What the????

I have someone from Morocco looking at my blog?

Changes.

I'm being better about my exercise. The Biggest Loser is rubbing off.
I've lost about 4kg from my heaviest, so I'm pretty happy about that. Speaking of TBL, I'm sick of the advertising. I thought there was going to be a big fight tonight between Shannan and John, but it wasn't that at all... they just beat everything up and its quite annoying.

My ultrasound was "interesting", don't think I'm happy to share the bizarre details here, but those that see me have heard the story. Its pretty funny if you ask me.

Marko conned me - he gets tummy aches in the morning. If I have the day off.. and I've had a bad night, well what the bother. He was a delight at home. Not sure the reason behind the tummy aches. I inquired and he isn't bullied, he doesn't bully, he doesn't get yelled at, he doesn't get in trouble, he has enough friends and other than getting graphic, I can't think of any reasons. Oh and he enjoys the work.

Jamie is catching up on sleep. Three nights in a row he has fallen asleep on the couch. Last night was at 9.30pm. Tonight - get this - he fell asleep on the couch at 5.30, he missed his cricket game, his captain called to ask where he was and he slept through the phone ringing (and he doesn't do that!!) he woke up when he snored at one point (taking after my dad, snorting himself awake), woke up when I poked him in the tummy. He didn't even have dinner. Went from the couch to bed and is still snoring!

Me - well I'm all over the shop. I'm totally scared to go to bed. Had a full on panic attack in the middle of the night Sunday night and it scare the shit out of me. Jamie *again* slept through it, so he wasn't helpful. So in reality I'm in need of sleep but am scared to go to bed. How stupid that that.

I really need to take some photos, or have some photos taken - any takers?

I need to plan something FUN... any suggestions???

AND I think the mouse is back, or I'm so tired I'm hallucinating.

Just when you think you've got it figured out.

I thought my legs were good - and they were. Now I'm going down the road of self medicating - doesn't work. Now I'm sleepy and jumpy.

OOSH is complicated. I'll share more later.

The kid is gorgeous. Love him to pieces.

Sunday Evening

I'm freaking out watching *Underbelly*
Please stop reading if you live in Victoria, banned due to legal restrictions.
Pretty yucky what happens in the underworld.

A tidy house.

Can you believe it?
My house is tidy. Took a long time yesterday. The lawn has been mowed and it looks good (I wish he'd use the catcher though). We don't look like a rental anymore.

Took the boat out for a little spin yesterday which was nice.

Had a Biggest Loser fest with Mark. The weeks worth of TBL that I had taped, watched it all in one hit. I really don't like the Red Team. Rachel... I just don't get. Sheridan giving in to the temptation just does not make sense. Well that my thoughts on TBL, Mark just wished I'd shut up. I'm so glad Michelle doesn't train me... oh that's right, I don't train.

Umm today we are hoping to get the car seals done, but I don't like out chances. I want to get "Singstar" or "Buzz" for the Playstation we got last weekend.

I went on a card making frenzy last weekend, made about 40 cards. If anyone needs any, just let me know. Stuffed if I know what I'll do with 40 cards. Desperately want to make some more. Will attempt to scrapbook. But don't have much inspiration to do that.

Tomorrow is the "Come and Try Day" for the AFL. I really hope it will be good day. Some drills for the kids and a mini-game. I've got to get Jamie organised with some fun activities.

Christy xx

Sorry

Today is a pretty big day in Australia's history. Finally the government has said "sorry" for the stolen generation. I think every single school child watched the speech.

Mark said to me yesterday, "What do you think is important about tomorrow?" and it was the Sorry Day speech. He was very excited to get to school to watch it with his friends. More importantly he was interested in what it meant and why Kevin Rudd had to say sorry = he didn't do it.
I think that is why so many Aussies have a problem with the apology, why should be apologize for something we didn't do, or that was done with the best of intentions at the time. Well it still doesn't make it right. I'm happy that we as a nation have apologised, it was necessary. I might not be coherent in what I'm talking about, but I wanted my tiny two cents worth.

The photo came from the ABC website. I tried to find one of some Aboriginal people, but then decided against it.

Doctors.

Just a quick note...

Tomorrow I'm seeing my Neurologist again - just to get the results of my sleep study, should be interesting. My RLS is quite good at the moment, I think cos I'm sleeping better due to the wonderful invention of sleeping tablets.

I need to see my GP or a chiro about a new pain in my hip/back. I was in agony tonight with it, felt nauseous and taking panadol every 4 hours (or less) didn't help. How on earth do people live with chronic pain? Do I sound like a nurse? No other theory than the worse case scenario. As flippant as that is... our friend Doug passed away from a secondary in his spine that "just happened one day" My horoscope for this year said I would have problems with my feet. But I remember now, I don't believe in horoscopes.

