Catch-Up

Its been a while since I last updated, there are a few reasons.........

The first is that I've been online less and less.

The second is that its been a fairly shite few months with little blog-worthy excitement to note

The third is that priorities have been elsewhere

In a series of kicks received lately the first was the loss of my licence. This (while entirely my fault) was a real pain in the proverbial. I had received a few speeding fines on my motorcycle and amassed 12 demerit points inside 3 years meaning I could either lose my license for 3 months or last a year with no demerit points and keep my license. Given all my indiscretions were on 2 wheels I was confident that I could last out 12 months restricting my motorcycle use and opting for the car more. I last 10 months and unfortunately as turned out ended up being done......in my car.......on the way to get my vasectomy. I was speeding, I was nervous, I explained to the cop where I was going but they didn't seem to phased so I copped a fine and about 2 months later had the pleasure of handing in my license. Its been ok, better than I thought I'm lucky that where we live is a short walk from a bus stop. Had I been living on our land I'd be screwed (it is 8km from the nearest bus stop). I don't mind catching a bus then a train into work, or a train home however the bus home is a little testing, there isn't a lot of leg room for people over 6'6 nor are some of the passengers the most civil. My commute has gone from 75-90 minutes to usually just over 2 hours, this sucks, it means I get home later, have to get up earlier and arrive home more tired than I normally would be.

The licence situ has also led me to deciding to sell my Ducati, while I find the hypermotard the most fun bike I've ever ridden I do need to settle down a little, I had decided to get a more cruiser oriented bike when I turned 40 but now i'm content to sell the hyper then get a harley of some form as more of a project, While I love riding bikes I also love wrenching on bikes just as much so a project will keep me occupied for a while.

On the home front this pregnancy has hit MB for 6. Her energy levels and health were very low for the early months of the pregnancy and as the months went by she didn't seem to improve, actually I started to see her go backwards, no energy, very snappy at first I think we both put it down to pregnancy hormones but certain key indicators raised alarms we suspected that she was suffering antenatal depression. She is now taking medication and speaking with a PANDA specialised psych and has been improving with every week. I've been trying my best to make sure that the house is in order with washing and folding and cleaning kept on top of. I don't want to go into any more detail and probably won't mention it any further but I thought it worthwhile to mention it as it doesn't receive the same recognition as postnatal depression. I do hope after bubs has arrived and we start regaining some normality around the house MB can too.

I've been without full use of my left hand for almost 2 months now. I was breaking up pine kindling for the fire a while back and went to snap a piece by hand, the wood didn't snap but it hurt my hand, I stopped breaking wood thought nothing of it. A day later my had started to get more sore the more I used it another day later I couldn't move my thumb and by the next day I couldn't even do up the buttons on my shirt. I knew something wasn't good so a trip to the ER and although nothing was broken I still required plaster to treat a torn thumb ligament. I was stuck in plaster for a few weeks then saw a surgeon who decided that it was only a partial tear of the thumb UCL and didn't require surgery, but would need to be braced for 4-6 weeks. I have my 4 week review next Friday so here is hoping its all good, its (my thumb) still numb in places and gives me a twinge if I overdo it but all in all has improved especially this last week.

On the NEVUS front....... (sorry I don't post about it enough I realise quite a bit of my traffic hits orginate from google searches regarding NEVUS). We had a bit of a scare last week, Mr C developed a strange lump on his ear, it was probably about 10mm X 3mm X 5mm and sort of resembled a blood blister but was blue in colour. It seemed to come from nowhere, neither MB nor myself had spotted it the previous day. C didn't recall hurting his ear or catching it in the garden or any other activity It really scared me, I spent hours googling images of melanoma finding things that looked identical or totally different and everything in between. MB snapped a few shots and emaild them to C's dermatologist who was very quick to call back and explained that the likelyhood of it being melanoma was very low given the speed in which it developed. Five days later and its now reduced in size and appears to be healing up. We are still taking regular photos and will continue to monitor it but it was certainly an unwanted extra stress. C is still on wait at teh RCH for his next nip/tuck job for his eyebrow, this has perhaps been the longest we have waited for any of his surgeries, which is fine but I can't help but worry it will happen right about the time bubs #7 arrives (just because we don't do anything by halves).

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Mr B, Mr T, Miss L & Mr C are all attending school next year. We have enroled them in a nice country school just down the road from where the new house will be. It's small, about 70 students in total. We met the principle about a month ago. Mr C has already done one prep orientation day as have the other children in their prospective classes. B will be going into grade 6, T will be going into Grade 4 and Miss L Grade 2. As with most small country schools all classes are composite and we really got a sense of closeness and community from the place, the boys know some other students through their basketball and the plan is for all the children to attend when C has his prep orientation days. I won't go into the events and thinking behind this move just yet, i'll save that for another day.

That is about all I have, til next time......

Thar She Blows!

Tomorrow hopefully marks the closing of party in my pants known as "Vasectomy 2011"

As I said on my last vasectomy related post I had to have 20 ejacs racked up before I could do a sperm test. I reached the 20 mark back in mid July so I'm guessing I'm probably at double the requirement now.

Keeping tabs on my count down (or up depending how you look at it) was easily managed with a yellow highlighter and my desktop calendar at work. What I did find funny was the amount of times things happened after midnight "Do I put that down as yesterday....or today?"

MB also got in on the gag often double checking that I had scored the previous nights activities.

The doc did say that most gents blow zero (I'm sorry for the RBT reference but it fits well here) after the 20, in some cases they do not and have to go away and be tested after another 20.

Man I hope its worked and I don't have to get sliced again.


Ahhh the 12th of June was a great day

Snip Update (Well sort of)

I'm please to report everything is functioning as it was before I was vasectomised.

