Back to school...

Monday 12th October

As covid-19 case numbers are low here in regional Victoria, it was declared by those in power, that all kids are to go back to onsite learning.

Today is their first day...

Have to be real with you here, as much as it means I get to have a proper rest, Mark can maybe get stuff done, and the boys get to see their mates, "we" aren't really all that excited about it.  Alas, off they went, but there were no happy dances here!

Thankfully the masks hide their distain!  Mind you, wearing them all day is not at all appealing, despite being a neccesity for safety.

I know I haven't been working due to having the ops and then the recovery process, but given the whole covid stuff, I would of stopped work anyway to make the boys my priority...I've always said they come first!   Therefore, their safety is paramount, and if that means keeping them home and us having to do the schooling, well it is totally worth the lack of rest or work not getting done. 

In saying that, it is possible that part of our lack of joy jumping is due to fear.  Whilst I don't feel it is totally unwarranted, we currently have no active cases here in regional Vic, so that is a positive and eases the anxiousness.  If there were active cases here in Bacchus Marsh we would have certainly reconsidered sending them.  Actually, should circumstances change, they'll get their wish and be staying home again.  As much as we loved having them home, heres hoping that doesn't happen hey!

And there's another reason we aren't all that thrilled about school returning; we have enjoyed our family time together at home.  Not to say we have lived in each others pockets, no siree, we each like our own space and company too much for that.  But, the times we've all been together has been special; whether it be schooling, walks, movies and snuggles, or just chit chatting about this, that, and the other.

Whilst I like being involved in their education and knowing exactly what they are learning, it has admittedly been more so when we have not been homeschooling.  As I've said before, patience isn't my strongest attribute and Ace tends to procrastinate and give up before actually trying; a pet peeve of mine (I have a long list of those...a whole other blog)!  

In saying that though, there were days that were absolute gems, where all the praise and encouragement saw them rise above all challenges.  My favourite part of all is watching them put head down and bum up and having those aha moments when they 'get it' and are then filled with a tremendous sense of empowerment, which inspires them to do more.

Yet again time has flown and it is now Monday 19th October and the 2nd week of onsite learning for term 4.  

The first week went well, although truth be told, from Wednesday they both asked each day to stay home.  It took all my strength to be strong and say no!  But as much as I would love them home, school is important for them.  Also, rest is important for me (there will be a blog coming about that soon)  And, I need Marky to get some shit done out in my poor neglected garden!

So with all that in mind, I am going to continue to be strong and deny the requests to stay home and snuggle with Mama.  And Mama is going to try really hard not to mope, but instead embrace the time to rest and recouperate!

As always, thanks heaps for reading.  LLP xo Tash

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Filling in the gaps...

So there was a little bit of a jump between my 'Dam good day' on August 20th to 'Fathers Day 2020' on September 6th, and today is September the 18th so I thought I would quickly fill in the gaps.

Now let me see...

Remote Learning...

Our weekdays have been spent mostly doing remote learning with the boys.

Depite the funny face, and the fingers up in the background (cheeky shits), there has really only been one or two days that can be put in the 'this sucks balls' basket.

Even though we haven't been working to proper school time schedule, nor following the time table of subjects as they would be doing at school, the boys have managed to 'pretty much' stay on top of their work. I actually believe that during this time they have probably achieved and learnt more than they would have at school; Ace more so than Jazz as he doesn't get the one on one, someone sitting beside him the whole day helping and encouraging (like Mark and I have done), support at school.

Today is the last day of term 3 (18/9/20)...let the two weeks of school holidays begin!

As the restrictions have eased for Covid-19 in the regional areas, they are due to go back to onsite learning for Term 4 (date to be confirmed). You would think we would all be jumping for joy hey, but no! Although they miss their friends and crave the social aspect, both the boys would quite happily do another term of remote learning. Us too, although them going back to school will give me more study time! If it wasn't for the fact that Ace will be doing VCAL next year, we would have seriously contemplated moving into homeschooling. Oh well, at least having the remote learning aspect, we can say we did it, and loved it!

Uni Study...

I take Tuesdays off from being a 'teacher', to be a 'student'.

My day looks a bit like this - minus the boring household chores, eating and elimination stuff!

8.00am - 10.00am - Botany lecture (via zoom)

Quick break

10.30am - 12.30pm - Herbal Manufacturing lecture (via zoom)

Lunch time - wander the garden and get some fresh air!

2.00pm - 5.00pm - Materia Medica lecture (via zoom)

Break

6.00pm - until I simply cannot do any more!

