blog being good friends again and that is by me visiting. If I don't visit here my blog doesn't get updated and then I start losing touch with it. So, I am going to aim to blog once a week, not promising it will be the most brilliant, awe-inspired posts ever but I think it is important to unload my brain, no matter how many friends or acquaintances I am acquiring. There is still very few people in my life who know about "the big sick" and all the issues I have been fighting with over the last year so I think it is not fair for me to turn my back on the one thing that helped me through.
SOOOOOO, here I am, ready to dribble :P

Anyone who knows me IRL or is a long time reader here, probably knows about my "eclectic" taste in music. I have an iphone packed with 1000 of my favourite songs and the range from The Beatles to Susan Boyle (Yes, really!) from Michael Bolton to The John Butler Trio and everything in between.
This month I have made 3 "new" music discoveries.
One is a band I have been listing to for 3 or so year but they just bought out a new CD and I am in love.
It is Sugarland, their new album is "Incredible Machine" and truly, if you even semi like country music, it is worth a listen!
This is the title track from that album, Incredible Machine, I love this film clip too, it is so "steampunky" (Which I am just starting to appreciate), the lyrics always make you think and the singing is awesome!

I will be back later with the other two, I have a few phone calls to make this morning so have to run but had to share :)
Mel

Thinking...

2010-11-22T09:35:00.000+08:00

So I have been thinking, yep it wasn't an earthquake it was just my brain :P
And here is what I have been thinking...
When I first started this blog, Steve had been working away for a while, about a year, and I was so lonely. It was back in the days when he could only ring about once a week and being at home with two children was a lonely experience. So, I started blogging not only to remember all that was happening (I always forgot to tell Steve daily things when he only rang once a week) but also because it felt like I had a friend. I didn't have a clue if anyone was actually reading it or not, and to be honest, I didn't really care. For 10 minutes slots I felt important to someone/something outside my own four walls.
As time went on, I began blogging more to fill the time, then I got sick and I turned to my old friend to ease my mind from all the stress and tests I was going through.
Now, 4 years after I started this blog I have just discovered what it is like to be a part of something bigger. I am getting a "real" life and am enjoying myself!
Some days I wonder how I will get through the next 5 minutes, the days are so busy with activities for the kids and general day-to-dayness for me and it is really enjoyable! We have just gone from having all the activities down to 2 days a week and now it has blown out to 6, sometimes (Like this week) 7 days a week and honestly, I wouldn't change a thing!
The kids are happy, I am happy, Steve is...as happy as he gets :P
So, what does that mean for this blog, this life that has been with me for years? You know, I really don't know! What I am trying to say is I love blogging but I am not sure where it fits in my life any more. I can't imagine closing this blog down or just stopping posting but I hope you understand why I am not blogging as much as I used to.
That's all,
K,
Bye!

HOORAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-09T00:11:00.000+08:00

I am still alive and suddenly feeling as free as a bird :D
I have just this minute (Okay, it was actually 11 minutes ago but I had to go to Facebook first! LOL) handed in my last ever teaching assignment!!!!!!
I don't remember if I said about it, I decided this term to drop out of teaching and use the units I have done to apply for nursing. I thought teaching would be okay but the more I did the more I didn't love it and I began wondering why I would want to teach kids all day when I have just about got rid of all mine to school?! LOL
So, I had one huge assignment (Worth 60% of the mark) due yesterday and one huge one due today, for two different units, I thought yesterdays one was going to be hard and this last one easy but turns out I read the assignment details wrong, i thought the whole of the last assignment was reflective writing but turned out 2000 words were academic and only a small amount were to be reflective so needless to say I had a very long day today but I got it in just in time and now I just have to wait for my mrak to come back and when that comes in i can email them and drop out :)
I have never been so proud to be a drop out before! LOL But I am now 100% sure nursing is what I want to do so 2012 will be the beginning (As long as I get in! LOL) of my Nursing and on campus uni life :D
Will come back soon for a real update, we are all doing good though :)
Mel

This time a year ago...

2010-11-04T19:07:00.001+08:00

This time a year ago, I was done.
This time a year ago, I was in pain.
This time a year ago, I was eating a hospital dinner.
This time a year ago, I thought I could not get any lower.
This time a year ago, I had 24 staples in my head, neck and belly.
This time a year ago, I was wondering if I could ever possibly smile again.
This time a year ago, I was wondering if I would ever get my sight back fully.
This time a year ago, I was reassuring my children that I would live for another day.

This time a year ago, I was a brain surgery survivor.

Today, I am alive.
Today, I am done.
Today, I can see again.
Today, I am still in pain but able to cope
.Today, I remember how to smile and use it to light my way.
Today, I ate a home cooked dinner and enjoyed every minute of it.

Today, I have scars that remind me every day of what could have been.
Today, I comfort a sick child and remember when it was me who needed caring for.
Today, I celebrated my brainiversary by eating chocolate, drinking Coke and doing a uni assignment.

Today, I am a brain surgery survivor.

Tee-ball photos!

2010-10-10T12:10:00.001+08:00

The kids had their first tee-ball yesterday! It was such a fun day, I got lots of photos of Kenzie's game, a couple of Hamish's but I was the scorer so had to try and concentrate on that, and none of Jessie's because we were all packed up in the car ready to go and then got a photo call from her coach to say her game was starting in 5 minutes so we had to run back and I forgot the camera!

hehe kind of impossible to get 12 3 and 4 year olds to look in the same direction and smile! LOL

In case you can't tell, Kenz is in the back row, second from the right :)

hehe I love getting her faces on camera, she is such a dag!

ready to hit

lining it up

hhmmm, maybe I need to wait a minute

hehe I love this shot, the movement in the tee and the bat highlight the non-movement in the ball! LOL Eyes closed just in case ;)

Hamish, ready to hit

Yay, we have connection!!!

A great day was had by all, I got sunburnt but survived and the kids had an absolute ball.

Any one who knows Jessie, knows she got her running genes from me, as in they are non-existent! LOL But she ran so fast for her, I was so proud of her :)
Her team won, without ever having trained together, 25-11! Hamish's team won by 1 point, final score was 18-17 and Makenzie's team lost by 2 points (5-7) but if you ask her she tells you she won so it's all good! LOL
That's all for today though, just wanted to pop in and share the pictures :)

Mel
P.S. some of the pics have been cut off so if you click on them you can see them bigger :)

2010-10-06T13:13:00.000+08:00

I am so flat out at the moment so have been letting the blog slip a bit, sorry! I had a major assignment for one unit due last Sunday and one for the other unit due this Monday so have been working my bum off getting those done. Between them and the kids on school holidays it means I haven't had a lot of "me" time lately!

All is as good as can be expected here, Steve has come and gone for another week. His sleep study has been done and next time he is home he is back to the GP for the results. He had blood tests and turns out he has one of the two genes needed for Hemocromatosis. From what we know his Nonno has it and it is a hereditary disease, it means his body has too high an amount of Iron stores so he will initially have to give blood once a month and needs an ultrasound to make sure his liver hasn't been damaged from it. The irony is not lost on me, the amount of time in my life that I am Anaemic and there is my husband with too much Iron, typical huh! LOL

Kids are all good, tee-ball is going well. Makenzie had her first training session last week, she was a bit sooky about it and didn't want to go over at first but I think she will be happier to go today as the coach gave them each a lollipop at the end! LOL Jessie has been switched to a new team as there was a lot more kids than expected so they have taken 2 children from each team to make a new team. Jess is happy to change, the other one from her team who is moving is a boy from her class at school so she is happy with that :) Hamish has only had the one session, last week his coach got called to work so it had to be cancelled but hopefully that was only a once off :)

I am doing okay, still not much to report, head is still hurting and I am now on so many meds I think I might rattle when I walk, none of which are actually helping anything but I am trying to keep my chin up and deal with it. My GP gave me the numbers of two Neurologists today and has agreed to me getting a second opinion about the Chiari, which is a good thing. Even if they can just help as far as managing the pain and dizziness then it is a good result.

House is going full steam ahead, the walls are half up (Photos on the other blog :) ) and it is all starting to look "house like"! LOL I have to try not to drive down there 100 times a week, I am trying to restrict it to once a week but it is so hard not going down every day because I want to see every little change! LOL

Think that is all for today, I really should be getting on with the assignment since Nayd is looking after the Chillens for me!

Till next time,
Mel

2010-09-25T19:43:00.000+08:00

Hi all,
Been laying low for a while now so thought it is probably time I did an update! Not much to report really, still no progress on the brain side of things. I have been seeing my GP every two weeks and every time I go she changes meds or ups the dose but besides that no real change. Head is a pain most of the time, dizziness is bad the majority of time but once in a while I wake and everything has gone so I think "Yay, finally!" and then a half hour later it is back worse than before. Overall, it's very frustrating and I am well and truly over it.

Kids are all good, they have all just started Tee-Ball for the Summer, Hamish and Jessie had their first training sessions last week and Makenzie has her first session this Wednesday. The coach of the Mini's (Kenzie's team) has his work cut out for him though I reckon, after watching Hamish's training, the kids in his team are Years 1, 2 and 3 next year so range in age from 5 to 7/8ish and they were hard enough for the coach to control so 3 and 4 year olds should be fun! LOL The poor boy who is coaching is only about 15 and this is his first season coaching so nothing like being thrown in at the deep end!

In other kid related news, Hamish FINALLY lost his first tooth yesterday! He was so happy to see it out! We have had so much trouble getting him to brush his teeth over the last couple of months so "the tooth fairy" left him $2 and his tooth and told him the tooth was too dirty to take, guess who just came out with the sparkliest teeth I have ever seen on him?! LOL I am trying to upload a photo but my puter is not playing nice tonight :(

Steve is good, he applied for a job that was at a mine closer to home which meant he would be home every night but didn't get it so he is just plodding along up at Argyle for now :) He has also just gone to see our GP about his snoring so has to do a sleep study next time he is home. Hopefully, it uncovers something and we can get it fixed because he is the worst snorer ever, I swear if there was an Olympics of Snoring, my money would be on him bringing home the gold! LOL

House is coming along nicely, we have bricks, a skip bin, window frames and a portaloo so any day now walls will start going up :) Photos are on my house blog for those who want to see :)

Anyways, that is us for now, overall good and once the head behaves we will be great :D

Mel

Video updates :)

2010-09-05T20:17:00.000+08:00

This first video is of Jessie at her first Piano music concert. At the start of the year she changed from Flute to Piano, still with the same teacher but she had grown tired of the Flute so a change was in order. The piano is so much better suited to ehr and she has now start writing her one music and lyrics. Obviously this song still needs a little work but it has the makings of a great song :)

This one was Hamish at the same concert, he has picked up the drums so quickly, he had only been learning for about 6 months at this concert. He has an amazing teacher, his old teacher Christian was really good but within a month realised that Hamish had enough raw talent to outgrow him very quickly so he moved him to study with Reggie.

This is Makenzie, while we were waiting for music lessons to finish. She is so into her music too, she loves to sing so looks like the family band is all set now :P

Part two of the last video, she had stopped looking at her magazines so could focus to make up a "Charlie and Lola" song! LOL

Mel

Streamlining...or something like that

2010-08-31T11:40:00.000+08:00

Just quickly, I know I said I would come back and update about my stupid brain issues and post block photos but instead I have attempted to streamline my blog by splitting it into 3 blogs...only time will tell if it will work! LOL
So, my home building blog can be found here: http://melisbuilding.blogspot.com/
And my Daily Grateful (I have explained all about it on there) blog can be found here: http://melisgrateful.blogspot.com/

I have added them to my sidebar link spot thingo so they will be a little easier to find but I figured this way each blog has a specific purpose and as long as I don't post the wrong thing in the wrong blog we should be fine! LOL

In me news, I have had a long few weeks! Went to see the Neuro about the brain issues and he said he thinks it is muscular and go home and suck it up basically. I was given Panadine Forte and an anti inflammatory at the hospital and he told me to stop them, despite the fact that they actually make a little difference to my pain, and just take normal Panadol (Which doesn't even touch the sides of the pain!)
So, we weren't too impressed with the way he dismissed it all so went to see my GP who said it could be a compressed nerve so sent me for a CT. When that came back clear she said it could be migraines (Which I have had in the past and know that's not what it is) so I am off caffeine and chocolate for 2 weeks. Not surprisingly, with 1 week down and 1 to go, the pain is no better and some days is actually worse so looks like it is not migraines!
My theory is, I will let her do what she wants and eliminate all she can then ask for a referral to another Neuro because I am sure the problem is Chiari so if everything else is eliminated the it will make it clearer for all the professionals!
Have to run now, Kenz is hungry but will try and come back later to do more of an update and add those videos I spoke of :)
Till next time,
Mel

We are the champions!

2010-08-22T10:45:00.000+08:00

Today Hamish and his Rugby team, Arks Under 6's, became the only team in his club to get through the whole season undefeated! The closest they came was a tie and we are so super proud of them!

I took some photos from their game the other week so thought I would share :)

This is Demi, he has the most amazing eyes I have ever seen! He is one of the quiet boys but is also one of our best players :)

Hamish, mouth guard in, doing what he does best. He is a really good watcher! LOL

Demi again, getting a touch, we have some really quick boys this year.

Little Lala, he is one of the coach's sons. He is so cute, I think he is only about Kenzie's age, maybe a little older, but he gets in there for at least a quarter each game and always has a good run.

Troy, I didn't catch many photos of him because honestly he is so bloody quick! His mum joked when I told her that I just caught the wind behind him but that is so true! LOL

This is James, this is his first year playing. He spends a lot of time on the side but when he feels like playing he always has a ball :) The man is Lami, the coach.

Hamish going for a touch and missing while Troy is ready behind him and Demi is there as backup! LOL

This is one of the twins, Christoph I think, he and Stephen are Lami's other sons. They are identical twins and I can only ever tell them apart from their number! LOL They both always have that smile on their face when they play, like they wouldn't want to be anywhere else :)

Jack, the manager's son, Stephen (I think) and Richard. Looks like they are working out a game plan! LOL
Jack, is such a gorgeous boy, sensitive like Hamish and a really strong player. And he he has the most gorgeous blue eyes too :)

Richard, the other coach's son. We have Lami, who is the main coach, and Kenny, who is the second coach. he can't make it to games because their older son plays at another oval at pretty much the same time. Richard is another cutie (We have a lot on our team! LOL) he has lots of fire and on any given day he can be seen having just as many shoving matches with his team mate as his opponents! LOL

One of my favourite photos from this game of Hamish, for so long he was scared to touch the ball in case he got tackled by the other team but now he gets this look and goes for it :)

And that is the team, minus Xavier, who I think was sick that day :( But yeah, that's the end of my proud mummy bragging post! LOL

Mel

Just quickly

2010-08-15T18:43:00.000+08:00

Just popping in quickly to give an update.

In my last posted I mentioned my headaches coming back, yesterday I went to see Sacha again and she was concerned about them returning so did some neuro tests. Some of the results weren't good so she told me to go to hospital. Went to hospital and they think my shunt is blocked :(

They were going to keep me in but gave me the choice if I wanted to stay or go home. The nuero ward is backed up and it would be at least 24 hours before I could get up there and who knows how long before surgery so i opted to go home and now have to make an appointment with Prof. Knuckey on Monday.

All good fun really, not what I had planned for this week but what can ya do right?!

So yeah, will keep you updated when i know more but either way it looks like more surgery :(

Mel

Crazy, crazy times!

