Today didn't really go as we planned...

I have to say it is rather hilarious when your 4 year old tells a joke and she gets it all wrong.

Caitlyn: "Knock knock"
Terence: "Who's there?"
Caitlyn: "Salad"
Terence:  "Salad who?"
Caitlyn:  "Salad it's freezing out here"

Of course it actually goes "knock knock, who's there?, lettuce, lettuce who? lettuce in it's cold out here".

Other than Bianca's cheerleading showcase, we didn't have any plans today.   Or rather I should say Terence really wanted to go to the book fair again this morning.  But instead we were going through the  phone book in search of a vet that was open.  Yes, poor Looey's leg was still rather sore and she was still not putting any weight on it.  We didn't have many options available to us and most vets were closed today.  So we had an option to travel an hour into the city, an hour to Lower Hutt or to one that was in Paremata about 35 minutes away.  So Paremata it was.


Looey was so not impressed to be inside the SPCA carrier box and it brought back vivid memories the time my mum moved from her house 300km away and we had travel with her 2 cats.  We didn't have a cat carrier at the time and the only thing the local pet shop had that morning was a bird cage.  Not ideal, not pleasant, two very agitated cats and the longest 300km I ever experienced. 

Not impressed to be in the carrier box...

At the vet the kids were absolutely fascinated with all the bits and pieces.

I was really surprised that Looey was relatively calm at the vet.  Usually she runs away when she sees other people (other than us that would be), but absolutely no struggle from her today.

It would seem that her one leg is definitely swollen, but not broken and the vet suspects a cat bite.  So 1 anti-inflammatory and pain relief injection, a set of antibiotic tablets, instructions from the vet on how to give the cat the pills and $104 later we went home.

Tonight we'll have to see if giving Looey her evening tablet will be as simple and straight-forward as the vet showed us or whether it will be a scene similar to this:

HOW TO GIVE A CAT A PILL (click here for source):
Pick the cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill in. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.


Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat again in left arm and repeat process.


Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.


Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm while holding back paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut to the count of ten.


Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from the top of wardrobe.


Call spouse from garden. 


Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, holding front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand, while forcing wooden ruler into mouth with the other. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.


Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make a note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.


Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with ear just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil, insert end of straw and BLOW.


Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans and drink a beer to take away the taste. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.


Retrieve cat from neighbour's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck just leaving head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with rubber band.


Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour a shot and drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for last date of tetanus shot. Bathe cheek with whiskey to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw bloody, torn t-shirt away and fetch another from bedroom. Then call fire department to retrieve the freaking cat from the tree across the street.


Apologise to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat.


Take last pill from foil wrap. Tie the little so and so's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Get heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth, followed by a large piece of steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two liters of water down throat to wash pill down.


Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to emergency room. Sit quietly while doctor stitches your fingers and forearm, and removes remnants of pill from your eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.


Arrange for pound to collect "mutant cat from hell", and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.


HOW TO GIVE A DOG A PILL:
Wrap it in bacon.

Wish us luck...

This afternoon Bianca had her cheerleading showcase.  It is effectively a practise run for the competition next weekend.  Unfortunately Bianca's uniform hasn't arrived yet, but will be here early in the coming week.  Their routine is so cute! 

 

What did you get up to today?

A few things we got up to on a Saturday

Can you say "Just a statistic" really fast?  (credit to Joanne Watson).

Ha-ha, I should get myself one of these.  Thanks for sharing Kate Hemming Richards

Thank you to Bruce Lake, Scott Rice, Judy Humphris and Hannah Beale for your donations!  It is very much appreciated.  If you would like to sponsor me to get my hair shaved for the Child Cancer Foundation, please click on this link.

What's that?  Could that really be?  After a week of rainy and overcast weather, this was sure a welcome sight!

This morning Bianca had to go and help out at a car wash which is part of the cheerleading fundraising.

 

And then we went to the annual charity book fair.  They had something like 60,000 books.  We have been looking forward to it the whole year.

Poor Looey - her one paw is sore and she is not putting any weight on it.  Unfortunately no vet was available and since she is eating and it doesn't seem an emergency we'll just keep an eye on her for now.

And other than Bianca's weekly cheerleading practise, just a quiet Saturday for us. 

Some Friday happenings

This morning I had my very first physio session ever.  I have never been to a physio before and really didn't know what to expect. Thanks for the recommendation Paul!  It would seem that it is a peroneal tendon injury or something and might take 2 weeks or maybe 8 weeks (sigh!).  So who knows when I might be able to really get going with my running. The therapist wanted to do accupuncture, but I'm a big fat baby not big on needles to be honest, so he did massaging instead.  Got some good advice on getting started again. So next appointment Monday morning at 7am.

After my physio appointment I had to go and get 2 documents certified by a Justice of the Peace.  So yesterday I found somebody, made an appointment and was all set.  Got there this morning and... she went to a meeting.  A meeting she knew about.  So I was not too impressed.  Thankfully the lady at the community centre was able to find me somebody else to go to in Raumati Beach so Caitlyn and I set off.  I've never really been to any of shops there, but always drive past when we go to swimming.  The JP was at this really cool second hand bookstore, completely packed with books.  I definitely think it will be worth going back there again. 

