Tuesday 19th June 2007

Well, lots has happened since I was last here blogging. My parents are booked for surgery in Brugge on August 3rd, which is exciting and scary all in one. Turns out that Leeds is harder to get to and from than Brugge is ! The cost difference is something else to ! Nearly £10k of a difference between surgery costs alone. Anyway, it's all good. I am happy that they are going to Dr Dillemans and that he will look after them. He is a top bloke and I trust him 100% with them. Of course the risks are high with age and present co morbidities already riding against them, but they are in the best hands and the following weight loss will only serve to make their health a whole heap better. I am hoping Mum's mobility improves and that her back pain goes away. I am hoping that without a tum my Dad's breathing gets a whole heap better too. Funny thing though, I can't imagine either of them being slim !! I guess they have been this way for as long as I can remember so seeing them any other way will be wierd (in a good way !!)
What else... oooh, yes, I had a fab day last Thrusday. Alan and I went to collect our new car. It's an MG TF 160 special edition sports car, 2 seater convertible. It's yummy !! It was in Daventry just south of Birmingham airport, so we asked Frances to look after the kids that day, and Darren came and took us to the city airport where we caught the 7.10am flight to Birmingham. It was the flight I used to take to go back to Leamington all those years ago. Felt a bit wierd to be booking in to that same flight, although fantastic because I was not leaving Alan this time, he was right there beside me ! So.. the moment of truth.... climbing the steps to the plane - easy peasy and not purple by the time I got to the top...... walk down the aisle without my backside touching either set of seats beside me !!! Then I looked at the seat and though... ok.. here goes. Will I fit ?.... YES I DO. Plop.. in I went, into the seat with room to spare !! Then the belt, will I need an extension ?..... NOPE !!! There was lots of slack too ! hee hee !! Last challenge... the table. Will it or won't it... YES IT DOES !!! Oh how happy was I !? I even took a photo !
So then we got to the airport and then a taxi took us to Daventry and the car was sitting there looking great. It's a limited edition, they only made 500 of these beauties, so we were happy with it and the price too ! We did the paperwork, got in and drove off. We were close to Leamington, so we went via my old house to see what it was looking like now. They have built on a brick carport and porch. I am guessing they added a downstairs toilet there too. It was looking nice, but I still don't miss that stair bulkhead !! It was so low you'd bang your head on it every time you came down the stairs ! Then we took a ride over to see Eileen and John. She was absolutely stunned to see me and I was over the moon to see her too ! She said I was looking fantastic and she could not believe who was standing in front of her ! She and John are both looking great too, and it was a real tonic to see them both. We then left and drive through the pouring rain to the port of Holyhead in North Wales. It was not raining so bad in Wales and I got to drive a little way there. We got the HSS fast ferry across to Dublin and even that was a treat for us.... no kids to chase about the boat, to entertain, keep safe, and amused. We wandered about the boat hand in hand, and sat and had a cup of coffee, and then finally cuddled up and fell asleep. It was lovely ! We were home for 9.15pm and we went and checked the kids while Frances drove home in her new Fiesta !
Al has spent the last few days loving that car, and getting it polished and shiney and the attention to detail would scare you ! We ordered a hard top for it which came the day before we got the car. The courier company, parcelforce, got a bit heavy handed with it and managed to break the corner but because it's fibre glass resin, it is not covered on their insurance cover, so we have had to fix it ourselves. We got a fibre glass kit though and it is sorted now, and Darren is going to spray it silver for us so it matches the car in the winter. Al put new tyres on the back yesterday too, and got the front ones balanced, so it's all going well and feeling solid again. He is so happy to have this car and I am so happy that we have one again too. For all the reasons we made to get ride of the 135 that we had before, the main reason we sold it was that I was too fat to drive it. I was unable to get the seat belt around me as well as bring the seat forward so I could reach the peddles, so I was for ever crunching the gears. It was hard on the suspension too because it had been lowered, and was not the most comfortable of rides, and then I was pregnant with Michael, so it became impractical for us in the long run. He never once blamed me though, or accused me of being a fat lardy arsed girl, and that shows what a lovely bloke he is. He never made out that he minded that much, but deep down he must have. I feel so much better now though, that he has another MGTF because puts things right in my mind. I can put the belt around me and move the seat forward, and enjoy the drive as much as him now and WOW, what a car it is !! A flying machine ! A funny thing that I noticed when we were coming home though..... I thought I was sitting on my coat funny or that something was wrinkled under my bum because there was something poking into me. I felt down, and you know what.. it was not a clothing item poking into me at all... it was my coccyx ( tail bone) of my spine !! I had padding there before and it's gone now ! My bum was sore !
