Old kitchen is gone!

well technically it is still on the property but the skip is being picked up tomorrow so not for long!

The whole kitchen has been ripped out including almost all the floor (I moved the pantry out to the laundry (it will be my linen cupboard – woohoo I get a linen cupboard) but haven’t pulled up the tiles from under there yet – it’s only a 5min job though so will get that done today.

It looks a mess. I have quite a bit of spac fillering to do this morning before I go out to diggers rest. The scout group camp is on and my Brett had his first joey sleep over there and Owen had his last one …he is going up to Cubs this afternoon – can’t miss that!  So off for a bbq lunch and watch him go up to cubs. Should be back by 4ish and we will just have a sandwich for dinner methinks and I will get stuck into cleaning the walls with sugar soap with the hope of being able to throw up a coat of undercoat this evening after the boys go to bed.

That’s the plan because I might well need two coats of undercoat – the green on the walls at present is quite dark.  I only have two more days to get it done and tomorrow I have a morning tea at school so will be out from 9-10.30 and then I have Owen’s eye test so out again from 12-1.30 then school pick up…hoping that I can get up a coat of something in the morning  – I have two hours and am only aiming to do the two walls that the cupboards are going on really. Then another coat between lunch and school pick up if I can which may even leave time for one last coat between the kids bedtime and mine before the installers arrive at 7.30ish on Tuesday morning!

So far though…

I have learnt…..

- never to get ‘a mate’ who says ‘yeah I can do that’ to do brickwork (window still not completely bricked on the outside.

- never to let the size of the job to freak you out – just think of the next thing that needs doing and do that…one step at a time I can do anything!

- to plaster! yes I singlehandedly plastered up what used to be my window (someone else removed the window). But I built an inner frame to attach the plaster to because the frame of my house is hardwood and very difficult to screw/nail into – had to use my hammer drill to make pilot holes to screw into

- to buy more than one tiny drill bit so you have a spare if you break one

- that liquid nails is a girls best friend

- that no matter how much you think it will cost, it will mostly likely actually cost more!

still here…

Christmas tree is up, Kitchen is not empty….I need to get organised but as usual I am procrastinating on it.

Plumber, tiler, sparky, skip and mate to destroy/remove old kitchen all organised. I just need to empty it out and be prepared to let people in and out to get it all done…and of course hope that nothing goes over budget (although there are more quotes than estimates now so crossing fingers on that one).

Tomorrow I’m taking Brett for his eye test (in school time – lunchtime) so here’s to hoping that he doesn’t need a  new script then it is just Owen to go.

Also got to work on reindeer antlers – got them 1/2 done for Brett and the rest of Owen’s costume for their scout camp next weekend.

I hate wisdom teeth

here I am up at 4am for the second night in a row to get pain meds for my wisdom tooth again. The dentist said there was room for them to come through but I think she may have been wrong with the uppper left one at least….may have to go back but oh how I hate the dentist!  On the up side usually this sort of movement only lasts a few days then they settle down again so here’s hoping…and tomorrow I might take the nurofen and a drink to bed with me and take it as soon as I wake with pain instead of lying there thinking it will go away for hours first!

yes I’m a big sooky la la!

I’m going to the movies tomorrow!

with the kitchen taking financial priority at the moment all unnecessary spending has been stopped and stamps have been listed for sale.  My big sister (who happens to be THE best big sister ever) saw me comment that I would wait for the Time Travellers Wife to come out on DVD because all $ were going to the kitchen and sent me an sms saying she had put $ in my account and to go see the movie! Isn’t she the best?! So tomorrow after my cardmaking session with a mate I am off to the movies (on my own) to see The Time Travellers Wife. I have been hanging to see it after I read the book a few months ago so that will be my treat. Then Sunday I am off to get the rest of my kitchen and Monday is Brett’s eye test and the real start of the clean up as the kitchen goes in in two more weeks!

