Ready to go...

I know, I know... post overload!

Just wanted to post the pic Jenny Other Mum took before we headed out for drinks. Yes Heidi's arm is in a sling - only my friend could possibly fracture a collarbone by falling from a chair whilst seated - totally sober!

What's ahead?

Wow another month is nearly half over... it is funny how time works... the last 12 months have been some of the hardest I have had to deal with and whilst some days seemed to drag and putting one foot in front of the other seemed like walking through quicksand the last twelve months have also flown by... I know, I know the two should not work together but somehow they do.

What does life have ahead of us? Well we have so much to look forward to - especially our overseas trip (yes I know you are sick of hearing about it and I try not to say too much but we are very excited about it).

Both of the kids are back at school and Tasha in particular is loving the return of her social life! She has returned to dancing and is looking forward to a full on and challenging year of dance this year

Kyle has been accepted into a special program called Media Makers - He applied last year and we found out he was accepted when he got back to school. It is a special program offered by the University of Wollongong computer studies and media schools where a limited number of places are offered to students from year 10 and 11. This is what it is about:

Shoalhaven Media Makers is a series of workshops for Years 10 and/or 11 students designed to help develop the skills and strategies young people need to ensure their voice is heard on community issues and events important to them and their peers.

These hands-on workshops will cover topics that include video, editing, digital storytelling, graphic design, promotion and publicity. Experts in the fields of communication, community engagement and graphic design will run the workshops.

He is looking forward to it!

As for Tony and I - well the next few months will be interesting to say the least. Tony is booked in for shoulder surgery in just over a week and after the surgery he will have his arm in a sling and have 6 weeks off work! Wow - how many times over the past years have I wanted to have Tony home as a normal part of our family. For six weeks we will have Tony here as part of our everyday family life (even if he is housebound).

I do have to admit that even though this is what I have wanted I also face this time with some trepidation and uncertainty. This will be the longest Tony and I have spent together in 10 years.... Even on holidays the longest we have had together is 3 - 4 weeks and that was with things to distract us. Having Tony around to fit in with our normal everyday life for six weeks will be a test - I guess it will either break us or hopefully it will give him the push to make it a permanent move and get a day job so he can come back to us permanently.

Cleaning up

What a busy weekend we have had! To start with I had Friday off so it was a much needed long weekend.

But there was no sleep in... I got up early and met Leanne for a coffee/breakfast catchup before she started work. I was wonderful to sit and chat as it has been weeks since we caught up.

Friday was not all fun - as mentioned in a previous post I attended a funeral Friday morning - it was a lovely service and Kipper's sons talked so well when they delivered the eulogy.

Then Friday afternoon/evening Tony, Kyle, Tasha and one of Tasha's friends Holly's went up to the Nowra Show while I went to the Laylands for dinner. Jenny has been my "other mum" for years - back from those tough teenage years! Anyway - Heidi and Scott were in town for the funeral so after having a fun dinner with my other family Heid, Scott and I headed out to bottlerocket for drinks.

Saturday I caught up with Miss Jane for a late afternoon cuppa and de-brief/chat and Tasha headed off to an overnight birthday party.

Busy social weekend! And in the middle of this I spent some time in my craft room, tidying up and sorting out. I finally got around to putting some of my layouts away in albums.... they have been piling up in a drawer in my craft room so it was good to put them away. I am sure most of these I have shared before but I thought I would include some of them here.




And now its Sunday - today has been my retro day - I have spent more time in my craft room listening to my old favourites play list and going through some of my "put - aside" layouts. You know... those photos you have wanted to scrap for ages or those you have started and put aside to finish later. Well I got three of those pages finished - one of which I started about 4 years ago - so I am feeling very proud of myself right now.

Hope your weekend has been a good one too.

The Dash

I went to a funeral this morning for a very special man. His wife has been known to me for many years and was a friend of my Mum and Dad for a long time. The following poem was read at the end of his service and I wanted to share it with you....

