10 years is a looooong time for the old memory to remember!  Sheesh, I can barely remember what I was doing yesterday, let alone 10 years ago.

2000 was the start of the decade, and milenium.  I worked for the 2000 Sydney Olympics at the Equestrian Centre, The GMC 400 in Canberra and was fired from my job at KFC (they got in before I could quit and launch a formal complaint against the managers).

I made my last trip back to New Zealand, with the purpose of saying goodbye to my Grandma, who wasn't expected to live much longer (though, I heard that every other MONTH for more than 3 years), and lost my 3rd pregnancy (long story, but I made the right choice with that one).

2001, the year Les and I embarked on our relationship, we spent much of the year just getting to know each other better, and discovering the secrets Canberra had to offer (and surrounds).

2002 we left Canberra, bound for the Gold Coast, where we both started a course at Tafe.  I had to drop out because I got pregnant with Ayla and spent the first 4 months in and out of the hospital.  2002 was also the year we had to give up our cats, thanks to a cruel landlord who didn't give 2 hoots about the law (justice being, he and his family and the real estate agent were charged with fraud offences relating to property on a similar matter).

2003 we welcomed Ayla Rose to the world.  12 hours of labour, and there she was, this alien thing that screamed the place down until she was put into my arms, and then she quieted and looked at me with those infant eyes.

2003 was also the year that Willow was conceived, just 4months after Ayla's birth.  2003 saw us leave our caravan home and bump around for a while, until...

2004, we landed in Gympie on Australia Day.  Twin Lakes Village became our home, and 14 days after Ayla's first birthday, Willow came into the world.  7 hours of labour, and she kicked her way out (not joking, I didn't need to push as she used my ribs as a trampoline!).  My big mistake there was saying she had that real chimpanzee baby face (and she did) for which I have been paying for ever since.  Within a few weeks of Willow arriving, we took up the after hours management position with the Village, and had a ball meeting new people and having great bosses.  Didn't last though, as Les decided to take an offer on a 5 bedroom house, which proved to be a disaster.

2005, we signed a 2 year lease on the house, which was fine, until the landlady dumped her often vicious dog on us, with the promise she would be removed within the month.  Nope, didn't happen.  2005, I had a miscarriage (my 4th), though i'd only have been about 4 weeks along (wrong time of ovulation for viability) within a month, I was pregnant again and Laurel was on her way.  I reached 5 months, and all hell broke loose!

OUr landlady was suddenly contacting us or showing up making rediculuos accusations of us not paying the rent and actively damaging her house.  We could prove the damage had been done before we moved in and that the rent was an auto payment from Les' wage, yet she turned our lives upside down.  Les took to gambling (not that I knew) and pretty soon, he was saying we were just going to leave and we did.

2006, Australia Day again, we left the house (and left it in a bit of a mess, but what do you expect when given only 24 hours notice to vacate or her 'gang' contacts would be around to move us out - we knew she was serious too).  Tin Can Bay here we come!  Uh oh, things were ok for a while, but went down hill pretty quickly.

Laurel was born 2 years and 1 day after Willow, which was fine, but as we were renting holiday rentals, we had to move on again and that's when life got super sucky!  Les had apparently declared someone else was taking care of the rent, and things fell apart.  I got pregnant with Acacia, and Les took off hours before the landlord showed up to serve us with an eviction order.  Long story short, I was treated like dirt by the owners, though the property manager was fantastic, and worked with me to sort things out.  Les came back a couple of days later, and we moved into a motel (after the property owners illegally turned of the power and water, leaving me no way to care for 3 kids).

We had to move from the motel to another caravan park because they had a huge wedding booking, and we could no longer afford the rent (Les had lost his job).  That was fine, until Les was taken away from us for several weeks, and I was left to fend for myself and the girls, on virtually no money (huge centrelink issues there).  I didn't have a driver's license, so couldn't drive our car, and it was too far to walk to the shops (about 4 km, with no footpaths), so had to become very resourceful with shopping trips by taxi.  Any way, we got moved by the Youth Services back to Gympie, where I could at least look after our kids properly, and a week before christmas, Les was finally back with us (with the threat he pulled something like this again, I'd turn him in myself!  Let's just say, male depression is not an easy thing to live with, especially when you are being way too selfish with your own problems and can't see it).

2007 was THE YEAR!  It was our year to pull back up from the gutter and turn our lives around.  And we did.  We moved to our more permenant home, and Acacia was born about a month later.  We continued to heal ourselves and pull our lives back on track. and then...

I got pregnant with Aralia, which was a bit of a surprise, but didn't cause any major issues in our lives (I just reaquantend myself with the toilet bowl for the 5th time).

2008, still in the same home, and we welcomed Aralia to the world.  This was also the year Ayla started school, a huge step that left me feeling a bit hollow, but I got through it.

2009, we got our permenant housing placement, moved in the rain (that's our MO!) and haven't looked back.  Our lives are the best they have ever been, and while we have to rely on governemnt support for housing etc, we are the happiest we have ever been, and really making a go of turning our yards around to show that 'govie' tennants can be good tennants (kiss my dimpled butt if you don't like it! LOL).  Oh, Willow started school too!  2009 was the year Les firmly cemented his part in the blogging world, and he no longer receives centrelink payments because he is making the same while being home and a full time parent (suffer with the nappy duty Les! LOL).

