Touchdown

I am back home:):):) and surprise, surprise, it is raining, lol.  I had a good trip over with three flights, the best thing - being able to check my suitcase in at Geraldton and picking it of the carousel at Auckland, no lugging it through Perth and Melbourne airports :). 

This time last week I had begun my first week back at work after my hospital visit.  I had a wonderful return with the little lads running and leaping into my arms - Lean, Lean (Lynn in Aussi, lol), chatter, chatter. There was a lot of catching up - the babies have more teeth and are crawling/standing, the little lads are using more and more words and it was only three weeks since I last saw them.  I had got them all a book each for Christmas so took them along and what a huge success that was.  After dinner and the books had been unwrapped, all the couches were filled and stories were being read to all.  I put two of the little lads to bed that night and we had to read through everything again, and then for the rest of the week, they slept with their books in their beds.  The second night, I had to lift books from underneath one of the lads so he could sleep more comfortably. 

I worked three afternoon shifts, then had two days off then the weekend and a morning shift.  We had a great weekend, mostly chilling out of the heat of the day, colouring in, watching movies, and doing some baking,  then having water play in the afternoon, filling up two paddling pools and playing with the hose on spraying each other. On the Thursday I had a very slow day - I had got up  at 6am to do some gardening before the heat came out and started to get some pain - I had been taking my tablets at 7.00am  and then doing some chores so have worked out that no matter what time I get up, I need to take my tablets then, and then begin to get moving regardless of the time.  Went out to dinner on the Thursday night and lunch on Friday to farewell friend Donna for her move to Perth while trying to pack and getting the house ready for inspection the day after I left. 

Did more tidying away and last minute stuff Monday night and Tuesday morning.  Donna, bless her, midst all her moving preparations, called round Monday evening to help me by sweeping and mopping laundry, sunroom, and kitchen floors while I steam cleaned the shower and did the bathroom, porch windows and dishes.  Was up at 5am on Tuesday morning (took tablets) and by 5.30am was outside putting weeds into the rubbish bin to go that morning (again to beat the heat and the rubbish collectors).  I had a chiropractor apt at 8.15am - made it with minutes to spare, then went back home and mowed the lawns, finished packing, emptied out the fridge, mopped the lounge again, finally shutting the door behind me, loading luggage into car just after midday.  Got completely stressed when my printer would not work to print out my tickets, so thought I would be able to do it at Bronwyn and Gerards - wrong, their internet was not up so headed to see Gerard at work to hand over car and keys for them to look after whilst I was away.  Got there to find he was flat tack but fortunately eldest daughter was just coming off shift so it was decided she would drive me to the airport, bringing my car back to theirs.  I had a hair apt at 1.30am and had fixed in my mind that I was leaving at 4.30pm for Perth. 

Managed to get hair done by 2.30am, then after dash back to Gerard's work to drop something off we headed to the airport.  Because my car is a challenge to start (you have to push the clutch in and across tot he left), I left the car running while I got my bags out so Bri could just get in and drive, and off she went.  I had given myself an hour to be at the airport  before my flight was due and was bang on time, only to work in and find the place looking like the Marie Celeste (deserted ship - google, interesting story, lol), in semi darkness and no one about.  I surprised one of the shop staff who had her head in a fridge when I approached her to ask where everyone else was, only to be told that the next flights out were not before 5.40pm.  Brain working a trifle slow due to not eating anything so far for the day, just surviving on coffee and water, I thought, duh, just fire up lap top to look at tickets, which I did, only to find MY flight out was not due until 6.00pm.  Double duh and arrggghhhhh - two and a half hours to go!!!!  Fortunately tennis was on telly so sat back after doing some last minute aussi banking and watched Nadal's game until finally it was time to board.  Not long after I arrived at the airport, the sky had changed to very dark grey and then thunder and lightening started, followed by downpour of rain and the news that one of the airlines was going to be 30 mins late (not mine, thank goodness). 

All was good for the flight down to Perth - we flew down the coast line over the ocean for most of the way.  All flights were ok, slept some, ate the meals provided and slept some more.  Had one interesting moment in Melbourne airport when bells went off as I walked through the machine beside the luggage xray machine.  As it had not happened at Perth, I was initially puzzled until the woman said it was going off around chest height - big ooops and shriek of laughter as I fished out my phone from bra where I had tucked it earlier and then forgotten about it.  I was tested for explosives in Perth and passed/failed which ever way you look at it and had the sniffer dogs crawl over my bag in Auckland where I passed through the final gate with no problems at all, to see sister Kay and friend Viv waiting there for me.  Since then I have been laid low with a flu bug of some sort so will sign off for now and head to bed hopefully feeling MUCH better tomorrow. :)

The cost of living (or not dying lol)

Nearly another week done and dusted and while I am in "heart" mode, it seems my bank account has been on clexane this week (hemorrhaging money , lol).  I am thankful for having good employment so that whilst the money has been galloping out of my account, at least it was there in the first place.

