Monthly Archives: May 2012

Things that make you smile

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It was my birthday today and we were all woken up early by hubby for our traditional early morning present ritual.


As hubby was going into hospital this month and he wasn’t sure how long he would be out of commission, he purchased gifts and cards some weeks ago for my birthday.  In fact he purchased them with son no 3 and 4 just before son no 3’s birthday earlier this month.


This morning I get 3 cards which I open one by one as follows:

  • Card 1 – From hubby wishing me a very happy birthday
  • Card 2 – BLANK – was supposed to be from Son no 3……  Apparently son no 4 was supposed to get him to sign it which he forgot to do
  • Card 3 – as follows:


As you can see – it clearly was not meant for me.  It was a card from son no 4 to son no 3 for his birthday earlier this month which he never gave him.  (You can feel the brotherly love)

So they agreed they would make their own cards for me during the course of the day.  And this is what I got from son no 3:

It certainly gave me a reason to smile!

Oh I love them dearly

What is a parents job

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Over the years hubby and I have had some challenging decisions to make regarding the rearing of our children – just like any other parent I suppose.  The one thing we agreed upon right from the beginning was that we would always be open with our children and able to speak freely about anything and everything with our children. 


Hubby and I have never encouraged any form of censorship and have never banned our kids from doing anything. If we say no to something – there is a very clear reason why and we are happy to explain this decision to our children.  We have always encouraged them to ask why and challenge any decision and not to take anything at face value.  We grew up in a society where children were seen and never heard and I vowed I would never bring my children up like this.

We have always been very irritated when a cinema has decided to not let us in due to age restriction on certain films and have always thought that it is our decision as parents to decide whether or not a film is suitable material for our children.  They are free to recommend some form of age restriction but you cannot box all children into a specific category.  They are all very different and very unique.


I firmly believe that as parents, we have 1 job only – and that is to make sure our children are able to survive in the big wide world on their own one day.  And this means exposing them to life and helping them to understand life – the good, the bad and the ugly.  


One of the most important conversations you should have with your children is conversations about sex.  Please note that I have used the plural – “conversations”.  This should not be a single conversation that you should feel obliged to have when your child becomes a teenager – this should be an ongoing open, honest conversation with your child from the day they are born.  Obviously these conversations should be age appropriate in the language you use, but you should never shy away from talking about the subject.  


I came across a post today which reflects a lot of my own thoughts and opinions.  Please go along and have a read and let me know your thoughts ……
http://blog.thebedroom.co.za/2012/05/how-do-you-talk-to-your-kids-about-sex.html

Wanna get Naked

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Well it is Tuesday morning. Life has settled once more. Apologies not not posting last week. It was a bit of a hectic week looking after hubby after his surgery, and not to mention the mood I was in.


Hubby is feeling much better. I have been changing his dressings daily – he still has stitches and drains from the surgery and he needs to go back to the Doc on Thursday to have it all removed.


Hubby’s sugar levels have dropped dramatically. He used to be on over 200u’s of insulin daily – now only takes 8u’s and hopefully the Doc will tell him to stop taking insulin altogether as his levels are well within normal levels. He has also started to lose weight. So all good stuff.

Hubby slept back in bed last night for the first time since his surgery. He has been sleeping on the couch as it was easier to get up from the couch. If fact I woke up in the middle of the night – to pee (it’s a middle aged thing – I have to pee in the middle of the night). Anyway, as I got back into bed I heard the obligatory “you wanna get naked” from hubby. Half asleep, I uttered a few four letter words back. I could also see him drooling when I got out of the bath this morning. So he is obviously feeling much better.


I am currently sitting at the Orthodontist rooms. Son no 3 is having his braces taken off at long last. He has had them on for 2 and a half years now and he really wants them off. From here I have to rush him back to school to write an exam which was scheduled for first thing this morning. As I had to make the Orthodontist appointment 7 weeks ago, I was unable to reschedule it so I had to write letters to the school and beg the teacher to please allow him to write at a different time to the rest of his grade. So he is not allowed to talk to anyone and has to report straight to her when he leaves the orthodontist.


I finally blew up yesterday morning. Son no 4 was not well yesterday morning – he had a sore tummy. He has missed quite a bit of school this year and I was really annoyed about him missing more and something just snapped and I blew up. I yelled and screamed and shouted at him and anyone else in my path for about 15 minutes. And then sulked for a few hours. It did make me feel so much better though. Haven’t got over the guilt of raising my voice yet.


It is my birthday next week so I have to do a birthday list – will post it in a few days.

Ticking Time Bomb

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I am so glad the week is over.  It started with hubby in hospital recouping after his op.  I had a list of things I wanted to get done while he was in hospital – you know those little things that you never get the time to do.  Things like doing the filing, a little household maintenance, tidying up and putting things away that have been laying in a pile for weeks waiting to be put back into their rightful place.
 
But I slumped…  I just was not in the mood.  The filing sat on the side table in a pile – nagging at me.  I lost all interest in everything – including my blog.
 
Hubby duly came back home on Tuesday and my mood just got worse.  It is difficult to explain.  I am not depressed, I am  not happy, I am not sad, I am not angry, I am not particularly anything.  The best way to describe my mood is that I feel like a ticking time bomb – ready to explode – for no particular reason.  And I am trying desperately to hold on to my sanity and reasoning.
 
And the guilt just gets worse.  I feel guilty for feeling like this.  I feel guilty that I want to kick the dog.  I feel guilty that I want to punch hubby in the face.  I feel guilty about being in a shitty mood – but I just cannot snap out of it.  I sent a couple of snarly emails yesterday to our local neighbourhood action group bitching about the refuse not being collected  – and it felt so good.  To just let some steam off. 

