Tonsillectomy Journal ...

Dude. I'm so bored!

I've been off work for the last two weeks. Why? Because I finally, finalllllly got my tonsils out.

So, (because I'm sooooo bored) here's my Tonsillectomy Journey! I got the idea from My Big Fat Tonsillectomy.

Wednesday 15th July: I'm up at 5 a.m. to eat a "light breakfast". Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well the night before, so I'm not feeling like food. I do make the most of being up early though, having lots of water to drink. I don't bother going back to bed, instead I pack my bag, and get myself organised.
My hospital paperwork told me to be at Hotel de Bendigo Hospital at 11 a.m. So, on time I report to Surgical Admissions, which just happens to be right next to the cafeteria. Do you have any idea how freaking hard it is to watch people constantly streaming past eating when you're hungry? It was not easy. At 12:30 my name was called, and I got up and signed two pieces of paper. I was then told to sit back down and wait. At 2 p.m. my name was called again, and I had a quick pre-op check up. Then I sat down to wait (and watch people walk past EATING and DRINKING) ... again. At 3:30, I was finally called back to the surgical pre-op waiting room, where, yep, you guessed it ... I waited. At 5:30, when I was the last person left in the waiting room, and I was starting to get really pissed off, a nurse wandered in and asked if anyone wanted to head into surgery? They found me a lovely bed, and a nice white blanket. Unfortunately, since I hadn't had anything to drink for almost 12 hours I was a bit dehydrated, which made getting a IV cannula in nearly impossible. The end result? Me bawling my eyes out as they finally got it in, FIFTH time lucky!
To be honest, I don't remember much after that. Vague memories of someone putting a mask on my face, and people talking and then ... The next thing I knew, I'm waking up in recovery, feeling like someone has ripped out half my throat. My nurse, a lovely man by the name of Dale, was very generous with the pethadine, and after 15 minutes in recovery, I was awake enough to head back to a normal ward.
The most pleasing thing for me, after such a long, exhausting day? That I'd made it back to my bed, and my tv, in time for STATE OF ORIGIN! I was a bit out of it for the first half, and I don't remember much of it (except the nurse coming to check on me every 15 minutes, interrupting my State of Origin time!). The pethidine (and the anesthetic) wore off about half an hour after the end of the game, when I totally crashed for an hour.
I woke up to the elderly Italian lady in the bed diagonally across to me (I was in a 4-bed room) yelling at the nurses. Most of it was in Italian, but she kept saying "Money! Money! Blah-blah Son! Money! Son!" They tried for quite some time to get her into bed and settled (since it was after midnight at this point), instead they had to settle for sitting in her a chair next to her bed while they did their obs rounds.

Thursday 16th July: To start Thursday, for the first four hours of the day, I listened to my ipod and crunched on ice, watching the Italian lady as she became increasingly dramatic and loud. I felt sorry for her and the nurses. She was obviously frustrated and confused, and the nurses were frustrated because they had no idea how to help her.
At 6 a.m., Italian lady began packing her bags. She was ready to go home! I too was fed up with the whole hospital thing, but I wasn't quite so eager. At 7 a.m., she moved herself and her bags into the hallway, and stood guard, ready to be released, I guess. The nurses then had to try to get her back into bed, or in the room, to eat some breakfast since discharges don't usually happen until 9 - 10 a.m.
At 9:30, after getting some good shit for my pain, along with my discharge instructions, I finally got sprung from Hotel de Bendigo Hospital. When I left, Italian lady was still standing guard in the hallway, with her bags lined up next to her.
After leaving the hospital, I went home to my mum and dads, which is an hour and a half from Bendigo. I was exhausted, having only managed an hours sleep during my stay at Hotel de Bendigo Hospital. As soon as we got home, I went to bed and slept for a few hours, waking to pain that was so bad I started crying, and I didn't stop crying until the pain meds that I rushed to take, finally kicked in. Then I went back to bed.

Friday 17th July - Friday 24th July: After another crappy nights sleep, and waking in considerable pain, I took my pain meds and went back to bed. This became the routine for the next several days. The pain, which hadn't been too bad, got progressively worse over the next week. Monday I came home to Bendigo. On Tuesday, I ended up going back to the doctor to get stronger pain relief. The painkillers would work for two - three hours, then I would (I can't believe I'm going to admit this ...) literally just cry to myself until I could take my next dose. Sleeping was limited to a couple of hours at a time, and most nights I only slept for two hours total. Eating also became progressively harder to do, even though I had no trouble for the first couple of days. Swallowing water was even hard and painful, and I ended up trying to dissolve most of the tablets I was taking, because swallowing whole tablets was damn near impossible. I have maybe two good hours a day, usually at night after I've taken my painkillers. In those two hours I try to eat, and maybe sit on the couch and watch some tv for a while. Then, the pain comes back and we start all over again ...

Saturday 25th July - Wednesday 29th July: Mostly, I'm still not eating much or sleeping much, but slowly the pain starts to improve. I'm still eating only baby food and drinking only a little water each day, but I can see slight improvment in my pain levels. On Wednesday, I see the doctor again, and get a medical certificate for another week off work.

Thursday 30th July - Sunday 2nd August: I switch painkillers, from Endone (Oxycodone? or something - good shit though!) and Panadiene Forte and Voltarin to just Panadiene Forte and Voltarin. On Saturday, I have my first "real" meal in two weeks - spaghetti on nice, soft toast. I have my first coke in a couple of weeks as well (taken in very small, very slow sips). I can finally see that things are improving.

Monday 3rd August - Wednesday 5th: Before the surgery, my doctor told me "Once you start to see an improvement, you'll come along in leaps and bounds". And this turns out to be true. I get a good 5 hours sleep each night, and I'm finally eating normal meals again. I'm still not eating a lot, and the pain continues at night, but overall the improvement is huge. I can't believe how good I feel!

Thursday 6th August: Three weeks and one day after the operation, I go back to work. Everyone welcomes me back, and I have a great day. I get home exhausted though, but glad that things are normal again :-)


Edit: And now, here we are. Three weeks and ... four (?) days out from the surgery. I've only just finished this journal, even though I started it over a week ago. I'm still having pain at night, especially ear pain, but generally I'm doing ok. I have a check up with my ENT doctor next week, which will be good. I wouldn't recommend an adult tonsillectomy though, unless you really need it done. The pain was something that I'd never like to experience again, and to be honest, most of the first two weeks I don't remember a lot of because I was in so much pain. I don't think there's any way to prepare for that level of hurt. Overall though, now that I'm finally starting to feel better, I think that it was worth it. Easy to say after it's all over, I guess :-)

I Believe...
That just because two people argue,
it doesn't mean they don't love each other.

And just because they don't argue,
it doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt
you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time
to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...
That we are responsible for what
we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That my best friend and I, can do anything, or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had
and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others.
sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are,
but, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.
 
I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

If I had my time over ...

'If I had my life over'

By Belinda Emmett

(written after she found out she was dying from cancer)

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for a day....

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted into a rose before it melted in storage...

I would have talked less and listened more...

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained or the sofa faded...

I would have eaten popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace...

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.....

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband...

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed...

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains...

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life....

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Women's Month

 

Age 3 She looks at herself and sees a Queen

 

Age 8 She looks at herself and sees Cinderella

 

Age 15 She looks at herself and sees an Ugly Sister ('Mum, I can't go to school looking like this!')

 

Age 20 She looks at herself and sees 'too fat / too thin / too short / too tall / too straight / too curly' - but decides she's going out anyway

 

Age 30 She looks at herself and sees 'too fat / too thin / too short / too tall / too straight / too curly' - but decides she doesn't have time to fix it, so she's going out anyway

 

Age 40 She looks at herself and sees 'clean' and goes out anyway

 

Age 50 She looks at herself and sees 'I am' and goes wherever she wants to

 

Age 60 She looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves in the mirror anymore - goes out and conquers the world

 

Age 70 She looks at herself and sees wisdom, laughter and ability and goes out to enjoy life

 

Age 80 Doesn't even bother to look - just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the world

 

 

Maybe we should put on that purple hat earlier...

