Monday, September 08, 2008
On the smell of an oily rag
.. whilst fighting off a throat or chest infection.
I'm going round in circles. Round and round in bloody circles. It would be an amusing metaphor for the ROMAC ride if I didn't find it all just a bit unfunny. So much to do, I don't know where to start -and yet when I do prioritise, things keep distracting me, or knocking me off the rails.
The current priority is, of course, to train the derrière up for 24 hours on a bike saddle, but priorities, schmiorities... they're there to be thwarted, patently.
Friday it rained. Well, never mind, the weekend was approaching and good weather was forecast, thank heavens, unimaginable as it was most of Friday.
Friday night after swim squad and dinner my throat suddenly felt scratchy. No, no, no, no, noooo! I headed for bed early, with fingers crossed. Voices in head: "You don't have time for this! You tried, tried, tried not to think "how good is it that I haven't got sick yet this year" but, looks like did, You Idiot. Waaah! OK.. so just.. don't panic...Sleep...and in the morning it'll be gone. Like magic. You just sleep it, and wish it away, k?"
5.40am departure scheduled - the town-and-back-with-community-ride-in-the-middle ride. And of course I slept like cr*p (husband snoring, weird dreams, etc etc.) One minute the clock read 3am, the next thing I peered up at it, suspicious about the daylight beginning to permeate the room. 5.25. Oh sh*t. Late! It's impossible to get up, get ready and leave in 15 mins. [Alarm setter malfunction. Him.] He reckons we can still ride and 'meet them all somewhere'. But me? Headache. Sore throat still. Damn it, not going then. Maybe a sleep in will help. Probably a ride ("a ride" she says casually ... like a ninety kilometre ride!) wouldn't help. A sore throat is something I just don't need at this point in time (though that's a silly thing to say isn't it? - who ever needs a sore throat at any time?) Better off not riding. Hmmmph.
I wussed through Saturday (and netball finals) on aspro, then had a late afternoon sleep. Note: if Tracey sleeps in the daytime this is Ultimate Proof that she is actually not well (and probably should have served as a warning!) I picked up a bit after that, and got a good night's sleep on Saturday night (in hindsight, further proof, again, that I was not 100% because, like a toddler, the more normal outcome from a dusk hour sleep for me would be rattling around all night!)
Naturally, then, although feeling a bit 'chesty', but no sore throat, and no headache, I determined that I would be ok to ride. (Had to ride.) And so we set off from home at 7.30, and ended up doing 118km! On two weetbix, two scones and half a banana. (We met up with some other riders for morning tea, hence the scones and the drawn out ride - we didn't get home till around 2pm, after then running into more cyclists that we knew, and then helping out another anonymous cyclist who had had a puncture, but forgot to bring a tube!)
Fuel reserves a bit light on perhaps? (And that's the oily rag analogy/reference... k?)
And go on, so tell me maybe I was just a bit crazy for riding at all. (It's not like I haven't thought it)
Would you believe?... Today I'm iffy again... so I've just pulled out of my swimming squad class for this afternoon... and I'm not motivated to push myself in any way aerobically. So much for "I should ride every day."
Meantime, as I've also lamented before, it's not as if I have nothing else to do...
I've got myself dizzy with all the bits and pieces I should be doing, that I don't quite know where to start, or what to prioritise for when. Too many pots on the boil - and I'm the cook having a nervous breakdown - sitting in the corner of the kitchen with my head in my hands, rocking back and forth.
End of season netball stuff. Organising certificates etc. Organising the design samples for the new association uniform (did I actually volunteer to do that?... um, yep.) Redrafting the local rules. Drafting the special rules for the Twilight comp. (Hassling people to send me the information!). Drafting other stuff that I've been asked to draft. Never mind getting the website up to date with all the info and photos that I know it needs.
Bicycle User Group stuff. Design completely new website. Keep up with the ride calendar. Etc.
TAFE Stuff. Two presentations. One due next week. One that could be due after the holidays, except that it would be smart to do it this week, as I've been conned into 'speaking' at a Rotary dinner next Monday with regard to us doing the ROMAC ride, and given I haven't done any public speaking in about 60 years, then it wouldn't be a bad idea to use this TAFE requirement as PRACTICE.
And a science assignment.
