End of year letter

Dear.........

Here I am doing an end of year letter about me and how I have deteriorated during the year, lately I have been having upsetting dreams, dreams were Tim doesn't love me and has been cruel to me. Tim has NEVER been cruel to me ever and I know he loves me.

Kathy-Lee said she things it is my insecurities that is causing the upsetting dreams, but why on earth I would have such dreams about Tim who loves me so much.

I know that my body is deteriorating the tremor or trauma as my beautiful daughter refers to it as it is traumatic how it is effecting my body. It isn't just my hands that shake but my arms, legs and k jaw as well. My body is never truly at rest because it moves pretty much 24/7.

I am at a point where I am willing to try anything to settle the shaking my siblings and Kathy-Lee think I should try cannabis I have finally said ok you supply it and I will try it. Sandra has found someone local that sells cannabis oil I have to have a consultation first though, I have told her to send Tim the information and we will make arrangements to see the person.

A few months ago I started suffering from restlessness as well, this got so bad that I wasn't able to sit for more then a few minutes at a time and was always getting up and walking around and it wasn't just my body that was restless but my brain also. I was always thinking about stuff and wasn't able to settle well at night, sleep didn't come easy and I would be in and out of bed 5 or 6 times a night on a good night more on a bad night.

Thankfully my GP increased the medication I take for restlessness to 2 tablets at 5pm and I am now sleeping through most of the night.

Then last month I ran out of one of my depression medication and this caused me to become very depressed, so much that when there was an incident between Blain & Leo I took it to heart and was in a horrible state over it. All my girls and my mum were very worried about my state of mind, thankfully I realised what the problem was and got the medication which is why things are improving.

Also last month I went to the Dr's to get my yearly medical review done and he refused to fill it in saying I am unfit to drive, so I have lost my licence and now have to rely on other people to drive me around.

Mostly it is Natasha who takes me places, it is also Natasha who helps me get dressed when needed and she applies my make-up each week when I go shopping. I do not know how I would cope without her.

Many months ago I started doing my main grocery shopping online and my precious first born Kathy-Lee picks it up and brings it to me each Saturday.

On Friday's when I go shopping Natasha takes me and either her or Jessica brings me home, a year ago due to problems walking I started hiring a motorised scooter on Fridays when I go to Charlestown Square and also on the rare times I go to Glendale shops. The scooter makes getting around so much easier.

I was referred over to Rankin Park Day Hospital for help with my falls during the year I have had about 10 falls or near falls, only yesterday I stumbled twice and nearly fell over walking down the driveway at mum & dad's. I have to attend the falls program for 6 weeks starting the 29^th January. On the 30^th January I have to have another MRI this one will take about an hour, I was worried how I would lay still for that long so I went to see the doctor and he said to go back and see him next month and he would prescribe something to help me remain calm and still.

In August while Tim & I were on holiday in China, Tim's younger brother John had a heart attack and passed away.

Also this year we were told by doctors that dad wasn't likely to see Christmas due to his rapidly failing health. Well there were WRONG dad is still with us, we have all accepted that he will not see out another year as in 2019. Sandra, Sue & Dave wrap him in in cotton wool and do not let him leave the house if it is wet, windy or cold.

They say deaths come in 3's well two people Tim & I have know have died this year, so we are hoping dad isn't number 3. I like to think positive so for me dad will be around for a while yet, fingers crossed.

In October we had a big party for dad's 76^th birthday and his brother Richard who he hadn't seen for 30 years came, this made dad happy. As all the family should know family is so important to dad and he is so proud of his family and he has a big loving close knit family, with 5 children, 18 grandchildren 14 great-grandchildren.

December Letter

Mrs Jo-Anne Meadows

P O Box 253

Warners Bay

NSW 2282

Tuesday 4^th December 2018

Dear

Great to hear from you again, life here is ok not great but ok, sometimes our lives are so busy that we don't seem to have the time to sit and write a letter.

Yes Natasha & Blain have settled into their new home, Natasha is still painting the house one room at a time, it is nice having both of them living close by.

My state of mind was improving slowly but I have had set back, last Thursday there was another incident between Blain & Leo. The whole thing got out of hand and I told my mum all about it Thursday night and mentioned it to her on Friday morning as well. Well my sister Sue heard us talking and she told her daughters Kelli & Heather and that got back to Natasha who was more then pissed.. All in all the whole incident caused me a lot of grief and caused me to shed a lot of tears and feel like I caused a whole lot of trouble.