It began on Monday with a trip to the Dr - a follow up visit with the GP post hospital discharge.  I think I was there approx 10 mins, no more than 15 and $67 thank you very much.  Now while that seems excessive, apparently I can claim $35 back on medicare so not tooo bad.  Trip to the chiropractor on Tuesday for some tweaking $47 for another 15 mins - a fee increase of $2 since Jan 1st.  Whilst I am not in yet in the 6 million dollar woman bracket, I could have flown to NZ for the cost of getting it right.  Still, I am not complaining at that either as whilst I am not quite cavorting about the place like a spring lamb, am moving more like a two toother rather than an old ewe.  (I am learning to be exceedingly grateful for the small things in life, lol).  It was good news at the Drs - my blood pressure was normal and my heart rate was good - not much else was said.

I was given prescriptions by the Dr for the meds I am now on (for an indeterminate period of time) and so went to the chemist promptly after my appointment.  I asked for them to be blister packed (welcome to the world of the aging) as I had already missed one (I thought) and I needed meds for dummies 101 to travel and for work. I can see at a glance which day of the week it is each morning and any missed will be easily noted.   No problem she said' it costs $3.50 to blister pack - pfft, piffling amount I thought and said go right ahead.  She asked if I had my tablets on me as she would incorporate them into the packs she was making up so as not to waste them.  I didn't but home is only 5 mins away so dashed back and got them whereupon she gave me  enough to take home for that night and next morning as it would take until the next day to get things all sorted - no problem. 

While I was on a roll when I got home I decided to finalise my travel arrangements as I had only booked my trip home at that point.  Two hours later of comparing costs, airlines, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all, I had tickets booked to and from Wellington to visit No 1 son and family, and my return ticket from Auckland - Sydney for a weekend then Sydney-Perth-Geraldton.  I have booked Air New Zealand and Qantas (hopefully Qantas are flying again with no hiccups) - could have shaved off $5 - $20 here and there but want comfort and food and the ability to have my luggage sorted easily.  (the cheaper ones are carry on luggage only!!).  In round figures I think that was close to $800 with travel insurances included so felt OK about that.  I was too late for  grabaseat.com for the NZ flights but used lastminute.com for the international and Australian domestic flights.   

I was basking in how clever I was to get bargains with my flights still the next day as I ventured forth to go and pick up my prescriptions and nearly passed out on the spot when I was given 6 weeks worth and told $103 thank you very much!!!!!!!!!  I think I gasped or let out a strangled sound and the chemist queried my response.  I told her the last time I got a prescription, I think it was $3.00 and omg is this going to happen every 6 weeks (yes) !!!!!!!, NOT impressed.  This was with a cheaper version of aspirin than the hospital had sent me home with too boot.  So, another flight home's worth roughly a year to factor in - flipping heck.  Will have words with cardiologist in March to see how long this is all going to take to be ok again.  Had to go to Bronwyn and Gerard's for a sympathetic cup of coffee on the way home, lol.  It was their eldest son's 15th birthday and with Bronwyn and two siblings away in Melbourne for her Dad's 80th, it was decided that the rest of us would go out to dinner at favourite "Camel Bar" restaurant.  I zoomed home to change to go out and flicked into my emails, and last shock of the day was reading email from bro in law to say the power pole on my property in NZ had given up the ghost and the quote was a few dollars short of $1900  to replace. 

Was nearly at smelling salts stage by then, lol, however you cannot manage without power so there was little choice other than to say go ahead whilst sending a small vote of thanks upstairs for the great exchange rate from Australia to NZ dollar in recent months which went a long way to fund the replacement pole.  Needless to say, I have  hardly stepped out the door for the rest of the week and am looking up recipes for gruel, lol.   Speaking of power, I got my bill here two days ago and was VERY surprised to find it was $111.35 for 60 days, so by my reckoning  roughly $56 per month for the last two months which is unbelievable.  It says on the bill my daily consumption is $1.89 though since this week with the air con on daily as temperatures soar, I guess the next one will be a little higher.  I have solar panels on the roof here for hot water and gas for cooking so that all helps too.  Anyway, I will take the win with this account - it will help balance the other expenditures, lol.

