Trip to the Northern Territory

On Wednesday we board The Ghan and travel to Alice Springs. We get off the train on Thursday and spend a night in Alice Springs. Then it's a coach ride to Uluru. It's about 400 km to Uluru, but the coach makes a few stops, including one at a camel farm, and about 5 1/2 hours later we'll arrive at Uluru.

We're staying for two nights at Uluru, so we can get some major cultural experiences. On the first night, we're doing the Sounds of Silence experience. Then early the next morning we're doing the Sunrise and Base Walk.

On Saturday a coach will return us the 400 km to Alice Springs, where we stay the night. On the Sunday we will board the next Ghan and travel to Katherine. After a few hours to do some tourist stuff, it's back on the Ghan to Darwin.

We arrive in Darwin on the Tuesday, mid afternoon.

Our kids fly in from Sydney on Wednesday.

On Thursday we hope to go the Mindel Markets.

On Friday Merv is hoping to take the kids Reef Fishing.

Then hopefully on Saturday it will be a ride down the Adelaide River, doing a Jumping Crocodile Cruise.

Late Saturday night, some more friends arrive and Sunday will probably be a rest day with maybe a visit to some markets.

Our kids fly back to Sydney at 1.40 am on Monday morning ... very early, but it means they're back home in time to go to work.

The rest of our time will be spent chilling with friends, visiting markets, eating out and for my hubby to do as much fishing as he can. My hubby and a friend are planning a barramundi fishing adventure on the Daly River. They will have a guide with them, so here's to it being a load of fun.

We haven't bought return tickets, but expect to fly back after about a three week break.

Yum

My hubby is sleeping peacefully on the couch ... he was watching the Olympics ... and me, well I'm enjoying Lindt Chilli Dark Chocolate ... and it's awesome!

I had considered sharing ... but now I'm not so sure!

Three Years - 3 August 2008

When my treatment started, I had no idea it would be lasting this long ... and longer ... Probably a good thing, as I may not have started treatment had I been aware of this!

Three year summary ...

Front

Left Side and Right Side

Upper Arch and Lower Arch

Patience ... Patience ... Patience ...

Dentist and Hygienist Appointments

Had another round of appointments with my dentist and hygienist and received an A1 report from both.

My hygienist calls me her model patient ... and it does feel good, as it makes the extra effort I make during my night cleaning worth while!

Olympic Medals for New Zealand

New Zealand is a very small country, with a population of around 4 million.

We love sport, with our first love being rugby union. We never have a large team to go to the Olympics, but we do dream of medals for our amazing athletes.

Finally today it's happened ...

2 Gold - New Zealander's Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindells have taken the gold in dramatic fashion in the women's double sculls event.

New Zealander Valerie Vili won the Olympic shot put gold at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing

1 Silver - New Zealand cyclist Hayden Roulston won silver medal in the 4,000 m individual pursuit.

2 Bronze - New Zealander Mahe Drysdale claimed New Zealand's first medal of the Olympic games, in the men's single sculls event.

New Zealand Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater came third in the Men's pairs rowing event.

All Blacks Win!

An awesome outcome!

We played South Africa in South Africa and kept them to 19-nil ... amazing. Dan Carter missed a conversion and three penalties and yet we still managed to score the win!

We rained on Percy Montgomery, 100th cap for South Africa ... but are we Kiwi's concerned about that ... not in the least!

We are still in with a chance to take out the Tri Nations!

Maltalier

A Maltalier is a cross between a pure breed Maltese and a pure breed Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Breed Information

Coat - minimal shedding, non allergenic coat that is soft and wavy
Grooming - regular grooming required, this includes brushing daily and clipping regularly
Size - 20-30 cm
Weight - 3-8 kg
Temperament - great house dog, good with people of all ages, easy to train, very intelligent and extremely loyal make a fantastic lap dog, or companion very laid back
Colour - any colour combination except chocolate

I've chosen a blenheim coloured male and here's a pic of the three blenheim coloured males. It was take on 11 August 2008, when the pups were five days old.

I get to collect our puppy on 28 September 2008 at 8 am ... and I can't wait!

