This morning ...

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At the risk of TMI ...

... my week has been crappy .. in the literal sense. (Warning, liberal use of quotation marks and toilet talk to follow!)

As many of you know, Bradley has ongoing bowel issues that result in him not 'going' regularly and getting quite, to quote the doctors, 'loaded'. This often results in 'accidents' (which usually weren't dealt with until he was called on it .. aarrgghh!), feeling miserable/embarrassed and just generally unwell. The constant laundry and replacing ruined clothes doesn't help my mood either!

After dealing with this problem for most of his life and consulting with several medical professionals (who all said there was nothing actually wrong with him; his bowel is just lazy and slow-moving .. like the rest of the family .. lol!), I had come to the conclusion that a significant portion of this problem seemed to be psychological. Straight-out talking and counselling didn't seem to help at all, so I decided to try turning him into a chicken hypnosis.

I had my doubts as to whether there would be any benefit but I talked the idea through with him and, upon receiving his very vehement assertion that he did want to try it, I made the appointment with a woman who only deals with children and their various problems.

So, on Monday afternoon we found ourselves in her very lovely house, having a discussion as to what Bradley wanted to achieve. Having dealt with many medical/psychological professionals in my time, I just sat there biting my tongue to make myself keep quiet. The results are partly dependent on the child wanting to make a change in their behaviour.

Once she was satisfied that he did indeed want to be there, was willing to try anything safe to fix this problem and assuring him he wasn't going to be turned into a chicken (unless that was what he wanted!), she hypnotised him. It was very strange seeing him 'going under' and then watching his facial expressions and body language change as she talked to him about what would happen if he continued down the 'low road', was all rather surreal. Then to see his face light up like a Christmas tree when she spoke about the 'high road' and having this problem fixed was absolutely beautiful. He came away from that session speaking very positively about the whole experience and the changes he was hoping for.

Here's where the TMI stuff really starts, so for those of you who can't handle bodily functions, stop reading now! You have been warned!!

The next morning (Tuesday), he came down to my room and showed me a 'huge lump' that had appeared in his belly overnight. Normally, when I palpate (feel) his abdomen, I can feel something like a solid sausage all the way across. That's what the doctors are referring to when they say he's fully loaded .. his bowel is full all the way across .. which in itself is not a major problem but this lump was a whole 'nother can of worms kettle of fish story.

It was about the size of an adult man's fist and, when pressed on, would disappear back into his abdomen only to re-appear a short time later. He wasn't in any pain, had no fever or vomiting but it just didn't seem right to me and if it's one thing I've learned over the years, it's to trust my instincts when it comes to one of my children and their health.

After dropping the other two boys at school, I decide to skip the middle man, in this case our GP who would have advised me to do what I did, and took him straight to the Emergency Department at our local public hospital. (With money being as tight as it is, I figured he would be taken care of under Medicare and I wouldn't have to fork out the gap payment for the private hospital ED).

We got in to see a doctor within 40 minutes which is very unusual for this particular hospital (actually who am I kidding? It's unusual for any hospital!) and probably also due the fact that his stomach looked like an alien was about to burst forth at any moment, hopefully singing and dancing and generally entertaining the other patients. Either that or the clerks were scared he was going to burst in the waiting room and they would have to clean up the mess, so they pushed him through quickly.

The doctor came and examined him (1 hour wait), organised for an ultrasound (2.5 hour wait), waited for the results (another 2 hour wait) and then told me what I knew all along .. "his bowel is fully loaded." Swallowing back the retort of "Really? No shit Sherlock (no pun intended) .. I figured that one out myself!" I asked the all important question of "So what can you do about it?" His response was "I don't know. You have to wait to talk to our paediatrician. He should be available after 5pm."

By now, it was nearing school pick-up time for the other two boys and I had well and truly had enough of sitting there, waiting for them to tell me what I already knew. I asked if he was in any danger from this and, after being given a list of things to watch out for, went and picked the others up from school, resolving to take him to the other hospital in the morning.

After an unproductive and uneventful night, despite the medication in both ends of his body, I took the others to school and headed off to the other ED. Remembered halfway there that I was supposed to be taking the dog to the vet for his 6-week-post-accident checkup but concluded (rightly!) that the child was just slightly more important at the moment, especially considering the dog has absolutely no trouble pooping .. anywhere!!