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on his tombstone
From the beginning..to the end.
He noted that first came his date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears, 1944-2012
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That he spent alive on earth..
And now only those who loved him
Know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;
The cars..the house..the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.
Are there things you”d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what”s true and real,
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we”ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile..
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy”s being read
With your life”s actions to rehash..
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

A little lovin'

Thought I better add a little lovin to my poor sad neglected blog!

Hmmm so much has happened.....

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the kids are now back to school after being terribly neglected over the school holidays. Its times like this I hate being a working parent. But we made it through.

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- The preparation for the big move for work has been MANIC.

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- We celebrated Tony's birthday.

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- Tony and I reached 18 years of marriage! I have to be honest... I didn't think it would happen, but we made it!

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I am going to try and find some time over the weekend to update all my posts and fill in the blanks. I have tomorrow off work and have already planned a breakfast coffee with Leanne and a girls drinks night with Heidi. May need some quiet time Saturday to sit and update blog after a night out!

Looking back...

WARNING...PHOTO OVERLOAD...

What a year 2011 has been for the Lucas family. We have done so much - we have laughed, we have cried (way too much), we have had good times and bad times. It has been year when we realised just who our friends and our support were and exactly how much we cherished each and every one of them.

We spent as much time outdoors as we could - nowhere near as much as we wanted to but at least we got there. We spent time with friends and family.

The first half of this year was spent between Nowra and Berry looking after Mum and I am extremely grateful to my friends and family not just for the many words of encouragement, the drop off of food, the hugs and the help but mainly for your understanding when I didn't feel I could be stretched any further.
We watched our little puppy grow from a tiny ball of fluff we were given at last Christmas by Mum who knew we would need someone to cuddle when she was gone to a large ball of fluff who is now so much a part of our family it is hard to imagine life without him.
Tasha started high school (yikes) and Kyle went into year 9. We spent as much time with Mum as we could as a family storing up memories and looking after her as the confusion and pain became stronger and stronger. We also spent time with the rest of our family and loved their acceptance of us on good days and bad.

I changed jobs and am so thankful that this opportunity came up. Going back there has been kind of like coming home.

We got away for a weekend as a family to Sydney as we didn't want to travel too far. We went to the zoo and we saw Mary Poppins... Tasha loved watching Matt Lee dance.
We spent time at the beach - even taking Mum back to the beach for one last trip which was the one thing she really wanted to do. We all love the beach and being outdoors.

Kyles smile and hugs warm my heart each day. He greets me often during the day arms outstretched with hug ready to go.
On the 13th of May we said goodbye to Mum and once again were just surrounded by love and amazing friends. Can I say again how thankful we are for your support.

I spent time with my friends and had some great times with them as well as enjoying their understanding in the bad times.
Once again Tony bundled our family in the car for a drive down to Melbourne for a weekend when I was feeling so useless being so far away from friends who were having a horrid year to equal ours. Their 2012 should be much better for them as a family and I hope to spend time with them again this year.

We have enjoyed time outdoors. I have spent numerous hours watching dance lessons/ soccer games.

We entered trivia competitions (and won - go us!) with our wonderful friends and have had numerous catch ups, cups of coffee, drinks etc with these special people


What can I say about 2011. I hope we never have another like it. However the blessings that have come out of this time show me that God knew exactly what help was needed and placed it right where it would be most beneficial. The friends that have always been special to us have become even more so - simply for the care and understanding shown to us when... quite honestly... putting one foot in front of the other even seems too hard some days. My kids are my lifeline - without them I really don't think I would get out of bed each morning.

These last two pics are from my facebook page. I sometimes forget that some of my closest friends miss the entire part of my life that is shared my facebook ... although miss it is the wrong phrase as they are a part of my life every day and hear most of it first hand from me.

Below is photos that I think I have shown above... it is a random selection of pics from my facebook page
And this one is a random collection of my status updates over the past twelve months. It is good to look back and remember the past twelve months and to remind myself that we have laughed as well as cried and that we can go on.
Bring on 2012........

