Day off

Friday we had the day off; coincidently the same day as the Day of Mourning in Chch. I was busy - mainly with things for my mom and dad.

Saturday I had the "day off" - I went scrapping! And had a wonderful day. I did one l/o - it was originally going to be about Adrian's dressing gown but I changed it to a l/o about my sewing

Then, I decided earlier in the week that I wanted to make a travel diary. There is no FaceBook or Blogger in China so I wanted a diary to make brief notes in rather than a travel album. With the help of Tracy and the ideas she showed me, a purchased 19cm x 14cm photo album I bought, the excess PL notecards that Heidi sent me and my scraps bag, I came up with this:

Clock museum

Science & technology Centre

Ancient observatory

Great Wall

Happy Valley Theme Park

Overnight train

Xian School

Terracota warriors

Maglev Train

Yu Gardens, Science Museum and Tangram centre

Water Township

University

Extra pages

A few pages to finish and my diary is done! There are pockets for tickets etc that I pick up on the way. Not a work of art, but I'm very pleased none the less

Oh, it's a school trip and we leave in four weeks time

St Patrick's Day

I decided last night about 8pm that we needed something for St Patrick's Day so Green Velvet Cupcakes it was. They are chocolate with a whole bottle of green food colouring in the cake mix!
Not sure if you can see the green colour inside. I had very green fingers after finishing with the cake and the icing!
My Dad seems to be settling down but he is not at all well - poor, sick old man! It is so sad to see him as he is after knowing what a strong man he was. I really hope that my memories of him are as he was and not how he is now

Two of my form class students are in big trouble: one for forging his mother's signature in a note about not having time to do his homework! His parents, him and the senior staff had a meeting today about the issue. Just before the meeting, he came to ask if I would be there - in his words, "Because you'll support me, Miss". Gosh, I must be doing something right! Makes me feel like I am doing a good job there because I had already told him off this morning for such a silly decision. What I didn't tell him was that I used to forge my father's signature in my sister's homework when I was about 8! Another of students also had a telling off from me and I warned him that he would not be playing the next Touch rugby game if there was any more bad behaviour. What happened? That day there was more bad behaviour; however, I am going to relent on him not playing Touch on Tuesday because of his mature attitude today and that he did not ask me to change my mind!

Colin is so pleased with himself as he got a Merit grade in his first Maths internal assessment. Ross has saved enough money to buy himself a really nice flat screen TV - he is thrilled with it and is making his bedroom into a real haven for himself

Then, from 26th April I will be a single parent as my husband has decided that he needs to be away from us for a while :-( We'll cope, the kids and I; we're already talking about what we'll do and how we'll manage. Although this couldn't have come at a worse time

Out of hospital but not home

After three weeks of not wonderful nursing, my dad is out! We had looked at numeorus places and our fist choice was Longview in Tawa but he was third on the waiting list. Some of the "nursing" left much to be desired - they would hand out pills and change a dressing (screwing up their noses in distaste) but that was all. There was no CARE. No one cared if his meals were accessible, no one cared if he was hot or cold - nothing.

On Tuesday, my mom and I were talking on the phone and she asked if we should try Kemp Home which is just a bit further away. I phoned and there was no one there who could talk to me, but we decided to go and look anyway. We were impressed. The next morning (wednesday) the nurse-manager phoned me back to say they had a vacancy and we should come and look. We went on Thursday morning and it looked great. A bit shabby, but friendly staff. In fact, they were so kind to my mom that she broke down and cried. A nurse went to the hospital to assess his needs and on Thursday around 4pm she phoned me to say he could move on Friday.

What a rush! On Thursday night, Adrian and I took a TV, some paintings and books in. We did notice that the room was very sparse. What a difference on Friday! There were curtains up and over the wardrobe, a TV trolley and they had connected and tuned it.

As we arrived we were overwhelmed by the kindness and friendliness. It was just on lunchtime and Mom and I were invited to have lunch. I looked around at how the other residents were being treated - kindly and patiently. My dad was so tired after lunch and probably because he'd seen more people, activity and concern in two hours than the entire three weeks in hospital.

