Even the downs have ups!

Where do I begin to update about my week last week. It was so full of great things and not so good things. I barely had time to think!!

Last Monday was a holiday due to the Queen's birthday and I was very grateful for this day at home. I was also glad that I'd only gone down to the craft show on the Sunday and that I wasn't there the entire weekend. With no chairs in the stall, my back wouldn't have coped. As it was the few hours I was there was enough for my body and the Monday gave me time to recoup and do my chores.

I awoke on the Tuesday earlier than normal, actually I didn't sleep that well the night before, the anticipation kept me awake. Barbi picked me up at 7am and we were on our way to Brisbane for our Copic Certification Class and all of a sudden I felt quite ill. I never get car sick but was sitting in the back of the car and not very comfortable. I rolled up my cardigan and had it in the small of my back. I had to open the window as I needed the fresh air. I couldn't look at my iPhone, and had to hand it to Norma in the front seat as Barbi wanted the GPS. (Which I might add, worked fantastically well). We arrived at our venue with plenty of time to spare, only to discover we were at the wrong hotel!!!! Barbi had quickly read the email and had read the Sydney venue...........so by the time we went cross town to the RIGHT venue we were about a half hour late. Thankfully they'd waited for us a bit

I really enjoyed the course, but in hindsight, and after discussion with Barbi, there were a few shortcomings. It would have been fantastic if we could have completely coloured in one image. I'm really happy that I've already been playing with them for a while and that I've watched lots of Youtube videos and have been reading blogs. It gave me a good head start. I did learn new things though. Morning tea and afternoon tea was supplied and we walked to Southbank for lunch. My tummy was not good and I just bought a yoghurt for lunch and Barbi ate most of it. I was very very happy when I got home at 6.30pm. Bunny made me a cup of tea and some toast. I slept soundly that night, thinking and looking forward to playing with my Copics.

I awoke on the Wednesday morning, still not feeling well, I'd developed a headache the night before and it was still there. I had errands to complete and decided I needed to do them, and then I could rest when I got home. I dropped in to Daisy's to pick up an invoice and then headed to the Plaza to find out about having my glasses replaced. The manager of the store advised me that I couldn't have a refund, but he adjusted them again, and changed the nose pads. Because I was so ill the following days, I never tried them .........but this Monday just gone I wore them all day.......and...........no headache!! So I've spent $1000 on glasses and I won't be needing frames for a while lol....and I have a choice too as one pair is red, black, metal and blingy and the other ones are tortoiseshell pair, which I love too.

I cooked dinner on Wednesday evening and ate very little. I had to eat something as I'd not eaten all day, actually I only ate dinner so I could take a couple of Nurofen Plus. The next morning I got up and felt so bad, I rang Bunny to come and take the kids to school. I managed to feed them and get them organized but I went back to bed, and stayed there. By 1pm I decided that I needed to go to the doctor. I'd had as much analgesia as I dared take, and nothing was touching my headache. I'd vomited I felt so nauseous. My parents took me to the GP, as there's no way I could have driven. I was given an injection as it was obvious I was having a migraine. I'd never had one before!! Headaches, I have heaps of, but I've never had a migraine before.

The next morning I awoke, and my headache was still there!! My Dad took me to the doctor again. They gave me a wafer and had me lie there for nearly two hours waiting for it to take effect. I had a maxolon injection too as I was still very nauseous. I didn't respond to the treatment and was sent to emergency where I had a CT scan and was thoroughly questioned by the wonderful doctor there. Thankfully the CT showed nothing sinister and the headache actually started to ease while I was there.......... That evening I felt weary, my muscles in my head ached from being in constant pain, but I was on the mend. Bunny cooked me some dinner and I managed a little steak and potato. The relief of my boys was just precious. Even the downs have their ups though. My parents took such good care of me, I'll always be their little girl. Billy-Joe looked after me, asking me what I wanted and helping where ever he could. He said to me 'It's so good Mum, even though you're older, your Mum still looks after you. He said you look after us all the time and now we're looking after you'. Ahh, my beautiful boy.

I spent the weekend, basking in the feeling of improved health and catching up. Can you believe, it's now a week later and I only just feel caught up. Even though my family kept everything going, so many things didn't get done. My Daisy work was behind, errands and house stuff....... I have had a great week though. Incredibly busy, but I'm happy because I managed to do it without an afternoon nap. My sleep is almost back to normal now, I'm sleeping well at night, and going back to sleep easily after I've been to the loo, no longer is 2.36am wake up time!! I awake later in the morning and to get back to sleep, I listen to my book for about ten minutes and drop off again.

I decided to make Dad the Black Forest Cake from Masterchef. I don't make many 'fancy' cakes, so this was a challenge for me. Suzy gave me a blog address during the week and it was of a girl who loves to cook as her blog was mainly food oriented. She made the cake, but didn't bake the cake, and it took her over four hours to make it. I was a bit worried at this point. I even looked for another recipe, but this one appealed to me. I was happy with the result even though it wasn't easy to make. The assemblage was actually the trickiest, with my layers threatening to slide off!!

I was so excited about today. Today we celebrated my Dad's 80th birthday. I can't believe he's that old! He certainly doesn't act it!! My brother and his wife came down from Moura, a huge undertaking for a weekend, the girls were there, and some close friends of Mum and Dad's. It was an intimate group and we had so much fun. Mum did a fantastic job of the food and it was absolutely delicious. I've already put in my order for Christmas Eve. She and Dad are the most gracious hosts and we were filled to the brim with lunch, dessert, cakes, champagne, wine, Jagermesiter and scotch.....( please note I didn't have all these lol). Ricky videoed much of the day so it will be good fun to watch this.

I finished Dad's card last night and I couldn't put the words together to write in it. You know when you want to write something really special, but there aren't words to even articulate what you feel? When I love you, just doesn't seem enough, because I feel so much more than that. I wanted to say how proud I was to be his daughter, how happy and blessed I feel that he's in all our lives, and what a wonderful man he is. I did give a speech. Ricky couldn't do it because he wouldn't have been able to speak. I said I would. I wanted so badly to give a speech when he and Denise were married, but I was so emotional at the time, and so happy to have him back in our lives, that I couldn't have done it, and I've regretted that ever since, so today, I wasn't going to renege.

Today was great great fun. So much laughter, and cheekiness, and love floated around in the air, it was truly therapeutic to bask within it. Added to that we bought Dad an iPod Touch which he was very very pleased with. Can't wait for him to 'play' with it.

I came home this evening with a wonderful feeling within. A feeling of family, there's nothing else like it.