Our Christmas

Christmas was a quiet one this year!

We drove up to Sydney on Christmas Eve to spend a few days with Mark, Mel and Declan... oh and Ben the dog! We had a scrumptious traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. The weather was beautiful and so we sat outside in the cool of the evening with a couple of bottles of Moet (thanks Mel) and had a great time.
Mel went to great lengths to organise a special Christmas - not only was the food amazing but the house was decked out in Christmas everywhere. She even had a gorgeous little Christmas village which I forgot to get a photo of :(

Christmas Day was nice and relaxed. We opened pressies and our menu for the day consisted of seafood, fresh fruit, cold ham and pork from the night before, salads and chocolate..... lots of chocolate. It was a time I was dreading and I did find it difficult... but when I found myself struggling I just took myself off for a few minutes until I felt I could join in again. Tash has really been struggling with losing Mum and is very aware that of my family the oldest person left is my brother and she really misses that older generation in her life so it was great to have a nice relaxed Christmas that she could enjoy
Then from the sublime to the ridiculous - we went from my small family gathering to driving home ... after calling into Miranda for a catch up with Heidi which always puts a smile on my face. Heidi was one of our "strays" and we have been friends for years - in fact when we were teenagers we just about lived at each others house and I still call her mother "other Mum".

Anyway from there we drove home... slowly.... very slowly.... yuck I hate holiday traffic to be greeted at the Combers by the Lucas family en masse. The scary thing..... this isn't all of them! We only got to spend an hour or so with them as we spent so much time in traffic but it was still great to see them. We got to meet the latest addition Violet (Jeneen's granddaughter) and also to see Mark (Davina's son) who was a surprise attendee.

Pre Christmas

As many people have mentioned December seemed to fly by in a vague mist. Our December is always slightly mad but this one seemed even more manic than usual.

We spent time doing our annual Christmas tree decorating - each year we get our Christmas hats and shirts on and put on the carols to decorate the tree. It was kind of bittersweet this year as most of our decorations have memories/thoughts of people attached to them. Each year the kids make a new decoration with their name and the year on it and this is also done for those sharing the dressing of the tree with us so when we unpack the box we have not only memories of our kids but also of those who have shared the time with us previously. So we have decorations from nieces/nephews/friends/past housemates/mum etc etc
Also in December I finally got to see Spicks and Specks. I had tickets to see a live showing last year but couldn't make it to the studio so had to miss it - when I heard they were touring I knew I just had to go. It was a really fun night with John, Haylee and Gail and I am so glad I was able to see it. Lots of singing and dancing as well as all of my favourite games from the show.
Tasha had her end of year dance concert for Le Pointe Dance Academy. Once again it was an amazing show - very professionally done. The theme this year was a triple tribute - Elvis Presley, Judy Garland and Michael Jackson. Tasha's dance for hip hop was Beat it and for Jazz was jailhouse rock. She put in so much time and effort in practising over and over and danced beautifully - well done Tasha
As I had the week before Christmas off work and the kids were both on school holidays we headed off on a road trip! Tasha has been asking me for some time to spend some time with my cousins (the only family left on my side) as the last time she saw them was at Mum's funeral and she wanted to replace those memories with happy ones. Tony and I had seen them since but the kids weren't with us. Unfortunately Tony had to work so it was just the kids and I.

We drove out to Cowra and spent time with Dave, Tanya and her boys Lachie and Thomas. It is always wonderful spending time with them and so much fun.

The next day we had planned to go into Canberra for some shopping before heading to Goulburn to see Mick and the kids. As normally happens with Mick there was a last minute change of plans when his kids decided they wanted to do some shopping so we all met up at Belconnen Mall. Then we spent the next morning with Mick in Goulburn before heading home.

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Then two days before Christmas we bundled in the car (Haylee, Kyle, Tasha, Tegan and myself) and went out on our annual Christmas light pilgrimage. We had the carols playing and the festive mood flowing...... I do wonder whether Haylee will join us again after not only did Tash and I sing..... loudly.... but Tash also yelled out "Merry Christmas" to EVERYONE we drove past.

