RACV and family updates

Just reading about the "incredible Museum of Science and Technology" in Manchester. Is that where you're working Dayna? The RACV suggest Manchester as a better starting point for a trip to England than London, especially with the preparation for Olympic games in 2012. Look out tourists from Australia will be flocking to Manchester.
We had a visit from the Hazelman's on Friday. They brought some dried fruit for Dad. Great to see them. Dad had a very ordinary weekend. He certainly wasn't up to going to a party on Saturday night. John and Julie did visit him last Tuesday so they probably didn't expect us.
Dad sees the dietician on Monday. I begin to think a spell in hospital with the feeding tube might be a good idea if it could get him eating again. Maybe all he has to do is wait for the pain to subside, but that is taking longer than he'd hoped. I know we would all give him some kilos if we could.
We have rain .......and wind........and more rain. Surely the storages are filling up. The washing is drying over the heater vents already. Only last week it was warm and sunny and now it's cold and windy. Damien and Cheryl had a rain experience they can write about.

Thank you Mum

My jumper arrived yesterday. Actually, it arrived Monday, but I was at work, so couldn't pick it up until yesterday morning. It's lovely. I really like the hat too - although I'm not sure I'll wear it as an ensemble.. we'll have to wait and see what next winter brings. :-) I'll definitely wear them as separates. *grin*

I'm not super-happy with this photo - and it's not cos I'm pulling a face (I meant that *grin*).. it's the extra kilos that are the problem. But I'm working on it.. spring feels like it's finally here and we've had days where it's been t-shirt weather (although no warmer than 20 degrees). It's amazing what a difference some sun can make.

Work seems to be going okay. I think I'll be able to do this job - there are a lot of different things to do. I'll need to get organised for much of it (like organising MOSI's contribution to the Manchester Science Festival) but the Learning team are great (they're not just learning to be a team..hehe) and I like challenges. *grin*

There are some more photos on Flickr of my current hair colour.. I'm not especially happy with it (I don't look good blonde.. not golden blonde anyway).. and I'll probably be putting a light-brown through it on the weekend.. I just have to leave it a while because all the bleach I needed to get rid of the black left my hair and scalp in need of TLC. I also have to wait until the weekend because Bruce wants to see it blonde. :-)

Dad, I hope you feel better soon. Apparently Aloe Vera juice is good for soothing the oesophagus. Unfortunately I read somewhere that chocolate isn't good for reflux.. so maybe leave the Easter Eggs for a little while. Although any food is better than none, so if you feel like chocky, go for it. *grin* *big gentle hugz* really, get better!

Hope everyone else is good - Lisa, some more photos of the kids please. *grin* Do you have a Flickr account?

*big hugz* to everyone

no emails

Hi to all. Somehow our mozilla thunderbird won't work. I can't check emails except by going to tpg and doing it through there. Any suggestions. I've reinstalled it but it still doesn't respond when i try to get mail.

Dad had his last radiation today. He's feeling dreadful but hopefully the problems will lessen with time and in a week or so he may be able to eat.

News from the Rowlands. Tamara is expecting again on James 1st birthday. They plan a caesarian on 30th August at this stage. Loved the tie Lisa had printed for Ray's 50th . We had a visit from them on Sunday afternoon.

Had a visit from John and Kerry Dunn on Saturday afternoon on their way to Shep. Very busy with family.

Nana and Auntie Denise are off to Maroochydore(Queensland)on Thursday for a weeks holiday. From the weather forecast they'll probably have more rain than we get.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everybody. I hope you all have had an enjoyable long weekend.

(more new photos over at flickr)

Oh, and big thanks to Auntie Dayna for the present, you can see him enjoying it here

It's been a quiet week, without ChrisTina ... and Astara dawn celebrations are coming!

Just reading Mum's email, thought I'd update the bandwagon -- although we don't have anything so exciting as chicken-pox to report!

We've had a quiet week this last week because Chris (our housemate) has been staying at Tina's (his girlfriend) place! Work is a bit hectic, but in the current economic climate we're both happy to have reasonably secure positions. Got to save our pennies (literally!) after all, with a view to house, car, dog, 2.5 kids ... or something like that anyway!

So it's been quiet, but the weather is slowly turning nicer and we've had a few occasions where we've been able to sit out on the balcony in the setting sun after work -- very nice! I've been going to a cafe called "Sumo Salad" for lunch, since the food is healthy and the front windows get a lot of sunshine. Topping up my vitamin-D, of course.

