Happy Birthday Dad !

Another month went flying by and I hardly realized that it even started !

Well, just a short post today with a birthday wish ....
Happy birthday dad !

Credits: Natasha @ www.digitalscrapbooking.co.za

Gasp !

I've managed to create a blinkie AND link it back to my Blog !
I'm rather proud of myself.... and if you wonder why, well ...... Usually I just don't get it !
I'll start a tutorial and halfway through the tutorial I miss the plot, get bored and don't finish it. What makes it more embarrassing is that I actually work in the IT industry and I really shouldn't be such a techno-peasant.
Anyway, here is my blinkie, feel free to copy it and display it on your blogs! That will be super-cool !

Birthday Love !

I have been so bad as far as birthdays go ...... But, I promise to consult my birthday calendar on a regular basis once again ... and one day, when I finally catch up with the times, I'll enter everyone's birthday on my cellphone and get a reminder on the day.

Today is my niece's birthday - she is turning 17 .... I can't believe it! I can so clearly remember the day she was born, and when she started talking she couldn't pronounce my name and called me mi-mia ...... And now that little girl is turning into a gorgeous young lady... Happy birthday, Leoni!

But wait, there's more ! It is also my DH's niece, Roxanne's birthday. We do not see her often, but we're thinking of her today and hope that she's also having a fabulous day.

And then I also have to think of our dear friend who broke his elbow last night. He is scheduled for surgery this afternoon. I'm thinking of you and hope that you do not experience too much discomfort. All I can say is ... painkillers are your friend !!!!

That's it for now ..... I have so much news, the last few weeks have been a total roller coaster ride for us, but I'll update you on that later ....

Snakes and Ladders

Do you remember the board game played with a dice - where you climb up the ladders to advance in the game or have a setback by getting swallowed by the snakes ?
Well, for a while my life have been feeling like a game of snakes and ladders - and for the last 2 weeks or so I was doing really well, getting to climb all those ladders as my feet felt better and better. But then came yesterday and I got swallowed by a snake.

The casts and pins were removed, and it was not fun at all. The pins are 12cms long ! And from the moment that the pins were out my feet have been burning and throbbing. Yip - I'm back on the painkillers. They not doing much for the pain, but they are working wonders for my mood !
So, I guess now it is time to get these lazy muscles working after 6 weeks and you have no idea how hard it is to make a silly little movement like bending my big toe !
(Imagine the scene from the movie Kill Bill where Uma Thurman wakes up from a coma and can't move her legs. She concentrate on her toes while chanting "Wiggle your big toe" (or something like that!) until she can do it. )
And when I do manage to move my toe I can just about scream because it hurts like *insert nasty word here* .

But, pain aside, it feels great to have my feet fit into my own socks, to soak in the bath without having my feet hang over the side, to wear my beloved, worn-out slippers :) We'll go shoe-shopping this weekend as I have to wear "open shoes that will not push my toes in any way". Oh what fun it is going to be to find something like that in winter !

Oh, and by the way .... if I roll the dice right I think I might just catch a ladder on my next move ...

Friday again !

And not just any Friday .... it's the FIRST Friday of the month and of course that means it is time for our Scrap and Chat paper scrapping evening with Angie ! Yippiee ! I'm getting out of the house for a change and it is not to see a doctor ! Of course my dear husband is driving me there again - not because I'm planning to consume any wine, but because I don't have "working" feet and will probably only be able to drive in about 3 weeks.

Only 3 weeks left with the casts on my feet.... I'm kinda getting used to shuffling around and I suppose I'm not that frustrated any more. Being able to go without painkillers are probably helping a lot in this regard ;O) .
One of my crutches fell on my dog and now he just runs when he sees the crutch coming. That's great my staffie, you just keep on showing people how aggresive you are. At this stage I'll probably have to hit any potential robbers with my crutches.

O.U.C.H !

Everyone told me that I'm going to be in a lot of pain after the operation - some even said that the pain is worse than childbirth and so on and so forth. bla-bla-bla.
Oh. My. Word! They were not exaggerating !

My first night in hospital was spent staring at the ceiling, trying to wish the pain away. When they brought out a morphine injection before bed-time I knew that it was going to be a bumpy ride! It didn't make the pain go away.
"Would you like a sleeping tablet Mrs. McDermid ?" I looked at the nurse and thought "Silly woman - surely the morphine will knock me out !"
And then came the longest night of my life. Every hour the nurses came on their rounds.
"Mrs. McDermid, are you still awake ? No Mrs. McDermid, you can't have more painkillers yet." When they came in at 2am with two painkillers I could have kissed them ! But I should have known that tablets won't take away pain that morphine couldn't kill in the first place.
I spent the next day crying (pain and no sleep doesn't go together.)
At 4pm the surgeon came around and it turned out that the cast on my left foot moved, pinching some nerve somewhere. He moved it and the relief was instantaneous. I was however crying so much that he sent a nurse around immediately with two painkillers AND a morphine injection. This time it had the desired effect and I spent the next six hours in some kind of unreal euphoria.
Then came bed-time and another morphine injection. I can totally understand how it can become addictive, I REALLY do.
"Would you like a sleeping tablet Mrs. McDermid ? " "YES PLEASE". No hesitation this time. Within minutes I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Total bliss!

It is now 10 days later, the original casts and stitches were removed yesterday and replaced with much smaller casts. Although it is hurting again, my feet (and heart) feel much lighter and I'm moving around easier. Yesterday I couldn't understand why they insisted that I have to take another prescription of painkillers, but by 8am this morning, Synap Forte tablets were once again my best friend !

So, right now I am really looking forward to tomorrow, because I just know that every day will be easier from now on. And in the mean time I'm enjoying my time off and I'm about to start the last volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It is a rather thick volume, but I've got time.

Time to relax

Yay ! The weekend is finally here and we are having a fabulous time at Club Mykonos in Langebaan on South Africa's West Coast. We arrived last night and so far we have just been relaxing, and plan to do that for the rest of the weekend.
Our flat is situated right on the edge of the ocean, overlooking a small beach and some rocks. Oh how soothing it was to fall asleep to the sound of the waves, and, then again to wake up with it ! Fantastic!

Here is a quick layout with some photos I took last night. What a spectacular sunset. I always feel that each spectacular sunset brings the promise of a glorious dawn ....

Credits: All squared Template from sab1desbois@blog.ifrance.com