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Christmas
Christmas Eve went pretty much as always. Lego Lover woke up in the worst mood and lost it a couple times during the day. It’s simply too hard to hold it together through the two big days of the year for him. I think he recovered a bit better than he has in the past and was very regretful of his actions after his return to sanity. We were suitably busy making some last minute purchases and ended up at the shops about three times in total for the day. I made two ginger cakes for Christmas and the Scientist iced them in the evening. The boys tried hard to go to sleep early again but both still were awake later than would have been preferred.
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A Lego Lover's Tenth Birthday
The birthday boy had what he called an awesome birthday. He didn’t wake up first like he intended but he had a really great day. I had to go out to buy balloons and a couple other bits and pieces early on so that I wasn’t at home when he woke up. I’d already wished him a happy birthday when he was still struggling to sleep in the wee hours of the morning so he was mostly anxious of my return so that he could open his gifts. His big gift from us was a Lego City Harbor set, one of the most coveted on his list. He also got copies of both season one and four of Spongebob Squarepants from my parents. While Lego Lover started building, I baked his cake. Since I have the strongest lungs, I then had the privilege of blowing up the twenty-five balloons. Game Fanatic, who is balloon-phobic stayed mostly out of the way during this process. Lego Lover had intentions of keeping them all in one area of the house but they ended up drifting around after awhile.
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Talk about pain
I remember this night ten years ago quite well. During the day, I started having contractions but carried on with my usual activities. I visited our very favorite local bakery and the owner (a Vietnamese lady) was shocked to see me out and about while in early labor. But she had a not-so-great surprise for me at the time. She announced they had sold the bakery and then introduced me to the new owner. I was quite sad about that but didn’t have time to dwell on it just then. I don’t recall too much else about the other activities during the day.
The real fun started around 11pm when my contractions became strong and were close enough together to make our way to the hospital. The Scientist and I set off with Game Fanatic in tow and arrived about half an hour later. It’s amazing how time seems to slow down when you are strapped into your seat but in regular waves of pain. I was quickly sent off to the maternity section where an incompetent junior doctor was in a hurry to be done after a very busy day in the ward that day. Meanwhile I was howling with pain in a way that never occurred during labor with Game Fanatic. It’s strange how different the two labors were. The Scientist’s mum was phoned to take Game Fanatic away as he was quite distressed by my pain. So it was then many hours of battle with the junior doctor who was trying to break my waters while my legs were clamped together because I was in continuous contractions. Various problems created a need for surgery so that Lego Lover was born at 6:30am by c-section. The next few hours were a blur and I don’t even recall when I next saw him because he was taken away while I was being stitched up.
The next few days were a monotonous period where Lego Lover slept a lot and I didn’t. Christmas was almost a complete non-event for me since I only had the company of a sleeping baby for all but a short part of the day. The big positive was Lego Lover was a champion nurser from the start and I was happy to miss out on all the pain I had experienced the first time around.
And here I am now, sleepy but still alert. Lego Lover is struggling to sleep so I am waiting up with him until he succumbs to the drowsiness. It’s been almost too much for the poor boy, with the excitement over his birthday and Christmas. He’s done pretty well this year and only really lost the plot once when he got too frustrated with a game on the Wii a few days ago. It should be a blissful day.
Now to get him to sleep so I can sleep so I can wake up early enough to make that scrumptious Devil’s Food cake he wants tomorrow.
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Another year older
The Scientist passed another birthday today, and it has gone well, I think. Lego Lover and I hatched a plan to get him a Lego Mindstorm set many months ago. I’ve been putting aside money all year and the Scientist’s parents contributed significantly towards the total. I paid for it in cash so there’s no financial pressure to pay it off now. The Scientist and Lego Lover should have some great times ahead of them as they work out how to use it.
The Scientist also got a copy of Ironman from Game Fanatic. This was something of a surprise, too, because Game Fanatic has made a habit of giving only games as gifts the last year or two. The Scientist is quite pleased because he’s been wanting this film on dvd since it came out.
I baked a ginger cake at the Scientist’s request and it came out really nicely. I’ve been having too many mishaps when baking lately so it was nice to have success on this one. Lego Lover thought it tasted great, too, which made it doubly pleasing for me.
The day itself seemed to go quite well and I think the Scientist thoroughly enjoyed himself. Hopefully he’s now having a good night’s rest.
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Hot and bothered
The psychologist asked how I was when we arrived at the appointment this afternoon and the best I could come up with was “Hot and bothered.” I was mostly referring to the major increase in temperature today after fairly cool temperatures for October so far. The day had gone mostly fine with just a few little hiccups. Lego Lover was in an okay mood and Game Fanatic was okay…The scene as we left the appointment seemed to accentuate the bothered part and continued the next forty-five minutes or so as we travelled home with a rather volatile Lego Lover in the back seat.
I arrived home, feeling quite frazzled from the journey and discovered the new signed Augie March cd I had ordered in the mailbox. (I obviously had forgotten its impending arrival despite it being posted on Thurday from Melbourne…an advantage since I had missed out on the impatience of waiting for mail from the east coast!) Lego Lover changed moods to something far more positive within minutes. Bliss! Well, sort of bliss…
I had a quick shower, which went a long way towards relieving the hot part and a little ways towards the bothered part. Then the Scientist and I went off to buy a birthday present for my niece (which I somehow hadn’t quite managed to get before then for a number of reasons) before going for a short visit this evening without the boys.
Watched Two on the Top End on ABC1 HD which continues to amaze me each week, mostly with the gorgeous photography of the natural wonders of the top end of Australia. Then watched Packed to the Rafters on Channel 7. We really enjoyed the program and yet found it infuriating the way the network advertises its programs during the ad breaks, overdramatising what are often minor parts of episodes. Also found the whole concept of all those ads just plain tiresome and tedious. Reminded me of why we watch far less commercial television these days.