The plan was to take the new and improved neutered steve for a spin on Saturday night alas the stars were not aligned....... Here is why.

Saturday evening MB and I were kicking back with a movie in the lounge, the older boys were down stairs and the younger children were drawing in the kitchen.

Mr B came running in clutching his hand saying "Its not T's fault it was an accident" repeatedly with Mr T following just as quickly and equally upset. I told him to quickly put his bleeding hand over the sink while I got up and came out into the light for further inspection. It was pretty clear that he was more frightened for his brother getting in trouble than he was about the condition of his hand. After a minute or so running it under water we managed to get it out of them that T ran out of the bedroom after a Lego dispute slamming the door as he went, B who was following and as T slammed the door it collect B's Lego filled hand in the door. After they both calmed down I was able to take a proper look & could see that the webbing of his left hand between his ring and little finger was nicely opened up bleeding steadily. Clearly in need of at least a stitch or two.

I hastily swapped my long johns for jeans, dressed his hand to stop the bleeding and jumped in my car for a trip to the local E.R. Unfortunaltely the "Local" E.R. is about 45 km away.

We arrived at the hospital and I was pleased to see an empty waiting room so we saw the triage nurse immediately. When the nurse removed my dressing it began bleeding perfusely once more on the floor so they quickly re-dressed it and walked us both through to the Paeds section where he said it would need stitches.
I'd guess we waited for at least 90 minutes while they did B's obs and took down all the necessary details He read the Chronicles of Narnia while I watched "The Castle" on TV. After a visit or two from the on duty doc we switched to a treatment room where they explained to B that they would need to give him a local anaesthetic and stitch his hand, they gave him the option of having some gas with the local which I urged him to take up. I could see he was nervous, more so about the gas so I explained to him about how I had sang while having my broken wrists manipulated many years earlier. Reassured by my story and after 20 or so minutes they doc and a nurse came back in, set him up with some laughing gas and began to wash the wound. He smiled and giggled while they did this so I knew the injection wouldn't be an issue. 3 stitches, some glue and a new dressing later & he was good to go. They gave us the option of coming back to have the stitches removed but I explained I used to be a nurse and they were happy fro me to do this in 10 days. They also let him keep the tubes used for the gas to show his siblings.

We headed home via McDonalds for a well earned chocolate sundae. It was about 2am by the time we got home and I was well and truly spent, B stayed up watching Harry potter.

Which leads me to the reason for this posting, trying out my new modified package.

A gentleman never tells but I will say that I was able to give it a good test drive....Twice actually ;)

Until Next Time.......

Update (Belated)

(Typed the Other Day - Posting now)

Its now Wednesday 11:36am. A week plus almost a day since I had the snip here is a bit of an update.

Again I apologise for a little TMI but hey, I'm pretty open and you decided to read this.

I think spending last Tue-Fri in bed only prolonged the inevitable. Saturday was my first semi-active day since the op with the children's swimming and basketball games taking up the majority of the day. By Saturday night I could hardly move and was forced to spend the evening on the chase with a bag of frozen corn down my pants. After looking at copious amounts of images of vasectomy recovery I noticed that the majority of incisions on the front of the scrotum caused bruising where as incisions on the side caused swelling. By far the right was the more painful and considerably larger in size. The left was more bruised and didn't cause much discomfort at all.

Sunday I tried to take it easy but in a house with so many people there is always something that needs picking up or a load of washing etc so again by afternoon I was kicking back with frozen vegetables getting to know me in the pants.

Monday I got up with my alarm for work and although the train ride was fine getting in and out of le boos as well as a fair amount of walking and assisting some people with desk moves had me feeling really uncomfortable by late afternoon. I hit the couch the moment I walked in the door and remained there with frozen peas tucked in for the whole evening.

I awoke Tuesday morning after a terrible night of uncomfortableness combined with an unwell wife, 1 & 3 year old all Sharing my bed. I called my boss and worked from home again keeping the meat and veg on ice as often as possible. I spent the majority of the evening on the chase again.

This morning I felt much better, I was awake at 5 so I could give the ol' rightey a chill with peas before I got up. MB and the children gave me a lift to the station, the train ride in and walk to the office were much better than yesterday.

Its interesting the discussions one has with others when they know you have recently been vasectomised. For the most part I have been surprised by the number of guys I work with saying "Yeah I got done XX years ago". Also the reactions to me getting done by others are of shock and disbelief, not sure if this stems from their own issues with commitment or not knowing they're done. I for one knew I was done the moment MB held the pregnancy test stick in front of me.

I Hoping I've turned the corner and things get more tolerable from here on

Missing Family & Thanking Friends

The quiet was nice for the first few hours here at MB's parents but now I can safely say I'm ready for home. I really miss the chaos of my children and the company of my best friend.

MB and I chatted for hours last night on IM, we even hooked up video and I was able to say hello to Mr C and give him a sneak peak at some pressies I bought the children. Its funny saying it so much but we are really missing each other. I guess its amplified because MB has been so ill with the pregnancy over the past months so I have been making extra sure that there is little for her to do in the way of washing, cleaning & cooking. While MB is more capable than I at managing 6 doing it solo for most of the week while feeling ill and having no energy makes me worry more. She isn't the sort of person to complain or expect people to help as historically we have always "gone it alone". I knew MB was really low last weekend when she started suggesting Queensland and moves and stuff, something that was once our dream but had to be put permanently on hold. I think 20 years in the one house has made her a bit of a nomad.

I'm so grateful for our Friend, Neighbor & Doula Julie who offered to take our girls (Miss L overnight). She also cooked a meal for MB and delivered it. Julie has had a had time herself of late her a new bubba and to see her make this gesture was truely heart warming. Things like this show you what true kindness is. I've seen MB help out her lots of friends over the years so its good to see some karma in action. I do find it interesting that friends that have been helped out the most by MB have remained somewhat detached. I guess its not the done thing to ask a superhero like MB if they need a hand.