2010-08-11T12:03:00.000+08:00

Yet again, I have been quiet, not meaning to be, just so flat out!
Last week we went away for a family holiday down south, to Dunsborough, and I think I need another week to unwind after the trip! LOL
It was a fantastic time, we did so much and there were so many "touchy, feely bonding" type moments so it was wonderful! We haven't taken a family trip with just us since I was pregnant with Makenzie so it has been a loooong time!
It was supposed to be a whole family trip, mum organised it back in February when we were moving to Seville Grove and Nayd didn't have Steven (Oh, don't think I have mentioned him so more on him in a minute) so since then life has changed A LOT so mum and dad decided they would go to Bali instead of Dunsborough since we are living together now. Then Nayd decided it was too hard to figure out dog sitting arrangements and Steven had work 3 day so she decided to stay home and look after the dogs so it went from 9 of us to just the 5 of us :)
I took over 500 photos but had 2 photo sessions the week before so am still processing them then I should be able to get to the holiday ones :)
Uni is going well, I am almost at the end of my first unit and am doing pretty good as far as marks go. Am mostly sitting around the 70% mark, so not over the top fantastic but it is a pass so I am not complaining! LOL
Last week I also signed up to become a Kindermusik business owner/operator because I figured between building, the kids, uni, the animals (Which have also just been added to!) and the disappearing husband my life isn't crazy enough so needed something else to add to the mix! LOL I have my vocal review for it on Friday, am very nervous about it! It is over the phone but it has to be unaccompanied and has to be in the right key. I can sing but the songs are all higher than my normal register so there has been lots of practising high notes without squeaking this week! LOL

What else?! In house news, things are moving, way to slowly for my liking but it is movement all the same! Plans have been finalised, Pre-start has been done, bank papers have been processed colours have been chosen and now we are just waiting on Council approval and then building will start! I will do another post with the block pictures and updated plans that I have finally managed to get onto the computer :)

Chillens are all doing good, have just enrolled Kenz in Kindy! It seems like only yesterday she was born and I was enrolling Hamish in Kindy and now it is Makenzie's turn! She came out of her room crying on Monday morning when the big kids were getting ready for school and I asked her what was wrong and she told me "I wanna wear my uniform to school too!" When I asked her what uniform, she dragged me to their room and pulled down Jessie's school dress, there were many tears that followed trying to explain that it was too big for her and she would wear a uniform next year, poor chicken!

Steve is doing good too, not much to report there, same old same old pretty much! LOL

Anyways, think that is all, have to run and get organised to go see Sasha, my Chiro, soon. I was down to weekly visits with her but am back up to twice a week again because my Chiari headaches are back :( meh, what can ya do right?!

Will be back later to upload the block photos and a couple of videos of the kids :)

mel

2010-07-25T13:19:00.000+08:00

Apparently, I overloaded the last post with photos, it wouldn't let me do comments with it! LOL
Anyways, I have been without my photo editing computer since we moved in with mum and I also lent my transfer cable to Fiona so haven't been able to put photos on this computer. I am doing a photo shoot this arvo with my cousin and her baby so had to get the photos off the camera so did a scramble around and found mum and dad's card reader that will fit my CF card! Very excited about that (And Fiona, that means no rush on the cable! LOL) so thought it was about time I shared some photos, despite the fact they haven't been made nice.

They are from Hamish's "Totally Gross" party, Hamish's actual birthday, Makenzie's birthday and her birthday party :)

Mel

Photo catch up!

2010-07-25T13:14:00.000+08:00

2010-07-18T17:27:00.000+08:00

Still alive, I promise!
I have been so busy these last ~~few~~ 8 weeks, it is just crazy! We have had mid year concerts, tonsillitis, gastro, ER trips, Circus trips, movies, school holidays, a birthday party and everything in between! LOL

I am flat out studying at the moment, it is almost the end of the study period for uni and I have two assignments due tonight/in the morning. I am struggling at the moment as I am not at all convinced that I want to be a teacher any more, I am so undecided, so it is making it hard to stay focused and on track. End of study period is only 3 weeks away though and I will reassess then :)
Anyways, just wanted to drop in and say Hi since it ahs been a while, I will have photos again one day, everything is all over the place at the moment though so will have to work on it! LOL

Mel

2010-06-10T09:13:00.000+08:00

Hello there!
Long time no see, I have had good intentions for the last week or so to get in and update but I haven't had much of a chance! LOL

Okay, so to finish off my last post - We moved in with mum and dad with the intention of staying a few weeks while we looked for a rental, everything here has been going really well - despite the fact we have 5 people and a dog crammed into two small rooms :P - and after lots of discussions it was agreed that we should try out staying here till out house is built. We did lots of calculations and it works out heaps better for us financially to stay here and just pay storage unit fees each month instead of moving into a rental. It is a learning experience for all of us, but overall it is going well. The kids are heaps happier and all seem to be content to stay here, Steve is actually helping out (Yes, I did have a slight coronary when that first happened! LOL) and I am feeling less stress as the workload is being shared over 3 people when Steve isn't home instead of just me.

Moving on, everything is going along swimmingly at home, still waiting on settlement for the block (Can't even remember if I wrote about putting an offer in...think I did...hope I did...) the bank is piss farting us a bit, have pre-approval but it is all the little nitty-gritty stuff trying to get smoothed out. We are hopefully it will happen in the next week or two though :)

House plans are coming along nicely, we have our folder to decide on colours and finishes (SOOOOO very exciting!!!) and are now waiting for the plans to be officially drawn up and get council approved and then the building starts.

Jessie is doing really well, she has just been accepted into a TAGS (Talented and Gifted Students) program for her writing, she has also been accepted into the Interschool String Ensemble, which is a big deal as normally you get invited to join in Year 5 but she is doing so well with her violin the invited her a year early :D
In other news with her, looks like she has the makings to be a song-writer, she has started writing her own music and songs and she then takes them to her Piano lessons for her teacher to fine tune them with her and they are actually turning out pretty good! I will attempt to take some video of her playing and upload it...I am sure you all know how tech-minded I am not so it may take a while! LOL

Hamish is...Hamish! LOL Some days good, some days not so good but overall is is doing well. Not much to report on him, he is plodding along well, enjoying drum lesson but hates to practice! LOL Bit like his mother was as a kid :P

Makenzie is doing good too, has had a few sicknesses over the last few weeks, she has moved up to the "big room" at childcare so I am thinking there must be new germs that she hasn't caught yet! LOL Her big news of the week is we have FINALLY figured out the sleeping at night issues :D She has slept through the night, in her own bed for 5 nights and counting :D Not that I like to use bribery but I was at my wit's end so we told her if she sleeps through in her bed all night in the morning she can have a Milo and if she comes into my bed she gets no Milo, apparently we hit on the magic words for her as she has slept through since that night! So very happy to be getting full night sleeps again!

Anyway, better run, mum is hounding me to put on a load of washing :P

Mel x

Just realised....

2010-06-02T20:43:00.000+08:00

I thought I had finished this an posted it...apparently not! LOL Will be back with the rest sometime soon :) I thought that week was long and it still hasn't stopped! LOL

I have had the longest week in the history of my life! Give me brain surgery and recovery any day over the week I have had! LOL

So, last Tuesday my baby turned 3! It is so hard to believe how big she is getting, she is growing way too fast for my liking! We had a nice day, went to swimming lessons where she graduated to big kids classes so no more water time for me!!! Yay! We then had final inspection on the house, which started my long week, and ended at mum's house for dinner and cake. It was a good day and she was so happy with all her presents, she came and gave me a cuddle and said thank you after each parcel she opened :)

Wednesday, we get a call from our agent to tell us the buyers had a list (And I mean a LIST!) of things they wanted fixed for settlement. We went through the list and most were stupid piddly things like a light hanging funny in the lounge and the retic. not coming on (The dog had switched off the tap when he jumped the fence! LOL) but they also wanted us to fix the hot water temp control despite the fact we told our agent right at the beginning it was broken since we moved in and we would not fix it and they wanted the power points outside checked to make sure there were safe. We had no doubt they were safe so agreed to the piddly things but refused the hot water and power points.

On Thursday, after a long night of thinking and not sleeping I told Steve I had a bad feeling about renting from the buyers, if they were this picky now what would it be like trying to move out. We went over and spoke to mum and we all agreed we should just find a rental and be done with the house. So Thursday and Friday were spent packing.

Come Saturday and there is a knock at the door, it is the buyer. We had a chat, everything seemed all good and she left seeming happy. Next thing you know, we get an email from our agent telling us they want to delay settlement and are insisting we get everything fixed because they found out we are moving. I had steam coming out both ears, I was ropeable that she could be so two-faced! So, we worked our bums off Sunday and the house was cleared out. We moved in

2010-05-05T09:54:00.000+08:00

Just another day around here :) Hamish is now offically 6! Time has gone so quick, it is crazy, seems like only yesterday i was starting this blog and he was just about to turn 2. Now he is a loving, full of attitude, grumpy, caring, contridictory 6 year old. He is a talker and a thinker, he is a drummer and a rugby player, he loves to tell jokes and loves to make people smile, he love to stir his sisters and uses any excuse to get out of cleaning his room. He is good and he is bad and I am so glad he is in our lives.

His "totally gross" party went off well, we ended up hearing from everyone bar 2 children (Maybe all the mums read my blog! LOL) and they were all suitably grossed out, the Nose pinata was a hit (Although Steve had to give it a helping hand to get the toys and lollies out! LOL) and the kitty litter cake made about half the kids want to eat the snake jelly instead! LOL

Now I am on my way to get the invites out for Makenzie's birthday, bit later than I like to send them, but I figure better later than never right?! LOL

In other news, WE HAVE A BLOCK!!! We met the agent at the block we wanted on Hamish's birthday (Monday) and were happy with eveything he told us and decided to put an offer in, it turned out he is the owner so it was accepted right away! So now we have lots to do to get going, got to get paperwork back to the bank, contact the builder and get that ball rolling and transfer the deposit. Thankfully, it is all going smoothly so far so it is all quite exciting!

Not much else to report today, no kids so invites will be finished and posted :D

Mel

P.S. Don't mind any spelling mistakes, my spell checker is on the fritz!

Just RSVP K?!

2010-04-29T11:57:00.000+08:00

Okay, seriously I am a pretty patient person, you have to be with my kids :P, but honestly it is driving me absolutely batty and I need to vent!

Hamish gave out his invites for his party last Tuesday day, it gave everyone just under 2 weeks to RSVP. Not as long as I would have liked but it was school holidays so we had to hand them out the first day back.

He invited 16 kids from his class and now, 2 days before the party we have heard from a grand total of 6! How hard is it to RSVP? Seriously?! I put down my home number and my mobile so if people wanted to text message that option was there and we have still only heard from 6 people! One boy told Hamish he wasn't coming at school and Hamish told him to ask his mum to ring and I still haven't heard from her, I don't get it, you would think it was common courtesy but apparently not!

It makes it so hard because I have to cater for the 9 kids we haven't heard from at all and do lolly bags etc. for them and then they might not turn up so it will all go to waste. So frustrating!!!

Anyways, rant over, just had to get it out! LOL

Mel

Long overdue update

2010-04-28T12:59:00.000+08:00

I'M BACK!!!!!

I know it's been more than a week sine I last posted but it is crazy stations around here and I have only just started my meds again so getting there a little slower than I should have!

Okay, time for a huge update!
Firstly, we sold our house and finance came through yesterday so settlement should be around the 17th of this month. We lost the other house (Can't remember if I posted about it) so we had a think and on Easter weekend went looking at display homes and found one, with only a little tweaking to be done, and well within our budget so the decision has been made to build :D We go and see the bank tomorrow as we have already found a block so want to get pre-approved before we put in an offer on it but that also comes way under budget so we are super excited.

Here is the floor plan of the house, if you click it it should make it bigger :)

To make the whole thing even sweeter, the people who bought our house are investors and they have agreed to let us rent back the house until our new one is built so it means we only have to move once and there will less disruptions for the kids. Everything has worked out so perfectly, i couldn't ask for it to go any better so fingers crossed we have the same results with the build!

In other news, Hamish is turning 6 on Monday! Can you believe it? I started this blog right before Hamish turned 2, it is hard to believe so much time has passed since then!!! We are having a "Totally Gross" party on Saturday (01/05) for him and his school friends, he is so excited about it! We are having a nose shaped pinata with green strings hanging out like snot, dirty toilet centrepieces, "barf bag" lolly bags and cockroaches that crawl on the windows. That is just a small sample of stuff, honestly it is totally gross but he thinks it is fantastic so that's all that matter...right?! LOL

We are then having Makenzie's 3rd birthday party on the 16th (YES, I am crazy!!!) it is a Charlie and Lola inspired party so there will be lots of pink milk and biscuits for that one. It is going to be a family and friends party so that way everyone can see both kids for their birthdays but don't have to come to both parties (Less catering for me to do that way too :P ) It is so hard to think in 2 weeks time I will have a 3,6 and 9 year old! Scary stuff! It is kind of weird too, this is the first 3rd birthday party we have done (We always do 1st and 3rd parties) where I am not either pregnant or just had a baby. Stupid brain ruined my perfect age gaps! LOL

HHHMMMM, what else? Jessie is doing good, she has just stopped flute (Can't remember if I posted about it) and started piano lessons and is doing really well with it. She is picking it up heaps quicker than her other instruments and she told me the other day she thinks she has found "her instrument" :) She has started writing her own song too, she showed her music teacher last week and Sam decided it was good enough for her to work on for the end of year concert! So it has been a good few weeks for her!

I am doing good, been seeing the Chiro 3 days a week, not loving it at all, I come home with a headache every time but I am am still going in the hope that long-term I will get improvements.

Steve is also well, he is plodding along with his work; it is extra money, getting his promotion, but it is also a lot more headaches so he has been a bit more stressed out than normal. His band is going well, every time he is home they get together and he is really happy with the drummer, they are meshing well and have similar styles as each other so it is all good...I just have to keep working on convincing him to get a new singer and they will be off :)

Oh, in other news, at the end of May I am going to start studying! I am doing my Bachelor of Education (Primary) so am uber pleased! I am a little nervous too though, I haven't worked in a "real" job for almost 10 years (Will be 10 in August) and it is 13 years since I graduated from high school so getting back into study mode will be a big adjustment I think. Nayd is also doing it with me so it will be good to have someone there to spur me on and spur on someone else in return. The good thing is it is all external so I can work it around the kids and Steve so it works out really well. I did have my heart set on midwifery but this will work for the family better and I am happy enough to do it :)

Think that is about all, as you can see it is super busy! Hopefully, now I am back on meds for good (Even set a reminder on my phone to go off each morning so I really remember!) I should be more energetic and positive so it should mean I will be back here more often...maybe even with photos!!!

Mel

Coming Clean

2010-04-10T10:30:00.000+08:00

Time for a confession...I have been feeling myself slipping in the last week or two, I can't be bothered doing things at the moment (Doesn't help that I have a cold but I know that's not the only reason) and despite the big things happening it is all feeling just a little overwhelming.

Now, time for a another confession...I haven't been taking my AD's or iron tabs for over a month. Stupid in hindsight, but I got sick of taking tablets every day (Substantially less than i used to I know but even still, it got old) so thought I would just skip a day......which turned into a month......which is going to end today......hopefully.......

Then I will be back in full swing, with pictures, news and plenty if mindless chatting :P

Mel

2010-04-08T00:09:00.000+08:00

I know I said I would be in soon and I promise I will be, things are just crazy right now but I have big news so really want to share! Give me a week and if I haven't come back start calling the police :P

Mel

2010-03-28T09:13:00.001+08:00

We have an offer :D Will update properly later but just had to come in and say hooray! It is enough for us so we have accepted :D

2010-03-24T12:55:00.000+08:00

Yes...I am still alive :P

It has been crazier than normal around here lately, so much going on, so I have still not had a lot of computer time. BUT a change is around the corner, Makenzie has been going to childcare one day a week since the start of the school year and today I just upped it to two days a week! So, I am going to have 2 whole days off to get things done which, in turn, will hopefully mean I have a little more computer time again :D

I have been good though, despite the business of life, so good in fact that V and I decided I don't need to see her again :D I am feeling so much better since that first day walking into her office and while I don't feel "perfect" yet I am starting to see the rainbow through the clouds again. She has been such an amazing help to me, I never thought when I walked through the door the first time that I had much to talk about (Despite proof of the contrary on here :P ) and I really surprised myself with some of the pain and guilt I have been holding onto so it is so nice to have released and am learning to move on no matter what life throws at me :)

One of the big things I have started doing thanks to my visits with V is taking care of myself. I have been visiting a reflexologist (Who fancies herself as a psychic too, which is good for a giggle! LOL) who put me onto a meditation CD which is SUPER AWESOME. I have been sleeping so well with it, most nights I don't even reach the end of the first track and don't wake again till morning, it is bliss. I have also started seeing a Chiro in the hope of getting my back sorted, hopefully it will help with the Chiari pain too, she is confident we will make at least a little bit of improvement :)
Shellby and I are also going to go horseriding! So exciting, we were talking about how we wanted to go but after looking on the net everywhere was uber expensive for only a short time. So, last week we were at the Chiro and on their pin-up board was a poster for a fortnightly social group, it is $45 for the whole day! I took down the number and will organise it sometime soon, when I have time to breath again! LOL

Jessie and I went to the beautician on Friday and had an awesome pamper afternoon together, getting manicures and pedicures. We then went and bought new outfits and came home feeling like queens :) It was so nice to spend some one on one time with her doing "grown up" things. We have plans to do it once a month or so now so should be fun :)

Hamish started Rugby training last night, he is doing so much better already compared to last year, he actually gets the point of the game now! LOL

Anyways, better run, have washing to fold and dishes to do before I pick up the kidlets but had to stop and update while the house was quiet! LOL

Mel

2010-03-19T13:41:00.001+08:00

I know I said I would come back soon but things have been flat out this week! Just quickly, we lost the other house :( Someone else put an offer on and we couldn't do anything about it so we are moving on and looking at our options and what the best thing to do from here is. Still selling just not sure where we will go from here.

