Lent for Liam (2)

I have made my first contribution for Lent for Liam this morning. A colleague of mine has pledged to contribute R200.00 per month.

I received the following e-mail from Liam's mom this morning:

Dear friends - Thank you for your comments and pledges of support on my blog... and Meriel's vision.

Banking details for Lent for Liam is now functional, adminstered by our resident accountant, Melany.

LJ Cadger
Standard Bank
Branch: Norwood
Account Number: 006867480

Reference: Your Name / E-mail

**NB* we are setting up a paypal account **NB***

Thank you.... millions.

Love
me

I will post the details of the Paypal account as soon as I have them. Please take the time to read the Lent For Liam post and open your heart to these wonderful people.

Lent for Liam

Hello,

On Saturday 55 whales beached in the small village of Kommetjie in Cape Town. Around 2 000 people came down to the beach in the cold winters day. Some people came in wetsuits to swim them out, some brought tea and sandwiches for the rescuers. Everyone who was there wanted to help. They wanted to play a part, to make a difference. It gave us hope in humanity to see that people can pull together.

We have an opportunity to pull together for Liam……… they are easy-peasy and there is something for everyone.

We all read Wenchy’s blog. We feel like we know her and we feel like we know her kids. They now need us to be the village that pulls together for them. They need us to come down with what we have and say “here I am use me”.

Liam needs to go to a specialised school next year. Aside from the waiting lists and the paperwork Wenchy is completely stressed out about the money. But we have figured out a plan for her.

1. Supermom, an accountant to manage the money.

2. They will then open up an account for Liam’s school fund.

3. The clever account person will sort out how to use Paypal to get foreign money transfers (or we will ask Tertia SO CLOSE)

4. We are using R100 notes to build Liam’s future.

a. Project Sushi

For me R100 is a plate of sushi. I am going to give up one plate of sushi a month and sign up a debit order of R100 into the fund. That’s R1 200 into the fund for the year.

I will find 5 friends to join me 5 x R1 200 = R6 000

Their R6 000 + my R1 200 = R7 200

We are looking for 5 of you brave souls who love sushi (but Liam more) to do this too – we will have R36 000 in one year.

b. Project Thanksgiving

We need 10 hostesses to do our traditional Thanksgiving parties.

You all know Wenchy has this tradition of Thanksgiving so use her past posts as inspiration.

You get to plan whatever party you like, invite your own friends and ask them each to bring R10 with their thanksgiving wish. 10 friends x R10 = R100

We are looking for 10 brave hostesses to take up this challenge – we will have another R1 000.

c. Project Mistletoe

When you get your Christmas bonus – please donate R100.

We are looking for 10 carol-singers to do this – we will have another R1 000 in the fund.

d. Plan Blog

If you have a blog – please tell your readers about this.

We are looking for 10 bloggers to do this. Hands up please.

Boom that’s R38 000 for Liam’s education fund – and that’s just the first year.

………..we are going to poke the recession in the eye. What better birthday gift could we give to Wenchy.

Thanks

Meriel

“Lent for Liam” can be found on FaceBook

—*—

I have no words to thank you…. You are an angel Meriel.

We have never met, yet you reached out to me and Liam to provide him with the best care going forward. The list feels overwhelmed at time… but your generosity of spirit alone has touched me incredibly deeply.

Liam has ADHD, suffers from extreme anxiety, panic attacks and is on medication for depression, concentration an anti-psychotic as he has bouts of hallucinations. A learning disability has also been diagnosed.

He is currently in a main stream environment where he is not coping and required remedial assistance on a weekly basis (as that is all I can provide at the moment), there is a professional who acts as Liam’s “scribe” since he cannot articulate the information he knows into writing, an education psychologist meets with Liam weekly and he attend a psychiatric hospital monthy to oversee his medication…. all which I struggle to provide with limited resources.

I’m petrified for Liam going to High School because there is no way he would remotely cope emotionally, academically or socially. Remedial care has been suggested by more than one professional caring for Liam.

