Kathina ceremony

Three weeks in my new role, and while I like it, there is so much to learn and a lot of it takes time and experience to really understand what is going on. Overall, I am not feeling 110% at the moment. I am due to present at our End of Year wrap up (in front of more than 100 people) on my last day of work (before we fly off to Malaysia) next month. I HATE PUBLIC SPEAKING. I DO, I REALLY HATE IT! Our bosses push us to do it, but I still think if its not for me, it is not for me!

Back at home, we finally completed painting the house! It only took us a good 8 weeks to paint two bedrooms, a hall way, the kitchen and the dining area! I still can't believe we lived with green walls for 8 and a half years. Like seriously, what were we thinking?? It is now 'Natural White'. It looks great. We also replaced the carpets in all the bedrooms. The old carpets were more than 15 years old. Exactly. What were we thinking?

And today, was a special day for Buddhist followers at the Warburton monastery. It is the annual Kathina ceremony, where we get to offer robes to the monks. I was able to get in touch with a lady who organised the robes, and she secured two robes for us, one for myself and one for my brother. I was not sure on how to persuade Grumpy to attend this day with me (as it is a 90 minute drive from home), considering he calls himself, and our child, Christians! But he agreed! Little Bambi was quite excited. She attends church and reads books about the Bible, yet she knows the Buddha and is able to also do some basic Buddhist chanting. We stood in line and offered rice to the monks for their lunch. Grumpy helped Little Bambi offer rice to the monks bowl (melts my heart!). As soon as she was done with the rice offering, she started eating the rice herself!

While we were having our lunch at the monastery, Little Bambi was getting bored and so I agreed to take her to the field for a walk. She enjoyed running around the big open space. As Little Bambi and I were playing and talking, a monk walked past us as he finished his lunch and was returning to keep his bowl. He saw us and then he stopped. He turned around and asked if we wanted ice cream? Of course we want ice cream! The monk then said he had to place it on the ground to pass it to us, which is part of our Buddhist custom. I bowed to the monk and said "Thank you!" We ran back to Grumpy "Guess what? A monk just gave us a Magnum!" HAHA It was funny then but now as I sit down in bed and reflect, I think how incredibly special that was! Very rarely we get offered ice cream by a Buddhist monk!

After we offered the robes, we stopped by at a cherry farm on the way home. 

Grumpy and I, completely clueless to the conditions of entry. We filled up two big buckets with cherries, thinking they were 'free' and part of the $9 entry fee. Hahaha when we were done, we were a further $55 poorer! Damnit! We drove home thinking, WHAT are we going to do with $55 worth of cherries?!?!? Oh well, Little Bambi enjoyed it and we had a pretty eventful day. 

Good night! xx
Jules

Muffin Tray

We arrive at our local swimming pool, just two minutes before class. I usually like to give Little Bambi about half an hour of play time before her swimming lesson. But obviously, there is no time for that. 

Grumpy unlocks her car seat belt and lifts her down to the ground. Little Bambi, all ready and dressed up in her bathing suit, she holds on to a muffin tray, for dear life.

Grumpy "LITTLE BAMBI, YOU CAN'T take your baking tray to the swimming pool!!!!!"

Little Bambi "BUT I WANT TO TAKE MY BAKING TRAY to the swimming pool!!!!!!"

Me (looking at the time) "JUST LET HER TAKE THE BAKING TRAY TO THE SWIMMING POOL!!!!!!!!"

She finally jumps into the pool with her swimming instructor and her friends, showing off her baking tray. 

One of the mums come to me and goes "What an interesting toy to bring to the swimming pool?!!!!"

"Oh god don't ask!"

Just a regular Saturday morning with the family!

Promotion

Work - I finally got the promotion I have been waiting for!! It was all dependant on this guy Arthur, leaving his role to work in a different department. I will be taking over Arthur's old role. There were no interviews (which was GOOD! But I did apply for a different role in that same team earlier in the year and was unsuccessful at that time). I do not have a start date yet, or details of a pay rise. Regardless I am very happy with the outcome. 

Yoga - YES! A crow pose, baby! It took a good three months of practice to hold myself up on my palms. It all happened on Grand Final Friday. I went for a morning class where the instructor did heaps of upper arm strengths variations. I attempted the crow pose there, but it did not work. Yet I felt I was ready. I got home, pulled out my mat again, gave it a shot and it worked! It felt effortless. I was extremely proud of myself! Grumpy and Little Bambi on the other hand, did not share the same level of excitement as I did. But whatever, I finally did the bakasana! Next up, a side crow!