Not much else to report, will be back one time with photos :)

Mel

2010-03-15T17:33:00.000+08:00

I have been neglecting the computer world so badly at the moment, I have been flat out around here with the house and things so not much time to get online full stop, let alone update here too! LOL

Not much to report though, house is still on the market, lots of interest but no offers yet :( It is looking spectacular though, so much has been packed, it is looking amazing! Life is so much easier without clutter...if only we didn't need all the stuff we have packed! LOL

Kids are all good, Jessie had her school swimming carnival last week. She came 3rd in her breaststroke and was made reserve for the inter-school carnival so she was very proud (As were we!).
Hamish is good as well, him and Makenzie are very excited, their box of goodies for their birthday parties came today so there is a lot of "EEWWW, gross!" and "OOOHHHHH, AWESOME!!!" being heard!

UUGGHHHH, it was a lot of excitement now M is screaming and H is crying so must run!

Mel

2010-03-02T19:57:00.000+08:00

Really tired tonight, but just wanted to pop in to say Huzzah! I went to my Neuro today and he is really happy with me, he doesn't want to see me again unless I have changes in headache patterns or my fields show up with problems so am so glad to be free of yet another doctor :)

Need to run now but had to come in and share my good news :)

mel

2010-02-27T14:04:00.000+08:00

Hello world,
Just thought I would take 5 minutes to update while the kids are suitably occupied with pens and books and the DS (3 children, 3 activities, I promise Makenzie isn't drawing on the books! LOL)

Okay, so rewind a couple of weeks here back to the 16th of February if you can :)
It was Jessie's 9th birthday (3 mentions in 3 posts, do you think the day has traumatised me a little?! LOL) and Hamish had his Paed appointment at PMH. Jessie's birthday went off well, we didn't go overboard this year with presents, just a few (Okay, more than a few...7 in fact) books, a new outfit from pumpkin Patch (Since I am on a slight buying ban from Gymbo) a couple of DS games and some pyjamas. Very understated for us but she loved it all and has spent all her free time reading and DS-ing so it';s all good :)

Hamish's appointment went well, the paed was really nice and took a lot of time chatting to Hamish. Her gut feeling at the moment is it's either lactose/fructose allergy or IBS so we have to do a food diary and go back to see her in 2 months. I feel happy with her, she is taking it seriously and the follow-up was really good too :)

The next day I had a fantastic session with V, and am now on the road to getting Makenzie to sleep through the night in her own bed (Yes, that's right, she STILL doesn't do it!) Steve and I have worked on our communication and we have started to work out where I am going to fit in our new house :D All in all a good session. I am so glad I am going to see V, I really find it helping me in all areas of my life. I still feel down and frustrated at times by my illnesses and the daily pain I deal with but I am also finding it easier to deal with now :)

That night we went to the Elizabethan Village for Jessie's birthday dinner (Steve flew in at midnight on her birthday night so we moved her birthday dinner to the next night) and I am now swearing we will never go there a gain! We got there at about 6:30pm and it was 8:45pm before we got dinner, so not cool on a school night!

We then spent the next few days packing and cleaning and chucking out stuff in the house, the house is mostly empty now bar the stuff we use all the time so it's heaps easier to keep clean and organised and I am getting so much more achieved each day. I am feeling like shite at the end of each day but at least my house is clean, organised and easy to maintain right?! LOL

Friday night, Shelby, Nayd and I went to a friend's house for a body shop party (She has just become a consultant so was having a launch party) After that was done we had an impromptu drinking night and it was bad, bad, bad! It was so much fun though, I haven't laughed so much in a long time :) We started off with Vodka then moved to playing drinking games (Including Vodka shoots, so not nice!) and then Nayd brought out the Absinthe, us being us decided not to follow the instructions on how to drink it (You are supposed to have it with sugar and water) and instead thought shots of it would be a fun game...it totally was till the next day! I have never had a hangover before but I made up for it that weekend! LOL

Saturday was spent recovering, I was supposed to go to the Perth City Muster, which I was so looking forward to, but I couldn't sit up without vomiting so I decided it wasn't such a good idea to be going. The kids, Steve, mum, dad and Nayd all went and had a ball though so it was only my ticket wasted.

Sunday, we had a truckload of friends and family around for a working bee to get the yard cleaned up and ready for the home open (Which is tomorrow) Mum washed all our windows, inside and out, Lil and Gordon got Steve and his mates working in the garden and I delegated jobs to Jo and Dave. It was a long day (Especially since I was still hungover! LOL) but the house looked fantastic at the end of it so it was worth it :)

Sunday afternoon we had people look through the house, a return visitor who was quite keen but the agent doesn't trust him so she hasn't chased him up.

Monday afternoon we had another man look through the house, he has been back again and is really keen but doesn't like making decisions so we are still waiting (His dad wanted to put in an off on Monday but he wanted to think about it)

The rest of the week has been quiet, house-wise, but busy in lots of other areas. Wednesday saw me at Dr Lockabie for a field test and review, all good news there too! My peripheral vision is back to perfect (That is what the field test checks) and my Papilloedema is all but gone so he is very happy :D I don't have to see him till the end of September now :D Unfortunately I will need to keep seeing him and getting field tests done for the rest of my life but it is a small price to pay for my vision to be restored :)

Thursday was a GP appointment, she is happy too! My iron levels are back up and besides the cells being smaller than normal everything is looking good there too :D

Thursday was also the day Steve found out he got the job he had applied for a few months ago, it is basically a promotion at the site he is at now but is a really good pay-rise plus bonuses so it is great news :D He has had a big week too, the night before he got a phone call about an ad he put up at the music school looking for a drum. The call was from a man who used to play drums for Stevie Wright and he is keen to hook up with Steve and Gavin and start a band! So exciting for him, it is a big break to have someone like that in your corner that's for sure!

Anyways, i am sure there is more but Kenz is begging to paint and the big kids want to Wii so have to run but that is what I ahve been up to in the last couple of weeks! No wonder I am so tired! LOL

Mel

Baby Picasso...or not....

2010-02-25T21:32:00.000+08:00

Tonight while I was cooking dinner Makenzie sat at the dining table and drew on her magnadoodle. It is one of her favourite things to do besides jumping on the trampoline but normally I don't see what she draws because no sooner has she drawn it that she scrubs it out and starts again (She loves the automatic cleaner thingo! LOL)
Anyways, tonight I was doing an easy-ish dinner that didn't require constant hovering so I was pottering around, doing dishes, packing lunches etc. at the same time. I went over near the dining table and saw the picture Makenzie drew and was blown away. In general, my kids are slow at things like drawing, Jessie was only just mastering stick figures in pre-primary and if it doesn't involve wheels Hamish doesn't like to draw it so this picture was pretty special!

So, being the ever believing parent that I am I asked her to draw it again. After all, I do have two other children in the house who sometimes draw like this too! LOL So, she obliged (I think it was the rubbing out that convinced her :P ) and drew almost exactly the same again so I asked her to draw it just one more time so I could get a better picture and instead of another masterpiece she gave me this....

While she was very proud of her effort I am guessing she doesn't have a career in art...although, if you look at some of Picasso's work then maybe she has a chance after all! LOL

Mel

P.S. see how I pretended like I didn't hit that button a minute a go :P

2010-02-25T21:07:00.000+08:00

Okay, so I was in a bit of a contemplative mood the other day and wrote this following post. I got interrupted and lost my momentum so didn't want to post it but after much poking and prodding from the wonderful Shelby I am going to hit the "publish post" button and then pretend like i didn't so i don't get an attack of embarrassment! LOL

Sometimes, I look in the mirror and wonder who the old lady staring back at me is.

I am so old I can actually see wrinkles, real honest to goodness wrinkles. Not just those ones you get creasing up your face from sleeping funny when you have had a hard night on the booze or those ones from too many hours trying to pass King Bowzer on the final level of Super Mario Bros but real life messing up my face because I am full of stress and worry and hurt and anxiety wrinkles.

My oldest daughter turned 9 a week ago, that morning I looked in the mirror and found I had gained yet another wrinkle. But the longer I looked the more I realised they aren't actually "real life messing up my face because I am full of stress and worry and hurt and anxiety wrinkles" they are actually closer to life lines. This one between my eyes is from the first time I held my newborn baby in my arms and I cried at the thought of insignificant me creating something so wonderful. That one around the corners of my mouth is from all the smiles I have given to strangers down on their luck and in need of a friendly face. The ones around the corners of my eyes are from late nights laughing with good friends and good music or early mornings with playful toddlers.

It all makes me think a little, in 29 years of life I have had ups and downs, happiness and sadness, love and hate and all the things in between. I have experience the joy of children, the heartache of loving and losing, the pain of illness and the happiness of having a best friend and I still have so many years to go. I still have so many life lines to achieve, one for my first grandchild, one for my first child's wedding, one for all the years of marriage (Okay, that will probably be more than one, who am I kidding!!! LOL). While I have earned all of my life lines I have already and will deserve the ones I earn in years to come I wouldn't take a single one away because they are not only life lines on my face but they are also etched on my heart and in my mind, they make up who I am

2010-02-18T17:50:00.000+08:00

Still around and mostly alive.

Doctor's all day yesterday and PMH with Hamish on Tuesday so a busy couple of days. Add to that my darling daughter's 9th birthday (Gah, 9 already, who would believe it?!) plus people looking through the house most days and it has been fun times!

Head has been hurting extra the last week or so, plus dizziness and memory loss have returned so am not feeling totally great but I am getting by all the same :)

Will update when I am feeling a little better, about the dr's visits but can't be bothered right now, need coffee or sleep, so will have to wait for now!

Mel

2010-02-15T21:45:00.000+08:00

Not so official any more, offer fell through today :( Will post more details another day, am not happy right now!

Mel

It's official :D

2010-02-13T13:12:00.000+08:00

2010-02-12T20:38:00.000+08:00

What a week, honestly! I am spending the weekend totally relaxing before I have to pack in earnest but it would be nice to just stop this ride so I can get off an breath for a minute. It is all so exciting and wonderful, life is finally rising again but it is just a little overwhelming...

Anyways, here is where we are up to...
Rang bank v. early Thursday morning to be told "Nope sorry, no can do" Shite, back up bank was called and was told "You need to find another $8000 for us to take you on" so agent was rung (Not rang as I originally wrote! LOL) and told we needed the buyers to up their offer by $5000, MIL was rung and asked to loan $3000 and away we went :)

So, then a mad day of up and down followed with phone calls coming thick and fast over all things house related ending with an almost relaxed dinner with the family and Shelby and two glasses of Vodka and coke (YES, I drank! YES, head hurt muchly this morning, YES, I am blaming it on the Chiari and overworking not the Alcohol :P) and a good old natter with the best friend a girl could ask for :)

This morning started at 3am when I couldn't get back to sleep, after going to sleep at midnight last night. Back up bank was called and pre-approval received so now I just need to get a couple of documents and we are good to go :)

All the kids were home today, Jessie woke at 5:30am with a sore throat so with throbbing head it was agreed we would have the day off and then Hamish said he had a sore throat too so I didn't feel so guilty about not sending him to school.

So, that is the daily wrap up, all the official papers have been signed, the "under offer" sticker is on our sign (And hopefully the new house too :) ) now it is only the tiny step of collecting papers (That I am sure I have stashed somewhere) and getting final approval from the bank and we are in the new house! It has all happened so quick but it obviously is meant to be (At least that's what they all tell me!) so once I get back to feeling good I will be out of this world excited :)

Mel

2010-02-10T23:59:00.000+08:00

Another really quick update.... WE HAVE AN OFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that quick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to ring the bank in the morning to get the finance going and confirm we can accept the offer but as long as they say it's all good then we will be in our new house in about 6 weeks :D SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some more photos of the new house......

Front of the house

Front lounge

Dining/family room

Kitchen

Out the back, from the back of the house looking towards the front. The roller-door goes up and then the garage door at the front and then the kids can ride all the way from the front down the back and it is flat!!!

Jessie's Bedroom

Master Bedroom (That wall is actually darker than it looks, it is really deep navy)

Master bath

"Powder room" sink and the door is the toilet, behind the wall on the left is the bathroom

House plans, I think if you click them they will go bigger :)

Obviously, all of these photos are from the real estate website so will update with new photos when our own furniture is in there ;D

Mel

2010-02-10T16:14:00.000+08:00

I am so excited, I was cleaning and packing behind the bar this morning and found the adapter thingo for my Sony cybershot camera! The camera (The one I won from the Centro comp. in 2008) has shat itself and I was worried I would lose all the photos so when i found the adapter I had to try it out and there is photos going all the way back to America!!! A lot are kind of crap (Steve took most of them! LOL) but I will share them later because they are pretty cool :) It is funny though, in the wax museum you can tell Steve took the photos, there is lots of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Star Wars characters etc. but not much else! LOL

In other news, we had people look at the house this afternoon and it went really well! They stayed almost an hour and asked heaps of questions, chatted about furniture and asked about the neighbours and things so my fingers are well and truly crossed, it would be amazing if it all came together so quickly huh!

Anyways, better run, Hamish has his drum lesson soon and is messing around so need to round him up. Will be back tonight or tomorrow with photos :)

Mel

2010-02-09T21:24:00.000+08:00

Just quickly, our house is now on the market and we have put in an offer and had it accepted on the new house! Huzzah!!! Will be back when I am not falling asleep with more pics of the house but the front will have to do for now :)

Mel

2010-02-08T10:00:00.003+08:00

I know, I know! I said I would be back soon and I promise I will be...I am just not sure how soon! LOL

Quick life update:
Have got the ball rolling (YES, again!) to put our house on the market, we have found a great house which really suits us, completely unexpectedly, so we are hoping to get the house on the market the next time Steve is home so we can put in an offer :)

V, my Psych, is absolutely fantastic. I could sing her praises all day, honestly, she is amazing! I spend the first 10 minutes of each session "not" crying and then she tells me it's okay and it all comes out! LOL I am starting to feel pretty good, the house is getting organised, I am actually feeling pretty positive (Whether that is V, the AD's or my favourite friend who has time to listen whenever I need her or a combo of all 3) There are still things that get me down but she is really helping me to "get over" it. Funnily enough though, it's not till I am there and she starts digging that I realise things that are bothering me. It all bogs me down so it is nice to get it out :)

Kids went back to school last Monday AND Makenzie started one day a week childcare (Otherwise know to her as "school") on Wednesday! That was a huge step for me, I have always said she wouldn't go to childcare but she almost made the decision for me, she is so ready for something outside of home. To the point that I am thinking about increasing to two days a week!

School has gone well for the big kids, Hamish has had a bit of adjusting but is getting there. He is not used to having to work rather than playing all the time like in Pre-Primary so we had a few days of tears when he got home but he is doing well. Jess has settled in to Year 4 really well, she turns 9 next Tuesday (Wow, talk about making me feel old! LOL) and seems to be making some good friends and is enjoying her new class and her new teacher :)

Steve is actually helping out around the house and doing things without me having to ask/nag at him so that is a huge step too. He is slowly getting excited about the "new" house, it is in an area he is not in love with but we think it is a compromise worth making because the house is so perfect. Fingers and toes are all crossed it works out, we are clearing almost everything out of the house to make it look bigger for sale and we are really hoping it works out this time.

