A few pages ...

More from Fiji ...

Natadola Beach

This photo reminds me of the wonderful time we had in Fiji. The smiles on the faces of our son and his friends in the warm Pacific Ocean ... wow! The joy, the laughter and the simple life!

Precious Moments

Our son's yaca with his beautiful Mum. This was a fun photo I took when I returned to Lautoka to visit in 2006.

Mother and Child
I love the look on Andrew's face ... he's adorable!

Finally ...

Today around six ton of soil (land fill) was put on our land, and compacted to form the base for the foundations for our house. It was very exciting!

The fill is much higher than we expected and it will mean our new house is higher than any other's in the area. Also looking at the shape of the compacted soil made us realise how big our new house will be ... much bigger than I realised. It's a long house - ranch style.

Now I can't wait for the the next stages ... founds go down, frames goes up, roof goes on ...

A few pages ...

More from Fiji ...

Wiggly Worm
This is a gorgous photo of our son's yaca.


Asena Qoro
When I return to Fiji, I always visit our housegirl Asena. We still enjoy going for walks together and sharing the times when Asena worked for us and cared us and our beautiful dog Milo.

Gorgous Boy
Clinton (our son's best friend) and his nephew, who is also our son's yaca.

Ken's Grog
This is part of a two page display. In Fiji I always enjoyed drinking yaqona (kava or grog) and the gatherings that went with these. In this display, I'm drinking grog with Clinton's father and soon to be father-in-law.

Blue Lagoon Cruise
Our son's best friend working as crew on a Blue Lagoon Ship. Blue Lagoon operate 3 day and 7 day cruises around the Yasawa Islands to the west of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. We went on a couple of three day cruises, and then helped Clinton get an interview with Blue Lagoon. This photo was taken during a seven day cruise ... and shows two very proud parents ... their Fijian son has an amazing gift and works well with overseas and local guests on the boat.

Two and a half years - 3 February 2008

Front

Left Side and Right Side

Upper Arch and Lower Arch

Progress is harder to see and the gap where my impacted canine is, continues to close ... but so slowly. I'm really tired of this dragging out so long. I'd hoped my treatment would be over around the two year mark, but I suspect it might be more like three years.

Comparing the front view ... at two years and now, I can see that my open bite has closed by about halfway. I never realised this ... so taking photos is a great way to discover change!

I'm very grateful that my jaw pain is now rare. When I do get the pain, it's so much milder, which is truly wonderful.

Now I've got to be patient!

Saturday ... Milo and a snake ...

My day started off horribly ... really nasty! I was hanging out some washing and my gorgeous little dog, Milo, was sniffing round in a bark garden. I heard a noise and went to check it out, as I was concerned she had one of our blue tongue lizards, or a lace dragon cornered. But when I looked, I saw a small head, that I knew was not a lizard. The next minute seemed like an eternity. A small brown snake slide between her legs and under some sleepers ... I freaked!

Milo was standing very still and I picked her up and she lay quite still in my arms. I was thinking she'd been bitten, as although she loves cuddles, she's not one to lie still like that. I had a hand on her heart as I tried to stop feeling like panic and do something real.

Next my neighbour rushed out to see me. She was concerned, as she said all the colour had drained from my face and I looked frozen to the spot nursing my little dog. She talked to me for a few minutes and I then put Milo on the ground. She tried to walk, but was unsteady ... and I was about to panic again, when she appeared to come right and bound with energy.

I continued to feel sick for the next few hours, and have been watching Milo closely all day. Fortunately she appears fine!

This is the second time I've lived in Oz, but the first time I've seen a snake outside of a reptile park ... and that includes working in Queensland's Outback for over a year.

Bring on Sunday ... it can only get better!

A few pages ...

Bath Time

Our son's best friend in Fiji, named his first nephew after our son. In Fijian, this makes Andrew Ho our son's Yaca (pronounced - ya tha), which means our son's name sake. It's a great honour, and I spent a wonderful 2+ weeks with Andrew, his Mum, Grandparents and other family members when I returned to Lautoka for a holiday in 2006.

Yaca

Photos of Andrew ... with his Aunty Stephanie and his Grandmother Rachel.


