Point-Defect Shop (by sarah)

Thanks Mike and Mark for your helpful suggestion - I checked it out and here it is!

The Point-Defect Shop.

This one has a slightly different theme to the Salaric Shop. Salaric is funky and arty where as Point Defect is art and imagery inspired by science and nature.

Go look!

Tell me what you like and what you dont! It currently has only one album called Bubbles but it will get updated with new pics 🙂

The New Year (by sarah)

Last night we went though last years resolutions and formulated this years!

I wrote out a month by month break down of what needs to be done to the house and a week by week one for my work sedule though obviously this became a bit nebulas towards October! Me and Al also wrote out the more traditional personal ones - mostly left overs from last year we noted.

Last years ones here way to ambitous we noted - this got me thinking of my entire mind state this time last year. I dont think it had fully dawned on me how ill I had been of course no one knew how the health matters would go. But I was some how oblivious to this - I was determined that everything was fine - somehow sort of convinced myself that everyone has to deal with this sort of hardship, that crutches and babys are normal etc....

I as sort of manically happy, convinced that if I just carried on thinking positively that that was how things would end up. I was also sort of shell shocked and dazed. Medical routine had some how been ingrained in me and though I had been out of hospital for over three months I was still waking up at the appropriate times for blood pressure and pills to be sorted. It was a strange existance which had me exstatic to be alive and to have my baby. I realise now that I was trying to do too much from word go but it took many tellings off from the physio and the dr. I sort of felt I had to make up for all those weeks in bed doing 'nothing' it didnt occure to me that this wasnt some sort of debt I had to pay off - I'm not entially sure this has got through to me now.

I do feel guilty that Al had to handle all the moving and stuff by himself but it was a lot keener a year ago. I felt I should be helping him and stuff but instead he had to help me everything still - showers, getting dressed - though thanks to social services equipement I had just started to be able to do things like the shower myself. But even here I suffered some sort of acute embarrasment and would try and get all to take all the equipment off when visitors stayed - especially when some had issues with the way the loo was set up!

I wonder if there was some sort of strange pride cuasing a bit of a down fall here - I was struggling to be 'normal' I had sent the wheel chair back before I should have and was attempting huge feets of cooking. I shouldnt have been doing those things at all but I didnt want to appear lazy and I felt that the finacial strain on us was my fualt as somehow it as my fualt I was so ill during the pregnancy etc... Poor Al as orking to stupid hours to repair the damage my health and the move had cuased to the business - something he is still having to do 🙁

It didnt help that some people where also telling me I was lazy and stuff, the fact I had doubled my weight during the pregnancy (on hospital food!) didnt help matters either. I was in a strange place, I had really wanted to go to a new years party but then found the noise and crowd over powering and deafening. I found a party scary! It didnt occure to me that this sort of thing was a reaction to being in a quiet hospital ward - I felt I had been out of the place for a lifetime but in reality I had only been out for a few months - and then I as at a drs sugery or hospital for some sort of treatment at least once a week if they didnt come to see me at the hosue that is.

Its strange that the fear of dying whilst pregnant only really hit me half way through January last year - when my mobility had started to improove and I had a buetiful baby who was no longer a new born. I remeber thinking in causulty when they where sticking electrodes onto me - that I mustnt panic, I mustnt get upset becuase I knew that that would be dangerous. I think that all the fear and panic that I should have felt in those months was so deeply supressed in order to survive that it took months to resurface.

It does seem a little ironic that - I hate and am scared of hospitals and Drs and yet seem to be continually being prodded by them!

This is all so strange looking back on it.

I have tempered my ambitions this year and just hope...

2006 was a wonderfull year in many ways though 🙂

I can survive the dissappointment of not going back to uni just yet - I have many things todo but the focus of this year is going to be our health!

I seriously thought I would be climbing and stuff by now - this time last year! Sigh I think that was definatly wishful thinking.

Still I have hope and so does Al - Jeany is lovely as ever even if the new year has seen her throw her first two tantrums!

New Years Eve (by sarah)

We stayed at home but had a friend staying which was cool 🙂

We toasted in the New Year with orange juice mainly due to all the medicines we are currently on - Jean was a tired baby who had started laying down on the floor at about 2 mins too midnight!

My tacky christmas clock went off and we cheered 🙂 Jean did her wiggle dance!

Earlier in the evening she covered herself in her dinner and had to be bathed in the sink (photos to follow). Much amusement was had on Barbaras return from a party as she did a discreet knock which had our friend Sasha jumping in fright - closely followed by me! Al was the hero - realising what was going on!

