DENTAL APPOINTMENT

Well... as I thought, I got bugger all sleep last night.

I tossed and turned non stop in fact.

NERVES.

PURE FEAR.

And I have to keep running to the loo!

We don't have to be at the hospital until 9 am.  What the hell am I gunna do until then?

Once we leave the house, there will probably be silence from us until I am discharged.  I have NO IDEA when that will be.

I know they want to keep me there until they are sure I am not bleeding.  And I need to recover from the medications they are going to give me as well.

I DO NOT EXPECT to be kept there overnight.  Unless I start bleeding.  

So, wish me luck, and think of Stew, who will have to sit and wait, and worry.  Poor bugger.

WHO KNEW HAVING A TOOTH OUT COULD BE SUCH A DRAMA???

...

ABOVE: We are here. Waiting our turn. It had taken EIGHT YEARS of waiting to finally get this tooth removed!  All thanks to a failed root canal done by a dentist in Cambridge, who refused to acknowledge he fucked it up. 

I am feeling so sick with nerves right now...

11.30 am.  It's over.

It was as horrendous as I imagined it would be.

The medication they gave me did not work to help calm me down at all.

They offered me nitrous gas, but that would have meant rescheduling the procedure.

Like ... HELL NO was I waiting any longer to have this done.

So we went ahead with it.

Needles... were painful, but to be expected.

The actual tooth extraction took over 20 minutes, lots of 'loosening' and twisting until it finally came out.  At least it didn't crumble and require extensive cutting.

After they got it out,  they packed the hole and stitched it up.

No significant bleeding, SUCH A RELIEF.

We have lots of instructions for aftercare.

We had to wait in the rooms for 15 minutes, then they let us go.  Yaaa.

ABOVE:  I decided to wear a mask as my face was all 'wonky'... the left side was all droopy from the anaesthetics. 

On our way home we stopped in at the supermarket for supplies.

I'm on a strict cold, very soft diet for the next few days.  Anything hot could set off the bleeding.

So NO SUGAR is on hold!

I'll be eating yoghurt, mousse, puree'd fruit and so on for 2-3 days.  To be safe.

ABOVE: Seeing the lake from the top of the carpark building made me happy.  I do so love our lake.

It only took about 30 minutes for the after pain to kick in, by the time we got home I was in considerable pain.  So, lots of pain killers on board, and a thick jacket and blanket as I was FREEZING TOO!

I got the shakes really badly during the procedure, and now feel utterly wiped out.  Everything aches.

God I'm such a pussy.  (sook, cry baby, etc).

But I'm here to tell the story!  Not in surgery getting bleeding under control.  I'm so lucky that didn't happen.

I have to now take it easy for a few days, so as not to set off any bleeding.  So "HI" from me lounge chair peeps!  😂😊😉

You can entertain me instead.  I want stories of ya Christmas/New Year adventures.  Who ya seen, What ya  been doing.  What ya got for Christmas.  bla bla bla

1.15 pm:  Well that was rather yum!  I don't think I've had something like that in a decade!

3.15 pm:  I just woke from a 1.5 hour nap.  Feeling OK-ish.  The pain fluctuates from a 3 - 5 outta 10... so am going to take more pain killers.  

I am just so glad it is behind me!

It's been on my mind (what had to be done) for YEARS.

Having a real phobia of something is horrid.  I sympathise with anyone who has one... no matter what it is.

Hopefully I have NO MORE NIGHTMARES about it now!!!!!!!  I shouldn't eh?  It's D.O.N.E.

I just pureed some mixed fruit and creamed rice, added some custard and butterscotch sauce and tried it.

OMG!   Mega delicious.  That was my dinner.  lol

And I might have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow, it was that good.

Tomorrow I'm also going to try KFC potato and gravy... cooled down.  I'm rather enjoying this pureed diet.  😂😊

HOLY HECK!  Can you believe I totally FORGOT it is NEW YEAR'S EVE tonight!!!

And we will be doing diddly squat.

