My Family or What I did on my holidays

Hello lovelies! Today’s post is going to link up with Maxabella’s I’m grateful for:

And Melissa’s new linky My Sweet Life.  This first one is the Family edition.

On my holidays I went to visit my family.  We got to see the new baby.  But she did not resemble the photo I posted there much at all.  She was more like this (even without a dummy/ pacifier/ whatever you want to call it):

We stayed with my grandmother twice ( a night each time), my aunt and uncle for 3 nights (two occasions) and caught up with all bar one of my 4 cousins and his wife for family dinner. There were 9 adults and 8 children ranging from Boy Child at 12 to the baby at 4 weeks! Organised chaos, but great company and food.

I managed to see my sister and her husband twice in 2 days.  Pretty impressive as I hadn’t seen her since 2009.   They were visiting as they were going to a wedding and had flown in on Friday and left on Sunday.  I even managed to catch up with my cousin’s, cousin and her family who are Baby T’s (one of those I shaved my head in memory of) family.

We had a good time. We went to a Easter Sunday picnic, Boy Child went to see the paintings in the Archibald Prize with my aunt, Girl Child and I went to Cold Rock Ice Creamery, and we came home on Wednesday on the train.

I’d also like so say a Huge Thanks to Mr E. and Girl Child who let me sleep in this morning and went to swimming lessons without me.  I finally woke up just before 2 pm.

My immediately family is sweet and so is my extended family who are happy to accept us just the way we are (well maybe not understanding not wanting to get up early but still!). 

Do you want to play?  Drop by Maxabella Loves and say Happy First Blogiversary while you are there.  Also catch up with Melissa at Suger Coat it and play along with My Sweet Life!  sorry I can’t work out how to get that linky here.  My Family is Sweet and I’m grateful for family and holidays – just in case that wasn;t clear. LOL.

Oh Yes! I am also grateful because Smiley Dog is not yet completely blind and as it has been a gradual thing he is coping and will continue to adapt to being both blind and deaf.  He is still happy and smiling so his quality of life is good!

It’s not Munchausen by Internet it’s just my life…

The Sydney Morning Herald magazine Good Weekend recently published an article about Munchausen by Internet.  In short Munchausen by Internet is a fairly new term coined for people who pretend to be ill on line to elicit sympathy from online support groups, bloggers etc.

I have been unwell with a headache for 6 weeks now.  The GP(General Practitioner) I have been seeing for years has been close to useless a little laid back about it as far as I and Mr E are concerned.  When I first went to the Dr he was very attentive and he rang me when the test results that said I wasn't going blind. Hurray.

Since that point, I have pushed to find out what is going on with me and nobody form the surgery) has rung to let me know what any of my test results have been.  Or even that my results were back and that I may need an appointment to discuss them.  For me today was the last straw.  I had blood tests on Friday and the Dr said he would call me when he had the results.  Yesterday he hadn’t called so I called the pathology lab and discovered the Dr had the results emailed to him on Monday. Umm…okay then.  So I rang and asked if the Doctor needed to see me about my results.  He wasn't there but they would get back to me.  This afternoon I waited until 5.15 and rang again.  I was told that he wanted to see me and I made an appointment.  I then asked how much it would cost to move my records to a different Doctor.  Apparently it’s free. Within 2 minutes the GP had called me to discuss my results. 

Okay, great he called.  Not so great that it took me asking about my records being moved to prompt him to call.  Definitely not great that he said I just got your results.  Well no, mate I know you have had them since Monday.  You may have only just been bothered to look at them about 5 this afternoon but you have told me yourself that you get the results emailed to you because it’s quicker.  Previously you have had some of the other test results for a few days to over a week before you have contacted me so I am less than impressed. Especially when you still really can’t tell me why my head hurts.  That the 12 hour med is good but I still need Panadol, Nurofen and Nurofen Plus (or a combination) to supplement it in order to get through the day.

Due to my headache, I have been relieved of a part time job I have held for 3 years.  Mr E. has wanted me to give it up for a while but today I was told that I have basically been removed for my own health by a committee.  Given we don’t know what is going on and if it is transitory or not I feel a little sad.  Also there is no one to take over my role either so they will be getting two other people to take parts of the job over.   I feel bad about that.

Okay – enough with the Munchausen part of my post and on to the Munchausen by Proxy part.

