Her teacher also spoke to her class (the boy is in a different class) about being friends.

So overall a good outcome.

I always worry that she might not tell us when something like this happens so I am glad she did. Dean thinks he just has a crush on her or something, which is quite possible, but all the same, it is not acceptable behaviour. She said she has told him before to talk to the hand because the face don’t care, and that sticks and stones may break her bones, etc. but it hasn’t been working. This time we have told her to ignore him from now on, because without a reaction he will soon get bored of treating her that way.

So this morning I had a quick chat with the teacher to let her know what was going on. She was really good about it and said she was going to talk to both Jasmine and the boy in question and his teacher and get to the bottom of it. So I guess we will see what happens over the next day or so.

She is only in grade 1! Why do I get the feeling that she is going to attract this kind of behaviour all through school??? Poor poppet! She is such a concientious little girl who would never treat anyone that way herself. Oh well, that is school kids for you!

Here is one of me. I had an interview with SBE as I am designer of the month this month there. (25% off selected products!) They asked for a layout of me and I hadn’t done one for a while, so here is my latest about me layout.

Both of these layouts were done with Funkified, now available at DigiscrapArt.com

On the health front, I had an appointment with a rheumatologist earlier this month. He doesn’t think it is lupus as he said I don’t have enough of the symptoms, however at this stage he thinks the most likely diagnosis is Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, which is another auto-immune disorder, not necessarily much better. (Lupus is a connective tissue disease) I have to have a bunch more blood tests done, many of which I haven’t had done before and see him again in 6wks so STILL no answers which I find very frustrating!

Mixed connective tissue disease from what i have read is an auto-immune disorder with a combination of symptoms from various connective tissue diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritus, scleroderma and polymoysitis. Apparently it can develop into one or more of the other connective tissue diseases later on in the progression of the disease.

Anyway, there are a huge number of blood tests I have to have done so hopefully I will have a more firm diagnosis in 6wks time. At least we are getting closer to finding out what is wrong. I have been a fair bit better the last few days, so I am waiting till I have another flare before I have the blood tests done.

Dean is still training and ran 18km’s the weekend before last. He is planning on doing a half marathon this weekend. He has also started swimming training and swam some laps at the pool where our kids go to swimming lessons. He ran down there early before the kids classes started and did his laps until we got there.

Jasmine is now in level 4 at swimming and for the first time swam in the 25meter lane. Not only did she swim in that lane but she did many laps without stopping mid way. She was a bit panicky at first as she never used to be able to touch bottom in that lane, but she didn’t realise how much she had grown! Once she realised she could not only touch bottom but could swim an entire lap, she gained a lot more confidence in her swimming ability. I am so proud of her, I wasn’t able to swim 25 meters until I was in grade 4. She is the smallest kid in her class too. The other kids look a couple of years older than her. I told her she is now a better swimmer than me, I was pretty ok (nowhere near as good as Dean) when I was a kid but I couldn’t swim 25meters now anymore. Hopefully once I get my health issues sorted out I can start working on my fitness.

Kyan is still acting up a bit in swimming class, when he saw he had a new teacher he didn’t want to do his lesson but got in and winged, then when Dean walked into the area he started throwing a tantrum! So Dean walked out and he got worse, but I managed to convince him to behave so that Daddy could watch his lesson again. He still won’t put his head in the water unless he does it accidentally when jumping in. He was great at it as a baby, but hates it now. Hopefully he will get over that in time. At least for the time being he is back to doing his lessons. We have started to give Jaz pocket money.

She now gets $1 a week if she cleans up after herself, so no leaving clothes on the floor, cleaning up her toys when she is finished with them, putting her PJ’s away, making her bed keeping her room tidy etc. If she doesn’t do it all she doesn’t get the full amount. She got 80c this week. LOL Last week she decided she was going to save for a Barbie, then it changed to a hoola hoop and this weekend she decided she was going to save for a tamagotchi pet. It will be interesting to see how she goes. We told her if she saved half of the more expensive items we would help her out with the cost. So far she has saved $3.80. She got $1 the first week, $2 from the tooth fairy for a tooth she lost recently and then the 80cents from this week. She is trying harder to clean up after herself so we will see how it goes. Hopefully she will improve and keep it up.

Dean sent me some lovely flowers today.

Check out the green roses, they are so unusual and SO pretty!
I got this little fella for Dean.

It dances and sings ‘Can’t get enough of your love baby’ by Barry White. He has a goofy sense of humour so thought he might like this one.

Our plan has now been drawn up properly so we just need to get a few things finalised before we can start building.

