Until death do you part

It's a romantic idea, isn't it?

That line in wedding vows about how the couple will stay together until death parts them?

Isn't that what we all hope for on that fairytale day?

With current divorce statistics estimating around 1 in 3 marriages end in divorce, are there really people who stick it out? Is it really a fairytale?

But here's the clincher for the fairytale.

You are married for 65 years. Just days before your 66th wedding anniversary, your husband passes away. 11 hours later, you join him.

But it's not a fairytale. It's real life. This is what happened to Harold and Ruth Knapke. You can read their story here.

I have to admit, it made me warm and fuzzy to read their story. It makes me want their story.

It makes me think about how they made it work that long.

Did they fight? Did they argue? How mad did they get with each other?

Did they say, "I love you?" every night? Did they ever want to throttle to other out of pure frustration?

But most of all.... Did they still get that kick in the heart they got the first time they realised that the other was The One.

Reliving the Dream

Today for the very first time, I'm going to link up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday. And it's time warp time back to 2011 with my favourite honeymoon photos!

Huon River, Huon Valley, Tasmania

The Nut, Stanley, Tasmania - the weather is why we couldn't do a seal boat cruise

Melbourne, prior to the start of GP 2011

One of the only photos of DH and myself, somewhere on the Great Ocean Road, taken by a lovely fellow tourist

Huh? Where do we leave? Sovereign Hill

Yep, he's alive - previously had been lying flat like he'd been run over!

Why can't I eat what I want?

Lightbulb moment...

One of my muse ideas decided to pop up.

The other day, I was reading this article and by the end I was rolling my eyes.

It seems we are told what to eat, when to eat and how to eat these days.

What happened to being responsible for your own actions?

I'm guilty of eating most of these items, on occasion and in moderation. Isn't that the key? Moderation?

It's like Cookie Monster - it's a sometimes food.

It got me thinking though. We all know there are foods that are bad for us. But what foods are bad for you as an individual? What foods do you avoid because you just cannot stand them?

MY top 5 foods to avoid are:

1. Cucumber. Not sure what it is about it, but it tastes absolutely horrible to me!

2. Bananas. This possibly stems from a really bad immune system as a kid so there were a few cases of antibiotics.

3. Custard. Ugh, the texture and flavour just doesn't do it for me.

4. Mangoes. Meh. Just don't like 'em. 

5. Old school cheese sticks. You know, the fake cheese? It's bad enough in slices, let alone chunks. Bleh. 

But seriously, do we have to be told constantly what to do? Are we not adults? Do we not have brains? Just because there is an obesity "epidemic" across the world, why must we all be made to feel like crap because we have healthy balanced diets and enjoy a variety of foods?


Today I'm linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT

Lost and Found....And Lost Again

Wow. 

Blogger tells me my last post was quite a long time ago.

For this I apologise. My brain has not been my own and has not been functioning correctly for some time.

Sickness has been rife in our household. No excuses though.

I've now been back at work for almost 2 months. Granted it's only two days a week so it isn't that long at all.

My muse has been gone for a fair while. 

Then last week, I had a pearler of an idea for a blog post.

While I was at work.

Where I can't do anything about it.

Ten minutes later, the exact same thing. This happens for about an hour and I'm brimming with fantastic ideas. I can't wait to put "pen to paper" so to speak and share everything with you.

I get home, bath DD, have dinner, put DD to bed. 

I don't feel like grabbing the laptop from the office. I might wake DD.

My eyes hurt from 8 hours straight of looking at a computer.

I'm too lazy.

I'll do it tomorrow night. Same thing happens.

So today, in a moment of peace while DD settles for her nap and DH is at work, I decide to get these ideas out. Tell the world! 

But you know what?

My muse is gone again.

Where? 

You tell me. 

What is it about the atmosphere at work? Is it because I can't do anything about it? Is it the adult contact and conversation? Is it the type of work I'm doing?

I'm going to try and set aside some time each week to blog, and hopefully I will have a few posts in reserve. Eventually.

But for now, this little tidbit is going to be it. 

I apologise to anyone who is following me. I know I'm slack. But I promise to at least try harder.

Returning to work

Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night my heart was racing, I was shaky and I felt sick. I also wanted to cry.

All of this because on Thursday I was back to work after 18 months away looking after our beautiful Darling Daughter (DD).