On a lighter note Julies offer to have miss L up for a sleepover then Miss P as well in the afternoon for a play date was an excellent opportunity for miss L to spend time with Julie's daughters. Its my one gripe about homeschooling that Miss L isn't as outgoing with other children and tends to shy away from new people (despite clearing wanting to be included) I cant wait to hear her version of how her sleepover went.

Still on the family front (albeit extended) I have really enjoyed the 1-1 time with my inlaws. I rarely see them without the whole fam in tow so we've been able to have some great chats about life, parenting, the children, cars, motorbikes and all sorts. I brought them a new DVD player to say thanks for having me. Theirs was old, didn't eject dvds properly and wasn't multi format. Now they can play all formats (including TV shows I have downloaded) and with a USB port they can also look at their photos on the big screen tv. Its one technological step closer to computer ownership. A concept they are slowly warming to after years of my subtle hints. With us living a fair way away and MB's brother and family even further away its my mission to get them setup with a PC and internet in the coming months so we can all communicate freely. They have helped us out on countless occasions over the last 17 years and now I'm really focused on returning some of my immense gratitude.

I also find it amazing saying this.... I wish I could have been working in the office today. I have an important meeting, one that pivotal in the work I've been doing since I started and how our work will pan out in the future. Its been an ongoing cause of stress and considerable heartache for my manager as there is a particularly prickly person involved that makes a point to be snide and insulting wherever possible. I really wanted to be there to back her (My Manager) up, I'm dialing in but on the phone isn't the same as being there.

MB will be arriving with the clan sometime this afternoon so I'm really looking forward to lots of hugs and kisses and to give the children some gifts.



Until Next Time......

Vasectomy Holiday - Slightly TMI

Vasectomy Holiday (It should be a reggae song)

I'm starting this post today, Thursday @ 2:36 Pm. I had my vasectomy performed at 1PM on Tuesday this week & this is a bit of a dump of how it went down.

MB's parents dropped me off at the specialists rooms a little early as I planned on having to fill out some forms and the like, after the surgeon had seen his first appointments I was up. We had a brief chat in his office, my GPs referral outlined that we had baby #7 on the way it was pretty obvious that my mind was made up. He explained that a small number of patients cannot be done under local on the day for a number of reasons (he didn't elaborate but I assumed this would be due to anatomical issues, couldn't locate the Vas etc etc) He discussed the procedure to me, there are several, he uses steel clips to clamp the Vas and stitches you up afterwards, some do it with a stitches on the Vas and no external sutures). His method meant I could shower the same day which made me glad. He also explained the risks of infection, and that this could sometime be in the form of inflammation and swelling 6 weeks later. He also explained that sometimes additional bleeding inside the scrotum could result in a hard lump that would dissolve over time. I signed my consent as he elaborated on the time it could potentially take before I could be considered infertile. It was then time to move to the procedure room.

We headed down the corridor, I thought I would have butterflies and feel a bit anxious but I was pretty collected (despite it being on my mind steady for the two weeks leading up to it. I removed my jeans and trunks and hopped up on the table/bed and laid back as he examined me. Lying on my back with him standing to my right he quickly located the right side Vas and then the left. This was slightly unnerving as it involved quite a bit of paddling round in my scrotum. He then explained that he had no issues locating each vas and confirmed he would be able to complete the procedure then and there. He then shaved me, (which was also a unique feeling), washed me with antiseptic (freakin cold it was) then gloved up and got ready to begin. He showed me the tiny steel clips he would be using and assured me no patients had ever reported setting off a metal detector. I looked out the window at the clear blue sky as he once again located the right vas, this was quite awkward, it didn't hurt just really made me squirm, once he had it located he injected the local anaesthetic which aside from an ever so slight pinch was hardly noticeable at all. He started to make the incision, which judging on the need from what I could tell was on the right side bout midway from front to back. I felt a twinge of the scalpel so he stopped then injected more locate and proceeded. I talked constantly through the first side, more so to take my mind of what I knew was going on. In this regard it was probably a bad move to watch the video on you tube as I could mentally picture everything he was doing. I yacked about MB, the children, Mr C's nevus, moving building straw bales and before I knew it I saw his hand go up as he completed a stitch. "All done" he said with a smile, "time for the left".

He went to locate the left vas which he did from the front as he remained standing on my right, this was extremely unsettling, I jumped and immediately broke out into a sweat as he located and vas. I was relieved to feel the needle go in as it knew I'd soon feel less uncomfortable, it really is a strange feeling having someone did around in your balls. He made quick work of the left side as I chatted more and more and before I knew it there was the familiar site of him completing a stitch and I knew I was home free.

I sat up, dripping with perspiration (from the heat of the room more so than anything else) I looked at my balls, which after 32 years of good service looked foreign too me, shaved & discolored from the antiseptic wash. I asked where the stitches were so the doc showed me a stitch on the right side of my scrotum and one on the front side. I went to wing my leg over the the side of the table and felt something touch my leg which came as a shock until I realised it was my scrotum, which was till numb.

The doc explained that I could shower and wash off the antiseptic that day and that within a few hours i'd feel pretty sore and more so the next day or two. he instructed me to to get home, take some panadene and have a glass of whisky. My only question was naturally "Is Red Wine OK"?

I made an appointment for the next week to have the stitches out and do a check up and walked out the door. I immediately texted MB to tell her all was done but I was a bit shakey. I then called her to elaborate on how I felt, told her all was well and then called her Mum & Dad to come and pick me up. I had planned for to spend a few days at my in-laws after the procedure so we headed home via a chemist for some panadene.

