should be a repel spray or something for the girls ...or go tidy your room spray .. NOW that would be handy! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> but thats MP .. mums problem ... lol love to help but you see ...... <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

and they ALL want to go fishin' with Uncle Aussie lol
can't you just imagine it ... ewwwrrrr Uncle Aussie I need my hook baited again, yuck I CAUGHT a fish yuck yuck, I'm tellin on you Uncle Aussie for cutting that fishes head off!!
Last time he took them fishing the big hunters caught a ............ duck!!!

ROFLMAO <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I think another week or the end of this week with luck .... it lasts so much longer in adults, aren't we lucky?

chicken pox <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

I don't want to call you, Neak and Neaksis, just in case you've accidentally gone to sleep at a decent hour, but I thought you'd be interested to know that I have just discarded my crutches and walked on my own two feet. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> OK, perhaps "walked" is an overly-generous description of what I just did, and technically, it's not 4 wks. from surgery, when I was to be allowed to do weight-bearing on my right foot, until tomorrow afternoon...but hey! Don't get all technical on me, OK? <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> For me, I obeyed the doctor's orders quite well, even if I didn't tell him when the incision opened up 10 days after surgery and showed an unbecoming amount of the inside of my foot. It all turned out alright, and there's only a much-reduced portion of it still open now. He can evaluate it Thursday when I go to see him and tell me what I already know: (1) It couldn't have been re-sutured by the time it opened up; (2) Keep the edges of the wound approximated and it will granulate in, given sufficient time; (3) All you can do is watch for signs of infection and get it treated if you get one; (4) No antibiotics unless an infection actually occurs. Really, how much more healing was it going to do in the next 18 hrs. that it hadn't already done? <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> I am SO glad to have ditched those stupid crutches, and walking, while uncomfortable, isn't as painful as I'd expected. Just very slow...<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I bet after we talk Thursday, he'll wish ALL his patients were nurses! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

t&l

I wonder if you are being serious - or not!

AW, glad you are almost over the worst of it. Yeech!

Rella, AJ said hi and he thought of you the other day when he was near, and said to tell you he hopes we can come visit you again before too long.

Yesterday the Dervish was most offended by his computer golf game. "Moooooo-oooooooom, come here - this is NOT nice!"

The narrator says in hushed tones, "Help the golfer make a putt."

"See?" in an aggrieved tone. (I was already laughing, guessing by the consternation on his face what he was thinking.)

"Um, no Dervish", cackle cackle cackle, "that is P-P-Putt, help the golfer make a PUTT."

I don't think he believes me even yet, but I gave it a good try.

Well, anytime you are in the neighborhood, come on by. If I don't have vegetarian food in the fridge, I can get some.....No problem.

Thankee, ma'am. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Got to call the dentist and see if he can see the Dervish right away. Small Fry had an awful toothache last night. After a while the unearthly keening got a trifle oppressive. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

An aspring and a lot of moaning and groaning later, he fell asleep, but woke up again around 10. At least he was not in so much pain by then.

By contrast, the other two are doing fine and dandy.

I've been busy suffering the heat, and playing tourist guide for my niece and her husband who are visiting from USA.
I hope I managed to put these pictures up properly. These are a couple of the beaches we visited on our 2 day tour of the coast
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22753415@N08/?donelayout=1

How beautiful! You can visit here and suffer in the cold any time it gets to be too much for you. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

CC those lovely photos remind me of the gold coast in Queensland in Australia ..... just not so jammed full of people though ... Gold Coast is crazy that way.

But I just came back from a swim at the beach on Aussies base with the whole crew......... it was lovely, no one around .... which was probably good due to the spotting <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> ..... and a nice 74 F and very calm ocean today.
we were just left of this area in the web cam ... after the signs and 2 fence poles Swanbourne Beach

Mikey was just fascinated with all that water.. lol <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hope the teeth were fixed ok ..... poor little guy. I don't think you should give him another lolleypop from AW right now though <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> .......... just let him have some RED cordial <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh, all those beaches! As I sit here and shiver, there are still worse places to be, but wow all that sun and sand and blue blue water...

The good news for the Dervish, is that his cavity count is down from 7 to 6. Sure, it was pulled, but that's one less to fill. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> And his permanent tooth will come in when he's, oh, 9 or so. He will have to have a spacer in the meantime.

Allrighty, it's bedtime - I'll take one extra tall red cordial, to go! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Friends, I heard a song on the radio tonight and want to share it with you:

WE LIVE by Superchick from Beauty From Pain

There's a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost a son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be their last time she'd trade with him for a little more time
So she could say she loved him one more time
And hold him tight
But with life we never know

When we're coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend?