Last weekend we had one of Dee's work-colleagues over for lunch (roast chook) and then went to a quirky cocktail bar nearby called The Old Schoolyard (remember the days?). From the outside it looks like a dive; inside it's a big round bar complete with acrobatic mixing ala Cocktail the movie, scuffed couches, metal lockers and tall arcade cabinets. So we had pisco sours and Irish coffee and played four-player Ninja Turtles for 20p a game.

(Dad, you get home-made baileys as medicine?! Lucky. A bit tastier than the traditional "hot toddy" for colds -- hot water, whiskey, lemon juice and honey. Actually, hot toddy's are nice so long as you don't let 'em get cold ...)

This Easter (Eostre, Astara, Ostara) we're going to Leamington Spa with Chris and Tina (whom we call ChrisTina, just like we call Grant and Sheila GrantLa, and Nelsie and Picky, Pixie). Tina found a cheap deal somewhere -- she works for the University of East London and seems to get all these deals -- so we'll be relaxing and looking at Warwick Castle and playing chess and reading ... and eating the typical small ovoid shells made of a by-product of a particular cacao bean, sugar and milk of course ...

Update from us

Hey all.. Everyone seems to be using email to send out their updates, but I'm at work right now and don't have all the addresses here.. so it's a bandwagon post from me :)
Oscar's been a bit difficult these last few weeks, and we finally have a reason why - Cheryl took him to the Dr, who thinks he might be having silent reflux. Basically that explains everything - his tendency to feed only a little, and be hungry half an hour later, waking up after about an hour of being asleep unless you're holding on to him (and keeping him upright), general grumpiness and crying.
The solutions involve a drop of mylanta in his bottle, sitting him up to feed, keeping him sat up for half an hour afterwards, and using towels to angle his bed so his head is a bit higher.. of course in the meantime he's pretty high maintenance, which means when I'm at work Cheryl barely has time to eat, let alone time to rest or anything else.. and it also means of an evening neither of us get much sleep.
Hopefully the tricks can help lessen the effects, and hopefully it's something he grows out of.. although even then it could be months, at which point I suspect we'll both be needing a holiday! Ah, the joy of babies.

New job, new travel-buddy

I'm on the way home from my first day at the Museum of Science &
Industry (MOSI). It was mostly what expected a first day to be -
filling out forms for HR, reading the hand-over notes, exploring the
computer server for relevant info and trying to figure out what i'm
supposed to do over the next six months. :)

I had a welcome suprise with today's morning mail. Damien and Cheryl
and Oz had sent me a postcard and new travel-buddy. I'm not sure of
her name yet (she's a bit shy) but she's Patrick's younger sister and
is looking forward to some adventures of her own. I still miss Patrick
(stupid Royal Mail) but it's lovely to have someone to travel with. :)
*big hugz* thank you!

I'll attach a photo of my desk and the little ghost. I'm trying a
mobile post again - this time from my own phone (since now I don't
have a blackberry for work). All in the name of mobile internet. :)

Hope everyone is good. *big hugz to all*

--
Sent from my mobile device

Smile!

Testing email posting

Hello from the Isle of Wight!

I'm here by myself so I'm going to put the comments that I'd normally make to a travel buddy in here..

11:55
I'm on a bus to Alum Bay - on the other end of the island to where I arrived on the Hovercraft. We just went past a field full of sheep and lambs - they'd numbered them all so you could tell who belonged to who. Cute little sheepies, with big blue and red numbers painted on their sides. Hehe.

There are also quite a lot of thatched-roof houses in this area.

12:55

Just walked down 182 steps to the seaside. I can't call it a beach because it's made of pebbles and I don't think that's really a beach. :-) I wanted to see the cliffs of coloured sand. You're not allowed to take any sand from the beach - if you did that then you wouldn't pay for the little bags of it from the souvenir shop.. Anyway, just got down to the bottom and I needed the loo. Bugger! Took a few photos and then headed back up the stairs.

13:40
Bought an uninspiring lunch of sandwich, crisps and a ribena carton. I'll eat it after I've had a look in the Glassblower's.

Alum Bay Glass is quite pretty, but nothing exceptional. Lots

of dust-collectors really. I like watching glass blowers work. Stuart the Glassblower from Scotland was mezmerising. The three guys they had on the demonstration floor were talented but it wasn't exceptional. I guess it's hard to be exceptional when you're making paperweights or pigs. To be honest, the pig-maker was the most interesting to watch.