Thursday I'm off to an ultrasound to see why my "girl bits" aren't giving me a baby! Oops I mean why they are not giving US a baby.

Blood test the following week.

Rain, mozzies, boats and work.

Newcastle (for that matter Australia) is raining. But its a hot, muggy rain and its bloody awful. The puddles that persist mean that mozzie's breed and then they bite ME. I'm sure they bite other... but more importantly... they bite me.
BOAT is finally in the water. A huge engine overhaul - lots of foul language and LOTS of driving to Tanilba and back... our little family took it for a spin on Sunday morning. It was really nice, having the salty air in my hair, coolish outside. Mark as going to attempt fishing, but in true *I don't need you to tell me how to do it fashion* he cracked. So now our boat in safely back in our backyard.
Work has been awful. Patient illnesses are getting worse - thankfully they have looked at hte medical situation. So we now two interns (junior docs), one ward based registrar (next level up) and two overseeing senior registrars as well as the 8 consultants. So my thoughts are the patients SHOULD be cared for. Now we just need to get nursing right.
Mayb'e I'll leave. find a job in another hospital.. but end iwh the same shit, but not know anyone. Ok I'll stay in gastro.

===========================

Next bit of news is a bit personal (so stop reading now). As you might be aware Jamie and I are trying to have a baby. SOmewhat unsuccessfully so far. So I'm having an ultrasound of my girlie bits next week, then a blood test, followed by an operation to check for endometriosis.

Doctors, doctors and probably heaps of blood tests.

Tomorrow I am going to a fertility doctor. I'm quite excited and nervous.

I think I'm nervous, got so anxious that I felt nauseas - took a pregnancy test - negative as per usual. But that would have been my luck. Cheaper luck though.

Horseshoe Beach

Our trip to the "Dog Beach." There were about 200 dogs there, we only saw one scuffle - little dogs.
Charlie had a ball with the ball. The photo which looks like just the beach, you can see a dot, that is Charlie. Skye does not *fetch* but he does chase Charlie. Mark got very wet, well actually he swam and he forgot to take a towel, so for the umpteenth time he had to come home in the car in just his undies. I did get a pic of this, but due to decency I have not included this.

Vietnam War Museum

This is from when we went to Phillip Island. Dad and Mark went to the Vietnam War Museum and I let Mark take my camera.
PS. A huge thank you to Jen Hall for the instructions on how to do that. I jealously looked at her blog and wondered "that must be so hard", well she told her blog readers and now I know that it is simple as point and click.

Back to Normal - well almost.

Its lovely having Mark home again. Makes our family complete (as Tom Cruise famously said). The plan was to collect him from the airport and then go and play golf, well it was drizzling most of the day, so golf was off the agenda. We went to the workshop and Jamie worked on the boat engine for ummm about 9 hours. Mark got reacquainted with his dogs, we watched Djokovitch beat Federer in the tennis and then went to bed.

Saturday: Jamie returned to the shed to work on the motor. Mark and I went shopping for school supplies, it appears I was not thorough enough and he needed more. We also got a puzzle, 1000 pieces of a Holden SS Commodore which is REALLY hard.

Saturday was also Australia Day (or Invasion Day). Wikipedia states:
On 13 May 1787, a fleet of 11 ships captained by Arthur Phillip, which came to be know as the First Fleet, was sent by the British Admiralty from England to Australia, to established a penal colony at Botany Bay on the coast of New South Wales, explored by Captain James Cook in 1770. The settlement was seen as necessitated by the loss of colonies in North America. Captain Phillip found Botany Bay unsuitable and with two ships proceeded up the coast to Port Jackson, which he declared "the finest harbour in the world". The site decided upon for the first settlement was at a location where there was a potable stream of water, and some level land, unlike much of the steep and rugged foreshore. By 26 January 1788, the fleet was at anchor in Sydney Cove, the male convicts were unshipped and the flag was raised in the name of King George III.
Australia celebrates this with a public holiday and fireworks. Newcastle had its fireworks on the foreshore, which is gorgeous. We thought of going into town by the train to save on trying to find a park and "doing the right thing". There is a station really close to us, I found the timetable on the internet, then I looked up the cost $6.80 per adult and $3.60 for kids. How ridiculous. $17 for a family to go on a 15 minute train trip - granted it is return, but that doesn't make it worthwhile. So we drove and found a really good park, had a snack of donuts and homemade lemonade from a Russian vendor. It was really nice and at about 9pm the fireworks started, they were lovely, but boring at the same time.
There was also a carnival in town - Mark wanted to try all of the sideshows, but we are horrible parents taht said no!

