Crappy few weeks!

Well, once again I've been a very bad blogger and not posted in a long time!  I have been very busy though, Ryan ended up in hospital just over 3 weeks ago, he had a seizure in his bed and had to be taken by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital.  Luckily I was in bed with him at the time and when his breathing went funny I started shouting for G.  By the time I had ran downstairs to get some Nurofen for his high temperature his eyes had gone up in the back of his head and he was just in a daze which was so scary!  I just phoned 999 and G took him into the bathroom to splash some cold water on him to try snap him out of it.  He was in hospital for just over 3 days and while he was in hospital we were told that he had a bad chest infection, swollen glands and tonsilitis.  They changed his asthma inhalers as they said the ones our GP had put him on were way too strong for him and he seems to be fine since getting home.  We were up in the hospital yesterday for a scheduled appointment and he seen his own doctor (G told them the doctor he was attending when they went to a+e but nobody seemed to listen to him) who informed me that he had had pneumonia again (Ryan was in hospital with pneumonia when he was 10 months old, the day after my first chemo session) in the same lung.  I was so shocked that I didn't really respond, pneumonia hadn't been mentioned to us when he was in hospital!  He had another xray done yesterday and the doctor rang G today to tell him that there's still some signs of infection so they are going to send us out a prescription for a 2 week antibiotic and he has to go back up for a check up and xray in another 6 weeks time so its really worrying because I know pneumonia can be very dangerous!  Hopefully everything will be ok, he's been in better form for the last 3 weeks than he has been for a LONG time!

As for Aaron, he's in good health as always, doing brilliantly in school and flying it at martial arts! He has his next grading in a months time and he has 1 tip on his belt already so he will have to work hard to get another 2 tips so he can go for his full yellow belt!  He will be getting his summer holidays in just over 2 weeks time so with any luck we'll get to have a lie in here and there!

G is in great form, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last weekend and we went out for dinner to The Loft restaurant in Arklow and had a delicious meal!  It was nice to have a couple of hours to chat without 2 screaming mad men running around the place!

And me?  Well I'm going in for my nipple reconstruction in 3 days time and I'm doing everything I can to distract myself because I'm as nervous as hell! I HATE getting knocked out, I don't know if its getting the needle in my hand or the thought of being put to sleep but I get really nervous and worked up so I'm just trying not to think about it!  I had my ultrasound done last week and it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences!  I had to be poked and prodded with a full bladder while doing my best trying not to think about weeing or even worse, wetting myself!!  After 30 minutes I was so relieved to be able to go for a wee but the nurse then said she would have to do an internal ultrasound too so that took about 45 minutes and was just so uncomfortable!  She said that the results would be sent out to my doctor so fingers and toes crossed that everything will be ok!  I'm seeing a specialist next month about my joint pain which is gone really bad lately, I've taken more painkillers in the last week than I have in the last couple of years so I'm hoping there's a reasonable explanation for it all!

I have my driving test in 3 weeks time so I've been going out with my sis in law Lisa to practice (anyone who doesn't know me probably doesn't know that I've only just started learning to drive!) and she says I'm "flying it"! Her words, not mine!  I don't really think I have a hope in hell of passing seeing as I've only driven about 10 times but sure, wouldn't it be a small miracle if I actually managed to pass it???? Time will tell!

So that's whats been going on here lately, that's not even mentioning all the baking I've been doing for cake sales, birthdays, christenings and confirmations!  I am absolutely shattered lately, I just seem to be constantly on the go and I am WRECKED!  

Health Update May 2012

I've had 2 hospital visits in 2 days and have another one to look forward to next week so safe to say that I will have had my fill of buses for a while!  Anyway, yesterday I visited a gynaecologist named Gráinne Flannelly who I had been referred to by Ms Rothwell, who is my breast doctor/surgeon. Because I had been turned down by the genetics crowd in crumlin due to having no family history of cancer, Ms Rothwell had told me last year that she would refer me to a gynaecologist and get my womb and ovaries checked out. I filled the doctor in on my history and she was happy enough with everything, I have to go back and get an ultrasound done and then come back for results (if I'm told to come up 2 days after the ultrasound I will be worried but no point panicking over milk that hasn't yet spilt, am I right?)  a few weeks later.  My appointment was at 9.15am so i had to get the bus at 7am, which meant getting up at 6 but I was back home by 12 which wasn't too bad I suppose!

