Rest homes

Yesterday my mom and I went to visit rest homes. The ones we saw have two levels of care: rest home and hospital bed. My dad will qualify for hospital bed and my mom rest home. The problem is that they are all single bed rooms. We first looked at Harbourview which is ultimately our first choice but my dad is #14 on the waiting list. next up to Longview which is here in our suburb - dad is #3. Then onto Cashmere House who can take my dad now, but it is far for my mom and no accommodation for her.

My mom didn't sleep well last night and in the early hours of the morning she decided that Longview will be the best. dad can go as soon as there is a room for him; she can sort out the house (with our help) and then hopefully there'll be a room for her. She will be able to get there easily (as we will) and when she is there, she can spend most of the day with him

We just hope that he gets in quickly and then there is a place for her within the next six weeks

Such sad news

What a dreadful year so far! I suppose dominating the news at the moment is the 6.3 earthquake that rocked Christchurch at lunch time yesterday. Now 6.3 is not that big but it was only 5kms down so the devastation was huge. Many buildings in the city are ruined - how does one clean up the third biggest city in NZ?

Below is a photo of the famous Christchurch Cathedral before yesterday

Now it looks like this

Now because NZ is small, everyone will have friends or relatives down there as do we. All my scrappy friends and their families are safe; some SA friends are also safe. Other people have not been so lucky as currently the death toll is 75 people. How do families come to terms with the loss of their loved ones like that?

Our personal sad news is that my dad is back in hospital and will not be coming home. He can no longer stand or walk and is hallucinating. I just pray that he does not linger on. We will find out on Friday how long the hospital can keep him or we will need to find hospital level care for him. I am stretched to maximum capacity as I'm not sleeping well because I'm constantly aware of where the phone is in case it rings in the middle of the night.

To make matters worse, my husband decided to go to Melbourne for ten days so I am dealing with ALL of this alone!

School 2011

Ross Year 12 and Colin Year 11 - Colin is not happy about having to have his photo taken!

Catch up

This week has felt very long indeed! School started officially on Monday and in between running to the hospital and preparing my classroom five days felt like 15!

I have a terrible timetable - no non-contacts on Monday or Tuesday, staff meeting Monday, tutorials Monday nights by Wednesday I'll be tired. However, I think that is all to change as we have so many Year 10s that I have been asked to give up my Year 13s in order to take a new Year 10 class. I will be sorry to lose this Yr 13 class as for the first time the "right" kids are in it - no badly behaved ones who don't really want to be there or do the work, but have been forced in because there is no other option for them.

Ross worked so hard at the Stadium over the Sevens - 28 hours and was on his feet all the time. His feet were killing him and he was so tired last night. He went back the second day even though he was so tired. He worked more hours than any of the other "runners": running with trolleys of food and drink between the kitchen and the corporate boxes. He said that there is so much food wastage there - he was horrified. I need to get him some decent shoes and maybe even some orthotics.

Colin, my Mom and I are planning a garage sale on Saturday so I have also been going though the stuff we don't want here. Where does it all come from? And getting rid of lots of scrap-booking stuff on TradeMe! I wish I didn't work and I could really get stuck in and sort. Trying to do it after school is too hard.

No photos and I haven't even taken a photo of the boys at the start of the school year. I'm hoping that I will get one tomorrow morning

Colin has bought a bass guitar and he has an amplifier! Fortunately he is very considerate and closes his bedroom door so it's not too loud

Thank you

.... for your kind thoughts either here or via email.

My Mom and I got to the hospital at 10.45 am and packed up my Dad's things very quickly. He put on his own pyjamas (he was wearing a hospital "nighty" - how demeaning is that) and got into his wheel chair.

Then we had the meeting. The young registrar came in and first off apologised for what had happened yesterday. He then said that he would phone the GP tomorrow morning and get my Dad's antibiotics sorted out. He agreed that my Dad should just be kept safe, happy and comfortable. My Dad will have to have blood transfusions every three or four months but I have had a note put on his records that it is transfusion only and then he will go home. I got him home just before 11.45 am and he was so pleased to be home!

He is looking much better already (I saw him this afternoon), my Mom is happier and I don't feel so stressed!