This last stone has been mighty difficult to shift. I was 13stone 12 for a fortnight, and then 13 stone 9 for another fortnight, and then 13 st 5 ( so I thought it was shifting again.... pah) then 13 stone 9 again ( WHAT? It went up ?!!!!) and then 13st 5 and then 13 st 3, and today I am 13 st 1lb. Tomorrow is officially my weigh day but I am working tonight, and I find that if I work, I tend to weigh heavier than I would first thing after waking up. I will weigh myself again on Thursday and see what I am, and probably put that weight in for this week. Here's hoping it's 13 stone nothing, or even 12 stone something !! 12stone anything will be incredible ! I need to be 12 stone 10 to be eligible for my plastics, so the sooner I get those few lbs off the better. I would need to be 11 stone by the time I get my plastics in an ideal world. I am guessing that I have 7lbs of skin to have removed, so that will take me to a 'normal' BMI of 25 at 10 stone 7lbs. How wonderful will that be !?! I can't imagine ! My friend Jayne had her tummy tuck this weekend just gone and is home already. I am thrilled for her to have had this, she's been waiting for such a long time poor thing. I can understand totally if she is peeved at me for getting my plastics so relatively soon but it's not like I went out there asking for it to be sooner. They called me !! Even now though, I am not 100% convinced I am going to get my plastics on the NHS without a longer wait, but hey ho, let's keep things crossed that I will get it done by christmas. She only went on Friday I think and had the surgery on saturday and was home on monday. That's fast !! I can cope with a couple of nights away from the kids and Al, as long as it's not 8 days like it was in Brugge. That really emotionally killed me, although the results were worth it !
Rachel and Aidan are about to finish their school year and they have had a good year really. Aidan's teacher has gone off on the sick for the rest of the school year, but his P2 teacher is just back from her sick leave/maternity leave, so she has been teaching the P1's for these last few weeks and getting to know them and will follow them into P2 next september. Whether we will still be living here by then I don't know. The house is still on the market but we cannot find anything else that we love as much as the Ballyhornan house. I really was in love with that place and even though it is still on the website and showing as for sale, I have my doubts it's going to still be there when we finally get any offers on this place. Then I am thinking 'is it worth the hassle of moving?' since the kids are settled and happy and we seem to be managing ok at the moment with the mortgage, and can remortgage next february and get the cost down a bit. I just don't know what to do for the best. Time will tell I guess. Just leave it on the market and see what happens.
Michael just turned 2 last sunday and is a wee angel. We could not have asked for a better baby boy. He's a delight to look after, so laid back and happy ! I cannot believe that this time next year I will be getting him ready to go to nursery school !! Where is my baby !? He's not a baby any more ! lol ! When he goes to school, I will not know what to do with my time ! I will have a peaceful house and no kiddies under my feet, so I will be able to go and visit and do the shopping without any prams or nappies ! It is going to feel wierd. I hope I adjust ok. It's not like I want any more babies anyway, but I am just so used to there always being one here when the others are at school ! It might be very liberating !
This blog is getting long, but I wanted to fill you in on how things were going on in my life. I am a busy chick really ! I am working on 6C at the Royal Victoria Hospital which is an upper GI surgery ward. I really like being in the same place all the time and being a member of the team. It's very educational for me too because surgery is not really my thing, but I am loving this. Surgical patients are far more independent than medical ones !! lol
That's enough typing for now. I will try and post a blog again soon... but don't hold your breath, you should know me by now !!