I found a government school which will be able to help with Liam’s needs… I’m getting all the (many) forms filled in, doctors recommendations etc to make application to the school, although I’ve been told there is a long waiting list… and private education is just totally over anything I could ever manage on my own… so I am making application and hoping they will accept him.

I really have no words. Thank you isn’t enough.

Liam’s Mom.

+/-0kg

OK. So I cheated a little with my weigh in this morning. When I first stepped on the scale it said I had gained 1.2kg. I refused to believe it and got on again. +600g. Stepped on again, no gain, no loss. Stepped on again, no gain, no loss. I weighed like 5 times consecutively and 3 out of those 5 it said no gain, no loss. I think that wins, OK?

I really wish the side effects of the cortisone injection I got would go away. I'm still suffering from insomnia, wake up with heartburn every morning and am starving ALL THE TIME. I'm hungry right now. I had a slice of toast at around 6AM. It's 2 hours and 10 minutes later and I feel like I haven't eaten for an entire day. It's SO difficult because I'm trying to avoid eating so that I don't screw up my weight loss, but I'm HUNGRY! The doctor also warned that I might retain water. Yesterday I drank my full water quota (1.5 litres) and I only went to the loo twice. That's unusual, so it must still be hanging around somewhere in my body. Although...I totally have PMS so weight gain, water retention and hunger all come along with that as well.

Also, my left wrist is really sore. When I had German measles in 2007 all my joints ached so that I could barely walk. Sometimes my ankles still hurt, but since yesterday its been my left wrist. It's difficult to lift things and stuff. Plus my muscles in my back are starting to ache like they did before and I'm kind of worried that I'm getting sick again. Maybe I'm still getting better. Who knows?

I still need to decide where to get my tattoo. I thought I had decided to put it under the butterfly I already have, but quite a few people have said they don't think that's a good idea. My (conservative) grandfather included! My grandfather feels that it is a commemorative tattoo and if the intention is that I am to be reminded of James that I should have it somewhere where I can see it. He suggested the inside of my arm, but I'm not fond of that. I told him that I had considered having it done on my wrist and he thought that a good idea. Sarah also suggested my wrist, as did Leebeesa. Consensus seems to be that it would be a good place to have it. Rudi didn't like the idea at first, but conceded last night that it would be a good spot. Wenchy recently had a Yin Yang symbol tattooed on her wrist so I asked her how much it hurt...apparently it hurts a lot. *shrug* I suppose it can't be worse than induced labour.

3 more sleeps till George!

Fluffy post (MEME)

Since my blog has been a bit "doomy and gloomy" lately I decided to do what Angel would call a 'fluffy' post. Exmi did a post once about the contents of her handbag. I thought that would be fun...although I shudder to think about what I might discover.

As a side note, Rudi and I went to watch Transporter 3 last night. Jason Statham is smoulderingly hot and takes his shirt off quite a few times. Yum! I'm enjoying charting with fertility friend and remembering to take my temperature in the mornings (OK, two so far). I kind of like charts.

A little background on my handbag: It was bought for me by a friend and colleague for my kitchen tea. It's a good quality handbag - hence me being able to use it for so long. I like BIG handbags, as you will discover - I carry a lot of crap around. I also like handbags with lots of compartments so that I can try to maintain some order. I fail miserably at this. Lets see what's inside...