Today - Sunday and for something completely different we went to the workshop so Jamie could work on the motor. I'm playing on the internet and Marko is playing with Emily. Its STINKING hot and I hate hot weather.

We are collectively very sad that Adam Gilchrist decided to retire. More in shock actually, he's amazing and I love watching him play. Can't wait for the tennis tonight. really hoping that Jo-Wilfreid Tsonga will win - its the battle of the silent letter tonight. Tsonga v Djokovitch.

Last kid-free day.

Today is Thursday, the last day of my relaxed holiday. I have almost had one month off.

Kind of weird that... early in the year I asked for 3 weeks off in January, from the 6th-30th so I could have time at home with Mark, Jamie would have him for the first week when he has time off and then I'd have him for the next three. Well I was knocked back in about August, there were already two full-timers have time off. Oh well I thought, back to the drawing board, might have to send him down to the grandies again. Well things got a bit weird at work, had half of the ward closed, and heaps of people were allowed time off, me included. So even though I had been knocked back for holidays I have ended up being away for one month. I've loved it, most of the time haven't even thought about work, except for when one of our long-termers died.

Today I went to Garden City (I'm trying to be more Novocastrian and not call it Kotara), bought some labels for Mark, thought I'd get them straight away, but have to wait about 10 working days for them. Got him some "Back to School" goodies which I hope he'll like, its HotWheels contact, hopefully he doesn't consider himself too old for that, I shall find out tomorrow.

Amazing stories

He has a fertile brain that son of mine! From Mark's school workbook which came home with him at the end of the year.
*** *** ***
Should we get unlimited pocket money.
Interesting title, should kids get UNLIMITED amount of money.
Discussion topic. Some people think we should and some people think we shouldn't.
Argument for. It would be great to get unlimited money. You can buy whatever you want. It would be great.
Argument against. You mum and dad could get poor. You would only spent it on stuff you want. You would just buy junk food.
Summarizing conclusion. I disagree because you mum and dad would get poor and then you would have nothing to buy at all.

*** *** ***

The Christmas Disaster

The night before Christmas Santa, his favourite dog "Scrappy" and Rudolph, Comet, Prancer, Dancer, Blitzen, Cupid, Donner and Dasher were eating their dinner before they left to deliver the presents. When they left the reindeer base, Mrs Claus was yelling out goodbye. The first ten houses went ok, but when he got to the 100th house Rudolph lost his red nose and they couldn't see where they were going. So they crashed and landed on my house's roof. I went out to see what was happenening and when I saw him I screamed out "SANTA'S HERE!" But not in one piece. Then we fixed him up with bandages and sent him on his way back to the North Pole.

*** *** ***

H - Holidays are fun.
O - Oh what a wonderful life
L - Laying in the sun.
I - I'm having fun.
D - Days are now glorious days
A - All go wild.
Y - Yell and scream at the end of school.
S - School is over for two weeks.

*** *** ***

The Best Present Ever!
The best present ever, I think is a remote controlle ute. It has an mp3 player, FM radio, spinners, black with red dark flames, 70cm long, 15cm high, and 20cm wide. I only liked it when I saw it. The thing I liked before was boat lego. The boat lego would be better because it is cheaper than the car. These are the Christmas wish list items I would like this year.

How about the night before Christmas!

I love Christmas!

This is Mark with his Christmas Eve pressie (its a Lantz tradition, not a Storer one. Mark is still pleased he is a Lantz!)

The other tradition is Carol's by Candlelight. Loved the opening song, wish I knew its name. Bom bom bom bom.... don't you wish you could hear me hum, will make it easier to figure out the song I'm trying to figure out.

Next is leaving the snack for Santa! This is a little boy who is TORN - is Santa real or not, to be on the safe side... here is the milk and cookies - and a carrot for Rudolf. PS please excuse the lovely table that the snack is on, yes you are correct, its toilet paper! I really need a nice coffee table!

Next is Mark hiding from the camera.

Next is a super excited me! Sorry about the double chin folks, but its me in all of my glory, unfortunately I actually do have a double chin.


I'll post some pics tomorrow showing off our loot!

Twas the week before Christmas

Thought I'd say HI

This is a painting that Jamie and I got for Christmas from his side of the family.
That is the helicopter that the little man got.
That is also his newly painted room.

Hospital.

Interesting night last night. My sleep study.
Arrived at 7.30pm the girl (never got her name) said "Hello, you will be in room 2, here is the decaffinated coffee and breakfast if you want it. Please change into your pj's"

What now? Are you for real.. so in my jammies at about 8pm. I'm not a fan of being *exposed* in semi public.