Which is the scariest thing of all, because I have no idea at all what I am going to do, and what's more? Gradual dawning that my Care Factor (in regard to science) = 0.
More about that next post, because, dear reader, I am going to call upon a creative thinking brain power resource that I do have at my fingertips. YOU!
Ah yeah, and also there's the usual house and home stuff. Parent teacher interviews this afternoon. And dinner. And washing. And what does a vacuum cleaner look like again?
I don't know that blogging all this has helped - though you might say that at least I've got something off my chest. If only it was this infection.
I'm going round in circles. Round and round in bloody circles. It would be an amusing metaphor for the ROMAC ride if I didn't find it all just a bit unfunny. So much to do, I don't know where to start -and yet when I do prioritise, things keep distracting me, or knocking me off the rails.
The current priority is, of course, to train the derrière up for 24 hours on a bike saddle, but priorities, schmiorities... they're there to be thwarted, patently.
Friday it rained. Well, never mind, the weekend was approaching and good weather was forecast, thank heavens, unimaginable as it was most of Friday.
Friday night after swim squad and dinner my throat suddenly felt scratchy. No, no, no, no, noooo! I headed for bed early, with fingers crossed. Voices in head: "You don't have time for this! You tried, tried, tried not to think "how good is it that I haven't got sick yet this year" but, looks like did, You Idiot. Waaah! OK.. so just.. don't panic...Sleep...and in the morning it'll be gone. Like magic. You just sleep it, and wish it away, k?"
5.40am departure scheduled - the town-and-back-with-community-ride-in-the-middle ride. And of course I slept like cr*p (husband snoring, weird dreams, etc etc.) One minute the clock read 3am, the next thing I peered up at it, suspicious about the daylight beginning to permeate the room. 5.25. Oh sh*t. Late! It's impossible to get up, get ready and leave in 15 mins. [Alarm setter malfunction. Him.] He reckons we can still ride and 'meet them all somewhere'. But me? Headache. Sore throat still. Damn it, not going then. Maybe a sleep in will help. Probably a ride ("a ride" she says casually ... like a ninety kilometre ride!) wouldn't help. A sore throat is something I just don't need at this point in time (though that's a silly thing to say isn't it? - who ever needs a sore throat at any time?) Better off not riding. Hmmmph.
I wussed through Saturday (and netball finals) on aspro, then had a late afternoon sleep. Note: if Tracey sleeps in the daytime this is Ultimate Proof that she is actually not well (and probably should have served as a warning!) I picked up a bit after that, and got a good night's sleep on Saturday night (in hindsight, further proof, again, that I was not 100% because, like a toddler, the more normal outcome from a dusk hour sleep for me would be rattling around all night!)
Naturally, then, although feeling a bit 'chesty', but no sore throat, and no headache, I determined that I would be ok to ride. (Had to ride.) And so we set off from home at 7.30, and ended up doing 118km! On two weetbix, two scones and half a banana. (We met up with some other riders for morning tea, hence the scones and the drawn out ride - we didn't get home till around 2pm, after then running into more cyclists that we knew, and then helping out another anonymous cyclist who had had a puncture, but forgot to bring a tube!)
Fuel reserves a bit light on perhaps? (And that's the oily rag analogy/reference... k?)
And go on, so tell me maybe I was just a bit crazy for riding at all. (It's not like I haven't thought it)
Would you believe?... Today I'm iffy again... so I've just pulled out of my swimming squad class for this afternoon... and I'm not motivated to push myself in any way aerobically. So much for "I should ride every day."
Meantime, as I've also lamented before, it's not as if I have nothing else to do...
I've got myself dizzy with all the bits and pieces I should be doing, that I don't quite know where to start, or what to prioritise for when. Too many pots on the boil - and I'm the cook having a nervous breakdown - sitting in the corner of the kitchen with my head in my hands, rocking back and forth.
End of season netball stuff. Organising certificates etc. Organising the design samples for the new association uniform (did I actually volunteer to do that?... um, yep.) Redrafting the local rules. Drafting the special rules for the Twilight comp. (Hassling people to send me the information!). Drafting other stuff that I've been asked to draft. Never mind getting the website up to date with all the info and photos that I know it needs.
Bicycle User Group stuff. Design completely new website. Keep up with the ride calendar. Etc.