As for me, not much to report, I have an ultrasound on Wednesday because I have a lump on my scalp near my shunt and it really hurts so we need to check and make sure it isn't anything serious. When I saw V the other day she asked what I have planned for Makenzie's day at school and I told her I plan on catching up on sleep the first few week but the funny thing is, for the first 4 weeks I have doctor's appointments every Wednesday! So I still have a few more weeks of waiting before the catch up can happen! LOL

Anyways, better run, I have a mountain of washing that need folding and packing so need to get to that :)

Will be back one time with photos from Adventure World and now also the first day of school! LOL

Mel

2010-01-28T11:53:00.002+08:00

Just a quick one to say, I am still alive and doing okay, plodding along at the moment Thank you to the two ladies who have given me awards, I am honoured and promise I will be back soon to respond to them both.
Flat out at the moment, lots of last minute things before school goes back (Who would believe holidays are almost over?!) plus the usual doctor's appointments and now the Psych as well so no rest around here at the moment!
Anyways, better run, kids are calling...again! LOL

Will be back one time with photos, we went to Adventure World last week so I actually took my camera out

Mel

Knock Knock

2010-01-18T13:22:00.002+08:00

So, the big kids came home yesterday and they are sitting here now telling knock knock jokes. Jessie is at an age that she can come up with jokes that make sense, Hamish is at an age where he can come up with jokes that don't make sense and Makenzie is at an age where the other kids are laughing so she wants to join in but doesn't get the concept yet...makes for fun times! LOL
They are making me giggle so I have to write down these jokes before I forget them....

Hamish: Knock, Knock
Jessie: Who's there?
H: Volcano
J:Volcano who?
H: Quickly, run away! The volcano is starting to rumble!

MMMM, okay........

Makenzie: Knock, Knock
Hamish: Who's there?
M: No, you say...
Hamish: Soil
M: No!
H: Icecream?
M: MMMMMM, Icecream! Yum!

Yeah, I think we still have a little while to go with joke telling in this house! LOL It is so nice to have them home though, they have come home so happy for once and are really enjoying each others company. So much nicer than before they left when they were at each others throats all day every day.

Anyway, they have just asked if we can make a cubby house so have to run and help.

Mel

2010-01-15T20:46:00.005+08:00

I have had only one child for the last 3 days as the big kids are at my mother-in-law's house till Sunday. So that means Makenzie has been living the high life, we have done everything she wants to do and she has loved it. Each morning she has asked if the kids are coming home today and then cries when I say no but besides that she has had a ball.

So, tonight I am cutting up salad to go with dinner and had run the water for dishes so Makenzie decided she needed to "help" with the dishes. She washed the same two things abut 20 times (As you can see on the video) but she was just too cute so I had to share :)

UUGGHH, took forever to load on blogger so have loaded it to photobucket for now but I think the screen is cut off a little so will fix it when I can be bothered tomorrow :)

Mel

2010-01-09T16:10:00.000+08:00

Not much happening here, just sitting quietly waiting for my ipod to charge, stupid thing needs the computer to charge so I have to have it opened and then i get sucked into it! LOL
Started my anti-depressants on Thursday, my doctor told me to try half a tablet for the first few days so I could work up to a full tablet but clever old me decided I could do a full tablet....2 hours later after going shopping for school stuff I threw up the contents of my stomach. I am now taking 3 ginger tablets and wearing anti-nausea wristbands full time to combat the nausea I get from the Champix and the AD's combined, it's all good fun though right?! I can't help but roll my eyes that one of my big excitements at having the brain surgery meant I could come off my tablets but I have now gone from 4 Diamox a day to 12 tablets for 5 different things a day plus Panadeine Extra when I get too sore! I am sure there will be an end one day but it does get draining at times always having to remember to take them,plus now I have to take the ginger 1/2 hour before I have the others and have to eat as well before the tabs so it all has to be planned better than the Diamox was too. Meh, what can ya do?!

Oops, better run...Makenzie is chasing the other children with a stick from a flag...

Mel

Yet another Dr's visit...

2010-01-06T18:20:00.000+08:00

Back from yet another Dr's visit. Makenzie has an ear infection and a throat infection so is on antibiotics for them. She is happy with my progress with Champix, I am on day 25 smoke-free besides 2 on the day after Boxing Day so am getting there. Anyone else reading that wants to quit smoking I really recommend giving Champix a go, it works amazingly well!

She has also put me on an anti-depressant and has given me a card to make an appointment with a Psychologist, not really looking forward to that much but I think with all the stress of my illnesses and surgery it is taking it's toll on me so maybe getting some help might...help. We'll see, will let you know how it goes.

In other news...there is no other news! LOL Have been laying pretty low lately, not feeling too bad but not feeling to great either so have just been taking it easy :)

So yeah, that's all.

Mel

2009 in Reflection

2010-01-05T18:02:00.000+08:00

This time two years ago I did this survey and in my aimless wandering this afternoon (I haven't napped if you can't tell! LOL) I have been reading my old posts and came across it and it seemed like a good idea to fill it out again with new answers :)

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Had brain surgery, took care of my health better.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't do New year's Resolutions, I always resolve to live well, laugh often and be as good as I can be and have succeeded pretty well this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes, there was something in the water this year! LOL Jo, Steve's sister gave birth to her first child, Kaitlyn, in September. She is the only one "close" to me, Nayd's friend Adele also had her first baby, Caleb, in November.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes, Steve's great Nonna and his step-grandfather :(

5. What countries did you visit? America :D

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Harmony and peace.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 4th, 2009. That was the day I got my shunt put in.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Making it to the end of the year in one piece!

9. What was your biggest failure? My memory and my body, it makes me sad knowing I have months of time this year that I can not remember, nothing I do is jogging my memory and I feel like I ahve missed out on so much.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?Yes, too much! LOL I got diagnosed with benign Intercranial hypertension in September and then Arnold Chiari Malformation in October, Chronic Anemia in December and a possible stomach ulcer. Plus, tendinitis, an elongated C7 vertebrae and...I am sure there is something else, I just can't think what!

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our tickets to America, the trip was definitely the highlight fo the year and well worth the money we spent on it.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All of the kids have been amazing this year. Jessie has started learning the Violin (As well as still doing the Flute) is in level 7 at swimming lessons and was awarded the English Award for her class this year :D Hamish has excelled at the drums and did really well in his first year at Rugby and is reading at a Year 2 level. Makenzie is growing into a little girl, she sleeps through the night...sometimes...she dances and sings and keeps everyone smiling. All three children handled my illnesses really well and have taken all the hospital trips and doctors visits in their stride and are rolling with the punches.
Steve also deserves celebration for still being here, I know it hasn't been easy for him to sit by and watch me fall apart. I have lost so much this year and it has been hard on everyone but most of all on him because he has had to be the strong one when he is so used to me being the glue that holds the family together.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? No one that I can think of, I am very duck like these days, it all slides off my back and I don't give it another thought after the moment it happens so if anyone has been appalling this year I have forgotten it as soon as it has happened :)

14. Where did most of your money go? America and Doctors/Meds/Surgery pretty much...although the left over has been very happily deposited into the bank of Gymbo! LOL

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The lead-up to our trip was an exciting time and going to Disneyland was definitely a highlight.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? While I've Still Got The Time by Darius Rucker

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? About even I think but slightly on the happier side. I think this year has been a real year of growing up, I fell so much more stable than I did last year, I know where I am going and who I am and although I am still not well and have lots of hurdles to jump I am doing it with a clear view of why.
b) thinner or fatter?Thinner, one of the bonuses of all this sickness is I have lost weight! Not masses, around 8kg but it is better than nothing :)
c) richer or poorer? Probably a little richer, not totally sure though, I can't remember where we were sitting last year at this time.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Laughing

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Sleeping

20. How did you spend Christmas? MMMMMM, Sizzler :D Went to Sizzler for Christmas lunch then spent Boxing Day at Jo's house with Steve's family :)

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? Not any more than I was before but I do love stronger now.

22. What was your favorite TV program? True Blood probably.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No, I think I am at peace with those that I don't talk to any more and I know there is no point hating anyone because it only hurts me in the end.

24.What was the best book you read? Oh, definitely the Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris I would say. I have read some fantastic books this year but those ones sticks out. Oh, also Goodnight Beautiful by Dorothy Koomson

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Sugarland and Darius Rucker are about even i would say. I used to listen to Darius Rucker when he was part of Hootie and the Blowfish and I was so sad when the stopped bringing out songs so it was so exciting to hear his new stuff on his first solo album. Sugarland have been on the Country Music Channel (The default channel when no one is watching TV in our house) for a few year but this year they have bought out a few songs that have really caught my attention. I am such a sucker these days, I can't listen to any of their albums without crying at at least one of their songs!

26. What did you want and get? A new camera. I loved my Konika Minolta 5D so when the focus started going (Oh, good reminder, i still need to put it in to get it fixed!) it was logical to upgrade and the Sony A700 (Sony took over KM last year or the year before) is a beautiful camera, it makes it easy for me to take 1000 photos in a day!

27. What did you want and not get? Another baby. I had planned on being pregnant again by now, in my picture perfect life without sickness or operations I would have been so fingers crossed by this time next year I get the nod to try.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Totally unexpectedly, I watched Hancock last week and absolutely loved it. I liked the new Harry Potter but Hancock was the fave for the year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29 and it is one of those times I can't remember :( It sucks to have such huge holes!!!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Not being sick, I know I sound like a broken record but it really has tipped our world on it's head.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? LOL This question made me laugh last time and it makes me laugh even more this year! If it was comfy and floaty I probably loved it this year!

32. What kept you sane?Nothing, this year has been so crazy I am amazed I made it out alive I think it would be greedy to get out sane too! LOL

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? No one really, I am not really into fancying celebrities :)

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Definitely Barack Obama becoming President.

35. Who did you miss? My friends I think. It has been a lonely time being sick.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Not new as such but it is so good to have Chelle back in my life. She is everything I have needed in the last few months and it is so nice to have her around again.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. What will be, will be. Nothing I do or say is ever going to change other people so just be the best me I can be and the rest will sort itself out.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year It would be a tie between

"It won't be like this for long
One day we'll look back laughing
at the week we bought her home
This phase is gunna fly by
So baby hold on
It won't be like this for long"

and

"you gotta live to learn
you gotta crash and burn
you gotta make some stances
and take some chances
you gotta live and love
and take all life has to give
you gotta live and learn
so you can learn to live"

both by Darius Rucker (See how much I love him this year! LOL)

And that is the end of the story...

Mel

Time Marches On...

2010-01-05T15:41:00.000+08:00

13/11/07 Makenzie was 6 months old.

13/10/08 Jessie at almost 8, with one of the many different hairstyles she has had over the last few years, this is one I actually liked.

All 3 just after Makenzie was born, it is saying 23/07/07 but I thought she was younger than than in this pic...my memory is fuzzy though so it very well could be. That makes Makenzie about 10 weeks old, Hamish just turned 3 and Jessie 6 and a half.

13/10/08 Hamish was 4 and a half here.

13/11/07 One of the many attempts at a Christmas photo, I don't remember this photo so had a good chuckle when I found it. Hamish looks particularly devilish and Makenzie is looking at like "What the hell are you doing?!" LOL

Makenize at 18 months old, she still does this now, her "helping" with the dishes. I think she just likes to get soaked! LOL

18/10/08 Makenzie having a bad hair day! LOL

25/10/08 Not long after this, Makenzie started toilet training, she was 18 months old here. So little!!!

22/08/08 Jessie in a hat we bought for Makenzie...it was never worn with an outfit since we had nothing to match it! LOL

7/6/07 Makenzie at almost 1 month old. Back when she was quiet and liked to sleep! LOL

Steve and Makenzie on our trip to Tasmania, right before Makenzie's 1st birthday so around 26th of April, 08.

Boxing day 2 years ago, Hamish was 4.5, so little...not much has changed! LOL

23/02/08 Jessie at the Perth City Muster...apparently the music was too exciting for her! LOL Will see how she goes this year :P

So, my mum and dad have the children this afternoon and therefore I was faced with a dilemma...I could either:

a) Clean the house, which really should eb done since Steve is coming home tonight

b) Have a nap, which really should be done so I can stay up till Steve comes home tonight or

c) Wander aimlessly around the internet and my computer...

If you can't tell, I chose c! LOL

Jessie at Adventure World...can't remember when this was taking, I am thinking January 08 probably since she had a fringe.

I was looking through my external hard drive and found all these picture I had forgotten about from the kids younger days, it is scary how quickly time is going, it seems like only yesterday that these things happened but at the same time it seems like 100 years ago too, it's kind of weird!

Jessie in May 2006, before the hair cutting started!!!

This was at the Moora Campout in 2008, Jessie had been dancing with a guy Nayd met there and he swung her in the air and dropped her on the gravel so she got a few nasty cuts and scraps. She learnt the hard way not to dance with drunk men!

Hamish, just turned 3. I think this was about 5 days after Makenzie was born so around 17/05/07. He looks like such a baby in these photos, it was before his head started to get shaved.

Jessie right before we went tog et her hair cut... she was smiling, I was crying on the inside! It did look good once it was cut but it was such a change, she went from only have her hair cut about 3 times in her life to wanting it all gone.

Okay, that is all for now, I could keep doing this all arvo but I might clean...or nap :P

Mel

Let's change the calender...okay?!

2010-01-04T13:39:00.005+08:00

I was talking to my friend the other day and we both agreed that New Year's sucks the big one...anyone else with us?!

No? Well, let me explain...

For me, I love love love Christmas, if I could bottle the feel of Christmas I would be drinking it all year, it is just so...good. You have all this build-up and excitement, especially with the kids, all the planning and preparing and shopping and wrapping and card writing (Unless you are slack like me and only give them to people who give to you first! LMAO) and despite the fact we live through Christmas in Summer it still feels all warm and cosy and like nothing could go wrong.

Then the day after Boxing Day it is like someone has flicked the magic switch to off because the kids are fighting, there is a pigsty of a house to clean up, everyone is hot and cranky rather than warm and cosy, the bin is overflowing with all that wrapping paper you spent hours doing and reality is back again.

I guess it isn't New Year's fault so much that I hate it, it is just that he was placed on the wrong day of the year! LOL I mean, here we are coming down from this warm and cosy, nothing can go wrong feeling and wham there is another day that expects to be celebrated. It sucks even more for my friend as her birthday is in the week between Christmas and New Year too so she stays on the high a little longer and crashes even harder.

So, I vote for a change of dates for New Years, perhaps March 1st can be the New Year, do you think? I guess we could have it on February 1st but Steve's birthday is on Jan. 30 and Jessie is Feb. 16 so it might be too much excitement for two weeks...what do you think? Are my friend and I the only weird ones or is it a universal thing no-one admits to? Getting drunk might numb that feeling I guess...One time, when I become a drinker, I will test that theory and let you know :P

Mel

2009-12-29T13:25:00.003+08:00

Hoping everyone had a great Christmas, was okay here but can't be fagged going into it right now. My P & S camera broke so can't even add photos either so you're all just going to have to use your imagination :P

Not much happening here, Steve flies out tonight, I have my Iron Infusion on Thursday (Yeah, New Year's Eve, hooray!) and the kids are spending their days fighting... all pretty usual.

Anyways, figured it has been a couple of weeks so thought I should pop in and say hi but I don't actually have anything else to say right now so that's all! LOL

Mel

2009-12-16T13:48:00.002+08:00

Just a quick one today to give you a health update.

Went to the Neuro yesterday, waited 30 minutes to see him and was in there a grand total of 5 minutes, it took longer to pay the account! LOL He wasn't concerned by the arm/leg issues and was happy to see the Papilloedema is improving. He told me to "keep going about my daily life" and see him in 3 months. He wasn't concerned by the neck pain and headaches either so overall, not too helpful! LOL Meh, what can you do huh?!