That night I wasn't really as sore as I expected to me, more slow on my feet and hesitant to move quickly, sitting was a little uncomfortable but all in all I was feeling pretty good. MB's mother cooked me a delicious lamb roast which we washed down with a nice bottle of red before MB/s father and I retreated to their upstairs big screen TV to watch tron. I didn't feel like sleeping or lying down and after some Facebook messaging with Jo decided to break out the paracord and attempt a two tone bracelet. this killed an hour (as it didn't work the first time and I had to unravel it and start again. and by about midnight I was ready to lie down. Unfortunately I had trouble getting comfy in bed and opted for several pillows between my knees, setup my laptop chatted to MB on MSN (which was sooooo good) then put on an American hot rod playlist and watched several episode before finally falling asleep some time after 3am.

I woke at 7:30 and went to the toilet and had a fair amount of discomfort walking so I decided to hop back in bed and watch some more movies and TV eps of American Hotrod on my laptop. I chatted to MB with video chat at about 11am then again at 3pm, at this point I thought it best I get up, shower and have breaky, which was really a late lunch. I cooked a chicken fillet for a roll and watched some TV for about an hour before getting back in bed around 4:30PM. I then watched more TV on my laptop and when I heard MB's parents arrive from work headed down to say hello. MB's mother cooked another great feed of veggies and a t-bone for me with hot jam roll and ice cream for dessert, I was feeling truly spoilt.

After dinner I watched "The Departed" on the big screen before hitting the hay around midnight, I fell asleep almost instantly but woke at 3am feeling pretty wired so I watched more American Hot Rod til about 5am before sleeping til 9:30.

Today I wanted to get some work done so I connected and caught up on all my meetings, emails and documents for review. I love technology, I have my phone setup as a 3G wireless access pouint and am connected on my laptop from bed. which brings us to about now.

It hasn't been anywhere near as painful as I expected, There is considerable discomfort but pain wise it is very tolerable. My balls went from tomato to beetroot over a few hours but now look semi-normal (albeit shaved). I'll probably submit this then have a shower I think. While the quietness here (read silence) is very relaxing and who would complained about the spoiling i'm getting I am very much missing MB and the children with the exception of a family holiday in the first year or two of going out we haven't spent this much time apart in 17 years and I'm really missing her. Tech is great though with IM and video chat making it bearable. I know its been a stretch for her with all the children solo whilst still feeling ill 24/7. A friend of ours was kind enough to take Miss L overnight and then miss P for an afternoon with her girls which i'm sure made things a little easier at home as those two generate the most noise, mess & washing I was due to go to work for an important meeting tomorrow arvo but don't really feel like making the drive or the train ride or sitting in an office chair all day so My boss has setup a conference for me to dial in. I'm hoping to grab a bite with a mate of mine tonight because MB's parents will be out at a wake. This will also allow me to get them a new DVD player as theirs has issues and doesn't play divx.

Until next time.....

Ouch

As I eluded to in my last post on our trip to the water slide park I pulled up pretty sore after one particular trip down the speed slide.

On the drive home my chest continued to hurt more and more, it got to the point where I had to use a clothes peg on the seat belt to keep it off the left side of my chest. The night came with more pain, I had a touch of a cold and at one stage let out several sneezes in a row. The pain felt like each sneeze was someone kicking me in the ribs. I slept ok (more exhaustion from the busy day) but with Tuesday came further pain.

I kept my movement to a minimum when I was at my desk in the office. We had dinner with family and had 2 beers and felt better until bed time. I spent the whole night trying to lie in a position that didn't hurt. With that night came shortness of breath (made worse when I was horizontal). I dragged myself out of bed and off to work on the Wednesday but spent most of the day hunched over my desk trying to restrict my movements. Lunchtime came and I decided to try and walk it off but unfortunately after the uphill stretch back to the office I was well and truly spent.

On advise from both Mamma Bare and my boss I decided to take myself to the hospital to in the least get some decent pain relief. The doc was confident I had a rib fracture despite not being able to determine which one on XRAy so I took a prescription for some decent pain meds and headed home.

After a day on decent meds i'm feeling better, I wouldn't want to run or make any sudden movements and certainly not sneeze but general activity is more tolerable.

While I'm not young I'm certainly not old and had I been carrying a little less weight and been maintaining a better level of fitness I'm sure I wouldn't be hurting as badly now.

I've been eating healthy since I started my new job and have had little or no coke in 2 months. I've also been trying to exercise every lunchtime with at least a 30 minute walk, this has been coupled with plenty of activity at home, hiking, walking the bike trails with the boys etc. Its a great thing to be fit and healthy. MB has also been keeping up the healthiness with good eating and upping the exercise. Every time I catch a glance of her I'm impressed with how fitter she looks every day.

I hope this rib injury will only see me out of action for a week or so because I don't want to lose momentum that has been gaining speed since before Christmas.

EDIT: Funny thing I had some coke for the first time in ages last night, the combination of 2 glasses of coke and watching a little to many eps of Sons of Anarchy I didn't go to bed til 05:00 this morning. Coke is Evil kids

Until next time.......

Work, Life & Balance

One of my dot points in the last entry outlined the fact that after 5 years in same role with a shall remain nameless multinational finance company I finished up and had started in a new role.

I've now been at the new job for about 5 weeks and here are some of many positives of note:

• The new team environment is very positive and everyone is really friendly.
• Its quiet (as in audible)
• Good hours, currently doing 8ish to 4:30ish
  
• My chair is soooo comfy
• Going from 10 years using laptops to a desktop has been interesting.
• I've always used dual screens & have gone back to a single has also been a challenge
• Being in the city is awesome for places to eat.
• The daily train ride in and out has proven to be a good way to relax.
  

With all the rain we've seen of late one of the first things on my shopping list was a new umbrella. I made the mistake of getting a piddly little compact which turned inside out the first time I used it so I quickly upgraded to a golf umbrella reminiscent of the umbrella corporation.

