Snack Packs

In self-defence, now that it's school holidays, we created elaborate "Snack Packs" for the children this morning. One of my least favourite cries just happens to be - "Mum, what can I have to eat. I'm hungry". Grrrrr. Didn't they just eat??

So each of the children now have a divided plastic snack box packed with all of the following:

sultanas, peanuts, dates and mini marshmallows
grapes and cheese cubes
jatz sticks (little stick shaped crackers ideal for dipping)
carrot and celery sticks, tiny tomatoes, cucumber cubes
a dip made with avocado and cottage cheese
a hard-boiled egg
They are also allowed additional fruit (we currently have nectarines, peaches, bananas and mangoes - I love the fruit this time of year).

They are allowed to nibble on these snacks any time throughout the day, but once they've finished their box, that's it for the day. Hopefully this will prevent the constant calls for food!

Someone Else's Body

There are times when I really struggle with the fact that our son relies on me to be his body. It is difficult in two distinct ways:

Firstly, it's not easy to be constantly interrupted by his needs and wants, when I have needs and wants of my own. At times it feels like such an intrusion to have to be someone else's body. In addition, it's physically demanding to have to engage in transfers so many times throughout a day.

Secondly, I struggle with my own selfishness. Whenever I sigh out loud because he needs another nappy change, or wants to lie on the floor, or get up off the bed, or get in the walker, etc, I feel so guilty for resenting his requests. I immediately condemn myself for not having enough compassion to understand what it must be like for a nine-year-old to be totally reliant on other people for his every basic need, let alone the things every child should be able to enjoy.

It is a real challenge for me to overcome this feeling on a daily basis, and just get on with the business of loving.

Books and Movies

Here's what we've been watching this week:

The quirky and delightful dead letter office starring Miranda Otto and
Ordinary People - terribly sad and yet with glimpses of hope

And here's what I've read this week:
Jodi Picoult's Vanishing Acts, which was just as good as My Sister's Keeper and
With No One as Witness, a dramatic crime novel by Elizabeth George

Ninety Years

On the other side of the world, and in a different time zone, my grandfather will soon be celebrating his 90th birthday. One of my most vivid memories of Opa is when he was here in Australia and had his 70th birthday with us. The whole family went out to a fancy French restaurant for dinner. In Holland, it's not uncommon for the 'birthday boy/girl' to stand on their chair while everyone sings to them. So - you guessed it - my 70-year-old grandfather got up on his chair in the restaurant while we sang to him! Here is a wonderful photo of my dear Opa:

Happy Birthday and lots of love from all of us!

What to Say?

Often as I'm doing things around the house or garden, I find myself composing little blog entries in my mind. But when I actually sit in front of the computer I've forgotten all those wonderful ideas and end up wondering what to say. It's very quiet in the house this morning. Garry is reading (The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman), Christopher is still asleep, and we can just hear Catherine singing quietly in her bed. That's a good sign that she's starting to get over the chickenpox at last. The cat, Hermione, is so lethargic that she can barely move two steps without lying down for a little nap. Soon we'll be into the busy routines of our day and this peaceful interlude will be just a fleeting memory.

As Christopher says, "It's a good life, mum".

Two-Minute Day

Because it's the start of school holidays, Catherine is sick, Garry is recovering from a back injury, we're still homeschooling Christopher this week, and Christmas is rapidly approaching - I was starting to feel really overwhelmed by the house. The hot weather here isn't helping either. Yesterday I felt so unmotivated that I couldn't even bring myself to use Flylady's 15 minute concept.

I finally decided that enough was enough - surely I could do 2 minutes of house keeping?!! So I set the timer for 2 minutes and did one little job in one room. Since that wasn't too bad, I moved into another room and did another 2 minutes. As soon as the timer went off, I stopped that job. I found myself getting into the swing of this, and eventually ended up doing a couple of hours of housework without any stress. Catherine also got into the fun and was a great help with the timer, so I was able to teach her a few little jobs along the way :)

So by the end of the day, as we headed out for our anniversary dinner & movie, I was able to leave the house without feeling guilty about doing no work, and without having to apologise to our babysitter about the mess - because things were presentable.