I'm not allowed to drink, not that I would be anyway.  So... you fullas can have one (or 3) for me OK?

Have a wonderful AND safe night everyone.

See ya next year.

EARLY MORNING WALK

 

Stew and I are going for an early morning walk.

HIS IDEA. 

I loathe getting up early.

Lately I've been awake most days at 5.30, if not earlier, so grrrrrrr, I might as well get a walk in.

I hope I feel better for it, once we get home.

At least it won't be too hot at this hour of the day.

Later on today, at a more decent hour, we are taking a big trailer load of rubbish to the dump.

Lots of foliage, and stuff from the back sheds that we don't need or want.  Mostly bits of timber we thought we 'might need one day'.

Not gunna need it.  Out it goes.

And that's about all I have for now... catch ya later.

ABOVE:  Hamilton is a ghost town!  No traffic on a normally very busy main road, at that time of the day.

ABOVE: Heading down to the river.

ABOVE:  A very tranquil Waikato River.

ABOVE:  Another lovely summer sky.  Our river is very low at the moment.

ABOVE: Today's walk stats.  Not too long as it was getting darn hot towards the end of our walk.  

And now we just have to wait until the dump opens, so we can empty our trailer.  Then we can use it to move more stuff!

11.07 am:  And boom, probably the last load of stuff for storage went over this morning.  We won't have anything else going in there now, until after this home goes Unconditional.

Then I will pack up the remainder of the ornaments, paintings, and what-have-you we won't be using for the last couple of weeks in our home.

It is starting to feel very real!

Will I miss this home?  Certainly.  But we will be perfectly happy in our new one too.

I can titivate to my hearts content and make it ours.  

And you will get to watch it all happen, all over again.

It will be our 8th home since we bought our first, way back in 1986.  Such a lot of water under the bridge since then.  

Stew's having a shave/shower, then we are heading out for a nice lunch somewhere. It will be good to just sit and relax, have someone else cook us a lovely lunch and be together, just being STILL.

Though my left foot won't stop twitching.... nerves about tomorrow I suppose.  Being so busy has been a godsend, I've not had any time to think/worry about it.

ABOVE: Lunch, Calamari and Prawns, and Loaded Fries.  Bloody delicious.  And such a nice environment, relaxed and quiet.  (Fergus Bar and Kitchen, Borman Road, Rototuna)

And now... time to put the feet up and relax for the afternoon.  We'll probably have a swim a bit later on, cos well... it's a warm day. 🌞

We didn't end up in the pool at all today!

We were just too tired, so lazed away the afternoon watching the telly.

I have to admit my stomach is churning thinking about tomorrow.  I feel sick.  I've got a stress headache.

There probably won't be too much sleeping going on tonight.

I just want this to be over.  I keep having nightmares about what could go wrong.

Every possible scenario.

So, it's now 8.47 pm, and I'm contemplating just going to bed, and trying to sleep for a while.

Catch ya tomorrow.

DOING IT AGAIN

 

Guess what I have decided to do again?

ABOVE:  I'm gunna do NO SUGAR again.  For 6 weeks.  I will post any weight loss every Sunday, so first report about that will be Sunday the 5th of January.

I also plan on getting out and walking the streets, hopefully with Stew, 3 times a week.

So, focusing on my health again, now that the stress of selling and buying is behind us.

I have said it before, I am an emotional eater... I literally stuff my face when I'm stressed out!  

But as of today, I'm going to get back on track and just CHILL THE HELL OUT!

ABOVE:  Archer and Baby.  No one is actually 'touching' Baby at all... but I am trying to jiggle him around on his stick, to make him use his wings.  He's a bit of a nightmare to feed, it's kinda doing my head in.  But we persevere, because it won't be too much longer now and he will be off on his own. 

AND SADLY... Baby Bird 🐦  has died. No idea why, he was doing so good. Yesterday was the first day he came out of his enclosure... maybe it stressed him out? 

I'll never know.  