I am sleeping better but not great, although I do still wake up a number of times during the night. Although I am having a real problem with restlessness, it isn't just at night or with just my legs but all day and my whole body. I spoke to the GP about the problem this morning and he has increased then medication I take for it from 1 tablet to 2 tablets a day.

Since my last letter, I had to go and see my GP to get my yearly medical review done but the doctor refused to fill it in, he said I shouldn't be driving. I felt numb when I left the surgery but I am getting there, it is what it is. I now have a photo ID card instead of a licence.

I had a birthday on Friday 16^th November the night before my birthday I had a break down it was caused by Leo having a melt down and trashing his bedroom throwing things around and hitting the wall. What caused his melt down I really don't understand it had something to do with Blain though.

I ended up not just crying but sobbing and it wasn't the first time I cried on Thursday, in fact I cried a fair bit on Thursday and most of the time I had no idea why I was crying.

Tim told me he is worried about my health and through tears I replied that so was I at night I suffer from restlessness kind of like restless leg syndrome but it affects my breathing, when I lay down I feel like I can't breath and I have to get up and walk around then go back to bed and try again. I would do this 3 or 4 times before I would manage to get to sleep.

I have since realized that I should be taking the medication for the restlessness 2hrs earlier then I was, taking it earlier has helped but I was still having a lot of problems with restlessness but yesterday when I saw the GP he increased the restlessness medication from 1to 2 tablets. So last night I slept through the night, fingers cross it continues to be the case.

It will be a while before we take another cruise, Tim and I talked it over and decided because of how bad dad's health is and decided that it might not be wise to go away.

My parents are well, dad is driving mum crazy asking every day how does he get his licence back, as it has been suspended on medical grounds, we all know he will never get it back but he doesn't understand.

He says every day that the GP shouldn't have said he can't drive, mum has explained over and over that he isn't well enough and he gets very confused at times.

Many nights dad will ask mum who's house they are in because he doesn't think it is their house, even though they have lived their since May 1980.

He also often thinks there are strangers in his bed and asks mum who are those people in our bed, there is no one in the bed.

Last week there was another incident between Blain & Leo it was a bad incident both accused each other of lying and Natasha really went off her head accusing Leo of being in the wrong. Well it turned out Blain was the one lying and when Natasha found this out she felt horrible but did she apologise to Leo, no she didn't, which has annoyed me.

The whole thing caused me a great deal of upset, I confided in my mother who says my sister overheard what we were talking about and told her daughter, anyway someone told another sister who said something about it that really caused me to become depressed and to feel like I can't trust anyone.

I was in such a state over the weekend that Tim and the girls became very worried about my state of mind, however, I realised that I hadn't been taking one of my depression medications, so that may have been the problem, only time will tell.

I am like 95% done with Christmas shopping, as I shop all year around. I will start work on the Christmas cards this weekend hopefully. I will also have to sort out the Mrs Claus presents I send out during the next week or so.

Christmas Day will be spent with my parents and siblings as per usually and Boxing Day Tim & I, along with Natasha, Blain, Jessica & Leo are going to Kathy-Lee's place for our Christmas lunch in past years the girls and grandchildren would come here but I am not really in a condition to cook a baked lunch. So Kathy-Lee has said she would have the lunch at her place.

The last few days I have been working on my Christmas cards and I am slowly getting them done. I also have managed to get the house starting to look like Christmas with the aid of decorations, although I still have more to do, it is just hard to do on my own and yeah the girls say they will help but they haven't done so yet.

Well tht is enough of my boring news for this letter until next time take care and write when you can.

Jo-Anne

jo anne62_04@hotmail.com

jnjm62@gmail.com

http://jo-a nnemotherandnanna.blogspot.com

https://joannerambling.wordpress.com

November Letter

Mrs Jo-Anne Meadows

P O Box 253

Warners Bay

NSW 2282

AUSTRALIA

Wednesday 14^th November 2018

Dear

Hello my friend how is life treating you? I am well more or less, been another busy day for me after my aqua class this morning I spent the rest of the day doing housework and laundry.

I have also sorted out photos ready to work on the personalised calendars I do each year for family members, the calendars are time consuming. I like to sort the photos on the computer into a folder and then in a few days time I will spend some time online working on the calendars.