PS: We went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which we both really enjoyed. However, we won't be letting the kids watch this one in a hurry. The scenes in the maze and graveyard are still well beyond their 'scare level'.

For Garry

Thich Nhat Hanh, whose writings I have enjoyed in recent years, talks about a concept he calls 'your heart sutra'. In honour of thirteen years of marriage, I thought that today I would copy my heart sutra for Garry onto the blogsite:

My love, without you I would not be whole. Your presence in my life is the greatest gift imaginable. You are all I could ever have hoped for and more. I deeply admire you, my darling, and am frequently challenged by the way you parent our children so patiently and kindly.

I pray that today, and every day we share together, I will be able to be all you desire as your wife. I readily commit my heart to you, my beloved husband. I will do my best to always listen to you with compassion and understanding. I will be here for you whenever you need me.

I am so very thankful for your love, and for all the special qualities that make you my personal hero. You still make my heart beat faster with your smile, my dearest.

Love forever,
Tamara.

Sculpture

When I was in Paris last year, there was a sculpture at the Louvre which I really admired. Ocky noticed this and took some photos of the sculpture. She then created a copy of it in Holland, after which she created a silicone mold. She brought this mold with her when they came to Australia last month, and used it to reproduce the sculpture for me. The result is absolutely striking! Here is a photo:

I can't believe how much effort and time has gone into creating this beautiful work, but I am thrilled that he is now living with us! I still need to track down his name, but I think it's something like Antonius. Have to do a bit of research on that.

Chickenpox

Poor Catherine has caught chicken pox and is therefore not a happy girl right now. She started showing her first spots on Friday (last day of school for the year), and is now quite well covered. She has been so sad! She thinks she "looks horrible", poor kid, and not much can console her.

In addition, Garry had a fall this week and his back is playing up - so I'm now nursing three dependent family members :)

The bright light in all this is that hopefully we'll be back to normal in time for Christmas. If Catherine passed the chickenpox on to any school friends they won't be quite so lucky.

Mud map of Australia 

Ocky and Max on David's mower 

Northern Lights

I've been reading a trilogy by Philip Pullman this week. The first book, Northern Lights is also known as The Golden Compass. In it, a young girl called Lyra uses an instrument known as an Alethiometer (pictured below) to measure truth. I found myself wishing I owned such a beautiful and intriguing instrument! The trilogy itself is interesting reading - I am currently reading the third book and am still wondering what will ultimately happen.

Lyra's Alethiometer 

Avian Influenza

If you're like me, you've probably dismissed news articles about the bird flu as having little or no impact on your life. Think again! Did you know that the World Health Organisation lists the risk of a pandemic as serious and likely? Have a look at the WHO website for detailed information.

The world is currently at level 3 (out of 6) alert, and once we reach level 4, it seems that nothing will prevent us from going all the way to level 6. It's not a pretty picture.

UPDATE: if you read the comment below, you'll see that Tim has kindly provided another website about alerts - thanks for your input!

Long Time, No Blog

It's been a while since I've posted here. The new job has been consuming a great deal of my excess energy. I've only worked 3 shifts, with another tonight, but I'm finding that I spend a great deal of time thinking about things both before and after a shift. Hopefully that will decrease as I become more competent at the many new skills I've had to learn. In addition, night shifts obviously take more time because I have to catch up on the sleep somehow. However, I am finding the work very interesting and rewarding. I love working in palliative care.

One day, I would love to go and work for 6 months at St Christopher's Hospice in London, where palliative care was born. In addition to working there, Garry and I dream of one day doing a walking holiday in Ireland (Guinness is a particular attraction), and London is much closer to Ireland than Australia. Also, it would put Holland within easy reach, so that we could visit relatives and show the kids where I was born. Sounds like a great plan - but still a dream just now. On the other hand, nursing is a great career for someone who wants to work overseas, so I guess you never know.