 

Still alive and kicking.

Yeah, I'm still hanging around.

On Wednesday 15th July, I finally got my tonsils out. It's taken
longer to recover than I thought. Two weeks out from the op, and I was
meant to be returning to work today. Instead, I have another week off.
Go the sick leave!

Slowly, I am getting back to eating normal food, and sleeping
normally. It's been tough, though!

Anyway, just thought I'd check in ... Sometime soon I will do a real post :-)

Take care, guys!

The Countdown is on ...

Not Guilty.

His nightmare may be over, but he still has a life sentence.

Thoughts and prayers are with all who were affected by the accident.

What an awful situation for everyone involved.

My very own inflatable hand!

So, I'm home sick from work today. Cold, tonsillitis, and ear infection. Go me! I know how to do sick excellently :-)

Have been up to a bit here ... Last Saturday night I went to a mates engagement party, which was a great night. Big bonfire, great food and the rain actually stayed away for the night.

On Wednesday, I turned 26. For my birthday, I got myself a ticket to STATE OF ORIGIN! Game One, 2009, Melbourne! I went down to Melbourne on Wednesday afternoon with a couple of friends, and had an AWESOME night. 51 000 screaming fans + a great game = best birthday ever! It was a freaking long day, considering that I was up at 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and we didn't get home from Origin until 1 a.m., but it was totally worth it. Those people who said that Melbourne doesn't deserve a State of Origin game? They clearly weren't there on Wednesday night. The atmosphere? It was unbelievable! I think the crowd might have been slightly more towards QLD, but us NSW people just screamed louder to pretend we had more fans :-) I came home with a giant blue inflatable hand (something I've ALWAYS wanted!) and a NSW scarf, which was handy because it was freaking freezing walking back to the station and on the train.

Other than that, I haven't been up to much. We've had a lot of rain over the last week and a half, which is good because we need it, - we're still in a drought - but it means that we're not going out heaps because it's so cold and miserable :-) Ahh well.

Not much other goss. Work is going ok. One of the girls there is turning into a mondo-gigantic-huge-awful-uber bitch, and is getting to everyone, but what can you do? So far I've just ignored her, hoping that she'll get hers, but it's getting harder and harder to do. Hopefully karma gets her soon :-)

Anyway, I'm sure that there's some trashy tv I can watch, so I should get going ... Take care, folks :-)

Peace out.

Psst ... I'm here.

The woman on the tv is telling me that she's all alone and that I should ring her now ...

This won't be a long entry, since it's getting a bit late and I'm kinda tired. But there is something I wanted to blog about.

Crystal, from McKnob.com (which used to be Boobs, Injuries and Dr Pepper), is currently dealing with a little "issue". It all began here and it's turned into this.
Currently, there are 153 comments in response to that post, which is amazing. If you've got time, head over there, say hi to Crystal, read the comments that have been left so far, and maybe leave your own thoughts on the subject.

Quick wrap up from around here ...
Has last week off work. Went to the allergist in Melbourne. The $450 I paid for the course of injections to get rid of my hayfever forever and ever, amen?
Yeah, it was a waste of money. They didn't work.
So, now I'm on a spray, and I start a new course of needles in a couple of weeks. Hopefully that will change something.
We finally decided a couple of weeks ago to get a new bunny (RIP Buck-man. Miss you, buddy...), and I got a baby lop-eared dwarf (female). Then Christine decided she wanted one, so now we have two. They're still living inside at the moment. We'll have to sort something out soon so they can go in the big cage outside.
Work is good. Busy. I'm really pissed off with one person there, but I'm thinking I'll just never do anything for her ever again ... Basically, I'm going to passively-aggressively torture the bitch.
Next Wednesday, I turn 26. Holy crap, TWENTY SIX. Next Wednesday is also Game One of Origin 2009 ...

GUESS WHO HAS TICKETS?!

I'M GOING TO ORIGIN, IN MELBOURNE, ON MY FREAKING BIRTHDAY, PEOPLE.

To borrow an expression (actually, two) from Crystal, I'm so excited I could shit/it makes me happy in my pants.

Six sleeps til Origin. I've been singin' that song all day.

Uh, anyway, this is all disjointed because I'm so friggin exhausted, so I think I'll give up and go to sleep now. Maybe tomorrow when I'm a little more coherent, I'll actually do a proper update ....

Night, folks.

Things ...

Things here are okay.

I'm still missing Buckley, my crazy little bunny-buddy.

Last week I brought a Wii. It's more fun that I thought it could be.

The car thieves who stole Gibbsy struck again. On Saturday night, they stole another car a few streets away. The Police are pretty sure it's the same two scumbag dumbfuck car thieves who can't drive, because it was stolen the same way mine was, then crashed and dumped.

Work has been crazy busy.

Tonight I'm crying for my dad, who's had an incredibly tough day. Sometimes all you need is hope, and today, hope was taken away from him.

That's about it from here.

Sometimes knowing something logically, as a thinking, feeling human being doesn't really help.

Logically, I know that we can't blame the dogs for what happened to Buckley. They're dogs. They don't understand. They would have just been playing, and they wouldn't have meant any harm.

But ...

It's hard to look at them the same way now. It's hard to accept that they didn't mean any harm. Bucks would have been terrified, and he was on his own, I wasn't there for him.

But the fact is, they killed him.

And trying to live with that fact is hard.

Trying to live with the guilt is hard.

I'm sorry, Buckley-Bunny. I'm so sorry.

Reminders

Reminders of Buckley are everywhere.

His leash and collar still hang on the hook at the back door. His inside cage is still set up. His toys are in the back yard. His food bowls, which I'd taken out the night before, still sit on the sink waiting to be cleaned. His cage is the first thing I see when I look out the sunroom window, or the laundry window. His blanket is still on top of the bbq, waiting to be washed. Photos of him are on my mobile phone. Photos of him on my walls, sprinkled in with the rest of my life.

Every reminder causes more tears.

The tears won't stop ...

Bucks ... I'm sorry you died scared and alone. I'm sorry. I still can't believe all that happened this morning. I know it wasn't my fault, it wasn't anyone's fault, but that doesn't make it any easier. I can't blame anyone for what happened. It doesn't change what happened, no matter how badly I wish it did. I'm sorry, Maybe one day I'll be able to look at the photos of you on my phone, or I'll be able to think of you without bawling my eyes out, but not yet. I miss you heaps, you crazy little bugger.

RIP Buckley-Bunny

RIP, my little Buck-miester. For "just a rabbit", you fast became part of the family. I will miss your crazy antics more than I can say. No longer will you thump your feet at me when you're happy, you've thrown your last tantrum when I put you back in your cage, and you've let me scratch your ears for the last time. I miss you already. I can't believe I'm never going to go out the back again and see you sitting on your log like King Buckley. RIP.

Please, please write a letter ... !

** So. The Goverment is considering cutting the current Medicare safety net for IVF. If you go to that link, and look under "Daily Blog" (left hand side), you will find some email addresses of people to write to if you disagree with this proposed/possible change. I think most people know someone who has used IVF/is currently using IVF. My cousin, who is one of the most beautiful people I know, is currently undergoing IVF as her and her husband have been unable to conceive. They would really love to have a baby, and even though IVF is tough, time-consuming and expensive, they're willing to jump through all the hoops and take all the tests, to start a family. The cost without the safety net would make it almost impossible for them, so I'm totally against the change, only because I know how much they want a child, and also because I want a little person in the family to baby talk to :-) I've never done this before, but I'm asking you guys to please take action. If you want to protest against the change, please write to Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan or Lindsay Tanner. Below is the letter I wrote, feel free to borrow it, or change it as you like. Thanks, guys! **


Dear ___________

I am writing to urge you to not change the current Medicare safety net for IVF.