Take a blob of molten glass, add some coloured powder and twist it a bit to mix it. Let the glass cool just a little then using huge metal tweezers, pull out four blobs on one side (the legs), two blobs on the other (the ears). Swing it around a bit to elongate the

body a little and to assist it cool. Stand it on its legs and poke with tweezers to make eyes. Continue to twist until glass sets, break off twisting rod (at nose) and put hot pig into kiln for annealing.

14:10
Eating my lunch on a bench outside in the sun. Suddenly a couple of ravens/blackbirds (not sure exactly) flew onto the adjacent table. They're as bad as seagulls (which didn't come scavenging) - looking for any kind of scraps. I had an enjoyable time.. Taking photos, talking to the birds, watching other tourists try to feed them so they'd stay still long enough for a photo. Now it's time to get on the bus up the hill.

14:45

Paid to go in to the Old Battlement. They have a tunnel! Down a winding staircase which is only wide enough for one (and only just - I really need to do more exercise) and the acoustics are fab. The tunnel is only just wide enough for two to pass, but you'll hear them at the top of the staircase - even if you're at the spotlight at the other end, enjoying the view of the Needles. I wish someone had been there to play with the acoustics. I encouraged a young lad and his sister to mess about with it - and from the noise they made, it must have been fun!

17:30
I'm sitting at the front of the Hovercraft. Hehe. It's so exciting. I came over on it this morning, it's not like anything else I've been on. Low tide? No problem! The Hovercraft hovers over land or water - the only difference is the bumps from the waves. :-)

I'm going to send this now - it's already a long email/post and I'm on the way back to Portsmouth now. Hope everyone is good and I'll try to upload the appropriate photos soon.

*hugz*

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Sent from my mobile device (and then edited because it put in line breaks that meant the post looked weird)

parents to Glenn

hi to Glenn and Danielle,
We received a letter from Budget about Citylink charges when you visited and have forwarded it to your email. Let us know if you want us to pay the bill. I thought you had kept up with the City link charges and hopefully could tell Budget what you had paid.Email sent, siblings will be on to you to check and so are we.

Happy Birthday Adam

Like the title says, happy birthday dude! We're looking forward to seeing all of you in a month or two (I don't actually know when you're planning to visit)

Update from Adelaide

Hey guys.. well, some pretty big updates on the bandwagon. Jared, I hope you had a great birthday, we're still organising your present, maybe we'll give it to you when you visit. Ma n Pa, sorry to hear about the scary ER visit, but I'm glad Dad's on the mend again. A trip to Emergency is never a particularly pleasant experience.

As far as we are going, things are all pretty good. We've had Edith and Landon here for the last three weeks, and Rach arrived on Tuesday, but they headed home this morning. I know Oscar enjoyed seeing his grandparents and auntie, and we certainly appreciated an extra few pairs of hands to cook, clean up and occasionally take the baby so we could sleep :)

We took Oz to the beach on Saturday, which was great.. he slept pretty much the entire time. Then when we got home he was awake for some photos and a quick webcam chat with his other grandparents (and great-grandparent). I've put still more photos in the Oscar set on flickr.

I think the photos are generally 1200x1600, so if you want them at a bigger size to print just let me know.. the originals are more like 2500 x 1900. Mum and Dad, you do have that book to fill up after all ;)

That's about it from us. The time just seems to be flying by, it's hard to believe Oscar's a month old already. In no time he'll be eating all the food in the fridge and sleeping until noon :)

ER

Hi all. Last night after Lisa and the children left, dad felt chilly. By 6.45pm he was shaking and had a temp of 38.3. Since those symptoms mean straight to ER at the hospital, that's what we did. Dad was very dehyrated so two litres of saline, blood tests, antibiotics and an Xray later (10.30pm) I could take him home, with more antibiotics. His temp was still up last night but was normal this morning. We called to see Nana on our way home because she had arranged to call in to visit after Saltworks last night and I knew she'd be worried. Dad had seemed much improved yesterday and we enjoyed a visit from Lisa and the family and Auntie Denise at lunch time. Hopefully now things will improve. He still has diarrhoea, but maybe the improved medicine we got on Thursday will work better if he isn't so dehydrated. Early night tonight I think.

Update

I thought that it was about time to update the blog. Well I'm a helper with the tiny's team at calisthenics. Schools going well and in about a term and a half we'll get to go in the new school.

Happy Birthday Jared!

Have a fantastic day today!
Enjoy bowling - I hope you win.
*hugz*