I've also added some other items to the shopping list for the coming weeks, firstly I need a murse/man bag, all my bags are either backpacks or laptop bags and while I dont carry a lot a hand bag would be just that..... HANDY. Secondly I need some new leather shoes, I wore a hole in my current pair in the first few weeks and with countless streets to explore on my lunches I intend to do plenty of miles.

Another thing on the shopping list is a tablet pc. With an extra 2 hours a day sitting on the train time can be better spent reading the my daily interwebz, typing up blog posts, reading e-books videos, games etc etc. This will be the subject of much deliberation, at the moment I'm swaying towards an iPad mainly because with the upgrade of adroid 2.2 on my Galaxy I'm really not happy with the lag and cant really justify taking the plunge on a tablet running the same OS i.e. the Galaxy Tab. More on that later.

Some other changes that the new job has allowed for is the growth of a little hair, I usually shave my head because its the easiest way to maintain when you're riding a motorcycle daily but with my switch up in commuting I dare say i'll need to get a hair cut in a few weeks (the first in years).

I hope I can continue to contract with the Vic Government for a few years and see through the projects I currently have in the pipeline. This year I will also re-establish some new career goals.

I had originally set certain goals to achieve before I turned 30, I reached this first set at 28. I then set additional goals to reach before I turned 35 and reached these at 31 so I think now is an opportune time to reassess.

Until Next Time.......

2011 will be the year of the push bike

In our house anyway........



I used to be quite into my bikes, but as I got older and less fit and had less time to ride it slowly dwindled away to nothing.



About 5 years ago I built up a mountain bike for hitting up some of the downhill tracks near where we lived at the time.



I started with a $1000 24 Bikes pornking frame

Avid Juicy 5's (Hyraulic Disc Brakes)

I built it up over about a year using parts on sale and bargains I came across on EBAY from time to time.

Finished

Unfortunately when we moved from brisbane to Melbourne the bike saw less and less use so I decided to sell it.

Fast forward to the present, my eldest boys have been bikeless since our last move due to there being no suitable places to ride. n the new house there are kilometers and kilometers of tracks to ride on.

So today we picked up some early christmas presents for B & T in the form of a couple of entry level BMX's

The satisfied customers

So now the eldest 4 children all have good bikes its time to kit up mumma bare and I

Mamma bare will be getting a ladies XC bike and a sweet little Baby trailer for Miss P and Miss H to be carted around in and i'll be building up something for myself

Stay tuned.......

Time For a Change

I know I had a bit of a moan about hating my job a few weeks back. After some more thought on the issue and time to reflect I can probably shed some more light now as I resigned a few days ago.

The issues I had with motivation didn't stem from having a boring job, it wasn't the long commute, it wasn't the company I worked for. It was my boss.

I started with this multination shall-remain-nameless company almost 5 years ago. I was head hunted, and at the time, we were living is Brisbane, C had just been born and we were still coming to grips with his nevus and what parts of our lives would have to change. I started in a great team, great manager, very positive atmosphere. Unfortunately that manger moved to a new role and a re-org saw me answering in to a new manager, a woman who had been with the company for quite a while as a contractor. She came from a Project Management background managing a team of contractors. I wont go in to all the details, i'll just say that this womans people skills were not the best, and she managed everything like a project.

It was the best feeling to hand her my resignation, she was surprisingly positive about it.

I've done the whole permanent employee thing for years so I was keen to try my hand at consulting. After a week of applications the interviews started to filter through & mid last week I received an offer & accepted an initial 12 month contract with plans for extensions, & its government.

Yahtzee!!!

I start in a few weeks. I'm nervous because its a new, its not finance (I've been in Finance IT for almost 8 years) but its in the city so I have a 20 minute drive then a 55minute train ride. I'm hoping the reduced amount of driving will also contribute to being more mentally fresh when I get home of a night.

To begin with I'm contracting through the firm that hired me but i'm going to look at setting up my own company eventually (never thought i'd be saying that).

Stay tuned I guess.......

Eight Legged Freaks

I'm a man. A 6'7, big, ugly, hairy, mean (when I want to be) man. I have super powers, one such power is the power of transformation.

I have the ability to transform from a surly dude into a squealing little child at the site of a huntsman spider.

I don't have issue with red backs or white tails or even the common house spider (which looks mean as hell) and especially not daddy longs legs'. But you throw a huntsman into the mix and I'm scared, there I said it SCARED.

Unfortunately in my house everyone is scared of all spiders & bugs so along with disposing of all manner of creepy crawly I'm also charged with dispensing of the big, fast moving brown curses know as..........................................the huntsman spider.

Huntsman Facts:

• Huntsman's have a life span of approximately 90 years
• Huntsman's can jump at least 3 meters
• The venom of the Huntsman spider is powerful enough to knock out a horse. It will not kill the horse, simply tranquilise it for long enough for the huntsman to devour it whole.
• A Huntsman Spider can devour a horse whole
• Contrary to popular believe huntsman spiders are actually trained in scare tactics.
• Huntsman spiders prefer to feed on the eldest born child of any family
• Huntsman's can be found all over Australia but prefer to reside in OUR FREAKIN HOUSE
• The ground up remains of a dead huntsman spider can be used as a hallucinogen
• Huntsman spiders enjoy walking across your face while you sleep
• Huntsman spiders are faster in the water than they are on land
  

Here are 2 of some of the suckers encountered in our current house. This first one was above the Toilet, T noticed it while B was sitting there. Can you say freak out?

This one crawled up the wall while Mamma Bare and I were watching a movie, I had to tear the lounge apart to get at it. Note the toys and array of DVD's discovered under the couch

And as if 8 legs wasn't enough what the freakin hell is this thing????

