Dad....

Dad buying sunnies.

Dad and step-mum Lil

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DAD......

I love you, miss you so much and wish I could be with you tomorrow celebrating your 81st birthday.  You were taken too soon, I wasn't ready,....the years since you have gone have been so hard.

Biggest hugs xx

Still smiling....

Shawn & Shayden

Shayden, with help from Kaleb, blows out his candles

Skye, Kaleb, Shayden & Jaydene playing on the tramp with Shawn

All is well in my world.
Had Shawn here on Saturday for his access with his kids...a few pics above. Shayden turned 3 a few days before his visit so of course the cake came out....think Kaleb blew the candles out 3 times before Shayden finally managed to beat him.  Shawn loves those kids...and at times he acts no older than them, its great to see.
Work is going okay. On Monday I started in Bunbury filling in for a friend, had a 6am start..so left home at 5.30am, its pouring down with rain, & 10k's up the road I get pulled up for liciense & tyre check and breathalyser !!  Get to work, set up cleaning trolley and 1st job is center managers office. My biggest fear about that job was that the alarm there wouldn't disarm....guess what...it didn't!! I get in the office, have 3 seconds to pin in the code, did that, it says do it again, do it again and the next thing is its making a hell of a racket....I freaked out!!!  Tried, and tried, and tried again...and finally it shut up! By this time I was a shaking mess!! Anyways got the offices done quickly, still shaky, armed the alarm with no trouble and went on with the rest of the jobs before I had to walk with security to open the doors at 8am.
At 9am I get a phone call asking if I can do an extra 2 hours and finish at 2pm instead of 12.  Phewwwwww 8 hours on my feet...and boy was I footsore, I wore the wrong shoes...
Anyways....I still enjoy the work, its so social and I love the fact that I can have interaction with other people, never had that out the farm.

Weight...loss of 900g this week, slowly getting back down. Still have 4 kilo's to go to get back to pre-holiday weight...I am hoping to get there by the end of July for my trip to Melbourne. Onwards and downwards.

Just think I might have....

I have had a really great week, totaly on track...and it showed on the scales for me this week...down 800grams. I re-started the weight watchers at home program again, (I put it on hold while I recuperated from the op) and had my 1st weigh in on Wednesday morning. I was happy to see I was only 400grams up on where I was on my last weigh in on the 27th April (which was 2 days before my op).
I am in a better frame of mind at the moment, a lot happier now knowing that Mum hasn't got liver problems again. I am a lot happier in my new job, my legs are on the mend...just a whole heap more relaxed.
Yep...I like where I am at...and its showing...long may it last.

Time to get real....

p.s.  woohooooo.....just got a phone call from mum...thank the lord all is ok, nothing to worry about :-)

Last night, for the first time in a month, I managed to get to the local weight watchers group I go too. I have been going there for now for nearly a year, BUT I was astounded to notice in my weigh in book I have ONLY lost 1.3 kilo's  (being night time weigh ins makes it look worse than my weekly morning weigh ins) !!  Worse though is that I have lost and regained 8 kilo's in that time....sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez it is like....

what the Fuck am I doing.....

It is about time I got my act together....I seem to want to lose the weight, do all the right things but when "life" happens and I want to hide from it, I hide in food.....so of course begins the yoyo progress again. Last night I was so down and out about it all after looking at my progress (or lack thereof!), I decided enough is enough, time to get real....so lets see if this time is the right time and see if I can do it!!

Waiting....



Mum on Mothers Day at home

My brother brought Mum up for a few hours on Mother's day....we enjoyed scones, jam & cream that I made for morning tea...and chicken & salad for lunch, not that Mum ate much! Big bro made sure that nothing went to waste thou.
On Thursday Mum travelled up to Bunbury for her blood test/scans....all seemed to go ok though the dye they made Mum drink went straight throu her so we had to do a few very quick trips to the loo. All this was very distressing to Mum as she has had colon/bowel cancer and wears a permanent colonscopy bag.
Mum wouldn't allow me to go in while she had the scans....so it is now a wait till Mum's Dr gets the results and has her in for a visit....I am as nervous as :-(
Nothing much has been happening on the home front...dear hubby has had a dose of the man flu...had to have 2 days of work....but is recovering well now.
I am enjoying my new job..at the moment I am only working Tuesdays & Wednesdays but I also fill in for anyone that wants time off...and in a few weeks I will be working everyday for those 2 weeks. My legs should have no trouble coping with that, I have no problems with them at all whilst doing the few shifts I have been doing. I see the surgeon on Monday for a post op visit...hope I can stop wearing these stockings for a bit !!
Weight...is still yo-yoíng .... thou still in there trying!