IVF is crucial for many people out there, who are unable to conceive naturally. Nearly everyone knows someone that has used the IVF system, which is already incredibly expensive to conceive through, even with the safety net, in regards to time and money invested. To take away the safety net would be to take away children from people who are truly willing to endure all the highs and lows of IVF simply to get pregnant.

Once again, I urge you to not change the current safety net when considering what cuts to make in the next federal budget. IVF does so much good, for so many people. It is something that really does change lives, and something that wonderful should not come down to the money needed to make dreams come true.

Thank you for your time,

____________

Random Mutterings ...

** Christine and I just realised the dogs haven't been fed since this morning. It's 11 p.m. They were fed at 7 a.m. We are terrible humans to our dogs.

** I had my 4th immunotherapy injection today. It hurt like a fucker, and I had a reaction. Twelve hours later, my arm is still swollen and aching. Ter-freaking-rific!

** I got an alarm system and central locking installed in my car today. I've spent the night pressing the lock and unlock button on the remote, just to see where in the house it works from (pretty much anywhere, in case you were wondering). It's wildly entertaining, and soooo dorky.

** I have tonsillitis, a throat infection and an ear infection. Again.

** I brought 8 pairs of socks today. Man, I love me some new socks.

** Collingwood is in the AFL Pre-Season Grand Final tomorrow night ... Go Pies.

** I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

The Jersey-dog and The Dozer-baby.

February ...

So. Let's review.

February 7th, the bushfires get scarily close to our house.

February 11th, I go outside to drive to work and discover that my car has been stolen.

February 12th, my car is found. It has been crashed and dumped.

February 20th, my mum ends up in hospital. She spent the following couple of weeks in and out of hospital.

Last Thursday, the 26th, I drove home to see her.

Today, a speeding fine arrived in the mail. I got caught doing 105 in a 100 zone.

$142 and 1 demerit point.

Thank god February is over.

Oh, George.

Dear George,

I am writing you this letter to tell you that it’s over between us.

I know that you will be shocked – after all, at the start, we were perfect together. A more perfect couple has never existed, of this I am sure. I rang you, the day my car was stolen. I was confused and stunned, and you were my calm white knight.

Oh, George, how I want to go back to that first day. You whispered sweet nothings in my ear, told me that the insurance claim would be “a piece of cake”, that you’d make it so easy for me. You told me that everything would be okay, George, and I believed you. It would take no time at all, according to you, and I wouldn't have to do anything.

It’s hard to tell when I began to doubt you, George. I’m not sure when exactly, but I soon realised that I was always calling you. You never sent me flowers, you never seemed interested in me. And that's not what a girl wants, George.

Now, I know you're a busy man, George. I respect that. You're busy, and I know that you're not just my claims man, you belong to many others as well. I respect that, and totally understand that. We were never going to be exclusive, you and I.

But to have one phonecall from you in three weeks, to slowly become disillusioned with you, while I dealt with most things on my own ... Well, it quickly became clear to me that you weren't the claims man for me.

So, George, it's over. I'll have my cheque thanks, and then we'll part ways, never to see each other again. Unless you start working for my new insurance company, that is, and I'm unlucky enough to have another car stolen. Thanks for the no help that you gave me, the updates I was promised but never received, and the utter lack of helpfullness you displayed on many occassions. While it was fun, it's an experience I never hope to repeat.

Best of luck George, may you find some new chick willing to believe the garbage you talk.

Signed,

Bitter and Was-carless-but-now-not,-no-thanks-to-you-George.

Well, usually I don't blog from work, but today it's really quiet and I need something to do :-) So here I am.

 

It's been a big few weeks, firstly with the fires, then with my car being stolen, and then my mum ended up in hospital (and out of hospital ... and in hospital ... and out again), which is why it's been a while since I updated properly.

 

Firstly, I don't know if I ever wrote about the damage that the bushfire did to my workplace. On Black Saturday night, as we hosed down our house, I had phonecalls from friends, each one telling me one of the following: That my work had been destroyed/that the land next to work was gone, but they hadn't heard what happened to work/that the nursery part of my work was gone/that the offices had been totally destroyed/that the yard was gone/that there was only minor damage ... The vacant block of land next to work, and the house next to the vacant block were both destroyed, but my workplace was very lucky. We lost part of our fence, and a small part of our yard, but otherwise we were incredibly lucky. It wasn't really luck though - my bosses worked their arses off all night, and were on front-end loaders (bulldozers) until 6 a.m. on the Sunday morning, knocking down people's fences and trees, as well as dozing bush/scrub land, to ensure that the fire didn't spread too far. The smoke and water damage to both work and home took a few days to clean up, but the house and workplace is still standing, so I won't complain. I realise lucky we are to still have our house, our workplace. Like my post before said, tomorrow is shaping up to be another horror day, and the conditions will rival those we had on Black Saturday in heat and wind speed. Let's hope that we can get through tomorrow safely.

 

Next ... My car. That's been one hell of a saga ... Well, the insurance company has declared it a "total loss", which isn't surprising. I know that my insurance company was the insurance company that about 75% of people who lost their houses in my area were insured by (did you follow that?!), so I get that they are busy. Really, I do. And, it's just a car. So easily replaced. But my insurance company has been unbelievably slack. For the first two and a half weeks, even though I was constantly chasing them up, they were still not doing anything. It wasn't until I complained (at the END of last week, a good three and a half weeks after the car was stolen), that it was explained to me how busy they were. Which, as I said, I totally get. But nobody told me that to begin with, which is why I got so pissed off. I'm really thankful that I didn't wait for the insurance money to come through to put towards my new car (which I considered doing for the first week, until it became apparent that it would take so. freaking. long.), as the claim still hasn't been settled, and probably won't be for another couple of weeks.

 

So, instead of waiting for the insurance money, I applied for a bank loan, which was approved ... Then I went out and got me a new set of wheels! I ended up going with a 1994 Ford Laser, mostly because I fell in love! It's very tidy, very well maintained and it has low kms. I had a full inspection done on it before I handed over the bank cheque, and they found nothing wrong with it. It's a 4 door, silver dude that I'm calling Leroy. (Get it? First Gibbsy, then Leroy? It was either Leroy or Jethro, and it's not country hick enough to be a Jethro!).  

 

So, the next thing I want to do (probably when I do actually get the insurance money through) is put an alarm system and central locking in the car, as well as a brand new cd player. I dont know whether I'll actually need the alarm system, as being a little newer than my old car (which was an '84, this new one is a '94), it won't be as easy for people to break into (and seriously, how unlucky do you have to be to have two cars stolen?!), but this is mostly for my piece of mind. To be honest, I'm still having trouble sleeping, because every time I hear a car door, or a car starts during the night, I have a little panic attack that it's my car, being stolen again. And the new cd player, is just for me. After a shitty month, I deserve something just for me. Ok ... Something else just for me ... I recently got me a tooouuuch, baby, an ipod touch. (OMG, can I just say, best thing ever. Our cd player at work died two weeks ago, so I have been putting the touch on speaker and listening to it all day at work. Plus I have it on while I'm getting ready for work, while I'm having lunch, and I listen to my fave podcasts every night. Best $300 I ever spent on myself!) You can hook an ipod touch up to the cd player I've picked out, and it not only plays your music, but it also charges the ipod at the same time. It's also got other whiz-bang gidgets and snappy little gadgets and wonderful fancy fuctions and whatnot that go with it/that it does.

 

Well, I do have more to say, but I just realised that I have a meeting after work (in about, oh, twenty minutes time), that I'm totally not ready for yet ... Shit. So I better get going, and do some of that work they're actually paying me to do ... Oops, my bad.

 

 

 

 

  

Tomorrow ...

Please keep all Victorians in your thoughts tomorrow. Conditions are predicted to be worse than those of Black Saturday. Let's hope that we can make it through the day with no new bushfires, no more deaths, and no more houses destroyed.  