Went to the GP this morning to fill her in about Dr. K and to follow up on the other weeks bloods. She has suggested going to get Physio for the neck pain and I told her that mum and dad have a great Chiro who is keen to see me so she was happy for me to go there.
Bloods, not so good. I have to start taking a double dose of Iron tabs and have been referred to Royal Perth Hospital to get an IV iron infusion. She said my Haemoglobin is pale and smaller in size than normal, not really sure what that means but she did say it could be contributing to the headaches and will definitely have something to do with my fatigue. Not looking forward to the infusion but I figure I can survive brain surgery I can survive a stick in the arm! LOL
In a twist of irony, I also got Steve's results from his blood test (He is seeing the GP because he is a terrible snorer, I mean REALLY terrible!) he also has Iron issues but his is that his Iron Stores are too high, I joked that he must be stealing all my iron! LOL She wants him to get a U/S on his liver and he also needs to get a gene study because she is worried about a condition called Haemochromatosis which is a genetic condition and could affect the kids if I also carry the recessive gene. She also said his cholesterol is a little high (No surprise there) and she will let him know everything else when he sees her next week.
So, now we just need Jessie and Makenzie to get sick and that is the whole family covered! LOL I am so in love with our GP but at the same time I am starting to dread going there, every time we do we come out with a new problem to add to the list! LOL She is so lovely and really takes the time to look into every angle so if in the end we have a well family I guess it is worth it!
Not much else to report, Jessie is home sick today with a cold, Makenzie is standing naked in front of the TV singing and Hamish is at school, all a pretty standard day! LOL

Mel

Just another day

2009-12-08T09:58:00.004+08:00

I have to apologise for being such a bad blogger the last week! I have been in a bit of a funk and feeling like crap so have been quieter than normal :(

Not much is happening here though, still haven't got those photos processed but am hoping to do them tonight. Steve comes home tonight so I am going to try and stay up till he gets home so I can get the photos done but I must admit to becoming slightly addicted (For a change! LOL) to the new Sims 3 expansion pack that Steve bought me last week, I am trying not to play too often but can't help turning it on after the kids go to bed... which means I am not on the photo computer processing photos... oops!

I have a photo shoot with Nayd's friend Adele and her baby Caleb plus Jo (Steve's sister) and baby Kaitlyn on Thursday so I really need to get the photos off my camera and processed before I add more to the work load! LOL

In health related news, I went back to the GP last Thursday for a few things, firstly for the U/s results which all came back clear (The stomach pain has almost gone too so I am just kind of ignoring it now! LOL)
I asked for a script for Champix, now Makenzie has stopped breastfeeding (She didn't pick it up again much after I got out of hospital :( (2.5 years is a record though!) I can use it, I am smoking but not much (Maybe 10 a day if I am out, 5 if I am home) and feel so stupid to have started again after 5 years of stopping so am wanting to stop now before it goes on for too long.
I also mentioned to ehr my arms and legs have been going funny, I am dropping things and tripping over way more than normal and my hands seem to be missing a lot of the time plus under my skin feels "nervous" (the best way I can describe it! LOL) so we are waiting to see what Dr. K says about it next week at my Neuro appointment, she is not sure if it is Chiari related or something else so yet more waiting for a change! LOL
I am also really badly anaemic and my red cells are pale...no idea what that means but I am guessing they don't need more sun! So have to go for yet another blood test to check levels again and check a few other things, I am back on Iron tablets but if it gets much worse I might have to start getting injections, fingers crossed it doesn't get worse!
Think that is all as far as health goes! LOL

Kid related news, we are starting to wind down at school, am so looking forward to the holidays, I can't wait to sleep in again! LOL Hamish has swimming lessons at school this week and next week and has been off his head excited all week! LOL
Makenzie has had an up and down week, she has been sleeping really well at night but waking early and only having a day nap some days so there is a lot of grumpiness from her, kind of par for the course though! LOL
Jessie has had a good week, she won the Math Champs at school 2 weeks or so ago so has been on a high about that. She also had a concert for Violin after school last week, she did really well and was super excited to have performed with her friends :)
Hamish had a bit of sadness last night, he came out from the bathroom after brushing his teeth and looked down, he was dragging his feet and just looking sad so I asked him what was wrong and he burst into tears. I gave him a cuddle and asked again what was wrong and he said "I don't know why my teeth aren't falling out" AAWW, bless his cotton socks! I sat and talked to him and explained he is one of the youngest in the class so he has to remember things will sometimes happen later for him than other kids. We had a feel of his teeth and I told him one felt a little wobbly so it wouldn't be long (Okay, it hardly moved, they are in there rock solid but I wasn't going to break his heart even more!) so he was okay but I felt so bad for him, poor thing :(
In other kid related news, I can't remember if I posted about it before so will again! LOL Jessie was tested for Cello (She is not eligible since she does Violin but they test everyone anyway) she scored a 34 on the test out of 40, the highest a Year 5 (She is year 3) has scored is 35! She she is doing really well music wise :) Hamish was also tested for reading and was found he is reading at a Year 2 level (He is Pre-Primary) and is one of the top 4 kids in the class and this year for the first time in a long time all 4 are boys! He is also the youngest of the 4 so we are really proud! I was so worried about him learning to read next year, when jess was learning it was really hard, she and I both ended up in tears every night as she would get frustrated and confused very easily so I am so glad that it is going to be easier with Hamish!

Not much else to report today, hopefully I will be back tomorrow with photos!

Mel

Ugh, what a day!

2009-11-29T23:53:00.000+08:00

I feel like today has gone on forever! I have no idea why, it is weird! I slept in this morning and all so not sure what is up with that.

Anyways, this morning my friend came over for coffee, the one I mentioned in October, she has been coming over pretty often on the weekends and it is so good! Outside the box on my lap, I don't have a lot of friends and haven't really had friends who I visit or who visit me for a coffee on a regular basis and after M and I lost contact (Okay, truth be told, we didn't lose contact as such, I told her to get nicked after we had one too many fights... it was a bad year! LOL) I haven't found anyone to fill her gap and now we are talking again it is like the past few "missing" years haven't happened except we are both a little older and slightly more mature! LOL So, yeah, M came over this morning for coffee and we had a great chinwag, she is the person who introduced Steve and I to each other and we have been through so much together so we were reminiscing lots, scary stuff, makes me feel so old to think about it! LOL

After she left Steve had his buddy over for a jam, it is becoming a Sunday regular occurrence when Steve is home, either he goes to Gav's house or Gav comes here and the "rock out" and get all excited about new riffs and chords or whatever it is two grown men do with musical instruments in a back room that I don't venture into! LOL
So, Gav found this other chick who plays drums and she came over today too. 5 minutes after they started Makenzie came running into the lounge room screaming and covering her ears... apparently the drummer was to loud for her! LOL I guess Hamish's bangs on the drums are not quite as loud although, from my seat they sure as eggs were! LOL

So, I got the kids shoes on and walked up to mum's house for a coffee, shame she wasn't home when I got there huh! LOL Luckily, she wasn't too far away and she bought ice-creams so it was worth the wait in the garden! LOL While we were over there Jessie and Mum made play-doh and the kids all played with it outside before we went home.

The kids showing off their creations

Jessie's work of art, it is either her pop or dad in an armchair with a TV, side table and bed

Hamish's creation... despite all appearances it is not a sad looking version of a male's appendage, on the right is a bird and it's nest (With about 65 eggs in it) and on the left is a street lamp... can you see it now?! LOL

Makenzie with her... blob... she spent pretty much the whole time stabbing a blob with a melon baller (I think that's what it was anyway) till mum showed her how to roll balls and then she broke off little pieces of play-doh from one blob and put it on another blob until the first blob was all gone then she flattened the blob with the spatula! LOL She has her own style of working! LOL

(Don't mind the poor quality pics, they were from my mobile) After that we came home and had dinner, watch a couple of movies (Monsters vs. Allens before the kids went to bed, Mad Love after they went down) and then I sat to do this post... looked at the time and it is almost midnight! No wonder I feel like the day is so long!!! I still have to finish boiling eggs for lunches (I boiled them for dinner but they were still runny so am going to boil them some more for sandwiches instead.) and hang one load of washing so I can put the kids towels in for swimming tomorrow then I am going to bed... Steve is totally getting up with the kids for school in the morning! LOL

Mel

P.S. in case you didn't notice, the day didn't allow for any time to get photos processed so am aiming for that tomorrow...we'll see...

Don't try this at home...

2009-11-28T22:19:00.000+08:00

We went swimming today at the local pools, we had such lovely weather and had an absolute ball. The kids came home tired and wet and i came home with a frizz ball for hair but it was all good... until a few hours ago when Jessie's back started going red, my nose started stinging and Steve said his back was sore.

Turns out, that warning they put on suncream bottles about applying it at least 1/2 hour before going in the water is there for a reason! Oops! Thankfully, it's not too bad, By the time Jess was going to bed her back had dulled a lot and was cooling down and my nose feels okay but considering only a week ago Mum found out she had a skin cancer on her face you would think we would learn! We even discussed it when we got there, I said "You know, you are supposed to put this on 1/2 hour before going into water" and mum and Steve both went "yeah" and we all kind of shrugged and went on our way, bloody dopes huh! I am blaming my stupidity this week on the leftover remnants of drugs from the surgery, I have a tube in my brain after all, that's gotta mess with cleverness right?! And I have a cold too, so I think I will handball all of the blame onto Steve and mum (It was mum's suncream so it is half her fault! LOL) since I am not in my right mind now! hehehe

Photos will follow of the day but am feeling like crap tonight with a monster headache so am going to try and sleep...although, Steve is "watching" the rugby while playing Dawn of War both of which are up as loud as they go pretty much so I worry if I sleep now I will have nightmares about all the hot Rugby players being gunned down by futuristic machine guns... mmmmm, might need to steal the remote! LOL

Mel

2009-11-26T21:28:00.000+08:00

Don't ya hate it when you find time to do your first ever Blog This challenge, take 4.5 hours finding the Macaroni Cheese pictures on one of the billion archives I have on puter, start post... put children to bed....put self to bed....2 days later come back and finish post and excitedly post a comment to Blog This saying I had blogged...

Go back to Blog This today to be excited by seeing my entry up there..........

OH FUDGE!!!!

I managed to stuff up the comment post, no idea how but I am notoriously good at it, so my post wasn't entered in the challenge! Where is a crying smiley when you need one huh?! What a knob I am, I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter and the whole point for me is to have inspiration with what to blog about but I am still kicking myself anyway!

I totally blame it on the cold I have right now ~insert head slapping smiley here~

Mel

You save me

2009-11-24T22:32:00.000+08:00

So, in the lives of everyone else in the world, today is just another day. Just a day among days all marching along and not too different to each other. Today I had an eye surgeon appointment (Pappiloedema is going down, which means shunt is doing it's job! YAY!) and a hair dresser's appointment (The hairdresser managed to disguise my bald patch and I only look slightly man-like) and an ultrasound appointment (I don't have gallstones, YAY, but have to wait to find out any other results) and a phone call from my husband.

For the first time in years my gorgeous husband remembered to wish me a happy anniversary. Perhaps he was feeling guilty after forgetting it last year, I don't know but it meant the world to me. We aren't the most romantic, lovey dovey couple in the world, we don't buy presents or even a card we don't go out to dinner or really acknowledge the day at all except for a Happy Anniversary when we remember but I know and he knows that without each other life would be harder, less bright, less worthwhile. having that knowledge is all the gift I need.

We have been together 10.5 years and married for 8 years today. We have made it through 3 pregnancies and births. We have made it through many sleepless nights and early mornings. We have made it through plenty of sickness and plenty of health. We have made it through years of no money when I was staying home with the children and he was a manager at McDonalds. We have made it through 5 years of him working away. We have made it through with my health problems. We have had horribly hard times when neither of us knew if we would still be together tomorrow and we have had amazingly good times where neither of us could imagine life without the other. We have had ups and we have had downs we have had fantastic memories and plenty of dreams for the future and we have done it all together.

Steve, I am so proud to be your wife and am so proud we beat all odds of marrying so young and although we have many years of ups and downs ahead I know we will make it because You Save Me.

Love you now and forever,

Mel

Challenge 26 - Your Quick Fix Meal

2009-11-24T22:03:00.000+08:00

I have just been on Blog This and the challenge for the week is this:

With the silly season upon us and busy schedules becoming even busier - we come to rely on those quick-fix meals. What is yours?

Is it takeaway? Where do you get it from and why do you choose the particular dish? Is it a weakness?
Is it a frozen meal or packet mix?
Do you make it? Share the recipe!
How did you discover it?
Show us pictures?

Straight away I thought of my favourite "go to" meal, the one thing I always have plenty of in the cupboard. It takes 5 minutes to make and is super delicious and has the added bonus of having Tuna in it so the kids get a hit of much needed Omega 3.

I have never been a fan of food from a box, mum used to make One pot dinners and "Dinner Winner" type meals when we were kids and I am sure I loved them at one time but as I have gotten older I found I would much prefer to drive to Macca's than pull a box out and make a whole meal from it.

That was all thrown out the window when I discovered "Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Deluxe" it comes with a bag of Macaroni and a tin of cheese, can we get much simpler?! No more mixing up gluggy powdered cheese, just open the can and away we go. Once upon a time you could get them with a tin of tuna in the box as well but I haven't seen them for ages so now I buy as many 400g cans of Tunas as I do boxes and whack them together and there you have it

"Tuna Macaroni Cheese"

The good thing about it is it is so versatile, when I am feeling creative (Not often at the moment :P ) I add other things in, beans/peas or ham instead of tuna, anything pretty much can be added... except tomato... that night ended in a trip to Maccas! LOL

Mel

The Truth of the matter

2009-11-21T13:08:00.000+08:00

One of the big things I am finding that helps me at the moment with my BIH/Chiari is finding other people who understand and are going through the same thing as me. It can be a lonely place to be because I am torn between letting the problems take me over and getting on with life like nothing is wrong. I don't like to tell people how bad I feel most of the time and even when I do I tend to downplay it because I don't want people to feel sorry for me or pity me. In turn what that means is most everyone thinks I am "better", that I had the shunt surgery and am now "healed" but the reality is I will never be over it, these things will be with me for life and all I can do is take each day as it comes, smile when today is better than yesterday, suck it up when today is worse.

While I was in one of my support groups today I found this poem and it made me cry. It was like someone was inside my head and explaining in words exactly how I feel. Some of the things mentioned, I didn't even connect that they are illness related which made me cry even more knowing it's not just me being me, there is an actual reason for it. I have included the poem, I hope it give you a little insight into my life right now :)

Lost My Way

If you listen, I am here. We are the same in so many ways

Please listen closely as I speak at times, I cannot make my mouth produce the right words, yet they are there. Be patient with me.

Do not assume that today I can conquer it all, just because I slept all night through

Walk a little slower because like a child, I lose my footing too

Smile; do not feel that because I hurt that we all have to walk around in a state of gloom

Forgive, that I forget as I am not sure why, I always have the best intentions, I do.

Try to understand that no, I have not become cynical. I have temporarily lost my way.

Hold out your arms and be strong I need a rock, but I also can be yours in a different way.

Pain can change day to day, minute to second. I am not complaining I need to voice it

Inside it is still me. I am still fun, I just need to get strong.

Understand that one day, I WILL be the real me again. Right now I am just trying to get back on the trail but I have learned so much from the detour

By Devin Kalisz

Tasmania

2009-11-20T11:46:00.000+08:00

Why do I do it to myself? When I am having a bad day (A little like today) I can't help but get onto Real Estate and look at all the beautiful, drool-worthy Tasmanian properties.

Anyone who is a long term blog reader here would know of my love of Tassie. We went there last year to see if it was a feasible option for us to move over there. Lots of too-ing and fro-ing before it was eventually decided we couldn't do it, with Steve's work and the family support we have here plus both of the big kids would of had to go down a year in school but even still, the song my heart sings involves Tasmania!

Everything about it is beautiful, wonderful, awe-inspiring, gorgeous and it does pain me to know we can't live there in the near future. The properties are super cheap compared to WA with loads of land (That I can picture the kids riding a horse on) and beautiful views no matter where you go, it is no wonder I pine sometimes!

When we first came home from our Tassie trip, I would get such an overwhelming feeling of home-sickness sometimes, crazy stuff considering we had only been there for a week and it was my first (And only so far) trip over there. Now that feeling doesn't happen much, with the US trip, my health issues and life in general I haven't had much room to pine over unattainable dreams lately but once in a while I can't help it but look and imagine and hope that one day we will get there for good.

