ouch!

Wii

So today, (finally the boys will sigh) we are the pround new parents of a Wii, uhhum, pip is the proud new owner of a Wii :)

its all set up ready for him to come home from school, and so far pete has beat me at both Tennis and Bowling, (he cheats!) I am demanding a rematch, as i had a Kate disadvantage.... and boy did he use it!!!

Intitial findings of the long awaited new addition

FAB!

this might even give Wow a run for its money in this game loving household!

New School Year

Another school year dawns for Pip, oh and its a biggy, bless him.....

he bought home his timetable yesterday and to be honest if i'd been given a timetable like that, i'd have locked myself in my room and refused to leave for the year!

(Pip if you read this THATS NOT AN OPTION!)

Anyway inspired by Pip and his.. 'ack it'll be ok'.. attitude i have returned to my studies, after having a gap year..(to have Kate.....and allow post baby fog to subside)..and i have to say i can't wait till the new term starts.

So here's to evenings sat at the kitchen table with Pip, coffee, biscuits and Homework.....lol

keep it in the family

One of the most asked questions by all the doctors i have come into contact with in the last 11 years is
'who else has RA in your family'
to which my answer has always been no-one,
I always loved the perplexed looks this answer would produce.... and the follow up' are you sure?'

Now however i won't feel so smug when asked this question , as Mum is showing all the signs of having early RA.....

The difference between her and I, is I had a fab GP who picked up my signs and symptoms early..... mum's GP just keeps palming her off with pain killers and telling her to go back if it doesn't feel better in a couple of weeks.

It makes me really cross although i shouldn't expect any different from GP's now........ they always seem to defer
Mum has been going to the GP for almost a year now with the same symptoms and as yet still hasn't been given even a blood test which would indicate whether or not it is RA.....

You'd think that this would be a good place to start seeing has her daughter is riddle with it.......

surely a blood test is the sensible way to go rather than another perscription for painkillers......
but then i guess there's no money to be made in blood tests

lvl 50

I am almost there people.......i can sniff it!

I am almost a Lvl 50 Druid.....

I started this game a few months ago and my initial goal was to reach lvl 10..

then lvl 20....30.... you get the gist

Pip is very excited as i will now be eligible to play in his lvl playing field.
I think Pete feels the same, but it is masked by the fact that i now want to be a lvl 60....:)

Is there any satisfying this girl?

He also knows that i'll have my head buried in my laptop till i get there....

SO Lvl 60 here I come

:) don't have time to write more....i have some serious playing to do!

WoW

I have a confession.....

My name is Anita and I am a World of Warcraft Addict.

Its all Pete's fault!!!! last year he and Pip started playing this game ...night after night etc..
so i decided the only way to spend an evening with my boys was to join them online!

Sad i hear many of you say......

yes but damn good fun.

My alter ego is a cute looking Night Elf Druid who, now level 45, kicks ass.

So it is now me that sits of a night time playing and Pete rolling his eyes that i am yet again warcrafting...

He has officially taken on the title of WoW widower just recently, as we have pimped, this most beautiful, game to other members of the family, whom i play with most evenings as we are similar levels.
Well it saves on phone bills.

But i have to say that since his recent visit to Japan, he has a new enthusiasm for the fiend that keeps me up all night ........ and I love it!

So if you're wondering what all the fuss is about checkout the game.... but beware it will snare you and will to turn you into a compulsive obssesive.

Have fun :P

1st Birthday

My beautiful baby girl has just turned 1

Thursday was officially Kate's 1st birthday and we celebrated it with a low key family get together in preperation for the huge party, for friends and extended family, that we threw for her on Saturday.

And what a star she was.... completely unfazed by the mass gathering in our house (as the weather was lousy). She worked her way around the rooms gurgling and chirping with frequent shrieks of delight for over 3hrs. During which she tucked into chocolate cake and shared her half chewed sandwiches with anyone she happened apon.

