My Hand and Tim's Computer

Hello all been a few days since I last posted since getting home on Tuesday I have been busy as with one thing or another, but here we are at Friday afternoon and I am going to do a quick post to let all know I am still around and not sick or anything like that.

Yesterday I went to see the specialist about my shaking and balance problems again, not happy. He said it is a functional tremor caused by stress and said all I can really do is try and learn to live with it and try relaxation methods to help ease it. Yes when I am really upset and the hand/arm is shaking a lot breathing and focus on my breathing does help settle it down a little but doesn't stop it also does nothing to stop the balance problems. He said he would have a chat with the movement disorder people and see if they agree with him. I do not have to go back as he said there is no point. So I left somewhat upset, I mentioned that even when I went away on holiday and had no stress at all the shaking and balance problems were still there he couldn't say why that is other then I might need to be away from the source of the stress for a long period of time but that isn't practical and he knew that.

Let us go back to Wednesday on the Tuesday night Tim found his new computer laying face down on the floor, he was not happy and when he asked both Blain and Leo about it both denied knowing anything about hit of course they were lying one had to know what happened it didn't move it's self to the floor.

So both boys ended up getting into trouble that afternoon Blain wasn't allowed to use his Xbox and they both had to sit in the bedroom doing nothing till one of them admitted to touching it. Well Leo admitted when we came home from school so Blain still had no Xbox but I allowed both boys to play out the back yard. However, Leo is not allowed to stay here tonight as way of punishment for touching it and lying about it to start with.

So I was happy when Jessica rang me this afternoon to tell me she would pick Leo up from school, this meant I didn't have to deal with him as he would be in a mood because I got him and not bringing him back here for the night.

Also he has a communication book that is to be filled in each morning with information like if he has had a good morning and has had his medication, well when we went to Tassie I left the book on my computer desk, so I sent Jessica a message about it telling her to pick it up and fill it in each day, well when I got home it was exactly where I left it. I was not happy.

Ok that is it from me for this post, over the weekend I have a lot of letters to answer so that is what I will be doing although I am doing lunch here on Sunday for Michael's birthday he is 30, his birthday was when we were in Tassie. 

Last Day Of Tassie Holiday

Well our last day in Tassie is coming to an end this morning we drove to Mount Wellington and even though the road was closed and we could only go 4k's up it it was still nice and yes there was snow although it wasn't that cold I didn't get out of the car much as the ground was covered in ice and snow and thought it wouldn't be safe as I am likely to fall over. We then drove back to Hobart stopping to take a couple of photos of something called The Shot Tower and then back to Hobart for lunch at the SoHo hotel which was nice then came back to the motel for the night I haven't said anything to Tim but I am not feeling the best I was starting to feel unsteady and my arm is super aching tonight, ok it has been super aching every night but I think after a few days of it aching so much and feeling so heavy it is starting to get to me

Tassie Day 3

It is now day three of our Tassie holiday, today was spent visiting markets and gaols, first off we went to the Salamanca markets then we went to the Female Factory which was where the female convicts were kept and later other female prisoners. We there drove to Richmond to visit Old Hobart Town which is a model town place but changed our mind and instead went to Old Richmond Gaol which is the oldest gaol in the country that is still in its original condition as it hasn't been restored like the others both places were interesting, We are at the motel for a bit to just chill and that is easy as it is bloody cold here with the temp being between 1-3°C but the wind chill factor makes it feel much colder. As for food today I have had a plate of hot chips with gravy that is it for me today oh and half a chocolate bar and a small hot chocolate.

Tassie Day Two

Here we are at day two in Tassie, still cold and wet we stopped on the way to Hobart to check out a windmill, and then we stopped for food at White Moe Espresso Tim got a hamburger and chips I had the chips he had the burger he said it as really nice. We checked out the old gaol here with a guided tour and we both enjoyed that now we are at the motel for the night the room is nice not as large as the one we had last night but its ok. We went to Woolworths and got a few things and stopped and bought hot chips for tea

Tassie Post Day 1

Arrived in Tassie safe and well the motel room is nice a good size and the heater was on when we arrived so the room is warm outside it is cold and wet and I have a splitting headache but the shower was nice and hot although it took a bit to get the temperature right we flew with Virgin Australia and they were ok no complaints. Although not happy that Natasha Tinkabell Meadows rang to tell me that Leo took all the cheese into papas room and it has gone off that is $9 wasted.