Oh and in the middle of all this

* I turned 39 .... scary!

* Work continued to be manic organising building and the lead up to Christmas

* Tony had to travel to Sydney to see the specialist for his shoulder

* I spent a lot of time thinking of Mum as I wrote Christmas cards to her friends

* The kids and I went to carols at the church

Family Photos

It has been a dream of mine for some time to have a family photo shoot done - not just the single posed shot but a series of photos of us. We had discussed many ways to do this.. we had even looked into Starshots (where they do your hair and makeup etc) but we decided the formal studio setting was not us. We love the beach and the bush and wanted our photos to be more about us as a family.

So we got in contact with Rowena Field at www.willroandco.com I have known Ro for quite some time both through scrap days at the church and through various scrapping websites. We had a ball! We headed out to Callala Beach and (after a slight detour when I turned up at the wrong place) we spent a few hours with Rowena and her daughter Tara. It was a very relaxed afternoon and we had multiple costume changes and lots of laughs.

I love the pictures they got - yes we had some posed ones but we also got some amazing candid shots. It is impossible to pick a favourite of the almost 60 photos taken but I have included a few here.
The relationship between these two was captured perfectly.

This family shot is soooo not your typical normal family portrait but I just love it. It is now printed on a large canvas on our lounge room wall.






As I said this is only a small taste of the photos we got - yes we have the normal posed ones but also lots of candid snaps and fun ones too.

Visit www.willroandco.com if you are interested in doing this with your family - I cannot recommend her more highly.

Busy Weekend

I am a bit behind with blog updates but hey.. I am getting there!

A couple of weeks ago we had a very busy social weekend. We started with family date night on Friday night. It was a bit of a last minute thing.. but also something I have been working on for some time. Yes, yes I know... who said I had to make sense. ~L~ I guess I should say I had wanted to do this for ages so when the opportunity presented itself I jumped at it.

With my kids busy social lives we do not often have all four of us here and awake at the same time but it turned out we would all be free on a Friday afternoon/evening and as Breaking Dawn had just started that week we had a family movie/dinner night. We started off by picking the kids up and heading straight to the Roxy for a Twilight fix. Then we went to Posties for dinner. The meals were humungous (as you can probably see by Tasha's face)

Then Saturday morning Miss Jane and I met up for a trip to "A Taste of Christmas". It was a fundraiser for SECET and there were a number of craft and home made goodies stalls - entry fee was $10 and that included a high tea. So we sat and chatted under the trees and enjoyed our cuppa and sweets. (until we were gently asked if we were finished so our table could be used.... hmmmm I am beginning to wonder about us when we can be asked to leave a tea party - our reputation must proceed us! ~L~)
Then that night the kids and I headed out to Greenwell Point to celebrate with Jason and Amanda who both turned 40 towards the end of this year so had their 40th birthday parties as a joint affair. Tasha had fun decorating glasses and we had a lovely meal, caught up with friends we hadn't seen in ages, chatted with new people and even had a dance or two. Oh and Tasha and Tegan got up and danced for us AND Tasha sang for Jason and Amanda and..... okay slightly biased mother here.... she did a beautiful job.

Readers of my blog would recognise Tegan as she has appeared in numerous posts before - Jason and Amanda are her parents!
Then... Sunday! We went out to the Combers to celebrate Haylee's 25th birthday. It was a great day. We has a wonderful time, chatted with family and friends. Kyle got to cook the BBQ with Royce (watch out Royce the apprentice may one day surpass the master) and we had lots of scrumptious food.
I found this feature on my camera that I had fun playing with - it is a panoramic shot and takes three photos and joins them all together. Not the best pic as some people were inside etc, but definately a feature I will use again!

Summer soccer???