Last Thursday I had to go and see my GP to get my yearly medical review done but the doctor refused to fill it in, he said I shouldn't be driving. I felt numb when I left the surgery but I am getting there, it is what it is. So on Saturday Natasha took me to the RTA and I had to hand in my licence, I will get a photo ID card in the mail.

Last Tuesday I had a bad start to the day, it was my own fault I took my morning medication and my insulin before taking Leo to school but forgot to eat anything. This resulted in my blood glucose level dropping too low cause me to end up shaking and sweating and feeling extremely tired. As soon as I got home I had a sherbet cone followed by two soft boiled eggs, after I ate I was much better.

The week before last I had to see the neurologist I thought it was about my tremor but it wasn't earlier in the year my GP sent me for a CT scan of my head because of all the headaches I was getting and the scan showed what looked like a cyst.

Anyway the neurologist said he thought the CT scan looked normal but has sent me for another more complex MRI, I received an appointment in the mail for 7.30pm but there is no way I can do that time, so I rang to reschedule and the woman who took my call was quite rude but she canceled that appointment and told me I would get another appointment in the mail but it will be for some time in February. I said that would be fine don't go back to the neurologist till mid March.

He had little to say about my tremor he still things I have a functional tremor and said he knows it is difficult to deal with.

He had me do a few things and stand and walk a bit and told me my reaction time is poor as is my concentration.

Tim told him about all the minor accidents I have had this year and this resulted in him telling me that I shouldn't be driving at all. So when I got home I had a talk with Tim and Natasha about my driving.

Last Tuesday Leo (grandson) gets home from school and tell me he had a bad day he was picked on and had things thrown at him, Natasha rang the school and read them the riot act. This other kid threatened to kill Leo and yeah properly an empty threat but things like this make a child worried to go to school. Then that night Leo was already upset because of the bad dad at school and Blain(grandson) had to stir him up this resulted in Leo ending up in tears.

Well because of Blain, Leo locked his bedroom door and hid the key and when I was going to bed and went to go into Leo's room and found it locked so I go to get the key and found it missing. So I ask Leo where the key was and guess what he couldn't find it, I did get pissed off and it took a good half hour to find another key to open it. I have told Leo many times if he feels the need to hid the key just give it to me and I will not let Blain get it.

Of course I did the wrong thing and mentioned the bullying on my blog but I went back and deleted it but of course Heather saw it and was annoyed. However, I really don't give a rats ass what Heather thinks or feels.

Sunday 18^th November

Back again started this during the week but only just getting around to finishing and printing, although I will add that when I started this letter I was 55 now I am 56.

Yes I have had a birthday on Friday it was generally speaking a good day, I received some lovely presents. Although Tim hasn't as yet given me a present but he did take me out to the Eastern Tiger for lunch which was nice.

Last Thursday I had a break down it was caused by Leo having a melt down and trashing his bedroom throwing things around and hitting the wall. What caused his melt down I really don't understand it had something to do with Blain though.

I ended up not just crying but sobbing and it wasn't the first time I cried on Thursday, in fact I cried a fair bit on Thursday and most of the time I had no idea why I was crying.

Tim told me he is worried about my health and through tears I replied that so was I at night I suffer from restlessness kind of like restless leg syndrome but it affects my breathing, when I lay down I feel like I can't breath and I have to get up and walk around then go back to bed and try again. I would do this 3 or 4 times before I would manage to get to sleep. I have since realised that I should be taking the medication for the restlessness 2hrs earlier then I was. Taking it earlier has helped but I am still not sleeping well getting up 3 or 5 times a night.

What added to my upset on Thursday night was Tim saying again that we can't take any more holidays because of my health and how much trouble I have walking this is because he doesn't want to push me around in a wheelchair.

Well that's all from me for this letter, until next time, take care, stay safe and write when you can.

Jo-Anne

jo anne62_04@hotmail.com

jnjm62@gmail.com

http://jo-annemotherandnanna.blogspot.com

https://joannerambling.wordpress.com

October Letter

Mrs Jo-Anne Meadows

P O Box 253

Warners Bay

NSW 2282

Thursday 25^th October 2018

Dear 

Great to hear from you again, here's hoping life is treating you well and you are happy at this time. Thanks for returning the stamp I did reuse it.

Yes all the rain was great we needed it, I don't mind wet weather as long

as I don't need to drive in it.