Doesn't hurt to dream... right?

Mel

Just a little bit of fluff...

2009-11-16T21:52:00.000+08:00

o, the last few days I have been wandering aimlessly around the WWW following links from one blog to another, one website to another and I have bookmarked so many places it might take me a year to get through them all but I thought tonight might be a good night to share my favourites....

As you can see from the opening letter, one of my very new faves is Daily Drop Cap the owner, Jessica Hische is adding a new Drop cap (The fancy letter at the start of the blog post) each day and they are just gorgeous! Expect to see more in posts to follow, I can see a new addiction starting!

I am all about the laughs when it comes to weird and wacky websites, especially in the last few months when I have not been able to do much. I have a list of places I regularly visit when I have a few minutes to spare: Cakewrecks, People of Walmart, Lamebook just to name a few, and in the last hour I have stumbled across two more total-waste-of-time worthy sites: Item Not As Described and Emails From Crazy People. I can't help but giggle at some of the entries, it is amazing how........different some peoples thinking is! LOL

Another one I found (If you haven't noticed the button) is Blog This, it is a place for Aussie bloggers "who want to have a little fun, make some new bloggy friends and gain a little exposure for their blogs." When I followed the link from here over there I instantly felt inspired to join, the challenges really make you think and there are so many interesting bloggers that I had to jump on board. Now I am trying to think up something old to photograph (Don't worry mum, it won't be you :P ) before Wednesday because it is such a great challenge I don't want to miss out but since I only found Blog This yesterday it is short notice to think up something, especially given the brokenness of my brain right now! LOL So, stay tuned to see if I get in in time!

The last one before I go to watch Armageddon with Steve (Who is currently at the shop buying me an ice-cream, what a sweety huh?!) is Common Sense Media, such a brilliant idea! It is a website that provides ratings for all kinds of movies, websites, books, music, games and TV and gives detailed descriptions one why it may not be appropriate for certain age groups. It is such a helpful reference to have, Steve and I often differ on what's appropriate for the chillens, so it is great to have an independent site to go to!

Anyways, Steve is driving back in the driveway so I am off to enjoy my ice-cream and movie! Hope I have provided some entertainment for the night :P

Mel

Updating my background

2009-11-15T21:54:00.003+08:00

I was going to sleep and then I got sidetracked... now I am trying to find a new background for my blog! I am sick of it all looking so squishy but I have to check on another computer if it is too wide now, I have a 17" screen on my laptop so am not sure if on a smaller screen it will need to be scrolled across... hhmmm..... what's it look like on your screen???

So, while I find a new background that will fit the new widescreen look and until I check on mum's computer it will have to be this boring white background for now! At least I don't have to change my header yet though :P

Scrap that last post, I can't stand the thought of a white blog so I found one that suits me while I work out the squishiness issues... no I don't have anything better to do :P

Mel

2009-11-15T19:26:00.003+08:00

I am sitting here after spending the afternoon at a friends house and I am absolutely pooped! How is it that I can spend days on end doing sweet FA and be unable to sleep but I dare go out for a few hours by myself and I come home bombed?! I guess in a twisted way it makes sense but I would much prefer to have energy to go out then deal with Insomnia that night rather than have no energy when I go out and have Insomnia every other night! LOL Oh the joys of this life huh?!

Not much happening here at the moment, Steve is back to work on Tuesday and then it is all down to me to run the house again, I am sure it will be fine but it still makes me nervous to think about! I am allowed to drive now (Hence the going out by myself this arvo!) and overall am feeling 1000 times better than before the surgery so it should be okay but I am still struggling with some things, like picking the kids up on Friday I was fine driving down and back but the walk across the oval and into school about killed me. Standing for long amounts of time is still hard too, thankfully the pins and needles are totally gone now I am no longer on the Diamox, but I still am getting tired really quickly.

On a positive note, I have a million colours in my world again, I didn't realise quite how bad my sight was getting until after I came home from hospital. The first hint was on the day after I came home, we went out for a picnic and mum bought the kids drink bottles... I thought she had bought a new one for Makenzie because last I remembered her drink bottle was very pale pink and it was now bright, almost painfully vibrant, pink! Weird! Then I sorted Makenzie's clothes in her drawers out and realised half of the stuff we bought while in America looked totally different than it was in my memory. It freaks me out a little to know how bad it had gotten with my eyes and no wonder they rushed the surgery but it is cool at the same time! Although now I feel like I have to re-edit all the photos I have done in the last 6 months, a lot I have looked at are way duller than I thought they were, how embarrassing! LOL

Anyways, I have plenty more to say tonight but dinner is here and I am pretty bombed so will be back another time :P

Mel

War wound pictures

2009-11-12T21:00:00.003+08:00

I found a picture on my phone from before I went into surgery and took some more tonight after the staples came out. not the best since they are all from my phone but they do the job! LOL I have to get Steve to take some better picture of my head, it is hard to take picture of your own head huh?! LOL

This is before the surgery, with my lifesavers on.

Kind of hard to see but you get the picture! LOL I can't wait till tomorrow night when I can wash my hair properly, Steve said you can't really see the iodine on my head but it is still nasty!

My neck, the lighter coloured bit above the cut is the tube under my skin! It is so weird, you can feel it all the way down my neck and on my chest!

My stomach, it is hard to tell where this is, it is about 2cm below my boobs, right in the middle.

I can't remember if I said yesterday or not, all together I got 29 staples: 12 on my head, 12 on my stomach and 5 on my neck! Had them all pulled out today, not as bad as I had been imagining so that was a relief!!! Dr. K is happy with how I am healing, it all looks good :)

Off to Dr. Lockabie again in 2 weeks to check how the papilloedma is going. I started having black outs in my eyes again today and my neck hurt last night so fingers and toes are crossed right now that it was just a bad day and not indicative of more surgery being needed!

Anyways, that's all for tonight, if I ever get better pics of my head I will be back :)

Mel

My hospital trip

2009-11-11T17:02:00.003+08:00

A week out from Surgery and I am doing great! I have been meaning to come back in and do a big post on my surgery and all but have been taking it easy, and I can't wear my glasses at the moment because of where the bandages are on my head so am getting a sore head if I am on the computer too long.

Anyways, here is the story...

Monday: Found out the cost of the shunt wasn't bad, a little more than Jackie (Dr. K's receptionist) had told us but not too bad so told her we would go ahead with private. A few hours later we got a call from Sir Charles to say I needed to go in for a pre-admission appointment and there was one on that afternoon so we did a mad scramble to find a sitter for the big kids and raced to SCG to get to the appointment in time. Got that done - saw the anaesthetist, nurse and neurosurgeon who would be working with Dr. K and came home to get the kids. During the appointment they told me they would call on Tuesday to let me know the time of my surgery and when i would need to get to the hospital on Wednesday morning.

Tuesday: I had a doctor's appointment for Hamish on Tuesday arvo and while I was gone to that SCG rang to tell us to come in at 7am Wednesday morning. Walked in the door from the doctor, Steve had just finished telling me that we need to be at the hospital at 7am and the phone rings again. It is the Neurosurgeon who I had met with on Monday ringing tot ell me we needed to come to the hospital ASAP, turned out my surgery was first in the morning (Due to the Latex allergy, they needed to clear the theatre for 3 hours prior) and I needed an MRI to be done so had to be booked in Tuesday night. It was 4pm and we needed to pack our bags (For me and the kids) organise someone to look after the kids and drive through peak hour traffic and get there before 6pm!

In the next 10 minutes the phone rang 4 times, all SCG, telling me I needed to be there 5 minutes ago. Each time I told them I would get there ASAP but I needed to find a babysitter, meanwhile I am trying to pack and get everything organised. I had planned on packing later on Tuesday night,t he kids were going to mum and dads after dinner and I was going to organise myself after that... SCG changed those plans! LOL

So, we got to the hospital with 15 minutes to spare, went up to the ward where I was met by the neurosurgeon, he took me out the back of the nurses station and shaved little patches of hair off and stuck on "lifesavers" for my MRI. Went down to the MRI and got that done then came back to get settled in the ward. Spent a quiet night on the ward sleeping. No 1:30am wake up for Diamox and no Makenzie meant a full night sleep...until 5am when they came to check my vitals and get me up for a shower etc.

Wednesday: Early start to the day and then lots of sitting around. Steve got there at 8am, mum was just after that and we sat and chatted and waited. Nayd rang at about 8:30am so the kids could talk to me, Jessie burst into tears and almost made me cry so it was decided they could have the day off school.

At about 9ish (not sure on time, i had my watch off! LOL) I was taken down the lift to the waiting area near the theatre. We were there barley 5 minutes and I was wheeled into the Theatre holding room (Not sure on the real name! LOL) then I was surrounded by about 100 nurses and doctors... okay, maybe 8 or 9 but still seemed like loads anyways! 2 Anaesthetists started asking questions, confirming who was, what I was getting done etc. while nurses took my vitals again then one Anaesthetist put in a canulla while the other fixed brain-wave scanning things to my forehead (Not sure again on the name, it was to make sure I was asleep properly)

Was wheeled into the theatre and was moved on to the theatre bed and that was it, I was out! LOL No counting backwards, no deep breaths, nothing, I am so hardcore! LOL

Next thing I am aware of is a horrible pain at the top of my stomach and a huge thirst. I was in the recovery room with a nurse watching over me, an oxygen mask on and a pain in the tummy. My first clear thought when i woke was that something must have gone wrong as my stomach hurt but my head didn't! I thought they must have started and something went wrong before they got to my head! LOL I have since discovered I have a numb head, going to ask Dr. K about it tomorrow because it is freaking me out a little but it sure helped the recovery! LOL

I was given Oxycontin for the pain in my stomach and then had to wait again. If nothing else, I certainly learnt patience while in hospital, there was so much waiting going on! LOL After a couple of hours of waiting (Woke at 11ish, moved at 2ish) I was taken to the Neurosurgery High Dependency Unit where I spent the next 24 hours. It was not my idea of heaven, hourly obs all through the night, having to ring the bell when I needed to go to the toilet, being attached to machines that kept alarming because my heart-rate, blood pressure and O2 saturations were all dropping to low. Heart-rate got down to 40bpm half way through the night and I was so worried about going back to sleep, I thought I wouldn't wake up! I also had to have these special leg cuff things on (Another name I have forgotten) that squeezed the bottom half of my legs at random intervals to make sure I didn't get DVT.

The one great thing was I had my own room :D Everyone else in HDU had a cubicle and I had my own room, I wasn't allowed to have the door closed but it was still more peaceful than out on the ward! Thanks to my Latex allergy, it sure came in handy!!!

Thursday: I was allowed to have a shower at about 11am on Thursday, everyone was surprised that I felt well enough to be up and went into the shower by myself without a seat or anything :) After my shower they decided I could go out onto the main Neurology ward. I hadn't had any pain relief since 5am and was fully mobile so was doing better than anyone (Me included!) expected.

Moved to the main ward and had some lunch, Steve and mum went to have their lunch then mum left at about 1pm. Steve stayed till 3pm and then went home to get some sleep. Mum and dad came back at about 5pm with the kids for a visit and then I was by myself for the night at 6ish.

It was a looooooooong night that night! I started in Room 3, right next to a guy who needed security outside his room as he kept on wandering. So, at around midnight I was moved from 3 to 6 because the man in 6 was trying to get out of his restraints and was agitated so he was going where the security was. I was moved to Room 6 which was right in front of the nurses station and right next to a man snoring almost as loud as Steve so not much sleep was happening thena t 2ish the nurse came back and told me I was moving again!

I was then moved from 6 to 14 because the man in 14 was becoming very ill, the nurse said he should have been in HDU but there was not enough room so he had to go to Room 6 where the nurses could keep an eye on him. He ended up being a Code Blue Friday morning but came out of it again.

At 4:30am, the man next to me started calling out that he needed a drink. I didn't have a jug, it didn't make it with one of the transfers so I couldn't help him. The nurses came and gave him water and 5 minutes later he was calling out again, it was so horrible to listen to, I felt so bad for him but the nurses were doing all the could for him :( he kept going till 7am.

Friday: I didn't get much sleep after the man next door settled down, probably 1/2 hour before Steve came in. At 9am the residents and a Neurosurgeon came, looked at my incisions and told me was going to go home on Saturday. I gave them a pout and the Neuro asked what was wrong so i told him I had hoped to go home today, as soon as he heard that he was happy for me to go! :) We had to wait to be discharged and then at 9:30am a nurse came and said the Occupational Therapists wanted to see me.

They came down and were a little concerned that my planning skills were affected, I had done a test thing the day before, so I had to go to the kitchen with them and make them a cup of tea! LOL Not surprisingly, that went fine and I was all set to go...and then the OT's told me the Speech Therapist wanted to see me.

ST came down and had concerns about my short term memory, I had been having issues with it before the surgery so I ahd to do another test with her. That went okay too so she told me I was free to go.

Just as we were ready to go the Neurosurgeon who had done my lifesavers on Tuesday came and told me Dr. K wanted to see me before I left, not a prob I said.... he wasn't going to get there till 1pm though!!!

Yet more waiting happened till Dr. K got there, he was happy so told me I could go... then the other Neuro said I needed to eat some bananas after I left because my potassium levels were low (Side effect of the Diamox) he had to go but said he woiuld be back so more waiting......We waited another 1/2 hour and he didn't come back so I hot footed it out of there! LOL

We came home and I have hung about around home since then. It was a long drive home, I didn't realise how much pain I still had until I was in the car, once we were home though I was feeling heaps better.

And that is the whole story! Well done if you got this far! LOL There is lots more that happened but I am ready for bed so cut it down, but good job for sticking with it!!!

I do have photos but they are on mum and Nayd's cameras so will add them when i get them :)

Mel

I am home :D

2009-11-06T21:07:00.003+08:00

I survived the operation, am not feeling 100% but doing pretty good considering I was in Surgery 2 days ago getting a hole in my head! LOL

Not going to type much tonight, am about ready for bed but just wanted to pop in and say hi and I am alive! LOL

Mel

We have a date

2009-11-02T10:18:00.002+08:00

Just a quick one this morning... just got a call from the Neuro's office, we have a date for the shunt surgery.

I am going in on Wednesday... like THIS Wednesday.... I am totally fine with surgery but holy crap I wasn't expecting it to creep up on me this quick! The receptionist said it is either this Wednesday or not for a few weeks, I was secretly happy with a few weeks but said Wednesday was fine anyway! LOL

She is ringing me back with the cost of the shunt and then the final decision will be made on public vs. private, at this stage we are leaning towards private but I am paranoid about her saying it is super expensive for the shunt now! So one more hurdle to cross and we are all set to go, trying not to think about it too much, I am sure it will go fine but it is my brain after all and without that I am screwed! LOL

Meh, what can ya do right?!

Mel

2009-10-29T17:39:00.002+08:00

Back from the Neurosurgeon and yet again, just for a change, we have been given news we didn't expect.

Dr. Knuckey and Dr. Kermode (The consultant I saw last week) have spoken at length this week (We get the feeling they are not in agreement about it all) and Dr. Knuckey has decided to do the VP shunt surgery and then see if my neck pain and everything settles down, which he is expecting it won't, and then do the surgery for the Chiari 1 malformation.

I am struggling with it a little, I know in the long run it is probably the best idea, especially considering Dr. Kn thinks the neck pain is C1M related not BIH, but I had just got used to the idea of not needing the C1M surgery and now it has reared it's head again. Meh, that's life I guess right?!

He also gave me a quote on how much it will cost, we don't have private health insurance so we have a choice of going public but Dr. K won't do the surgery, he will just supervise and then the follow up would be with Sir Charles Gardener rather than with Dr. K or we can go private and most of the cost is straight out of our own pocket. We didn't have any clue how much it would cost but had budgeted most of our saving on it but were really shocked (And pleased! LOL) to find out it is not too bad at all, under $2000 for Dr. Knuckeys bill, hospital stay is free and we are waiting to hear back on the cost of the shunt but the receptionist thinks it will be around $1000. Which works out well, at least that makes the decision easy on which way to go and it save our saving being touched so if the other surgery does go ahead we still have plenty left for it. Learn from this though, GET HEALTH INSURANCE NOW!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, don't think you are young and healthy and not likely to get sick because you just never know and it comes and bites you in the ass if you do get something unexpected.