 

In support of Prof Paddy Dewan

We have known Paddy Dewan for almost 8 years now, he is Owen’s Urologist & Surgeon. He has been found guilty of charges from a surgery he performed back in 2004. I am not aware of the circumstances…I am just aware now that as a result he MAY be forced out of his profession for 12-18months. I hope not. This is the man who invented the surgery that Owen had for his very complex case of hypospadies. This is the man who cared for him, who spoke to us clearly and explained in detail, not only the surgery but the complications, the man who was back at 3am for another 2hrs when he tore his internal stitches and couldn’t pee. The man who sat me down at 5am and told me he didn’t know how long he would be in hospital for and to remember to take care of myself too. This is the same man who gives up so much of his own time in his charity (kind cuts for kids) to go overseas and operate on cases that Drs in 3rd world countries can’t fix and who teaches the local doctors and nurses while he is there. This is a man who is slowly being forced out of the public system for his instance on people owning up to mistakes and errors so that all can learn from them and ensure they don’t happen again. This is a man who realises that Owen is not just a patient but a child and part of a family and treats him accordingly. A man who is so patient and caring with children and their concerned parents.  I am not privy to all the details of the case in question but surely the reason for suspending a doctor is to protect the public from mistreatment and surely then all the GOOD this wonderful man has done has to be considered as well.  We are lucky in that we are down to 6 monthly check ups at the moment to ensure all is well but even so should Paddy be suspended we will be lining up to see him when he starts practicing again.  When we first took Owen to see a surgeon he literally threw his hands in the air and said ‘I’m not touching that’, he went on to say that there was, in his opinion, only one doctor to refer him too. Over those early years through several ops I never failed to be greatful that we had been referred to Paddy.

The decision will be made by the end of the year. I hope and pray that he will not be suspended for the sake of all the children who need his talent, skill and care!

It’s raining, it’s pouring….

the heavens opened again (at least we weren’t camping this time)! For a short while this afternoon most of my front yard was under about 10cm of water…it did eventually sink in.

Thankful that this week is almost over.  I thought that I was going to have loads of time to get things done then remembered I had a trip to Craigieburn on Monday, Work Tuesday, Kids at their new school Wednesday plus the tiles pick up, work thursday and helping with the school fun day on Friday followed by Swim lessons for the boys after school. Kids were due to go to Dads on Friday but he has plans Friday evening so he is picking them up Saturday morning instead. I am thankful that we have always managed to maintain flexible arrangements for the kids – makes life easier for us both. He is having them later in December so that I can go to a concert and again so I can go to my work xmas dinner.

I survived the kinder AGM without being elected into any exec position.  I did get a fright when I went to check on the boys outside and stepped back in just in time to hear ‘Jude President’ but apparently she was just saying that Jude had been president in the past! I did make it clear that with working 2 days a week just being on the committee was enough. I want to test the waters gently as some committees are better than others, I like to help and be involved but not at the cost of my sanity!

And for anyone interested I have some SU stamps for sale on my exdemo blog at www.heyjudestamps.wordpress.com so check it out for some great bargains.

Putting my feet up for a minute!

Today was always going to be busy!

the plans were to do the following

take kids to Werribee int the  the morning then home to change into school uniform and back to school.

Pick up my white kitchen tiles in the city somewhere (a guy was selling them cheap and I had to meet him)

Get Brett’s glasses repaired.

Get kinder fees paid.

Pick kids up from afterschool sport.

Put the tent down and pack it away

try to get rid of the ‘wet sock’ smell from the car since our camping trip

go to kinder AGM tonight (with the kids).

ok sounds busy but had to scrub out the pick up the tiles as I couldn’t meet the guy at 9.30 am so thought we would do it next week instead. So got to the plaza to get Brett’s glasses repaired and they said they could do Corey’s eyetest on the spot so did that. She said she would write him a script if I really wanted to but she felt that on the whole he was coping ok with his vision as it is at the moment. An astigmatism can’t really be corrected permanently with glasses so it won’t hurt him to put them off until he needs them more. He will need them eventually but she said just to reassess in about 9 months with a view to maybe getting them before school starts but possibly not even til later when he is reading for longer and smaller print.  I made an appointment for Brett to go in next Monday and will get Owen in the following week (that way I can take just one kid at a time – much easier).  Brett’s glasses may need to be completely replaced he is going to see if he can do that under warrantee and if not will wait to see if his script needs changing before we decide what to do.