When Kyle decided to play summer soccer this year I thought it would be lovely to watch him play in daylight... in the sun... without umbrellas and jumpers etc etc. How wrong could I be!

So... we still head out on a Wednesday night (although he plays at South Nowra every week which is lovely - no big drives) but we are half way through the season and so far we have had ONE sunny day. Again tonight out came the umbrella as we sploshed through the mud and puddles to get to the field.

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Summer soccer - I don't think so!

Hot, hot , hot

What a day1 Mad day at work and horrid day at school for Miss Tash. She had to do a presentation in science today on breast cancer. I was so proud of her for getting through it - she managed to hold it together through her speech and finish her presentation before she broke down. WELL DONE TASH.

Anyway - 30 degree heat... tough day... of course it was beach time! This time it was just the girls - we had a fun time and it was just what was needed.
I have to say how proud I am of my girl. As I said she had to do a presentation on cancer and rather than taking the easy way out she not only had breast cancer as her topic (each pair in class had a different type of cancer) but she took the opportunity to share with the class about her Nana's cancer story and included a timeline of Nana's fight starting back in 2003. Apparently she had a tear or two in class but didn't cry until the presentation was finished but she had nearly all the class in tears too. It was lovely that she could share Nana's story in this way. SO PROUD OF YOU TASHA.

October

What a month! Full of ups and downs - Soooooo emotional.

After lots of hassles, dramas, and trauma - we now have our new Jazz. He is a lovely car - I was initially so excited about this vehicle but after being treated so badly by staff members at Nowra Honda -*NOTE* NEVER buy a car from that car lot - EVER!.* I was feeling quite ill about it. However I must say that when the car arrived the excitement hit fever levels! He is lovely to drive and easy to handle and oh such a gorgeous colour.

His name is Mike..... kind of a long story - will try and shorten it. Friends of ours have a large gorgeous blue car named Sully - with its colour and size it just had to be named Sully after the character in Monsters Inc. Now our car is a smaller version in the green colour so of course he had to be Mike (after checking with Sully's owners when we saw them in July for naming permission)
NOTE TO SELF NO 2. Think twice before sending Tony to get dog clipped! Okay to be fair he did need to clipped very short due to knots and matts in his fur but what a difference - so different Tasha believed we had a new dog!
We have had some gorgeous weather so of course we went to the beach. I hope to get out to the beach at least once a week this summer - I am working more days but knock off at 4:30 so can pick the kids up and head out for a few hours - got to love daylight saving!
I got to catch up with Cass and Annie - we had a big girls lunch in Kiama. I love catching up with these two they always put such a smile on my face!
And then we went back up to Kiama 2 days later for lunch and catch up with Mark, Mel and Declan.
So much more has happened this month.

- Our new building for work is coming along fast (and providing quite a few headaches as well as things emerge that haven't been done/planned or allowed for)

- I had major dramas when my laptop decided to die - I had not done a back up for about 6 months (yes, yes I know) and the last photos of Mum were on here. Whilst I was still in meltdown mode the calm voice of reason came from up North. I got an amazing call from Cass telling me her husband had told her to get me to send it to him and he would see what he could do. I have the best friends ever - not only are they clever but they were willing to do whatever they could to help me in what they knew would be a terribly traumatic time. NOT ONLY did I get my photos back on disc in the mail a couple of days later but I also got my computer back good as new with new hard drive installed and all my programs as they were and ready to go. LOVE YOU GUYS

- I got to catch up with Miss Jane - we called out to show off our new car - and for a coffee and catch up. Love these mornings and yes they will definately become a regular thing.

- This month was Mum's birthday and we had her plaque installed at Worrigee..... long story but oh so hard to deal with....

It has been a month of tears for me - I am still waiting to have a full day without tears but I know it will come.

October

Ggggrrr - had a months update all done and its disappeared.... hopefully blogger will find it again. If not I guess I will try again tomorrow night.

A social weekend

Wow what a busy weekend we have had!