We will go back later to see him, but I am confident that he will be fine. I know that I'm a numbers person - look at this: their address in SA was 108, their first house in NZ was 84, where they currently are in #3 and dad is in room 12! See all those combinations of 12 and 3? I know it will work

Red & Black for Canterbury

Red and Black are the colours for the Crusaders and Canterbury. Yesterday we had had Red & Black day at school. We raised around $3200 in a school of 1400 kids. This is me with one of my classes yesterday. I had them all cover theri faces so I didn't have to blur out any!

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!

NZ Health Services

As many of you know, my Dad is ill. We have had wonderful help from Hospice - a walking frame, wheelchair, shower seat, raised toilet seat and the District Nurses visit every second day to change the dressing on his foot.

Since about 16th January, my Dad has had a few falls - the first one quite serious in that he cut his head open. Last Wednesday, he had a blood test and one of the items noticed was a high potassium count. he was sent to Wellington Hospital on Thursday morning for a blood transfusion and other tests. he got three units of blood and then was sent on Friday morning to our local hospital Kenepuru. He arrived around midday and not much happened after that. The staff nebulised him at some point and that was it. In the four bedded ward, there were three patients: my Dad, "Uncle H" and Mr P. Adrian and I went to visit my Dad around 7.30pm and Uncle H couldn't find his teeth. I pressed my dad's call button to get one of the staff to come along and after about ten minutes, Adrian wandered along to the nurses station where they were all sitting around chatting! They jumped when Adrian got there. Around 11.30pm, Mr P jumped into Uncle H's bed and punched him in the face! Uncle H is a stroke patient so could do nothing for himself. Then the staff didn't even bother to phone his family "because they thought it was too late"!

All weekend, my Dad had next to no nursing ... except his bandage changed and then the "nurse" pulled up her nose and was making awful faces because his foot is smelly. Uncle H's family insisted that Mr P got a "watcher" someone who sits outside his ward and walks around with him 24 hrs a day.

Today doctors arrived. They sent my dad for a brain scan at some huge cost to the tax-payer all to tell us that he has short term memory loss! I could have told them that for half the cost! Then around 11am, I was talking to my mom on the phone and she said that the doctors were there and wanted to amputate his foot. We have been through this and discussed ALL the reasons why it's NOT going to happen with two GP's opinions too. I left school and flew up to the hospital with steam coming out my ears. I saw the doctor who straight away got on my nerves because he looked just like a very arrogant man at school. I told him that this was not happening.

Then I went back to school and someone suggested I phone the GP which I did. he said that I have every right to say "No". About 2.45 pm a social worked phoned me to say they wanted to have a family meeting tomorrow. She also said that my mom wasn't at home and could I pass on the message. I told her that my mom was at the hospital. Turns out that she was at the wrong patient's bed so no wonder my mother wasn't there! Then about 5pm a young doctor from the ward phoned me almost apologising for what had gone on today. I told him that there would be no amputation and that after the family meeting my Dad is going home!! I am so tired of the inefficiency that has gone on. I told the GP that if Dad has to have a blood transfusion again, he will come home as soon as is safe for him to do so. Not to mention the drain it is on my mom having to sit up at the hospital for most of the day!

Hospital is not making my Dad better: he can come home and see out his last days there where he is happy

I can do without all of this with school just starting. Hopefully this is the last time my dad goes to hospital and that the end comes peacefully to him at home where he is happy

So if you've made it through all of this - well done and thanks for reading

What's happening

My lovely friend Danice reckons that I inspire her to write on her blog! So here's our boring news

We bought shoes yesterday: two pairs of shoes for Colin (school and trainers); a pair of school shoes for Ross and shoes for me. They cost more than I have ever spent on shoes before; got them from The Shoe Clinic and they are sooo comfortable ... and my knee is not so sore either

Then last night there was a beautiful rainbow over to the north and this was the sunset across in the west. It looked like a huge fire on the other side of the hill.

I have also made myself two pairs of trousers with a third pair cut out ready to sew. Takes me about 2 hours (if I don't have to unpick). I also used the cutting tables at school so that makes that job a lot easier and faster.

What else? We brought my parent's Mitsubishi here so that if it's here it's easier for Ross to get out and practice! He has to get his license in a manual car as the Mitsi will be available for him to drive.