I do know that I'll  never try hand raising a fledgling again, it was a lot of work. And right now it really was the last thing I needed, more work!

At our last market, it pissed down with rain towards the end.  I was wearing my new, white Skechers sneakers.  They got wet and dirty, so when we arrived home, I scrubbed them and put them aside to dry.

This is what I came back to:

ABOVE: Ahhh yeah.  Looks like the patch that was put under my toe area, to stop my big toes making holes ... has leached out it's colour and ruined the shoes!

So now I wonder?   Should I leave them like that and call them 'EXTRA FUNKY', or should I try and dye them?   They certainly look 'unique' right now!

ABOVE:  At the supermarket for a couple of supplies, who did we run into?  Yeah, these girls.

They ended up following us home.

ABOVE: Where Lacy spent a good deal of time helping me in the garage, she made up more packing boxes for me.

Keera helped with some packing/clearing out cupboards too.

Thanks girls!  Much appreciated.

It may not look like it, but I AM pacing myself today.  Taking good rests in between spurts of doing stuff.

ABOVE:  We packed up both vehicles again and took more over to storage.

We still have plenty of room for more stuff in there, which is neat.

After that we went to Chartwell Square for some lunch, then came home.

To relax for a while, before having a swim.

ABOVE:  Summer skies.  So beautiful.

4 pm:  Thank goodness we fixed the pool pump, the pool was starting to go green.  But yesterday and today we ran the pump for hours, and put a shock dose of chlorine in and BOOM!  The pool is crystal clear again.  What a relief.

One less thing to stress me out.

And we just had a lovely swim and cool off.  Summer days 💙🌞

7.12 pm, and we have had a relatively quiet late afternoon/early evening.  I might have packed one more box.  Eyeing up another one.  lol

Seriously, I don't think there is much more I can pack before we go unconditional now.

Coronation Street it on this evening!  MOST unusual.  Probably a catch up episode as we missed one or two over Christmas.  So this means I'll be up later than I would have liked, as I'm freakin' tired.  But oh well, can't miss Coro Street.

And that's me done for the day.  Time to do bugger all.

Catch ya tomorrow.

DAY ONE of no sugar done and dusted.  I felt quite a few cravings, but resisted.  Can't fail on the first day!

COCO GETTING GROOMED

It looks like we are in for another hot day today... hopefully we can jump in the pool later on today.

Did I tell you the pool pump shat itself on Christmas Eve?

Steve fixed it, but it shat itself again.

It needs a new seal.  We are going out today, to the local pool shop to see if they have a seal to fit.

Otherwise, we have already ordered one through Para Rubber, but it won't be here till mid January.

The pool will be WELL GREEN by then! 

I hope that doesn't happen, and we can get a seal today.

Cross ya fingers.

We are trying a new groomer today.  It's a lady who's moved here from Tauranga, and has a Mobile Grooming Unit.

She is slightly cheaper than where we usually go, and a good deal cheaper than Animates.

It will be interesting to see what sort of job she does.

It's neat that she comes to our home to do the groom too.

We are also going to Animates to see if they have more meal worms for Baby.  He's been eating kitten food and cooked chicken for the past couple of days, but I want him to have some worms as well if possible. 

I think we will also take a few more things over to our storage unit later on today.  It's so much fun getting it all out of the house, it's like a HUGE declutter!  And we all know how much I have been enjoying decluttering right?  😊😉

ABOVE: We have a couple of these lightweight towels that we bought a few years ago.  They just sit in the boot of Stew's car, 'just in case' we need them one day while out and about.

Pffffft.  Never have.  So, I'm going to turn them into a 'towelie'. 

Might even do that in the next few days.

Right, I better get a move on.... shit to do, places to go, boxes to pack, bla bla bla.

In case you missed it yesterday, we got an offer on a home accepted last night.  So all the hard, nervous stuff is done... selling here, buying there.  

ABOVE: Gosh, isn't that a gorgeous picture?  I just love it.

