Jemsweb

It seems like the distant past, but I finally sorted out all the pics from our camper van holiday in Tasmania in January 2009.

Check them out here.

This is my favourite – sunset at the Bay of Fires on Tasmania’s east coast. A beautiful spot.

Harry started school today. He didn’t seem worried about it at all, just excited – even comforted Jan a bit and then ran into the classroom. We are very proud! I think he’s going to love it.

It’s also a new chapter for Jan with both the kids at school. She is pondering what to do next. However it’s all theorectical right now as Archie hasn’t been back at school yet this term – too sick!

Time for Elf Yourself, starring the Walker-Wrights:

All went well at the sleep study thanks to a magic machine they have in the children’s wards which is a giant purple thing with wheels and a screen, that plays movies and games. Archie was in heaven sitting in his hospital bed with that contraption! Thanks Starlight Foundation – now where can I get one for home? We now have to wait for the results, though the nurse did recommend that I also get a sleep study done as I snored A LOT. How embarrassing!

We are off to the hospital shortly as Archie is going to have a sleep study to see if he has sleep apnoea. This means he has to sleep at the hospital with little electrodes attached to many many parts of his body, and they monitor his oxygen levels and all sorts of other things no doubt. In recent years, it’s been discovered that a large proportion of kids with Down Syndrome have sleep apnoea, which can impact their development quite significantly as they are not getting proper rest. Archie had it before which is why he had his tonsils and adenoids removed. If he still has it, he may need to wear a special mask when he goes to bed at night.

Anyway it’s my turn to be the lucky parent who sleeps at the hospital with him – as you can imagine, it’s no easy task getting him to lie still while the millions of electrodes are attached, nor is it fun getting him to sleep in such an interesting environment! Hence the luck wishing, please!

[Check the photo above - Archie lost his front tooth and is now a gappy grinned child.]

His first one cos he was sick last year. Wonky eyed without glasses but very eager!!

Well, June was a bit of a write off in terms of blogging. I had end-of-semester exams which pretty much took up every spare moment. The physics exam went pretty well I thought, but calculus was a nightmare! An hour and a half is not enough time for an examination!! I didn’t finish it and am pretty sure that I failed, unless everyone else did really badly as well. Never mind! There’s got to be one paper that you are severely tested on, and Calculus is definitely mine. If I have to repeat it at summer school, so be it.

Yesterday I slipped over on a piece of Lego (thanks, kids!) and whacked my forearm really hard on the wooden arm of the sofa. It really fracking hurt and was very tender, so I got Jan to take me to the hospital, just in case. Embarrassingly, it didn’t even hurt by the time I got there (after having ice on it on the way there!) The doctor was very nice to me though. It is still very tender today and gets a bit sore if I use the computer for too long. Still, I predict a full recovery!

Excited this weekend about my first weekend with no studying for a long time! It’s my Aunt Deborah’s 60th birthday and we are going out for a big family dinner tomorrow night which I am very much looking forward to. We even have a babysitter! Also we are going to see Kung Fu Panda tomorrow morning – Archie has been looking forward to it for about two months and watching the trailer on the internet at least ten times a day. Should be good!

Here’s the latest video from my brother Sam’s band The Phoenix Foundation. Gosh his beard is getting rather bushy! It is an ace video though. How did they get Will to agree to those tiny tiny shorts?

Buy their album Happy Ending! It is a work of GENIUS I tells ya.

While we’re on a YouTube kick, Archie has just mastered using the computer and is a genius at cruising YouTube finding WEIRD SHIT. Here is his current favourite clip:

That boy is going to need his own Facebook page soon.

I was very surprised to read in the paper yesterday that the Rudd Labor Government is considering scrapping the $1600 bonus that is paid annually to people caring for sick and disabled Australians (including our little Archie!)

This money is used by people for all sorts of wonderful, necessary and useful things for their dependents. We were going to use ours for respite care for Archie.

Please if you have a moment, sign the petition on the Daily Telegraph website: Caring for carers | The Daily Telegraph