My wallet
My car keys
355ml bottle of contact lense solution (haven't gotten my hands on the travel size)
A box of matches (what for?)
Panado tablets (24's)
Pocket pack tissues (10)
Small ring wire breast cancer note pad
Spare car key
512MB flash drive
Small plastic hairbrush
Clinique stay matte sheer pressed powder
Rennies
Two identity books (married surname and maiden surname)
Earbuds
Contact lense case
Tampon
Cell phone (Sony Ericsoon W850i)
Handsfree kit for my cell phone
Canderel (which I don't drink)
Individually wrapped Spur sweets (which I don't eat)
Illiadin Nasal Spray (Works like a bomb, but can be addictive. Excessive use, ironically, will cause congestion)
Make up bag

Now...my make up bag contains:

Dental floss
Large nail clipper
Clinique lip liner
L'Oreal Infallible lip colour
Nail file
Hair grips
Labello lip gloss
A plastic fold up fork (WHY?!)
Tweezers
Maybelline Watershine Elixer
Lipliner
Small square mirror
Christmas shopping list (STILL!)
Clinique combination lip gloss/fragrance (Happy)
Various lipsticks and lip glosses all nearly the same shade

My wallet contains:

Driver's license
Liquid Gel Ink blue pen
Empty plastic SD card holder
R8.05 in small change
FNB debit card
FNB credit card
Sun International gambling card
Clicks Club Card
Discovery Health membership card
Ster-Kinekor movie club card
Woolworths card
Edgars card
Edgars credit card
Mr. Video card
Dis-Chem loyalty card
Spec Savers loyalty card
Old Mr. Video card
Clinique club card

Believe it or not, I still have a thick stack of cards lying at home that simply didn't fit into my wallet anymore.

That was definitely not as scary as I thought it would be! Now...I tag Angel, Jenty and Wenchy to do it too! If you want to and I haven't tagged you, link back in the comments.

Fame

The Leo in me hungers for fame and attention, although I am not necessarily a spotlight seeker. Because I have low self esteem I don't flaunt the way I think I might if I were thinner circumstances were different.

When you fall pregnant, you become a celebrity in your own right. Suddenly everybody is interested in you...your blog stats will go up. That's for sure. People constantly want to know how you are...even if you growl at them when they ask because you feel like throwing up on your keyboard. People constantly give you gifts for the baby (I got more gifts for the baby on my birthday last year than I got for myself). Hell...people even throw a party for you near the end. All in all it really makes you feel special and cared about.

I miss that. Every woman gets her 15 minutes of fame this way. Sometimes the attention is probably unwanted. Perhaps she is a mistress, not a partner. Perhaps she is still a child herself...but attention she will have.

I am in a place in my life where the attention was most welcome. My family was overjoyed and announced the news to one and all. Colleagues were happy for me. Friends were happy for me. I am married, so there is no scandal. In fact, it is expected.

I think next time I am pregnant I'll keep it quiet until we're sure everything is OK. Everyone knowing last time turned out not to be such a good thing.

Other than that my cycle still has not started. Only 1 day late so far. It's probably still out of whack from the pregnancy. I need to be patient with this. In fact...I think I need to stop trying so hard. It's so difficult to put it out of my mind when it is something I think about so often on a daily basis. As Wenchy said, I should try to see it as a journey - not as a destination. I am definitely getting better with time. I am not nearly as anxious as I was last month and my stomach isn't in a knot every time I go to the loo.

I DO hate waiting though. Not just for this, for anything. I try to be as punctual as possible and hate waiting for people. My Evil Mother is one who is always late for everything. I think it's disrespectful to be late. It shows you have no regard for the other person's time. It drives me nuts. I'll forgive Mother Nature this time around though since I want something from her. Yeah I know. Love me. Double standards and all.

UPDATE

*blush* One of my male colleagues sent me an e-mail to tell me I look nice today. That was a bit of a ego boost, then another colleague walked up to me and said he was looking at my eyes peeking over the cubicle partition and he thought 'Who is this babe?' then decided to come and tell me about it. What's going on?!

Goodbye 2008

This morning I woke up to the last day of 2008 with a wonderful man in my arms who drives me nuts most of the time and my fingertips brushing the fur of our baby who destroys the carpet I love on a regular basis and I couldn't help but think I am a little lucky. Throughout what has probably been the worst year of my life these two breathing beings have never wavered. Granted, we have had our disagreements, but we still all love each other. That is most important.

