In the meantime, here is what has been happening since my last post (also chronicled on my facebook timeline):
- I woke up the morning after my first netball game with a terrible fever which then turned into Quinsy (see this October post for my previous bout), which is very unpleasant complication of tonsillitis. I ended up being admitted to the hospital not once but twice and spent the better part of the Easter holiday in a coed geriatric ward where I was the youngest person by several decades. For those of you keeping count, I have been to the hospital 5 times (and stayed 24 hours or more 3 times) since we moved here. The recurrence rate of Quinsy is very high - nearly 90 percent after the first recurrence - so I was told to get rid of my tonsils as soon as as I was well enough to do so.
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| Easter Sunday breakfast at Royal North Shore Hospital |
- I was released from the hospital on Easter Sunday and Andy's cousin Lorraine arrived a few hours later with her family from WA (Western Australia). What could have been a disaster turned out to be fabulous as they were such a joy - and help! - to have around. They took the kids on all sorts of adventures and their teenage son earned "rock star"status with Zachary. Highlights of their visit included going to the Sydney Royal Easter Show (think Texas State Fair, Aussie style) and seeing Tony Bennett perform at the Opera House.
- We postponed our trip to New Zealand by a week so I could recover a bit and the kids and I were able to enjoy 7 days in Rotorua with Nanna and Granddad in late April. (Kids had 3 weeks of school holiday.) Rotorua is known as the "adventure playground" of NZ and with good reason. We went bungy swooping and jetboating, shot down a mountain on a luge, patted lion cubs and swam in the hot pools. We also spent some quality time with Andy's grandparents - who are 90 and 91. You can see just how scared both Zachary and I were when we realized how high 43 meters is in this video of us bungy swooping. Sophia thought it was awesome from the beginning; it took Zachary and I a bit longer to agree.
- Sophia turned 7 and we had a zoo party at our house. It was so much fun. Here are some photos. The porcupine-like animal is called an Echidna. Every animal they brought was an Australian native which made it even more special. Taronga Zoo is ready to hire Sophia. Some of you may remember her fourth birthday, which also featured animals from one of Austin's "rescue zoos."
- I had my tonsils out on May 1 and it took a full two weeks to recover enough to eat an actual meal. Thankfully, my mom was able to come down and help and Andy got very good at school pick-up and drop-off. Plus we have been blessed with great friends who pitched in with playdates, carpools and even pharmacy runs. I really must have looked terrible when I first emerged from my sick cave as I've had at least 10 friends comment about how much better I look this week. Guess I took "pale" to a whole new level.
- The drama with our rental continues and we are awaiting notification of the date for the "formal hearing." In the meantime, I am lining up our witnesses and evidence.
- We had to say goodbye to Mom (aka Grandma or "Granny") but are counting the days until we meet up with my entire family in Hawaii next month.
- I return to Netball tomorrow. The kids blame netball for all of my recent illness so I'd better emerge pain and sick free. I'm planning to ease back in and only play a quarter or two. Our team is undefeated so I hope I am up to the challenge.
xoxoxo,
k