Sarah and I chatted a bit about some of the arrangements of the Funrazor this afternoon and I think we are starting to get it all worked out in our minds.  And quite possibly we might have a solution if we are really not able to sort staging.  Of course proper staging would be great, but I think the other solution might also work if we had no choice.  Will have to go chat to the likes of Mitre 10 or Bunnings or Placemakers and hopefully they won't think I'm completely mad. 

How was your Friday?  And what are your plans for the weekend?

Just to make you smile

I recently read this somewhere:

A principal of a small middle school had a problem with a few of the older girls starting to use lipstick. When applying it in the bathroom they would then press their lips to the mirror and leave lip prints.

Before it got out of hand he thought of a way to stop it. He gathered all the girls together that wore lipstick and told them he wanted to meet with them in the ladies room at 2pm.

They gathered at 2pm and found the principal and the school caretaker waiting for them. The principal explained that it was becoming a problem for the caretaker to clean the mirror every night. He said he felt the ladies did not fully understand just how much of a problem it was and he wanted them to witness just how hard it was to clean.

The caretaker then demonstrated. He took a long brush on a handle out of a box. He then dipped the brush in the nearest toilet, moved to the mirror and proceeded to remove the lipstick.

That was the last day the girls pressed their lips on the mirror.

Amazing support

Yesterday, I have to be honest, I felt really stressed.  Not about the Funrazor event itself because we have most things organised, but whether there will actually be other people there on the day (and I lost my number for Rent a Crowd...).

It is silly really because we'll be right in the middle of a busy shopping centre, at a time when lots of people will be out and about...  But suddenly I had these visions of the 4 of us (Mike Begbie, Matt Carlin, Terence and me) sitting there ready to get our hair shaved, Paul and his singing group ready to entertain and Daizy Design Facepainters all ready to paint and not a single person in sight.  You know when you see these movies and they show this ghost town with the tumbleweed rolling down the street and you can hear the wind howling around the corners of old buildings?  That was the image that kept popping up in my mind.  And I hate failure.  Like in big time.

Two things are really my downfall - one is that I let my ideas grow too big.  I can't just do something simple and small like normal people, and after our hospital visit I thought to myself "okay, that's it - I did my bit and I (hopefully) made a difference and that was my good deed for the year", but now?  Now I'm back onto the next project. A big one this time!  The other downfall is my fear of failure. It is what often holds me back taking chances, and when I do take a chance, then this fear drives me insane.  It makes me over-analyse the situation, question myself over and over whether it will work out.  And of course throw my perfectionism into the mix and I end up driving myself beyond the perfectly okay "it is good enough".  For me it has to be perfect!

Am I sorry that I took on this big project?  No. Supporting the Child Cancer Foundation is something I feel incredibly strong about.  The Child Cancer Foundation became family when we suddenly found ourselves on a completely lonely and difficult journey.  All our family are based overseas and nothing can ever prepare you to hear the words "your child has cancer".  It is the one time in life you really wish not to be picked for the team.  But we were picked.  And in an instant our lives changed.  Liked it or not, this was to become our new life. And if it was not for the support of the Child Cancer Foundation, I have no idea how we would have coped.  So I feel really strongly about giving something back.

I am simply amazed at the amount of support we have received for this event so far.  I feel incredibly blessed to know that there are so many who are trying to help make this a success.  To help make a difference.  There is Sarah who is helping me put this event together.  There are our friends Matt and Mike who will also be shaving their hair along with Terence and myself.  Both of them have been running around helping me organise spot prizes.  There is Coastlands for letting us use space at the mall.  Rodney Wayne will help us on the day.  There is Paul who kindly offered to bring his guitar and is even trying to organise some of his students to join him.  There is Paul's offer to donate $5 for every book / CD sold.  There is Daizy Design Facepainting who will paint faces with all money raised donated to CCF.  Gingersnaps Photography will be there to capture our day.  And for every person who sponsored Mike, Matt and myself on our fundraising pages.  And then all these companies who donated prizes to our event. 

 

There are still prizes coming in that have been promised and that we are waiting to arrive.  We're not quite there yet with the arrangements, but wow, I just feel so incredibly blessed!  The support is simply amazing!  Thank you!

Wordless Wednesday

A little note from Bianca to brighten my day!

Okay second entry for today

Firstly I have to say thank you to Bruce Lake for sponsoring me.  Thank you so very much.  Every little bit will make a huge difference.  If you would like to sponsor me, please click on this link.  It is a secure site and even if you are outside New Zealand you can still sponsor me!

What do you think of these?

They are amazing aren't they? 

Well today I am very excited to announce that Daizy Design Facepainting has kindly offered to be at our Funrazor event.  So now for $5 your kids (or you) can have a full face painted or for $3 a smaller image on the face.  And all money will go directly to the Child Cancer Foundation.  So make sure you bring the kiddies and be part of the fun!

And also a big thank you to Quantum Events for sending me 5 Beach Towels and blueseventy Vision swim goggles to use as spot prizes.  Quantum Events is the company behind the State New Zealand Ocean Swim Series.  They have some great events for kids, people who just want to have a bit of fun and those into serious competition.  Their upcoming events are:

• State Harbour Crossing - 13 November 2011
• State Paihia Classic - 10 December 2011
• State Capital Classic in Wellington - 29 January 2012
• La Grande Swim Akaroa - 19 February 2012
• State Sand to Surf - 10 March 2012
• King of the Bays - 31 March 2012

And for those in the Auckland area, keep an eye out on this website for details of their State Beach Series which is always good fun!