New Puppy

With the guidance of the spirit of my beautiful dog Milo, I was lead to the breeders of Maltaliers - Maltese x Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

I made contact with the breeders ... who surprisingly only live about an hours drive away, and they said they were hoping for another litter later in the year. That was about six weeks ago.

When we returned from New Zealand, there was an email to say seven puppies had been born on 6 August 2008 and would I please let them know ASAP if I was still interested. I did, and since then I've seen a photo of these babies and have chosen a blenheim coloured male. I've paid the deposit and now we wait for the puppies to grow strong with their Mum.

We will collect our puppy on the morning of 28 September ... and to say I'm excited is an understatement. I keep wanting to buy things for our new baby. I've already bought six months of flea treatment, a new purple collar, toys, blankets for Milo's bed (which is still in good condition), a small purple hot water bottle, a harness that includes a seat belt connection ... nice and easy to keep your dog safe. Plus toys etc.

Next I plan to buy dry food and freeze chicken necks in single bags, so I can give my new baby one of those a day. Did I mention that I'm very excited.

At the moment I think his name will be Wilsyn ... or at least that's what my daughter and I want. My hubby isn't against this name, or totally for it, but now he's got to try and find another one ... or Wilsyn it will be! When we're sure of the name, I'll get a name tag made for his new collar.

I've also been to my vet and booked him in for Puppy School!

My July Bite ...

How I prefer to bite ...


How I'm supposted to bite ...


And the bite that makes my upper jaw look like it's in class I ...

Planning trip to Darwin

My hubby is feeling good and is eating well ... very important with the type of cancer he has.

So now we're planning our train trip to Darwin, plus organising our kids to fly to Darwin to spend some time with us!

Can't wait to see them both, and as they've not been to Darwin before, I'm sure this will be a fun time for them also.

My hubby is planning to take them fishing and we'll all do the Market thing ...which Darwin is so great at. Plus we'll take them to see the crocodile's jumping ... which is a great trip on the Adelaide River.

We are back

We had a great five days in Sydney with our kids, then it was off to New Zealand.

We arrived at the same time as a storm 'hit' the North Island and there was plenty of 'fat' NZ rain landing on our island ... the South Island.

We flew into Christchurch and spent a night with my hubby's bro and step bro. Then to Ashburton for lunch with an Aunty and Uncle of my hubby. Spent two nights in Waimate visiting my parents, bro and sis. Then to Moeraki to my girlfriends for the night, plus a stop in Oamaru to catch up with a couple of my hubby's Aunties. Next to Mosgiel for four nights with my hubby's Mum.

We had many gatherings with family and friends, including a 'live wake' with around 50 people. Friends organised this, and invited between 20-30 of my hubby's past work and hockey friends. Seems like the news got out and many more made the effort to call in. It was an emotional time, but exciting to see so many friends in one place.

Next we flew from Dunedin to Wellington and spent a night with an awesome couple we met when we lived in Fiji. Then a friend picked us up and drove us to his home in Hastings. Then a day trip to Wairoa to have lunch with the Mum's of two special friends. This was a great time, plus my hubby and I shared our first 'boil up pie' ... and it was good!

Next our friend drove us to Auckland, where a girlfriend of mine from Fiji joined us for tea, for our last night in New Zealand.

Flying Business Class was fun ... loads of leg room, good drinks, food and service!

Planning our Trip Home

It's been 25 days since we were told that my hubby's cancer is terminal. It's consuming and I'm finding that difficult to cope with.

Our daughter has been staying, while she recovers from her back surgery. She's returning home, when we fly to Sydney this Wednesday. I know already that I will miss her something wicked, when we return from NZ.

We have a HUGE few days planned before we fly to New Zealand.

We're flying to Sydney on Wednesday and my hubby is going to a Trade Show on the Thursday. He wasn't going to bother, but he's been getting phone calls from people he's worked with over the years, who want to see him, and this is a good opportunity to do that. Friday and Saturday will be spent with our kids, and that includes going to the Bledisloe Cup Rugby Union game on Saturday to watch our much loved All Blacks play Australia at our favourite sport!

We're staying at our favourite spot, overlooking the harbour ... so hopefully that will allow us time to refuel before our flight across the ocean.

