Happy Anniversary to Us!

Yes, as well as being William’s birthday, it is also our wedding anniversary today. Eleven years together and seven years married.

I love you baby .

Ain’t she a honey!?

Happy Birthday William

William is one year old today, almost to the minute as I write this.

I can’t believe that twelve months have gone already. What a journey it’s been and what a difference there is in William. Wow he has changed our lives so much, and has brought so much joy with him.

Phuey

I hope to be able to post some positive news on this blog sometime soon, but today it’s going to be a series of grizzles!

My car blew a head gasket the other week. That’s something I would normally fix myself, but given my time constraints these days and the fact that I need car, I had it fixed by a real mechanic. $1200 and a week later it was supposed to be all better. I was pretty happy about it too as it’s a long walk to William’s day care and I had no desire to keep making it.

So when I jumped into the car and noticed a strange knocking when the engine fired up, I was concerned. After a few kilometres it was sounding awful and all I could do was drive it carefully home again. This was of course Friday afternoon and the mechanic couldn’t come back out until Monday. Just to be safe, and to be prepared when the mobile mechanic returned, I decided to get a second opinion as to what had gone wrong. First thing Monday morning I drove to a nearby workshop to see what the mechanic there thought was the problem.

Waiting at the traffic lights at the corner of the mechanics workshop I heard a loud bang behind me, followed instantly by a louder second bang and a solid whack in the back. Yes, some Einstein had failed to stop at the lights and had rammed the car behind me, which in turn slammed into me. Fortunately, the damage isn’t too bad and my only injury was a head ache for the day. The car still drives ok, although there is a rattle at the back.

After swapping insurance details with the other two drivers I got my second opinion and headed home, the car now sounding more than ever like a tractor at the front, and remodelled for the worse at the rear.

The problem was a loose timing chain guide which the mobile mechanic fixed, but now I’m going to be without the car again while it’s at the panel beaters. Grrrrrrrrr.

Much more worrying though has been William. We took him to the Doctor’s after he was vomiting and had diahrea for twenty four hours. But it hadn’t got any better and eventually last night Jo took him to the children’s hospital. I was extremely frustrated that I couldn’t go, but after cleaning up his vomit and poo for five days I had some of his symptoms as well and couldn’t travel.

It turns out he has Rota virus, which is a nasty gastro bug. He was dehydrated and they put him on a nasal feeding tube for four hours. Poor Jo got home at 4.30 this morning.

Today he has been much better, not quite as listless and eating and drinking in small amounts. Hopefully he will continue to improve again tomorrow.

R.I.P. Peter Perfect

What is going on? Two Australian legends have died this week. First Steve Iwin – The Crocodile Hunter – and now Peter Brock – The King of the Mountain.

This great Austrlian icon died in an accident while comoeting int he West Australian Targa rally.

I have been a huge fan of Peter Brock since watching the 1981 Bathurst motor race. He was a driver with a natural flair and ability unrivalled amongst his competitors. It was his amazing performances that got me interested in motorsport. Not ony was he a fantastic racer, but he was a very thoughtful and giving person who did much behind the scenes to help Australian sport, Australian society and road safety.

Clean Up Progress

On Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s, I take William to childcare for up to five hours. These are the only hours I really get to myself. In that time I try and squeeze in all the jobs I otherwise neglect, like grass cutting, car cleaning, house tidying, washing etc in those hours. Jo, is still facing challenges to her health, so I try and do as much as I can so that she can rest a little at night. Today I had a few clear hours that I had intended to dedicate to office cleaning. On Monday I went shopping for a desk and after consulting with the boss that night, I’ve decided which on one that should fit well. Now I just need to make room for it!

Well that was a nice theory, except today I had arranged for someone to come and work on Jo’s piano. It is showing some serious signs of abuse after being moved more than is good for any piano, let alone a delicate old classic. We know a very nice retired man who is a french polisher. He only charges a nominal fee as he does it for the love of it and have to a good old chat rather than the money. Our poor old piano now looks a lot nicer than it did, but I didn’t get anything done while he was here! Ah well. Maybe tomorrow.

The Shame that is My Office

I have foolishly accepted a challenge issued by Sherry to clean up and organise my writing space. A few AFWD members are joining in, although I have received special dispensation to take a week to undertake this task. Here are the truly embarrassing “before” photos of my office. This really is shameful, and this AFTER cheating (I cleaned up the black desk for about 3 hours before the photos were taken!!).

The theory is, that creating an organised and inviting working environment will help the work process of writing. Well I can hardly make it any worse can I?

Helen also undertook the task, but her “before” photo is nicer than I’m expecting my “after” photos to be!

What is Wrong with this Picture?

Perhaps you’re asking what IS this picture? It will shock, amaze and perhaps even disgust you.

This, Intrepid Web Surfers (IWS’s), is a magnified close up of my chin. As you can see, I haven’t shaved for a few days. Those thick dark fibrous filaments sprouting from my skin, are stubble. Now for the shocking part. Those light, almost invisible strands to the left of the photo, are also stubble hairs. Which means, shock, horror, gulp, that I’m going grey. And that means, ladies and gentleman, that I am officially getting OLD.

And that my IWS’s, is a very sobering realisation.

It makes me think of how far I’ve come and where I’m going. Of how it could be, that success continues to evade me… and how I shall trap the crafty bugger before it is all too late!

Blogging Regularly

Ha-de-ha-ha-ha. What a joke that turned out to be. It wasn’t until Sherry asked if I still had a blog that I even remembered I had started this one.

But started it I did, and I will write regularly again. I will I will I WILL!!!

Tonight Jo has the flu and is lying in bed groaning. I just spent the last hour getting Willliam to sleep and he slept for a whole seven minutes… He’s currently rearranging a giant pile of clean washing that has overgrown the laundry and is spilling out into the hallway. He will wear himself out eventually. He has to. Doesn’t he?

In other news we’ve taken the somewhat psychotic decision to start a new business. (William is currently peeking around the washing pile and shouting BOO at me. Very cute. Now he’s burrowed his way through the baracade and has impregnated my office. The perimeter is breached! I’m under attack… HELP!)

More later…

Health

I’ve been struggling with motivation for quite a while. Not only with writing but with all things. Daily tasks seem to take all my energy and I fall asleep at the slightest moment of rest. It’s been very frustrating as our son is now just over nine months and he is full of energy from dawn till dusk. He’s great fun and I want to be able to keep up with him!!

Well finally I have found some answers to a few matters. Apparently I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I wasn’t particularly surprised to hear it when the test results came back as I had wondered about it for quite a while. It’s nice to have it confirmed though and at least I know there’s a reason why I feel exhausted when I wake up in the morning!

Blood tests also showed I have a liver problem, very high cholesterol and low iron levels. I have to make an effort to eat well and take daily exercise to try and get my cholesterol down. I’m also taking multivitamins and fish oil capsules to try and boost my iron and “good” cholesterol levels.