Random Photos

Just some random photos that I had taken with my phone. The helicopter is a medivac chopper. It was 'parked' at the hospital where I took Brodie for an MRI the other week.

This afternoon I take Brodz for an EEG. He thinks it's to see if he has a brain but truthfully his neurologist wants to find out what kind of epilepsy he has. I'll make sure I take some knitting or crochet once I actually decide what project I am actually going to make. I've been searching for days to find just the right project but no luck yet. Cross fingers that I find something soon.

Almost forgot. A quick update on my computer. It seems the graphics card has died. I have ordered a new one. All I need to do is wait for it to arrive. Thank goodness Mark gave me the netbook to use :)

I Dislike Phone Calls

Why did we answer the phone? You don't always get good news when you do. I'll be up to posting tomorrow, hopefully. I'm just not in the mood right now.

My Kids Have NO Manners

I was talking with my sister, Julie, on the phone last weekend. She lives in Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula. It's a beautiful place there. In January on Australia Day (the 26th) they have the Tunarama its a tuna tossing competition where contestants see how far they can throw a frozen 10kg (22lb) tuna. You gotta love country towns and their traditions.

While I was on the phone I realised how rude my children really are when someone is on the phone. They have absolutely no manners. They try and have conversations with you while you're trying to listen and talk on the phone. It's rather disgusting. In fact Brodie is the worst culprit. I swear he has absolutely no idea when to stop interrupting me when I am on the phone even though I have told him many times to be quiet. How on earth do you get an extremely loud 18 year old who has Aspergers to be quiet??

Is it too late to try and teach a young adult how to be polite when it comes to conversations? Do you have any tips for me? Should I just tell them straight out how disappointed I am? What would you do? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

**quick update since I wrote this up. I told Brodz how rude he was because he was doing the exact same thing again. He didn't take it too well but I think he got the message.

Busy, Busy, Busy

What a busy couple of days I've had. It seems like I am so far behind with EVERY thing. My Google Reader is overloaded with posts to read. I'm slowly catching up with my housework. I feel like I am playing nothing but catch up at the moment.

On Thursday Mark & I went out to lunch with his Dad, Step-Mum, Mark's twin brother & his girlfriend. We went to one of the local Chinese restaurants, Hong Kong Inn. We normally order a few dishes & just share them. I actually tried duck (the dish was lemon duck) for the first time ever! OMGosh it was delicious! I'm thinking it had an awful lot to do with how it was cooked but I really enjoyed it. I'm going to have to try duck again. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Yum!

It was really great catching up with the in-laws. They've been in Perth for the past 3 years & we don't always get the chance to catch up with them when they fly in for a visit. They were checking out the damage done to their house in Emerald (one of the reasons for their visit this time round). It got damaged during the floods last month.
They will be moving back next year in April. They've missed living in Victoria. It'll be good to be able to see them more often.

Yesterday I was on Facebook checking out some photos I had been tagged in. They were school photos. A couple of people asked me if Julie & Vicki were my sisters. To which I said yes. I sent text messages to my sisters about whom I had spoken with which led to us making phone calls to one another & talking about their school friends.
It was nice catching up with Vicki & Julie. I don't know why we don't phone each other more often. I guess we just get too busy doing our own thing & forget.

Gosh I need to get off this thing. I have more housework to do & the kids aren't here to help me. More about that on another post I suppose.

Not So Good News

Mark got a phone call from his Dad this afternoon. They (he & his wife) are currently living in Western Australia but they own a home in Emerald which is about a 45 minute drive from our place in the Dandenong Ranges. The rain was pretty bad up there, just like it was here. They are renting their home out while Mark's Dad works in W.A.

Anyway, he phoned to let us know that the real estate agent had contacted him to tell him that the ceiling had collapsed.The damage is quite extensive. They've decided to fix up the place and sell it. They can always buy a new home once they are ready to come back to Victoria.

I feel bad for the people who were renting the place. Not only do they have to try and find a new place to live (which is almost impossible to do) they have a lot of their belongings damaged by the water.

Loud Teenagers!