Legs are improving

Who's a pretty boy then??



black cockatoo in my banksia tree

 Alls going well. The legs are improving daily, I am doing more each day without pain. I actually went into Bunbury yesterday, and what a delight it was to zip a pair of boots up over my legs. Before the op the only boots I was able to wear were ankle ones as my right leg was always swollen and about 3cm bigger than the other. I love boots...and will be buying some more when I can start earning a wage again. I am loving this not working, but also  looking forward to going back to work. Love the new job, and espesially the shorter hours and I somehow do not think I will be going back to the farm. If I do go back it will only be one day a week...just for the $$$'s thou...now I can wear boots might need those $$'s !!!
Talking of $$'s...yesterday I paid out quite a few as we have decided to fit solar panels to the house in the bid to eventually save some $$'s. From all reports from family & friends that have already decided to do this...it is so worth it.
Have mum coming here for Mother's Day on Sunday, my brother is bringing her up. Mum has been seeing her Dr recently as she had some growths (moles) that were worrying her...so had them cut off. Her Dr run some bloods test & ordered ultrasounds on her as well as the results of blood tests showed her liver is not functioning properly. Ultrasounds done unfortunately don't show enough so Mum has to come up here to Bunbury and have more tests. As you can imagine it is a big worry to us, Mum has had liver cancer and had a huge fight to recover from that in 1994, she is now lot older and getting very frail. Might be worrying over nothing too, fingers crossed we are...
Have been using my new camera a lot of late....just happened to spot these noisy black cockatoo's the other day having a feed in some banksia tree's on our property....

legs

Looks pretty yuk ehhh??  But they are done now. Am wearing the beautiful thigh high Ted's stockings...and the bruising is going down. Not in as much pain as I thought I would be....the only ones giving me grief are the cuts up on the groin...and thats more from the bandages up there chafing. 
Diet has gone out the window...excersise is walking around around in circles in boredom !!

Happy Birthday to my hubby

Rain clouds over the ocean

Sunset in the sand dunes

Road down to the coast

Caity and Ashlee checking out a sea sponge

Dear hubby

                                                  
 Happy Birthday to my man today....xxxx

Happy belated wishes to eldest grandie,  Luke,  on Anzac Day he turned 15

Today is the last of the birthdays for this mad month of birthdays for us....today is my mans. He is at work today after the easter/anzac long weekend.
Pics above were taken on our few days away, we drove down the coast on Saturday and came back on a wet and windy Monday. Had a relaxing time away and enjoyed the break....hubby needed it.
Op time is coming up real quickly...Friday is the big day. Yep...I am scared, hope it all goes well....and I recover quickly.

And more birthdays....

Mathew with his pressie from Pop and Jenna

       

                                                       Happy Birthday Hannah



Have had a very busy week with work and birthdays so far. Monday I worked my 1st full shift as a cleaner in my local shopping center. At the end of the day boy was I footsore...but happy. I was kept busy the whole day and I enjoyed the work and the social aspect of the job.  Straight after work it was up to see Matthew and give him his pressie and  his birthday cuddle...
It was also Hannah's birthday Monday too....but I had given her her parcel on Kalebs birthday last Friday. But I called in and had a cuppa with her today...she was enjoying a visit from Jaydene and Shayden. She told me Kaleb has his 1st overnight stay next week in the lead up to him coming home...:-)
Today was weigh in day...very happy to report the scales were down 1.2  And so they should be....I worked darn hard to do that. This new pro-points is great,  but I find I really have to work hard to get a decent loss....the "slush" fund (the 49 weekly points) is very tempting .... so this week I used all my 29 points on as many "filling foods" as I could and didn't touch the "slush fund" at all!!