Last week I ordered my personalised Christmas cards from Vistaprint I only get 10 personalised cards but of course I send out a lot more then 10 cards. I also order 10 personalised cards for my parents. I have a list of people I send Christmas cards to and make with a “S” when sent and a “R” when received.

I have also typed up a list of presents I have already bought that list is 3 pages long at the moment.

Halloween is on Wednesday but I don't do Halloween for me it is an American thing my siblings are the same we all feel it is just not something Aussie's do. Although Kathy-Lee and Jessica feel different and allow their children to go trick or treating but Natasha feels like me & Tim about Halloween.

Had Natasha down a couple of weeks back having a bitch about Steve's dog which is at her place, she is fed up with taking care of a dog she never wanted and really doesn't have a big enough yard for it as it isn't a small dog. I told her to get to tough and tell him to take his dog or she is going to take it to the RSPCA.

Last Saturday we had a birthday party for my dad he turned 76 and since it may be his last birthday we wanted to have a family get together for him.

Dad loved seeing so many family members turn up all my girls went and 3 of Jeannie's kids as well her son Tyler is living in Queensland so he wasn't able to attend. However, none of Sue's children bothered to come but that was expected as they never turn up to family events. This bothers Sue so we don't mention her children not attending around her.

It turned out to be a great day,his brother Richard who he hadn't seen for 30yrs turned up with his daughter and two of his grandchildren, a few weeks back his other daughter reached out via Facebook to her father's family.

Both dad and Richard loved getting together again and talked a lot while they were together. Turns out his late wife didn't like the Jenkins family and that was why he lost contact with our family.

Richard's daughter said that it was great meeting our family and said her sister would love to meet our family as well.

When Richard was only a young child about 6 or 7 he was adopted by a family he had lived with since he was around 3 or 4, Richard is 14 months younger then dad.

I know when dad was 8yrs old he was spending the school holidays with his Aunt & Uncle when his mother left his father for another man abandoning 5 of her 6 children. She took only her youngest child with her, in fact it was 8yrs later when my dad was walking through a park in Sydney that was opposite his mother's house when she saw him and said to Denise I think that's your brother over there. Until then Denise didn't know she had a brother let alone 3 brothers and 2 sisters.

Well that's all from me for this letter, until next time, take care, stay safe and write when you can.

Jo-Anne

jo anne62_04@hotmail.com

jnjm62@gmail.com

http://jo-annemotherandnanna.blogspot.com

https://joannerambling.wordpress.com

September Letter

Mrs Jo-Anne Meadows

P O Box 253

Warners Bay

NSW 2282

Thursday 13^th September 2018

Dear

Well here I am writing another letter to you, it was great to hear from you again, life here is good more or less. I had a cortisone injection into my left shoulder on Tuesday and it has made a big difference in the pain and movement.

The Monday before last I went and got another tattoo it says “My Blain” and is on my back left shoulder, I had wanted it on my left hand but because of how much I was shaking they wouldn't do it on the hand.

I went back to my aqua class this week because of the new tattoo I had to miss this weeks aqua class .

My brother is still driving our parents car and is looking for another car he has been paid out by the insurance company and as he is using mum & dad's car he isn't rushing to buy a car. My sister still ended up having to pay the parking ticket.

Reading about Paige's accident was distressing, she was very lucky and she is going to have a long hard year ahead of her but she has a loving and supportive family around her.

The Saturday before we left for China I went to Landon's 6^th birthday party I had planned to

take Leo with me but he said he didn't want to go, however, after I had been there for about 5 minutes Jessica rings and said that Leo had changed his mind and now wanted to attend. My sister Sandra & brother Dave went and picked him up and of course he had a ball and didn't want to leave when I said it was time to go.

I wish mum had been able to attend but my siblings didn't think it would be a good idea and told her she had to stay home. I really miss catching up with mum, yes I do still speak to her every night for half an hour or more but I still miss her.

It takes Jessica about 30 minutes to walk from her place to here and around 20 minutes to walk from her house to the shopping centre to meet me on Friday mornings. I do like seeing her on a Friday morning and look forward to seeing her each Friday.

We had a great holiday, although it was somewhat hard on me and Tim kept saying it will be our last overseas holiday as I am not up to doing them, that said I still want to take a cruise to New Zealand, Tim has said if I can lose 20kilos and manage to walk better we can do one. I think he is being unreasonable.