Catherine at the Beach 

Christopher in the Hoist 

Quiet Boast

Just for fun, I thought I'd post my Uni results for this year. I have finished all my subjects and don't start back now until next March.

Communication: Key Concepts (Nursing)
Article Review 100/100
Essay Proposal 100/100
Major Essay 99/100

Medication Concepts and Calculations
Concepts 23/25
Calculations 75/75

Psychosocial Foundations I
Portfolio 100/100
Major Essay 100/100

Foundation Computing
Assignments 40/40
Exam 56/60

Not bad for someone who hasn't studied since 1991!

My Exhibition Poster 

Exhibition 

Something I Love...

Something I love...
Getting really good news that you'd almost not dared to hope for.

Something I hate...
The good news coming together with lesser news, that therefore takes the edge off the good news feeling.

Something I ate...
Lots and lots of veggie soup - delicious! Also good for the waistline, of course.

New Look for Aad 

The Job

Well, I decided to take the job (see Job Offer), and am now officially a PCA (personal care assistant). My orientation shift is on 8 November after which I'm on call. My last day as a volunteer is on Friday.

I'm a bit nervous about the change. As a volunteer I haven't had to work full shifts or carry the responsibility that falls on the PCAs. But I am also very excited. I love working in palliative care and am looking forward to learning lots!

Wheelchair Woes

We were expecting Christopher's new wheelchair to arrive today. The company had rung to make sure we'd be home for the delivery. They rang again this afternoon to explain that they were waiting for a part to arrive, so the chair won't be coming for some time yet. No idea how long.

At least this time we're hopeful that Christopher will actually still fit into the chair by the time it arrives. He'd outgrown the last one before we finally got it - 18 months after he'd been measured up.

Christopher is so very excited about getting this new wheelchair. I will put up some photos on the day it arrives, so you can compare old with new. We're planning to have a special celebratory dessert on the night it gets here. Christopher had been saying things like, 'This is my last Monday in this wheelchair' etc, so he was pretty disappointed today. Not much fun, but we seem to be stuck with it.

The Girl in the Cafe

Last night we watched a deceptively simple little film on ABC, called 'The Girl in the Cafe'. I have to say this is one of the most beautiful, poignant, challenging films I have seen in some time. It caught us by surprise because we'd not heard of it before. In addition to being funny, sad and beautifully crafted, it is also a very good introduction to the Millenium Development Goals. Definitely worth watching if it comes your way.

Job Offer

To my great surprise, I've been offered a casual job at the hospice where I work as a volunteer. We've been tossing up the pros and cons of this offer all weekend. On the con side: I would no longer be able to work there as a volunteer, the shifts would be unpredictable and I'm not really experienced enough. On the pro side: there would be on-the-job training, this is what I really want to do, they really need me as a PCA (personal care assistant) and it would be fantastic experience. There are of course many other factors, but those were the main ones.

Garry is really encouraging me to take the job, especially since I will soon start four months' break from uni. That is perfect timing for learning a new job and doing odd shifts. Obviously this will have an effect on our Centrelink payments - something I'll have to look into tomorrow. Then it will be decision time!!!

The Kite Runner

I've just finished reading 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini. I didn't expect to like this book so much. The relationship between the two boys, the relationship between Amir and his father, the kite tournament and the setting (Afghanistan) all combined to create a story that haunted me from the very first chapter. I can certainly recommend this one!

Another book I've just read is 'The Girl in Times Square' by Paulina Simons. At first I expected this to be a girlie book which I chose to read for pure mindless entertainment, as a nice change from textbooks. Somehow, though, the story captured my attention at a deeper level and I ended up really liking it.

I've just begun reading 'Dirt Music' by Tim Winton. I am a fan of 'Cloudstreet', but only after the second reading - I didn't like it so much the first time. 'Dirt Music' is proving dificult for me to get into just now: will have to reserve my judgment on this book for now.