Birthday grandies

                                                          Little Kaleb turned 2 on Friday. 
We had a little birthday party here yesterday when Shawn had his access visit with all his kids.

                                                   Caitlin turned 9 on the 14th
Picture is her (with sister Ashlee looking over her shoulder) looking delighted with the West Coast Eagles doona we gave her for her birthday.

Another week gone.....

Very funny mum !!!

That lovely lady above is my Mum. This was taken yesterday when I met up with her in Bunbury when a friend bought her up for the day. I have been very worried about her, and she is stressing out some herself as she has been going to the Drs to get some moles burnt off & cut out. She has one being cut out tomorrow which is quite a nasty looking one....but its her blood tests results we are concerned about. All the blood test results that came back were great except her liver. Her liver worries us as in 1994 she had liver cancer. Surgery was very major with pieces that were cancerous taken from both sides of the liver and then months of chemo.  Next Thursday the 21st she is booked in for scans/ultrasounds on her liver. We pray that all is okay, mum is now 82 and though healthy we are not sure if she is strong enough to deal with anything major!Weigh in this morning, I stayed the same. My fault, although I did have 30 excersise points I used up the whole of my 49  weekly points on a sugar overload! All the walking just evened out the overload!

My new job starts officially on Monday with a shift from 9.30 to 4.30....geeee what a change that is from the farms hours.  This job is only going to be part-time with so far only 12 hours a week, but I will also be filling in for any of the other girls when they are sick or on leave.

Monday I saw my surgeon re: my veins and my op is scheduled for April 29th. It is as he thought, the deep veins in my thighs are the worst and the ones he is very concerned about, so thats what he is going to concentrate on in surgery. He said it would be too much to do the whole legs in one go.  Plus he is hoping that just doing the thighs it will relieve the pressure in the ones in my lower legs. He will review everything in 6 months time.

Its quiet....

Geeeeee blogger world is very quiet...is anyone here??

Not much happening on the home front. I was offered a job the other day, as a cleaner in shopping centre, so after going out to see my boss at the farm I have accepted it. I have someone coming to see me today to tell me all about it, hours etc.

The farm is very quiet. Its so dry, crops have been blown away in the dust (just seeded one's), have had no rain since heck knows when, the dams are nearly empty or empty so crops are limited! The farm actually looks terrible....the worst I have seen it in the 9.5 years I have worked there.

Anyways boss said accept this job as they can't offer me anything till July, and please consider them then as they need me. Nice to be appreciated ehhhh?

On the weight front...welllllllll thats slow but it is going down, 400 grams lost at weigh in this morning.

ohhh the pic was taken at a place called Cockatoo Lake in South Australia on our way home from Tassie.

Grandies visit

Shawn had a acccess visit at home on Saturday....it was really great to see his kids again. Boy have they grown....espesially Skye.

Great news for them, they will all be heading back to Hannah's fulltime this year, DCP lost the appeal to take the kids into their care for another 2 years. Hannah has been told Kaleb will join her & Skye in June, Shayden a few months later and Jaydene the last one will be home by November. Here's hoping so...and that Hannah can keep the kids happy & healthy. And more importantly the house clean, as her very dirty unsanitary habits were the main reason the kids were taken!!

Shawns 2 year avo is drawing to an end too...hopefully that will mean that with the kids coming out of DCP care that he will be able to see them more frequently by arranging visits with Hannah.

Shawn is happy....DCP have told him if he stays on the path he is on, that should Hannah not be able to cope and kids and need to taken out of her care again...he has a very good chance of having them instead of foster care. Lets hope for the kids sake that doesn't happen...they don't need anymore trauma's in their lives.

Shawn is still working, has even been made permanent. He is a lot calmer, happy with Shaz, he still has a low self - esteem, but he is working on that! Struggling with $'s due to all the court and centerlink fines which worries him greatly....but he is getting there.

