Spring is near

An eventful Saturday - we went to Eli's 2nd birthday. I can't believe it has been a year since we were at his 1st birthday. Jos was still so little and Eli had to be woken from a nap to enjoy his party. All Jos wanted to do was swing (she is obsessed with swinging at the moment) She ate all the icing off her cake and was not interested in the cake itself LOL and then she was interested in the presents. We popped to the toy library and got the pirate ship and Jos fell asleep on the way home, but instead of the usual hour to hour and a half nap she slept all of 20minutes and was ready to go go go. IT was a gorgeous warm day so we filled the pirate ship with water and eventually Jos was naked and having an absolute ball! A lovely Saturday with my little family :)

Hmmmm made ribs (Friday)

So we bought some ribs the other day. One doesnt come across 'real' ribs in the supermarket. They call 'rashers' ribs here in some cases so you have to ask for American style ribs if you want to get what we know. So imagine our surprise and delight to find a rack of ribs in our local woolies. Since we got the new barbecue we though it would be the perfect opportunity to light it up and make us some bbq flavoured ribs. We bought some marinate and let the 'soak' all day. Jos and I went to mum's group in the morning, popped to the shop after that and then she was due for a nap so we headed home. She had a good sleep and then we popped out again as I had a doctor's appointment. (My doctor was away for a month - that really shouldnt be allowed!! lol) Anyway I just wanted to check out a few things what with my itchies (hives) and taking antihistamines etc. By the time we got home, daddy was there. Within a few minutes the bbq was ready to go an the ribs were on and cooking away - smelling delicious. Unlike the charcoal braai, it is ready to use pretty instantly which is great. We ate like kings :) Jos and I played outside while daddy cooked and we wnjoyed the lovely warm evening. Spring is on its way. The weekend news is to follow but we had quite a busy time then hubby got sick, Josci had a terrible cough and has had some very unsettled nights and apart from suffering from broken sleep I am also on the verge of illness with a very sore throat and head and body. The hormones don't help much either with 'bringing on the crazy'. We will be seeing ourr fertility doctor in the next week or so. Take care xoxo

Clowning around

My head of department is doing some work for one of our other colleagues and needs access to her computer as she is working from home at the moment. He has now moved out of his office and to the desk across the room from me. He is funny and a bit particular. He always gives me a hard time about the angle of my computer screen among other things and just teases me a fair bit. Today my colleagues went up to Gladstone and are staying over the night as they have a workshop day tomorrow (our Distance Ed families in the area make an effort to get there and there are several activities to keep them busy) It is about a 4 hour drive for us, they were only going to leave very early tomorrow morning but decided to rather go up the night before. I was invited at the last minute and to take Jos up - they have a car seat in the car but I declined. The day before is a little short notice and Jos is not a happy traveller. They would have to stop a lot! And there is no way I would drive that far in my own car with Jos. Then i am also taking my hormone spray and boing out of a routine could mean me forgetting or something. I think i might go on the one to the Gold Coast in October, but I wont take Jos, it is also an overnight one. Anyway back to my sory. So when i got back to my desk the computer tech and another guy were busy with my PC - there is a problem with the hard drive and they were replacing it and doing all that computery stuff. I took my MAC and went to sit at David's (HOD) desk. I then took a photo of his 'precious' stamps and my MAC on his desk. I really should have made more of an effort to really mess it up and spread papers over the desk LOL. I then took a photo and sent it to Sarah (they were all travelling up in one car) and asked her to show him. IT wasn't long before they were ringing me and he was telling me to leave his stuff alone, especially his beloved stamps. There was much laughter from their side :) Hubby has told me I am the quite the joker ( i think he might of used the word clown!!) A little bit of fun in the workplace is a must, I firmly believe that :) On another note, I was all excited for Zumba today but it was cancelled :( The poor instructor is sick, so it's not her fault but I was all packed and ready to get my Zumba on. I really want to get my skinny on but that is not happening!! And now with hormones, who knows if it will happen anytime soon. I probably should have gone for a walk and I was planning on it, but hubby and I have been feeling so flat the past few days. With Jos being unwell, starting the hormone spray and hubby giving up coffee has taken a bit of toll plus we have both had busy days at work this week. At least i am off tomorrow and Jos and I can hang out :) We also took ribs out freezer to defrost to pop them on the BBQ tomorrow night...not really helping with getting my skinny on!

