The bad news is....

Well, since I am in the land of good medical care, I decided to be a little proactive. (If you can call waiting 3+ years proactive) With my medical care. I have felt so foggy and mentally dull, in a cloudy way, not a dimwit way although the possibilities are endless...I have enough energy to shuffle around and get things dome but most things are a hassle and I have to converse with myself to convince myself to actually make a stinking phone call. or pick up some particular item, or drop something off etc. Well, as I mentioned, the proactive thing, I was thinking it may or may not be a thyroid issue. After all, most females in my family seem to have it. And, what I was going through, or rather complaining about sounded similar to others. the whole lethargy thing. So, after a very delightful needle (serious, if I wasn't watching it enter my skin, I would not have known I was getting a needle and 2 vials of blood drawn) Well, after then needle and 1 day later, I get the phone call. My thyroid is normal. Bummer, I say to the lady on the phone. Huh? she says. That's when I stopped myself from saying, "well, what the h-e-double hockey sticks is wrong with me?" I just thanked her and said, "oh, great, I thought you were going to tell me I was pregnant." She spit out her lunch into my ear and said, "well, I do have some bad news for you, you ARE pregnant and due any day now"

I had my veryfirst pre-natal Doctor appointment yesturday. Only 2.5weeks to go til delivery dates! The Doctor said she wasn't so concerned with that as it was my third baby. But that it would be nice to meet me first before she catches this little bubb. Good new too,I haven't gained as much this time as with thelast 2 babies. There just isn't anything tasty to eat in Fiji. Even the papaya from our tree has bird turds on it...yum. So, I am looking forward to getting back into pants that I can zip/button all theway up!

On other good news fronts, My Mom will be arriving here in approx 1 week. This will be awesome. Still waiting to find out if we can enrol Alec in school here on a temporary basis. In Fiji, all you need is money and you can buy your way into anything!

just a short post this time. Boys are getting more comfortable at AuntyLisas and therefore more destructive! I am, however, very impressed with their behaviour all-in-all. They are being wonderful listeners and obeyers. Working together, and sharing.
I believe they may have been abducted by aliens.

Love you Ger.

In this last week I've finally been able to say "I'll have a large double cream and 1 maple dip"
It was just as I remembered.

After a very long-feeling flight with a transfer in Honolulu and not one single person to assist me other than to say "hurry up!" We finally made it thru US Customs, with a complementary pat down of my stomach. The agent didn't even pat down my legs, only the belly. What up wit dat? Anyway, she does this while I'm standing waiting (and being ordered to move, you're in the wrong place, every 2 seconds) while another agent does a chemical analysis on Elias' carry on bag. They found medication (read DRUGS) on the outside and needed to test it. I advised them it was Panadol and they almost went full chaos mode. Apparently Panadol means "crack cocaine" in HNL. Well, when I explained it's like TYLENOL, and 'can I just show you the bottle?' they advised me that was against their protocal and they didn't want to see IN the bag, just wanted to analize what was on the outside. What they didn't know was that for the entire duration of the trip (and the rest of it also) both my boys were very feverish, coughing, feeling like they wanted to vomit and a round-or-2 of diarhrea. SO, here we stand, with no help, some old lady trying to make a wish on my belly, 2 other agents trying to decifer what's ON the babys' bag and another ordering us about to "move here, move there" THey finally finish. We proceed past go (with only 25 minutes 'in jail' a la monopoly) and head up to our gate with 2 minutes to spare prior to getting back on the piece of tin for another 7 hours. When we get to our seat, one of the flight attendants that I had requested a small modicum of help from, snaps her head up to me and remarks "ARE YOU PREGNANT?!?!?" (all the while her hand is reaching out in slo-mo to make a wish) I think of a million things to say to be snarky and rude and EVIL and basically get her back for not helping us on the himalayan effort we just made to get back on the very same aircraft we left an hour and change ago.... MY reply to her question was "Yes, oh yes, (smilingsweetly-evil poisoned darts flying from my eyes -die-die-die) I have 3 weeks to go." Her reply???? "OH my, you should have said something." That's when I picked up my medicine drenched bag and clocked her upside the head. (ok not really) but .... that's when I turned around and plunged more medication in my boys in hopes that their fevers would subside enuf to let them sleep.

Alec still unwell, Elias on the mend, Me? care to make a wish? I can't make any promises but I'm sure that us Customs and security agent in HNL was making some whilst rubbing my belly. Man, I just felt like kicking her down and stomping on her. How annoying it was. Maybe I'm not over that episode yet, maybe still tired and aggro. Unless , that's just how I am!

Even through all that, I missed my Gerry, the boys miss their Daddy and we will not feel complete until we are all together. How we are meant to be. Love you Ger. see you soon.

A good reason to go natural!

Sorry Friends, Romans, Countrymen, but I just couldn't resist this. I almost fell off my chair reading this fwd email from a friend here. Only a woman can laugh at this. No one else would dare!This has to be one of the funniest and most god-awful scenarios I have ever heard of... Bless this woman!!!