About Noumea

Hello all this will be the last of the cruise related posts, with me telling you a bit about Noumea which was our last port of call on the cruise, Noumea is part of New Caledonia it has a population of around 94,000 the locals speak French and Kanak dialects, the French overseas the territory and local government. The currency is French Pacific Franc but we found many places also accepted Australian money and some even accepted American money.

Even though New Caledonia is French territory it was Captain James Cook who named the place way back in 1774.

In the 1800's Noumea had a strong frontier quality with adventurers, miners, traders, seafarers, government officials and convicts all calling the place home. Over time other ethnic groups added to the mix with Chinese, Vietnamese and during world war two American servicemen calling the place home, many went there to seek their fortunes in the nickel and gold mines.

New Caledonia's Barrier Reef is the worlds longest and second largest behind Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The country also has the worlds largest lagoon within which you will find the picture perfect islands of Amedee and Canard also known as Duck island.

Still winter but not cold

Yes it is still winter but it isn't that cold today, in fact the last few days it has been really warm with temps in the mid 20's no need for the heater the last few days.

Was speaking to mum last night as I do every night and she told me that dad is really sick again, he went to see the chest specialist yesterday and when the doctor asked him how he was he replied not good doctor not good at all, this is unusual for dad generally he will say he is ok or fine when asked how he is doing by anyone.

I went to the doctors today and got a lecture about my weight and how I need to get my diabetes under better control, I said yeah I know and I know what to and not to eat and that I need to exercise more and all but knowing what to do and finding the motivation to do it can be two different things.

I said my depression is ok and well in hand, good thing a flashing light with the word liar doesn't appear when one lies, yeah for the most part my depression is well in hand but if I was to be honest the tremor and balance problems are getting me down I am so tired of the aching and stiffness in my right arm and to make matters worse I have started getting shocking headaches again many days I have a headache.

I asked about the pain in my left thigh the doctor looked at it and added a couple of things to the form for blood tests and asked if I could go see him on Friday to which I said no sorry can't do as I am flying to Tassie on Thursday and will not be back till next Tuesday so can see him sometime next week.

The blood test is a fasting test so I will either have it done tomorrow morning or Thursday morning if I have time and don't forget.

School has gone back today so I will have to leave soon to go get the boys from school, I hope both boys have had a good first day of school. 

About Port Denarau

Now let me tell you about Port Denarau, it is an island just of the coast of Fiji;s main island Viti Levu this is a larger island and has many luxurious hotels, a golf course with immaculately manicured residential estates with palm tree lined streets and some of the best sporting facilities in the pacific.

It has a population of over 10,000 those on the island speak English, Fijian and Hindi the currency is the Fijian dollar but many stores also accept both Australian and American dollars.

The island is attached to the Fijian mainland by a causeway, access to the island is via tender from the ship as the ship was too large for the harbour. The weather when were were there was nice sunny but not too hot nor humid.

This is the island that Tim saw the dentist on and which because of all the mucking around that resulted in I didn't get to see much of interest, I did notice that the stores at the marina and would have liked to wonder through them but by the time all was said and done with Tim and his teeth I was too exhausted to do so.

When we were being driven around the place the areas often looked dirty compared to the marina but the people were mostly friendly and they tried to be helpful, would I go back there yeah I would. 

Uncle Ronnie's Funeral

Hello everyone it is Friday around lunch time here and yeah I know you are thinking what the hell Jo-Anne you don't post at this time of day on a Friday or really very often at all on a Friday, but here I am writing a post today this is because I have Leo and he doesn't want me to go shopping and leave him home alone not that I would but still asked him I could pop down the road to check the mail but no he didn't want me to do that either so I have to wait for Kathy to come back from doing something for Natasha so she can stay with the Leo while I go out and do my shopping.