From 7 am till 9 am this is what I did:

ABOVE:  I packed up 2/3rds of the sewing room.  I will only keep out what I know I will want to use over the next 5 weeks, then it will get packed up too.

Finally sitting down for a while.  The pool shop doesn't open until 10. edit:  got that wrong, it's open now so Stew's gone down to try and get a seal.    

Groomer is due here at 10.30.

So just killing some time right now.

ABOVE: Feeding Baby, who's looking a bit bedraggled.  He's starting to get some colour to his feathers, it won't be long before he starts looking like a real Wax Eye.

ABOVE: Coco before her groom.   Marley was groomed last week btw.

ABOVE: The new groomers, who are lovely people.

ABOVE: All done.  And it's an EXCELLENT GROOM, we will be using them again for sure.

And now, the groomers van has broken down in our driveway!  

ONE.  HOUR.  LATER... and their son came and jump started them, and off they went.

We then did a load over to the storage unit.  A 'load' being Stew's car full to the roof, and mine.

And now we are done for the day.  Knackered does not adequately describe how tired I am right now.

Oh!  Stew managed to get a new seal for the pool pump, so that's been fixed.  Fingers crossed it is all good now.

ABOVE: Marley was like... pfffft Mum, ya didn't take a photo of me!

ABOVE:  So there ya go... looking just as gorgeous as her sister.

7.50 pm:  I've done some more packing, but not much.  We have at least two weeks to do most of the pre-move sorting/packing etc.  I am sure that will be plenty of time. 😊

I think we will be taking it easy tomorrow as we have done so much these past two days.

I have a hospital appointment on Tuesday morning to have my worrisome tooth removed, and Stew doesn't want me getting there exhausted.  Fair enough.

Now though, the day is done, I'm not moving from my chair unless I'm hungry or need a piddle!  

Catch ya tomorrow.

STORAGE HUNT

 

Today we are going out to look at Storage facilities.

We will need to store a shit load of boxes and things we are not using until we move.

And, if negotiations don't go well with what we hope to purchase, we will have to RENT come February.

Until we can find something we like.

Gosh what a process this is turning into.

It's not fun.  At all.

The only other thing I have on my agenda today is to continue working on the square table toppers.  

9.40 am: And we are the proud (temporary) owners of a storage unit.  We should be able to start taking boxes etc over to it later on today.

Stew is home for the next two weeks, so we should get most of what I've already packed up over there in that time.

One big hassle off my mind.

The best thing about a storage unit is, once we move, we can take our time getting it all back to our new home, instead of having to move it all ON THE DAY of settlement.  

Oh hell, no way do I want to be doing that!

I have always used a storage unit for when we move.  

We are using a storage facility we have used before, I just checked my bank statements and wow, prices have gone up!  Bank statements are wonderful things eh?  Just sayin'.  

IF THE SHOE FITS

YOU WEAR IT

KFCM

Right, on to the next thing.  Pool maintenance.

Packing more shit.

Feeding baby.

Ringing around Wildlife Bird places for advice on Baby bird's re-entry into the wild, or not.

Well, I've spoken to a bloke who does bird rescues, and he assures me I am doing everything right for Baby.  Once Baby can feed itself and fly upwards, I can release him into a bushy area and he should be fine.

Finding food for himself is an instinctive thing, so I don't have to worry about him starving.  Such a relief.

KJ:  No Baby does not need to be fed overnight.  Birds 'roost' overnight, as in, SLEEP.  If Baby needed to be fed overnight he'd already be DEAD! 😂😅😉

ABOVE: And our first two loads have gone into storage!  Talk about fast.  

Now it's lunchtime, and we are going to stop for a few hours.  Might take another load over late this afternoon.

We will wait and see how we feel a bit later.

Now... FOOD.

MARIE:  replied elsewhere. 

4.36 pm:  We just arrived home after taking our second load over to the storage facility.  It sure feels good getting some of the freakin' boxes out of here.  Now I can pack more! lol

Ha ha ha!  I had thought I'd do some sewing today.  What a joke.  We have been far too busy with moving boxes, packing boxes and just looking at... boxes.