I am extremely blessed to have such good support!  Thank you thank you thank you to all involved in helping me make this event a success!!!

What a day!

Today was meant to be a calm, quiet day.  A day where I would drop off kids to school, come back and update my to do list, and catch up on some chores here at home - you know like dishes and tidying up and so on.  Catch my breath in between, drink a cup of tea and patiently wait for Bianca's day to be finished.

But instead this day was anything but calm and quiet.  It was busy!  Apart from the chores (yes, there really is no getting out of it...), I had to go to the bank this morning to sort out a document I need for something we are busy sorting that I can't quite talk about just yet.  Then I had to go to the post office to pick up the thingy-majig that Terence recently ordered for me that came when I was out and they left a card.  Then I had a telephone appointment with my CCF contact to go through the list of things I need to still do for my event and to see what he can help with.  And then my doctor's appointment.  I decided this morning that I wanted my ankle looked at to see if there is anything different I can do to make it get better.  Turned out I have swelling over the dorsiflexors.  See, it wasn't just an excuse to get out of running...  But it does mean I now have to go see a physio.  Oh the joys!

I do have to do another blog entry, but you'll just have to come back later and read!

How was your Tuesday?

Monday morning bike rides

I have come to realise that cycling is a heck of a lot easier than running (well for most of it anyway, uphills are still hard regardless of whether I am running or cycling).

Sadly my ankle is still rather painful and there is no way I can even attempt a slow jog. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually missing the running sessions. Even though I know that when I manage to start running again I will probably end up feeling half dead.

This morning my cold seems mostly better.  Apart from a runny nose, there are no other major symptoms today.  Certainly no coughing (thank goodness) and my head doesn't feel all blocked up like it did on Friday.  And so I decided that since it is a quiet morning and most of Waikanae are probably still recovering from a late night watching the rugby, it would be fine to go out for a bike ride.  And so off I went and I found that even though my ankle is painful walking / running, it coped very well on the bike. So I think for now, I might just stick to some bike rides. 

I won't be doing the Monday torture sessions anymore.  Unfortunately with Bianca's gymnastics session also on a Monday, it is just too hard to manage dropping her off, getting myself to my training session and finding a solution with getting Terence at the time he comes back from work.  I tried to move Bianca's gym session, but they only had Wednesdays and then unfortunately only with a group of girls about 2 years younger than her.  And I didn't want to do that to her.  She enjoys her current group and the year is so nearly over that it doesn't seem fair to shift her to another day.  But that doesn't mean I'm giving up.  The same trainer has a Wednesday morning class.  A slightly different class, but he said it would be suitable for somebody like me (I now just need to get my stupid ankle better!!!!).

This afternoon the girls and I will head off to the movies.  One of Terence's train buddies has been nagging him for some computer lessons or something and so instead of watching the boys do their thing, we'll go and have a girls' day out I think.

Hope your Monday is going well.  Feels a bit like a Sunday to me, but that's only because it is a public holiday and I guess tomorrow will feel a bit like Monday.  I better not forget that schools start again tomorrow...

Small world!

You don't quite realise how small the world really is. 

I will never forget - shortly after we moved here to the Kapiti Coast (wow, that's more than a year ago already), I went to one of the stores one day and as I was there looking at the items on the shelf, one of the shop assistants walked towards us and then said "You are Bianca's mum aren't you?  And you just moved from Auckland?"  I was stumped.  Turned out she has been a follower of our blog for a while and in all the time I have been blogging (since 2007) and the times I (and Bianca) have been in the paper and the one time we were on National TV on the Good Morning show, I have never been randomly recognised by anybody following my blog.  Okay I lie, there was one time at the Nature's Discovery store where somebody came up to us and gave Bianca a little fridge magnet they bought because they have been following her story on our blog and recognised her that day.

Last night Bianca had a sleepover with her friends and so today when I picked her up, Tracy took me through to the kitchen explaining that she had something to share.  As we walked in she asked me if I recognised the lady who was there.  I didn't and then they told me how this lady was also at Wellington Children's Hospital with her daughter way back in 2007 just when Bianca was first admitted.  She remembered seeing us there and Caitlyn from when she was a baby and how exhausted I looked at the time.  This lady saw Bianca's photo on Matt's fundraising page and instantly recognised her.  Turned out she not only remembered us from way back then, but also read our blog entries and saw us on TV. 

Wow, what a small world!

A special offer

Yesterday I picked up Bianca's cold.  She's had a cough for a few days now and finally I caught it (I really need to teach her that sometimes sharing is not really caring...  I mean if it was chocolate she was sharing, then sure, but a cold... not so much!)  So today I'm just taking it easy and actually just need to update my to do list so I can feel a bit more organised.

Yesterday afternoon I managed to secure the hair salon.  Rodney Wayne at Coastlands Mall has kindly agreed to help us out. 

Yesterday also Paul kindly offered to become involved with the Funrazor event.  He (and hopefully a few of his students) will be there performing some of his songs.  So that is entertainment sorted.  Now if I can sort the crowds, I would feel much more confident... 

Paul has also made another very kind offer.  For every copy of his book / cd "You're not eating me" that he will be selling, he will donate $5 to CCF.  So this is your chance to not only contribute to a great cause, but it is a chance for you to buy an affordable present for a lucky someone this Christmas!  Let me tell you about this book.  It was written by Paul Forster and beautifully illustrated by one of the students at Waikanae School - Chelsea Osborne.  I tell you, the detail she has put in these illustrations are amazing!  This is one of Bianca and Caitlyn's favourite stories right now.  And they simply love the songs on the CD that is included with the book.