From Tuesday, I will be back at school for most of the morning except Wednesday when my friend Katrina and her boys fly in from Christchurch for the day! I hope that the weather is great and we can go to the zoo. Then Monday 31st, school starts officially for teachers.

We have dreadful weather here today and up north they have had even worse wind and rain. I have seen a photo of the Auckland motorway flooded!

I have beedn selling lots of things on TradeMe with even more to go. My mom and I are having a garage sale on 5th February and the rest will go to hospice, recycling or the bin!

Scrapping wise, I haven't done too much since the two long weekends but I did do this title page for 2010: 15 photos on a single 12 x 12 - not bad! The little flower right at the top is where our annual family letter is hiding .... only because there is no space anywhere else!

We have a public holiday here tomorrow - Wellington Anniversary. It's so funny as only the Wellington region is on holiday and the rest of NZ will have their anniversary days at other times in the year.

I may do some more cooking experimenting today - going to try meringues with chunks of chocolate in them. The cheese straws I made earlier in the week went down very well!

Oh, I ditched IE for Google Chrome and I'm so pleased. IE would crash sometimes a couple of times a day. I like the built in spell checker too

Well, that's it from me for a while - stay safe!

Chritmas tree

Yes, I'm having a play!

My dessert

Another test

Trying to send and upload photos from my phone
Jenny :-)
Sent from my iPhone

Test post

Well, I worked out adding text but now to work out adding photos!

External Exam results

In NZ, students sit external exams at the end of Yr 11, Yr 12 and Yr 13 ie the last three years of school. Not all assessments are external, there are a number that are internally assessed. There are three levels of "passing" Achieved, Achieved with Merit and Achieved with Excellence. To Achieve, a student must get 80 credits including some Literacy and Numeracy. To get Merit, 50 of those credits must be at the Merit level and the same for Excellence.

Look at this photo of Ross' results - I know it's not easy to read, but there it is Achievement (Level 1) with excellence

I am so proud of him! He got 52 Excellence credits, 36 merits and a total of 179 credits with not one failed!!

Wishing I had a friend I could really, really talk to ................

What do you think?

Dreadful photos but old and new glasses

Old

New

I look half asleep! I probably am - didn't have a good night last night

More scrapping

More lovely holiday days and more scrapping done! I have almost completed all the photos from 2010 - just waiting for a couple of pieces of paper to arrive and then I can get finished. Then I have to file all of them and it is looking like a two-album year!

So November - it passed in a blur but the kids did sit exams and we got our Apple gadgets

December

And Colin's birthday - to portray paint ball, I used red, green and blue glimmermist and lots of circles of different coloured card. I'm pleased with it!

Today I bumped into Mandy and we had a coffee together before I headed to Spotlight where I bought three pieces of fabric to make some trousers for myself. Another day off for most people tomorrow so maybe I can get a bit more scrapping done!

2011

Happy New Year to everyone! I love this time of the year because it's so laid back. I usually don't cook too much as there is heaps of leftovers. We eat when we're hungry. Last night, it was just Adrian, Colin and I at home. We had crackers, cheese and dips at about 6pm. Around 7.30pm they made a fire and cooked the meat which we ate with salads around 10pm. We came inside and had dessert at 11.30pm and watched the fireworks from the Sky Tower on TV.

I have done lots of scrapping! I completed 14 UFOs and did more:

Fifty 6x6 l/o for Southern Cross Kids Camp - this is only 16 of them

A letter to my boys telling them that nothing is that bad and I'll always love them

P12 June

P12 July (there is a photo missing bottom right)

P12 August

Tawa Music festival with Adrian's own journalling

P12 September

Apia Airport after we were bumped off the AirNZ flight

A l/o I did with Trina at Creative Wonderland

Motat (after Devonport) in Auckland after Samoa

Devonport - cut the scroll work on the right and stuck it down with foam tape

P12 October

Christmas 2010 (and I apologise for the skew photo!)