All hair removal methods have tricked us with their promises of easy, painless removal. The epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now.... The Wax!!My night began as any other normal weekday night. Come home; fix dinner; played with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours; "Maybe I should pull the wax out of the medicine cabinet?"So I headed to the site of my demise; the bathroom. It was one of those cold wax kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand and then they get warm and you peel them apart, press it to your leg (or wherever else) and hair comes right off! No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm no girly, girl, but am mechanically inclined enough that I can figure it out.*YA THINK!!!*So I pull one of the thin strips out. It's two strips facing each together, stuck together.
Instead of rubbing them together, I get out the hairdryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. Cold wax my rear end (Oh, how this phrase haunts me!). I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. OK... So it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this!!! Hair removal no longer eludes me!! I am She-Ra, fighter of all wayward body hair and smooth skin extraordinaire!!
With my next wax strip, I move "north". After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of the bikini line, covering the right half of my vagina and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (Yes, it was a long strip). I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIIIIPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!I'm Blind!!!!! Blinded from pain!!!!!!... OH DEAR GOD !!!!!!!!!!!Im making noises that only dogs can hear ..Vision slowly returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half of the strip. S**T!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP... Everything is swirly and spotted . I cannot breath or speak - I have forgotten how ..Do I hear crashing drums?????Wait a few minutes and I'm back to normal (nearly) After all this I want to see my trophy !!! - A wax covered strip with my hairy pelt that has caused me so much pain, sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair.
I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it! Where is the hair?? WHERE IS THE WAX? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair... The hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax. S**T!!! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair.Then I make the next BIG mistake . . . . . . .Remember, my foot is still propped up on the toilet. I know I need to do something, so I put my foot down.DAMN!!! I hear the slamming of the cell door.Vagina? Sealed shut!Butt?? Sealed shut!!!I penguin walk around the bathroom, trying to figure out what to do and think to myself, "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off." Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??WRONG!!!!
I get in the tub - The water is slightly hotter than then that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse that having your nether businesses glued together is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub. In scalding hot water!! (Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax) So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub!!!
God bless the man what convinced me I should have a phone in the bathroom!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she's waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter, "So my butt and who-ha are stuck to the bottom of the tub!There is a slight pause. She doesn't have a secret trick, but does try to hide the laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located."Are we talking buttock cheek or is it covering - you know - Everywhere(cringe factor 20000 at this point) ?"She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH RIGHT!!!!!! I should be the 'butt' of someone else's work-night jokes.
While we go through various solutions, I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water, and then dry shaving the sticky wax off!!!By now, the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I slip into glazed donut land. My friend is still talking with me and my hand reaches towards the saving grace...The lotion they give you to remove the excess wax.What do I really have to lose at this point. I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids, scared the dickens out of my friend, but I really don't care!!"IT WORKS!! IT WORKS!!" I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice, to my grief and despair...THE HAIR IS STILL THERE... ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!So, I shaved it off. Heck, I'm numb at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair colour . . . . . . .

the mundane

For those of you who haven;t made the quick, cheap trip over the south Pacific. Here's some mundane info about our little life in our back yard.

My boys have a fort (looks more like an army bunker on stilts) built in between a Mango tree and a Guava tree. Behind this fort are several banana trees, and a Palm tree with a few green coconuts still. (Green ones are for drinking, brown ones are for cooking so the local saying goes)

I have roses in bloom year-round all around my house and fenceline. I have 2 Gardenia's that have started to bloom again and 2 Frangiapanni trees also. The gardening here is beautiful. You snap a stick/branch/or leaf off of someone and shove it into a hole in the ground. Within a few weeks, it's taking off. A few months, it's blooming!

People who are from here have Kasava plantations everywhere and we have Kasava (manioc) flanking our fenceline all the way around. (I think the fellow sees me watering the grass to mke it thicker and hit the bonus as his plantation ends up with some water too!) There is Dalo (root crops) growing along our ditch/gutter line and all manner of ivy/vines that are considered a nusance here. The end up covering you fence which is nice but also allow people to hide behind whilst they break into your home! I have those weeds growing in pots! Even the weeds here are pleasant. (who uses the word 'pleasant' ?)

Yesterday, my boys climbed to Guava (think George of the Jungle or Tarzan vines) tree and were springing around on the branches until they finally spied the perfect fruit. It's too funny to watch them 'boing' around on the tree. Then they climb the fort and use the corrugated tine on the sides to cut their guavas and sit down and munch. Soon they'll be able to reach out their fort to yank a ripe lady-finger banana to snack on. After Elias zonked out on the couch, but not before he peed his pants at the local beach (he was trying but aimed straight down and peed on himself anyway! a blond!) Alec and I then made some spiderman masks on the verandah. When Daddy came hoem the 3 of us played poker. Well, Alecs version of it anyway.

the mundane continues today....

the best laid plans

So, now we will travel on Sept 9th not as planned tonight. Alec has tonsilitis and is in a fair amount of pain.

oh well. I'm anxious to get the travel part out of the way and I'm worried about the effects on my fairly pregnant frame. (only a little worried mind you) However, Alec would be in dire straits with 2 descents to do. One in Honolulu and the other in Vancouver. PLus the transfer thru immigration in HNL (midnight walkabout) It would be too much for the little boys.

I've rebooked and now Air Pacific says that they need a medical form becuase of our reason for rebooking. I said, what if he just had a cold? she said they would still require a medical form completed in duplicate by my Doctor and the Companys' doctor. Fortunately, we go to the same guy. In my 12 years of airline experience and few bit of time on the travel agent circuit, I've never come across this. This little country of Fiji has so many redundancies built into it's infrastructure. Nothing we can do. As my big bro says, "suck it up princess"

until next time.
I am looking forward to saying
"I'll have a large double cream with 1 maple dip to go please."