We caught the train to Sydney and spent the night at the hotel opposite the airport. Yes it is expensive to stay there but it's the convenience of being just a short walk from the airport.

When we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City I was able to be pushed around in a wheelchair they had a wheelchair service available that cost us $60 Australian but was well worth it. The lady who pushed me around didn't speak English but was so nice, at the start of the tour I got out and walked down some stairs but when it came to walking up the next set of stairs I fell as I was standing up after that she wouldn’t let me try and instead pulled me up the stairs as well as pushing me down the stairs. Thankfully the steps were only low and not high but I felt terrible, although I do not know how I would have managed walking up and down the stairs.

The next day we went to see the Great Wall, which was awesome I didn't even attempt to climb it, Tim did but he didn't go very far and ended up joining me in the gift shops. We bought some souvenirs and then had an ice cream, well Tim had an ice cream and I had a yoghurt cone which was really nice.

The following afternoon we had a Rickshaw ride and our tour guide was able to arrange for the rickshaw to pick me up at the end of the street saving me a long ass walk. The rickshaw ride was lovely I really enjoyed it, after the ride we went for a meal in a typical family home, how typical it was I do not know but I found it enjoyable, well not the food, the food wasn't to my liking but the experience was enjoyable.

The home was tiny, the bedroom was up a narrow flight of stairs from the courtyard and the kitchen was tiny the size of my bathroom or laundry and they had no toilet or shower those where located in the lane way and shared between the houses in the area.The next day there was a visit to the Beijing Zoo to see the giant pandas but I didn't get to see them as I waited in the bus our tour guide suggested I stay in the bus due to the crowd and our far they had to walk. So Tim took photos for me.

We then took the bullet train from Beijing to Shanghai were we where met by another tour guide, our first day with him I attempted to walk from the bus to the lake for a boat ride. I didn't make it and broke down due to the pain and how much I was struggling and ended up just going back to the bus.

Tim got upset because he didn't like to see me in tears and he had a talk to the tour guide and the next couple of days there was a wheelchair on the bus for me to use. This made things easier for me.

The Beijing part of the holiday was super busy the Shanghai part not as much, both tour guides were nice and a bit different. I am glad we went but I was also glad to get home to my own bath and bed.

Thankfully I didn't have to use a squat toilet but Tim wasn't so lucky while using the toilet at a service station he found they only had squat toilets.

The other people on the tour were amazing, the left the front two seats on the bus for me and Tim and many of them told me that they thought I was doing great just being on the tour.

All in all it was a great holiday and I was thankful that I had wheelchair service at the airports, after checking in someone with a wheelchair came and got me and took me to the departure gate and later onto the plane.

When we got off the plane there was a wheelchair there to take me out again, so much easier for me.

While in China Tim noticed that my jaw moves a lot, I noticed it a couple of months back but didn't say anything to anyone about it. I also found a letter here when we got back saying I have an appointment on the 31^st October with the neurologist, this has made Tim happy.

Both mum and dad are home although when I was in China dad was in hospital yet again even though he is home he isn't great and on Saturday when the nurse went to see him she wanted to ring the ambos again but both Sandy & Dave said no as it was Father's Day on Sunday. Dad has been saying he things it would be his last Father's Day but we naturally hope he is wrong.

Although their GP has told dad it is unlikely he will live out the year and has arranged for palliative care for dad and has stressed that he will not survive another serious bout of pneumonia this is distressing but is also a fact of life we all have to deal with.

Also while we were in China Tim's youngest brother John died he was only 31and he died of a heart attack, John was taken into care when he was only 6mths old because his mother was neglecting him.

Even though he was Tim's brother we didn't know him, I had never met him and Tim had only seen him a few times in his life. We both attended the funeral as did his sisters Jenny & Dianne as well as their father.

However, I told Tim he was really more the child of the people who raised him since he was 6 months old, we only knew 6 people at the funeral as pretty much everyone who attended were the family that raised him.

Tim believes deaths come in threes and said after the funeral he wondered who would be next, I thought but did not say it can be your father not mine although my dad isn't well at all and Tim thinks it will be my dad who goes next.

Well that's all from me for this letter, until next time take care and write when you can. I hope I haven't repeated myself, which some times I do if so please forgive me.