I barely slept Wednesday night. 

Thursday morning came and I didn't want to not do the daycare drop off so hubby and I both took DD to daycare. She had no idea what was going on except that Mummy was wearing "nice" clothes.

My heart was STILL racing and I still felt sick. I didn't so much feel like crying but running away and hiding.

Why was I so worried?

I'll admit it. I'm shallow. I was worried no one would talk to me. That no one would like me. I can't help but wonder if this was exacerbated by my PND.

I rocked up only 15 minutes early. Before DD I would be there at least half an hour early to have a coffee and a chat. No time for that yesterday.

Admittedly I got my coffee. Then when I sat down with the lovely lady doing my return to work training, I felt at ease. Things made sense. I had set guidelines I had to follow to help people. 

I forgot about the teasing and ribbing from a few people. I'd forgotten how much I missed them. One of the guys can't believe I do my own footy tips. Maybe because I'm not just beating him but I'm on the top of the ladder. For now. We've still got a fair way to go.

I missed hearing people on the other end of the phone wanting me (or my colleagues) fix their problem whatever it may be. 

Then came the dreaded phone call from daycare. DD had some suss nappies. Could we please pick her up? So I rang hubby as he had the car with our carseat (our second carseat is waiting for us at our local Target to be picked up). He took a few hours off work. Then he text me to say daycare wanted us to keep her home today to be on the safe side. I only work 2 days a week. Today should have been my second day back. But here I am blogging away. While DD sleeps peacefully. We're thinking it's her teeth. She's certainly not off her food, bottles or water. And her top molars are cutting. Ewwww. 

But I'm glad I went back. I'm happy I took the extra 6 months. Yes it was hard financially but we did it. I'm also super happy that I've gone back now, and not any later. I can't wait to finish my return to work training next week and really get back in the swing of things. 

I'm a LAP'er

I'm a LAP'er. And I'm proud of it, and everyone else who is one. 

What is a LAP'er? 

It is a mum, or a dad, who is a member of L'il Aussie Prems forum.

When Darling Daughter (DD) was born, I wondered who the hell I was going to talk to, ask questions, relate to. None of my friends were parents to prems, or so I thought. There's no support group in my town, nowhere to turn to relate to premmie issues. You might remember from a previous post, that we weren't allowed to go to any of the mum's groups (The In Between).

So I turned to everyone's good friend, Google. I looked up things about premmies, from local support groups to worldwide groups, and then I found L'il Aussie Prems. 

From the first moment I joined their forum, everyone was so welcoming. Over the last 18 months, I have seen LAP grow from just a support group, to a registered charity helping families of premmie babies get through it all. I have to admit, when things are going great, I don't post on the forum very much, because I feel a bit bad for the parents who are having a bad time.

Through LAP, our family has celebrated two Wear Green For Premmies days in 2012 and 2013 by wearing green and our wristbrands and one World Prematurity Day by lighting our special purple candle at the same time as many other families.

There's also a wealth of knowledge for parents who might be in the midst of bringing a premmie into the world. Their Information Page has links to different articles which can help explain what might happen next.

I've found myself returning to the forums lately, mainly because it's been almost 18 months since DD joined us and also because I'm facing the daunting, yet exciting prospect of returning to work. 

I know that if I ever have a question about if DD is doing what she "should", the parents on L'il Aussie Prems will have the answer, and on the slight off chance they don't, I'll still get support.

Please stop by and have a look around the website. What you will find about these wonderful, awesome little fighters might surprise you. And if you are a parent of a prem, feel free to join us in the message boards. 

Today I'm linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

** All images have been used with permission from L'il Aussie Prems :)

Shhhh

Can you hear that? 


Nope, that's the sound of silence. It's what my keyboard has been like for nearly two weeks now. 


I've got no blog-spiration. I don't watch the news, we are eating dinner at that time and have ABC4Kids on in the background for noise, so current events are out.

No funny or interesting stories. I could probably have a whinge about mountain biking but that might upset Darling Husband (DH).

I've still been reading blogs as much as I can.

But DH has had the laptop squirreled away to use for his uni studies. It's behind a closed door again because a certain little someone likes to push buttons on it. 


I'm feeling flat and uninspired lately. I think it's lack of contact with people, but that's my own fault. I'm a creature of singularity sometimes.

Please bear with me while I turn my life upside down and try to find my mojo?