Hahaha despite THAT face, I actually really enjoy the whole day.

I'm loving the subjects, and foraging (wildcrafting) in my own garden is ultra awesome! Do you like my fancy plant pressing setup LOL!?!

I will be honest with you, it is full on!!! I am trying really hard not to stress over it, but...

Stuff all really...

So, other than those two things, plus the normal day to day stuff like household chores, physio exercises and the odd walk out in nature (the last two are ones which I need to ensure happens more often, I've been a bit slack), as we have been in lockdown due to the Covid-19 restrictions there really isn't a great deal to share, as we've done stuff all really!

New Specks...

On August 26th, Ace and I went and got our eyes checked.  Wasn't that an interesting experience when wearing a mask that fogs up the optometry lenses - FAK!

Ace didn't require a prescription just yet but I did, and so on the 3rd of September I picked up my new 'reading only' specks!

Ace picked them out for me :)  Not fancy CK's or anything but for $45.00 (throught the VAS), I'm not complaining!

Over did it...

So after spending the day before fathers day, and also fathers day out in the garden (c'mon the weather was absolutely glorious), on Monday 7th September, I ended up paying for it!

When the f@&% will I learn that just because I can doesn't mean I should! Actually, I think the pain I felt was the icing on the cake.

Needless to say that the other half of the backyard and the front yard remains looking shabby!

Food glorious food...

I ended up getting another box of both Hello Fresh and Dinnerly so dinners have been one less thing for us to think about. As per last time, Hello Fresh wins hands down for taste.

Pictured below is pork tacos with pickled onion and crushed peanuts.

Dinnerly however, is much more affordable...this time around the meals have been a little nicer.

Picture below is Haloumi San Choy Bay with crushed cashews.

I love that Mark and the boys have been working together on Tuesday nights to make dinner!

What else...

Like I said earlier there really isn't a great deal to share. Oh wait...so as of yesterday (17/9/20) regional victoria moved steps on the road out and so that means we are now free to leave home 'just because'. It also means that elective surgery reopened AND...

Hospital booked...

As I was category 2 (within 90 days), I was one of the first to be offered a spot, which is - Friday 2nd October. Yep, in two weeks time, 15 days I will be having a Hysterecomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy! Goodbye cervical cancer cells!

What was I saying before about trying not to stress about uni stuff...eeeekkk, maybe I should drop out before concensus, BUT I have already done so much it just seems like a waste of time. I might just get the doc to fill in some forms so I can get an extension...that should work? Hmmmm, I will think it over! They said I should expect to be in hospital for about 4 days. Which means that if the boys do go back to school for start of term 4 on the 5th October I won't be home. And if they do a staggered start and they don't go back straight away I wont be able to do remote learning with them...so many thought racing in my head. It's okay, I will sort it all out!

Anyway, depite all the racing thoughts I'm glad it is happening sooner rather than later. Not only because of the trouble I've been having but also because it means that I can rest and recover and get back on my feet enough to be okay for the next foob op, which should be at the end of the year or early 2021. Oh, and hopefully in between the two, the lapband operation can happen.

So much for getting back to work anytime soon though. Not that I'm ultra keen to be in such close proximity with people with the whole covid-19 thing. Money would be good though...

Covid-19...

Well since its been mentioned a few times I thought I would share a bit more about it.

I personally have really enjoyed the lockdown phase! I love how the world has slowed down allowing me to catch my breath and just take time to get back on my feet.

Vader reminding me to take time to smell the roses...camillias!

And Simba reminding me to take time to bask in the glory of the sunlight!

It has also given us a heap of quality family time together, which is always a blessing.

The worst part for us has been not physically being able to see those we love...family, friends!

Actually, because metro is still in lockdown I still can't visit Mum!

Funniest thing though, I sent her a message today saying "I miss you". Her response, "Why? I'm not dead"!

Hahahaha trust her to put it into perspective!

She's right though, we talk every night on the phone, text throughtout the day and have a family video call once a week. How blessed we are to have modern technology...imagine if we were in lockdown without that stuff - now 'that' would be hard!

Anyway, I think that's it...so much for a quick gap filling post LOL!

I will leave you with another pic of my furbabies.

Look how much they have grown! WOW!

I will try and pop up another post before heading into hospital, and ofcourse will keep you updated also. Thanks heaps for reading my ramblings all the way to the end.

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A 'Dam' Good Day...

Wednesday 19th August, 2020

This morning we all slept through our alarms and didn't get up and at em' until 10.00am.  I figured we must have all needed the rest, so instead of stressing about being behind and trying to catch up, we instead just started where we were!