 

 

 

Seriously ...

Please keep the following people in your thoughts ...

Dr. S: Yesterday, Henry, her beautiful young son (4 and a half years old) passed away from Medulloblastoma. Please keep Dr Smak and family in your thoughts.

Lisa: from Clusterfook. Lisa is currently fighting to stay with her family - the Dude and her two daughters - but her time on Earth is short. Please pray that she finds peace, and does not suffer any longer.

Kristie: I have been a "fan" of Kristie since her days on CB when she would update us on how her daughter, Kendrie was going with her cancer battle. Thankfully, Kendrie kicked cancer's ass to the kerb, and has been doing well since ... The same can't be said for Kristie's husband Blaine, who has not only endured cancer, but surgeries and complications and radiation ... And now, the news that the cancer is back once again. My heart breaks for this family, who I've grown to love over the last couple of years. If you have time, visit Kristie and family at www.notquitewhatihadplanned.blogspot.com and give them some comment love, which will hopefully give them some strength to face this latest battle.

People have recently found this blog by searching for:
"bendigo gay spot",
"girl name mishman",
"grr ... to you doing the dishes", "
"ice cream vomit"

A little weird ...

But the kicker?

"how to steal a car"

Uh-huh. Yep. Get lost, car thief. You'll find no hints here, fucker!

Weirdos ...

So, I just realised that when I went out to see my car the other day, after it was found dumped in the bush, I got everything out of there that I wanted (cds, rego papers, etc.), but the one thing that was missing?

A bottle of sunscreen, which was in the glovebox.

Bizarre. Why would someone steal a bottle of sunscreen?

Say hello to a woman on the edge ...

So. Yeah. It's been a big few days.

On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, as you might have guessed, my car was stolen from our driveway. We didn't hear a thing, and the dogs didn't bark. I went out the front door on Wednesday morning, ready to go to work, looked to the right where our driveway is ... And my car was gone. I rang work, slightly disbelieving to tell them that as I had no car, I couldn't get in. It took a while to sink in that my car was really gone. Someone had stolen it. So I spent the morning ringing the Police, the insurance company, the Police again, VicRoads, and the insurance company again. I kind of hoped that it had just been stolen by some kids, who'd run it out of petrol then dump it somewhere, safe and unharmed.

This morning I got a call at 8 a.m. from the Eaglehawk Police saying that it had been found, dumped about 10 minutes from here, and that "there was some significant damage to the front end of the car". So, Christine and I went out to have a look, and hell yes, there was some significant damage to the front end of the car. The Police think that whoever stole it has hit some kind of pole/signpost (like a stop/give way sign or a street sign), which has basically collapsed the car into the middle of itself. The passenger in the front seat has then slammed their head into the windscreen, and left some blood in the cracked glass (next time, might be an idea for them to steal a car with airbags, since they sure as hell can't drive. Dumbfucks. Yeah, there's still some anger about all this ...). My cd's and cd player were all still in the car, as were all the papers/service books in the glovebox. I guess since there was nothing of real value in the car, they decided to just dump it and run after they crashed it.

It looks as if the insurance company will probably write the car off, as the damage is pretty extensive, and it would probably cost more for them to repair it than it would for them to pay me the market value of the car and be done with it.

So today, I dealt with the Police, the insurance company, the tow truck driver, the smash repairs place, the insurance guys again, and then the Police again. I also went to the bank to see about getting a personal loan, to buy a new car. My car only cost me a couple of grand, because at the time all I needed was something to get me to work and home again, and I didn't want to take out a loan and get into debt. This time I'll be buying something a little more expensive, something a little newer (mine's a 1984 model), something with airconditioning (no more sweltering in 40 degree heat), and something with a loud alarm system.

To be honest, I can't believe how much this has upset me. It's just a car, right? But seeing it, all smashed up, knowing that I probably won't be driving it again, made me upset - because it was my first car, because the first time I drove myself to Melbourne, it was in that car, because I could get in my car and just relax, even on my most stressed day (what can I say, driving relaxes me) - and it made me pissed off. What does someone get out of that? What's the point in stealing a car that's not yours, driving it around, smashing it into a pole and then dumping it? What's the point? It's dangerous, and stupid, and now, I'm without my car, my Gibbsy, named after Gibbs from NCIS, because yes, he's old, but he's hot! Even if the insurance company does decide to repair him, I won't keep him. Quite frankly, knowing that someone broke into him, and stole him ... Just freaks me out. I can't even explain why. I know he'd look the same as before, they'd get out all the dings and paint him and replace his windscreen, but ... Like I said, I can't explain it. I'd have to sell him. I know it's irrational, and stupid, but that's what I'm feeling right now.

So, tonight, I will hopefully get some sleep, since the last couple of nights have been sleepless (I've borrowed a car from one of my bosses at work until all the insurance stuff gets sorted out, and now I'm beyond paranoid that they're going to come back and steal it - I jump every time I hear a car door during the night). I think that's part of the reason I was so emotional today (emotional, hell, I was a basket case. I spent the entire afternoon crying off and on, in huge, hysterical sobs, that I just couldn't control. My eyes are like tiny little slits at the moment, they're so swollen from crying). If I can just get a good nights sleep I'm sure I'll be fine. We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings ...

My car ...

The Police found it ...

Thanks, dumbfuck car thieves. I know there was at least two of you, because someone in the passenger seat smashed their head on my windscreen when it crashed. Hope you have the biggest headache ever, you dipshit.

Dear Scumbag Car Thief

Just wanted to say thanks. Thanks heaps.

In a week that's already been incredibly stressful, what with having a fire get within 1 freaking kilometre of our house and everything, you just had to do your bit, didn't you?

Thanks for stealing my car last night while I slept. It was actually the first good nights sleep I've had since Friday night. I woke up this morning, feeling refreshed, and not as stressed as I've been since Saturday.

When I went out to get in my car for work, however, all your handiwork hit me fair in the face as I realised that my freaking car had been stolen.

Thanks for making me miss another morning of work, while I rang the police and the insurance company and VicRoads. That's work that I can't afford to miss. I need that money.

Hope you enjoyed driving around in my car, listening to my CD's, using up the tank of petrol I just filled 2 days ago. That's $50 down the drain, so thanks you friggin dumbfuck.

I hope that your testicles turn green and fall the fuck off and I hope that you walk around with snot all over your face all day. I hope that you're found, and that you're charged. I hope that you realise the stress and the hurt and the cost that you've caused. I hope that someday you realise exactly what you did to me, and that you then have to deal with that shame for the rest of your life.

Snappz.

Lucky?

This will only be a short entry. Today everything is still to raw, too real.

I don't even know how to describe the events of the last two days.

The fires came scarily close to our house. It is something I would never want to experience ever again. And yet, we were lucky. We didn't lose our house, we didn't lose our lives.

Around Victoria, the death toll is still climbing. The houses that have been destroyed are numerous. Entire towns have been devastated.

It all happened so quickly.

Please keep the victims of the bushfires in your thoughts. They need all the prayers that you can send their way.

Uh-oh ... Rant time!

A couple of things on my mind tonight ...

Firstly, the Government's Stimulus Package. The Opposition is currently trying to stop it going through Parliament. While part of me does agree with the logic in their argument - should we be putting our country in huge amounts of debt to try and avoid a recession (which will probably occur anyway?)? The other part - the larger part of me - thinks that $900 could be an enormous help to families/people who are really struggling at the moment. Imagine being able to stock up the freezer/fridge/pantry, get some winter clothes, pay some extra off bills that they can't seem to clear ... Even people my age, who are living from paycheck to paycheck, would really appreciate some extra help. The first round of bonuses (given out in December) helped boost retail sales by 4% in December. The money would be spent, I'm sure. Most people are finding it hard to save money to get ahead at the moment. Maybe the bonus money will ease the pressure a little. Personally, I don't know if I'm eligible for the bonus, but I hope that it passes through Parliament. I think it would do a lot of good.

