September 2015

Hello September, and yes I know you are half over and I am sorry for that but I have been either to busy or lazy to write this post but I am doing it now so don't complain.

Anyway what does September mean well like most months of the year it means birthdays, starting with Hayley's she turned 3 on the 9^th and then Kathy-Lee turned 30 on the 10^th and Denni will also be 3 on the 15^th. I know that Samantha had a party for Hayley but I didn't attend, wasn't invited but that is ok I am not bothered by that and Sandra is having a family party for Denni next weekend which I will attend.

I had a party for Kathy-Lee yesterday, there was about 16 people here from both sides of her family, as in her side and her partner Michael's side, as I invited his parents and brother and sister in-law, his brother couldn't attend as he is away working.

Michael had gone away camping but it was only 45 minutes away and after Natasha told him off and his parents said something to him he decided he would come back from camping to attend and the whole thing was a surprise for Kathy.

Although she did say at one point she had wondered why I had made so much food and why dad (Tim) had cleaned the lounge room, and by clean I mean he took everything and dumped it in either the spare room or his room/office.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and of course there was plenty of food, as I was up at 6.30am I went for a walk and bought bread and shredded ham they didn't have diced bacon and after returning home I made a potato bake and a chicken and bacon pasta bake along with home made fried rice, snags and of course bacon.

There of course was cake this cake in fact and it tasted pretty good I bought it from a local supermarket that does cakes so it was both nice and affordable.

Also in September is Tim and mine 31^st wedding anniversary so that is September in my family.  

August 2015

Been a while since I have done a post here, I had decided to not do any more newsletters but  have changed my mind and decided I will do a post here at the start of each month starting with this month. 

Since the last newsletter we have an another addition to the family with the birth of Kelsi Jayne who was born on the 7th May 2014 she is the first child of Kirsty and Jacob. 

This year I have gone back to having a grandchild staying here many nights a week, Blain is here often from Monday to Friday nights except for Tuesday night when he stays at his place with Jessica and Leo, Jessica goes home after Natasha gets home from work. We also have Leo here at least one night a week usually Saturday night, this is because Jessica wants to have a break from Leo. 

The reason I have Blain is because Natasha is working Monday to Friday at night as a cleaner, she doesn't like the night work and would love to be able to find some kind of day work but she is at least happy to have a job.  If Jonathon isn't working he will have Blain but since he is a security guard working nights and he also doesn't live local any more so he only has Blain when it is possible. 

Blain is missing is mummy and daddy and wishes he could see them more, Natasha only gets to see him of a morning before he goes to school, she always takes him to school so she can spend so time with him each day. Of a weekend if he isn't going his fathers he spends time with his mum, it is hard for him to adjust but he is getting there. 

When he is here Blain sleeps in/on my arm chair since he has started doing this we decided to get rid of the old mattress that was on the floor in the spare room. at some point we will get another bed or maybe a lounge for that room. However, it isn't high on our list of things to do. 

At the end of the month the 23rd exactly Tim and I will be going back to New Zealand for a weeks holiday this time we are going to fly into Christchurch and see the bottom half of the South Island.  Tim keeps telling me that it is going to be bloody cold this I know and for whatever reason I am not concerned about that I will deal when we get there. This will be our 3rd trip to New Zealand and I never wanted to go there to start with and now I am looking forward to our third trip there.  

First Newsletter of 2014 part 1

A New Year A New Me

Yes it is a new year and in fact we are five months into the year and I am only just starting to think about a new newsletter but what the hell my life is so bloody busy that it is amazing at times I remember to do anything other than what it expected of me day in and day out.

This year I decided to try and lose weight, I wanted to lose around 20 kilos by the time Tim and I go to Hawaii in September, at the start of the year I was 103.7 kilos and my aim was to get down to around 80-83 kilos, hell it still is and so far I am doing ok it is slow going but the weight is coming off.

I started walking again at the start of the year, the first day I went out I found it really hard to get to the end of the street but I stuck with it walking around the block but it really took a lot out of me. I am still walking and have increased the distance I walk so I am happy, I intend to stick with it. I am now down to around 95 kilos.

Diabetes and Me

As some in the family know I have had problems with my diabetes this year, my BGL's have been up in the teens often it was around 14 when I got up of a morning and for those who do not know it should have been around 4-5, after eating my BGL would often go up to as high as 18 it should have been around 8.