Babysat Mathew

I am getting used to this time off work....missing the $'s but enjoying all this time to myself. Have caught up on so many chores that were pushed aside as I just didn't have time to do. Can't go anywhere too much as the big Ford which we use for long trips is awaiting a part to stop the gears slipping...so unfortunately I can't go down and see mum...well I could but the little Ford runabout car I use for work is not the best to take mum out in. Hopefully the part will arrive before I go back to work and I can do a day trip.

I have been to the surgeon about my varicous veins, he sent me to have ultrasounds on my legs as he was quite concerned about some deep veins he found in my thighs. Had the ultrasounds on Tuesday and have black permanent markers dots all over my legs where apparently the veins are not working. Now I have to keep these dots marked till I see the surgeon on April 11th (or beforehand if a appointment becomes available!)

I had my little nearly 3 year grandson (Paul & Tanya's youngest) from 8.30 to 12 this morning. Isn't he just a real little charmer?

Weightloss is coming along real well...lost 1.2 this last week. Wasn't too sure how I would go being home and out of my planned work routine...but I am resisting all temptations and keeping myself busy. The online tracker (e-tools) I find is a real boost to me, makes tracking so much easier.

More pics

Kylee took the pic of Ted & I with the newly weds and Tanya took the one with Stephen & Kylee with them. Lovely pics.....

Kylee & Stephen sadly fly home tomorrow ...(sure am going to miss my girl!!)....hopefully work and my veins permitting I will fly over in late July for a visit. I have seen the surgeon re: my veins, I have to have a ultrasound next week as unfortunately he found some deep veins in my thigh which he is very concerned about. Will know more after he examines them...but if they are as bad as he thinks I may need more than one op!

Simon & Tracey wedding

Just a few pics of a lovely day....I was one very proud mum/Jenna

Just a few pics

Phillip Island, Victoria

Sunset at Smoky Bay in SA

Stephen & Kylee

Kylee and her Dad

Great Australian Bight

A VERY BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR DAUGHTER KYLEE ....26 years today, looking forward to seeing you on Friday morning xx

I'm back....

After 6 weeks away I am back, me and quite a few more kilo's than I left with too....a whole 10 of them!! Right, no one to blame but me, my oroxine got wet and went to powder so what did I do...thats right nothing BUT continue to eat and drink way more than was needed too....

Anyways after one unholy scream when I saw the numbers on the scales....I have gotten on with it. Nil I can do but get on with it, the holiday is over and I have to get my arse into gear and get myself back into my regular routine....day 1 today and I doing it!

I have Simon's wedding next week and I bought a gorgeous dress today...just need a little bolero or a something to cover the arms....have all next week to do that in between hair and surgeons apppointments. My leg is unsightly at the mo...and my dress is 3/4 length....hope its not too hot as I will need to wear stockings...right now I am having second thoughts about wearing it.

Anyways a few pics of my hol...the 2 hightlights of my trip were meeting the gorgeous Nola & Nannette.....thank you girls. I found someone in Nola who is as zany as I am, looking forward to another catch up one day sister....and Nannette hopefully one day we can get together over a bottle of scotch and have a longer natter...

Going on holidays

Jaydene after eating birthday icecream cake
Jessica on her birthday present !

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy........I am on holidays!!! Tomorrow we meet our travelling companions in Kalgoolie so hoping to get a few hundred k's done tonight so we're not rushing tomorrow. I am all packed and raring to go....and so looking forward to seeing my girl. Staying with Kylee and Stephen for a few days & show Grant & Tina a little of Melbourne, going to visit Phillip Island then its climb on the boat & head to Tassie. No real plans there...but soooooooo looking forward to meeting my fellow blogger friend Nola.