Anyways, the little ones are whining for dinner so must run..... not even going to mention the photos :P

Mel

2009-10-28T11:28:00.002+08:00

Another quick one today, might be back later with the long promised photos... but just look at my Tasmania and US trips to know the likelihood of that....

Anyways, just got a call from Dr. Knuckey's office (The first Neurology surgeon) and I have an appointment to see him tomorrow afternoon so hopefully we will know what it is happening then :) I like this Neuro, not as much as the other one but he makes me smile because he reminds me of the man on the old kids TV show "Hunter" Do you remember it? With the mouse and the cat and it was all sciencey and stuff?! Nayd knew what iw as talking about but Steve didn't, I blame it on his private school life! LMAO Anyways, he is nice and I can't help but picture him in a safari suit, what more could you want in someone who si going to cut a hole in your head right?! LOL

Steve is home, Makenzie is decorating me with her clips and telling me how pretty it is and I am tired, not much else to report! LOL Will update when I get home tomorrow and if I am feeling okay tonight will add photos :)

Mel

2009-10-26T21:39:00.003+08:00

I know I said I would put more photos up but I am slack and my head hurts, what can I do?! LOL

Just wanted to pop in and say hi, let you know I am still alive, just laying low right now. Not much is happening here, just plodding along, as you do. I am still pretty tired but it is getting a bit better every day but still have all the other great side effects. One bonus of the Diamox is I have lost 6kg in 32 days so can't complain about that! Mind you, given the fact that I am not eating hardly at all it is to be expected I guess.

Another side effect of all the ups and downs of the whole thing is how friendships have changed. I am feeling really isolated right now because I have very little contact with the real world, outside of doctors and immediate family. I pretty much haven't heard from any of my old friends since it all started and most of my acquaintances, except a couple, don't know that anything is wrong so I am in a weird place with no one to talk to who is an "outsider" and who doesn't have to deal with the daily grind of it. And then out of nowhere I reconnected with my ex-best friend, who I haven't spoken to for 3 years, she came over for coffee on Saturday and it was so nice to have someone different to talk to. It's exactly what I needed and made me feel a little more human and in touch with the outside world! It's funny how life works like that some times huh?!

Anyways, not much else tonight. I have wicked "whooshing" in my ears today, a symptom of the BIH, and this terrific headache so am off to sleep before my next lot of meds!

Mel

I had a dream.....

2009-10-23T22:36:00.003+08:00

There was more of this ^^^^

There was less of this ^^^^

There was more of this ^^^^

There was less of this ^^^^

and there was more of this ^^^^

and then I woke up.

Mel

P.S. Still lots of photos to add and an update on life to do but a headache is here and I think sleep is a good idea so they can wait for now :)

Neuro appointment update

2009-10-23T07:56:00.005+08:00

Just quickly this morning while the kids are getting ready for school, will be back later for a better update...

Went to the Neurology consultant yesterday and it went really well. He is a really nice doctor, explained everything (Finally, a doctor who tells us things!!! Yay!!!) and we now have a better idea of what is happening and where we will be heading.

Basically, he thinks I am asymptomatic as far as the Chiari 1 Malformation goes and the big problem is the BIH. There is a few different options on how to treat it but two are most likely not going to work a) because the BIH is too bad and b) because of the C1M so he thinks a shunt in the top of my head is the way to go. He is going to think it through on the weekend and take it to a meeting of his colleges (sp?) on Monday because as he said "I think my idea is best but they might come up with something I haven't thought of". He will then give me a call to let me know where we go from here.

So, it is a better result than we had been expecting, the shunt operation is less complicated and less risky than the C1M operation and if it happens soon it means I can go of the Diamox (Another HUGE Huzzah!!!)

Speaking of the Diamox, he was quite shocked to learn I have been on the highest dose possible right from the start,. normally they wean you on starting with 1/2 a tablet a day and work up to 4 and I went straight to 4, which he said I must be a very strong person any one weaker would have been throwing up with the first tablet and feeling like death for a long time. Now I am on the highest dose and have been for so long already it is not worth dropping back down since I am almost used to them and he would just have to up them again anyway since anything less would do nothing (I get very minimal results from the highest dose as it is is). So the side effects will be staying a while longer but at least I can see a tiny light at the end of this tunnel now :)

So, all in all a good result all things considered! Have to run to get the kidlets sorted but will be back with some pictures later :)

Mel

Pins and Needles and the kindness of kids...

2009-10-14T21:10:00.003+08:00

I have always know how kind and thoughtful my children are (Except to each other in school holiday but that is beside the point ;) ) but tonight my littlest sweetheart blew me away...

One of the worst side effect, for me, to being on Diamox is the pins and needles I get. It is crazy bad at times, I can't stand in the shower for the length it takes to wash yourself and your hair without getting pins and needles in my feet for at least 45 minutes afterwards. I can't sit with my feet curled under me (My favourite way to sit) or cross-legged as, again, after a very short time I get pins and needles. I often wake at night, after sleeping extra deep for an hour or so, with pins and needles in my hands, feet and face. It is not fun at all to say the least.

Quite often I will ask one of the kids to tap my feet or rub them to help get rid of the pins and needles, although it doesn't eliminate them totally it does help reduce the pain a bit.

Tonight, I had been on the phone to mum for about 20 minutes, I went and sat outside since the kids were all being noisy and when I came in I had pins and needles in my feet and the arm I used to hold the phone. I was saying to Steve how ridiculous it was that even a short phone conversation (That is short with my mum :P ) I am getting them so bad.

As I was telling him this Makenzie started banging my foot and I thought she was just trying to get my attention until she said "Pineedles all better mum???"

AAAAWWWWW, what a sweety, I didn't think she had been listening and she had and knew what helped too!!! How blessed am I to have such thoughtful children?!

And as an update to the last post, I have a backdrop stand on it's way plus a cocoon like in the second picture :D

Mel

2009-10-12T22:37:00.002+08:00

Alls quiet in the blogging world tonight it would seem. I have strangely recovered from fatigue to be greeted by insomnia tonight (Yes, it is only 10:30pm but that it like midnight at least on these drugs!) so I perused my favourite blogs, my second in line blogs, even the blogs I hate to read and only go there so I can cringe and you know what?????

Not a one has been updated since th last time I was there!

How rude is that? You would think, considering this is in fact the World According to Mel, not anyone else, that they would oblige and post to keep my mind suitably busy but apparently not... so not cool!

I have instead been playing with photos, cruising ILP and drooling over Etsy-made photo props like this:

and this:

in the vain hope of sleep finding me... apparently, this is a fun game to play on my tonight, since the kids start back at school tomorrow and life has to resemble some sort of routine again...

Ahhh, the joy!!!

Am now off in to try and convince Steve I need a backdrop stand... :P

Mel

2009-10-09T12:08:00.004+08:00

I am on a roller-coaster right now, it seems like one day I am up and one day I am down.

Went to the Neurology Surgeon yesterday and he is certain I have Benign Intercranial Hypertension as well as the Chiari 1 Malformation! He can't confirm I have BIH because of the C1M though, normally they would do a lumbar puncture but since my brain is in the way it complicates things. He is fairly sure we will do surgery but wants me to see a neurology consultant to confirm what the best course of action is.

So, now I am back where I was before except I know a bit more now! LOL Still stuck on the crappy Diamox so not happy about that but if it is supposed to help then I suppose that is a good thing... shame it doesn't doe much to help me though huh?! LOL

As an added bonus, the u/s found I have tendinitis in my right shoulder but not bad enough to actually do anything about so I have to just put up with it, just for something else to add to my list! LOL

Not much else happening, almost at the end of the school holidays and I think everyone will be glad when school goes back! LOL Hamish and Jessie have been at each other constantly so it has been fun to say the least, they have been shipped all over the place too so that doesn't help either but it has been a long two weeks to say the least :P

Anyways, everyone is screaming again so ahve to run, just wanted to update again!

Mel

2009-10-06T15:19:00.003+08:00

I am going to survive another day, it looks like :D Back from the eye doctor and we have a diagnosis.... although, I don't totally understand it... it's a diagnosis none-the-less! LOL

I don't have any of the things we thought it might be, no brain tumour, no BIH, no abscess. What I do have is a congenital malformation known as "Chiari 1 Malformation" it basically means my cerebellum (The bit of braina t the back) has herniated and is protruding into my spinal canal. Because of this it is basically causing a blockage or plug so my spinal fluid can't drain properly hence the papilloedema, the blockage is causing extra pressure in my head from the fluid not being able to drain properly. From what the report ways it is also pulling down slightly on my 4th ventricle.

I stole this from the Chiari Institute website, on the left is a normal brain on the right is one with Chiari Malformation so you can understand a bit better :)

ETA: oh, just noticed you can't see the picture on the right totally, the red bit is where the problem is if you can't see the words ;)

So, that's where we are right now, I am going to the Neurologist on Thursday to find out more and see where we go from here but it is basically controlled by drugs (Hopefully not Diamox though, I miss my Coke! LOL) or surgery so will have to wait and see what he wants to do.

Thanks for all the thoughts and things, it has been much appreciated :)

Mel

2009-10-05T09:39:00.002+08:00

Just a quick one from me today, nothing much new is happening around here, still waiting! I have my eye doctor appointment tomorrow so will know the results of my MRI then, not much longer but still so long away!

I had my MRI on Thursday which all went as well as it could have, I didn't panic like a maniac in there, although I was very near it at one stage, I don't do confined spaces so to have my head in a cage and the roof 10cm above that was kind of daunting! LOL

Friday I had my EMG for my neck and shoulder.... someone forgot to tell me what it would involve though, first I was laying on a bed with one arm out while the doctor (Who I think had a past life in Nazi Germany 'cause I swear he was enjoying the whole thing!!! LOL) got an electric prong thing and put it is various spots on my arm and gave me electric shocks... fun huh?! When my arm didn't give the response he wanted, he upped the volume on the prongs so they were putting out more electricity...so much fun.

Then he did the other arm, which is the worst arm, and after he was done electrocuting me he got needles to measure the amount of electricity my body produced....still sounds fun right?! So, he stick a needle in and wiggles it around till he is happy (Can we say OOOWWWW!) and then gets me to push against his arm so the muscle is contracting around the needle...mmmmm, really, really fun!!! He did that in about 6 spots up my arm, from my wrist to my shoulder and then told me we were done. Go see the receptionist, pay $280 for the pleasure of being stabbed and electrocuted and home I go! LOL

Even Steve said it looked like it hurt and he was glad it wasn't him, which is his version of sympathy, so you can tell just how fun it really was! LOL

Not much else happening, Lil has come and gone, she and Steve washed and dried and folded and (mostly) put away all the clothes we have so we finally have all the clothes we need..and then some! LOL Steve said we have too many clothes for the kids but I told him tis okay since it is the end of the session some of those clothes are going to come out of the wardrobes soon :P

Off to the doctor with Hamish today to get the results of his u/s, she told me when we got it done that it all looked fine so it is just one of those "have to do" type appointments but I tell you what I will be glad when all these appointments slow down!!! It seems never ending at the moment, I feel bad that it is school holidays and the kids are spending more time with babysitters than with me but I guess it has to be done.

Anyways, better run, the tribe is getting restless...

Mel

2009-09-29T20:53:00.002+08:00

Hands up who was an idiot today?

*Mel raises hand lamely*

Oh... so.... just me then?!

Right oh, I totally blame it on the fuzzy head then......... right?!

So, I went to my specialist appointment today, Nayd had the kids and mum drove me, and we get there I tell the receptionist my name and she says "I can't find you on the list"

"Oh, I have a card"

"OHHHHHHHHHH.............. today's not the 6th is it???..............................oops............................."

Stupid me, went on the wrong week! What a dumb-head huh?! In my defence though, when I had my last appointment the doctor said he wanted to see me in a week and the receptionist said "I have Tuesday is that pokay?" so i presumed she was talking about this Tuesday *slaps forehead*

In future, when taking bad mind/hand tingling drugs DO NOT presume you know what is going on Mel!!!

Point taken,

Mel

2009-09-28T20:50:00.002+08:00

Just a quick one from me tonight, thinking about bed but Makenzie is not so need to find something to keep myself awake for a few more minutes, have already gone through all my usual blogs I read so that is out, have used up all my energy on Treasure Mania so that is out too... at least for the next 5 minutes, so it is all down to my tingling fingers I guess! LOL

Anyways, we are doing good here, plodding on with life you know, I am doing all right, tired as hell and a bit fuzzy from the drugs but I am just trying to get on with it, keep my chin up and keep going. Mum has had the kids for the last two days so that has been a huge weight off my shoulders while I got used to the tablets, now they are home it is pretty tiring but thankfully Steve is home tomorrow and Lil is coming to stay on Wednesday morning till Thursday night so a bit of relief there too.

I have my next appointment tomorrow morning but am not expecting any answers from it, probably not till Thursday at the MRI (Fingers crossed they give me the results straight away and don't make me wait!) so more waiting, if nothing else comes out of this whole thing I am definitely learning patience! LOL

Anyways, M is rubbing her eyes so looks like we might be good to go to bed...hopefully!

Will update tomorrow after my appointment :)

Mel

When it rains...

2009-09-25T18:06:00.003+08:00

So, you know what they say, when it rains it pours... well it turns out that is well and truly the case here right now! I went to my GP today (On a side note, I so love my GP she is the best doctor every!) and it turns out I have a problem with my spine, in technical terms, I have a "Bilaterally Elongated C7 Vertebrae" and she thinks I possibly have "Brachial Plexopathy" or Osteoarthritis in my right shoulder. Great huh?! LOL Oh, and just for a change I am Anaemic again.

On a positive note, I don't have liver, kidney or any other problems, and my cholesterol level is really good so yay for me! LOL

So, now I need another X-ray and U/S, this time on my right shoulder plus an EMG which is a nerve conduction test (Don't worry, I have no idea what that means either ;) LOL) so the appointments are piling up with each new appointment, go to one and come out with 3 more! LOL Ahh, all fun and games right?!

In other "me" related news, I started the new tablets last night and I am hating them, they suck big time! My fingers are tingling all the time, I have lost my appetite, my head is full of cotton wool AND Coke tastes like shit!!! I can handle the rest but gees Louise, Coke was my last good thing! LOL It is weird though, most everything else tastes okay so I am not sure why it is affecting the Coke, last night the can I had felt like it was burning my tongue and today both the can I tried this morning and the post mix at lunch tasted like Disprin(sp?), not cool!!! Just when I was getting my love of it back after the trip to America too! LOL

Anyways, moving on, everything else is going okay, the kids had their last day of the term today so we are all looking forward to a couple of weeks of relaxation (As long as we ignore the appointments ;) LOL) I always let the kids have free dress on the last day of term, they wear uniforms every day so I figure 4 days a year isn't going to kill anyone... Jessie had on school tracky daks and a green long sleeved t-shirt with her big winter jacket over top. I told her she may be hot so make sure she took her jacket off if she needed it, she looked at me like I was stupid (As only an 8 year old can) and zipped her jacket up higher. We got to school and I got them out, gave them a kiss and sent them on their way. As I did I noticed Jessie's jacket was zipped even higher, like right up to the chin, so I called them back and asked her why. She said she didn't know "Are you worried you will get in trouble?" "Yeah, a little" she replied "Don't worry about it" I tell her "It is the last day of term, I promise you teacher won't care." and off she goes.

Fast forward tot his afternoon, it has been a bright, sunny day, and out of her classroom she comes with the brightest red cheeks I have seen in a long time and her jacket zipped up to her chin still. "Oh my goodness, aren't you hot sweetie?"

"Yes"

"Have you had your jacket like that all day?"

"Yes"

"Why didn't you take it off, you must have boiled!!!"

Bless her cotton socks, turns out she was so worried all day that she would be in trouble that she had that darn jacket zipped to the chin so the teacher would only see her school pants! They did gardening in the class garden and sport but still she wore that thing all day, the poor thing! She is so conscious of what people think and worries so much about pleasing people that she never thinks about herself and how it is affecting her, we are working on it but it will be a long road I think!