Secondly, Telstra. FUCKERS. Oh yeah, this is gonna be a rant.

I moved house in NOVEMBER. As people do, I rang up, went through all their stupid little questions and I disconnected my phone ... Because I was MOVING HOUSE. A month ago, I still had not received my final phone bill from Telstra. So I called. Only to find out that my broadband connection had NOT BEEN DISCONNECTED. It was STILL active. Almost TWO months after I moved house. So, they disconnected it, and told me the bill was on it's way. Great. Can't wait to pay it. Last week, I realised that I still hadn't spotted the bill, but I couldn't ring them last week as I worked all week. Today, 4 weeks later, I rang again. This time the excuse for not receiving my bill yet? "That service is still connected. Are you sure you arranged disconnection when you moved?" OH MY GOD. Seriously??! They had my broadband account disconnected (FINALLY, they get SOMETHING right!)
but my phone line was still active. EVEN THOUGH I MOVED OUT ALMOST THREE MONTHS AGO! The second reason I haven't received a bill? Because even though I have provided it 4 times (when disconnecting fixed line, when disconnecting broadband, WHEN RINGING UP TO MAKE SURE THEY HAD MY NEW ADDRESS CORRECT, when ringing to find out where the bill got to), they WERE STILL SENDING MY BILLS TO MY OLD ADDRESS.

For fucks sake!

Ok, now I have to cut this post short because my TELSTRA WIRELESS CONNECTION keeps DROPPING OUT and I'm worried I'm going to lose this whole post. Damm Telstra.

Ok, rant over ... Sorry for the colourful language :-)

Ugh ...

The acoustic version of 'Sweet About Me' that Gabriella Climi sang before the tennis final?
Shit.
Also, what the hell was she wearing? And has her hair been near a brush any time this week?
Great advertisment for Melbourne ... We breed scruffy, disgustingly-dressed terrible singers ...

That's not the way I want my story to end ...

A lot of loose change rattling around in my head this week ...

Firstly, the main item on the news for the last few nights has been the heatwave. Victoria is having a heatwave ... No frigging kidding. It's been high thirties since last weekend/start of this week, and the last four days have seen temps into the FORTIES. The freaking forties, people. Forty, forty three, forty four, forty four. And tomorrow we're in for a lovely forty four. The news keeps harping on about it ... It's a heatwave, it's a heatwave ... No shit, sherlock. Remember when it was winter and we were all bitching about how cold it was? Remember that magical, freezing time that was only a few months ago? When we all prayed for summer to start? Maybe we prayed too hard. Apparently it's the only time since 1855 that we've had this many days with the temp above 40. Well, don't I feel friggin special to be a part of history!

I had the week off work last week. I went to Melbourne - left on Tuesday when it was 42 (yeah, it was a great drive in a car with no air conditioning, thanks for asking), and it was mid to high 30's there all week. I went down to go to the allergist - the appointment I waited three months for - and to hang with my sister and my nieces for a few days.

My sister and my nieces are doing well. My little Bug Eyes is such a smart kid. She's very switched on - can't get much past that kid. My little Baby Smurf has turned into such a smiley, giggley kid. She's got a very definite personality - if she's not happy, you know it. But most of the time she's happy to just chill, smiling every few seconds at something random. It rocks!

The appointment with the allergist went great. I'm allergic to dogs! *lol* Funny. Not really badly allergic, but I had a reaction, so there's something there. Mostly I'm allergic to grasses, pollens, dust mites, all that kind of stuff. The good news is that I can be desensitised against those allergies. This involves starting immunotherapy, which is a fancy name for a hideously expensive course of 8 injections, done every second week. Then I go back to the allergist, and start a second course of terribly expensive injections. I finish them, and go back to the allergist again. Then I get a final - yep, you guessed it - unbelievably expensive lot of injections and go back to the allergist once more. Then I go on my merry way, hopefully forever cured of allergies/hayfever.

The good news is that the injections, which go over the next two or so years, will get rid of all the problems I'm having now. My asthma, which is mostly allergy/sickness induced will most likely totally go (woo hoo!). My headaches will disappear, I won't be so tired all the damn time, and I won't go through a box of tissues very two days, I'll be able to concentrate better at work ... The benefits are endless. The bad news? The injections work at out about $100 each. Not $100 per round, $100 each. There are 8 injections in each round. I get about $25 of that back on Medicare (wow ...! That'll help!). The other bad news is that I have to keep going the way I am for a while, it takes a few months (sometimes up to 6 or 8 months) to see the difference. But honestly, I'd pay anything to feel better, and I've put up with it for this long, so what's a few more months? Probably should start saving for the next lot of injections now though ...

So, I had my first injection yesterday afternoon. Because they inject me with what I'm allergic to, I have to have the injection, sit in the room with the doctor for five minutes, have my vitals taken, then go and wait in the waiting room for 25 minutes, and then I can leave. Apparently, injecting me with what I'm actually allergic to is kinda dangerous ... Who woulda guessed it?! The studies say that if a reaction is going to happen, it will happen in the first 15 minutes ... So my doctor makes me wait 25 just to be on the safe side. Apart from it going really red and some lumps coming up where the doctor stabbed me, (totally to be expected, though) it went fine.

Did I mention it's been a little bit hot here ... ?! Oh, I did ... ?!

Work has been good. I worked all this week, since I had last week off. It's been busy as all hell. I'm convinced that the girl who worked all last week did shit-all, all week, because I've spent the week catching up on work that should have already been done. Grr. However, yesterday I actually left at 4 instead of 5. Our power went out, and with no computer (and no air conditioning) there wasn't much point in me hanging around. Since I live about a three minute drive from work, I was worried about getting home to a hot house, figuring the power wouldn't have gone out here too, but I walked into a nice, cool house, with the power still working. I know the power went out in much of Victoria today due to the heatwave (yeah, we're in the middle of a heatwave, didn't you know?!), but thankfully we lucked out again and kept the power again all day.

So, I just finished seven days straight, I have tomorrow off, then I go back for four days, then I get two off. Woo hoo.

Before I finish, I'd like to get a little serious for a minute here. On Sunday night, an Uncle of mine died. His name was Russell, and he passed away after a brief illness. He fought, but the illness was stronger than him.

Russell never did anything "great", or "amazing". He was just an ordinary guy, who went to work each day. He loved his family, (including the two kids who weren't technically his) and was always there for them. He was gruff, sometimes a "grump", enjoyed a drink on special occassions (Sunday was a special occassion to Russell ...!) and love spoiling the grandkids. He wasn't rich, but he took care of his family. He wasn't surrounded by material crap that meant nothing. In the end, he died the way he lived - surrounded by his loving family, who were always there for him, like he was for them. Quite simply, he was a good guy.

R.I.P Russell. You fought so hard, right to the end. You have earned your rest.

Also, R.I.P. Darcey Freeman. I can't remember the last time that a story on the news made me cry so hard. What a horrible, horrible tragedy. How could someone do that to a child?

Ok, this has been a long entry, and it's now 12:27, so I think it might be time for bed. Night guys.

PostSecret

New secrets are up. Check 'em out!

Go Warne ... r? !!

Twenty/20 is on - that's Cricket for you folks who don't know - and in their 20 overs, Australia scored 182. South Africa haven't made a great start at 3/12 in the third over ... C'mon Aussie, c'mon ... :-)

So, yeah. Not much going on here. Just watching the cricket, as you can tell. Christine's at work, so I can watch in peace :-)

Dozer comes home on Tuesday. We're getting ready to have a new puppy in the house, buying toys, a bed, water/food bowls, and more toys :-) Christine is cranky coz she's going to Melbourne for the first couple of days that Dozer will be with us, so she won't see the cute lil puppy for a while (all together now ... "Awww!"). I'm cranky coz next week I'm going to Melbourne for a specialist/doctors appointment, so I won't be home to see him for a few days. I can't wait to see my nieces though, that'll be awesome.