On the Porch

Last night a thunderstorm developed while we were eating dinner, so afterwards the four of us sat on our tiny back deck watching the lightning and listening to the pouring rain. It was so lovely to share the joy of the rain (finally!) and beauty of the sky together. Moments like that linger in the memory.

Today I keep singing to myself:

Out on the patio we'd sit
And the humidity we'd breathe
We'd watch the lightning crack over cane fields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.

View from our unit

This was the view from the units we had at the beach last week.

Something I Love...

Something I love... finding the perfect article for an essay (two due this month).

Something I hate... discovering the above-mentioned perfect article isn't available because our library isn't subscribed to that journal.

Something I ate... Garry's Spanish Omelette recipe is high on the list of family favourites at the moment.

I'm reading... 'Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees'

I'm listening to... 'Habanera' from Bizet's opera, Carmen.

Bill and Valda

Bill and Valda 

I love this photo of Bill and Valda, taken on their recent trip up north.

Comoros Recipe

While searching for an International Recipe (more about that later), I came across the following classic from the country of Comoros. I am not kidding you!

Chicken with coconut, mashed potatoes, carrot and sweet potato - Main

Cooking Recipes Ingredients:
1 coconut milk box
1 chicken cut in pieces with its offal
2 onions, thin slices
600 G of sweet potatoes
500 G of carrots
1 furnished bouquet
3 parsley bits
1 C with coconut soup grated
5 grated nutmeg pinches
0.5 C with coffee of powder gingembre
2 C with oil soup
salt and pepper

Cooking Recipes Directions
Gild chicken out of casserole in oil. Withdraw gild the onions then reserve them. Place offal in the casserole, sprinkle with 70 water Cl carry to boiling, foam and let boil 20 min.
Filter the bubble. Pour it in the casserole with chicken, onions, the furnished bouquet and the powder gingembre. Salt, pepper. Let quiver during 15 min. Gently pour the coconut milk (reserve 10 Cl) while mixing. Leave mijoter during 30 min.
During this time, peel carrots and the potatoes, cut them in cubes. Cook separately them with salted ebullient water 30 min. Separately pass them to the potato-masher add 3 C to sweet potato mashed potatoes in that of carrot, mix.
Water the coconut milk remainder in 10 water Cl. Season grated nutmeg and carry gently to boiling. Mix the 2/3 in potato mashed potatoes and the remainder in that of carrot. Check the seasoning; add, with your taste, a little butter.
Remove casserole the furnished bouquet. Strew mashed potatoes with chopped parsley potato and powder that with coconut carrot grated. Be useful quite hot with chicken.

Carmen

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend OzOpera's "Carmen" with mum, dad and Liz. Last time the four of us went out together, it was for "La Boheme" two years ago! It was a fantastic performance and we especially enjoyed the opportunity to see a family friend play the male lead.

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Two Beach Photos

So here are two beach photos to begin with. The first is of Opa and Catherine at Australia Zoo, the second is of Tamara and Christopher walking on the beach right outside our unit.

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Home Again

We're home after having enjoyed a wonderful holiday at the beach. Everything's finally unpacked and the first load of washing is on the line. Thanks to my parents joining us at the beach for the week, we've been able to enjoy this holiday to the full. I'll get some photos up soon.

Books I read while away:
"I'm Not Scared" by Niccolo Ammaniti
"The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
"Three Weeks with my Brother" by Nicholas Sparks
"The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks

To the Beach

Since we're heading off to the beach tomorrow, I may not have an opportunity to post to the blog until October 2nd. So if it's a little quiet around here, just imagine us sitting on our balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean............

Hmmmm, I can't wait!

See you next month :)

'Kera' the blind jaguar 

On the wheelchair swing 

Catherine and the Snake 

Christopher and the Snake 

Zoo Visit

We've just returned home from a visit to the newly opened Darling Downs Zoo. I will post some photos tomorrow, because there were some interesting exhibits. Although the zoo is small they have a great variety of animals and it's very friendly. Both the kids got to have a snake draped around their necks!

