Catching up with a cuppa

                      Image:Blink.for.life

Hello folks. It was a public holiday here in Western Australia yesterday, for the Queens Birthday. If your reading this and your not in Australia then you probably wont know that her majesty is visiting our country and has been in our own state since Thursday. She is in Perth to open the CHOGM 2011. This is the commonwealth heads of government meeting, a biennial summit that occurs in different member states.
But you have not come to visit for a history lesson and I am not one to teach so I'll leave it at that.




Well on my home front we have had kids coming, going, having surgery and I have been organising my forthcoming trip to the big smoke AKA the city. First our eldest girl has returned from an all expenses paid trip to Bali. A friend of hers won the trip for three  and decided take my girl as well as another friend. They had a ball by the sounds of it-sipping cocktails, having honey massages and more fun things. The next daughter left for her trip to Cambodia and Vietnam last night and we are hoping she is okay. I do worry when they travel afar.
The youngest girl went to hospital yesterday to have four wisdom teeth and a recalcitrant baby tooth removed. Before you ask yes I was nervous. Can't help myself :)

                             This is similar to what I will be having

Now to my stuff. I mentioned in previous posts that I need to have a sleep studies test done to ascertain my exact problems. Early indications show that I have too much carbon dioxide and not enough oxygen which as you can imagine is not doing my health any good at all. If things go okay then I might be returning home with a machine that is supposed to allow me to breath properly and allow me to sleep properly and awake refreshed and ready to seize the day. I hope so. I am expecting a lot from this appliance. Hope it doesn't let me down.




However to go do this test takes major organisation skills, which for the most part I have, but it also takes energy and on that front I am sadly lacking. I had another blood test yesterday to see if the iron levels have improved, but going by the way I feel I think not.


Anyway first thing is I have to find accommodation that suits my particular needs and budget.  I need to be able to park  outside the place we choose as I am unable to walk more than a few paces, and after travelling for approximately 8 hours I will be struggling to move, let alone walk. Then must find a bed that looks strong enough to support my weight. A bathroom that is clean and large enough to accommodate the shower/toilet chair I need to take with me. We prefer to self cater but this type of accommodation alludes us so far. I have been searching for weeks to find something better than a box like motel unit. It is hard to find anything much under $200 per night which is a bit high seeing as we have to be there nearly a week. 
Yes, life as a fat woman is challenging to say the least and I am reminded all the time that I am outside the normal.

One thing that may be a positive is that I have found a place that hires equipment to people with extra needs so I hope to hire a wheelchair. This will not only enable me to get to my appointments but means that for the first time in about 10 years I will get to go into shops and not have to sit in the car for an hour or more waiting for the bloke to to do the shopping.

I admit to being apprehensive though. Firstly because sitting in a wheelchair feels odd. Then there is the other issue of being a fatty ++ sitting in a chair being pushed along by the bloke. The looks and comments will be there, so I am trying to toughen myself up now to cope with the whole deal. I want to be able to sit there and enjoy being out in the public, accessing what many take for granted. It is my own anxieties that will dictate my experience so if anyone has any anti-anxiety tips please share them.

Well if your still reading you must be truly interested in me and my little twittering so thanks.

I am working on some sewing stuff but there are no pictures as yet. I have made 26 star blocks for an up and coming quilt but need to find some fabric for the borders.


Until next time take care,

Breathing is good for you

I am a list maker. Are you? Don't quite know what the appeal is but I have done it as long as I can remember. I can recall a time when I was a teenager of writing a list of all the things I would buy and do if I won the lottery. It wasn't lotto like we have now, but you bought a ticket, something like the golden casket I think it was called, and if you won, then a lot of money came your way.
Sadly I never won anything. Of course I didn't buy a lottery ticket either, but there was no harm in dreaming.

So today it was shopping list writing day. This is where I try and come up with a weeks worth of meals that all three of us will eat. Right....that's where the problems start. The Bloke and I are similar in what we eat, so we can come up with some meal ideas easily. But the problems start when it comes to the girl. She has a very small eating repertoire and so unless it suits we find we are just two eating.

The Bloke is a great cook and he is so happy to potter around amongst the pots, pans and pantry. 

On another note, I am still not feeling the affects of the iron infusion. I had hoped to be hopping around by now, but not to be. But it still might happen. The doctor told me if the next blood test is low then I will have to repeat the procedure and that is okay with me as I just want to improve my health.

I am in the process of arranging my next months visit to the city for the sleep apnoea tests and treatment plan. Trying to find decent accommodation at an affordable price is like finding hens teeth. There is a scheme called PATS, which assists country folks who can't access medical treatment locally to attend Perth. They pay you some fuel money and $80 per night toward accommodation. As I am way past the backpacker style it is going to cost us significantly more. I need the Bloke to come with me as he is my support. I am really hoping the tests result in me being able to have a treatment plan that works for me.

 This alone will go a long way to helping me. Currently my body is not getting enough oxygen so has too much carbon dioxide. This is not a good thing. But one thing I have doing in order the help myself is learning to breath properly. Many people don't use their lungs to their full capacity. Rather they shallow breath. Anyway without sounding like an expert cos I'm not, I inhale as deeply as I can then exhale slowly, trying to take deeper breaths each time. I have notices since this that I am not as puffed and have not used my inhaler. Coincidence? I think not. So I am going to keep at it.

chat more next time, hope all is well in your life.

Friday Chatter

                    Photo from blinks.of.life

Well Friday is here again. I'm not sure why but I like Fridays. It could be from when I was a working girl and it signal led the end of the week and the start of time off to be spent relaxing, catching up with family, BBQ's, seeing the bloke.
But even though I have not worked for a few years I still get a little buzz. :)
I got out of bed for the second time at 9 am today, after an earlier arising at 4 am. It feels quite luxurious to lie their drowsy and drifting off to sleep just because I can.


DD is still asleep, she was watching movies all night. Wish she would wake up, I want some company, had enough of myself now.


The week has gone quite quickly, and this week I had a nice surprise when an old friend, who I haven't seen for approx. 14 years came to visit. We caught up on the kids, she has three, and are similar ages to mine. She doesn't look any older than when I last saw her. We will now keep in contact thanks to Facebook and mobile phone. Boy do I love technology, it makes it so easy to stay connected.
I received news from my doctor yesterday that my vitamin D levels are now within normal range at 60. :) previously they had been below 20. I was pleased as I have been taking vitamin D supplements for about 9-10 months I think, and now I have proof that they can and do work.

Not that I'm feeling tops yet, but that is due to the other major problem.


Oh and one very special event occurred on Monday. My nephew and his wife welcomed the arrival of a son. Older brother Kye was pretty excited to get a brother too. I made this orange, zoo animal quilt for the baby.

The quilt I made for the new baby



Okay I will end it here as I am getting weary again. Talk to you all soon. Oh and if you can do me a favour and leave a brief comment as I would love to know if anyone reads my blog, come on don't be shy. :)