Here are some photos showing a few of the pages of the "You're not eating me" book.

On the CD there are 13 songs including the title track "You're not eating me".  This is the same song Paul recently performed during our hospital visit.

Tracks on the CD:

• You're not eating me (click to listen to a snippet)
• Chasing Rainbows
• Back to nature trip (click to listen to a snippet)
• School year starts
• Run with the wind
• Day off school
• Innocent creatures
• Vigour of youth (click to listen to a snippet)
• School age friendship
• Haven't done nothing (click to listen to a snippet)
• Battle of life (click to listen to a snippet)
• Summer holidays
• Seems only yesterday

To buy a copy of this delightful and beautiful picture book along with a CD of songs, you can email Paul directly at jo.paulf@paradise.net.nz.

Things that go bump in the night and a confirmation!

I had a look this morning and I think we'll need to get a few more swan plants.  I think there are just too many eggs for our little plants and I don't fancy squashing any... (to see pictures of our special visitor, click here).

We woke up last night (or early this morning I should say) at around 2:40am.  Yes, that's am and not pm...  Not a good time for any person to wake up...  We heard a noise.  Like the cats got onto the counter and bumped a bunch of things off or something, so Terence insisted that I got up to sort it out (sure, send your wife out to go sort out weird noises in the night...).  Switched on the living room light and both cats were sitting up on the couch. Nothing seemed out of place and I thought maybe they just chased each other around a bit.  As I was about to switch off the light again, I heard a noise coming from the laundry area and I rushed to go see what it was (very brave of me considering I didn't know what or who it might have been and I certainly didn't grab anything I could possibly use to defend myself against whatever was making the noise).  Turned out it was a big black and white cat that came in through the cat door.  Now whether he (or she) was high on catnip and got the wrong house on his way back from a night out, or whether he wanted to just pay our cats a visit (because really who needs sleep?), who knows?  But it got a massive fright when it saw me and tried to get back out except somebody (a little somebody named Bianca it turned out...) thought she was being helpful and locked the cat door so the cats could come in, but not back out (in the hope they won't bring in mice from outside).  Finally managed to get the cat to go out again and then it was back to sleep.  Too much excitement for that time of the night!!!

It is now confirmed, the Kapiti Funrazor event will take place on Sunday 20 November (I will confirm the actual start and finish time), but it is happening!  No turning back now!  And we have a great spot.  We'll be in the middle section of Coastlands Mall, so if you come through the entrance by Countdown, that's where you will see us!  And if you live in the area, I will expect to see you there!

I would love it if you could join me and get a haircut that will make a real difference.  You don't have to go all size zero, you can do size 2 even if it would make you feel better.  But if not, there will be other ways for you to make a donation and contribute.

So far we have some pretty cool spot prizes.  If you have some great ideas for other spot prizes and feel like donating some to me, make sure you email me at Leawhite2109@gmail.com.  The one prize in particular - a big block mounted signed poster of the Vodafone Wellington Lions rugby team kindly donated by the Wellington Rugby Football Union, I'll need to think about the best way to use this one.  It is a bit too big for a spot prize, so we might be looking at doing a raffle or something.

Sorry, my photography doesn't really do it justice:

Then right now I also have some pizza discount vouchers and meat vouchers and waiting for a few more items.  So your donation on the day at my event, might very well make you a winner....

Bianca will also put her public speaking hat on - come and listen to Bianca making her speech at our event and come check out her beads.  Bianca would love to share them with you!

A very special visitor!

Thank you Sam and Sarah for your sponsorship.  Much appreciated!  If you would like to sponsor me, you can do it here.

Am starting to feel really excited about the upcoming event.  So far I am getting some amazing support from local businesses and we will have a number of exciting spot prizes!  One in particular which I should have (hopefully by tomorrow) I might have to look at auctioning off rather, so something I will be thinking about...

This afternoon Bianca and I saw a beautiful Monarch Butterfly visiting our new swan plants.  So cool!  It reminded me of when I did this blog entry way back in 2009 (click here to read).

It was amazing to watch this butterfly as she laid her eggs.  And the kids are extremely excited too.  Caitlyn has already decided what she will name her caterpillars (I hope her daycare friends and teachers will be pleased that the caterpillars will be named after them...).
 

 

I tried to take photos of the butterfly as it was flying around, but you don't quite realise just how fast they are. 

As you can see, I'm not a very good action shot photographer...

Not so quiet in the end...

Okay, so my day wasn't as quiet as I thought it would be. 

Suddenly things are starting to move with the Kapiti Funrazor event.  Heard back from my CCF contact and left a message for Coastlands.  Looks likely the event will now be on Saturday the 19th of November. 

And then I got busy starting to organise some spot prizes and so far I have 2 vouchers, tomorrow will likely have another voucher (or 2) from another company, my previous boss is sending me some cool things and I'm waiting to hear from a whole batch of other places.  All very exciting. 

At this stage it will definitely be me, Terence and 2 friends participating and I'm hoping a few more people will join us on the day.  So please please please spread the word and ask if anybody else would consider joining.  They can email me at Leawhite2109@gmail.com and I can send them all the info on getting registered and getting a fundraising page set up.  If the hair salon we manage to secure is happy we might even be able to offer hair spraying for a donation for those who aren't quite as brave.