Ross' 16th birthday

I love this time of year - no stress! I wonder how much more scrapping I can get done before the holidays are over? That's three days but I do need more glue

Long weekend

My Mom and Dad on Christmas Day

The boys cuddling on Christmas Day

Here in NZ we have had a four day weekend - it's been lovely even though the weather hasn't been great. A storm started during the night and early this morning I was constantly aware of rain against the windows. The wind was so strong - at times was gusting up to 120 km/h. Finally the rain stopped about 2pm and the sun came out around 4pm

I have spent much of the weekend crafting - I completed 12 UFOs (unfinished objects - l/os); completed a new one which is a lot of journalling to my sons about nothing ever being that bad and that parents will always love them. Then I started my BasicGrey calendar. it took me about 6 hours all up and we had to go out today so that I could get some photos for it.

We went out about 1.30pm after the rain abated and I also got photos to finish my Project 12 l/os .... which sadly are only up to May! We also bought new sheets and a towel at 25% off.

I love relaxed weekends like this - we eat when we are hungry and go out if we want to - in fact, today was the first time that we went to the shops since Christmas Eve!

My Dad is still about the same, but the decline is faster now. My Mom is taking strain as she virtually has to do everything for him. I'm pleased that we have Hospice involved so that the support is there. I hope that tomorrow is a nice day so that I can take them out for a drive and some tea/coffee somewhere.

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas everyone! Here's our tree with our presents underneath. We all got iPads so there isn't much under the tree this year. In previous years, I would wrap the presents at night when the boys went to bed; this year I wrapped them in the morning before they woke up!
Last night we had "Christmas in the cul-de-sac": our current very enterprising Head Boy asked me if he could organise a choir, a sausage sizzle and a raffle to happen in our cul-de-sac to raise money for the Salvation Army. The other residents were happy so he went ahead and organised everything. What a great evening it was! He had the help of quite a few other prefects, the Head of Music and the choir and they raised $707.30 for the Sallies! he was so pleased and rightfully so. Here are some members of the choir singing in our driveway. I have already told him if he wants a reference for anything to give my name - I will sing his praises!

My Dad is declining and we have Hospice nursing help now. My Mom is going to get home help and will also get some respite care early in the New Year. We are taking Christmas lunch to their house tomorrow as my Dad will not be able to walk from our driveway to the rumpus where we were planning on setting up the dining room. And if I'm carrying everything downstairs, I might as well put it in my car.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow and hug your family close.

This Weekend

Colin's birthday today - he's 15! Where did that time go? He had a party on Friday and went to Paint Ball. here they are getting ready In the tower looking for "the enemy"

All over


We came home and they played PS3, PS2 and watched movies. Homemade mini-pizza for dinner and this was the second round - the first round was twice as much as this! 22 mini-pizzas between five boys!!

Today they have gone to see Tron and getting Noodle Canteen for dinner. I made Christmas crackers following the design we were taught at Creative Wonderland by Rachel Tucker. I made six for us all and another four for our friends the Matthews.

I have now finished all my work and I am so glad! Yesterday I went scrapping and was in no mood to scrap at all. After one l/o, which is not stunning, I decided to do some 6x6 pages fro the Southern Cross Kids Camps - more details here. I have made 16 and hopefully I'll be able to make some more. It was quite satisfying doing something for someone else just before Christmas

It's the final countdown now and we have decided to take Christmas lunch to my parent's house as my Dad won't manage any of the stairs now. He is so depressed about his foot and my Mom and I are seriously considering having the half leg amputation in January. It's so hard - I just had to get up and give him a hug today

Nearly Christmas

Well, my parents had their 59th wedding anniversary on Wednesday! We celebrated by picking up a wheelchair for my Dad and then went to Palmer's Garden Centre for a light lunch. In the evening we got Chines takeaways and had sparkly wine with it.

Thursday my Dad had his 87th birthday. In the morning a few friends went round for tea and cake and in the evening we went to The Fisherman's Table for dinner. he enjoyed it but I thought that the service was very poor. In fact, I started clearing the table at one point as the staff were standing around holding up the walls. He asked me a couple of times how old he was. His mind is fading fast. It's just so sad - from such a powerful man responsible for so many people and so much to what he is today. He spoke to some friends from South Africa and a few minutes later couldn't remember it.