Girl's Night In - 2006

This was of 2006's scrapping night to raise money for breast cancer ... we had a great time making money for a great cause! I'm yet to scrap the photo's for 2007.

Gaps

The lower extraction gap ... a first molar ... appears to be almost totally closed. Even though it's been slow ... it's gone a load better than the closing of the gap over my upper right impacted canine. I can see a definite improvement ... but I'm nearly at 30 months and that gap is really starting to p1$s me off!

Lower left gap – extracted first molar

January 2008


July 2007


August 2005




Upper right gap – over impacted canine

January 2008


August 2005

Interproximal Reduction

It's 4 1/2 months since I had IPR (shaving) done between my lower front teeth. Here's the progress ...

October 2007 - Day IPR was done


Close up of the shaving done on either side of my lower right lateral


November 2007


January 2008

A few pages ...

I love scrapbooking ...

I don't think I have a style ... just a passion to record memories and a love of writing!

Are You My Dog?

This shows Milo before and after her pre Christmas 2006 hair cut!



Licks of Love

I love this photo! Andy took it while he was visiting in 2006 and it shows the love between these two members of my family!


Graduation

My girlfriend graduating with a bachelor of counselling.

Zombie Flesh Eaters

My son and some of his friends in Sydney have formed a band. They describe it’s genre as ... Metal / Death Metal / Grindcore ... which all sounds a tad scary, but having spent a few hours at an Irrelevant show, when they toured Adelaide in 2007 and our son was acting manager and their merch guy ... or something like that ... I quickly realised they’re just all noise and the band is a bunch of sweeties!

I’m excited that he’s planning to write again and will get his creative juices flowing. When we lived in Fiji, he used to write reviews for music websites and mags most days. He became real good at getting demo’s from publicists, as he couldn’t buy the type of music he was passionate for, in Fiji.

I never tire of reading his work ... bias I know, but he has an earthy visual style, very similar to my own, just loads better!

Here’s the banner that the band want to advertise their MySpace ...

...too fast moving for my eyes, but I’m sure many will like it.

Here’s the pic I’m more comfortable with ...

My son has a zombie bride and groom tattooed on his feet ... and she’s similar, although not the same, as the bride.

There’s a demo song on the site ... and that’s my boy! I am concerned about his vocal cords, but my wish is that he’ll have fun and enjoy his passions!

European Holiday - Draft One

On Saturday we went to a travel agent to begin formulating the plans we’ve been making to have a holiday in Italy later this year. My hubby has talked about to visiting Italy, Greece and the Greek Islands for some time, and last September I suggested that my income be put in a separate bank account to pay for this adventure. This we did, and we started stage one of planning our holiday. We’ve done loads of online research and also talked to people who’ve been to Italy, and we felt it was time to start getting it together.

We went to the local flight centre, and the assistant manager Jo (Jody) started to put our plans together. She agreed that three weeks made our ideas doable, but obviously if we could sneak an extra day or three, it would be even more fun. My hubby has told his companies directors he’ll be taking time off for this holiday, and they’re okay about it, but he’s unsure of how long he should be away for … annoying, but understandable.

This is our current plans … nothing set in concrete, but a definite start!

We fly from Adelaide to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) by Malaysia Airlines on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday … after 7 September 2008, so we can get special air fares for September. We’ll probably have a one night stopover then fly to Rome (Italy). It will take 7 hours 30 minutes to get to Kuala Lumpur and 12 hours 10 minutes to get to Rome … that’s a long time!

After a day or two in Rome, we’ll do a 12 day Greek Isles Cruise, with the Carnival Cruise Lines. This cruise sounds great …
Depart Rome – 7 am
Day 1 – Naples, Italy – Arrive 7 am, depart 6 pm
Day 2 – ‘Fun Day’ at Sea
Day 3 – Marmaris, Turkey – Arrive 11 am, depart 6 pm
Day 4 – Izmir, Turkey – Arrive 9 am, depart 4 am
Day 5 – Istanbul, Turkey – Arrive 9 am, depart 8 pm (Scenic cruising of the Dardanelles)
Day 6 – ‘Fun Day’ at Sea
Day 7 – Athens (Piraeus), Greece – Arrive 6 am, depart 5 pm
Day 8 – Katakolon, Greece – Arrive 8 am, depart 3 pm
Day 9 – ‘Fun Day’ at Sea
Day 10 – Livorno, Italy – Arrive 7 am, depart 7 pm
Day 11 – Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy – Arrive 6 am – Overnight aboard ship
Day 12 – Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy – Debark 8 am

Maybe a night or two in Rome, then fly to Venice for a couple of nights and then to Tuscany for the final 5 or so days.