Have had a mammoth effort going on with spring cleaning and getting the outside gardens into shape.  After finally finishing ridding myself of all weeds in the surrounding paving blocks on Sunday I have been concentrating on watering most days to keep everything alive.  Inside, I have put away all Christmas decorations except Christmas cards that make my mantelpiece above the fire look very cheerful, have cleaned all the windows and sliding doors in the kitchen/games room and mopped all bar my bedroom floor and the laundry.  Even with the air con on, the humidity is full on and I find myself wet through just sitting at the laptop or reading a book, never mind working.  Am changing clothes twice a day but as they dry in an hour so no problems there.  Have got one lot of Christmas pressies left to wrap and then all paper and trimmings can go away for another year - it has been a laborious task this year with all the health issues.

Had a lovely interlude Wednesday with a visit from Jude and Janet who arrived at morning tea and stayed for a bite of lunch.  We had a great catch up - Jude had had her mother (94yrs) up for Christmas, and Janet had been to Perth with her husband and had a wonderful time.  Jude and I are making a list of the things/places we want to see this year which we will start to tackle when I get back from NZ.  We have several local places we want to see and a few places further afield so will set dates so it actually happens instead of just talking about it this time.

I got home on the Tuesday from the chemist et al, to find a bunch of flowers on my doorstep - and a note from the woman who has been taking me to Rotary.  She also followed up with a visit the next day so that was  lovely.  She had not been well herself and had tried twice the week before to catch up before taking to her bed for a couple of days.  I have also had Donna around checking on me - the good news is that she did not have a spider bite on her hand after all (I had nearly given up gardening after her initial news) as a very fine black thorn popped out of the wound a week later - not nice.  She has about three weeks to go before she moves to Perth so the countdown is on for her too.

Am still having moments with bugs.  I found one legs upwards but still moving in the games area on Tuesday so left it for another day to die properly and flipping heck, nearly stepped on one that was inside my bedroom door yesterday. I didn't have my glasses on as I was heading to the bathroom but did notice a darker smudge on the floor - I went back to get my glasses to make sure as there was little light in the room and eeeeeek a flipping cockroach.  Luckily I could reach for one of the fly sprays I have dotted about the place and stood in the bathroom across the corridor giving it a good blast of spray.  It shot further into my room at first and then galloped towards me before turning right into the lounge - more spray as it headed there and after several nervous mins and with shoes on I ventured forth - no sight not sign off but kept my feet off the floor on the couch, just in case.  I did hear noises of something flipping about in death throes but could not pick where it was coming from and did not pursue it as it was not in my immediate space. 

Health wise I have had an ok week.  I have had two very small bouts of chest pain and figure I need to take my pills between 7 - 7.30am as both times I felt the pain, it was after 8.30am  when I had taken them which may be a bit late.  I seem to have oodles more energy in fits and starts though I am maintaining energy levels longer most days - the exception being yesterday when I slept a good amount through the morning but think it may have been the heat that made me dopey.  Was better after I put the air con on and the fan.

It is the cyclone season and bush fire season over in WA and further north has experienced both this week.  It is a year since the floods in Queensland, though to look at many of the housing areas, you would be hard pressed to see where,  a year later. We are not likely to get rain this week as it is going inland before Geraldton.  We had a stiff breeze with the sea very choppy on Tuesday but it has resumed being hot has Hades the last two days not far off the 40's, though today a mild 34o. 

Had better go hang out the second load of washing and go get some lunch.  Lost 2.2k last week at WW which was most of what I had put on while unwell - so all good.  Hard to believe I will be back in NZ in 12 days time, woohoo. :)

One week down the track :)

It is now just over a week since I left hospital, one week since new years and 51 weeks until 2013 - daunting thought, lol. 

After my leisurely day last Saturday at Shelley's the decision was made to attend New Years's Eve on the beach at Rockingham.  Accordingly, at 11pm we left for the beachfront.  It was a very festive scene as we arrived - stalls set up and several rides like dodgems, ferris wheel etc. There was also music being played from a speaker system.  We set ourselves up on the beach with a blanket to wait for midnight.  The water was dead calm, with lots of boats anchored to enjoy the stars.  At midnight the fireworks display began over the water which was great - lots of colour and bang.  We stayed a little longer, enjoying the extremely mild (and insect free) night watching some idiot women walk into the tide, fully clothed, smoking a cigarette,and then keep walking out further in the tide.  Two boats one small, one large just missed her as she made it out to a pontoon where she floundered about for awhile then finally climbed  onto the pontoon.  She had caught the attention of a lot of people on the beach - someone must have alerted the police as the next thing we saw was some bloke wade out into the water demanding she come back, then a youngish child, followed by the police who yelled at her from the beach.  She finally got back into the water and came back to shore and  as we left the police were having a few well chosen words with her.  Other than that the evening had been very laid back, lots of families out and about, no hoons obvious, so a nice night to see the new year in.