I had a call on Monday to say my new purple tiles were in so I thought I would pick those up today too – so popped in there and paid for them. She told me to drive around the back and I said oh I thought I’d just walk through its only 4 sheets of mosaic after all. So I walked through….and what do you know they have a clearance section. So my white kitchen tiles just changed again! Who could walk past 200mm x 250mm plain white gloss tiles for $5 a BOX (1.5m2 per box) and they had 3 boxes left. I only needed 2.8 square metres but I figure at that price would grab all 3 boxes so that I have some spare in case of breakage etc. So all my tile shopping is done (wasn’t committed to the other sale as he said not to bother putting it through ebay – his loss).  And it came in under budget….still laughing that my purple border cost about $90 while all the white ones only cost $15!

Got the kinder fees paid on the way home.

oh forgot to mention school. They told me the boys coped really well with everything and just as she did that Owen had a bit of a meltdown…he was stressed that he hadn’t gotten to ask his questions…she just said to ask her and his question was ‘what are the school rules’ lol! Poor kid was very distressed and not really happy with her explaination that they would explain them on his first day of school to the whole class. It sounds a little silly but Owen loves rules – they give him the sense of order he craves. I am glad that they were able to see an example of  Owen’s more challenging behaviours because I am sure from the way she was talking that she thought he was a perfectly ‘normal’ 8 year old – mind you that is good too – he isn’t too far away from the ‘normal’ 8 year old some of the time.

So just got to pick them up and put the tent down and get them to the kinder meeting and NOT get elected to any of the big committee jobs…am ok with being on committee but not on the executive and them get them home and into bed asap as the meeting starts at 7.30 (bedtime here is usually 7, 7.30 and 8pm here).

still tired…

I think I do this every time we go camping…and everytime I forget that it seems to take more out of me than I admit each time… I am still tired and will be in bed early again tonight. I still love the times we go away thought – we leave so much crap behind that we spend more time as a family.

Next year is going to be a big one for my boys!

The big two are changing schools – it will mean more driving to school and the fact that we have to cross the railway tracks means leaving early to ensure we get there in time.  On that note they are going for an extra orientation session on Wednesday morning.  I have a million little questions for the school so keeping them all written down.

My littlest man is going to Kinder…he is ready but it will be a big change for him.

Owen will (probably) be going to Cubaree in September next year. Its a 5 day cub camp for all the cubs in Victoria and it is only held every 3 years so its go this time or miss out entirely.  It is hard to imagine sending him off for 5 whole days but he has matured a lot in the last few months and will have good support so I think he will be going and I am sure he will love it.

Big news this evening is that they are going to start holding a similar event for Joeys in April next year which means Brett will be away for 1 night (Joeys can only ‘camp’ for 24 hours and usually aren’t in tents but this one says a marque).  It will be big for Brett as it will mean being away from Owen….as much as he dislikes Owen most of the time…at the end of the day he crawls into Owen’s bed!

 

 

 

Busy busy day!

Corey went to family daycare today so I could get stuff down around home…only I remembered Owen had a check up with his surgeon Prof Paddy Dewan – all is ok just  a regular 6 monthly review.

But by the time we did that half the day was gone and I was obsessed with tiles – spending too much time thinking about them so I went shopping. Found some that really are perfect and ordered them – will be in in 5-10 days.  Meanwhile I think I am going to go down from the 200mm square tiles to 150mm square as the mosaic border tiles will allow  for any size tile and I think I have found an awesome deal on the tiles saving me HEAPS – should be sorted by tomorrow at $6per square metre (instead of $20).

Camping on the weekend – of course hot as all hell right up to the weekend then we are expecting rain! hope we don’t get too much rain on the weekend!

am off to bed now b4 I fall over.

oh come now Just found this are realised it didn’t post….i’m still counting this as being posted yesterday – my list my rules so ner!

a little late but…

…if I haven’t been to bed then it still counts as today does it not?

I was chanel flicking and found that the movie Ghandi was on…I never studied history and though I was vaguely aware of Ghandi I am finding the movie fascinating.

We made significant progress in getting the front yard tidied up today and I replaced the broken fly wire on my front door. It feels good to get these things done but there is a lot yet to do.  I have organised for Corey to have an extra day at his family daycare (school hours only) just so I have a bit extra time to get things organised.

We are off to Ballarat with the tent on the weekend so starting to get organised for that as well. And the big boys will have an extra orientation session at their new school next week – just waiting on an actual day. I hope that they settle well at the new school.