Then today I was back up again to see my oncologist. Well, I tell a lie there because MY oncologist has recently had a baby (Congrats Dr Walshe!) so I seen another oncologist but anyway, on with the story!  She was very happy with me, I explained how tired I feel all the time and she said that because of the "menopausal" effects of the tamoxifen as well as fatigue being a side effect, I was bound to be tired!  Factor in running around after 2 kids and its to be expected really! She also asked me if i had put on weight and of course I have, a stone or so in the last year which will not shift at ALL!!  She checked my boobs, said she was happy and to come back in 6 months!

Next Friday I'm back up again to see my plastic surgeon about the next stage of my reconstruction, which involves having my nipple reconstructed.  I'm actually starting to have doubts about having it done now, do I need to have 2 nipples?  I definitely want to get an implant in my good boob to match them up but going around with a permanently erect nipple kinda scares me!!  I suppose all I can do is talk to him next week and see what he says!

So that's it for now, I'll keep you updated on what happens next week!
Thanks for reading!

DIY Nail polish using loose eyeshadow!

A while back, I couldn't find the glitter polish that I had created in my head in any of the shops. They weren't the right colour or not glittery enough or whatever so i made my own using some clear polish and loose glitter and i was really happy with how they turned out! Yesterday as my dinner was steaming away and the boys were drawing at the table I decided to try and make some coloured ones using some loose eyeshadow! I have load of Collection 2000 and Barry M loose eyeshadows (more than i'll probably ever need!) so I thought I'd mix a few together and see how they turned out! I had 4 clear polishes so I went for a pink, a silver, a green and a purple. I'm delighted with them, they're fast drying and are soooo shimmery and sparkly that I just kept staring at my nails last night! I'm going to pick up a couple more clear ones today as i really fancy a black with silver glitter and maybe something else too!
They're easy to make too. Just tap some loose shadow into a folded piece of paper and tilt it into your polish, then shake like Beyonce! I find the CATRICE topcoat works great as it has the little silver balls in it which make it easier to shake!
And just a quick NOTD with my silver polish and OPI serving up sparkle on top!

Ebay goodies Part 2!

The last of my eBay orders arrived this morning. I had seen on Beaut.ie http://beaut.ie/blog/ and Cherry Sues blog http://www.cherrysuedointhedo.com/ that Essence are bringing out some nail art 'fruit' slices in one of their upcoming collections and was intrigued to find out more. Some Googling and Ebaying later I discovered that you can buy strips of these for half nothing on eBay and 'slice' to your desired thickness before applying to your nails. Obviously the thinner you cut them the more you will get from each 'cane' but I got 100 of the 5cm canes in various shapes and colours for about €3 including shipping! I'm looking forward to trying these out and will post some pics when i do! My sister cut a couple just to see what they looked like so excuse the crappy cutting on them! ;)

Ebay goodies!

I know I haven't been posting much lately but then again, I never really did so what's new there!!
I've been buying some nail art stuff and baking supplies on EBay lately as they are so much cheaper than to buy here.  The first item that arrived on my doorstep this morning was this set of 15 nail art brushes which cost less than €3 and with free delivery! Here is the link http://www.ebay.ie/itm/300664264606?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 to the EBay page where I got mine!
I'm planning on using some of these for nail art and some for cake decorating when I'm hand painting something, obviously I will keep them separate! ;) There is a good range of shapes and sizes so i may figure out which does what!

The second item I got this morning was a set of micro beads.  I know these are all the rage now so I wanted to pick up some cheapy ones to see what the fuss was all about! I'll use them in the next few days and try get a photo up! I actually snorted when i opened the pack, I really hadn't expected them to be THAT small, absolutely titchy!!
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/160687437501?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 this is the link to the beads!

There was a dotting tool in the brush set so of course I had to test that out straight away, I'm gonna pick up a set of these soon cos they're Fab! Apologies for the cackness of my nails, they are in tatters lately!!

Anyway, short and sweet it is, I'm working on a couple more posts that I hope to get up soon!

mayday!

Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing well! Today is May Day aka 1st May.  I used to love may day, where I lived we used to have a HUGE bonfire in our estate and it was always a great way to get rid of any rubbish you had lying around the house!  We used to make our own bbq's and cook sausages and stuff on them and it was always great fun!

So, Aaron got over his chicken pox and is back to his usual noisy, can't sit still for a second self! Ryan woke up with them yesterday morning so hopefully he won't get too many of them because it will be a lot harder to stop him scratching than Aaron!  At least you could tell Aaron not to do it and he wouldnt! But try telling a 2 year old not to scratch something, best of luck with that one!  The weather has been miserable for what seems like forever and I'm just sick to the back teeth of it!  I've been out driving a couple of times but even if i wanted to drive at the minute I can't because G has a new job and needs the car for work so hopefully he'll pick up a cheap van for himself and i can get driving because I hate having to bring the kids out in this rain to go to school etc.