I have to admitt, I surprised myself with how "at ease" I was about missing the first two school periods.  Especially considering that the boys only worked half a day each yesterday due to me being at Uni (aka our home classroom), and  Mark assisting them on his own.  Mind you, as the boys are doing work from a work-pack rather than zoom classes, we can be a "little" more flexible.  I say "a little" as I believe its important to maintain the usual school day schedule (as much as possible) so that they don't have trouble readjusting when it comes time to go back to school.  Who am I kidding, I believe routine, structure, and consistency is important fullstop!

Anyway, today was one where we just went with the flow!  Something that is good for the soul!

And wouldn't you know it, it was probably one of our most productive of days.

Not to say they enjoyed having to do the work though.

Cheeky little buggers, all three of them!

And since we were just going with the flow, after our work was done for the day we decided to head out to one of our favourite places. 

A decision inspired by our beautiful friends who came out here yesterday to celebrate a special young man's 17th birthday!

I hadn't planned on going for a walk today, truth be told I was going to have a rest day.  But, I figured that since we were here we may as well fully embrace it.

So off we went across the first set of stepping stones.  

After a short distance we came to a second set of stepping stones.   

As the mastectomy reconstruction involved using the gracilis muscle in my upper inner thigh, I sometimes have a little difficulty opening (abduction) and closing (adduction) my legs, especially when they feel tired.

With this in mind, I found this set of steps a little tricky to navigate.  

How blessed this mumma is that her boy took of his shoes and came to the rescue!

WATCH VIDEO HERE

After that, it was a nice easy track.

A beautiful one at that.  Oh how I love the bush!

WATCH VIDEO HERE

This narrow bit was awesome!

WATCH VIDEO HERE

And before we knew it, we arrived at our destination.  

I am so proud of me!

After skimming a few rocks, it was time to turn around and head back.  

I'll be honest here and let you know that my anxiety flared up a little as I was worried it was going to get dark before we got back.  This was slightly eased by the boys saying 'it's okay Mum, our phones have charge so we can use the torch'.  

And even more so once we reached the stepping stones.  This time I decided to make things a little easier by taking off my shoes...ah, now were talkin'...grounded is much better!

And then, just like that we were done.  So, back across the first set of stepping stones we went.

I was surprised that it took us an hour just as the sign said.  So, for those who are in better condition than I, it would be quicker.

We also stopped quite a few times to take photos.  Between all of us snap happy hikers there was over 100 photos.  I picked out 15 of my favourites to share with you...

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Before heading back to the car the boys explored the picnic spot river area, whilst Mark and I just sat and breathed in the fresh air.

Then it was time for one last selfie...

Before Ace drove us all home, where we arrived safe and sound.

We will definitely be doing thIs walk again.  The other walks are also on our wish list!

Thanks for taking the time to read this post, it truly means heaps.  LLP xo Tash.

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Remote Learning 2.0

Wednesday 5th August

Day 1 of remote learning saw me working with Ace and Mark helping Jazz.

Which kid do you think is more co-operative?

My talented boy happily doing his school work.

Meanwhile...music is NOT one of Aces school subjects - this is called PROCRASTINATION!  Little shit knows that because he's playing guitar I'm going to let things slide!  I so wish he took music as a subject because he's got talent, but he didn't want to 'have to' perform.

A 'its not, not coffee', 'it's hard coffee', is the perfect beverage at the end of the day.  Aka Irish Coffee oh yeah!

Tuesday 11th August

We haven't really been following the school timetable as we have a work pack so can be a little flexible.  

Because of this things have been going okay...

Well, up until today when I lost my shizzle completely at a certain Mr.16!

But, after a break from each other we were able to push past it and just get the work done.  

Have to admit, confiscating that certain someones mobile phone until it was done helped with the achievement!

Yelling, or more to the point screaming, is certainly not a behaviour I am proud of.  I plan to be more mindful of the frustration rising and just say 'stuff it'.  Whilst the work needs to get done, its just not worth the turmoil to push it like I did today.  Not to say it means he/they can be lazy.

Hopefully, like me, he has learnt from todays experience and continues to put head down, bum up and JFDI!

If he invested half the energy he uses complaining about doing the work, into the actual work, he would be finished everything by lunch time!

All jokes aside, having them at home where they are safe, makes losing fists full of hair worth it!

Tomorrows a new day...positive polly pants on!

Wednesday 12th 

We've got this, half way through the day and so far, so good!

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