I still have quite a few things on my list I need to look at and try and tick off, but so far things are moving along nicely. 

And please consider sponsoring me.  Every little bit will make a big difference!

A quiet Wednesday

Today will just be a fairly quiet day at home.  Just Bianca and me (or is it I?).  Caitlyn is at daycare so maybe Bianca and I will play some Dominion today or something.   Has been a while since we played that, so could be fun!

I won't be doing any running today because my ankle is still quite sore.  Is rather frustrating, but nothing much I can do about it (sigh!). 

Yesterday Bianca had a cheerleading practice and I only saw a little bit of it, but it is starting to look really good.  Not long before their competition.  Which reminds me I need to book our flights to Auckland!   

Recently heard this song on the radio and must say I think it is one of my favourites right now!

What's on your agenda today?

What's on at your house?

Currently there aren't a lot of television programmes that we simply MUST watch. 

Years ago in South Africa I used to watch Egoli pretty much every night and also 7de Laan.  There were a few others when I grew up - some of my South African readers might remember shows like Saartjie, Sonkring, Konings and Ballade vir 'n Enkeling (oh those were the days...).  And later on I was a fan of Survivor and Amazing Race (but not so much these days).  Just when we moved here I started watching Shortland Street.  And I watched it for quite a while.  But then got to a point where I just became bored with the drawn out story lines. 

Some of the shows we currently enjoy watching (but not the point where it will matter if we ever missed an episode) are shows like Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules and Top Chef (and no, I still can't cook like they do and no, when I dish up it looks nothing like they are doing it on any of these shows).  We also enjoy watching Top Gear and Terence enjoys Mythbusters. 

When Gilmore Girls was on, that was a show I simply could not miss. So much so that I bought all the DVDs and often watch them all over again.  Yes, I'm nuts, I know!  And tonight I am very excited that the second series of Downton Abbey will begin, and that will be another show I will not be missing if I can help it.  I watched the first series and really enjoyed it, so looking forward to see what will be happening now in Series 2.  There is just something about the characters, the costumes, the drama...

Which shows do you enjoy watching?

Thoughts on a Monday

Firstly thank you to my friend Rose (and family) and Leah (and Angel Kael) for the sponsorship!  Every little bit will make a difference.   If you would like to sponsor me, you can do it here.  Am waiting for CCF to get back to me so some decisions can be made...

Tonight I will be missing the training session I had last week.  I did something (no idea what) and today my ankle is rather tender, so decided to give it a miss this week.  Was rather keen to go (yes, sometimes I am a sucker for punishment), but last week took me nearly a week to recover to the point where I could comfortably lift my arms, so if my ankle is a bit sore, not sure if it will be a good thing if I sucked it up and went.  But next week I'll be there again (did I mention that sometimes I'm a sucker for punishment???). 

The running sessions this past weekend I found to be a bit of a mental challenge and I found myself wondering at which point will it get easier and more comfortable (for me).  At which point will I either be able to run a bit further than I do now or run quicker?  I know these things take time, but unfortunately I am an incredibly impatient person and I don't like feeling as if I'm not making progress.  Of course that is silly because looking back I can see that there was a time not all that long ago where running for 1 minute was nearly impossible and now I can go for quite a bit longer before it becomes a mental struggle.  But I guess it wasn't supposed to be an easy process...

This weekend I also managed to fill the one garden box with soil and will now have to order more soil because I don't have enough for the other boxes.  But at least I will be able to make a start with planting some seeds. 

Other than that it is a good thing that today is a low-key day.  Am not in the best frame of minds today, so will just be hiding out at home while the kids have a friend around.

Hope your Monday is going well and that your week will be wonderful. 

Making a start

This coming week I will finalise the date for the Kapiti Funrazor event.  I am hoping to have it on Saturday 10 December, but will confirm really soon!  And if you are in the Kapiti area I want to see you there on that day!!!! 

Did you know:

More than three children on average per week in New Zealand are diagnosed with cancer. Each year New Zealand children with cancer collectively undergo an astounding 75,000 treatments and procedures throughout their journey. For each one they receive a Bead of Courage… The Child Cancer Foundation is committed to supporting children with cancer and their families from the time of diagnosis, throughout their journey of treatments and subsequently the transition back into the community.

By shaving your lid for a brave kid, you'll be helping to raise the $3 million required each year for child and family support services.

At this stage, this is how you can help:

• Register here to shave your hair in support of brave kids like Bianca.  You will then get an email with instructions on how to register your fundraising page.  
• Sponsor me.  You can sponsor me online using a secure system (click here for my fundraising page).  Now, even if you are in another country, you are still able to sponsor me!  The site is in NZ$, so to work out in your local currency, click here.  Every little bit will make a big difference!
• If you would like to get involved with my event, please email me at Leawhite2109@gmail.com.  Especially if you have some contacts who could help organise some spot prizes or if you are able to offer your time and help with some form of entertainment during the event, maybe you can help take before and after photos of the participants or maybe you are good at helping to set up or shaking a bucket - you know, those sort of things...