We presented to the triage nurse and were classed as category five which usually means about an hour's wait on quiet days, but lucky us managed to pick a busier day so we got to wait for 2.5 hours!! Luckily I had thought to actually pack some entertainment for Brad this time and one of the lovely volunteer tea ladies made me a nice cup of tea to go with my catch up reading of last year's gossip magazines. The ED had changed their billing structure, in that you now have to pay the gap payment at the time of being seen so I dutifully forked over $165 (inflation is a bitch!!) and then went back to waiting.

To cut a very long story short, I know .. too late!, the doctor assessed him, organised an industrial strength enema and let it take its course. Upon seeing hardly any result, he ordered another to be administered 1.5 hours after the first, much to Brad's disgust.

After trying to encourage Brad to just let his body get rid of it all and listening to his laments of "I just want to go home", I was rather shocked to hear him come out with "I just want to die! Why did I have to be born with this?" We had a little 'come-to-Jesus' talk about counting blessings and stop focusing on the negative after that which seemed to work for a little while, then he just gave up and either lay on the bed ignoring me or sat on the toilet doing the same.

Just as I was about to call the nurse and/or doctor back to say it wasn't working, a noise not unlike that of a tsunami came from the bathroom. The look of relief on his face was almost comical as was the nurse's face when she came in to view the result. (Poor nurses .. having to look at all sorts of gross things day in, day out!) I said that she was probably going to have to arrange for a plumber to unblock the toilet as Bradley appeared to have given birth to his alien in there. She just laughed and pronounced it a nine-pound 'poo baby'. (No, I'm not making birth announcements for it!!)

So after all that, Bradley's lump had gone, he felt much better and we headed for home where he proceeded to have a nice, soothing, warm shower then fall asleep for three hours. All that effort really took it out of him .. literally!!

Overall, I'm glad that he's feeling better and it was nothing serious.

I'm glad that he has now been given the chance to help himself with the hypnosis without the physical obstacles.

I'm glad that I have my happy child back.

I'm glad that he is back at school and can freely play without worrying about having an accident.

I'm just trying to get my head around the fact that it just cost $165 for my child to poop! It would have been much cheaper at home child ... lol!

If only ...

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Ella sketch #3

I'm loving the six weeks of sketches over at Ella as they seem to have revived my motivation and are giving me inspiration at the same time.

I did sketch #3 almost as soon as it was posted but forgot to take a picture and post it here .. oops! So without any further ado, here is my interpretation:




I rotated it, mirrored it and changed the photo sizes a bit (and now it probably looks nothing like the original sketch!) but I like it! Wouldn't have a clue which papers are which because I don't keep track of all that .. sorry!

I also did this layout of Andrew:



It's very linear and started out based on one of Donna Januzzi's sketches in her "Stretch Your Sketches" e-book (Ella Publishing) but as is typical with sketches, it ended up looking nothing like the original! I'm still trying to decide if I'll cut the striped paper to the width of the blue as there's something bugging me about it. What do you think?

Journalling reads:
The first thing most people see when they look at these photos is the lovely mess you have made of yourself with your current favourite biscuit, the humble ginger nut.
Not me. All I see are the gorgeous chubby cheeks, cute little button nose, the happy smile underneath all that mess and your eyes... those beautiful blue eyes.
I really hope you get to keep those lovely baby blues but I doubt you will, so I'll just enjoy them for now and look forward to watching them change as you grow. (Feb '98)

Am I being unreasonable?

I have been stewing on this overnight and most of this morning and I need to know if I am being unreasonable in expecting my husband to take our children shopping to get me, their mother, a birthday present?

He has never been big on the whole present giving thing .. he says he never knows what to get me, which is a totally different issue .. but couldn't he have at least taken the boys out and let them pick something little or encouraged them to make something from the multitude of options available in the house? The usual excuse of 'I didn't have time to go to the shops' really doesn't ring true as he took two extra days off work this time (without telling me first) so that he would be home for my birthday.

Now I do appreciate that he made arrangements to do that, but given that he dislikes where he is working at the moment and doesn't want to be there anyway, and he has even admitted that it was convenient for him to stay home, it feels like he did that for his benefit, not mine. Yes, we did go out for lunch at the local food court (my choice), but that is something we do almost every time he is home. Yes, I was the one who didn't really want to go see a movie, because there is nothing on at the moment that really appealed as a must-see (for me or him).

At the risk of sounding materialistic and greedy, my birthday is one of the few times times a year I expect some sort of present to be purchased/made, wrapped in something other than newspaper and given to me with a smile. I would have loved a home-made cake decorated by the boys, a coupon book of things they would do without me having to nag, a magazine served up with a cup of tea or coffee or something along those lines. He said several times that he was planning on taking the boys out after school but something else always seemed to come up. Yes money is tight at the moment, but anything would have been nice! To receive nothing at all and to then have to remind two of the boys that it was even my birthday, cut a neat little chunk out of my heart.