Who invented getting up early in the morning? Who invented mobile phones & decided it was a good thing that loud, noisy teenagers should be allowed to make phone calls before their parents were even out of bed?
They should be soundly smacked and be made to CLEAN my house for me.
*YAWN* I need more sleep.
The boys can find their own way to the bus stop & school this morning.
Brodie was (and IS) extra loud on the phone this morning & he's STILL on the phone. He's been on the phone since around 6:30!!! The ratbag has less then half an hour before we leave for the bus stop. If he isn't ready to leave by 8 am I'll hide his phone until he can learn to use an inside voice!! Grrrrrr

Darn it. Angus just told me that the ratbag is using SKYPE & not his mobile phone! I flippin' unplug the wireless internet! That'll teach him to wake me up so dang early! Don't upset the Mum who can unplug the wireless access point! (edited at 7:39 am)

An Interesting Phone Call

Kids! I can't believe Brodie. He's at school at the moment & I just got a phone call from him.

B: I was talking with Sharon (his aide) and I was telling her I don't want to be at school. She said I should phone you. I want to come home.

Me: No.

B: But I have nothing to do.

Me: You have work to do. You can study. (He has exams coming up soon).

B: But I want to come home.

Me: Don't you have a music class today? Give me a good reason why you should come home.

B: 'cos you love me.

Me: Yes I do but that's not a good reason. You'll only come home and go straight onto Facebook.

B: No I wont. (Believe me he WILL, its one of the first thing he does when he gets home). I didn't stay on it last night.

Me: Yes you did. I'll see you this afternoon.

B: Huh?

Me: When I pick you up from the bus stop.

B: Oh :( I hate you!

Me: I know you do (not really he just doesn't like my decision)

B: I hate you!

Me: Okay but I'll see you this afternoon.

B: Okay. Bye Mum

Me: Bye.

Honestly he's a trier that one! I am hoping that he will learn that

1. He can't just come home when he wants to. If he has a job he can't just leave because he doesn't want to be there that day.
   
2. He learns to have staying power and NOT give up because he is bored.
3. I wont always come to the rescue. He needs to learn to be independent and to work things out on his own.
4. Even though I am not always at his beck & call that I do love him & will be there for him when he really needs me.

It seems to me that he doesn't really like being at school on a Friday. Good thing he only has a few more weeks of school left before he's finished for the year. Then lucky me will have him home for an extra 2 - 3 weeks before Angus finishes. Brodie may end up hating me even more ~ I wont let him sit on his butt all day at the computer *evil grin* Sometimes I LOVE being a Mum!

Carer Update (part 2)

I just heard from the Shire about next weeks respite & Robert is unavailable. His schedule is far too busy to fit Brodie in. Although Robert did state that if the regular carer was unable to come he would do his best to fill in.

I did have a talk with Brodie last night & he still doesn't want to work with Steve & would much prefer Robert. Although I have had to sweet talk him a little just in case we cant get Robert next week. Looks like it was a good thing to prepare him for this possibility. Brodie has agreed to give Steve a go next week just in case Robert wasn't available.
I also found out why Brodie doesn't like Steve. He said that he doesn't like his driving. That he felt uncomfortable because he didn't always use his indicators and he cut corners. Well that's a good enough reason for me!

I told Emma (the girl who phoned) that Brodie & I spoke about this last night. I think she was relieved when I mentioned it. I told her that it would at least give her another week to find someone else. She agreed that would be very helpful.

Sooo ... I'm crossing my fingers that Brodie will be okay with Monday's respite. I'll even suggest that he and Steve can stay here if he wants. I'll take Angus out with me to go grocery shopping or something.

Carer Update

I just got a phone call from the Shire in regards to Brodie's new carer & how things went on Monday. I explained that Brodie was stressed about his 'new' person and that if it was okay could they please ask Robert to see if he could be his carer again. That it was a request from Brodie because he hadn't seen him since the Summer holidays. I also let the Shire know that we are quite flexible and are willing to change days if that is something that Robert can manage to do & fit us in. I do remember him saying that he was busy. I'll probably hear back from them soon to find out whether this is possible or not. If not it looks like Brodie will have Steve again.

I'm crossing my fingers now & hoping that Robert is available. I'd do just about anything to keep Brodie anxiety free & willing to go with his carer.

Would You Believe ..

Would you believe that I have both boys home from school today?