My weigh in last Wednesday was a STS...but heck knows what the scales will show when I get back if I don't pull my head in & starting eating properly...the last few days I have been terribly BAD!!!

ahhhhhhhh well...byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

A week of birthdays

It has been a very week both here at week & at home. It has been a week or so of birthdays, my boss was on the 1st, then my sister on the 6th....then the little moppet in the pic with one of my chooks turned 4 on the 7th. On the 10th was Simon's, 11th was Pauls & on the 12th was my friend and ex workmate Zoe. Coming up on Sunday I have my eldest grandughter Jessica turning 9, then on the 20th Shaz has her birthday. To finish january I have a good friend having his birthday on the 21st.....phewwwwwwwwww!!

Tomorrow Shawn has his next access visit with his kids. I asked DCP to bring it forward so he can have the visit as it was scheduled for next weekend...but we won't be here.

I have only 4 working days to go, then Friday we pack up and head off. I want to go Friday night, but me man says Saturday morning..bahhhhhh

This weekend, even thou I have the kids most of Saturday I hope to get a fair bit of packing and sorting done. Most nights this week I have tackled a must do job so I am daily crossing off a job on my list.

On Wednesday I had my At Home weigh in.....happy to report in I am the lowest I have been in a long time....losing 1.2 kilo's!

Last night I had the ww group therapy weigh in...being an evening weigh it showed me 2 kilo's above that one.....but I showed a 500 gram loss from my previous weigh in .... so all good ehhh? (Actually the "group therapy" is a registered weight watchers group of Western Australia) Last night was last weigh in there till I get back from hols. I have a weigh in next Wednesday morning with my ww At home consultant.....and then I have 6 weeks away.

I best be away and start getting ready for bed...a big day tomorrow with Shawn, Shaz & the kids.

Other weigh in

phewwwwwwww its been a long day. Started work at 7am and didn't clock off till after 6pm tonight!! TGIF !!!!

Last night was my ww meeting and I found out the difference between morning weigh's & night ones....1.3 !!! I knew it was going to be up but sheeeeeeeeez! In the end it turns out with weigh in last night I was up 1 kilo from my last weigh in before christmas, but down 600g from my last weigh in, which I did on my scales on what would have been my regular weigh in day/time.

( Yeahhh I know, its all very confusing !!) I sooooooooo prefer my early morning weigh ins but I will keep on with the evening ones till I go on hols...then I'll decide when I get back as to what I am going to record. I have filled in my at home book and found the tape and done all my measurements. I checked out my old ww books from when I journeyed to goal...and my measurements at my weight that I am now and then vary quite a bit.....amazing how our body shape changes as we mature ehhh?

Tomorrow morning my jabberwalk friend and I are off and walking in town again...its a lovely walk around the estuary....then we are going out for breakfast together...yummo.

Night night.....have a great weekend.

I must remember to

Find my tape measure and do my measurements !

I had my first weight watchers At Home weigh in and consult...and was happy.

My consultant Belinda is very upbeat and very chatty....very full on, but great. She I think is going to be so helpful. My weigh in was great, the scales showed me a great loss, but I weighed in at 6.15am so that was real different for me. My ww meeting is tomorrow evening so wonder what the difference is going to be as the scales said I was lower than my last ww meeting weigh...sooooo we'll see ehh?

Belinda reminded me to do my measurements today, but because I was running around after the phone consult finishing off chores before rushing out the door to work I didn't !

off now to find that tape....night night

Speedway..yahoooooo

We travelled down to Manjimup yesterday afternoon and spent a couple of hours with mum before heading out to the speedway track. Was very proud of myself as mum placed lots of yummy's on the table to have with our coffee's but I resisted all. Ted had a few pieces...told me her fruit cake was the best!!
Out at the track I bought a hamburger, heaps of propoints but ohhhhhh so worth everyone of them...it was yummmmmmmmmo! I took fruits for snacks, and thermos's for coffees.
I stayed away from the soft serve icecream van, a real weakness of mine...espesially a sundae with spearmint sauce and nuts...and a chocolate flake !!!! yep...that halo of mine is glowing!
The racing was absolutely fantastic and worth the gate price...so happy we went. I would go back racing in a heartbeat if it wasn't so costly and time consuming. I enjoyed it immensly while I was so have heaps of memeories of some darn good times.
Caught up with some great people that we used to race with, they are still racing but they are wondering with the costs as they are for how long!