Chorus:
We live we love
We forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
Today we remember to live and to love
We live we love
We forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
Today we remember to live and to love

There is a man who waits for the tests
To see if the cancer has spread yet
And now he asks, "So why did I wait to live till it was time to die?"
If I could have the time back how I'd live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well this is your story and it all depends
So don't let it become true
Get out and do what we are meant to do

Chorus

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day is a gift somehow, someway
So get our heads up out of the darkness
And spark this new mindset and start to live life cuz it ain't gone yet
And tragedy is a reminder to take off the blinders
And wake up and live the life we're supposed to take up
Moving forward with all our heads up cuz life is worth living

Chorus (to fade)

oh that is such a sniffler rella ..sniff sniff

I like this soppy one though .....

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.

The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.

Chicken Pox?
My girls claim that theirs was so bad that it was TURKEY POX.
Next thing you know, we'll be hearing about Ostrich pox.

CC !! Thanks for the photos. It's fun to see other places. Do you swim too, or just take photos?

It's good to know that T&L is walking (nearly) normal again. I think it's good -
Neak?

I didn't have time in December to post any photos of getting a tree, or our one little trip into the wilds of Nevada. I see everyone got along just fine with out them though, so I won't worry.

Love the songs/poems. I tend to get teary eyed though, so It's just as well I am reading alone, where no one can see me. My W says I'm a hopeless romantic.
Not sure what that means, because I'm just full of hope all the time. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Loved the putt story, but sorry about the tooth. I had problems with my teeth when I was small. Lucky for me, I still have them all now - mostly. Get the D an electric tooth brush, it he will brush a lot better.
For about a week.

Sigh.

Ok, back to work for me. At least for a few hours.

SS

It all depends on the meaning of the word "is". And "normal". <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> What I'm actually doing is a pathetic version of the senior shuffle, and it hurts like crazy (although not the way I expected)...but at least it's MY two feet, such as they are, and I'm independently mobile. In much the same fashion a snail is "independently mobile". <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> The doctor yesterday said that I'll know within 6-8 wks. if the surgery was a success. Right now it hurts worse than before, not including a 3" open incision on my foot that didn't heal right and is granulating in (every so slowly, I might add!). <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> But I have a 60-70% chance of being "cured" with the surgery as opposed to the 100% chance of not being cured without it. One way or another, I'll be glad when everything heals up. I'm a very bad patient.

Just came back from spending some time with Flard and a couple of his friends. We toured a wildlife refuge and saw elk butts and birds flying away (<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />), but it was relaxed, friendly, and unstressful...not always the case when Christian parents visit their militantly-atheist son! He and I even had a pleasant and brief conversation about the Bible last night that was completely non-confrontational and to which he responded with surprising grace. All in all, a very nice visit. We're going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with them Sunday. Apparently, according to Neaksis, I'm going in a wheelchair. I guess she didn't want to have to haul me around when my foot gave out at the first exhibit, but would rather push me around and laugh at me, as she and Neak did when we went to Wal-Mart. I'm telling you, I am NEVER going to be senile and dependent around those two!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

t&l

Thanks for the update. I did want to know.

my foot that didn't heal right and is granulating in ...

I know - I have one on my leg that is doing that same thing. It looks almost normal now. Lets see........ it's only been 44 years since it happened.

Wheel chairs are good for you.

If you need them.

SS

I hope you realize that if I have to wait 44 years for the incision to close, I'll be almost 104 years old and won't even care any more! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

t&l

You won't even remember it's still open. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

I am swaying in my chair, but just wanted to steal a moment to say hi.

What with frantic cleaning for hours after the children went to bed, and one thing and another, (AJ just got home for the weekend), I didn't get to bed till 4am. The alarm went off at 6:30 for the Princess, and I got up long enough to make sure she was up, and to apologize to her that she would have to get ready all by herself.

Then I dozed for another hour, and have been up ever since. The old synapses are not firing too well.

All I am going to say, while I am thinking of it, is a sentence or 2 about Neaksis' TV program. Maybe 3. Except this is already 3.

She was asked to come and do a brief interview with the area post-adoption helper person, about some of the issues facing parents after it's TOO LATE TO GIVE THEM BACK!!! They did not go into nearly enough detail, and if they had had an inkling of what Neaksis could have said I'm sure they would have gone there.

One of my favorite moments was when the interviewer guy turned to Neaksis. "So...you're an adoptive parent - you must be so proud!"

Neaksis recoiled as if bitten, gathered herself a bit, gulped, then tried to answer. "Heh heh heh, well yes, I feel MANY emotions, and (ahem) pride is one of them......"

Sent AJ & I plumb into whoops, ROFL and all. We were already laughing at the question and trying to guess how she would answer, and she did not disappoint.

Well night night to all, and I think I forgot to say thanks for the lovely songs. But WHERE is the music?

Just give the Dervish some pots and pans and lids and wooden spoons.

g'night