Got up to go to the loo early the following morning and am not sure why but felt the (by now) familiar pain in my chest.  It was about medium strength so I hastened to swallow my morning pills with the slow release GTN and asprin and thankfully in about 10 mins they kicked in and the pain receeded.   Was in two minds whether to go back to hospital but as the pills kicked in decided to wait and see how I travelled for the rest of the day before facing another admission.  Luckily there was no more pain and after a bite of lunch out, we left for the domestic airport where I caught a plane back to Geraldton.  Was met by Gerard and taken back to his place for general debrief, catch up and dinner.  The family wanted me to stay the night but I just wanted to get into my own bed, and into some fresh clothes so eventually headed home with the promise to ring if I felt any pains at all.

Woke up gingerly the next morning and sat up a bit before moving, no pain,  so breakfast and pills, all good.  I did not do a lot that day - Hayden came round and mowed my lawns and sprayed weed killer on the last lot of weeds to be dealt to.  I had to get petrol for the mower and some basic food items, and made it until about 1.30pm when I could not keep awake any longer and fell asleep on the couch.  Two hours later woke up and took Hayden and Emily home (she had walked to mine from work), then after getting back home, fell promptly asleep again until 9.30pm when I managed to wake long enough to have something to eat and then slept the rest of the night.  

Tuesday had a little more energy which was lucky as Donna rang at 8am to see if I could go mind her lad while she went into hospital to get what might be a spider bite on her hand looked at.  She arrived back with a leur in her arm and they had administered antibiotics with more to follow that evening, and twice a day for the next couple of days.  Got home later that afternoon for a nana nap and then weigh in at Weight Watchers to find I had put weight on while I had been in hospital which I totally had expected but a buggar all the same. 

Wednesday was another slow day, more sleeping in the afternoon to evening and was starting to feel pretty useless.  Although I had no more pain, I was experiencing the odd tightness now and then but no pattern so figured it was just adjusting to post hospital meds etc.  I had managed to get some washing done and that was about it. 

Thursday I got stuck into the garden, dead headed all the daisy bushes, rearranged hoses and watered - trying to revive what plants were surviving.  A week without water and temps in the 30's had laid waste to a lot of  the daisy bushes, peppers, tomatoes, and some of the herbs.  The beans are all dead as are the lettuces I had planted but can't be helped. 

Friday being the 6th of Jan and the 12th day of Christmas, it was time for the Christmas lights to come down. As there were sucker type attachments for the lights on the windows I decided to clean the windows, the surrounds and then do the floor.  I got to late afternoon and was doing the dishes when just had to go lie down, and promptly fell asleep for over an hour.  I think I may have overdone things a bit, but am only going to find that out by trial and error I guess.  Felt much better for the nap and and good nights sleep later in the evening.

I realised that I had been experiencing a bit of mush brain yesterday when I decided to close the side door on the garage after gardening only to realise the house / car keys were in the door and had been there for two days and a night!!!!  So much for locking the house at night, lol and big ooops.   Retrieved keys and am happy to report, all doors are shut and locked tonight and my keys are inside.

Am now on the countdown for coming home on the 25th January.  I checked before I left  hospital and there seems to be no problem for me flying .  I  have made an appointment to see a GP on Monday.  It was going to take 2 weeks until I said I had just got out of CCU in Freemantle and was told I needed follow up.  I do not know how you manage if you are sick and need to see someone in a hurry - I guess that is why people go straight to A & E.  Lots of Drs in town are not taking any new patients at the moment so have stayed with the practice I went to for my medical certificate for my licence,  even though  the Dr I saw has moved on.  This will be a whole new world for me with GP's so am just crossing my fingers that I end up with someone who knows what they are doing.  Heaven help me, I can remember the days when Dr's still made house calls, lol.

I have one more week off on sick leave so am continuing with steady spring cleaning as I will have another house inspection this month.  Had another dead mouse turn up on the lounge floor earlier in the week so that is number two.  Hopefully the word is out to any other family left behind and they all decide to move elsewhere.    Heard that my Christmas parcel arrived at Mum's - Kay has taken it out camping with her to open and to distribute gifts so ho ho and Merry Christmas and hope you all survive the wet weather I believe you are having.  I have barely seen any news in the last week but have heard Christchurch continues to experience earthquakes between 4 and 5 on the richter scale. My heart goes out to all hanging in there.  It must be so nerve wracking not to know when or what strength the next shake is going to be. 

It is past the witching hour so will head for bed.  Going to the farmers market for fresh fruit and veg tomorrow with Donna while she is having an Open Home. She has her house on the market with her move to Perth at the end of the month coming closer and closer.  Night all. :):)