We've golden soil and wealth for toil....... Our home is girt by sea..........

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie........ Oi, Oi, Oi !!!!
And so... after 8220 days..... 1174 weeks...... or 22 years, 6 months and 3 days I have become an Australian Citizen.....
It was all a bit of a rush, but then the whole week has been like that. Since Sunday I have not had the chance to scratch myself. At work this week we have had a regional managers conference. Manager's from all of our international offices have been in town. (Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia, UK, USA, Mongolia, South Africa & the Australian management group) I really struggled Monday & Tuesday - had the shakes and the after effects of all my drugs plus the Zometa infusion on Friday running through my system. In fact when I look back at the early part of the week now, it's all a bit hazy !!
I also picked up my new car on Monday too. Fantastic !! And the more I drive it, the more I like it. I was quite sad to say goodbye to my 3 series - it was such a beautiful car to drive. But having said that I am now suitably impressed with my new one...... the dogs also got their first run in the car on Tuesday - well seeing as the main reason for changing over the vehicle was for their benefit we thought we'd better test run the boot !! - all was (of course) perfect. They jumped in and were contained beautifully. Maverick stood proudly looking out the windows and Charlie lay down under Maverick's feet and "tried to" relax.
As the week wore on the effects of the drugs gradually began to calm down with just the daily effects of the nightly Thalidomide to content with..... a few jitters, mild shakes and a feeling of being whacked out whilst on the equivalent of 10 red bull's. I managed to make it into work pretty much on time every day (by 9am) and stayed the full day each day too.
Thursday morning I got up at 6:30am and took Dirk's car to be detailed, north of the river. Then picked it up at 5pm, rushed home.... as much as you can in peak hour traffic. Quick change before rushing back out to Melville Civic Centre for my citizenship ceremony. When we arrived, the Mayor greeted Dirk immediately - recognising him as one of his former students.... he was Dirk's maths teacher from school !! Nice chap with a big grin and quick wit. I liked him. We spent the next hour watching as four groups of about 15 people each group voiced their pledges to Australia and became Aussies. I was in group two. I'd decided to do the pledge with "God" in it. (You had a choice to either leave Him out or have Him in..... I decided to leave Him in.... no reason really, I just did. And with the way things are at the moment, I think a girl needs all the help she can get, so if God is going to help me, the least I can do is acknowledge Him !!)
We were asked if we wanted to stay for a cup of tea.... however we had a work dinner. I had cheekily asked if Dirk could join too as I really wanted to share a dinner with all the guys from work, but also wanted to celebrate with Dirk after the ceremony. My MD was very happy for Dirk to come along, so we dashed out straight after a quick pic next to the flag with the Mayor. Arrived at The Old Swan Brewery in time for a celebratory glass of NZ SSB - much more appropriate than a cup of tea in my mind !! and once everyone had arrived we sat down. We had a great night. At each course, we all moved round the table four spots so everyone had to talk to new people. I really enjoyed myself. Food was excellent too. Although far too much !! We got home at midnight.... I popped my Thalidomide and crashed out.
Friday we finished off the week with a few discussions and final meetings. Then headed to UWA for a Micromine Soiree. I was tiring BIG time by this point. The week was beginning to take it's toll. I managed to enjoy a glass of vino before deciding enough was enough..... so I bid my farewell's to the international visitors and made a quick exit. It was Friday.... which means only one thing in our house..... Pizza night !! But it was an ordered one this week. We just couldn't face cooking. It arrived in the obligitory 30 minutes. and 30 minutes later I was asleep..... lights out.... stick a fork in me.... I was done !!
Today we managed to get a few jobs done. It was a gorgeous day, sunshine, warm with just a light breeze. We fixed the fence, stained the outdoor table & chairs and Dirk mowed the lawns. Now we're watching the footy. I'm happy because the team I tipped are winning, unfortunately I tipped against Dirk's team, so he's not happy !! I guess you can't win them all.
It's Aussie Mother's Day tomorrow. Dirk's off to his parent's beach house to help with an annual clean up. I'm off for Dim Sum breakfast with a girlfriend .... I think I won on that one !! haha. Not sure what else we'll do. I started Cycle 6 today so I may have to play it by ear..... Blood tests again on Monday in time for a visit to Dr Ben on Wednesday. I'm interested to see what he says about my results. Hopefully he'll be as happy as I am.

Late news .... just in..... I've just found out that my mum is coming out of hospital today !! Yay, yippee... I am so pleased she's headed home. And in time for Mother's Day too !! I'll have to make a call to dad and make sure that he spoils her on our behalf :-) Now the road to recovery starts again for mum. This time it will be successful !!! Happy Mother's Day for tomorrow mum. Love you loads xxxxx
One last thing before I sign off.... I'm having a "Biggest Morning Tea" for cancer fundraising at work on 25th May. It's at work so hopefully a few work colleagues will come and share a cup-cake or two. But if anyone wants to donate you can do it here...

99 dreams I have had……...In every one a red balloon……..