Poor Angus has a migraine. I've never had one myself but I see how badly he suffers from them. He is extremely light sensitive at the moment & us currently asleep.

Brodie has more tummy troubles. He gets them way too frequently but absolutely refuses to take something like mylanta to help settle his stomach. He has them so often that its time to get them investigated!! Brodie was also complaining that he is feeling tired. Serves him right in some ways. He's up at 6am every day and on his laptop by 6:30am. If its a school day he gets straight back on his laptop once he comes home & is on it until 10:30pm. He even gets stroppy sometimes when he has to 'get off' the laptop for his dinner! I know that the psychologist said that he needs time to unwind & that may mean hours on the laptop or play station but I don't think he meant this much time!
Anyway he too is asleep right now.

I've been trying to phone the doctors surgery on & off for the past 90 minutes. Each time I phone the number is engaged. I guess I wont be getting Brodie an appointment any time soon. At this rate they will be totally booked until tomorrow!

I'm crossing my fingers that when the boys finally wake up they are feeling much better!

Sad News

I feel a little bit dazed at the moment. I just heard from my niece Heidi. She just wanted to let me know that the boys Uncle Dave has passed away. Heidi thought I would like to know. You know its funny but I was only thinking about the boys father, Vic, & his brothers earlier today. I don't know why I was thinking of them but I was.

I hadn't really seen all of that side of family since Vic's Dad passed away in December 1998 & considering Vic & I split up in 2000 I had no need to see them. Its still a bit of a shock to find out though. I feel bad for Vic. It must've been hard for him to be the one to find Dave. I know how hard it was (and is) for Mark when he found our neighbour Mick.
To be honest we all thought that Dave would be the first to go (but he wasn't Tom was). He drank alcohol like there was no tomorrow and I guess it finally caught up with him.

Heidi said she was going to give Vic our phone numbers again. Apparently he's lost them. No surprises there. If he phones I'll talk with him but I don't know if the boys will. Brodie is still pretty angry at him. I'm not too sure about Angus though.

Phone Calls

We've had made three reasonably important phone calls made today. Firstly, I made a call for Mark for an appointment at the radiologists we go to for his Facet Joint Injections (ouch). I managed to get an appointment for him for next Thursday. Thank goodness most of the cost is covered by medicare & we only have to pay the gap of $229.10

Secondly, I made a call to my GP's surgery to talk to the practice nurse so I could get the results of my Glucose Tolerance Test. I don't know if I am happy about the results or not. Perhaps you could say I am mildly happy. I am what is called pre-diabetic. My fasting Blood Sugar Level (BSL) was 6.1 and my BSL two hours after the sugary drink was 10.8. The results weren't that good but at least she didn't say I was a diabetic. I'll go into this more later on in another post.

Finally, Mark made a phone call to the cardiologist we saw a few weeks back to get the results of the scan he had. Good new on this front at least. There is nothing wrong with Mark's heart! Thank goodness. So the chest pains he has been getting are not heart related. Its a relief to know that that its not his heart but still a puzzle as to why he gets them. Something else for the GP to check out I guess.

They Remembered

Well Dad & Vicki finally remembered it was my birthday on Friday. Not that it makes me feel any better though *sigh*

Peeved or Hurt?

I don't know whether to be peeved, hurt or just plain disappointed. You see it was my birthday yesterday. Now I don't go about informing everyone that its my birthday or anything. I truly prefer to keep it low key but I do expect my family to do something about it. I don't mean buying me presents or anything like that I just expect them to do something. It can be a small thing, like washing the dishes, making dinner, a phone call or even a flower from the garden.

Normally I get a phone call from my Dad and one of my sisters. (I'm from a family of 8 even though there are only 6 of us kids left). But I got absolutely nothing. No card in the mail. Nothing! I still haven't heard from Dad. Yeah I know they live interstate but they usually phone. I've been stewing over this for almost two days now. I'll phone Dad tomorrow like I normally do but I wont remind him. Why should I make him feel bad for forgetting. You know if Mum was still alive she would've remembered.

I've decided that I am definitely hurt & disappointed. Pass the tissues please. Time for a pity party or maybe I should just go to bed.