Crow pose (bakasana)

Money - As much as I love yoga, it is not a cheap practice and I simply cannot afford paying for both yoga classes and my gym membership simultaneously. My monthly yoga pass has expired and I have another 6 months to go on my Fitness First contract. Sadly, I have to continue with the gym as it is the cheaper option. Boo!

Family - Now that winter is over, we finally made it to the beach for the first time since winter. Little Bambi absolutely loved it! Having said that, we have not had much luck with swimming lessons. The previous three lessons comprised of this same girl, screaming and crying during the entire lesson, for all three lessons.

Loving the warmer weather

Friends - Sydney boy spent the weekend in Melbourne and Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch and I decided to meet him for breakfast on a Saturday morning. This is at The Grain Store, and the food was absolutely delicious.

Bed time!

Good night xx Jules

Patience

The past couple of months have been extremely busy.

Work is going really well. I really do enjoy what I am doing, the team that I am working with and all the new things I am learning. However, I am still impatiently waiting for the promotion I was promised. It still has not happened yet, and while I am doubtful, there is still a glimmer of hope that it could happen before year end. Sometimes I think maybe I should just leave, find another role that pays more. Yet, it is the people that I work with that makes a difference. They are a lovely bunch, very smart and friendly. I just need to be a bit more patient. 

Little Bambi and I travelled to Malaysia in July for a two week holiday. During my time in Malaysia, I got hooked on yoga. I used to do Body Balance in the gym and declared myself a yoga enthusiast. I was confident and told myself I was good at it. Boy, was I wrong. Now that I am doing yoga alone, I realised I never mastered the basics to begin with. To help improve my yoga practice, I decided to freeze my Fitness First membership and signed up for a month of unlimited classes at a yoga teacher training school. I am not doing yoga teacher training per se, but they do normal classes as well. I would actually love to do teacher training. If only I could afford the $7k fee (and time and commitment, i.e. potentially lose my day job). The best part of my yoga classes is my incredibly handsome male instructor. Did I mention he was Irish? Haha.

While I embrace yoga in recent months, I have also decided it is time for Little Bambi to start her swimming lessons again after her first attempt when she was 6 months old. We did not start off on the right foot back then, and unfortunately it seems like the tables have not turned. She is still crying in every class, and only wants to play in the baby pool! OH MY! I am a good swimmer (this one I stand by strongly, unlike my previous yoga claim). I have been swimming since I was a child (being the daughter of a navy captain). Swimming is very much in my DNA. I love it. And the funny part is that my daughter absolutely hates it. 

Since we returned from Malaysia, I have also started baking my own sourdough bread. It is quite an interesting process. It is not hard to bake your own bread. Just requires a bit of planning and patience. Lots of patience. Just like Little Bambi and her swimming lessons. 

Patience Jules, patience. 

And finally, just quickly, to follow up from my previous post, Little Bambi's third laser attempt has been a huge success! The birthmark is no longer visible and it appears that she has recovered so well from it. There is no scaring and the skin colour has adjusted back to normal. 

Okay, time to hit the sack now.

Good night!

Bravery

It is that time of the year again for Little Bambi to undergo laser treatment at the Royal Children's Hospital for the birthmark on her face. I dread it so much, I really do. Today was her third laser treatment and it was an real tough one for all of us, especially me.

Back in 2013, at 10 months, her first treatment. The doctors missed a portion of her birthmark from laser, citing reasons that it was not visible under theatre lighting. I know, it was a WTF moment for me.

One year later, at 20 months, her second round of laser. The doctors treated the entire birthmark. By then, 2/3 of the birthmark had been treated twice, while the remaining 1/3 only treated once. Overall, Little Bambi responded really well to laser treatment, and the entire birthmark is hardly noticeable at all. Doctors advised that she does not need any further treatment. They left the decision to me, for a third round to treat the small leftover area.

The decision for round three was difficult. Do I put my gorgeous little girl through the ordeal of laser and general anaesthetic again? For something so small? Was it even worth it?

