Guest post of Lemonade Life

The lovely Allison of Lemonade Life invited me to write a guest post for her blog about diabetes.

Check it out here, and if you haven't already read her blog, I encourage you to do so now! :D

Thanks Allison!


p.s. Today I am soooo happy because I have 10 followers of my blog! Woohoo! Thank you wonderful people, I shall have to make you something special. What would you like? :D

Cross your fingers and toes!

I went for a job interview today! Everything seemed to go well and I am quietly confident. :) We shall see, I hope to hear back about it soon.

It's raining raining raining here, nearly to the point of flooding, but not quite. Hair which I had so carefully straightened turned to a frizz-monster-nightmare in 30 seconds. Sigh. Ah well. :P

Technically, today is my first day of actual unemployment. I got some paid leave from the date they made me "redundant" at my last job. So it's quite fitting I think that I spent the day finding a new job! *hopefully*

My mates at my old job put on Friday drinkies at a local pub to sort of have a farewell for me. It was really sweet, wonderful to see everyone again. They had all pitched in and got me a couple of pressies which I hadn't expected, and a couple of people gave impromptu speeches which were really heartfelt. Made me realise I have more friends in this world that I had reckoned with. :D

OK, short post today cos I have to go and pick the rug rats up from school. Ten cents says they will be absolutely soaked! :P

(and send me a photo if you successfully crossed your toes. That's just freaky!)

A telling blood test

I'm watching Ocean's Eleven on telly, so this post may be a bit erratic as I type-and-watch at the same time :P

I talked about how I went to get my last pre-fertility-clinic blood tests a couple of posts back, well, Hubby got his test done today :) I'm so proud! He's not a big fan of needles.

And, the best part was that we have the kids to stay with us this weekend, and in order to get everyone in the car in time to get to the lab which closed in half an hour cos it's a Saturday (breath) Hubby ended up explaining to the two littlies why he was getting a blood test. So know everyone in our family knows the plan, and they all seemed really happy about it. :)

Youngest step-son even asked "Is IVF that thing we saw on telly last weekend, on the Sunday show, with Jay Jay and Dom?" YES! Well done! (he's 9yrs old) :D

They got a quick explanation of what it involves: taking a sperm from Hubby and a egg from me, and mixing it in a dish in a laboratory (not a lavatory, which caused much laughter!). Of course that involved a quick explanation to 9yr old step-son about why it was all necessary. Cue: a quick description of a vasectomy. Honestly, it was one of the most surreal moments of my life. :)

And then it was off to the lab for the blood test, and then off to the supermarket to get lunch.

p.s. in case you're wondering, llittle sister hasn't written her boy a Dear John letter just yet.

Naughty seagulls

I absolutely exhausted myself yesterday by riding my bike just a bit too far. It was good fun though, I got up early and got to see the early morning sun over the mountain. It was a beautiful clear, cold winter day. It seems silly to wear a scarf and gloves when you go biking, but I was thankful that I looked like a snowman as I pedalled through the chilly air!

It's a total of 20kms there and back, and I was going ok until I had to take a detour from my usual route. Some workmen were repairing a section of the track, so I had to ride up a hill and through a small shopping suburb to get out to the lake. Just as I was passing the busiest part, a flock of seagulls dive-bombed me and pooped all over me! :( People on the sidewalk must have thought I was nuts - a mad swearing woman waving her arms and she pedals madly though the shops! :P

Add to that, my phone started to ring (I was expecting a call from my lawyer) so I had to jump off my bike and scrabble through my backpack to find the ringing phone - all while covered in muck! What a morning! :P I sure do know how to have fun :P

How has your week been? I hope you have a nice weekend planned :D

My Darling Sister

My sweet little sister is having a hard time at the moment. We went shopping on the weekend and she confided in me that she's not happy in her relationship with her boyfriend. They've been together for 7 years, and he recently moved away to another city to study. Sis has discovered that she quite likes being single again, and this long distance relationship thing isn't working out. The boyfriend is sweet, but a bit dumb and emotionally immature. I can't say I'm surprised. I think lil sis has just outgrown him. She wants grown up things like a house, an engagement ring, and a family. He thinks it's ok to take off to another city for 9 months without a proper discussion. Just "Hey, I've paid for this course in [name of city] so I will moving away shortly". Needless to say that was just the icing on the cake. I think she is finally being honest with herself now, and just needs to work up the gumption to tell him. I feel so sorry for her. She's feeling guilty as hell that she's gonna ruin his life, but it's just one of those things. Neither of them did anything wrong, it's just how life rolls. :(   So, I'm worried for her. And boyfriend comes back up to our city in roughly 2 weeks, so she's on a countdown.

In other news, I've officially started my job-hunt and sent in a couple of applications. Will keep you posted should anything exciting happen (like getting a cool job such as kitten-petter, chocolate-taster, or tropical-island-holiday-reviewer). But it feels good to be doing something positive :D

More blood tests tomorrow

Oh! *looks at clock* Actually, I meant later TODAY! haha :P

I will finally get the last of my pre-fertility-clinic blood tests done. All that's left for me is Day 2 FSH, LH, and Oestradiol, and Hubby's immunology tests. It's been a drama for me to get this test done, as the world and my body seems to always be conspiring against me.

First it was just plain old forgetting. My first "Day 2" occurred the day after the ob/gyn dropped the whole IVF bombshell in my lap. So I was not really in the right headspace to remember ANYTHING at that stage. The next Day 2 I just plain old forgot. Trust me, I was kicking myself when I realised I had missed that opportunity! :S

Next up, I had the hysteroscopy operation, which triggered an early period. So I didn't know when exactly Day 2 was. Sigh.... more waiting.

That brings us to today (ok, it's the middle of the night still :P). And I am proud to have remembered! Now... if only my ob/gyn will get my referral letter written and sent....  :)

In Other News
or, to congratulate you for reading through such a damn boring post :P

Have you seen Dumbo Feather, pass it on? It's a half mag/half book and I luuuurve it. I saw the publisher, Kate Bezar, speak at a conference 2 years ago and I've been on the lookout for Dumbo Feather ever since. Sometimes it can be hard to find, but it's worth it when you do! Unlike most mags, it's not full of glossy yucky ads. It's not full of beautiful people. And it's not full of "filler" body copy. It's a beautiful tactile size on quality matte stock, with gorgeous photography and best of all, 5 interviews/essays/articles per issue.

Have a great weekend! :D

Om nom nom nom (photos)

I made cake! Yummy cranberry, buttermilk, hazelnut and banana cake. The recipe came from the Dole Banana Book.

Ingredients:

170g cranberries

100g butter

225g caster sugar

2 eggs

285g flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 Dole bananas, mashed

80mls buttermilk

I added hazelnuts on top too :)

Method:

1. Cover cranberries with boiling water and leave to soak for 15 mins. Strain and discard liquid.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a cake tin well with butter (I used a cooking spray).

3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale. Add eggs one at a time beating continuously.

4. Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Add mashed banana, cranberries and buttermilk then stir to combine.

5. Transfer to baking tin. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

6. Om nom nom nom! :D

In other news:

There are a bunch of toadstools in our back garden.

It snowed. It's cold. But it's great to be able to take this photo...
...and this photo on the same afternoon :) Oh, and that's BIKING from one place to the other.
My new camellia hedge is brightening up winter, it makes me smile:
Oh, and I got some red in my hair :D Just the underneath bits, so you can't really tell unless you walk behind me in the wind :P And then it's a little surprise!
Hope you've all had a great Wednesday :)