Until next time...........

A Facial Hair Avoision

As the eldest son of a Moustach Afficionado with over 40 years upper lip grooming experience i'd like to make a confession............................................................































I'm facial hair inept, I seriously cannot manage even a rough beard, this is the best i've achieved after what felt like 6 months (I think it was more like 5 weeks)I participated in Movember a few years back, I raised a few hundred dollars but the best I could manage was a marginal Errol Flynn
I'm constantly reminded of my facial hair failings. Especially when I see other friends who clearly have no trouble grizzlying it up. Check out Jman - Apwools hub for example. When they came to visit us he was sporting some bearded awesomeness

Sheesh Keanu can do a better job than I can

Its not like I'm bald all over I have ample chest hair and have had since my late teens, its just the face, it doesnt grow and when it does there are gaps everywhere.

I'm jonesing for something along the lines of an early Tom Selleck (one of my idols)

I had even contemplated trying to document one of my many failed beard growing attempts here but alas it never came to fruition.

With Summer approaching I may just have to try and deal with my 3rd rate facal hair for another year.

Maybe in prep for next winter i'll explore options for promoting good facial hair growth, I tried the peanut butter solution, but unfortunately no dice.

Until next time......

On Hiatus

Blog posts have been few and far between of late, I apologise for this, and there are a number of reasons some good some not so.

1) We’ve been busy enjoying life, when you had to put up with a mud hole for a back yard for months having grass and trees to climb now – who would honestly turn on the computer while the sun is up. We hit up the snow twice last week alone.

2) Moving house – Man its been the hardest move with out a doubt, (and we have moved at least a dozen times) and bare in mind we have previously done interstate moves. I think doing 99% of the work myself and also not hiring a truck was the killer. I was trying to avoid spending the extra $$$ but in hindsight the extra effort required to move stuff in our bus was not worth the dollar savings. A big thanks to our Doula & Husband for a lend of their trailer and the super kind donation of some wood to get us started. A mention also must go to my awesome father in law for coming out in the rain on a Saturday night to help me move our fridge that was 20cm too tall to fit in the bus.

3) C’s Tissue Expansion – While working from home one day a week has been great the trips to the hospital have been a drain, mentally and physically. I think on its own the trips would be barely noticeable but combined with a move and the hustle and bustle of life with 6 children I’m feeling it now.

4) My Bike - I’ve been a busy boy on the Ducati modifications front as can bee seen in the extra attention my Bike Blog has received lately. Special mentions must go to Mumma bare there as she is always patient (albeit with gritted teeth) with me and my toys and the inevitable bills that come with them. I have to say though when all is said and done with all the crap of moving house its been good to spend some time in the garage tinkering.

5) Ill health - We were all (and by all I mean all 8 of us at the same time all) struck with some sort of bug that left us with high fevers & aches and pains. We had to cancel a visit from the grandparents for miss L’s birthday because we were literally all crashed. Saturday just passed was a first for us, to have silence while all 8 of us were sprawled over our couch and bean bags watching movies, was quite surreal. I’ve dropped a belt size in under a week from lack of eating.

6) Busy Job – I try not to discuss my job on here, without going into details it involves other peoples money and financial systems and technical I.T. stuff so when I’m busy I’m BUSY and while the work is not physically draining it certainly is mentally. Combine this with the fact that I have on average had at least 1 migraine a week sometimes more for a few months now. I’m putting it down to the stresses mentioned above plus where I buy my lunch seems to put onion in every friggin dish on the menu. In the coming weeks when things quieten down if I don’t start improving I’ll be seeing a specialist for my headaches as I cant keep popping tablets and struggling to drive home as it’s a recipe for disaster

I don’t want this post to come off as a whinge. Its been hard to go through the dramas of the last few months with extra stresses piled on top of one another

but

I know that when we decided on having a big family we knew being able to rely on each other was paramount and as usual Mamma bare has been a rock. I know she has had equally shitty days when I’ve come in, medicated, then crashed for a few hours to sleep off a migraine leaving her to kid wrangle. I hope I have returned the favour as best I could by making sure she didn’t have to do any of the cleaning of the old place, or much of the packing and carrying stuff.

I don’t get parents who mope and complain and complain until they get their issues solved by others. We try not to rely on anyone where possible, its part of being a team.

In other news a shout out to Mrs G the only other person to offer assistance (be that he hubbies) with our move. She is now on maternity leave (and reads this blog). She has waited a long time for this baby and will make a great Mum. I got to say “I told you so” about charting billings style and since then I’ve enjoyed fielding her questions for the past few months on everything from the ills of baby bjorns & medical intervention to elaborating on what a "stretch and sweep" is. Looking forward to seeing you and Mr G take the next step into parenthood & thinking of you guys in the coming weeks.

I only have a few Pics

L and I on her birthday

P, H & I crook as shit

Things are starting to settle down now so I hope to put together some interesting posts over the next few weeks the next of which involving crossing roads with plasma tvs

Until Next Time.......

Update on Tissue Expansion

Busy Busy the last few weeks, for some reason i've started getting quite a few migraines, i've managed to stop them from going full blown by medicating and getting sleep but in the past 2 weeks i've had suffered from the onset 6 times, each time its been a food triggering it.

Anyhoo onto tissue expansion

Its now been 6 fill ups, if I remember correctly:
40ml
105ml
125ml
125ml
125ml
125ml

C is really looking quite…………how should I put it?? Freaky??

Its hard watching him run and play and jump and be a 4 year old boy without worrying about it. We had a great day out in Ballarat a few weeks back with Apwool & co. and I couldn’t help but notice all the stares he was getting from other people, both parents and children.