Weird Wednesdays and hamburgers

Today I had a hamburger for lunch at school. I dont usually work on Wednesdays but I swapped days with Jos being unwell. IT was weird to work on a Wednesday. Maybe it is all in my head, but the day felt somewhat like a dream plus it confused me thinking it was Thursday then Monday and being a bit like 'huh?' Anyway, the tuckshop is open on the days i do not work, so since I was at work this on a tuckshop day I got to indulge in a hamburger :) It wasnt too bad except for all the onion pieces in the patty. They could really cook the onion before putting it into the patty haha. Day two of nosespray and things still feel somewhat normal. There are several side effects - apparently boobs getting smaller is one of them (i dont remember this from last time) also headaches and crankiness and hot flushes - those I do remember. I have set my alarm for the evening to remind me to spray then - it can get a bit chaotic that time of day with dinner, bathtime, dishes, chasing after Jos etc. Jos slept really well last night and then had a 2 hour nap at daycare today. Hope fully that doesnt mean she will be up with the sparrows tomorrow. She was having a bit of a sleep in (by that i mean until 6.45am at the latest, there was one morning of 7am!) until a few days ago, i wonder if the sun rising earlier has anything to do with it? Perhaps I need to invest in some blackout for her room. Other than that work was pretty much the same. They wanted me to go on the field day trip to Gladstone tomorrow and take Jos - a 4 hour car ride. You have got to be kidding me (the workshop is only on Friday so it would be spending the night) - we take at least 5 if not more hours to get to Brisbane which is actually only a 3 and a bit hour drive. I am seeing the chiropractor once a week now. I am trying to do some walking, my stretches and then of course my thursday Zumba :) Hubby's eyes are still a bit sore and he is taking strain without coffee - well the withdrawals of headaches and geneeral malaise seem to be taking its toll. I am sure he will be through the worst of it soon. Well that is all from me today I think. Tomorrow will probably be another busy day and then Friday I am off again with my little chook. On Saturday we are going to a second birthday party and probably have a BBQ and make some bread. Oh yes, I made dough yesterday to make vetkoek. I should have made more dough but I also think I neeed to use a different dough mixture - any suggestions? There are several recipes in my bread maker book but the baked bread vs the plain bread dough have different ingredients in them??? But they were okay and it was super nice having them again after so long as trying to buy bread dough in this place is like trying to find hens teeth! I reckon I need to experiment a bit :) Maybe roosterkoek next :) Until next time xoxo

The journey begins...