Summary of Bianca's journey:

• Diagnosed beginning June 2007 2 weeks before turning 4
• Endured 830 days of treatment
• Collected more than 1,300 Beads of Courage
• 652 days of chemo (IV, sub-cut, injections into the muscle, tablets, spine)
• 142 Finger pricks, port accesses and injections
• 47 Blood Product transfusions (Red Blood, Platelets, IVIG)
• 43 Clinic Visits
• 4 NG Tube insertions
• 4 Times where Bianca lost her hair or it thinned significantly
• 20 Lumbar Punctures
• 73 Different tests such as x-rays, CT Scan, Ultrasound, Echo, nose swabs, etc
• 117 Days spent in hospital. All of these were for various infections
• 112 days where Bianca was isolated, had a fever or was neutropenic
• 1 Surgery to insert a port
• 1 Port insertion
• 16 Dressing changes
• 45 Days of IV Antibiotics (I probably missed some days)
• 4 Bone Marrow aspirates
• 41 Unusual things happened during treatment such as being on oxygen
• Bianca developed a severe allergic reaction to one of her chemo injections
• Bianca had a severe bronchospasm requiring immediate assistance
• Bianca had kidney stones
• Bianca had shingles 3 times
• Bianca was diagnosed with panhypogammaglobulinaemia

Please support brave kids like Bianca.  Every little bit will make a big difference.  Help me reach my goal!

It's blue and shiny and new...

Today I (or I should really say Terence) bought a new bike.  I used to have a bike when I was a kid riding to school every day.  Can't remember the make, but it was red and it had gears although I never used the gears and they just stayed in the third gear if I remember correctly. Will have to figure it out now that I have a bike again!

I've been going okay with the running and walking and decided that maybe adding a little bit of cycling (nothing like this though) into the mix would be interesting and this way I can go out and sometimes cycle with my friend Rose.  And since this one was on sale, the time seemed right!

It isn't particularly fancy and I certainly wasn't prepared to buy something that would cost me thousands of dollars, but I think it will do the trick!

I thought that it would be rather scary to get back on a bike after all these years (it's been like 18 years since I last rode a bike), but it wasn't too bad.  Okay granted I cycled around the side of town where we live where it wasn't particularly busy and I don't plan to cycle on busy motorways any time soon!

The weather has cleared up nicely after this morning's rain so I'll be spending time with my garden boxes this afternoon.  Between the running / walking, cycling and shovelling soil into garden boxes I simply have to start getting fit at some point in time!

It went rather fast!

Can't believe the first week of the school holidays is done and dusted.  On Monday after I broke up the 5th argument between the girls very early on in the day I did wonder how soon I might drop them back off at school, but since then this week has just gone so fast.  Caitlyn has had daycare Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  On Tuesday we had our hospital visit, on Wednesday and Thursday Bianca had a play date and today both girls had a short play date with other friends and I now have my next project to think about.  In between I have managed to keep up with my running / walking so am pleased about that.

Tonight I have to update the calendar.  Our days / weekends seem to fill up really fast at the moment and I am worried that I will forget about something important. 

I'm hoping it won't rain too much this weekend (looks like there might be a bit of rain) because I need to line my garden boxes and start filling them (anybody keen for a bring your own shovel party?), and thanks to the cat and / or rain we've had, my little greenhouse fell over and I now have to start all over again with my little seedlings.  But I suppose it is our own fault.  Terence and I thought it was super cute to buy some catnip and turned out the cat managed to actually find his way into the sealed greenhouse and probably thanks to that knocked everything over.  Sigh!  Won't be doing that again!!!!

Tomorrow Bianca has an early cheerleading practise session and on Sunday she is helping out at their fundraising sausage sizzle.  But other than that I don't think we have anything else planned.  Maybe we'll play some Dominion or Puerto Rico this weekend.

So what are you up to this weekend?

And it's happening...

I have managed to secure a venue for the Funrazor event.  No date yet (working on that), but we have a venue!!!  Thank you so very much to Coastlands Shopping Centre who is willing to let us use their space!  Now let the planning begin.  And spread the word because I need others to participate on this day!

I need people

On my List of 35 that I did for my 35th, one of the goals I have listed is to shave my hair again for the Child Cancer Foundation.  I did this in 2007, 2008 and 2009.  In 2007, I even made the front page of the Dominion Post!  Click on the links and go and have a read!

It felt wonderful to be able to help raise some money for the Child Cancer Foundation.  They don't get any funding, and rely on fundraising opportunities like Funrazor to help them do the job they need to do. 

I'll never forget the day we found out Bianca had cancer.  In September 2009 when Bianca finally finished her treatment for leukemia I wrote: 

It was 830 days ago that I arrived at the hospital and Terence stopped me before I could enter Bianca's room and he told me that the doctor said Bianca had leukemia. It was 830 days ago that I stood in the corridor, holding Caitlyn in my arms, staring at the wall wishing I would not cry as the tears streamed down my face. It was 830 days ago that I composed myself before I entered Bianca's room and made small-talk about the show she was watching, her room, and trying to keep things normal. It was 830 days ago that our lives changed.

And boy, did our lives change!  Just 2 days before Bianca was admitted to hospital I received a very exciting job opportunity, one that by the Monday I had to turn down.  And it was just us.  All our family were overseas and most of the friends we had at the time suddenly disappeared. 