Both my doctor and his doctor have been fantastic in their support for him. My doctor made a house call and has phoned me to see how things are going. Don't get many doctors like that nowadays. Their doctor has also been great, but has been on extended sick leave. Both doctors are from the same mould, I think, kind, compassionate and caring.

Colin is 15 on Sunday - where have those 15 years gone? I remember just yesterday the discussion as to what Adrian and toddler Ross would do on Christmas Day as it was possible I would still be in hospital. I remember asking the doctor to discharge me on Christmas Eve and going straight to the baby shop to buy a double pram!

So today he and four friends went to PaintBall and are now playing PS etc downstairs. They finished off 22 mini pizzas for dinner!

Adrian has his office party tonight and I will fetch him and drop the friends off at the same time.

Hopefully I will be going scrapping tomorrow - not that I have anything prepared to actually scrapped. Well, I'll go for a couple of hours and then come back to finish working.

Negleted

And no photos either

So my five year "blog-aversary" came and went and I forgot!

School is busier than ever and you'd think with the seniors gone it would be a cruisey time - NO. So much to get ready for next year, not to mention I'm moving classrooms so all my junk has to move. One would think it would be a good time to go through all my resources and recycle what I'll never use again; however, that is not the case - I've just sent the boxes across as they are. At the moment I have no cupboards or shelves there either so everything is just on the floor. Then there's end-of-year reports etc and I can't wait to come home to do my part-time NZQA work!

Colin went to the Marlborough Sounds last week for a three day camp: tramping, kayaking and cycling and he had a wonderful time ........ until he came off his bike and grazed one elbow badly and sprained and strained bones and ligaments in the other. At least he didn't have to go back to school for the rest of the week so has been able to rest/ice/stretch his arm.

Adrian's birthday today and we went to Monsoon Poon for dinner - always a treat!

My Dad continues to slowly decline. I arranged to have the District nurses come in to dress his foot. Today's one talked him into having an amputation ... next week! She only sees his foot and knows nothing about his heart, lungs, kidneys, state of mind etc. I'm going to say No as I'm not prepared to send him for such a big op and an anaesthetic 12 or fewer days before his 87th birthday. He is so looking forward to turning 87 as he will then be the "oldest Woods".

We also put up the Christmas lights today along with most of the neighbourhood and already we have "tourists" driving around. I love to hear the children's voice and the wonder and excitement that they get.

Summer has arrived here and the weather for the past week has been simply glorious - long may it last!

I will get around to a family letter this year .... I hope!

New toys

So glad to have hubby home and also very pleased with the toys he brought. I got an iPad and an iPhone! And two pairs of pearl earrings. Photo to come

What a week!

Hubby has been gone since last Thursday.

Monday: Buy some basic groceries, pick Colin up. get home put some pies in the oven, back at school by 6.30pm for Prizegiving. What a lovely event this is! Always good to see students honoured and ther proud parents

Tuesday: first bowls practice ans I finally got given a lesson! I'm the teacher in charge and I don't know how to play! Pies again Back to school for Maths tutorial. For years we offered free lessons during lunchtimes and at best we may have had tow or three arrive. Now we offer them at night and charge $5 and have over 100 arrive. Huh?

Wednesday was almost a free afternoon although I was tired so didn't do much and we ordered in pizza. Ross got a certificate for Second in Geography! He also did well in Maths, Science and Economics. He has 30 Excellence level credits and 112 credits in total with another 70 odd to come in externals

Thursday: first day of junior exams and the Yr 10s who were supposed to be rostered home had to go to school. Only 11 present in Colin's class so I signed him out and we went shopping and preparing for the prizegiving we catered at on Thursday evening. We were ready to serve just after 5pm and I must say it looked great. As usual, I had too much food. Dropped Colin home at 6.58pm and went straight back to school for the last of our tutorials. We all went out for a drink afterwards, and even though I had had a long busy day I went anyway. And I didn't take any photos!

Friday: I woke up feeling not very well. I have been so pleased that I went right through winter without getting a cold, but now I have one. Yr 9 exams to mark.

Today I am taking it easy and I'm not even sure that I want to do any laundry! I am marking, so I might just do the urgent stuff and leave the rest for hubby for Tuesday!