I can't believe how little I've got to say tonight ... :-) I keep getting distracted by the cricket. One of the guys from work is actually at the MCG tonight ... I hate him!

3/31 in the fourth over ... Maybe this game isn't totally in the bag? They do seem to be smacking a few now ... Ok, possibly I should just give up writing this, and concentrate on the cricket.

Dozer ...

Ok, let's clear a couple of things up here, k?

For a while now, Christine has been talking about getting another dog. Mostly, to benefit Jersey. He is a social dog, needs to be around people/other dogs all the time. He's settled down a bit, but still has a way to go. Everyone she's spoken to - e.g. vet, other dog owners, thinks that this would be a great idea. She's also been saying for quite some time that the next one will be a pound puppy, from the RSPCA. This isn't something that has been rushed into.

We've been out to the RSPCA a couple of times over the last couple of weeks or so. We found a gorgeous staffy x lab that we liked. His name was Alan, and he was a few years old, and a little bigger than Jersey. So, we did as the website suggests to do when you already have a dog at home - Christine took Jersey out to meet Alan. They didn't fight, but as Alan was bigger than Jersey, he dominated him when they played, which lead to Jersey lying down, going submissive. So, Alan was out.

We had a chat at home the other night, and figured that: a) we needed a dog roughly the same size as Jersey, or smaller, and b) we would probably need a dog either younger than Jersey, or roughly the same age. That way, he'd have someone with plenty of energy, just like him. Although we didn't really want to do the whole puppy thing again - housetraining, putting everything up so it doesn't get chewed on, etc., we figured that we survived Jersey being a pup, what's the worst that could happen?

Thursday, we went back to the RSPCA. The sad thing is, they get 15 - 20 new dogs every few days. Honestly, some people should be shot. I'm sure some give their dogs away as a last resort, but most seem to be dumped, or are strays that no one bothers collecting. I guess the only positive is that their are also people who are always willing to take in pound puppies.

So again, we went and had a look. And, two cages from the end, was this tiny bundle of fur. His name was Blaze, and he was a Rottie cross. One of the RSPCA volunteers said that they thought he was actually purebred, but they couldn't say for sure. He was a stray, with no tags and he wasn't microchipped. I put my fingers through the cage, and he started chewing away on them. He was gorgeous.

So, we turned around and went home again to get Jersey. On the way home, we discussed whether we really wanted a puppy or not - could we really handle all the responsibilities of having a little pup? And we decided that if Jersey and the pup got along, then yes, we could.

Jersey and Blaze got along beautifully when we let them have a run together. Jersey needs to be a little more gentle with the pup, but he wasn't bothered when Blaze would run and jump on his head, or lick his feet. So, we decided to go for it. We signed the paperwork, sorted out a day to pick up him up (after he's been microchipped and desexed) and sadly said goodbye to the little guy. On the way home, we discussed renaming him, as he doesn't know his name yet. Christine came up with Dozer, so Dozer it is.

So, anyway. We went out to the RSPCA today to hang with him for a little while. Jersey and Dozer had a run around for a while, which was good. I hope now that the people who left comments can see that this isn't something that we've rushed into. We didn't just pick out Dozer on a whim, because he was cute, without thinking things through. Neither Christine or I are like that. We know that he's going to pee (or "puddle", as one dog training book we got from the library yesterday called it ... How delicate!) in the house. He'll chew and destroy stuff that we like, and that's ok too. He and Jersey will, at some stage, fight. And we'll deal with it. We're ready for whatever those dogs want to throw our way ... :-)

And that, should be the end of that!

Friday Night Fun

Christine: This is ridiculous. You'd think they'd at least line them up so you can just grab one as you go by.
Me: You're right. I'm gonna write them a letter: "Dear B____ City Council. I went out on Friday night to steal one of your bright orange road cones. Didn't make it easy for me, did you, fuckers?!"
Christine: (Laughing hysterically) I can't breathe.
Me: I'm sure they'll get right onto fixing that. They'd want to make theft easier for their rate-payers!

Introducing ...

Meet Dozer!
The newest member of our house. We went to the RSPCA today, and fell in love. Jersey likes him, so we signed the paperwork today. We pick him up on Tuesday. He's a rottie cross, and he is adoreable! He's still a puppy, so we named him Dozer in honour of the bulldozer he's sure to become as he grows!

Another Quote ...

“You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” - Robin Williams

Umm ... Oops?

Apparently I'm some kind of potty mouth ...



Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

01/01/09

Congratulations to Ang, Vince and Ryan on the birth of Nicholas John!

01/01/09
7:49 p.m.
8lb, 8oz.
Beautiful, happy and healthy!

What a year!

So ... 2008.

What a year, eh?

2007, as I've written before, was a crappy year.

2008 was the year that things fell to pieces - and then fell back together perfectly.

"Maybe good things fall apart so better things can fall together..."

I could write a long, reflective blog entry on all that has happened in the last year ... But, quite frankly, I'm still paying for last night, and I've also had one or two drinks this arvo, so I don't quite have the attention span for a long entry. So instead, I'll just hit on the main points ...

Better things fell together this year.

I lost my job ... Then fell into a job that makes me happy. I love going to work now. I laugh, I joke around with the guys, and I work my arse off happily. I can't count the number of times that I've started smiling at work, just because I've had the thought that I'm so lucky - I love this place, this is my "work". I take work home, and I sit there smiling while I do it. I've been there close to seven months, and none of the gloss is wearing off. Rock on!

I moved from my nice, perfectly located, peaceful little unit when Christine purchased her first house. I knew that it would be fine, as we'd lived together before ... But I'd still lived alone for close to three years. I was used to total freedom, quiet when I wanted it and being the only one in control of the remote control. But again, better things fell together. Now? Now I've living in a kickarse house located three minutes from my work. We've got a huge kitchen and lounge room, and the best airconditioning ever. I haven't lost any of the freedom I got used to while living alone, and I can't believe I ever doubted that this would be anything but awesome. Again, this is only a couple of months old, but I don't see anything changing. We've settled in so well, it seems like we've always been here.

The family dramas went up and down for the first three-quarters of the year, which was rough. However, the last few months have seen a slight, teeny, tiny, slow-moving change occur. Things finally seem to be settling down. For the first time in a few years, we were all home for Christmas, and there were no fights. The day was peaceful, and content. We weren't the "perfect family" by any means ... But maybe we're on the way there.

"Maybe good things fall apart so better things can fall together ..."
Bring on 2009!

Happy New Year!

These Days - Powderfinger

It's coming round again
The slowly creeping hand
Of time and its command
Soon enough it comes
And settles in its place
Its shadow in my face
Puts pressure in my day

This life well it's slipping right through my hands
These days turned out nothing like i had planned

It's coming round again
The slowly creeping hand
Of time and its demands
It settles in its place
Its shadow in my face
Undignified and lame

This life well it's slipping right through my hands
These days turned out nothing like i had planned
Control well it's slipping right through my hands
These days turned out nothing like i had planned

Soon enough it comes
Soon enough it comes
To tie us down

Who doesn't love Homer?

"Mmmm ... 64 slices of American cheese ..."

"So i said, 'Look buddy, your car was upside down when we got here, and as for your grandmother, she shouldn't have mouthed off like that."

"You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college."

"Extended warranty! How can I lose?"

Zach

Zach and his family could use some love and support right now. Please stop by and say hi!

Mother of the Year

Overheard tonight at Safeway:

Mum: "Ethan! You are irritating the BEJESUS OUT OF ME!"

Someone is ready for the end of school holidays ... Too bad there's another four weeks before school goes back.