From the moment we found out Bianca had cancer, CCF became part of our lives.  I remember Marg came into our room with this big bag of essentials and loads of reading material.  Marg organised a little impromptu birthday party for Bianca that first week because we had to cancel her proper 4th birthday party.  And it was so amazing having the emotional support.  Sometimes a phone call, other times somebody who would come and keep you company to make the long boring hours in an isolation room more bearable.  Sometimes petrol vouchers when you find it financially tough and still have to travel to the hospital for your child's treatment.  They introduce you to others who are walking the same journey as you.  There were many times where CCF was the voice we needed in our fight to keep some of the paediatric oncology services here in Wellington.  They stood up for us, when we were simply too exhausted to do anything.  Knowing that we did not have to walk the journey alone, made a huge difference!

So doing something like Funrazor where I shave my hair (or rather I prefer to get Bianca to help shave my hair) and raise money is incredibly rewarding and I get to give something back and support an organisation that makes such a huge difference!

This year, there will not be 1 Funrazor event in Wellington city.  Instead they are doing it a little bit different.  They are encouraging people to organise their own events - be it at their place or work (or school), their local salon or other place and then to encourage others to register for the event and / or support you. 

I am keen to try and organise a Kapiti event.  So I need people (and donations of course)!  I need people with contacts who could help me with a venue, I need people to help run it on the day i.e. hold buckets to collect donations and help with the registration of the participants, maybe people who could take before and after photos.  And I need people who will join me on this day.  While I don't mind being the only one shaving my hair, it is so much more fun doing it as a community thing.  There are a number of Kapiti kids who are currently (and previously) fighting cancer and sadly there likely will be going forward.  So this is one way you can show your support.  This is one way you can help kids (and their families) walking the child cancer journey. 

Please help me reach my goal and help make a difference!

Can you hear that?

Neither can I!  The house sure is quiet when the kids are not here.  Caitlyn is at daycare, Bianca has gone for a play with her friends and a sleepover tonight. 

Yesterday morning I was incredibly surprised when I got up.  After Monday night's torture training session (which I wrote about here) I honestly thought I would be really sore, but strangely I didn't hurt one bit.  And it was only later in the day that I felt a bit sore.  So I had high hopes.  Today I know that my muscles were simply still just in shock.  Today they are complaining and very loudly making their presence known.  And not just the leg muscles either, no all the other muscles!  I think for 35 years they were rather happy with the way things were, and then I had to go and work them so hard... 

But anyway...

Make sure you go and see this video clip.  This was one of the video clips I took yesterday during our visit to Wellington Hospital.  You can see Bianca and her teacher in action!  This clip was taken in the common area and we had quite the audience at that stage! 

The second video clip was taken when we visited the oncology day stay area where one young oncology patient was busy getting some treatment.  Paul gave her one of his books and the song he was singing is the title track which he wrote one day while out on a run.  This is the same picture book / CD Paul is currently selling.

So what are you up to today?

An amazing and rewarding day!

Today was simply amazing and I found it incredibly rewarding!  For a while now I've been working on an idea to take Bianca to Wellington hospital and deliver some craft activities to the kids on the ward.

I remember from the many many days we were in hospital with Bianca how incredibly boring it can be being stuck inside a hospital room and waiting for the hours to pass.  And as a parent of a sick child at times just staying positive and focused took a lot of effort leaving you rather exhausted so that you're not always able to come up with things to keep your child entertained.  And there were a number of days where our whole day would simply be brightened with a quick visit from somebody, perhaps somebody bringing something for Bianca to do, or a clown making a balloon animal and once we had a visit from the police dog unit, the SPCA and even the Armed Offender Squad!  Those are some cool memories we have from those days!

Since Bianca became ill I have always felt the need to give something back.  To make a difference.  To help make somebody smile.  And I wanted to involve my kids so that they will learn how very rewarding it can be to do something for another without expecting anything in return.  That seeing a face light up, a happy smile could be the most rewarding thing!

And so this morning we set off really early.  First we picked up Paul (Bianca's teacher) and of course Bianca and I thought it would be good to dress up a bit so Bianca and I were fairies and Paul (who assured us that pink probably wouldn't suit him very well) was a pirate.  Bianca also wore her beads of courage!

When we arrived at the hospital we met up with Kate, the play specialist.

Bianca presented Kate with a very very special bead.  Recently on the Beads of Courage Facebook group they asked us to nominate our wingman and we nominated Kate.  She was right there by our side through our most difficult days.  She made the journey far easier to handle and without her, I think we would have really struggled.  So she was definitely our wingman!  Kate, in my opinion, is the very best play specialist in New Zealand.

After our bead presentation we set off to the common area.  We displayed all the craft activity kits I put together and Paul entertained the kids with his singing and guitar playing.  The kids (and adults) really enjoyed it.

Bianca also walked around handing out balloons and stickers!  Being a Balloon and Sticker Fairy is a very important job!

My craft activity kits seemed popular. Bianca has this really cool activity book and so I chose a few activities that looked cool and put all the items inside a bag so that all each child would have to do was put the item together and if need be decorate it.  I also made a few more generic kits and had a few things for older kids.  It is rather hard to judge who might be on the ward at that time.  We left a whole bunch of craft items with Kate so that she will be able to share this with other kids at another time.

Today Paul also gifted a few copies of his picture book / CD (You're not eating me) which really made the kids happy.  And even more so when he signed it for them.

Bianca has a copy of this book / CD and she really enjoys it.  Paul still has a few copies for sale, so if you are looking for an affordable Christmas present, make sure you contact Paul at jo.paulf@paradise.net.nz.

I thought today was a great success.  And very rewarding!


