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.. .. My Tribute GOD BLESS AMERICA Sept 11 ~ Memorial Page .

Sunday 14th October 2001

I've been to the quack who sent me for blood tests and x-rays of my hands... will get the results next Tuesday. I don't care what the problem is as long as I can get something for it.

It's raining today, the first in weeks and most welcome. Everything smells fresh, I love rain. It's also a good excuse not to spend my Sunday doing strenuous work <grin>,

Jared's back at school so the 'sleep ins' have ceased :-( Last Sunday I took him to a guy who put him through a 3 hour barrage of tests because he appears to have problems with his writing. He knows the answers to everything but because it takes him so long to write the answers he forgets what he was writing about in the first place. This gentleman, Rob, thinks he may have problems with 'fine motor skills' in his right hand and we are awaiting an interview with an Occupational Therapist at the hospital so she can do some further testing.

The appointment is for mid November... almost the end of the school year!! Still, there's nothing I can do about that. If Jared's teacher had forwarded a questionnaire he'd been sent by the O.T., we may have got Jared in sooner. I rang the headmaster on Friday who got Jared's teacher to fax the info to the hospital that day! He'd had it for about 10 days!! He's so SLACK!!

He's part of the problem as well according to Rob. This year he has succeeded in negating any self confidence or self esteem Jared ever had. This info came from the tests Jared did. He never praises Jared for a job well done, just amonishes him all the time. What makes me mad is.... there may be a real physical reason for Jared being so slow in writing.

He's in 4th grade, his reading and comprehension standard is early 5th grade. His maths ability has come on in leaps and bounds but does he ever get praise for this ...NO!

I just thank God he won't have this teacher next year. Actually I'll be surprised if this teacher's at the school next year considering all the complaints about him.

Enough on that... took Jared to see "Cats and Dogs" during the holidays it was so exciting I slept through most of it *S* Then Mum and I went to see "America's Sweethearts"... what a load of rubbish! Maybe I'm too picky?????

The Australian government finally got the illegal "refugees" off the Manoora but not before they had vandalised the vessel. Now there's another boatload seeking asylum. One has to wonder about these people. What kind of human beings are they when they throw their children overboard in an attempt to get the naval vessel to sympathise with them? As it happened, when the previous group was interviewed in Nauru, many of these "refugees" were actually Pakistanis not Afghans.

They don't act like people looking for asylum. They are violent and vindictive. True asylum seekers would be happy to go anywhere except from whence they came. Methinks they protest too much.

Well, we have a Federal (National) election here in a few weeks. There are rumours that our current Prime Minister, John Howard, may well not see out his full term if re-elected. Mr Howard has neither confirmed nor denied his possible retirement. If he did retire it would mean our current Treasurer could end up being Prime Minister... GOD FORBID!!! Our Mr Costello is a camera hog during Question Time (which is televised), he is smug and the LAST person we would want as Prime Minister. This is the man who enforced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which has destroyed great numbers of small businesses in this country. All we need is this idiot running the country.... NOT!! There must be some law against Howard running with the intention of quitting half way through his term.

I made a special dinner for a friend who came over yesterday. I exhausted myself in the preparations. Started early in the morning by making a Rum Baba (dessert) from scratch. I surprised myself, the old talent is still there *S*. It's been many years since we had anyone over for dinner. We had a stuffed chicken breast for an entree and my favourite 'seafood in a garlic cream sauce' for main course. I always make far too much so Jason has taken the remaining seafood home for their dinner tonight. It was a great night and we were all so full (of food) we could hardly move.]

Thursday 18th October

Well, I got the results from the doctor on Tuesday... RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS! I suppose I should be thankful that all the other things he had tested for in the blood test came up negative. Except for my Left thumb, my fingers are all still straight and we are going to work on keeping them that way.

The medication I got has relieved the pain, so much so that I did some gardening yesterday (in the rain) and the swelling in my ankles has gone down considerably. So I should be thankful for amall mercies.

After I'd been to the doctor I got back into the car to drive home and I burst into tears. I've never been really sick (just back pain) and I remembered how my aunt's hands looked, knarled and twisted making it impossible for her to do a lot of simple things. I guess I felt sorry for myself. But since then I've decided not to let it get the better of me! *S*

Now, just incase I am late with the second half of October's Journal I wish you all a very happy Halloween and that through all this current turmoil the Lord keeps you safe.

Hugs and God Bless,

Jamie

Friday 26th October 2001

Am I the only one with this feeling of foreboding these past weeks? I'm finding it very hard lately to see the funny side of anything.

Each day in my email I find anti Bin Laden messages and pictures. Then in the news Australia is being blamed for boat people drowning off the coast of Java when their boat sank. What the hell has it to do with us? We didn't force them on board. Don't get me wrong, I feel very sorry for these people and for their plight. I wouldn't like to be in their place and my heart breaks for the children caught up in this. But why is Australia to blame for their predicament?