TAFE Stuff. Two presentations. One due next week. One that could be due after the holidays, except that it would be smart to do it this week, as I've been conned into 'speaking' at a Rotary dinner next Monday with regard to us doing the ROMAC ride, and given I haven't done any public speaking in about 60 years, then it wouldn't be a bad idea to use this TAFE requirement as PRACTICE.
And a science assignment.
Which is the scariest thing of all, because I have no idea at all what I am going to do, and what's more? Gradual dawning that my Care Factor (in regard to science) = 0.
More about that next post, because, dear reader, I am going to call upon a creative thinking brain power resource that I do have at my fingertips. YOU!
Ah yeah, and also there's the usual house and home stuff. Parent teacher interviews this afternoon. And dinner. And washing. And what does a vacuum cleaner look like again?
I don't know that blogging all this has helped - though you might say that at least I've got something off my chest. If only it was this infection.
Labels: bike riding, daily, sick, sooking
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Well thank goodness that's over...
Well, all over bar the cramping and the rest, but at least (as I'm coming to realise), once I get the cramping and my period starts, then the bad mood dissipates, and so today I'm feeling much more "normal". Thank god for that! (Just think, a whole month till you have to read about it again!)
So, hey, now it's just a matter of dealing with cramps for a day (the 'drugs' help a bit (Ponstan) but I haven't yet figured out the timing to prevent a wave of cramping that interrupts normal activity. Maybe I need an extra dose might be needed in the day - because at around lunchtime today the pain made it impossible for me to stand around chit-chatting... so I was a bit anti-social for a while.)
And then there's the usual 'inconvenience' to deal with, but all in all it's just a relief not to be such a cranky bitch fighting an emotional whirlpool within.
It might be good to get back to the gyno again to see whether all this falls into a range of 'normal' (given my age - is this just pre-menopausal crap?). For most of my 'youth' I had a fairly trouble-free time in that department, both pain-wise and mood-wise, (and to the point that I didn't know what everyone was on about when they talked about PMS), so it's hard to know whether I'm just being a big wussy about it all, making mountains out of molehills as usual. Or is it real, and something that can be dealt with beyond me dumping on a blog?!
We did get out of the house today - Alison was asked by friends to do the bike leg in a local surf-club organised quadrathon. It was a bit of a shemozzle of an event - with either individuals or teams, but not enough equality in the teams to make it anything of a competition. The legs were: Paddle 2km on a board, ski or kayak (reality - half that if you are on a board using your arms, unless you were fast on a board and made to do 2 laps! ) Swim 800m (reality looked more like 500m - pretty easy!) Bike billed as 22km (reality 17km, but still the longest leg of the whole 'thon) and Run 5km. Turned out Alison's team was the only one with a kid doing the bike ride (seems all these local kids that do surf club and athletics can swim, paddle boards, or run, but there's none prepared to do what sounds like (to them) a really hard bike ride! - and they thought Alison was 'brave' to attempt it!) Other teams had kids, but an adult doing the ride for them. (Don't know where all the offspring of triathlon nuts are?!)
So she did pretty well, for a kid on a hybrid/mtb style kids bike with 24 inch wheels! She was overtaken by most of the adults, but hey! Kudos to her! The distance wasn't an issue at all (you wouldn't think it would be after she's ridden 450km in a week, albeit on a triplet!) If she had an appropriate bike she'd have done it quicker, but you can't supply everyone in the family with a bike for every possible occasion! (No, not even us, with our shed full of bikes!)
I suppose our family could do it next year for fun... I could have offered to swim today for a last minute thrown together team, but, meh, just the wrong day of the month for it. (Plus it would be nice if people asked you at least 24 hours beforehand... there are a lot of vague, disorganised people around!) If I could run I could even do the lot, but I don't think my hip much likes me trying to run. Actually Alison would be the family member most likely to be able to do the lot, once she had a bit of practice on a board, or in a kayak.
Something to ponder upon for next year.. doesn't hurt to have some aims and objectives in the family exercise department! Besides which, I've been talking about how I wouldn't mind a road bike!!!
So, hey, now it's just a matter of dealing with cramps for a day (the 'drugs' help a bit (Ponstan) but I haven't yet figured out the timing to prevent a wave of cramping that interrupts normal activity. Maybe I need an extra dose might be needed in the day - because at around lunchtime today the pain made it impossible for me to stand around chit-chatting... so I was a bit anti-social for a while.)
