The month of July just whizzed by. Mainly because we had a fast trip to New York.

Kate David and the kids went for an extended time in the U

So we have a new member of the Joyce/Buchanan household. I think everyone fell in love with Miss Izzy when she was on Facebook. I wonder who is feeding her and taking her for walks?

Quick New York Trip

As we have had a little cash flow increase because of the settlement of the apartment #50 we has ignored the budget and bought two tickets for a week in New York. I am not looking forward to the actual trip but some summertime certainly has some appeal. So we look forward to meeting Miss Izzy in real life.

New Bathroom

It started much earlier than we expected, mainly because there has been so much rain and our tradesman can’t do the outdoor work on his list so yesterday it started. Will take about 4 weeks to do both bathrooms – yuk! But luckily we will be away for 8 days in Sydney and Blue Mountains next week. I hated all the choices that had to be made. I think there really is decision fatigue.

The family bathroom is first and it looks so much smaller like this! Vanity is on the trolley ready to go and then the bath. We are replacing the bath with walk-in shower.

Peter Contagious This Week

Peter has been hanging around with a one year old Grace (Rebecca’s niece) and he caught hand, foot and mouth from her. So he is a bit miserable with blisters etc Rebecca is currently working at Royal Children’s Hospital in temp capacity.

New Treatment and Naked Nymphs

I had a PET scan last week which entails sitting around in sombre atmosphere as one waits for the radioactive fluid to circulate the body (90 minutes). In the midst of it I got a frantic call from one of the Owners Corp Committee for our building (I am the chairperson).

She was most distressed as apparently there was an unauthorised photo shoot happening in our courtyard in front of the fountain and there was a group of naked women – yes on a 9 degree day! Obviously I couldn’t do anything about it at the time so she asked an older neighbour to speak with them. He is the quiet salt of the earth farmer type and he was very firm despite their protests and eventually they packed up. Neither of them thought to take photos which was disappointing!

One of the naked ones is apparently a tenant in one of the units and they thought it would be fine. They painted their faces white so we think it might have been one of the dare type things that go around. They had a little round table with candles wine glasses etc – very Victorian era.

And in the middle of all this the new owners of #50 were beginning the move in with their grand piano which did manage to fit in and go up the two flights of stairs. So all in all a bit of a farce.

Anyway I had a great laugh about it. You see we don’t have a rule that says you may not cavort naked in the courtyard!

After the scan my oncologist has changed my medication to a type of oral chemo. Because I don’t have B1 or B2 I am eligible for these very expensive (Gov pays) capsules. I take 8 twice a day. They cost $9,600 for two months’ supply. They can cause nausea but so far I have managed to just avert it by having enough food with them.

Diamond Earrings

That’s what I call my new hearing aids. Why? Because they cost about the same. I knew my hearing had deteriorated as I couldn’t hear from another room, I needed the TV turned up. Nothing too drastic but I knew. Then I failed the test Sophie passed in Sydney. She was dropping coins in the slot when she heard a sound and I didn’t hear a thing. So long story short I got myself tested and there was quite a loss. Then came the choice of aids. Four levels of cost and of course because my hearing is so important I had to choose the best. You can’t even see that I am wearing them they are so small.

Sophie’s Ear Operation

I just saw that she has had her operation and that she is recovering well. Lots of love to her.

Easter Egg Hunt in Singapore

It is such a hard life for Singapore Clan. Off to Bali with Scottish friends then back for Easter fun. I have made three videos (see RHS) of the traditional egg hunt. It was not good news to hear that Kate was so ill whilst in Bali.

Easter Visit

On Easter Sunday Erich and I took the new car for a run to Yarragon to visit Trish Neilson and Graeme Hart. Trish is a very long standing friend of Erich. They have moved from a tiny house in Abbotsford to what I must call an estate in Yarragon – about an hour and a quarter run from Melbourne. For what they sold Abbotsford they got 4 acres and a huge house in Yarragon. Graeme is originally from there. The property was spectacular.

James in Championship Soccer Team

Well done James. His team won the Anza Soccer U8s. Makes those early Saturday mornings worthwhile.