Camp & Shopping

Brodie has been at an Interchange Camp in Walhalla since Friday night. Gosh its been awful quiet at home! Not that I am complaining or anything its just quiet! He phoned me up reverse charges last night to let me know that he didn't have any signal on his mobile. I knew he wouldn't because when the boys have been up at Rawson on other camps they've not had signal there either. And since Walhalla is in that same area I assumed that their mobiles wouldn't work their too. Anyway he said he missed me. I've certainly thought about him heaps over the last couple of days but I don't think I've missed him as much as he has possibly missed me.
It was really sweet of him to call at any rate. He usually phones at night to say Good Night. Its cute really.

Yesterday morning I tool Mark & Angus to Morwell to do some birthday and Christmas shopping. I kept my promise of getting Angus a new mobile phone but he almost lost it while we were in Mid Valley. He'd left it in the shoe section in BigW and only realised it as we were leaving the store. Thank goodness it was sort of shoved under some shelves when he tried on some shoes or he would've completely lost them altogether. I mean who wouldn't take a shopping bag with a brand new phone in it? Thankfully Mark found it and all is good.
Angus learnt a valuable lesson. If Mum has a trolley for all the shopping .. USE it or LOSE it!!

Operation Postponed

I got a phone call yesterday afternoon stating that my operation has been postponed until Friday Aug 7. It's on a few days later so that's not too bad. In some ways I am glad that it was postponed. It gives me a bit longer to get my skin under control. Well I am hoping I can make it less flaky at least.

The Boys Father

While we were visiting my Dad I got a phone call from the boys father, Victor. I almost fell off my chair when I realised it was him. We had been in Adelaide for about a day or so when he phoned. Mid you sending him a letter telling him when we were coming to South Australia for a holiday certainly helped. He told me that he was organising his bus ticket from Whyalla to Adelaide and would it be possible for us to pick him up at the Elizabeth train station & take him to his brother Bill's home. I thought wow, sure, I can do that since you are (finally) making the effort to come and see your own sons!

So on Tuesday afternoon he phoned us to say that he was at the train station and could we please come and get him. The boys walked right up to him and he didn't recognise them at all. It wasn't until Brodie said Hello Vic that he finally realised that these boys were HIS kids. I was surprised to note that he didn't recognise them even though I had sent him their most recent school photos so that he would know how much they had grown. Oh well, I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised really.

I know it was nice for Vic to finally catch up with the boys BUT .. he has to realise that he shouldn't be trying to crack jokes and think that everything is all hunky dory just because he made the boys laugh. In some ways I think that Vic thought things would be like they used to be between him & the boys before he disappeared on us, & that they were still "buddies".

I know for a fact that Brodie is having such a hard time trying to accept Vic back in his life after a 7 year absence. I mean who wouldn't have a hard time trying to get to know someone after such a long time apart. Brodie even told him on the phone that he didn't want to call him Dad any more because he hadn't been in their lives for so long. Brodie heard Vic swear at Bill saying that the little f**ker didn't want to call him Dad anymore. Of course when I confronted him about it he denied it but why would Brodie lie about it?

Angus told me that even though Vic is his Dad he doesn't particularly like how he was treated while we visited with him & his Uncle Bill. Vic spent more time talking to Brodie trying to be buddies with him. Angus said he felt left out. Not a very good thing to happen especially when you are meant to be mending a broken relationship.

At one stage Brodie wanted to punch Vic. Of course he didn't, I wouldn't let him .. he saved that for Mark instead. I'll fill you in on that story in another post. There was a lot of anger brewing in the background & I certainly felt a lot of stress from it. So much stress that my skin paid the price for it while we were away. Now that we have been back a week it is slowly settling down again.

We bought Vic a mobile phone so that the boys can keep in contact with him. Not a very expensive one but its prepaid so we wont have to worry about any phone bills. One of Vic's nieces or nephews can teach him how to put credit on. We're all on the same mobile network so the kids can use their free minutes to call him if they wish to. You should've seen Vic when we gave him the phone. He was like a little kid receiving a Christmas present. He was practically jumping for joy. I had to laugh though he said he would keep it a secret from his brother, Dave, but I don't think he will. He was so excited that he would tell anyone who would listen that he had a mobile phone.