Day 99 of chemo today..... wow how time flies when you're having fun hey !!! 28th January 2012 was Day 1 .... now 98 days later I have results saying things are looking ok.... (I hope)
It's hard to stay positive when there has been let downs in the past. I mean.... I was so positive with the preliminary tests in the beginning. I didn't have cancer, that was impossible. Not me .... so now I'm positive, but hesitant to "jinx" it in case I have to find more energy to fight through another set back..... But... if I do.... I will !! Just don't jinx it.
The past couple of weeks have actually been relatively good. I've been enjoying work, been distracted by the focus of my job. It's the time of the year I get to do planning, budgeting and real strategy stuff.  I'm still not sure what the opinion at work is of my performance. They have been really amazing and patient with me. Allowing me to work around my feelings and appointments. I've tried to be honest and have made sure I've put in the hours etc. But you never really know whether it's enough.....The distraction from my health has been good for me. I've enjoyed it. I felt like I did working before diagnosis.
And then there has been the past 24 hours..... Zometa, Thalidomide, Cycloblastin & Dexamethasone all in 24 hours (as well as the daily antidepressants, aspirin to keep my blood thinner, muti-vitamin, heartburn tablet and calcium supplement)...... and until around 1pm today I wasn't too bad..... and then it hit me - POW!!!
I was out for a beautiful afternoon tea the The Duxton with some girlfriends..... and it started to get worse and worse.... jaw clenching... sweats... shakes (ohhh the shakes)...... loss of focus..... I think I did ok for the first hour but after that, I went downhill as fast as Ingemar Stenmark  !!
I had to make a fairly quick exit - say thanks and goodbyes and head home..... where I crashed !! I was wiped out as quickly as the little afternoon tea scones and finger sandwiches that were devoured only an hour earlier !! Which by the way were absolutely divine !!
And of course.... with a stint on the Dexa's comes that spending issue too.... GULP !!! I'd like to say that it's been under control, but today really made up for all the other little bits that have been creeping into the house via eBay, amazon etc etc..... A New Car !!! OMG - and I am soooo excited. OK so it's not brand new or anything stupid, but I'm still excited. Firstly I test drove an Audi A3 - but it just underwhelmed me.... a little disappointing. It was probably a great car, perfect for what we needed, a good price (yawn), practical, fitted the dogs in the boot, zippy and all that..... but it was just a car. It was boring (and it had scratched on the doors and no bluetooth !! Helloooo what car doesn't have bluetooth these days????)
So we drove up the road to a BMW dealership and had a look at an X3. It's got a few KM's on the clock, but drove beautifully, looks good and has all the extra's I was looking for ..... and it felt GOOD to drive. It had that something special about sitting in it.... that feeling..... it was nice. We got a good trade-in price for my old car so did the deal there and then. Now all I have to do is wait until Monday to go and pick it up !! Wahooo..... Now before you criticise the buying of a new car... we needed it. It was a decision that has been a few months in the making due to the fact that we have a 10 month old puppy that has grown into King Kong! The back seat of a sedan is no place for such bear.... yet alone two of them. So it's a practical decision, based on necessity. OK I'm now convinced... are you?? See it doesn't take long <insert cheeky grin & wink here>
Next week is another full-on work week. It's planning week with all of our Regional Managers in town from the overseas offices. Ordinarily a really good week. A lot of work and discussions followed by a bit of a laugh (assuming there's no bollocks to bust) and some dinners and drinking. I'm pretty sure this week will be no different, but the way I'm feeling may affect how my week pans out. Early start and late finishes are more of a struggle these days.

I'll also officially become an Aussie this week !! I have my citizenship ceremony on Thursday!! Only 23 years in the making...... I'm going to pledge allegiance to the Queen and give up my pommy vote for an Aussie one. I'll be able to vote for the first time in my life (at the age of 42 !!) how exciting ! I can't wait for the next election to actually have an opinion...... ha !!

Mum has also had a full on week - radiation this past week every day..... hopefully it will have helped and made some difference. She is still in hospital. She doesn't want to be released home until we know she's good to go. And there are still a few obstacles to get through before that time. We chatted today and it was nice to talk. I hope she wasn't putting on a positive, cheery voice just to try and convince me.... if she did it probably worked, because I thought she sounded good. We had tried to Skype but the connection was crap so we had to make do with a phone call. No visual !! One of the things you do when you are so far apart is always try to sound cheery so that the other side won't worry !! I've tried to be honest with mum because I think she has some idea of what I'm going through. Albeit different, she know's the feelings and the internal thoughts that run through your head constantly. So mum if you are reading this and really feel like shit, please tell me. I'd rather know. You have my blog to know when things are tough.....

Well, it's now close to 2am and although I still don't feel sleepy, I think I should give the pillow a good try and get some shuteye. I'll leave you with one last pic of a little splurge I made just prior to the car purchase.... Dirk, I hope you don't mind !! Love you baby !! I just couldn't resist and mum really liked them too.....

Ribbon For Bladder Cancer

I've also been on the cancer fundraising website and found some Multiple Myeloma ribbons etc. Just in case anyone is interested - they also have ones specifically for Bladder cancer (which is what mum has) Click here for a look.....

Oh yes and one last another thing !! I'm doing a fundraising morning tea at work for cancer (am I becoming one of those annoying types??) I figured a few cupcakes for morning tea would be a good thing. And if people wanted to donate to a worthy cause then why not..... if you can't make it you can still donate .... yes? click here....

OK that definitely it for the night...... I'm off to sleep now..... night night xxxxx