I think what it comes down to for me, is that it really hurts that they think so little of me and all I do for them all. Everyone likes to be appreciated and this feels like they couldn't even be bothered to exert the effort to give me a slap in the face. He thinks I am 'pissed off' at him, which I suppose I am, but the overwhelming feeling at the moment is hurt and disappointment, which I have verbalised but I can't even look him in the face at the moment. He had gone back to work this morning before I got back from dropping the kids off at school and running a couple of short errands, so it has just been left hanging.

Anyway, back to the original question .. do you think I'm being unreasonable?

Happy birthday to me!

Yes, it's my birthday and according to this website, these are my current stats:

As of 4th February 2010 3:56:35 AM EST
You are 37 years old.
You are 444 months old.
You are 1,930 weeks old.
You are 13,514 days old.


Go check it out to see how old you are. It's one way to make yourself feel better. Yes, I do mean better because you have made it through all those years, months, weeks and days and are still here to check how old you are!!

They're baaack ...

... at school that is!

This morning was the first time in a long time that I have seen Alex happy to be going to school. He was up at 6am, ready by 6:40am (we don't actually leave home until 8am!) and was off like a shot as soon as I allowed him to get out of the car in the car park. I hope this is a sign of a good year to come!

Andrew was a bit nervous with it being his first official day of high school (because apparently last year wasn't really like high school because he had the same teacher for the four core subjects and only had other teachers for everything else .. "Jeez Mum. Don't you know anything?" insert eye roll as only a teenager can here). Alex actually realised that Drew was a bit concerned and offered to take him on a tour of the school to help him find the right classrooms once they get their timetables. Thank you Alex, for helping to de-stress my little stress head.

Bradley was very concerned that he was going to have the same teacher as last year, but luckily he doesn't. The look of relief on his face once he realised that he didn't have Mr C and that he was still in the same class as his best friend, was absolutely priceless. I'm surprised no-one reported his sigh of relief as a mini tornado!

I hope all your little and not-so-little ones have a great time at school and that there are few, if any, tears. If there are, remember that it's hard to tell the kids not to sniff and wipe their noses on their sleeves if they see you doing it, so pack some tissues for a cry in the car on the way home.

Anyway, it is very quiet around here and I have some time all to myself, so now I just have to remember what to do with it ... and if anyone says laundry, I'm going to curl up in the corner, in the foetal position of course, and just quietly melt down!!


Well, maybe not quietly ..


OK, OK, definitely not quietly!


Some things never change, do they?

Overheard this morning ...

Andrew: "Let's call it the duh syndrome. Main symptom is stating the blindingly obvious. Sufferers shall be known as Captain Obvious."

Bradley: (to his friend Matt who was trying to play the drums in guitar hero) "Orange, orange, orange, orange, orange .. jeez, the drummer must get bored playing this in real life!"

Andrew: "Quick .. kill the enemy."
Chris: "That's boring. I'll annihilate them instead."

Ella sketch #2

Seeing as the roll I was on on Friday came to a screaming halt yesterday, I decided to leave well enough alone and try again today instead. It worked! Here's two more layouts of mine and one of Andrew's. Remember that Andrew is a 12-year-old boy so of course the pictures have something machinery related in them!

(I'm going to apologise in advance for the terrible picture quality. I have problems photographing layouts under good conditions, so late at night under artificial light doesn't translate into great photos!)

Both of these are based on Ella's sketch #2.

Andrew's layout:

and my interpretation of the sketch:

and here's the one that I gave up on yesterday.

(Again, apologies for the photo.

I have taken about 15 different shots and this, believe it or not, was the best.)

"Would Sir care to see the menu?"

I asked Bradley to bring me a glass of water this morning and once he had brought it down to me, he turned to Brutus, who was laying on the floor next to my chair, and said "Would Sir care for food or a beverage?"

I replied with "Sir needs to see the menu first" and this is what happened next ...

He made a menu, got a red teatowel to drape over his arm

(because a red one matched the rest of his outfit and the menu)

and presented it to Brutus.

"Would Sir care to see the menu?"

"Ah yes, the chicken and pollock treat. Very fine choice Sir. It will be here momentarily."

I really love having a child with a good imagination and a sense of humour!

Woohoo!

Lookee here ... I got picked as a winner on the first Ella sketch competition! My first time being 'published' or picked for anything scrapping related.