It appears that Smiley Dog can't see very well.  Yesterday I took both Serious and Smiley Dogs to the Dog wash at the local car wash.  When I was putting them back in their yard I noticed that Smiley Dog’s eyes are

cloudy.  I’m hoping that it isn’t cataracts but it does appear that he can’t see very well any more.  Unfortunately I am going away for a few days so I can’t get him into the vet until Thursday at the earliest.  I’m not sure what we will do if he is blind / going blind.  He is already deaf due to his operation back in Dec 2009.  I guess he is lucky that Serious Dog is also a Labrador and can be a guide dog for him.

 

Smiley Dog

 

Serious Dog

Okay that is it for me.  Thanks to everyone who replied to my last post –  Cliques, Comments and Twits.  It seems that my post and the others around on on similar topics at the moment have created a big response.

Happy Easter, Egg Day or whatever you are celebrating this weekend.  See you on the flip side!

Cliques, comments and twits

There was a post the other day over at Beautifully Mundane about fitting in.  I didn't comment on the post but I did spend quite a bit of time thinking about it.  Melissa also posted about where to from here about her blog Then Lucy posted this one about commenting.  Again I didn't  comment but spent a lot of time thinking about it.
So here are my thoughts now. They do seem to mostly related to the commenting but I guess the clique or not clique part is addressed here as well – I hope.
I comment on people’s blogs when I like the post.  When it has left me with a wow, or a cool or whatever.  It’s elicited an emotional response.  That said there are some that while they have elected an emotional response I’m just not in the right space to reply take this post of Madmother’s.  I want to reply but at the moment he head isn’t in the game enough to be articulate.  And I’m so not a (((HUGS))) person.
I have taken to not commenting on people’s blogs where they reply to some commenters but not the others.  That makes me feel that they are only acknowledging the in crowd.  I feel that I haven’t meet the grade to be replied to. Now it is probably more that the reply to the first few and then life gets in the way.  But sometimes it’s seems as though I’m never going to make the grade or be acknowledged.
I also have chosen to not or rarely comment on people who never acknowledge your comments. I really, really appreciate those who reply to my comments.  Either by email or in the comment thread.  Yes, I am one of those bloggers who actually subscribe to the comment thread or just check back occasionally to see if there is a reply.  I know I don;t manage it but a I try really hard to reply to my commenters.  Either by email where possible, or in the comment thread of by thanking or acknowledging the commenters in my next post.

I do wonder how many conversations are actually taking place in the twitter verse or by email about things that have been blogged about.  I wonder if maybe not being part of the twitter verse has helped or hindered my blog.  But really it wasn't something I thought about unless I saw a blog with the twitter feed in the side bar. It’s the same with the Facebook pages for blogs.

Because I’m a private person (yes with a blog, how conflicted is that?) I don’t link my blog to my Facebook page.  I generally don’t ‘like’ blogs on my Facebook page for the same reason. I  I don;t visit Blogs Facebook pages either, maybe that is why I sometimes feel as thought I am out of the loop.

I haven’t chosen to use twitter due to the privacy issue, however Nerd Boy Mr E. decided to set up a Whining Twitter Account for me this evening. So I will be out there being a Twit or Twitterer or whatever you call it.  Breaking new ground for me.  Please be gentle on me.  I’m already afraid that I won’t be able to keep up.  Also I’m afraid I’ll become like Mr E. having weird twitter conversations about bizarre things.

If you see me out there in the big wide Twitter-verse say hi. Please?

A fairy tale starring Leanne

Once upon a time there were two girls who grew up into seriously good looking, smart, trendsetting women (this is my story and I get to tell it the way I want to!).  They both had children and lived in a small city where north is north and south is south and never  the twain shall meet.  Unless of course you packed a picnic lunch to journey to the other side.

One day these smart women both started to venture into the world of blogging.  They didn't hang out in the same circles as it’s a cut lunch and a 6 pack to venture over the to the dark side but they both began to blog,  made connections with other bloggers and in turn each other.

The blogging world was fascinating and the connections that were made were strong.  As it appeared that these two seriously trendy, smart women had a connection it was decided to meet somewhere in the middle.  At a place which served not only decent food but also Gluten Free food to keep the coeliac of us on track.