One of our boxers, Anthony Mundine, a supposedly Muslim convert, has deservedly been banned from fighting in the U.S.A. for saying on national TV here that America deserved what it got on September 11. Of course "he's allowed to state his opinion because we have Freedom Of Speech"!! CRAP!! He must be 'punch drunk'!! He talks like an uneducated ferret, he should stick to talking about boxing because he knows nothing about anything else. He tried to say he was taken out of context, what rot! He made his statement LIVE on T.V. NO-ONE deserves what happened on September 11th.

Fiji has decided to take in 1000 refugees but we, Australia, have to foot the bill. WHY??? Our Prime Minister, John Howard keeps saying that the refugees MUST join the "queue" for entry into Australia. Others are saying "There is NO queue"!

We have sent off 1500 of our military to the war with Afghanistan and instead of wishing these men and women our prayers for their safety, idiots are protesting that they shouldn't be going at all. Other idiots here are jumping on the bandwagon with false Anthrax scares.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE??

This is a time when we should all be working together to rid the world of this SCUM. We shouldn't be at each other's throats. Would the attitude here be different if it had happened here instead of New York? Heaven forbid any of this should interfere with their footy matches or any of their spectator sports and their ability to bend their elbows. Do any of these jerks realise that if it were not for the Americans coming to the aid of Australia during WWII we would have been taken over by the Japanese? Japanese submarines were in Sydney Harbour! The residents around the harbour took off for the safety of the mountains.

Our politicians live in a world of fantasy! We are soon to have a general election and only tonight our Treasurer was telling us that our economy is growing while the rest of the world is in a slump. What's he been sniffing?? Businesses large and small have been folding right, left and centre. We have massive unemployment. In a country of only around 20 million population we have thousands upon thousands of people in poverty, but rather than help our own, our Prime Minister is handing vast sums of money to other countries to take on the asylum seekers. Since when did they become OUR responsibility?

Our illustrious Treasurer in one breath said that his party has managed in 5 1/2 years to create a surplus ($$$$$$) for Australia yet in the next breath said we were still paying off the debt that Labour created when they were last in power. Maybe I'm stupid, but how can we have a surplus if we are in debt??

What kind of a world have we created? It makes you wonder what the future holds for children like my grandson.

As Halloween looms, I pray that an email I received saying that Americans should stay out of shopping malls on the 31st, is a hoax. I don't think I have ever prayed as much in my life as I have these past weeks. World events today make events in my life pale into insignificance. I can't give my full attention to anything.

I often think how lucky we were to have our holiday in the States only a few months ago. I remember the friendliness of the Americans, friends and strangers alike. So many came to our assistance when we were in a jam and believe me we had quite a few sticky situations in those 2 months. I love the U.S. and I pray that you win this war.

On the personal front I'm finding it hard to remember what has happened to us these past 2 weeks. I'm full of aches and pains BUT I am luckier than many others in this world. I've decided to try and ignore it in as much that I created a new garden plot at the front of the house and filled it with roses.

I saw an arthritis medication advertised on TV and ordered it. It arrived a few days later. It hasn't helped the swelling in my hands or feet but it sure works on my back! I have a HUGE garden and spent a whole afternoon, in the heat, raking leaves. I ended up with about seven gigantic piles of leaves and a pain in my lower ribs as though I'd been punched. I rubbed in very little of this super expensive cream and within 10 minutes the pain was gone. My shoulder ached tonight and just before I came through to sit here I rubbed a little into my shoulder... pain's gone!! Hallelujah!!

I seem to be retaining lots of fluid for some reason so no matter what diet I try my weight has ballooned. The Doc prescribed some fluid tabs so lets hope they work eventually.

We have an appointment with an Occupational Therapist for Jared on the 6th of next month. He's having great difficulty writing. His teacher that he had in 2nd grade takes him for extra lessons in English, (after school, once a week) some new concept called THRASS. Don't ask me what THRASS means, I haven't a clue. But she tells me he stresses out when he's expected to write at length. I'm hoping the OT will come up with the answer why.

I did say earlier here that I would have trouble remembering what's happened these past couple of weeks WELL... my mother is in worse condition! *S* She'd kill me if she knew I was telling this, but it's too funny to keep to myself <grin>

One morning this week she'd just had her shower and was dressing herself. Donned her bra... you know... back to front so you can do up the hooks... then twist it around... and hoist the straps over the shoulders and voila... tis done. Well she got as far as doing up the hooks and got distracted... took care of what caused the distraction and a few minutes later started searching for her bra!!! Couldn't find it anywhere! So she went to the drawer and got another one and proceeded to put it on.... YEP she found the first bra! Still around her waist! We laughed ourselves silly. The first really good laugh we'd had in weeks.