Favourites included: the jaguar, lions, Macaque monkeys and llamas.

Benefits of this zoo: no crowds, small, friendly, good variety of animals.

Possible improvements: better wheelchair access to some exhibits.

Book Group

Our book group, the 'Avid Readers' has its second-last meeting for this year on Friday. We've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible. This is a book with plenty of material for discussion, so it should be a great night. If you've read it, why not leave a comment?

Catherine's Cooking Continued

As you can see, Catherine has had another cooking adventure with Granny - this time they made Granny's famous cheesecake. It was very much appreciated by the rest of the family.

Edited Life

One interesting thing I've noticed about having a blog, is that I tend to edit my life to make it presentable. Knowing that other people are going to be reading this has a curious effect on what I will and won't say. It's not that I'm making things up so much as that I don't write about many negative topics.

If you're wondering what juicy secrets you're missing out on, think again. What I'm referring to is all those little parts of ourselves that aren't quite so nice. I think that an anonymous blog would be quite different.

Aren't they gorgeous? 

Sexual History

For one subject this week we are talking about sexuality. In preparation I've just read an article about how to take a patient's sexual history. It had never crossed my mind that this would be part of our nursing training, but of course it should be.

Thinking about this led me to consider what should be uppermost in my mind whenever I meet a new patient. Clearly each person is an individual with unique characteristics. Equally, they are going to confound my expectations and pre-conceived ideas. So what is it that every single patient has in common? I suspect it's something along these lines: every person will want to be accepted for who they are.

In addition to learning about sexual history taking, I read about people who are born as neither male nor female (physically). Here is a stark reminder that I don't know a single thing about what people are really like behind the exterior they present to the world. Clearly this calls for an attitude of deep compassion towards all the patients I will meet as a nurse. I don't know what life is like from anyone else's point of view, and therefore I have no right to judge anyone. Now, where have I heard that before?

Mower Adventure

As you can see, Christopher has been having a wonderful time at Oma and Opa's today. Here he is getting a wheelchair ride on the mower with Opa.

Something I Love...Hate...Ate

Something I love... finishing an assignment!

Something I hate... waiting for the results!

Something I ate... fish and chips. This was greatly enjoyed by our current Japanese homestay student, Misato. She even took photos of her meal tonight.

Some Snapshots

Clockwise from top: Tamara and Garry "waterskiing"; Liesbeth on her wedding day, with Tamara as bridesmaid; Garry with Christopher and Catherine; Tamara holding the newly-born Catherine; Tamara and Christopher sledding in Utah.

Nurse in the Making? 

Multicultural Night

Tonight, for Garry's birthday, we had a very multicultural meal: a delicious Swiss cheese fondue, shared with my Dutch parents and a Japanese homestay student. For dessert we had a Black Forest Cake (German, of course) made mainly by Catherine. All complimented by a delightful Zantvoort wine. Hmmmmm, lekker. Garry even managed to score a four-pack of Irish Guinness and an Egyptian birthday gift for the bookshelves. Quite a range of cultures were represented, in fact! If only the Jackson family could have been here too....

Caring for Carers

I had an amazing time today, at the first ever "Caring for Carers Day". About 30 of us gathered from 9am-2.30pm to be treated to haircuts, manicures, make-up, foot massages and bowen therapy, lunch, string quartet, gift packs and raffle prizes. It was such a delight and I felt wonderfully spoilt. Garry was especially pleased that we were each sent home with a bottle of champagne :)

First Subject Completed

As of last Friday, I have officially completed and passed my first subject for this semester: Medication Concepts and Calculations. OK, so it was only a half unit, but it's kind of nice to have one over and done with. Have I learned anything? Well, from my pharmacology textbook I learned that a woman in labour should never be given oxytocin if her baby is experiencing foetal distress. Interesting, considering the circumstances of Christopher's birth....