Due to the fact we were all travelling out to Bathurst for the weekend we closed up work on Friday to allow travel time for everyone! Tony and I took advantage of this by heading to Cowra on Friday and catching up with my cousin David and Tanya. We had a lovely night catching up with them and I am sooooo glad we could have this time together.

Then Saturday morning Tony and I got up and and headed into Bathurst. We spent some time wandering around town before checking into our motel and getting ready for the wedding. Jessica is the daughter of one of the lady's at work, Michelle, and we have followed her life for years, both through her mum and through her happy smiling face calling in to work. It was lovely to see her and Chris get married. It was a gorgeous sunny day in Bathurst. The service was lovely and the church and reception amazing. It was a fun time and was nice to spend time with people from work in a more relaxed and fun setting.

I had hoped to add pictures but am having disagreements with my new camera - will try and get it sorted.... when I have time...... oh wait ~L~

Then Sunday was another catch up day. We headed off Sunday morning through Oberon and stopped in the delightful little town of Taralga where we had a late breakfast at a sweet tea room which my mum would have adored. If you are ever passing through Taralga call into the Taralgagirl cafe - Taralga is an amazing old town and it is just like stepping backwards in time.

Anyway, we got in Goulburn and spent some time catching up with Michael. Again it was lovely to catch up and we just sat and chatted - it was wonderful. It is mind blowing to think we are all the family left now and so we must make more effort to catch up - we used to get each others news through Uncle Les and Mum so now I guess it is up to us!

All in all a wonderful weekend full of social activities and catching up with special people.

Catch up

What can I say about the past month? It has been hectic (as usual) and has gone past so quickly. It has been an emotional month but has also had some good moments.

Okay.... scary - my baby is now a teenager! Yes, yes I know with the attitude we thought she already was but now she truly is a teenager.
As is family tradition Tasha got to pick dinner on her birthday so we headed out to Buffet Fusion. As generally happens things got a little silly!
We also celebrated Olivia's first birthday. It was a lovely sunny day and lots of fun was had. Tasha loves spending time with her cousins and was very excited.
Have been busy every weekend this past month and am looking forward to a couple of weekends at home (although now school holidays are starting!) I have been working long hours and extra days and feeling very washed out and flat.

Wow

What a weekend! busy, busy, busy but a wonderful time.

We started with a trip up to Wollongong after school on Friday - we found a reasonably priced apartment but due to the fact it was much cheaper than the others we weren't expecting much - well we were surprised! It was a massive room and gorgeous! Would definately go back if we needed. Anyway... the reason we were in Wollongong was for Tasha and I to go and watch Southern Stars - a dance and singing spectacular highlighting the talent from schools on the South Coast and Illawarra. WOW WOW WOW. I was blown away by the profesisonalism and the standard of the performance. Both Tasha and I came out of there in awe.

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Saturday morning we headed up to Miranda Fair for some retail therapy. After spending quite a few hours wandering in and out of shops we came away with a new outfit for Tash - a new short and jacket for Kyle but no new outfit for me for the wedding in three weeks :(

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Then it was a trip to the Sutherland where we caught the train into the city and had 1/2 an hour to get us all showered, changed and meet up with Mark, Mel and Declan for dinner. Aaarrghh - they were 15 minutes early! Luckily they were happy to grab a drink in the bar downstairs and gave us time to get dressed. We had a lovely dinner in Chinatown together before we said goodbye to the Stedfut clan and we headed to Capitol Theatre.

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What can I say about Mary Poppins? AMAZING. Okay obvious statement here but boy that Matt Lee can dance! Mary Poppins (Verity Hunt-Ballard) was brilliant and being supported by Philip Quast and Marina Prior as Mr and Mrs Banks just rounds it off perfectly. Apart from the talent everyone on stage just looked like they were having a great time!

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We finished the trip off with a quick visit to Pitt St Mall before heading home. Exhausted but well worth it.

Shame

I hang my head in shame..... my poor neglected blog!

The last three - four months have been hard..... very, very hard.