I couldn't believe it until I got the email telling me I was indeed a winner. Just the boost to my severely dented scrapping self-esteem that I needed, especially after trying to continue the roll of Friday and hitting a rather large brick wall for all of yesterday.

Note to self: Take a better picture next time. You never know when the whole world is going to see it!

Now please excuse me while I go drive the children insane with my dancing around the house full of the joys of life!

On a roll ...

Here's another yellow page with flowers and two different patterned papers:


Sorry for the photo quality .. the background paper is actually yellow, not beige/tan and the page is straight .. it's the photo that's not!

Ella sketch

After looking at this sketch on the Ella Publishing site, I finally found a little bit of creativity amongst the chaos that is my life and came up with this:

And look Ma .. I used flowers and flowery paper and yellow and typed journalling .. woohoo .. go me! Way to go with stepping outside my comfort zone!

(The journalling reads: "Bradley absolutely loves these ugg boots. They were a hand-me-down from Rheanna Good, who only wore them twice before deciding they weren’t comfortable enough. Luckily, Brad disagrees completely and wears them everywhere, including the trampoline. He says they make him bounce higher and has dubbed them his …")

Random things from today ...

• The towels that I hung on the line yesterday morning (and forgot to bring in until this afternoon) were so dry from being out in the 43 degree heat that they could literally stand up on their own. I wasn't game to fold them in case they broke in half! So what did I do with them? I spritzed them with water and hung them over the clothes horse to dry again .. inside where it's cooler.
• Brutus had his stitches out this morning and he's now officially known as a 'biter'. I did warn the vet nurse that ever since his car accident, he's been 'just a touch' defensive and snappy but she didn't listen until he nearly took her glasses off. Then he had to wear a muzzle so they could finish the job and check on the status of his double ear infection. Never rains but it pours!
• I have managed to organise some of my scrapping stash so that I can actually see what I have. Hopefully this will motivate me to actually scrap something by the end of the week.
• Alex came back from his sleepover at Chris's house and peace reigned for approximately 7 minutes. For once, it wasn't Alex who started the needling; it was Bradley!
• It is now 10:19pm and it is still 30 degrees Celsius outside. I think it is about 28 inside as someone *cough cough me cough cough* forgot to close the back door after hanging the washing out and let all the hot air into the house. You'd think I'd know better by now.
• There is an extra little person in my bed tonight as it is so hot and we have only two rooms with airconditioning (don't know how we survived without it as kids!) Alex and Drew are sleeping in the games room and Brad has crawled into my bed. Here's hoping he stays on his side of the bed this time!
• Need to drink more water fluid Cosmopolitan slushies .. yum!! Seriously though, for all of you who are suffering through this heat with me, please remember to drink lots of fluid, not just water because in this heat, drinking excessively large amounts of water can upset your electrolyte balance (or so my doctor says). I have a headache from not drinking quite enough today, so I'm off to have another glass full and then off to bed.

one little word

This is where 'one little word' all started.

Ali Edwards had the idea to pick one word that summed up what she wanted for herself in the next year. It is an idea that a lot of people have embraced and I have decided to become one of them.

For 2010, I have chosen the word ..

participate

Definition:
participate; verb; to take part, be or become actively involved, or share (in)

Some of the reasons I chose this word:

• I want to participate more in my children's day-to-day lives; be more present and available to them instead of being off in my own little world.
• I want to participate in new activities that take me outside my comfort zone ... like cleaning the house more regularly .. lol!
• I want to participate in the activities that bring me pleasure and fulfilment without feeling guilty or that I'm not good enough.
• I want to participate in a healthier lifestyle and all that entails.
• I want to participate more in activities that interest the important people in my life .. even if they don't particularly interest me.
• I want to make myself participate more in my own life instead of just watching it fly by.

So what do you think your word is?

Explaining reality ...

Apparently the first step in beating an addiction is admitting you have one in the first place. So here goes ...

"My name is Donna and I am addicted to my computer and more specifically, to stupid virtual games on Facebook."

There .. now it's out in the open, I can hopefully start to implement some strategies to get it under control. I know that 'getting it under control' is nowhere near 'beating the crap out of the addiction with the biggest stick you can find' but it's a start.

I came to the conclusion that I really needed to curb the excessive amount of time I was spending on the time-sucking vortex that is Facebook when my children (who are also addicts and will be undergoing the same withdrawals as me!) started answering requests for their presence at the dinner table, the shower or anywhere that didn't have a computer, with "in a minute. I have to finish harvesting/plowing/planting,/feeding animals or re-arranging my farm/cafe/jungle/island."