And then there's the usual 'inconvenience' to deal with, but all in all it's just a relief not to be such a cranky bitch fighting an emotional whirlpool within.
It might be good to get back to the gyno again to see whether all this falls into a range of 'normal' (given my age - is this just pre-menopausal crap?). For most of my 'youth' I had a fairly trouble-free time in that department, both pain-wise and mood-wise, (and to the point that I didn't know what everyone was on about when they talked about PMS), so it's hard to know whether I'm just being a big wussy about it all, making mountains out of molehills as usual. Or is it real, and something that can be dealt with beyond me dumping on a blog?!
We did get out of the house today - Alison was asked by friends to do the bike leg in a local surf-club organised quadrathon. It was a bit of a shemozzle of an event - with either individuals or teams, but not enough equality in the teams to make it anything of a competition. The legs were: Paddle 2km on a board, ski or kayak (reality - half that if you are on a board using your arms, unless you were fast on a board and made to do 2 laps! ) Swim 800m (reality looked more like 500m - pretty easy!) Bike billed as 22km (reality 17km, but still the longest leg of the whole 'thon) and Run 5km. Turned out Alison's team was the only one with a kid doing the bike ride (seems all these local kids that do surf club and athletics can swim, paddle boards, or run, but there's none prepared to do what sounds like (to them) a really hard bike ride! - and they thought Alison was 'brave' to attempt it!) Other teams had kids, but an adult doing the ride for them. (Don't know where all the offspring of triathlon nuts are?!)
So she did pretty well, for a kid on a hybrid/mtb style kids bike with 24 inch wheels! She was overtaken by most of the adults, but hey! Kudos to her! The distance wasn't an issue at all (you wouldn't think it would be after she's ridden 450km in a week, albeit on a triplet!) If she had an appropriate bike she'd have done it quicker, but you can't supply everyone in the family with a bike for every possible occasion! (No, not even us, with our shed full of bikes!)
I suppose our family could do it next year for fun... I could have offered to swim today for a last minute thrown together team, but, meh, just the wrong day of the month for it. (Plus it would be nice if people asked you at least 24 hours beforehand... there are a lot of vague, disorganised people around!) If I could run I could even do the lot, but I don't think my hip much likes me trying to run. Actually Alison would be the family member most likely to be able to do the lot, once she had a bit of practice on a board, or in a kayak.
Something to ponder upon for next year.. doesn't hurt to have some aims and objectives in the family exercise department! Besides which, I've been talking about how I wouldn't mind a road bike!!!
Labels: bike riding, daily, sooking
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
And, oh no! - she's tripped at the first hurdle!
The Ponstan isn't working as well as I'd like. I'm crampy, and sooking. No walk. Yet. Running out of day - have to pick #2 up from surf 'camp' (a week long 9-3 learn to surf holiday program which she's having a ball at).. in an hour. Buy something for dinner that can be prepared before going to 'hang' at Twilight netball for nearly 2 hours because #1 plays and I am obligated, as a committee member, to be there.
She's a barrel of laughs and enthusiasm today...
She's a barrel of laughs and enthusiasm today...
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Done.
This is it. The photo has lost quality along the way.. but I'm beyond worrying about it. It's not that important anyway in the scheme of things.
We wish you a Merry Christmas!
How about those moving thingies, eh. Copying and pasting Javascript is so cool.
Marc has left for the flights to KL. He didn't wake me while he packed this morning. Once he did, to kiss me goodbye, and I needed to get up to go to the loo, then the coughing and sneezing and that started, so I didn't get to sleep in any longer. Which is a bummer, because I reckon I could do with it. I'm not feeling on top of the world right now. Headache to add to the mix. And we were going to hit the shops. Arrrghh... crowds... ugh.
Zoe decided to make 'snowflakes' as her 'cards' to her friends.. so she is busy producing confetti. Easy enough to vacuum up. Thank you to E. for the inspiration via the parcel of goodies that arrived recently!
Now to hassle #2 about what she is doing for friends and teacher. (She has just come and asked me if she can make shortbread!)
(And what #3 is doing for her teacher..?)
And to wake up DQ.