Dean has been training to do a Tri-athalon in April with one of the partners at work. Dean last weekend competed in the Bridge to Brisbane, doing the 10km run. He is doing so well with his training and is really enjoying his increased fitness. He has bought a new bike to replace is 20yr old dinosaur and has started riding as well.

I am not doing as great health wise! My fevers are continuing on a daily basis, as is my anemia, insomnia, exhaustion, and now there are new symptoms adding into the mix. I have a whole host of symptoms that have been going on for some time, including joint pain which up until recently has been pretty managable. However in the last 6mths or so I have been getting really severe bouts of joint pain which has given me a whole new appreciation for what it feels like to suffer from arthritus. Nurophen just isn’t cutting it anymore and I have had to start using stronger anti-inflamitaries. There was one night a few weeks ago, where I was in that much pain that I was in tears.. and it takes a LOT to get me crying. The last time I remember crying due to pain was when I had gall stones.

Now that I have started the heavier anti-inflamitories it is a lot more managable but my joints remain very weak and do get sore if I strain them too much. As well as the increased joint pain I have started getting a lot of lymph node swelling. It started out with just one here and there but over the past 2 or so weeks I have had continual swelling in several lymph nodes. At one point I was sure they were all swollen, I had no idea there were so many lymph nodes in the body! I sure do now!

I have had more blood tests than I can count and there is no sign of lymphoma or anything hideous like that, but my ESR levels are raised, and my platelets are low.

I went to see an endocrinologist last week as my gp thought some of my symptoms might be related to PCOS, but he confirmed that they weren’t (as I suspected) and also made the suggestion that he thought my symptoms were consistent with Lupus. When he mentioned this I told him I have suspected they might be as I have been researching all my symptoms and Lupus fits. As much as I don’t want Lupus, at this point I just want an answer, this has been going on for 2 years almost, and I want to know what is going on so that it can be treated and we know where we are heading.

The endocrinologist wants me to see a Rheumatologist, so after a bit of searching I found a good one who doesn’t have a 6mth wait. I have an appointment on the 14th of October, and I am hanging for it, because my symptoms just seem to be getting worse and worse lately. I am finding it increasingly difficult to get through a working week without needing a day off to recouperate a little. I am spending my weekends resting as much as I can so as to cope with the next week of work. It just isn’t fair on me, Dean or the kids as poor Dean is lumped with the bulk of the household duties because I am too tired to manage much. I try and do as much as I can when my energy levels are better than usual, but that often doesn’t go very far.

It is the wierdest form of tiredness I have ever experienced. When it is really bad, it feels like my body ways a tonne and lifting an arm feels like lifting boxes of weight. Moving from one room to another requires rest at the other end, yes you heard right, REST! Thankfully I have only experienced this a few times, but I can feel myself heading that way when I overdo things. The sad part is I am not even exaggerating!

I haven’t done any designing in the last few weeks since I have been more tired than usual. The mojo just doesn’t flow when I am this tired.

Anyway, at this point Oct 14 can’t come quick enough..I just hope the Rheumatologist has some answers and a decent treatment plan for me. As my brother so eloquently put it a few days ago, at least I can eat at Sizzlers! LOL

I have used my new Faux Lomo and Dreamy Photo Actions on her photo, although some of the Faux Lomo effect has been cropped afterwards. The kit and wordart is a little sneak peak of a grab bag that will be appearing in store at SBE very soon! Stay tuned for it’s release! It will have 4 juicy products at a nice teeny price! It is a bit exciting to be releasing my very first solo grab bag!

Anyway, here is the layout…I just go soft inside every time I look at her. I am SO lucky!

So now I am working on another theory, fingers crossed I am on the right track as it is relatively easily treated if I am right! It is just such a relief to be able to eat normally. I really hate having to be so careful all the time and the food while some of it is ok, just isn’t the same. I can’t wait to use my bread maker for REAL bread now!

Now I have to really start concentrating on getting my health back on track.. first I will work on getting better, then getting healthy and loosing weight. At least eating low GI won’t be as difficult now and funnily enough, my lactose intolerance bothers me less when I am eating gluten than it does when I am not. Either way I am glad you can take tablets to help with any lactose digestion problems anyway.

So that is good news!

This photo was taken from the front of the block, you can just barely see the back fence.

Mum and dad are not quite at the back fence with Jasmine, and Kyan is about halfway down in the light blue.

Taken from about 2/3 from the front of the block showing the back fence. (just!)

Taken from the back of the block, facing the front.

South Eastern View from center of block.

South Western view from center of block.

We went to see the builder on Friday, it is all getting a bit exciting! We have a rough plan of the house. It is off to be drawn up properly now.