After trying over the last week, unsuccessfully, to cut down on the time we were spending on these games, I awoke this morning with a renewed determination to beat this. I called all the boys into my room (where there is no computer competing for their attention) and explained that I would no longer be their 'neighbour' on any of these games and I wouldn't be playing them at all. They could still play but, as it is only 2 weeks until they go back to school, that we would be putting our routines and 'screen time' limits back into place. After their initial panic response that I was taking them off the internet forever was over, they started in with the questions.

"But what happens if I have crops to harvest and I've already used my internet time?"

"They aren't real plants. Does it matter if they die?"

"But I paid money for them!"

"Was it real money .. your own real money .. that you paid for them?"

"Nnnooooo, but they're mine and I want to keep them."

"So you are incredibly worried about some pictures of plants, animals and coins on a computer screen but you aren't very interested in your real bedroom with its copious amounts of toys, books and clothes and the rest of your real life with real people to talk to, real food to eat and real interactions to be had?"

"Yes .. um .. no .. um .. Muuuummm! You're so unfair!"

"Why yes .. yes I am. Welcome to reality! Now go do your chores."

Random stuff ...

• I have five posts sitting in my draft folder at the moment but none of them 'feel' right so I've buried them for now and will revisit them another time.
• There's only 2 weeks and 2 days until the boys are back at school.
• School and the requisite pieces of equipment are expensive!!
• The dog has managed to leave the second lot of stitches in (so the vet can remove them this time!) and seems to be healing very well. Will know more on Monday when we have his follow-up visit.
• I have been having the urge to be creative but every time I sit at my desk, the urge disappears faster than a child asked to pick up the dog poop.
• Cherries are my (current) favourite food. Just in case anyone wants to buy me some before they go out of season again .. hint, hint!
• Children grow up way too fast!
• We have managed to spend our first night as a family at the block! Pros: the beautiful breeze all night, millions of stars, 'camping' in style with a working toilet! Cons: no curtains (good morning sunshine!!), freight trains, no breeze during the day and did I mention the trains?
• Had another fill put into my gastric band today. According to their (obviously defective) scales, I have lost a grand total of 16.2 kilos. According to my (much nicer) scales, I have lost 18.8 kilos. Admittedly, I weigh myself first thing in the morning, after my morning ablutions, before getting dressed whereas they weigh me after lunch, fully clothed and usually busting for the toilet. (I suffer from timing issues!)
• As much as the boys drive me nuts at times, it has been nice to be able to interact with them more on their level over the holidays. I have made a concerted effort to not have 'No' be my immediate response to any request and as a result have been instructed in the finer points of a few Wii games; played the Monopoly Deal card game, UNO and Connect 4X4; made biscuits with them and taken them out more than I would have done in the past.
• Why do desired plants need water and care to grow but weeds will grow anywhere? To quote my Nanna "A weed is just a flower growing out of place" but seriously, is there a right place for bindiis and double-gees?
• I'm really backing off on a very long-lived relationship with a friend who I thought helped me get through some tough times, but it turned out that they were the cause of quite a few tough times. So, as much as it pains me, I have to say that sugar (as well as his cousins, lollies and chocolate) and I are no longer as close as we once were and will never be again. Some relationships just aren't worth the pain!
• I should probably seek psychiatric help in dealing with the previous comment. As if sugar is going to care that I'm cooling our relationship .. he's got plenty of others on the line!
• On a more serious note, as Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the same island and presumably the same earthquake, why are we only hearing about the devastation in Haiti? Did the earthquake know to stop at the border?
• Facebook is evil, I tell you ... EVIL!!

Brutus

Here's some photos of Brutus on the way to a hopefully full recovery.

In the ICU at Murdoch Veterinary Hospital.

Resting at home. Love the different coloured feet and the funky haircut!

In his new home, for the next 6 weeks at least!

First time Peter had seen him since the accident.

Brutus got quite comfortable, even though it doesn't look like it!

Out with the old and in with the new ..

...year, that is!

I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.

May we all take this opportunity to remind those near and dear to us how much we love them, even if they drive us insane on a regular basis.

May we all feel truly loved in return.

May we all try to find the good in the people and situations around us, especially when it is the last thing we feel like doing.

May we all find the things we are looking for in this life, whether it be peace, comfort, love, happiness or just five minutes of time to ourselves to savour the sights and sounds of life.

Last, but certainly not least, may we all have an inspiring year full of love, joy, hope, laughter and whatever else 'floats your boat'.

Happy New Year everyone!!