And to take something for this headache.
Merry Christmas.
We wish you a Merry Christmas!
How about those moving thingies, eh. Copying and pasting Javascript is so cool.
Marc has left for the flights to KL. He didn't wake me while he packed this morning. Once he did, to kiss me goodbye, and I needed to get up to go to the loo, then the coughing and sneezing and that started, so I didn't get to sleep in any longer. Which is a bummer, because I reckon I could do with it. I'm not feeling on top of the world right now. Headache to add to the mix. And we were going to hit the shops. Arrrghh... crowds... ugh.
Zoe decided to make 'snowflakes' as her 'cards' to her friends.. so she is busy producing confetti. Easy enough to vacuum up. Thank you to E. for the inspiration via the parcel of goodies that arrived recently!
Now to hassle #2 about what she is doing for friends and teacher. (She has just come and asked me if she can make shortbread!)
(And what #3 is doing for her teacher..?)
And to wake up DQ.
And to take something for this headache.
Merry Christmas.
Labels: aarrrgghhh, Christmas, daily, sick, sooking
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Think I'll go and eat worms...
A school P & C fundraiser recipe book finally came home today (I sent my $10 for it in a while back.) I had also sent in a few recipes when they were calling for contributions. Someone stuffed up somewhere along the line, because each of the recipes I sent in was acknowledged as being from someone else. (The Treasurer of the P & C no less.)
Yes. I'm just ever so slightly miffed. Yes. I am. Because if they are going to acknowledge everyone's contribution, they should get it right.
Do I say anything? (Zoe is possibly more miffed than I am - she asked me 'did you send any recipes in Mum?') Do I say to the Treasurer 'Hi.. I see you really liked the recipes I sent in for the recipe book.'
That sounds narky though, doesn't it.
Let it go, Tracey... let it go...
~~~~~~~~
I sent an email to one of the netball committee girls asking for the scores from the twilight comp on Tues night so I could put them on the website. She emailed them to me, cc'd to the president (whose husband puts the scores in the paper), and added "See you both on Sunday."
Me: ???
Happened to see her in town... asked if the Sunday reference was for the Pres. and husband.
"No, the lunch!" she says.
"What lunch?"
"Our christmas lunch on Sunday. 1.00 Bluebottles. (Local cafe.)"
"I didn't know anything about that."
"Oh.. didn't S. tell you?"
"No!"
Hmmm, so Marc will be away on Sunday; I'd planned to take the girls in to do their christmas shopping. I'm not sure whether to make an effort to get back in time, then leave the girls at home (daytime is ok.) Or think 'get stuffed' and not go. (I'm a bit over the whole thing at the moment anyway..)
Mmmmm... worms......
Yes. I'm just ever so slightly miffed. Yes. I am. Because if they are going to acknowledge everyone's contribution, they should get it right.
Do I say anything? (Zoe is possibly more miffed than I am - she asked me 'did you send any recipes in Mum?') Do I say to the Treasurer 'Hi.. I see you really liked the recipes I sent in for the recipe book.'
That sounds narky though, doesn't it.
Let it go, Tracey... let it go...
~~~~~~~~
I sent an email to one of the netball committee girls asking for the scores from the twilight comp on Tues night so I could put them on the website. She emailed them to me, cc'd to the president (whose husband puts the scores in the paper), and added "See you both on Sunday."
Me: ???
Happened to see her in town... asked if the Sunday reference was for the Pres. and husband.
"No, the lunch!" she says.
"What lunch?"
"Our christmas lunch on Sunday. 1.00 Bluebottles. (Local cafe.)"
"I didn't know anything about that."
"Oh.. didn't S. tell you?"
"No!"
Hmmm, so Marc will be away on Sunday; I'd planned to take the girls in to do their christmas shopping. I'm not sure whether to make an effort to get back in time, then leave the girls at home (daytime is ok.) Or think 'get stuffed' and not go. (I'm a bit over the whole thing at the moment anyway..)
Mmmmm... worms......
Labels: sooking
Monday, November 27, 2006
Doesn't take much...
... for me to be a sook. [I've realised that any non Aussie/Kiwi readers might not understand that word - so there's a dictionary link!] My throat is a bit worse than last night, and I'm coughing a bit more, and I'm a bit headachy. Nothing drastic, and I'm not crying (as the definition implies.. you can actually be a sook in many ways.. and in my case, today, it's just using it as an excuse not to get stuck in to the vacuuming...)