Yesterday I had to go to the funeral of my uncle Ronnie, it was a good turnout with about 60 or so people turning up, did I cry a little but not much, mum was upset a bit at times he was her younger brother by nearly 2 years he was born on the 28^th November 1941 and mum was born the 30^th January 1940.

Here is a story about Uncle Ronnie I remember mum telling me that for years the family celebrated his birthday on the 27^th because that is when nan thought he was born but when they got his birth certificate he was born on the 28^th this is because he was born at midnight and nan thought it was just before midnight and the hospital said it was just after midnight the hospital had his birthday down at the 28^th not the 27^th, go figure.

Uncle Ronnie like his younger sister Diane had two middle names Maxwell and James, Diane's middle names were Mary and Isabel but mum has only one Jean and uncle Frank also has only one which is David.

Speaking of Uncle Frank he still doesn't know that Uncle Ronnie has died as he is overseas and mum hasn't been able to contact him she has sent a text message and tried to ring him a few times but nope can't reach him.

Also the reverend that conducted the service was a dill she stuffed up the names referring to his wife as Florence then corrected herself as his wife was Eileen his mum is Florence and he said he had two sisters Francis and Mavis but Francis is his brother not his sister so she got that wrong too. She said she didn't know Ronnie and this is true but she had notes about who was who and still got it wrong.

We didn't hang around much after the service we did of course go the cemetery and then back to the hall for a bite to eat and a cuppa but really didn't have much I had a can of soft drink and a party sausage roll and party pie then we left and came home. It was a 3 hour drive to and from the funeral and I wasn't the best yesterday my balance was shocking couldn't stand still or walk without stumbling around, I don't like the family to see me like that as it makes them worry about me.

Well that is it for this post till next time be happy, be safe and enjoy life 

Just a photo college of photos from the cruise

Still having car troubles and Tim is having body troubles

Hello everyone well yesterday Tim drove our car to work and the mechanic said it might have been a one of and not to worry. Well when he was driving home last night he had no headlights at all not good so this morning he has been ringing around to find out if the repair would be covered by warranty and it may be but we don't know for sure till the car is looked at. We have to take it to Klosters tomorrow for them to look at it, we hope it is as we don't want a huge bill. I did manage to piss Tim off when he asked if I would drop the car off and I said I didn't really want to, but I will.

At the moment he is at the doctors not sure why he has been having a trouble sleeping it is like has restlessness in his upper body and arm along with some pain around the ribs and chest area, he Googled the symptoms and came up with hernia or heart attack which I guess is why he has gone to the doctor.

Only a week to go before Tim and I will be going to Tassie for a holiday and we have been looking at different cruises for next year dad wants to find a cruise and start paying it off, my brother and sister in-law are going on a cruise next June and they asked Dawson if he would like to go but he said no he wasn't interested in going and they have decided to not take Landon as they would have to put him into day care on the ship and it cost extra and they don't think he would enjoy it and wouldn't remember much of it at all. This I understand as I have been on a couple of cruises and no there isn't a lot for young children so he will be staying with my parents while they are gone. My sister in-laws parents said they were excluding him and it was wrong with a capital W but I get why they have decided to leave him at home with mum and dad as does Tim but of course my daughters don't get it they say they think he should go but really they have no idea what a cruise is like.

Kathy was just here she said I don't interact with my grandchildren enough and that is why Summer is distant from me when she is here, maybe she is right I don't know I am not a big one for interacting with children also I think the fact that I don't have Summer here many days a week like I did Blain when he was a baby and toddler and now that he lives here I see him 5 or 6 days a week and Leo has always spent a lot of time with me and papa. Kathy has always looked after her own children and has never needed my help like her sisters do.

Ok that is all my news for today, I will end this here and post it.

About Mystery Island

Now let us move onto Mystery Island, this is a tiny uninhabited islet in Vanautu’s Tafea Province, officially charted under the indigenous name Inyeug.

Other than an airstrip built by the United States Military personnel to serve the nearby island of Aneityum, Mystery Island only has a few huts for overnighters and modern amenities for cruise passengers and some trails that bisect the island.