Jo-Anne

jn_jm@bigpond.com

joanne62_04@hotmail.com

jnjm62@gmail.com

Facebook Jo-Anne Meadows

Cards for dad

Ok here is the thing, as everyone should know last year we had a big party for my dad aka poppy's 75^th birthday at that time we didn't know that he would get so sick. Next month he will be 76 and we have been told that it will most likely be his last birthday, in fact we have been told that he may not even make his next birthday but none of us want to think of that happening.

So I am asking all those who love him so much and who's life he has enriched by being part of it and who will fill a void when he is no longer with us, to this year spend a little money and by a nice birthday card for him and either send it to him or take it and give it to him next month for his 76^th birthday.

Do this not just for him but also for mum/nanna who after he is gone can look at the cards and be reminded of how much he meant to people. It is a little thing that could mean to much to both dad & mum.

Dad is so proud of his family, he has lived for them and when he was struggling with cancer his family was the reason he kept fighting.

I cannot make anyone do this and if you think it is a silly idea then do not bother with it but if you think like me it might bring some joy to his and mums life please take part.

July's letter

Mrs Jo-Anne Meadows

P O Box 253

Warners Bay

NSW 2282

Thursday 26^th July 2018

Dear..................

Hello my friend, hope life is treating you good, I have had a rough week but things are looking up at the moment. School has gone back this week and both Blain and Leo seemed happy to go back to school. It is a warm day if you are in the sun but it is pretty cold inside my house.

Last Monday the 16^th in the afternoon around 3pm my sister Sandra rang to let me know that she had to ring the ambos for mum as she was suffering delirium again. I then get another call from her at 4pm while I was in the bath, when I noticed it was Sandra I rang her back and she answered but didn't speak, I could hear her talking to someone about resuscitating mum. It was upsetting to hear and Sandy hung up without speaking to me and she rang back a couple of minutes later and all she said was you need to come here now.

I rang Natasha in a state as I had no car and needed someone to drive me to the hospital, as I was crying and a blubbering mess she had no idea what was wrong all she knew was her mummy needed her. She came straight over and drove me to the hospital and I rang both Kathy-Lee and Jessica as well and of course Tim each call I was a blubbering mess.

When I arrived at the hospital they were getting ready to put mum on a ventilator aka life support they had no idea what was wrong with her and still have no idea what was wrong with her. I stayed at the hospital till around 9pm and only left because I was finding it difficult to stay awake and function. The social worker at the hospital was surprised to see 13 people in the waiting room not just that there was so many of us there and that we all seemed to like each other, which we do.

At around 1am she was transferred to a different hospital as the John Hunter Hospital didn't have an ICU bed available. She was on a ventilator till Wednesday morning and the first thing she asked the doctor after they removed the ventilator was when could she go home.

The ICU doctor was amazed to see 10 people in the waiting room on Tuesday morning when he came to explain what was going on with mum and most of the staff were surprised that every day mum had so many visitors. Her kidneys had stopped working and her heart-rate was only 25 beats per minute and her blood pressure was so low it was non-existent that is how sick she was.

On Wednesday afternoon mum was moved to a ward and was starting to get around on her own, she was discharged yesterday and is glad to be home, in the end the doctors thought she may have over dosed on some of her medication. Although they really don't know what caused all her problems but what was most important is that she has gotten better.

Then on Saturday morning Sandra rings to tell me she had to ring the ambos for dad as he wasn't able to get out of bed and was unable to breath when he tried to get up to go to the toilet. So he gets taken to the John Hunter Hospital and for the second time in a week Sandra had give permission to resuscitate a parent.

Dad was in hospital Saturday & Sunday and was discharged on Monday as well so now both my parents are home and continuing to improve, although they both think dad was discharged too early as he still isn't good.

When my mum was in hospital Leo was concerned about how my dad was coping when I told both dad and mum about Leo's concern they were both touched. Leo is a very loving and caring boy.

I didn't attend my sister's 50^th because on the day I was sick as and in fact spent most of the day in bed and I was glad that Tim was home and able to take care of Leo.

Speaking of Leo reminds me his mum has sold her car, she decided to get rid of it for two reasons, one she is trying to raise money for dental work and two her car had an oil leak that she couldn't afford to repair. She was up front with the people she sold it to about the oil leak and was lucky it sold really fast in was bought by the first people to look at it.

Jessica wouldn't drive her car very often with it often sitting in her driveway for a week or two without moving at a time, as during the working week she only goes to and from work, and couldn't be bothered going out anywhere.