Cat Hilton

Garry spent much of today creating a cat flap for Hermione (yes, she was named after we'd read Harry Potter). She is now the very proud user of the Cat Flap Hilton: a rather up-market cat door designed and created by my husband. It's very cute to see how quickly a cat can learn to use a new entry/exit when she is being motivated by food.

My Sister's Keeper

I am currently reading "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. The cover asks, "If you use one of your children to save the life of another, are you being a good mother ...or a very bad one?" The story is written from multiple points of view, challenging the reader to think about the issues more deeply. Already tears have surfaced once or twice. If you come across this book, I really recommend it.

Water Troubles

While America is experiencing the devastating results of too much water, we are now on level 4 water restrictions. Hand held hosing is not permitted; watering new turf is not permitted; cleaning cars is not permitted (except to clean windows using a bucket); house washing is not permitted; private pools and spas may not be topped up. We are only allowed to water gardens using watering cans or buckets, and even that is now restricted to 3 days per week before 9am or after 5pm.

It's predicted that we'll be on level 5 restrictions by Christmas, meaning that the water supply will be less than 20%. In other parts of Australia, people are only allowed to wash clothes once per week and their water supply is down to 10%.

Meanwhile Spring has arrived with much warmer weather already evident. We are really looking forward to heading to the beach on September 24th for a weeks' holiday.

Broadband's Back

I didn't post at the end of August because we're on a limited broadband plan and keep running out at the end of each month. That really slows our internet connection down, and makes it too slow to work with the blog site. So sorry for the long break but I'm back for now.

The Zantvoorts! 

Working Hoist - At Last!

I'm pleased to be able to report that the backdoor hoist is fully operational! Yes, we can now get the wheelchair out the back door. Christopher has trialed it and approves of the whole thing. The builder is currently tackling the toilet, so here's hoping we'll avoid any sticky situations.....

Both kids have been sick. Lots of fun! It's strange to see Garry dealing with vomit-soaked bed quilts and the like. Hopefully things will be back to normal with mediation coming up next week. Garry and I are back on the emotional rollercoaster leading up to next Wednesday. It will be good to get past that milestone.

Bizarre Wedding Photo

This is a genuine photo, taken at Brad and Linda's wedding. The kids were blowing bubbles, and as you can see, two bubbles happened to be exactly in front of Brad's eyes when the photo was taken!

Click on the photo to enlarge!

Christopher's Blog

I've added a link to Christopher's blog. It's all his own work, but linked to my account for now. That's why the profile is mine rather than his. He has plans for the blog, so keep checking it out!

Yes or No?

Here is a suggestion I read about for creating more "family fun". What do you think?

"unless it is absolutely impossible to do so, say yes. That may sound like a funny statement until you think it through. The average parental reaction is no. Regardless of the question kids ask, most parents think no more often than yes. So my wife and I developed a policy early on that we'd think yes ... and only when we found ourselves absolutely unable to say yes would we be forced to say no."

The writer goes on to give some examples: "Can we sleep outside tonight?", "Can we sleep in our clothes?" and "Can we have a party?" I have to admit my immediate reaction was to think no to each of those! What about you?

I can see that the kids might have more fun if parents were mostly saying yes to their requests! Interesting idea, anyway.

Date and Nut Bars

Something I Love...

Something I love...

Having the time to bake date and nut bars, including shelling the fresh pecan nuts!

Something I hate...

Cleaning up after cooking date and nut bars :(

Something I ate...

Guess!! :)

Cooking Lessons

The results of Catherine's first cooking lesson with Granny: a potato bake and a platter of butterfly cakes. The results were very much enjoyed by all!

One of the gift certificates Catherine got from Granny for her birthday last June.

Love, Hate, Something you Ate

Something I Love....

Curling up by the fire with a good book, glass of red wine, and a Lindt chocolate.

Something I Hate....

Diabetes.

Something I Ate....

Chinese style fried rice, as taught to us by John (our Chinese homestay student) - delicious!

Newspaper Article

A recent newspaper article.