I have spent alot of today uploading photos of Jean but there are still many more - I'll post them as a sort of summary of 2006 but it might take a few more posts and certainly a fe more days/months!

Hope everyones having a great time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Day (by sarah)

Recently this has been my day - I need to sechele things differently next year as I'm not getting time to do as much physio and stuff....

I wake up at anytime between 5 and 9 am - Insomiac - remember.

Get up, wait for the coughing to pass.

Put the kettle on.

Riddle the fire and put more coal on it.

Pour hot water into the tea pot for tea.

Feed cats their brekki.

Make sure Jeans highchair is ready for her (this is if she hasnt insisted on getting up already).

Get Jean up - which involves nappy change, wash and dressing.

Feed Jean whilst drinking my tea and trying to sort out a website or two or read stuff that needs to be read.

Make sure that Al is fed and watered - especially if he's had to help get JEan up cos I'm too ill other wise he will just work without food.

Play with Jean and clean up the mess she made at Breakfast including trying to catch kittens covered in weatabix!

Suddenly realise that I'm being grumpy at 11:30 as I've forgotten to eat and take pain killers.

This is all whilst boiling the kettle to fill the sink with hot water to do the washing up that I didnt have the energy to do the night before. (Dishwasher why hast thall died? Hot water were hast thall gone?). Not to mention the stuff from breakfast.

Nappy change needed - I keep failing to notice for the potty to come out 🙁

Al comes down and tells me off for rushing around trying to do stuff and makes lunch - if he remembers - normal I will fed Jean lunch then remind him nicely that he needs to take breaks.

See how hungry the cats are acting and maybe feed them lunch.

Jean may or may not need another wash.

Play a bit with her.

She goes to sleep at 3 for about 2 hours

May have to sleep cos all energies gone but more lickily - swear as just found a kitten egg which involves the carpet cleaner coming out - normally leading to definate sitdown as get to o shaky.

If hand still working may try to do more web stuff or maybe writting or drawing if not read. Get Jean up - Al does the nappy change due to hefting baby issues with weak arm by this point in the day.

Jean may or may not be content to play by herself in her room for an hour - attempt to tidy downstairs.

Feed Jean whilst dealing with the fire again.

Play with Jean - demand Al comes down at 7 so he can play with her as she starts pointing at the stairs and going dahdahdah and trying to get up the things!

Have tea (everning meal) whilst Jean plays on the floor.

Try to remeber to rotate luandary.

Put Jean to bed - this may or may not require another wash but definatly requires nappy change and teeth brushing!

Tidy up.

Feed cats.

Go see waily Jean and put her back to bed.

Desperatly try to do all the web stuff etc... I havent managed to do doing the day and writ an article or two!

Prize Al from the computer at 11 get really insistant at 11:30 then panic as we both realise we need to do the luandary we've forgotten about and the washing up, whilst still trying to be inbed by 12.

Have huge coughing fit when go to do the laundary (as I have to go outside to get to it and temperature changes are bad!) and another whilst changing for bed - be peed off.

Get back out of bed to clean teeth and get glass of water.

Check on Jean - smile as you watch her fingers feeling the teddy bear whilst she sleeps.

Go into bedroom and confiscate laptop from Al - who then get annoyed when he realises I'm trying to writ something on mine and so confiscates that!

Try to sleep.

There will be a few other nappy changes or other things fitting in that lot!

Dont get me wronge - the sedule should be handilable but not with my health state at the moment - Mondays when I'm out for appointments and meetings tends to be my only time to actually get any work done! Somehow the days Jeans in nursery tend to be taken up with meetings and stuff :/

Still we both survived doing the writtening course which has lead to several business oppertunities and means we now know some more people in this area. Still the extra evening next term will be a relief!

Wednesdays is obviously the Scouts which is quiet frankly a relief from the work - especially for Al - It also means he spends one whole evening away from a keyboard and pooter screen which can only be healthy! The only issue we have with it at the moment is that we need more helpers and some storage so that poor Al doesnt have to keep hefting that HUGE box!

Today in the Trials of Sarah and Al (by sarah)

Today has been cool - we've had three friends visit and Als cousin visited.

But we did have the drs appointment which was a bit strange - for a start I apparently missed an appointment that neither of us knew about! I specifically took Al with me last time and said appointment was apparently 2 days after the last one?

Still we both now have antibiotics - good ol' penicilling - Al has a bad virus apparently which I probably have on top of the coughing problem 🙁 So I also have a steroid noise spray thing.

Still hopefully this will fix things 🙂

The X-ray was clear to so - I is happy 🙂