I have spent a lot of time at Berry with Mum as she got weaker and weaker and then she passed away on the 13th of May, being at home up until 3 days before she died at Karinya Palliative Care. The staff there were wonderful but there is nothing that can make that time any easier. The months since then have been kind of in a fog. At times I did not feel I would get through. The issues and just life in general since have been so hard to cope with.

In the middle of all this Tasha has had more issues at school.... some times I would love to be so anti-politically correct and go and punch some people and tell them to wake up to what their kids are like.

These past few months though have shown me how lucky I am with the friends and family I have. In Mum's last weeks and even after Mum died we had food delivered and left at the front door. Davina and Gail filled our freezer. It was amazing the care shown to us.

My friends have been wonderful. The constant phone calls and messages, the time for meeting up for a cuppa, the love and caring. I must make a very special thankyou to Miss Jane who was there for me whenever needed, she checked in regularly to make sure I was keeping my head above water or to pass me a snorkel if I wanted to slip under for a while (metaphorically speaking). The hugs, the cuppas, the messages and emails have all been a saving grace for me.

In the middle of this period we managed to pile everyone in the car for a long weekend trip to Melbourne just to give my girl SJ a big moving present - a hug from me! (Poor thing - she got a dud pressie hey!) Hopefully our trip down there, even as brief as it was, out a little of sunshine in what has been a tough year for her to.

Anyway I humbly beg your forgiveness for the neglect of my blog. May have to find a challenge of some sorts to get me back into blogging.... 30 day challenge? 20 questions? Photo of the day? Will come up with something - any suggestions?

gggrrr

yes I know there are spelling mistakes in the post below but blogger won't let me edit them. gggrrrrr

Long Weekend

What a mixed weekend we have had..... We spent some time with Mum on Fri/Sat and then gave her and John a quiet day at home alone on Sunday. Mum was looking very unwell on Saturday and was extrememy tired. When I rang her Sunday she was quite breathless and somewhat confused but said she felt okay.
Monday however was a different story. I got a phone call from Mum Monday morning checking I still coming over as she was feeling very ill. So I sent Tony and the kids off to the Lucas Family Easter and headed over to Berry. What a trip... bumper to bumper traffic through Nowra then it cleared as I got north of Bomaderry then I hit Strongs Road turn off and from there I got out of 1st gear once! It took me over an hour to get to Mum's! (it's normally a 20min trip) and knowing she was waiting on me to get there it was a rather stressful trip.
Mum was very, very breathless... she was very tired and finding it difficult to speak. We just spent some time sitting quietly together and just being there for each other.

So where are we now? Mum is still very breathless and tired. After seeing the doctors today it was decided to keep her home for now (Mum was so sick yesterday she suggested ringing Karinya which was a MASSIVE thing for her as she has done everything she could to avoid that). They are doing some fiddling with her pain medications and we wait and re-assess on a daily basis. Knowing Mum she is going to keep fighting as long as she can.... after all she has already waaaayyy surpassed the original expectations.

With all the stress going on around here lately I spent some time hiding away in my craft room (yes I should have been doing housework). Mainly tidying up etc.. I hadn't unpacked since going away to the scrapping retreat in February so I did that and then I sat down and scrapped. I had gone in there just to have some time away from the world and was surprised that I ended up actually doing some craft.

This page was put together out of a kit I bought at our LSS when it first opened. It was the biggest rip off I have ever bought and I have actually not bought from there since. This was their opening special "mystery kit" It cost $5 and all that was in it was this one sheet of paper, a short strip of pink ribbon and one silver flower. Every time I have opened this pack I have been frustrated at the price of it and put it away again.
Anyway I sat down and decided to use it. the page is quite simple and basic but hey...... I SCRAPPED!
It says all I wanted to say. My kids have been an amazing support to me over the past few months. The days I feel like I am barely holding on this young lady will cook dinner and Kyle will just open his arms and give me a big hug. They truly keep me from collapsing. I have to stay strong for them and to be there for them.