Edited to add:

Make sure you also visit: http://glossaryking.blogspot.com/2011/10/pirates-and-fairies.html for more photos!

I wasn't going to do a second post today...

Tonight I willingly (I have to add) attended an exercise  a torture session.  It had to do with core strength or something and it was comforting to see I wasn't the only unfit beginner there tonight. 

And I had high hopes when we just started.  We had to take 11 steps (for the beginners.  The pros had to take 5 steps) and then lunge (was that the term?) and I think I did okay.  The trainer didn't have to correct my posture.  So I thought "hey, this is not so hard".  Yeah right.  That was just to get us all on their side.  The second activity we had to walk a number of steps and then do a push up.  The down bit was fine, the up not so much!  We did a few more things and then we had to walk up a hill.  And I looked at it and thought "oh that's not too bad.  That's just a little hill" - except it wasn't so little.  By that time, my legs felt like jelly.  And the one lady mentioned that at least I was still smiling to which I replied that I didn't have the energy to remove the smile...  We did a number of other things, but I can't remember what they were called and the trainer kept calling out the names of the different muscle groups - some of which I've never even heard of.  I think tonight I have discovered muscles in places I didn't know existed.

But even though it was hard, it was actually not that bad.  I found the trainer to be really flexible and making allowances for super unfit people like me.  And I coped (even though by the end of it I was ready to be done).  He did say after 3 sessions it will start getting easier.  I'm looking forward to that!

Glimpses of our weekend

We had a few unexpected visitors on Saturday.  Yes, the dreaded head lice made their appearance again. This time with Caitlyn.  And so we started treating and combing and no matter how much I tried, her hair kept knotting and knotting until finally I had enough and made the rather difficult decision to cut her hair.   Have to be honest though, that I think the shorter hair actually looks rather nice and will certainly be a bit easier to manage!

Yesterday morning we had to be at the Coastlands Shopping mall bright and early (by 10am).  Next month Bianca and her cheerleading group will be participating at their competition in Auckland and they are currently raising some money to help them get there.  So one of the things they asked the girls to do was to go busking and this is what Bianca helped with.  Normally she is a side / back base, but yesterday she was a flyer again.  I've covered the other girls' faces because I didn't get permission to have them on my blog.  Bianca doesn't yet have a uniform, but it will look like the ones in the photo!

In the afternoon I took the girls to go and see Smurfs and actually quite enjoyed it.  It had some really funny parts in it!

While we were out cheerleading and doing girls' stuff, Terence spent his day in the city.  Terence caught a train at 7am (yawn!) to join his company for their tenpin bowling game.  Something to do with Business Games or something.

And later on he caught up with friends who invited him along to the South Africa vs Australia rugby game.  They had really good seats.  Thank you Emerson and Christina!

While I was waiting for Terence to come home, I worked a bit on the activity packs I'll be needing for tomorrow.  I'm rather excited for tomorrow and so is Bianca!  More on this tomorrow.

And that was pretty much our weekend.  What did you get up to on the weekend?

I really hate this!

The thing I hate the very most about things like Facebook and forums and so on is how people sometimes use it to deliberately hurt another.  It is almost like they think hiding behind their online presence gives you permission to treat another person like rubbish.  Now for most of it Facebook and forums and so on can be really useful.  It is a great way to connect with others.  It is a great way to stay in touch, but sadly some people just go a bit too far.

Recently as I was browsing through the latest news feed updates just to see what was happening, I saw a rather sad status update.  A husband who commented that his wife hated him.  Hmmm.  And of course suddenly all his contacts started commenting and responding - each one with his / her own opinion and in between his wife started responding too, her sister got involved, his mum started pleading with him, and so the accusations started.  His wife tried to get him to stop posting on Facebook. She kept apologising to the "audience", that he had a bit much to drink and so on and so on.  Let's just say that by the end of it they pretty much agreed to getting a divorce.  I only commented once and that was to say that I was sorry they seemed to be going through a rough time, that perhaps they needed to discuss with each other and to ask if he could please remove the status update.  Because really - this had nothing to do with any of us.  The next morning there was only one quick update from him.  To apologise for what he said.

And I wondered - how do you fix this?  How do you fix something after you practically destroyed another person? Humiliated them in front of a large audience?  How do you gather up the pieces after you shared it in such a very public setting? How do you take back what was said?

One thing I clearly saw on this day is that Facebook and alcohol really really don't mix!  I've seen people do some really stupid things after they had a couple of drinks, but put something like Facebook in the mix and I think it becomes a rather risky situation!

Shhhh! Don't tell!

It seems somebody decided to get in early.  Last year Santa sent Bianca and Caitlyn a note to remind them to do their Christmas list and then he shared a wonderful secret that they are able to "post" their letter to him by simply putting it inside the fireplace (obviously with no fire at the time) and then knocking 3 times on the outside.  And what do you know?  The next morning their letters were gone!  Wow!  So this tip must have stuck and last night Bianca decided it was that time again.  Time to get her list ready and sent off.

So on her list she has:

A phone.  (I guess my little girl is growing up...)
Harry Potter 7 part 2 / Harry Potter 6
A bedside lamp
Goosebumps books and DVDs
Craft stuff
Stationery
A new bike
And a times table chart

Yes, I was a little surprised about the last one.  I don't think it is usual for kids to ask for something like this for Christmas. 

What are your kids hoping to get for Christmas?