So it was arranged around children’s award ceremonies, plays and other life issues to meet on Friday.  Emails aplenty ran back and forth, including but not limited to what specific outfit we would each be wearing (just in case there was and influx of gorgeous, smart trendy women appearing at the same place and time). Fear was in the heart of at least one.  Conversations in her house ran along the lines of – why am I doing this? What will we have to talk about? Thank goodness it will only be an hour because I have school pickup because it might be a huge a flop.  Neurotic, anyone?

So on Friday morning at least one woman dressed carefully, worried if the other person would like her, hoping against hope that everything would be fine.  And it was!

The carefully picked clothing made each of the lovely women easily identifiable to the other and the next hour passed extraordinarily quickly with much conversation, lovely food and spectacular company.  So with a plan to meet again, the women parted company and left to resume their Friday afternoon lives with a smile and a new in real life friend.  How cool is that?

 

It was great to actually meet Leanne (you may know her from Deep Fried Fruit).  She is as lovely in person as on her blog.  Nothing fake there, just a great, friendly person. 

This is my first ever meeting with a fellow blogger and I was scared.  However, it was wonderful to catch up with Leanne in person.  I’m so very glad I did it. 

Have you meet up with many fellow bloggers?  Were you scared the first time out? 

Rich People’s Problems–April 2011

I haven’t done one of these for a while (check out here and here for the previous posts) and I’m a bit whiny today so I thought this might break the low mood.

The idea is to list problems that only rich (or first world, or affluent or comfortably well off) people have. My current issues are:

• My frustration at the Dr for not getting back to my with my test results and me having to chasing them for a few days….. because I have access to a Dr and the facilities nearby to get tests done.
• The $360 I will need to part with this afternoon to get a scan done…. because here in Australia it’s only $360 for the scan and I will get some money back from Medicare.
• Fasting for the scan…because seriously fasting for 4 hours is nothing.  I have access to food and water whenever I need it, lots of people don’t.

So there you go.  Short and sweet.

Do you have any ‘rich’ peoples problems in your life at the moment?

The Happiness Project!

I am going to be participating in Naomi’s (from Seven Cherubs) Happiness Project. 

Click here or on the picture to learn all about it!  anyone else want to join in?

It’s not hard.  Naomi says:

Starting today, April 10th, and finishing on May 10th we will take time each day to record and write one sentence on what has made us feel happy during that day or things that we are grateful for on that day.

I encourage you to use lots of these ,,,,,, and lots of these ~~~~ to fit in as much happiness as you can!

At the end of the month after May 10th (I will let you know what date), we each publish as a blog post our one sentence monthly list and link up together here at Seven Cherubs so that we can each read what touched our hearts and made us happy. If you do not feel comfortable sharing all of your daily sentences then just share with us those that you do feel comfortable sharing.

Enjoy!

Another Grateful Saturday

It seems that the only time I’m blogging at the moment is to play along with Maxabella. I guess you could all be grateful that it is all I’m doing I am managing to do that.

I love the idea that some of you use about being grateful for a particular things like Jodie and Coffee.  That’s the one that stood out to me today!  However it appears that my head is so random I probably couldn't do a post just one thing.  Although in the past I’m sure I could have done numerous grateful posts on chocolate! 

So here is my list for today:

 

My family.  They know that I am still unwell and are being very considerate.  In fact this afternoon I had a 2 hour nap.

My beautiful children being recognised for their hard work:

• Girl Child got a Student of the week award at school for using different Maths Strategies. Maths has apparently been the reason her tummy hurt before school every day for a few weeks.
• Boy child received the highest mark in his English class for his first ever essay. His mark was 100%. He started High School this year and is in the highest English class but had never written an essay before this English assignment.

Boy Child’s teachers actually seeming to understand him.  Parent Teacher night was really positive.

Real Friends.

Being a cool kid on the Blogger scene.  Okay, not really but I thought that I could consider I’ve made it now I have had a few spam comments.

And finally, hopefully getting some answers to the headache, weird blood pressure and fatigue that I have.  Well here’s hoping anyway!

Join Maxabella to see what things others are grateful for this week!

Today I’m grateful for…

My cousin’s baby girl being delivered safe and sound. Yes, this pic really is her.  Her father titled it: Happy Face.

My Husband who understands that coffee dates are an essential part of my life.

The coffee at the above coffee dates.  I had three coffee dates last week!  Three!

Friends who have asked how I am.

My very generous sponsors who have helped raise $1,145 for the Leukaemia Foundation. 

I’m playing along with Maxabella from Maxabella Loves.  Why don't you join in?