My big man Aaron earned his first belt in martial arts a couple of weeks ago, he's now a white yellow belt and is very proud of himself!  He's going to 3 classes a week now so he's taking it very seriously! I'm hoping he will keep it up, I'd love to have done that when i was younger! He even wants to be a martial arts teacher when he's older!

I've been very well behaved lately, I finally got to Gorey to visit the new Boots that opened late last year but all I bought was a 17 foundation and mascara!  One of the chemists down the street has started stocking NYC cosmetics so I picked up one of their foundations and a couple of nail polishes, its a very reasonable brand, the polishes were only €1.99 and the foundation was €3.49. A rival for my beloved CATRICE and Essence? Only time will tell!  I realised the other day how neglected my make up case is, I seem to only be using the things that are in the basket on top of it because mornings are always a 'rush to get out the door at 9am or we'll be late for school'  kinda scenario!  I'm going to make an effort to start using some more stuff from my case, I don't think my Mac palette has been touched in months thanks to my Inglot eyeshadow obsession!  I don't even wear eyeshadow now on weekdays, just bung on some foundation, fill in my eyebrows, throw on some eyeliner and mascara and I'm ready to run out the door!  I've been using my Real Techniques stippling brush to out my foundation on every day rather than the Inglot one, I just prefer the RT one as the bristles are shorter so you have more control over where its going etc.   I'm even thinking of purchasing a back up just in case anything ever happens to it!

We booked our first holiday in 10 years last week! We're going to Salou for a week in August, originally we were going to go as soon as Aaron got his holidays at the end of June but his martial arts grading is mid July so he can't be missing classes or he can't get his next belt!  I'm a bit nervous about entertaining Ryan on a plane for the 2.5 hours but our flight is at 9.30am so hopefully he'll just sleep most of the way!

I haven't been taking any photos lately, my hair is getting on my wick lately (I know I shouldn't complain because its better than no hair!) and i just want it to GROW, GROW, GROW already! I miss tying it up and just being able to do things with it! I know it will get there eventually but its very frustrating, all this WAITING!  My psoriasis is also acting up on me big time and that's really annoying me too!

I'LL try not to leave it so long next time and will try take a few photos!

Snow joke!

I'm really hoping that this forecasted snow is a late April Fools! I mean, the sun is shining and I'm actually WARM! How is it supposed to snow when people were going around in summer clothes just a few days ago? Typical Irish weather really I suppose! You really can have all 4 seasons in one day, or even an hour sometimes!

Anyway, I hope you are all well! We've got a very upset little boy -Aaron- in the house who woke up with the chicken pox and isn't able to go to his Easter GAA camp or Martial Arts! I'm hoping he doesn't get too many spots and I'm sure Ryan will have them sooner rather than later too! I'm itching like mad now too even though I've had the chicken pox when i was young. G isn't sure if he's had them or not so we may ask his Da!

I've been a very good girl lately and haven't bought much make up at all apart from a few Avon bits.  I've been flat out baking cakes and spent hours the other day making G a Man United jersey cake! I'm delighted with how it turned out and I know he was really impressed with it! I kept catching him in the kitchen admiring it!  Then our niece Hannah was 2 on Saturday and she's Curious George mad so i made her a giant cupcake with yellow buttercream and G spent 2 hours making George out of fondant. I made some bananas and a yellow hat (for the man in the yellow hat!). It looked lovely but I jusypt don't get the fascination with giant cupcakes, I found it hard to decorate and because I'd never made one before I was worried that it wasn't cooked properly or something! We brought it down to G's sister on Friday evening and she was delighted with it (so was Hannah!) But I just kept thinking that I wasn't happy with it so i got up early Saturday morning and made a fresh cream sponge and decorated it with butterflies and it just looked nice and I knew it was cooked properly! We brought it down Saturday afternoon and 5 slices later it was almost gone! I don't eat fresh cream but this was delicious!!  I'm decorating my fruit cakes later this week for Easter Sunday and then in 2 weeks time I'm making a christening cake for my cousins baby! I'm actually really nervous about doing it because people other than family will be eating it so I'm just hoping that it will look and taste nice!!

Aaron is now able to read everything and he's reading this out as I'm typing it and giggling away to himself! He's a funny little dude!