Happy New Year...

Happy New Year everyone.
May it be safe and prosperous.

Hope you all get lots of hugs and kisses at midnight.
Here's an early hug.

Commercial dreamings

I'm not a big fan of recieving presents; if you're going to give me something give me ox fam stuff that helps others or give me vouchers for books.

My 6 for this weekend (after a fortnights break due to being so busy) is my 6 point Santa list.

1) I'd like all the Pratchett stuff I am missing; especially the books and the latest screen interpretation of on of his books: Hogfather.

2) The catch up on the James Patterson books wouldn't go astray either.

3) While we are talking books; the latest Foxtrot anthologies would be very nice.

4) New lingerie, especially undies, teddies, p'j's and bustierres.

5) Shoes: ballerina style in a range of colours. Black, 3 pair, canvas, matte and patent; Red patent; Baby Pink matte and an off white that would go with jeans in a canvas. (I have a shoe addiction and this style is the most comortable.)

6) My roster for the new year so I know when I can start working fixed hours.

On a higher note:

1) Troops out of Iraq and peace in that country.

2) Clean water for all those areas in desperate need of it.

3) An end to the drought in Australia.

4) Better funding for community aid organisations that help at a grass roots level.

5) An end to duck hunting in Australia, and the hunting of any other native creature stopped. (If you need to shoot things, take your agression out on the feral rabbits, foxes and pigs.)

6) A cure for male infertility caused by antibodies that is not going to have major side efects and will mean that more couples can conceive naturally.

Quote: John Lennon. Merry Christmas; War is over.

A Cat's Christmas.

'Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse.

'Cuz the cat had pounced on him
and tore him apart-
Ate his mousey intestines
And chewed up his heart.

Kitty thought he heard sleigh bells,
which made him take pause-
He stopped daintily licking
the blood from his claws.

"Must be Santa" thought Kitty
(that quite clever cat)
'Cuz nobody else climbs down
the chimney like that.

Indeed it was ol' Santa,
so jolly and fat
With a load of presents
and all for the cat!

"Wow, the best Christmas ever!"
Kitty thought with a purr,
Then he coughed up a hairball
and shed some more fur.

From:

Humor about Animals
Christmas Humor for Dogs and Cats

If it was only this easy...

I sometimes fear that my children will read all the Calvin And Hobbes stuff I have; or Foxtrot; and take notes. It cheers me up though and helps keep my sense of humour going during IVF.

Four more sleeps till Solstice.

Eight Days To Summer Solstice.

I don't know where I got this originally, it says it so well.

I'm thinking of having it reproduced as my Solstice card this year.

The first law of Wicca though is "First, do no harm." and I think this might cause people hurt, so I can't and remain true to myself. Sometimes I think I'm as wishy washy as Charlie Brown.

Returning to IVF: TMI WARNING.

We're returning to IVF after taking a year off so that we could get life back on track after the miscarriage. We used the time well, I finished my Counselling course, we got married and have started exploring options for home based businesses so i can be an at home mum.

It hasn't been an easy twelve months. It was this time last year I had pretty much everything; a job I enjoyed that looked like I'd be able to pick up a few more nights, first trimester of pregnancy, my course was going well, we were in a good spot to buy a property. It couldn't of been much better.

Then the spotting started and my hormone levels dropped, we miscarried. I took time of work to come to terms with the miscarriage, on return it was alleged I had given milk to a lactose intolerant resident and therefore wasn't "reading care plans properly" and I was fired. Over the phone actually, at the time I was to be undergoing a D&C if the flow of blood hadn't started.

I started to fear that everything would go wrong so some of my marks in the first semester for the 2nd year of the course reflect that. I resumed journalling to sort my thoughts out a little more. I couldn't find "Felice's Place" to continue and didn't want to just use my live journal for releasing disappointment and hurts at this time. (Felice; Spanish for happiness, cat in Ira Levin's novel Slivers and also feminine form of Felix.) I wanted a place I could be as daggy and untogether as I could but feel safe in doing that.

As is me, I give too much information so anonymity is not something I was expecting. I like to support people and don't like sites dedicated to the denigration of others, so I stood up for someone who had made a genuine mistake and have been attacked in my little self indulgent haven... it felt like nothing could get worse.

My father getting worse (he's 81 and health issues are a big thing), his remaining siblings in palliative stages of cancer and emphysema, added a new dimension to emotional lows. The Boi's Pop (91) bouncing back and forth from ACF to hospital with increasingly worse lung conditions compounded the hurts.


It wasn't all bad; babies were born, the Boi proposed, we went to some great concerts and new friendships moved from strength to strength, and I slowly grew stronger in myself. I rediscovered my love of politics and why I ran in the first place, and dedicated myself to learning more for the next attempt.

I learnt to let go of the pains that kept me awake at night and started to channel emotions into creativity again. I rediscovered my artistic side and my poetic voice, my ways to express myself without the reworkings of others. Some of the pieces are flawed but over all I'm happy with the results. Stream of consciousness vents that have appeared in crayons are more flawed then some other pieces.

So now we are returning to IVF; in a month to be exact. I don't know how I feel about this. I'm excited but scared. Will the hormonal emotion and weight cycle begin over? Will my left ovary be easier to see? Will we be attacked by the Christian Right again because we want a child? Will we have enough eggs? Will they take?

Scared? Yes. Hopeful? Very Yes.

Honey Moon

View of the sky from the car park where we got Chinese on Wednesday Night.
The effect is caused by the Bush fires. The photo was taken at 6pm.

The View from where we stayed. This was taken as soon as we got there on Sunday.
This shot was taken from the front porch of Bedaki Cottage at Wandiligong. Photo taken at about 6 so you can compare the effect of the fires.

The Bedaki SC B&B we stayed in. Small but in that cosy way.
I recommend that people get up there after the fires have gone and support the local economy.
Lots of fun to be had in the district; wineries, cheese shops, chocolate shops, lots of fine food.

1)The best place for GF was Myrtleford, but we found many places in Bright itself that catered for Coeliacs, vegetarians and vegans.

2) The best non food public fun had was at the Wandiligong Maze. $9 entry for adults but well worth it to support this heritage site.

3) My favourite wine was at Boynton's; the sauvignon blanc semillion. The Boi recommends the Gapstead Merlot.

4) Nicest cheeses: Milawa cheese factory. Try the chevrel. YUM!

5) Nicest Chocolate: Milawa Chocolate Shop: Chili Chocolate bits! Cinnamon Hearts! No Gluten. No peanuts.

6) Best night: Tuesday. Strip and dare poker. OK, so it's childish; but with a little imagination it can also be very adult. The idea is you lose an article every time you lose a hand. When you have no more clothes to lose you start having to perform. If you cannot perform the other person can put on an article of clothing. No dares that mean the person might get hurt. I started off getting the Boi to do some silly things before we got serious. (Silly things included "Impersonate your favourite male porn star", for which he chose a scene from Orgasmo through to "Foot massage and you can't make me laugh.") Lots of clean fun. TMI?

7) Scariest thing: Not knowing if we would need to evacuate at anytime. We didn't know when we headed up that the fires would be a risk, and as the Boi said "we would of gone anyway." I would not of changed a thing during the week away; but if I had one I could chose it would be "No fires." This goes for the state not just the region.

8) Most aggravating thing: My mother calling to ask me to stop in at the Wangaratta Woolen mills to get her some baby wool. Followed closely by it all having to end.

So, lots of fun had. When I get photos I'll post about the ceremony and the wedding. it's good to be back but I wish we had longer.