Tim and I went over to Mystery Island there were markets set up for those of the cruise ship and this is were we took the glass bottom boat tour which was awesome.

The population is zero, no one lives on the island as is considered taboo to do so, the locals from Aneityum when the cruise ships stop at the island, the population of Aneityum is only about 1,200 and when we were on the glass bottom boat tour we were told that some locals live on a near by island that has no running water, electricity or anything modern.

People speak English, French, Bislama and Anejom which is the local language of Aneityum, the government is a Parliamentary republic and the currency is the Vatu.

The only cruise ships that stop at Mystery Island are those from P & O 

Car Troubles and Nothing Much

Hello world, I had planned to post something yesterday but with one thing or another didn't get around to it, this morning I am writing this as I wait for the NRMA to arrive to look at my car. Last night Natasha borrowed the car and when she was out she started to have trouble with it some light came on, on the dash no idea what light but when she got home the brake lights would turn off and they are still on this morning. Tim went out and looked at it, he has no idea so he rang the NRMA to come and look at it and hopefully tell us what is wrong so we can have it repaired.

I still have to go and finish my shopping I may have to walk to the shops and get someone to pick me up when I am finished, yesterday Natasha drove me to Charlie to have Friday breakfasts and get a few things but didn't do the main part of the shopping at Coles. I had hoped to do it yesterday afternoon, as I thought Tim was coming home for a couple of hours, he had a spilt shift but he didn't come home and thus I wasn't able to do the shopping.

Ok NRMA has been and he couldn't fix it thought it was the brake light switch or some other switch he tried and tried but couldn't get the lights to go out in the end he disconnected the battery as it was flat and he had to jump start it. It will need to be towed to Ford I think to be repaired but for now I am unable to drive it. Tim hopes it will be covered by warranty but we will see, on Monday when he makes some phone calls about the bloody car.

Ok it is now midday, I started writing this 4 hours ago, went and did my shopping Kathy drove me down and came back to get me when I was finished, while I was gone Tim rang the mob we bought the car from and got in touch with the mob who handle the warranty and someone came out to check the car out and guess what the brake lights are off now, he said it might be because the battery was disconnected for a while and it reset its self but we need to take it in for someone to check it our by putting it on the computer to check it out.

Also we have now had lunch I did a beef casserole last night in the slow cooker and it was nice the meat so bloody tender and I bought a apple and custard scroll thing for dessert which Jessica said was too something no idea what that something is

Now I am looking forward to the girls and their children to leave so I can sit back and do nothing in nice and quiet. I love seeing them but I also love it when they leave.

So at this moment Natasha is straightening Kathy's hair, Kathy came over to colour Natasha's hair which Kathy does every few weeks. I no longer bother colouring my hair I have salt and pepper hair now which is fine with me.

I have no other news so I will now post this at 12.30pm

About Port Villa

Today I will tell you a little about Port Vila, which is the trading centre and capital of Vanuatu, all of us went ashore when there and what we saw didn't impress us much but then we didn't really see much of the area maybe if we had gone into town it would have been different but we didn't so it is what it is.

Anyway from what I have learnt Port Vila has seen more history and change than many towns much bigger, when it comes to culture, tradition and history, how I don't know I just read that on the info sheet the ship gives you. I can also tell you that you can find a mix of cultures in Port Vila such as Melanesian, French, English and Chinese to name a few.

It is a pretty large place with a population around 45,000, they speak English, French and Bislama and the government is a republic. The currency is Vatu but we found that all the stalls at the port took Australian dollars and the same at the shop we went to when we took a taxi ride into the nearest town which turned out not to be the nearest town at all if we wanted to walk a bit we would have seen more but neither my parents can walk a great distance.

Now some of you may have heard about Port Vila in the news when there was an accident over there involving passengers off one of P & O's ships, I can tell you we saw no buses when we were there at the port there were many small taxi vans which are old Targo type vans and when I say old I mean old and as far as seat belt we rode in two different ones, one of them had a couple of seat belts but not enough for all in the van and the other had none that we could see.