I was up till 1am. Ridiculous! I know, I know. I was kind of hoping Marc would come online.. or rather, come back from being 'away'. He did, at around 11.30.. then said he was having a shower. I sat here playing Freecell.. then at 12.20 I shot off a "long shower eh?". Oops.. he was talking to his colleague (they are living in an apartment.)
So I spent the next 15 minutes grumbling about how stupid it is that we live like this.. him away, me hanging about the computer hoping to catch a bit of him when I can. Every now and then I have a cranky attack about the whole thing... usually on a weekend. It didn't help that he was supposed to be home yesterday, and is delayed. The extra few days just take it over the edge for me.. psychologically. And this one will only be 2 and a half weeks in total (with 2 and a half weekends stuffed up) ... How the hell did I handle the frequent 4 week/6 week trips? (and the 3 month one back in about 2001.)
So, yes. Up till 1am. Kids also went to bed late because I let them stay up to watch the Australian Idol final. Strangely enough I slept through the alarm and radio... woke up at 7.50 (Cait needs to catch bus at 8.15.) No, of course she wasn't up. And I hadn't ironed uniforms.. doh! Did that, and I was *ahem*.. in the bathroom.. when I hear (from 2 floors up) the 'proverbial' hitting the fan. Much shouting and then stomping.. all the way up to me. Zoe has unthinkingly used up the last of the low fat milk, AND all but a dribble of the full cream milk (that Caitlin insists on having). Cait wouldn't consider using my 'no fat', and spent 10 minutes of precious time chucking a wobbly about it. I don't know what she thought would be achieved... it wasn't as if (from my position on the loo!) I was going to be able to wave my magic wand and make a carton of full cream milk appear in the next 6o seconds. I could berate Zoe for not thinking... particularly as she can cope with no-fat milk. And I berated the lot of them for blithely having Actavite and milk last night for 'dessert'... and not considering whether there would be enough left for breakfast. But it wasn't going to miraculously produce milk.
And it's probably why I have the headache on top of the scratchy throat and cough. It's all so trivial in the whole scheme of things, and pretty normal teenager behaviour, but it has the capacity to send you nuts.
I was up till 1am. Ridiculous! I know, I know. I was kind of hoping Marc would come online.. or rather, come back from being 'away'. He did, at around 11.30.. then said he was having a shower. I sat here playing Freecell.. then at 12.20 I shot off a "long shower eh?". Oops.. he was talking to his colleague (they are living in an apartment.)
So I spent the next 15 minutes grumbling about how stupid it is that we live like this.. him away, me hanging about the computer hoping to catch a bit of him when I can. Every now and then I have a cranky attack about the whole thing... usually on a weekend. It didn't help that he was supposed to be home yesterday, and is delayed. The extra few days just take it over the edge for me.. psychologically. And this one will only be 2 and a half weeks in total (with 2 and a half weekends stuffed up) ... How the hell did I handle the frequent 4 week/6 week trips? (and the 3 month one back in about 2001.)
So, yes. Up till 1am. Kids also went to bed late because I let them stay up to watch the Australian Idol final. Strangely enough I slept through the alarm and radio... woke up at 7.50 (Cait needs to catch bus at 8.15.) No, of course she wasn't up. And I hadn't ironed uniforms.. doh! Did that, and I was *ahem*.. in the bathroom.. when I hear (from 2 floors up) the 'proverbial' hitting the fan. Much shouting and then stomping.. all the way up to me. Zoe has unthinkingly used up the last of the low fat milk, AND all but a dribble of the full cream milk (that Caitlin insists on having). Cait wouldn't consider using my 'no fat', and spent 10 minutes of precious time chucking a wobbly about it. I don't know what she thought would be achieved... it wasn't as if (from my position on the loo!) I was going to be able to wave my magic wand and make a carton of full cream milk appear in the next 6o seconds. I could berate Zoe for not thinking... particularly as she can cope with no-fat milk. And I berated the lot of them for blithely having Actavite and milk last night for 'dessert'... and not considering whether there would be enough left for breakfast. But it wasn't going to miraculously produce milk.