We may turn this trip around and start in Venice (or Rome then Venice), then Tuscany, then the cruise … not sure … but we have a plan … sort of …

Then on the way back to Adelaide we'll spend a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur. Then home!

We chose the month of September for this trip, as it will be autumn in Italy and the weather will still be warm.

... Still have to make plans for our beautiful 10 year old Milo. We have two choices ... leave her at home and have her visted at least once daily from a pet and house care agent, or have her holiday in the local kennels. I think I'll ask her vet for advice on that one!

Christmas 2007

We had an amazing time!

We flew to Sydney on 22 December and stayed at the Four Points Sheraton on Darling Harbour. That night our son joined us and we had a lovely time together ... which included a great meal in one of the many fabulous restaurants around the harbour.

The 23rd is our daughters birthday, so we took her for a day out to Taronga zoo. It was great to be able to go out as four adults and have so much fun! Our daughter's flatmate joined us, and we had a great day. That night we met up at the Star City Casino for a fabulous meal. Our son brought his girlfriend and my two nephews (my brother's sons) joined us. It was great seeing them, as all the next generation on my side of the family (mine and my brother's children) currently live in Sydney. We had a huge night.

On the 24th we chilled ... enjoying fine dining around the harbour and rests in our hotel room.

Christmas day ... well it arrived and Sydney was dull and cool. We wandered around the harbour for a while and found ourselves sitting in a cool breeze by the water with takeaway cups of coffee and tea. It was a bit like ... 'is this really Christmas?' ... but more was to come.

Next we walked to a train station ... and got lost. When we found a station, we were told to take the train on the yellow line ... which we did. We were soooooooooooooo proud, as we could easily see the stations we had to pass through to get to Westmead Children's Hospital, where our daughter is a nurse. We watched them pass ... until we realised that the last two weren't on the map ... damn! Then we realised this wasn't the right train and had taken a turn to the right, instead of the left. At the next station we got off, called a taxi and paid $30 to get to the hospital. It was great to see our daughter at work and spent time meeting other staff and being shown around the hospital. I loved the Japanese garden that children and family can sit in, as it has water moving gently around ... very peaceful.

When our daughter finished work, she drove us to our son's place and they both joined us in our hotel room for presents. Then it was to the hotel bar and then to a wonderful Christmas night meal ... it was fabulous.

On Boxing Day our son had a party at his flat, so we spent a few hours there, but decided to leave and let the 'real' partying begin. We chilled back at our hotel ... and enjoyed another night of fine dining at a restaurant on the harbour.

Our final day ... damn ... it always goes too fast, but we'd had a fantastic time. Our daughter picked us up and drove us to where our son works, so we could see him and his friends in action. Spent some time with him and then it was to the airport!

We arrived back to a heat wave in South Aussie ... phew it was hot with day after day over 40!

Our beautiful 10 year old Milo was thrilled to have us home!

Week 122 - Adjustment 18

6 December 2007

My orthodontist was pleased with my left side, as it's now getting close to having a class I molar relationship. Unfortunately my right side is still class III ... I wasn't pleased to hear that.

Uppers
* Wire tie put round left canine bracket
* To continue with class III elastic on the right side - minimum of 23 hours a day, change once a day
* No ligs changed

Lowers
* Strong powerchain removed
* Archwire removed
* Ends clipped on archwire, to prevent poking over the next three months
* Archwire replaced
* A new strong, 13 link, grey powerchain added across all lower teeth

My next appointment is in three months! My orthodontist is hoping the upper right impacted canine gap will be closed by then. Here's hoping it is ... as it's been a long wait ... around two years!