So what does 2010 hold for us?  More happiness of course!  More babies (hehehehe, not contemplation any more, we have made a decision), and more wipping this house and yard into shape!  Oh, and probably me taking up my studies in the mid year intake.

I don't think I missed anything out... Oh, just one more thing:

I am declaring 2010 the year of Letting Our Kids Live Less Wrapped Up In Cotton Wool!

Yeah, smother them too much, they will need therapy for life, so let them be kids, play in the dirt and climb trees.  A trip to hospital is after all, a great learning experience in its self!

I'm not putting this one through my rss feed.  Not entirely sure I'd survive the lecture my mother would give, so I'm doing a direct blog.

I am contemplating...Ok, Les and I are contemplating, something rather brave.  We are contemplating the idea of having another baby.  At this stage that is all it is, a contemplation.

Yep, we are mad, no need to remind us of that fact.  5 girls already, and no peace to speak of, but...and here is our rational:

1. We both love kids and both want a large family.  5 might be considered large, and it is, but we feel there is more than enough love for a million babies (oh to live forever!).
2. We feel it would be unfair that one of our children gets a room to themselves, so an even number seems the right thing.  We can fit just one more into our current house, so it would work.
3. There is one more seat in the car and it is so lonely without a bottom on it when we go out as a family. I think that loneliness could be solved by another addition to our family.
4. We want to see if we can beat the odds and get a boy.  Poor Les is rather out numbered with 6 females in the house, and it would be nice to at least try and even up the odds a little.
5. Our 5 girls want us to have another baby.  They keep asking when there will be another baby in my tummy.  In fact, Willow (5 years old) has demanded to know why there isn't another baby in my tummy.  Who can resist the charms of a child when they are looking up at you with those innocent (excuse me while I choke on that word) eyes?

We haven't been actively trying either way, so have just left things upto nature.  Yes, Puggle is still breastfeeding, but she is 16 months and only has 3 feeds a day, and they are mostly just cuddle time for her these days, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing.

The downsides would be more nappies, more sleepless nights, more noise and more stress, but isn't it all worth it in the end when you end up with all those kisses, cuddles and voices saying 'I love you mummy'?  It sure is.

Just watch as the 'if' turns to 'when', and then you will know that the decision has been made.  Or maybe for a blog titled 'oopsie' LOL.

Ok, so I'm a baby person.  Nothing wrong with that is there?  Can't wait till my sisters take over and start producing their own gremlins LOL.

This post is from from my other blog here

Arna.minti.com Don't worry, I will be back to updating this site soon... perhaps after I have managed to find the stuff I want to use for the post, uploaded them and then written the posts.  Could take a while, so please don't hold your breath!

Don't go into panic mode, everything is fine, well, almost everything.  I'm just having a moan about my thumb.

3 weeks ago, I dislocated my thumb.  Full dislocation, which frightened me so much, I popped it back into place all by myself.  Don't know which hurt more, the dislocation, or the relocation.

This happened at about 11pm at night, so there was no way I was heading to the hospital until the morning (can't drive, 5 kids asleep for once and taxi's virtually non existant on a Thursday night).  I went, despite Les saying he didn't think I needed to go, and did the whole xray thing only to be told that there were no breaks, and the offended appendage had popped cleanly back into place.

Despite being prepared for a lengthy wait (had a good book and all), I was out of the hospital in 90, no bandage and the recommendation to take it easy for a few weeks, no heavy lifting (what a joke-I have a boob reliant 15 month old) and to take ibuprofen for pain and swelling.

Yeah, despite the heavy swelling, I was sent home with my thumb in the same condition I had entered the hospital in- naked!

For the past 3 weeks, I have tried to use my hand as normally as possible, without doing any heavy lifting or anything that could upset the injury further.  Well, guess what?  The thumb is threatening to explode.  The last week or so, there has been evidence of a split blood vessel.  The bruising patterns coming up would suggest a minor nick.  The muscles and tendons are both tight and loose at the same time, and I never know how my thumb is going to react to being forced into duty.

I have kept up typing, doing my cross stitch, and all the rest of the things I do every day.  I even closed the car door a week ago which almost saw the thumb back out of its socket.  More swelling, more bruising and more pain.  Dammit!  Why couldn't I just listen to Les and let him use the key to lock the car door.

I have noticed a sort of numbness in the thumb too, which sometimes extends to the index finger, but that comes and goes.  Like having a local anaesthetic really.

I don't like relying on pain medications because they mask symptoms (pain is beneficial in identifying how serious and injury really is), so I haven't taken any for the hand in over 2 weeks.

The problem now is, do I make an appointment with my gp for 6 weeks time (only urgent appointment they have), or do I go back to the hospital, incurring that scowl from Les that says ' it will get better in time without the doctors help'  Oh the arguements we have had over seeking medical attention, even when I was suffering extreme morning sickness with my first pregnancy (if I hadn't put my foot down, I wouldn't be here to type).

I'm stuck between wanting to wait and see how the thumb goes and jumping in and getting it seen to right now.  I was told if there was no sign of improvement in 10-14 days to go back, but I also know that injuries of this nature just need time.  I think the statistic thrown at me isn't helping things -you know the one, '60% of thumb dislocations require surgery to manually straighten the ligatments and muscles, and to make sure they are tight enough or not too tight'.

At what point to I just GO?  At what point would you just Go.

Arrrggghhh, if it isn't the kids keeping me up all night, it is the constant joy of a recovering dislocated thumb!  Need a break from typing, might have already over done things for today