I went to the GP who wasn't sure what to do so he referred me to see a specialist at the Royal, the GP was thinking of starting me on a drug called Byetta but wasn't sure if I should continue taking the Diamicron and Junvia or if I should stop one of them.

Anyway I saw the specialist on the 11^th April and he started me on a drug called Victoza which is like Byetta but you only take the Victoza once a day the Byetta will need to be taken twice a day. I have to take the Victoza for a month and keep a record of my food intake and my BGL's and when I go back he will decided if I should start the Byetta or not.

Since I have been on the Victoza my BGL's have been better still not normal but better usually between 8-11. Also the Victoza has an appetite suppressant in it and I am eating less as I am just not that hungry most of the time.

On the Job Front

What can I say about jobs, well I still don't have one that pays but other people in the family do such as Jessica she has a job now driving special needs children to and from school for Newcastle Limousines, she likes the job.

Tim is still driving buses for Hunter Valley Buses although he still isn't on full time or permanent much to is annoyance.

Natasha is still looking for work as a hairdresser but other then that I know nothing since she doesn't tell me much about her life.

Kathy is still working at the service station but has been studying child care, she wants to work in child care at some point, she has finished her on line studying and now has to do her work placement which is like work experience as she doesn’t get paid to do it she has to do 120 hours of work placement.

Jono is still working in security but would rather get into youth work remind you of anyone.

Michael lost his job earlier in the year and has been trying to get his own business up and running he has a web site which can be found here: http://www.tekdoffwebsolutions.com.au/

I know things have been hard for both Kathy-Lee & Michael and I know that Kathy has often been worried about money and mummy wishes she could do more to help them.

Houses & Homes

Do you have a home? Sounds like a simple of course I do question right, however, not all in the family have their own home. Sue was lucky to find a place of her own in December moving into a flat in Charlestown on Charlestown Road in the same block of flats that Kathy-Lee lived in when she first moved out of home it is a small one bedroom flat but it her own place and she is happy to have a place at long last.

Kelli has been homeless for over a year now and has been living with me and Tim since last October and I have to say I have liked having her with us although she is now looking again for a place.

Recently she has been staying at her mums flat while Sue has been in Queensland with Kirsty have to say the house is very quiet without her here. I have been missing her and Daemon something fierce.

Babies and Toddlers

In our family there always seems to be a new baby coming along, and this year is no different, Kirsty is due to have her first child any time now and Sue is in Queensland with her awaiting the birth of what will be her 5^th grandchild. Kirsty has decided to name her baby girl Kelsi Eve.

The family is full of toddlers and preschool children as well with the terrible trio who all will be starting school next year can you believe they are all 4 years old now. All so different and all so the same at the same time.

Then we have Daemon who is now 2 he loves to play with his brother Blain and his cousin Leo when those three boys are together they are a hand full and will often be running amok. Daemon also loves to play with his cousin Summer when she is here with me.

Summer who was the baby of the family is now 1 year old and such a daddies girl, she seems to me to prefer males, she loves her papa and prefers him over nanna any time. Also Summer doesn't like Jessica much for some strange reason she will cry whenever she see Jessica, honestly as soon as Jessica looks at her she will start crying.

Other Children

Now let's move onto some of the other children in the family.

Isabel is now turning 10 and she into Monster High and loom bands.

Holley is now 8 and she is into lala loopsy and Adventure Time then we have,

Lenny who is turning 5 this year and he is still into wrestling and likes Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Leo is now 6 and he also loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Adventure Time he loves Transformers he is growing up so much but he still loves his nanna and papa and loves to come here once a week,

Moving onto Blain his is still “my Blain” but he often doesn't like to come over for the night, he gets bored and wants to go home but he likes to come for a visit and stay for a while then go home. Blain is now 8 turning 9 this year.

Sandra's step son Zac has been living with her and his dad a bit this year and has even come to Friday breakfast a few times it has been nice to see him. He loves his little sisters so much and it is so plain to see when he is around them.

Dawson is now 15 wow where has the time gone I can remember when he was born, he of course still lives with his nanna and pop and goes still to Wakefield school 5 days a week and he loves spending time with his little cousins Temika & Denni and adores his little sister Liarna and his little brother Landon.

I am sure I have forgotten some children but hell there are so many I can't be blamed for forgetting one or two.