My main wishes at this time are ... that my hubby will enjoy his time back in New Zealand, and that I will become strong and be able to support him better!

Trip to New Zealand

We are booked to fly Sydney to Christchurch on Monday, 28 July 2008.

We will then drive to Dunedin/Mosgiel over four nights. Spending four nights with my hubby's Mum in Mosgiel, before flying to Wellington. We'll be spending one night in Wellington and then a friend will drive us to his place for three nights. We'll then fly to Auckland for one night, before flying back to South Aussie.

We're not looking forward to this trip, but we know it's necessary to visit family and friends while my hubby is still feeling strong.

I loathe having to be practical ...

Today we visited a lawyer and wrote new wills, including the Power of Attorney stuff. I'm finding this being practical really tough ... but I know we need to do this and my hope is that when the practical stuff is over, we will live a full and happy life!

In my dreams, life is as it was always going to be ... and now I have to work to get my awake mind feeling this way also! My hubby is being so strong and so positive ... I really don't know where he get's his goodness from!

I love him today, I loved him yesterday and I know I will love him even more tomorrow!

Visited our kids ...

Last weekend we both flew to be with our kids in Sydney.

Our daughter was having back surgery, so I was already booked to go over and spend time helping her. Now with the dreadful news we had just been given, we felt it was important for the four of us to be together, as this was a time of great sadness, but also of support for each other.

We had a sad but wonderful time together.

Our daughter's surgery went well and she's now joined us in South Aussie.

Our son had two days off work and didn't play or sing in any bands while we were visiting, so we were able to be together as much as possible.

Much grieving was started. Hard, but important.

Those words ...

Last week my hubby had his first post chemo/radiation appointment. It was worse than we could have imagined. The doc had to tell us that after six weeks of treatment, the tumour showed no improvement and was therefore inoperable. His advice to my hubby is to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, as his chances of survival are not good. He said that with the type of cancer he has, there's a survival rate of 20% at one year, and he wouldn't comment about after that.

He said the cancer will spread ... lungs, liver, kidney, bones etc.

To say we were both shattered, would be a massive understatement!

We're to continue seeing this doc at the end of each month.


What now ...

We're planning a trip home to New Zealand to visit family and friends. My hubby wants to fly business class.

We'll meeting with our real estate agent, as we think we'd be best to sell the house we're currently building.

We've cancelled our trip to Europe.
We're taking the Ghan to Darwin.
Hubby will go barramundi fishing in the Northern Territory.
... and any thing else that he wants to do.

We're both continuing to work ... but my hubby is only doing part days and having his second and third in charge, do much of the work. The directors of the company he runs have been excellent so far.

Week 150 - Adjustment 21 - Photos

June 2008 - 34 Months

How I prefer to bite ...


How I should bite ...

Left Side ...

Right Side ...


Left Side - Class I bite ...


Right Side - Class III bite ...

Week 150 - Adjustment 21 - continued

Uppers
Two brackets moved
Ligs changed to purple

Lowers
Two brackets moved. Ouch ... removing the bonding off the lower left second molar was nasty!

New powerchain. I was able to have my favourite grape coloured one, as my ortho won't use the heavy duty boring grey, due to two new brackets needing time to secure there bonding.

Movement ... not much.

My bite ... still slightly open. Class I on the left (how much do I love hearing that!), Class III on the right ... damn impacted canine gap!

Elastics 3/16" - continue wearing on the right side only - 23 hours a day! Change once a day.

We're still trying to work miracles! :-)

Week 150 - Adjustment 21

I am soooooooo over the gap over my impacted canine!

The damn gap is holding up my progress ... and has been holding up my progress for over two years ... such a long time to be waiting for a gap to close.

I feel sorry for my ortho, as he keeps saying he's sorry that he can't do any more until the gap closes ... and I know this is correct ... but I need progress ... I need things to happen so I really can accept that my treatment will be over before I turn 100!

Adjustment 21

I have an adjustment this Thursday ... incredible, as I usually have three months or longer between appointments and this time it's not even a full four weeks!

I'm getting brackets moved on my top arch ... so here's to progress!