Oh Là Là Charlotte

Charlotte received her placement for Middle School. Very exciting news. Congratulations.

Health News

Not so good I am afraid. At my last visit 3 weeks ago my blood markers from previous visit were up to 45 (normal is 30 and under) and this visit the previous visit’s results were even more alarming. They were up to 65. So I had blood taken again on Friday and the oncologist will call me with those results when we gets them. We hoped late Friday but that didn’t happen so looks like Monday. If the markers are still high(more than likely) I will have to go for a scan to see what’s happening. I asked if I would go back onto chemo and he said no. He said because I don’t have B1 and B2 but maybe some other renegade gene I may be eligible for some special drug – taken in tablet form.

I am not sure I want to talk about it right now. I will know more later in the week I imagine. Maybe the cancer is back. It is very frustrating as there no actions I can take to fix things. I just don’t know how I feel about anything.

Health Ups and Downs – Sophie, Toni and Erich

Sophie has had some new glasses prescribed which she apparently appreciates. There was some stress with what one professional advised but it looks like that wasn’t correct thank goodness. We are hoping for more positive news when she has some more tests.

Erich still has lots of red pox marks on his head. They are drying up but still look angry. He is getting pain in his head with the shingles. Doctor says it could go on for several more weeks.

My good news is that by doubling my nerve tables I seem to have eliminated the pain in my feet. The podiatrist has also helped with inserts (at huge cost) to help regulate my weight across my feet. Apparently the pain caused me to change the way I walked which then caused more issues.

I was not so happy this Friday as apparently my markers have gone up. Normal is 30 and this time I was 43 whereas last time I was 28. My oncologist’s registrar said not to worry as often results move around but of course I am worrying. It is frustrating as there is nothing I can do to make it go down (more chemo?). So now I have to wait 3 weeks.

Videos

I have made a few small ones. The video of Sarah’s show at school was too big to include so I plan to get a good copy and add it separately.

The Days Are Long But the Years Are Short

This is one of my favourites. I have posted it before but sometimes we need a reminder I think.

Business

I am doing a writing course to help me with my blogging. Storytelling is very big at the moment and the course I am doing hopefully will help me develop the skills of incorporating stories in my blogs. I am finding it comes reasonably easily as it is kind of like what I did at assemblies, speech nights etc but I am learning there is a definite formula to use. We have to do it on a timer so I can do the first 50 words in under 30 minutes. The name of the course is “The First Fifty Words”. I have done 4 weeks of 8 week course.

Eating Out

We seem to have lots of reasons to celebrate recently. We had a great dinner with Rebecca and Peter on their return from Thailand. Our sale was unconditional by then so it’s all happening.

Then it was Erich’s birthday We had a great Degustation dinner at Ezard’s. It is great place to celebrate as the food is so good.

Selfie Stick

I am now officially teaching myself how to use my selfie stick. I did my first try today. I assume it is better to hold it higher and look up but not sure.

Videos and Social Media

Some of the videos I have made which are down the right hand side and sometimes in the posts are slowly being replaced with new links. I had a complete muddle as all the videos were on my company site which I wanted to clean up and start using for promotions. YouTube is hopeless as I couldn’t just transfer them to my personal channel. I had to delete on company site then reload from Animoto where I made them. A very slow and tedious process so there may be no video where it should be for the new couple of weeks until I reload them all.

#50/380 Toorak Road Sale

Erich sold it last Wednesday but there is a cooling off period allowed on all residential contracts of three business days so it wasn’t unconditional until the end of business on Monday. It was a long wait. We went out with Rebecca and Peter to Bistro Gitan to celebrate. I am very relieved it is over. We are delighted with the price though we have to pay capital gains tax unfortunately.

Isabelle

I just received these photos of Isabelle on my phone. All the kids seem to be growing so fast. Message me photos I love them.

Sunday Lunch

Erich and I had a lovely lunch with Maddie and her boyfriend Shant. He is very nice and we enjoyed spending time with them. The interesting thing is that Shant works with diamonds – yes diamonds.