And it's probably why I have the headache on top of the scratchy throat and cough. It's all so trivial in the whole scheme of things, and pretty normal teenager behaviour, but it has the capacity to send you nuts.
Labels: daily, missing Marc, sooking, teenagers
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
So Naprogesic actually works...
Change of plans for today. I was supposed to have the gyno appointment in Port Macquarie. Two and a half hour drive (at least) each way. Had things sorted for kids to get lifts to Touch after school. (Of course Marc would be on a work field trip and unable to step into the breach... I don't know how it would all work if I got myself a proper job!)
When the receptionist rang me yesterday to change the appointment time (yet again) I mentioned that I'd been considering ringing because my period was 'sort of ' starting (though it had been carrying on like that for about a week - it made for an interesting bike ride, trying to be prepared, and using tampons anyway... have I commented before how I think that guys just don't realise what we girls put up with!) She made another tentative appointment for me in 2 weeks time... as doing a pap smear at that 'time of the month' isn't really going to work.
The way things were going, though, I could have still been "spotting" in another 2 weeks, so I left the appointment for today. Then of course, I woke up to it starting full on today. Complete with the cramps, so I was pretty sure it meant business this time.
No point driving all the way to Port just to discuss what's going on so I cancelled (and now have to miss another Monday swimming class to get another appointment in the not too far distant future.)
So, here I am at home again, and sitting at the computer all day. I felt I had a good excuse to do so... being the sook that I am as soon as I feel any pain.. but now the Naprogesic has kicked in, so I don't really have an excuse!
Looks like I made one good decision though - not to do any washing. It's 1pm, and it has come over all dark and gloomy and thundery. I am actually sitting here thinking please, please, oh God of Storms, time it to pour down around 3.30, so we don't have to do Touch today. That's what good mothers do, right?! Meh... I have an excuse today. Last thing I feel like doing is standing in a thunderstorm.
What else? I have an ongoing saga happening with trying to get a price on a cargo barrier for the Landcruiser. You wouldn't think it would be that hard - but the employment of two Bobs at an Autoparts shop in Grafton - and the inability of either one or both to keep records of quotes they have rung people up with - is becoming worthy of a comedy skit. I now await yet another phone call from the original Bob,who, a few weeks ago, rang with a price when I was out, leaving the message with Cait. When I rang back last week to confirm the price he left, Another Bob told me that the Original Bob had left the job. And he couldn't find a record of it in his book. So Another Bob was supposed to ring me back, but never did. When I rang up AGAIN today, I got Original Bob, who hadn't actually left. But who also can't find his own record of the quote, although he remembered doing it. And so I am waiting for him to call me back. Again.
It would be easier, of course, to shop somewhere else, but we do live in regional NSW, and there is not often the choice of distributors for certain products. The price I got from the other nearest Distributor at Port Macquarie was about $100 more, so it is worth me confirming this one at Grafton. Indeed. Despite the saga.
The Building Designer rang me back! Hurrah. We can move forward.. he took a rough sketch to the Council Building Inspector, who had no objections to us submitting a plan with a garage extending out the front and close to the fence line. Which is what BD expected, but he had to go through the motions. The next step is to decide at what point do we get rough quotes from a builder. Now with only around $200 invested with BD and very rough sketch? So a quote would be VERY ball park. Or get BD to put $900 worth of work into a better plan so as to get a more accurate quote. I am thinking the latter, which would include Marc and me both sitting down with him, and nutting out what we really want. I suppose you have to throw money at this sort of thing if you want to do it properly. The big question is at what price would you draw the line and decide it is more economic to knock the house down and start again.
Talk time about that with Marc tonight, when he gets home from his one night field trip. He is scheduled to go to KL again on Sunday - for about 2 weeks - so it would be good to get the ball rolling on that. And it will give me something constructive to be dealing with while he is away... although ideally he would be the one more suited to talk to builders.
I am not really sure what I am more suited to doing. According to him it is everything involving birthdays, and Christmas, along with deciding what to have for dinner, and all the other domestic division of labour stuff that is logical for the full time stay at home partner to be doing. With my friend MiscMum starting to get all excited about Christmas already already - and me starting to do think my Grinch thing with it all (minus the stealing of presents of course... I would never do that!) - I have been pondering why I feel the way I do about it all. I am sure some of it is because Marc doesn't get into Christmas AT ALL.. so it is pretty boring trying to do the Christmas hype thing all by yourself. Particularly when you don't feel that hyped about it in the first place.