He noticed it for the first time on the way home from the hospital. We were parked at the lights next to a bus stop full of teenagers and C said from the back seat “they’re looking at me” I didn’t know what to tell him, so I said “wave a them, if they don’t wave back poke your tongue out”. We took off before we could test this but its there for next time.

Our only regular family outing is swimming on Saturdays which is great as we have been going there for a year now, everyone knows us and people don’t really pay much attention to C.

I have pre-booked the next 5 sessions, I hope they don’t put 100+ml in each time as his head will be huge, dressing him is tough now, we bought lots of button up shirts but he insists on wearing t-shirts. Getting his head in is like trying to put the tshirt over a head then over another head.

He has been great with the fill ups though, no tears or getting upset, I think it’s the combination of the great staff and also the many distractions they have for children plus he knows we always get an ice cream when we are done.

Some weeks we are in and out in 10 minutes like yesterday. Other weeks its 2-3 hours which can be draining.

I wish the end was in sight.

Until next Time…..

The Importance Of First Aid - Would You Know What To Do?

I’ve been a first aider for about 12 years. I originally did my certification as part of my nursing studies and then later through various companies I’ve worked for. You basically re-certify every 3 years and refresh your CPR and de-fib every 12 months.

Having first aid skills is a vital asset, all parents should know what to do in a crisis. At worst it could be the difference between life and death. In the least it could just mean keeping a level head in a stressful situation.

I say this because I’ve seen many situations where first aid was required over the years, I’ve seen people pass away in front of me, I’ve seen life and health at both ends of the spectrum.. The one that is etched in my mind was 5 years ago when Mr T (just 3 at the time) had a seizure.

We had not long arrived home from a birthday party held at our local adventure playground. It had already been a day full of fun and lots of energy was burnt by all. We were gathered around the kitchen bench finishing off the party food when T dropped from standing to sitting rather awkwardly.

He then stiffened up and fell onto his back. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was going to have a seizure, I’ve seen many patients in my nursing days do this as well as another family member so when its happening you know. 5 years later I can still picture the look on his face as if it were 5 minutes ago. He looked frozen, trapped inside a body that would not work, his eyes said “help me daddy”.

I had been standing beside him when he dropped to the ground and was already crouched beside him as his hands began to spasm. I knew what was coming so I called out to mamma bare (who was on the other side of the bench holding B) to look away, I didn’t want the memory of this to be suffered by her and B. They were already distraught enough at this point. Seeing an innocent child in a grand mal seizure is not something I’d wish on my worst enemy let alone my wife and son.

T’s body began to shake in repeated motions (aka tonic clonic). Time stood still at this point, what seemed like an hour would have been seconds at most. He had been eating when he dropped to the ground. In first aid training they warn not to put your fingers or any objects in the mouth of a person during a seizure as they bite reflex could see them damage their mouth or you lose a finger. The thought of losing a finger vs a child choking saw me quickly feel in his mouth for food, which was clear. I held him and he convulsed and kept saying in his ear that I was there and to not be frightned and that it would be over soon.

The seizing motions began to ease so I placed him in the recovery position, checked his breathing, mouth & airways again before quickly grabbing my keys and then carrying him to the car. We were at the hospital within minutes and by that time he had already re-gained consciousness so I knew we were out of the darkness. Mamma bare joined us and after a well deserved sleep T was completely fine and has been ever since. The doctors put it down to him having chicken pox weeks 2 weeks earlier and attained that it was still remnants of the infection causing his brain to do a sort of perform a power reset of sorts.

I still look back on that day and tear up, I have as I’ve been writing this. I was a mess for days afterwards and couldn’t even go to work. I couldn’t stop picturing the the visual of him and the look on his face. It was a horrible thing to witness but I am satisfied in the knowledge that I did the right thing and kept my cool.

Would you be able to do the same? First aid training can be a great step towards it.

Until Next time…..

Tissue Expansion Update

Its now been a month since C had is expander inserted.


In that time we have had 4 visits to the RCH, 3 of them for fill ups. 40ml on the first, 100ml on the second and 120ml just 2 days ago.

Combined with 80ml (done in theatre) brings us to 300ml and equates to this:

As I've said before I was dreading it this time around but he has been a real inspiration.

We have standard a booking at the hospital so our weekly routine is spot on and consists of me waking him up, having breaky, then applying angel (EMLA - Numbs the skin) cream to his port, placing a piece of glad wrap over it then bandaging it in place. I also put on his special hat to cover everything and prevent curious fingers then we head off for the hospital, its about a 90 minute drive give or take, time is usually spent chatting, listening to music or playing games on my iphone.
NOt every morning has been smooth sailing, try waking anyone 2 hours earlier than normal on a cold morning and they would be grumpy.


I try to make it as positive as possible, talking about how cool his balloon is and how it's going to get bigger then in "a few weeks" be gone forever. He has shown a little anxiety towards seeing the doc but usually forgets it when we hop in the car and I hand him the magical iphone. The ballon its self is much larger than his last expander and softer (well there is more space) he slept in my arms the otehr night and I just stroked it for an hour.





So far the angel cream has worked well, he hasn't flinched or felt pain when the needle has gone into the port, the doc usually injects saline until C shows discomfort or the skin tightens. On the second occasion we were in and out in 15 minutes. This weeks visit was an hour and a half so it is hit and miss i'm afraid. I cannot praise the staff enough, they are always friendly and happy to see him and also lend a hand hen he needs entertaining during the fill up.





As i've mentioned in my last tissue expander post there are apparently 5 other children going trough tissue expansion at the moment (normal its just one). So far I have seen a little boy with what i'm guessing is a bathing trunk nevus (covers the back) with an expander across his shoulders. I've also seen a little girl with a cape nevus (covers the back and head) with an expander on top of her head and another on her cheek.





