Same Old, Same Old

What a great, tiring day out.
Managed to get all 4 boys up, fed, showered, dressed and in the car by 10am.
First stop was the museum, then the art gallery, before heading into one of the malls for lunch. 2 of them opted for McDonald's, 2 opted for Yiros and John and I had lovely grilled chicken, salad and wedges.
After a yummy lunch we headed to the music store for Simon. I had to leave with Bradley as the striped carpet made him feel as if he was about to have a seizure, so we waited outside.
Next on to games stores for Justin. Then I took Bradley to the Mac shop and the rest of the tribe caught up with us there. All 5 of the males followed me up to Spotlight (LNS) where I managed to buy a skein of DMC I needed. John did try to help find a skein of Wisper W88 for a Santa's beard, but he kept finding fuzzy knitting yarn instead LOL.
Another walk to Myer where the boys and John indulged in their love of computer games, and managed to pick up 4 new games for $10 each.
Simon bought me a pig lamp for my pig collction. Very cute and very pink.
We picked up a drink and some lovely fresh donuts and headed home. After 5 hours John was just a little exhausted.
We did drop in to Atlantic Video on the way home to see if a DVD John ordered was in, but it wasn't. Bradley and Simon managed to spend some more money there though :)

It is so quiet here at the moment. All 4 boys and John are sound asleep. My time is my own for another 2 hours...then I have to wake Simon for work.
Decisions, decisions. Should I do some more never ending housework, or sit and stitch and watch Judge Judy in peace?
I think I'll opt for the latter LOL, the housework won't go anywhere and besides, the cleaning may wake the boys and shatter my peace.
Busy day ahead to clean and do laundry, and I am making lasagne and salad for dinner.
Tomorrow we are taking all of th boys into the city. Shane wants to visit the museum and art gallery, Simon wants to check out a big music store, Justin wants to learn his way around the city and Bradley wants to head to the Mac Computer shop. Then we'll have lunch out and take a look at a chocolate display that is on for the weekend - all sorts of movie characters made from chocolate.
Well, Judge Judy starts soon, so I'm off for the lazy option.

Well, bruised and battered I made it home from the hospital.
The nurse who put the needle in to inject the contrast was not the best at it, she left the tourniquet on the top of my arm for ages while tapping my vein and getting me to pump my hand so she could find where to put the needle. Finally got it in and I was bleeding quite a bit, all over the sheet on the CT machine.
The contrast dye they inject gives a metallic taste in your mouth, a warm feeling through your body and you truly feel like you are wetting your pants. Quite a relief to know that it is only a feeling and not the real thing LOL.
From the CT scan I was to go straight to the plain x-ray, but there was a delay as the rooms were all in use. So 15 minutes later I had an x-ray. Then off to wait while they checked the films. After another 15 minutes I had the needle removed from my arm (nice bruise). Then another plain x-ray as the first one didn't show what they wanted as the delay was too long. So this time I had to lie face down while they tried again.
Another wait while the films were checked and I was free to go.
Perfect timing as we got to school just as the boys were coming out.
No stitching tonight as my arm is quite sore, but I am sure that will pass.

Enjoying the quiet again this morning, after a restless night. Weird dreams and it looks like I was fighting the bedding all night LOL.
Just had a cup of tea and a piece of toast and now have to fast ready for the renal angiogram at 1pm. John will get home from work and have a sleep before we have to head to the hospital.
Hopefully we won't get back too late for school pick up, but the boys can wait in the shopping centre across from their school.
I'm a bit nervous about this latest test, as this will show the blood vessesls on both kidneys and determine if they are ok to use.The worst part is we have to wait a week to see the surgeon and get the results.
While I have the angiogram, John can go and have his blood test, so we don't have to make an extra trip for that.
On the home front I've been busy sorting and typing up stuff for the boys' scrapbooks. I bought a couple of nice storage boxes yesterday to hold their photos and bits and pieces for scrapbooking. It will make it easier to work on them as everything is contained now.
I pulled out some Huck towels and a handtowel that I had stitched some time ago and decided we need to use stuff, not store it.

What a way to spend the afternoon yesterday.
It started with me looking for the poem John wrote for me 26 years ago. I am stitching it on a lovely piece of hand dyed fabric, but I missed a line in the poem, and need to find the original little piece of paper he typed it up on. I know I have put it away some where safe.
Anyway...went through boxes from our bedroom. One marked "Cards, letters, etc from the kids" the other "Cards. letters from friends and family."
The kids box gave me the greatest afternoon ever. Reading all their cards and notes from over the years. All so sweet, about how much they love us and what nice parents we are. I'm the "beautifulest" mum and John is a "wild dad." Such cute notes, like "When we can afford it can we please get Nickelodeon?" Notes for Santa and the Tooth Fairy. Bradley wrote about dropping one of his teeth and not being able to find it. Shane wrote that he either swallowed his tooth or dropped it on the floor.
Today I am going to buy a new plastic carry box to hold this precious collection, safer than the cardboard box it is in now. John and I both agreed the contents of this box are worth more than all the money in the world.
I also found all of the letters and cards that John and I sent back and forth when we spent 14 months of our engagement on opposite ends of Australia...but that is a whole other story, and I think we'll need to do some paper shredding at some stage LOL.
Oh by the way I still didn't find the original poem :( I've obviously put it somewhere really safe.