And it is SO HOT today.  Luckily there is a stiff breeze, otherwise I would have melted already. 

7.15 pm:  We just heard from the agent working on our home purchase.  It is a done deal!

We now have to wait to go Unconditional here, then it will be all go!  I can't imagine there being any problems between now and then... I can sleep a bit easier now.

And that's me for the day.  I've been a ball of fucking nerves for so long now... what with the sale of our home, and the purchase of a new one!  I think I'll have a drink ... to celebrate and relax.

BOXING DAY.....

 

Today is going to be about taking it easy.

NOT eating too much, as opposed to yesterday!

In fact, now that selling our home seems to be a done deal, I can actually stop STRESS EATING!

Since we put our home on the market, I've gained 6 kilos!   I just can't seem to overcome emotional eating, no matter what I do.

But, now that the hard bit is over with (all going well), I can re-focus on losing a bit, and getting back into a healthy exercise schedule.

That won't involve going over to Cambridge 3 times a week for walks though.  

I might just try dragging Stew out with me, either early in the morning, or late at night.  It's got to be during the cooler parts of the day, as I can get heat stroke pretty fast.

And that ain't fun at all.

  

ABOVE:  Griffin's mode of transport, to and from work and when he's on his own, as he was yesterday.

I HATE the thought of any of my kids on motorbikes, but I do concede it is a cheap way to travel.   

I think the only thing I like about his motorbike is ... IT'S BLUE!  And a very pretty blue at that.  😂😅😊

Later on this morning we are going out to look at a potential home for us.  We are dragging Steve along with us, as he can do a 'building inspection' on it.   That will save us some time if we decide to make an offer on it.

Any offer we make on a home will be conditional on our home sale going 'UNCONDITIONAL' in 3 weeks time.

I really hope we find 'our new home' in the next couple of weeks, cos we need things to line up so we ain't in the situation of having to leave here, with nowhere to go!

I am not stressing too much about it though.  As I keep saying, what will be, will be.

I.  JUST.  NEED.  TO.  STAY.  AWAY.  FROM.  THE.  PANTRY!

ABOVE:  7.30 am, and I have Christmas all packed up!  Sure didn't take long this year, as I'd only put out a very small amount.

ABOVE:  Our 4 foot tree did not get used this year, and probably won't ever again, so it's off to a new home today.

We are also taking the glass top writing desk over to Brylee.  It didn't sell on Marketplace, it's the first thing I've listed on there that didn't sell.

Now... we are killing time until we go out a bit later on.

12.03 pm:  And we have been out, looked, and walked away.

Dropped the writing desk off to Brylee's.

Came home, cooking toasted ham 'n' cheese sandwiches for our lunch.

Lacy and Keera are here for lunch as well,

Baby bird has been fed 52,000 times today.  *sigh*

1.12 pm:  Griffin and Tash arrived, had a nice visit with us, and then left for Auckland. Apparently the main road is at an almost standstill heading south!

Luckily, we ain't going anywhere, I would hate to be stuck in traffic for hours.

 Lacy and Keera have gone home, so we can now just relax for a while.

I really didn't give any thought to what would be involved with 'saving' a baby bird!

He is so much work.  And god help us if we wake him up... he  MUST.  BE.  FED.  IMMEDIATELY!

I can't even have a nap, cos he cries and I can hear him.  Then I have to go tend to him.

YAWN... all I wanna do is have a Nana nap! 😂😉😅

5.48 pm:  What did I get up to this afternoon?

I made a cloth to cover our square trestle table, for markets.

I bathed Coco, cos she smelled.  Now she, and our home, smell like WET DOG.

We made an offer on a house.  Yeah, one we had seen a couple of months ago.

We now await the inevitable negotiation stage with that.

And now, it's time for a light dinner, followed by mindless TV watching.  

9.43 pm:  And again... we are waiting.... and waiting.

Maybe we'll have news tomorrow.