Its amazing how resilient children are. mHaving a water balloon on top of his head hasn't slowed C one bit, he still swims, runs & jumps just like before, its his poor parents who cringe every time he trips or bumps his head.

Hoping it continues going as well as it has been.




Until Next time..........

First Tissue Expander Fill Up

C did Really well today, I expected him to get scared & upset but it didn't seem to phaze him one bit.



40ml was put into the expander, he also had almost all his sutures out. It was a long morning though, we left at 8 and got home at midday, I hope to make better time next week though.


Until next time.....

Hosital Visit #1

C and I had a follow up at the dressings clinic on Thursday, all is healing well. We can start getting the scars wet in an effort to dissolve the sutures.

He did quite well, we had the same nurse we did 2 years ago, she remembered him and commented on how more calm he is now, when he was 2 years old he was non stop running up and down the ward, this time around he was more easily amused with things like the Nintendo DS and was a little shy with some of the new faces.

Next Thursday we will be back to have any remaining sutures removed and probably the first expand.

In Other news its been a nuts fortnight, I've had a few nights were I've been really late home from work and have fallen off the coke wagon a few times but I hope to be able to switch back to water come tomorrow.

Until next time....

Tissue Expansion Has Started

Mumma Bare, Miss H & I Took Mr C to the RCH last Thursday morning for his next op, He had to fast from 8am so we got up early (6:30) and had breakfast, unfortunately this is at least 2 hours earlier than his normal breaky time so he wasn’t really peckish. We packed a bag and hopped in the love bus and headed in.
Sleeping in the bus

BEFORE

The wait is a killer, its mainly to ask all the relevant questions, sign forms and observe the child is in good health but for a 4 year old who had had 2 mouthfuls of cereal to eat all day its torture. He finally went in around 3pm so Mumma & I were able to get some food into ourselves also.

After about an hour and a half it was all done, we were paged to come to recovery. I know I left MB behind as we walked in as I was so anxious to see him, in his previous ops he has been all bandaged up so when I first laid eyes on open suture lines it was upsetting. Due to the scarring last time the doc wanted his stitches left open.

He was extremely groggy but wanting to rub his face this made things difficult. I had to help the Nurse hold his hands, which he hated, in the end we thought it best he sit on my knee and eat an icypole to occupy his hands. Most of the remaining Nevus on his check was gone, and beneath his blonde hair you could see where the expander sat. He was soon transferred to the ward. I think by this stage it was about 6pm, he was still pretty groggy, we tempted him with jelly but he only had a mouthful then fell asleep.

Mamma Bare & Miss P headed home, so I sat on the Chair beside the bed and tried to get some rest. C woke around 11pm and wanted to go to the toilet, he was given some pain relief and then had some more jelly. Whilst eating he felt his face and his head and asked me where his birthmark was. I explained that it was still there, but some of his cheek has been removed and that he had a balloon under the skin on his head (we had shown him numerous photos of his last round of expansion) He wasn’t happy about this, he said “I want my birthmark back, I don’t want a balloon, its ruined” What can you say to a 4 year old who drops this bomb. I immediately felt the wash of guilt come over me, It was our decision to put him through this. I didn’t know what to say, I just hugged him and cried.

The moment was broken by him bringing up his jelly and pain meds, I leant him forward and missed his pyjamas but the bed was messed up. I sat him on a chair in front of the hand basin while I nurse changed, cleaned and remade his bed. He quickly fell asleep and I moved him to his bed. He slept well, I cant say the same for myself, our room was noisy and bright. He woke around 3 AM and started to touch his stitches so I laid beside him and held his hand until he fell asleep again. It was good to be able to get sleep for a few hours.

Morning came around, he devoured his breakfast and quickly started asking to go home. I tried to kill time by walking the corridor and when the activity room was open we did some painting and playdo but he wanted out. After a clean of his sutures and a prescription we were off.

Mamma bare was already on route but we decided to walk (he really wanted out of the hospital)

We decided to take the opportunity of only having 2 children to our advantage and did some shopping. C picked out a bumblebee transformer and we got a gift for each of his siblings.

AFTER

Taking his anti's

That’s about all I can recall from the hospital.

Until next Time……..

Sunday - Boys Morning Out

I'm the only early riser stuck in a house full of sleepers. I usually use my 2-3 hours "Quite Time" of a Sunday morning to catch up on any cleaning/washing or possibly mop the floors (impossible when everyone is up). On occasion I'll go for a ride but this weekend I decided to get a little more active. So masters B, T and I decided to walk the 1000 steps AKA the Kokoda walk. With early morning rains it was the perfect weather for a bit of a hike.

"The Kokoda Walk is a very steep track walk consisting of 1,000 steps. Along the way are plaques depicting the lives of those who fought and died on the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea in World War II. The physical effort required to complete the climb gives walkers a sense of the exhaustion experienced by the Australian soldiers following the trail during the Kokoda campaign in 1942."

I was up pretty early, laced up the trusty Merrells and packed the camel back with a few hi energy snacks and the 3 of us headed over to mt dandenong. Its a great walk we had the circuit completed within the hour (I think it was 1.8km up and 2.3km back), we weren't really hitting the pace I like to walk at but that's ok, it WAS hard on the youngin's so we carried a few litres of water and kept hydrated and made plenty of stops.

In some places the trail gets quite tight and as its a popular trek on weekends it did get busy in places.

A rest at the Top:
We made the call to take the steep longer route back down as there are no steps and the trail is allot wider and easier when there are many walkers/hikers/joggers.


The boys decided to go inside a hollowed out tree because it was "Scary" (Apparently this is them scared)

B Snapped this one of T and I in said tree.

This was just before we arrived back at the bottom.

All in all a great way to kill a few hours, and I feel like I really did some good cardio today, I'm thinking I might try and make it a regular early morning weekend exercise.

Until next time......