And then I read my friends latest post on her blog today “Menopausal Mean” and it explained it all.  I still feel like I want to explode but at least I know why. 

Perhaps I should invest in a punching bag!

Today’s the Day

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So today is the big day.  Hubby is having a gastric bypass today. 


The op was planned in January already.  Since then he has had to see:

  • A Dietitian – who has been monitoring his eating habits 
  • A shrink – just to make sure he is sane 
  • A specialist surgeon – who specialises in gastric bypass 
  • A Endocrinologist – who has been dealing with his diabetes and working with the dietitian to get his glucose levels under control

They have all had to do some form of motivation for him to have the procedure and to get our medical aid to pay for it (or most of it anyway). 


We were here at the hospital at 6am this morning.  Waited for the receptionist to get her first  cup of coffee (she is not a morning person) and once he was booked in, we made our way to the surgical ward and we were shown into a private ward. 


Not sure why he is in a private ward – may be because he SNORES (he is under the impression that the doctor just likes him!)  But who is complaining (about the private ward, not the snoring….) 


The hospital is brand new – only opened a few months ago and it is just up the road from where we live.  So everything looks so nice and clean and comfortable – the curtains match the chairs, beds and mattresses are brand new and that sort of thing. 


I have brought my basket of things to do today which includes the following:

  • Assortment of magazines (read them already) 
  • My iPad so I can spend some time catching up on reading all my favourite bloggers 
  • My laptop – because I planned to do a post on my blog today and I just cannot post from my iPad – it is just too clumsy.

My brother and his wife have been already and I joined them for a quick breakfast in the cafe.  Our eldest son and his wife will be popping in later as well to keep me company. 


Hubby has had an issue with his stomach ever since I have known him and he has had a problem with his weight for the last 20 odd years.  He had diverticulur disease back in 2003 and had a colostomy which was reversed 6 months later.  Since then he has also been diabetic.


His diabetes has been out of control and it has taken a lot of hard work getting his glucose levels to an acceptable level.  He currently injects himself with insulin 5 times a day with a combination of long and short acting insulin (if that is the right terminology). 


In theory this procedure will cure the diabetes.  This procedure will also probably make his gout flare up and apparently this is due to the massive weight loss that will occur. 


He has been on a special diet for the last 2 weeks – 1 week of soft foods and 1 week of smooth soups and smoothies.  He will be on a special diet after the op as well – couple of days of clear liquids, then soups, then soft foods and then slowly introducing him to real food again.  Should take about 4-6 weeks. 


He will only be able to eat small amounts of food at a time and because his stomach will be much smaller and his intestines re-routed, he will not absorb as much food / nutrients anymore.  He will have to take vitamin supplements for the rest of his life.  


He is so looking forward to not having to inject himself and test his glucose levels a gazillion times each day (and hopefully loosing some weight) and I am so looking forward to 4 or 5 days of peace and quiet at home while he is in hospital. 

Birthday’s

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It is Son no 3’s 15th birthday tomorrow.  It becomes more difficult to buy my sons gifts as they get older.  I haven’t been in a toy store for years.  Gifts seem to consist of gadgets nowadays.  So although he is only getting 2 gifts – they cost a small fortune.  No more wrapping paper either – re-usable gift bags are the way to go.  I remember the days when the wrapping paper was more appreciated than the gift – it provided hours of fun when they were little.

He had his post-op check-up last Thursday with the Orthopedic Surgeon.  (View my previous post about how he broke his wrist here:   http://www.lifecherries.com/2012/04/fashion-shows-and-boys-will-be-boys.html )

His wrist is looking good.  We finally got to see the pins – he has 2 pins in his wrist – just there sticking out.  Looks quite gross actually.  Apparently if he was a little older – they would have put a plate in his wrist.  He had a new cast put on and another appointment made for the 7th of June to remove the cast and pins (They just pull the pins out apparently – no anesthetic!)  

He has been complaining of pain since his cast was changed and keeps saying he can feel the pins.  So today I took him back to the Doc to check on the pain.  Doc happily removed the cast to replace it – his skin is starting to grow over the pins – apparently quite normal.  The pins were obviously catching on the cast and he is feeling much better now that the cast has been replaced.

Hubby on his special liquid diet (soup) till Friday.  He goes in for a gastric bypass on Friday.    He should be in hospital for about 5 days.  So I am definitely having my fair share of hospitals this month.

Your Man Reminder

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I love clever advertising and I especially love clever advertising with a message.  Yesterday I came across a YOUTUBE video which featured half naked men (my favourite) with a message to deliver.


The video is by a Canadian company called Rethink Breast Cancer and stars various extremely good looking men explaining how to check your breasts. 



If you go to the Rethink Breast Cancer site or to the App Store, you can download an App to your iPhone or Android phone which reminds you to check your breasts – and you can even choose the hunky guy who will be reminding you.  Some of the features of the App include:

  • Customize – Update the App to fit your personal liking, with features that let you chose your man, his pose and more.
  • Hot Messages – You’ll love the attention your man gives to you, with messages like “Any guy would be lucky to have you” and “Give your breasts some TLC.”
  • Reminders – Tailor your calendar schedule with settings for weekly, monthly or surprise reminders directed by a sexy man of your choice.
  • Education – The App includes a special “signs and symptoms” tab to hone in on the importance of early detection.
  • Get Checked – Use a variety of scheduling options such as doctors’ appointments and many more.

So ladies – download the App and don’t forget to Feel your Boobies.


PS – watch the video all the way to the end….