The IVF journey begins again. I started with my nose spray today. One puff, twice a day and hopefully I dont forget! I felt pretty okay this morning but had a dizzy spell hit straight after my evening squirt - but that could just be because I am tired after not sleeping well last night and going to bed too late. I usually work on Tuesdays but stayed home to 'care' for Jos who has conjunctivitis. In my opinion she has had it pretty mildly but daddy seems to be suffering from red, itchy eyes and light sensitivity. He also gave up coffee as of today, so the withdrawal headache has not helped matters. HE seems to be wearing the cranky pants today - my mantra at home is 'there is only room for one person in cranky pants at a time in our house' so he is lucky Jos has been pretty happy. She has a few eye rubs and getting those drops in her eyes have been near impossible. She forces her little eyes shut and then swings her arms in front of her body. It is a two person job as one person has to hold her arms and the other try open her eyes and get the drops in. We have not been very successsful in getting the drops into open eyes, so I just let it pool in the corner until she opens up and hope something gets in. Phew! I gave up coffee on August 1st in preparation for this and hubby today (he gave up coffee, I didnt give him up LOL). I suffered some nasty headaches which is pretty unusual considering I didnt drink that much coffee. Usually one cup a day, two on an odd occasion. It is amazing how addictive the stuff is and what it does to your body if this is what happens when you stop.Anyway, he only has a month or so to go so I am sure he will survive on Rooibos tea :) I went walking again today. Last week i did 3 walks and one zumba. This is the first walk of this week, my last walk being on Sunday. It was good to get out and do some exercise although i did feel a bit sluggish today. While I was walking I crossed paths with an elderly gentleman who was on one of those car like/motorised wheelchairs. I greeted him, he greeted me back and then said 'I wish I could do what you are doing.' It reminded me how easy it is to take something so simple for granted and how every day I have so very very much to be thankful. How blessed we are to just be able to walk, see, hear and everything else. Some Jehovah's witnesses swung by our house today. Luckily Jos was hollering from the bathroom 'wee wee' so they did not stay long. They read me a passage from the Bible and I told them I do go to church. They were not as pushy as the ones I usually encounter and left without giving me any pamphlets... Anyway, to the hormones and getting my crazy on, perhaps there will be a few interesting events in the next few weeks or perhaps it will be all smoothe sailing with only a few hot flushes. Let us see. Good night, my eyes cant keep open any longer Until next time xoxo

Monday morning singing

I have been super slack with my blogging. I am sorry once again. I started really well and then the April holidays arrived and it seems I have never quite gained momentum again. So here is to a new start. Perhaps not as much as daily blogging, but let's see how we go. We have a staff meeting and devotion every Monday morning. I was feeling a bit concerned after dropping Jos off with her pink swollen eyes, but then we did something different. We sang together as a staff. I will add the song here when i find it, but it was a great and unifying way to start the day. I felt inspired and at ease. Thank you Gary :) We have had a few good devotions on a Monday and I am often reminded how much i fall short. I think in particular of our very erratic church habits at the moment. It is not a very pleasant experience right now. Jos will not sit still or even be held. She wants to walk around and hollers at the other one of us sitting down at that moment. She wants us both to go exploring the surrounds and is not happy to sit in the confines of the creche. We take turns to accompany her each week but she does not want to stay in there despite all the toys, books, colouring untensils and other goodies scattered around the place. They dont have Sunday school either really for her age and up. They have Sunday school for the older kids but it us before church?? Anyway, we try and persevere and need to make more of an effort even if neither of us ends up hearing much of a message.There is always something that will stick. In the short bit i heard yesterday and talking about generosity, i was reminded of the verse 'Seek FIRST the kingdom of God". I sometimes forget the FIRST part and think that seeking is enough. Nope, first dear, first! So that was a great reminder of something I knew already. Over the weekend Joscelyn's one eye looked a little red but I thought she had smeared some cream into it. Apart from eating toothpaste, pouring her cereal/juice from one bowl/cup to another, trying to eat milk off a teaspoon from a cup, she now is desperate to smear cream on herself. She watches me put moisturiser on so she rubs cream on her face..any cream she can get. The other day it was camphor cream, today i found her eating hair gel then smearing that on her hands and face! Anyway, I thought she might just have gotten some cream into her eyes but then the nextdoor eye got red but i then thought, maybe an allergy. There has been some gunk, but not too much and then I discovered one of the kiddies at daycare went home with conjunctivitis last week. I made a doctor appointment (saw a random and not a very friendly doctor - my doc is away until wed!! She has been away for a while...i miss her!) HE said she 'probably' has conjunctivitis and said she must stay home tomorrow too. So we got our eye drops and here we are - a pink eyed little monster (although dont call it pink eye in Aus, it seems no one has a clue what you are talking about LOL) Jos is still very busy and not too bothered by the eye business except when i try wipe her eyes with saline and put the drops in - it is easier getting a pill down a cat's throat!! Nuff said! Anyway, I hope she feels better soon. We will keep an 'eye' on it and hopefully not contract it ourselves. It is late and later than i usually stay up so I need to head off to bed. For those who do read, the ivf journey begins again. We need prayer, just for stress levels I think. I am a little overwhlemed (i only discovered this recently haha - i really should know myself by now) So to the nose spray tomorrow morning I salute you and hopefully we have another fruitfull outcome. I will keep you updated..this is pretty scary writing about the journey out here...let's see how it goes. Hold on:)