Tuesday morning and I am enjoying the peace, reading emails and checking websites before waking the boys for school. I LOVE my quiet time.
An earlier start today as they have their piano lesson before school, then Simon has classical guitar and Shane has flute before they head in to regular lessons. Piano has given them both a good start in music, though Simon is more passionate about it. Shane prefers his flute, so will stop piano lessons at the end of the year. The older boys both had piano lessons for a short time, but really were not interested. Justin has decided he would like a guitar for his birthday in September, so we will see how that goes.
I am most impressed because I spent the evening sorting out all of my craft stuff. Now most is packed away to be stored probably for the rest of the year. I just have to go through the genealogy and the boys photos that I am scrapbooking (Slowly!!) and store them safely until I can actually get some work done with them.
There really are not enough hours in the day.
John's specialist called yesterday. We have more paperwork that should arrive today for some repeat blood work. Appointments on the 27th, then on the 3rd and 4th of August.
One day at a time.

Well, we survived the 2 week school holiday, despite the cold weather and hectic schedule.
The guilt of not being around much for the boys has passed LOL, they were quite happy sleeping in and spending an obscene amount of time in front of computer screens or TV. The fun part will be getting the 2 youngest out of bed for school this morning!!
I did have plans to get a lot done over the weekend, but apart from laundry and ironing, not a lot got done.
Actually I did make homemade pizzas from scratch - dough, sauce and all, on Saturday. Why I do these things I will never know :) but it seems the boys and John really enjoy my cooking.
So, maybe today... after I do the school run, put some petrol in the car and pop to the shop for milk and bread, I will actually get around to hemming the kitchen curtain and sorting my craft stuff out properly. I need to finish some more of my little stitched pieces and make pillows.
Stitching continues to keep me sane, but it does get in the way of all the boring daily stuff.

Well, a busy day today. Always fun trying ti get 4 teenage boys up, showered, dressed and out the door by 10am during school holidays. But we made it.
3 of the 4 had their regular orthodontic check up, all went well and they all got adjustments and new colours. Very cool!
Then a treat for lunch, a hotdog from Wendy's. Always makes the girls smile when we order 6 hot dogs LOL.
On the way home we stopped in for John's blood test. He is so sick of needles...tomorrow I'll call his renal specialist and get the results.
Back home to flop in front of the TV and watch Dr Phil. Then I thought I really should bake, since the boys seem to have inhaled everything edible in the past few days.
So a double batch of Butterscotch Buttons and a double batch of Snickerdoodles later I am officially tired.

At least the car ran smoothly after its $600 repair job yesterday!!!!!

Bed is looking good already LOL and it is only time to cook dinner. Home made chicken burgers tonight. Yum.

What a week!!! The whole lead up to the kidney transplant is taking over our lives, which was to be expected. My poor husband suffered his first surgery to remove his wisdom teeth on July 7th and it has been downhill ever since. The first one operated on, he was the last to recover. It is only now, over a week later he is feeling a new normal. We ended up back at the oral surgeon, who could only advise us to see our doctor. He couldn't get us out of his rooms fast enough...and didn't even charge for the consultation!!
Next step was a call to the renal specialist, a quick trip to the IMVS office for an urgent blood test. A sleepless night, then a call to the specialist for the results. Off to hospital that afternoon, then back home with some medications stopped temporarily and strict instructions to call if things didn't improve drastically. You know you're in trouble when the specialist gives you his mobile number.
SO...it has been a lousy weekend, little sleep, lots of stress. I'm madly cooking meals to freeze in anticipation of the surgery. The 4 teenage sons are just doing their usual teenage thing, oblivious to the stress. Ah, to be a teenager again.
Fast forward, it is now Monday morning. The wisdom teeth removal was 10 days ago. The trauma of the decline in kidney function has been dealt with, and DH assures me he is feeling better. Just wants to sleep a lot and his legs are killing him. (Indicating the declining kidney function).
He does however want to see the dentist today as he still has tooth pain that won't let up.
Oh, to top off the week, I need to take my car in to the mechanic today as it is running rough.
Thank goodness the boys are on school holidays.
The best part of the week...I got a brand new dryer, caught up on all the washing, and have even squeezed in some stitching time.

Well another week has flown by.
Guess I'm not too good at keeping up with this blogging at the moment.
Another week of what has definitely become the same old, same old this past year or so.
Hospitals and doctors yet again. The first surgery for my DH in his 43 years. Wisdom teeth removal, in preparation for a kidney transplant which will happen soon.
More assessments for both of us with the kidney transplant team as I am undergoing testing to become a live donor. So far, so good, but still another test to pass... a renal angiogram. Another appointment with the renal surgeon and then hopefully we can set the date and get things moving along.
I did manage to stitch while waiting in the hospital for him to come out of surgery. Stitching definitely keeps me sane, the nice cafe at the hospital helped too - very nice hot chocolate!!

Ouch! What a start to the day. I managed to slip on the bathroom floor and landed on my right hip. Managed to give my right ankle a good whack too. Not the best way to start a busy day. I may just have to take it easy today LOL.
In reality I do have to shop for groceries and the house needs a clean up. The shopping can't wait, but the cleaning may have to.