Whilst adults enjoyed the odd glass of wine or beer a chat and nibbles, the babies crawled and shuffed around the room having a ball.

A fun and fab day was had by all and to all those who shared in making Kate's 1st birthday so special a huge thanks

xxx

Heavenly weekend

Its been a very busy year.... In the last couple of months we haven't stopped so this weekend Pete and I decided we were going to have some us time.... which is exactly what we did!

Friday night came and I packed up the car with everthing I could think that Pip and Kate would need for the weekend...including the dog... and drove them to my Mum's for the weekend. Felling a tad guilty about dumping and running I stayed the night ( Pete was out that night with the lads anyway)

Saturday I kissed the kids goodbye at the crack of dawn and jumped in the car to head home to a grown up weekend of ....well anything we wanted to do...:)

And what a fab weekend we had, filled with wine ...good food.... shopping.... talking.... lots of kissing and cuddling... and all of this with out any interruption..... bliss

Both of us ,on the return journey to get the kids, asking why we hadn't done this sooner??

Update

Its been a while.... ok its been bloody ages....

What can I say I've been busy. There are school runs and a hectic social life of an 11yr old to contend with, and then theres baby groups and the chaotic social life of an 8mth old baby to work around. Pete and I are exhausted, and amidst this all Pete has to work and I REALLY need to get on top of the washing, shopping, cleaning etc.

So in the last couple of months we've had christmas, girls have discovered my son...my daughter has more teeth than my son and is almost crawling, Pete scared the crap out of us by getting himself hospitalised... I'm another year older, and we need to move.

Oh and I got some fab boots for my birthday!!!
and a duck!

xxx

God its September

Its September already.... someone has stolen the months June-August.

The culprit.....Kate.

Ihave spent the last few months learning to be a new mum.......( as there is an 11yr difference between Pip and Kate), and it hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be.....

You see Pip was a dream baby..... slept from the moment he was born..... (still does)...fed like an angel and was just the happiest baby ever.....Kate, love her, untill recently had me up 4 times a night wouldn't fed properly and suffered the most horrendous colic, and could only smile at us when her little tummy wasn't hurting.

Now one week shy of 4months, Kate has settled down into a lovely routine that suits us both, with NO MORE COLIC......!!!!!!

To all those new parents out there.... it does get better!!!!...
a phrase that always made me want to scream f*ck off when anyone said it to me....
but I can smugly say that it does.

and I can proudly announce that i am ready to join humanity once more.... without fear of bursting into tears or screaming obsenities at the drop of a hat.

The boys have come out of hiding and life has taken on a semi normal feel to it once more.

A pain in the arse.. (literally)

So, here's the tale....(or not)

In 1996 I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.... We have danced with this beast now for 10yrs (by 'we' I mean the boys and I).

I was sent this little package when Pip was just 18 months old and wanted to send it right back but there was no return address... So it has stayed with us hidden in the cupboard under the stairs but every now and then it escapes and reeks havoc.

Anyway, the upshot of having this disease has made us aware how flippantly it is regarded...

It's an 'old persons disease'. Everyone expects to get Arthritis when they're older, thats just the way it is right?

And, because of those cliches, there is little funding for the relevant drugs needed by people who have to tame this beast. We have had personal experience of having to fight our local health authority to get drugs I needed as they were considered too expensive... A fight I know others are still embroiled in...

So not only do we have to justify our need for these drugs (as there is a criteria we must have pursued and exhausted before we can be considered for these drugs) but now NICE are recommending that some drugs have an age limit applied to them....

Now I caught this 'gem' of information on Radio 4 news earlier this week... But the implications could be appalling...

If you just considered this disease alone...

Will a patient, if over 40, no longer be able to try the more expensive of the RA drugs because they are deemed too old? And, therefore have to put up with less effective treatment? Who determines at what age your quality of life outweighs value for money?

It will be interesting to see how this recommendation develops.