Hamish is good, doing well with drums and school, being unsurprisingly lazy at home, and felling not too bad in the stomach so all good there. He came home with a jumper from the lost property box at school today and when I questioned him on it he tells me "I don't know why, but the teacher said I could have it, she must think it will look good on me or sumin'..." Yeah, right mate! Ahh, he keeps me on my toes that's for sure!

Makenzie is good too, trouble as always :P but good all the same! She has regressed with the toilet again, not sure why, but we are having more accidents than normal so not too cool. She is so cute though so that makes up for all her mischief! LOL

Anyways, have just looked at the time so had better run and get a late dinner sorted but just wanted to update while I had a minute :)

Thanks for reading and thanks for taking the time to comment or message, those who did, it really means a lot.

Mel

My world has turned around

2009-09-24T10:37:00.002+08:00

It's amazing isn't it, the way life works out sometime? One day I am going for an Optometrist appointment and the next day I am booking MRI's and going on serious drugs to make sure I don't get into worse trouble before the MRI happens.

WTF? I can hear you thinking, so I will start at the beginning. So, I had my appointment yesterday morning with the Optomerist, he put drops in my eyes to check the backs of my eyes to make sure everything was fine, well, it turns out they weren't fine. I currently have "Chronic Bilateral Papilloedema" which is basically fancy words for swelling/bulging of the retinas.

That in itself made the Optometrist ring straight to an Ophthalmology (sp?!) Surgeon (Dr. Lockabie) at Murdoch and book an appointment, so I had that yesterday afternoon and the surgeon confirmed that is what is happening but from what he said it doesn't happen generally for no reason... so now I am looking down the barrel of the gun and the bullets look like this:

Brain Tumour
Benign Intercranial Hypertension
Brain Abscess
Other?

So, it is all rather scary to say the least. Any one of these things means serious business, BIH is a rare disease with potentially life-threatening consequences and tablets for the rest of my life, Brain Tumour means Cancer, Abscess... I have no idea and on it goes.

I am doing okay, I guess, I go between being fine and randomly trying not to cry but to be honest I am so grateful for my family, I know they are going to help me no matter what happens and I am so glad to know there is someone there to be the strong one because I can see already that I am going to need it.

Anyways, just wanted to update, not much else to say (Understandably so I guess! LOL) I see my GP tomorrow, back to Dr. Lockabie on Tuesday, MRI on Thursday so will keep you updated as I go along, in the mean time send positive thoughts my way, I don't so prayer but if you think it might work I would appreciate a few of those too ;)

Mel

2009-09-22T22:13:00.002+08:00

Just another day here in our house, it is 10:13pm and Makenzie is is screaming at me because heaven forbid she is tired but dare I suggest she goes to bed and this is what happens... fun right?! This is totally why I have children!

Anyways, ignoring the screaming things are okay here, Hamish had his u/s last Thursday and again, everything came back clear so we are off to the paed. next I guess, to see if we can get some answers.

I had my u/s and x-ray on my neck today, all my glands are fine but have to wait for the x-ray results till Friday. I am on Brufen and antibiotics so the pain is way down from what it was but it is still there most of the time. Off to the Optometrist (sp? spell checker is saying it's wrong but it looks okay to me, not sure though! LOL) tomorrow so am sure I will ahve to (finally) get glasses again, not looking forward to it but if it helps then I guess it is a good idea :)

HHMMM, not much else happening though, M has just fallen asleep so I am off to bed too :D Obviously the tapping of my keys bored her! LOL

Mel

2009-09-15T15:36:00.002+08:00

Just a few more pics, I don't remember if I said, Steve got me a new monitor for my old lap-top so I can use it as an editing suite but I am still working on the calibration, I am not totally convinced it is right. I have to wait for mum and dad to come home so I can check on their PC! LOL

So anyways, these are the last of them for today, The first couple are Hamish and Jessie ready to go to school for Book Week last week, they were supposed to dress as a "favourite book, fable or fairytale character" so Superman and Supergirl are not strictly books but we figured they would do ;)

The other ones are Makenzie asleep the other day, she looked so cute, i couldn't resist! LOL

All is good here, Jess and Makenzie have colds, thanks to Hamish ;) My neck issues are still there so I am booked in to see the doc tomorrow morning, hopefully it will be a quick fix but it is starting to bug me, I am having vision probs on the same side and the glands are swollen on that side too so it is all a bit of a pain in the neck :P Hamish has his u/s on Thursday too, so busy week ahead!

That's all for now, better run,

Mel

Pettiskirt fun

2009-09-15T13:05:00.005+08:00

A few weeks ago I found a seller on eBay that sells cheap pettiskirts, I have had trouble convincing Steve that I NEED to fork out at least $70 for a good one so I have looked longing at them in other peoples photos and never done anything about it. So, I was stoked to find them for $16 each in this EBay store. So, I got two of them and since the arrived they have been a source of constant amusement for Makenzie, she wears them to bed, she wears them to pick up the kids, you name it and you can bet she has tried to wear her pettis there ;)

So, the rain that has been constantly pounding for the last month, let up for a little while this morning so I grabbed the skirts and my favourite chair and whisked M outside to take some snaps. Luckily, I got them all done and we got back inside before the next bucketful came down! I took a billion and one photos, like usual, and because they are small icons when I up load I am not sure if the are all my favourites but you get the idea anyways ;)

Will be back later with my other most recent pics :)

Mel

Time Marches On

2009-09-14T10:04:00.003+08:00

I have been feeling rather contemplative lately, it amazes me sometimes how fast time is going, how quickly my babies are getting older, how "Time Marches On". This is one of my favourite Tracy Laurence songs, it really sums it up for me some days.

I look back on my years as a mum and a wife and so much has happened in the last 9 years, so much has changed, mostly for the better, sometimes for the worse but always changing either way. It is hard to believe sometimes, the girl I was at 19 when I found out I was pregnant has grown and changed so much, I see glimpses of that girl sometimes, playing Mouse trap with the kids yesterday, having a bath with Makenzie like I used to years ago when Jessie was a baby, laughing and crying at silly things.

All of those things make up who I am today, every scrapped knee I have kissed, every dinner I have made every load of washing I have done, all the friends I have lost, all the friends I have gained, it is hard to think about sometimes - life rolls on,babies turn into children, children turn into teenagers and before I know it I will be another 30 years older holding grandchildren on my knee.

I don't know what the point is, why I am thinking about it, but I am so glad to be able to think about it, so glad to have the life I have and the family and love that I do, the happiness and the ~~cuddles~~ cuggles and the laughter and the tears. I wish everyone could feel the fullness in my heart at the way my life is because it it is bursting with joy sometimes!

That is all,

Mel

Happy Birthday to me...I think...

2009-09-10T20:50:00.003+08:00

So, as you might know, it was my birthday yesterday :) Everyone spoilt me rotten, enough chocolate to keep any woman happy, books to keep me entertained for a good long time and a new computer from Steve plus lots more.

Among my gifts, my sister bought me a doughnut maker and mum and dad got me a big mini muffin tray, Makenzie helped me open the muffin tray and as soon as she saw it she claimed it, literally, I haven't seen it out of her hands for long since. So I am sitting here tonight doing a quick bit of nothing while me neck feels okay and she comes in from the kitchen with my doughnut maker and muffin tray....

"What dis?"
"It's my muffin tray and doughnut maker" I say
"My fuffin tay, my dono makin' " says Kenz "Open my dono makin' peas"
"Na, I want it in the box, thanks anyways"
No you dono, me dono, me open dono!" She screams
"No, I want it in the box"
"Plegh, box yuck! Me dono a lol-lol pop!"

And off she toddles, she is now laying on her bed ready to sleep with the doughnut box in one arm and the muffin tray in the other with a slinky wrapped around her neck claiming she "Nice and warm"

Oh Huzzah! So glad my birthday presents are going to be used...even if it's not for their intended purposes! LOL

Mel

I am an Aunty!!!

2009-09-06T20:11:00.002+08:00

Have you ever seen anything more precious in your life?! Jo had her baby yesterday, a little name that we *think* is going to be named Caitlyn. We went to the hospital to see them today and she is sooooo tiny! My kids were never that small, even at birth! She was 2.9kg (6 pound 8) and only 45cm long! She is gorgeous though, you can see so much of Jo in her although Steve claims she looks more like Dave. I can see Jessie in her features, she is very fine featured like Jess was, but with gorgeous chubby cheeks, so cute!

Jo is doing really well, she comes home tomorrow, she has already warned me she has me on speed-dial after I got bub to sleep as soon as I held her :P But she seems to be handling it all really well, the visitors, the sore boobs, poo and spew, the whole lot! LOL

Anyways, Makenzie is screaming for boobs, it's been a big day, will write more if/when she goes to sleep :)

Mel

Voting Time

2009-09-04T10:40:00.002+08:00

Oh just quickly, forgot to say in the last post...

The photos are ready to be voted on for the Smile competition, you can only vote once for a photo but if you could take the time to vote for mine it would be greatly appreciated!

If you go here: Smile with Centro and select Maddington in WA, my photo is the last one, titled Swimming, it is this one:

And hit submit you are helping me hugely and you get entered into the draw for a $5000 shopping spree too, so helps me and you could win, yay!

Thanks so much!

Mel

Update time

2009-09-04T09:58:00.002+08:00

I have been very quiet of late, things are pretty busy here and I am having issues with my neck which means very limited computer time :(

Anyways, that's life I guess! LOL Okay, updates on Hamish, we went to the doctor yesterday and now have to go back for another ultrasound for further investigations and then have to go to a paediatrician because we have basically reach the end of the GP's expertise. Since we started testing Hamish has been talking more about what is going on and how he feels and it turns out he constantly has pain in his tummy but he only complains when it gets really bad because he is used to it always being there :( I feel so bad for him that we haven't known about it for all this time and he has just put up with it, he is so brave but I am so glad we are getting it sorted now!

Other than that he is doing really well, he had his 4th drum lesson on Wednesday night and the teacher has asked that we buy the intermediate book as he is doing so well with the beginner book so he will be using the two in conjunction with each other!
I took some video of him the other night practising at home, on my mobile, but given my tech-saavyness (Sure it's a real word, I use it all the time!) it could be staying on my mobile a while yet. Given the fact I only re-entered the mobile phone world at the start of August I think it is a pretty amazing feat just to get the video on there in the first place, extracting it from the phone is a whole different ballgame, bluetooth is well beyond my capabilities! LOL Anyways, that aside, he is doing really well with it! LOL

Jessie is also doing extremely well in her musical pursuits, Steve went to talk to her Violin teacher at school the other day because he was concerned about what she is being taught. The teacher has put marks on the violin to show where she is supposed to put her fingers BUT the marks are slightly off so she is playing out of tune. She can hear it but wasn't sure what to do because the teacher put the marks there so they must be right, right?! So,Steve went and sat in on her class (The class is run through the school, all paid for by the government, but it is a group of 4 students) and she is way ahead of the other 3 girls, which is great :) He spoke to the teacher and she said she was happy for Jessie to put her fingers where she thought they needed to go since she trusts her ear and she knows what she is doing :) It is great she is doing so well and the teacher is happy, she is getting so good at the Violin, it is nice to not have to put up with the scratchy beginner noises for too long! LOL

Jessie also got a merit certificate and had to talk at the assembly yesterday, she was so proud to be chosen to do the talk, she was given the lines to learn on Wednesday night and had till Thursday morning to learn them and she memorised it all! The other little girl had to use palm cars to remember her lines so Jessie was beaming twice as much becuase she had worked so hard to learn the lines :)

Makenzie is... Makenzie! LOL She is doing good, trouble as usual! LOL She is learning more words every day and now never shuts up but a lot of words are either made up or only I can understand them! LOL Like at swimming the other day she was laughing about "Water up Gordon" and the teacher asked who Gordon was, I had to explain it is her word for nose! LOL In her mind it makes sense, she used to call her nose a "Gonk Gonk" becuase we would make that noise and pinch her nose so it because a Gonk and has now morphed into a Gordon! LOL She has also been proudly showing everyone who will listen her new "Toilet Bear" from Gran, we gave it to her after she came out of the toilet...yeah, can you see how much fun this whole talking thing is with her?! LOL
She is currently giving me a fashion parade of every item of clothing waiting to be folded in the lounge room, oh what fun! LOL

Anyways, time for more drugs to stop this pain, I really should go to the doctor for myself one of these days huh?! LOL

Mel

Woot, Go me!

2009-08-27T09:47:00.002+08:00

Just popped on this morning to check my emails and I got one to say I am a finalist in the Smile Comp again this year :D So excited and proud to be selected again, no matter how many times I enter I am always waiting on edge wondering if I am going to make it, and thinking I am not, so it is a huge thrill to make it again!

I rang the centre to find out which picture it was and the lady who answered the phone obviously woke on the wrong side of the bed this morning. (Just to set the scene: There are 16 finalists at each centre, and if other years are anything to go by, they have a spreadsheet with all the details plus the hard copy of all the photos behind the desk) So I say I got the email and am wondering if she can tell me which picture got in as I entered a few.

*Big sigh* (Her not me ;) )
It is just impossible to tell you, there are far toooo many for us to look through.
*Rolls eyes* (I swear I heard it over the phone :P )
Not a problem I say, I will just wait till next week to see.
Yeah, that's a good idea!
*Rolls eyes*

Gees Louise, not like I was asking her to personally run it to my house so I can see! LOL Meh, whatevs.

Anyways, voting is on line this year as well as in store so I will post a link when it is up so you all can get voting for me :P It is for the centre winner, national winner has already been picked, so make sure you vote for me :P

Mel

Good news and bad news

2009-08-26T10:44:00.002+08:00

We had Hamish's barium tests today and we have good news and bad news.

Good news is he doesn't have Intestinal Malrotation.

Bad news is... he doesn't have Intestinal Malrotation.

We thought we were getting to the bottom of the issues so while it is excellent news that his intestines are fine, it puts us right back at the drawing board again, trying to figure out what is wrong.

He was so good though, he had to drink a cup of crap that looked like paster of paris, they flavoured it with chocolate syrup but he said it didn't taste very chocolatey! LOL He then lay on a bad while they took x-rays, both sides and then his front, and then he had a glass of water. It was over with in 1/2 hour which is so much better than the 4 hours we had been expecting! LOL The tech ran me through everything and said it all looks clear, everything is working the way it should. He then got a sticker and 2 lolly snakes so his day was made :P

So now, we are back to the doctor so she can confirm results and will take it from there, probably the next thing will be allergy testing but we will wait and see what she says.

So in all a good day but frustrating too, while I don't want him to ahve to go through surgery or anything it would have been nice to have a simple answer.

Anyways, I am off to spend time with the kiddos :)

Mel

2009-08-23T20:22:00.002+08:00

I know I said I would update on Friday but had a long weekend with the party and Rugby and today I have had a mega headache so am just feeling okay enough to get on the puter now.

Anyways, quick update on Hamish. Basically we have to go and get a Barium Swallow and Barium Meal test done as they think he might have Intestinal Malrotation. If he does have it it will mean an operation to correct it plus an appendectomy at the same time but we are trying not to look to far ahead, just get through the next thing and take it from there. The last X-ray and ultrasound basically found a lot of "gaseous buildup" and because of that it made it near impossible for the sonographer to get in to see alot of other organs. Because of the buildup being unexplained it does point to there being something wrong but like I say we are taking it one step at a time, trying not to worry too much but it does scare me to think about my little man going into surgery.

I know plenty of others have done it, and considering stats say something like 80% of people are diagnosed with this before 1yo and treated then, there are far worse senarios, but even still you can't help but worry.

On the other hand, while I don't want there to be something wrong it is good to finally be getting to the bottom of it all and actually getting close to having answers to his issues so while it is scary it is good at the same time.

Not much else happening, mum came over tonight and we folded my Mt. Washmore size pile of folding, so good to see the couch again! LOL Thanks mum!

Did well at my party yesterday, I got $400 worth of stuff for $150 so can't complain there and it was great to catch up with everyone how came. My old next door neighbour (Next to mum) when I was a teenager came with her two children which was really cool, we haven't seen each other for absolute years, Steve had never met her so it has been at least 10 years, so it was great to see her again.

HHMM, not much else, just a quick one tonight to update about Haim really, am planning on pulling my camera out tomorro to get some new shots of the kids so will put them up when I get there...eventually.

Mel