Have all the windows open tonight as it’s a warm night, finally! Currently on the second listen of the new Augie March album. Oddly enough, still feeling a bit tense from the day despite a return to normal. Maybe I just need to sleep now.
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Cold hands and feet
This morning I took a bus to an appointment at the teaching hospital near Perth. I had to be there at 9:45 so the Scientist dropped me off at the bus station where I caught a direct bus. Although the temperature wasn’t really all that low, it sure felt cold this morning. The bus trip was mostly uneventful and I arrived about twenty five minutes early. I went ahead and signed in at the clinic since there was little else to do. I’d barely sat down when I was called back to sit in the corridor outside the office. It was pretty quiet when I arrived but that was soon to change.
Some patients had been there long before I arrived and were still waiting. One man nearly walked out and another woman wasn’t able to be seen because something was missing from her file and they had to wait for the medical records department to send it through. She was very upset by the time she went in, just before me. Both had been there for appointments scheduled for 8:30 am. Having experienced a lengthy delay in the past (due to an admin. error), I came prepared for a long wait. I used my pda to continue reading Great Expectations. My only concern was that the battery would conk out early and I didn’t have a spare. Fortunately I was called in before this occurred.
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Stuff
I didn’t end up doing quite the things I intended to do today. But I did managed to accomplish a little anyway. I made up for two days of no exercise by doing two hours of exercise on the Wii Fit. I worked myself harder than usual and tried the more difficult levels of some of the exercises, especially within the aerobics category. I found I did far better than expected on a couple activities so feel a bit more confident to continue at the harder levels.
Game Fanatic saw the doctor and all is fine. We may need to see a physiotherapist at some point to strengthen his ankles. Previously she called it a strain but today she was saying it was a sprain. Not sure which it is but I suppose they both take some time to heal.
I received a jury summons a while back for later this month. Because I have full time care of children fourteen years of age or younger, I am eligible to be excused. I finally had that witnessed this week and mailed it off today. If I could be sure it would only be for one or two days, I would go ahead with it because they will keep sending one every two years until I serve. This was my second summons and I’d guess I will get two or three more before I am in a position to take it on.
We spent most of the evening watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics tonight. We’re in the same time zone as Beijing which is rather convenient for us. I couldn’t help wondering at the further pollution caused by all the fireworks but they were quite a sight. The ceremony was good overall but I don’t think it was as good as the one in Sydney in 2000. Strange to think how long ago that is now. Lego Lover likes to watch the parade of nations with all the different flags but he got bored after a while. When I found a list of the countries’ order online, he went off to play and we called out to him when a country of interest was coming up. Game Fanatic did stick around the entire program although he was reading the Scientist’s Far Side comic books at the same time.
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Psycho cat
My parents divorced a couple years ago and my mom has been living in an apartment alone the last couple of years. Last year she decided she would like a companion and adopted a kitten from a litter. Her kitten of choice was the one that didn’t claw her and seemed most loving.
On the second day she had this kitten, he bit her, apparently quite hard, because it was enough to cause her to cry. Over the last year, the cat has bitten her so many times she has scars on her leg. She knew she needed to get rid of this cat but she had grown too attached.
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Fifteen years
The Scientist and IÂ had our fifteenth anniversary today. In some ways it seems so much longer…probably because we’ve unofficially been together for several years longer. Other times it doesn’t seem so very long ago. But the time when we got married was before I came to Australia and that seems a long time ago. I find that my life seems divided between my life before and since moving to this country. Anything from before now seems like a lifetime ago…In reality it’s only been fourteen years next month.
We ended up not very much today but will go out for a bit tomorrow when the scientist’s mum will come and stay with the boys for a couple hours. We had planned to go see the movie U2-3D but it seems we have missed out. I’ve heard speculation it won’t be out on dvd so I hope we haven’t completely missed our chance. We are trying to figure out a different movie but most that interest us are ones that the games fanatic also wants to see so we may just go out to eat instead.
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Long time, no writing
I’ve been rather negligent on the writing the last week or so. Our family has been going through a bit of a crisis the last ten days and I haven’t been able to put thoughts down. Emotionally, I think it’s been the hardest week we’ve ever been through. The situation is not gone, but it’s not looking so terrible now.
I keep thinking about the way stress affects us in so many aspects of our lives. A certain amount of stress is good for us but when we overload our systems, we don’t function. Usually, when I am stressed, I tend to eat. I usually crave chocolate and lots of it. This time, it didn’t happen that way. I was actually coping reasonably well the first few days and was able to support the scientist, who is the one directly affected. By the weekend, my defenses had crumbled and I was sinking into emotional valleys and pulling myself partially out, only to go down again. It was almost like being drowned by the weight of the stress, I suppose. The last couple of days, I found it hard to function so that I wasn’t eating or sleeping well. I lost about four kilograms from my lack of appetite. I wasn’t really there for the kids. Thankfully, they have done quite well and saved us more stress and anxiety. Right now the worst part is probably over so we are functioning again and able to carry on more of a normal daily life.
The serious stress was fairly short-term but I wonder how people manage this on a long -term basis. How does one not go completely nuts? Of course, sometimes they do. We made the mistake of not sharing with many others the difficulties we were going through. We had some good reasons for this,  but we missed out on a lot of support that could have buoyed us through some of the worst of it. We finally did share and it was so much better even though nothing particular had changed at that point. Our family and friends have been absolutely wonderful and we won’t forget that. It’s not that they can “do” anything but they are there for us. That feeling that you aren’t alone anymore makes a major difference and that’s what counts most.