At least the boys can call him now and speak with him if they wish. It's better than the system we were using before when we would try and catch his cousin at home who would then pass on a message to him that we had called. Vic would then phone to say he was at his cousins and then we would call him back.

While we were there Mark spent some time alone with Vic. Having a heart to heart chat. Dad to Dad. Whatever Mark said to Vic must have been good as Vic told me that he has a lot of time for Mark & that he is doing a good job with the boys. It feels kind of weird that my ex-hubby approves of my 'new' man. Not that I needed his approval.

Any way lets see how things go with their father now. I hope that their relationship can grow and become a bit stronger than it is right now.

The Paediatrician, Our Bishop & Disability Services

I meant to write about this the other day but hadn't gotten around to it. I took Brodie to see the paediatrician last week for a check up and for him to fill in some forms for Centrelink. Anyway while we were there Michael said that Brodie has made some fantastic changes over the past few years. All in a positive way. It made me feel good to know that things for Brodie are moving in the right direction and that people can see the differences.

Yesterday while at Church our Bishop asked to see me. Mostly to for our tithing settlement but he wanted to catch up too because he hadn't seen me much for a while. That's mostly because I haven't always been well enough to go each week. Bishop mentioned that he had spoken with the Young Men's President about Brodie, well all the kids really, but he said how they both thought Brodie has come a long way since they first met him back in 2006.

Bishop explained that he is able to have a decent conversation with Brodie now without him getting angry & frustrated. He also stated that when he first met him it was easier to talk to a brick wall (to be honest I used to think that way about the boys father).

He also said that I have done a wonderful job in raising both boys. Of course I said it was a team effort and that there have been a lot of people involved and it has been a lot of hard work on everyone's part. I did remember to say thank you :)

I know I have said this already but it sure is good to know that people can see the huge difference in Brodie. They can see that he is a wonderful kid & he is able to show it. I must tell Brodie that there are so many people out there that can see how he has changed for the better. I just hope that he is able to show that at home more. Maybe he will once he knows what others think.

One last thing. I got a phone call from the Dept. of Human Services - Disability Services on Friday morning. We had put in an application with them back in January of this year and had our first interview with them at the same time. They were to review our case and contact various other agencies we had been in contact with to see if we qualified for their assistance. So here it is almost 6 months down the track and our application has finally been approved as of last Thursday. Of course once Brodie was accepted as a 'client' he will receive their assistance for life. I am so grateful that it was approved. Not that I didn't think we would be knocked back or anything but its so nice to get some good news.

Housing Maintenance & Contractors

Bah Humbug! I am so peeved with the Glazier contracted by State Housing. We have been waiting for years for our back sliding door to be fixed. We haven't even been able to lock it for MONTHS! The last time someone came to fix our door so that we could secure it was on Black Saturday (Feb 7th), when get this a PLUMBER came to place two pieces of wood down so that the door could not be opened. Which of course it could still be opened if forced. It has now been four months. We were told back then that someone would be out in two weeks to fix things properly. Well NO one came!!

Yesterday after many more phone calls to maintenance, the glazier finally rocked up to 'fix' the door frame. Gee Whiz. Why was it no surprise that the door frame and door that they brought with them didn't fit? I'll tell you why. They never measured the darned thing in the first place so they never had the correct measurements to start with. The two blokes that turned up were surprised that and wondered how they got the measurements that they did. Who knows, who cares? It doesn't FIT so it is NO good to me. They left without so much as a clue to their return! AND to top if off they brought black sticky icky silicon onto the carpet and ground it in with their bloody boots. Silicon does NOT come out! And they didn't even apologise for their blunder! I bet you can see why I feel so peeved at the moment!!

Mark phoned housing to let them know what went on and how the door was still NOT repaired. The Line Manager for the maintenance call centre phoned back to say that the contractors should be back on Tuesday NEXT week to 'finish' the job they were meant to have done yesterday. I wont hold my breath because they may not even turn up! I hope they get their act into gear!

I'm back!

Our phone is finally working! It started working some time before 1:50 this afternoon. Thank goodness we got it back today or I was going to call my phone company and ask for a discount since we had been without any service for almost three full business days.

I almost fell off my chair when I saw how many emails I have to go through. I'm thinking perhaps I belong to way too many yahoo groups...