About Dravuni Island

Ok our second port of call was Dravuni Island, this is a very small island at the northern end of the Kadavu Group, that means nothing to me, just saying.

Anyway the island has less then 200 local people living there, they speak Fijian and English, it is virtually surrounded by the Great Astrolabe Reef and is suppose to be a diver's paradise. The reef was named after French explorer Dumont d'Urville's ship "Astrolabe", which struck the reef in the 1820’s.

Tim went over to the island which you reach via tender but there is nothing really on the island, no cars or vehicles of any type, no large stores only a few market stalls set up by the locals for the tourist dollar. In fact Tim said there was nothing to indicate that one was living in the 21^st century.

I guess some would say it is one of the Pacific's most unspoilt destinations, the government is a republic and they use Fijian dollars.

A Post About Sickness and Death

Hi all welcome to a Monday update also known as what has been happening in Jo-Anne's little world since Thursday when she last posted. Well Friday saw Blain have the day off school as he was sick on Thursday with a gastro that has been going around and had to be without any symptoms for 24 hours before returning to school. It was only the previous Monday that the school made the news when 120 students were off sick with the gastro.

Friday was also the last day of the school term the boys are off for two weeks now and Jessica has taken Leo away to around the Casino area to visit a friend they left yesterday afternoon and will be home some time on Wednesday and when they are gone I have to bunny sit for her.

Back to Friday I had to get Leo from school but after doing the shopping I didn't feel like going out and getting him so Kathy went and got him out an hour early before she went home. I appreciated that so much. Anyway Friday night Leo was sick with the same bug Blain had but was sicker then Blain who only had a bit of diarrhoea, Leo had diarrhoea and vomiting and felt pretty sick all night but was much better on Saturday.

However, at 2am on Saturday morning I woke up feeling like shit and ended up spending the whole day pretty much in bed sleeping except when I dragged myself out of bed to walk down to vote. Now I must have looked terrible and my balance was awful and both Blain and Leo were fighting I asked if Leo would like to walk down with me and he looked at me and said yes nanna you look like you will need help. He was worried I would fall over or throw up or something, thankfully we hadn't gone far when his mum pulled up and drove me down to the school to vote, I said I would go in but Leo said no I am coming too I want to make sure you are ok and don't fall over. Then when I was waiting in line to get my named marked off I was finding it difficult to stand still and not fall over so Leo was holding my hand and staying close to me.

When I got home from voting I went back to bed, yesterday Sunday was pretty much the same, I felt better but not 100% and still spent most of the day in bed. Last night at 9pm it hit Tim he was up vomiting and with diarrhoea for a bit and has called in sick to work this morning as he still doesn't feel great but he is now where near as sick as I was.

Natasha was also sick last night vomiting and with diarrhoea but is feeling better today not great but well enough to be outside washing her car there was no way I would have been up do doing that over the weekend.

In other news yesterday morning at around 9am I get a phone call from my mum to inform me that my Uncle Ronnie had passed away, Uncle Ronnie is/was mums younger brother he was 74 two years younger then mum. Now when my Aunt Eileen rang mum's Dawson answered the phone and didn't know who it was and all she said was for him to tell nan that Ronnie died, which he did but this naturally shocked mum when he said that some aunt rang to say that Uncle Ronnie died mum said “what Ronnie died” he could tell mum was upset and asked who Uncle Ronnie was and mum said he is my brother. Dawson said if he realised it was her brother he would had gone in and woke her up, I fell Eileen should had told Dawson to go and get his nan so she could speak to her and not relay the news via mum's 17 year old grandson but that is just me.

Now I know many of you are wondering what he died off well we don't really know mum rang Eileen and spoke to her and she thinks his heart just gave out on him he has had a bad heart for many years and has had a couple of heart attacks and has had bypass surgery many years ago and may have had cancer of some kind. This is the second death in the extended family this year, some may say two down one to go and yeah often these things do seem to come in threes.

Now today I am 95% better still have a bit to go before I am fully recovered, I wonder why it has taken me longer to get over the damn gastro bug then the rest of the family.