24 (or 2 if you prefer) is the sweetest number...

... for us today.

From the early days:

Early days all tubed up - oxygen, ECG and nose tube for NG Feeds

 
To the last day of treatment (11 September 2009) stringing the most important bead of all - a purple heart.  And wow - what a journey it was!

Last day of treatment stringing her purple heart bead

Looking at Bianca today (2 years later or 24 months if you prefer), it is simply amazing just how far she's come:

Today, a normal 8 year old wearing her more than 1,300 beads of courage!

It is hard to believe that it was 2 years ago when Bianca finally finished her leukemia treatment after 830 days.  Some days it feels like a lifetime ago, some days it feels just like yesterday.  I will always have fond memories of the time we planted Bianca's tree (click here to see).

Today we are thankful that Bianca is doing well.  We are aware that things can change at any time, but for now, we are just appreciating the blessings we have received. 

Classic Hits has this promotion where you can submit a song that has a special meaning to you and the story behind it and then if you are chosen, they play it on a Thursday night.  So they waited until this past Thursday to play my special song in honour of Bianca's 2 year anniversary of being off treatment:

Bianca, we are so incredibly proud of you.  Of the way you have always faced the challenges with such a positive attitude.  You showed us your determination, your love for life and you taught us how to live just for the moment.  And one day when you look back at the road you walked, I hope you will know that nothing is impossible.  So in celebration of today:

A new blog and a challenging day!

Bianca's teacher has just started a new blog.  Not only is Paul Forster a brilliant teacher, but he is an extremely talented athlete and very passionate about his music, singing and songwriting.  (It is at this point that I can hear Bianca shout "glossary word" because "extremely" is one of her glossary words...).  I am particularly interested to see what running tips Paul might share on his blog that might help me finally be able to run a 5km fun run.  But from what I can see Paul will be writing about a lot of different things.  Go and visit his blog and say hi!

Speaking of running, I found today's run / walk session quite challenging.  I didn't do anything different, I had a rest day since my last one and I didn't have sore legs after the last run / walk session.  But today my knee joint area (whatever it might be called) felt stiff and vaguely painful.  Not significantly, but noticeably.  So today I really wondered at which point the running will become easier.  How am I ever going to manage week 3 onwards?  But I guess that is life.  If you really want something you have to put the effort in.  (Now remind me again why I chose a 5km run as my goal...)

Today I realised again that what drives me is the memory of this day.  (Click here to read about it).

Tomorrow is going to be an extra special day for us.  I will let you all know shortly!

The dreams we have when we are young

Caitlyn is adamant that one day when she grows up she is going to be a hairdresser.  No idea where that aspiration is coming from and thanks to my friend Verity the kids have their very own hairdresser training head to play around with.  Of course I had to insist that no scissors will come near it.  Can you imagine?  So the kids are having loads of fun brushing the hair and putting pretty hair clips in it.  They haven't settled on a name yet for Mrs Head, but maybe soon...

So all of this made me think back to when I was much younger and what I thought I might become when I was all grown up.  My mum was a teacher and so was my grandmother, but I don't think I really ever specifically wanted to be a teacher.  I do remember that when I was about 13 I really wanted to be a poet.  And for a few years I actually did attempt to write poetry.  And I once attempted to get them published, but of course the market for poetry is pretty small I would imagine and my poems were probably not all that great so I never really succeeded as a world famous poet (no surprises there).

I wonder how many of us decide to do something when we are little and then we actually become what we thought we'd become when we are all grown up. 

When you were little, what did you want to become and what did you end up doing?

So who has started thinking about Christmas yet?

I know it is only September, but Christmas is only about 3 months away.  And right about this time is usually when shops start hauling out their Christmas stuff to tempt the buyers into gearing up for the Christmas season. I haven't seen it happen just yet, but I'm sure pretty soon the Christmas trees and decorations will start going on display.

As a matter of fact I have started thinking of Christmas.  For one I want to do the little boxes again.  Not only was it a lot of fun, but it meant that we could do some quality activities again.  And of course the girls were able to experience the true meaning of 'giving'.  So that means I have to make little boxes again.  They didn't all stay nice unfortunately so I can't really re-use them and if I start now then I will have more preparation time to come up with some fun activities.  We will definitely deliver biscuits again to one of the local retirement villages (and in fact just next week Bianca will do this too as part of one of her home learning challenges).  But along with that I am also thinking of getting a few small presents together that the girls and I will take to the children's ward at Wellington Hospital and deliver it there.  I remember when we were stuck in hospital how frustrating it felt at times so maybe we might be able to brighten some children's day.

Speaking of Christmas - If you are looking for the perfect stocking filler - Bianca's teacher, Paul Forster is selling his picture book titled 'You're not eating me' that he wrote and published (how cool is that?).  It is this really cute story beautifully illustrated and along with it is a CD with 12 songs that Paul wrote including the 'You're not eating me' song!  Bianca has a copy that her teacher gave to her for her birthday and it is definitely one of her favourite things!  And I bet if you ordered a copy and asked Paul, he would even be happy to write a special message for the recipient.  Just think you can give somebody a signed copy of this book! How special!  To order or to get more information please email jo.paulf@paradise.net.nz.

Happy anniversary to us!

Today 7 years ago we arrived in New Zealand with nothing more than 6 suitcases, a toddler car seat, a backpack, a camera bag, a baby bag, a large stuffed toy dog, a stroller and a very squirmy 14 month old (that's right Bianca was 14 months old on that day).  On that day we started our new life here in New Zealand and while it is always hard to start over, this has become home to us.  There is so much here that I love and that I am grateful for.

• I love living close to the beach.  In New Zealand you are never further than about 1.5 hours from the nearest beach.  We live about 10 minutes drive away.
• I love not having any burglar bars or electric fencing or security gates.
• I love being able to go for my walk / run every day without feeling scared that it might not be safe
• I will forever be grateful for the medical care we have / had with Bianca.  There was never a delay and apart from paying $30 for one type of special mouth wash that was not covered and a small subsidy on prescription medication (for her leukemia) when Bianca turned 6, we've not had to pay for anything.  Not any of the 117 nights in hospital, not for any lumbar punctures, port insertion, x-rays, blood tests, specialist visits, chemo treatments and many other things that happened during her 830 days of treatment.  Bianca still sees her specialist every 2 months and we still don't have to pay!
• I am grateful that we have good public school options that are really affordable.  For Bianca we paid a total of $70 for the year for her school fees (or school donation as they call it).  No waiting lists, no excessively early enrolments, and in particular Bianca's teacher this year - he is simply amazing.  One of the best!  
• I love how peaceful it is where we live.
• I love how beautiful it is when you drive between different towns or cities.
• I love the service here in New Zealand.  Doing things like your annual car registration or your Warrant of Fitness (roadworthiness test) are extremely quick.  No sitting forever in long queues that hardly move (as I have vivid memories from my South African days).
• I love how I can go to the bank and there are virtually nobody in the queue.
• I love EFTPOS and how everything is done with EFTPOS.

There are lots of things I love about New Zealand.