One Year On

This week was the one year anniversary of my operation and all the drama surrounding it. I saw my breast surgeon and had a mammogram and ultra sound which showed all clear. I am seeing a podiatrist and she is giving me some electric shots and general up keep of my feet. She is getting me some inserts to help spread my weight a bit better. I saw my GP as well as we are trying to get my blood pressure under control.

I also had a treatment at Cabrini Brighton and saw my oncologist’s registrar. I hadn’t seen this doctor before and he was terrific. He thought we could do better with all the pain in my feet and went through with me how we could increase pain medication dosage. Apparently I have been only taking 25mg and I can actually go up to 300mg. I spent almost $900 on all these appointments this week!

So last Friday night I took two tabs (50mg) and the next day hardly any pain at all. I was so excited. Yesterday I walked 9500 steps no pain. Today we had a long lunch with friends so I only had time to walk 7000 step. Tomorrow morning I am going to try walking to work. First time in a year.

Erich’s Bad Week

Out of the blue last week Erich suddenly developed shingles oh his head and face. He went to the doctor fairly early and was prescribed antibiotics. He soldiered on for a couple of days but took Friday off as it was a long weekend and that gave him a better break.

Little Nippers Singapore

Looks like it is a big hit.

Bangkok

Peter and Rebecca are having two weeks in Thailand. I have seen lots of photos of fancy drinks so I imagine they are having fun.

From New York

We are super impressed with Liz’s new job. She deserves it. Amazing how both she and Aimee work for same company on different sides of the world. Bruce making the news spending money buying stuff. All seems positive.

Maddie

Just heard from her again so we are planning a lunch next Sunday with her and her boyfriend.

My Morning Routine

I am writing this more for me than anyone else. I have always had a quiet time each morning as long as I can remember. Most of that time I have written a journal. In the 80s I had prayer lists and had a schedule of bible reading which saw me read through it each year.

Nowadays I have a beautiful leather zipped cover for my A5 Filofax. About 18 months ago I saw a commercial journal with 5 years on one page. I thought what a good idea so from that point on I decided to do a page for each day. I actually put 2 pages for each day. Well my Filofax couldn’t possibly hold so many pages so now I have 4 beautiful leather covered Filofax journals – one for each season. I put  4 bits of different ribbons on the zipper on each. I love them.

I read a book ‘Miracle Morning’ which gave a great morning routine so I expanded what I do each morning. The book uses an acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. So S for silence – I meditate, A. for affirmations, V. for visualisations, E. for exercise – I have been doing about 15-20 min easy yoga, R. for reading I always have lots of learning stuff, S for script – my journal. I get up at 5.30am and I have until 7.30am when Erich gets up and we get ready for work. This is part of my investment in my health.

It has been interesting to read each morning what I was doing on this day last year, especially all the medical stuff.

As another health thing we are also trying to live with no sugar and white flour. We are doing well but have fallen off the wagon a couple of times.

Holiday in the Caribbean
Joyce/Buchanan family took a week’s break from New York winter in the Dominican Republic. It was somewhat bizarre to see Liz and the family in the Dominican Republic for a holiday. We lived there in 1972-1974. I was pregnant with Liz when we left. We used to go to the same beach on the north of the island. (see video on left)

Thailand

Rebecca has gone with her mother this week. Peter is due to join Rebecca on 3 March. They are holidaying for two weeks there.

Sydney

David was back to be among the speakers at a conference in Sydney. I loved the photo of him with packages at the airport. (#notsohappyhusband)

Family Milestones

Baxter turned 4 with celebrations in New York and the D.R.

Rebecca and Peter have now been married two years.

It is now 12 months since I first heard my cancer diagnosis. I am still here for which I am truly grateful.

Doing the interview with Sarah was fun. We had a few difficulties getting connected through Zoom but it all worked out. I think Sarah is very impressive with her descriptions of the activities they did.

Well done Sarah!

We have all had so much fun with you over these past years. We are looking forward to how you grow over the next eleven years.

Happy Birthday Charlotte, Opa and I send you buckets of love.

How is your card playing going?