I have spread my dreams beneath your feet.
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
W.B. Yeats

The Impression That I Get - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Have you ever been close to tragedy
Or been close to folks who have
Have you ever felt a pain so powerful
So heavy you collapse
I've never had to knock on wood
But I know someone who has
Which makes me wonder if i could
It makes me wonder if
I've never had to knock on wood
And I'm glad i haven't yet
Because I'm sure it isn't good
that's the impression that I get
have you ever had the odds stacked up so high
You need a strength most don't possess
Or has it ever come down to do or die
You've got to rise above the rest
I've never had to knock on wood
But I know someone who has
Which makes me wonder if i could
It makes me wonder if
I've never had to knock on wood
And I'm glad I haven't yet
Because I'm sure it isn't good
that's the impression that I get
I'm not a coward,
I've just never been tested
I'd like to think that if I was,
I would pass
Look at the tested and think there but for the grace go
I might be a cowards,
I'm afraid of what I might find out
I've never had to knock on wood
But I know someone who has
Whoch makes me wonder if i could
It makes me wonder if
I've never had to knock on wood
And I'm glad i haven't yet
Because I'm sure it isn't good
That's the impression that I get

Another year over ...

I know, I know. Bad blogger. Baaaad blogger.

This is only my third entry for the month. How the hell did that happen?!

I actually had every intention of updating before Christmas, or at least on Christmas day to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I'm not sure what happened to those intentions, somewhere along the way they got lost I guess ...

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas, anyway. I was at home, with the family and we actually had a great day. It was very low-key, but nice. There were no fights, I didn't break my brothers nose at any point during the day ... Yep, it was a good Christmas.

Things in the World of Snappz have actually been humming along quite nicely.

Christine and I have well and truly settled into the house, and are loving living together. We seem to have fallen into quite an easy, relaxed routine that leads to no stress, and no fights.

Jersey is still known as Devil Dog, and shows no signs of leaving his "puppiness" behind anytime soon. We are constantly saying "NO!", because he continues to do everything from dig massive holes in the backyard to pinch stuff from the bin inside to wreck stuff to whine incessantly when he's left outside alone for more than 30 seconds. Actually, the whining has toned down a notch, which is good, and we have managed to train him to sit and wait before he comes in the back door. Everything else though? He's driving us mental. The last few mornings we've gotten up to discover the concrete in the backyard covered in dirt, and holes everywhere. It's getting old. He actually dug out half a garden bed about an hour ago, and he'd only been outside alone for a little while. He's seriously testing the patience of both Christine and I.

The Buckley Bunny/B-Man/Buck-Miester/Buckster is doing well. He ended up at the vets again a couple of weeks ago, after he came out with big red spot type things on his back. Our first suspicion, since they looked like blood, was that Jersey had somehow managed to get to him, but it turned out to be a sun infection - something about the sun interacting with what he'd eaten, and upsetting the bacteria under his skin, which then turned bad. It was upsetting, and I felt guilty. I should have known better to let an all white rabbit live outside in the sun. So he's been an inside rabbit for the last couple of weeks while he gets better. To help him get better, twice a day I have to wash him with this brown stuff, then wait 10 minutes and put cream on him. He was on antibiotics for the first 14 days, but they've stopped now. I got some shadecloth to go over his cage, and probably at the end of this week I'll get some more to put on the fram at the back of the house. Today he went back into his outside cage - once it was properly covered, of course! Can't really afford another $150 at the vet! - and he already seems much happier. His cage inside is only small, so he doesn't have that much room to move. Hopefully by the end of the week his back will be all healed, and I'll have the rest of the shadecloth up for him.

Work is going well - really well. Devil dog and I sometimes go for walks at night, and we walk up past work - about a 50 minute walk all up. Last week I found myself smiling and laughing as I walked past work, unable to believe how happy I am there, and how much I love the place. Honestly, it's just awesome. Somewhere, somehow I must have done something good to get this gig. The office is closed for two weeks over the holidays, but I'm working right through in the nursery part. The best news I've heard lately? That they're considering taking me out of the nursery, and putting me in the office full time. I don't know if it will happen, but I think I might actually bust with happiness if it does :-)

I'm hoping to spend some time on here tonight, updating this page and making it look a bit newer. It's all a bit same old/same old. I haven't changed much on here in months. Might have to update my links and fix up the "Currently Reading", as well as find some new quotes for the page. Maybe some song lyrics ... Maybe some new pictures ... Hmm, we'll see how I go.

Ok, before I go, I have two things to share ...

Pictures of 2008: This is our world. Amazing. You can find Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.

And ... Some song lyrics.

I love Christmas. These two songs I've been playing non-stop all week, simply because I find them beautiful.

*****
Snow's falling down as you step out of your car
Presents in your arms and you've traveled far
Someone opens the door with a smile on their face
And you know you've come to the right place
Family nestled by the fire
Christmas hopes to inspire
Loved ones by your side
You know you'll kiss your babies goodnight
At Christmas, Christmas
No matter who you are, how far you've come
This is where you belong
At Christmas
Memories 'round the Christmas tree
Are the sweetest ones that remain with me
It's a comfort deep inside, though you can't stop the race of time
To know that Christmas will always be
Family nestled by the fire
A Christmas hope will be inspired
Loved ones by your side
You know you'll kiss your baby goodnight
At Christmas, Christmas
No matter who you are or how far you've come
At Christmas
Can't you feel it changin'
Sense the anticipation
You can tell we're almost there
Precious time we're takin'
Memories we're makin'
There's a Christmas in the air
Now this is what Christmas means to me
Being together with your family
And the wise men who have followed that star
To where our baby Jesus lay
Family nestled all around
Baby Jesus asleep so sound
And His star shined so bright
On that very first holy night
At Christmas, Christmas
No matter who you are or how far you've come
this is where you belong
At Christmas, Christmas

*****

Everything's different
But nothing has changed
Are we going in circles
It's Christmas again
Can't you hear the sleigh bells right
All our voices unite
And look up the the heavens
See the stars shining bright
Everybody needs a little lovin'
around Christmas time
Somehow you got to know you're going to be all right
Do you remember how it used to be
Sitting under the Christmas tree
In your heart you'll
Find the season
We've been blessed by the children
black, yellow, and white
They believe in the things
we try to deny
So throw down your weapons
But continue the fight
And let's love one another
On this Holy night
Everybody needs a little lovin'
Around Christmas time
Somehow you got to know you're gonna be all right
Do you really remember how it used to be
Sitting under the Christmas Tree
In your heard you'll
find the season
O reach down inside your heart
and see all the love
O in your heart you'll
find the reason
Everybody needs a little lovin'
Around Christmas time
Somehow you got to know you're gonna be all right
Do you really remember how it used to be
Sitting under the Christmas tree
In your heart you'll
find the season

*****

...

How silly for me to punish myself in the present moment

because someone hurt me in the long ago past.

Just the highlights ...

... Here goes ... Fastest update ever.

Work ... Busy. Flat out, actually.

Finally have more than a single day off at a time ... At the end of this week, I'm going to Melbourne for 4 days to see my sister and nieces.

On Friday, my nephew turns 4. It kills me that I can't see him, give him a birthday hug, or even talk to him on the phone.

Buckley-Bunny is good. Loving the new house, the bigger cage and the freedom to run around in the backyard for a while each night.

Speaking of the new house, things are still going really well. No fights so far, having heaps of fun.

I hate hayfever. I haven't been able to breathe properly in weeks. It's getting worse. My specialist appointment isn't until January.

It's 12:23 ... Have to be up at 7 to get ready for work ... Should go to bed. Peace out.

I swear I didn't mean to start ranting!

Really ... Just never know how to start these entries.

So, things here are humming along nicely.

Chrissie and I have settled into the new house, and hit upon a nice rhythm - she does the housework when she's not working, I do it on my days off, and it's all good. The Buckmiester is loving his new cage, and he gets to run around in the backyard (providing it's not too cold/wet) at night. If it's too cold/wet for him to run outside, then he gets to run free in the spare room for a while. Jersey is not too impressed with us at the moment, as the house has a doggy door, but we've blocked it :-) So now he gets inside when we say he's allowed inside. He can still get out if he needs to when he's inside, but the door only goes the one way now - thank you, dad for fixing it!