So she will either catch a bus, walk or borrow my car which is why she had my car last Monday when mum was taken to hospital. In fact this morning I am sitting watching telly when Jessica walks in she walked her from her place just for the exercise and I drove her home.

Natasha is in talks with a woman about a housing swap, the woman seems to be interested, so fingers crossed it works out. I don't know where this woman lives but Natasha has told me it is within walking distance of my house this will make her happy as she wants to live closer to me.

Last week Tim sent off our visa applications for our China trip but of course he stuffed it up he didn't send a page and of course we had to then email the page with our names on it to them why he didn't send the page is beyond me when he told me the itinerary didn't have our names on it I said it did it the are one the first page and he kept looking at the second page not the first page and he even rang the travel agent to complain and was told our names are on the first page, so I was right and he was being thick.

I mentioned to Sandy that while we are in China I will be worried about Leo, how is he going to get to and from school each day, Jessica is going to be relying on Natasha and I just hope she doesn't let Jessica down.

Well Sandy says it isn't my problem and it is up to Jessica to sort it out and that she should change her shift at work, Jessica drives special needs children to and from school so I have no idea what Sandra thinks she does but there is no shift to change.

Yesterday afternoon while at the school Sandra was telling me our brother's car was found at Warners Bay not far from where I live burnt out, turns out it was taken from out the front of my parents place where it was my brother left it there when he took their car he was having trouble starting his car in the cold weather at 5.30am.

The first anyone knew about his car being stolen was when the cops rang Dave my parents didn't even know it was missing but they haven't been outside since they came home from hospital. Thankfully it is insured but still it is upsetting there is the loss of the stuff that was in the car.

On the 24^th my niece Kelli gave birth to her daughter who has been named Freya Margaret she was 8 pound 9onces, she is Blain's little sister but Blain doesn't seem very excited about having a new sister. Blain met his new sister on Friday afternoon but he didn't seem that excited about it, in fact Leo was more excited about meeting Freya and wanted lots of cuddles and photos taken with her.

With the birth of Freya my parents now have 14 great-grandchildren, my sister Sue now has 7 grandchildren. Our family has been growing pretty much every year for the last few years.

Jonathon has asked Kelli to marry him, so they are now engaged, I don't know what Blain thinks about that, my sister Sue (Kelli's mum) said she isn't that happy about it as she doesn't like Jonathon much but she knows that Kelli is happy and she is happy that her daughter is happy.

Well that's all from me for this letter, until next time take care and write when you can.

Jo-Anne

June Update

Well 2018 is half over and our family has increased by one with the birth of Kelli & Jonathon's daughter Freya Margaret born on the 24^th June at 12.47pm weighing 8 pound 9 ounces this means that my parents now have 18 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

As I write this mum & dad are both in hospital dad has had pneumonia and had a few falls resulting in a cracked rib. Mum has had her hip replacement at long last and is slowly recovering today she managed to get herself out of bed and walked to the toilet on her own with the aid of a walker of course.

Sandra and Sue have been wonderful visiting mum & dad a lot and Sue will move in and stay with mum & dad for a bit till they are able to cope on their own again.

I feel like shit because I am unable to visit them as I would not be able to walk from the carpark to the ward because of the amount of pain I am in 24/7.

Jessica has been getting a lot of weekend work the last few months which means we have been having Leo a lot of a weekend.

Kathy-Lee & Michael recently had to go to Queensland for the funeral of his uncle they had to take the girls with them as I wasn't able to watch them, I feel like I am letting Kathy-Lee down yet again she gets my shopping each Saturday for me but I often feel like I am putting her out asking her to get the shopping because she turns up here in a mood.

Natasha is a secretive as usual because that is the way she is, she shares nothing and keeps us guessing what is happening in her life.

First post of 2018

Well January has well and truly come to an end with us into the middle of the first week of February.

What is the best thing about January for you and yours?

We have a number of birthdays in January, 7 in total.

It is also when school goes back after the big Christmas break children ave around 8 weeks off over Christmas when you count the public holidays and such.

I wouldn't say January is any more special than any other month, for me all months a pretty much the same if I had a favourite month it would be December because I love Christmas.

We only have 3 birthdays in February and Tim and I are not into Valentine's Day, Tim is in no way romantic but that is ok I knew that when I married him.

Here's hoping 2018 is a great year for all my family and blog friends.