We've also decided that when Jared gets his school holidays on the 7th of December that we are going to head down to Victoria to visit his Grandad. He and Dot haven't seen Jared since he was 2 years old and Jared's now 9. They talk on the phone, actually Jared has more conversations with Grandma Dot than he does with David. It's about a 2500km drive (I hate driving) but we are going to take it easy and stop off on the way and the way back. But at least if we do this Jared will be able to put faces to the voices on the phone.

So Jason, my son, is going to have to babysit 1 mouse, 1 rat, and 1 bird for 2 weeks AND come over and feed the 2 dogs every day. This rat, Doris, loves ice cream, popcorn and chocolate biscuits!! The mouse isn't as lucky... it doesn't get these titbits *S* He's (Jason) under strict instruction that none of the animals are to be allowed out of their cages at any time. We all know what happened to the cat he was supposed to be looking after. We want to come home to find the animals intact.

I received a copy of the recommendations that resulted from the Legislative Inquiry into the Protective Office. I began to read it and was so disgusted and upset that I threw it down and haven't had the inclination to sit and study it. From the little I read it appeared the months of Inquiry was a complete waste of time and money. But I'm not going into that just now.

Jared has the school musical coming up next Friday. They had 4 hours of rehearsals last Wednesday, have 5 hours ahead of them tomorrow, and another 4 hours next Wednesday and they've also had lots of rehearsals at school. Makes me wonder when he's getting educated! This is totally ridiculous, this last month... between sport 3 days a week and all these reaharsals AND a pupil free day at school last Monday... they have missed out on 1 - 1/2 weeks of the 3R's when all the hours are added up. When their education is being paid for (and it 'aint cheap) I think this stinks. This last term at school is a dead loss... they also go away to camp towards the end of the term which is only about 5 weeks away.This is the reason we have to pay extra for maths tuition and english tuition outside school hours..... because he's not being taught in class!! So much for private school education!!

We finally had some very welcome rain again tonight but it doesn't look like it's going to last long. I had a look at the sky about midnight and it was RED... very strange considering it is the middle of the night. It's almost 2am and I just had another look... it's still red. (Weird!) We also had a .3 earth tremor a couple of weeks ago... I didn't even notice it :-(

Oh! Oh! it's now Saturday 27th October.

Jared is off to his girlfriend's later on this morning... to play tennis (if it's not raining) and her father is going to drop them off for the rehearsals. So we'll have the day to ourselves until 6pm. Last week he helped me when I was making the rose garden I had to get changed twice.... he soaked me with hose!! So, I'm looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet *S*

I hope that those of you who celebrate Halloween have a safe and happy one. I'll be thinking of you all.

I've run out of steam.... so I'm going to quit for tonight... Yaaawn!

*****

Wednesday 31 October 2001

What a stinker of a day.... 33deg.!!!! The humidity is stifling! So it doesn't put one in the mood for aggravation no matter how small.....

Jared arrived home from school about 4pm DEMANDING that he be allowed to go Trick or Treating! I was NOT in the mood for nonsense. We tried to explain that Halloween just isn't celebrated here on the scale it's celebrated in other parts of the world. He wouldn't listen... went off in a mood! I'm so sick of not being listened to.

His Dad bet him $10 that no-one would turn up on OUR doorstep tonight and also $10 that one of his classmates (who put the idea in Jared's head) wouldn't be going either. We had a visit from a couple of "ghosts" about 6 or 7 years ago and nothing since... Anyway Jason left... no cuddles from Jared, even though he won't see him until Monday (he's gone on a 4 day fishing trip... work) and no "I love you" yelled out (by Jared) when he left.

Well we we harassed after Jason left... Jared just wouldn't leave it alone... he's a pain in the butt when he gets something in his mind. We had dinner late (for us) and were settling down to watch TV, Jared as well (a bribe to get him to shut up) *S*... when I heard some voices coming up the pathway... so I went to the door and turned on the light... you guessed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A COUPLE OF KIDS TRICK OR TREATING!!!!!!

I had nothing to give them BECAUSE we weren't expecting to see ANY kids... so I gave them a couple of dollars each. Well... Jared went off... "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" "MY DAD OWES ME $!0 !!!!!" GRRRRR!!!

He got to watch a spooky story on TV about a little boy in a painting so I told him that he's have missed that if we'd gone Trick or Treating... he seemed passified. :-(

Thurday 1st November

Took Jared to school today and the kid who accosted Jared earlier in the year told Jared he'd been out until 1AM ( !!!! ) with 3 friends Trick or Treating. I told him that his parents had no common sense allowing a 9 year old out until that time of the morning especially on a school night!!!! He wen't off with his "tail" between his legs *S* (I can't stand the precocious BRAT!)

Anyway Jared was OK because NOW his Dad owes him TWENTY DOLLARS!!

I just couldn't believe that kids turned up last night... for the first time in about 7 years! Why is life so difficult???? :-)

Huge Hugs,

Jamie

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"Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth."

Soren Kierkegaard. Danish philosopher, 1813-1885