Speaking of it being too cold/wet, what the hell is with the weather? It's NOVEMBER. It's almost the end of November. November = HOT WEATHER! Yesterday it was like 10 degrees. Seriously. And last night was FRIGGING FREEZING. Today the wind was like ice, going straight through you. I had on a singlet, a long sleeved tee, and my work shirt. And at times, I was STILL cold. Bring it on, SUMMER!

What else has been happening ... Work has been good. Busy as all get-out, but fantastic. I worked an extra day this week to make up for missing a day last week when I was moving. It amazes me that I get to have so much fun at work, that I can laugh and joke all day, and I don't get in trouble from the boss for it ... Actually, it's usually the boss that starts it :-) I'm thrilled with the location of our new house, because it's about a three minute drive from my work. So now I get like an extra 30 minutes of sleep in the mornings :-)

Neither Christine or I have finalised everything that needs to be done at our old places yet. We thought we had - we both cleaned our arses off, and left the places a hell of a lot cleaner than when we moved in - but on Thursday we both got letters stating that if we wanted our bonds back, we had to go back and do shit like "dust the heater" and "clean the bath plug hole" and "scrub the tiles in the kitchen". I had 17 items on my list, Christine had 21. What really pissed me off? The fact that there were items on my list such as "clean out garden shed" (whatever is in there isn't mine! I never used it, didn't even know I had access to it.), "clean oven knobs" (1: it wasn't done when I moved in, the oven was filthy. 2: it's not 'dirty' that you can change/fix, it's stained/baked on. you can't get it any cleaner! I know, I tried!), "wash curtains" (they were washed! TWICE! once by mum, once by me) "replace broken bedroom mirror" (it's not broken! it had just slipped down behind the dresser!). I was the one who got "dust heater", and if they'd looked properly, they would have realised that it's not dust on the heater, it's age stains. Honestly, I've never been more wild in my life. They were so nit-picky and unreasonable it made steam come out my ears. Christine was even less impressed with her letter, which was even more nit-pickier (shut up, it's a word!) than mine. Grr, even just thinking about it is making me angry again. It really feels like they're just making us run around in circles to get our bonds back, which is fucked. We were both good tenants, never caused a problem, always reporting maintenance issues, keeping the places clean, and this is how they repay us??? Get f***ed, DCK.

Anyway, now that I've raised my blood pressure a bit, just thinking about DCK, I should probably go to bed and relax a little! :-) Did have some news and other stuff I wanted to write about, but maybe I'll leave that for later. I've had my rant, so now I'll toddle off to bed. I'm out :-)

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.

See if you can possibly guess who I'm pissed at ...

Yeah, I'm still hanging around :-)

It's been a long, exhausting, internet-less week!

(Yeah. Thanks heaps, Telstra. Had to make us wait AN ENTIRE WEEK for our wireless internet, didn't you? FUCKERS ... ) (Yes, I have issues with Telstra now. I DO NOT LIKE THEM)

The move went well, everything made it to the new place. We still haven't unpacked all the boxes yet, because, well, we're slack :-) But we're getting there.

The rabbit and the devil-dog have been sharing the same backyard, sort-of-peacefully, and no one has died, lost any fur/hair or gotten into a fight, so that's gotta be a positive sign, right?

Both the Buckmiester and Jersey-dog made it through traumatic days at the vet - Bucks was desexed last Friday, and Jersey went in yesterday.

Work has been crazy-busy. Taking work home with me most nights still, since there isn't enough hours in the day. Yesterday, I emailed work to do at home to myself, forgetting that I didn't have an internet connection at home, even though Telstra WILL bill us for it. Yep. FUCKERS.

Anyway, I'm tired, (and way cranky at Telstra, hid it well, didn't I? :-)) so I better head to bed. Real update ... Coming soon :-)

One last time ...

So, two hours ago, I was planning an entry about how this will be my last entry from my King St home ever, as tonight I pack up the computer, so the removalists can take the desk tomorrow.

Two hours ago, my mental list was something like:
- pull apart bed
- clean fridge, ready to be switched off in the morning
- do one final load of washing, then disconnect washing machine
- do dishes on sink, then pack them
- get good nights sleep, ready for the big move tomorrow.

In the last two hours, all I've done is item number one. Why? Because I went to pull apart the bed, and realised that *someone* (*thanks, mum ...!) had packed the spanners I needed to pull my bed to bits. So, having no idea where they would be, I started ringing friends. One didn't have one. One had no idea what i was talking about. A few weren't home. Finally, I found someone with a spanner set ... Out in Raywood. Yeah. 25 minutes out of town.

So, I went for a drive.

So now, it's 10:30, and all I can say is ... Stuff the long, witty blog entry I had planned. *snort* I still have items on my list that need doing, and it's getting late. So ... Goodbye, King Street. Next time I update will be from the new house. Yay.

That's all!

The Bunny Rules

I found this online and thought it was kinda cute :-)


The Bunny Rules


- The bunny is not allowed in the house.
- OK, the bunny is allowed in the house, but only in certain rooms.
- The bunny is allowed in all rooms, but has to stay off the furniture.
- The bunny can get on the old furniture only.
- Fine, the bunny is allowed on all the furniture, but is not allowed to sleep with humans, on the bed.
- OK, the bunny is allowed on the bed, but only by invitation.
- The bunny can sleep on the bed when-ever he wants, but not under the covers.
- The bunny can sleep under the covers by invitation only.
- The bunny can sleep under the covers every night.
- Humans must ask permission to sleep under the covers with the bunny.

Oh, the ... Packing.

So ... Moving day is next Tuesday. TUESDAY! That's like, FOUR days away!

My plan for today (my first day off in seven days) went something like this:

- Pack
- Change address at VicRoads, Medicare, RACV, Ambulance Victoria, etc.
- Arrange phone/internet/gas/electricity disconnection, and connection at the new place
- Phone real estate agency to organise last rental payment
- Clean walls, curtains, floors
- More packing!

I did not plan for:

- People turning up to look through my house (which, as you can imagine is a disorganised mess at the moment) (P.S. Thanks for the warning, DCK!)
- A sick rabbit who clearly needed a vet (lucky I was able to get Buckley an appointment this afternoon)
- The stupidity of Telstra - Seriously, I spent like 40 minutes on hold, spoke to FOUR different people and the last one finally told me that I can't plan my internet disconnection in advance - I have to ring back on the day I actually want it disconnected. You couldn't have told me that THREE PEOPLE AGO??!!

I think that I got most of my mental list done though. I still have to change my address at the bank, and I still have some cleaning and packing to do tonight/tomorrow. I have tomorrow off as well, and then I go back to work Sunday/Monday/Tuesday. Tuesday the removalists come to do all the big stuff, and Wednesday dad is coming down with his ute to do boxes and small stuff. Because Wednesday is Bendigo Cup day here, I get the day off work. Woo hoo!

As I mentioned, The Buckmiester ended up at the vet today. This morning I noticed that he hadn't had anything to drink all night, which is unusual for him. He was also constantly trying to pee, although nothing was coming out, and (hope you're not eating as you read this) had incredibly runny poo (which was all over him). He was so quiet, and not moving much at all, so I knew he was unwell. So off we went to the vet - first time for him! It wasn't a very pleasant experience - he had a thermometre shoved up his you-know-what, got four needles and was prodded all over. He has a UTI and some kind of tummy upset, so we came home with some antibiotics, and a recommendation for Yakult, which has a lot of good bacteria in it and will help his tummy. I gave him some Yakult via a syringe before, half of which he spat back at me. I'm keeping a pretty close eye on him, and if I haven't seen him have a drink by about 9 p.m., I'll give him some more Yakult and some water through the syringe. I also booked him in next Friday to be desexed, and to have all his vaccinations. So, next Friday will be a big day for him!

Anyway, I probably better get going and do some more cleaning ... and packing. My god, the packing. Why did I buy so much shit?!

You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin special.