I'd hoped to get new upper ligs, so I could do my christmas colours of black and purple, but my orthodontist didn't want them changed. So have black for another three months ... plus the wire tie ... which will be okay! Had to get the boring grey powerchain again, as this is the only colour Con has in this strong chain. Here's hoping the gaps resulting from the IPR I had eight weeks ago, will be gone by my next appointment!

I enjoy my appointments and after discussing some general orthodontic stuff, it was holiday wishes and two more bags of 3/16" elastics (red bag) ... and I was gone!

Photos - 26 1/2 months - 15 October 2007

Front - 26 1/2 months ago

Front - biting the way my Ortho says I should

Left - there are bends in the archwire on either side of the first premolar

Right - there are bends in the archwire on either side of the first premolar

Lowers - after IPR and with boring strong great powerchain


NOTE ... when I hold my bite the way my Ortho wants me to ... uncomfortable due to only one tooth touching, but the side pics do make it look like I'm in class I. Kinda cool, coz I've never been class I before ... just wish it was class I when more teeth were touching ... but here's to that happening next!

At least now I have the feeling it will happen and I can see what it might look like ... the excitement is building.

Week 115 - Adjustment 17

15 October 2007

I had a busy adjustment, which was fun!

First Dr C removed the upper black ligs and archwire. He cleaned the bonding resin off my front left incisor ... and it was painfree ... which was great! He then bonded a new bracket on that tooth.

Next the purple powerchain came off the lowers and the archwire was pulled out ... but not removed. Dr C used a machine to do IPR between my front lower teeth. I couldn't feel anything, although there was a nasty smell a couple of times. Next the archwire was pressed back in and Dr C said I had to have a new tighter powerchain that he only has in grey ... boring ... but no choice about that one. I could feel the effort he put into getting the powerchain on ... so I was looking forward to seeing the how well it works.

Back to the uppers! A new archwire ... same size as the one I've had for the past 19+ months. Dr C put bends in the new one ... on either side of the first premolars. Wow ... I was feeling really excited ... so much new stuff ... He said these bends will start to help my bite come together. I chose black ligs again, as I like them on the ceramic brackets ... the three I have left!

Elastics ... I only need to wear one on the right side ... class III ... 23 1/2 hours a day, change daily. My left side is going to feel naked, as I've had elastics for 14 months on both sides.

Neither gaps are closed yet ... but they continue to get smaller ... just very slowly! My next appointment is in eight weeks.

Photos - Black Triangles - 5 September 2007

Week 109 - Adjustment 16

5 September 2007 - 25 Months

After nearly four months ... I finally had another adjustment ... it was good to see my ortho again!

My ortho is pleased (finally) with the progress of the two major gaps that are closing ... one over the impacted canine and the other over the old extraction site of a first molar.

He pulled the lower archwire forward and did some manual sanding between my lower front teeth. This is to reduce the 'black triangles'. I don't remember feeling anything ... we were chatting about hypnosis ... so it must have been good. In six weeks (cool a close appointment, finally) I'm to get IPR done by machine, but todays is to check on sensitivity. After the sanding I had a new 13 loop purple powerchain put on the lowers ... and all felt great.

The lower archwire ... left side ... was clipped and my ortho was impressed by the amount removed. This represents the closing of the old extraction gap.

• Uppers ... a wire tie was put on my upper left canine ... the rest left as is.
• Elastics ... continue the same as previous 13 months.

... and with that we said goodbye!

Two years - 3 August 2007

Front

Left Side and Right Side

Upper Arch and Lower Arch

Photos - 23 Months - 3 July 2007

Front - the way my ortho wants my bite to be ... but as there's only one tooth touching, it's not comfortable -

Front - 23 months

Front - 6 weeks

Left - 23 months

Left - 6 weeks

Right - 23 months

Right - 6 weeks

Upper Arch - 23 months

Upper Arch - pre braces

Lower Arch - 23 months

Lower Arch - pre braces

A photo of what was once the extraction gap of my lower left first molar. It's taken a long time, but it's nearly closed ....