I decided to delay the procedure to later this year. I told the doctors I needed time. Time was not something I could easily buy considering there was a 12 month waiting list for admission to operating theatre. I thought of Little Bambi, and considered the possibility of treatment much later, maybe when she's 5 or 6 years old. But then, 5 or 6 means she would remember it. For life! I then considered the doctors and the current government. We had both treatments completely bulk billed. I will not be surprised if at some stage the rules change and it comes at a cost. While cost should not be a factor, the level of care (apart from the area of the birthmark they missed) Little Bambi has received at the Royal Children Hospital has been excellent.

So there you go, I decided to proceed with the third round, despite differing opinions from Grumpy and my parents. I also wanted it done sooner rather than later. I wanted it done before her 3rd birthday and during winter, when there's less sun (for recovery). I had to negotiate with a lady at the hospital for Little Bambi to be brought forward in the waiting list. Then next up was for my mum to organise her flights so that she can be here for Little Bambi's recovery. Oh and lets not forget, convincing my family that this was the right thing to do. Was it?

Today entailed my mum and I waking up at 2am to feed Little Bambi milk. I then woke up at 4.30am, for some quiet time by myself with a hot cup of tea in hand. Calm before the storm. At 6am, I woke Little Bambi up, and fed her some juice. This was her last drink before fasting. By 6.30am we were out the house and at the hospital by 7am. My heart was aching. All week I explained to Little Bambi about the doctors putting a mask on her face and taking a short nap. She did not understand why but she accepted it, hesitantly. "Is the doctor checking me for my peanut allergy, mummy?" "I love you to the moon and back my gorgeous girl!"

At the hospital, waiting for her turn.

Because of her age, we waited forever for her turn. Young babies go in first, older ones go later.    Finally at 10.15am, they called us in. The anaesthetist was with us when the nurse handed me a gown for Little Bambi to change. As I took her clothes off, she said to me "Mummy, I want to keep my undies!" That definitely made the doctors laugh. Once we went inside the theatre, it was a completely different story. I don't blame her. A cold room with machines, and at least ten people all dressed up staring at you. She refused to lie down on the bed, making it more difficult for the gas to work. She fought the doctors hard when the mask was placed on her face, and it took about 4 people to hold her still. My heart ached. The anaesthetist assured me only the intelligent ones fight back. When she finally went to sleep, I walked out the theatre asking myself WHY?!

Finally at 11am, it was done. They called us in and Little Bambi is awake. She is disorientated and of course she's crying for me. I try my best to console her. I hold her close to me, tight. The nurse offers her an icy pole, and that makes everything better. Her appetite is back, and she enjoys some sandwiches with apple juice. I look at the eye, and this time round, the doctors have treated not only the remaining 1/3 of the birthmark, they treated small areas of the entire birthmark. I am not sure if I agree with that, although my mum assures me it was probably a good move. There is always a risk of discolouration.

Its over!

The swelling at her eye is quite bad. Did I mention how much it breaks my heart? Apart from the swelling, she is back to her cheerful self. My baby deserves the outstanding award for bravery. Well, my baby and all the other kids at the hospital today.

First Post for 2015

Its already mid-April and this is my first post for 2015. What can I say? It has been a very busy summer. 

Little Bambi is about to turn 'twee' in about two months. Time flies. As I was walking home from the train station today after work, I keep thinking what an amazing kid she is, my beautiful girl. 

Grumpy had a mild case of food poisoning last night. He thought he was going to die. I asked him this morning if he was still alive, and he replied yes. 

Work has been good. Very busy but good. I applied for a different role within the same team recently. Strange thing is that I hardly told anyone about it. I knew my chances were low, yet I had a glimmer of hope. On Wednesday this week, I was told that I was unsuccessful for the role. And I spent all night and the next day feeling sorry for myself. Having said that, my current boss pulled me aside just as I was about to head home today, and hinted about a possible promotion in July. JULY?! That is like 'twee' months away. Anyways there is nothing concrete there, but enough to cheer me up a little bit.

We had a swarm of visitors from KL travelling here for holidays since March, with Grumpy's family being the most recent one. Just as I thought that was the end of it all and I could recoup my energy levels and bank account balance... my parents informed me that they will arrive next week. 

Hoping to be able to write more frequently for the rest of the year. This is my way of keeping a diary and a collection of thoughts, memories and experiences. 

Lovely weekend all!