Then it was my time to be wired up. Sitting in a chair the technician with a measuring tape - she drew on my scalp to get the right position for the electrodes. Once all of the positions were marked she applied some goop then stuck the electrodes. Then a sticker on the middle of my forehead. Some around my eyes and around the mouth.

Sat in the "lounge" got a decaf coffee. Watched the end of Farmer Wants a Wife. When it was over, everyone asked what do you want to watch everyone said they didn't care, so I suggested the Chaser. I won and ended up being the only one in the lounge, everyone else went to bed. BTW there were 6 of us.

Then I went to my room - which ended up being room 6. I sat in the chair and read for a little bit. Then one of the technicians came in and asked what time I went to bed. She wanted to wire me up (MORE???). So I did go to bed. Got some new electrodes on my chest, two bands around my middle and 4 on my legs. THEN she put oxygen prongs up my nose - they are the MOST uncomfortable things in the world. Most of the people who have sleep studies are there for sleep apnoea. I also needed a oxygen saturation "peg" which they taped to my middle finger, here as I write this I still have a sore finger and a slight pressure spot on it. BOOHOO.

I read for a little bit, then decided to attempt to sleep. Managed it alright actually. Had a couple of bouts of restless legs, but not what I have at home. I do toss and turn - which is quite hard when you have HEAPS of wires hanging off of me. Only dislodged one.

About 4.30 there was a HUGE bang where they are demolishing part of the hospital. The bloke came in at 6am, woke me up, disconnected me and sent me on my way!

That is my story of the sleep study. Thanks for listening.

Stressors.

Hey there family and friends who are not on Facebook.

Just to give a small update...

• Had an appointment with my specialist, it was actually quite wonderful. She suggested I de-stress.

• As some of you who actually read this, housework is a problem. I'm getting a cleaner.

• I have an appointment for a "Sleep Study" next Wednesday. It was weird, they didn't have any appointments available until March next year. BUT they did have a cancellation for next week. So this will be my first overnight stay in hospital since I had Mark. I have to get there at 7.30pm have my pj's, towel, toothbrush etc. Then get wired up! Leads will be put on my head and hopefully on my legs to see what happens. Gee wizz I hope there is a telly! Its the Chaser Decides and I need to watch that. Will be a surreal experience.

• I'm quite excited about the election. I know its daggy, but I want to be involved. I wish I had thought of having an election party, but then we might not be able to channel surf and watch the election coverage. Go Kevin07!
  

Finally scrapbooking again.


This is a pic of me from 2000 (ages ago) I was lying on the floor, some very groovy paper - can't remember the brand but I got it from ScrapNeeds. This one is titled "I need Sleep" How cute is that little owl??





This one is obviously Sheena Geary. Had a lot of fun with rubons in this one.
"All is good when you are nearly 2"









This is the canvas that Mark and I painted when he was home sick. Its really bad, but we are not into Halloween in Australia and its the first time I have every done anything like that before. I'm quite happy with the little ghost saying BOO.








This is the first page I have done for Lauren's sister - its a total scraplift of Charmane Otto.
















This one is using Urban Lily paper, very easy but VERY nice.














This was me messing around last night, don't think I like it, but hey its a page.














School Dance "A Night at the Movies"
This is Mark's class dancing to "Walk like an Egyptian", his is the only face you can see in that picture. Also in the other photos, wow that was an accident, I did a point and click at the group he was dancing with - imagine only getting him to keep in line with the child protection laws. It was a good night, weather was very kind, picnic was good (although it was ham and not a roast chicken as requested). Mark is not destined to be a dancer - I know that now!

Fed Up

Not really sure what else to call this post.
Insomnia is playing a major part of my life at the moment. Here I am at 2.11am not even really feeling that tired, just fed up. I have to be up at 5.45 for work as I'm starting at 7am.
I'm not functioning the way a real person should. What am I to do?
Another trip to the doctor, and for what? More drugs.

Other than that, home is good. Family is happy. I'm totally addicted to Facebook and I'm not really even sure why! Truthfully, I haven't seen most of the school people in over 16 years, our similarities are we sat in a classroom all those years ago and read books, learned maths and did science experiments together. Work friends I see most days anyway! Oh well its an excuse not to do anything else.

A super huge positive - Mark got STUDENT OF THE WEEK I'm one proud mama. Its for good bookwork - but to be honest I think it was his turn. This week is the only week all year that the boy did not bring home a school newsletter, how am I supposed to scrap it.

That would mean I was scrapping, which I am not cos I'm playing on Facebook and talking to Kathryn and Ella on Skype! Hmmm, I need to readjust I think.

Sorry for the ramblings of an overtired 34-year-old. That saying is not only for 2 year olds!!!

Overuse of exclamation marks Christy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!