I bid this year farewell with great joy. I cannot wait to leave it behind. I had high hopes for 2008 as well:

2007 has been a really good year for me. I got married and progressed very well at work. 2007 exceeded my expectations. I hope that 2008 will do the same and more.

So much for that. So many people died this year, got sick this year and had terrible things happen to them. I am glad it's over. I could almost erase this year from my life without regret. Almost.

I have, however, made very good friends this year. People who have enriched my life and whom I would be sad to lose. These people have supported me through this year and helped Rudi carry the load, although I have a feeling he is unaware of this. We also moved into our new home which has made quite a difference in our lives. We love living there. These are the two things I will treasure from 2008.

Yesterday after work Rudi and I took a drive to The Brass Bell to meet some bloggers. I met Wenchy and Noid who are really lovely. I honestly didn't think I would get to meet them as they are from Johannesburg and I never go there. I also met Angel, her son, Glugster and Jane who I still cannot connect to a blog at the moment. We had a good time drinking cocktails and chatting about various things. It was surreal meeting these people that I share my life with and whose lives I read about. I really enjoyed it and it was totally worth the drive out. We'll be having Angel and them over for a braai on Wednesday, just before they leave. Suddenly I want to go to Johannesburg to meet all the bloggers that they already know who I am dying to meet!

I am not really looking forward to tonight or tomorrow. We didn't make any solid plans for New Years and have now been invited last-minute to people that are kind of boring. Rudi knows them from darts or something. The last time we were there I was thoroughly bored. The lady of the house is nice and everything, but she's really quiet and doesn't talk much. Unfortunately for him the man of the house reminds me of Crack Head and that doesn't bode well for our future interactions. Perhaps there will be other people there that I can interact with. New Years is the perfect excuse for a party and usually I would join in to the festivities no holds barred, but I'm working tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am working alone in my portfolio for the first time since I have been here. Many of my colleagues have done this and survived, but I have been dreading it for quite some time. I will be solely responsible for the reporting, escalation and monitoring of any network failures and since I support our largest customer base...that is a huge responsibility. Things also tend to go screwy on New Year's somehow. It's expected. Billing problems, outstanding credits, congestion on recharges, making calls...you name it...it might break. Luckily I don't see to SMS. That is almost guaranteed to break. That aside I plan to be hungover at the very least, but I'd like to get some shut eye before coming in next year.

The Landlady

I was going to do a list of things I'm grateful for - like I found at Wenchy's blog, but I'm in a super bad mood so I'm not sure it's the right time for sunshine and rainbows. Although on the other hand some might say that this is the best time to sit down and think about the things you appreciate.

On a good note our landlady and her husband came around yesterday and they have agreed to do various things for us around our new place. The have agreed to paint the whole place out as I complained that the walls are very difficult to clean. We offered to do the paint work if they supplied the paint, but when they came around her husband said they would get someone to do it. The landlady also agreed that we can paint something other than white. YAY! We also mentioned the crack in the glass shower panel which they want to get fixed, the toilet that doesn't seem to flush properly and the fact that we needed one set of burglar bars in a specific window in order to be insured. They made a list of everything and said they would get back to us. She also brought us flowers again, but I think this time they were brought because they only recently learned that we lost our baby.

While we were corresponding yesterday my landlady sent me the following e-mail:

From: Your Landlady
Sent: 25 November 2008 09:04 AM
To: My Tenant
Subject: Don't think ... just answer

If you could go for

a) a back + Neck massage close to tygervalley

or b)

a classical musical- performance in town with Rudi

which one would you choose?
(ps I only want an a or b )

Of course I chose a. Neither Rudi or I like classical music...she didn't say why she asked, but obviously I'm going to make assumptions. I really should learn to keep my expectations low though. Maybe it was a "personality type" test. They are such nice people though. I feel like getting them a box of chocolates for Christmas...Maybe some Lindor balls (Leebeesa's suggestion).

Nothing else to report at the moment.