Hands.... touchin' hands..... Reaching out ...... Touching me .... Touching you .....

It was mum's birthday on Tuesday. She would have been 69. I still hear her laugh and her voice in my head. And in every image she's laughing.... and then I cry.... again. Does it ever get any easier? or not hurt so much? I get that pain in my throat when you're trying to stop the crying. But all over the world on Tuesday, we were having a toast to mum. Bacardi & coke's were being raised to the sky in her honour. I actually had an Oyster Bay SB. They didn't have a Bacardi in the restaurant we went to. So I chose the next best thing. 

My First Orchid Bloom !

One fantastic thing that I'm sure mum has had a hand in this week, is my orchid has flowered. It is the first time in five years I have managed to get my orchids to bloom. Mum always had loads of flowers on her orchids and I was always jealous. So this was awesome for me. I have one flower that opened yesterday and about four more to come.

This past week has been a good one though. I decided I'd had enough of lying low, and the smell of anti-bacterial hand sanitiser was really getting to me. The smell of it now actually brings on nausea !! Over dosed on the stuff I think !! It was time to start living again. I was happy to be semi-sensible. But I could tell from the way I was feeling that I was on the mend. So the "no visitors" ban was lifted and I have gradually re-entered the land of the germ infested living. It's been fab !! I have finally had someone else to talk to other than my fiancé. (no offence Dirk) And with the ban lifted, that also meant .... SHOPPING !!! wahooo. I grabbed my bridesmaid and we went wedding dress shopping. How easy is it?? OMG I was expecting tank loads of fuel as we drove from shop to shop trying on meringues and toilet roll holders! Then I was expecting to have to buy a ticket to Melbourne and fly across the country to hit the shops in the East...... but no... After the inevitable meringue shop (the 1st one) we drove to another one and were turned away !! Yes that's right, we were told it was by appointment only and they wouldn't let us in !! - you can only imagine how that went down with myself and Snapper !!! - so we headed into Claremont And the first store we went into, I found it. In my size. And it was perfect. I had butterflies in my tummy. We put the dress on hold and went for a quick glass of Moët. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I knew it was right. So I went back to the store and purchased. Too easy !! 

Hello Kitty Wedding Dress

Now the hunt begins for the perfect shoes and accessories. Not to mention the perfect bridesmaid dresses. With one in Perth, one in NZ and one in Dubai, it's going to be interesting on how we co-ordinate it all !!
But my biggest worry at the moment is getting the invites out. Well, that and my hair growing back in time for the wedding. 
I had my bloods done yesterday in time for my appointment with Tina today. Unfortunately when I got to the hospital, she was sick and wasn't coming back all week. But I was still seen and my results were fab. Pretty much all neutrophils, haemoglobin and platelets in normal range. So all I have to do now is have my Zometa infusion on Wednesday and catch up with Dr Brad on Friday and then that should be it. I will be released from the hospital and go back to Dr Ben !! OMG I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I will have to get back to work soon though. No pay is tough, especially when we have so much expense coming up. The worse thing is, I actually took out salary insurance to cover me for any leave that may happen. This was a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, it only kicks in after 90 days of leave. And that is after all of your sick leave and annual leave have been used up. I'm not going to need 3 months of sick leave, but will still lose approx. 6-8 weeks pay. As far as I know, there's nothing that covers that. And when I do go back to work, I won't have any leave at all. This sucks !! It's not even my fault !! Ive had to sacrifice pay and leave to get better from this bastard disease. When it comes to getting married and seeing my family at Christmas, I'll be lucky to have enough leave to take any time off. Not to mention a honeymoon. But on the bright side.... at least I'm getting better. 
Well, as usual it's the middle of the night. I've not written about anything that I had in my mind. Like I said, it's been a good week. We've also had the fantastic news of two engagements this week. So wedding bells are ringing everywhere. It's great. Massive congrats to our special friends on their engagement, I can't wait for the celebrations.....