Barbeque

We bought ourselves a bbq on the weekend. It took hubby 2 days to put it together. Well a long afternoon on Saturday until he just couldnt take it anymore and then again on Sunday. How happy to fire it up yesterday and cook some steak on it. We also did some prawns and calamari and eggs. It was quick and easy. Yummy yum yum! Now to bake a loaf to accompany the grub on the bbq :) Hubby has suggested 'rooster koek'...maybe :)

We have a winner :)

Yummo. My first bread was a flop, but bread number two was a success. I now need to make more and then make some dough nd try pizza bases and of course vetkoek :)

Iron and clay

These guys came to perform at school. They were great - the teachers even got to go up and dance on stage. Yep, I marched on up there and busted some moves! Whoop whoop. They have a great story to tell young people about how God is there always. They sing, dance and sort of mime, witness and just entertain with their talent. They are called 'iron and clay'and really do a great job, travelling around to schools and giving the kids a message from bullying to drink driving and even coping with hardships by having God beside you www.facebook.com/ironnclay

fresh bread alert :)

I finally got my very own bread maker! IT is so pretty - i had better use it :) Cant wait!!

Her Royal Pinkness

Every month we distribute a letter to our home-based educators/online student families called 'The Rattler'. It has a few articles about what events are coming up and other articles that may be of interest. My Head of Dept asked me to write something about time management and study skills... But let's go back a little bit...Valentines Day Jacques bought me a tiara. Yes a kiddies one but still I wore it all day and was a princess. This evolved in that I have drawn a crown above my name on the 'in and out' board at work, and I joke that I am a princess. Emily even addresses me in emails as 'Princess JAcqui'. Continuing with the joke, Emily put a crown on the picture of me. It was all in the name of fun, until she had printed them and sent them off via snail mail and email only to realise she had forgotten to take the crown off. Slightly embarassing, maybe, hilarious - beyond a shadow of a doubt. I laughed so hard at the thought of our readers pondering why on earth there is a crown on my head. I havent had any questions yet :) Maybe they have just come to the realisation that I am royalty, I am a princess and they must just deal with it (what a privilege for them to be dealing with a princess! I am the people's princess, it is clear) HAHAHAHA.

How blessed are we...

A gentleman from Pakistan visited school the other day. He works at a Christian school in Pakistan and came over for a missions trip and to meet up with some Aussies. What a fabulous. He shared a bit with us about the school that has grown considerably, that has atttracted some muslinm families, that has prayer and devotions as part of the day. He spoke a little about conditions in Pakistan, especially for women and in particular, Christian women. He spoke of poverty. He spoke of all sorts and then he brought out beautifully handmade goodies. The women are taught these skills and sew everything by hand and then sell these to make a few cents for their families...and then you realise 'how blessed am I?' There were cushion covers, bags, wallets and these. To be honest i am not exactly sure what this is, it has pockets to put goodies (letters perhaps) in. I liked it because i can hang it up (it hangs by the front door)and be a reminder of how blessed I am, we are. It tells me a story and reminds me daily how great God is and that despite unbearable conditions, these people are making a living, using their talents and creating a one of a kind, made with love article.

Lead by example :)

When your office gets moved around a bit and have no idea howcome you have no internet and then you head of department happily reconnects it all for you, sorts out all the connections, internet problems and even finds you an extension cord lurking in the office. Yay