I am psyching up for a full-on post about it sometime soon. Stay tuned.
When the receptionist rang me yesterday to change the appointment time (yet again) I mentioned that I'd been considering ringing because my period was 'sort of ' starting (though it had been carrying on like that for about a week - it made for an interesting bike ride, trying to be prepared, and using tampons anyway... have I commented before how I think that guys just don't realise what we girls put up with!) She made another tentative appointment for me in 2 weeks time... as doing a pap smear at that 'time of the month' isn't really going to work.
The way things were going, though, I could have still been "spotting" in another 2 weeks, so I left the appointment for today. Then of course, I woke up to it starting full on today. Complete with the cramps, so I was pretty sure it meant business this time.
No point driving all the way to Port just to discuss what's going on so I cancelled (and now have to miss another Monday swimming class to get another appointment in the not too far distant future.)
So, here I am at home again, and sitting at the computer all day. I felt I had a good excuse to do so... being the sook that I am as soon as I feel any pain.. but now the Naprogesic has kicked in, so I don't really have an excuse!
Looks like I made one good decision though - not to do any washing. It's 1pm, and it has come over all dark and gloomy and thundery. I am actually sitting here thinking please, please, oh God of Storms, time it to pour down around 3.30, so we don't have to do Touch today. That's what good mothers do, right?! Meh... I have an excuse today. Last thing I feel like doing is standing in a thunderstorm.
What else? I have an ongoing saga happening with trying to get a price on a cargo barrier for the Landcruiser. You wouldn't think it would be that hard - but the employment of two Bobs at an Autoparts shop in Grafton - and the inability of either one or both to keep records of quotes they have rung people up with - is becoming worthy of a comedy skit. I now await yet another phone call from the original Bob,who, a few weeks ago, rang with a price when I was out, leaving the message with Cait. When I rang back last week to confirm the price he left, Another Bob told me that the Original Bob had left the job. And he couldn't find a record of it in his book. So Another Bob was supposed to ring me back, but never did. When I rang up AGAIN today, I got Original Bob, who hadn't actually left. But who also can't find his own record of the quote, although he remembered doing it. And so I am waiting for him to call me back. Again.
It would be easier, of course, to shop somewhere else, but we do live in regional NSW, and there is not often the choice of distributors for certain products. The price I got from the other nearest Distributor at Port Macquarie was about $100 more, so it is worth me confirming this one at Grafton. Indeed. Despite the saga.
The Building Designer rang me back! Hurrah. We can move forward.. he took a rough sketch to the Council Building Inspector, who had no objections to us submitting a plan with a garage extending out the front and close to the fence line. Which is what BD expected, but he had to go through the motions. The next step is to decide at what point do we get rough quotes from a builder. Now with only around $200 invested with BD and very rough sketch? So a quote would be VERY ball park. Or get BD to put $900 worth of work into a better plan so as to get a more accurate quote. I am thinking the latter, which would include Marc and me both sitting down with him, and nutting out what we really want. I suppose you have to throw money at this sort of thing if you want to do it properly. The big question is at what price would you draw the line and decide it is more economic to knock the house down and start again.
Talk time about that with Marc tonight, when he gets home from his one night field trip. He is scheduled to go to KL again on Sunday - for about 2 weeks - so it would be good to get the ball rolling on that. And it will give me something constructive to be dealing with while he is away... although ideally he would be the one more suited to talk to builders.
I am not really sure what I am more suited to doing. According to him it is everything involving birthdays, and Christmas, along with deciding what to have for dinner, and all the other domestic division of labour stuff that is logical for the full time stay at home partner to be doing. With my friend MiscMum starting to get all excited about Christmas already already - and me starting to do think my Grinch thing with it all (minus the stealing of presents of course... I would never do that!) - I have been pondering why I feel the way I do about it all. I am sure some of it is because Marc doesn't get into Christmas AT ALL.. so it is pretty boring trying to do the Christmas hype thing all by yourself. Particularly when you don't feel that hyped about it in the first place.
I am psyching up for a full-on post about it sometime soon. Stay tuned.
